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Monthly Archives: July 2011

Pursued

08 Friday Jul 2011

Posted by Kara Hunt in Interviews

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Amanda Blake, Arts, Gunsmoke, James Arness, Matt Dillon, Pursued, United States, Writer

Good morning Lillian and thank you for joining us today at Fiction with Faith. First, lets start off by telling the readers where you are from.

I’m from a small town in Ohio. We’re located about half-way between Columbus and Cleveland. When I say small I mean small. There’s one traffic light. I love living in a town where I know the names of the people I see on a regular basis, like the store owner, the librarians, and the pharmacist. And in fact it’s one of the themes in Pursued.

How long have you been writing and did you ever feel like giving up?

I started writing 16 years ago when I was 40. Yikes, that makes me so…never mind. And absolutely, I wanted to give up many, many times. And in fact, I did give up many times but I always started up again.

I don’t know any writer who hasn’t felt that way. The uncertainty of becoming a published writer can be frustrating and overwhelming at times to say the least. But if being a writer is your dream, you have to keep writing and waiting…and waiting…and…..

Writing and waiting some more. I don’t think there ‘s a writer out there that doesn’t get weary of the waiting process. But obviously patience has its benefits as your latest novel, Pursued is about to be released. Tell us more about this exciting story.

PURSUED  is a story near and dear to my heart. I wanted to write a story that showed some of the differences between “big-city” and “small-town” living, but in the end those differences are only superficial.  The important thing is a person’s character not where they live or what they do for a job.

How did you come up with your title-Pursued?

The original title was Just An Old Country Boy but that didn’t sound very suspenseful so I changed it to Pursued. In the story, Reggie is being pursued by an unknown killer, by the hero, and by God, so it made sense to me as a title.

Is there a message in your novel?

One of the messages I want people to get is to be open to learning from, developing relationships, and loving people who are different from ourselves. God made us different for a reason. And one of the reasons is it makes life a lot more interesting and fun!

I am, of course, a bookworm and my husband is an outdoorsy sort of man who likes to fish and garden and do other things that gets his hands dirty. In many ways, we are very opposite of each other, but together we have a wonderful and fun marriage.

Tell us about your hero and heroine?

My hero, Dylan, is a good old boy with a heart of gold who just wants to make life better for everyone around him. He’s sweet and kind, but in a very manly way!  Reggie can be a little difficult at times, but she has her reasons. You have to admire her for all she’s overcome in her life.

What makes this book special to you?

This book is about friendship. The kind of friendship where you put your life on hold to help someone in trouble.  And that’s what Jesus was talking about when He told us to love our neighbors–and our enemies. And since this book was about friendships, many of the secondary characters in the book were named after friends who were important to me in one way or another but died much too young.

Did you learn anything from writing this book?

I actually learned a lot from this book. It was the first book I had critiqued with the large critique group from ACFW (American Christian Fiction Writers). Critiquing is a very humbling process. In the beginning of the critiquing process, I thought the others didn’t know what they were talking about. By the middle, I thought I should give up writing forever. By the end, I knew I was a much better writer than I’d been at the beginning. And the proof is that this became my debut novel with a traditional publisher.

Is there anything you find particularly challenging about writing?

I hate thinking up names for my characters.  I once wrote a manuscript and as I was editing it, I realized I had used the name of the characters and actors from the old TV series Gunsmoke. I had Miss Kitty, Matt Dillon, Amanda Blake, and James Arness. But no Festus!

What makes this book a must read and why?

If you love suspense or romance, then this is the book for you. The suspense plot will keep you reading past your bedtime and the romance will make you say “aaahhh.”

What is your next project?

I have another book coming out in the fall, DECEPTION. It’s full of intrique and action. Along with that I’m working on three other manuscripts in varying stages that will hopefully become books in the future including a sequel to PURSUED.

How may our readers contact you?

My website is:  www.lillianduncan.net

Thanks for taking time to spend with us today Lillian. Blessings on your upcoming release!

Night of the Cossack

06 Wednesday Jul 2011

Posted by Kara Hunt in News & Updates

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Amazon.com, Cossack, Join Nathan, Nathan Hertzfield, Russia, Tom, Tom Blubaugh, United States

Tom Blubaugh’s debut novel is enjoyable and a quick read. Tom’s grandfather died before Tom was born. The story comes from Tom wondering about his grandfather’s life. No one knew much about it, so Tom was left to come up with his own version. The result is a story that very well may be true. The main character, Nathan Hertzfield, faces many life or death situations after he is forced into the Cossack army. He is coerced into taking up a Russian identity and leaving his Jewish identity in the rubble of his former village.  Join Nathan on his suspenseful journey through parts of Russia and Europe during the early 1900′s.

eBook for Kindle available at Amazon.com. Be sure to like his page and do a review when you finish.

Night of the Cossack Facebook page. Be sure to like his page while you’re there please.

Visit Tom’s Blog. Be sure to sign up as a follower.

The Edge of Grace

05 Tuesday Jul 2011

Posted by Kara Hunt in Interviews

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Arts, Christa Allan, Christian novel, Edge of Grace, Fiction, gay, God, homosexuality, Romance novel, Sibling

This morning we bring you Christa Allan, author of “Edge of Grace”. Below Christa describes in her own words the reasons behind her writing this timely and inspiring novel.

The Edge of Grace, which just released, grew out of my own struggles when my brother told me he was gay. At a writer’s retreat several years ago, I shared the first few chapters not knowing what sort of response to expect. From the first page, there’s no doubt that the subject of the novel is a woman finding out about her gay brother. And, as part of the tagline I use, that’s definitely not your usual Christian fiction. Their response was overwhelmingly encouraging  and, to a person, every writer there had either a gay sibling or relative or co-worker. Obviously, I wasn’t the only Christian who had struggled with this issue.

When I started writing for publication, my first idea was a romance novel.  Girl meets boy, they hate each other, then they like each other. Five pages in, and I was done. My husband suggested I write a mystery. I couldn’t even figure out who the killer was, so surely that wasn’t going to work either.  The notion to write about a woman alcoholic emerged after sharing with a co-worker that I’ve been a recovering alcoholic for over twenty years.  Her surprise that an average teacher-mommy-wife who led an otherwise average life was ever an alcoholic was my epiphany. In Walking on Broken Glass, the woman’s experiences as a drinker and in rehab, are loosely based on my own.

I never intended to write about issues. They found me first.  And when I first discovered Christian fiction, I wanted, needed, characters with whom I could identify.  Sure, I found some novels with characters that were alcoholics, or gay, or parents of special-needs children. But, generally, they weren’t the protagonists or their situations didn’t mirror life as I saw it.

What I hope readers will take away from both of my novels is that we never know, just by looking at people. what’s going on in their lives.  So many people look so bright-faced happy and pretty on the outside that we’re duped into believing they lead charmed lives.  Like those families in the picture frames sold in stores (who ARE those people, by the way?!). But turn those pictures over, and what’s there…nothing.   That’s not the life God planned for us. He wants our lives to be framed by His love. We are called to compassion, and to consider that all those “pretty people” might just be waiting for someone to take them out of their frames.

A true Southern woman who knows that any cook worth her gumbo always starts with a roux and who never wears white after Labor Day, Christa Allan’s novel Edge of Grace will release in August. Her debut women’s fiction, Walking on Broken Glass, was published by Abingdon Press in 2010. Her next three novels are scheduled for 2013 and 2014.

Christa is the mother of five, a grandmother of three, and a teacher of high school English. She and her husband Ken live in Abita Springs.

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