Thursday, May 14, 2009

Musing on Dreams with Patti Lacy - WIN HER BOOK!

I'm so happy to welcome back today's guest blogger: my friend, and very cool author, Patti Lacy!



Musing
on Dreams…


Since Daddy was a boys’ dorm director at Baylor back in the early 1960s, two hundred brothers threw me over their shoulders, coaxed me to ride my trike down slick halls, let me operate the switchboard, taught me risqué songs…oh, the trouble…and fun…I had!

Daddy’s work then moved us like pieces about the Deep South checkerboard, and I attended a different school yearly until junior high. Books—and their characters—became the playground friends I didn’t make. I ferreted out clues for Nancy Drew, braided Black Beauty’s glorious mane. Oh, the places I went!

When I wasn’t reading, I dreamed about the mysterious lands in Tales of the Orient or the lovely home where Beautiful Joe lived. Dreams nourished and sustained me through some lonely times, and I thank God for that.

Fantasies morphed into more traditional middle-class desires during my teenaged years. I dreamed of marrying the perfect man, having five husky sons, living on a ranch complete with well-appointed stables and kennels while pursuing important jobs.

Hopes of wearing the robes of a judge or the faded jeans of a geologist vanished like mist over a Louisiana bayou when the Still, Small Voice whispered for me to teach, as my parents did. Then I found a good man who married me in spite of my flaws, and God gave us two children, one boy and one girl.

In 1995, God yanked us from our comfortable Southern porch and deposited us in Terre Haute, Indiana. Just hearing the words Midwest and blizzards and below zero prickled my skin. All my relatives whispered that we’d lost our noggins. After all, none of the clan had ventured north of the Mason-Dixon line—except for Chicago, and that didn’t really count. Wasn’t a big city a big city, even up North?

The Midwest offered amazing friends—and an incredible story about God’s ability to work good through ALL things. Ten years later, the Still Small Voice whispered for me to write that story. I shook my head and stomped my feet, but the Voice persisted. Three years later, Kregel Publications took a chance with my first attempt at writing, An Irishwoman’s Tale.

Dear friends, I have simplified my life by praying one dream: to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with my God, whose dream weaving makes filthy rags out of my own misguided notions. And oh, it’s an exciting way to live, rising every day and saying, “What do you have for me now, Lord? What do you have for me now?”

To find out more about Patti and her books, visit her website at http://www.pattilacy.com/


ABOUT THE AUTHOR

In 1955, Ann Qualls gave birth to her daughter Patti in the front seat of a Buick. By pure coincidence, Ann claims, their daughter was named Patti Day Qualls, PDQ.

This moniker has served Patti well, as she’s moved at least ten times, traveled to forty states, and changed occupations with a liberality unusual in native Texans. However, Patti thinks her latest profession will stick awhile.

The Still, Small Voice encouraged Patti to write after a brave Irish friend shared memories of betrayal and her decision to forgive. In 2008, An Irishwoman’s Tale was published by Kregel Publications. Patti’s second novel, What the Bayou Saw, released in 2009.

The secrets women keep and why they keep them continue to capture Patti’s imagination. She writes full time, teaches Bible studies and seminars, and attends book signings. Patti and her husband Alan, an Illinois State faculty member, live in Normal. They have two grown children and a dog named Laura.


ABOUT THE BOOK - What the Bayou Saw

Since leaving Louisiana, Sally Stevens has smothered her childhood with a sunny disposition and sugar-coated lies. No one, not even her beloved husband Sam, knows what happened to her and her best friend, Ella Ward, when they were twelve years old.

Now a teacher in Normal, Illinois, Sally has nearly forgotten her past. Then Shamika, one of her students, is violently attacked, and memories of segregation, a chain-link fence, and a blood oath bubble to the surface like a dead body in a bayou.

Finally entrapped in her web of lies, Sally—and Shamika—embark on a quest to find Ella in post-Katrina New Orleans. With the help of friends, family, and God, Sally can glimpse a life free of the mire of deceit and truly begin to live with joy. But will she pay the price for a lifetime of deception?


WIN THE BOOK

If you’d like to be entered to win a copy of What the Bayou Saw, just leave a reply to this blog. I’ll pick a winner at random on May 21st. Please leave an email address so I can contact you if you're the winner. (To prevent spammers from trolling for your email, please use this format with the brackets--you [at] yourmail [dot] com--or something similar.) Good luck!

23 comments:

Julie Lessman said...

Jennifer and Patti -- LOVED the "Musings on Dreams" -- what a cool idea. And LOVED What the Bayou Saw EVEN more -- GREAT book!! Don't enter me in the contest because I already have it -- let some other lucky person win it!

Hugs,
Julie

Linda said...

'What the Bayou Saw' sounds like a good thriller of a book. Please enter me in your contest.
desertrose5173 at gmail dot com

CarlybirdH said...

I have heard such great things about this book and this author. Please enter my name in the drawing. Thank you.
carlyberd[at]yahoo[dot]com

tina said...

What the Bayou Saw sounds like an amazing read. I cannot wait to dive into it. Hope to win!!

Tina

Sandee61 said...

Please add my name to your giveaway. I would love to read "What The Bayou Saw"...it looks like a really good read and I love the cover. Thank you!

Blessings,
Sandy

Muzzley56[at]aol[dot]com

windycindy said...

What an intense sounding story with intriguing characters! Please count me in your delightful book drawing.
Many thanks, Cindi
jchoppes[at]hotmail[dot]com

Patti Lacy said...

Linda, I don't know if it's a thriller; maybe thick mystery, Southern style with lots of hormones thrown in.

Carly, you're so sweet! As my preacher says, if it's good, it's God!

Tina, anyone who "dives" into books is my kinda girl!

Sandee, didn't Kregel do a wonderful job with the cover? If you go to www.pattilacy.com and look at the trailer, check out how the darling actress that is Ella looks JUST like the girl on the cover and they are NOT the same! God hooked me up with little Carly at the perfume counter of a department store!!!! He is full of surprises, huh?

Cindi, OOOH, I lOVE you, girl for liking INTENSE books. Speaking of intense, have y'all read The Passion of Mary Margaret by Lisa Samson???!!!! Amazing!!!!!! And I CANNOT get enough of A Passion Denied! INTENSE squared!!!!!!!!!!!

Cheryl said...

I would love to win this book. I read Patti's first book and loved it. Please enter me in the contest. My email address is shryackmom[@]charter[.]net

Patti Lacy said...

Cheryl, thanks for spending your time on my debut novel. Glad you connected! Tetewa, thanks for stopping by. Doesn't Jennifer have a twitteringly great blog?????

Blessings!
Patti

Carole said...

If this book is as good as An Irishwoman's Tale, then I can't wait to read it. Thank you for the interview and chance to win a copy.

cjarvis [at] bellsouth [dot] net

Pamela J said...

I just wanted to let you all know my husband and I are reading this book together and we think it is great! If you don't win this, you've just GOT to get a copy and read it!! Please don't enter my name in your drawing but do plug my suggestion into your hat. You DON'T want to miss this book!
Pam Williams

peachykath said...

WOW this book sounds amazing. I agree with the author about how the midwest brings something special out from the people around you and from inside yourself. I grew up in Northern Indiana and moving to California several years ago I have to agree it's just not the same. Please enter me in the drawing for this book.
Thanks,
Katherine

peachykath79[at]yahoo[dot]com

Patti Lacy said...

Carole, you just spoon fed manna, and I lapped it up! Thank you.

Pam, I drifted off last night with that image of you and hubby snuggling close and reading the rather small print of What the Bayou Saw. Gives me goose bumps!

Katherine, even in gorgeous California, you long for the Midwest? Thanks for giving me brain food--I'll chew on that one awhile! Blessings, dear one.

Jeanette Levellie said...

Yes, PLEASE! Patti is one excellent writer and one lovely lady.
jeanettelevellie(at)gmail(dot)com
Thank you!

Cathy Bryant said...

The buzz about this story and Patti Lacy has captured my interest. Please put my name on the list, and thanks for the giveaway!

Blessings,
Cathy Bryant
catbry1 at yahoo dot com

Jo said...

This book sounds so interesting. Would love to win a copy of the book.

Blessings,
Jo
ladij040(at)aol(dot)com

Helga Marie Bee said...

I loved Irishwoman's Tale and would love a chance to win this one as well. Thank you
QallieQ{at}gmail{dot}com

Patti Lacy said...

Helga Marie, Jo, and Jeanette, thanks for being reader soulmates! Oh, you are manna to me! Think thin, honeyed wafers!

Cathy, since my in-laws live in Beeville, we are buzzin' around quite a bit. I'm afraid that's about all the buzz this writer will create! LOL.

traveler said...

Congratulations! What a wonderful book which interests me greatly. Thanks for this great interview and peek. saubleb(at)gmail(dot)com

Patti Lacy said...

Thanks, traveler! Love that pen name, which makes me want to take a road trip...
Sigh, with a Lacy family marriage in September, no can do!!!

Patti

ruth said...

What The Bayou Saw sounds enthralling and memorable. thanks for this wonderful giveaway. rojosho(at)hotmail(dot)com

Patti Lacy said...

Ruth, thanks! Hope y'all all enjoy the book.

Keep reading--and, as the Spirit moves, writing!

Patti

Jennifer AlLee said...

The winner of What the Bayou Saw is... Linda!

Thanks to everyone who stopped by. Be blessed :+}