Blog Giveaway!

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Christina Rich is featuring my writing on her blog at http://christinarich.wordpress.com/ for the next month.  She's doing a great job.  Please stop by and take a look--even comment for a giveaway!  :-)
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Giveaway!

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For the next three days (19-21 May), I'm joining several other authors in a Q&A "Get To Know The Author" giveaway on The Book Club Network.  A total of 82 books are up for grabs, including 3 copies of Katia, 3 vouchers for For Maria (to be sent as soon as it's released), and a set of "A Prophet's Tale."  Here's the link: http://www.bookfun.org/group/tbcnfeaturedauthors/forum/topics/may-2012

Have fun!  :-)
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Yahshua's Bridge, by Sandi Rog (DeWard Publishing)

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Best-selling author Robert Liparulo's opening endorsement, "Sandi Rog has done it again..." is spot on.  She really has.

Book Two in the "Iron and the Stone" series, and sequel to the award-winning The Master's Wall, Yahshua's Bridge follows our beloved characters, David and Alethea, as they experience the trials and the victories of the early Church.  This time, however, a previously supporting cast steps to center stage and transports us from Rome to Alexandria to the depths of desert-bound Egypt, and beyond.

Young Alexander has come into his own.  Tutored in the physical arts of the warrior and the spiritual disciplines of a believer by his mentor and de facto father, David, 'Zander' discovers himself and his surprising past--but that's not all.  He also discovers his future in the person of David and Alethea's daughter, Elianna.  Elianna's take on this?  Well, she's not so sure.

On her own journey of self-discovery, Elianna sheds the shackles of societal convention.  When Zander disappears, her persistent hope in his return to the fulfillment of his promise dwindles.  Meantime, David whisks her away from Rome in the charge of protectors on a journey from her enemies and from what he has become.  But he doesn't count on the Lord's intervention, as so few of us do.  Hold on for the ride, folks.  Oh, yeah.  It's dizzying.

Ms. Rog's in-depth research pairs wonderfully with her exceptional storytelling ability to yield a gripping 1st-century tale of betrayal and love, failure and faith.  You don't read about early Rome, you feel the paving stones beneath your sandals as you race with Elianna through the streets.  The wind-blown sands of the Egyptian heartland prick your face, and you blink in the intense rays of its blinding sun with Zander as he seeks his heritage.

Ultimately, the bittersweet conclusion will have you cheering and brushing the tear from your cheek at the same time.  Few authors can achieve that so fluidly.  Ms. Rog does.

Highly recommended for the historical-Biblical fiction enthusiast. You won't be sorry you took the ride.  Great read.
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Distant Thunder, by Ann Gaylia O'Barr (OakTara)

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A poignant story; intelligently written and thought provoking.

In Distant Thunder, Ms. O'Barr has melded a personal journey of searching and restoration with a candid, point-blank look at American culture and faith.  Okay, that's been done before.  A lot.  But what makes this book unique is the author's perspective on America through the eyes of Americans who have spent a considerable portion of their adult lives outside of America.  Herself a retired foreign service officer, Ms. O'Barr is eminently qualified to relate this tale through the lens of her characters' broadened experiences and observations.

But the story is much more than an examination of a nation.  No, there's a very personal rendering of a woman's search for meaning in the culture that has victimized her.  The woman?  Brooke Rohmer, who is a middle-aged divorcee facing an empty nest as her son prepares to enlist in the US Army.  Stuck in a dead-end job and anticipating the prospect of a personal life as mundane as her work life, Brooke books passage on a train from Georgia to Seattle to visit her aunt.  Just to get away.  And to think.

Neal Hudson, a foreign service consular officer, has just lost his wife and his best friend in separate automobile accidents in Beirut.  Reeling from shock of the double loss, and guilt-ridden at the way he and his wife parted that fateful day, he, too, opts for a train ride to his island retreat on Puget Sound's San Juan Island.  His greatest shock, though, is when he finally brings himself to read her death certificate.

Needless to tell you, Brooke and Neal encounter one another. In the company of two other State Department employees, Ethan and Kaitlin Coverwood, who also happen to be on the train, Neal and Brooke develop a faltering relationship, each afraid of letting the other in too far, understand each other too much, empathize with each other too deeply.  The foursome's discussions and blossoming friendship mirror the train's journey through the heartland of America, across the northern climes, and finally into the Pacific Northwest.

You'll learn a great deal about their perspectives--even what the Foreign Service is like--through their conversations that range from the personal to the professional--but always the profound.

Kudos to Ms. O'Barr for artfully interweaving her theme with her story, never allowing the former to obscure the latter, but delivering the pathos of each in a subtle and honest way.  Precise prose, a piquing underlying wit, and a solid grasp of her topic, the author is a pleasure to read.

Highly recommended for the thoughtul reader.
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Martyr, by E.G. Lewis (Cape Arago Press)

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The organism of a literary series owns a curious personality.  One may birth well, but struggle to keep its pace, its conclusion hinting that author was relieved when it finally ended.  Another begins a little off-balance, perhaps from too much anticipation of its conclusion, but matures from volume to volume until it ends with so strong a finale, you sense the author wished it hadn't--and the reader empathizes.  Others begin to languish soon after the beginning, dragging on from volume to seemingly endless volume until you give up and set it aside before you even find out what the conclusion might have been.  Mr. Lewis' Biblical-fiction series, "The Seeds of Christianity," displays a unique personality as well: a solid start with Witness, acceleration and anticipation through Disciple and Apostle, finally a heart-wrenchingly poignant finale with Martyr.  Just what you want from a series.

Mr. Lewis has novelized the founding and early growth of the 1st-Century Church with an excellent blend of meticulously researched fact, and well-written, imaginative fiction.  Remaining true to the Scriptural account, we experience with Rivka and Shemu'el the Incarnation, Crucifixion and Resurrection, then travel with them to Antioch and finally Rome with Peter, Paul, Mark, Barnabas.  Mr. Lewis provides us with fascinating renderings of the early church fathers, but he delivers the real joy  through a solid supporting cast of fictional characters whose lives reflect the uncertainties, frailties, victories, and failures of our own--those to whom we can relate when the historical heroes of the faith seem so much bigger than life.

Martyr presents a very satisfying conclusion to the series, tempering the poignancy and sadness implied by the title with the certainty of hope we have not only through the arc of the story, but the knowledge of church history.  Vividly portrayed, deeply instructive, emotionally satisfying; there is much to commend the entire series.  It's a journey that will change you--for the better.

Martyr is available in Kindle version through Amazon.com, but also in softcopy directly from Cape Arago Press.
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Legacy Road, by Graham Garrison (Kregel)

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Fine book; really good story.

Mr. Garrison has crafted a tale well worthy of its prequel, Hero’s Tribute, in depth and thought-provoking poignancy.

Set near Athens, Georgia, Legacy Road follows Wes Watkins, the sportswriter who had delivered the eulogy of hometown hero Michael Gavin in Hero’s Tribute.  Now a freelance writer, Wes is on an even keel and doing well—until the end of the first chapter.  His world begins to crumble with an disrupted attempt to propose marriage to Emmy, an ER nurse soon due to deploy to Afghanistan, and her awkward rebuff of that proposal.  Close on the heels of this jolt is the forced reappearance in his life of his wayward father, his mother’s suddenly deteriorating health, and the pressures of an overly demanding professor supervising Wes’ post-graduate studies.  All of these stresses combine to shake Wes’ personal world and his young faith.

Legacy Road examines the issues of forgiveness and trust with brutal, yet compassionate, honesty.  Set against the backdrop of the Civil War, part of his post-graduate studies, Wes’ own journey is mirrored through letters his father had sent him from prison, some of which he’d never read, and letters preserved from an ancestor who fought for the South in the very campaigns his course work focuses upon.  These thrust upon him decisions regarding that forgiveness and trust that he finds himself ill prepared to face.

If you’re looking for a novel filled with jeeps blowing up and grisly murder scenes, skip this one.  However, if you dare look past the sensational into an evenly written, thoughtful reflection of human fallibility, and how interpersonal relationships suffer but can recover from it, Legacy Road is a sure bet.

Happily, Kregel Publishers sent me this copy of Legacy Road free of charge to review.  I was planning to purchase it anyway.  J
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For Maria, by Bruce Judisch (OakTara)

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Shameful, isn't it? Two entries in a row of the same thing. Well, not quite the same thing.

Look what I got from my publisher today! The cover design for For Maria. So far, we're still on track for a May release date. Lots to do betwixt now and then, so please pray for me.

I'll keep you posted!
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