Here's another author I just love. She's an amazing writer and an awesome person, one I am privileged to know. She writes stories that are so unique too. Leave a comment for a chance to win a copy of Rhythm of Secrets!*
Patti Lacy, Baylor graduate, taught community college humanities until God called her to span seas and secrets in her novels, An Irishwoman's Tale and What the Bayou Saw. She has two grown children and a dog named Laura. She and her husband can be seen jog-walking the streets of Normal, Illinois, an amazing place to live for a woman born in a car. For more information, visit Patti's website at www.pattilacy.com, her blog at www.pattilacy.com/blog, and her Facebook daily Artbites.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Sheila Franklin has masqueraded as the precocious daughter of avant-garde parents in colorful 1940s New Orleans, a teen desperate for love and acceptance, and an unwed mother sent North with her shame.
After marrying Edward, Sheila artfully masks her secrets, allowing Edward to gain prominence as a conservative pastor. When one phone call from a disillusioned Vietnam veteran destroys her cover, Sheila faces an impossible choice: save her son and his beloved…or imperil Edward’s ambitions.
Inspired by a true story, The Rhythm of Secrets intermingles jazz, classical, and sacred music in a symphony trumpeting God’s grace.
Endorsements:
“A vibrant journey across time in search of the greatest truth of all: grace.”—Tosca Lee, author of Havah: The Story of Eve and Demon: A Memoir
“No longer a ‘well-kept secret,’ Patti Lacy is a master storyteller who speaks to the soul with a powerful and unique rhythm, weaving a tale so emotionally rich that story and reader become one.”—Julie Lessman, author of The Daughters of Boston series and A Hope Undaunted
“Patti Lacy pens another beautifully written story in The Rhythm of Secrets. I couldn’t put it down!”—Melanie Dobson, award-winning author of The Black Cloister
“The Rhythm of Secrets is a stirring story of faith and endurance that will keep readers turning the page until every last secret is revealed.”—Tina Ann Forkner, author of Ruby Among Us and Rose House
I'm still in the middle of reading this book and love it! (Special thanks to Zondervan for the review copy). Reading Lysa's account of her journey is like reading my own. And the questions at the end of the chapters are great. This is definitely a great book for small groups and women's ministry groups. My own church's women's ministry will be doing this study over the summer.
Be sure to read down to the bottom. Lots going on with this book, including a chance to win a Kindle.
About the Book:
Just because a woman finally fits into her skinny jeans doesn't mean she's won her battle with food. Too often, women overlook the spiritual component to their physical struggle with healthy eating. Made to Crave taps into the desires God gave you to consume food without letting food consume you!
Made to Crave is the missing link between a woman's desire to be healthy and the spiritual empowerment necessary to make that happen. The reality is we were made to crave. Craving isn't a bad thing. But we must realize God created us to crave more of him. Many of us have misplaced that craving by overindulging in physical pleasures instead of lasting spiritual satisfaction. If you are struggling with unhealthy eating habits, you can break the "I'll start again Monday" cycle, and start feeling good about yourself today. Learn to stop beating yourself up over the numbers on the scale. Discover that your weight loss struggle isn't a curse but rather a blessing in the making, and replace justifications that lead to diet failure with empowering go-to scripts that lead to victory. You can reach your healthy weight goal - and grow closer to God in the process. This is not a how-to book. This is not the latest and greatest dieting plan. This book is the necessary companion for you to use alongside whatever healthy lifestyle plan you choose. This is a book and Bible study to help you find the "want to" in making healthy lifestyle choices. 224 pages. Companion Bible study DVD set also available. http://madetocrave.org/purchase-resources/
About Lysa:
Lysa TerKeurst is an author and speaker who helps everyday women live an adventure of faith through following Jesus Christ. As president of Proverbs 31 Ministries, Lysa has led thousands to make their walk with God an invigorating journey.
Lysa wrote the book Made to Crave from the perspective of a woman who has never craved a carrot stick in her whole life. Having struggled with her weight her whole adult life, Lysa knows what it feels like to be in the vicious cycle of gaining and losing, but never feeling at peace in her struggle. Everything changed when Lysa decided to have her deepest desire met by God not food. Now, armed with the spiritual motivation she gained in her own journey, she is inspiring others to find lasting victory.
As a nationally known speaker, Lysa has been passionately teaching women God’s truths for years. Lysa’s personal adventures of following God led to appearances on The Oprah Winfrey Show, Good Morning America, The 700 Club, USA Today newspaper, Woman’s Day magazine, and Focus on the Family radio.
Today, Lysa and her ministry team at Proverbs 31 Ministries encourage more than 375,000 women through their daily online devotional. In addition, she co-hosts a 1-minute inspirational radio program aired on more than 1,200 stations around the world. Plus, she touches hearts through their monthly magazine, P31 Woman. Lysa’s blog averages over 70,000 avid readers per month. She is the award-winning author of 14 books, including her newest releases, Made to Crave and Becoming More Than a Good Bible Study Girl. Other noteworthy books include What Happens When Woman Say Yes to God, What Happens When Women Walk in Faith, Capture His Heart, and Capture Her Heart. Visit Lysa's website for more info and to visit her blog! http://lysaterkeurst.com
About the Giveaway and Party:
Win a brand new KINDLE from Lysa Terkeurst during the Made To Crave KINDLE Giveaway!
To celebrate the release of Made to Crave and the MTC Small Group DVD Study Set, Lysa is giving away a KINDLE prize package worth over $175.00! To enter just click on one of the icons below! One winner will receive:
A brand new Kindle with Wi-Fi & the New E Ink Pearl Screen
KINDLE editions of Lysa’s Made to Crave and Becoming More Than A Good Girl
But, wait there is more!
Lysa will be announcing the winner of the Made to Crave KINDLE Giveaway on February 8th during the Made To Crave Party on Facebook!
During the party Lysa will chat with guests, host a trivia contest or two, and give away lots of other fun prizes (copies of Lysa’s other books and Amazon.com, iTunes & Starbucks gift certificates) – including a live Author Chat with Lysa for your small group!
Don’t miss the fun! Lysa is looking forward to learning more about you – so be sure to stop by Lysa's Facebook Author Page on February 8th at 5:00 PM PST (6 PM MST, 7 PM CST, & 8 PM EST).
Go HERE for a complete listing of blog tour participants.
My dream since I was 18 was to write books. I started seriously pursuing publication in 2004 and nearly gave up toward the end of last year, thinking my kind of stories wouldn't find a place in the CBA market.
And now, as my first nonfiction book (Winning Him Without Words: 10 Keys to Thriving in Your Spiritually Mismatched Marriage—check out the sidebar) is about to release (Feb. 21), I sit here with TWO fiction book contracts!!!
I cannot believe it. I'm so glad my amazing agent, Rachelle Gardner stayed fearless and determined when I lagged. Thank you, Rachelle! You're amazing!
And I don't care if I sound like one of those actors or singers on stage accepting an award and they give the obligatory thanks to God. I give God all the glory and credit for all of my success, nonfiction and fiction. He's the one who's been in control of it all and opened the doors at the right time. I'm so glad my impatience and doubts didn't run the show. LOL!
So, sometime next year (I'm guessing Spring or Fall), The Soul Saver will release. I wrote this book to go with Winning Him as a fictional version of the 10 Keys Lynn Donovan and I share in regards to thriving in a mismatched marriage. Here's the blurb for The Soul Saver:
Sent to find the lost… but this time she has to find herself.
On an average day, God kept her missions to the grocery store, bank, and playground territories. But then came the tough missions—the ones that sent Lexie Baltimore into real battle. The goal was always the same. Reach the lost, bring someone back to God, restore hope. And she had a few battle scars to show for it.
Tormented that she can’t reach the one person she loves the most—staunch atheist and husband Hugh—Lexie finds her own hope waning when the battle comes to her doorstep in the shape of pastor who represents everything she wants and what her husband is not—a godly man.
Then false accusations and rumors spin her husband and family into a precarious position and the only way out is to trust God. But how can she convince her husband of that when she’s struggling to trust God herself?
This time Lexie is the mission.
I love this book so much, and I hope it will be an encouragement to others. My deepest gratitude to Barbour Publishing and Rebecca Germany for giving this book a chance! Thank you!
The second contract I received (also from Barbour) is for a novella that will be part of a series. I have the distinct honor and pleasure of working on the Rendezvous at Central Park series with Ronie Kendig, MaryLu Tyndall, and Kim Sawyer.
My story is titled A Love Meant to Be and is set partly during the Vietnam War and current day. I'm writing the hero in this story to honor my father, who was a Vietnam Vet and passed away last June. Wish he could be here to see it but I know one day we'll be together again to talk about it. Here's the blurb for A Love Meant to Be:
1973 — Unexpected love sweeps Alan James and Gail Gibson into a romantic journey that spans 38 years. After a whirlwind romance, they plan to reunite at Central Park after Alan returns from the Vietnam War, but the lies and deceit of Gail’s sister foil their reunion. Thirty-eight years later, Alan’s niece, Jamie, finds Gail and brings them back together. Alan and Gail’s plans to reunite in Central Park are finally realized in a surprise reunion that shows their love was meant to be.
So there you go. There's my great news! I've sat on the news about Soul Saver since early December until we got the contract done. Now, I get to share how God's brought my dream to fruition. What a great way to start the year!
This week I have some fabulous books to share and here is one of my absolute favorite authors (and people!), Ronie Kendig. Digitalis is the second book in the Discarded Heroes series. This series is fantastic! And I have a copy of Digitalis to give away to one very special person, so leave a comment for a chance to win it!
Ronie has been married since 1990 to a man who can easily be defined in classic terms as a hero. She has four beautiful children. Her eldest daughter is 16 this year, her second daughter will be 13, and her twin boys are 10. After having four children, she finally finished her degree in December 2006. She now has a B.S. in Psychology through Liberty University in Lynchburg, VA. Getting her degree is a huge triumph for both her and her family--they survived!!
This degree has also given her a fabulous perspective on her characters and how to not only make them deeper, stronger, but to make them realistic and know how they'll respond to each situation. Her debut novel, Dead Reckoning released March 2010 from Abingdon Press. And her Discarded Heroes series began in July 2010 from Barbour with the first book entitled Nightshade.
This is the second book in the series.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Step into the boots of a former Marine in this heart-pounding adventure in life and love. Colton “Cowboy” Neeley is a Marine trying to find his footing as he battles flashbacks now that he’s back home. Piper Blum is a woman in hiding—from life and the assassins bent on destroying her family. When their hearts collide, more than their lives are at stake. Will Colton find a way to forgive Piper’s lies? Can Piper find a way to rescue her father, trapped in Israel? Is there any way their love, founded on her lies, can survive?
If you would like to read an excerpt of Digitalis, go HERE.
I hope you'll check out my weekend post at Spiritually Unequal Marriage. I'm amazed at the responses!
When he had gone indoors, the blind men came to him, and he asked them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” “Yes, Lord,” they replied. Then he touched their eyes and said, “According to your faith let it be done to you”; and their sight was restored. Jesus warned them sternly, “See that no one knows about this.” — Matthew 8: 28-30
Yesterday after I read this piece of Scripture, I prayed for big faith. God’s Word had convicted me and made me realize that I’ve hidden behind a safe faith the last year because I was afraid of more disappointment...
C. S. Lakin is a novelist and professional copyeditor and writing coach. She is currently working on her eleventh novel, a contemporary family saga drawn from the biblical story of Jacob. Someone to Blame(Zondervan), an intense relational drama and winner of the 2009 First Novel contest, released in October 2010, and she is also the author of the allegorical adult fantasy series The Gates of Heaven, featuring The Wolf of Tebron and the upcoming release The Map Across Time (March 2011). She is currently completing her tenth novel and developing a dog memoir of epic proportion.
ABOUT THE BOOK
In the wake of heartrending family tragedies, Matt and Irene Moore move with their fourteen-year-old daughter, Casey, to a small town. Their goal is to get far away from the daily reminders that leave each of them raw and guilt-ridden. Their hope is to find redemption, repair, and renewal. Instead, the threads that hold them together unravel even more.
Breakers, a small community perched on the rocky coast of the Pacific Northwest, is draped with cold isolation that seems to mirror the hearts. As they settle into their new life, old grief settles with them. Matt is always on edge and easily angered, Irene is sad and pensive, and Casey is confused and defiant. They've once more set the stage for calamity. Into this mix comes Billy Thurber, a young drifter with his own conflicts, whose life unexpectedly entangles with the Moores'.
His arrival in Breakers parallels a rash of hateful and senseless crimes, and soon the whole town -- eager for someone to blame -- goes after Thurber with murderous intent. Out of this dangerous chaos, however, the Moores find unexpected grace and healing in a most unlikely way.
You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. — 2 Cor. 3:3
Many of us participated in the Fasting & Praying week here at S.U.M., but I want to share something that happened the week before.
Fasting has never been easy for me. I struggle with it greatly and have actually avoided it for the last couple years, using my food issues as an excuse not to. The enemy used that one on me very effectively.
So as this week approached I began praying for God to help me do it. I needed to do it because I was facing some big issues in the New Year and my gut was telling me it was time to break the bondage that had gripped my family in a matter of weeks...
