An interview with Erin Healy, Author of Afloat

We live in a world where a spiritual battle between good and evil is continually raging around us, whether we are aware of it or not. While supernatural fiction portraying the battle between light and darkness has become a popular genre in recent years, best-selling author Erin Healy hopes readers recognize a difference between her books and the others out there. “The secular paranormal genre is preoccupied with darkness. As honestly as I can, I try to be preoccupied with light.” In her latest release, Afloat (Thomas Nelson/May 7, 2013/ISBN 978-1401685522/$15.99), Healy’s characters are faced with the fight of their lives, in a desperate search for the light.

Q: How would you describe your latest book, Afloat?

Afloat is a supernatural-disaster survival story. An eclectic group of people stranded in a floating house grapple with the question of whether love can rise above self-preservation instincts.

Q: Is there a “moral to the story” in Afloat you hope readers will walk away with?

I hope they’ll have a renewed sense that for believers, death is nothing to fear; our survival is guaranteed. How we love each other, however, is entirely up to us.

Q: How did you get into writing supernatural suspense?

Ted Dekker is partly responsible for that. He invited me to write two books with him, Kiss and Burn, that contain supernatural elements. But the genre is a natural fit for me. I appreciate many stories that have supernatural elements, and I’m a person who believes the physical and spiritual parts of our lives are far less compartmentalized than we think they are.

Q: Because you write in such a unique genre, do you think it’s harder for you to come up with ideas than some other authors or does the supernatural element give you more ideas to play with?

I don’t believe I have more or fewer ideas to play with than any other writer, just different ideas, and different expectations to meet.

Q: Some readers feel really uncomfortable with the thought of reading supernatural fiction. Is there anything you would tell them to invite them over to what they would consider to be the dark side?

I respect their discomfort. There are certain genres that I’m not comfortable reading. But to those who are curious I would say that the supernatural world is real, it is biblical, it has a profound effect on our physical reality, and it is more bright than dark. I believe it’s no more terrifying than the physical world, because the same God rules over both. I write from a Christian worldview and make every effort to honor the Lord through my stories, to whatever degree they might be viewed as “supernatural” or “paranormal” or (as I think of them) “metaphorical” or just plain weird. So while I can’t speak for every supernatural story, there should be nothing to fear in mine.

Q: In your own experience, what causes a crisis to bring out the best character in some people and the worst in others?

I believe our behaviors are informed by our values. For example, in Afloat, one of my main characters values his authority and leadership, another values the lessons he’s learned from his past, another values the stability she’s able to provide for her son. None of these values is inherently bad. What makes the difference is whether a person holds his values to serve his own sense of security or others’. Extreme pressure proves the truth.

Q: What are some of the things give you a sense of security?

Love in my home, locks on my doors, and money in the bank. That doesn’t sound very spiritual, does it? I also crave approval, accomplishment, and a clear sense of purpose. Again, none of these is bad, but I do notice that my trust in them (in the form of fear that they will fail me) rises to the surface when I feel threatened. In Afloat, the disaster strips most of the characters of everything they thought would keep them safe. Learning how to trust in the only lasting security of God’s perfect love is a lifelong spiritual journey.

Q: Is it possible to love another person without sacrificing something of yourself for him or her?

This is the question at the heart of my hero’s story in Afloat. Vance has experienced sacrificial love but is reluctant to accept or to give it. I do believe it’s hard to love another person well without sacrifice. Jesus Christ, of course, is the ultimate model of what this looks like. He gave up absolutely everything of worldly value to love us. He even gave up his supernatural identity as the Son of God. For me, the definition of true love is the ability to care about another person’s needs more than I care about my own.

Q: For some people, there are there times when they feel the need for certainty that God is real. Are there times when you live comfortably with doubt?

When life is painful, doubt is like a blister that puts a barrier between the wound and the world. The protective layer—maybe God isn’t real after all—is undesirable but normal and maybe even part of our healing process. In my experience, God has the greatest opportunity to reveal himself to us in the deepest valleys of life. Doubt is never comfortable for me, but I’m learning to value seasons of doubt as a chance to know God more fully.

Q: Do you believe the Bible condemns you for your mistakes or frees you to embrace God's love?

This question names a defining struggle of my life. In the beginning, Danielle (Afloat’s leading lady) reads condemnation and judgment into the message delivered to her. She can’t hear it as a message of love until it’s almost too late. I have read the Bible both ways, only lately discovering that the Word takes on whole new meaning—giving freedom, defeating fear, increasing joy—when read through the lenses of God’s love.

Q: Most authors include something of themselves in each book. What parts of you show up in Afloat?

I’m a totally fretful parent. You’ll see me in Danielle’s and Mirah’s parenting.

Q: Given Afloat’s survival element, one would have to ask—are you much of an adventurist? How long would you make it away from civilization?

A friend once said that anything less than three stars is roughing it—I think that pretty much describes me. I like the kind of adventures that come with hot running water and clean socks. I like seeing new places, trying new things, eating new food, meeting new people… but you won’t ever find me in a Survivor lineup.

Q: If you were set afloat, what three items would you make sure were set adrift with you?

Tom Hanks, Wilson, and a copy of Laura Hillenbrand’s Unbroken, a great survival story that would remind me how to catch seagulls and sharks with my bare hands.

Readers can enter to win an iPad Mini from Erin Healy and Thomas Nelson. Watch for more details on her Facebook Page. Click here to view the book trailer for Afloat.

Visit Healy website at www.erinhealy.com to sign up for her newsletter and learn more about her books. She’s also on Facebook (erinhealybooks) and Twitter (@erinhealybooks).

Lisa Takeuchi Cullen’s Debut Novel Looks Inside the Lives of Pastors’ Wives

How would you react if one day, completely out of the blue, your husband told you he wanted to go into ministry? What’s it like when the man you married is married to God? These are the questions Lisa Takeuchi Cullen wrestles with in her debut novel, Pastors’ Wives (Plume/April 30, 2013/ISBN 978-0452298828/$16.00). Cullen tells the story of three women whose lives converge and intertwine at a Southern evangelical megachurch — a world most of us know only from the outside.

Cullen passionately portrays the private lives of pastors’ wives, caught between the consuming demands of faith, marriage, duty and love. Ruthie follows her Wall Street husband from New York to Magnolia, a suburb of Atlanta, when he hears a calling to serve at a megachurch called Greenleaf. Reeling from the death of her mother, Ruthie suffers a crisis of faith—in God, in her marriage and in herself. Candace is Greenleaf’s “First Lady,” a force of nature who’ll stop at nothing to protect her church and her charismatic husband. Ginger, married to Candace’s son, struggles to play dutiful wife and mother while burying her calamitous past. When their lives collide during a fateful event that threatens the survival of all that is precious to them, each will ask herself: What is the price of loving a man of God? Each will answer that question in a different way.

The inspiration for Pastors’s Wives came to Cullen several years ago while working at Time magazine. Her editor assigned her a story on pastors’ wives and asked her to attend a pastors’ conference. Given her Catholic upbringing, Cullen had no idea of what to expect. What she found was that life as a pastor’s wife was much more complex than she ever could have imagined. Even after her story was published, the research didn’t end, nor did her relationships with the women she met along the way. However, she still wasn’t quite sure what she would write next.

Around this same time, the death of Lisa’s parents and other intense life changes lit in Lisa a profound need to reconcile her faith. Encouraged by her agent to use her reporting and experiences to write a novel, she set to work on Pastors’ Wives. Through the characters and their journeys in faith, Lisa examined her own. “Not everybody gets to process their faith through characters of their own creation, and I feel immensely blessed that I had Ruthie, Candace and Ginger to guide me,” Cullen reflects. “My journey continues; mine is an ongoing education. My hope is that Pastors’ Wives will spark thought and conversation about the role of faith, love and duty in your lives.”

This spring is an exciting time for Cullen. In addition to the release of Pastors’ Wives, she recently sold her TV pilot for The Ordained to CBS, and production is currently in process. “I wrote The Ordained right after I sold Pastors’ Wives. Clearly, the subject of faith was still on my mind. In the case of my TV pilot, what inspired me was my father’s story: What’s it like to start your life over as a man in your mid-30s?”

Join Lisa Takeuchi Cullen for her Facebook chat with readers on May 23 at 8:00 PM EDT.

About the Author

Lisa Takeuchi Cullen was born and raised in Kobe, Japan. Her father was a Roman Catholic priest from Philadelphia, sent by his religious order to a provincial city in southern Japan where he met Cullen’s mother, the coddled daughter of a wealthy merchant. She converted, he left the priesthood to marry her, and it all caused quite the scandal. As if in penance, they raised the four children in strict devotion, never allowing them to miss a Mass or their turn at the dinner-table Bible reading.

As she was in the beginning stages of writing Pastors’ Wives, several intense life changes lit in her a profound need to reconcile her faith: the loss of her mother to cancer, her father’s death nine months later, the birth of her second child, and leaving her job as a staff writer at Time magazine. Cullen feels that in many ways writing Pastors’ Wives saved her. Through the characters and their journeys in faith, she was able to examine her own.

Cullen was a foreign correspondent and staff writer for Time magazine, covering social trends, news, arts and business in the U.S. and Asia. Her first book, Remember Me: A Lively Tour of the New American Way of Death, was about the year she spent crashing funerals and was a Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers pick. She now writes novels and develops television pilots. Pastors’ Wives is her first novel, and Lisa recently sold a pilot about a former priest who becomes a lawyer to CBS. Production on the first episode of The Ordained is now in production. Cullen lives in New Jersey with her husband and two daughters.

Learn more about Lisa Takeuchi Cullen and Pastors’ Wives at www.lisacullen.com. Readers can also friend Lisa on Facebook, become a fan on Lisa's Facebook author page (LisaTakeuchiCullen), or follow her on Twitter (@LisaCullen). 

Debut Author Bekah Hamrick Martin Offers Honest and Helpful Advice on Purity to Teen Girls

Teens are bombarded from all sides when it comes to messages on sex. At church, they hear, “Wait until marriage,” while the rest of the world loudly asks, “Why wait?” Even though they know deep down what they should do, heart and hormones challenge the head. Debut author Bekah Hamrick Martin provides an honest discussion on purity, boys and relationships in a new book aimed at teen girls, The Bare Naked Truth: Dating, Waiting, and God’s Purity Plan (Zondervan/May 7, 2013/ISBN: 978-0310734024/$9.99).

In the book, Martin, 29, who has been working in youth ministry since she was a teen herself, offers advice to teens who often encounter powerful peer pressure in today’s society. She shares her own relatable (and often entertaining) experiences of abstaining from sex until she was married to help adolescents who struggle with virginity and God’s plan for them. Martin takes a unique peer-to-peer approach with her audience and looks at purity through a satirical and edgy lens that teens crave in contrast to a number of books that tend to be more mentor-student in taking on the subject.

In her own friendly and uplifting way, Martin leads a safe conversation with her readers, letting them know that they’re not alone in their fears, desires or mistakes. The Bare Naked Truth also features candid testimonies from well-known personalities, such as Perfectly Unique author Annie Downs, Sisterhood Magazine editor Susie Shellenberger and “Living Inspired” host Tricia Goyer. They reveal their own trials and triumphs regarding purity, boys and choosing to be single.

To clear up further some of the popular misconceptions about purity, Martin offers perspectives on the subject from both teenage boys and married couples. She also answers some of the most common questions teen girls have on the topic. “I’ve worked with thousands of teens over the past 10 years through youth ministries — and the most common questions I’ve heard are related to sex and/or relationships,” explains Martin. “Coincidentally, those questions are the same ones I wish I’d have known the answers to as a teen.” Some of those include:
• How far is too far?
• Will God forgive you if end up having sex before you’re married?
• How do you resist temptation?
• What are the advantages/disadvantages of waiting?

Whether it’s the idea of “friends with benefits,” seeking love through sex or building a relationship with God, Martin dishes advice that is both truthful and comforting. By the end of The Bare Naked Truth, teens will feel enlightened, empowered and more secure in their decision to forego premarital sex. After all, as Martin writes in the book, “When you find the right guy, he will be worth all the risk-taking and waiting in the world.”

Bekah Hamrick Martin will host a live Facebook Author Chat on June 20 at 8:00 PM EDT where she will be answering questions from teens and parents alike. Prizes, including copies of The Bare Naked Truth, will also be given away during the hour-long web event. For more information, watch the author’s Facebook Page (bekahhamrickmartin).

About the Author

Bekah Hamrick Martin was born in Savannah, GA. It was during her high school years that she developed a taste for chocolate and sarcasm, which she carried into college and through ten years of subsequent youth ministry. She also knows a thing or two about waiting, whether it be her escape from high school or the right guy.

Martin has served as a mentor and counselor to children of prisoners through Child Evangelism Fellowship®, as well as other branches of the ministry. Today, Martin shares her experiences of growing up with teens from around the world through her blog, www.bekahhamrickmartin.com, and articles for various publications such as Focus on the Family magazine.

Her most talked about issues include healing and surviving the adolescent years. She lives in North Carolina with her husband, Ethan, and their Tiny Human, Zoey Bree.

In addition to her website, readers can also follow Martin on Facebook (bekahhamrickmartin) or via Twitter (@bekahhamrickmartin).

The 1893 Chicago World’s Fair overflowed with the latest innovations welcomed by a throng of people from all around the globe. This setting replete with history, intrigue and wonder is the backdrop for beloved author Deeanne Gist’s latest release, It Happened at the Fair (Howard Books, An Imprint of Simon & Schuster). In the interview below, Gist shares more about her inspiration and some of the interesting facts she learned while writing the book.

Gist also invites readers to join her for a live webcast on May 22nd at 8 PM EST. She’ll be sharing more about It Happened at the Fair, answering reader questions, and giving away copies of the book and more. Visit her Facebook page for more details, to RSVP for the event, and learn how to enter to win an iPad Mini to be given away at the end of the webcast.

Q: What was your inspiration behind wanting to write about the Chicago World’s Fair?

I’m always drawn to events in our country’s past that are strangely absent from our history classes. Why the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition has been left out, I don’t know, especially since it was such a pivotal event for us. It set the standard for architecture in the upcoming century; it introduced foreign cultures to our amazed population. It wowed the world with our scientific innovations, and it gave women their first official, recognized board position and approved by an Act of Congress (all before we had the right to vote). But it was technology that claimed the day as it nipped at the heels of horses, buggies and man-powered tools. Between that and the evocative backdrop that lent itself to so many possibilities, how could I resist?

Q: What were some of your favorite details to share with readers from your research?

All of them were my favorite! So much so, I had a horrible time trying to decide what details to leave out. I read thousands of pages about the Fair, its exhibits and its programs. All of them fascinating, all of them worthy of being included. Some that I found particularly interesting were among the applications submitted for exhibit space.

One hopeful wanted to make a suite of apartments beneath the waters of Lake Michigan. Someone from England wanted to be placed on exhibition as the Messiah. A father of an “infant prodigy” wanted his baby to introduce the leading orator at the dedication ceremonies. And a vendor of cosmetics wanted to “varnish” half of a “wrinkled hag’s” face with his products and at the end of the Fair reveal her features (on that half) to be “sleek and smooth.”

Q: Your main character, Cullen, struggles with his hearing, especially amidst the noise in the Machinery Building. How were you able to incorporate his inability to hear into the dialogue?

When I write, I try to get deep into my character’s “head” so the reader will experience what the protagonist is experiencing. I removed parts of the words in the dialogue between Cullen and the other characters. Therefore, if Cullen couldn’t hear a word and had to figure it out by context, then by default, so did the reader.

Hopefully, I was effective in demonstrating the kind of context clues Cullen would have had to decipher. It was difficult to find just the right balance. I needed to show his struggle with hearing—and it needed to escalate—yet I didn’t want to irritate the reader, especially the fast readers who were bound to get tripped up by the abbreviated words. Trying to find that line was definitely a challenge.

Q: At the end of the last century, there was quite a bit of disagreement about sign language versus lip reading for the deaf. What do you think about the views of the oralists and manualists from that time period?

I was amazed at how the entire debate was symbolic of a much deeper struggle going on in America. Keep in mind that only 28 years had passed since the end of the Civil War, and every generation was still feeling its after-effects. Because of that, divisions within the nation were not only suppressed, they were considered to be downright dangerous.

Before the Civil War, the motivation for teaching sign language was to tell the deaf about Christ. At that time, society was extremely concerned about a person’s soul and inner being. After the Civil War, the motivation for teaching lip-reading was to make everyone more inclusive, less different. Ever since, our society has become more and more focused on outside appearances and less concerned about the inner essence of an individual.

Explains a lot about today’s culture, doesn’t it?

Q: Della seemed to be ahead of the curve when it came to women’s rights. Did you intentionally write her character as more feminist?

There were a lot of feminists at the World’s Fair in general and in the Woman’s Building in particular. In May, women held a “World’s Congress” at the Fair. It marked the second greatest international convention of women. (The first had been in Liverpool ten years prior.) Susan B. Anthony, Lucy Stone and Clara Barton were among the speakers. The newspaper reported, “The hall of Washington was a sea of bonnets, with here and there a scared-looking man peering between them.”

It ended up being a standing-room-only event. The convention hall became so crowded they had to bar and bolt the entrances. When one of the speakers, Mrs. J. Ellen Foster, was caught outside and not permitted entrance, she crawled through a cellar window, walked rafters by the pale glimmer of distant electric lights and climbed a ladder up to the main floor.

So with that in mind, I felt I needed to have Della in-the-know as far as the feminist movement went. So that’s why she might have appeared “ahead of the curve.”

Q: Do you prefer writing historical novels over modern-day? What is your favorite time period?

I much prefer historicals to contemporaries. Things were simpler, more charming, and the dresses were downright yummy. I also find it intriguing that the things they struggled with are so relevant to what we still struggle with today.

So long as it happened in America, I enjoy writing about it. I’ve written in every time period from 1644 to 1903. I do seem to have an affinity for the turn-of-the-century, though. But then, I like the mid-1800s, too. The 1600s were pretty tough to research. There’s not a lot of records from Pocahontas’s day, so I don’t know if I’ll want to tackle that time period again.

Q: What is your favorite thing about writing in the romance genre?

That initial spark of attraction between a man and woman, and the push-and-pull of emotions during the courtship are my favorite. That’s such a fun time. I love to recollect those times in my own life when my man was courting me 30 years ago.

Q: In addition to It Happened at the Fair, you also wrote an e-short that took place at the expo. Tell us more!

I wrote a fun short story about another romance brewing at the World’s Fair. You can download Tempest in the White City for 99 cents from your favorite online bookstore starting March 19.

Q: You have a webcast coming up on May 22nd. Can you tell us more about how we can join you for this online event?

On May 22nd at 8 PM EST, I’ll be doing a live webcast where I’ll be sharing more about the story behind It Happened at the Fair, answering reader questions, and giving away copies of the book and more. As it gets closer to time, there will be more details on my Facebook page where the webcast will be hosted.

Readers can connect with Deeanne Gist on her website IWantHerBook.com, as well as on Facebook (@DeesFriends) and Twitter (@DeeanneGist).

Live Online Event to Feature Gist’s Latest Release It Happened at the Fair

Deeanne Gist will be hosting a webcast on May 22, 2013 at 8:00 PM EST, where she will be introducing readers to her latest release, It Happened at the Fair (Howard Books, April 20, 2013). During the live online event, Gist will be discussing her inspiration for the story, sharing interesting facts from her research on the fair, and answering reader questions. During the course of the evening, a number of prizes will be given away to those participating in the discussion.

The webcast will be hosted on Gist’s Facebook page, www.facebook.com/deesfriends. Leading up to the webcast, readers can RSVP for the event and sign up to receive an email reminder. In coordination with the It Happened at the Fair blog tour, a drawing is also being held for an iPad Mini. Fans can also enter the contest via Gist’s Facebook page, and the winner will be announced at the end of the webcast.

About It Happened at the Fair:

The 1893 Chicago World’s Fair overflowed with the latest innovations welcomed by a throng of people from all around the globe. This setting replete with history, intrigue and wonder is the backdrop for It Happened at the Fair.

Gambling everything, including the family farm, young inventor Cullen McNamara is determined to make his family proud—and earn his father’s entry money to the Fair Expo back—by selling his design for an automatic sprinkler system inspired by his mother’s death in a mill fire. Struggling with hearing loss from his previous life on the farm, McNamara finds it difficult to communicate with potential buyers over the din in the Fair’s Machinery Building. In an act of desperation, he hires attractive Della Wentworth, a teacher of the deaf, to tutor him in the art of lip-reading.

Much like the newly invented Ferris Wheel, Cullen is caught in a whirl between his girl back home, his dreams as an inventor, and his unexpected attraction to his new tutor. Can he keep his feet on the ground or will he be carried away?

Gist’s unique blend of romance and historical fiction brings the past alive for her readers through her extensive period research. Readers will find themselves not only caught up with the exciting backdrop of the fair, but the blossoming love story between Cullen and Della. They will also encounter President Grover Cleveland, Alexander Graham Bell, Helen Keller, and Ann Sullivan, actually attendees of the legendary fair.

About the Deeanne Gist:

Deeanne Gist—known to her family, friends, and fans as Dee—has rocketed up the bestseller lists and captivated readers everywhere with her original historical and contemporary novels. A favorite among readers and reviewers alike, her popular titles include A Bride Most Begrudging, A Bride in the Bargain, and Maid to Match. It Happened at the Fair, is her ninth published novel.

Readers can keep up with Deeanne Gist at her website IWantHerBook.com, as well as on Facebook (DeesFriends) and Twitter (@DeeanneGist).

Erin Healy’s Afloat is a stunning exploration of the human spirit and supernatural possibilities

We live in a world where a spiritual battle between good and evil is continually raging around us, whether we are aware of it or not. While supernatural fiction portraying the battle between light and darkness has become a popular genre in recent years, best-selling author Erin Healy hopes readers recognize a difference between her books and the others out there. “The secular paranormal genre is preoccupied with darkness. As honestly as I can, I try to be preoccupied with light.” In her latest release, Afloat (Thomas Nelson/May 7, 2013/ISBN 978-1401685522/$15.99), Healy’s characters are faced with the fight of their lives, in a desperate search for the light.

Architect Vance Nolan has crafted an architectural marvel — a first step toward his life’s goal. Eagle’s Talon is a set of shining residential units built on the water, afloat in a protected cove of the gorgeous Rondeau River. The project is nearly complete, partially occupied, and ready to make investors rich when a sinkhole gives way. Then torrential rains and a flood leave a ragged collection of builders, investors and residents stranded in one floating building, completely cut off from the rest of the world.

With limited resources, the motley group is bitterly divided over what to do next. Vance insists they sit tight and wait to be rescued, but developer Tony Dean wants to strike out into the unknown and save themselves. Single-mom Danielle Clement is obligated to each man and desperate to protect her young son; however, she isn’t sure which one is wiser.

Power failure, an unnatural daytime darkness, explosions and then a murder slowly expose hidden intentions and dark histories. But Danielle’s son, Simeon, has spotted something bright underwater — beautiful, shifting lights in the dark water beneath them. In this watery world, everyone’s secrets will eventually come to light, and deliverance may mean more than just getting out alive.

When Healy originally set out to write Afloat, she had a love triangle in mind. However, given the situation of the story — a group of people isolated under threat — the love element became something very different. The question she encountered, and in turn, her characters come face to face with, is, Can we love well when our survival instincts have kicked into high gear? “I hope this novel gives readers a renewed conviction that for believers, death is nothing to fear; our survival is guaranteed,” says Healy. “How we love each other, however, is entirely up to us.”

For those who may be new to the supernatural suspense genre, or may be skeptical, Healy offers this invitation, “to those who are curious, I would say that the supernatural world is real, it is biblical, it has a profound effect on our physical reality, and it is more bright than dark. I believe it’s no more terrifying than the physical world, because the same God rules over both. While I can’t speak for every supernatural story, there should be nothing to fear in mine.”

Readers can enter to win an iPad Mini from Erin Healy and Thomas Nelson. Watch for more details on her Facebook Page. Click here to view the book trailer for Afloat.

About the Author

Erin Healy is an award-winning editor and bestselling co-author (with Ted Dekker)of the supernatural suspense novels Kiss and Burn. Her solo debut, Never Let You Go, ushered in a new brand of fiction, building on her work with Dekker, that melds supernatural suspense with female-friendly relational drama. Healy continues to deliver a unique take on suspense with a little decidedly feminine point of view, although she admits that Afloat has more of the male point of view than her previous releases.

Healy earned her bachelor’s degree in English with a minor in communication studies from Westmont College in Santa Barbara, CA. She began her career as an editor for Christian Parenting Today before serving as a book editor for WaterBrook Press. Healy founded WordWright Editorial Services in 2002 and specializes in fiction book development. She has worked with many popular authors in a number of genres such as Frank Peretti, James Scott Bell, Melody Carlson, Colleen Coble, Robin Lee Hatcher, Gilbert Morris, Lisa Samson, Randy Singer and Robert Whitlow.

While her interest in supernatural fiction grew she while working with Dekker (she edited 12 of his well-known, heart-pounding stories before collaborating with him as a co-author), her interest in the spiritual realm has always been a part of her. “The Irish girl in me is fascinated by the concept of thin places, a Celtic name for locations in the world where the veil between physical and spiritual realities is so delicate that a person can see through it. For me, thin places are revelations about what it means to be a spiritual creation in a physical world. I write supernatural suspense novels from a Christian worldview, with eyes open to God’s mysterious side and where His world world intersects ours,” she explains.

Healy currently resides in Colorado Springs, CO, with her husband, Tim, and two children. She is a
member of International Thriller Writers and the American Christian Fiction Writers.

Visit her website at www.erinhealy.com to sign up for her newsletter and learn more about her books. She’s also on Facebook (erinhealybooks) and Twitter (@erinhealybooks).

Rachel Hauck’s Once Upon a Prince Shows What God Can Do When You Leave Your Heart Open

Every little girl dreams of being a princess. Every woman longs to be treated like royalty. We’re all just a little bit fascinated by royal weddings and the princess that lives in every woman. That’s why readers will fall in love with Once Upon a Prince (Zondervan/May 7, 2013/ISBN 978-0310315476/$14.99), the first release in the Royal Wedding Series by award-winning author Rachel Hauck.

“When my alarm went off at 5:00 AM the morning Prince William married Catherine Middleton, my first thought was, ‘Do I really want to get out of bed for this wedding? It’s so early!’” admits Hauck. “But the new Duchess of Cambridge captured me as well as the rest of the world with her poise and confidence. She is, in many ways, like me. An ordinary girl marrying the man she loved, living her dream. My imagination took hold, and that’s when Susanna and Nathaniel’s story started coming to life.”

Susanna Truitt never dreamed of a great romance or being treated like a princess — just to marry the man she planned to marry for the past twelve years. It was all a part of her grand plan. However, when her high-school-sweetheart-turned-Marine-officer broke up with her instead of proposing, Susanna scrambles to rebuild her life. Struggling with personal and professional disappointments, what was the plan for the rest of her life now?

The last thing Prince Nathaniel expected to find on his American holiday to St. Simon’s Island, Georgia, was the queen of his heart. All he was looking for was a break from the realities of home. After all, a prince had duties. His family’s tense political situation all but had his bride chosen for him. When Prince Nathaniel comes to Susanna’s aid under the fabled Lover’s Oak, he’s blindsided by love.
He’s a royal prince, and she’s an ordinary girl — their lives were worlds apart with traditions and politics to consider. They can’t work. But everything changes when Susanna receives an invitation to Nathaniel’s coronation. It’s the ultimate choice: His kingdom or her heart? God’s will or their own?

There is more to Once Upon a Prince than a royal love story. Hauck hopes that once readers reach the end of the book, they realize: God has a beautiful plan for them! She even works some of her own experience into the story. “The ‘I’ve got nothing’ journey Susanna experiences is my personal journey. It’s the dialog and MO between the Lord and me. Everyone is different, but I believe God leads us and directs us with recognizable patterns,” she said. “I know how hard it is to wait on the Lord. We feel we’re responsible for our own destiny, but He has amazing plans for us and works all things together for good.”

And there’s a bigger love story to consider — it, too, makes its way into Once Upon a Prince. “We should never give up on love. Love is always for the greater good of others, as well as us. I think we have to do is redefine love. Sometimes actions we consider love are really not love at all. Jesus gave up all the beauty and majesty of splendor of Heaven, became a man and died a cruel death on a cross. All for love. Wow, what kind of love is that? Not the world’s definition of love but the perfect model for true love.”

Join Rachel Hauck for a 12-Day Royal Wedding Preparation Giveaway May 16-27, followed by a Facebook Party on May 28 at 8:00 PM EDT where she will chat with readers. Watch for more details on her Facebook Page.

About the Author

Rachel Hauck is the bestselling author of ACFW Book of the Year winner Sweet Caroline, RITA Finalist Love Starts With Elle, bestselling and RITA Finalist The Wedding Dress, and of the critically acclaimed fiction collaboration with multi-platinum country artist Sara Evans, The Songbird Novels. Hauck’s latest release, Once Upon A Prince, is already receiving rave reviews, including a Starred Review from Publishers Weekly.

Hauck earned a degree in Journalism from Ohio State University and is a huge Buckeyes fan. She worked in the corporate software world until 2004 when she began to write fulltime. Although she admits to being Yankee-born, Hauck has lived in the south most of her life and works her southern experience into her stories. She now lives in sunny, though sometimes hurricane-plagued, central Florida with her husband and writes from her own two-story tower.

She is the past president of American Christian Fiction Writers and now serves on the Executive Board. Hauck is also one of five author contributors to Southern Belle View Daily.

Visit her website at www.rachelhauck.com to sign up for her newsletter, read her blog and follow her on Facebook (Rachel Hayes Hauck) and Twitter (@RachelHauck).

What happens when three sisters come together in Nantucket for the first time since their mother’s death? Much more than the Marris sisters could have ever anticipated! The Postcards from Misty Harbor Inn series (Guideposts Books) introduces readers to Caroline, Gracie and Sam as they gather for a vacation where they spent the summers as children, and follows their adventures as they fulfill their mother’s dream of opening a bed and breakfast. As the sisters heal from their mother’s passing, they bond in ways they never imagined and discover evidence of God’s hand in the unlikeliest of circumstances.

A team of four authors come together under the pen name of Evangeline Kelley to bring the unique personalities of each sister to vivid life and welcome audiences to the charming and historic island of Nantucket, complete with cobblestone streets, quaint shops, ferries, sandy beaches and salty air. The series weaves together the stories of each of the sisters as they progress through their own unique personal journeys. Along the way, readers will discover the wonder of God’s love in the lives of each of his children.

Q: Nantucket brings to mind images of historic charm and a certain mystery. What kind of research did you do in order to portray the essence of the island? If you were able to visit Nantucket, was it anything like you expected?

In researching this book and this series, I loved the historical richness of Nantucket. There were a lot of social and financial changes that happened throughout the decades, and it was a lot of fun to read about the history of the island, including snippets from old diaries of residents. That's what gave me the idea to include an excerpt of a society matron's diary in book three as a clue to the mystery about Hannah. I'm hoping the research that I and my co-authors did gives the readers a taste of the Nantucket historical time periods mentioned in the books.

Q: Several authors came together to write the Postcards from Misty Harbor Inn series. How were you able to maintain the characters and the story line from book to book? How did your collaborative process work?

We all started off with three rough outlines of the stories and a document that listed a lot of the pertinent places and people in the series, which had to remain consistent throughout all three books. Patti Berg made sure to include lots of cool pictures! Our collaborative process was all over emails, and it was a lot of fun! We have a Yahoo! group email loop, and we'd often shoot off an email asking about things like if anyone had any details in their book about what the library looks like, or if anyone had already mentioned in their book about the various people who owned the Misty Harbor Inn in the past. Since all three books were written within a few months of each other, we were able to fine-tune any inconsistencies or make sure we mentioned things that ended up changing in a previous book. It ended up being really exciting to see how the books were being tweaked even as we all finished our individual manuscripts.

Q: Is this the first time you have written a series with other authors? How are you recruited by a publisher to contribute to a series?

I had been fortunate to work with Patti Berg, Pam Hanson and Barbara Andrews (as well as other authors) on another Guideposts series, Miracles of Marble Cove. It was a delight to be collaborating with them on another series since I already knew we worked well together, and it was fun for the four of us to be discussing with one another a set of characters as interesting as the Marris sisters. Each of us had originally auditioned for and been selected to work for Guideposts for other series, and then we were asked to work on the Postcards from Misty Harbor Inn series.

Q: The Postcards from Misty Harbor Inn series has elements from several different genres. How do romance, history, mystery and faith all come together in these stories?

I have to credit our editor for helping us balance the romance, history, mystery and faith so that they all intertwine so delicately and create wonderfully rich and cohesive books. Our editor, Jon Woodhams, worked closely with us from the synopsis phase all the way through the final revisions phase to make sure each of those elements in the books were just right so that no one element overshadowed the others.

Q: Readers are often curious as to whether or not a character in a story is anything like the author. Which of the three sisters are you most like?

It's coincidental that I'm most like Sam, and I was lucky to write the book that focused more on her own character arc. However, I long to be more adventurous like Caroline, and writing her wedding was a lot of fun.

Q: What are some of the lessons the sisters learn as they come together to run the Misty Harbor Inn?

Each of the sisters learn a slightly different aspect about the value of home and family. They are each coming from different places in their adult lives, so they have slightly different ideas of what “home” is to them. Through their adventures at the Misty Harbor Inn, they each come to understand the unique bond they share as sisters and the value of the new home they are creating for themselves in Nantucket at the inn.

Q: What do you hope readers walk away with after reading the series?

Home really is where your heart is! It might be a bit overused today, but the sentiment is always true. God puts us in the specific places in our lives where we can serve Him, love others and learn the value of what He's done in our lives.

Q: Women often overcommit themselves and limit their Bible study time. How much time during a day or week is required for each Discover Together lesson?

Women today are busy, but fast-paced full lives mean they need God’s Word to guide them just as much, maybe even more, than women in previous generations. Most women can complete a lesson in one to one and a half hours a week, and even with this minimum time commitment, they can expect an in-depth grasp of the text. The key is consistency. Understanding, really understanding, God’s Word will radically change your life if you apply what you learn. Where else can you get life change for an hour to an hour and a half a week?

Q: How can women take part in The Year of Discovery?

Choices. Women can participate in The Year of Discovery along with their Bible study groups at church. Or, if they can’t commit to another night out of the house for a group study or their work schedule keeps them on the road, they can still engage in meaningful study by completing the lessons themselves and then finding community and discussions on my new Facebook page (Facebook.com/DiscoverTogetherSeries). I’ll be leading women through one study after another in 2013. Check out the calendar and join us. FULL POST

In Catch a Falling Star, Beth K. Vogt shares that God’s best is often behind the door marked “Never”

Is there ever a point when you should let go of a dream? Shouldn’t you be content with what God has already given you, even if your life isn’t what society considers the norm? In Catch a Falling Star (Howard Books/May 7, 2013/ISBN 9781451660272/$14.99), Beth K. Vogt tells the story of Dr. Kendall Haynes, a successful family physician with a thriving practice, helping others just as she always planned. However, at age 36, her dream of a husband and family has not come true — at least not yet.

“Everyone experiences life not going according to their plans — the outcomes range from humorous to tragic,” says Vogt. “What I’ve learned — what I hope readers discover as they turn the pages of Catch a Falling Star — is God is in the plans, the dreams that come true, and he’s also in the plans that elude us.”

Sure, growing her medical practice takes up a lot of her time and she is focused on her career, but that isn’t the reason Kendall is still single. She’d happily make room in her life for a family, but Mr. Right just hasn’t come into her life. All of her closest friends are now married or planning their weddings. Even her baby sister, 10 years younger than she, is getting engaged and demanding Kendall give up their grandmother’s engagement ring because, after all, Kendall isn’t using it and at this point most likely never will. Kendall decides she needs to stop wishing upon a star and face reality: Some dreams just never come true.

Kendall’s path keeps crossing with Griffin Walker’s, an Air Force pilot who makes it loud and clear he prefers flying solo in the air and on the ground. His life is focused on flying until he is grounded due to circumstances beyond his control. However, life becomes even more complicated for Griffin after the sudden death of his parents makes him the guardian of the adopted 16-year-old brother he barely knows. Griffin is convinced there is no way his life will ever get back on course now. When their lives collide during a near tragedy, Kendall and Griffin must decide if they can embrace the unexpected changes God has waiting for them.

Catch a Falling Star weaves the lives of her main characters and supporting cast together using the themes of singleness, adoption and loss of parents. “All of these relationships fall under the umbrella of ‘life not going according to plan,’” explains Vogt. “In fact, relationships rarely do; they require hard work. Commitment. Trust. Prayer. Patience. Sacrifice. This is why I say there is more to happily ever after than the fairy tales tell us.”

Vogt was inspired to write a romance with characters a little older than many others on shelves today after a conversation with a friend. “I wanted to examine this issue within the context of a contemporary romance novel because it’s relevant — and because I believe romance doesn’t just happen in your 20s. It isn’t just society that puts marriage and family expectations on singles. I certainly believe the church community can add unrealistic pressure on us when life doesn’t go according to plan — or some prescribed, ‘right’ way to walk out the Christian life. There are lots of reasons women are getting married later — and sometimes it’s because Mr. Right doesn’t show up when you’re 21 or 31.”

Readers can connect with Beth Vogt at her Catch a Falling Star Facebook party on June 6 at 8:00 PM EDT where she will chat with readers, answer questions and give away books. Watch for details on her Facebook page.

About the Author

Beth K. Vogt knows all about her plans and God’s plans not being the same. There was a time when as a non-fiction author and editor, she said she’d never write fiction. She’s the wife of an Air Force physician (now in solo practice) who said she’d never marry a doctor or anyone in the military. She’s a mom of four who said she’d never have kids. Vogt has discovered that God’s best often waits behind the doors marked “Never.”

Vogt earned a journalism degree from San Jose State University. Her publishing credits include: Discipleship Journal, Virtue, The Christian Communicator and Crosswalk.com. She is also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the Soul: A Tribute to Moms and The Mommy Diaries as well as author of Baby Changes Everything: Embracing and Preparing Motherhood after 35. Catch a Falling Star is her second novel, following the release of her fiction debut Wish You Were Here, which hit bookstore shelves last year.

An encourager at heart, Vogt has more than 20 years’ experience teaching women at retreats, churches and other events, including the MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers International) Convention and the Hearts at Home national and regional conferences. For several years, she edited Connections and is currently a consulting editor for MomSense magazine and writes a bimonthly column for MomsNEXT, MOPS’ ezine for moms of school-age children.

Beth and her husband Rob have been married for almost 35 years. They have three adult children and — thanks to a funny thing happening on their way to the empty nest — a 12-year-old. The Vogt Team, which now includes a “daughter-in-love,” two “sons-in-love,” and a grandbaby on the way, enjoys hiking and camping in Colorado.

Visit Beth Vogt’s website at www.bethvogt.com to learn more about her books, sign-up for her newsletter, and read her blog. Readers can also follow her adventures on Facebook (AuthorBethKVogt) and Twitter (@bethvogt).