Friday, November 28, 2008

CAW! CAW! Chapter a Week

First, our latest winner: The winner of our Christmas book giveaway is Lacy Williams of Oklahoma!
Thanks to everyone who participated. We'll have more in the future so keep watching!

Death at a Discount
by Sharon Dunn

In this third installment of the Bargain Hunters mysteries, Ginger and her Bargain Hunter buddies head down to Denver to be guests on the Discount and Value Network, a shopping channel for the coupon clipping crowd. A snowstorm traps Ginger in the studio, with a dead body, suspects and a killer. With the electricity out and a spy on the loose stealing industry secrets, can Ginger figure out whodunit before it is too late?
"Death at a Discount has everything a mystery lover craves. Dunn masterfully lays out all the clues, while giving readers a good dose of suspense and humor in the process."
Christy Barritt, author of the Squeaky Clean mystery series, including Suspicious Minds.

Death at a Discount, book three in the Bargain Hunters mysteries, releases January 2009. In the meantime enjoy the award winning book one Death of a Garage Sale Newbie and book two, Death of a Six Foot Teddy Bear. To read more about Sharon's humorous who-dun-its and get some money saving tips, go to http://www.sharondunnbooks.com/.
To purchase any of Sharon's books go to http://www.amazon.com/

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Caw! Caw!


Elvis Takes a Backseat
Leanna Ellis

Strap on your seatbelt for a most unusual ride!
"Leanna Ellis takes a back seat to no one. So put on your blue suede shoes and come along for a most entertaining ride to Memphis˜and to the healing place closest to the heart."
Debbie Macomber, New York Times #1 bestselling author

"Brilliant! Charming! I laughed, I cried, I sighed in contentment. Leanna Ellis is a gifted writer and a must-read."
Lorraine Heath, New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author

"Elvis Takes a Back Seat is no different from its muse˜full of surprises, drama, and humor, just like the King of Rock 'n' Roll. Welcome to a talented storyteller and a fun, deep, unexpected book."
 Kristin Billerbeck, author of What a Girl Wants and The Trophy Wives Club


A young widow, determined to fulfill her husband's last request, hauls a three foot bust of Elvis strapped in the back seat of a vintage Cadillac from Texas to Memphis to return it to its rightful owner. The road trip with her eccentric aunt, who knew the King of Rock n' Roll, and a temperamental teen, hits roadblocks and detours as the three women uncover pieces of their own past along with the bust's mysterious history. The discoveries change the course of their lives forever.

Winner of the National Readers' Choice Award, Leanna Ellis wrote romance novels before moving into women's inspirational fiction. Elvis Takes a Back Seat was the launch title for B&H Publishing Group's new fiction line. Visit her website at http://leannaellis.com.

Elvis Takes a Back is available at a bookstore near you or online. Please Do Not Reproduce without permission.
www.leannaellis.com


Until We Reach Home
By Lynn Austin
Life in Sweden seems like an endless winter for Elin, Kirsten, and Sofia Carlson after their parents' deaths. When circumstances become unbearable, Elin writes to her relatives in America, pleading for help. As the sisters begin the long, difficult journey, they have nothing to rely on except courage, faith and each other. And in a journey fraught with hardships, each woman will come to understand the meaning of home.

Publisher's Weekly says:
"this rich tale will not disappoint historical romance fans. Austin, a four-time Christy Award winner, scores again with an engrossing tale of loss, determination and hope."


Bethany House Publishers c.2008
Lynn Austin's website: www.lynnaustin.org
This book is available now at www.bethanyhouse.com; www.amazon.com; www.christianbook.com; or fine bookstores everywhere


Friday, November 21, 2008

TEEN FIRST- Infidel




It's the 21st, time for the Teen FIRST blog tour!(Join our alliance! Click the button!) Every 21st, we will feature an author and his/her latest Teen fiction book's FIRST chapter!




and his book:



Thomas Nelson (November 11, 2008)




ABOUT THE AUTHOR:


Ted is the son of missionaries John and Helen Dekker, whose incredible story of life among headhunters in Indonesia has been told in several books. Surrounded by the vivid colors of the jungle and a myriad of cultures, each steeped in their own interpretation of life and faith, Dekker received a first-class education on human nature and behavior. This, he believes, is the foundation of his writing.

After graduating from a multi-cultural high school, he took up permanent residence in the United States to study Religion and Philosophy. After earning his Bachelor's Degree, Dekker entered the corporate world in management for a large healthcare company in California. Dekker was quickly recognized as a talent in the field of marketing and was soon promoted to Director of Marketing. This experience gave him a background which enabled him to eventually form his own company and steadily climb the corporate ladder.

Since 1997, Dekker has written full-time. He states that each time he writes, he finds his understanding of life and love just a little clearer and his expression of that understanding a little more vivid. To see a complete list of Dekker's work, visit The Works section of TedDekker.com.

Here are some of his latest titles:

Chosen (The Lost Books, Book 1) (The Books of History Chronicles)

Adam

Black: The Birth of Evil (The Circle Trilogy Graphic Novels, Book 1)

Saint


Product Details

List Price:$15.99  
Reading level: Young Adult
Paperback: 136 pages
Publisher: Thomas Nelson (November 11, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1595546049
ISBN-13: 978-1595546043


AND NOW...THE FIRST TWO PAGES:

(Click Pictures to Zoom!)




Friday, November 14, 2008

My Sister Dilly
by Maureen Lang

Hannah Williams couldn't get out of her small hometown fast enough, preferring the faster pace, trendy lifestyle and beauty of California's Pacific Ocean coast. But when her sister makes a desperate choice that lands her in prison, Hannah knows she never should have left her younger sister behind. She learns she can never really go back, only to accept the forgiveness God has already extended to both her and her sister. She only hopes she hasn't learned it too late to keep the love of the man she risked leaving behind.

Tyndale House Publishing

A sample of reviews for My Sister Dilly:

"sure to appeal to readers who enjoy compelling women's fiction."
˜Library Journal

"emotionally engrossing."
˜Romantic Times, 4 stars

My Sister Dilly packs a full serving of introspection, love, hope, and faith within the pages of this well-written, smooth reading contemporary novel.
˜BC Books


Prologue

RAINDROPS SPATTERED the windshield of my car, leaving see-through polka dots. Then they came down harder, each thwack pummeling any remnant of symmetrical design. Instinctively I reached for the wiper. But my hand stopped midway, almost as if it knew before my brain told me movement would be the wrong thing to do. A parked car, across from a schoolyard, with someone inside . . . lurking . . .

Even I, childless at thirty-five, knew such a scenario would attract the interest of school staff or a parent, if not outright suspicion. So what if I was a woman with no record. It wasn't as if we carried that information on our foreheads. Even a momentary misunderstanding would be embarrassing and, considering what I'd come here to do, probably make a news story or two. Hannah Williams was questioned by police today . . .

So I sat. I would have welcomed the cover of rain if it hadn't sent the kids back inside as they waited for the parade of squat little yellow buses lining up to collect them all. Most of the children, the ones who were mobile anyway, were herded inside, but several of those in wheelchairs were given shelter under a wide red awning attached to the play yard. Umbrellas appeared; hoods went up. Children were wheeled out to the ramps attached to the bus, where they were locked in, chair and all. Then the first little bus zoomed off, making room for another just like it to take its place.

I had no idea there would be so many students in wheelchairs. Rubbing my forehead, feeling the start of an ache, I acknowledged my own ignorance. But what else was I supposed to do? I had to try spotting her because I knew without a doubt that was the first thing my sister Dilly would ask. "Have you seen her?" Followed quickly by, "How did she look?"

But there were dozens of kids who each looked around ten years old, strapped to a wheelchair with a headrest. From this distance and through the rain, I guessed the ones with pink or yellow raincoats were girls, but who knew if others in green or light blue might be girls too? I sat there anyway until the last little bus rolled away, never sure of my target. I'd failed Dilly again.

Chapter One

THE PRISON was in the middle of nowhere; at least that was how it seemed to me. Not many property owners must want a facility like that in their backyard, even one for women. So there were no crops of housing developments taking up farmland around here the way they seemed to everywhere else. Not that I thought much about farmland, even having grown up in the middle of it. The only green cornfields I'd seen since I'd left for college were from an airplane as I jetted from one end of the country to the other.

"Are you here for the Catherine Carlson release?"

I looked up in surprise as not one but a half dozen people seemed to have appeared from nowhere. I'd noticed a couple of vans and cars farther down the parking lot but hadn't seen any people until now. My gaze had been taken up by the prison, a forlorn place if ever I saw one. Even the entire blue sky wasn't enough to offset the building's ugliness. Block construction, painted beige like old oatmeal. If the cinder walls didn't give it away, the lack of windows made it clear it was an institution. The electric barbed wire fencing told what kind.

Two men in my path balanced cameras on their shoulders, and in front of them a pair of pretty blonde journalists shoved microphones in my face while another thrust forth a palm-sized recorder. One on the fringe held an innocuous notepad.

My first impulse was to run back to my car and speed away. But Dilly was waiting. I clamped my mouth shut, gripped the strap of my Betsey Johnson purse, and walked along the concrete strip leading to the doors of the prison. There was an invisible line at the gate that not a single reporter could penetrate. But I knew they'd wait.

At the front door, a woman greeted me through a glass window. Dilly was being "processed," she told me, then said to have a seat. I turned, noticing the smell of inhospitable antiseptic for the first time. Hard wooden benches were the only place to sit. Evidently they thought the families of those in such a place needed to be punished too. I'd have brought a book if I'd known the wait was going to be so long; there wasn't even a magazine handy to help me pass the time.

Only thoughts. Of how I would make up for my failures. I'd told Mac, my best friend and somehow it seemed he'd become my only friend that this was the first step in fixing things. Keeping a broken past in the past. Dilly's . . . and mine.


I hope this little peek into the book will stir your interest! My Sister Dilly is available online or in stores everywhere, including Christian Book Distributors at: http://www.christianbook.com

Maureen Lang
www.maureenlang.com

The Other Side of Darkness
By Melody Carlson
Multnomah Books

Prologue

"That's not good enough."
I scratch the mosquito bite on the back of my arm and adjust my thick-lens glasses to look up at my mom. Her eyes feel like two sharp prongs probing right into my forehead as if she can read my thoughts. And maybe she can.
"Why not?" I say quietly, then glance away, wishing I'd kept quiet.
"Look at that carpet." Her index finger points down like an arrow at the new orange shag carpeting that goes wall to wall in our small wood-paneled family room.
I look but see nothing other than carpet. Still, I know better than to state this as fact.
"Pull the vacuum back and forth in straight lines. Back and forth, back and forth, like this." She uses her hands to show me, as if I don't fully understand the concept of `back and forth.'
I stand with my shoulders hunched forward, staring dumbly down at the sea of orange at my feet.
"If you did it right, Ruth, I would see neat, even rows about six inches wide. Now, start in the corner by the fireplace and do it again."
I frown and, although I know it's not only futile but stupid, say, "But it's clean, Mom. I vacuumed everything in here. The carpet is already clean."
The family room becomes very quiet now. With the Hoover off, I can hear the sounds of kids playing outside enjoying their Saturday freedom like normal ten-year-olds, not that I mistake myself for normal. And then I hear the familiar hissing sound of my mother as she blows air like a jet stream through her nostrils.
"Ruth Anne!" She bends down and peers at me, those flaming blue eyes just inches from my own. "Are you talking back to me?"
I glance down at my faded blue Keds and mutely shake my head. I do not want to be slapped. Without looking at her, I turn the vacuum cleaner on again and drag its bulky cavernous body over to the wall by the fireplace next to the big picture window, although I don't look out—I don't want to see my friends playing. Even worse, I don't want them to see me.
As I vacuum the rug all over again, I try not to think about my older sister, Lynette, the pretty one. I try not to imagine her at her ballet lesson just now, looking sleek and lovely in her black leotard and tights, doing a graceful arabesque with one hand on the bar, glimpsing her long straight back in the gleaming mirror behind her.
"You are not made for ballet," my mother had told me two years ago when I pleaded with her for lessons. "You're much too stout, and your arms and legs are too short and stubby. You take after your father's side of the family."
And I can't disagree with her when I examine myself in the bathroom mirror. With my dark hair of untamable curls and these muddy brown eyes, I definitely do not look like I belong in this particular family of blue-eyed, long-limbed blondes. Well, my mother isn't a true blonde. She helps it out with her monthly bottle of Lady Clairol, although no one is allowed to mention this fact, ever, and she takes care to purchase her "contraband" in a drugstore in the neighboring town where no one knows her. But she lets it be known that Lynette and my little brother, Jonathan, both get their silky blond locks from her side of the family—a respectable mix of English and Scandinavian.
Jonathan is four years younger than me, but unlike me, he is not an accident. Plus he is a much-wanted boy, named after my father, Jonathan Francis Reynolds. Once while playing Hide `n' Seek at church, I was hiding behind the drapes in the fellowship room when I overheard my mother talking to a lady friend. The other woman commented on how Lynette and I look nothing alike. "Oh, Ruth wasn't planned, you know," my mother spoke in a hushed tone, causing my ears to perk up and actually listen for a change. "Good grief. My little Lynette was still in diapers and suddenly I was pregnant again! Can you imagine? Well, I was completely devastated by the˜"
Just then Jonathan raced over and threw himself around my mother's knees, complaining that he'd been left out of the childish game.
"Now, this one," my mother spoke with pride as she ruffled his pale hair. "He was no mistake."

CHAPTER ONE

Thirty Years Later

"It's all a mistake." I wash my hands again, perhaps for the seventeenth time in the last hour. Never mind that they are already red and chapped, or that the skin on my knuckles cracks when I make a fist. "I will call Pastor Glenn first thing in the morning and tell him it's all just a stupid mistake."
But even as I speak these words aloud for no one to hear but myself, I know that's one phone call I will never make. Me, stand up to man in his position? Accuse him of error? Why that would be like taking a stand against the Lord.
Or my mother.
I suck in a deep breath. Everything will be okay. Somehow I will make everything right again. Instead of two, I will pray for three hours tonight. That should help.
"Mommy?"
I turn to see my younger daughter standing in the hallway, her pale pink nightgown backlit by the hallway light so I can see her spindly legs trembling. "What's wrong, sweetie?"
"That dream," Sarah says in a shaky voice. "I had that dream again."
I gather her into my arms, carry her over to the sofa, and pull a woolly afghan around both of us. "Dear Jesus, please drive away the demons—take them from us and throw them into Your fiery pit. Send Your angels to protect Sarah now. Take away those evil thoughts and replace them with Your good thoughts, O Lord" I ramble on and on, just as I've been taught, until I finally hear Sarah's even breathing and I am assured that she is asleep. I sigh. Once again, I have kept the demons at bay.
This is all my fault, I think as I tuck her back into bed. I glance over to make sure Mary is still asleep in the twin bed across from her little sister. Hopefully the demonic nightmares won't attack her as well.
Satisfied that both my daughters are safe, I tiptoe down the hallway where I pause by Matthew's bedroom. I shake my head as I push open his partially shut door and see his floor strewn with castoff pieces of clothing—jeans in a heap right where he took them off, dirty socks in tight little wads next to his bed. How many times must I tell him to put his things away—that cleanliness truly is next to godliness? When will he get it? I consider going in there right now, doing it myself, but that would risk waking him. And right now, Matthew is going through a difficult period.
Barely eighteen and out of high school, he threatens on a regular basis to leave home. I can't believe he'd really go through with it though. His job at the bookstore would never support him, and besides, wouldn't he be scared out there—all on his own with so much evil lurking about? If he's not careful, if he continues this careless living, the demons will come into his life and take over. And then what will I do?
I must pray harder than ever tonight. It seems the spiritual safety of my entire household is at stake. Maybe it has something to do with the full moon. Or the fact that it's autumn, with Halloween only a few weeks away. Pastor Glenn says the demons are more active now. Especially up here in the Oregon—where nighttime and darkness come quickly this time of year.
I bite my lip as I glance at the clock. Rick will be home from work in less than two hours. At first I hated his promotion because of the new nighttime hours at the shipping company, but sometimes like now, I'm thankful for his absence. And I cringe to think what he will say when he gets home and hears what I've done.
Perhaps I should keep this from him since it will only upset him. There must be some way to make up for this mistake. If it really is a mistake. Maybe it was meant to be, just a blessing in disguise that will unfold later. Whatever it is, I think I can keep this secret between the Lord and me—and, of course, Pastor Glenn.
I slowly kneel in front of the worn plaid sofa, my elbows digging into the familiar grooves in the center of the middle cushion. I bow my head and prepare myself for spiritual battle. I know I will be drained before this is over.

The Other Side of Darkness Published by Multnomah Books
12265 Oracle Boulevard, Suite 200
Colorado Springs, Colorado 80921
A division of Random House Inc.

Copyright © 2008 by Carlson Management Co., Inc.
ISBN: 978-1-4000-7081-7
To join a 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 great books that fit each person's particular taste.


Friday, November 07, 2008

Caw! Caw!


The Christmas Kite
by Gail Gaymer Martin
Women's fiction

After her in-laws paid her to disappear, single mom Meara Hayden moved to Mackinaw Island to start over. With her faith and her disabled son's enthusiasm, she knew she could do it. But she never thought one simple kite would lead her to love again.
Jordan Baird felt as aimless as the kites he made. After losing his family, he led a reclusive life. Then, unexpectedly, a mother and her special son made him see new possibilities, the happiness of love and faith. Did Jordan dare dream of the riches life had to offer?

From Steeple Hill single title mass market ISBN 978-0-373-78629-9

Review:
The Christmas Kite is a tender romance, the story of two-wounded people learning to live and love again. And I guarantee that little Mac will steal your heart. Settle into your favorite chair and enjoy --- Robin Lee Hatcher, Best-selling Author


Available at barnesandnoble.com and other fine bookstores everywhere.
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Christmas-Kite/Gail-Gaymer-Martin/e/9780373786299/?itm
Don't forget to visit Gail's website at www.gailmartin.com

Look for her Barbour books set in the Monterey Peninsula available now: And Baby Makes Five, Garlic and Roses, and Butterfly Trees



Havah: The Story of Eve
by Tosca Lee

No more myth. No more legend. From paradise to exile, from immortality to the death of Adam. Visit the dawn of mankind through the eyes of Eve˜the woman first known as Havah


"Lee surprised the evangelical Christian literary world with her acclaimed Demon: A Memoir. Her fans will be equally pleased with her newest, a passionate and riveting story of the Bible's first woman and her remarkable journey after being cast from paradise. Lee's superior storytelling will have readers weeping for all that Havah forfeited by a single damning choice."
˜Publishers Weekly (starred review)


"Once every few years, I come across a book of such scope, such beauty, that it defies description. Havah bridges mankind's beginnings with the restless state of our present age. . . . Tosca Lee has combined the grit and vitality of ancient history with a profound reverence for the Word of God. Havah is a novel with boundless imagination."
~Eric Wilson, author of Field of Blood and Fireproof

Tosca Lee is the author of the critically acclaimed Demon: A Memoir (2007), a ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year Silver Award winner, American Christian Fiction Writers Book of the Year nominee, and Christy award finalist. Visit Tosca at her site: www.toscalee.com .

http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FHavah-Story-Eve-Tosca-Lee%2Fdp%2F1600061249&tag=wwwdemonamemo-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=9325

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 great books that fit each person's particular taste.

Monday, November 03, 2008

Congratulations to Nancy Rue

Lucy Doesn’t Wear Pink by Nancy Rue is a 2008 Silver Medal Moonbeam Children’s Book Award Winner in the Pre-Teen Category. 
In this first Lucy Novel by bestselling author Nancy Rue, readers meet Lucy Rooney-a feisty, precocious tomboy from the Southwest who loves soccer and questions everything—even God. A horrible accident killed her mother and blinded her father while they were in Iraq, tur
ning Lucy’s life upside down. Her bossy, career-minded Aunt Karen thinks eleven-year-old Lucy needs a woman’s influence. It will take a strong but gentle housekeeper named Inez —who insists on Bible study along with homework—to show Lucy that there are many ways to become the woman God intends her to be. 

Lucy Doesn’t Wear Pink (October 2008, 978-0-310-71450-8, $7.99) inspir
es young women ages 8 to 12 to live a life of faith, even under the most difficult circumstances.

Bestselling author Nancy Rue centers her ministry on young women and their need to be the authentic selves God created them to be. She has 
written more than 100 books for tweens, teens, and women; speaks and teaches extensively, and has raised her own authentic person - daughter Marijean.
Some of her most-loved fiction includes the bestselling Lily Series and bestselling Sophie Series with Zonderkidz. Rue spends much of her time teaching workshops, conducting seminars and speaking at conferences. Versed in the issues facing today’s young women, Rue is a voice for the Faithgirlz™ line from Zonderkidz. She has authored non-fiction titles in the Faithgirlz series to help girls “get real” on things like overcoming insecurities of puberty, mean girls and boy troubles, while maintaining a meaningful relationship with God. Rue is also the editor of the Faithgirlz Bible for Zonderkidz. She is hitting the road in 2008 and 2009 with the “Faithgirlz Beauty of Believing Tour” and will travel to Dallas, Nashville, and Atlanta in 2009. Visit www.faithgirlz.com/tour for details. When she is not on the road, Rue lives on a lake in Lebanon, TN with her husband, Jim and two labs, Captain Sam and Sullivan Crisp.

“Zonderkidz™ is honored to publish award-winning books and Bibles by partnering with wonderful authors like Sally Lloyd-Jones and Nancy Rue. It is our goal to inspire young people to live a life of faith and our authors and illustrators share in that vision,” said Annette Bourland, Senior Vice President and Publisher for Zonderkidz. “With powerful storytelling and heartfelt illustrations, Tiny Bear’s Bible and Lucy Doesn’t Wear Pink are deserving of these awards and will inspire so many young people with the message of God’s never-ending love.”


About the Moonbeam Awards
Presented by Jenkins Group and Independent Publisher Online, the Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards are designed to bring increased recognition to exemplary children’s books and their creators, and to support childhood literacy and life-long reading. Awards are given in 30 categories covering the full range of subjects, styles and age groups that children’s books are written and published in today. For more information, visit www.moonbeamawards.com

Sunday, November 02, 2008

Caw! Caw!

Born to parents who died shortly after her birth, twenty-year-old genius Sarah Sims has been hidden all her life in a secure CIA facility. Yet her days of anonymity are limited because her aunt has discovered her existence and is determined to lead Sarah out of exile. But before she can leave the only world she's ever known, Sarah needs what most people take for granted . . . a functioning face and the skills to use it. Will she remain in her secluded fortress or summon the courage to follow her heart?

The Face Angela Hunt. Mira, $6.99 (384p) ISBN 978-0-7783-2727-1
Compelling characterization is the driving force behind this enthralling story of hope . . . Hunt (The Elevator) fuels the completely engrossing story with dual present-tense narration by the two women. Readers are drawn into their lives, sharing their joy and fear as they approach a fulfilling and surprising climax. A touch of suspense adds to the powerful themes of second chances and new beginnings. (Nov.) --Publishers Weekly

Texas Legacy Trilogy
By
DiAnn Mills
Three women of Kahlerville, Texas, battled Old West dangers and personal wars that threaten those they love˜as well as their own lives.
Leather and Lace Casey O'Hare walks away from living with an outlaw gang and straight into the arms of a lawyer turned avenger. Who can she trust when all she has been taught is to fear?
Lanterns and Lace Jenny Martin is determined to find her motherless niece, but a web of intrigue surrounds the child. Who should Jenny listen to when a murderer lurks?


Lightning and Lace Bonnie KJahler, a widowed mother of three, is drowning in her grief until a disarming preacher comes to town. When her son is accused of crimes, will Bonnie listen to the right advice? Christy Award Nominee 2008.


Kahlerville, Texas 1898

DiAnn Mills

Expect an Adventure
www.diannmills.com
www.bn.com
www.amazon.com
www.christianbook.com

Available wherever books are sold
Do not reproduce without the permission of Barbour Publishing.