Welcome to my little bit of cyber-space. It is my prayer that all who enter here may be richly blessed by the God of all grace. All praise to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Saturday, September 28, 2013

More about The Redemption of Caralynne Hayman and another chance to win!


CaroleBrown_CaralynneHayman.jpgAbout the book:
How far would YOU go to avenge a daughter’s cruel death? Cara is considered rebellious and inappropriate to befriend. Dayne is the apple of Elder Simmons’ eye—until he takes a stand against their teachings. Can his prayers and love reach Cara and show her the way to redemption? Will Cara realize God’s love and forgiveness before she goes too far?

Hope you will read the first page below and then order the book. And leave a comment with email info to be in the drawing for a digital copy. Drawing to be held one week from today on Saturday Oct. 5th.


The Redemption of Caralynne Hayman is a novel of hope shining through the darkness with strong elements of suspense and romance and was a semifinalist in the Genesis contest. Release date is September 30, 2013 from the Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas, an ACFW approved publisher. You can request it at your favorite book store or library or go to Amazon here:

On SALE NOW for preorder:

The Redemption of Caralynne Hayman
Carole Brown
Chapter One

Twenty years earlier
The shadow creatures on the wall shook their wings and legs. Heads with horns nodded. Scary, dark faces watched.
The little girl clasped her floppy-eared rabbit against her chest and stared into the dark.
“Mmm …” Mommy’s murmur reached to her through the walls, and the giggles from her mother tiptoed in, shooing the fear away.
Whoosh. She blew out a breath and squeezed her rabbit tighter. “Mommy has a friend with her, Ramsey. She loves me just like I love you and will give me hugs in the morning after the man leaves.”
Ramsey said nothing. She ran her fingers over his face and could feel his black button eyes staring at her, trusting her to protect him.
“And she’ll read to us and I’ll sit on her lap and we’ll snuggle—all of us together.” She nodded and tugged on Ramsey’s left ear then rolled over.
Real live whispers and laughter floated into the room.
Opening her mouth in a wide yawn, she patted Ramsey’s tummy and whispered again, “Don’t be afraid. I’m right here.”
“Please. That hurts.”
“Mommy?” The little girl frowned but her eyes wouldn’t open. Just like they did when she and mommy put cucumbers slices on their eyes. 
“Stop it—”
             Rubbing at her eyes the little girl sat up. Mommy had never sounded like this before, and neither had any of the men—the men who brought flowers and candy and money.

Friday, September 27, 2013

Guestblog and giveaway by Carole Brown

Happy to have my friend Carole Brown visit again today with an interesting guestblog and a chance to win a digital copy of her new book The Redemption of Caralynne Hayman by leaving  a comment on today's blog or tomorrow's post where you can learn more about this book, so be sure to check back tomorrow and to respond and leave an email contact. Drawing to be held one week from tomorrow on Saturday Oct. 5th.


The Weird Stuff Writers Get Into

Writers are weird people. Yeah, that categorizes me too, but that’s okay. Why? Because we enjoy what we do. And that includes some of the things we research about.

When writing The Redemption of Caralynne Hayman, Caralynne grows up in a cult so I needed to study about cults. Since I was creating a cult and not using one I’d read/studied/or knew of, I had to give them some specific actions and/or traits that set them apart as an identity. I decided tattoos would fit, but I didn’t want to give the members the liberty of choosing for themselves what kind. I wanted the tattoo to be all the same for everyone and for a reason.

So began my search for the right tattoo. The internet became my primary go-to source although there was a tattoo parlor in my nearby community for use too.

Now before I go any farther, I might add here: I know some who are definitely against tattoos and some who think they are a piece of art. I’m not condemning or approving in getting one. I’ve seen some really ugly ones that I must confess, I wonder where the owner’s brain was when they obtained it. Some really are beautiful: perhaps a small heart or butterfly (check out David Stearman’s book: Hummingbird), a bird or small name.

The things that mattered to me in giving the members of The Children of Righteous Cain a tattoo consisted of:
Ÿ         I needed the size to fit for both men and women
Ÿ         I didn’t want anything too big and ugly
Ÿ         I needed it to be a little scary, but not too much, for the little girl in the first chapter.
Ÿ         It had to be the right size to fit on the choice of places I wanted it to be: outside upper arm for the men and inside wrist for the women
Ÿ         And I had to be satisfied it was the right one.

I brainstormed with critique partners, I searched, talked it over with my husband and went round and round until I was weary with the subject.  I considered:

Ÿ         Creating one which would give me the leverage I wanted to match the story with the tattoo
Ÿ         Having a tattoo-ist create one which I might end up liking or not after I paid or at the least asked the artist to volunteer to create.

In the end I created one in my mind. It was an eye, and the main reason was because of the third item in the above “mattering” series: Scary but not too much so for the little girl.

It was a key factor for the eye-tattoo to play upon the little girl’s emotions. And it worked. Briefly mentioned here and there throughout the story, I still believe the effect it had on the story played emphasized the uniqueness of the cult.

Sometimes writers create settings and characters and events that play powerful roles within a novel. All the little things--like tattoos for The Children of Righteous Cain--build up the reality of your creation and gives your settings and characters and events a little bit more punch than it would have.

Research is vital for excellent writers. I recommend it highly! J

And so will your readers.


 I’ll give away a print copy of my book to the person Rose and I choose who comments about either:
Ÿ         A tattoo you have
Ÿ         The funniest, most beautiful, ugliest, or weirdest tattoo you’ve ever seen
Ÿ         Or why you do or do not have a tattoo.

Have fun!


Carole Brown’s debut novel, The Redemption of Caralynne Hayman, was a semi-finalist in the Genesis contest. Besides being a member and active participant of many writing groups, she enjoys mentoring beginning writers. She loves to weave suspense and tough topics into her books, along with a touch of romance and whimsy, and is always on the lookout for outstanding titles and catchy ideas. She and her husband reside in SE Ohio but have ministered and counseled across the country. Together, they enjoy their grandsons, traveling, gardening, good food, the simple life, and did she mention their grandsons?

I’d love to connect with readers at:

I also participate on:
Barn Door Book Loft: http://www.barndoorbookloft.net
Stitches in Time: http://stitchesthrutime.blogspot.com/

Saturday, September 21, 2013

Read about and win a copy of Shannon Vannatter's new book, Arkansas Dreams


https://mail-attachment.googleusercontent.com/attachment/u/0/?ui=2&ik=a1a8fc9ae1&view=att&th=1412e8ff52142d0e&attid=0.4&disp=inline&safe=1&zw&saduie=AG9B_P_eiOoPA7pdXSY6Djr8g0B3&sadet=1379518159749&sads=IDHdd0o11ijH7fyazv1ZeELJj_MArkansas Weddings: Love’s never easy in three Arkansas romances.
Pastor Grayson loves his wife. The problem is, Sara was killed by a hit-and-run driver two years ago. He knows he needs to move on, but it’s not until florist Adrea Welch arrives at his church that the seeds of healing are planted in his heart.

Laken left home eight years ago and never looked back. Who knew when she applied for the promotion to postmaster that she’d end up in Romance, Arkansas, and much too close to her past—and Hayden Winters?

Shell doesn’t have a good reputation. But no matter what everyone in Rose Bud, Arkansas, thinks of her, she’s back in town with a job to do. Ryler also has reasons for being in Rose Bud, and they don’t include Shell.

But God’s love can soften the hardest heart and overcome the darkest past. These hearts may not know it, but they’re about to change.

To purchase Arkansas Weddings logon to:

AMAZON


BARNES & NOBLE


CHRISTIANBOOK

Friday, September 20, 2013

Interview and giveaway with Shannon Vannatter

I am so happy to host Shannon Vannatter on my blog again. And I know you will enjoy this interview with her fun answers! Come back tomorrow for a look at her new book, Arkansas Weddings, and be sure to leave a comment today and/or tomorrow to be entered in her giveaway of a copy of this book. Winner to be announced in one week, on September 28th.


What’s your favorite guilty pleasure?
Having a pair of heels to match every outfit. I have 48 pair, but I only buy cheap and I keep them until they are totally worn out. The other day, I got a pair of ivory satin heels for $4.00.

What is your favorite kind of music?
This is complicated. For church, I like the old traditional hymns. I love holding the hymnbook and singing songs written hundreds of years ago that I know by heart since childhood.
Outside of church, I like contemporary Christian such as Todd Agnew, Third Day, and Mercy Me.

What is currently your favorite song?
It’s a tie between Martyr’s Song by Todd Agnew. It’s about Jesus welcoming a martyr to Heaven. I can’t listen to it without crying—in a good way.

What’s your favorite animal?
I’m a dog and cat lover, so I have both and can’t really pick which is my favorite. Dogs love unconditionally and cats are so fun to watch. But I do have a cat who thinks he’s a dog. He actually comes when you call him and he cuddles.
As for wild animals, I’ve always thought raccoons were so cute and white tigers are beautiful.

Do you have any form of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder?
If things don’t match, I can’t focus. When I was a kid, my dad was a carpenter. He built me a playhouse and decorated it with left over materials from job sites. The carpet was red, the wallpaper was blue. I’d sit for hours and try to figure out how to make it match.

A few years ago, someone brought two silk trees for our church. One had white striped leaves and one had yellow striped leaves. One was a foot taller than the other. The sat on each side behind the pulpit. I couldn’t focus on the sermon for trying to figure out how to make those trees match. And my husband was the one preaching. I finally moved one of the trees to the back of the church.

As a pastor’s wife, do you play the piano?
No. When my husband first answered the call to preach, every church we visited asked if I played the piano. I wish I did, but I don’t. We recently had a retired pastor and his wife join our church and she doesn’t play the piano either, but she said it was her most often asked question through the years.

What do you think your role is as a pastor’s wife?
I help out wherever needed and am very involved, but I don’t teach Sunday school, head up the ladies’ prayer group, or direct our outreach programs. I am back up Sunday school teacher for a kids class, I attend our ladies’ meetings and do the devotion a couple of times a year, and I’m the craft lady at VBS.

My sole job is to support the pastor, so that’s what I focus on.

What’s it like raising a preacher’s son?
I try really hard to keep church fun, since our son is there more than most kids. But we don’t practically live at the church. We’ve always been careful to say, we get to go to church instead of we have to go to church. We’re there at every service, but if there are extras, we don’t make him go. We have monthly association meetings with the 26 churches in our association. We don’t make him go to that. And when we visit sick members or people in the hospital, we don’t take him.

It amazes me the profound Biblical thoughts he comes up with because he is so churched. My husband asked him who his favorite disciple was a while back. He said—Paul, because he liked the way Paul and Silas sang praises to God and the doors unlocked on the jail and Paul kept the jailor from killing himself.

I didn’t know all that at his age. I was probably in my twenties before I knew that story.

Were you raised in church?
People assume I was, but I wasn’t. My parents moved to Michigan when I was a year old, then Illinois, then Georgia. We moved wherever houses were being built since my dad was a carpenter. In each state, they tried to find a small church like the one they’d grown up in—in rural Arkansas. Church attendance was sporadic and by the time we moved to Georgia, when I was seven, we didn’t go. I had friends that went and I went with them some.

My parents taught me who Jesus was and Biblical principles, but as far as knowing Bible stories or the books of the Bible, I didn’t. When I was twelve, we moved back to rural Arkansas and their home church with twelve members. I didn’t really start studying the Bible until I accepted Christ at fifteen. My parents still go to their small church and there are around thirty members now.

The church my husband pastors is in the next town. We run from seventy to eighty on Sunday morning.

Do you have siblings?
No. I’m an only child. And our son is an only child. He’s the only grandchild my parents will ever have. They live across a hayfield from us and they are lunatics where he’s concerned.

My mom sent me a saying the other day: Most kids are spoiled because you can’t spank Grandma.

So true! But at least she admits it.

Bio: Central Arkansas author, Shannon Taylor Vannatter is a stay-at-home mom/pastor’s wife. Vannatter has won the 2011 Inspirational Readers Choice Award in the short contemporary category, The 18th Annual Heartsong Awards 3rd Favorite New Author and #1 Contemporary Award.

Her books are available at christianbook.com, barnesandnoble.com, amazon.com, harlequin.com, and barbourbooks.com. Learn more about Shannon and her books at http://shannonvannatter.com and check out her real life romance blog at http://shannonvannatter.com/blog/. Connect with her on Facebook: facebook.com/shannontaylorvannatter and Twitter: @stvauthor




Monday, September 02, 2013

Winner and new contest for another Brandilyn Collins book

I am behind again on blogger, but will blame it on getting a request for a full manuscript this past week, so that is where my thoughts and time have been concentrated! The winner of always watching by Brandilyn and Amberly Collins is Judy Cook.

And continuing my Collins giveaway, the winner of this month's comment contest will receive book two in the rayne tour series--last breath. So leave some comments this month along with your email addy to contact you and you might be the chosen one on October 1st! One caveat--only those with US mailing addresses are eligible.

Here's the backcover blurb for last breath: "Shaley is reeling after two murders on the Rayne concert tour. But she has no time to rest. If the dying man's claim is right, the danger is far from over.

Shaley's quest for the truth leads to the mysterious and wrenching past of her mother and father. Could what happened to them so many years ago threaten Shaley's life now?"

If that doesn't make you want to read this book, I don't know what will!