Swallowed by LIFE: Mysteries of Death, Resurrection and the Eternal by Ada Brownell - FREE BOOK

Tell us about your book.

My new book is Swallowed by LIFE: Mysteries of Death, Resurrection and the Eternal. Did you know we have scientific evidence that we are more than a body? Because of cell death and regeneration, we aren’t even walking around in the same bodies we were born with—or even the one we had last year. Although we started about the size of mite, we can gain hundreds of pounds, then lose weight—and we are the same person who began in our mother’s womb. Our limbs may be destroyed, surgeons can remove parts of our brain, vital organs, and even transplant someone else’s heart or kidneys into our bodies and it doesn’t change who we are. Our parents were involved, but God designed us as living souls that will never die and we will live beyond our flesh.

What inspired this book?
Just as we know leaves on a tree will one day flutter to the ground, we all know our days on earth are numbered. But what then?

I thought I knew all the answers until we lost our 31-year-old daughter to cancer. Did I believe what I thought I did?

That question haunted me until as a medical reporter for The Pueblo Chieftain in Colorado and a student of the Bible I searched for evidence that we will live beyond the grave. I picked the brains of medical experts, did research, and underlined every passage in the New Testament about eternal life.

I found what I previously believed was still true. Jesus did something about death when He came as our Redeemer—and death’s the reason He slipped into flesh and blood to be our Savior. That’s why we sing, “Joy to the World, the Lord is come!”

How long have you been writing?
I submitted ideas to a youth magazine when I was age 15. Then I started writing articles. Sold the first one to The Pentecostal Evangel and someone made it into a tract. Then I wrote an article for David C. Cook’s Leader magazine about my mom’s Sunday school methods, and it was accepted. So I sold my accordion, bought an electric typewriter and enrolled in a writing course. I have a non-fiction book published by the Assemblies of God and more than 250 of my articles and stories have been published in about 40 different Christian publications. During my early years, though, I became a newspaper correspondent and it blossomed into a career. I took time off for our five children, then went back to work and am now retired after spending 17 years as a reporter, mostly for the Chieftain. I now have branched out into novels. An editor is considering my teen novel, Terror Blasters, and I am going to start marketing my Christian historical, The Belle of Peachville.


What is your favorite character trait to write about?
I like tenacious people who despite fear, confusion and obstacles, keep their eyes on a worthy goal and go for it. That’s the type of person my grandmother was, and Jenny, the main character from The Belle of Peachville in many ways was patterned after her.


What do you hope readers will take away from Swallowed by LIFE?

Hope. Joy. Peace. An urgency to tell the world about Jesus. The book is written for support groups, religion classes, people with chronic or terminal illnesses, individuals who fear death or are curious, the grieving and those who give them counsel. I have questions and answers for each chapter.


What is your favorite season?
I live in Missouri now and the trees were beautiful this fall. But spring is also a gorgeous time with all the flowering trees and bushes. Yet, I’m a transplanted Colorado native and in my youth winter was a wonderful time. I enjoyed ice skating, and after we married when we lived in Minturn (six miles from Vail), we lived on a hill above the railroad depot where my husband worked and I’d jump on a sled and take his lunch to him. But we loved playing tennis in the summer, too.

Seasons of life are similar. You can find something good about them all. I have a friend who said, “When you know Jesus, each season of life is more exciting that the last.”


If you could travel back in time when and where would you go?
I like to read historical novels from the late 1800s to the early 1900s. I probably would have enjoyed living then or during the Great Awakening era. But I feel privileged to live in this time and place, as well as growing up in a big family when we didn’t have to lock our doors and almost everyone believed in God and the Ten Commandments.

What project are you currently working on?
I’m in the process of making my out-of-print book, Confessions of a Pentecostal, into an e-book. I’m marketing Swallowed by LIFE by speaking, being a vendor, on social media, and I will send out news releases and do some direct mail. I will continue to polish and work at finding a publisher for The Belle of Peachville, and hope my teen novel will be accepted. Then I will start on sequels and continue to write for Christian publications.

What else would you like to tell us?

Swallowed by LIFE will be available at Amazon.com by Dec. 1 or before.

My website: http://www.adabrownell.com/

My blog: http://www.inkfromanearthenvessel.blogspot.com/

Ada has offered to giveaway one copy of her new book. At least 10 people need to leave comments for there to be a contest. Please remember to leave your email address so I can contact you if you win. If you  have trouble with blogger you can enter the contest by emailing me at srstormo@yahoo.com and put "contest" in the subject line. Winner announced December 4th.

Meet Ada


Ada Brownell and her husband, Lester, had five children, all who are or served in Christian ministry. They lost their oldest daughter, Carolyn, to cancer in 1990.



Mrs. Brownell is a veteran Sunday school teacher and has written numerous articles for Christian education magazines. She was founder of The Dunamis Academy, a summers and after-school program for elementary school children. An avid Bible student, she has a certificate of ministry from Berean College. She has a bachelor's degree in mass communications.



As a newspaper reporter, she has written hundreds of articles and interviewed experts and interesting folks from all walks of life.



Among her newspaper awards are a first-place in environmental writing from the Colorado Associated Press Editors and Reporters, and the1998 Colorado Psychiatric Society's Media Awareness Award for her "insight and sensitivity in reporting on mental health issues."

The Prophetess One: At Risk by Linda Rohrbough - FREE BOOK

Tell us about your book.

The Prophetess One: At Risk is a Christian suspense novel about a pregnant computer programmer who uncovers spiritual gifts from God that, of course, get her into trouble.

It recently won two national awards: the 2011 Global eBook Award in the Religion/Faith category and the 2011 Millennium Star Publishing Award.

Here’s the back cover copy:
"This is fast-paced, thrilling, edge-of-the-seat reading. The Prophetess One: At Risk had me flipping the pages and holding my breath." - Debbie Macomber, #1 New York Times bestseller

It’s a very different kind of war.

Why would God choose a pregnant computer programmer to fight it?

All Anna McClintock wants is a peaceful stretch of beach she can walk to with her new husband, Jack, and her soon-to-be-born child. Jack is finishing his engineering degree this semester and the two plan to leave his Kansas home to build their new lives together.

But when Anna finds herself in jail for the murder of a preschool child she tried to save, she realizes she is alone, except for God. She has to rely on new-found spiritual gifts as well as her wits and skills in order to save herself, her unborn son, and her marriage.

And she has another decision to make. This one affects the entire nation.

What inspired this book?
Two things. One is the increase I see in Christian women in “intuition.” I think everyone has experienced it on some level – that feeling you can’t deny or side-step that you don’t have any concrete reason for, but it just won’t go away. You know that you know that you know. I thought it would be interesting to have a character so gifted from God, and then place her in a situation that demands she use her gifts.

The second is research I did after we lost my husband’s nephew in the Columbine shooting. I realized there are concrete things we can do to prevent this sort of thing. But first we have to understand what we’re dealing with and what’s at stake, and I think the book does a reasonably good job of making those things clear.

How long have you been writing?
I started writing professionally in 1989, so upwards of 20 years.


What is your favorite character trait to write about?
I like writing characters who face deep uncertainty but chose to believe both in themselves and in their Creator.

What do you hope readers will take away from this book?
One of the important take-aways is how important men are in the lives of children.

What is your favorite season?
The answer to that question depends on where I am. Right now, I’m in North Carolina and I think the natives would agree, fall is hands-down the primo time of year. I am currently surrounded by eye-popping colors in temperatures that make it a joy to be outside.
However, I love August in Colorado, where I grew up.
And every day is a perfect spring day in Los Angeles, California, where I lived for nine years starting in the mid-1980’s.

If you could travel back in time when and where would you go?
I like the old west in the US. Oddly enough, that period, which is so heavily written about it has its own genre, only encompassed about a dozen years. But it’s one of my favorites. In fact, at the insistence of my editor, I just completed a Western Short Story for an anthology called Cactus Country that’s coming out before Christmas. The this is the second anthology spear-headed by award-winning Western author and a personal friend Dusty Richards.

What project are you currently working on?
I’m in the middle of The Prophetess Two: A Son For A Son, the next book in The Prophetess trilogy. This time, Anna goes to Vegas.

Thank you for coming here today to share an insight into your book! It was a pleasure to meet you!

Linda has offered to give away a copy of her book to one lucky winner. At least 10 people need to leave comments WITH email addresses in order for there to be a contest. If you have trouble with blogger you can email me your entry to srstormo@yahoo.com and put "contest" in the subject line. Winner announced November 27th.

Review - From This Day Forward, by Margaret Daley

This tender tale of romance and hardships will tug at your heartstrings from the first page. Rachel, a widow from England, arrives in South Carolina to claim the plantation her husband, Tom, said would be a new start for them. After being disowned by her parents in England for marring Tom, and pregnant with her first child, she has no where else to go and decides to carry on without him after he dies during their voyage. Her maid, Maddy, accompanies her as they travel the road to the plantation late at night during a storm. A freak accident leaves her on the side of the road, injured and in labor.


Nathan, her new neighbor and a doctor comes across Rachel and Maddy and takes them back to his place to deliver the baby and nurse Rachel back to health. Nathan struggles with images from the war of 1812 where he fought against the English and watched many young men perish as he was helpless to stop it.

Soon the two of them find their lives intertwined in more ways than one as they solve a mystery surrounding Rachel’s new home and uncover a family secret that threatens to tear Nathan apart and question his identity.

Through it all their unspoken love for one another creates a bond that will last forever! This book is sweet, timeless and comforting. It possesses all the charm of a classic in the making.

Margaret Daley is a talented writer who effortlessly draws you into a world where the characters come alive as you emerge yourself into their lives and walk beside them.

The Chair, by James Rubart - FREE BOOK

Tell us about your book.


If you were given an ancient looking chair and told Jesus Christ made it, would you believe them?

When an elderly lady shows up in Corin Roscoe’s antiques store and gives him a chair she claims was built by Christ, he scoffs. But when a young boy is miraculously healed after sitting in the chair, he stops laughing and starts to wonder: Could this chair heal the person whose life I destroyed twelve years ago?

As word spreads of the boy’s healing, a mega-church pastor is determined to manipulate Corin into turning over the chair. But the mysterious woman who gave him the piece insinuates it is Corin’s destiny to guard the chair above everything else. But why? Desperate, he turns to the one person he can trust, a college history professor who knows more about the legend of the chair than he reveals.

Searching for truth about the artifact and the unexplained phenomena surrounding it, Corin soon realizes he isn’t the only one willing to do almost anything to possess the power that seems to surround the chair.


What inspired this book?

It started when I read an article about a Jewish historian who told how some of the plows Jesus made lasted until the second century. I thought, “What if he made something that lasted until today? What if it was a chair? What if that chair had supernatural healing powers? That’s where the premise came from. The heart of the story came from the restoration of a relationship I had with one of my best friends. We had been estranged from each other for three years—and the Lord brought us together in a miraculous way. I tell the details in a reader letter in the back of the book.

How long have you been writing?

Forever and not that long. (Smile.) I’ve dabbled in writing since 7th grade. For years I wrote short stories but it wasn’t till 2000 that I showed anyone any of my fiction. And it wasn’t till 2003 that I got serious about writing a novel. I was too insecure to give it a shot. But God intervened (through my amazing wife) and I jumped off the cliff.


What is your favorite character trait to write about?

Their search for freedom. With every book I write, I want the reader to come away from it more free than when they started. That's the overarching theme in my novels so it's what I instill in each of my protagonists; that pursuit of the things what will bring them liberty in their lives.

What do you hope readers will take away from this book?

At its core, life is about the relationships. The one we have with the Lord and the ones we have with each other. But often those relationships are broken. As I mentioned above, the heart of THE CHAIR came from the restoration of one of my relationships, so my desire is people find hope and forgiveness for their broken relationships.

What is your favorite season?

Are you implying there’s another season other than summer? I love the long days of summer, playing the water with my wife and sons and being able to wear shorts most days. I pretend summer lasts until mid October—and my family loves to tease me about it.

If you could travel back in time when and where would you go?

Fun question! I would probably go back in time to when my parents were children to watch them at that age, then pop over and watch my wife’s childhood.

What project are you currently working on?

I’m smack in the middle of my writing my fourth novel (Oct ’12) which I’m really excited about. I think it will blow people’s minds.

I’m also—along with promoting The Chair—getting the word out about a Small Group study based on my first novel, ROOMS.

There’s a workbook, a DVD where I teach on the four major themes in the book as well as scenes from the book that were acted out by professional actors. It’s available through LifeWay stores and from LifeWay online at: http://tinyurl.com/3ku4hxt

Thanks so much for having me, Salena!


Jim has offered to give away a copy of "The Chair". Contest rules: At least 10 people need to leave a comment WITH an email address. If blogger is giving your trouble you can email me at srstormo@yahoo.com and put "contest" in the subject line. Valid in the US and Canada only. Winner will be announced 11/20/11.

Connect with James:
http://www.jameslrubart.com/

REVIEW - Sherman The Ruthless Victor, by Hassell and Breslin

This is a complete look at the man known as ruthless and heartless. Sherman is best known for his destruction of Atlanta during the Civil War, wanting to end the war, regardless of the cost and devastation to the innocent women and children left behind. Having lost his first son the year before, he marched on Grant's orders in a depressed state of mourning and loss.


This book shows that he was just as determined in his personal life as he was on the battlefield. He knew what he wanted and would do whatever was necessary to achieve it.

I enjoyed the detailed history in this book. It gives a lot of insight into what Sherman's life was like from a young age as he just started out making his military career all the way to the battles that ultimately ended the war.

O Christmas Tree, by Lindsay Bonilla - FREE BOOK

Tell us about your book.

“O Christmas Tree” is the story of the Marshalls – Mr. Marshall, Mrs. Marshall and their daughter, Victoria. They love their holiday traditions, especially the tradition of decorating their Christmas tree. But to their surprise, their tree, Treena, is no ordinary tree, and when she thinks that they have their priorities skewed, she comes to life to teach them what Christmas is really about!

What inspired this book?

It came about through prayer which is how most of my books have come about. One year around Christmas time I was praying, and I just couldn't get the song “O Christmas Tree” out of my head. I thought about how absurd the words were if you really think about them, and I realized that that's how so much of Christmas is today. We are celebrating the wrong things, and sometimes we get so wrapped up in that we don't even realize it.

I was preparing to write a sketch for an upcoming church event so I decided to make it about a Christmas tree who comes to life to tell people about the true meaning of Christmas. I called the Arts Director and found out that the theme for the event was “One Candle.” If you read the book, you will see that theme weaved in. So the story started out as a sketch and was shaped to fit a particular event. It was only later that I began to think of it as a children's book. Adapting it to a book format was actually more challenging than I expected, and there were some parts I had to really wrestle with. But the best part about adapting it was that the character of Treena the Christmas Tree really came to life. Before it became a book, the tree didn't have a name or nearly as much personality as she does now!

How long have you been writing?

For as long as I can remember! When I was a child, I carried around little notebooks where I wrote stories. I can remember my teachers assigning one or two page writing assignments and I'd come in the next day with 13 or 14 pages because I just couldn't stop writing. In high school, I wrote poetry. In college, I started writing short stories/children's stories and dramatic sketches. After college, while living in Spain, I began writing flash fiction and personal essays. Today I write pretty much all of the above as well as doing some writing for magazines, and I've also written a novel. Although I suppose it should have been obvious, it was only recently that I realized that I have always been a writer!

What is your favorite character trait to write about?

I like to write about perseverance, resilience and unfailing love. It's also fun to create a character that has some spunk and attitude, like Treena.

What do you hope readers will take away from this book?

I hope that readers will take away the centrality of Jesus to the Christmas celebration. It's not that we can't have our fun traditions, but these can't be allowed to overshadow the real reason for the season. Also, the greatest gift we can give at Christmas will never be under the tree. The greatest gift we can give is to share the light of Christ with someone else. Jesus said that if his followers didn't proclaim His name, then the rocks would cry out. In this case, the Christmas tree will cry out!

What is your favorite season?

I really love the Christmas season if you haven't already guessed! There is something so magical about the significance of it all, and I love the depth of the classic hymns and the reflection they inspire. I also appreciate the moments where time seems to slow down and people have more time for each other. I wish it could be like that all year long! But having said all that, I'm just about always cold, so the cold temps of an Ohio winter are not really my thing!

If you could travel back in time when and where would you go?

Wow! That's a tough question, and I've never really thought about it before. I'm usually too busy picking places I want to travel today! I am a notorious globetrotter! But I'm studying the book of Acts right now, and I think I would love to travel back to the days of the early church. I'm sure it wouldn't be an easy trip, but I would love to meet Peter, Paul, Barnabus and the others and see how their faith, trust and dependence upon the Holy Spirit ignited a powerful movement that is still going on today.

What project are you currently working on?

Right now I am actually working on making “O Christmas Tree” an interactive storytelling program. In addition to my writing, I have a theatrical storytelling company where I visit schools, libraries, churches, etc, performing multicultural folktales as well as my own stories. So I'm hoping to begin taking “O Christmas Tree” out for performances by the end of November.

Also, I just finished the second or third edit (I've lost count!) of my first YA novel entitled “Carlos and the Corral of Forgotten Ones.” It's based on a children's home in Paraguay that I stayed at a few years ago, and it follows the life journey of one child from the day he's dropped off there by his older sister after the death of his parents to how he is shaped and changed through the people he meets and experiences he has there. It's a story of personal growth and transformation, and I'm very passionate about it because I'm passionate about the children I met there. Their stories had a profound impact upon me and if it weren't for that, I don't think I could have stayed the course and finished such a huge project. 300 pages is big stuff to a children's book author! So now begins the new job of looking for a publisher for this book. . .

In the meantime, I am working on a new children's book called “Prince Jazreel and the Domain of Darkness” which was inspired from Colossians 1:13. It's a fantasy love story about a great prince and a very unlikely princess.

 

Lindsay is giving away one free copy of O Christmas Tree. At least 10 people need to leave comments for there to be a contest. Please include your email address. OR you can email me at srstormo@yahoo.com and put "contest" in the subject line. Winner will be announced November 14th!

Link to my blog: http://www.lindsaybonilla.blogspot.com/

Link to my author/writer/general website: http://www.lindsaybonilla.com/

Link to my storytelling website: http://www.worldofdiff.org/



Lindsay also, wrote, co-produced and starred in Flight To India, a fun childrens movie. Check this out!

The Edge of Grace, by Christa Allan - FREE BOOK

Tell us about your book.

It received a starred review from Library Journal, and I think the reviewer truly captured the novel:

“Forgiveness, acceptance, and family ties ¬figure prominently in Allan’s second novel (The Edge of Grace). She does not avoid tough subjects (her Walking on Broken Glass deals with alcoholism). Widow Caryn Becker is having a hard time raising her young son while getting her new business off the ground. When her brother David tells her he is gay, she is unable to cope and rejects the one person she has been able to count on. When her brother is attacked, his partner, Max, asks Caryn for help standing up against the attacker. Reluctantly, she agrees. Throughout the trial, Caryn comes to accept David and finds the grace to stand up for what is right. VERDICT This sophomore effort deals with a difficult subject for many Christians with sensitivity and grace, exploring Caryn’s feelings honestly while never shirking from the issue of justice and forgiveness. It is difficult to find a comparative CF novel, but readers who believe in a more forgiving and accepting God are sure to enjoy it.”

What inspired this book?
Almost twenty years ago, my brother-my only sibling-told me he was gay. The news fractured our relationship, but the truth of it is I was the one with the hammer. It took years, too many years, for me to realize that placing the word “gay” in front of the word “brother” did not change the substance of the person I’d known and loved all my life. He is my brother, and I don’t define him by his sexual orientation. In fact, he doesn’t define me by mine either! When my brother’s partner of over fifteen years was attacked in the French Quarter, that was my motivation for getting serious about the novel. The Edge of Grace grew out of those experiences. I wanted other families to realize that they weren’t alone, and that what God wants most, from all of us, is to love.

Christa, that really sums up what we are meant to do here on earth! I couldn't have said it better myself.

How long have you been writing?
I started writing in high school when I realized that I couldn’t sing [at least not anything anyone would want to listen to], I couldn’t dance, I couldn’t draw or paint anything beyond stick figures, and as for sports…well, let’s just say I was the kid everyone wanted on the other team. Many years later and married, I wrote for a newspaper when I had two children and two on the way, then—when four of my five children were out of the house, I decided to start writing a novel. Actually, I started because my precious husband had more faith in me than I had in myself. He guilted me into getting started by buying me a laptop!

What is your favorite character trait to write about?
I tend to be attracted to characters who struggle with defining themselves, who are searching for redemption, and who come to realize they’ve always been on God’s radar.

What do you hope readers will take away from this book?
What I hope readers will take away from both of my novels is that we never know, just by looking at people. what’s going on in their lives. So many people look so bright-faced happy and pretty on the outside that we’re duped into believing they lead charmed lives. Like those families in the picture frames sold in stores (who ARE those people, by the way?!). But turn those pictures over, and what’s there…nothing. That’s not the life God planned for us. He wants our lives to be framed by His love. We called to compassion, and to consider that all those “pretty people” might just be waiting for someone to take them out of their frames.

What is your favorite season?
In Louisiana, especially New Orleans, we have two seasons…hot and wet. But, every so often, an October comes along that actually provides a reason to wear long sleeves and even a light jacket.

If you could travel back in time when and where would you go?
I’d want to go back to right before my first child was born knowing what I know now about what’s truly important in parenting. And it’s not making sure they’re sleeping in jammies and not their play clothes!

What project are you currently working on?
I just submitted my final edits for Love Finds You in New Orleans (Summerside Press) which should release in February of 2012. Next up is one of the quilt books in Abingdon’s new series.


BIO:
EDGE OF GRACE,my second novel, released in August.My debut novel, WALKING ON BROKEN GLASS, released in 2010 from Abingdon Press. My next novel will release in 2012 from Summerside Press, LOVE FINDS YOU IN NEW ORLEANS. It's an 1840s historical, so a real departure for me. I'll also be publishing a novel with Abingdon Press in 2012 as part of their Quilts of Love line.


I've contributed to Chicken Soup for the Coffee Lover's Soul, Chicken Soup for the Recovering and Divorced Soul, The Ultimate Teacher, and Cup of Comfort for Special Needs.

For over twenty years I've been teaching high school English in Louisiana, and received my National Board Certification in 2007. I'm a mother of five, and Grammy of two precious (of course!) grandgirls. My husband and I live in Louisiana, in a small city outside of New Orleans. We enjoy playing golf, cooking, and traveling. We're also becoming expert at dodging hurricanes!

My novels focus on God's "unscripted grace," those times in our lives where God appears when we least expect. And, those times when our lives don't follow the script we expect, grace finds us.



Christa is giving away one free copy of "The Edge of Grace". Contest rules: At least 10 people need to leave a comment WITH an email address. If you have trouble with blogger you can email me at srstormo@yahoo.com and put "contest" in the subject line. Valid only in the US and Canada. Winner announced 11-13-11.


Connect with Christa:
http://christaallan.com/

Keep Your Connection Strong, by Tammie Edington Shaw

Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. John 15:4

As I walked in my neighborhood, many of the beautiful colored leaves I had been admiring on the trees, now covered the ground. A few windy days had caused the red, yellow and orange leaves to fall. Even though the brightly colored leaves were pretty, they were dying, losing the strong connection to the branch, so when the wind came along, “whoosh” they were gone.

Isn’t that like us as Christians? When we aren’t living in the power of God’s might we too have a weak connection to the branch, who is Christ, and “whoosh,” adversity comes along and knocks us off our feet. We can become discouraged and depressed.

As Christian writers when we are drawn away from Christ, for whatever reason, we can begin to believe that we don’t have the ability to write the words that He has given us. Who would read what I have to say? My words won’t make any difference. But when we take the time to listen to His voice by reading His Word and listening to the Holy Spirit breathe words of encouragement into us, we are renewed.

We know we must write for Him and our words will speak to others, as we live in the power of His might and not our own.

Tammie Edington Shaw
Freelance Writer
www.tamedingtonshaw.blogspot.com