This week there are two chances to win a print copy of Without Proof:
At Thinking Thoughts: New Novel News (ended Nov 23, 2015)
and at A Christian Writer’s World (ended Nov. 28, 2015)
Don’t need a copy of the book? Stop by and check out the interviews. Some of the questions made me think!
I’m sitting here staring at a blinking cursor. Or I was before I abandoned the blank page for Janet’s blog. Of course, that meant I was staring at another blank page and blinking cursor, but at least I have an idea of how to start. I’m going to talk about starting a new book and a new series.
I’ve finished the fourth book in the Logan Point series, and the third one just came out—Gone Without a Trace, which I’m giving away this week here.
My next series is about cold cases set in Memphis. I’ve tentatively titled the first book The Case of the Murdered Roommate. I have no idea if my publisher Revell will keep it, but that’s a whole ‘nother blog. I have my characters named except for the main antagonist, whose identity will be kept secret until the fourth book. And his name eludes me. I actually thought of a great name, but it turned out that name belonged to a main character in a popular TV show.
Without his name, I can’t move forward. I don’t know why I can’t, but that’s the reason for the blank page and blinking cursor. And I can’t ask you, my readers, to help me because then you’d know who he is. *Sigh*
Why are names so important to a writer?
Well, like naming your children, I’ll have to live with my characters throughout the 95,000 words it will take to tell the story. And some of them will carry through the whole series. I’ve discovered if I don’t have the right name for a character, he won’t talk to me. Or she won’t. And it’s really important for my characters to do that. Otherwise, I don’t know what their greatest desire or fears are. They will be flat. One dimensional. This is especially important for my villain. Well, my hero and heroine, too, but they already have names and are talking to me.
Thanks for listening to me. Just getting away from the story has helped. In fact, a name came to me as I wrote this. A great name. Now to find a fitting last name.
[Patricia is giving away a copy of her newest release, Gone Without a Trace. Contest limited to Continental USA for print copy. E-copy—anywhere! To leave a comment on this post, scroll down.]
Patricia Bradley lives in North Mississippi and is a former abstinence educator and co-author of RISE To Your Dreams, an abstinence curriculum. But her heart is tuned to suspense. Patricia’s romantic suspense books include the Logan Point series—Shadows of the Past, A Promise to Protect, and Gone Without a Trace. Her workshops on writing include an online course with American Christian Fiction Writers and workshops at the Mid-South Christian Writer’s Conference in Collierville, TN. When she’s not writing, she likes to throw mud on a wheel and see what happens.
Connect with Patricia:
Website: www.patriciabradleyauthor.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/patriciabradleyauthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/PTBradley1
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/ptbradley/
Or find her books:
Shadows of the Past: CBD; Amazon; B&N; Books A Million
A Promise to Protect: B&N; CBD; Amazon; Books A Million
Gone Without a Trace: Amazon; CBD; B&N; Books A Million
Just a quick post to let you know about two opportunities to win a copy of my books:
At suspense author Patricia Bradley’s blog: one copy of Secrets and Lies (Canada and US only, ends Aug. 16)
At the Koala Mom’s blog: one set of Heaven’s Prey and Secrets and Lies (Canada and US only, ends Aug. 31) There are plenty of other giveaways at this site, too, since author Bonnie Way is celebrating a blogging anniversary.
The Clean Indie Reads group is giving away over 40 ebooks! One winner gets them all, and will be well-stocked for reading for the next little while 🙂 The books for the Grand Prize can all be seen at the March Madness Grand Prize link.
You can enter at each stop on this blog hop, and the more times you fill out the form, the more chances you’ll have.
My contribution to the Grand Prize is a copy of my Christian romantic suspense novel, Secrets and Lies.
Carol Daniels thinks she out-ran her enemies, until a detective arrives at her door with a warning from her convict brother. Minor incidents take on a sinister meaning. An anonymous phone call warns her not to hide again.
Now she must cooperate with a drug lord while the police work to trap him. Carol has always handled crisis alone, but this one might break her. Late-night deejay Joey Hill offers friendship and moral support. Can she trust him? One thing’s certain. She can’t risk prayer.
Several of the Clean Indie Reads authors have dropped their prices for a sale at the same time. Grab a good read (or more!) now at the CIR sale site.
Enter below for the Grand Prize, and remember you can enter at each blog. So, once you’ve entered, click the blue frog image at the bottom of this post to reach the other stops on the blog hop. Contest dates: March 16-20, 2015. As always, contest void where prohibited by law.
[Edited: Congratulations to Shelly Hammond, winner of the Grand Prize package. Forty-one books… hmm… I’m not sure that’s a full year’s worth, but it’ll keep Shelly reading for a while. Thank you to everyone who participated in the blog hop. I hope you had fun and discovered some new-to-you authors.]
If the entry form doesn’t load properly for you, you can enter the draw by following this link.
Ready to hop on to the next stop?
[Don’t see the frog? You can reach the blog hop list here.]
One reader will win a copy of Secrets and Lies on 2/1/15.
Enter now, and feel free to share with your friends who like Christian romantic suspense…
Entry details on Anne Garboczi Evans’ blog.
Some of you know that in order to keep my spirits up on the long road to publication, I celebrate my characters’ “birthdays” each March.
My earliest notes for Heaven’s Prey are dated March 1994, which makes this the big 2-0.
And this time, I’m celebrating not just the fun I’ve had with my imaginary friends, not just what I’ve learned about writing and about life, but the fact that I’m actually a published novelist. Complete with silly, dream-come-true grin.
So I’m giving away a print copy of Heaven’s Prey.
About the book:
A grieving woman is abducted by a serial killer—and it may be the answer to her prayers.
Despite her husband’s objections, 40-something Ruth Warner finds healing through prayer for Harry Silver, the serial killer who brutally raped and murdered her niece. When a kidnapping-gone-wrong pegs her as his next victim, Harry claims that by destroying the one person who’d pray for him, he proves God can’t—or won’t—look after His own. Can Ruth’s faith sustain her to the end—whatever the cost?
Heaven’s Prey is about a villain’s last chance at redemption and a vulnerable woman’s obedience to pray for her enemy—not the gentle inspirational read many associate with the Christian genre.
If that catches your interest, join in the draw! I’m using Rafflecopter, because it’ll let you have more than one entry… if you take the extra steps:
If you’ve already subscribed to my newsletter and/or blog, just tick “subscribed” — I don’t want to leave you out. But if you haven’t subscribed, don’t cheat… keep your conscience clean and request a copy of Heaven’s Prey through your local library.
[Added April 2014: thank you to everyone who entered the draw, and I hope our winner enjoys the novel! Until the end of the month, there’s another chance to win a copy of Heaven’s Prey at The Suspense Zone. Just click the link to go there.)
Today we have a guest post from award-winning author Dineen Miller. Read on to be encouraged and challenged. Dineen has graciously offered a copy of the new book she co-authored with Lynn Donovan, Not Alone, to one of our readers in Canada or the US. To enter, please leave us a comment. Draw closes midnight, Nov. 29.
I stood on the knoll of a grassy field, watching my youngest daughter, Leslie, then only five years old, as she kicked off her shoes at the starting line. No shoes? How would her little feet grip the grass and propel her forward? Several of the other children in her age group had done the same thing, so I resisted the urge to run over and make her put her shoes back on.
We’d moved to Switzerland in the spring and had spent the summer adjusting to our new surroundings before school started, thus immersing my girls into a culture and language they’d just barely begun to grasp. Today’s event was a big part of kicking off the new school year. I watched Leslie stand there, looking around at the other children so eager to start and win this race. The prize? A round ornately stitched patch declaring the bearer winner of the race for their age group.
Did she even stand a chance?
The starter shouted the Swiss version of “get set, ready, go!” and off went this group of five and six year olds, sprinting down a grassy field. Little legs pumped madly and arms swung back and forth. Seemed like minutes instead of seconds passed as the fastest runners pulled away, and to my amazement my daughter was one of them.
I think my mouth about fell open as my daughter took the lead and won!
Full of pride for my girl, I waited until she’d followed protocol to receive her award and came running toward me. One of her new friends trailed behind her and as my daughter hugged me, I could see her friend was struggling not to cry.
Leslie had noticed too and turned to face her. She held out her new prize to her friend, whose eyes grew almost as big as the patch Leslie held. The little girl looked at me as if to ask, is this okay? My same question—I’d watched Leslie work so hard for this prize, yet there she stood, ready to give it way.
So I asked Leslie, “Are you sure you want to part with that?” I think I was the one struggling with parting with it, not her.
“Yes, mommy. I want her to have it.”
Her friend took the patch and threw her arms around Leslie. The two skipped off together to play. My pride in my daughter grew even larger.
I think at times our children know how to be more generous than we do. I’ve watched my daughter grow into a generous teenager who was always quick to give away what she had and spend her allowance on her sister or her friends before buying herself anything. My biggest challenge as her mother—to let her. To support her in her generosity, even when she gave away a Visa gift card she’d received for her birthday to a homeless person. As I had asked at that race so many years ago, I asked again, “Are you sure?” She said the joy of giving the card away was better than anything she could have bought.
Some kids just get this, others need to be taught. Either way, we as parents have a wonderful opportunity to help our children grow into generous teenagers and adults who shock the world with their generosity. Just as Jesus came into this world and continues to shock us with His.
Along with Jesus, my daughter has become my teacher and inspiration to give more of my resources, my love and my time. I love watching her shock the world with her generosity.
In Not Alone, you’ll find encouragement and inspiration from Scripture and true-life stories from other spiritually mismatched moms. Plus, find practical tips for capturing teachable moments with eternity in mind, and discovery questions to help you grow as a parent.
This is a parenting book, but it’s much more. It’s a love letter to all mothers—a message that changes our homes, our kids and our lives. It’s about the Father’s love that impacts those around us and changes ordinary moms into women of extraordinary grace, beauty and wisdom.
You may sometimes feel you’re on your own when it comes to godly parenting, but Jesus promised to be with you always. You’re not alone!
Dineen Miller is passionate about God’s Word and truth. She’s been featured on the Moody Radio Network, Focus on the Family, Dr. James Dobson’s FamilyTalk and FamilyLife Today. Dineen lives in the Bay Area with her family and is the coauthor of the award winning book, Winning Him Without Words and author of the ACFW Carol Award winning book, The Soul Saver. Visit Dineen online at MismatchedandThriving.com.
Come and join the conversation … and maybe win a prize! Click the image to go to the event on my Facebook page for more information, or to sign up. When the party starts, there’ll be clear directions on how to join in. I just wish we could serve some real food!
Also… today’s the final day for the Heaven’s Prey blog chase. The chase posts will still be available tomorrow, but we draw for the free book tonight 🙂 Haven’t taken the chase yet? Click here to start running:
The earliest notes for my foray into the mad adventure known as fiction writing carry a March date. I’ve chosen March as the “birthday” month of my fictional characters imaginary friends, even those who have told me their “real” birth dates. My family thinks I’m crazy, but they never turn down free cake.
This blog began in March, too, and in 2013 I’m celebrating 5 years. Names have changed (the blog used to be God With Us: Finding Joy, and I used to write under the pen name of Joanna Mallory) but the focus is much the same.
God has given me a devotional every week. For five years. I love the chance to share what He’s showing me, and to see how sometimes He uses it in readers’ lives.
I’ve enjoyed spreading the word about books I’ve read and authors I’ve appreciated. Especially Canadian authors who are Christian…
And the blogging friends I’ve made, a few of whom could be my sisters separated at birth… some of you I won’t meet before Heaven, others I’ve met at Write! Canada, but it’s our online conversations that have rooted the relationships.
In celebration of it all, I’m giving away a free copy of A Second Cup of Hot Apple Cider. To find out more, visit the Blog Birthday Party page. [Comments left on today’s post won’t be included in the draw… you need to go over to the giveaway page. Edit: The party’s over, and the page is gone now.]
So… join the celebration, and help yourself to a slice of virtual cake!