Almost Forever

Apologies for lateness in posting. This was supposed to be posted on our load-the-truck moving day, but I was detained by a car accident (and yes, I'm okay).

From the publicity office:

Deb Raney delivers an emotion-packed, gripping story.

A firefighter's wife, Bryn thinks she knows more than most just how dangerous fire can be. Yet when it takes the life of her husband and four other firefighters, Bryn sees fire for the thief it truly is.

From their mutual despair, Bryn and another firefighter's surviving spouse form a close friendship. As the relationship begins to blossom into more, though, the thief comes again and Bryn must face the question: what caused the fire that stole her husband's life?

About the author:

The award-winning, best-selling author of over twenty novels, Deborah Raney always delivers poignant stories of what it means to wrestle with the realities of a world in chaos...and emerge triumphant.

Her books have received the RITA Award, HOLT Medallion, National Readers' Choice Award, Silver Angel, and have twice been Christy Award finalists. Her novel, A Vow To Cherish, inspired the World Wide Pictures film of the same title. Visit her blog at www.deborahraney.com

Pattie's thoughts:

I enjoyed this book. It's what I've come to expect from Deb Raney: clean, engrossing fiction with strong characters, a good storyline, and realistic faith-grappling issues. In particular, I enjoyed the character of Bryn, because I could really empathize with her struggle.

This book is a little harder to get into, because it begins with a tragedy. Tragic circumstances force Bryn into denial, then acceptance, of a terrible situation, and her circumstances are difficult, to say the least. Does all end well, Perhaps, in a way. The tragedy is still tragic, of course, but Bryn's pain sees the touch of redemption and hope.

I look forward to reading more in this series.

Thanks to Simon & Schuster
and Rebeca from Glass Road PR
for a review copy of this novel.

Different experience for me today

If you follow Wives of Faith, you'll know that our founder and Queen--er, President--Sara Horn was interviewed this past week at the Focus on the Family campus about her book GOD Strong.

True confession: We've been squealing like little girls on the phone with each other about it since she got the news! Yeah, I know, we're grown-ups, but sometimes a girl's gotta squeal with a girlfriend!

Well. Today I was checking email around lunchtime and got a shock. This blog entry caught the eye of a producer from Focus on the Family, who emailed me asking if she could interview me on the phone for the radio show featuring Sara.

More squealing ensued on the phone, I must admit!

So I talked with the gal, who was very nice, for about 15 minutes or so. I was very, very nervous, and I tend to babble when I get nervous; but like one of my other friends pointed out, she's in radio---she can edit.

I don't know yet if they'll use what I had to say, but all I can say is May God be glorified in it all, and help someone who needs encouragement in this crazy military spouse life.

Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Faces in the Crowd

Faces in the Crowd: Reaching Your International Neighbor for Christ

by Donna S. Thomas

Press Release:

America continues to remain a melting pot for various internationals to call home. For hundreds of years we have opened our arms to a population of multicultural religions and spiritual preferences. In spite of our welcoming borders, our churches have struggled to effectively reach many of these groups for Christ.

Donna Thomas, a veteran missionary, writes a practical how-to book on the subject, seasoning the book with anecdotes of personal conversations she has enjoyed with different faces in the crowd. Along with heartwarming stories, each chapter includes things to consider and action steps to help apply each lesson. Donna tackles the tough subject of finding, reaching and effectively sharing Christ's love with international neighbors. These easy-to-implement personal evangelism tools equip readers with the basics and stirs up the desire to share the gospel of Jesus with others.

To learn more about Donna's ministry, click here. You may also purchase her books there.

To purchase the book: Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Thanks to Kathy Carlton Willis Communications for a review copy of this book.

Life in Defiance

Life in Defiance, the third in the Defiance Texas Trilogy by Mary E. DeMuth

The blog tour for this book is not for a few weeks, but I wanted to post my review now while the book is fresh in my mind.

From the back cover:

The killing of Daisy Chance continues to haunt Defiance, Texas, even as Ouisie Pepper wrestles with a defiance of her own. Desperate to become the wife and mother her husband Hap demands, Ouisie pours over a simple book about womanhood. She is sure that if she can just perfect herself, she will calm her husband's rages--and maybe even stop drinking herself.

In the midst of her constant attempts at self-improvement, Ouisie carries a terrible burden: she knows who killed Daisy Chance. And she refuses to tell. As her children inch closer to uncovering the killer's identity and Hap's rages roar louder and become increasingly violent, Ouisie has to make a decision. Will she protect her children by telling her secret? Or will the anger she fears silence them all?

Set on the backdrop of Defiance, Texas, this compelling suspense novel is rich in relationships and soul questions. It is about a choice we will all face sooner or later: whether to reveal the truth or live with the consequences of burying it forever.

Pattie's Thoughts:

It is hard to know what to write in a review of the much-anticipated third book in a trilogy suspense series without violating my own Cardinal Rule: Don't spoil the ending of a book.

As with both of the other books in this series, Life in Defiance is wonderfully crafted and beautifully written. Art. Beauty. Even the title is symbolic.

Mary DeMuth's writing certainly does not disappoint. Once again we can taste the dust, feel the bruises on a chilly winter day, and strongly sympathize with our narrator. In fact, I found Ouisie Pepper to be the character out of this whole series with whom I identify the most strongly.* I identified with Ouisie for her desire to please others. I identified with her never-ending quest for perfecting herself. And I identified with her reluctance to lead the Bible study.

In my other reviews, I mentioned that other book reviewers seemed to throw the word redemption around like confetti when writing about the first two books. I am very happy to say that I found it in this novel, at last. There is a turning point scene at Lake Pisgah marking the beginning of the end of the novel for me, and it made me cry it was so beautiful.

As I read this novel, I kept picturing a scene from Mary's book trailer for Thin Places, of her walking on a Texas road. With Mary's writing, it's all about the journey, not the destination. For those who are anxious to find out who killed Daisy, I know your impatience. I felt the anxious waiting myself! But don't skip the descriptions. Don't forsake the journey for the destination.

Just a note about the mystery at hand. I am happy to report that the mystery is solved well, and it was not who I suspected it was. This makes me happy, because there's nothing worse than an implausible ending to a mystery. Stump me without a red herring or a deus ex machina and I'm a happy reader.

* = (I feel compelled to make this disclaimer for my friends and family who read this: No, I don't drink, and my minister husband is most definitely not abusive.)

Mary is known both for her moving fiction and her nonfiction parenting books. She's one of those rare authors who can write both and write them well.

To purchase on Amazon, please click here.

Here is my review of Daisy Chain (book 1) and my review of A Slow Burn (book 2).

Thanks to Tina at Blog Tour Spot for arranging my review copy

from Zondervan. Thank you also to Zondervan!

Turned it in

I just electronically submitted my short story revision for my creative writing class. I don't feel like it's really done, but when is a piece ever completely done?

However, with this story, my instructor agreed with me that it's a novel-sized idea that I had to shrinkwrap small enough for a short story. This meant I had to really cut a lot of good stuff. That hurts!

I still think this is my novel, the one I need to write. Maybe, finally, I found the format I need to really tell this story that's haunted me, taunted me, since I picked up that journal eight years ago this summer.

Sage without Parsley, Rosemary, or Thyme

This week, the

Christian Fiction Blog Alliance

is introducing

A Woman Called SageZondervan (April 1, 2010)by

DiAnn Mills





ABOUT THE AUTHOR:



Award-winning author, DiAnn Mills, launched her career in 1998 with the publication of her first book. Currently she has over forty books in print and has sold more than a million copies.



DiAnn believes her readers should “Expect an Adventure.” DiAnn Mills is a fiction writer who combines an adventuresome spirit with unforgettable characters to create action-packed novels.



Six of her anthologies have appeared on the CBA Best Seller List. Three of her books have won the distinction of Best Historical of the Year by Heartsong Presents. Five of her books have won placements through American Christian Fiction Writer’s Book of the Year Awards 2003 – 2007, and she is the recipient of the Inspirational Reader’s Choice award for 2005 and 2007. She was a Christy Awards finalist in 2008.



DiAnn is a founding board member for American Christian Fiction Writers, a member of Inspirational Writers Alive, Romance Writers of America’s Faith, Hope and Love, and Advanced Writers and Speakers Association. She speaks to various groups and teaches writing workshops around the country. DiAnn is also a mentor for Jerry B. Jenkins Christian Writer’s Guild.



She lives in sunny Houston, Texas. DiAnn and her husband have four adult sons and are active members of Metropolitan Baptist Church.





ABOUT THE BOOK

They took away everything she loved...now, she’s out for revenge.



Sage Morrow had it all: life on a beautiful Colorado ranch, a husband who adored her, and a baby on the way. Until five ruthless gunmen rode up to their ranch and changed her life forever. Now Sage is a bounty hunter bent on retribution.



Accompanied only by her majestic hawk, she travels throughout the Rocky Mountains in search of injustice, determined to stamp it out wherever it’s found. The stakes are raised when two young boys are kidnapped and Sage is forced to work with Marshall Parker Timmons to rescue them. But Sage may ultimately get more than she bargained for.



In this exciting historical romance set in the late 1800s, murder, intrigue, kidnapping, and questions of faith will keep you in suspense until the final pages.



If you would like to read the first chapter of A Woman Called Sage, go HERE.



Watch the Video Book Trailer:

Happy MilSpouse Appreciation Day!

To all the military wives and husbands out there--thank you for all you do.

Ten Challenges

Come on over and see what other military wives are saying. Even if you're a civilian, please read it so you know what it is like for those whose husbands are reservists or National Guard.

Spring Reading Thing Update

So far, so good....you can see by the hyperlinks on my original list, that I've finished many books so far. I gave up on Becoming Jane Austen and gave the book away to my daughter's friend. I'm still in the Old Testament! The magazine pile has gone from three stacks to two. So, overall, not too bad. I actually took a break from the novels to read a few others from the "TBR" shelf that I was afraid to list here, for fear I'd fail again in my SRT quest. Yeah.

*Here Burns My Candle by Liz Curtis Higgs (finish)

*Plain Jayne by Hillary Manton Lodge (finish)

*As Young As We Feel by Melody Carlson

*Love Mercy by Lisa Samson and Ty Samson

*Becoming Jane Austen by Jon Spence (finish for April book club) I give up! Jon Spence has made my beloved Jane boring. I can't stand it.

*Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen (May book club, a reread for me)

*A Distant Melody by Sarah Sundin

AND...FINISH THE ENTIRE BIBLE!!! **working on**

Seeing Through the Lies

Seeing Through the Lies - Unmasking the Myths Women Believe by Vonda Skelton

From the Publicist:

Seeing Through the Lies - Unmasking the Myths Women Believe humorously addresses the disappointments women experience as they search for truth while believing a lie. This book offers practical steps for peeling away the layers of deceit and finding the joy of living in real truth. Through honesty and humility, Vonda takes women on a hilarious journey through all things female and brings them to a soul-searching point of decision. Readers will identify with both the positive and negative examples of women in the Bible, and will be encouraged by Scripture, as well as quotes from notable men and women. Each chapter opens with amusing anecdotes from real life, unmasks the deceptions, gives five steps for exposing the lies, spotlights five daily Bible readings and ends with devotional thoughts in a section called "In His Own Words." At the end of the book are discussion questions, making Seeing Through the Lies a perfect women's study. It is possible to peel away the masks of deception as readers embrace the truths found in God's Word.

Pattie’s Thoughts:

Vonda Skelton tackles beauty, fear, materialism, humility, choices, and selfishness in her book. Always, she points the reader back to Scripture to find the truths we should believe as women, rather than the lies our culture and experience have taught us.

Thank you to Regal Books and
Kathy Carlton Willis Communications for a review copy of this book.

Ten Good Things

Come on over and see some of the best things about being married to a military man!

Learning to Live Financially Free

Learning to Live Financially Free by Marybeth Whalen and Curt Whalen

From the Publicist:

If a family parenting six children can get out of debt and live financially free, anyone can! Marybeth and Curt Whalen share their financial successes and failures in this book. The Whalens readily admit they made their share of mistakes the first ten years of marriage. Becoming more disciplined and intentional in spending and saving helped them learn valuable lessons for better financial stewardship--lessons you'll want to learn too. Learning to Live Financially Free not only focuses on building a stronger financial understanding in the home, but also encourages couples to communicate, thus building better, stronger marriages. The Whalens clearly comprehend the need for careful money management and commitment in marriage. Money-strapped families will find peace of mind as they begin the process of becoming financially responsible and debt-free.

Pattie’s Thoughts:

This book has some great tips for saving money and getting out of debt. What’s even better for me is that they offer Scriptural references to show that their ideas are not just their own; they’re based in the Word of God. Personal anecdotes add to the personality of the book. I think this would be a great book to give as a wedding gift.

Thanks to Kathy Carlton Willis Communications for a review copy of this book.

Garden Spells

Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen

I really, really liked this book. It's probably the only "magical realism" book I've really liked. Even Allen's second book, The Sugar Queen, didn't come close to matching the delightfulness that is Garden Spells.

I saw several negative reviews on Good Reads and Amazon, and all I can say is, I don't agree. I liked this book both times I read it. The characters made me care about them, and I saw several spiritual parallels in one of the characters in particular, and in the cantankerous, independent apple tree in the garden.

My MilSpouse Story

Come read my story over at my chaplain's wife blog.