End of Summer Birthday Bash | Day Six ~ Interview with Katy Lee & Giveaway!

Welcome to Christian Bookshelf Reviews, Katy!!

Hi there! I am excited to be a part of the End of Summer Birthday Bash. How thrilling! I’m also excited to share with you about my September release, Sunken Treasure.

What is your novel, Sunken Treasure, about?

Shipwreck diver Gage Fontaine is used to modern-day pirates chasing after his boat and the buried treasure he salvages. But when he unknowingly leads a dangerous criminal to the waters off Stepping Stones Island, he puts a beautiful fisherwoman in grave danger. Rachelle Thibodaux has spent the past year hiding on her boat to avoid the town's censure for her father's crimes. But when she comes face-to-face with a gun-wielding pirate, she becomes a new kind of target. To save her own life, she'll have to work with Gage to find the treasure before the pirates do.

What would you say is your most interesting writing quirk?

I can’t believe I am going to share this, but when I am doing my final read through, I read the book aloud…in a British accent. I am not British. I don’t know why I do this, it just comes out. The problem is in my current work-in-progress, my hero is Irish. I hear him yelling at me with his thick Irish brogue every time I read his lines. “That is not how I would say that!”

What do you do when you are not writing?

I homeschool my children and that takes up most of my day. My kids are also competitive swimmers, and I spend a lot of time in the stands cheering them on.

What are your favorite and least favorite genres to read and why?

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End of Summer Birthday Bash | Day Five ~ Meant To Be Mine Excerpt & Giveaway!

 

Excerpt from Meant to Be Mine by Becky Wade         

          Ty Porter liked her -- her! -- which made her the luckiest girl in Vegas.  Their very good fortune during the past two hours at the craps table hardly compared.

          Celia picked up the dice and gave them a shake.  The group of players gathered around the table focused their attention on her.  Some called out encouragement.

          "If you roll a seven," Ty said, "I vote we get married."

          "You're incorrigible."

          "If you roll a seven, sweet one, I'll take it as a sign, we'll get hitched tonight, and you'll be stuck with me for life."  He placed all his chips on the pass line.

          "Ty!" 

          "I've just proposed to this little lady here," he announced to the table.  "If she rolls a seven we're going to make it official."

          The players hooted and hollered.

          "He's just joking," Celia informed them. 

          Their excitement drowned out her rationality.  Several players raised glasses.  Others added additional chips to their bets.  All heartily approved of Ty's plan.  Apparently, the decision to hang a lifetime commitment on the roll of two dice made perfect sense to sloshed tourists in Vegas.   

          Celia tossed the dice.  They flew to the opposite end of the oblong table, bounced off the bumper and skittered to a stop.  A '3' and a '4'.           Seven.

          The table broke into an uproar.

          Celia stood amid the clamor.  The sight of the dice, an unmistakable three and an unmistakable four, branded into her brain. 

          The dealers reached forward to dole out chips to all the players.

          "You just doubled my money," Ty drawled.  "Thank you kindly, Mrs. Porter."

          "I'm not Mrs. Porter."  Teasing tinged her voice.  She didn't want to be too hard on him, not when the notion of him wanting to marry her was so outrageously flattering. 

          "Determined to wait until after the ceremony, huh?"  He tipped the dealers and requested a tray so that he could pack up his chips.  "You coming?"

          "Definitely."  She didn't want to tell him this, at the risk of seeming pathetic.  But she'd follow him anywhere.

Author Becky Wade: 

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End of Summer Birthday Bash | Day Four ~ Guest Post & Giveaway by Anne Mateer

Part of the joy—and the challenge—of writing historical fiction is putting a reader firmly into the another time period. That means more than just clothing and home decor, professions or methods of travel. It means little details of life. Part of those details in early twentieth century life include pop culture.

When I decided that Lula, my main character in Playing by Heart, would have some musical abilities, I also decided I wanted that to be a source of conflict with other characters. One way to do that was to set different types of musical preferences at odds with one another. Lula figures if she has to teach music, at least she’ll teach “serious” music, as opposed to “popular” music. And so guess what our hero, Chet, enjoys?

You guessed it! Popular music. But what kind of music was popular in 1917? I really didn’t know, other than the song “Over There” by George Cohen. So I went on a search and found some really fun things.

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End of Summer Birthday Bash | Day Three ~ Interview with Melanie Dobson & Giveaway!

Welcome to Christian Bookshelf Reviews, Melanie!! Will you tell us a little about yourself?

Sure--I'm a mom of two girls and passionate about the redemptive power of stories, both fiction and nonfiction. My husband's work in computer animation has moved us all over the country and we spent a season living in Germany, but we've finally settled (for now) in a beautiful valley near Portland, Oregon. I've written sixteen novels. Only thirteen have been published, but I labored just as hard over the three that are collecting dust! Our family is also passionate about loving kids who don't have safe homes which means our house is often quite full--and crazy loud.

What is your newest novel, Chateau of Secrets, about?

Château of Secrets is about a French noblewoman named Gisèle Duchant who risks her life to hide members of the French resistance in the tunnels under her family’s château even as the Nazi Germans occupy her home. Seventy years later Gisèle’s granddaughter, Chloe Sauver, returns to the abandoned château to interview with a filmmaker named Riley Holtz. As Chloe and Riley begin to unravel her grandmother’s story, they are both shocked at the family secrets they uncover.

What would you say is your most interesting writing quirk?

Hmm...I don't know if it's interesting, but I have a hard time writing at home (easily distracted by laundry and dishes!) so I sip tea and write in all sorts of locations--a myriad of local coffee shops, the library, even a spa that lets me hunker down in their lounge for the day.

What do you like to do when you're not writing?

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