The Importance of Daydreams by M.L. Tyndall - WIN HER BOOK!

It's my pleasure to welcome today's guest poster, author M.L. Tyndall, back to the blog!

Daydreams
by
M.L. Tyndall

When I was a kid, I spent much of my time daydreaming. You see, I didn’t have a very stable home life and I wasn’t popular in school. I was the nerdy, homely girl with the pimples who was too shy to strike up a conversation with anyone I didn’t know. Consequently, I often drifted away in my mind to a make-believe world where I was the princess who everybody loved and adored, rescued by a handsome prince who would then spend his life loving and caring for me. I always had an ongoing adventure playing out in my head, one that got often interrupted when I had to do some mundane task such as answer a question, take a test, or do a chore. For me, my imaginary world was more real than the world I lived in, a world that couldn’t possibly be the real world at all because it was so sad and hard and painful. As I look back on those years, I realize two things. One that God had given me an outlet, an escape from the pain of my childhood that kept me going when I probably would have given up, and two, in His providential wisdom, He was calling me to be a storyteller.

God gives us great dreams. Within each of us He implants a dream unique only to us. It is why He created us, our purpose. And when we find that purpose, we find fulfillment. Like Cinderella’s glass slipper, it is a perfect fit, unique only to us, and one that leads us into a world we only dreamed of before. So I encourage you, don’t ignore your daydreams, and don’t ignore those silent tugs upon your heart. Ask God to reveal to you their meaning and to show you the path to see them fulfilled.


ABOUT THE AUTHOR

M.L. Tyndall, a Christy Award Finalist, and best-selling author of the Legacy of the King’s Pirates series is known for her adventurous historical romances filled with deep spiritual themes. She holds a degree in Math and worked as a software engineer for fifteen years before testing the waters as a writer. MaryLu currently writes full time and makes her home on the California coast with her husband, six kids, and four cats. Her passion is to write page-turning, romantic adventures that not only entertain but expose Christians to their full potential in Christ. For more information on MaryLu and her upcoming releases, please visit her website at http://www.mltyndall.com/ or her blog at http://crossandcutlass.blogspot.com/


ABOUT THE BOOK - The Blue Enchantress

Betrayed by the man she longed to marry, Hope Westcott is about to be auctioned off as a slave to the highest bidder on an island in the Caribbean. After enduring a difficult childhood in an unloving home, Hope’s search for love and self-worth have led her down a very dangerous path. All she ever wanted was to find true love and open an orphanage where she could raise children with all the love she never experienced as a child. But how can a woman with a sordid past ever hope to run an orphanage, let alone attract the love of an honorable man?

Determined to overcome the shame of his mother’s past, Nathaniel Mason worked for many years to build his own fleet of merchant ships in an effort to finally acquire the respect of Charles Towne society. Ignoring the call of God on his life to become a preacher, he forges ahead with his plans for success at a distant port in the Caribbean, when he sees a young lady he knows from Charles Towne being sold as a slave. In an effort to save Hope, he is forced to sell one of his two ships, only to discover that her predicament was caused by her own bad behavior. Angry and determined to rid himself of her as soon as possible, Nathaniel embarks on a journey that will change the course of his life.

From the Carolina Coast to the Caribbean, through stormy seas and shipwreck, can Hope and Nathaniel put aside their painful pasts, listen to God's voice, and find true love and acceptance?


WIN THE BOOK

If you’d like to be entered to win a copy of The Blue Enchantress , just leave a reply to this blog. I’ll pick a winner at random on August 17th. 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!

Vinnie's Diner... the Book Trailer

I'm sure by now you've seen book trailers popping up all over the place. They're the hottest new way for an author to market her work. For me, the blending of words, images and music is a no brainer... the perfect way to get across the feeling of a book in two minutes or less. So I naturally set out to make one for my next book, The Pastor's Wife, which releases in February 2010 from Abingdon Press. (You can scroll down to the bottom of the page to look at it, or see it on YouTube.)

Making trailers is fun. So much so that I decided to make one for a book I've written that is complete, but not contracted. In other words, this book isn't available in bookstores yet, but I hope it will be one day.

Without further ado, I present for your viewing pleasure, Vinnie's Diner.

Share Your Knowledge and Get Paid for It

I know that title kind of sounds like an informercial. In a way, I guess that's what this post is. But I was pretty jazzed to find out about an online source for my writing that actually pays money. And since the only reason I know about it is because of the other writers I know who shared the information, I thought I'd return the favor.

Examiner.com is sort of like an online newspaper. People write about subjects in their areas of expertise and are grouped based on their geographic location. For example, I am both the Las Vegas Writing Examiner and the Las Vegas Pop Culture Examiner.

Do you know everything there is to know about the great outdoors? Are you an expert in your professional field? Are you the one all your friends call if they miss an episode of LOST? Do you want to share your political observations with the world? Examiner may be a good venue for you.

You're probably wondering the big question: how much do I get paid? It's not going to sound like much... a little less than a penny per click. But it adds up. I made about $40 the first month, and I expect to more than double that this month. The key is finding ways to let people know your articles are out there.

If it sounds interesting, there's an application process which you can check out here. If you decide to apply, I'd appreciate it if you'd use me as a referral. And yes, I do get a referral bonus. At the bottom of the application is a box to Find Your Examiner. Click there and find me either by my name or Examiner title. Here's a video about the process.

If you've got any questions, drop me a line. Happy job hunting!

The Value of Face-to-Face Networking in a Twitter World

Don’t get me wrong. I love tweeting to my peeps and keeping up with Facebook buddies. I’ve made a lot of connections in the virtual world. My friend list includes newbie authors, published authors, editors, agents, and a bunch of old school friends I’d completely lost track of. I’ve connected with more people via social networking than I ever could have the old fashioned way, including a multi-published ABA author who I consider one of my writing inspirations. Obviously, I’m a fan of the online water cooler.

But sometimes, a writer has to stick her head out of the cave, venture squinting and hunch-backed into the sunlight, and interact with flesh and blood folk. And there’s no better place to do this than a writer’s conference.

I joined ACFW back in April 2007. I signed up for the email loop and began electronically meeting other authors. It was like a whole new world opened up to me. Even though I’d been writing for half my life, I was clueless to the concept of writers supporting each other. Really? There are groups that do that? What an amazing thing.

In September of 2009 I attended the ACFW conference in Dallas, TX. Not only was it my first ACFW conference, it was my first writer’s conference ever. I was more than a little nervous. But from the minute I set foot on Texas pavement, the world I thought couldn’t get any better, did. Standing in the queue for the Super Shuttle, I met other writers going to the conference. In the hotel, the lobby was swarming with excited, chatty writers. I’d fallen into writer-heaven.


Now, everything wasn’t peaches-and-cream-perfect at the conference. I had a very traumatic meeting with an editor. It was my first time pitching a story. It was a story I had written specifically for this house. And I found out my story was totally wrong for them. My spirits were crushed as I walked out of the room. Not because the editor had been mean to me (she hadn’t) but because I felt like a failure. But after I left that meeting, God put not one but three different people directly in my path. Three people who encouraged me, hugged me, empathized with me, and helped me see that my writing career had not just ended. You can’t get that kind of support on Twitter.

That evening, I reported for duty at the bookstore and was paired up at the checkout table with Lisa Richardson. We instantly clicked. When our shift ended, we headed out to dinner. We forged a friendship that night. (The above picture is of Lisa and I at the 2007 banquet.) Now, we critique each other’s work, support each other, share in highs and lows… we even share the same birthday, although I’m just a tad bit older than she is. While Lisa and I might have eventually met via the email loop, or Twitter, or Facebook, I doubt that we’d have developed the same kind of relationship. Only a face-to-face encounter can do that.

So definitely come to the conference to network with agents and editors. It’s one of your best chances to do so. But also come to grow friendships. Your life will be all the richer for it.

If you're in Denver this year, I'd love to meet you in person. Or, you can visit me online here:
My website
Twitter
Facebook

REVIEW: How Do I Love Thee? by Nancy Moser

In How Do I Love Thee, author Nancy Moser gives us a glimpse into the life of Elizabeth Barrett. The title refers, of course, to her famous poem. Including lines like “I love thee to the depth and breadth and height my soul can reach,” I’ve always thought of Barrett as a passionate woman who lived a big life. Seems I didn't get that quite right.

The book opens with a housebound Barrett. In her thirties, she is already published and known for her poetry. But she is bedridden by a mysterious chronic illness that saps the energy from her. An overbearing father, whom she loves dearly, only complicates the issue. And so she has resigned herself to live life from the inside of a house.

When she strikes up an acquaintance with Robert Browning, something comes alive in her spirit. She begins to wonder if God has more for her, and if she has the strength to defy her father and find out what that is.

Moser is a master at breathing life into historical figures. She is also meticulous in her research, including a “Fact or Fiction” section in the back of each book. What you end up with is a novel that is just about as factually accurate as any biography, but much more entertaining.

How Do I Love Thee moves at a slow, languid pace, like much of Elizabeth's life. The language and details will make you feel like you have taken a step back into time and are watching the characters live out their lives. This is one to read in long, uninterrupted chunks. It’s the kind of book to enjoy on a quiet summer evening, your feet kicked up on the porch rail and a glass of sweet tea at your side.


ABOUT THE AUTHOR

The common thread in Nancy Moser’s novels is that everyone has a unique purpose—the trick is to find out what it is. Her genres include contemporary stories (The Good Nearby, Time Lottery, Sister Circle, John 3: 16) and historical novels that allow real women-of-history to share their life stories: Just Jane (Jane Austen), Mozart’s Sister (Nannerl Mozart), Washington's Lady (Martha Washington) and, How Do I Love Thee?(Elizabeth Barrett Browning.) You can find out more about Nancy and her books at her website.

Interview with Kay Marshall Strom - WIN HER BOOK!

A big welcome to today's guest, author Kay Marshall Strom!


THE BIO

Kay Marshall Strom is the author of thirty-four published books. Her writing credits also include numerous magazine articles, prize-winning screenplays, and the NIV Devotional Bibles. More and more her writing is taking her to the far corners of the world. Kay is a sought-after speaker both in this country and globally.


THE INTERVIEW


JA: You are the first of the authors from the Abingdon Press fiction launch to visit my blog. Welcome! How did you find out about AP’s new line, and what made you want to be part of it?

KMS: Wow, what an honor to be the first! Thanks so much. My first acquaintance with the line came by way of a three-book contract offer via my agent, and I loved the company from the start. Here’s why. I had written the proposal for this trilogy a couple years earlier, and my usual publishers all said the same thing: “We love the book, but we can’t publish it because it will make people feel guilty.” Guilty? Slavery is a profound part of our past. If we can’t face it, we have a huge problem.


JA: Your latest book, The Call of Zulina, takes place in 1787 in West Africa and is the story of Grace, a young woman who is made to face the brutality and ugliness of the family business – the capture and trade of slaves. What drew you to this story?

KMS: While I was in West Africa working on another project, I toured an old slave fortress and was struck dumb by a set of baby-sized manacles bolted to the wall. At the same time, I was researching Once Blind: The Life of John Newton, a book about the author of Amazing Grace, who was a slaver turned preacher and abolitionist. For awhile he was held captive by an Englishman and his African wife who ran a slave business. I couldn’t help but wonder, “If they had a daughter, would she be English or African? Where would her loyalties lie?” That’s where the story was born. The imagined daughter became Grace. The characters of Lingongo and Joseph Winslow, her parents, are modeled after that real-life couple.


JA: Grace has to face a lot of unpleasant truths about her family and herself. What do you most admire about her?

KMS: Her strength to go on despite the horrors that came her way. It’s the quality that has consistently impressed me about so many women I met in various parts of Africa… perhaps most of all in Sudan.


JA: What do you hope people take away when they finish reading The Call of Zulina?

KMS: The danger that comes from rationalizing away the evils we don’t want to face. Slavery is a glaring example. More than two hundred years after Grace’s time, our world is still paying the price of that horrible period of history. And what people don’t realize is that slavery isn’t over. Four times as many people are enslaved in the world today than in the 18th century! It’s time for 21st century abolitionists to stand up and be counted.


JA: What’s next for you in the writing arena?

KMS: Well, since this is the first book of a trilogy… Also, it is just one of four books I have coming out this year—the other three are non-fiction, but on similar subjects. After I catch my breath and become reacquainted with my husband, I have another fiction trilogy planned, this one set in India. Also, I have been approached about going back to Sudan and writing about the displaced people who, after twenty-five years, are finally going home again.


JA: When you’re not writing, what’s the most fun thing you can think of doing?

KMS: This sounds silly, perhaps, but we have a spa hot tub on our patio, and my husband and I try to carve out at least half an hour each day to enjoy it. I love to luxuriate there and talk… or read… or doze. It is the most relaxing point of my day. My other great “not writing” joys are traveling and reading.


JA: The current theme of my blog is The Year of Dreams. If you could realize once life-long dream right now, what would it be?

KMS: Traveling around the world. I have done a good bit of traveling, but want to do more.


JA: Last but not least, how can people keep up with your latest publishing news?

KMS: Check out my website at http://www.kaystrom.com/. Also, I am just putting together a website dedicated to the Grace In Africa series at http://www.graceinafrica.com/. Come visit there, too!


ABOUT THE BOOK - The Call of Zulina

Set in 1787 in West Africa, The Call of Zulina opens as the scorching harmattan winds blow. Desperate to avoid marriage to an odious suitor, Grace escapes the family compound only to be caught up in a slave revolt at the fortress of Zulina. Soon, she begins to grasp the brutality and ferocity of the family business. Held for ransom, viciously maimed by a runaway slave, and threatened with death, Grace is finally jerked into reality and comes to sympathize with the plight of the captives. She admires their strength and courage and is genuinely moved by the African Cabeto’s passion, determination, and willingness to sacrifice anything, including his own life, for his people’s freedom.

The Call of Zulina is available in fine bookstores everywhere and online from Cokesbury, Amazon, Christian Book Distributors, and others.


WIN THE BOOK

If you’d like to be entered to win a copy of The Call of Zulina , just leave a reply to this blog. I’ll pick a winner at random on August 11th. 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!

Abingdon Press launches fiction line... TODAY!

I'm bursting with pride to be among those celebrating the birth of a new Christian fiction line.

Abingdon Press, an imprint of The United Methodist Publishing House, has been in operation since 1789. Now beginning its ninth decade, it has a commitment to providing the best, most effective religious publications available. Which is obvious in this bold new venture. When other publishing houses are talking about scaling back, Abingdon has chosen to expand and enter the world of fiction.

I'm particularly excited about this because Abingdon is the publisher of my next book. The Pastor's Wife comes out in February 2010, but is available for pre-order through Cokesbury at a 40% discount. If you'd like a preview, scroll down to the bottom of this page and take a gander at the book trailer.

But now, it's time to toot the horns of four other very talented writers. Check out these titles, available now online and in fine book selling establishments near you!


Gone to Green by Judy Christie

In Gone to Green, Lois goes from being a corporate journalist at a large paper in the Midwest to the owner of The Green News-Item, a small twice-weekly newspaper in rural North Louisiana. The paper was an unexpected inheritance from a close colleague, and Lois must keep it for at least a year, bringing a host of challenges, lessons, and blessings into her life.

When Lois pulls into Green on New Year’s Day, she expects a charming little town full of smiling people. She quickly realizes her mistake. After settling into a loaned house out on Route 2, she finds herself battling town prejudices and inner doubts and making friends with the most surprising people: troubled teenager Katy, good-looking catfish farmer Chris, wise and feisty Aunt Helen, and a female African-American physician named Kevin.

Whether fighting a greedy, deceitful politician or rescuing a dog she fears, Lois notices the headlines in her life have definitely improved. She learns how to provide small-town news in a big-hearted way and realizes that life is full of newsworthy moments. When she encounters racial prejudice and financial corruption, Lois also discovers more about the goodness of real people and the importance of being part of a community.

While secretly preparing the paper for a sale, Lois begins to realize that God might indeed have a plan for her life and that perhaps the allure of city life and career ambition are not what she wants after all.



Surrender the Wind by Rita Gerlach

Surrender the Wind is the story of Seth Braxton, a patriot of the American Revolution, who unexpectedly inherits his loyalist grandfather’s estate in England. Seth is torn between the land he fought for and the prospect of reuniting with his sister Caroline, who was a motherless child taken to England at the onset of the war.

With no intention of staying permanently, Seth arrives to find his sister grieving over the death of her young son. In the midst of such tragedy, Seth meets Juleah, the daughter of an eccentric landed gentleman. Her independent spirit and gentle soul steal Seth’s heart. After a brief courtship, they marry and she takes her place as the lady of Ten Width Manor, enraging the man who once sought her hand and schemed to make Ten Width his own.

From the Virginia wilderness to the dark halls of an isolated English estate, Seth and his beloved Juleah inherit more than an ancestral home. They uncover a sinister plot that leads to murder, abduction, and betrayal--an ominous threat to their new life, love, and faith.


The Prayers of Agnes Sparrow by Joyce Magnin

The Prayers of Agnes Sparrow is the story of an unusual woman, Agnes Sparrow. No longer able or willing to leave her home, where she is cared for by her long-suffering sister Griselda, Agnes has committed her life to the one thing she can do—besides eat. Agnes Sparrow prays and when Agnes prays things happen, including major miracles of the cancer, ulcer-healing variety along with various minor miracles not the least of which is the recovery of lost objects and a prize-winning pumpkin.

The rural residents of Bright’s Pond are so enamored with Agnes they plan to have a sign erected on the interstate that reads, “Welcome to Bright’s Pond, Home of Agnes Sparrow.” This is something Agnes doesn’t want and sends Griselda to fight city hall. Griselda’s petitions are shot down and the sign plans press forward until a stranger comes to town looking for his miracle from Agnes. The truth of Agnes’s odd motivation comes out when the town reels after the murder of a beloved community member. How could Agnes allow such evil in their midst? Didn’t she know? Well, the prayers of Agnes Sparrow have more to do with Agnes than God. Agnes has been praying to atone for a sin committed when she was a child. After some tense days, the townsfolk, Griselda, and Agnes decide they all need to find their way back to the true source of the miracles—God.



The Call of Zulina by Kay Marshall Strom

Set in 1787 in West Africa, The Call of Zulina opens as the scorching harmattan winds blow. Desperate to avoid marriage to an odious suitor, Grace escapes the family compound only to be caught up in a slave revolt at the fortress of Zulina. Soon, she begins to grasp the brutality and ferocity of the family business. Held for ransom, viciously maimed by a runaway slave, and threatened with death, Grace is finally jerked into reality and comes to sympathize with the plight of the captives. She admires their strength and courage and is genuinely moved by the African Cabeto’s passion, determination, and willingness to sacrifice anything, including his own life, for his people’s freedom.

The Grace in Africa series is a sweeping three-part historical saga of slavery and freedom that takes the reader from an island off the west coast of Africa to Southern plantations and finally on to Canada. All her life, Grace Winslow, the daughter of a mixed marriage between an English sea captain and an African princess, has been sheltered from the truth about the family business--the capture and trade of slaves.