Sunday, June 30, 2019

Janet W. Ferguson shares her testimony


Sunday Testimony

I was a prodigal. No excuses. I had a good family. They taught me right from wrong and took good care of me, took me to church, supported my extracurricular activities… Still—in my late teens, I chose to wander a different path. It was the path culture sold through media and song, an alluring path, but one that ended in sadness. No, I didn’t end up in a pigpen. I went to college, got a degree, worked at my job, and made friends. I knew and still believed in what was right, but didn’t want to give up control.

Inside, though, the old expression held true. I had a hole in my heart only God could fill.

At twenty-six years old, I hit my knees and begged the Lord to take me back. I was finally willing to go where He led me if only He would have me.

I heard the prodigal story anew in a sermon. The story was more about God than it was about the prodigal. The fact that our Father is waiting, watching, and searching us out. He yearns to have his children back with Him. In Luke, Jesus describes a scene where a father runs to his son when he turns down the road to home, throws his arms around his long-lost son’s neck. He puts a ring on his finger and throws a party to celebrate.

So I often write stories with prodigals as a main characters because that’s what I know.
The messes of your past and mine also don’t eliminate us from being useful in God’s service. He can transform the ashes of our pasts into something beautiful if we give Him the chance.

My latest book is called The Art of Rivers

About the book:

Rivers Sullivan bears both visible and invisible scars—those on her shoulder from a bullet wound and those on her heart from the loss of her fiancé during the same brutal attack. Not even her background as an art therapist can help her regain her faith in humanity. Still, she scrapes together the courage to travel to St. Simons Island to see the beach cottage and art gallery she’s inherited from her fiancé. When she stumbles upon recovering addicts running her gallery, she’s forced to reckon with her own healing.

After the tragic drowning of his cousin, James Cooper Knight spends his days trying to make up for his past mistakes. He not only dedicates his life to addiction counseling, but guilt drives him to the water, searching for others who’ve been caught unaware of the quickly rising tides of St. Simons. When he rescues a peculiar blond woman and her sketch pad from a sandbar, then delivers this same woman to his deceased grandmother’s properties, he knows things are about to get even more complicated.

Tragic circumstances draw Cooper and Rivers closer, but they fight their growing feelings. Though Cooper’s been sober for years, Rivers can’t imagine trusting her heart to someone in recovery, and he knows a relationship with her will only rip his family further apart. Distrust and guilt are only the first roadblocks they must overcome if they take a chance on love.

Releasing June 30! Preorder now! Amazon   Nook   Kobo  iBooks

More about Janet W. Ferguson

Janet W. Ferguson grew up in Mississippi and received a degree in Banking and Finance from the University of Mississippi. She has served as a children’s minister and a church youth volunteer. An avid reader, she worked as a librarian at a large public high school. She writes humorous inspirational fiction for people with real lives and real problems. Janet and her husband have two grown children, one really smart dog, and a few cats that allow them to share the space.

Connect with Janet:







Saturday, June 29, 2019

Assuming the Worst: Finding the Best by Carol McClain


I lived in New York forever. (At times it seemed longer).

Then we decided to move.

With my Yankee pedigree, I understood the vast differences moving to Tennessee would involve. After all, as a young child, I yearned to ride with the freedom riders. They lived in the South. Tennessee’s coordinates placed it in the South.

As a hippie, I watched Easy Rider.

Then I saw Deliverance. Need I say more?

My writing friend Cathy became excited about my relocation. She insisted I write a novel exploring the vast differences between the North and the South. Her idea had merit.

Then I moved here.

My notions dissipated like the smoke from a barbeque or the heat from freshly fried okra. The people here liked New Yorkers. No one called me an intruder. They shopped at the same stores and attended churches similar to my old one. They served on Habitat for Humanity or the Lions’ Club. They wrote books, gardened and helped their neighbors. I visited schools as a clinical supervisor and found progressive, dedicated teachers, and students who learned advanced curriculum.

Except for the hill dialect, cornbread, no differences existed. I had no story.

Still, Cathy nagged. “Write the book.”

While I ignored her command, I explored our area.

A quaint town with a horrid name lay a few miles to the north of my new home. Friends took me to Stinking Creek, a quiet hamlet of doublewides and stone houses. We drove down back roads where no homes existed and the theme of my book took root.

Assumptions.They never tell the truth.

With a theme established, my story always develops.

A New York Yankee on Stinking Creek depicts two women with diametrically opposed philosophies. They are each other’s only neighbors and only help. One, an atheist abstract artist is wrenched from Manhattan. The other, a staunch conservative, never left Stinking Creek.

Both assume the worst of the other.

Seeing as we already asserted that assumptions lie, they discover their errors in judgment.

Nothing’s as it seems on Stinking Creek.

And if we judge and never check the facts, we will live a lie.

Jesus said, Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven...How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye” (Luke 6: 37, 42).

The little flaw we see in others reflects the huge one in our lives. Let us be like my two characters and learn assumptions make fools of us.

Blurb



NOTHING GOOD COMES FROM STINKING CREEK

Alone, again, after the death of her fiancé, abstract artist Kiara Rafferty finds herself on Stinking Creek, Tennessee. She wants out of this hillbilly backwater, where hicks speak an unknown language masquerading as English.  Isolated, if she doesn’t count the snakes and termites infesting her cabin, only a one-way ticket home to Manhattan would solve her problems.

Alone in a demanding crowd, Delia Mae McGuffrey lives for God, her husband, her family, and the congregation of her husband’s church. Stifled by rules, this pastor’s wife walks a fine line of perfection, trying to please them all. Now an atheist Yankee, who moved in across the road, needs her, too.

Two women.Two problems. Each holds the key to the other’s freedom.





Bio

Carol McClain

My times are in His hands.




Author Carol McClain is an eclectic artist and author. Her interests vary as much as the Tennessee weather—running, bassoons, jazz, stained glass and, of course, writing. She’s a transplant from New York who now lives in the hills of East Tennessee with her husband and overactive Springer spaniel.


She is the president of ACFW Knoxville and the secretary of the Authors’ Guild of Tennessee.

The world in East Tennessee intrigues her from the friendly neighbors to the beautiful hiking trails and the myriad wildlife.

Life is good in here.




Friday, June 28, 2019

Winning Your Blood Sugar Battle: How to Prevent and Control Type 2 Diabetes by Dr. Richard Furman



Winning Your Blood Sugar Battle: How to Prevent and Control Type 2 Diabetes

Thursday, June 27, 2019

Andrew and #giveaway!!


About the Book

Book: Andrew
Author: Jennifer Beckstrand
Genre: Amish Romance
Release Date: June 25, 2019
Andrew, Abraham, and Austin Petersheim’s family business has earned them the nickname The Peanut Butter Brothers. But if their matchmaking younger siblings have their way, all three may soon bear another title: husband . . .
Handsome, hardworking, and godly, Andrew Petersheim has always been sure of his place in his Wisconsin Amish community. He’ll be a welcome catch for the local girl who finally captures his heart. Mary Coblenz certainly isn’t that girl. Two years after “jumping the fence” for the Englischer world, she’s returned, unmarried and pregnant. Yet instead of hiding in shame as others in the community expect, she’s working at the Honeybee Farm, ignoring the gossips—and winning over Andrew’s eight-year-old twin brothers . . .
For all Andrew’s certainty about right and wrong, it seems he has a lot to learn from Mary’s courage, grace, and resilience. She’s changing his notions about forgiveness and love, but will she in turn accept the challenge of starting over and choose to stay—with him?
My thoughts:  Jennifer Beckstrand and Suzanne Woods Fisher are  two of  my favorite Amish authors. They both have such  unique voices and I know I will get a good story.  

Ms. Beckstrand writes stories filled with humor that make me smile -- maybe even laugh sometimes. And this new series about the Petersheim Brothers (AKA Peanut Butter Brothers) is loosely tied in with the Honey Bee sisters.

I love how each character is so unique and well developed. Even though she is Amish, Bitsy is a unwilling crazy cat lady with blue hair and she is so funny.   Dawdi is suffering from a stroke and the Petersheims are caring for him but Andrew's mom is suffering from mother-in-law issues. I laughed when Grandma sprayed all the boys with Rose Water.

If you love Amish fiction, romance, and humor, you will LOVE Jennifer Beckstrand. Grab a copy of ANDREW today and see how well Andrew learns his lesson in loving.

I was given a copy free. All opinions are my own. 
Click here to grab your copy!

About the Author

Jennifer Beckstrand is the two-time RITA-nominated, #1 Amazon bestselling Amish romance author of The Matchmakers of Huckleberry Hill series, The Honeybee Sisters series, and The Petersheim Brothers series for Kensington Books. Huckleberry Summer and Home on Huckleberry Hill were both nominated for the coveted RITA® Award from Romance Writers of America. Jennifer has written twenty-one Amish romances, a historical Western, Jessie and James, and the nonfiction book, Big Ideas. She and her husband have been married for thirty-four years, and she has six children and seven adorable grandchildren, whom she spoils rotten.

More from Jennifer

If you enjoyed The Honeybee Sisters, you’re going to love The Petersheim Brothers, or the Peanut Butter Brothers as they’re known in their small Amish community of Bienenstock, Wisconsin. The Petersheim brothers work their small farm and make peanut butter. The idea for The Petersheim Brothers series came when two of my friends and I were creating The Honeybee Sisters Cookbook. My friend Alicia suggested I write a book about Peanut Butter Brothers, and the idea stuck.
One of my favorite characters in my Amish romances is Aunt Bitsy, the irrepressible, unconventional woman who raised the Honeybee Sisters, tried to chase off all their suitors, and then lit fireworks at their triple wedding. In Andrew, the first book in the Petersheim Brothers series, Aunt Bitsy takes in a girl who has jumped the fence and wants to come back to the Amish community to have her baby. Aunt Bitsy is still protecting her dandelions and her bees, still dyeing her hair all sorts of bright colors, and still praying to Gotte right out loud.
Andrew is about forgiveness, second chances, and learning to love. It will have you laughing and crying, and you might just fall in love with two of the most mischievous little boys in Wisconsin. Enjoy.
In honor of the Peanut Butter Brothers, I want to share one of our favorite family recipes. These bars are perfect for picnics, parties, and potlucks. They’re easy and delicious!

Peanut Butter Bars
Cream together:
1 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup sugar
Blend In:
2 unbeaten eggs
1 tsp. baking soda
2/3 cup peanut butter
½ tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
Stir In:
2 cups flour
2 cups quick oats

Spread mixture in greased jelly-roll pan or large cookie sheet.
Bake: 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Do not overbake. Remove from oven.

Sprinkle on:
1 ¼ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips.
Let stand five minutes.

For peanut butter mixture on top, combine:
½ cup sifted powdered sugar
¼ cup peanut butter
2 to 4 Tbs. evaporated milk
Mix well.

The chocolate chips will melt on the bars. Spread melted chocolate evenly. Drizzle peanut butter mixture on top. Cool completely. Cut into bars.

Blog Stops

The Avid ReaderJune 26
MomentsJune 26
BigreadersiteJune 29
Genesis 5020July 1
Pause for TalesJuly 3
Mary Hake, July 5
SplashesofjoyJuly 5
Vicky SluiterJuly 5
Quiet QuilterJuly 9

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Jennifer is giving away a grand prize of a $20 Amazon gift card!!
Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter. https://promosimple.com/ps/e57a/andrew-celebration-tour-giveaway



Wednesday, June 26, 2019

Book Spotlight: The Amish Wedding Promise #PreOrder



The Amish Wedding Promise

 (Hidden Springs #1) 

Mass Market Paperback – ebook

December 17, 2019

Tuesday, June 25, 2019

Kill Shot

Kill Shot: A Novel 

(White Knights #2) 

Paperback – ebook - audio 

February 6, 2018

Amelia's Hope (Plain Path Book 2)

  l Amelia's Hope  (Plain Path Book 2) by   Susan Lantz Simpson   (Author)   Young widow Amelia Stauffer loves her serene life caring fo...