II, or Incredible Interview - Linda Hall

Todays interview is with Linda Hall, author of mysteries. I've been a fan since Island of Refuge which came out in 1999.

Well, I tried to get this picture to scoot over and failed, but I wanted you to see Linda. So here is a misplaced picture. Imagine that it is on the left side of this paragraph, please. I think the picture is appropriate, because she and her husband love the sea. You can learn more about Linda at the website below and see pictures of their boat.

http://writerhall.com/

Linda's newest book is SHADOWS AT THE WINDOW:

What is the premise of Shadows at the Window?

Shadows at the Window is the second in my ‘shadows’ trilogy. The women in these series of books must deal with and work through the ‘shadows’ in their pasts before they can make peace and find love in the present. In the first of the series, Shadows at the Mirror, the main character doesn't know anything about her past. It’s a mystery she must uncover. In this release, Shadows at the Window, main character Lilly Johnson knows her past all too well, and it’s one she’d rather forget. Because it’s so abhorrent to her, she’s made up a series of lies that she tells her fiancé. But, the past has a way of catching up with the present, and when people in her past show up, her first inkling is to run. But, that would mean leaving everything behind, and that’s something she’s not willing to do now.

And here is the official bio of our interesting guest:

Linda Hall is the award-winning author of fifteen mystery and romantic suspense novels and many short stories. Her latest release, Shadows at the Window (July ’08) is a Romantic Times Top Pick for the month, and the first in her shadows trilogy, Shadows in the Mirror is a winner in The Word Guild’s Canadian Christian Writing Awards. It is also a finalist in the Reader’s Choice Awards.

In addition, both Sadie’s Song and Steal Away were short listed for the Christy Award. Steal Away was a Daphne finalist, the Beacon Award winner for Best Inspirational Novel, the Winter Rose Award Winner for Best Inspirational Novel, and was given the Award of Excellence from the Colorado Romance Writers.

Linda is a member of the Romance Writers of America, the American Christian Fiction Writers, The Word Guild and the Crime Writers of Canada.

Most of her novels have something to do with the sea. Linda grew up in New Jersey and it was there that her love of the ocean was born. In 1971 she married a Canadian and has lived in Canada since then. She has worked as a news reporter and feature writer for a number of years and also has written curriculum for adult literacy programs.

In 1990 she decided to do something she’d always dreamed of doing, she began working on a novel. Since that time she has written fifteen.
Linda and her husband enjoy sailing, are both very involved in CPS (The boating safety group in Canada) and both have achieved the highest level in that organization, namely Senior Navigator.

She and her husband have two grown children and three (soon to be four) wonderful grandchildren and they make their home in the Canadian maritime province of New Brunswick. (Just drive to the end of I-95 and turn right.)

II, or Incredible Interview - Marlow Schalesky

One of our CAWs this week is Beyond the Night. I have the privilege of letting you know a little more about the author.

Before we ask Marlo a couple of questions, here's a blurb about who she is. The construction consulting firm really surprised me.

Marlo Schalesky is the award winning author of six books, including her latest novel BEYOND THE NIGHT, which combines a love story with a surprise ending twist to create a new type of story. She has also had over 600 articles published in various magazines, had her work included in compilations such as Dr. Dobson's Night Light Devotional for Couples, and is a regular columnist for Power for Living. Marlo recently earned her Masters degree in Theology from Fuller Theological Seminary and is currently working on more "Love Stories with a Twist!" for Waterbrook-Multnomah Publishers, a division of Random House. She owns her own construction consulting firm and lives in Salinas, California with her husband and four young daughters.

Where did you get the idea for Beyond the Night?

It was all God's fault. And it started with a dream. Not one of those "I have a dream" kind of dreams, but a real, honest-to-goodness, it's-3am-and-I'm-asleep kind of dreams. I dreamt Paul and Maddie's love story. And when I woke up, I couldn't get the two of them out of my head. I thought about them in the shower, on the way to seminary classes, in the grocery store. Everywhere! For weeks, I found myself replaying tidbits of their story in my mind, until I finally figured out that maybe God wanted me to write their story.

"But," said I to God, "there's not enough here. It's not compelling enough."

"Yes," said God to me, "but Maddie's going blind." (Well, maybe it wasn't so much in those words, but just in the revelation of what was going on with Maddie.)

"Oh," said I, "That's very interesting. But it's still not enough. Not quite."

Two more days went by, and Paul and Maddie's story still kept teasing my mind. "It's not enough," I kept saying to God. "There's got to be more."

And then I saw it - the big twist. The incredible truth that I had no idea about before. It took my breath away. So, after I finished picking my jaw up off the floor, I sat down and starting working on the proposal for Beyond the Night.

As I fleshed out the story, I realized that this is exactly the type of book I'd like to keep writing - something with the poignancy of a Nicolas Sparks love story (without the sap!) matched with the knock-your-socks-off twist of a M. Night Shymalan movie (without the horror!). That kind of story excited me, spiritually, emotionally, mentally. And I figured that there had to be more people like me out there - people who want to be both moved emotionally and surprised and delighted intellectually. People who want to be changed, challenged, and caught with wonder by a story. That's what I'm hoping for in Beyond the Night!

The story is so fascinating, I suspect there is something a little more personal behind the tale.

When my grandfather was going blind, he took a shotgun to the backyard and ended his life. He was a good man, kind and wise. Blindness didn't change that. It wouldn't have changed it. But the fear of it did.

It didn't have to be that way. Today, there are 1.3 million people in the United States alone who are legally blind. Another nearly 9 million are visually impaired. Every day in this country people find out they are going blind. Seniors, mothers, fathers, children. Last year, it was my own mother.

So, Maddie's journey through blindness and fear grows out of my family's experiences. It also, in a broader sense, comes out of my own. For even though blindness is a specific malady, Maddie's condition is also a metaphor for the dark times we all face. For the difficulties that come and rattle our faith, for those times when we can't see what's ahead, when life is masked by shadow and doubt.

For Maddie, losing her physical sight prompted her journey through doubt and fear. For me, it was infertility and miscarriage.

If there's one thing I know about it's living the life God has given you when it's not the life you dreamed. Infertility taught me how to do that. It taught me that life takes unexpected turns and dark, difficult times come. And it taught me that it's not the darkness that will destroy you, but the fear of it.

So, in many ways Beyond the Night explores my own questions, my own doubts, my own faith journey in facing the darkness, facing fear, with hope and dignity. That's why Beyond the Night is about overcoming the fear of the unknown , rather than letting it overcome you. It's about finding the light, the hope, the promise that lies beyond the darkness.

And I think we could all use that, whether we're going physically blind or not.

What's currently going on at your website?

Find out more about me and the book, enter the BEYOND THE NIGHT CONTEST, see the trailer, read a sample chapter, and more at: http://www.marloschalesky.com/

CAW! CAW! Chapter A Week

Washington's Lady
by Nancy Moser

The Martha you never knew.

Who is this woman who captured the heart of our country's founder? While still a young woman, Martha Custis is a widow with two children. As the richest widow in Virginia she has many suitors. But one man, a striking French and Indian War hero, steps into her life and makes her realize she is ready to love again.
Yet will this man, George Washington, who is accustomed to courageous military exploits, settle down to a simple life of farming and being a father to her children? Even as Martha longs for domestic bliss, she realizes she will have to risk everything to find the courage to get behind a dream much larger than her own. United in their Glorious Cause, the love of the Washingtons deepens until he calls her "My other self."

It is said that without George Washington there would be no United States.
But without Martha there would be no George Washington.

BEYOND THE NIGHT
By Marlo Schalesky

They say love is blind.
This time, they're right . . .

A poignant love story . . .
A shocking twist . . .
Come, experience a love that will not die.

A Nicolas Sparks (The Notebook) type love story meets a M. Night Shymalan (The Sixth Sense) twist in this moving story of two people trying to find love in the dark. A woman going blind, a man who loves her but can't tell her so, a car crash, a hospital room, and an ending that has to be experienced to be believed.

To read an excerpt of these new titles go to Chapter-a-Week and to join our deeper discussion of these and other titles go to Chapter-a-Week Chat at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CAWChat/ where authors and readers discuss new titles together.
If you enjoy Chapter-a-Week take the time to tell a friend how to sign up. It's easy and free and a great way to find books that fit each person's particular taste.

CAW! CAW! Chapter A Week

FROM A DISTANCE

by
Tamera Alexander

What happens when dreams aren't what you imagined,
And secrets you've spent a lifetime guarding are finally laid bare?
Determined to become one of the country's premier newspaper photographers, Elizabeth Westbrook travels to the Colorado Territory to capture the grandeur of the mountains surrounding the remote town of Timber Ridge. She hopes, too, that the cool, dry air of Colorado, and its renowned hot springs, will cure the mysterious illness that threatens her career, and her life.
Daniel Ranslett, a former Confederate sharpshooter, is a man shackled by his past, and he'll do anything to protect his land and his solitude. When an outspoken Yankee photographer captures an image that appears key to solving a murder, putting herself in danger, Daniel is called upon to repay a debt. He's a man of his word, but repaying that debt will bring secrets from his past to light.
Forced on a perilous journey together, Daniel and Elizabeth's lives intertwine in ways neither could have imagined when first they met . . . from a distance.

WAGERED HEART
by Robin Lee Hatcher
Zondervan, June 2008

Bethany Silverton can't resist the challenge of charming a rough cowboy. But when she makes an innocent wager, unexpected results could turn a little flirtation into a lifetime of love. A sheltered preacher's daughter stakes her heart on love in this action-filled romance in the wild west of 1880s Montana.

"Hawk and Bethany's journey is fraught with misunderstandings, personal tragedy and the schemes of a treacherous man adding excitement to a tale that overflows with simmering attraction and blossoming love. Interspersed with humour and electrifying dialogue, Wagered Heart is a summer treat not to be missed."-- Relz Reviews

To read an excerpt of these new titles go to Chapter-a-Week and to join our deeper discussion of these and other titles go to Chapter-a-Week Chat at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CAWChat/ where authors and readers discuss new titles together.
If you enjoy Chapter-a-Week take the time to tell a friend how to sign up. It's easy and free and a great way to find books that fit each person's particular taste.

Confessions of a non-blogger

I have resisted blogging, though I’ve done a wee bit. This concept of spreading the good news of other author’s books has finally roped me in and tied me down. (Did my years in Texas just slip through?)

So three of the things that will pop up on this site are FIRST.

At the FIRST of every month it will be time for the FIRST Blog Tour! The FIRST day of every month we will feature an author and his/her latest book's FIRST chapter! That’s FIRST, as in:

Fiction

In

Rather

Short

Takes.

And mentioning FIRST first, just seemed a natural thing to do.

Another literary dip will be into CAW. That’s Chapter A Week. You get about a thousand word blurb from a book on the bookstore shelves. Enough of a taste to know whether you must rush out and get it.

And the last literary diversity will be II. That is not the Roman Numeral. Well, yes it is, but it’s not meant to stand for two. It is I and another I and it is Incredible Interviews. This will be interviews of authors, of course.

In between there three staples, a few musings on things might show up from me. But, I’m not promising. I’m supposed to be writing a book.