Interview with Debbie Lynne Costello, and two giveaways, Ends Oct 16th

Debbie Lynne is represented by Tamela Hancock Murray of the Steve Laube Agency. She has been mentored by Carol Award Nominee Laurie Alice Eakes and Christy Award Nominee MaryLu Tyndall. To hone her craft she has worked with a private editor. She is an active member of ACFW. She co-founded CROWN Marketing which promotes CBA historicals. Debbie Lynne has two websites and two blogs and works actively on building her platform. She and her husband live in South Carolina with their shelites and near their four children. They often vacation in the Charleston area where her stories are set.

Q: coffee, tea, (diet) soft drink, water, or home juiced vegetables? (gack!)

    LOL! I love my hot tea in the morning. I admit, I’m addicted to my Lipton. I drink a ton of water. Enough that my hubby put an RO unit in our kitchen. Love sweet tea and it loves my hips so I only drink it when we go out to eat.

Q: When did you first know you were a writer?

   That’s a tough question. I started writing stories when I was in about second grade. And to go off on a rabbit trail, my mother saved those stories and gave them to me about a year ago. What an awesome surprise! But back to the question. I took every creative writing class I could in high school, and in college I studied journalism. So I knew I wanted to write as far back as then. But to be a fiction writer? I’m  going to say about 5 years ago when my husband told me I should write a book and I did.

Q: If there were a writing fairy, and you captured her and fed her chocolate coconut cookies until she granted you three wishes, what would those wishes be?

    Yikes! That is a toughie, too. Can one of my wishes be 3 more wishes. LOL. Okay, I think that was a no. 1) I have several friends and family members suffering from some terrible diseases. My first wish would be for total healing for them. (Hope that can count as one wish. I think this is a very generous writing fairy. Heehee) 2) I’d wish for a revival to hit this country like never seen and we’d turn our hearts and face to God as a country. 3) This is a writing fairy so I wouldn’t want to insult her! I’d wish for you and I to go hand in hand both receiving a contract this year. ;o)

 

Q: How do your roles of mother, wife, cheerleader, patriot, daughter of Christ, resident of (SC) etc. play into your writing? 

     OMGoodness girlfriend! Are you wanting a book? Lol. I’ve learned a lot from being a mother and wife and many of those lessons find their way into my stories. As you know I am a fanatical patriot. I love my country and even though it has many problems it’s still the greatest nation in the world to live in my opinion. So I hope my love for my country shines through by the research I do into its history. Cheerleader and daughter of Christ—is the reason I write. In hope to touch someone’s life when they need it most. I want my work to have purpose, not just entertainment. Though, I do want to entertain, too. Lastly, resident of SC. Most of my stories thus far are set in SC and the one that isn’t, is right next door in Savannah. I love Charleston, South Carolina and I believe it shows in my stories.

Q:  What do you hope your readers will take away from their time and investment in your stories? 

    I try to write stories of real people with real problems. I hope that my story will resonate truth with some readers when they travel through a similar valley that one of my characters has recently taken. And I hope that regardless they will take away something that strengthens their faith in the Lord and help them trust in the promises He’s given us.

Q: You love history, as do I. If you could sit down and interview any figure from any time, real or fictional, who would that be and what is the first question you would ask?

    I’d say Jesus but I’m afraid I’d be speechless with my face buried in the sand. So I think I would say David. I’d love to ask him why God said that he (David) was a man after His (God) own heart. I’d love to know David’s secret. He obviously had many weaknesses to sin. What was it that David had that others in the bible didn’t?

Q: Who have been your mentors, and how did they help you most?

  MaryLu Tyndall was my first mentor. She took the time to tell me what I needed to do as I tried to learn the ropes. She was and is a huge blessing to me, answering my questions, praying for me, and encouraging me. Today she is one of the dearest friends. Laurie Alice Eakes was my next mentor. She helped me so much with my writing. Showed me my weakness and helped me become stronger in those areas. She too has become a very dear friend. God is so good! I’ve made some of the best friends in my life since I’ve started writing.

Q: In the spirit of paying that mentorship forward, do you have any advice for the beginning writer? 

   Read some good books on writing. Ask questions to knowledgeable authors. Be tough! This business isn’t for sissies. You have to have tough skin and be able to take criticism. And lastly, be patient and don’t give up. There are some stories of writers who get published on their first story, but that’s rare. If you don’t get an agent or contract on your first story don’t quit. Listen to what you’re being told and work to fix the problems and keep writing. Chin up!

To learn more about Debbie Lynne, go to her website or blog

www.debbielynnecostello.com

www.theswordandspirit.blogspot.com

www.fictionaddictionfix.blogspot.com

Debbie Lynne has graciously offered to do a beautiful basket giveaway for our readers this week. The basket has a pumpkin candle, bath basket with soap, lotion and spray, journal, stationary, HOPE plaque, autumn "believe" mug, "Happy Harvest" hanging, a fall flower necklace, and the book Coming Home by Stacy Hawkins Adams. 

I am doing a second giveaway for another lucky commenter--two of Debbie Lynne's favorites--a Lindt chocolate candy bar and a small box of Lipton Bedtime Story Tea, plus an autumn mug. Perfect for your reading getaway!

To be entered for a chance to win one of our two giveaways, please leave a comment for Debbie Lynne with your email addy. For extra entries, please follow this blog, (see follow button to right side) www.theswordandspirit.blogspot.com, and/or http://www.fictionaddictionfix.blogspot.com, and tell us if you tweeted or facebooked this blogpost. 1 entry for each of these. Total of 6 entries possible if commenter follows all three, plus shares on twitter and facebook. Winner will be selected by random.org on Tuesday, Oct 16 at noon EST

We have two winners!! Melanie Dickerson, you have won Debbie Lynne's fabulous fall basket. And Teddy, you have won the tea, chocolate and fall mug. I will send emails shortly! Congratulations, ladies, and thank you to everyone who came and made this such a wonderful week.  Blessings!

Giveaway of Laura Frantz's The Colonel's Lady ends Oct 8

Seldom have I been so immersed in a story world. I am so thankful this was not a quick read for me. It was long, luxuriant, and utterly consuming. My pool deck, my bedroom, the doctor's office, and every spare minute in the car turned into the Kentucky wilderness this summer. I experienced Roxanna Rowan's vulnerability to heartache, imminent Indian attack, a Spartan existence within the stockade walls of a military fort, but most alarming of all, the dangerous charms of Colonel Cassius Clayton McLinn. McLinn is a man among men, redoubtable in stature, in reputation, in authority, and in making Roxie's sensible heart betray her. The daughter of a soldier, she proves herself as determined and formidable as he in a contest of wills and of romance. What I found most appealing was the way the author crafts relationships. Believable and sympathetic supporting cast, such as Bella the freed slave woman who befriends Roxie, almost steal scenes with their pithy humor and poignant roles. The setting itself assumes a character-like quality. The harsh frontier winter slowly yields to the change of seasons, mirroring a theme throughout the story of redemption from darkness and despairing circumstance. This is a book that almost defies genre, because it is so much more than a romance, though the romance itself pulled at my heart so relentlessly I could never go long without turning another page. Heart-achingly beautiful and sorrowful and so full of longing, the hero and heroine move beyond sympathetic to saturating, engaging the reader's highest hopes and deepest longings. And yet, this is a story of the power of hope itself. Hope in God. Hope in the future. Hope in the better angels of our nature. And for me, hope that more novels of this caliber will continue to flow from a master storyteller like Ms. Frantz. In fact, Laura has a new one out--Love's Reckoning--which promises to be as good or better. Enter for a chance to win my gently used copy of The Colonel's Lady, and rush out to buy your copy of Love's Reckoning! Leave a comment here for one chance to enter, and follow by blog for another chance, share this post link on facebook or twitter for another. Tell me what you did and how many entries I owe you. :) Winner announced Monday Oct 8th noon EST

Elmira Female College 1855- present

      One blog post will never be able to tell the story of this innovative and venerable institution. Let this serve as an introduction to an immense topic, and establish the distinction of Elmira's role in pioneering education for women.

      I’ve just read a fantastic book published in 1955 on Elmira College’s centennial called Elmira College: The first 100 years by E. Charles Barber. Written in an engaging and at times almost deadpan humorous way, it chronicles this historic institution which was the very first to offer women a baccalaureate degree equal to that of a man.

               

       Although Oberlin offered women a baccalaureate in 1837, the difference lies in the academic rigors which Elmira demanded of its female students. From 1855 Elmira offered two courses of study, classical and scientific. In the classical curriculum, a young lady would have studied Greek and Latin, and in the scientific course, only Latin. Both would include mathematics, rhetoric, English literature, philosophy, history and the natural sciences such as botany and astronomy. Add to that optional courses in music and studio art, as well as modern languages.

       

      Vassar, often cited as another first to offer women a man’s degree, didn’t open until a full decade after Elmira in 1865, and in fact, according to Barber, drew much if its curriculum from Elmira’s. They shared a professor, Charles S. Farrar, who also served as chief architect of the original building in Elmira, Cowles Hall, as well as an observatory which came shortly after. A clear connection exists in the exchanging of ideas between Elmira and Vassar. The chief difference seems to be that Vassar’s patron and namesake funded it far more lavishly than Elmira’s founder Simeon Benjamin could, and therefore earned Vassar greater notoriety.

                

        Filled with amusing and poignant anecdotes and biographies, Barber’s book brings to life the early college and early Elmira itself. A canal and rail town, Elmira boasted connections, commerce, and culture, but also transient laborers and their seamy amusements. The dual nature of the town demanded a delicate balance for its fair student body, which was achieved under the artful direction of its first president Dr. Augustus Cowles.

         

        Over 280 pages, this book pays homage to the times in the mid 19^th century when progressive ideas fought their way through a white-dominated, patriarchal society, but makes a point that “enlightened” modern historians fail to notice. These progressive ideals were championed by men of deep Christian faith, soft-spoken men of great educations and fine minds who believed deeply in causes such as abolition and equal educational opportunities for women. Here the Victorian standards of modesty and charity for women are treated without the disdain of modern viewpoint.

               

         This experiment on Prospect Hill in a burgeoning mid-nineteenth century New York rail town proved once and for all that women were capable of great intellectual accomplishment. For women everywhere, Elmira has become a light to the world, a city set on a hill whose light cannot be hidden.  

Giveaway: Wedded to War by Jocelyn Green

I am giving away my gently used copy of this fabulous Civil War novel to a random name draw. Leave a comment with your name and email addy. Contest ends Wednesday Sept 26th.

Jocelyn Green is on my figurative dart board. She has written the consummate portrait of a Civil War nurse, and that riles me, as a long-time student and writer of Civil War era fiction. Her attention to detail and stellar research truly saturate each page of this story. Her debut fiction novel is based on the diary of Georgeanna Woolsey, a young lady of privilege from Manhattan who leaves behind her posh salons and world-class dining and theater to forge the way for women to serve the war effort. So my first dart aimed at this author is, I admit, aimed in pure jealousy, because I long to write with that level of immersion.

But the next dart I aimed, instead of jealousy, is all admiration. She has set the bar high, and I aim to meet it. Her heroine Charlotte Waverly has all the pluck necessary to not only leave her pampered life behind, but to take on the most odious work for the Union Sanitary Commission, all under intense persecution from men who view women like her as interlopers, inept and easily dismissed. the background story of love interests, courtship, social and gender prejudices, and of course epic war, keep the tension sizzling on every page.

My dart arsenal fires again for the romance thread--a dead bullseye. She creates a wonderful hero in Caleb Lansing, Charlotte's long-time friend who now serves as a Federal army surgeon. Though we don't get to see him much due to Charlotte's engrossing story and a full cast of characters and subplots, Caleb's presence is felt throughout. He is the one she longs for, the one who represents comfort and goodness and the pursuit of her dreams. His acceptance and encouragement of her avocation in a world dominated by men makes him truly heroic--the reader will keep going to the very end to see how they overcome courtship rivalry, war logistics, sickness, and their own insecurities to find their happily ever after.

And finally, one last dart aimed at Ms. Green's way of making each character three dimensional and sympathetic--even the antagonistic Mr. Phineas Hastings. I loved her treatment of the Irish immigrant, Ruby, whose husband serves in the NY "Fighting" 69th. Since my own great grandfather John Cronin served in the 69th it held personal interest to me. Glimpses into Frederick Law Olmsted, the head of the Sanitary Commission, and also the hospital chaplain Edward Goodrich add dimension to the story.

This really is a must read for any student of the Civil War, of women's rights, and of the advent of modern medicine. Meticulously researched and engaging, Wedded to War hits the mark on every score.

CONGRATULATIONS, Jes, your name has been drawn by random.org generator to win our giveaway! I will be emailing you shortly.

Giveaway of Short-Straw Bride by Karen Witemeyer, ends Monday July 16

Drama, Chemistry, Action!
Did I say chemistry? Oh, mercy, does this book cook on a Bunson burner of romance and suspense!

Meredith has loved Travis Archer since she was a child, rescued by his gallantry after schoolyard bullies caused her a mishap on Archer land. A decade later, she must come to his rescue when a wicked man's ambition puts the Archers in the crosshairs. Her unchaperoned arrival would compromise her reputation unless one of the bachelor brothers agrees to marry her. The Archer men draw straws for her hand, and the rest of the story explodes off the page with color, effervescence and sizzle you won't want to miss!

Passion abounds in Texas between a rugged rancher and one feisty girl. Travis must learn to release the death grip he holds on everything under his control. Behind his uber-masculine facade beats a deliciously vulnerable heart, one that the reader will latch onto with the same tight hold. Meri longs to believe that she is desirable and not merely a responsibility. The emotion and tension simmer until that last satisfying page turn.

This is the best book yet by a very gifted writer, Karen Witemeyer. Still holding my smelling salts close after swooning hard for this one!


I have read all of Karen's books, and this is my favorite so far. She holds a Masters degree in Psychology, and it really shows in the depth of her characterization.  I really wanted to keep my influencer copy, but then I decided this story is so good, someone else deserves a chance to read it. I am giving my gently used copy away to one random commenter, to be chosen on Monday, July 16th. Please be sure to leave your email addy with your comment so I can contact the winner.

When Shadows Fall--an interview with Tina Pinson, and giveaway, ending Saturday, June 2 at 10 PM

Q: When Shadows Fall is book one in a Civil War series. Tell us about your setting and why this time period draws you.

 The setting starts in the White House East room, where Rebekah is waiting to meet with President Lincoln. To ask his help in securing the release of her husband who is a prisoner in an asylum. Then it follows the characters through several battles, back to West Virginia where Rebekah lives and then westward to Missouri and then along the Oregon Trail.
 I like the time around the Civil War because I'm curious about how people lived. This war pit family against family and brother against brother. So many people lost loved on. Lost their homes. I find the time so interesting, I have three other books; Finding Middle C, Winds Across the Rockies and From Hell to Eternity that look at some aspect of the war.
 The Oregon Trail is just as interesting because people spent months on the trail, hoping to leave heartache behind, in exchange for an abundant life in a new place. Be it Oregon, or maybe they went down the Santa Fe. They were heading for a dream, hoping it'd turn out like they saw it in their minds and hearts.

 Q: What unique aspects of history do you feature in this series? Is there a pivotal event, and how are your characters affected by it?
 There are of course discussions about major Civil War battles. There is a look at slavery, and how some people considered it. I try to take a glance at the differences between how the war affected the north and the south. How it was to come home maimed. Just differing things. On the trail, I wanted to take a closer look at life on a daily basis. At the time I wrote this story, there were people writing about the Oregon Trail and the characters would start and get there two chapters later. Without telling me much about how the trip went. I wanted to take the trip.

 Q: If you lived during any period in history, when would it be and why?
 I always thought I would love to live during westward expansion in the late 1800's maybe into the early 1900's. Sometimes I think that period seems so easy going. But I know it wasn't always. They had a hard life. Had to forge ahead and push to get what they wanted. We've got it pretty easy.

 Q: As a writer, I find myself journeying along with my characters. What has writing this story taught you about faith in God and in humanity?
 Well, from Rebekah's standpoint, she starts off thinking God isn't going to help her, she has to get it done herself. Then she realizes that God was with her all along. Matthew is forced to look at God closer, forced to look at his mortality because death seems to be drawing ever closer.

 Q: Can you give us a hint of what is to come with the next books in the series?
 Well, in the upcoming parts; someone is kidnapped, someone has their eye on someone's spouse, someone is killed, and old love returns, love is in the air. There is a buffalo stampede. And bugs--lots of bugs. The reader gets to meet a bunch of new people, because we a traveling with a wagon train. I just hope the trip keeps them interested.

 Thank you so much for being with us, Tina. Do you have a question for our readers?

 Rebekah gets her husband, Robert out of an enemy asylum/prison. He is sick and has lost his legs. She could and should have taken him to the home of her family, but they are now with the Union, and are now aligned with the enemy. She chooses to traverse battlefields and take him home. So as not to be a burden to anyone. Would you have done the same?

 Tina has graciously offered to give a free copy of her ebook to one lucky commenter. Please leave your answer to Tina's question with your name and email addy in the comment section. winner will be announced Saturday at 10 PM eastern

The Shadow Catcher's Daughter by Carla Olson Gade

This book is a debut, but it reads like a literary journey by an experienced guide. Set in 1875 chronicling the Four Corners survey into the unspoiled territories of the American West, this historical romance depicts young love amid racial tensions and the rugged beauty of a wild time and place.

Yiska Wilcox is half Navajo, half white, torn between two worlds who don't fully accept him, until he meets John Van Horn and his lovely daughter Eliana. The Van Horns are preparing for an expedition to photograph the west when circumstances literally throw them together with Yiska. Eliana and the young man's friendship is immediate and genuine, and soon they realize their interests and talents compliment one another. As attraction builds between them, it seems that one obstacle after another stands in their way. Both have secrets, and societal prejudices to overcome. Can she be taken seriously as a woman in a man-dominated world? Can her dreams of following her father's footsteps as a professional photographer ever be realized? Will a white society allow Yiska a place of respect, and acknowledge his upstanding character and God-given talents? Can love survive between people of two different backgrounds, or can faith and divine providence bridge the gap? These story questions kept me turning the pages to find out how these lovely and worthy characters find their happily ever after. I enjoyed every minute spent in this historic setting, vivid with wonderful details and obviously well researched. Expect big things from this author!

In fact, Carla has a question for you. "What is your favorite period in history and why?" Leave a comment and you will be entered to win a copy of The Shadow Catcher's Daughter. US and Canada entrants only, please. Winner to be announced Friday, May 11 at 7 PM Eastern.