My Name Is Russell Fink by Michael Snyder

This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance


is introducing


My Name is Russell Fink


Zondervan (March 1, 2008)


by


Michael Snyder

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Michael Snyder has spent the bulk of his professional career in sales, has fallen in love, and continues to struggle with the balance between art and vocation. He's never investigated a murder, much less that of an allegedly clairvoyant dog.




ABOUT THE BOOK:




Russell Fink is twenty-six years old and determined to salvage a job he hates so he can finally move out of his parents house for good. He's convinced he gave his twin sister cancer when they were nine years old. And his crazy fiancée refuses to accept the fact that their engagement really is over.

Then Sonny, his allegedly clairvoyant basset hound, is found murdered.

The ensuing amateur investigation forces Russell to confront several things at once-the enormity of his family's dysfunction, the guy stalking his family, and his long-buried feelings for a most peculiar love interest.

At its heart, My Name is Russell Fink is a comedy, with sharp dialogue, characters steeped in authenticity, romance, suspense, and fresh humor. With a postmodern style similar to Nick Hornby and Douglas Coupland, the author explores reconciliation, forgiveness, and faith in the midst of tragedy. No amount of neurosis or dysfunction can derail God's redemptive purposes.

Trapped

A picture taken from my husband's boat on Lake Lanier. He said they were kind of "trapped" for a while until it lifted.

Looking to build a house on the lake?

Here's a nice lot, right on Lake Lanier...

Healing Stones by Stephen Arterburn & Nancy Rue

This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance


is introducing


Healing Stones


(Thomas Nelson January 1, 2008)


by


Stephen Arterburn & Nancy Rue

ABOUT THE AUTHORS:

Stephen Arterburn is the founder and chairman of New Life Ministries—the nation’s largest faith-based broadcast, counseling and treatment ministry—and is the host of the nationally syndicated “New Life Live!” daily radio...






By 1996 Nancy was a full-time writer. The Christian Heritage Series made that possible. She was writing those books from the early 1990's until 2000.

And then a new opportunity came along--the Lily series. If she ever doubted that she was going to make it as a writer, man, that little red-head put those fears to rest! And, of course, Sophie followed Lily, with some teen and grown-up books in between -- plus the non-fiction books designed just for you.

Nancy and her husband live in Tennessee now, overlooking a beautiful lake, lots of sycamore trees, and the rocky Tennessee hills. They have a bright yellow power boat named BANANA SPLIT which you can find us on no matter what the weather. Marijean and her husband live nearby with my three grand-dogs and three grand-cats (and two grand-snakes . . .)






ABOUT THE BOOK:



With one flash of a camera, Demi's private life becomes public news. She doesn't know it yet, but her healing has just begun.

Christian college professor Demitria Costanas had vowed to end her affair with a colleague. But she gives into temptation one last time...and a lurking photographer captures her weakness for all to see. Quite literally, she's the woman caught in adultery. And almost everyone--herself included--has a stone to throw.

Enter Sullivan Crisp, a decidedly unorthodox psychologist with his own baggage. He's well-known for his quirky sense of humor and incorporation of "game show" theology into his counseling sessions. And yet there's something more he offers...hope for a fresh start.

Reluctantly the two of them begin an uplifting, uneven journey filled with healing and grace. By turns funny and touching, this story explores the ways humans hurt each other and deceive themselves. And it shows the endlessly creative means God uses to turn stones of accusation and shame into works of beauty that lead us onto the path of healing.

An auspicious debut for a candid yet tender series about pain, healing, and God's invitation for second chances.

Here I am, four weeks into it...

And I'm at split ends.

Sheesh.

I had such high hopes. But here I am, four weeks into it and I remember why I so badly wanted out.

God blessed me and got me out.

Then he blessed me again and let me back in.

Writer's need a day job. Any writer will tell you that.

Well, I've got my day job, now where's the writing?



Right now I'm in a hotel room and tomorrow I'll start a two day class. Unfortunately, it has nothing to do with writing and everything to do with the company that issues my paycheck. I do the math and I wonder how we managed as long as we did.

I keep reminding myself that the more I work, the more I can fund my dream... Even though, working takes away from my dream - and more, it takes time away from my family.

My daughter is thriving. She is with family and they are good to her. Some days I look at her and wish I'd done a better job.


Sometimes, I still just want five minutes to myself.


God help me, when will I ever be happy?


I feel myself pulled back... Toward the vaccuum. It will scrape your flesh until that's all you feel and that's all you think about. I had cleaned up so well, but as every minute passes inside that tiny cubicle, headset sucking the life out of me with every call, I feel myself letting old habits return.

And the Casting Crowns song "Slow Fade" is always reminding me why I can't let myself be lead toward the popular, toward the world... Be careful little feet where you go, it's the little feet behind you that are sure to follow...



God has a plan. And He's working on me, through me, even when I don't realize it.

I've been thinking a lot about what I want to write. Who's my audience? It's like I'd be writing a lie, to write so clean, for the publisher I thought I'd be a good fit for, the one I pitched to and received an invitation. One I haven't revisited...

Fear?

Of course I'm afraid.


I want to deliver a big story in a small package, but I don't think the people I want to reach would pick up a book from the publisher I've considered targeting.

I'm a Christian, but I'm flawed.

Big time.

That's the character I want to portray.

Those are the ones I want to reach. People who are ten steps behind me. In places I've been before. Can you lend someone a hand from a story? Can you encourage someone to grow from a book of fiction?

I can't, but I know God can.

Sisters, Ink by Rebeca Seitz

This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance


is introducing

Sister's Ink


Broadman & Holman Books (February 1, 2008)


by


Rebeca Seitz

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:


Rebeca Seitz is Founder and President of Glass Road Public Relations. An author for several years, PRINTS CHARMING was her first novel.

Rebeca cut her publicity teeth as the first dedicated publicist for the fiction division of Thomas Nelson Publishers. In 2005, Rebeca resigned from WestBow and opened the doors of GRPR, the only publicity firm of its kind in the country dedicated solely to representing novelists writing from a Christian worldview.

Rebeca makes her home in Kentucky with her husband, Charles, and their son, Anderson.





ABOUT THE BOOK



Sisters, Ink marks the first in a series of novels written by, for, and about scrapbookers. At the center of the creativity and humor are four unlikely young adult sisters, each separately adopted during early childhood into the loving home of Marilyn and Jack Sinclair.

Ten years after their mother Marilyn has died, the multi-racial Sinclair sisters (Meg, Kendra, Tandy, and Joy) still return to her converted attic scrapping studio in the small town of Stars Hill, Tennessee, to encourage each other through life’s highs and lows.

Book one spotlights headstrong Tandy, a successful yet haunted attorney now living back in Orlando where she spent the first eight years of her life on the streets as a junkie’s kid. When a suddenly enforced leave of absence at work leads her to an extended visit with her sisters in Stars Hill, a business oppor­tunity, rekindled romance, and fresh understanding of God’s will soon follow.


Endorsements:



"What more can any woman want? Sisters, Ink weaves the love of sisters, the fun of scrapbooking, and a romance as sugary and tingling as Sweet Home Alabama. A must read for those who love southern fiction."--DiAnn Mills, author of Leather and Lace and When the Nile Runs Red


"Fun . . . funny . . . fantastic! Rebeca Seitz has brought together scrapbooking and sisterhood in a lively romp, with a love for going home again."--Eva Marie Everson, coauthor of The Potluck Club series.

Her Unlikely Family by Missy Tippens

This is my friend Missy Tippens' first release! It releases today. Here's the link to purchase from Amazon.

And, Missy will be on the radio this morning at 8am - eastern time. Listen here.