Cilka’s Journey by Heather Morris

The resilience of the human spirit.

From Czechoslovakia to Auschwitz/Birkenau to Gulag Vorkuta and back to Czechoslovakia Cilka is beautiful and she is a survivor. Her body may be taken, used, and abused but her soul and memories cannot be touched. 

Starting at age 16, Cilka's journey through pain, terror, death, friendship, betrayal, and finally love is gently traversed through flashbacks. The plot is carefully constructed and, in the end, the parts are greater than the whole. Morris’ careful research and interviews of Lale Sokolov creates a historical novel that plumbs the depths of systems that oppress and compromise the human spirit. Characters are so real the reader will remember them as people who lived and died under circumstances hard to imagine, yet clearly drawn. The cover draws one into the journey and dismemberment that comes through years of survival in concentration camps and gulags. Although this is a continuance of Morris’ novel Tattooist of Auschwitz, it is a stand-alone novel.

This book will be released 10/1/2019

The Crane Diaries: Dirty Blood by Apryl Baker

Deep in the swamps of the Louisiana bayou, a horrifying secret lies waiting to be discovered: a chilling legendary a beast born from a curse…the Rougarou. Emma Rose Crane lets hunter Cass Willow convince her to help him on a ghost hunt, she never imagined she’d be trudging through the swamps, let alone stumbling upon a mess of mangled bodies—or running into the creature responsible for the rotting remains. When the creature attacks, it infects them with the same curse which drove it mad. There is only one hope—kill the beast to cure the infection before they succumb to the hunger eating them alive.

The cover is intriguing with an offer of seeing through a thin veil into the paranormal world beyond – legendary creatures, curses, demon, angels and of course Louisiana voodoo. The title takes the reader more deeply into the series The Crane Diaries and the complicated and complex members of the Crane family, especially the protagonist. All the characters are three dimensional and well developed. The plot flows, except the extended passages referring to previous books, creating the feeling the reader needs to read the whole series in order to understand this book. It could otherwise easily stand-alone since all the plot elements are there. Some careful content editing could eliminate this problem. The dialogue is genuine and moves the storyline forward as do the chapters. The copyediting was spot on.

Readers of previous books in the series should note that Baker is moving Emma from a strictly young adult genre to a college-age romance and thus into more sexual settings. There is an abundance of kisses and very warm hugs and a lot of lap sitting. Although the last scene leads us into a bedroom scene, the act itself is beyond the pages of the book. Following titles may well move into more adult situations.

Baker grew up in the mountains of West Virginia where she now lives. She loves scary movies, books, writing books, and entertaining people with her “silly stories.”

The Queen's Poisoner (The Kingfountain Series #1) by Jeff Wheeler

To survive as a hostage in the court of Kingfountain, eight-year-old Owen Kiskaddon must find help among the adults from the king’s chilling inner chambers to the warm and inviting kitchen.

As Owen wanders the secret passages of the labyrinthine castle he learns to recognize the magic of the fountain that is bubbling through him, he gathers allies and avoids enemies among a cast of well-developed characters including the mysterious Queen’s Poisoner who dwells in secrecy.  

Wheeler’s understanding and ability to express the emotions of his young hero creates a political drama that will draw in readers of all ages.

Based on the War of the Roses, but don’t expect Game of Thrones or Shakespeare’s Richard III. Thought-provoking and moving, this well-paced mystery within a clean fantasy is constructed in the often hard-to-maintain third-person point of view. 

Wheeler’s writing style is straightforward – no long, flowery descriptions nor much internal dialogue. While the sentences and chapters are short, they keep the plot moving, the protagonists and antagonists creating intrigue, and the reader up late at night.

Wrinkles by Mian Mohsin Zia

Wrinkles: A True Love Story by Mian Mohsin Zia

“Wrinkles” by Mian Mohsin Zia WINS Readers’ Favorite International Book Award Contest 2016 held in USA.

According to Readers' Favorite the 2016 Readers' Favorite International Book Award Contest featured thousands of contestants from over a dozen countries.

Readers’ Favorite International Book Award Contest features entries from new authors to New York Times best-sellers, as well as Hollywood celebrities like "Jim Carrey" and "Henry Winkler".

Mian Mohsin Zia is an International Award Winning Author, Self-Publishing Specialist & a Marketing Specialist.

About the Book:

Wrinkles is a tender story of unconditional love that crosses generations and genders, cultures and creeds and removes the wrinkles from souls. Well-developed characters that carry beyond the pages from Cape Town, South Africa into readers’ hearts and reveal the wrinkles resident there. Zia is a voice for tolerance and change one person, and perhaps one wrinkle at a time. Once again the author takes a slice of a life lived by a strong, complex central character in a circle of relationships that makes him everyman (and everywoman by extension). He asks the hard questions of life and leads readers to sometimes surprising answers that hold TRUTH that teach and transcend without a hint of didacticism.

I have enjoyed watching Zia’s writing career unfold from book to book. He is a strong voice of not only literary Pakistan but the literary world without pretension, heavy-handedness or wordiness. His writing is honed and deep while telling a simple story in simple words that is not simplistic and lingers long after the final page is read.

About the Author

Mian Mohsin Zia aka "M I A N---No Time for Love" is a brilliant, humble and dedicated author obsessed with writing great books. He is an Internationally acclaimed Pakistani author, marketing, and self-publishing specialist. His books have been rated 4 and 5 stars on Amazon and other sales channels. He has set new trends worldwide in novel writing with his books. New York Times bestseller & Edgar Award winner author Mr. Burl Barer refers to Mian Mohsin Zia as "the brightest light on Pakistan's new literary horizon." For more visit: www.mianmohsinzia.com

I received a .pdf copy of this book from the author to read and respond with my unbiased review.

Butterfly by Elvy P. Rolle

Rolle, Elvy P. (2015) Butterfly. Illus. Maksym Stasiuk. Naures Pages.

www.naturespages.com

Five Stars.

A blue morpho flutters from page to page among multi-cultured children and multi-colored butterflies. Poetry and pictures capture the wonder of nature and childhood. This picture book creates early literacy connections as each page captures the essence of word and form. Rolle and Stasiuk have created opportunities to introduce young explorers to the life-cycle of a butterfly, to listen and play with language through rhyth
m and descriptive vocabulary. The size of the print and the connection of word to picture will encourage young readers. Designed for children ages three and up, this book is also a wonder-filled lap-book for infants and toddlers.

In the pre-school to third-grade classroom, Butterly would be a wonderful addition to a cross-center curriculum. In my classroom it would have been used in the science center while watching for chrysalises to hatch. In the math and manipulatives center with butterfly puzzles and matching butterflies and children for one-to-one correspondence from page to page. In the art center paper and paints for creating new butterflies and opportunities to put paint on a ½ butterfly cut-out and then pressed with a corresponding sheet to create symmetrical butterfly wings to attach to toilet- tissue- or paper-towel-rolls to be hung from the ceiling of the classroom. In the literacy center, butterfly shaped books can be used to write and illustrate stories and poetry using a word wall with words from the book and other descriptive and color words. The computer center can include opportunities for research on butterflies by region and on the life-cycle of the butterfly, zoo cams in butterfly houses can be bookmarked for group interaction.  The dramatic play center can be turned into a jungle exploration camp. The block center can offer opportunities to build jungles and vehicles to explore them. Outdoors offers its own learning in addition to moving any and all centers outdoors by planting a butterfly bush or garden and counting kinds and numbers of butterflies to make charts and graphs.

I received a free copy of this book from the author for my unbiased opinion and review.

Author Interview Brenda Baker

Why did you become a writer…was it a dream of yours since you were younger or did the desire to write happen later in your life?

I’ve always liked writing and telling stories, but I didn’t get serious about writing until later in life.

Do you tend to base your characters on real people or are they totally from your imagination?

I think all characters are based on real people. I mix their traits to create unique, different characters needed for a particular story. 

What was the most interesting research you had to do for your books?

I wanted to write about an eating disorder, but bulimia and anorexia have been covered extensively, so I found out binge-eating disorder is a real affliction.

Where do you go to do your research?

I can usually find enough information on the internet to cover any topic. The main character’s best friend in “Surviving Haley,” is a girl from India. Since some of my students and their families come from India, I knew a bit about their culture. For the rest, I read online articles. 

How do you go from an idea for a book to the birth of the story?  Is the process the same for every book you write?  How long does it take you to write a book? 

I start with a subject I feel passionate about and then develop a main character to fit the story. Overeating and homelessness are two things that interest me. Yes, the process was the same for the second book. I picked a subject and went on from there. It takes me at least a year to complete a first draft and then longer to rewrite it. I do rewrite chapters as I go, but then I have to analyze the whole story when I’m done and fix any plot issues.

Are you currently working on any new book projects?

Yes. I’m almost finished with another YA contemporary novel about a girl whose family loses their house through foreclosure and end up living at a campground.

Do you have any advice for beginning writers on how to write a book?  Do you have any advice for them regarding promoting that book once published?

If you want to be a writer, don’t give up. Keep writing. If you want to be an author (a published writer) you will have to work the business side of writing as well. Be prepared to promote yourself and your work online and in person. Establish relationships with other writers and future readers. Have an online presence even before you are published.

What’s your writing schedule like?  When do you find time to write?

I write every week, but not necessarily every day. Although I’m currently shooting for 500 words per day. I’m not a morning person, so it’s better if I write in the late afternoon or evening.

Do you have any writing idiosyncrasies? 

              

 Yeah, I whisper words as I’m typing them. It helps me know how a passage sounds.

What’s the most challenging aspect of writing for you? ~ POV issues; using too much passive voice and not enough active voice; trouble creating active and engaging dialogue; using too many similar words in starting sentences; or something else?

Definitely plotting. I don’t outline or even plan out my chapters and scenes—they happen on the page. It would be easier to plan ahead, but ideas don’t come to me when I try. I get a chapter written then my critique group comments on it. I’ll often rewrite that chapter before I go on to the next.    

Brenda Baker is a teacher who lives in Nebraska with her husband and a mixed husky. When she's not writing, she enjoys reading, word games, swimming, traveling, and spending time with family.

Break from the norm. Recover your identity. Express your creativity.

Morrison, Erika. Bandersnatch: An Invitation to Explore Your Unconventional Soul. Thomas Nelson – W Publishing, 2015.

Contemporary Christianity seems to be suffering from an epidemic of sameness. Uniformity. Monotony. Those trapped inside are often afraid to step beyond established norms and express their creativity, and those on the outside often see little that attracts them. Yet God, out of the abundance of his own creative force, made each one of us unique. Peculiar. Irreplaceable. So why so much pressure to conform?

Bandersnatch* explores this intersection of disillusionment by inviting readers on a journey of liberation. It’s organized around four creative terms viewed through the life of Jesus: Avant-Garde, Alchemy, Anthropology, and Art. Each expression reveals a diverse facet of God’s unorthodox creativity planted within us.

Providing a fresh look at God’s avant-garde nature and a new set of definitions by which to live, Erika Morrison gives us permission to break free from the expectations and labels that cramp our souls. Only in embracing our uniqueness can we create artful, holistic lives that matter to both heaven and earth.

*A Bandersnatch, while more commonly known as the wild, ferocious, and mythical creature of Lewis Carroll’s creation, is also a person with unconventional habits and attitudes.

Morrison’s ability to encourage ability and courage to step outside the norm of our society into a place where we can live out our faith. I believe her approach encourages to us to “work out our faith” (Philippians 2:12) by a willingness to cross over into the life and teachings of Jesus in such a way that we lead original and creative lives that draw others to Christ.

The energy Morrison brings to living faith, and her ability to show rather than tell, captures the reader and takes them through the looking glass to a perfected and redefined life and intentional lifestyle that is exciting and god-breathed.

I received a complimentary proof of this book from the publisher through Net Galley for my unbiased review.

Kat McGee and the School of Christmas Spirit by Rebecca Munsterer and Georgiana Manderoli

Munsterer, Rebecca. Kat McGee and the School of Christmas Spirit. Illustrated by Georgianna Manderoli. 2^nd ed. New York: In This Together Media, 2012, 2013.

Formats: Paperback, eBook

ISBN-10:0985895632; ISBN-13:978-0-9858956-3-1; ISBN-10:0985895624; ISBN-13:978-0-98589952-2-4

Ever since she had an accident on thas stuck like glue. Even worse, she lives in a household where she is the middle and only average child. So in fifth grade, Kat decides to reinvent herself. She sets her sights on the Totsville Christe roller coaster in four years ago Kat McGee’s nickname “Kat McPee” hmas Pageant. However, Kat was not chosen for ANY role in the biggest celebration in Totsville. Then it seems Mr. Mudge is bribing Principal Pratt to have his daughter play the part of Mary, the pageant’s most coveted role. 

Gram is the only one that believes she is special. Moreover, it turns out she went to school with Mrs. Claus – THE MRS. CLAUS. Then there is the magic snow globe by her bed, that takes her directly to the North Pole. Mrs. Claus runs The School of Christmas Spirit” where real Elves are teachers, mentors, and chaperones and the chosen children will learn worthiness, wonder, will, and whimsy. However, somehow, all is not as it should be. Is Kat unique enough to coach the reindeer and save Santa and Christmas?

A great Christmas story with an underlying message of the specialness of every child. Includes Christmas activities for families to build the values and virtues Kat learns during her time at the North Pole and a recipe for tasty Candyfruit Confection (an every morning delight at The School of Christmas Spirit). It is too bad, Mr. Mudge and Principal Pratt either didn’t get selected for Mrs. Claus’ school, or they forgot what they learned. Well written and will appeal to late elementary school girls especially.

Ages 8-10

Rating 4.5 stars

Baldacci, David. The Finisher.

A Place Where Wrong as Wrong Can Be

Baldacci, David. The Finisher. New York: Scholastic Press, 2014.

ISBN: 978-0-545-65220-9

Five Stars

Tags: Young Adult, Middle School, Grades 6-9, Fantasy

Vega Jane has never left the village of Wormwood. But that isn’t unusual – no Wug has ever left Wormwood. At least not until Quentin Herms vanishes into the unknown. Vega knows he was chased into the Quag that surrounds the village. Quentin leaves Vega Jane a very dangerous set of clues only she can decode.

       As dangerous as the dark Quag with its tangled undergrowth and deadly beasts are the the Council and influential people within Wormwood who are willing to kill to hold their secrets and their power. Vega is the only Wug determined to discover the truth, but the closer she gets the more she risks her life and the lifes of those she has loved since her birth light.

       David Baldacci, author of twenty-seven books for adult readers has created an imaginative world for young adult readers where things are as wrong as wrong can be. A world filled with beasts, secrets and hidden magic. And, an unforgettable heroine and supporting characters that made me begin again as soon as I had finished. (Oh, and the second book in the series The Keeper has just been published.)

An Interview with Author Ella Jackson

E. C. Jackson

Tell us a bit about yourself. 

I’m excited. Finally, the number one goal of my freshman English class has been realized. After a lifetime of wanting to write books, “A Gateway to Hope” is published. This one accomplishment answers many years of prayers.  

Describe the plot of “A Gateway to Hope” in a few sentences.

Neka (Nikhol Lacey) is a beautiful twenty-one-year-old introvert. Without a word to anyone, she leaves home to support a friend when his fiancée breaks off their engagement. James Copley is twenty-nine and every woman’s dream man. Despite his fiancée’s desertion, James still needs a fiancée so he can take control of his family’s business. Neka’s arrival offers the perfect solution to Teri’s defection — until Neka’s father attempts to maneuver James’s scheme into fulfilling the Lacey agenda. 

Who do you think would most appreciate this book?

Anyone who wonders what their life might have been had they made different choices. And those still seeking God’s purpose for their life.  

What inspired you to write a book about a shy, beautiful young woman who has the opportunity to help out her friend in a very unique way?

I believe that there is a little of Neka in all of us, but life has a way of muddying those unique qualities everyone receives from God. Difficulties, missed chances and thwarted dreams obscure our pathway, and then we accept the mundane instead of utilizing our natural gifts and talents. Neka can allow life to lead her into an alternate position or she can make decisions that fulfill her destiny.

Tell us a bit about the protagonists, Neka and James Copley.

Though grief came from different sources, they both suffered hurts while growing up. Neka masked the pain by putting on a brave face and pretending not to notice the exclusion and snide remarks. James harnessed each attack, using them to validate his calculating behavior.  

What are some of the challenges Neka and James face?

Can they embrace a life together without losing themselves in the process? How do they blend two diverse lifestyles into one? And they must decide if it’s worth taking a chance on each other.  

Who was your favorite character to write?

Actually, I liked writing both characters equally. I enjoyed Neka’s optimistic approach to life as she came to terms with reality. And James’s self-styled stage managing of everyone else’s life bumps heads against another master manipulator.

How do you hope readers react to “A Gateway to Hope”?

A Gateway to Hope

I hope they relate to the characters as believable and see the story as a real slice of life. That is part of the slogan on my website. The write way – a real slice of life. 

Are there any authors who have influenced your writing style?

Jane Austen. I’m pulled into her stories, especially my all-time favorite book, “Pride and Prejudice.”   

Tell us about your creative process, from initial idea to published manuscript.

The story flowed once I placed my fingers on the keys. Yet, I learned a lot through writing this first book. It’s hard to believe that I rewrote each chapter several times before moving on to the next one. However, I wised up halfway through the first draft and wrote the last 15 chapters before critiquing them. Many scenes were removed during the editing stage. No more overwriting. 

While writing “A Gateway to Hope,” did you ever use personal experiences as a reference?

On occasion, I identified with certain aspects of both characters.

How do you feel about the increasing popularity of eBooks?  

Publishing the e-Book was simpler than publishing the paperback.

What are your goals as a writer for the next ten years?

Writing one bestseller per year that adds purpose to the reader’s life.

Is there any aspect of writing you don't like?

Book promotion is difficult. The introvert in me shies away from exposure.

What do you have in mind for your next project?

Another standalone book following the hope theme.

Is there anything else you'd like potential readers to know about your book?

“A Gateway to Hope” was a labor of love. I hope everyone enjoys Neka and James’s story just as much as I enjoyed sharing it with them.

The interview was featured on: http://www.writersinterviews.com

Interview: Dennis Kreiss - The Evidence Locker and The Resurrection Files

The Resurrection Files

Pastor Dennis Kreiss became the most recent pastor of Pine Grove Community Church  in Roseburg, Oregon, the first of January 1992. Pine Grove has a combined background of the circuit riding reformed tradition of the Brethren Church and the Sunday School revival movement of the Baptist tradition.  

Pastor Kreiss was raised in the reformed tradition. His favorite part of growing up in a large family of six boys and two girls were the yearly summer month-long camping trips in the Redwood forests. There he learned to love the Creator and his Creation. During his most mischievous years, Dennis began to wonder if he was going to heaven or hell and when he asked his mother, she had the pleasure of leading him to Christ.”He says, “I am amazed that I grew up stone-bored in church and came away believing in God.” 

This God-consciousness was nurtured between his junior and senior years in high school when a young man  from the  Moody Bible Institute interned with his church and befriended him. During their many walks and conversations, Dennis was “immersed  in the need to serve this God he barely knew."

Pastor Kreiss went to Western Bible College in Salem, Oregon (now Corban College). While there, he heard Warren Wiersbe talk. From that experience he carried away what became his true faith in Wiersbe's words: "You can have as much of God as you really want, and as little of God with which you are satisfied." Pastor Kreiss went on to finished his education at Cascade Bible College in Bellvue, Washington.

"The real work of discipleship is in the teaching," says Pastor Kreiss. "If you are going to impact the world, you have to teach. One important way to measure your maturity is whether or not you have graduated from learner to teacher, from apprentice to disciple-maker.” In addition to being an intentional disciple, Dennis is pastor to a vital and lively congregation of disciple-makers. He is also a husband, a father, a grandfather, and a self-published writer.

All of his books have come out of his role as disciple-maker. The Evidence Locker, his most recent title, is in

many ways his research for The Resurrection Files. In both books he mixes his understanding of the chronology and study of the disciples and their natures to create books that are part fictionalized accounts and part teaching.  They back-fill the stories of the appearances of Jesus to the disciples over the forty days following the Resurrection. Each story brings the emotions that must have rolled over the disciples like a shock wave. Pastor Kreiss sees these forty days as the hinge of history.

"If people could just grab hold of the Resurrection it would revitalize the church in America. It was the rocket fuel that impelled the first century believers to spread the gospel, and could do the same today.” Pastor Kreiss says the disciples with greatest impact on his faith surprisingly are the women. "They had to deal with incredible disbelief from the apostles. What a diverse group they were – women who had lived in deep poverty and rejection and women of wealth and position. Nowhere else but in Jesus could they be bound together.” 

He hopes to have found a publisher interested in perusing these books in a combined form by the end of the year. Just writing these books and sharing these stories has revitalized his life and faith. “Faith is an incredible battle full of personal and emotional distraction. I hope someday someone will be able to say, ‘He finished well.’”

Article based on telephone interview conducted 6/20/12

Christine Lindsay -- An Interview

The Writer – Christine Lindsay

Q:  What schooling, travel, training, personal experiences, or other formative parts of your background led you to write?

Traveling to and living in different countries in the world is always the best education. Born in Northern Ireland, I immigrated to Canada with my parents when I was five. I have lived in various places across Canada since. It has been wonderful to travel back to Ireland on a number of occasions, and I’ve been to India on a mission trip. My children have been to various parts of the world on mission trips. This has given me a fairly wide global view, and this inspires me to write about these awesome places.

My British background has given me an interest in British history. In my opinion England’s rule over Colonial India, called the British Raj, is as fascinating an era as the Wild West is to the Americas.

Q:  Tell your readers a little bit of your faith story.

My father, sadly, was an alcoholic all his life, abusive to my mother, and neglectful of us kids. My mother raised us on her own. My childhood and my mother’s experiences have been excellent fodder for my novels. In Shadowed in Silk, the heroine is a nice woman married to a brute of a drunk. Life is not easy for a lot of people, and I write novels that I pray will give hope to the hopeless.

When I became a young adult, I got pregnant out of wedlock, and for the sake of my child, I relinquished my baby to adoption. Giving up my baby changed me in so many ways. To understand the full picture of my sense of loss, one needs to read my blog, "Story Behind the Covers ."

I see myself in my characters.  In Shadowed in Silk, my Muslim character, Tikah, feels my sense of empty-womb I felt after I gave up my child. In my second book Captured by Moonlight my character, Laine, feels the loneliness of going-on-thirty-and-not-married-yet. My character, Eshana, battles with the same spiritual lessons I am learning — dying to my own ambitions and plans, and yielding to Christ’s plans for my life.

Q:  How is God working in your life today?

The Lord has swept me off my feet these past few years with the joy of my writing ministry. This has also developed into a speaking ministry. Seeing lives touched by my stories (verbal or written) and those lives taking steps in faith with Christ means far more to me than the number of books I may sell.

Q:  Where can readers find more about you and your books?

Please drop by my website www.christinelindsay.com and my blog www.christinelindsay.orgwhere I have guest bloggers share on “Monday’s Inspirations,” Wednesday is “Addiction Recovery Miracles, “and Fridays are “Adoption Stories.” You can find my books on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and a number of other sites, but for sure in those places, in both paperback and E-book formats.

The Process

Q:  How do you use imagery in your writing?

I enjoy painting and drawing, and love well-written description. I want to feel as though I am in the scene when I read. One of my writing professors once said that I was a very sensual writer, so imagery and using my five senses is important to my writing.

Q:  Do you plot your story or create an outline before you begin writing?

I do best by working out the kinks in the plot before I start writing. At the same time, I’m always open to change. Such as when a character starts blooming before my eyes, and he or she insists on doing something unexpected. This happened for me when Laine finds the gumption to slip in, and empty a bag of snakes into a room, so she can rescue a young girl from the sex trade in India.

Q:  Do you ever use flashbacks? Why or Why not?

Personally, I do not like reading flashbacks, so I try to use them as little as possible. I prefer to do flashbacks in little installments of inner dialogue, and not in large chunks of writing. I always prefer to keep the reader in the present tense.

Q:  How do you keep God involved in your writing process?

If God were not part of the writing process, I would not even know where to begin. I cannot be part of the process unless I pray and ask God for His help.

Q:  What research did you do for this book? How much did you do before you began writing? Did anything come up in the course of writing that sent you back to research some more?

I grew up on fabulous, big, thick blockbuster novels by M. M. Kaye. She wrote adventure-romance epics set in exotic Colonial India. I try to follow in her footsteps but from a Christian point of view. Still, I had to do an enormous amount of research. After writing my debut novel Shadowed in Silk, I sent it to a lady PhD in India to check the novel for cultural and historical accuracy. She expressed amazement I had never been to India (at that time). Just goes to show what good research, and the good-old library can do.

The Books – Shadowed in Silk; Captured by Moonlight

Q:  How many stars (1-5) would you give your books? Why?

I would give my two books 5 stars because that is what other readers are giving them. I am not confident enough to give that kind of rating to my work, unless others feel my books deserve it. Plus, I write for a traditional royalty-paying publisher that I highly respect. Roseanna White is not only my publisher but also a writer with a quickly growing readership. If she says this is a fantastic book, then I take her word for it. However, it still boils down to what readers say.

SHADOWED IN SILK, WhiteFire Publishing, Gold winner of  the 2009 ACFW Genesis for Historical, Winner of the 2011 Grace Award, finalist in the Readers Favorite 2012 and Book One of the series, Twilight of the British Raj.

Q:   Which part of the book was your favorite to write?

I love the romance scenes in both Shadowed in Silk and Captured by Moonlight. In Shadowed in Silk, there is a scene I call "the kiss that never happened." When Geoff is teaching Abby how to shoot a rifle, everything in Abby’s point of view is the desire for Geoff’s kiss, but it cannot take place. I love the yearning in that. I also enjoyed writing the passionate-kissing scene on the beach in Captured by Moonlight. However, I also love writing death scenes. The dying of Miriam in Shadowed in Silk still makes me cry. I also love animals, and there is always a significant animal pulling on my emotions in my novels.

Q:  What did these books teach you?

One day during my devotions, I was praying. Suddenly I remembered what my fictional character, Eshana, learned in Captured by Moonlight. God reminded me I must die to myself, let Him live His life through me and, the Lord's plan will be far more wonderful than anything I could devise.

Q:  What can you tell us about your next writing project?

Book 3 of my series the Twilight of the British Raj will be Veiled at Midnight. This last book in the series will follow up with the characters from the first two books. The main character in Veiled at Midnight will be the grown Cam Fraser who was only a child in Book 1. The female lead will be Dassah, the child born in Book 1. The Partition of India was a terrible and turbulent time for India. Veiled at Midnight is set during this time when India is split into two countries, India and newly created Pakistan. Not only will India be partitioned, but Cam and Dassah will be split, too. Veiled at Midnight will feature Cam’s grown sister Miri, who was a baby in Book 2. Miri will also find adventure and an unexpected love.

Veiled at Midnight will be released by WhiteFire Publishing in February 2014.

Q:  Where can readers find more about you and your books?

Please drop by my website www.christinelindsay.com and my blog www.christinelindsay.org where I have guest bloggers share on “Monday’s Inspirations,” Wednesday is “Addiction Recovery Miracles,” and Fridays are “Adoption Stories.” One can find my books on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and a number of other sites, but for sure in those places, in both paper and digital format. (See below for links.)

Christine would love it if you dropped by her Facebook Author page. Be sure to “Like” it while you are there.

Follow her on Twitter or Pinterest.

Christine Lindsay’s website

FEATURED BOOK---Captured by Moonlight

(Back of the Book)

Prisoners to their own broken dreams…

After a daring rescue goes awry, Laine Harkness and her friend Eshana flee to the tropical south of India … and headlong into their respective pasts.

Laine takes a nursing position at a plantation in the jungle, only to discover her former fiancé is the owner … but fun-loving Laine refuses to let Adam crush her heart again.

Eshana, captured by her traditional uncle and forced once more into the harsh Hindu customs of mourning, doubts freedom will ever be hers again, much less the forbidden love for Dr. Jai Kaur that had begun to flower.

Amid cyclones, epidemics, and clashing faiths, will the love of the True Master give hope to these searching hearts?

The link to read the first 1 Chapter of Shadowed in Silk (Book 1)

The link to read the first 2 Chapters of Captured by Moonlight (Book 2)

About Christine Lindsay

Irish-born Christine Lindsay writes award-winning historical novels. In both Shadowed in Silk and Captured by Moonlight, Christine delights in weaving the endless theme of the Heavenly Father’s redemptive love through stories of danger, suspense, adventure, and romance. The Pacific coast of Canada, about 200 miles north of Seattle, is Christine’s home.

Amazon purchase link for Shadowed in Silk

Amazon purchase link for Captured by Moonlight

Barnes & Noble link for Shadowed in Silk

Barnes & Noble link for Captured by Moonlight

Kobo link for Shadowed in Silk

Kobo link for Captured by Moonlight