Free Christian Fiction - August 8, 2012

Here are some new ebooks you can get for free. You never know how long the freebies will last on Kindle... but as of right now, these are all FREE! Even if you already have the paper version, grab the e-version and give the authors a boost. We LOVE that. Oh, and here's a hint... when it's free on Kindle, it's often free on other e-reader platforms. So check them out on the one you use. You may get a nice surprise.



These books are still out there for free... YAY!

When "New & Improved" Isn't

We all have our comfort foods. For some, it's mashed potatoes, mac & cheese, bread slathered in butter... whatever your comfort food, it's probably something that you know really isn't good for you, but it takes you back to another time and place. With that first bite, the tension leaves your shoulders, you kind of sink into your chair, and a contented sigh escapes your lips.

Hamburger Helper is one of my comfort foods. Lasagna HH, to be exact. I haven't eaten it in years, but two weeks ago, I decided I wanted some. So I picked up a box and a pound of ground beef and headed home to make a comforting meal. At least, that was the idea.

My beef was browned and drained. I looked at the back of the box to double check how much water to add and to my surprise saw that milk was now listed. Milk? In my lasagna? There was never milk before. Did I get the right kind? I turned the box over, and that's when I saw it: New Improved Flavor.

My heart sunk. Because New Improved Flavor should mean that I'm going to really, really enjoy this food. But we all know it doesn't. What it really means is, We took something you already enjoyed, messed with it, and now it's completely different.

I still made it. I ate some of it. And I was extremely disappointed. Maybe it does taste more "homemade" like they claim on the box (although when I open a box and cook on top of the stove, I consider it homemade, so I don't know why that was even an issue.) But it doesn't taste like it used to. Not even close. And it doesn't look the same. I miss the almost-neon orange sauce. Sure it was artificial and a color not normally found in nature, but it was part of the experience. And now it's gone.

Sometimes, it seems like companies decide they have to constantly change things in order to keep people interested. Perhaps that's true. Personally, I cringe at the word upgrade. Because nine times out of ten, it doesn't mean better... it means now you have to relearn how to do something that was easy to you yesterday.

Sorry for venting about my disappointing HH experience. If you're waiting for it to lead into a philosophical analogy about the fluidity of life and how nothing stays the same, sorry to disappoint you. I've got nothin'. I'm just really bummed about a taste from my past that apparently is gone forever.

To leave it on a positive note, let's take a look at a dependable friend. A product that never disappoints because, despite all the different versions available, you can still get the old, dependable original... plain M&Ms. How I love you, little candy-coated chocolates!

Itty Bitty Faith

This has been a hard year. Personally, that is...

My church, Faith Community Lutheran in Las Vegas
my spiritual home... a place of peace
and hope and love. A blessing.

Things are moving forward career-wise. I had a book come out in April. Another one coming out in November. And there's a new deal I'll be announcing (I hope) by the end of this month. So from a career perspective, I have no reason to complain.

But back to that personal stuff...

It's been brutal. I'm keeping the details to myself right now. God may release me one day to share it all, but today isn't that day. What's important is that I've been letting personal crisis and struggle beat me down.

I've had itty, bitty faith.

There are times when my faith blooms a bit... I know God will get me through. But for the most part, my faith is so small... I'm convinced there's no way out. That I've passed a point of no return and all I can do is surrender to it, to get as comfortable as possible in my discomfort.

I heard a pastor once tell this story... a travelling salesman visited a farmer one day. The man was sitting on his porch in a rocking chair, comfy as can be. On the other side of the porch was a hound dog, stretched out lazy and half asleep on his side. The salesman was telling the farmer about the great deal he had when the dog moved a little and whimpered. The dog wiggled, then went back to sleep. The salesman kept talking, but a minute later, the dog did the same thing. It happened a few more times, and finally, the salesman asked, "Is your dog all right? It sounds like he's in pain."

The farmer shook his head and smiled. "Naw, he's fine. He's lying on a nail and he's too lazy to move off it."

I've been a hound dog lying on a nail. And you know... it's time to get up and move.

It's time to do something different. It's time to know that God doesn't need me to be a woman of great, mountain-moving faith in order to move in my life. God has everything I need. He just wants me to start living in it.

So I share with you today my desire to live in God's grace and mercy. If you're a praying person, I ask you to consider sending up a prayer that God will constantly remind me that HIS power and grace and love are sufficient for me, regardless how much faith I feel at any given moment.

And friends, I pray for all of you. That you will know how much God loves you, no matter what the circumstance. And He doesn't want a single one of His children taking naps on nails.

Something Revolutionary... THE BOOK

Created by WinePress of Words.

Free Kindle Christian Fiction - July 6, 2012

You never know how long the freebies will last on Kindle... but as of right now, these are all FREE! Even if you already have the paper version, grab the e-version and give the authors a boost. We LOVE that.

CFBA Presents SHORT-STRAW BRIDE by Karen Witemeyer

This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing Short-Straw Bride Bethany House Publishers (June 1, 2012) by Karen Witemeyer

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Karen Witemeyer is a deacon's wife and mother of three who believes the world needs more happily-ever-afters. To that end, she combines her love of bygone eras with her passion for helping women mature in Christ to craft historical romance novels that lift the spirit and nurture the soul.
After growing up in California, Karen moved to Texas to attend Abilene Christian University where she earned bachelor and master's degrees in Psychology. It was also there that she met and married her own Texas hero. He roped her in good, for she has lived in Texas ever since. In fact, she fell so in love with this rugged land of sweeping sunsets and enduring pioneer spirit, that she incorporates it into the pages of her novels, setting her stories in the small towns of a state that burgeoned into greatness in the mid- to late1800s.

Karen is living her dream by writing Christian historical romance novels for Bethany House.


ABOUT THE BOOK

No one steps on Archer land. Not if they value their life. But when Meredith Hayes overhears a lethal plot to burn the Archer brothers off their ranch, a twelve-year-old debt compels her to take the risk.

Fourteen years of constant vigilance hardens a man. Yet when Travis Archer confronts a female trespasser with the same vivid blue eyes as the courageous young girl he once aided, he can't bring himself to send her away. And when an act of sacrifice leaves her injured and her reputation in shreds, gratitude and guilt send him riding to her rescue once again.

If you would like to read the first chapter of Short-Straw Bride, go HERE.

Rewriting my Debut Novel

In 2007, Five Star released my first novel, a contemporary romance titled The Love of His Brother. Boy, was I excited. It was the first step in an ongoing journey... the first time I seriously made the transition from writer to author (in my mind, anyway).

Now, five years later, TLOHB is out of print and the rights have reverted back to me. That means I have the ability to republish it, which I intend to do, in ebook format. In preparation for this, I decided to go over the manuscript and give a good polish and shine. What an eye-opener that was!

I still believe it's a good story, but the writing, well... let's just say I've come a long, long way since then. What I thought would be a quick touch up here and there has turned into a major remodel. Hopefully, I'll get through it by the end of the month... even with my hand in a cast (which I have to mention in order to elicit the appropriate sympathy sigh... awwwwwwwwe.)