Weekly Windup: Comment to win Love, Stock and Barrel by Crystal Barnes

We have winners!

The winner of While I'm Waiting by Laura Hodges Poole is...Library Lady!

 

  We have 5 winners from Elaine Mander's Friday post as well! The winners of Pursued by Elaine Manders are... 

 

Connie

Carrie

Deanna Scott

Carol E. Keen

Kim Amundsen

  Congratulations to all the Winners!!!!

  If you are a winner, please contact us with your email address to claim your prize.

This Week's Giveaway is:
Love, Stock and Barrel by Stitches Author Crystal Barnes!

Hiding from a rat of a fiancé, Dinah Lexington makes tracks for Texas and who she hopes is her late mother’s relative. She’s seeking answers but finds more than she bargains for when she gets caught in a shotgun wedding—with the rifle pointed at her.
 
Russell Cahill can’t believe his father is demanding he marry the feisty redhead. The sharpshooting female would only add to his troubles, but how does one argue with a gun and an attraction he's fought to ignore?

Sparks fly. Secrets surface. Loss threatens.

Will a dream for love shatter forever, or will the pair find a marriage worth lock, stock, and barrel?

An Exciting, Humorous Christian Historical Western Romance you'll want to read again and again.

 

This giveaway runs through March 13th. Comment on any post between now and then to enter, and remember, the more comments you make, the more entries you earn!

    Winners will be announced in the Weekly Wind-up on March 14th.

 Check out our Prizes Galore Page to see all our giveaways.

 

Coming up this week:

Monday 2/29: Musings by Caryl McAdoo
Tuesday: 3/1: Art Crime by Guest Sandra Orchard
Wednesday, 3/2:
Thursday: Review of On Lone Star Trail, Heidi Main
Friday, 3/4:
Saturday: Interview with Tanya Eavenson

We look forward to hanging out with you this week!

Creative Words

Ten times in the first book of Genesis, ‘And God said’ appears, each time having to do with His creation, starting with, “And God said, ‘Let there be light.’” Genesis 1:3 What happened then? The rest of the verse, “and there was light.” Light came into being on the Creative Words our Father spoke!

In verse 26, He speaks about creating when He remarked, “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness:” We’ve all heard this and generally know and accept that we are made in the image of our Heavenly Father. So then why do so many Christians—Christ followers—speak as though they have no idea that their words are creative?

“I was scared to death!”

 “You’re driving me crazy!”

“My back is killing me.”

“I’ll be…. (fill in what comes next, like…a monkey’s uncle)

“This will be the end of me.”

Because we are made in His image, our words—like His—are creative! These are curses we speak on ourselves. And here are a few we speak on others, many times our loved ones, our children, our husbands:

“You never do anything right!”

“Shame on you!”

“You’ll never change!”

“What’s wrong with you? You can’t hold a job more than six months!”

“You’re such a liar!”

Isaiah 57:19 clearly tells us, “I create the fruit of the lips;” And what else could be deemed as ‘fruit’ of our lips besides words?

What about when someone says in your presence, “We’ve forgotten about God’s Holiness. We go on living our lives, accepting our sins, because no one’s perfect, right?” Something similar said in a Sunday School Class I attended caused me to respond, “Do not include me in that ‘we’! I will never forget His Holiness or stop moving toward being perfect.” 

No one in the room agreed with me and went to defending the teacher, but if a teacher says something like that, they are speaking that over every person included in the ‘we’ and in future days, some of those will ‘forget His Holiness’ or ‘accept’ and ‘explain away’ that little sin even though convicted.

Another Women’s teacher was saying it was okay and perfectly natural to be afraid. I couldn’t let that stand because God didn’t give us a spirit of fear! All fear is straight from the pits of hell, the devil. If I had let that stand, then a spirit of fear would have the right to mess with me and bring fear to me.

Words we speak and those spoken in our presence are so important!

A very familiar verse in God’s Holy, Living Word is found in Joshua, twenty-fourth chapter, verse fifteen: “…Choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Every day, every hour, we choose our future, speaking words that will get there ahead of us.

Is this sin? Of course, we’d all agree lying is…yet…are you a guardian of the Truth? We do know our mouths can sin from this verse: “For the sin of their mouth and the words of their lips let them even be taken in their pride: and for cursing and lying which they speak.” Psalm 59:12

Here’s the words of one verse in a new song the Lord gave to me, and they are so true.

Go forth in this wonderful Monday and be careful what you say! Speak BLESSINGS, nor curses! :)

BIO: Caryl McAdoo is all about loving God! She currently writes four series: the historical Christian ‘Texas Romance’; a contemporary ‘Red River Romance’; The Generations, her Biblical fiction, and the newest Days of Dread Trilogy for mid-grade readers. Known as the Singing Pray-er, she loves praising with new songs the Lord gives her and prays her story gives God glory! In 2008, she and her high school sweetheart-husband Ron moved from the DFW area—home for fifty-plus years—to the woods of Red River County. 

Caryl counts four children and sixteen grandsugars life’s biggest blessings believing all good things come from God. Besides glorifying Him, she hopes each title will also minister His love, mercy, and grace to its readers. Caryl and Ron live in Clarksville, the county seat, in the far northeast corner of the Lone Star State with two grandsons.

Links: 

All Books   Website    Newsletter    Faccebook    

Blog    GoodReads    Google+   Twitter    Pinterest   

  

Interview with Ada Brownell

Howdy y'all! Crystal here and I've got a fun interview with Ada Brownell for you today. She's sharing a sneak peek and insight into her upcoming story The Peach Blossom Rancher.

Welcome to Stitches Thru Time, Ada. Tell us a bit about yourself.

Yesterday one of my special friends told me I’m “Spicy.”
I wondered, “Is that a compliment?”
So I looked it up. Since I’m a committed child of God, I scratched risqué. Three of the definitions told me I’m not the tasteless cooked cereal type. An editor once told me I look at many things from a unique point of view. I guess that’s my source of writing and conversational ideas.
The “high-spirited and lively” spicy definition is true and comes from heredity. I’m a freckled- faced redhead who gets the color now from a bottle. I talk fast, think fast, and usually plan two days work for one, and get it done, although I’m slowing down.
I’m the mother of five amazing children, nine exceptional grandchildren, and three greats, married 62 years, a retired journalist, the author of 350 articles in Christian magazines, and seven books.
I might be spicy, but I’m not complete in myself. I need Jesus and He adds the flavor to my life.

Yes, He does. :) 

It's so great to meet another freckled-faced redhead. :) Congratulations on your upcoming release! Tell us a bit about your story.

Well, I have to admit the newest book isn’t released yet, but I’m hoping it will be out by June 1. I’m half-way through the rewrite. I’m excited about it. It’s a sequel to The Lady Fugitive, an historical romance.

Here’s the summary of The Peach Blossom Rancher: 

John Lincoln Parks’ is working to rebuild his deceased father’s peach and horse ranch, thrown into ruin by a wicked uncle, murdered in the last book. John yearns for a wife and his eye is on his sister’s elegant matron of honor, Valerie MacDougal, a young widow who homesteaded in Colorado with her first husband. But Valerie, a law school graduate, returns to Boston to live with her parents. John and Valerie write, he’s kissed her a few times, but while in Boston Valerie and one of her father’s law partners work together to get three patients out of the Boston asylum. They believe the patients were wrongfully judged as insane.

The patients are Pete, a 10-year-old Down’s Syndrome boy who can read; Dillon Haskill, a young medical doctor who had one seizure; and Jimmy Cook, an outstanding teacher paralyzed in an accident.

Will John marry Valerie or Edwina, the feisty rancher-neighbor who has been in love with John since they were in grade school? John tries to protect Ed from a Peeping Tom with huge boot prints like the person’s who dumped a body in John’s barn. Will John even be able to wed, or be hanged for the murder?

Sounds like you've got some mystery woven into this story. Where did you get the inspiration for your new book? 

I grew up in peach country on Colorado’s Western Slope. Picked fruit, worked in a packing shed inspecting peaches, and had a job for a short time serving lunch to peach pickers. I’ve had a little experience with horses. I’ve had even more experience with the mentally ill while working seven years on the medical beat while I was a reporter for The Pueblo Chieftain. The Colorado Mental Health Institute at Pueblo was on my beat.

You're definitely putting those experiences to good use. What do you hope folks will take away from your story?

The theme is “God directs the footsteps of a righteous man and will be with you.”

A great lesson to learn. Do you have a favorite scene in the book? If so, can you tell us a bit about it?

Edwina Jorgenson visits John Parker hoping he’ll invite her to the church picnic.

Edwina sniffed the air. “What’s that terrible odor?”

John stepped to the fence. Might be coming from my prize pigs. See that big one over there I call Gertie?” Gertie trotted close and rubbed her prickly mud-covered back on the wire, jigging the whole pen.

John rested his elbow on a post and leaned his muscled shoulders. “I expect to make big money from pork while I’m rebuilding the horse herd and working in the orchards. You ought to try a few pigs. You get a quicker turnover with your money than with horses. Your papa used to raise them. Besides, it’s always nice to have smoked ham and bacon available.”

Edwina peeped into the pen. The pigs grappled with each other over the slop, snorting and grunting. “I might do that. You know since Papa is in the wheelchair I’m running everything. How is the pork market doing?”

“It sounds great to me It...”

Gertie stuck her snout through the pig wire and sucked Edwina’s frilly pink dress. “Eeeeewwww!” she squeaked, pulling the front of the skirt up to her knees. Pig saliva slid down her shapely legs. “I didn’t know pigs will eat clothing!”

It was all John could do to keep from laughing. He put his fist over his mouth until his insides quit quaking in case she was mad enough to use that gun strapped on her middle. “Gertie probably sensed the corn starch you used in your dress. I’d guess for her it was quite tasty. I’ll get you a towel.”

“Don’t bother.” She grabbed a large print handkerchief from the buggy, wiped at her legs and jumped in the driver’s seat. “You probably wanted me to stand by the fence so that would happen. You are incorrigible, John Parks. Get someone else to go to the church picnic with you!”

As the dust rose from her departure, she almost ran into the mailman.

A frilly pink dress and a gun. Now there's a combination you don't see everyday. :) That's for sharing that humorous scene with us. 

What do you plan to work on next? 

I plan another sequel to my historical romances, and three children’s books I have partly written.

Sounds like you're gonna be busy. :)

Where can readers connect with you? Where can readers buy your book(s)?

• Amazon Ada Brownell author page: https://www.amazon.com/author/adabrownell
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/#!/AdaBrownellWritingMinistries
• Twitter: @AdaBrownell
• Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1654534.Ada_Brownell
• Blog: http://inkfromanearthenvessel.blogspot.com
• Barnesandnoble.com http://ow.ly/PUWHO
• Imagine the Future You audio book is available at www.Audible.com Free book with new Audible membership. Or read or listen to first chapter free!
• Amazon Links: 
• http://www.amazon.com/dp/1489558284
• http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B001KJ2C06
• ITunes:  http://ow.ly/TY6uO

Thanks for those links. Last but not least, apart from writing, what is your favorite creative outlet?

Singing in trios, playing the piano or the organ.

Oh, I love singing too. :) Thank you so much for sharing with us today, Ada! I'm sure you now have some folks chomping at the bit to read this next installment. 

Folks, do you have any questions for Ada? Have you read any of her stories? Have you had any funny run-ins with four-legged critters like Edwina in The Peach Blossom Rancher?

Standing Up for Standing Bear

Something about this crazy election year reminded me of a bit of research I did for my historical romance, Pursued. A lot of political rhetoric involves Washington lobbyists and how officials are bought by rich donors and superpacs. Like we didn’t already know that, right? But there’s another side of lobbying that allows all citizens to make a difference—and that’s been the case all through history.

The slave issue would never have come to a head if people of conscience hadn’t been lobbying for years to get rid of slavery. It took nearly a hundred years of constant lobbying for women to attain the vote. Civil Rights legislation depended on thousands of activists descending on Washington and demanding change.

Some issues are not as well-known but also changed the course of history. It happened relatively quickly and involved only a few passionate citizens.

Standing Bear was a Ponca Indian Chief who successfully argued that Indians were persons within the meaning of the law. But he had help. In 1875, the US Indian Agency ordered the Poncas to be moved to the Indian Territory in what is now Oklahoma. Standing Bear and his associates felt they should have been allowed to moved to the Omaha Reservation instead.

In 1877, the government forced the Poncas, including Standing Bear and his family, to be removed to the Quapaw Reservation near present-day Peoria, Oklahoma. By spring of the next year nearly a third of the tribe had died due to starvation, malaria and other causes, including Standing Bear’s oldest son. The chief and sixty-five followers traveled north to bury the son in their original homeland. They were arrested for leaving the assigned reservation and taken to Fort Omaha.

It was there Standing Bear found his first advocate in General George Crook, who gave the Indians an opportunity to seek legal redress and told the story to Thomas Tibbles, an editor of the Omaha Daily Herald. Tibbles publicized the Ponca’s story widely, and two prominent lawyers offered their services for free.

In a crowded courtroom, Standing Bear, spoke on his own behalf. His speech is the reason I remember this story so well. You see, Standing Bear had been taught by missionaries earlier in his life, and his speech is one of the best testimonies of Christian faith I’ve ever read. In fact, it was so moving, most of the attendees were in tears at the conclusion, and later many of them went to Washington to petition the Hayes administration on behalf of Indian rights.

Standing bear won his case—and it was a landmark case. For the first time, Indians were ruled to be human under the laws of the United States. It’s unlikely to have happened without the help of God and those who were willing to stand up for what was right.

One of the easiest ways of standing up for our beliefs is to exercise our right to vote. Yes, we have to put up with the nasty politicking, but it’s worth it. If we don’t, the lobbyists will call all the shots.

Don’t forget to leave a comment to get your name in the drawing for While I’m Waiting Devotional by Laura Hodges Poole. Winner announced in the Weekly Windup on the 29^th. Check out all of our great prizes on the Prizes Galore Page.

SPECIAL GIVEAWAY!!! In honor of Standing Bear’s courage and those who stood with him, I’m giving away an eBook copy of Pursued today only. Winner to be announded in Weekly Windup.

Carianne Barlow never expected to leave her comfortable Philadelphia townhouse and travel to the wild-west, but when she inherits a fortune, conditions are attached. She must carry out her grandmother’s vision of a western culture center anchored by a library to rival those of the east. Such an undertaking requires political support, and no one is more influential than Rhyan Cason, a handsome cattle baron with the reputation of hardened businessman and rabble rousing lobbyist with a preference for the ladies. Carianne gets on the westbound train with no thought of the treacherous world awaiting her in the little prairie town near Rhyan’s sprawling ranch.When he asks her to catalog his library, she jumps at the chance without realizing he's pursued by a sinister adversary bent on destroying everything he cares for--including her.

A Season To Love-Simply Swoony!

A Season To Love 

by Nicole Deese

I sighed. I swooned. I paged back through the story thinking, can there be just a little bit more? Please? A Season to Love satisfies deep in the heart, like eating your own wedding cake.

I love how the heroine (Willa) is dealing with her own issues before the hunky doctor (Patrick) arrives in town. I also love how Patrick seems too flawless at first, yet he ultimately reveals issues of his own. And finally, I love that these two characters appear to be perfectly and heartbreakingly wrong for each other.

There's lots to love here - can you tell? And what do you know . . . Valentine's Day is around the corner! Just in time, Deese has created a character more dreamy than McDreamy (Grey's Anatomy). And the woman who falls for him is just like me. And you. Extremely relatable.

The story carries the reader away to an adorable Northwestern town full of interesting people, many of whom are reprised from Deese’s earlier novel entitled A Cliché Christmas. The best part about this companion story is that you can enjoy either one without reading the other, but if you do choose to read both, the characters are consistent and reveal delightful fill-in details.

The story swept me up and kept me reading late into the night as I cheered for fictional characters I find myself still caring about. I highly recommend this romance for those who love LOVE. You can snag your own copy here. And guess what? It's available on Kindle Unlimited!

Nicole Deese has several other romances out too - you can learn more about her on the website.

Willa (the main character) is addicted to Peppermints. What's your favorite Valentine candy?

Don't forget to leave a comment to get your name in the drawing for While I'm Waiting Devotional by Laura Hodges Poole! Winner announced in the Weekly Windup on the 29th. Check out all of our great prizes on the Prizes Galore page.

HANDMADE MAGNETIC BOOKMARKS

I consider myself a crafty person. I like to make things, when I have time. I own a greeting card program and a scrapbook program. I collect used Christmas cards to cut up and make things with. You’re as likely to get a handmade or computer-crafted greeting card from me as you are a store-bought card.  I’ve also been known to use my scrapbook program to create wrapping paper and gift bags (which my husband hates because of the amount of ink it uses), and I frequently  presented friends and family with handmade gifts. So, when I began thinking about marketing swag for my books, naturally I turned to my crafty side. Not everything I’ve dreamed up has been a success, but the process has been fun regardless.

Recently while cleaning out a drawer, I came across a cardboard magnetic bookmark I picked up as a travel souvenir. The bookmark was made out of heavy, glossy cardstock. I began to wonder if I could remake a similar item as swag. After a bit of research told me purchased bookmarks were way out of my financial range, I pulled out the trusty card program on my computer and  found a template for over-sized address labels (ten to a sheet).

Using the program, I created this magnetic bookmark from photo paper.

Not everyone has greeting card programs, so I began to wonder what other handy dandy office supply I could use to make magnetic bookmarks. The humble business card came to mind. I’ve seen, and used business cards to make bookmarks. Tie a pretty ribbon or a few beads on the end of the card and you’ve got a quick book mark with all your book info to hand out at book signings. I’ve seen this done so often, in fact, that I started to want something different. Hence, my fiddling around with the magnetic bookmark.

Anyway, after a few tries I came up with a fairly easy method to make magnetic bookmarks using business card stock. Below is what the sheet of business cards looks like, shown as it would come out of your printer in portrait position.

If you already have a business card set up on your computer changing it into a bookmark will be fairly simple. If not, you will have to start from scratch, and that might require some time to get all the parameters right. The hardest part of this project is getting the picture and words centered properly, so when you fold the card the crease is at the top of the book cover frame, which should be at the center of the business card.

I used a jpg of my book cover, and inserted it onto an Avery business card template. Using the Microsoft picture tool option, I rotated the cover on the business card so when the cards were punched out the bottom of the book is on the edge of the card. Using the Picture Tool options, I added a frame and selected various border/frame colors.

Opposite the book cover I typed in my written info (I used book, title, my award info, name and website.) Then using the Text Box Tool Options that appeared when I clicked on the text, I was able to rotate the text inside the box. After rotating the text, I changed the print font sizes to fit my design and the card. It’s important to be sure your text fits within the edges of the picture frame because once you’ve punched the card from the page, you will want to trim them down for a more pleasing look.

When you’ve completed printing and  trimming the bookmark, cut 2  small pieces of adhesive-backed magnets for each bookmark and adhere them to the inside of the bookmark, making sure they line up so they will connect to one another. There will be enough space on the inside of the bookmark for an utograph for your reader fans. I keep a few of these in my purse to hand out. They’re cuter than a business card, and more useful, in my opinion.

If you don't have any need for book swag, these magnetic bookmarks also make great gifts. Just add your own picture of the kids, grandkids, family pets, or other scenes. A few of these would be fun stocking stuffers, or little gifts to put inside birthday cards, or Christmas cards.

Don't forget to leave a comment to get your name in the drawing for the While I'm Waiting Devotional by Laura Hodges Poole! Winner announced in the Weekly Windup on the 29th. Check out all of our great prizes on the Prizes Galore Page.

Feed The Birds

Posted by Shirley Raye Redmond



Did you know February is designated as Bird Feeding Month? Because of reduced vegetation and lack of insects during the cold winter months, our little feathered friends have a hard time finding enough food and water to sustain them. One of the things I enjoy most watching birds in my backyard. I take time to keep the birdfeeders and suet cages filled too and provided fresh water for the birds to drink and bath in. This activity has afforded me hours of pleasure. I can even watch birds from the window near my desk where I write. In fact, there’s a little downy woodpecker right now helping himself to some suet and a nuthatch bobbing up and down the trunk of the old cottonwood. 

A recent article in Birds and Blooms magazine provided a list of benefits that you can enjoy by becoming a regular birdwatcher. The article contends that this activity will improve your mood, and if you spend time outside watching birds, you will actually increase your Vitamin D intake, which in turn helps to alleviate anxiety and depression. 

Some years ago, a friend gave me an unusual devotional book—but one perfect for a bird lover like me. Author John Stott, in his book The Birds, Our Teachers, shares “biblical lessons from a lifelong bird-watcher.” The book contains more than 150 color photographs taken by the author himself, as well as many thought-provoking lessons regarding faith, joy, love, and self-esteem. Using Bible texts from both the Old and New Testaments, Stott contends that we can learn a lot about our Creator simply by becoming familiar with birds and their habits. He jokingly refers to his observations as “orni-theology.” 

Why not take a 15-minute break to watch the birds today? And as you do so, remember the words of Jesus as recorded in the Gospel of Matthew 6:26: “Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?”

Don't forget to leave a comment to get your name in the drawing for While
I'm Waiting Devotional by Laura Hodges Poole. Winner announced in the
Weekly Windup on the 29th. Check out all of our great prizes on the
Prizes Galore page

Weekly Windup: Comment to win While I'm Waiting

  We have winners!

The winner of Northern Light by Annette O'Hare is...Amy C.!

 

  Winner of Charmingly Alarming by Debra E. Marvin is...Connie!

 

 

 If you are a winner, please contact us with your email address to claim your prize.

This Week's Giveaway is:
While I'm Waiting Devotional by Stitches Author Laura Hodges Poole

"While I’m Waiting" is adapted from the author’s blog devotions, appearing for the first time as a collection. This devotional will inspire the reader to wait on God patiently and reverently to answer prayers according to His perfect timing. The author shares her own struggles and shortcomings in a relatable way that encourages and brings hope even in the most difficult circumstances. The devotions show that it is possible to walk through the valley and not despair while praising God and choosing contentment during trials. As missionary Jim Elliot once said, “God always gives His best to those who leave the choice with Him.” 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00S58XK5G

 

This giveaway runs through February 28th. Comment on any post between now and then to enter, and remember, the more comments you make, the more entries you earn!

    Winners will be announced in the Weekly Wind-up on February 29th.

 Check out our Prizes Galore Page to see all our giveaways.

 

Coming up this week:

Monday 2/22: Loss or Tragedy? Guest Jessica Snell
Tuesday 2/23: Birds of the Air, Shirley Raye Redmond
Wednesday 2/24: Easy Book Swag by Catherine Castle
Thursday 2/25: A Season to Love - Simply Swoony! Jennifer Fromke
Friday 2/26: Elaine Manders
Saturday 2/27: Interview with Ada Browned

Announcements:

Today is your last chance to stop by Celebrate Lit for your chance to win a $25 Amazon Gift Card!

http://www.celebratelit.com/posts/412/

 

We look forward to hanging out with you this week!

Loss or Tragedy? with Guest Jessica Snell

Sometimes loss is just loss: a missed opportunity, a broken glass, a favorite earring you can’t find. It’s sad, but not life-changing. You’ll move on, and forget it in the next few days or weeks. But sometimes loss is a tragedy.

Last year I spent a long time working through stories of tragic loss as I edited the contributions to “Not Alone”. Here were stories of losses that mattered, that mattered deeply, and that never will stop mattering: babies who never made it to their births, babies wanted but never held, longed- for children whose parents won’t get to meet them this side of heaven.

I can’t even hold the idea of these losses in my heart without wincing and wanting to put the thought of them down. But, oh! did I learn something from the contributors who shared these stories!

Here is their testimony: they turned towards the Lord. Over and over again. In sadness and confusion, yes, but also in their rage and their anger. Like the psalmist, they turned to the Lord in the midst of their grief and confusion.

Not after they’d gotten over it. Not when after they’d figured out how to package their losses into a neat little bundle. (In fact, I’m not sure these sorts of things are entirely gotten over this side of heaven. I’m not sure they should be.)

Their pattern of turning towards the Lord is a testimony to all of us—even those who haven’t suffered a tragic loss quite like theirs.

This “turning towards” is the very pattern God shows us in the Psalms: in the Psalms, we find God’s people crying out to Him while their souls are overwhelmed, while their tears are their food day and night, while they are downcast and mourning.

God sees in the dark. More than that, He sees us in the dark. The darkness is not dark to Him. The night is as bright as the day.

Our nights—our deepest, darkest, hardest nights—are places where the Lord still sees us and still knows us. The evil of the world and its losses do not surprise Him, and they do not overwhelm Him.

Turn towards God. Always. When you don’t know what to do, when the darkness overwhelms you. This is what I’ve learned from the contributors of “Not Alone”, who have been through things that would break me (and who would be the first to tell you were things that broke them): I have learned to turn towards the Lord. Never away. Not even when I doubt. Especially not when I am afraid.

Always turn towards the Lord. He is there, and He can see in your darkness.


Jessica Snell is the General Editor of Kalos Press and she regularly writes about faith, family, and fiction on her blog.  She and her husband live in sunny Southern California with their four children.

Social media/website links: 

• Jessica Snell's blog 
• Jessica Snell on Twitter 
• Jessica Snell on Pinterest

Blurb:
Our society understands how terrible the loss of a child is when that child is out of the womb, but what about when a child dies before birth? Or what about the emptiness that comes when a very-much-wanted child is never even conceived? These quiet, private losses are hard for those who have not experienced them to understand. And these losses leave those who have suffered them feeling alone in their grief. 

Not Alone: A Literary and Spiritual Companion for Those Confronted with Infertility and Miscarriage is a resource both for those who have suffered through these experiences and for their friends and relatives, who want to understand what their loved ones are going through.

Buy links:
- "Not Alone" paperback on Amazon
- "Not Alone" Kindle on Amazon 
- "Not Alone" paperback on Barnes & Noble
- "Not Alone" on the publisher's website