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August 21, 2019 by Tricia Goyer 6 Comments

Writer Wednesday with Carrie Turansky

Today on Writer Wednesday we welcome Carrie Turansky, author of No Ocean Too Wide.

Enter below for a chance to win a signed copy of No Ocean Too Wide! Winner will be e-mailed. Note: This post contains affiliate links.

On today's Writer Wednesday, author of No Ocean Too Wide, Carrie Turansky shares a day in her life. — On today’s Writer Wednesday, author of No Ocean Too Wide, Carrie Turansky shares a day in her life.

Writer Wednesday with Carrie Turansky: A Day in the Life

We’re at the empty nest stage so that gives me a lot of flexibility in how I spend my days. We’re usually up by 7:00, then I shower, dress, and head on out to the kitchen. I put on one of my Pandora instrumental music stations, turn on the electric teakettle, and settle in for a cup of tea and some quiet time with the Lord.

This year I’m reading through the Bible chronologically with a group led by Biblical fiction author, Mesu Andrews. We use the You Version Bible App with a plan called As it Happened. It’s been a great encouragement to check in each day and read the responses of others in the group. I also usually read a devotional book. Right now I’m enjoying Truth Unchanging by Becky Thompson, then I journal my prayers.

Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day. You’ll often find me enjoying a berry protein smoothie with kale and kefir, or scrambled eggs on avocado toast, or a nice variety of sautéed vegetables with a poached egg on top. After a quick kitchen cleanup, I’m ready to get to work.

I usually check email and take a look at Facebook, then I settle in to write. Sometimes I turn off the Internet so I won’t be tempted to hop back over there. At 11:00 I usually take a lunch break. Soups, salads, or leftovers are my go-to choices for a mid-day meal. Sometimes I’ll throw in a load laundry or check mail and email before I get back to work writing for the afternoon.

I like to set weekly word count goals to help me feel like I’ll be able to meet my deadline. I know there will be some days that I need to go shopping, get my haircut, or go to a doctor’s appointment. So having the weekly goal gives me the flexibility I need to enjoy my week. I love spending some time out in the yard, working in my flower gardens or just enjoying sitting out on our back patio, listening to the birds.

I enjoy cooking and so does my husband, so we trade off preparing dinner. We usually make more than enough for one meal. That way we have leftovers for lunch or another easy dinner. Scott is the master of the grill, and recently he made the best beef short ribs I’ve ever had. I’m thankful he shares the cooking and sometimes the grocery shopping too.

In the evening you’ll usually find me reading, watching a movie, or keeping up with social media. Tuesday night I lead a wives’ mentoring group, but we’re taking a summer break now. Wednesday night Scott and I attend a small group Bible study together. Phone calls, Facetime, and texting the kids and grandkids is also a fun part of my day. With five grown kids and six grandkids there is always news and encouragement to share.

We’ve been working on getting a good amount of sleep, so we usually head to bed between 9:00 – 9:30. After a busy day, there’s nothing better than putting my head on the pillow, sending off a prayer or two, and then drifting off to a peaceful sleep.

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Bestselling Inspirational Romance Author Carrie Turansky writes historical and contemporary novels and novellas set in England and the US. She has won the ACFW Carol Award, the Crystal Globe Award, and the International Digital Award. Readers say her stories are: “Heartwarming and inspiring! I couldn’t put it down! . . . Touching love story. It captured me from the first page! Rich characters, beautifully written . . . My new favorite author!”

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More about No Ocean Too Wide

Between the years of 1869 to 1939 more than 100,000 poor British children were sent across the ocean to Canada with the promise of a better life. Those who took them in to work as farm laborers or household servants were told they were orphans–but was that the truth?

After the tragic loss of their father, the McAlister family is living at the edge of poverty in London in 1908, leaving their mother to provide for her three younger children, while oldest daughter, Laura, works on a large estate more than an hour away. When Edna McAlister falls gravely ill and is hospitalized, twins Katie and Garth and eight-year-old Grace are forced into an orphans’ home before Laura is notified about her family’s unfortunate turn of events in London. With hundreds of British children sent on ships to Canada, whether truly orphans or not, Laura knows she must act quickly. But finding her siblings and taking care of her family may cost her everything.

Andrew Fraser, a wealthy young British lawyer and heir to the estate where Laura is in service, discovers that this common practice of finding new homes for penniless children might not be all that it seems. Together Laura and Andrew form an unlikely partnership. Will they arrive in time? Will their friendship blossom into something more?

Inspired by true events, this moving novel follows Laura as she seeks to reunite her family and her siblings who, in their darkest hours, must cling to the words from Isaiah: “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God.”

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August 14, 2019 by Tricia Goyer 3 Comments

Writer Wednesday with Jill Eileen Smith

Today on Writer Wednesday we welcome Jill Eileen Smith, author of When Life Doesn’t Match Your Dreams.

Enter below for a chance to win a signed copy of When Life Doesn’t Match Your Dreams! Winner will be e-mailed. Note: This post contains affiliate links.

Jill

Writer Wednesday with Jill Eileen Smith: Where Writers Write

My writing area is ever-changing. For years I wrote in a little area off the family room that used to be a wet bar (previous owners), then a play storage room, then my messy office. I spent a lot of time writing on a desktop there. (All of those photos are Idea Boards for books in progress at the time.) Now I use Scrivener to keep characters and their photos straight.

On today's Writer Wednesday, author Jill Eileen Smith shares her writing space. — On today’s Writer Wednesday, author Jill Eileen Smith shares her writing space.

When our kids moved out, I took one of the bedrooms and made it my office. We painted and put in new carpet, and I moved in with all of my scattered writing paraphernalia. Sometimes I actually write here.

When I gave my desktop to one of my kids, however, I ended up exclusively with a laptop, so now my office is “wherever.”

My normal place to begin writing is at the kitchen table, but Tiger (our cat) likes to sit on my lap there and he has an uncanny way of messing with the keys as I’m typing. (He has to hold my thumb with his paw.) Eventually, I set him beside me in his own chair, and he’ll often settle down or go look outside and watch the squirrels play.

When I get tired of sitting up in a straight chair, I move to either the couch or the recliner in our family room. You would think this would be my first choice because what sounds more comfortable than a recliner? Unfortunately, my back requires good posture and movement, thus my ever-moving office.

I’m working on three projects this year, promoting two new releases, and editing next year’s release. I haven’t had time to write outside as I sometimes do in the summer, but it’s been too hot anyway.

I write biblical fiction and am working on Miriam’s story for Revell and Samson’s mother for Guideposts along with the second nonfiction on Bible women, which follows When Life Doesn’t Match Your Dreams, the book featured here. When Life came out in February 2019. This book delves into the lives of twelve Old Testament women and applies their lives to our lives today. Though centuries may separate us, human nature doesn’t change and many of their struggles are ours as well. When Life explores some of their deepest trials and carries the tone of a memoir in some of the application.

At heart, I’m a novelist, and I do enjoy studying each new character. Setting up the story and imagining how things might have been is much easier than actually putting the words on the page. (First drafts are not my favorite.) But everything else gets a little easier after that.

Right now I’m reading research materials for Samson’s mother while I let the next nonfiction sit for a week or two. One thing about writing…it is never dull. Where I actually type the words may change, but eventually, they do end up written. And I love “having written!”

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Jill Eileen Smith is the bestselling, award-winning author of the Wives of King David, the Wives of the Patriarchs, Daughters of the Promised Land, the Loves of King Solomon series, The Heart of a King, and the nonfiction When Life Doesn’t Match Your Dreams. Her research has taken her from the Bible to Israel, and she particularly enjoys learning how women lived in Old Testament times. Jill lives with her family in southeast Michigan.

More about When Life Doesn’t Match Your Dreams

Life is full of twists and turns. Relationships falter, careers fizzle, health fades. We may be faced with choices we never wanted to make or have situations pushed upon us we’d never expected. Yet, in all of it, God is at our side–even when he feels far away.

Drawing on her extensive research into women of the Old Testament, novelist Jill Eileen Smith turns her pen to the lessons in trusting God that we can learn today from women like

– Eve
– Noah’s wife
– Sarai
– Hagar
– Lot’s wife
– Rebekah
– Rachel
– and more

Readers will learn from what these ancient women did right–and even what they did wrong–when faced with dashed expectations and deferred dreams. And they’ll come away with the confidence that ours is a faithful God who loves us and is forming us through our trials into the women he longs for us to be.

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June 12, 2019 by Tricia Goyer 19 Comments

Writer Wednesday with Amanda Barratt

Today on Writer Wednesday we welcome Amanda Barratt, author of My Dearest Dietrich.

Enter below for a chance to win a copy of My Dearest Dietrich! Winner announced right here next week. Congratulations to, Larinda Floyd, the winner of Kelly Irvin’s Over the Line! Please e-mail my assistant Christen with your mailing address! Note: This post contains affiliate links.

Today on Writer Wednesday, Amanda Barratt shares a peek into her writing space plus is giving away a copy of her new book, My Dearest Dietrich! — Today on Writer Wednesday, Amanda Barratt shares a peek into her writing space.

Where Writers Write

When we moved to a new home seven years ago, I knew I wanted to be intentional about crafting a place to create. Deliberately setting aside space adds a sense of purpose to our work. Reserving a corner in a bedroom, a place in a basement or loft, even a portion of a living or dining room, with the intention of “this is where I write” shows we’re taking ourselves as artists seriously. And it removes the excuse of not having a place. The place, once established, is already there. It’s then our job to make use of it.

A corner in the upstairs loft is my writing workspace. A window next to my desk lets in swaths of sunlight on beautiful summer days, and when rain splatters from the sky, I listen to its cadence on the windowpanes.

I love my desk. It’s a Craigslist find and I still remember bringing it home, skimming my fingertips across its surface, and polishing it lovingly. Since then, my desk has housed all manner of items—from three days’ worth of breakfast dishes when I’m rushing from one task to another after a writing session, to stacks of books and giveaway goodies in preparation for book signings, to piles of research books.

While writing My Dearest Dietrich, research books were EVERYWHERE. Now that I’m working on my next book, only the volumes themselves have changed. I “try” to put them away, but inevitably, many days, they end up scattered across my desk at the end of the workday, along with piles of scribbled notes and printed pages from my manuscript.

I also keep my daily planner handy. This year, I’m using My Book Therapy’s My Brilliant Writing Planner. To-do lists save my sanity, and I love this planner, designed with writers in mind.

Just a step away from my desk is bookshelves. It’s a joy having them nearby. Along with research books, favorite novels I’ve read many times and those still on my TBR, line the shelves. Often when I’m stuck during a scene, I pull out one and read a few paragraphs. Sometimes reading well-written words by a skilled author is all it takes to get my own creative juices flowing again. Also on my bookshelves are little slices of memory. A photo of dear friends. My silver sparkly Eiffel Tower ornament. A photo of me holding my first published book. And on the bottom shelf are my books—each one a testament to God’s faithfulness in bringing those works to completion.

I love spending time in this space, and since it’s the only place I currently use for writing sessions, I have many memories there. Typing the first line of my first published novella. Working on the proposal for the book that became My Heart Belongs in Niagara Falls, New York. Writing the final scene of My Dearest Dietrich with tears in my eyes. Cherished moments, all. And though there are also many moments of frustration, stress, and writer’s block, it’s a joy to look back on time spent in my little corner of creativity.

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ECPA best-selling author Amanda Barratt fell in love with writing in grade school when she wrote her first story—a spinoff of Jane Eyre. Now, Amanda writes romantic, historical fiction, penning stories of beauty and brokenness set against the backdrop of bygone eras not so very different from our own. Her novel My Dearest Dietrich: A Novel of Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Lost Love released from Kregel Publications in June 2019.

She’s also the author of My Heart Belongs in Niagara Falls, New York: Adele’s Journey, as well as seven novellas with Barbour Publishing. Two of her novellas have been finalists in the FHL Reader’s Choice Awards.

Amanda lives in the woods of Michigan with her fabulous family, where she can be found reading way too many books, plotting her next novel, and jotting down imaginary travel itineraries for her dream vacation to Europe.

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More About My Dearest Dietrich: A Novel of Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Lost Love

A staggering love illuminating the dark corners of a Nazi prison…

Renowned German pastor and theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer is famous for his resistance to the Nazi regime and for his allegiance to God over government. But what few realize is that the last years of his life also held a love story that rivals any romance novel.

Maria von Wedemeyer knows the realities of war. Her beloved father and brother have both been killed on the battlefield. The last thing this spirited young woman needs is to fall for a man under constant surveillance by the Gestapo. How can she give another piece of her heart to a man so likely to share the same final fate? Yet when Dietrich Bonhoeffer, an old family friend, comes to comfort the von Wedemeyers after their losses, she discovers that love isn’t always logical.

Dietrich himself has determined to keep his distance from romantic attachments. There is too much work to be done for God, and his involvement in the conspiracy is far too important. But when he encounters a woman whose intelligence and conviction match his own, he’s unprepared for how easy it is to give away his heart.

With their deep love comes risk–and neither Dietrich nor Maria is prepared for just how great that risk soon becomes.

Based on detailed historical research, this is a true love story at once beautiful and heartrending. My Dearest Dietrich sheds new light on a world-famous theologian . . . and the woman who changed his life.

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