I ALWAYS WANTED TO WRITE MYSTERY STORIES ~ Patrick Craig ~ Giveaway

I Always Wanted to Write Mystery Stories

Guest post by

Patrick E. Craig

WITH A Giveaway. 

Scroll down for details.

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As an author, I am recognized for my Amish books—seven altogether and an anthology of Amish stories coming out in June. But Amish fiction is a kind of detour for me. I never intended to write Amish books—I wanted to write adventure stories and mysteries.

When I was about twelve, I discovered Betty Zane, by Zane Grey. I was enthralled with it and still have my original copy. Then I got my first Hardy Boys mystery, The Tower Treasure, written by the enigmatic Franklin W. Dixon. I remember going down to Dan Reeder’s, a great little fun store in my hometown of Walla Walla with my brother whenever a Hardy Boys book came in and adding it to our collection. I still have sixty-eight Hardy Boy books on my shelf, right next to my fifty Zane Grey books.

When I retired from ministry, I decided to write fiction. I knew I wanted to write mystery stories and adventure stories. One night I had a dream. In the dream my favorite Aunt, who had always been a fan of my writing and a great encourager, walked into my bedroom while I was in bed. She pointed her finger at me, looked at me with that oh-so-familiar knit brow and said two words—“You write!” The next morning, I was thinking about the dream and reading the paper. I turned to the want ads and an interesting ad caught my eye—“For Sale, Ghost Dancer Ranch.”

The whole idea for the story came to me in a flash, and in a moment I had the story and the title—The Mystery of Ghost Dancer Ranch.

I sat down that day to write it, and Franklin W. Dixon and Zane Grey began pouring out onto the page—mystery and adventure. I wrote the book in about two weeks. And as I wrote I discovered that it had all the elements of The Hardy Boys and Riders of The Purple Sage, with some Frank Peretti thrown in. Not long after my wife and I were vacationing on the Mendocino coast and the second book came—The Lost Coast. I started writing it at the little ranch in the woods where we were renting a cabin.

I used my two oldest granddaughters as the heroines—Jacie and Hannah, fondly know to us as Punkin and Boo, and the series was born—The Adventures of Punkin and Boo. That was in 2007. I tried to sell them, but had no luck. Then six Amish novels diverted me. I published the two books through a vanity press but that was like not publishing them at all. The Adventures of Punkin and Boo stories languished in a folder inside my computer for the next eleven years.

Then in 2019 I met Deb Ogle Haggerty, the owner of Elk Lake Publishing, on LinkedIn, and told her about my YA series. I sent her The Mystery of Ghost Dancer Ranch and The Lost Coast and by the end of the year The Adventures of Punkin and Boo had come back to life in the welcoming environs of Elk Lake. When ELP released Ghost Dancer Ranch, it hit #1 in Children’s Detective stories on Amazon, my first #1. Now the second book, The Lost Coast is ready to go and it will be out this month—then on to The Hidden Gate and the twenty-six other story ideas I have in The Adventures of Punkin and Boo series folder.

If you haven’t read The Mystery of Ghost Dancer Ranch, start there. Then read The Lost Coast. Both are available on Amazon. Someone asked Deb Haggerty what the age range was for the stories. She said, “Middle Grade, but I enjoyed them and I’m seventy-one.” I hope you enjoy them, too.

Patrick E. Craig is a traditionally published/independent author. In 2013, Harvest House Publishers published his Apple Creek Dreams series. His current series is The Paradise Chronicles and his own imprint, P&J Publishing, published the first book in the series, The Amish Heiress, in 2015. Heiress remained on the Amazon Top 100 best sellers list for seven months in two categories. The Amish Princess was released in 2016, enjoyed the same type of success, and will be followed by The Mennonite Queen in April, 2019. In 2017 Harlequin purchased the print rights for The Amish Heiress for their Walmart Amish series. It will be released under the Love Inspired imprint in April 2019. Recently Patrick obtained the rights to the Apple Creek Dreams series and re-released it through P&J Publishing. The series includes A Quilt For Jenna, The Road Home, and Jenny’s Choice. His latest romance release, The Journals of Jenny Hershberger, is a six book eBook anthology of all his Amish stories. All his books are available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iTunes, Kobo, and other major retailers.   Patrick and his wife, Judy, make their home in Idaho. Patrick is represented by the Steve Laube Agency.

  

Where can readers find Patrick 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

About the Giveaway:

Patrick is generously offering a signed, print copy of both The Mystery of Ghost Dancer Ranch, and The Lost Coast to one of my readers of this post. Wow, huh? TWO books for one entry! Be sure to leave your name and contact information in the comment section below with the initials of your state or province.

Giveaway runs for one week from today, ending on Thursday, March 26 at Midnight Central time.

PS: Want an extra chance to win? Become a 'follower of Whispers in Purple (see left sidebar) and you'll get a DOUBLE entry. 

"Kuwaiti Seeker" - Behind the Story - Jim Carroll - Giveaway

                               

 How Kuwaiti Seeker Happened

~ a 'Behind the Story' post by ,Jim Carroll,

PLUS giveaway. (Details below)

After halfway retirement, I decided to take up fiction writing, something I had long intended. Since I had more than forty years’ experience in scientific writing related to my medical research career, I thought: no problem. So I began to write some stories and even a novel related to my experiences in the Middle East. I took my work to a writers’ conference where everyone was polite and kind, but I got the message. The stuff really wasn’t any good.

But I did get a helpful suggestion. My wife and I had served as missionaries in Kuwait back in the late 80’s and early 90’s. While my wife was back in the US awaiting surgery for one of our seven children, I ended up trapped in the US Embassy in Kuwait when the Iraqis invaded in August 1990. Their suggestion, “That’s a great story. Why don’t you write about that?”

My time surrounded by a half million Iraqi troops was scary, and I didn’t know if I was getting out alive. In order to preserve a record for my family if I didn’t make it home, I kept a detailed journal. My wife, Shirley, did the same as she fretted back in Augusta, Georgia with seven children and no money. Faith in Crisis – How God Shows Up When You Need Him Most pretty much wrote itself.

But I still had to learn how to write fiction (still learning). Scientific writing is ‘telling.’ “The rats were sacrificed for scientific analysis.” I had to learn to ‘show.’ “As I approached the cage, the rat perked up his ears. The hair on his back stiffened straight up. When I opened the cage, he bared in his front teeth.” There’s little place for “showing” in scientific writing.

I don’t know why it was so hard for me to get difference between telling and showing. I’m still dense on it. But after lots of criticisms, Kuwaiti Seeker was born.

Why Kuwaiti Seeker? The Lord developed in us a love for the Kuwaiti people. The novel is a prayer for their conversion.

About the Book:

Yacoub, a young Kuwaiti, pursues truth in Islam. His search takes him to King’s College, London, where he abandons his traditional Islamic morals, and then to the University of Arizona for his PhD in the history of Islamic law. In his thesis, he confronts the Sunni hadiths, the words and deeds of the prophet Mohammed. Frustrated by his discoveries that many hadiths are not authentic, he continues as a Muslim, but one no longer grounded in his beliefs.

His PhD professor lures him into an affair and bears his child. Yacoub kills a child in an auto accident and avoids legal consequences through his family’s wealth.

Upon return to Kuwait to teach at Kuwait University, he marries Rabea, who becomes a Christian solely through her Bible reading. She can’t convince Yacoub. He proceeds with his shrewd lies as he cheats in currency trading and assists the Iraqis in obtaining nerve gas. He flees Kuwait and deserts his family during the Iraqi invasion.

But Rabea is still there waiting when he returns. See how God saves the reluctant Yacoub. See how much God cares for you.

About Jim:

Jim and his wife, Shirley, live in Augusta, Georgia. They have been married for 50+ years with eight children and fifteen grandchildren. Jim is a physician on the faculty at the Medical College of Georgia and an elder at First Presbyterian Church.

Jim and his family served as missionaries in Kuwait. He was held hostage in the US Embassy in Kuwait during the Iraq invasion. He has worked and traveled extensively in the Middle East.

Jim writes about the Middle East, the weakness of men and women, and the strength of God.

Social Media Contacts:

Amazon Author Page for book purchases: https://www.amazon.com/Jim-Carroll/e/B0724Z8B7S/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0

Email: jcarroll@augusta.edu

Website: http://www.allfaithsoil.com 

Facebook: Jim Carroll, Author@jimcarroll65

Twitter: Jim Carroll@JcarrollJames

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16581922.Jim_Carroll

Books by Jim:

Faith in Crisis – How God Shows Up When You Need Him Most

Diwaniya Stories

Kuwaiti Seeker

About the Giveaway:

Jim is offering to give away TWO paperback copies of Kuwaiti Seeker to two of my readers who leave a comment. Winner will be notified via email, so be sure to leave that information in your comment. Giveaway ends one week from today, July 3, 2018, at Midnight, CDT.

What To Write ♦ Story Background ♦ Terri Wangard ♦ Giveaway

What To Write?

A guest blog post by Terri Wangard

with a Giveaway (see below)

After eight years of thinking, breathing, researching B-17s for my Promise For Tomorrow series, I was ready to disembark and concentrate on something else. But what? I had a vague idea of three friends who joined the WAC, the WAVES, and the WASPs, but nothing crystalized. Except for the WAC.

I didn’t want to completely turn away from flying, and I prefer topics that aren’t commonly known. How about a grasshopper pilot? My second character was on board.

I had toyed with the idea of a family generational series. A World War II story paired with a World War I story. But no, too unwieldy.

The WAC could have a sister, though, who stayed on the home front and did factory work. Oh, dear. I couldn’t completely stay away from B-17s. She’s building them.

She also needs a husband. He’ll be in the navy, and not on an aircraft carrier. A destroyer! I studied the list of Pacific destroyers and, oooh, the Spence. All kinds of possibilities there.

So there I had it: a sailor, his Rosie-the-Riveter wife, her WAC sister, and a grasshopper pilot. They’re all doing their part to help win the war, but sometimes the enemy isn’t obvious.

While researching the Pacific War, I came across the story of the USS Tabberer, a destroyer escort. I loved it, but I couldn’t use it in Wheresoever They May Be. It had nothing to do with my sailor.

When the opportunity to contribute a short story for a historical Christmas collection came, I immediately thought of the Tabberer.

A destroyer escort is among the smallest of warships, but the Tabberer has the heart of a giant. A typhoon threatens the US Fleet in the Pacific during World War II, days before Christmas. The men of the Tabberer stand tall as they rush to the aid of their fellow sailors. For Seaman Jerry Collier, the typhoon prompts a greater awareness of what he wants in life. First, though, they have to survive.

About Terri: 

Terri Wangard grew up in Green Bay, Wisconsin, during the Lombardi Glory Years. Her first Girl Scout badge was the Writer. Holder of a bachelor’s degree in history and a master’s degree in library science, she keeps busy as an associate editor of Classic Boating Magazine, a family business since 1984.

Connect with Terri:www.terriwangard.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/AuthorTerriWangard
Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/terriwangard/  
Twitter: @TerriWangard

About the Giveaway:
Terri is offering a free Kindle version of The Hope of Christmas to one of this blog's readers. Entering is easy ... Just leave your name and email address (disguised) in the comment section below, and answer this question:

Do you like to read WWII Stories?

Giveaway ends on Thursday, December 28 ... one week from today, at Midnight O'clock, CST. Spread the word!