Contest Rules

In order for there to be a contest at least 10 people need to leave a comment for the author. AND you must leave your email address so I can get a hold of you if you win. OR you can email me at srstormo@yahoo.com and put "contest" in the subject line.



Valid in the US and Canada only unless otherwise specified. The odds of winning depend on the number of eligible entries. Entering the giveaway is considered a confirmation of eligibility on behalf of the enterer in accord with these rules and any pertaining local/federal/international laws.



VALID IN US AND CANADA ONLY unless specified!







Saturday, October 27, 2012

Women of Valley View: Callie, by Sharon Srock - FREE GIFT BASKET


 
 
Tell us about your book.

Callie’s spirit is broken after a child she was trying to help is murdered by his abusive father. Little Sawyer would still be alive if she’d minded her own business, wouldn’t he? God refuses to allow Callie’s life to be defined by undeserved guilt and blame so he places her in a situation she can’t walk away from. Iris and Samantha Evans need help and Callie is the tool God wants to use. When she steps out in faith and begins working to reunite these girls with the father who abandoned them ten years ago, Callie discovers that God is rescuing her right along with the Evans family.

 

 

Can you give us a sneak peek at your new release?

Here’s the first page.

 

Callie Stillman dabbed raindrops from her face with a linen napkin as Benton dodged a server with a loaded tray and took his place across from her. She smiled into her husband’s blue eyes and reached across to wipe water from his beard. “We’ll both have pneumonia if we don’t dry off soon.”

Benton took the napkin and finished the job. “I’ve been told the food is very good. A few sniffles should be worth it.”

Callie’s gaze roamed the room. “It’s…” Recognition slammed into her chest, forcing the air from her lungs. The man crossing the room behind her husband nodded and continued to his table. Was that the bailiff? Do you swear to tell the truth… She gulped for breath and fought the familiar darkness that crowded the edges of her vision.

Callie ran a finger around her collar, tugging the neck of the blouse away from skin suddenly dewed with a fine film of sweat. Too hot. She took a sip of water, dismayed at the tremor in her hand as she lifted the glass to her lips. Not here, not tonight. Callie closed her eyes and practiced the breathing techniques she’d learned over the last six months. In through her nose, hold for a few seconds, and out through her mouth. Concentrate only on the current step in the process, the next breath. The tightness in her chest began to fade away. Thank you, Jesus. She raised her water again and held the cold glass to her flushed cheek.

 

 

What inspired this book?

 

How did you know you were called to write?

I’ve been a reader all my life, but writing was never my dream. I remember cringing in English classes when a single page paper was due. One night I went to bed a reader and woke up determined to write a book. I was very involved in Star Trek fandom, had some short stories and poetry published in a fanzine here and there. My first full length project was a Star Trek story. Now, I’m Pentecostal, so you’ll have to work with me here…One night, about 25 years ago, we were in a revival. The evangelist, who didn’t know me from Eve spoke a word of prophecy over me. In Para phrase…  “I’ve put a pen in your hand and a light by your side. Use it for me.” Well at that point in my life the only Christian writing I knew about were lessons or theological works of non fiction. That didn’t seem like me, so I stopped writing altogether. Three and a half years ago, a new employee stopped by my desk to introduce herself. In the course of the conversation, she mentioned that she was a writer. I told her that that was my dream at one time. She gave me the oddest look and spoke five words that have changed my life. “You gave up too soon.” That night I started writing Callie’s story.

 

 

 

Are you a panster or do you outline?

If there is something more extreme than a pantser, that’s me.

 

How long have you been writing?

This time…not quite four years.

 

Tell us something silly about you.

I’m a Trekkie. I have my own uniform.

 

What was the first book you ever wrote?

Seriously. A Star Trek novel that will remain hidden in my closet.

 

 

What do you hope readers will take away from this book?

That sometimes we spend too much time beating ourselves up for something God has already forgiven and forgotten. That we do a disservice to ourselves and others when we indulge in those feelings.

 

What is your favorite season?

I only have three seasons to my year. Summer, Spring, and SWEATER. I have a serious sweater addiction, so Sweater is my favorite.

 

If you could travel back in time when and where would you go?

King Arthur’s court. I wouldn’t want to stay forever, I’d miss my hot rollers, but I think there was a elegance to life then that we don’t have any more.

 

What project are you currently working on?

Terri, the second story in the series is in edits. I’m about ¾ done with Pam, the third in the series.

 

What has been your most challenging experience writing a book?

 

Believing I could actually do it.

 

What is your favorite color?

Purple

 

 

Where is your favorite place to vacation?

Now you’ve opened the flood gates. For the last 7 years I’ve taken one of my grandchildren on a special vacation. We’ve been on cruises, been to Hawaii, visited The Grand Canyon and Vegas, Spent a week in Cozumel, Done the whole Disney thing in Orlando…God has placed a special blessing on these trips. They’ve all gone off without a hitch and there is no way to just pick one.

 

 

What is a fond childhood memory?

Watching my first meteor shower with my dad.

 

 

 
Visit my BLOG at: http://www.womenofvalleyview.blogspot.com/
Connect with me on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/SharonSrock#!/SharonSrock
Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/SharonSrock
Find me on Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/10758698-sharon-srock
 

 
Leave a comment WITH an email address to be entered in for a chance to win this lovely gift basket from Sharon.


 Includes:

A copy of Callie's story
A certificate for Terri's story when it releases in April
A 6 piece Cherry blossom bath set
A cosmetic bag
A Bath Wrap
A Cozy pink eye mask
A Pair of aloe infused booties
A Hair Turban
A Tennis Bracelet
A 25.00 Amazon gift card
 
A winner will be drawn Monday November 19th. The items add up to well over $100.00 in value.


 

 

Saturday, October 20, 2012

Christmas Romance at Dickens on Main, Teresa Lilly - FREE BOOK


 
 
Tell us about your book.

 

            Christmas Romance at Dickens on Main is a collection of three novella’s that all take place in Boerne, Texas, during the Christmas Dickens on Main festival.  Each one has a hint of mystery and romance.  

 

 

What inspired this book?

            Yearly trips to Boerne to celebrate the Dickens on Main event.

 

How did you know you were called to write?

            When I was a child, I began writing poetry and have had the love of writing ever since.

 

 

How long have you been writing?

            I’ve been seriously writing for the last three years, although I wrote articles and poetry for years before that.

                       

 

What was the first book you ever wrote?

            Mamma’s bells.  This story takes a young girl from age 13 to adulthood as she discovers God’s plan for her life.  I named the main character after my daughter.

 

 

What is your favorite season?

            I love Christmas, but in Texas there is no snow   so it’s not as nice. 

 

If you could travel back in time when and where would you go?

            I would go to Victorian England to live in an old castle.

 

What project are you currently working on?

            I am working on several books, anthologies and a new novel titled “Orphan Train Bride.”

 

What has been your most challenging experience writing a book?

            I only write between 9:30 at night and 12:00 because I run a kids resale during the day, spend time with my husband in the evening until 9:30.  I do not write on Sundays at all and usually have no extra time on Saturdays. 

 

 

What is your favorite thing to write about, (i.e., forgiveness, rebellion, etc)?

Christian romance  old fashioned stories

 

What is a fond childhood memory?

            The first time I ever wrote a poem, I ran home and read it to my mom.  She said to me,” Wow that was great maybe someday you will be a writer.”    

 

What book are you currently reading?

            Well, I don’t read much but I just read A Dog named Christmas.  It’s out of the line I usually read (usually read Grace Livingston Hill books) but it was very nice story.

 

What are your hobbies (besides writing)?

            I love to go garage sale shopping and spend time with my grown up kids.  

 

Check out Theresa's online magazine at www.lovelychristianromance.com.
 
Teresa has been kind enough to offer one free book. At least 10 people need to leave comments WITH an email addresss for there to be a contest OR you can email me at srstormo@yahoo.com and put "contest - Dickens" in the subject line. Winner announced Oct 28th.

 

 

 

 

 

Saturday, October 13, 2012

Twice a Bride by Mona Hodgson - FREE book


 
 
Tell us about your book.

 

Twice a Bride, is the fourth and final book in my debut series: The Sinclair Sisters of Cripple Creek.

Love lost doesn’t mean love lost forever
Can unexpected romance deliver a second chance for two deserving widows?

Full of resolve, young widow Willow Peterson decides to pursue her dreams to be an artist as she settles into a new life in the growing mountain town of Cripple Creek. When she lands a job working as a portrait painter with handsome entrepreneur and photographer Trenton Van Der Veer, the road before Willow seems to be taking a better-than-anticipated turn.

With questions tugging at several hearts in town, including the Sinclair Sisters’ beloved Miss Hattie, change is traveling down the tracks as several unexpected visitors make their way out West. Will the new arrivals threaten the deep family bonds of the Sinclair sisters and the roots of love that are just taking hold for Willow?

Filled with the resonating questions that all women face, this romance awakens hope against grief, love against loss, and dreams against life’s unexpected turns.

 

 

Can you give us a sneak peek at your new release?

 

See The Sinclair Sisters of Cripple Creek Series Book Trailer and Read a Chapter One Excerpt from Twice a Bride here. http://waterbrookmultnomah.com/catalog.php?work=212055



What inspired this book?

 

            The sister of Tucker Raines, Willow Peterson was a cameo character in Too Rich for a Bride, and her story of loss and battle with melancholia begged to be told. In The Bride Wore Blue, we met the youngest of the four Sinclair Sisters, but we hadn’t seen Father since Two Brides Too Many. And what about the Sinclair sisters themselves…we had to peek in on them now that they’re all married and starting families of their own.

 

 

Are you a pantser, or do you outline?

 

            I am not a strict chart person or outliner, but I generally know the broad strokes of my story beginning, middle, and end.

 

 

How long have you been writing?

 

Twenty-five years this month! First, articles and short stories for periodicals and 28 children’s books, then I added historical fiction for women.

 

 

What was the first book you ever wrote?

 

            Friendly Differences, the first of twelve early readers in my Desert Critter Friends Series.

 

 

What do you hope readers will take away from this book?

 

            That God is sovereign, trustworthy, and does have a Divine plan for your life.

 

 

 

What is your favorite season?

 

            Autumn, hands down. Give me a view of golden and crimson aspen leaves and a slice of pumpkin pie, and I’m happy.

 

 

If you could travel back in time when and where would you go?

 

            To Cripple Creek, Colorado in 1898 for tea and lemon scones with the Sinclair sisters, Miss Hattie, and Willow Peterson.

 

 

What project are you currently working on?

 

            I am editing The Quilted Heart, three eNovellas that will serve as a prequel to the new series, and I am writing Prairie Song, the first full-length novel in the Hearts Seeking Home Series.

 

 

What is your favorite thing to write about, (i.e., forgiveness, rebellion, etc)?

 

God’s amazing grace! Fresh starts and second chances because of God’s amazing grace.

 

 

Do you have a favorite recipe? If so would you like to share?

 

            Spiced Pecans is an autumn and Christmas favorite.

 

Spiced Pecans

 

¼ cup butter

1 ½ teaspoons ground cumin

¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

3 cups pecan halves

2 tablespoons sugar

½ to 1 teaspoon salt

 

In a large skillet, melt butter. Add the cumin and cayenne; cook and stir

for 1 minute. Remove from the heat; stir in the pecans, sugar, and salt

until well coated. Spray a baking ban or cookie sheet with cooking spray.

Spread pecans in a single layer in pan. Bake at 300 degrees F for 25- 30

minutes or until lightly browned, stirring occasionally. Cool. Store in an

airtight container. A Christmas season favorite.

 

 

What book are you currently reading?

 

            Be Still My Soul by Joanne Bischof

 

 

Where can we purchase Twice a Bride?

 

            From your favorite bookseller (don’t hesitate to ask them to order it for you), or online at:

 

Amazon.com


 

Christianbook.com







MONA HODGSON is the author of 32 books, including Two Brides Too Many, Too Rich for a Bride, The Bride Wore Blue, and Twice a Bride—all four books in The Sinclair Sisters of Cripple Creek Series (WaterBrook Multnomah). You can learn more about Mona and her books at www.monahodgson.com, follow her on Hindsight by Mona Hodgson at http://monahodgson.wordpress.com, and connect with her on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/#!/Author.Mona.
 
 
Mona has kindly offered to give away a free autographed copy of Twice a Bride. At least 10 people need to leave comments with an email address for there to be a contest OR you can email me at srstormo@yahoo.com and put "contest-twice a bride" in the subject line. Winner announced 10/21/12.

Saturday, October 6, 2012

A Lady in the Making, by Susan Page Davis - FREE BOOK


 
 
Tell us about your book.

A Lady in the Making is the third book in the Prairie Dreams series. David Stone, a British aristocrat, has been living in Oregon, but has now decided to return to England to claim his title and estate. Millie Evans has changed, choosing to leave Oregon rather than join an outlaw gang with her brother. Hoping for a new future, she boards a stagecoach and finds that one of the passengers is David Stone—a man she and her brother once tried to swindle. As she tries to convince David she’s different now, her brother’s gang holds up the stagecoach. Fighting beside David goes a long way to softening his heart, but he’s still not convinced. Someone is trying to keep him from reaching England to claim his inheritance. Is Millie involved? Millie must trust God to show David the truth, but will he see before it’s too late?

 

Can you give us a sneak peek at your new release?

First page:

1857   The Dalles, Oregon

 

Chapter One

 

“You lied to me, Sam.” Millie Evans peeked out the window from behind the half-yard of muslin that served as a curtain. Outside the shanty they rented behind the feed store, a tall man with thick, dark hair and a week’s growth of beard stood smoking a cigarette.

        Millie turned back toward Sam and glared at him. “You said you were looking for a job, but you went and found that despicable man and brought him back here.”

        “I was looking for a job,” Sam sputtered. “But I couldn’t find one, and then Lucky turned up.”

        “Oh, sure he did. Like a bad penny. I suppose you just happened to be in the saloon when he dropped out of the sky.”

        Sam cringed, and she shook her head in disgust. “I came to The Dalles because you told me we could make an honest living together. Big laugh that turned out to be. And now you’ve brought him here. I told you before, I will not go live with a pack of outlaws.”

        She stalked to the wall and pulled her apron, extra dress, and shawl down from where they hung on nails and threw them on her bed. She stooped and felt underneath the end of the bedframe for the handle of her worn valise. Listening to her half-brother was the biggest mistake she’d ever made.

        “Aw, come on, Millie. I just want to make things better.”

        “Better?” She pulled out the traveling bag and plunked it on the bed. “How is going into crime better?”

        “You can have better things. You know. Clothes and—and jewelry, maybe. Lip rouge, stuff like that. It’d be better than scraping by like we are now.”

        “Is that what you thought when you went with Lucky last year?”

        “Well, no.”

        “Exactly. But then two months ago, you wrote to me and said you were leaving the gang and you were ready to settle down in a nice little house somewhere with me.”

        Sam hung his head, and his face colored. “I’m sorry, Millie.” Neither of them had to speak of the money he’d earmarked to buy that little house. He’d lost it all gambling by the time Millie had traveled up here from Elkton. A woman who’d lived thirty years and more ought to know better than to trust a gambling man, even if he was kin.

 

Are you a panster or do you outline?

I used to be a panster, but I always outline now. It saves me so much trouble that I would not consider writing a book without it again. It’s no fun to write 50,000 words or more and then discover that one of your major plot points is not going to work.

 

How long have you been writing?

I have been seriously writing fiction for 13 years.

 

Tell us something silly about you.

Way back when I was a waitress, I once served Bob Dylan a cup of hot tea. With lemon.

 

What was the first book you ever wrote?

The first one I wrote was a detective story that has never been published. The first one published was Protecting Amy, a western romance set in Wyoming.

 

If you could travel back in time when and where would you go?

I’d love to visit a castle at the height of the medieval period. But I can already tell you, I wouldn’t want to STAY there. I like my modern comforts too well.

 

 

We’re giving away a copy of A Lady in the Making here. I also do a monthly book drawing on my website: www.susanpagedavis.com . Hop on over and sign up there, using the “Monthly Contest” form on the left side of the page. The winners get to choose which book they want.

 Susan has offered one free copy to a lucky winner. In order for their to be a contest at least 10 people need to leave comments WITH email addresses or you can email me at srstormo@yahoo.com and put "contest-Lady in the Making" in the subject line. Winner announced 10/14/12.
 

Saturday, July 14, 2012

The Black Rose, by Naomi Musch - FREE eBOOK


Tell us about your book.

Here's the cover blurb for THE BLACK ROSE ~ EMPIRE IN PINE BOOK 3:



Despite the panic of 1893, logging reaches its golden era in the growing state of Wisconsin, and twins Jesilyn and Corianne Beaumont enjoy a comfortable life with family in the bursting Great Lake city of Superior. But when jealousy incites Jesi to seduce Cori's fiance, a flight and fall from grace lands her in a boomtown brothel, where a fresh start is denied her.



Camp preacher Paul Winter longs to offer hope in the logging and mining towns of northern Wisconsin, but not in the way he expects when he meets a redhead he calls Pie Girl. He's never had to battle his own longings quite this way before.



Meanwhile, stung by Jesilyn's betrayal, Corianne's bitterness might separate her fom a second chance at happiness and peace. Only by Grace can both women begin new lives, and budding love can bloom in places neither of them expect.





Can you give us a sneak peek at your new release?



I'm delighted to share an excerpt. You should know, at this point in the story, Jesilyn, living under the alias "Jane" is being sheltered by logging camp preacher Paul Winter and his sister Marie. Jesilyn's landed in yet another predicament, which Paul wants to help her solve, so he turns their discussion in a new direction:



She looked perplexed, and if Paul had had a back leg, he'd have kicked himself with it.

"Jane," he almost reached for her hand, then constrained himself, grasping his hands together in his lap, "Jane, what about this, what if I were to ask you to marry me?"

The fire crackled. She seemed to be holding her breath while she stared at him.

Yes, she was. It escaped with a whoosh. "If you were to ask me? Is that what you're doing?"

He couldn't tell if she sounded more shocked, put out, or simply perplexed. Now he did take her hand. She let him, but it lay limp in his.

"I'm just trying to help you. If I married you, no one would think poorly of you staying."

"Such charity."

"Not necessarily."

Her eyes widened. "I don't love you."

He was unprepared for the sting of her words. "No... no, of course you don't. I'm not expecting that you do."

She frowned and pulled her hand away. Her eyes glinted suspiciously. "What is it that you do expect?"

He stood up, stepped closer to the fire, then turned to face her. "I don't expect anything. I don't even expect you to accept my proposal. I know it sounds crazy. It even sounded crazy to me when Marie suggested it."

Her mouth gaped a little bit. "Why even suggest it?" She let out a harsh laugh. "You're right. It's crazy." She jumped to her feet, the forgotten mending tumbling off her skirt to the floor. She almost spun away, but Paul caught her arm, forcing her to stop and look at him.

"It sounds crazy... but it also sounds like an answer. Look, Jane," he held his grip on her arm, "I don't know where else you can go. And I... well, I like having you here. We get along all right. You seem content with the things you have to do. I think we could get along fine."

"I don't... love you," she said again, whispering the words.

He let go of her arm.

She walked a few feet away, as if to go to the kitchen and leave the conversation alone, but then she stopped and looked back. "You really wouldn't expect anything from me? I mean, any... marital obligations?"

Her face looked pink even in the dim cabin. Paul's pulsed quickened. He knew what she meant all right. "No. Nothing like that. We'd just be a help to each other. I'd look out for you. You'd help me in the ministry."

She nodded and turned away. Paul's pulse kept up its frantic throbbing. Could she be considering it?





What inspired this book?



I was inspired by the history of the northern Wisconsin boomtowns in the late 1800s at the peak of the logging era. In the town Jesilyn lands in, there's a real-life time-worn saying: Hayward, Hurley, and Hell; the three hottest places on earth on a Saturday night. THE BLACK ROSE is a generational sequel to THE RED FURY and THE GREEN VEIL.



The entire series are available as e-books from




Desert Breeze Publishing / Other Formats: http://tinyurl.com/43jbuvd





What was the first book you ever wrote?



The first book I ever wrote (not including the tragedy romances and Nancy Drew-esque stories of my childhood) was an unpublished, untitled prairie romance about a young woman captured off a wagon train by Indians, with whom she spends fifteen years, carrying the love of a mountain man with her. Hmm, thinking about it, I almost want to re-write it.



My first published work The Casket Girl was about an indentured French woman caught in the cross-fire of the French and Indian War.



What is your favorite character trait to write about?

I notice that I frequently write about contentment -- or more accurately -- the lack of it and what that really means to the choices characters make and where it leads.



What do you hope readers will take away from this book?



I hope readers will be taken away, first of all. My priority is to give readers the pleasure of a great story. But in the end, I want the deeper themes to resonate someplace inside them. In The Black Rose, identity, self-respect, and our worth in God's eyes became the emerging theme. I hope that some of the things the characters evolve through will reach a place of encouragement with readers who are sharing those kinds of struggles.



What is your favorite season?

Fall is my favorite season. Come to think of it, The Black Rose ends in the fall, with a very outdoorsy, romantic moment. But probably not the kind of moment you've read about before in an inspirational novel. *wink wink*



What project are you currently working on?

I currently a contemporary romance submitted for consideration, and I have another book ready to submit -- it's a fantasy -- a real genre shift for me. I'm also just beginning an historical set among the voyageurs and fur traders of the Great Lakes around the year 1806. I'm really excited to get into it.



What has been your most challenging experience writing a book?

Research. It's so critical in writing layered, historical fiction. It's the hardest part, but I really enjoy it. I make new discoveries all the time, and they usually lead to new ideas.



What is your favorite thing to write about, (i.e., forgiveness, rebellion, etc)?

I write a lot about rebellion and self-will, partly because I think most of sin can be wrapped up in that description. Rebellion toward God leads us to always vote for ourselves, our flesh, our own good, even when we don't realize that it's really to our detriment.



What are your hobbies (besides writing)?

I really love gardening and canning. My husband and I have raised a number of critters, and I miss raising beef cattle. There's nothing like seeing those little calves bouncing around in the pasture. I also enjoy hiking around the woods and swimming in the middle lakes where the weeds don't touch my feet.


Connect with Naomi here : http://www.naomimusch.com



In order for there to be a contest at least 10 people need to leave comments WITH email addresses OR email me at srstormo@yahoo.com and put "contest_black rose" in the subject line. Winner announced July 22nd.