"A Noble Groom" by Jody Hedlund - A Writer's Review by Member Blogger Dawn Crandall

Jody Hedlund does it every single time.

She impresses me. Yes, Dawn Crandall, the virtually un-impressible. And yet she does it... every single time.

With that said, she doesn’t have nearly enough books out! This is only her fourth published novel (with Bethany House), and in my opinion, there aren’t too many authors out there who write half so well.

Also, before I start in on what I loved SO MUCH about the inside of this book, I have to add that A Noble Groom has THE BEST COVER EVER. I don’t often like covers with the hero of the book pictured, especially without the heroine involved at all! But this one went so well with the blurb about the book. Everything about it was perfect: the farm, the wind, the clouds, the suit, the cravat, the colors, the look on his face... everything about it matched everything inside the book to perfection.

I really don’t know how exactly Jody makes reading about two mismatched people working on a farm in the middle of nowhere Michigan in 1880/1881—speaking German (hypothetically) to one another no less—so enthralling. But like I said, she does it every time, no matter what she’s writing about.
 
You know, on second thought, maybe I do know what it is. It’s her characters. Their emotions are so true, their thoughts so amazingly accurate. The situations they find themselves in... so complexly and perfectly orchestrated.

Both Annalisa Werner and Carl von Reichart have so much to learn throughout the pages of this book; about themselves and about each other, as well as about life in general. Although they’re both German immigrants from an area called Saxony, they are from extreme opposite worlds. Annalisa is the widow of a mean-hearted peasant farmer who’s family had relocated to America six years before because of the severe work conditions in Saxony... and Carl, the wrongly-accused fugitive, who happens to (secretly) be the son of the over-bearing Baron who caused the death of Annalisa’s older brother which resulted in her entire family immigrating to America in the first place.

Talk about complex! Although I did begin reading this book the first moment I had it in my grasp (and after, literally, stalking my mailman everyday waiting for it to arrive!), I did not end up reading it quickly. Partly because I simply didn't want it to end and partly because there were so many points in the book that I just had to stop reading so I could digest what all was (or at times, what wasn’t!) going on within and between these two characters. There were also all of the times when I felt that all was lost, and I had no idea how Carl and Annalisa were ever going to end up together by the end of the book....

Sigh.

Then I finally read the last twenty percent as quickly as possible because I couldn’t stand not to any longer.

And then I sighed again, and again, and again. (Haha, that’s especially for Jody and anyone else who might have read the book already).

Now every time I see the cover of the book pictured anywhere, I simply sigh and say, “Oh, yes... that book. That wonderful book.”
 
I blessedly received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review, and I give Jody Hedlund’s A Noble Groom 5 (million) stars. 

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Jody Hedlund is the bestselling author of The Doctor’s Lady and The Preacher’s Bride. She won the 2011 Inspirational Reader’s Choice Award, the 2011 Award of Excellence from the Colorado Romance Writers and was a finalist for Best Debut Novel in the 2011 ACFW Carol Awards. Currently she makes her home in central Michigan, with her husband and five busy children. She loves hearing from readers on Facebook and on her blog.  

Find out more about Jody at http://jodyhedlund.com/.

To read specifically about her tips on writing these enthralling characters of hers, click here. 

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Read all of Jody’s amazing and BEAUTIFUL books! I promise, you won’t be disappointed. 

 
 

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Dawn Crandall writes long inspirational historical and contemporary romantic suspense from first person point of view and is represented by Joyce Hart of Hartline Literary Agency. All three of her manuscripts have made it to the semi-final round of the ACFW Genesis Contest. She has a BA in Christian Education from Taylor University and lives in northeast Indiana with her ever-supportive husband, Jonathan, and her two cats, Lilly and Pumpkin. 

Visit Dawn’s author page at www.DawnCrandall.blogspot.com, or her facebook author page at www.facebook.com/DawnCrandallWritesFirst.  She also hosts a book review blog at www.apassionforpages.blogspot.com and tweets those reviews at @dawnwritesfirst.

A Writer's Day

In learning my way around marketing gadgets, gimmicks and gurus, I've toyed around with a lot of infographic makers and presentation templates. There's a learning curve to be sure, but I think in this digital, visual age we live in, it's going to become an important part of a writer's career. That is, communicating with fans visually.

Here is my presentation about a Writer's Day.

One reason infographics are a good marketing tool is that if you include your URL on them, and they go viral (people re-post them),they can lead people back to your website.

 If you want to see more infographics and steal them from my blog, please do so! Click here.

 Karla Akins is author of the best-selling Jacques Cartier (that went #1 on Amazon in its category), O Canada! Her Story and  Sacagawea. Her debut novel The Pastor's Wife Wears Biker Boots  is due out August 9, 2013. When she's not writing she dreams of riding her motorcycle through the Smoky Mountains.

Originality? Maybe You're Trying Too Hard

I love to read an author who's truly an original, don't you? Perhaps that's why writing conferences devote so much time to techniques for developing our own "voice." It may also explain how we get trapped in a ceaseless round of rewrites, trying so hard to say something in a fresh way.

I recently came across a comment by C.S. Lewis that pulled me up short. Here's his "take" on original writing:

No man who values originality will ever be original. But try to tell the truth as you see it, try to do any bit of work as well as it can be done for the work's sake, and what men call originality will come unsought.--"Membership," quoted by Patricia S. Klein, ed., A Year with C.S. Lewis, April 29.

Faithfulness to the Lord demands that we invest every story with the best efforts of which we are capable; but when we obsess about giving the story our own unique "brand," we shift the object of our faithfulness--to ourselves!

Lewis' comment reminds me of the time a friend tried to teach me golf. Having never played golf before, I needed to start at the most basic level, so he took me to a driving range and began giving a series of instructions: Stand this way...grip the club that way...turn your shoulders, but not your head, etc. I eventually grazed the ball with my club. I kept on trying, and my friend kept on instructing, until he finally said, "You're being too self-conscious. Forget about yourself and just hit the ball." When I did that, it flew down the range.

"Try to tell the truth as you see it," Lewis advises. "Try to do any bit of work as well as it can be done for the work's sake." In other words, forget about yourself and keep your eye on the "ball," story that needs to be told. Then originality will take care of itself.

__________________

Joe Allison and his wife, Judy, live in Anderson IN, where Joe serves as Coordinator of Publishing for Church of God Ministries, Inc. Joe has several nonfiction books in print, including Swords and Whetstones: A Guide to Christian Bible Study Resources. He's currently writing a trilogy of Christian historical novels set in the Great Depression.

Visit Joe's blog at http://hoosierwriter.wordpress.com

Interview with Prolific Author Lynette Eason

By Jeff Reynolds

Today, my guest is Lynette Eason. She is the author of several books -- I'll let her tell about them. I'm enjoying reading one of her books, When A Heart Stops (book two of her Deadly Reunions series).

Jeff Reynolds:  Welcome to the blog, Lynette. I trust you’re having a blessed day. If I read correctly, did you publish your first book in 2007? What got you interested in writing?

Lynette Eason: Thanks for having me, Jeff. And I am having a great day.  You read correctly. I got the call on February 16th, 2007 that Harlequin’s Love Inspired Suspense editors, Krista Stroever and Emily Rodmell, wanted to publish what would become Lethal Deception. Lethal Deception released in February 2008. It was a LONG year! LOL. As for what got me interested in writing, I was a stay-at-home mom and my husband travelled with his job. Needless to say, I was lonely quite a bit of the time and so I decided to keep myself company with my imaginary friends. <G> My daughter was nine months old when I started writing, so when she slept, I wrote. And with my husband gone quite a bit, I had a lot of time to pound out the story. At first, I wrote just because it was something to fill the hours. Then I started learning more about what writing a novel was all about thanks to a mentor named Dee Henderson and by the time I finished the first book, I wanted to see if I could get published. Eight years later, it happened.

JR: While math is usually a good subject for me, I lost count. How many books do you have currently published? Do you work on just one book at a time?

LE: LOL. I’ve kind of lost count, too. And I don’t mean that in an arrogant sort of way. I really don’t bother to keep up with the number because it’s not very important to me.  BUT, for those who want to know, I’ll figure it out. I have six books out with Revell (counting WHEN A SECRET KILLS releasing May 1) and fourteen out with Harlequin’s Love Inspired Suspense line. I also have a short ebook out with Revell called GONE IN A FLASH. It’s a continuation of the Women of Justice series. I have six more books still contracted with Revell that I need to write and I have eight more books with Love Inspired Suspense (I’ve already written two which will be out later this year.) I also just finished a 10,000 word short read for Harlequin which will be a free online read. It will span a period of four weeks, one chapter per day for twenty chapters. So, yes, if you want to read the whole thing, you have to log in every day for twenty days. Ha. So, how many is that? 6+14 = 20 books out, 14 in the pipeline, 1 short ebook and the online read. I think that about covers it.

I’m usually writing at least two books at a time—one for Revell and one for Love Inspired Suspense. And I’m working on something that’s just fun for me (not very often and not usually for very long due to my paying obligations, but…) so right now, it’s two books and a third upon occasion. I also fit the online read in the schedule last month.

JR: You have finished the Women of Justice series and Deadly Reunions series and currently are working on the Hidden Identity series: Could you tell us about your latest offering? Also, do you have any other recent releases?

LE: Yes, I’m so glad to have those two series finished. The last book in the Deadly Reunions series releases on May 1, 2013! Woohoo! I’ve gotten a lot of hate mail for the cliffhanger endings in the first two books! LOL. I’m very glad to wrap everything up and satisfy my readers’ curiosity.

Then the first book in the Hidden Identity series will release in the spring of 2014. The title is No One To Trust. It will deal with the Witness protection program and the lives of those are affected by crime and the effort to stay alive while putting the bad guys behind bars. There will be two more books in the series after that. I’ve also just sold another series to Revell to be release in the coming years. I’m very excited about that series that will deal with female bodyguards. The research has been so much fun.

On the Love Inspired front, I have two books coming out this year. One in August called Hide and Seek and one in December called Christmas Cover Up.

JR: Your website mentions you are a member of the American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW), the Romance Writers of America (RWA), and Faith, Hope, and Love (FHL). How do each of these groups help your writing, and what is your involvement with them? Also, I'd like to hear about what FHL is.

LE: They are all professional writers groups. Each group has different advantages and offerings. One being they all offer contests for published and unpublished authors. In 2006, I placed second in the Touched By Love contest offered by Faith Hope and Love group. FHL is a part of the Romance Writers of America organization and is the Inspirational division. RWA has the prestigious RITA contest for published authors and the Golden Heart contest for the unpublished. All are just really great organizations with members who are fabulous about helping new authors get off the ground.

JR: Your husband Jack has an interesting sounding ministry. Could you tell us about him? How do your ministries complement each other, and how do you manage to keep from heading in two (or more) different directions all the time?

LE: Jack is multi-faceted. It’s hard to know where to start. LOL. He is a professional fundraiser for Christian radio stations all over the country so his job entails a lot of travel. He also is the director of the Pursuit conference (http://www.pursuehiscall.blogspot.com) which is a conference for high school to college age students who believe God is calling them into full time ministry. The conference has ministers from all areas of ministry there to answer questions and empower these young people to be present and future ministers.

However, to answer your next question, because of his many contacts in radio, he’s able to get radio interviews for me, etc. He takes at least several copies of my books to every radio station he goes to and hands them out. Sometimes they even use them as giveaways in order to entice people to make a donation to the station. Jack also has me share at his conferences about how writing is a ministry and what to expect if you want to write full time and be published.

Jack’s also very involved in music himself. He played keyboard in a band and is often asked to do music for youth groups and camps. As far as making sure we’re on the same page (pun intended), we simply make time to sit down and discuss what needs to be discussed. We do the bills on Saturday or Sunday afternoon before he has to be somewhere on Monday. We Skype a lot, email, text, chat online, etc. We just make the time. It’s just making the effort to keep it all together, you know? Sometimes it’s crazy (okay, most of the time), but we manage to make it all work. To put it simply: It’s a God thing.

JR: Between your writing, you and Jack's ministry, and your involvement with the three groups, I'm sure you have an occasional opportunity to minister. Have your readers let you know what impact your stories have, or any ministry you've had with the members of your groups (such as being hostess for ACFW's Romantic Suspense loop?

LE: I consider my writing the full time ministry God has called me to. It’s a different ministry, as opposed to serving in a church or on the mission field in Africa or something, but it’s still definitely ministry. I get emails all the time about how my books have touched lives or just kept a lonely person company. It’s a real blessing to hear those comments from readers.

JR: Thank you very much for your time. Please pass along your webpage so we can follow you.

LE: My website is: www.lynetteeason.com and I’m SO EXCITED that it’s going to be getting a complete overhaul soon! Readers can also find me on Facebook at www.facebook.com/lynette.eason and twitter: @lynetteeason.
Jeff Reynolds, addressing the reader:
I hope you enjoyed this interview. Is Lynette's prolific bibliography something that intimidates you as a writer, or an encouragement to keep plugging? Like Lynette's writing, do you see what you're doing as full time ministry? Any other source of inspiration through this interview?

A Word for Meditation for Writers

Entrust your efforts

entirely

to the LORD

and He will cause your thoughts to align with His that your works

shall be established

and successful.

Proverbs 16:3

I'm praying for you this day.

Sincerely,                                                

 Mary Allen