Interview with Genesis winner Kathleen L Maher and 2 Fabulous giveaways Ends November 5th

Kathleen L. Maher is the administrator of History Repeats Itself  and of Fiction Addiction Fix. She writes historical romance set in the American Civil War and is a 2012 Genesis Winner for Historical fiction.  Kathy is a member of ACFW, 19^th Century Writers, and co-owner of CROWN fiction marketing and Civil War HIStory.

I am so so so excited to have my wonderful friend and terrific critique partner with me this week. Kathy and I came onto the ACFW scene about the same time and connected through a critque group which ended up being only us. We became best of friends. In celebration of her Genesis win we are giving away two fabulous prizes! Leave a comment to be entered. For extra entries, follow my blog, Kathy's blog History Repeats Itself, and our joint blog Fiction Addiction Fix, tweet or facebook about this giveaway with the link. 1 entry for each of these 6 possible entries. Don't forget to leave your email address and let me know what you've done.

Where are you right now (LVR, DR, Bathroom) and what are you wearing? You have to tell the truth.

I am actually dressed before 7 AM today! It’s a small miracle. I have on denim capris, an orange cotton embroidered tee and my Third Day zip-up hoodie. And purple fuzzy slippers. They’re hideous and comfy as all get out.

What is the funniest, strangest, or most interesting thing you have learned when doing research?

I was doing research on Charleston during the Civil War, so I had my ears open for all things related. I was listening to the radio and heard my local weatherman talk about the strangest weather incident he’d ever heard. He claims to say that a live alligator, fully grown, fell from the sky and landed downtown Charleston in 1862. Can you imagine the rumors of apocalypse that must have circulated? Just today I read on Yahoo news about a two foot shark that fell out of the sky on a golf course in California. They think an osprey dropped it. Why can’t it be money, falling on my lawn? Twenties and fifties would be lovely. Or gold. I’ll take gold as long as nobody gets hurt when it falls.

If you were told you were being sent back to live in the 19^th Century, and you could bring one thing from today, what would that be?

I know everyone says toothpaste and deodorant, and that is such a good answer! So besides those, I would bring photos of our modern marvels like airplanes and space travel. I figure it will be a great conversation starter, if it doesn’t get me burned at the stake for sorcery!

What is something that very few people know about you?

Hmmm, I am relatively unknown, so pretty much everything! Heehee  Okay. Most people don’t know that I used to have a really good singing voice. In high school I had the privilege of attending New York State School Music Association’s All State choir two years in a row. We stayed at the Concord Hotel in the Catskills, the same place where Sinatra and so many others have sung. It was a real thrill. But asthma and chronic allergies have eroded that voice from what it once was. I still love to sing along to Kari Jobe and Kutless and Tenth Avenue North, among my favorites. Just not where others can hear me. LOL

What is your favorite material item that you own (examples: ipod, Gone with the Wind book, grandmother’s rocking chair)

My home.

It has creaky floors and a slowly shifting foundation and a roof that will need replacing, but I am so very thankful to God for my home. We were once homeless as a family when my husband was out of work, and I appreciate the miracle it is to live here in a beautiful small town where crime is rare and the church bells chime three times a day, and where I can tend my gardens and watch my children play in safety. I wish everyone that blessing.

  

What one novel did you read that made you want to be a part of the story?

None. Honestly, I think that is why I write. I’ve read books that I love, but none of the characters ever did what I would have and that made me want to write myself in their shoes, to explore a story world with my own imagination rather than only getting to see what the author shows. That is why there is so much of me in each character I write.

If you could live in any time period other than the one we live in, when and where would that be and why?

I am fascinated by the end times. A little fearful, too, to be honest, with all the tension and hate of the world converging on little Israel to annihilate her. But if these aren’t the end times already I would wish to be in the generation that gets to witness the Lord’s return and to be taken up to meet Him in the air. What could be more fabulous than that?

If you were writing a book about your life what would the title be?

Not Perfect Yet

You recently won the Genesis contest can you give us a glimpse of what it’s like and the work that went into getting there?

I’m sure my route was more circuitous than most. That is my typical way of getting anything done—the hard way. I’ve been writing this particular story since 1987. It started as a magnum opus of over 600 pages, but as I learned the craft and after my brilliant critique partner labored many long hours helping me, it was shortened into two separate historical romances that trace brothers from the Shenandoah Valley through the Civil War.

The feeling of hearing my name called on that live webcast that Wynn-Wynn Media so graciously aired was nothing short of surreal. I immediately wept and screamed and prayed that my poor critique partner would somehow do what I never could have—make a coherent acceptance speech. :D And she did! She did simply amazing.

You made your critique partner get up in front of 700 plus people (not to mention the live pod cast) at the ACFW Gala awards. Do you worry how she is going to get you back? ;o)

I am laughing perhaps a bit too hearty right now! Yes, perhaps I should be VERY worried! Debbie Lynne Costello is my crit partner and she is a master at writing suspenseful and action-packed stories, so I have no doubt she has the devious creativity to plot something extraordinary at my expense! *gulp*

:D

Perhaps I had better do something REALLY nice for her for having me here this week. How about we give a second prize to a lucky commenter? Will that begin to appease the wrath of Kubla-Kahn Costello? :D

Only time will tell my friend. LOL
 

Angel throw, journal, 2 Christmas cups, flower tea cup candle, faith plaque, picture frame, angel candle holder, bath basket, Christmas novel  

  

Bath box, Joy cup, specialty tea, journal, hope plaque, candle, Coming Home Novel.  





Be sure to leave your email address. Please check your junk mail on and the day after the drawing. I've had to redraw because of no responses. Subject box will have: winner of (book title). I'll email the winner and they'll have seven days to respond. If I don't hear back I'll draw another name. USA shipping only. Thanks so much and please stop back again! Drawing will be held Monday, October 29nd, 8:00 A.M. EST. Offer void where prohibited. Odds of winning vary due to the number of entrants


 

Her One True Soldier by Linore Rose Burkard ends October 29th

      Linore Burkard began writing when she couldn’t find a Regency romance with an inspirational twist. “There were Christian books that approached the genre,” she says, “But, they fell short of being a genuine Regency. I knew that many women like me wanted stories that are historically authentic and offer glimpses of God’s involvement in our lives. So, I finally gave up looking and decided to write one myself." 

      Ms. Burkard was raised in New York, where she graduated magna cum laude from the City University of New York with a Bachelor of Arts in English literature. She lives with her husband and five children in a town full of antique stores and gift shops in southwestern Ohio. Her hobbies include writing four new Regency novels, family movie nights, swimming, and gardening.

 

I am tickled to have Linore Rose Burkard here today. She has graciously offered to give away a copy of her novelette Her One True Soldier or if you are a historical lover you can choose her  novelette Coach and Four. Be sure to leave a comment to be entered. And don't forget to let me know if you follow via feedburner. (You can also find this post on Linore's blog) 

Debbie Lynne here. When Linore isn't ranting about political issues, she homeschools two daughters and writes inspirational romance. Here's her latest "novelette": Her One True Soldier is an ebook and you can get it on Amazon for only $1.49. You can buy her other amazing novelette Coach and Four on Amazon for the same low price of $1.49

 

Why Christians Must Vote

Politics is a touchy issue, and I know I run the risk of alienating readers with this post. But hey, it's my blog,  and I'll rant if I want to.  And here's the reason I want to:

It came to my attention recently that a lovely Christian couple of my acquaintance were not planning on voting this year. I was saddened, to say the least.  It made me think about why we should vote, and how being people of faith only adds incentive to that responsibility.

And make no mistake, voting is a responsibility. These misguided people (and many Americans) evidently think of it as an optional activity, to be exercised only if they wholeheartedly approve of a candidate.This is naive.

First of all, there's this principle which says that every action must have an equal and opposite reaction. Jesus said "He that is not with me, is against me." (Matthew 12:40)
Obama could say, "He that votes not against me, votes for me."

Here's the thing: By abandoning their responsibility to choose the candidate who comes CLOSEST to their values, they are by default casting a vote in favor of the one who doesn't. 

"Well, I can't vote for a Mormon," they say.

 ..If Christians abandon the political playing field, they do not leave it empty. They leave it to the other side to come and fill the dugout.

Puh-lease! Jimmy Carter furthered his platform by claiming to be a "born again" Christian, and yet, until Mr. Obama came along, his was the single most disastrous presidency of this country's history. While it's true that Christian principles are what made this nation great, it doesn't mean that just being Christian will make someone a good leader, no more than being Christian makes someone a good worship leader or preacher. And if  neither candidate running has the track record of being effective at Christian leadership, then you choose the one who at least supports godly values. Romney takes the record for that over Obama OVERWHELMINGLY. (Not to mention that Romney's running mate is a Bible believing Christian, a Catholic.)

Mr. Obama has consistently acted against Christian principles, but that could fill a post in itself. 

(Did you catch Joe Biden saying his life has been shaped by his Catholicism? Right. And I have a bridge to sell you...)

One preacher put it this way: "I'd rather vote for a Mormon than a moron."

 One preacher put it this way: "I'd rather vote for a Mormon than a moron."

The point is that if Christians abandon the political playing field, they do not leave it empty. They leave it to the other side to come and fill the dugout. As we have seen over the course of the history of this country, misguided Christian people feeling they should stay out of politics has done nothing but empty the field of good people. My husband has long held that the (sorry) state of our nation is because of the church not stepping up to the plate--not participating on the field.

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."  We've all heard this before. But are you aware, dear Christian, that by not casting your vote for the better candidate you are effectively doing NOTHING to prevent the triumph of evil in the political arena?

It's more than sad, it's a waste of a privilege. Heck, it's a sin. Voting is a privilege, a right, AND a responsibility.
I will unashamedly cast my vote against the current president who has voted against my Christian principles time and time again. Why? Because I am a woman of God.

That's my rant. 
See you at the polls.
 

Debbie Lynne here. When Linore isn't ranting about political issues, she homeschools two daughters and writes inspirational romance. Here's her latest "novelette": Her One True Soldier is an ebook and you can get it on Amazon for only $1.49. You can buy her other amazing novelette Coach and Four on Amazon for the same low price of $1.49

Her One True Soldier

Is pop-singer Christine Hartman's fairy-tale success story about to end? When a man in camo literally falls across her path while she's on a routine walk on her private, posted retreat property, she knows danger is afoot. Yet she has no idea of what's coming, or why her life might depend on what she knows.
Readers will find suspense, mystery and romance in this short "novelette" that nevertheless manages to end on Ms. Burkard's famously upbeat notes.

 

Coach and Four

 

 Nineteen year-old Lady Allisandra is a ward of King Charles II. When he orders her from court to stay with her old friend Elizabeth Hastings, the Duchess of Langley, Allisandra finds herself trapped inside a coach-and-four with the notorious rake Lord Dorchester. Has the duchess betrayed her? Perhaps, but things are not as they appear, and whether it is Her Grace, the infamous earl of Dorchester or the king himself bent on evil,only time will tell. In the meantime, how does a strong-minded young woman handle first a highwayman, then a debauched earl? Find out in this tale of the late 1600s in England, when conspiracy and betrayal can lead to unexpected love.

DOUBLE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING by following my blog with Powered by FEEDBURNER on the right, and don't miss any giveaways (the button with the flame). If you already follow my blog go ahead and follow by FEEDBURNER so you can be entered twice. If you're not getting an email telling you I have a new giveaway you're not following through Feedburner. Just mention that you follow through Feedburner when you leave a comment with each giveaway and you'll be entered twice.

Be sure to leave your email address. Please check your junk mail on and the day after the drawing. I've had to redraw because of no responses. Subject box will have: winner of (book title). I'll email the winner and they'll have seven days to respond. If I don't hear back I'll draw another name. USA shipping only. Thanks so much and please stop back again! Drawing will be held Monday, October 29nd, 8:00 A.M. EST. Offer void where prohibited. Odds of winning vary due to the number of entrants

Julie Lessman's A Light in the Window

Julie Lessman is an award-winning author whose tagline of “Passion With a Purpose” underscores her intense passion for both God and romance. Winner of the 2009 ACFW Debut Author of the Year and Holt Medallion Awards of Merit for Best First Book and Long Inspirational, Julie is also the recipient of 13 Romance Writers of America awards and was voted by readers as “Borders Best of 2009 So Far: Your Favorite Fiction”. Chosen as #1 Romance Fiction Author of the Year in the Family Fiction magazine 2011 Readers Choice Awards, Julie was also awarded #1 Series of the Year in that same poll and #3 Author of the Year, #5 Novel of the Year and #4 Historical Fiction Author of the year. She resides in Missouri with her husband, daughter, son and daughter-in-law and is the author of “The Daughters of Boston” series, which includes A Passion Most Pure, A Passion Redeemed, and A Passion Denied. Her “Winds of Change” series has recently released with A Hope Undaunted, which ranked #5 on Booklist’s Top 10 Inspirational Fiction for 2010. You can contact Julie through her website at www.julielessman.com.

I had the honor of reading Julie's new Christmas story, A Light in the Window and couldn't wait to write the review on it. I give this 6 stars out of 5! It is that good. If you're looking for a Christmas story winter that will thoroughly bless you, pick up A Light in the Window. You won't regret it!

REVIEW FOR JULIE LESSMAN'S NEW CHRISTMAS NOVEL

            A Light in the Window is one of those stories that you can’t wait to finish but you don’t want to end! Julie Lessman makes you want to know what happens next in the lives and love of her characters so you have to keep reading, but her characters are so real you fall in love with them yourself, and when the story ends you’re sad that it has.  Julie is one of the few people I know that has a magical way of making you feel like you’re in the story and her characters are old friends. I finished the book and was so disappointed that I wouldn’t see Patrick and Marceline again! And then I remembered I read A Passion Most Pure when it first came out with Patrick and Marceline grown up with a family of their own. Now I’m going to go back and reread it just to get some more of these characters and Julie’s awesome writing. I truly believe we will see Julie’s books on the New York Times best seller list. They are that good.

            I don’t usually do a summary of the book because that’s what so many people do, but to give you a hint of the tension in the story, Marceline has loved Sam O’Rourke, her best friend’s brother since she was a little girl. She’s always wanted to be a part of what she sees as their perfect family. When she returns after having moved away, she’s all grown up and Sam is now the city rogue along with his best friend Patrick O’Connor.  The men spot the new beauty at different times, but both make her their next mission and lay claim to her.

            Questions arise. Can love change a man? Can a long time friendship survive the competition of Marceline’s attention? And most of all how will Marceline see through prejudices and childhood dreams to find the man that God has chosen for her? If you like great conflict, real characters you fall in love with, vivid settings, and smoldering scenes between the hero and heroine, you are going to love this story. 

Preorder A Light in the Window now on Amazon  

Buy A Passion Most Pure Hardcover or Kindle

 

$10 Amazon Gift Card to buy A Flight of Fancy from Laurie Alice Eakes

“Eakes has a charming way of making her novels come to life without being over the top,” writes Romantic times of bestselling, award-winning author Laurie Alice Eakes. Since she lay in bed as a child telling herself stories, she has fulfilled her dream of becoming a published author with a dozen books and novellas in print and more on the way. A graduate of Seton Hill University’s Writing Popular Fiction graduate program, she also teaches writing and gives inspirational talks to women’s groups. She lives in Texas with her husband, dogs, and cats.

Follow her on Twitter: https://twitter.com/LaurieAEakes

Read excerpts from her books at: http://www.lauriealiceeakes.com

Laurie Alice Eakes has generously offered to giveaway a $10 Amazon gift card. To be entered in this giveaway leave a comment or ask a question ABOUT the article Laurie Alice has written. As a good friend of Laurie Alice I'm going to ask that you use the gift card to buy one of her FABULOUS books! I promise you that you will be glad you did!

1812:  A Turning Point in British History

For those of you who don’t know me, the Regency, especially the year 1812, fascinates me. This post discusses why I have chosen this era as my main focus of historic study and setting for my novels.

For those of us emersed in the Regency, the year 1812 holds numerous significant incidents--incidents that set history on a course from the old world and into the new. Power changed hands in government and wars, the Industrial Revolution dug in its heels, and Great Britain, for all it became the most far-flung empire in history, began to receive its first glimpse of a shocking truth—it would not always rule the waves.

By 1811, few people denied that the king was permanently mad and could no longer be head of state. The Regency bill passed making his eldest son, also a George, the Prince Regent, or the head of the government. The king, however, still showed enough glimpses of restoration to health that “Prinney” didn’t assume full powers of his role until 1812.

A gamester and profligate spender, the Prince Regent was forever petitioning Parliament for money. This placed him in the power of Parliament and the role of royalty in actually running the government of the kingdom began to diminish.

While Prinney assumed his role as head of Great Britain, a man known as Captain Ludd assumed a different kind of leadership role mostly in the north. The Luddite Rebellion fills books it is such a complex subject, a small war that ultimately took soldiers into Nottingham and York and Lancashire to put it down. Many men died.

The simplest way to explain the Luddite Rebellion is that the weavers, mostly those making stockings, couldn’t make a living. They usually had to rent their looms, the prices for their products were controlled, and they couldn’t change a thing. The Industrial Revolution was bringing in steam looms, machines that were too much competition. So the Luddites started smashing up looms and not letting people work. They sabotaged the industrial looms and spinning machines. Violence reigned powerfully for several months and took about a year to put down in full.

A way of life was coming to an end. The cottage industry of weaving with one or maybe three looms at home was no longer viable in a world quickly becoming mechanized through steam power.

May 11, 1812 saw an horrendous incident when a man stormed into Parliament and shot the prime minister in front of witnesses. Many thought this a French plot, but it was a disturbed individual who thought he hadn’t been served justly by the government. Although the consequences of this assassination weren’t to be known for many years, it brought in a different government that delayed necessary reforms in laws and taxation that would have happened sooner had Perceval lived.

On a brighter note, the war with France, that had been dragging on for nearly twenty years and not going all that well for Great Britain, finally took a turn for the better. Arthur Welsley, AKA Wellington, won the Battle of Salamanca in Spain and the tide was turning against the French at last. Of course, Napoleon didn’t help himself by invading Russia. Tremendously weakened his forces and, I think had a damaging psychological effect on the French people. The emperor was no longer invincible.

Finally for the purposes of this article, is the War of 1812, as it is known in the United States. In England, it’s a blip on the radar, not even taught in advanced history classes. I once laid out some facts about it to a British friend who said I had to be mistaken. In no way could this fledgling country with about eighteen naval vaessels, none great, have beaten down the most powerful maritime power the world had known.

But it happened. Great Britain was impressing American men because the war with France had so decimated Britain’s supply. On the smallest pretext, English naval personnel boarded American ships and took away anyone they could pretend was really English and didn’t’ care about the rest. They also tried to tell the United States where and with whom it could trade. The U.S. said, “Uh, no way, you don’t rule us any more,” and this little, fledgling nation did as it pleased. The U.S. declared war in June, which was kind of stupid, rather like a domestic tabby taking on a Siberian tiger.

But the United States had its privateers. It built the best small, fast, and maneuverable vessels in the world. It armed them and ripped apart the British merchant fleet, taking hundreds of merchantmen until the merchants put pressure on Parliament and the United States signed the Treaty of Ghent on Christmas Eve 1814 and got everything it wanted, including the Northwest Territory. Interestingly, the land battles mostly took place in Michigan and Canada, and the Americans did not show well. And we must not forget to mention that the British burned the U.S. national capital, usually the point at which a country surrenders.

Britain faced the fact that she could be defeated on the high seas. Although we had a long way to go to be as powerful as England in the maritime realm, we showed our claws and made this powerful nation back down. To be fair to Great Britain, they were a bit preoccupied with France.

The Regency is a fascinating turning point in history. 1812 may have the most collective number of those turns of any year of this short but significant time period.

My recent release, A Flight of Fancy, focuses on many fascinating events occurring in 1812—the rise of the popularity and experimentation with mechanical devices like ballooning, as well as the Luddite rebellion and what it meant to the British artisan class. Amidst these historic events, I set a yougn couple dealing with guilt, emotional pain, and their struggles to find their relationship with the Lord in order to heal their own hearts and their love for one another.

 Cassandra Bainbridge has twice set aside her scholarly pursuits--once for the London Season and once for her wedding preparations. Love seems a wonderful alternative to study, until disaster strikes. When an accident brings an end to her betrothal, she heads for the country to recover from both her injuries and her broken heart. There she pursues her love for ballooning and envisions a future for herself as a daring aeronaut. But when her former fiancé slips back into her life, will she have to choose between him and her dream?

Filled with the mystique of London society and the charming beauty of the English countryside, A Flight of Fancy explores what it means to find the true source of happiness and love amid the distractions of life. Readers will love the next installment in this rousing Regency series from accomplished author Laurie Alice Eakes.

DOUBLE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING by following my blog with Powered by FEEDBURNER on the right, and don't miss any giveaways (the button with the flame). If you already follow my blog go ahead and follow by FEEDBURNER so you can be entered twice. If you're not getting an email telling you I have a new giveaway you're not following through Feedburner. Just mention that you follow through Feedburner when you leave a comment with each giveaway and you'll be entered twice.

Be sure to leave your email address. Please check your junk mail on and the day after the drawing. I've had to redraw because of no responses. Subject box will have: winner of (book title). I'll email the winner and they'll have seven days to respond. If I don't hear back I'll draw another name. USA shipping only. Thanks so much and please stop back again! Drawing will be held Monday, October 22nd, 8:00 A.M. EST. Offer void where prohibited. Odds of winning vary due to the number of entrants