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Guest Post: Jill Marie Landis shares what inspired her new historical novel Heart of Lies, the second of three volumes in her Irish Angel Series. Set in the Louisiana bayou in the 1870's, this story of kidnapping, deception, and conflicting loyalties is full of romance and suspense. Jill writes:
Before she follows her heart … she has to change her ways.
Maddie Grande grew up as a thief and a beggar in a tribe of street urchins in New Orleans. As an adult hoping for a new life, she moves to the bayou with her twin “brothers”—who were fellow tribemates—and learns to love the serenity of the swamp. But when her brothers stubbornly continue their lawless ways and kidnap the daughter of a wealthy carpetbagger, Maddie is forced to hide the precocious eight-year-old.
Suddenly Maddie finds herself at another crossroad in her life—the perfect place to start a different story. This is where a heroine’s journey begins: where crises arise and choices are made—some good and some bad—epic choices guided by either a strong faith or the struggle it takes to survive while searching for one.
I try to create heroines who are out of the ordinary—determined women who are strengthened by the adversities they have to face. Maddie was inspired by The Little Robber Maiden from "The Snow Queen" by Hans Christian Andersen; Oliver in Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens; and from news accounts of children who were kidnapped, brainwashed, and raised by their captors. Out of those stories came Maddie Grande, a lovely young woman who wanted to do the right thing but didn't know how—especially if it meant giving up a long-held dream.
To me the setting of a novel is just as important as a lead character. The setting must sweep the reader away as they become immersed in a sense of time and place—which are usually past times and places that resonate with me.
By placing Heart of Lies in the Louisiana bayou, I was able to work with one of my favorite settings—the swamp. Years ago, I traveled to southern Illinois for research and was taken to Heron Pond, a bald cypress swamp along the Lower Cache River.
Continue reading "Looking Behind "Heart of Lies" with Jill Marie Landis" »
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We're giving away 40 copies of Karen Kingsbury's new book Leaving (The Signature Edition) to bloggers for review! Sign up below.
If your blog is selected then you will receive a copy of the special Signature Edition of Leaving. This limited edition features a likeness of Karen's signature on the cover.
Leaving is the first in Karen Kingsbury's brand-new Bailey Flanigan Series. The novel kicks off with Bailey leaving Bloomington for the adventure of a lifetime. She's won an audition for the ensemble of a Broadway musical in New York City, but is she ready to leave behind friends, family, and Cody?
Sign Up for the Leaving Blog Tour
(DON'T SEE A SIGNUP FORM? Go here.)
More About Leaving: Bailey Flanigan Series, Volume 1
Bailey's determined to take advantage of her once-in-a-lifetime opportunity on Broadway, but is she really ready to leave family and friends for the loneliness of New York City? And what of Cody? His disappearance has her worried about their future and praying that their love can survive. In order to be closer to his mother in jail, Cody takes a coaching job in a small community outside Indianapolis. New friends, distance, and circumstances expose cracks in his relationship with Bailey Flanigan. Love, loneliness, big opportunities, and even bigger decisions highlight the first book in the new Bailey Flanigan series that features members of the popular Baxter family and will complete the story of Bailey Flanigan and Cody Coleman. Learn More
Zondervan's eBook team has now produced over 2,000 eBooks, and they're available on Zondervan.com and your favorite online book retailers.
When the eBook team recently informed Zondervan Blog of this milestone, they added, "Did you know we produced one half of those eBooks within the last year?"
I thought they were fibbing, and I told them so. So they showed me a list of the eBooks they produced since last March, and ... they weren't fibbing. I can also tell you there's something for everyone in Zondervan's latest eBooks: thrillers, historical fiction, books for Bible study and seminary, full-color kids books, and a lot more.
Below you'll find some highlights from our recent eBook releases. But first I want to thank the dynamic duo that make up our eBook team: Ayannah Mers, Digital Production Coordinator; and Jake Noorman, Assistant Manager, Digital Production.
| Zondervan's intrepid eBook Team: Ayannah Mers, Digital Production Coordinator; and Jake Noorman, Assistant Manager, Digital Production. |
Jake and Ayannah seem to read as many eBooks as they produce, so Zondervan Blog asked them to share their latest recommendations:
Ayannah's Top 5 eBook Recommendations
1. Stuff Christians Like by Jonathan Acuff
2. Unshaken by Dan Woolley
3. One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp
4. I See the Rhythm of the Gospel by Toyomi Igus
5. The Princess and the Three Knights by Karen Kingsbury
Jake's Top 5 eBook Recommendations
1. What Happened to My Little Girl? by Nancy and Jim Rue
2. Eli: A Novel by Bill Myers
3. One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp
4. The Me I Want to Be by John Ortberg
5. Will Jesus Buy Me a Double-Wide? by Karen Spears Zacharias
New eBook Highlights
Below are some new eBook highlights listed by genre. If you've read any of these eBooks, or have recent favorites of your own, we'd love to hear your feedback. Happy reading!
-Adam Forrest (Zondervan Internet Team)
Continue reading "Zondervan Tackles 2,000 eBooks + New eBook Highlights" »
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UPDATE: Thank you to everyone who signed up for the blog tour! If your blog was selected, you'll receive the book in the mail soon.
Watch Zondervan Blog for more review opportunities coming soon.
Hey Dads, are you looking for a guide to relating to your tween daughter? Then you're in luck, because we're giving away 25 copies of What Happened to my Little Girl to bloggers for review.
Written by tween expert Nancy Rue and her husband Jim, this book will help fathers relate to their daughters as they make the transition from girl to young woman.
How to Participate in the What Happened to My Little Girl? Blog Tour
More About What Happened to My Little Girl: Dad's Ultimate Guide to His Tween Daughter
This companion book to the FaithGirlz novels, devotionals, and Bibles, focuses on four tween issues – appearance, body and mood changes, girl politics, and authenticity. Let tween expert Nancy Rue, and her husband, Jim, guide you in helping your daughter live as a girl-child rather than a mini-teenager.
Empower your daughter in spiritually sound behaviors as the rate of aggression rises among tween females. Show your daughter how to not only avoid but take a stand on the twisted parts of her culture such as peer abuse, shallow consumerism, and an unrealistic sense of entitlement. Give her alternatives to the toxic media, and encourage her to become part of something bigger than herself through charitable, God-centered activities. Learn to model the growth of a deep, personal connection with God, which makes all of the above not only possible, but probable. In the midst of a world saturated with poisonous role models, it is possible to raise your daughter to be a respectful, confident, God-centered, young woman. Learn More
Guest Post: Terri Blackstock reveals the inspiration behind her latest novel Vicious Cycle, which hit the New York Times bestseller list this week.
If you’ve read the papers or watched television lately, you’ve probably been thinking that it looks like the world has turned upside down. In fact, it has. In 1 Peter 5:8, the Bible tells us that “your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (ESV).
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If Vicious Cycle can offer hope to even one addict who wants out of bondage ... then I’ll consider this book successful. The Holy Spirit will take it from there. |
I imagine the enemy in a planning meeting with his demons, concocting the next big scheme to bring down humanity. “I know!” one of them says. “What if we mixed up a special concoction of poisons—things in battery acid and rat poison—and offer it to them as a drug that will give them the high of their life, one that’s cheap and easy to make at home?”
The enemy cackles. "Yes," he says. "That sounds like something that could get millions of them into true bondage. We’ll use it to rot out their teeth, make their hair fall out, change the bone structure of their faces, burn holes in their brains, age them years in just months ... And best of all, they’ll be in total bondage to us.”
So he created methamphetamine, also known as crystal meth and ice, because it looks like beautiful snowflakes. And what can be more innocent than a snowflake?
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I wrote Vicious Cycle because I wanted to raise awareness about this cunning drug, which is right out of Satan’s toolbox, meant to destroy people, and meant to keep them in bondage. During my journey through my own daughter’s drug abuse, I met many people whose lives had been ruined by meth addiction. The pull of that drug was stronger than that of a mother’s love of her child—thus, women all over the country have lost their children, because they couldn’t break their bondage to that poison.
My daughter wasn’t on crystal meth, thankfully. She chose other drugs, but I’ve already written about them in Intervention. So in this book, I wanted to raise awareness about this drug, which is most prevalent in states not normally thought of as drug dens—like Missouri, Kansas, and Oklahoma. It’s an equal opportunity drug, sinking its talons into middle-class and upper-class kids just as often as poor kids. Even many adults are succumbing to its lure, to the detriment of their children and families.
Continue reading "Crystal Meth: The Enemy's Scheme, by Terri Blackstock" »
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UPDATE: Thank you to everyone who signed up for the Blood Covenant blog tour! If your blog was selected, you'll receive the book in the mail soon. We're looking forward to hearing your thoughts!
Watch Zondervan Blog for more review opportunities coming soon.
How to Participate in the Blood Covenant Blog Tour
About Blood Covenant
Lisa Harris' action-packed new thriller transpires in the fictional African Republic of Dhambizao. With dangers that range from infectious disease to rebel soldiers looking for a fight, Publisher's Weekly has called this an "engaging" story with "lots of point of tension."
Paige Ryan and Nick Gilbert are trapped in an overpopulated African refugee camp where an outbreak of measles erupts and renegade soldiers block their only way out. Desperate for vaccines, they must put their own lives in the hands of God as they fight for the safety of the refugees under their protection. Learn More | Read the first chapters on Scribd
About the ECHO Project
Lisa Harris is part of The ECHO Project, which exists to benefit the forgotten through Education, Compassion, Health and Opportunity. They work under the African Outreach Ministry, helping with peoples' physical needs as they seek to transform communities through the Holy Spirit. Learn More | Donate
Guest post by Lisa Harris, whose latest thriller Blood Covenant just hit stores.
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I guess you could call me a travel junkie. Ever since my first overseas trip to Kenya while in college, I’ve been hooked on wanting to see the world. Now my family has been blessed with being able to travel extensively as well as live on four continents.
I love the fact that traveling and living in different countries has widened my worldview and given me a greater understanding of the lives of other cultures. I’ve met people from all walks of life who have taught me about sacrifice, friendship, endurance, and true giving.
I've learned through my travels that:
(What lessons would you add to this list? I'd love to hear from you, so leave a comment on my blog at myblogintheheartofafrica.blogspot.com.)
Currently, our family is living in Mozambique where our primary ministry is discipleship and church-planting, but there is another aspect of life that we can’t ignore as we are faced daily with the physical needs of those around us.
With the help of fellow author and friend Lynne Gentry during this last year, we started the ECHO Project to help promote Education, Compassion, Health, and Opportunity in southern Africa. Through micro-loans, medical aid, orphan care, and other ways, this ministry helps us to "speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves ... the poor and helpless, and see that they get justice" (Proverbs 31:8).
You can find out more about what God is doing through this project at www.theECHOproject.org and find ways to get involved. Or stop by my website at www.lisaharriswrites.com or my blog, which comes straight from the heart of Africa, at myblogintheheartofafrica.blogspot.com. I’d love to hear from you, so feel free to stop by and drop me a note!
About the ECHO Project
The ECHO Project works under the African Outreach Ministry to ensure no child's voice goes unheard. They benefit the forgotten through Education, Compassion, Health and Opportunity, and you can join them by investing in lives today. Learn more about how you can donate.
About Lisa Harris' Mission Hope Series, Book 2: Blood Covenant
New Paige Ryan and Nick Gilbert are trapped in an overpopulated African refugee camp where an outbreak of measles erupts and renegade soldiers block their only way out. Desperate for vaccines, they must put their own lives in the hands of God as they fight for the safety of the refugees under their protection. Learn More
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UPDATE: Thank you to everyone who signed up for the Collection of Wednesdays blog tour! If your blog was selected, you'll soon receive the book in the mail. We look forward to hearing your thoughts!
Watch Zondervan Blog for more review opportunities coming soon.
How to Participate in the Collection of Wednesdays Blog Tour
About A Collection of Wednesdays: Creating a Whole From the Parts
Through story, poetry, and song lyrics, Amy Gaither Hayes contemplates the Divine design in the seemingly random aspects of her life. Gain a fresh, simpler perspective on the structure and purpose of your own life, and insights into the heart and ways of the Creator who designed you as his masterpiece.
If you were to set aside a part of one day every week to explore all the pieces of who you are, what would you find? For Amy Gaither Hayes, Wednesday mornings have been such a time: a sacred space for her to distill the seemingly disparate bits and pieces of her life into their essence. Then she has set about reconnecting those pieces like beads in a necklace, discovering in the process a unified whole infused with purpose and beauty by her Creator. So it is with us all. In this anthology of Wednesday reflections by Amy, you will discover a new, simpler way of looking at the person you are. Through story, poetry, and song lyrics, A Collection of Wednesdays helps you uncover a Divinely woven order in what appear to be the random components of your life. Calling. Passion. Sand. Rest. Church. Music. Books. Words such as these offer fresh, uplifting glimpses of how your soul is put together. Find out how, and discover new insights into both yourself and the heart and ways of God. Learn More
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About Amy Gaither Hayes |
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