Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Are You On The Net? July Online Promotional Tips


My first column on online promotion is up today at -SORMAG's Blog.


Stop by and see what I have to share.

Sunday, July 25, 2010

CFBA: Stars In The Night by Cara Putman

This week, the


Christian Fiction Blog Alliance


is introducing


Stars In The Night
Summerside Press (July 1, 2010)


by
Cara Putman






ABOUT THE AUTHOR:



A Word From Cara:



I graduated from high school at sixteen, college at 20, and completed my law degree when I was 27.



My writing journey started in 2005 when I decided to write my first novel. Now I have eleven books published with more on the way.



People say I've accomplished a lot and that I must have life by the proverbial tail. Hardly! I grew up as a home schooled kid when home schoolers were misunderstood and oddities.



I struggle with balancing my writing and law career, plus being a good mom and wife.



I often fear people won't like my books.



I've walked through the deep pain of miscarriage.



Really, I'm just like you – I don't have it all together and have gone through tough times. But in His strength, I've discovered a strength I never knew I had. A strength I want you to discover, too.



In the end I'm just an ordinary mom who has seen God do some wonderful things as I've been obedient to step into the calling He's led me into.



Stars in the Night Background



Stars in the Night was an idea that had begun to percolate in my mind. I’d written two World War II series and was actively looking for my next setting. My husband, a huge World War II history buff, and I were kicking ideas around, and I’d decided Hollywood was probably the next place for me. I’d gone to the library and gotten a stack of research books when I got the call. An editor I knew but had never worked with wanted to know if I might be interested in a new line they were starting. As we talked, I got so excited. And then she emailed me their guidelines, which listed that Hollywood was a location they were interested in setting books.



Only God could have known ahead of time. But because I followed His prompting I was ready to run with an idea. Stars in the Night is the result.







ABOUT THE BOOK



Hollywood 1942. When attorney Audra Schaeffer's sister disappears, Audra flies to Hollywood to find her.



Any day Audra might have been flattered by the friendly overtures of Robert Garfield, a real-life movie star. But on the flight from Indianapolis to Hollywood, Audra can think of little else than finding her missing sister. When Audra arrives in the city of glitz and glamour, and stars, and learns her rising starlet sister has been murdered, all thoughts of romance fly away.



Determined to bring the killer to justice, Audra takes a job with the second Hollywood Victory Caravan.



Together with Robert Garfield and other stars, she crisscrosses the southern United States in a campaign to sell war bonds. When two other women are found dead on the train, Audra knows the deaths are tied to that of her sister.



Could the killer be the man with whom she's falling in love?



If you'd like to read an excerpt of Chapter 1 of Stars In The Night, go HERE.



Contest: Lots of opportunities to win and great prizes, and the grand prize contains some of Cara's favorite classic movies as well as all of her WWII novels: Launch Contest!

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Blog Tour: Shades of Morning by Marlo Schalesky


Shades of Morning by Marlo Schalesky

Marnie Wittier has life just where she wants it. Quiet. Peaceful. No drama. A long way away from her past. In the privacy of her home, she fills a box with slips of paper, scribbled with her regrets, sins, and sorrows. But that’s nobody else’s business. Her bookstore/coffee shop patrons, her employees, her friends from church—they all think she’s the very model of compassion and kindness.

Then Marnie’s past creeps into her present when her estranged sister dies and makes Marnie guardian of her fifteen-year-old son—a boy Marnie never knew existed. And when Emmit arrives, she discovers he has Down syndrome—and that she’s woefully unprepared to care for him. What’s worse, she has to deal with Taylor Cole, her sister’s attorney, a man Marnie once loved—and abandoned. As Emmit (and Taylor) work their way into her heart, Marnie begins to heal. But when pieces of her dismal past surface again, she must at last face the scripts of paper in her box, all the regrets and sorrows. Can she do it? Or will she run again?

Marlo Schalesky is the author of several books, including Beyond the Night and Empty Womb, Aching Heart. A graduate of Stanford University , Marlo also has a masters of theology with an emphasis in biblical studies from Fuller Theological Seminary. Married over twenty years, she lives with her husband, Bryan, and their five children in California

Thursday, July 08, 2010

I Am Not My Hair: PRODUCTS

I’m learning so much about natural hair while on the no perm journey. I’ve talked about coloring my hair to hide the gray and I continue to look for a color that doesn’t dry my hair out. If you know of one, please share.

I’ve found that when I color my hair I have a different grade of hair each time. The first time the hair was super hard and dry. The products I used to moisturize it didn’t help much. I found a gel that was perfect and it worked for three colors then decided it wouldn’t work either.

I don't care for the hard dry hair, so I’m always on the moisturizer search, trying new products. Trying new products is not a cheap thing. What I don’t like is buying something and finding out it was a waste of money. I do like the sample products because I’m not spending a ton of money for product if it doesn’t work.

I’ve tried Carol Daughters and I must say I like the product, however the price keeps me from reordering.

I’ve tried Ms. Jessie and Curlz they did nothing for my hair.

I’ve noticed that what works for you might not work for me, which makes it hard to try products because you don’t know what results you’ll get when you put it on your hair.

How is your natural hair journey going? Share your experiences.