YESTERDAY'S TOMORROW by Cathy West on the Edgy Christian Fiction Writers blog tour, Monday, August 1

Yesterday's Tomorrow
Vietnam, 1967.

Independent, career-driven journalist Kristin Taylor wants two things: to honor her father's memory by becoming an award-winning overseas correspondent and to keep tabs on her only brother, Teddy, who signed up for the war against their mother's wishes. Brilliant photographer Luke Maddox, silent and brooding, exudes mystery. Kristin is convinced he's hiding something.

Willing to risk it all for what they believe in, Kristin and Luke engage in their own tumultuous battle until, in an unexpected twist, they’re forced to work together. Ambushed by love, they must decide whether or not to set aside their own private agendas for the hope of tomorrow that has captured their hearts.






Catherine West
"Stories that Stir the Soul and Soothe the Spirit."
ACFW Zone 11 Beyond the Borders Director
Yesterday's Tomorrow - Available Now! - OakTara Publishers
Http://www.catherinejwest.com

MISTAKEN IDENTITY by K. Dawn Byrd on the Edgy Christian Writers blog tour, Monday, August 1

K. Dawn Byrd is an author of inspirational romance and romantic suspense. Mistaken Identity, her first young adult romance released on June 15 from Desert Breeze Publishing. Queen of Hearts, a WWII romantic suspense released in April 2010 and was the bestselling book for her publisher during its debut month. Killing Time, a contemporary romantic suspense, released August 1, also with Desert Breeze Publishing.


K. Dawn Byrd is an avid blogger and gives away several books per week on her blog at www.kdawnbyrd.blogspot.com, most of which are signed by the authors. She's also the moderator of the popular facebook Christian Fiction Gathering group at http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=128209963444.


When not reading or writing, K. Dawn Byrd enjoys spending time with her husband of 16years while walking their dogs beside a gorgeous lake near her home and plotting the next story waiting to be told.





Book Blurb for Mistaken Identity
Eden Morgan longs for a boyfriend of her own, an impossible goal when her best friend, Lexi Branson, gets all the attention and all the guys. When they fall in love with the same guy, Eden believes she doesn't have a chance. She can only hope that sometimes the good girl gets the guy.

The Passion Behind the Story:
I admire Christian teenagers who take a stand for God so much. Life isn't easy for them in today's world. The idea for Mistaken Identity novel came to me when I wondered what would happen if a Christian girl and her non-Christian best friend fell in love with the same guy. To sweeten the plot, the best friend is a "wild child" who is popular with the guys if you know what I mean. Who will win the guy? My Christian good girl or the gorgeous best friend?

This book is dedicated to Christian young women who strive to live for Christ and wonder at times if it's worth it all. Temptation seems to come from all sides and sometimes it's hard to make the right decision. May God bless you richly as you carry on...

Links:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geWeGQ6Ueu4
http://stores.desertbreezepublishing.com/-strse-178/K-Dawn-Byrd-Mistaken/Detail.bok
www.kdawnbyrd.com
www.kdawnbyrd.blogspot.com

CHOSEN ONES, on the Edgy Christian Fiction Writers blog tour, Monday, August 1

A couple in crisis. A child taken captive. Life in Chennai, India is complicated. While Maggie and Gavin Munsfield adjust to a new baby, missionary friends Dan and Yvonne Pratt experience the heartbreak of infertility and miscarriage. When their lives intersect with a young girl caught up in the horrors of sex trafficking, each of them will receive a precious gift. But will they find it in their hearts to accept an outcome so different than what they expected and hoped for?

RESTORED HEARTS, on the Edgy Christian Fiction Writers Blog Tour, Monday, August 1

One brother’s dark secret. Another brother’s scorn. Newlyweds Gavin and Maggie Munsfield return to care for the sick and wounded at the Oasis Compound in Chennai, India, which is still suffering from the recent tsunami. Gavin’s brother, Tim, a landscape artist from Boston, joins the couple for the clean-up and rebuilding of the Compound. But Tim harbors a dark past that threatens to destroy his relationship with his brother . . . and a promising new love.Will family ties be strong enough to bind two wounded hearts, once the secret is revealed?

Music in the Trees

“Grandma, what is that?” Two-year-old Daniel cocked his head, gaze raised to the sky.

“What, Daniel?” I stooped beside him and studied his pudgy face.

He pointed to the trees. “That sound.”

I strained to listen for what I had not slowed down long enough to absorb. My eyes and ears had been intent on adult concerns, not tuned in with a childlike wonder that recognizes the natural world around me.

“Cicadas, Daniel. That is the sound of cicadas.”

Satisfied by my response, Daniel shuffled to the sandbox where he proceeded to sift the grains through his fingers. With a Grinch grin, he plopped a fistful on top of his head.

Daniel’s curiosity that day tweaked mine. His acuity stimulated a hunger in me to listen more and appreciate the sounds around me, not just for the sake of the exercise, but for the meaning I might derive from it.

That meaning beamed with significance just this morning. Cicadas jiggled their tiny tambourines, accompanied by an occasional maraca flourish. Joined by male katydids and crickets, the symphonic serenade to attract the female of the species filled the mid-summer air with song, a tune that will come to a close when the first heavy frost quiets the chorus.

The Creator has equipped these minuscule creatures with a variety of sound-producing organs. Tymbal muscles, located at the base of the abdomen, contract and relax to create the cicadas’ prolific buzzing sound. Katydids and crickets rub their fore-wings together to produce music.

Swept up by insect song, I joined in praise to my Creator, raising my hands to the heavens. Francis of Assisi, a Catholic friar and preacher, penned it well in his hymn, All Creatures of Our God and King. He created music with words when he wrote about “the burning sun with golden beam, the silver moon with softer gleam . . . the rushing wind that is so strong, the clouds that sail in heaven along . . . and the flowers and fruits that in God grow.”

Building with intensity, Francis urged “all ye men of tender heart, forgiving others, take your part . . . let all things their Creator bless, and worship Him in humbleness. O praise Him! Alleluia! Praise, praise the Father, praise the Son, and praise the Spirit, Three in One: O praise Him, O praise Him! Alleluia, Alleluia! Alleluia!”

This is the song I hear in the insect chorus, and with gratitude and humility I pause to praise my Creator . . . and thank Daniel as well.

RENU: Wonderful Weekend with Extended Family!

A funny thing happened on the way to a wonderful weekend with extended family . . .

On Rt. 73 headed toward Peebles, Ohio, Chuck and I drove the country road while gazing at cornfields and scattered clapboard housing. On one porch sat Ma and Pa in their rockers, watching the confused motorists (us!) drive back and forth down the same road. Well, perhaps I'm stretching the tale a bit. We drove past the same house once in our search for the sign to Hillsboro. Was that a smirk on Ma's face?

Ma must be a take-charge kind of woman. We passed row after row of utility poles leaning toward the road. Perhaps her chief complaint was poor cell phone service, so the company sent someone out to aim the pole in her direction. Who knows?!

We thought about stopping and asking Ma if we were headed in the right direction, but when we came up on the sign, "Otway," we figured that was her way of saying, "At-a-way!" so kept on going.

Once we approached the one traffic light which hung from a tree branch overhanging the road, all sorts of wild imaginings flitted through our little brains. Perhaps Ma, tired of holding the light herself, had called a council meeting to make other arrangements. Thus, the tree branch.

Tales of Ma kept us giggling until we passed a horse pasture full of Shetlands, along with two nursing babies, no bigger than huskies. Of course, we had to stop and pet a horse face. However, the babies wouldn't let us get close. Instead they galloped to the safety of their mommies and nursed.






Back in the Chevy, we finally arrived in Peebles and climbed the hill to the Woodland Altars office. Close behind were Verns and Toms.

What followed was a rich weekend of sharing scriptures, prayer, praise, songs, laughter, and tears as we took turns relating how God was working in our lives. A dip in the camp pool and a hike or two along a trail provided some exercise and rounded out the weekend quite nicely.

A trip to the cathartic . . . uh, is that north of the Artic? Anyway, very therapeutic and enriching weekend.

Truly, a RENU (Rife Empty Nesters Unite), but also renewing for spirit, soul, and body.

Thanks, sibs, and thanks, Lord, for the time away to love and be loved by family members.

Book Trailer for Shadowed in Silk

Introducing Shadowed in Silk by Christine Lindsay

She was invisible to those who should have loved her.

After the Great War, Abby Fraser returns to India with her small son, where her husband is stationed with the British army. She has longed to go home to the land of glittering palaces and veiled women . . . but Nick has become a cruel stranger. It will take more than her American pluck to survive.

Major Geoff Richards, broken over the loss of so many of his men in the trenches of France, returns to his cavalry post in Amritsar. But his faith does little to help him understand the ruthlessness of his British peers toward the Indian people he loves. Nor does it explain how he is to protect Abby Fraser and her child from the husband who mistreats them.

Amid political unrest, inhospitable deserts, and Russian spies, tensions rise in India as the people cry for the freedom espoused by Gandhi. Caught between their own ideals and duty, Geoff and Abby stumble into sinister secrets . . . secrets that will thrust them out of the shadows and straight into the fire of revolution.

Welcome author, Christine Lindsay!

Christine Lindsay writes historical Christian inspirational novels with strong love stories. She doesn’t shy away from difficult subjects such as the themes in her debut novel SHADOWED IN SILK which is set in India during a turbulent era.

Christine’s long-time fascination with the British Raj was seeded from stories of her ancestors who served in the British Cavalry in India. SHADOWED IN SILK was the Gold winner of the 2009 ACFW Genesis for Historical under the title Unveiled.

Shadowed in Silk is being released by WhiteFire Publishing in 2 stages this year, first as an eBook on May 1, 2011, and as the printed version Sept. 2011.

An interesting note about the front cover of Shadowed, is that the model is Christine’s daughter, Sarah, whom she relinquished to adoption and was reunited with 20 years later. Sarah is also featured in the book trailer.

Shadowed in Silk available now as ebook on http://www.amazon.com

http://www.christinelindsay.com

Meet author, Judi Ann Ehresman

Judi Ann Ehresman grew up in her favorite place in the world: Indiana, USA. She married the love of her life, becoming a pastor's wife and, in time, the mother of two precious boys. Through the years she has owned and managed several businesses, but never lost the love instilled in her heart by her high school English teacher: writing.

Judi, how did you come to be a writer?

Honestly, I think I was born 'writing'. I was making up stories when I was a child and did free lance writing and loved essay assignments all through High School. In college several of my poems and essays were published and I was addicted. Through the years I've taken writing classes and attended writers conferences, but mostly I've just written and written and written. Poems, free lance articles, short stories and devotionals have been published throughout the years, but it wasn't until our children left home that I finally made the time to start writing books, three of which have been published to date, two more are completed and waiting publication at the publisher.

What do you enjoy doing when you're not writing?

Reading and gardening! And, of course, grandmothering! I love flowers and fresh vegetables and I love to read uplifting Christian fiction for relaxation, but nothing compares to spending time with our grandchildren. They are our true riches and I can't get enough of them!

Here's a sneek peek at Judi's latest three novels.

The Hand of God series

The Long Road Home (1)

A lonely settler.

An escaped slave.

They had no idea how much they would need each other . . .

Mandy Evanston didn't expect to spend five months alone in the wilds of Indiana after taking the wagon train west. But her husband, Ethan, is convinced he can make money working on the new railroad. It wouldn't be fair to hold him back, Mandy decides, so she keeps her secret close to her heart . . . until his return.

Diedre, a young slave, flees a Southern plantation when she hears that her master is going to sell her son, Jedediah. She walks north for weeks, praying that somehow God will hear the pleas of her heart to find a home . . .

A poignant story of friendship, love, and forgiveness that transcends boundaries.

On the Wings of Grace (2)

Two longing hearts.
They had no idea how much they would need each other . . .

Bess, the "mistake" of a prostitute in the largely unsettled Midwest, knew no other life growing up than the brothel, where she was raised, then taught her profession. In spite of warnings about falling in love with her customers, Bess found herself intrigued by one man who tugged at her heart, then mysteriously disappeared. Weeks later he returned to share a story so amazing that she began to wonder, Might there be a new chance even for someone like me?

Robert Sheldon agonizes as he watches polio slowly take its toll on his beautiful wife, Anita. He has his hands full with an invalid, four energetic children, and a farmhouse and desperately needs help. But might his help come in a completely differentt way than he expects--on the wings of grace?

A poignant story of redemption that transcends the boundaries of ordinary love.

Where Two Agree (3)

Two slaves, separated by a cruel master.
Their hearts' desire--to find each other again.

Deidre, a runaway slave, and her son, Jedediah, are thankful for their new life with Ethan and Mandy Evanston, who treat them as treasured family members. But memories of her beloved Jeremiah, sold away from her, fill her heart with anguish.

Jeremiah has been offered a document of freedom--and wages that could buy his family from slavery--if he chooses to stay at Rose Hill Plantation. When kind Mr. Wally takes deathly ill, Miss Sue Ellen and the children desperately need Jeremiah. But what about his own dreams?

As Deidre and Jeremiah cling to their hopes for a someday world that won't see the color of their skin, might God's promise come true: that where two agree, all things are possible?

Check out these summer reads at www.amazon.com and other online stores.
Visit Jud's blog: judi.ehresman.org

Thanks, Judi, for visiting with me today!

Made a New Friend Today

Made a new friend today! I met another real live OakTara author right here in Roanoke! For a writer cooped up in her cage all day, it felt good to break free and visit with a kindred spirit.

Judi Ehresman and I talked about everything from grandchildren and gardening to writing tips and house decor. Lovely tea time with a beautiful lady who I suspect I'll be visiting with again in the near future.

Judi has written several novels, three of which I toted home, excited to devour. . .

More later on that! Hubby just walked in the door ready for supper, so off I go.

Thanks, Judi, for a delightful afternoon visit!