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

The Dance by Dan Walsh and Gary Smalley

Walsh, Dan and Gary Smalley. The Dance (The Restoration Series #1) Grand Rapids: Revell, 2013.

ISBN 978-0-8007-2148-0 (pbk)

Marilyn Anderson leaves her husband after twenty-seven years of Christian marriage. She moves from her large beautiful home in an immaculate residential area of River Oaks. Marilyn now lives in a small two-bedroom apartment with a new friend. She has taken a job in a small specialty gift shop in the quaint downtown area. She feels freedom and is happier than she has been since she and Jim have begun to experience an empty nest.

For the first time in their married life, her husband, Jim, comes home from work to find no dinner waiting, no wife to greet him, and no clue there was ever a problem. Jim calls their high-school son Doug, and then their married son Tom. Neither son has any idea where his mother is nor that anything is wrong. Even his daughter Michele, who is to be married in a month, will tell him anything more than there is a note from her mother on his dresser. 

What is Marilyn's problem? She has never had to work. She has a beautiful home in an upscale neighborhood. Her husband is prosperous enough to provide all that and more. All he has ever asked is that meals be served on time, she accompany him to an upscale church where he can make business connections, provide parties for his clients... He is clueless.

Marilyn meets with her daughter to discuss the wedding guest list over lunch. Marilyn shows Michele a gift she has bought just for herself. They meet Audrey Windsor who admires Marilyn’s new music box with a dancer on the top. Audrey extends a business card with an invitation to stop by her  dance studio and to sign up for a dance class. One more thing Marilyn never thought she would do. Marilyn realizes her unhappiness may have started when Jim refused to dance with her on their wedding night. 

The dance becomes the metaphor. Both Jim and Marilyn need to waltz with one another in such away  that they create a place of safety for one another. Each of them always must treat their relationship as partners in a dance that overcomes each of their core fears.

How will God heal Jim’s and Marilyn’s broken lives? Whom will God choose to help mend Marilyn’s shattered dreams? Is their family broken beyond repair? Where did the love in Jim and Marilyn’s marriage go? Can it be renewed, or does that only happen in a new relationship like Michele and Allan’s.

Once again Dan Walsh creates a tender romance in which God sets in motion a plan to redeem lives and restore hearts. Walsh’s newest novel The Dance introduces The Restoration Series. The Dance is based largely on Gary Smalley’s best-selling book on marriage relationships, The DNA of Relationships (Smalley Franchise Products), by Gary Smalley, Greg Smalley, Michael Smalley and Robert S. Paul (Sep 1, 2007).

Readers will be looking forward to other books in this series by two godly men who believe and live God’s plans for their marriages in spite of themselves, and share them with each other and with us, as pastors, counselors, and gifted writers.

I thank the authors and Revell Publishing for providing a free copy of this book for my unbiased opinion.

5 stars