Fascinating Friday Feature – Standing in My Settings

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Research is one of my favorite parts of writing, and I took to traveling, if at all possible, to the locations of my novels in the past few years. Actually standing in the place where my story happens has made my writing richer and deeper, as I can weave in the sights, smells, and sounds of a place along with the emotions it stirs up. For my most recent release, What I Promise You, I traveled to Barcelona and Southwest France, and along the way, I picked up quite a few interesting tidbits. First of all was the geography. When…

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Fascinating Friday Feature – The Hidden Stories Behind the Writing Journey

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by Lee Ann Mancini In the world of writing, each author has their own story behind the scenes, often hidden in theirdaily routines and unexpected sparks of inspiration. For me, it all starts bright and early at 5 am,with a hot cup of coffee, a conversation with God, my Bible in hand, and a deep dive intoresearch. Looking back on how it all began, my Sea Kids children’s books were born from the stories Imade up and told my kids to help them understand how God wanted them to deal with everydaysituations in life. Back then, I had no idea…

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Fascinating Friday Feature – Not What I Expected

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by Linda Wood Rondeau When God first called me to write, He gave me Ephesians 3:20 as a promise: “Now tohim who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his powerthat is at work within us.” (NIV) I filled with excitement. “Yeah! I can imagine a whole lot, Lord.” I dreamed of moviesadapted from my novels. I imagined my books flying off the shelves in bookstores. I visualizedmy name and books on bestseller lists. None, of course, has happened as of this writing. Not what God promised. I heard when I wanted to…

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Fascinating Friday Feature with Karin Beery – Most Valuable Lesson Learned Through Writing

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Writing a novel is easy. Writing a good novel that people enjoy and want to share with others is anything but. Based on TV shows and other novels, however, you’d never know that. Fictional novelist Richard Castle somehow managed to write best-selling novels without actually doing much writing. I can’t tell you how many novels I’ve read where a character’s debut novels sell millions, making them instant celebrities without any training or experience. But those authors know better—it’s never that fast or easy. Even though I know fiction isn’t reality, that didn’t stop me from imagining my first manuscript was…

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The Fascinating (Condensed) History of Alaska

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By Donna Schlachter In keeping with celebrating my second Switchboard Sisterhood book, Morgana, I thought I’d sharesome history of Alaska this month. While the area was likely settled thousands of years ago by emigrants from Asia and Eastern Europewho perhaps crossed a land passage, few details are available about these early settlers. They eventuallyestablished themselves and spread out over the area, becoming unique in their language and culture.In 1728. Vitus Bering from Denmark traveled into the area and discovered the strait now namedafter him. He returned in 1741 and explored the North American coastline. In 1776, the year the United…

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NEW RELEASE— When Twilight Breaks by Sarah Sundin

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Title: When Twilight Breaks Author: Sarah Sundin Publisher: Revell Release date: February 2, 2021 ISBN: 978-0800736361 About the book: Munich, 1938. American foreign correspondent Evelyn Brand is determined to prove herself in her male-dominated profession—and to spotlight the growing tyranny in Nazi Germany. Working on his PhD in German, fellow American Peter Lang is impressed by Germany’s prosperity and order. But when the Reich’s brutality hits close, he decides to use his connections in the Nazi Party to feed information to Evelyn, pulling them deeper into danger as the world marches toward war. About the author: Sarah Sundin is a bestselling…

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Why I Write Happily Ever After Endings

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I’ve experienced God’s happily-ever-afters in my life many times since I became a Christian at age twenty-one. I suffered a difficult childhood. When the Lord made me a new creation in Christ Jesus, He began my emotional healing that transformed me into the happy, content person I am today. Again, when my first husband died early in our marriage leaving me with almost no money and two young children, I learned first-hand the Lord does take care of His children. When the first love of my life died, I felt physically torn in half. I often looked down at my…

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NEW RELEASE – Reagan’s Reward by Susan G Mathis

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Title: Reagan’s Reward Author: Susan G Mathis Genre: Historical Publisher: smWordWorks ISBN-13: 978-0692686645 About the book: It’s 1912. Reagan Kennedy assumes the position of governess to the Bernheim family’s twin nephews, and her life at Cherry Island’s Casa Blanca becomes frustratingly complicated. Service to a Jewish family when she is a Gentile and tending to eight-year-old, mischievous boys yields challenges galore. Daniel Lovitz serves as the island’s caretaker and boatman. He tries to help the alluring Reagan make sense of her new world, but she calls into question his own faith background and forces him to face the hurts of his past. Then…

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Book Review: Reagan’s Reward

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Interested in a historical novel? Reagan’s Reward is one you’ll enjoy . . . In the summer of 1912, Reagan Kennedy assumes the position of governess to the Bernheim family’s twin nephews, and her life at Cherry Island’s Casa Blanca becomes frustratingly complicated. Service to a Jewish family and tending to eight-year-old mischievous boys brings trouble galore. Daniel Lovitz serves as the island’s caretaker and boatman. When he tries to help the alluring Reagan make sense of her new world, her insecurities mount as her confidence is shaken―especially when she crosses the faith divide and when Etta Damsky makes her…

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An A-Muse-ing 2021 Calendar — cat comedy

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Eye-catching cat comedy shines in this new release of An A-Muse-ing 2021 Calendar based on the witty humor of Muse and Writer on social media. Get your autographed (by both Muse and Writer) copy at AngelaBreidenbach.com An A-Muse-ing 2021 Wall Calendar by Angela Breidenbach features the wry wit and humor between Muse and Writer.  Each month Muse matches wits with Writer in full-color wall calendar showcasing a candid, beautiful image of Muse and his highly expressive fe-lion personality: For you, it includes: 12-month calendar Space to add reminders Opens to 11 inches x 17 inches Includes widely celebrated holidays (including…

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