Welcome!
I am so excited to share with you stop #2 on the "Writing is a Team Sport" blog hop with Janet Ferguson! If you're starting this mid-hop, head over to the start at Reading is My SuperPower (Stop 1) and then come back here.
As you hop you will learn more about the authors and their books. Follow the links to sign up for each author's newsletter in order to be entered for a chance to win! Prizes include:
Her Texas Rebel (eBook), Christmastide at Baldhead Island (eBook), Blown Together (eBook), Unraveled (eBook), A Match for Magnolia (eBook), The Scarlet Coat (eBook), Reclaimed (eBook), Finders Keepers (eBook), A Pony Express Romance (eBook), A Thing of Beauty (eBook), The Lawman’s Secret Son (paperback U.S. only), Mistletoe Reunion Threat (eBook), The Whistle Walk (eBook), A Biltmore Christmas (paperback U.S only), Most Precious Gift (eBook)
Once you complete each stop, you'll be directed to the giveaway page to enter your info. Giveaway open through 11:59 EST on March 14, 2017 **Note, international winners will only receive the eBooks from the giveaway.**
Happy Reading!!!
Christian Fiction: A Team Sport
by Janet Ferguson, Critique Partner Addict
Four years ago, I had a completed Christian fiction manuscript and no clue what to do with it. I attended a writers’ conference where I met a couple of nice Christian fiction agents who suggested I find a critique group.
I admit I went a bit crazy. Over the top—obsessive—compulsive…
So much so, my list of authors I critiqued with is spanning four blogs today.
We’ve brainstormed story ideas, critiqued each other’s work, carpooled to national conferences, teamed up for marketing events, but most of all cheered for and encouraged each other on this strange and sometimes lonely journey that is writing fiction.
So here are my second set of critique partners. They invited me to be in their scribes group, and I just couldn’t resist! I was blessed to meet all four members of this international group at ACFW conferences.
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Heidi McCahan and I hit it off right away on the ACFW big critique loop. Her writing style pulls me straight into a scene. We roomed together both years that I attended the ACFW conference. I’ve enjoyed getting to know her as a friend face to face, not just online. She also allows me to vent to her. Everyone needs that person, right?
Heidi is the author of Covering Home, Unraveled and Love Flies In. She recently signed her first contract with Harlequin Love Inspired. The Farmer's Daughter is slated for a 2018 release. Heidi resides in North Carolina with her husband and three boys. When she isn't chauffeuring the boys around suburbia, stepping on Legos, or folding laundry, she enjoys a good cup of coffee and reading a heartwarming romance.
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“While the writing profession is notorious for being a solitary pursuit, those of us writing in the inspirational genre can delight in knowing we are working toward a common goal. Ultimately we want to offer our readers hope, as well as help them grapple with tough issues from a Christian worldview.”
Blind-sided by her fiancé’s questionable behavior, Lauren Carter returns to the one place she’s managed to avoid, the small Alaskan town she used to call home. She’s spent years running from her scandalous past and now she’s forced to confront an uncertain future.
Blake Tully, wildly successful owner of Emerald Cove’s new whitewater rafting and kayaking business, finds Lauren’s unexpected reappearance in his life ignites old feelings. Although she broke his heart once, he longs to give his childhood sweetheart a second chance.
Will Lauren allow her shameful secret to define her? Can Blake forgive her when he discovers the reason she’s been hiding?
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I met
Marion Uekermann on the ACFW big critique loop and was immediately drawn into a story she was writing about wingsuiters in Norway. With Marion’s life in South Africa and her international travels, it’s fun to experience her unique settings. Lots of romance in her stories. And I love her accent!
MARION UECKERMANN’s passion for writing was sparked when she moved to Ireland with her family. Her love of travel has influenced her contemporary inspirational romances set in novel places. Marion and her husband again live in South Africa, but with two gorgeous grandsons hanging their hats at the house next door, their empty nest’s no longer so empty.
“No man is an island. Neither is any writer!”
A Match for Magnolia
Womanizer. Adulterer. Divorced. That is Lord Davis Rathbone’s history. His future? He vows to never marry or fall in love again—repeating his past mistakes, not worth the risk. Then he meets Magnolia Blume, and filling his days penning poetry no longer seems an alternative to channel his pent-up feelings. With God’s help, surely he can keep this rare treasure and make it work this time?
Magnolia Blume’s life is perfect, except for one thing—Davis Rathbone is everything she’s not looking for in a man. He doesn’t strike her as one prone to the sentiments of family, or religion, but her judgments could be premature.
Magnolia must look beyond the gossip, Davis’s past, and their differences to find her perfect match, because, although flawed, Davis has one redeeming quality—he is a man after God’s own heart.
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Angela Couch is such an encourager to me! Her critiques are thorough, yet uplifting. I love her historical stories. I can’t imagine doing all that research. We also call her the blurb-whisperer. She’s awesome with back cover blurbs!
To keep from freezing in the Great White North, Angela K Couch cuddles under quilts with her laptop. Winning short story contests, being a semi-finalist in ACFW’s Genesis Contest, and a finalist in the International Digital Awards also helped warm her up. As a passionate believer in Christ, her faith permeates the stories she tells. Her martial arts training, experience with horses, and appreciation for good romance sneak in there, as well. When not writing, she stays fit (and warm) by chasing after three munchkins.
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“If you want to improve you writing, you can't hide in a closet. Any success I've had as a Christian author has been a direct result of the writers I've surrounded myself with.”
The Scarlet Coat
Surrounded by the musket fire of the American Revolution, Rachel Garnet prays for her family to be safe. When the British invade the Mohawk Valley and her father and brother don't return from the battle, she goes in pursuit of them. She finds her brother alive but her father has been killed at the hand of the enemy. Amidst the death, how can she ignore a cry for help? Rachel reluctantly takes in a badly wounded British officer. But how long can her sense of Christian duty repress her hatred for his scarlet coat? Passages of Scripture and fleeting images of society are all Andrew Wyndham recalls after he awakens to the log walls of his gentle prison. Even his name eludes him. Rachel Garnet insists he is a captain in the British army. He mourns the loss of his memory, but how can he hope to remember war when his "enemy" is capturing his heart? Andrew's injuries are severe, his memory slow to return, and the secret of his existence too perilous to ignore. As Rachel nurses him back to health, his hidden scarlet coat threatens to expose the deeds of her merciful heart, and Andrew is forced to face a harrowing decision—Stay hidden and risk losing the woman he loves or turn himself in and risk losing his life
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Janet W. Ferguson grew up in Mississippi and received a degree in Banking and Finance from the University of Mississippi. She has served as a children’s minister and a church youth volunteer. An avid reader, she worked as a librarian at a large public high school. She writes humorous inspirational fiction for people with real lives and real problems. Janet and her husband have two grown children, one really smart dog, and a few cats that allow them to share the space.
Blown Together
Southern Hearts Series ~ Book 4
When love storms in…
Wealth manager Sam Conrad is accustomed to his domineering father ordering him around, especially at the bank where they both work. But when his father demands that Sam manage the inheritance of his bossy ex-fiancée, Sam has finally had enough. He leaves in search of a new life, and attorney Big Roy Bosarge from Mobile, Alabama agrees to mentor Sam on his quest for direction. Sam didn’t expect to be thrown together with Big Roy’s eccentric and opinionated daughter.
Storm damage forces lonely romance writer Elinor Bosarge and her hairless cat, Mr. Darcy, out of her Fort Morgan Beach cottage. She plans to take refuge in the boathouse on her parents’ estate, but finds the place already occupied by one of her father’s “projects.” She’s shocked her father would allow another young man onto the property after his last mentee robbed her family and broke her heart. And from the moment she meets Sam Conrad, they disagree about everything from her cat to how to best renovate a local nursing home.
Between her mother’s health issues and the hurricane brewing in the Gulf, Elinor feels like her life is being ripped apart. It doesn’t help that she’s falling for the man she’s determined not to trust. Sam finds himself drawn to Elinor, wanting to help her and this new family he’s grown to love. But can he overcome the barrier she’s built to keep him out? When the storm rages and the two of them are blown together, can Elinor find the faith to open her heart again?
“My favorite part of being a team of Christian writers is worshiping and praying together!”
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Sarah Sundin is the author of Through Waters Deep and Anchor in the Storm, as well as the Wings of the Nightingale and the Wings of Glory series. A graduate of UC San Francisco School of Pharmacy, she works on-call as a hospital pharmacist. During WWII, her grandfather served as a pharmacist’s mate (medic) in the Navy, and her great-uncle flew with the US Eighth Air Force. Sarah lives in California.
