CFBA presents: Song of My Heart

This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing Song of My Heart Bethany House (February 1, 2012) by Kim Vogel Sawyer

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Kim Vogel Sawyer is the author of fifteen novels, including several CBA and ECPA bestsellers. Her books have won the ACFW Book of the Year Award, the Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence, and the Inspirational Readers Choice Award. Kim is active in her church, where she leads women's fellowship and participates in both voice and bell choirs. In her spare time, she enjoys drama, quilting, and calligraphy. Kim and her husband, Don, reside in central Kansas, and have three daughters and numerous grandchildren.



ABOUT THE BOOK

Sadie Wagner has always been devoted to her family. So when her stepfather is injured and can't work, she decides to leave home and accept a position as a clerk at the mercantile in Goldtree, Kansas. Goldtree also offers the opportunity to use her God-given singing talent--though the promised opera house is far different from what she imagined. With her family needing every cent she can provide, Sadie will do anything to keep her job.

Thad McKane comes to Goldtree at the request of the town council. The town has been plagued by bootlegging operations, and Thad believes he can find the culprit. After he earns enough money doing sheriff work, he wants to use it to pay for his training to become a minister.

Thad is immediately attracted to the beautiful singer who performs in Asa Baxter's unusual opera house, but when he hears her practicing bawdy tunes, he begins to wonder if she's far less innocent than she seems. And when Sadie appears to be part of the very crimes he's come to investigate, is there any hope the love blossoming between them will survive?

If you would like to read the first chapter of Song of My Heart, go HERE.

I just received this book a few days ago and because of my work schedule I wasn't able to read this book yet. I will get to it soon, and review at a later date. Special thanks to CFBA, the author, and the publisher for a review copy of the novel, and I will review it soon!

I need to use my planner more...

Guess what I did? As my mom would say, I snookered myself.

Twice this week I realized I had not used my planner - my nice beautiful new 2012 black shiny planner with writers' quotes throughout - to its best advantage.

This is my busiest week. I teach for a university that holds 11-week semesters. This is week #11, which means I'm giving two different final exams (which are not.quite.ready for copying) to my 30 students (10 in one class, 20 in the other). I also have about 25 term papers in my possession that need to be graded by the end of the week (again, between the two classes). Grades are due next Monday by noon, but I have a doctor's appointment that morning at 9:40 a.m.

I have a stack of seven review books (not including the four on my Kindle which don't have deadlines attached). Two were unsolicited ARCs, one was a gift ARC from the author, and one was a late-arrival that was supposed to be reviewed sometime in January when I got around to it, but I forgot. I had three books arrive in the past four days (ah, the joys of media mail to Alaska) for which reviews are due--you guessed it, this week.


Indeed, I am very, very behind.

So you will see two CFBA posts this week, that unless I stay up late every night to finish the books, will remain unreviewed until my break between semesters (that would be starting after noon on Monday Feb. 13). The third book due this week for LitFuse, I might just be able to squeeze in when I need breaks from student papers. Or when I'm eating lunch. Or something.

And with that...off I go!

Friday Felicities

Becky wrote about Nattie here.

• Dark Roast Coffee
• International Coffee Creamer
• Journaling in a beautiful book with a great gel pen
• Brand-new comp books
• Writing
• Reading
• The Library

The Shadow of Your Smile

Welcome to the LitFuse sponsored blog tour of Susan May Warren's The Shadow of Your Smile.

About the book: The Shadow of Your Smile

A beautiful blanket of snow may cover the quaint town of Deep Haven each winter, but it can’t quite hide the wreckage of Noelle and Eli Hueston’s marriage.

After twenty-five years, they’re contemplating divorce . . . just as soon as their youngest son graduates from high school. But then an accident erases part of Noelle's memory. Though her other injuries are minor, she doesn’t remember Eli, their children, or the tragedy that has ripped their family apart. What’s more, Noelle is shocked that her life has turned out nothing like she dreamed it would. As she tries to regain her memory and slowly steps into her role as a wife and mother, Eli helps her readjust to daily life with sometimes-hilarious, sometimes-heartwarming results. But can she fall in love again with a man she can’t remember?

Will their secrets destroy them . . . or has erasing the past given them a chance for a future? Read the story behind the story here: http://www.susanmaywarren.com/books/the-shadow-of-your-smile.

About Susan:  Susan May Warren is an award-winning, best-selling author of over twenty-five novels, many of which have won the Inspirational Readers Choice Award, the ACFW Book of the Year award, the Rita Award, and have been Christy finalists. After serving as a missionary for eight years in Russia, Susan returned home to a small town on Minnesota’s beautiful Lake Superior shore where she, her four children, and her husband are active in their local church.

Susan's larger than life characters and layered plots have won her acclaim with readers and reviewers alike. A seasoned women’s events and retreats speaker, she’s a popular writing teacher at conferences around the nation and the author of the beginning writer’s workbook: From the Inside-Out: discover, create and publish the novel in you!. She is also the founder of www.MyBookTherapy.com, a story-crafting service that helps authors discover their voice.

Susan makes her home in northern Minnesota, where she is busy cheering on her two sons in football, and her daughter in local theater productions (and desperately missing her college-age son!)

A full listing of her titles, reviews and awards can be found at:www.susanmaywarren.com. 

Link to buy the book: Click here to purchase The Shadow of Your Smile.

Sometimes love requires a little forgetting ... Come back to Deep Haven and find out what's been happening in your favorite quaint hamlet. If you're new to the Deep Haven series - this is the perfect book to start with - each book in the series is a stand alone story.

Susan is celebrating the release of The Shadow of Your Smile by giving away a prize pack worth over $200 from 1/9-1/28.

One grand prize winner will receive:

• A $200 Visa Gift Card (Use that to rekindle a little romance, treat yourself to a spa day, snap up those shoes you’ve been eyeing, or purchase a few great books!)
• The entire set of Deep Haven Books

The winner will be announced on 1/30/12 on Susan’s blog, Scribbles! Just click one of the icons below to enter and tell your friends about Susan's giveaway on FACEBOOK or TWITTER and increase your chances of winning.

Blog tour schedule: Click here to visit other reviews for this novel:
http://litfusegroup.com/blogtours/text/13448479

Enter 1/9 - 1/28.

Pattie's Review:

I was intrigued by this novel from the beginning, because it has a much different tone than previous Deep Haven novels. Right away I knew the marriage was in trouble, and I was all set to blame Noelle for hiding things. Of course, it is never just one spouse, just as in real life.

There were some tears shed during the course of reading this novel. Most visitors to my blog do not know that I am an adult child of divorce; by this I mean that my parents divorced when I was an adult, after 35 years of marriage. It was a very painful and horrible time for our family. So any story dealing with divorce and infidelity (even just a hint) always touches me very closely. To be honest, I would have slammed this book had it turned out differently than it did--I trust Susan May Warren to deal with things justly and in a Christian spirit.

I would not classify this book with Warren's comedies or heartwarming stories. I'd call this real life fiction, dealing with an interesting premise that is never quite solved to my satisfaction, but is probably more true-to-life than any other Christian fiction novel you'll find out there on the shelves.

Overall, I would say this is a good women's fiction novel, well-written, multi-faceted, with believable characters; a good read for both Christians and non-Christians alike.

____________________________________________________________

***Thank you to LitFuse, NetGalley, and the author for a Kindle copy of this novel.***

**FCC Note: I received a ebook galley copy of this novel
in exchange for my honest opinion.**

Cards Galore!

I entered a contest on this post at (in)Courage, and wow, guess what? I won!!! The FedEx truck just pulled away from my street a few moments ago in the darkness...leaving this on my porch:

I will be blogging about sending cards later this month.

Listening...for joy

Just a few of the Joy Dare items from my journal:

Three lines I overheard that were graces:

"I thought you would have some partial paralysis in your face after surgery."


"I love you."


"I prayed for you."

Listening and Challenging

Melanie from "Only a Breath" designed this for me:

I found her blog on Twitter, from a link that linked to this post: One Word

What a gift, to be given something (from someone I do not know) that is so lovely that I could never, ever make on my own. This is so special to my heart.

Thank you so much, Melanie!!!!

Just as a quick check-in, I'm doing pretty well, physically and with my listening. It's hard when you're as active and as healthy as I've always been, to force yourself to rest. To relax, to take it easy, to conserve energy. Especially when the simple act of conversation takes a lot more concentrated effort than it used to!

I haven't really done a formal declaration of a Proverbs 31 challenge this year, because I have some other challenges going on (take a look at my January posts and you'll see what I mean). But since I was given the incredible gift of reading my friend Sara's manuscript for My So-Called Life as a Proverbs 31 Wife (and subsequently reading the published book), I have to admit that it has always been in my mind and heart. It's like, in a weird way, sometimes I step outside myself and watch myself interact with my husband and daughters, and wonder if I could be better, if I could really stop doing what does not work, and start finding out what does work and doing that instead.

In this season of rest and recovery in which I find myself, I am grateful for the extra help I'm receiving around the house from my family. When I'm stronger, I'll do more, but in the meantime, working on my heart and my attitudes this first week of 2012 has been a very, very good thing.

Artist's Way Journey 2012

This is the year I am going to do what I have wanted to do for several years: Go through all of  The Artist's Way series of books by Julia Cameron. 

For a long time, The Artist's Way has been THE go-to book for creativity recovery. Countless writers have gone through this workshop-in-a-book, waxed poetic about the discipline of morning pages, refilled their creative wells with art and music and poetry and photography, and praised the virtues of Cameron's writing exercises.

I went through The Artist's Way in 2006 with an online writer's group, and while I found it helpful, I did not get the breakthrough in my writing vision, dreams, or career that I had hoped to find. In the meantime, I requested the remaining workbooks Cameron had written since TAW on my Paperback Swap wishlist, and over the next four years I received every single one of them. They are: The Vein of Gold, Walking in this World, and Finding Water. I did discover that she has yet another book coming out today, entitled The Prosperous Heart. We have a big Amazon order to make soon, so I think that will be on my list (although with only 52 weeks in a year, that book might lead me into 2013!).

I always wanted to go through all of them in one calendar year. Well, my friends, for the first time in 2 years we know we are NOT moving this year, so THIS IS MY YEAR. My year of Cameron and creativity and writing and discovering things about myself I did not know.

Alongside these books, I will also reread Janice Elsheimer's The Creative Call. This is another book I went through with a group a few years ago, and I honestly don't remember anything except posting the exercises and talking. I don't know that it really changed me any. So, I'm going to give it a whirl as well.

I am learning, as I listen to the words around me, the words from God's word, and the words on the pages I read and write, that this year is going to be a lot more about process than product, about journey rather than destination. About how to become a better, happier, more content woman.

Joy Dare 2012

Ann Voskamp's challenge: Dare to Count the Joys, capture the gifts of 2012, and in so doing, increase the gratitude revolution and the grace and eucharisteo.

I realized in the midst of all of my busy preparations to jump headlong back into regular life after my ear surgery that I had not yet pulled down my gratitude journal from the shelf where I stashed it before our trip.

So today, that changes. I may or may not record them all on my blog, but I will use the guided monthly prompts and begin the list in my old sketchbook with #1 again for 2012.

Are you with us? Let's join the gratitude revolution. Let's join God where He is, appreciate all He does for us, and always, always give Him the glory.

TBR Reading Challenge 2012

I've been doing this TBR challenge since 2007. Last year, I sooooo failed...this year, linking in with my personal goals for 2012 I should do much better! I've made it a habit of reading over 100 books a year the past several years, so it's not for lack of trying that I don't succeed in a reading challenge. No, that would be my lack of "stick-to-it-ive-ness" that is my problem!
The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron
The Vein of Gold by Julia Cameron
Walking in this World by Julia Cameron
Finding Water by Julia Cameron
Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith by Anne Lamott
Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith by Anne Lamott
Grace (Eventually): Thoughts on Faith by Anne Lamott
Note to Self by Samara O'Shea
Sweater Quest by Adrienne Martini
Northern Lights by Nora Roberts
Alaska by James Michener
Blonde by Joyce Carol Oates

Alternate Selections:
Zelda by Nancy Mitford
A Moveable Feast: The Restored Edition by Ernest Hemingway

Goals for 2012

Just a random list of goals for the new year. Subject to change, with or without notice, as needed. Void where prohibited by law ;)

• Read Anne Lamott's spiritual essay trilogy (Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith; Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith ; Grace (Eventually): Thoughts on Faith).
• Go through Julia Cameron's four books about creativity (The Artist's Way; The Vein of Gold; Walking in this World; Finding Water).
• Work on streamlining the process and systems I use for teaching composition and rhetoric.
• Listen.
• Be more intentional with living a life of gratitude and giving thanks.
• Be intentional about journaling (not sure if this will translate into blogging yet or not...that month I blogged every day was good, but not sure I can make that commitment all the time!).

Listen

I blogged about my new 2012 theme on Wives of Faith this morning (a post that took me awhile to write, because I'm not home and I'm still on my operation vacation).

My theme for 2012 is Listen.

Now, I have not gone into detail much online, other than a whittled-down list of folks on my Facebook page who are my prayer warriors, close friends and family members. But I had major ear surgery last week at Fort Lewis, Washington. I had a growth that distorted my eardrum, destroyed much of my temporal bone all the way up to my brain, began to expose my facial nerve, damaged a taste nerve, and destroyed two of the three bones needed for hearing. I now have a new reconstructed eardrum, no disease, and my facial nerve, perilously close to being exposed and damaged, is getting some steroids for strength and protection. I still have hearing in my ear--it's all sensorineural, as those parts are still in working order. My hearing loss will be able to be fixed next year (should the disease not return) with the insertion of a titanium implant replacing the two destroyed hearing bones, connecting my new eardrum to the stapes bone.

I am alive, I have no facial nerve damage (seems I'm past the window of danger for that as well, although the steroid med course continues for another week), I have no brain damage, and no terrible side effects from the medications or the procedure.

God is so good.

On Christmas Sunday, four days after my surgery, we sat in the lovely sanctuary of Chapel One at McChord Field, listening and enjoying the worship service. My heart was full. I was not seeking my theme, I was just trying to enjoy the fact that I could hear the music and the Scripture being read (the same passage which, incidentally, I had posted to my Facebook status not an hour before).

And I heard that familiar, comforting, Still Small Voice say, "Listen. Be still and know that I am God."

"Lord. Really?"

"Yes. Listen."

I had to laugh a little inside. Really? Listen. With what I thought at the time was half my hearing, He wants me to listen? It's going to be HARD. I've been a very healthy girl most of my life. Sure, ear trouble as a kid, and intermittent hearing issues the past year, but not a full-fledged disability. A handicap, really. A medical condition requiring monitoring and being careful.

This year, listening will have to be a conscious effort. It will be work. It is going to make home life harder and work life a lot harder (how in the world am I going to do a VTC class starting in Feb. if I can't hear that well?).

But I'm here. I'm alive. I'm 9 days out from surgery and managing my pain and discomfort pretty well. It will only get better from here.


Past Themes: Brave, 2009
Focus, 2010
Grace, 2011