Grounded by Neta Jackson and Dave Jackson

Grace Meredith has the world by the tail. As a contemporary Christian recording artist, she has it all--a fun personal assistant, a cool band that helps her to sound her best, a handsome fiance' and a message of purity that she shares with her young audiences. But this house of cards threatens to topple as  overtaxed vocal chords, exhaustion, and stress begin to take a toll on her career and relationships.

Oh, and there's a secret, something that happened in her past that leaves her vulnerable, and has the power to make her feel like a phony. The harder she presses the denial button, the closer she comes to falling apart.

It's time for Grace Meredith to face the music and make connections in her personal and spiritual life that will transform her head knowledge into heart knowledge and free her up to be the young woman of God that she was created to be.

Neta and Dave Jackson have an easy style of writing that draws you into the characters' world and makes you care about their community.

I especially liked the themes of community, interpersonal relationships, and spiritual growth.

More really good information from the publisher follows!

This week, the

Christian Fiction Blog Alliance

is introducing

Grounded

Worthy Publishing (May 7, 2013)


by

Neta and Dave Jackson


ABOUT THE AUTHORS:

As a husband/wife writing team, we are enthusiastic about books, kids, walking with God, gospel music, and each other! Together we are the authors or coauthors of over 120 books. (You can see our Publication Record by clicking HERE.) In addition to writing several books about Christian community, we have been privileged to coauthor numerous books with expert resource people on a variety of topics from racial reconciliation to medical ethics to ministry to kids in gangs.


But over the years the we have especially enjoyed writing for children and young people! This includes our award-winning TRAILBLAZER series, historical fiction about great Christian heroes and heroines for young people ages 8-12, and the four-volume HERO TALES: A Family Treasury of True Stories from the Lives of Great Christians, and the companion book, Heroes in Black History.


Somewhere along the way, our own children grew up! Son Julian is Director of Experience Design for the Alder Planetarium in Chicago where he “provides the experience of exploring space” for visitors. He has two sons, Liam Isaac and Elijah David. Daughter Rachel graduated from Eastern Mennonite University and after working in the field of rape-crisis prevention went on to earn a Masters Degree in counseling from the University of Illinois. She is now a counselor at “Uni High School” in Champaign, Illinois. She is the loving mother of Havah Noelle (our first grandchild!) and Noah Zion, our youngest grandchild. The Jackson family also includes a Cambodian foster daughter, Samen Sang, who has four children.


We live in Evanston, Illinois, where for twenty-seven years we were part of Reba Place Church, a Christian church community. We are now members of a multi-racial congregation in the Chicago area.


ABOUT THE BOOK

...But Hope May Be Just Across the Street


Grace Meredith is a beloved contemporary Christian recording artist whose career--and personal life--hits unexpected turbulence. She feels grounded--in more ways than one.
Grace s fiancé, bothered by her outspoken stance on purity and her near-constant travel, has broken off their relationship. Exhausted and unable to continue her current concert schedule, Grace returns home to Chicago, where she is soon stranded in a major snowstorm. Facing new questions about her future and her faith, Grace finds herself connecting for the first time with the residents of her neighborhood. What she discovers in these unexpected relationships could change everything.


Welcome to the Neighborhood
The first in the Windy City Neighbors series, Grounded is an uplifting, contemporary story about ordinary people wrestling with the spiritual and practical issues of real life. The series employs the innovative storytelling technique of parallel novels, each with its own drama and story arc, but whose characters lives become intertwined and affect one another. Grounded welcomes you to Beecham Street--a typical, isolated American neighborhood that might just be a place of hope.



If you would like to read the first chapter of Grounded, go Here.

Widow of Gettysburg by Jocelyn Green

Jocelyn Green's Widow of Gettysburg is a brilliantly researched novel revolving around the events that took place during one of the darkest events in American history-- the Battle of Gettysburg.

I am sorry to say that my knowledge of this time period is sketchy at best due to the fact that I shy away from most things "war". That said, I found myself absorbed by both the characters in the fiction part of the book, namely Liberty Holloway the heroine, and Bella, the former slave--now free to make her own way in the world, though not without danger-- and the incredibly accurate historical account of those few days that led up to the end of the Civil War.

This book was an eye-opener on so many levels. I was amazed by the depth of character wired into a generation of people, who, when called upon to do the unthinkable, rose to the occasion with grit and determination. Some, like Liberty Holloway, giving of herself and her possessions to help the disabled and wounded enemy who became "just people" who needed aid (and amputations).

Widow of Gettysburg is part of the Heroines Behind the Lines series, and if this book is any indication, I am positive that each one will be worth reading. History lessons disguised as compelling, page turning fiction... What could be better than that?

Please read on for some brilliant information from the publisher!

This week, the

Christian Fiction Blog Alliance

is introducing

Widow of Gettysburg
River North; New Edition edition (April 12, 2013)

by

Jocelyn Green


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Jocelyn Green is a child of God, wife and mom living in Cedar Falls, Iowa. She is also an award-winning journalist, author, editor and blogger. Though she has written nonfiction on a variety of topics, her name is most widely recognized for her ministry to military wives: Faith Deployed. Her passion for the military family was fueled by her own experience as a military wife, and by the dozens of interviews she has conducted with members of the military for her articles and books, Faith Deployed: Daily Encouragement for Military Wives and its sequel, Faith Deployed...Again: More Daily Encouragement for Military Wives. She is also co-author of both Stories of Faith and Courage from the War in Iraq & Afghanistan and Stories of Faith and Courage from the Home Front (forthcoming, May 2012). Her Faith Deployed Web site and Facebook page continue to provide ongoing support, encouragement and resources for military wives worldwide.





ABOUT THE BOOK

When a horrific battle rips through Gettysburg, the farm of Union widow Liberty Holloway is disfigured into a Confederate field hospital, bringing her face to face with unspeakable suffering--and a Rebel scout who awakens her long dormant heart.


While Liberty's future crumbles as her home is destroyed, the past comes rushing back to Bella, a former slave and Liberty's hired help, when she finds herself surrounded by Southern soldiers, one of whom knows the secret that would place Liberty in danger if revealed.


In the wake of shattered homes and bodies, Liberty and Bella struggle to pick up the pieces the battle has left behind. Will Liberty be defined by the tragedy in her life, or will she find a way to triumph over it?
Widow of Gettysburg is inspired by first-person accounts from women who lived in Gettysburg during the battle and its aftermath.



If you would like to read the first chapter of Widow of Gettysburg, go HERE.

Pieces of the Heart by Bonnie S. Calhoun

Pieces of the Heart is the kind of book that, after you read the last page and close the book, you find yourself--opening it up again. Is there more? I have tears in my eyes as I read the end notes. I have lived a life time right along with the characters. I grasp onto a bit more of history that feels deeply personal.

Bonnie Calhoun deftly tells the story of young African American, Cordelia Grace, who falls in love at 13 with her "super-hero" Bernard when he rescues her from neighborhood bullies. For all of his bravado, Bernard suffers at the hand of his abusive father.

Cordelia's life is pretty swell. Her father is the pastor of a fairly large congregation and her mother is a paragon of style. Though their priorities are a bit out of whack, Cordelia has her Grammy's unconditional-- yet uncompromising love, wisdom, and faith as her bedrock--along with prayers that have been lovingly stitched into a Pinecone Quilt. A prayer covering for her life.

But this book is about change. The ravages of World War II, mental and psychological damage, fear of poverty, and abuse of power threaten to overwhelm the love of the Savior, destroy the spirit, and unravel relationships that seem destined before the foundations of the world.

Pieces of the Heart is the perfect title for a book that cuts your heart into tiny pieces and then puts it back together in surprising and beautiful ways. It celebrates the pieces of our lives fashioned into a work of art designed by the Creator God who feels our pain and never gives up on us.

I must warn that reading this book just might inspire you to stitch up a prayer quilt of your own, or perhaps pick up an abandoned project waiting for you to return...

God bless you!

Please read on for more information about Pieces of the Heart!

This week, the

Christian Fiction Blog Alliance

is introducing

Pieces of the Heart

Abingdon Press (June 1, 2013)


by

Bonnie S. Calhoun


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Bonnie S. Calhoun is Owner/Director of Christian Fiction Blog Alliance, owner/publisher of Christian Fiction Online Magazine, Northeast Zone Director for American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW), the ACFW ‘2011 Mentor of the Year,” President of (CAN) Christian Authors Network, and Appointment Coordinator for both the Colorado Christian Writers Conference (CCWC) and the Greater Philadelphia Christian Writers Conference(GPCWC).


For the last six years she has taught workshops in Facebook, Twitter, Blogging, and creating Social Media promotions at both CCWC, and GPCWC, and in 2011 at the Montrose, Pa Christian Writers Conference. She also taught a Facebook workshop at the 2012 ACFW conference.


Bonnie and her husband live in a log cabin in upstate area of New York with a dog and cat who think she’s wait-staff.


Her sites are:

https://www.facebook.com/bonniescalhounsnarkandsuspense
 https://www.facebook.com/bscalhoun

 ABOUT THE BOOK

Cordelia Grace watched Bernard Howard, the love of her young life, go off to fight for our country in WWII. And she has spent the last three years creating the Pine Cone quilt that will grace their marriage bed when he comes home. Each row of triangles signifies a layer in her life, sets of memories, hopes, dreams, and prayers for her future, enough spoken words to cover them forever. Her image of their “happy-ever-after” grows proportionally as the quilt expands.


But is the man that returns from the war, the same man that she remembered? Are the dark shades of color that she had to use for the outside edges of the beloved quilt prophetic of her life to come? Can love and faith overcome all?


If you would like to read teh first chapter of Pieces of the Heart, go HERE.

Lock, Stock, and Over a Barrel by Melody Carlson

In Lock, Stock, and Over a Barrel, wedding column writer Daphne Ballinger inherits an estate in her home town of Appleton from her wildly eccentric Aunt Dee. But being the sole heir has its problems. One being that the rest of the relatives are up in arms and want their rightful piece of the Appleton Pie.

Unbeknownst to the family, there are stipulations of the most perplexing kind if Daphne is to prevent the whole kit and caboodle from going (literally) to Aunt Dee's cats. While the cats are pretty wonderful, Daphne realizes after spending a short time in the old home town that she has fallen in love with the place, but she wonders how far she'll have to go to hold on to her newly found happiness.

Melody Carlson writes with exceptional warmth and humor. I have found myself wanting to go "home" to Appleton on more than one occasion since reading Lock, Stock, and Over a Barrel. If you love romantic fiction that makes you feel like you can, in fact, go home again you will love this book. I am so happy to say that more of Daphne's story will be forthcoming.

Feel good, wonderful, cozy, romantic fiction at its best!!

More information from the publisher follows!!

Over the years, Melody Carlson has worn many hats, from pre-school teacher to youth counselor to political activist to senior editor. But most of all, she loves to write! Currently she freelances from her home. In the past eight years, she has published over ninety books for children, teens, and adults--with sales totaling more than two million and many titles appearing on the ECPA Bestsellers List. Several of her books have been finalists for, and winners of, various writing awards.

She has two grown sons and lives in Central Oregon with her husband and chocolate lab retriever. They enjoy skiing, hiking, gardening, camping and biking in the beautiful Cascade Mountains.





ABOUT THE BOOK

With high hopes, Daphne Ballinger lands her dream job at The New York Times. But it's not long until writing about weddings becomes a painful reminder of her own failed romance, and her love of the city slowly sours as well. Is it time to give up the Big Apple for her small hometown of Appleton?


When her eccentric Aunt Dee passes away and leaves a sizeable estate to Daphne, going back home is an easy choice. What isn’t easy is coming to terms with the downright odd clauses written into the will.


Daphne only stands to inherit the estate if she agrees to her aunt's very specific posthumous terms -- personal and professional. And if she fails to comply, the sprawling old Victorian house shall be bequeathed to . . . Aunt Dee’s cats.


And if Daphne thinks that’s odd, wait until she finds out an array of secrets about Aunt Dee's life, and how imperfect circumstances can sometimes lead to God's perfect timing.


If you would like to read the first chapter of Lock, Stock and Over a Barrel, go HERE.

Fear has a Name by Creston Mapes

Pam Crittendon is being stalked. Her family spirals into a tailspin that threatens not only their lives but shakes their presuppositions of life and faith to the core. 

Her husband Jack, in his desire to protect his family, feels out of control as he tries to make sense of this hellish situation. Questions rise to the surface pitting compassion against the arm of the law and the human desire to make things safe.

A missing pastor has left a suicide note, but what evil has sent out its tentacles to drag him into eternal oblivion?

Creston Mapes turns fear on its head in his new thriller, Fear has a Name. How does one do that exactly? By creating characters that cross over the lines into places that they have no business being. 

Places where most of us have trod at one time or another.  Places of fear, loneliness, shame, and guilt. The things that we keep carefully hidden, the stuff of nightmares and reality. The things that would make us feel like freaks if anyone really knew. 

Yet it is in those places where we cry out for someone to see us as we are-- and love us anyway.  

Fear has a Name is a thriller that challenged me to see the fault lines in fallen humanity in a more compassionate light while enjoying the nail biting suspense at the same time.

Please read on for more information about Fear has a Name and Creston Mapes!

This week, the

Christian Fiction Blog Alliance

is introducing

Fear Has a Name

David C. Cook (June 1, 2013)

by

Creston Mapes

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: 

Creston has fond memories of his boyhood in Bath, Ohio, where he became enchanted with his future wife, way back in the fourth grade. His father, Bernie, owned and operated The Weathervane Furniture Shop in town. The whole family lived right upstairs in the century-old house known as "The Shop."

Creston studied journalism at Bowling Green State University, then began his writing career. During the past 30 years, he has worked as a reporter, corporate copywriter, creative director, freelance writer, and author.

ABOUT THE BOOK

From popular suspense author Creston Mapes comes another faith-building thriller, a tale that follows journalist Jack Crittendon as he fights to protect his family from a stalker's terrifying schemes, investigates a pastor's mysterious disappearance, and struggles to keep his faith amidst unthinkable fear.

With his family's safety on the line, Crittendon realizes there are secrets behind "Christian" walls--secrets with painful, deadly implications. He must find the faith to trust a God who allows inconceivable trials, and the courage to guard his family, with danger exploding at every turn.

Through it all--the sharp, character-driven writing for which Mapes is known--takes fans and new readers on an edge-of-your-seat journey that explores the harsh, far-reaching consequences of bullying and the Christian response to fear.

If you would like to read the first chapter of Fear Has a Name, go HERE.

WOUNDS by Alton Gansky

"A bead of sweat trickled down the preacher's spine, trekking south toward a perspiration-soaked waistband."--Alton Gansky

So begins Gansky's gritty new novel, Wounds. Believe me, things are about to get a lot sweatier, as a serial killer stalks his prey and flexes his muscle throughout the San Diego area.

Carman Rainmondi is the lead detective on the case. She's smart as a whip and has an excellent supporting cast, but she's finding it hard to connect the dots in these bizarre murders--and the body count is rising.

A reclusive professor of theology with a traumatic secret may have some answers--if his fear doesn't get the best of him as his past comes back to haunt him.

Gansky makes quick work of pulling the reader into this sophisticated mystery thriller. I could not put it down! Best seller material.

Please read on for more information about WOUNDS, but be warned--if you read the first chapter, you will not rest until you've gotten yourself a copy of this book!

This week, the

Christian Fiction Blog Alliance

is introducing

Wounds

B&H Books (May 1, 2013)


by

Alton Gansky


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Alton L. Gansky is the author of 24 novels and 8 nonfiction works, as well as principle writer of 9 novels and 2 nonfiction books. He has been a Christie Award finalist (A Ship Possessed) and an Angel Award winner (Terminal Justice) and recently was award the ACFW award for best suspense/thriller for his work on Fallen Angel. He holds a BA and MA in biblical studies and Lit.D. He lives in central California with his wife.

In addition to his own writing, Alton Gansky has consulted and provided editing/ writing services to several CBA publishers and written copy, video scripts, and other works for the general business market. Through Gansky.Communications he has consulted with publishers and agents, as well as provided editing services. He is “the go to guy” for co-writing having been selected by Penguin, Waterbrook, Broadman Holman, and other publishers to work with their top tier authors.

Gansky is in frequent demand at writer’s conferences having taught and keynoted in California, Arizona, New Mexico, North Carolina, Delaware, Washington, and Canada. He has also been guest lecturer on suspense writing at Taylor University in Indiana.


 ABOUT THE BOOK

A man’s lifeless body is found in the fresh soil of San Diego’s botanical garden. Cause of death is asphyxiation, an easy call for the medical examiner. More mysterious, however, are the tiny drops of blood on the victim’s skin, resulting from hundreds of punctures.

A rabbi leaving his house for work expects a regular day at the synagogue. That quickly changes when he discovers a dead man on his front lawn, clearly beaten to death.

Motorcycle riders racing along the empty streets of an abandoned military base stumble across another man’s corpse, its skin revealing long, red-purple marks of a thrashing given with wood dowels.

The numbers mount. Each week another victim and another mysterious clue in a game of mass murder the police don’t want to lose. The solution rests with Dr. Ellis Poe, a religious professor who only wishes to be left alone with his books and classes.

But evil must be faced, and the choice is no longer his own.


If you would like to read the first chapter of Wounds, go HERE.

When the Morning Glory Blooms by Cynthia Ruchti

"Where the Morning Glory blooms is not your garden variety novel."--me

 There are some words that invoke a visceral response. Teen pregnancy. Abortion. Adoption.
Going there invites confrontation and conflict. Everyone has an opinion--a definitive position on the subject--until, perhaps, one is tested.

Cynthia Ruchti introduces the reader to three generations of characters whose lives are changed forever by the choices that they make regarding unwanted pregnancy. She explores family relationships rocked by disappointment and shattered dreams. The status quo no longer exists and navigating these new waters requires major paradigm shifts-- the "new normal" is no longer a trendy cliche', but a rip-out-your heart necessity.

Friendships are tested and help comes, at times, in surprising ways.

Gods fingers moving softly on the key boards of our lives.

Where the Morning Glory Blooms is so relevant to today. Look around, listen to the news, lend a helping hand where you can. Pray.

That is what this book prompts in me.
Please read on for more information!

This week, the

Christian Fiction Blog Alliance

is introducing

When The Morning Glory Blooms

Abingdon Press (April 1, 2013)

by

Cynthia Ruchti


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Cynthia writes stories of hope that glows in the dark, merging her love for storytelling with inextinguishable hope for inexpressible hurts.


Cynthia spends her days diving into words, worship, and wonder and celebrating 40 years of marriage, three grown children, and five outrageously adorable grandchildren. One of her greatest joys is helping other writers grow in their craft. To that end, she served as the assistant director and a faculty member of the Quad Cities Christian Writers Conference, has served as worship and devotions staff for the Write-to-Publish conference, and teaches at other conferences as opportunities arise. She speaks to women’s groups, at mother-daughter banquets, and for women’s refresher days and retreats. It is her delight to serve on her church’s worship team. Rather than “busy,” she likes the term “active.”


For 33 years, Cynthia wrote and produced the radio broadcast The Heartbeat of the Home. The scripted radio drama/devotional broadcast aired on as many as 50 radio stations and two cable/digital television stations over the years. Cynthia was the editor of the ministry’s Backyard Friends magazine, a twenty-page, twice annual publication that reached 5,000 homes, churches, and parachurch outreaches.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Becky rocks a baby that rocked her world. Sixty years earlier, with her fiancé Drew in the middle of the Korean Conflict, Ivy throws herself into her work at a nursing home to keep her sanity and provide for the child Drew doesn't know is coming. Ivy cares for Anna, an elderly patient who taxes Ivy's listening ear until the day she suspects Anna's tall tales are not the ramblings of dementia. They're fragments of Anna's disjointed memories of a remarkable life. Finding a faint thread of hope she can't resist tugging, Ivy records Anna's memoir, scribbling furiously after hours to keep up with the woman's emotion-packed, grace-hemmed stories. Is Ivy's answer buried in Anna's past? Becky, Ivy, Anna--three women fight a tangled vine of deception in search of the blossoming simplicity of truth.


If you would like to read the first chapter of When The Morning Glory Blooms, go HERE.