Featured Book "A Second Chance" and Interview With Author Alexis Goring

Hi, Alexis, welcome to Whispers in Purple. It’s a pleasure to have you here. So, lets settle in for a nice little ‘Getting to know you’ chat. Ready?

Alexis: Yes!

Peg: What five words best describe you?

Alexis: Sweet, Creative, Intelligent, Business-minded, and Organized

Peg: Describe your ‘typical’ day.

Alexis: God wakes me up (because it’s Him, not our alarm clock or loved one that gives us the breath of life every morning), spend devotional time with God (prayer, reading the Bible, listening to worship music, etc.), eat breakfast, catch up with blogging and my writing projects, exercise, eat lunch, do the laundry, do more writing and blogging, update my social media, spend time with family, maybe meet up with a friend, eat dinner, wind down with music or a movie/TV show then go to sleep! J

Peg: What authors have inspired or mentored you?

Alexis: Sophia A. Nelson inspires me as an author. Liz Tolsma mentors me.

Peg: What sparks your creativity when feeling drained?

Alexis: Music, movies and good food!

Peg: Fun question: If you’d been born into the animal kingdom instead of the human race, what animal would you be, and why?

Alexis: A deer because they’re graceful, lovely and elegant…but I’d rather would always have been a human not an animal! LOL

Peg: Okay, now let’s talk about A Second Chance, our featured book today. Tell us something about it and how you came to write it.

Alexis: A Second Chance is a standalone novella that was published this Jan. 2017 by Forget Me Not Romances. It’s about characters that are in need of a second chance in life and love. 

A few years ago, I thought it was a good idea to write about an inheritance letter with specific stipulations that would make it challenging for the heroine (who is the recipient of the letter) to claim the inheritance and use the money to free her from her financial burdens. 

I thought it would be great to add a swoon-worthy hero to the story, one who shares the heroine’s trust issues in relationships. 

Finally, I thought it would be great to give the hero a sister who is a bestselling romance novelist and wants to help him find and keep true love. 

This is a Christian story, so faith in God plays a steady role throughout the story. I think that readers will be inspired by the faith journey of my main characters.

Title: A Second Chance

          Publisher: Forget Me Not Romances, a division of Winged Publications

          Release date: January 25, 2017

          Genre: Contemporary Romance

          Purchase links: Amazon, Barnes and Noble

Back Cover Blurb / Synopsis:
Newly single food critic and newspaper reporter Traci Hightower is done with dating. After the man of her dreams left her at the altar on their wedding day and ran off with the woman she thought was her best friend, Traci resolves to focus on work and resigns herself to being a bachelorette for life. 

Marc Roberts is a political reporter who is known as Mr. Nice Guy, the one who always finishes last. However, Marc’s compassion and kindness are of invaluable help to his newly widowed sister Gina Braxton who is trying to raise her two kids in the wake of her firefighter husband’s death. 

Traci and Marc may be the perfect match, but they don’t know it yet. With God’s guidance and the help of Gina’s matchmaking skills honed by her career as a bestselling romance novelist, there is hope for a happily ever after for these two broken hearts.

         

Thank you so much for sharing your time with us, Alexis. Reading your responses to the interview questions has been interesting and fun.

You’re welcome, Peggy. Thanks for inviting me to be your guest!

  

I'd Love to See My Series on TV ♦ Nike Chillemi ♦ Giveaway

Image design by Peggy Blann Phifer

I'd Love To See My Series On TVby Nike Chillemi

Oh, yes, I'd be thrilled to have my series on TV. That's if they didn't water down the Christian inspirational message, and that's a big if. This would be my potential problem with any television producer in the market for taking a chance on an independent detective story writer.

I think, the problem for them wouldn't be that the story was dull, or lacked enough action scenes for television. There's plenty of action in my Veronica "Ronnie" Ingles/Dawson Hughes trilogy and even some grit. Television's problem with my stories would be the lack of salacious scenes and the lack of gratuitous scenes glorifying the underbelly of society. Those two seem to be the default setting for today's cable television series. That is one reason I watch so little TV, even the so-called excellent crime fiction dramas.

Actually, I did watch two such series. I won't name them. I stopped because eventually they each got so dark in outlook I could not stand to expose myself to them any longer. Of course detective series, by their very nature, deal with darkness as the cops pursue a killer. These otherwise excellent TV series began to glorify the darkness and wallow in the debased. That's when I had to use the "off" button on my remote.

Let me give you an introduction to my Veronica "Ronnie" Ingles/Dawson Hughes trilogy. Below are the thumbnail blurbs for each. And I'll be giving away a copy of the first in the series, HARMFUL INTENT. **Details below**

HARMFUL INTENT: Sweet, askance romance, warm intimacy, sophisticated themes presented tastefully. ~  Betrayal runs in private investigator Veronica "Ronnie" Ingels' family. 

So, why is she surprised when her husband of one year cheats on her? The real shock is his murder, with the local lawman pegging her as the prime suspect.

DEADLY DESIGNS: Fast paced detective story, with dry humor. Sweet, romance, warm intimacy, sophisticated themes presented tastefully.  ~  Private investigator Veronica "Ronnie" Ingels teams up with Deputy Dawson Hughes to find a geeky radio broadcaster's missing wife and young daughter. They fear the woman and child were taken by Islamic terrorists as revenge against the husband's pro-Israel, conspiracy theory broadcasts. The investigation takes Ronnie and Hughes from a manicured Connecticut estate, to interviews with an elitist A-List society crowd, and run-ins with cranky local police detectives. Then they plunge deep into the seamy, drug-riddled underbelly of the fashion world, with the specter of international terrorism hovering.

 

BLOOD SPEAKS: Taut and compelling detective story, with a clandestine twist. Dry humor. Sweet, romance, warm intimacy, sophisticated themes presented tastefully. ~ Veronica "Ronnie" Ingels, Brooklyn gal PI, waited a long time for the solitaire on her finger. When her sometimes boss, a shadowy figure and director of a secret government organization, offers a one-week bridal shopping vacay in Maryland she jumps at it. It doesn't take long for Ronnie and her bridesmaids to become targets of the killer. It goes without saying, Taylor County Deputy Sheriff, Lieutenant Dawson Hughes leaves Texas to protect his bride-to-be. He's joined by a conservative political activist and a Gabby Hayes look-alike who are bound to defend their bridesmaid lady loves.

Nike N. Chillemi has been called a crime fictionista due to her passion for crime fiction. She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) and is the founding board member of the Grace Awards, a reader's choice awards for excellence in Christian fiction. 

She was an Inspy Awards 2010 judge in the Suspense/Thriller/Mystery category and a judge in the 2011, 2012, 2013 Carol Awards in the suspense, mystery, and romantic suspense categories. She writes monthly book reviews for The Christian Pulse online magazine.

Her recent contemporary detective series (HARMFUL INTENT and DEADLY DESIGNS) has garnered acclaim and has been called: sassy, witty, gritty, charming, and yummy. 

Her historical suspense Sanctuary Point series brought on a crime wave that swept the south shore of Long Island during the 1940s (BURNING HEARTS, GOODBYE NOEL, PERILOUS SHADOWS, DARKEST HOUR) won acclaim and awards. 

Where to find Nike:

My Author Page on Amazon

Contact me on Facebook

Tweet Me

**Nike is looking forward to giving an ebook copy of HARMFUL INTENT to one blog reader who leaves a comment.

Entering is easy! Just leave a comment in the section below, along with your email (in case you win) and, to make things interesting, tell us why you'd like to win this book.

Giveaway ends Thursday, April 6, 2017, at Midnight O'clock, Central Daylight Time.

Featured Book♦With Each New Dawn♦Author Gail Kittleson

Whispers in Purple is thrilled to welcome author Gail Kittleson with some fascinating background information on her February release With Each New Dawn, a World War II historical women's fiction offering. 

      

   “Sometimes you have to stop thinking so much and just go where your heart takes you.” 

This unknown author quoted on my morning teabag certainly nailed it for those times when all our cerebral activities—worrying, planning, considering all that could go wrong, and then looking back after the fact to analyze—fail to work.

         The thing is, it takes so long to figure out their ineffectiveness, sometimes a lifetime. But war has a way of speeding up this process. Maybe that’s because life-and-death situations pass before our eyes, and if we survive, we realize that what really matters is relationships and moments.

         Relationships—loved ones back home, new friendships forged in the fury of conflict, and of course, the enemy. We don’t often think of having a relationship with the enemy, but considering the amount of time and energy devoted to destroying them, I’d say we do. In a backhanded way, that is.

         Moments—every single one of them are significant. If you’re immersed into scanning every corner for a Fedora-topped Gestapo agent, the importance of each second cannot be over-emphasized.

             With Each New Dawn has been through the mill! Writing this historical women’s fiction, the sequel to In Times Like These, has taken years, required a LOT of research, some drastic revisions, and sooooo much editing. But oh my—I have learned so much, and really LOVE this story!

It used to be titled A Purpose True, which is what the heroine, Kate, seeks. But With Each New Dawn fits her wild story perfectly—the kind of saga she must take only one day at a time, even though she’s an adventurous, inquisitive sort. 

If only she could learn more about her parents, who died when she was young. Not likely, since she’s in London during the Blitzkrieg…but that not likely becomes unexpected reality when she meets a mysterious Frenchman who says she’s the spitting image of her mother, whom he met in the Great War. He produces photos to prove his claim, and for the first time, she glimpses her father, who served as an Allied spy. 

            Kate thought she had plenty on her plate, grieving her Royal Air Force pilot husband’s death and facing motherhood alone. But little did she know that war hadn’t finished turning her world upside down. Her story will pull readers into the dangers of wartime London, and even further, into the suffering of simple French peasants.

            During such trials, we ask interminable questions. But we can also grow and deepen in our faith. Come along with Kate into an era of uncertainties and great peril, the era of our parents and grandparents, the Greatest Generation.   

About the book:

American Kate Isaac grieves her husband, awaits their child’s birth, and welcomes her best friend Addie to war-torn London. But after her miscarriage, a meeting with mysterious Monsieur le Blanc launches her into Britain’s Secret Operations Executive (SOE). In late 1943, Kate parachutes into Southern France to aid the Resistance.

Domingo, a grieving Basque mountain guide-turned-saboteur, meets her parachute drop, tends her injured ankle, and carries her to safety. Reunited a few months later, they discover the injured Monsieur le Blanc who, with his dying breath, reveals his familial connection to Kate.

In the shadow of Waffen SS atrocities, Domingo and Kate find his younger brother Gabirel missing. While Domingo seeks Gabirel, Domingo’s parish priest, Père Gaspard, creates a new identity for Kate.

Their connection remains as they go their separate ways. Of course, neither of them knows how deeply grief runs in the other, for neither realizes the great losses they have sustained. All they know is that this is their moment to make a difference, to contribute to the Allied victory and usher peace back into this beautiful countryside.

United once again, Kate and Domingo subject their mutual attraction to the cause. But can mere human will and moral courage change the war’s tide and forge a future for them?

Purchase Link: http://amzn.to/2nl1Dtp

About the Author:

Gail Kittleson taught college expository writing and English as a Second Language before writing women’s fiction—it took a loooong time to believe she could do this. She facilitates writing workshops and women’s retreats from northern Iowa, where she and her husband enjoy their grandchildren and gardening. In winter, the Arizona mountains provide new novel fodder, and she’s a proud member of Christian Writers of the West (CWOW) 

Connect with Gail:

http://www.gailkittleson.com/
www.facebook.com/GailKittlesonAuthor

http://amazon.com/author/gailkittleson

www.twitter.com/GailGkittleson @GailGkittleson

Writing Faith-based Fiction for Kids; Part II, Plus Extended Giveaway

Write Faith-Based Fiction for Kids

By Rachel LaMonica Pellegrino

Publisher and Managing Editor of Little Lamb Books

So, you read the post last Tuesday here http://bit.ly/2mmx2hG and you agree that we not only need faith-based fiction for children, but you feel called to write faith-based fiction for either elementary, middle grade, or young adult readers.

Now What?

Good question, and while there are many ways to move forward, it’s as simple as looking at your FAITH.

F is for Foundation:

Whatever genre or age group you choose to focus on, build your foundation by reading books in that style, researching other authors, and following the writing guidelines. The foundation of your picture book or chapter book should be the same as any other book like it. Don’t skimp on character development, don’t forget the arc of your plot, and don’t forget that all writing rules and directions apply. Incorporating faith in the form of your main character or within the storyline does not give you a license to do less…it requires you to do more. Make sure the bones of your manuscript are strong, just like the foundation of your spiritual walk should be.

A is for Author Platform:

As much as you want an agent or publisher to sign you and to validate your work, your job is NOT done once the manuscript is finished or has been selected. In fact, your job has just begun. How have you developed your author platform? Do you have a website? Do you have followers on any media accounts? Have you joined any organizations, like SCBWI or ACFW? Are you networking with other faith-based businesses and leaders? Are you involved in a non-profit? Do you have a home church? Are you a part of a writing group? These are just some of the questions that need to be answered, and that will have an impact as you develop your manuscript into a book and as your book becomes available to readers.

I is for Invest:

Invest time in the Word of God, in prayer, and in worship. It seems so simple, but if you choose to follow this calling of writing faith-based fiction, don’t just assume God will show up in your text and your illustrations. Invest time in a Bible study. Invest in memorizing scripture or Bible journaling. Invest your heart by spending time with God and asking Him to open doors, answer your questions, and provide where needed. You need to invest in your FAITH so that you can share it authentically in your stories. You also need to invest because the moment you begin to pursue this calling, there is an enemy roaming around searching for ways to cast doubt and create strife because he does not want you to reach our young people for Christ.

T is for Target:

Who is your target audience? Who are you writing for? Young readers learning Bible verses for the first time, or teens facing the challenges of being a light in our dark world? Who are you selling to? Sunday school teachers, youth pastors, parents, or grandparents? Know who will buy your book and read your book so you can purposefully target your audience and market to them effectively.

H is for Harvest:

For your faith-based manuscript to collect readers and reach others, you must plant the seed by submitting it to faith-based publishers. It is easy to look around and wonder if it would be better to water down the faith within your story so you can approach a secular company, but then you wouldn’t be fulfilling your purpose. My company, Little Lamb Books, is just one of many independent and traditional publishers looking for faith-based fiction manuscripts. Don’t allow doubt to stop you from moving forward. Don’t hesitate to research publishing companies and query them. Take the time to plant your faith-based manuscript with the right agent or publisher who is willing to lead you, pray with you, support you, and assist you with your audience, marketing, and sales, and you will reap the blessings of hard work, determination, and prayer.

I believe God is calling many writers to write faith-based fiction so that we can raise-up a generation that is strong in their beliefs, morals, and values. We need entertaining stories in creative settings led by interesting characters that our children can enjoy getting to know and learn from, as they grow in their FAITH day-by-day and book-by-book.

LAST WEEK'S GIVEAWAY HAS BEEN EXTENDED. Check it out at:  http://bit.ly/2mmx2hG You can still enter until Tuesday, April 4, Midnight, CDT.

For more information about writing in general or writing faith-based fiction for kids specifically, be sure to check out our blog at www.littlelambbooks.com/blog

Clash of the Titles presents four new springtime reads! 

Peruse the images, read the blurbs, 

then vote on your favorite in the survey. 

I know which one is my favorite.

Enjoy, dear readers!


~~~~~

He's a nature photographer returning to make amends, and she's a camera-shy naturalist seeking privacy. Their love for a boy brings them together, but the camera could drive them apart.

~ ~ ~

Lifestyle magazine editor Heather McAlister was in the wrong place at the wrong time, witnessing a crime that shakes the roots of the town’s power brokers and sends her life into a tailspin. Previously burned by love, Detective Kyle Taylor has spent his entire adult life protecting his hometown, but now he’s protecting a woman he’ll risk everything to save.

~ ~ ~

She’s ready to fly free of a life-long cocoon; he’s looking for anything but Raine. Can Paradise Pines find a miracle for two unwilling hearts?

~ ~ ~

When a homeless man rescues Glorilyn Neilson from violent assault, he's not the man he seems. What powerful secret keeps him on the streets?

VOTE BELOW!

If you have trouble viewing the entire survey Click Here to load a dedicated page to the survey. 

Book Blog Tour with Misty Beller

Whispers in Purple is pleased to be participating on a blog tour featuring author Misty M. Beller. Many thanks to Misty, and A Latte of Literature Blog Tour Services.

 ♦ Writing God’s Stories ♦

by Misty M. Beller

For a few years now, I've been amazed at the love God's instilled in me for writing novels. It's become my passion, where I can invest my energy and brainpower and every ounce of the creativity I never thought I had. Something I can work at, and be constantly learning. A place where I can strive for perfection.

But, through this process, God has made it abundantly clear to me that the writing is His. The words—whether they flow onto the page in harmonious magic, or whether I have to build each one from a desert of nothing.

The words are His.

What He chooses to do with them, whether they only plant a seed for one person, or whether they touch hundreds of lives. The difference these words make is His difference.

This may seem like a basic concept in the Christian life, but it continues to completely changing the way I approach not just writing, but every area of my life. My entire existence is to be a tool for God's work. That took me a while to wrap my mind around, but I now approach things with a new perspective.

Everything I do should point to Him.

We sing a song at church with the words, "I breathe in grace, I breathe out praise." And that's the concept I want to live out. God fills me up with his grace, so that I can pour out His praise in everything I do.

And as He chooses to bless this writing in some areas, and close the doors in other areas, it's not my choice. These are His stories, and He has a master plan to use them in ways I may never know.

So now, I'd love to hear from you! How has God used you as His tool? How have you seen Him work in ways you would never have imagined? Here's your chance to breathe out His praise!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Misty M. Beller writes Christian historical romance and is the author of the bestselling Mountain Dreams Series and the Texas Rancher Trilogy.

She was raised on a farm in South Carolina, so her Southern roots run deep. Growing up, her family was close, and they continue to keep that priority today. Her husband and daughters now add another dimension to her life, keeping her both grounded and crazy.

God has placed a desire in Misty's heart to combine her love for Christian fiction and the simpler ranch life, writing historical novels that display God's abundant love through the twists and turns in the lives of her characters.

Writing is a dream come true for Misty. Her family--both immediate and extended--is the foundation that holds her secure in that dream.

Author contact links:

Learn more at www.MistyMBeller.com.Misty loves to connect at her website, Facebook, Goodreads, Twitter, Bookbub, and Pinterest. 

ABOUT THE BOOK:

The Wyoming mountain country seems like the perfect place for Zeche Reid to find himself. When a blizzard sends him scrambling for cover, he stumbles upon a lady and her professor father holed up in a remote cabin. His protective instincts won't let him desert them to continue his travels, especially when the father’s haunting memories from the War of Succession put his daughter’s safety at risk. 

Fighting her own nightmares after the war, Greta Michelly is trying to settle into this rugged mountain land, but her bad memories are nothing compared to the demons that haunt her father. The haven they’ve found in these Rocky Mountains seems to be the solace he needs to find peace—until a mysterious sojourner appears on their cabin doorstep. She can’t help but be drawn to the wild aura that surrounds the man, but that strength seems to be that very thing that intensifies her father’s struggles. 

As Zeche is torn between his craving to protect Gretta and the awful realization that he’s the one putting her in more danger, he’s forced to make a difficult choice. But when a run-in with an elk changes his plans and Gretta is faced with a danger Zeche is powerless to control, Zeche has to find a way to protect her at any cost. Even at the cost of his heart.

Book links:

·       Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MQYOL58

·       Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-rocky-mountain-romance-misty-m-beller/1125377388?ean=2940154177594

·       iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/a-rocky-mountain-romance/id1189324980?mt=11

·       Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/a-rocky-mountain-romance

GIVEAWAY:

                                           

Enter to win Misty Beller’s readers-only gift basket! This book end chest is filled with sweet treats and coffee, perfect for reading time. The chest is filled with …

• Cashew Roca Toffee chocolates
• Chamberry Raspberry Truffles
• Chocolate Covered Almonds
• Java Bon Coffee Caramels
• 3 Assorted gourmet coffee's
• 2 Fudge Brownies
• $15 Barnes and Noble gift card

Click the image below to enter!

BLOG TOUR SCHEDULE:

March 21 – Peering Through Life’s Window

March 22 – Edits & Reviews by Leslie

March 23 – A Christian Writer’s World

March 24 – Whispers in Purple

March 25 – Labor Not in Vain

                                                      

Refined as Pure Gold, a Guest Post Devotional from author Patrick E. Craig

Refined as Pure Gold

By Patrick E. Craig +Patrick E. Craig - Author 

And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass. Revelation 21:21

A friend of mine who was a missionary once told me an interesting story. When he was in South Africa he visited a gold mine. There he was able to watch the process by which the miners extracted the gold from the ore that was dug from the earth.

First they crushed the gold-bearing rock into manageable chunks. Then they put it into a huge caldron where they began to heat it. When the ore melted, the impurities floated to the top and they were scooped off. Then the operator turned up the heat and more impurities floated to the top—again to be scooped off. This occurred over and over until the process of purification was completed.

Once the operator was finished my friend asked him how pure the gold was. The answer: "99.9% pure." Steve asked another question. Is that the purest it can get?" The operator answered, "Yes. 99.9% pure is the purest gold we can ever get in this world."

My friend asked one last question. "If it was 100% pure what would it look like?" "Oh," the man said, "it wouldn't be yellow anymore. The yellow color is the impurities that are left in the gold. No, 100% pure gold would be perfectly clear, like glass."

There are two things that come to mind here. First of all, when we look at gold in this present life, it is the wonderful, gleaming yellow color that captures us. That's why we call it "Gold". It's that lustrous golden color that has caused men throughout history to do anything to possess it. If we stumbled upon a trove of gold that was clear like glass we would probably pass it by even if it were right before us. And doesn't that reveal us for what we are—natural born sinners who are drawn to the impure things of this life while we often walk right by those things that are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, or of a good report?

The second thing that comes to mind is our future. When this life is over and we stand before the Lord, He will finish the refining process, the fiery trials as it were, that he began on the day we said yes to him. And when He finishes, all the impurities will be gone and we will stand transparent before him, as transparent as the golden streets of heaven, purest gold and clear like glass.

For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. Philippians 1:6

 Best-selling author Patrick E. Craig is a lifelong writer and musician who left a successful songwriting and performance career in the music industry to follow Christ in 1984. He spent the next 26 years as a worship leader, seminar speaker, and pastor. In 2011 he signed a three-book deal with Harvest House Publishers to publish his Apple Creek Dreams series. His current series is The Paradise Chronicles and the first two books in the series, The Amish Heiress and The Amish Princess, were published by P&J Publishing. Patrick and his wife Judy make their home in Idaho and are the parents of two adult children and have five grandchildren. Patrick is represented by the Steve Laube Agency.

Where can readers find me online?

www.patrickecraig.com  Webpage
https://www.facebook.com/PatrickECraig  Facebook

https://twitter.com/PatrickECraig  Twitter

Where can readers purchase my books?

http://tinyurl.com/n6sfagg Amazon

   

Patrick’s Newest Book - The Amish Princess—

Opahtuhwe, the White Deer, is the beautiful daughter of Wingenund, the most powerful chief of the Delaware tribe. She is revered by her people–a true Indian princess. Everything changes when the murderous Delaware renegade known as Scar brings three Amish prisoners to the Delaware camp. Jonathan and Joshua Hershberger are twin brothers that Scar has determined to adopt and teach the Indian way. The third prisoner is Jonas Hershberger, their father, who has been made a slave because he would not defend his family. White Deer is drawn to Jonathan but his hatred of the Indians makes him push her away. Joshua's gentle heart and steadfast refusal to abandon the Amish faith lead White Deer to a life-changing decision and rejection by her people. In the end, White Deer must choose between the ways of her people and her newfound faith. And complicating it all is her love for the man who can only hate her.