A Ride in a WWII B-17 Flying Fortress Bomber: Research for No Neutral Ground

I’m welcoming Terri Wangard, WWII novelist! So happy you’re here today, Terri. Readers don’t forget to leave a comment and your email address for a chance to win No Neutral Ground.

Blurb:
After his father divorces his mother because of her Jewish ancestry, Rafe and the rest of his family flee Germany. As a B-17 navigator, he returns to Europe. Flying missions against his former homeland arouses emotions that surprise Rafe. Despite being rejected, he is troubled by the destruction of Germany and his heart still cries for his father’s love.
Sweden may be neutral, but it’s full of intrigue. Jennie assists the OSS at the American legation in Sweden. She thought she’d be doing passive, behind-the-scenes work. Instead, she’s pushed into an active role to gain intelligence and frustrate the Germans.
How can Rafe and Jennie succeed in their dangerous roles when they are so conflicted?

Buy her book here:  Amazon

 

Tell us a little bit of how you were called, or began writing. Happenstance? A clear call? A chosen career?
I enjoyed writing in grade school, but didn’t keep it up. I love books and got a Masters of Library Science degree. I read Christian romances from the church library and found many to be so similar, as if they were written by formula. I decided to try writing my own story. That was in the early 2000s. A publisher had the manuscript for a year before saying no thanks. I put writing aside until 2008, when I read Debbie Macomber’s Twenty Wishes. That prompted me to start writing again.

Characters and Brain Cells

I’m welcoming today my long-time friend, Barbara Derksen. She’s a multi-published author. Readers, do welcome her with your comments and be sure to leave an email addy that you MIGHT JUST WIN a copy of her book: Wicked Disregard. 

The mind fogs. Characters trip over dead branches in one story and hide behind the folds of a burka in another. Each has their antagonists, BFF’s, and ministry but most importantly, they have the Lord. My eyes dull. My mind races ahead of itself, trying to find out what’s happening to people who’ve become my friends. My characters teeter behind one brain cell after another in flight but also in pursuit.
I’m sure I’ve not adequately explained the mind of a writer, but I’m sure all of you understand that dualism we participate in. We walk around looking perfectly normal, smiling when we should, eating when we ought to, and sweeping the floor when it needs it. People raise their eyebrows when they discover we are writers, looking as if to say, “But you look so normal.”
When describing the premise for a new mystery series, I watched as the listener furrowed his brow and asked, “Where do you come up with this stuff?” Another person comments, “You’re sick.” There are times…but I love getting my characters into a pickle and then finding devious, heretofore not thought of, ways to extricate their endangered body from the mess. I love discovering new devices, pieces of equipment, or anything that will aid their attempts. My body tingles in excited anticipation as readers ask ahead of time, “Do they survive?”
Writing has been an adventure from the beginning…whether I’m writing a devotional, a mystery, or a children’s book. Taking an idea, expanding on it and then watching it become what God intended in the first place, is an adventure that careens around corners fraught with typos, POV issues, and other editing giants. The polish for the story becomes the polish for my soul as I grow spiritually and as a writer, all at the same time.
During these beautiful days of spring, as the weather remains so perfect, it’s hard to remain disciplined…to keep at it. But then, the drama in my head draws me back. I compromise by opening the patio door near my desk. I let the day’s warmth penetrate while my character reaches to trust her Savior again in a new situation that seeks to destroy.

 

ABOUT her Book:

Pedophiles and prostitutes, the last thing Christine Smith envisioned when she embarked on a career to find missing children. Will she end her work as an investigator and run the company left to her by her dead Father?

Now she’s been shot! How does her growing relationship with God change her outlook on life? Christine and Jeremy follow the clues in this, the third book in the Finders Keepers mystery series. In Wicked Disregard, they unravel a ring of vicious pedophiles while Christine continues to search for the identity of the man who ordered the death of her parents.

Buy her book here:

Amazon Canada

Amazon U.S.
Amazon Author Page

About Barbara:

Seeking to encourage, inspire, and invite, Barbara Ann Derksen writes about Kingdom living characters who live in a not-so Kingdom world. She has been scrambling letters into enjoyable fiction and non-fiction for over 20 years, and has been a published writer since 2003. Her readers share how the books are hard to put down, keep them up at night reading long after lights out, and spur them on to a closer walk with their Lord.

 

Her favorite genre is mystery so, to thrill her readers, she composes a new one every year.

• She has just completed the four book series, The Wilton Strait Mystery Series, now available through her website, on Amazon in Canada, Europe, and the US, and through Amazon’s Kindle store as e-books, as well as Smashwords for e-book readers other than Kindle. Vanished, Presumed Dead, Fear Not, and Silence are a series that provides hours of entertainment, food for thought, and keep her readers wanting more.

• The first book in the Finders Keepers Series was released the spring of 2013.

Barbara has also penned a devotional series with six books to her credit so far. While these

devotionals target bikers, the words in them inspire people in all walks of life with a variety of interests.

• Straight Pipes,
• Two-Up,
• Chrome,
• Chaps,
• Road Trip, and
• More Than Bells take readers where God meets with them and encourages them to walk closer to Him, heed His words, and share their faith with others. The books are discipling tools sought after for those who want to make a spiritual difference in someone’s life.
• Her latest devotional on Prayer released in the spring of 2013.

Children’s stories are a natural by-product of having grandchildren. For Barbara, the fun begins when she envisions an animal character with characteristics very much like one of her grandchildren.

• Shih-Tzu Puppy Adventures, once in audio book form only, has been turned into an early chapter book for third grade readers.
• Scruffles Finds a Home, her only Christmas story, was commissioned by a real Santa’s Castle in Iowa and is an enjoyable read during the Holiday season.
• Trumpeter Swan Adventures, still in audio book form, is educational as well as entertaining.
• A new children’s story Squirrels Are People, Too was released 2014.

Barbara has two other non-fiction books:

• Dance With a Broom is a household management guide for busy parents. Purchased widely as a stocking stuffer or a shower gift, it gives young parents some tools and food for thought.
• Second to None is a collection of real life combat stories submitted to Barbara by members of the Second Infantry Division of the US army. These stories seek to honor the veterans who served to preserve our freedoms.

Barbara is a member of Emmanuel Evangelical Free Church in Steinbach, Manitoba, Authors of Manitoba Writer’s Group, and John 316 Network Marketing writer’s group. She attends a writer’s group in Winnipeg once a month, and speaks about writing to various writers groups around the province. She has attended several Colorado Christian Writers Conferences in Estes Park, Colorado and taken courses from other sources to perfect her craft.

Barbara and her husband, Henry, have been married for 47 years, have four children, and eleven grandchildren. Henry is a singer/songwriter with 8 CDs to his name. His soothing country gospel melodies encourage and entertain … words that come from his heart to God’s ears

Connect with Barbara here:
LinkedIn
Goodreads
Twitter: BarbaraADerksen

Twitter: BarbAnnDerksen
Facebook
Facebook Fan Page: Eagles Nest
Website
Smashwords
Google +

 

Readers, be sure to leave a comment and an email addy that you MIGHT JUST WIN a copy of her book: Wicked Disregard. 

Thanks for joining us, Barbara!

Five Reasons YOU Should Read

Did your teacher–or mother or father or someone else–ever tell you that you must read to be success? That reading is the most important subject to learn? That you couldn’t make it without learning to read?

Of course, we’ve had those and many other similar ideas about reading shoved at us, pounded into our brains until they are second nature to us.

Let me share a few thoughts I have about reading today on Tamera and Carole’s Promotion Tuesday:

Quotes I Love that encourage reading:

• A good book makes you want to live in the story. A great book gives you no choice. –Unknown
• My best friend is a person who will give me a book I have not read. –Abraham Lincoln
• A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads lives only one. –George R. R Martin

And my Five Reasons you should read:

5.  Entertainment and relaxation: Are you looking for something to take your mind from the daily grind? Reading is a great stress-buster and according to one test from the Sussex University researchers, can reduce stress by as much as 68 percent. Sounds like a good idea to me!

4.  Can Fight Alzheimer’s:  activities such as chess, puzzles, learning a new language, reading, etc., engages your brain activity and could mean you’d be 2.5 times less likely to develop Alzheimer’s. Makes sense, and also keeps you busy and in a happier frame of mind.

3.  Makes you more empathetic: When you lose yourself in a book’s pages, you are learning what others are thinking, what their emotions are and why, and increases your social skills and knowledge of humanity.

2.  Increases intelligence and boosts brain power: Diving into a good book opens up a whole new world of learning. Children’s books expose kids to 50 percent more words than prime time TV. For college kids, exposure to new words/vocabulary leads to higher reading scores and general tests of knowledge.

Not only that, but reading gives your brain a good workout. Not only vital for younger ones, but for the elderly too, prolonging the slowing down of a brain’s activity

1.   The Bible: My favorite–reading enables you to read, study and delve deeply into the Word of God, thus encouraging you to a healthier, richer relationship with God. It helps youngsters develop a taste for more knowledge of God. It gives the established ones in the faith strength to fight the enemy and hold fast to what they have learned.

Having said all that, and hopefully encouraged you to read, and read more, let me invite you to check out Tamera’s books and two of mine:

Available now on Amazon

Available now on Amazon

 

 

 

 

 

 

Available June 2016

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Special offer $.99 Kindle Amazon

 

• READ to your kids.
• Take a book and READ on a boat ride, while waiting on the fish to bite, sitting on a coverlet with a picnic basket and waiting for your hubby or man-of-your-dreams to join you.
• READ when you’re blue or discouraged, when you’re happy and jumping for joy, when you’re scared and lonely.
• READ to your elderly parents, to your husband/wife, a shut-in or to all the neighborhood kids.
• Read while on vacation–at the beach, in the woods, touring a museum (guidebook), while traveling in a car, an airplane, a train.
• READ to your pets, and most of all, READ.

Many wonderful days of reading wished for you!

 

 

When in Scotland …

Welcoming Author Norma Gail Thurston Holtman to our Thursdays Guest Author Posts!  Don’t forget to leave a comment and your email address for a chance to win Norma’s book! 

Her book takes you directly to the highland of Scotland. Lovely book, and I’m sure you’ll enjoy her post about her adventures in Scotland. Read on . . .
More than just the northern part of Great Britain, Scotland is a unique and unusual place. Everyone knows about kilts, bagpipes, and castles, but little else. When I decided to set my debut novel, Land of My Dreams, in Scotland, there was quite a learning curve. During a two-week vacation, I barely glimpsed the top of the ben (mountain) when it came to understanding the language and culture necessary to portray Scottish life with accuracy.

“The Dawn Of a Dream” by Ann Shorey

The Dawn of a Dream

by Ann Shorey

Book #3 in At Home In Beldon Grove Series

Available in April, 2011

Description:

Twenty-two-year-old Luellen O’Connell is stunned and confused when her husband of just one month tells her he is leaving her. Deeply wounded by this betrayal, Luellen decides to follow the dream she had set aside of obtaining a teaching degree.

More than anything, she wants to teach children in communities like hers and help them recognize that education opens a path to future possibilities.  But her wayward husband left something behind when he abandoned her. Can Luellen overcome the odds and achieve her dream? Can she hide her secret, or will it destroy her dreams forever?

A moving story of tenacity and perseverance in the face of opposition, The Dawn of a Dream will inspire readers to discover and follow their own dreams.

Click here, to enter the Railway Dreams by April 5th.

Review:  ♥  ♥  ♥  ♥  ♥

This novel finishes off Ann Shorey’s “At Home In Beldon Grove Series”. I’ve enjoyed reading about Molly who wouldn’t let being a young widow with four young children stop her and about her brother, Matthew, who fought discouragement during a time of great grief to keep a town and a church together. But I think I like Luellen, Molly’s daughter, the best of all. Shorey kept throwing insurmountable odds ins Luellen’s direction, and Luellen would not give up. She kept fighting to do what she believed God called her to do. She not only has her mother and uncle’s perseverance, she surpasses it. I won’t tell you what happens, but this novel will encourage anyone who’s had to deal with obstacles blocking their way. Another great novel by Ann Shorey.

“Fatal Judgment” by Irene Hannon

Fatal Judgement

by Irene Hannon

Description:

Deputy Marshal Jake Taylor has seen plenty of action as a member of the U.S. Marshals Special Operations Group, including a recent stint in Iraq. But he’d much rather go back to that hotbed of trouble than deal with his next assignment: providing protection for federal judge Liz Michaels. His antipathy toward her is just as strong as it was five years ago, when her husband—his best friend—died in a possible suicide. But as Jake works to keep Liz safe, he discovers she’s not a cold-hearted workaholic wedded to nothing but her job, as he expected. Forced to reevaluate his opinion, he also finds himself grappling with a growing attraction. And when it becomes clear that an unknown enemy may want her dead, the stakes go up. Because now both her life—and his heart—are in danger.

My Review:  ♥  ♥  ♥  ♥  ♥

This romantic suspense novel has everything lovers of romantic suspense need for a great story. The hero, Jake Taylor, as a federal marshal, is on a mission to protect the heroine, Liz Michaels, a federal court judge. But the two have a past. Jake blames Liz for the death of his best friend.

Things heat up when the man after Liz might not be who everyone thinks. Jake needs every ounce of professionalism but finds it hard, not only because of the animosity he holds for Liz, but also because he’s falling for her hard.

This novel isn’t predictable and will take you through some twists and turns. It delivers edge-of-the-seat suspense while supplying the reader with plenty of romance along the way.

Featured Novel: The Last Operative by Jerry Jenkins

The Last Operative

by Jerry Jenkins

 

Description:

Jordan Kirkwood wants to go quietly into the sunset. His career as an NSA intelligence officer has taken a significant toll. His two adult children are little more than distant acquaintances. His wife has been patient and supportive, but he knows she has deserved better. That was part of the reason they were going to London. He wanted her to see Europe like a tourist. But that was before he was given intelligence information during the recent mission to Germany. The threat is grave—bigger than 9/11. And the risk is compounded by the fact that someone inside the NSA is involved. The most hidden place in Kirkwood’s past will have to be unmasked in order to meet the challenges of this mission.

 

My Review:  ♥  ♥  ♥  ♥  ♥

I have always loved spy novels. The suspense, the adventure, the danger, and stakes that involve the survival of civilization make them exciting reads. This novel by the Left Behind Series author has all that and more. This operative is a Christian. And that changes the dynamics in a good way. Jordan Kirkwood is not as close to God as he once was. He loves his wife and adult children but knows he has not given them the time they deserve because of his job as a NSA operative. He also knows he’s allowed his job to affect his relationship with God and caused him to become cynical. But everything is about to be challenged in a new way when he discovers a plot by terrorists that will make 9/11 look tame in comparison. And someone in the NSA is involved. While he tries to make amends with his family and sort out mistakes of his past, he must contend with the greatest threat he has ever faced as an NSA operative. But he doesn’t know who he can trust. I highly recommend this novel. I hope there’s a sequel.

 

Featured Novel – Relentless by Dean Koontz

Relentless

by Dean Koontz

 

Description:

#1 New York Times bestselling master of suspense Dean Koontz delivers a mesmerizing new thriller that explores the razor-thin line between the best and worst of human nature—and the anarchy simmering just beneath society’s surface—as a likeable, successful family man is drawn into a confrontation with a foe of unimaginable malice…

Bestselling novelist Cullen “Cubby” Greenwich is a lucky man and he knows it. He makes a handsome living doing what he enjoys. His wife, Penny, a children’s book author and illustrator, is the love of his life. Together they have a brilliant six-year-old, Milo, affectionately dubbed “Spooky,” and a non-collie named Lassie, who’s all but part of the family.

So Cubby knows he shouldn’t let one bad review of his otherwise triumphant new book get to him—even if it does appear in the nation’s premier newspaper and is penned by the much-feared, seldom-seen critic, Shearman Waxx. Cubby knows the best thing to do is ignore the gratuitously vicious, insulting, and inaccurate comments. Penny knows it, even little Milo knows it. If Lassie could talk, she’d tell Cubby to ignore them, too.

Ignore Shearman Waxx and his poison pen is just what Cubby intends to do. Until he happens to learn where the great man is taking his lunch. Cubby just wants to get a look at the mysterious recluse whose mere opinion can make or break a career—or a life.

But Shearman Waxx isn’t what Cubby expects; and neither is the escalating terror that follows what seemed to be an innocent encounter. For Waxx gives criticism; he doesn’t take it. He has ways of dealing with those who cross him that Cubby is only beginning to fathom. Soon Cubby finds himself in a desperate struggle with a relentless sociopath, facing an inexorable assault on far more than his life.

Fearless, funny, utterly compelling, Relentless is Dean Koontz at his riveting best, an unforgettable tale of the fragile bonds that hold together all that we most cherish—and of those who would tear those bonds asunder.

 

Read Excert Here

 

My Review:  ♥  ♥  ♥  ♥  ♥

This wasn’t my favorite Dean Koontz novel because it was so different that the others, but that being said, I still gave it five hearts because I loved it. It has all the Koontz trademarks: edge of your seat suspense, honorable everyday guy with a secret, good vs evil. But it’s done sort of tongue in cheek with quite a bit of irony, some of it bordering on the unbelievable. Only a writer as good as Koontz is able to pull something like this off. The irony begins almost immediatly with the sociopath book reviewer not only trashing the lovable author’s new novel, but deciding he must die for writing it. I’m sure Koontz was thinking of some of his past reviews when he wrote this. The old adage that if you make a writer angry, you may end up as the villian in his next book may have been going through Koontz’s mind. All in all, this was a very enjoyable read and I highly recommend it.

Featured Novel: Your Heart Belongs To Me by Dean Koontz

Your Heart Belongs To Me

by Dean Koontz

Book Description:

From the #1 New York Times bestselling master of suspense comes a riveting thriller that probes the deepest terrors of the human psyche–and the ineffable mystery of what truly makes us who we are. Here an innocent man finds himself fighting for his very existence in a battle that starts with the most frightening words of all…

At thirty-four, Internet entrepreneur Ryan Perry seemed to have the world in his pocket–until the first troubling symptoms appeared out of nowhere. Within days, he’s diagnosed with incurable cardiomyopathy and finds himself on the waiting list for a heart transplant; it’s his only hope, and it’s dwindling fast. Ryan is about to lose it all…his health, his girlfriend, Samantha, and his life.

One year later, Ryan has never felt better. Business is good and there’s even a chance of getting Samantha back in his life. Then the unmarked gifts begin to arrive in the mail–a heart pendant, a box of Valentine candy hearts. And, most disturbing of all, a graphic heart surgery video accompanied by a chilling message: Your heart belongs to me.

In a heartbeat, the medical miracle that gave Ryan a second chance at life is about to become a curse worse than death. For Ryan is being stalked by a mysterious woman who feels entitled to everything he has. She’s the spitting image of the twenty-eight-year-old donor of the heart beating steadily in Ryan’s own chest.

And she’s come to take it back.

My Review:  ♥  ♥  ♥  ♥  ♥

“Your Heart Belongs To Me” is different than the other Dean Koontz novels I’ve read. The main character isn’t as likable. The story doesn’t move at as fast a pace in the beginning as most of his tales. Ryan Perry doesn’t know something inside him is broken. That something is his heart. He needs a transplant. but I don’t want to say anymore and ruin it. That being said, the story is brilliant I love it just as much as his other novels. I’m glad I continued reading because if I had stopped in the middle, it probably would have received three stars, very low for a Dean Koontz book. But when near the end, all mysteries were revealed and the subtext became clear, this was a story of redemption that will stay with me for a long time. It deserves five hearts.

Featured Novel – Eyes of Elisha

Eyes of Elisha

by Brandilyn Collins

First in the Chelsea Adams Series

The murder was ugly.

The killer was sure no one saw him.

Someone did.

Book Description:

In a horrifying vision, Chelsea Adams has relived the victim’s last
moments. But who will believe her? Certainly not the police, who
must rely on hard evidence. Nor her husband, who barely tolerates
Chelsea’s newfound Christian faith. Besides, he’s about to hire the
man who Chelsea is certain is the killer to be a vice president in his
company.

Torn between what she knows and the burden of proof, Chelsea
must follow God’s leading and trust him for protection. Meanwhile,
the murderer is at liberty. And he’s not about to take Chelsea’s
involvement lying down.

Read an excerpt from chapter one at this link.

Second in the series is Dread Champion.

About Brandilyn Collins

Brandilyn Collins is a best-selling novelist known for her trademark Seatbelt Suspense®. These harrowing crime thrillers have earned her the tagline “Don’t forget to b r e a t h e . . .“®  Brandilyn’s first book, A Question of Innocence, was a true crime published by Avon in 1995. Its promotion landed her on local and national TV and radio, including the Phil Donahue and Leeza talk shows. Brandilyn’s awards for her novels include the ACFW Book of the Year (three times), Inspirational Readers’ Choice, and Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice.

Brandilyn is also known for her distinctive book on fiction-writing techniques, Getting Into Character: Seven Secrets a Novelist Can Learn From Actors (John Wiley & Sons). The Writer magazine named Getting into Character one of the best books on writing published in 2002.

When she’s not writing, Brandilyn can be found teaching the craft of fiction at writers’ conferences. She and her family divide their time between homes in the California Bay Area and northern Idaho.

My Review: ♥ ♥ ♥

Collin’s novels are filled with suspense and surprize and keep the reader on the edge of his or her seat. This novel was no different in that respect. At times, I couldn’t put it down. I had to find out what happened next, and this novel was very well written. I could feel the emotions and tension throughout the book. The story did drag on a little in places but picked up at lightening speed in other places. The main fault I found is the ending left me unsatisfied. Too many loose ends weren’t tied up, and I felt myself upset with and sympathetic with the wrong characters. It was a good read though.