Friday, December 13, 2013

New Audiobook from Cynthia P Willow


Looking for a great Christmas gift for a family member or friend?  I am excited to feature an awesome Christmas novel on my blog today!  It's the first in a series called Hell's Tales, and it's just been released as an audiobook, so you have your choice of formats!  Hell's Christmas has some great reviews on Amazon, too:


Book Description:

Monika Hell seemed to have it all. She was gorgeous, owned a nice condo, an expensive car, an endless wardrobe, and had a great job as a store manager in the mall. But, she was mean, miserable, and worst of all, hated Christmas.


Kidnapped from the mall parking lot on Christmas Eve, her life is turned upside down. Now, on Christmas morning, she finds herself in a freezing alley with nothing but the tattered clothes on her back. With no identification, no money, and no one willing to help, Monika is forced to start all over. Could losing everything she'd worked for all her life lead her to find what's been missing all along?

Click here to order Hell's Christmas: the audiobook.
Click here to download Hell's Christmas: the eBook from amazon.  (It's just $3.99, and you can use Amazon's gift function to make it a present for the Kindle owner on your list!)
Click here to order Hell's Christmas in paperback from amazon.

Meet the Author:

Cynthia is a writer of Christian fiction/fantasy.  She attends Liberty University where she is earning her BS in Psychology and Christian Counseling.  

Cynthia is an administrator with the CIA... haha, that's Christian Indie Authors.  She is happily married and living in Georgia with her husband and three children. 

Cynthia has many stories to tell.  She loves to write about faith with a twist of fantasy to entertain hearts and minds of all ages.


Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/CynthiaPWillow
Blog: http://www.cynthiapwillow.com/under-the-willow-tree.html
Twitter: https://twitter.com/CynthiaPWillow

Click here to view other books by Cynthia P. Willow, including children's novels and young adult fantasy.


Thursday, December 12, 2013

FTSF: Christmas Stockings With a Purpose

     I'm not going to apologize this Friday for my carpal tunnel, which is keeping me away from the
Finish the Sentence Friday blog hops more often than I'd like. You guys already know I'd be around more if I could, right? Right.

     On a much more upbeat note, I love today's topic: Favorite Christmas traditions. We have  many, but even so, it's easy for me to pick my favorite.


     When my firstborn was a toddler, we got a small nativity set handed down to us from a friend. We were poor Bible college students at the time, and since our plan was to become career missionaries, it didn't seem to make sense to jump into the materialism of Christmas presents and stocking stuffers. We also lived four hours away from the nearest Walmart, so Christmas shopping wasn't what it is to a lot of families we know now.

     We didn't do candy at the time, and we didn't really have that many toys yet (and wanted to keep it that way!). So, instead of putting trinkets and junk food in his stocking, we wrapped up the pieces of our nativity scene for our son to pull out one by one on Christmas morning.

     Over the years, our stocking tradition has grown and evolved. We inherited another nativity set, so we now have something like seven shepherds, six wise men, and at least ten different animals. Each piece is numbered, and each number corresponds to either a song that we sing or a Bible passage that we read on Christmas morning. Not only is it the very best part of Christmas day, hands down; it's probably one of the best parts of the entire year.

     I have no idea what future Christmases have in store for our family. Sickness, strife, poverty, tragedy ... all these unwanted guests may some day make their way to our humble abode some Christmas down the road. But do you know what? Even if things get horrible in the years and decades to come, I hope to always look back on our Christmas mornings, opening up the true gift of the season with our children as they take the nativity pieces out of their stockings one by one, and realize that I am truly one blessed woman.

***

Blog Love: Thanks to Finish the Sentence Friday Hosts: Kate of Can I Get Another Bottle of Whine…, Janine of Janine’s Confessions of a Mommyaholic, Stephanie of Mommy, for Real and Kristi of Finding Ninee.

Random Fact: Our middle son spent his first Christmas in the pediatric intensive care unit.

Got a minute? My Christian suspense novel, The Beloved Daughter, was nominated for book of the year at bookfun.org. If you have a chance, would you give it a vote? (Click the box above the title.) Interested in the novel itself? You can see the description and reviews on amazon.

Friday, November 29, 2013

Black Friday (and beyond!) Sale

I hope you all enjoyed a great Thanksgiving! And for those of you who (like me!) love a good deal but can't stand Black Friday traffic jams in the store aisles, here's a few virtual deals going on for you through December 3!

The Beloved Daughter (award-winning inspirational suspense set in North Korea)


  • WINNER, WOMEN OF FAITH WRITING CONTEST
  • 1ST PLACE, BOOK CLUB NETWORK BOOK OF THE MONTH
  • AMAZON BESTSELLER, TOP FIVE CHRISTIAN SUSPENSE

In a small North Korean village, a young girl struggles to survive.

"The Beloved Daughter" is Alana Terry's debut Christian novel and has won multiple awards, including the Women of Faith writing contest and the Book of the Month award from The Book Club Network.








What, No Sushi? (book 1 in the Solar-Powered History Series)

Why did so many Americans of Japanese ancestry have to leave the West Coast and go to internment camps? What happened to them once they got to the relocation centers? And why does our new friend Kimiko look so familiar that I’m just sure we’ve seen her somewhere before?

My Solar-Powered History at a Japanese-American Internment Camp, the first book in the My Solar-Powered History series!

BLACK FRIDAY SALE: 


You can also order either of these books directly from my website for $10 each and NO SHIPPING CHARGES (US only)!

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

WIPpet Wednesday: "One More Push"

     Hello, WIPpeters! And a Happy Thanksgiving Eve to my friends in the US. Belated wishes to you
out there in Canada. As for the rest of you ... do you have a Thanksgiving or similar holiday where you live? (*blushes apologetically for my xenocentric public school education*)

     I'm trying to get back in to the WIPpet swing. I really am! And so, for my last WIPpet post in November I'm showcasing eleven sentences from my current WIP, Not Alone.

***

     No matter what happened, it had to end soon. Either she would die, or she would evict the child from her womb. There would be no more waiting. Mee-Kyong gritted her teeth, grunting from the effort. Sweating from the exertion, Mee-Kyong barely had time to inhale before she needed to bear down again. Her skin burned. She clenched her eyes shut, and with one more push, she stretched wider than she thought was physically possible. Another small push*, almost an afterthought, brought her child into the world. Soft fuzzy down covered near translucent eyelids. Perfectly formed nails tipped the end of ten wrinkle fingers. Pang’s child was a boy.

***

     Now, I really doubt any of you actually noticed this is only ten sentences, not eleven. But for the sake of transparency, I should tell you I ended up deleting the last sentence. Feel free to come up with your own conjectures, or else just thank me now.

*virtual cookies to whomever can help me come up with an appropriate synonym for push here

Blog Love: Huge thanks to K L Schwengel for hosting the WIPpet Wednesday blog hop, where authors post snippets from the current Works In Progress!

Random Fact: My longest labor lasted about 81 hours.

Sunday, November 24, 2013

You Know You've Raised a Meidcally-Fragile Baby If...

     Today I'm happy to report that our son, Silas, had his feeding tube removed last week. Silas now eats all the calories he needs by mouth and is doing so well the doctor decided we could ditch the tube.

     Some people ask me what it was like raising Silas as a baby, when we had to suction out his throat several times an hour and dump milk down his tube round the clock. So, if you're curious what it's like to care for a baby like Silas, I present to you today's list:

You know you've raised a medically-fragile baby if:

    You have your pediatrician's personal cell phone number on speed dial.

    You know all the staff at the medical supply company by their voice.

    You have rated each and every 24-hour care clinic within a 15-mile radius of your home.

    You schedule your son's radiology appointments around your monthly cycle (just to be safe).

    You know what day of the week it is by your child's therapy schedule.

    You use years when referring to your next date night.

    You use decades when referring to your next vacation.

    You've woken up to an apnea monitor more times than you can count.

    You've rated the local hospital cafeterias.

    You understand the glory and beauty of Germ-X.

    Your friends complain about their newborns waking up every three hours, and you feel murderously jealous.

    You've never been offered an honorary nursing degree, but you know you deserve one.


         Wishing love and strength to my friends who are daily loving their blessed little miracles! May God keep on giving you the strength and stamina you need to endure. As for the rest of you, pass this list on to someone you know. I bet they could add a few items of their own!

    What about you? Do you have anything to add to this list?

    Random fact: Silas has spent a total of 65 days in the hospital over three total visits.

    Blog love: This post appears in the Christian Home Magazine, brought to you by Laura O.


    Thursday, November 21, 2013

    Guest Post by Author Mary E Hanks



    When I first started my writing journey, I had no idea how many wonderful friends I would make along the way. I guess I had the notion that authors spend their days inside locked up behind their computers typing. (Which we do.) But I failed to take into account how social media could help me get to know so many encouraging people!

    Mary Hanks is an author I'm happily getting to know, and I have invited her here on my blog today to tell us a little bit about her novel, Winters Past. 

    Forgive Him? Are you Crazy? by Mary E Hanks
    I’ve heard people say they have no regrets. And I think Wow!! That's amazing. But, it’s hard for me to imagine a girl reaching the wise-old age of 50 (snicker here, because that's me) who doesn’t look back and wish she could change at least one thing in her life.
    Like forgiveness. Do you ever struggle with that? Do old wrongs resurface and you dwell on them, maybe even get mad all over again?
     We know God forgives, and we know we have to forgive. But, if you're like me, we wrestle with that idea sometimes, especially when it comes to big hurts. Certain wrongs outweigh all other wrongs in our minds. Take adultery. That's one of those things at the top of the marriage dos-and-don'ts list. I mean, forgive him? Are you crazy?
    And yet, God, in His love and mercy, and because of what Jesus did in dying on the cross, forgives everything. EVERYTHING. He blots out sin like Mr. Clean scrubbing a floor, spotless white. "I (God) am he who blots out your transgressions…and remembers your sins no more.” I love the remembered no more part. The sins are gone! Vaporized. Dissolved into nothingness.
     So the real problem germinates in me. Can I forgive someone else's mistake? Or is it still hanging around me in a never-to-be-forgotten picture frame? Do I look at it longingly each morning? If so, I’m not forgiving. And that’s a problem. If God forgives me—and He does—I must forgive. I can’t hold something over someone else's head for another day. Even if it's that thing I think is the worst of all transgressions.
    Which brings me to this…if I’m not holding wrongs against anyone, including myself, why don’t I go ahead and forget it ever happened? Zap. No grudges. No pity parties. Gone.
    If I can do this—with God's love flowing through me—I am truly free. And then, there really are no regrets.
    Winter Cowan faces a forgiveness-dilemma in Winter's Past, a contemporary Christian novel about redemption and second chances. She thought she already forgave Ty, her ex-husband, ten years ago. But when he shows up at a conference where she's speaking, she must face two things—her past and the fact she hasn't really forgiven him.
    Whether or not they can ever reconcile, whether or not Ty deserves a second chance, Winter knows she must forgive him. To go on with her life, to pursue God's will, to experience peace, she must face the past, the hurts, everything. But...can she forgive?
    (Verse taken from Isaiah 43:25)
    Mary E Hanks loves to write stories about couples finding their way BACK to love. Winter's Past is the first book in her 2nd Chance Series.  When she's not writing novels, Mary is a playwright and youth-theater director. She's written nineteen full-stage plays and directed twenty-four. She finds joy in helping young people share their talents, and an added bonus is getting to see her words brought to life onstage. Mary and Jason have been married for 38 years, raised four children, and live in the country near Blanchard, Idaho.

    Visit Mary's website at  www.maryehanks.com
    "Like" her facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/MaryEHanksAuthor

    Find Winter's Past on