Showing posts with label Julie Arduini. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Julie Arduini. Show all posts

Wednesday, September 23, 2020

YOU'RE BRILLIANT ~ Julie Arduini ~ Co-author Interview

It's "What's New Wednesday" and Whispers in Purple welcomes author Julie Arduini with her newest release in a unique interview.


You’re Brilliant: Interview with Mother-Daughter Authors Julie Arduini & Hannah Arduini

 Julie Arduini is an inspy romance author who uses Upstate NY settings, surrender issues, and a chocolate mention in her books. A couple years ago her daughter completed middle school with extra challenges. As they processed the experience, Hannah began explaining how she wished she could help encourage other girls before they go through similar things. Hannah processed it by storytelling, and Julie realized there was a worthy story. She encouraged Hannah to continue the story, and Julie would make sure it was published. Hannah plotted a three-book series called Surrendering Stinkin’ Thinkin’. You’re Brilliant, the final book in the series, is now available on Amazon. 

What’s You’re Brilliant About?

Hannah: It’s realizing that even if you’re weird or you don’t think you/re good enough, you are.

Julie: It uses a mentoring ministry to weave a story between girls in high school and a pastor’s wife in a new environment. The girls and the women are all in different ways struggling with believing the lie they’re failures and incompetent. The series is Surrendering Stinkin’ Thinkin’. 

Do you have a favorite character in You’re Brilliant?

Hannah: No. I love them all.

Julie: I feel the same as Hannah. I can relate to Cheri. Even as an adult I struggle with insecurity, especially when I try something new. However, I love Bethany. She’s got spunk and a sense of justice. KJ was a new character and she’s important. She appears to have everything going for her but she’s in a bad situation. We created her to show anyone can enter an issue like that, and it is not their fault.

What do you hope readers take away from You’re Brilliant?

Hannah: I hope with all the books that readers would know deep down they have value.

Julie: So many things. I want readers to know they are deeply loved and highly valued by our Heavenly Father, no matter who they are or what they’ve done. I hope they find a support system much like Linked, a trusted group of friends and mentors who can pray, laugh, and help them. And I really hope in KJ’s story, if any girl/woman is experiencing abuse, even verbal, that they seek help and leave the relationship without blaming themselves. 

What’s next for you? Will you keep writing?

Hannah: I might. Maybe.

Julie: Hannah has what it takes if she wants to keep writing. As for me, I’m back writing clean/contemporary romance with a new series called Surrendering Hearts. The premise surrounds sextuplets who remain in the national spotlight after a tragedy. Each book features a sibling and their quest to find a love as strong as what their parents had. The first is Anchored Hearts. Jordyn Bell Hart is the oldest sibling and dotes on everyone and everything with care and control. Spencer Collins thought his life after college would be full of family and opportunity. When WFRN creates a local morning show and taps Jordyn and Spencer to co-anchor, can these two surrender their need for control?

 


From the Back Cover:

Amazing things happen when a group of high school students and women discover they are more than competent.

Bethany’s not excited to start high school in a new community where she doesn’t know anyone. She quickly befriends KJ, a popular sophomore, and it looks like the transition will go well until Bethany discovers KJ’s boyfriend is a bully. With a strong sense of justice, Bethany challenges Brent Sullivan, and he’s determined to make her suffer.

Cheri takes on an additional job in a school to help pay for Sabrina’s wedding. It’s a different atmosphere than at the church where she feels more comfortable as the pastor’s wife and mentor with the Linked ministry. After several mishaps, Cheri feels like she’s found an assignment where she can make a difference until a teacher belittles her work.

Can Bethany and Cheri resist the lies about their competency and hold on to the fact they’re brilliant?

The final book in the Surrendering Stinkin’ Thinkin’ series for tweens, teens, and women of all ages by mother and daughter authors Julie Arduini and Hannah Arduini.

 Purchase Links:

You’re Brilliant: YA/Women’s Fiction. Free on Kindle Unlimited

You’re Brilliant: https://www.amazon.com/Youre-Brilliant-Surrendering-Stinkin-Thinkin-ebook/dp/B0874Y5B4C

You’re Brilliant, softcover: https://www.amazon.com/Youre-Brilliant-Surrendering-Stinkin-Thinkin/dp/1733687637

 


About Julie:

Julie Arduini loves to encourage readers to find freedom in Christ by surrendering the good, the bad, and ---maybe one day---the chocolate. She’s the author of the contemporary romance series SURRENDERING TIME, (Entrusted, Entangled, Engaged,) as well as the stand-alone novellas, MATCH MADE IN HEAVEN and RESTORING CHRISTMAS. She also shares her story in the infertility devotional, A WALK IN THE VALLEY. Her other latest release, YOU’RE BRILLIANT, is for girls ages 10-100, written with her teenaged daughter, Hannah, and is book 3 in their SURRENDERING STINKIN’ THINKIN’ series. She blogs every other Wednesday for Christians Read, as well as monthly with Inspy Romance. She resides in Ohio with her husband and two children. Learn more by visiting her at http://juliearduini.com, where she invites readers to opt in to her content full of resources and giveaway opportunities. 

 

 

 

 

 


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Thursday, July 30, 2020

MATCH MADE IN HEAVEN ~ Julie Arduini ~ Giveaway

Job’s Wife & Me

Job's Wife and Me

A Throwback Thursday post from Julie Arduini

             When I decided to update the first Christian romance novella I wrote, Match Made in Heaven, I wanted to add a surrender issue readers could relate to. The heroine, Beth Prescott, has congenital hypothyroidism, the same endocrine diagnosis our daughter has.

             Through the years, our daughter has not only struggled with weight gain and exhaustion. She’s needed consistent lab works that have always been difficult draws. We also learned with hypothyroidism is Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. Then for us, another diagnosis, the rare disorder called Albrights Hereditary Osteodystrophy. In our situation her bones fused and her height maxxed out at 4’9”. There are certain aspects of puberty that are delayed, and there isn’t a lot of information on Albrights patients her age to know what to expect.

             After a while, I was angry. Mad enough I started pointing fingers. At God. Like Job’s wife, I couldn’t see anything in her situation to be thankful about. “His wife said to him, ‘Are you still maintaining your integrity? Curse God and die!’” (Job 2:9). I looked at our daughter’s friends surpassing her in height and cried hot, hurt tears. If God is such a good Father, why was He allowing this?

             It took time for me to heal and transform from Job’s wife thinking of cursing God and Job, who blessed the name of the Lord even when He gave and took away. The biggest thing I had to do was lament. Thanks to the book No More Faking Fine by Esther Fleece, I realized I had to let my real feelings out. I was mad. I didn’t understand. But I couldn’t stuff it. I let God know everything He knew anyway. Then I let Him have it all. Surrendered the pain and questions and chose to trust Him with her and her health.

             I’ve had to lament quite a bit since then with big stuff, and small irritations. I realized when revising Match Made in Heaven that Beth’s health and her reaction could be something readers could relate to. She grew up noticing she wasn’t exactly like her peers, and she resented it. Her family were barely church goers to begin with, so it was an easy slide to fault God. When Dean Kellerman enters her life, he’s trusting God with every single thing because he knows too well what it’s like to live without Christ in his life. Writing Match Made in Heaven was a blessing and a challenge, and I believe readers will find their own healing and peace with Jesus as they relate to the story.

             Have you ever blamed God, or do you need to? Please leave a comment below and I will randomly choose one USA winner to win a signed softcover copy of Match Made in Heaven.

Match Made in Heaven:

She’s afraid to mess up. He already has.

Beth Prescott wants to make a difference with the senior citizens she serves as a volunteer coordinator, but their matchmaking efforts leave her guarded. She’s experienced too much pain to make that leap again.

Dean Kellerman returns to the Finger Lakes area to help his grandfather and heal his own broken heart. He’s recommitted his life to Christ and doesn’t want any distractions.

When his grandfather needs assistance with a senior program, it places Dean right in Beth’s path. Can these two surrender their pasts to Christ and have faith in each other and their future?

About Julie:

Julie Arduini loves to encourage readers to find freedom in Christ by surrendering the good, the bad, and ---maybe one day---the chocolate. She’s the author of the contemporary romance series SURRENDERING TIME, (Entrusted, Entangled, Engaged,) as well as the stand-alone novellas, MATCH MADE IN HEAVEN and RESTORING CHRISTMAS. She also shares her story in the infertility devotional, A WALK IN THE VALLEY. Her other latest release, YOU’RE BRILLIANT, is for girls ages 10-100, written with her teenaged daughter, Hannah, and is book 3 in their SURRENDERING STINKIN’ THINKIN’ series. She blogs every other Wednesday for Christians Read, as well as monthly with Inspy Romance. She resides in Ohio with her husband and two children. Learn more by visiting her at http://juliearduini.com, where she invites readers to opt in to her content full of resources and giveaway opportunities.

 About the Giveaway:

 As stated above, Julie is giving away a signed copy of Match Made in Heaven to one USA reader of today's post who leaves a comment below, including your name AND contact information. Otherwise we have no way to let you know if you're the winner. Make sense?

This giveaway will run for one week from today, ending on Thursday, August 6, 2020, at MIDNIGHT, Central time.

 


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Wednesday, December 4, 2019

What Inspired Julie Arduini to Write Restoring Christmas


Two Christmas Places That Inspired Restoring Christmas

by



Julie Arduini

Last year I was honored to participate in the boxed set A Christmas to Remember with my novella, Restoring Christmas. The idea first came to me after I visited Castle Noel in Medina, Ohio. The tourist attraction features Christmas movie props in a guided tour that starts with the RV from Christmas Vacation. It ends with everyone going down the slide where Ralphie asks Santa for the Red Ryder BB gun. There was a room with over ten thousand ornaments hung from the ceiling and a “chimney” where guests see how easy it is for Santa. I left there completely in a Christmas mood and even wondered how I could write such a place into a romance. My first question was, what if someone worked at a place like that and hated Christmas?

Castle Noel wasn’t the only place that inspired me. Growing up, our family used to visit The Christmas House in Elmira, NY. Filled with decorations in a Victorian home, I remembered the porch as guests entered. However, in Restoring Christmas, the porch is where Holly Christmas realizes how long she’s been away.

I’m a visual person, so having Castle Noel and The Christmas House as references really helped me write. When I wasn’t feeling very Christmas-y, I’d visit the websites and looked at the pictures.

If you aren’t able to check out Castle Noel in person, you should visit the website. The same for The Christmas House. They will help you get in the Christmas mood.

And of course, grab a copy of Restoring Christmas!



Holly Christmas left Geneseo Valley and her family’s holiday tourist attraction, The Christmas Mansion, as soon as she graduated.  Now both her parents have passed, and Holly returns when her uncle needs her help running the mansion. On Holly’s first day back, a blunt middle-schooler proclaims Holly hates Christmas. His comment forces her to reconcile the past while planning for the mansion’s future.

Kevin Holt is invested in offering hope to students with challenges. His best friend’s son is in Kevin’s class, and Nathan needs guidance. Their community project placement at The Christmas Mansion is an opportunity to make a positive difference. When Nathan blurts out his thoughts to the beautiful co-owner, Kevin wonders if he has what it takes to help restore the mansion to its former glory, mentor Nathan, and convince Holly Christmas she’s exactly where she needs to be.

Purchase Restoring Christmas eBook:
https://www.amazon.com/Restoring-Christmas-Novella-Julie-Arduini-ebook/dp/B07ZDHX954

Purchase Restoring Christmas Softcover:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1733687629


To learn more about Julie and her books, visit her website at http://juliearduini.com/


Julie Arduini

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Thursday, October 3, 2019

Julie Arduini ~ Entangled ~ Timeless Thursday


ENTANGLED





Julie Arduini

            I was about two-thirds done revising my first Adirondack romance, Entrusted. The heroine, Jenna Anderson, was a strong character with a great surrender message to tell about trusting God with fears about change and wanting to belong. Helping Jenna was her new best friend, Sheriff Carla Rowling.
            The more Jenna and Carla hung out, the more I realized Carla was someone I wanted to know better. As I gave her a secondary story within Entrusted as a single mom who loved to “do hair” as a hobby, I had fun with her. At the time I was trying to finish the first story and wasn’t thinking long term. If I needed to create a series, I figured I’d use the “bad girl” from Entrusted, Trish Maxwell, as a lead in another story. I never dreamed Carla would get her own.
            I revised Entrusted so much from what the first draft was that I ended up re writing the ending. I had no idea how I was going to wrap up some loose ends when it came to Jenna, Ben, and the Speculator Falls senior center. I was praying, and I have a team of ladies that pray for me. One writing session at the laptop not only did all the loose ends come together, it gave Carla her own story. I was floored.
            Entangled was my hardest book to write. I was a new indie author re-releasing Entrusted and releasing Entangled at the same time. Our son graduated from high school and our other son got married in the same time frame, out of state. It was stressful. On the writing front, I couldn’t relate to Carla. She was a single mom. She wasn’t honest. But the reader feedback to this day remains strong. Readers can relate to Carla. Guilt, shame and regret are things that hold us back. Through surrender in Christ, we can find freedom.
            In Entangled, Carla’s been given her dream to leave her job as sheriff and attend cosmetology school. The gift is so overwhelming that she struggles with feeling unworthy, especially since she still feels guilty for becoming a mom as a teenager. When Wayne Peterson re-enters her and their son Noah’s life, Carla creates some tangles between her and her steadfast boyfriend, the flannel-wearing, truck driver Will Marshall. Can Carla release her past and create a future full of highlights, or, will she burn her options worse than a bad perm?
            I love that when I couldn’t see beyond the page God dropped an entire character’s history and transformational story into my laptop as I tried to finish my first novel. I hope everyone enjoys Carla’s story as much as I do.

ENTANGLED
Entangled: Surrendering the Past
Book #2, Surrendering Time Series
Julie Arduini
 “You need to leave me alone. It’s the least you can do.”

Carla Rowling has been given her dream of attending cosmetology school. The gift is so generous she feels unworthy because of choices she made as a teen. The pressure mounts as Carla juggles school, is a single mom, helps her best friend Jenna plan her wedding, spends time with boyfriend Will Marshall, and deals with the fact that her son's father is back in their lives.

Will Marshall is the one Speculator Falls resident everyone can count on. His truck deliveries are reliable. He's the first to help friends like Ben Regan with boat work or be a card partner with Bart Davis. Will's ready to settle down with Carla, loving her is natural. He's bonded with her son, Noah. But when Carla starts cosmetology school, she puts emotional distance between her and Will.

Can Carla release her past and create a future full of highlights, or, will she burn her options worse than a bad perm?

Purchase Link:
Amazon (Kindle and Print):  http://www.amazon.com/Entangled-Surrendering-Past-Time/dp/0692713476/


ENTANGLED EXCERPT: Julie Arduini

Chapter One
A twenty-minute run. That’s all I need. Just enough time to feel free.
Instead, the Hamilton County DA places a neon green gift bag in my hand. He then looks to the crowd. “Just forty-eight hours and our very own Carla Rowling will go from handcuffs to haircuts.”
The Piseco Inn meeting room is wall-to-wall people. My fellow law enforcement, paramedic, and fire and rescue colleagues hand me gifts and joke at the idea of me leaving for beauty school.
I paste on a smile as I lift a pair of black running shoes with hot pink trim from layers of tissue paper, but my focus is on my breathing. Steady and even. Like when I’m running.
“From squad car to standing all day. What a switch.” Fred Beebe, retired bank president, grins.
I stand and balance my arm on Joanie, the county dispatcher, as I slip off the three-inch heels I borrowed from my best friend Jenna and try on the comfy shoes.
“Hey, Carla! Will you wear those as you run with scissors to chase perps out of your hair salon?” Jack Hunt, my replacement, snorts from laughing too hard.
“Do they fit?” Joanie looks to the empty box on the floor where wrapping paper and ribbon litter the area.
I nod, let go, and sit. “They’re so comfortable I’m going to wear them for the rest of my party.” And as soon as I can, break these sneakers in. There's nothing like the feel of new running shoes, and no better time to use them than when the walls feel like they’re closing in.
Will Marshall, my truck-driving boyfriend of less than a year, adjusts his bright orange hunting cap and places his hand over mine. “Carla, those shoes are going to be great for the long days at your salon.” He turns to Joanie and winks. “What a nice gift. You all have the best ideas to transform our favorite sheriff to our new stylist.”
Looking around, I see my former colleagues from around Hamilton, the only county in New York State that doesn’t have traffic lights. The people smile and chant my name. Their grins seem sincere as they point to the table full of packages. Gifts I’ll never deserve.
“C’mon, keep opening your presents so we can have cake.” My thirteen-year old son, Noah, never wastes time, especially when it comes to food. He walks over and grabs a stack of wrapped boxes
I sigh and rest my moist hands on my lap. “Okay. Hand me another. By the looks of that pile, we’ll be here all week.”
Will chuckles. “Sweetie, you don’t have that kind of time. You start beauty school in two days.”
I glance at the door, my breathing no longer steady, but fast. Beads of sweat form at my hairline and I regret not putting my hair in a ponytail without bangs. Probably everyone’s counting the perspiration drops falling on my jeans.
I have to run.


About Julie:
Julie Arduini loves to encourage readers to surrender the good, the bad, and ---maybe one day---the chocolate. She’s the author of the re-release, ENTRUSTED: Surrendering the Present, as well as the sequel, ENTANGLED: Surrendering the Past. She also shared her story in the infertility devotional, A WALK IN THE VALLEY. She blogs every other Wednesday for Christians Read. She resides in Ohio with her husband and two children. Learn more by visiting her at http://juliearduini.com.

Contact/Social Media Links:
Facebook: http://facebook.com/JulieArduini
Twitter: http://twitter.com/JulieArduini
G+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/+JulieArduini/posts
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/JulieArduini
Instagram: http://instagram.com/JulieArduini
Snapchat: @juliearduini
Goodreads: http://goodreads.com/JulieArduini
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Julie-Arduini/e/B00PBKDRSQ/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1427852247&sr=8-1
Monthly Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dCFG
Weekly Sunday’s Surrender and Chocolate: http://eepurl.com/bJ5yHP
Surrendered Scribe Media Promotions: (Book release info sent as needed) http://eepurl.com/bXAW0L



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