Pattern of Wounds by J. Mark Bertand

This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing Pattern of Wounds Bethany House (July 1, 2011) by J. Mark Bertrand



ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

J. Mark Bertrand lived in Houston, where the series is set, for fifteen years, earning an MFA in Creative Writing at the University of Houston. But after one hurricane too many he relocated with his wife Laurie to the plains of South Dakota. Mark has been arrested for a crime he didn't commit, was the foreman of one hung jury and served on another that acquitted Vinnie Jones of assault. In 1972, he won an honorable mention in a child modeling contest, but pursued writing instead.







ABOUT THE BOOK

It's Christmas in Houston, and homicide detective Roland March is on the hunt for a killer. A young woman's brutal stabbing in an affluent neighborhood bears all the hallmarks of a serial murder. The only problem is that March sent the murderer to prison ten years ago. Is it a copycat -- or did March convict the wrong man?



Alienated from his colleagues and with a growing rift in his marriage, March receives messages from the killer. The bodies pile up, the pressure builds, and the violence reaches too close to home. Up against an unfathomable evil, March struggles against the clock to understand the hidden message in the pattern of wounds.



If you would like to read the first chapter of Pattern of Wounds, go HERE.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher.

Vigilante by Robin Parrish

This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing Vigilante Bethany House (July 1, 2011) by Robin Parrish

I interviewed Robin recently for an article for FamilyFiction (get a free digital copy of the July/August issue here). Here are a few quotes I didn't have room for:

If you have a hot button issue you’re writing about, if you can write it into a story, you stand a much better chance of getting through to someone.

Like I did for Infuze, I like to write for audiences on both sides of the aisle, believers and non-believers alike. If I have to explain it, I didn’t tell it very well in the story.

You can’t ever please everybody, so don’t bother trying. Just tell the story that’s in your heart. The people who love it will love it, and those who don’t can find something else to like.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Robin Parrish wants to take you on a ride.

A wild ride -- which is exactly what you're in for when you pick up one of his books. And he's adamant that it will never be the same kind of experience twice.

Robin's stories mix, mingle, and meld various genres together to create thoroughly original suspense/thrillers. His Dominion Trilogy, for example, mashed up superhero action, secret societies, ancient myths, and an apocalyptic setting to create an entirely new take on the classic "hero's journey." Offworld mixed science fiction and an end-of-the-world scenario with high-octane action. Nightmare, his 2010 novel, is a spine-tingling examination of the world of the paranormal, paired with can't-put-it-down mystery. His 2011 novel, Vigilante, is an action-packed story about a soldier who sets out to change the world. Later this year, he's releasing his first ever Young Adult novel, titled Corridor.

Always pushing the envelope, ever on the edge of where modern storytelling is going, Robin Parrish will gladly and unapologetically tell you that he's an entertainer, a weaver of stories that ignite the mind and delight the heart. Defying labels and refusing pigeonholes, his imagination is fueled by the possibilities of asking "What if…?", and as anyone who's read his work knows, he has a very big imagination.

His influences as a novelist range from television and film storytellers like Joss Whedon and J.J. Abrams, to masters of the modern myth like J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis. Akin to Philip K. Dick's search for the meaning of identity, most of what Robin writes about boils down to his own ponderings and examinations of just what this thing we call "existence" is.

Robin is a full time writer. He and his wife Karen and two children live in High Point, NC.

"Robin Parrish is a keen-eyed, passionate pop cultural savant,

whose writing is as incisive and insightful as it is entertaining."

- Allan Heinberg, Executive Producer, Grey's Anatomy

ABOUT THE BOOK

Nolan Gray is an elite soldier, skilled in all forms of combat. After years fighting on foreign battlefields, witnessing unspeakable evils and atrocities firsthand, a world-weary Nolan returns home to find it just as corrupt as the war zones. Everywhere he looks, there's pain and cruelty. Society is being destroyed by wicked men who don't care who they make suffer or destroy.

Nolan decides to do what no one else can, what no one has ever attempted. He will defend the helpless. He will tear down the wicked. He will wage a one-man war on the heart of man, and he won't stop until the world is the way it should be.

The wicked have had their day. Morality's time has come. In a culture starving for a hero, can one extraordinary man make things right?

If you would like to read the first chapter of Vigilante, go HERE.

I received a free copy of this novel from the publisher.

Veiled Rose by Anne Elisabeth Stengl

This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing Veiled Rose Bethany House (July 1, 2011) by Anne Elisabeth Stengl



ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Anne Elisabeth Stengl makes her home in Raleigh, North Carolina, where she enjoys her profession as an art teacher, giving private lessons from her personal studio, and teaching group classes at the Apex Learning Center. She studied illustration at Grace College and English literature at Campbell University. Heartless is her debut novel.





ABOUT THE BOOK

Rose Red trusts no one with her secret. She hides in the forest, her face veiled in rags, shunning the company of all save her old father and her nanny goat. Her life is bleak and lonely.



Until she meets a privileged young man sent to spend his summer in the mountains. Leo, a lonely lad, befriends Rose Red, and together they begin hunting for the Mountain Monster which, rumor says, stalks these lands.



But the hunt which began as a game holds greater risk than Leo supposes. Rose Red can scarcely guess at the consequences should he insist on continuing his search. Dare she trust him with her secret? Or tell him what dwells at the top of the mountain in the cave only she can find?



Above all, when Leo asks Rose Red to leave the mountain and follow him to the low country, dare she agree and risk the wrath of a Monster that is all too real?



If you would like to read the first chapter of Veiled Rose, go HERE.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.

Lion of Babylon by Davis Bunn

This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing Lion of Babylon Bethany House (July 1, 2011) by Davis Bunn

This book (provided for me free from the publisher) arrived only a short time ago so I haven't yet read it. I've read a bunch of Davis Bunn's other books, however, and enjoy his writing.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Born and raised in North Carolina, Davis left for Europe at age twenty. There he first completed graduate studies in economics and finance, then began a business career that took him to over forty countries in Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia.



Davis came to faith at age 28, while living in Germany and running an international business advisory group. He started writing two weeks later. Since that moment, writing has remained both a passion and a calling.



Davis wrote for nine years and completed seven books before his first was accepted for publication. During that time, he continued to work full-time in his business career, travelling to two and sometimes three countries every week. His first published book, The Presence, was released in 1990 and became a national bestseller.



Honored with three Christy Awards for excellence in historical and suspense fiction, his bestsellers include The Great Divide, Winner Take All, The Meeting Place, The Warning, The Book of Hours, and The Quilt.



A sought-after speaker in the art of writing, Davis serves as Writer In Residence at Regent’s Park College, Oxford University.



ABOUT THE BOOK

Marc Royce works for the State Department on special assignments, most of them rather routine, until two CIA operatives go missing in Iraq--kidnapped by Taliban forces bent on generating chaos in the region. Two others also drop out of sight--a high-placed Iraqi civilian and an American woman providing humanitarian aid. Are the disappearances linked? Rumors circulate in a whirl of misinformation.



Marc must unravel the truth in a covert operation requiring utmost secrecy--from both the Americans and the insurgents. But even more secret than the undercover operation is the underground dialogue taking place between sworn enemies. Will the ultimate Reconciler between ancient enemies, current foes, and fanatical religious factions be heard?



If you would like to read the first chapter of Lion of Babylon, go HERE.

How Huge the Night by Heather and Lydia Munn

This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing How Huge the Night Kregel Publications (March 9, 2011) by Heather Munn and Lydia Munn



ABOUT THE AUTHORS:

Heather Munn was born in Northern Ireland of American parents and grew up in the south of France. She decided to be a writer at the age of five when her mother read Laura Ingalls Wilder’s books aloud, but worried that she couldn’t write about her childhood since she didn’t remember it. When she was young, her favorite time of day was after supper when the family would gather and her father would read a chapter from a novel. Heather went to French school until her teens, and grew up hearing the story of Le Chambonsur-Lignon, only an hour’s drive away. She now lives in rural Illinois with her husband, Paul, where they offer free spiritual retreats to people coming out of homelessness and addiction. She enjoys wandering in the woods, gardening, writing, and splitting wood.

Lydia Munn was homeschooled for five years because there was no school where her family served as missionaries in the savannahs of northern Brazil. There was no public library either, but Lydia read every book she could get her hands on. This led naturally to her choice of an English major at Wheaton College. Her original plan to teach high school English gradually transitioned into a lifelong love of teaching the Bible to both adults and young people as a missionary in France. She and her husband, Jim, have two children: their son, Robin, and their daughter, Heather.







ABOUT THE BOOK

Fifteen-year-old Julien Losier just wants to fit in. But after his family moves to a small village in central France in hopes of outrunning the Nazis, he is suddenly faced with bigger challenges than the taunting of local teens.



Nina Krenkel left her country to obey her father's dying command: Take your brother and leave Austria. Burn your papers. Tell no one you are Jews. Alone and on the run, she arrives in Tanieux, France, dangerously ill and in despair.



Thrown together by the chaos of war, Julien begins to feel the terrible weight of the looming conflict and Nina fights to survive. As France falls to the Nazis, Julien struggles with doing what is right, even if it is not enough-and wonders whether or not he really can save Nina from almost certain death.



Based on the true story of the town of Le Chambon-the only French town honored by Israel for rescuing Jews from the Holocaust-How Huge the Night is a compelling, coming-of-age drama that will keep teens turning the pages as it teaches them about a fascinating period of history and inspires them to think more deeply about their everyday choices.



Endorsements

“The Munns have written an engrossing historical novel that is faithful to the actual events of World War II in western Europe during the tumultuous year 1940. But How Huge the Night is more than good history; it is particularly refreshing because the reader sees the conflict through the lives of teenagers who are forced to grapple with their honest questions about the existence and goodness of God in the midst of community, family, and ethnic tensions in war-ravaged France.”—Lyle W. Dorsett, Billy Graham Professor of Evangelism, Beeson Divinity School, Samford University



“Seldom have the horrors of war upon adolescents—or the heroism of which they are capable—been so clearly portrayed. I loved this coming-of-age story.”—Patricia Sprinkle, author of Hold Up the Sky



“The book expertly weaves together the lives of its characters at a frightening moment in conflicted times. As we read of their moral dilemmas and of their choices, we too wonder, Would I do has these in the story have done?”—Karen Mains, Director, Hungry Souls

If you would like to read an excerpt from How Huge the Night, go HERE



Watch the book video:

Of Graphic Novels and Comic Books

Up until recently, I didn't see the point of comic books and graphic novels. They seemed a shortcut for kids and adults who were too lazy to read "real" novels, picture books with older protagonists. It seemed like putting training wheels on an adult bicycle. Imagination didn't need the crutch of artwork.

Joss Whedon changed that.

The first comic book I remember reading (and I'm not counting daily comics like Foxtrot, Garfield, and Over the Hedge coming out in book form) was a Dr. Horrible story, based off of Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. I didn't like the format. I remember wishing they'd just made a short live-action video rather than trying to tell a story this awkward way.

It was more than a year afterwards that I tried reading comic books again. This time, it was a three-part origin story for the web series The Guild (which I'd only gotten into because I knew Felicia Day from Dr. Horrible). This was also the first time I'd purchased a comic book, though it wasn't even a book, but a digital app. I still didn't love the format, but I enjoyed the story despite it.

It was around this time that I was transitioning from books to TV shows as my primary form of embracing story. Don't get me wrong; I still love books, as my sagging shelves will attest. But I estimate I've read well over one thousand novels in the past 15 years. Most of those have been the excellent type where you get so immersed in the story you feel like you are living the main character's life. That's a lot of lives to live. If I didn't have an old soul before, reading books certainly gave me one.

TV shows, on the other hand, have distance built-in. You don't read the characters' minds. You aren't viewing events through their eyes. You are an observer. But since you go through all of the characters' traumatic moments with them, you seem to be much more than an observer. The characters become your best friends, and you laugh and cry with them.

Novels send you off on an adventure. TV shows give you a whole new group of friends.

Wow, I didn't expect that tangent. I only brought up TV shows to explain how I was embracing my inner geek (thanks to shows like The Big Bang Theory, which even features a comic book store) and to set up my next graphic novel experience, which was all the fault of a TV show.

Two TV shows, actually. Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel. After I finished watching all 12 combined seasons, I wanted the story to continue. And it did. In comic books.

So I read them. At first, all I did was compare them to the shows and think of what they'd be like as live-action TV. I even tried the motion comic version of an issue of Buffy season 8, but without the original actors voicing it, it was even worse than the books (I could at least imagine the characters' voices as I read). To complete the experience, I listened to soundtrack music from the shows as I read.

And along the way, something changed. I began to notice when an artist captured a facial expression just right. When a line of dialogue perfectly fit a character. When the final frame of a page or issue brought the exact right touch of suspense.

I began to slow down and study the artwork as I read, realizing it was doing just as much to tell the story as the words were. And that's when I began to see that comic books fit perfectly between traditional novels and television shows, blending elements of both into a unique art form.

Novels are generally limited to words. You can't show a smirk, or a worried look, or a fight. You have to describe it, and let the reader try to picture it.

TV shows generally can't share characters' thoughts and feelings. Actors do their best to convey them through expressions and actions, but viewers have to infer what's behind them.

Comic books, while limited in other ways, can both show the look on a character's face and state the thought that inspired it. You can see the fight and the feelings about it. And while the wait between issues of a series of comic books tends to be a bit longer than the wait between episodes of a TV show, it's far shorter than the wait between novels!

While I still prefer to experience story through novels and TV shows, I plan to continue reading comic books - and to enjoy them, in and of themselves.

Wolves Among Us by Ginger Garrett

This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing Wolves Among Us David C. Cook; New edition (April 1, 2011) by Ginger Garrett



ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Ginger Garrett is the author of the Chronicles of the Scribes series (In the Shadow of Lions, In the Arms of Immortals, In the Eyes of Eternity), Dark Hour, and Beauty Secrets of the Bible. Chosen: The Lost Diaries of Queen Esther was recognized as one of the top five novels of 2006 by the ECPA.



Focusing on ancient women's history, Ginger creates novels and nonfiction resources that explore the lives of historical women. A frequent media guest and television host, Ginger has been interviewed by Fox News, Billy Graham's The Hour of Decision, The Harvest Show, 104.7 The Fish Atlanta, and many other outlets.



A graduate of Southern Methodist University with a degree in Theater, she is passionate about creating art from history. Ginger resides in Georgia with her husband and three children.



ABOUT THE BOOK

This richly imagined tale takes readers to a tiny German town in the time of “the burnings,” when pious and heretic alike became victims of witch-hunting zealots. When a double murder stirs up festering fears, the village priest sends for help. But the charismatic Inquisitor who answers the call brings a deadly mix of spiritual fervor and self-deceptive evil. Under his influence, village fear, guilt, and suspicion of women take a deadly turn. In the midst of this nightmare, a doubting priest and an unloved wife—a secret friend of the recently martyred William Tyndale—somehow manage to hear another Voice…and discover the power of love over fear.



Dinfoil, Germany, 1538. In a little town on the edge of the Black Forest, a double murder stirs up festering fears. A lonely woman despairs of pleasing her husband and wonders why other women shun her. An overworked sheriff struggles to hold the town—and himself—together. A priest begins to doubt the power of the words he shares daily with his flock. And the charismatic Inquisitor who arrives to help—with a filthy witch in a cage as an object lesson—brings his own mix of lofty ideals and treacherous evil. Under his influence, ordinary village fears and resentments take a deadly turn. Terror mounts. Dark deeds come to light. And men and women alike discover not only what they are capable of, but who they are…and what it means to grapple for grace.



If you would like to read the first chapter of Wolves Among Us, go HERE

When Blogs Lose Readers' Interest

I follow nearly 100 different feeds with Google Reader, nearly all of them blogs. I love not missing a single post, and being able to catch up on my reading whenever I want. I'm pretty quick to add new blogs to my list, and it takes a lot for me to remove one. I just let the posts pile up for months until I'm pretty sure I won't be reading the blog again.

Then there are the feeds I click on as soon as I notice a new post. Some are friends' blogs, some are written by writing industry professionals, and one is my comic strip feeds (daily dose of Garfield, Calvin and Hobbes, and more). But even on some of these feeds, I've noticed myself skimming instead of reading, searching to find the nuggets of gold that made me put them on my list to begin with, and coming up empty.

One of the blogs that I increasingly skim is Michael Hyatt's blog. (I'm using his blog as an example because he seems very open to reader feedback, and because I'm surprised that a blog that's "doing everything right" isn't holding my interest anymore.) The reason I began follow Michael's blog is because he is the CEO of Thomas Nelson, one of my favorite publishers. I loved the "inside scoop" about the publishing industry, and learned from his posts about leadership and technology. I used to read his posts about fitness and public speaking, but I don't anymore.

Do I just have less time to spend on blog reading? Part of it, perhaps. I almost never watch the videos he posts, and I'm not exactly sure why. Maybe it's that I expect to read on Google Reader. If I want to watch videos, I go to YouTube. Also, the intros to the videos (the words before the video embed) rarely compel me to watch the video. I might scan the rest of the post for more information, but I assume that it's supposed to be read after watching the video. It's gotten to the point where if I see a post having a video, I skip it completely, unless the title shouts that it's something interesting about the publishing industry.

Another reason I skim his posts is because so few of them are about the publishing industry anymore (probably less than 10%). A writer friend has started blogging more about organic foods and green living than writing, so I'm less likely to read her posts right away.

I guess what my observations boil down to is this. Dilute or change your original blog topic, and your original readers may start to lost interest in your blog (you may gain a bunch of new readers, though!). I'm not talking about occasional off-topic posts. But if you write 5 posts a week, and 2 of them focus on your original topic and 3 focus on your new topic, why not have a blog for each? Especially if the topics have little relation.

Any thoughts?

Where I've Been Writing: Other Blogs

I have a bad habit of getting excited about a topic, creating a blog to write about it, and writing a grand total of about 3 posts. So over the years, I've accumulated quite a collection of abandoned blogs all over the internet. Even for this Blogger account, I have 11 blogs, and all but 2 have had no activity since 2008. There would be more, but I discovered WordPress, and I have a bunch on there as well.

I have written some content on these various blogs during the months I was all but ignoring this one, so I figure I would link to a few to conclude this "where I've been writing" series.

Cloak and Dagger Fiction - I won a free site design from Tekeme Studios, and this beautiful website is what they came up with. This may become my "main" site if I get a fantasy novel published first, but in the meantime, I just post mostly fantasy-related stuff on the site.

TV Breakroom - This is my newest site, but with all the recent TV shows I've fallen in love with, I'm hopeful it won't be as flash in the pan as my other blogs. Right now, I'm mostly writing about how I discovered various shows and how they connect to other shows, but once I've covered most of the ones I watch, I want to move on to reviewing individual episodes.

Promote Your Novel - I didn't intend to abandon this site, but I lost my password when my hard drive crashed, and I don't even remember what email address I signed up under. I'd love to continue my series on authors sharing their promotional tips.

A Heart Most Worthy by Siri Mitchell

This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing A Heart Most Worthy Bethany House (March 1, 2011) by Siri Mitchell



ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Siri Mitchell graduated from the University of Washington with a business degree and worked in various levels of government. As a military spouse, she has lived all over the world, including in Paris and Tokyo. Siri enjoys observing and learning from different cultures. She is fluent in French and loves sushi.



But she is also a member of a strange breed of people called novelists. When they’re listening to a sermon and taking notes, chances are, they’ve just had a great idea for a plot or a dialogue. If they nod in response to a really profound statement, they’re probably thinking, “Yes. Right. That’s exactly what my character needs to hear.” When they edit their manuscripts, they laugh at the funny parts. And cry at the sad parts. Sometimes they even talk to their characters.



Siri wrote 4 books and accumulated 153 rejections before signing with a publisher. In the process, she saw the bottoms of more pints of Ben & Jerry’s than she cares to admit. At various times she has vowed never to write another word again. Ever. She has gone on writing strikes and even stooped to threatening her manuscripts with the shredder.



Her ninth novel, A Heart Most Worthy, follows prior Bethany House releases: A Constant Heart (October 2008), Love's Pursuit (June 2009), and She Walks in Beauty (Apr 2010). She Walks in Beauty won the inaugural INSPY Award for Historical Fiction in Dec 2010. Two of her novels, Chateau of Echoes and The Cubicle Next Door were Christy Award finalists. Love's Pursuit was a finalist for the ACFW Carol Award.



Publishers Weekly proclaimed, "Mitchell delivers the historical goods."



ABOUT THE BOOK

The elegance of Madame Forza's gown shop is a far cry from the downtrodden North End of Boston. Yet each day Julietta, Annamaria, and Luciana enter the world of the upper class, working on finery for the elite in society. The three beauties each long to break free of their obligations and embrace the American dream--and their chance for love. But the ways of the heart are difficult to discern at times.



Julietta is drawn to the swarthy, mysterious Angelo. Annamaria has a star-crossed encounter with the grocer's son, a man from the entirely wrong family. And through no intent of her own, Luciana catches the eye of Billy Quinn, the son of Madame Forza's most important client.



Their destinies intertwined, each harboring a secret from their families and each other, will they be found worthy of the love they seek?



If you would like to read the first chapter of A Heart Most Worthy, go HERE.