Thursday, May 17, 2018

Author Interview, Excerpt & Giveaway: Safe House by Shannon Symonds



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Synopsis

True, it was her prison, but it was also her sanctuary.
Where can you turn when your house is not safe? In a small coastal town in Oregon, Amber and Kelly know the deadliest people sleep down the hall. As they attempt to escape the violent, domineering men in their lives, despair fights against faith and hope as an introduction to the Book of Mormon promises them a haven they can’t find in their homes. But getting out of these abusive situations is not as easy as it appears. With their lives spiraling out of control, can they have faith that God’s grace will save them?

Excerpt

Grace drove up the winding road, high among large new homes. They sat along the edge of the lush Oregon forest on the Pacific Coast Range Mountains. She didn’t have to look too hard for the address. An ambulance and two lit up police cars, lights silently rotating, marked the last home at the top of the steep road. Light spilled from every window and the open front door. Ancient pines and a dark old growth forest swayed in the wind behind the house. On the front porch a woman was arguing with a medic, holding a bloody rag to her face…

…Making her way to the house, she walked between patrol cars and crossed the lawn. The ambulance driver had a clipboard and was trying to explain to Emily, the victim, that she needed to sign a waiver stating she was refusing services. Ignoring the ambulance driver and looking at Officer Hart, Emily was speaking and gesturing rapidly, demanding they leave her alone.

The officer she was spitting mad at was young and good-looking. Grace didn’t know how anyone could yell at Hart. His name was absolutely appropriate. Seeing Grace, he half-smiled, showing dimples, looking grateful for the interruption.

Flashing her own half-grin, her color rose. Looking down, she hoped he hadn’t noticed.

About the Author

Shannon Symonds announces her first book, “Safe House,” a 2017 Whitney Award Nominee released by Cedar Fort Publishing and Media in July of 2017.
Shannon worked for 15 years as an Advocate. Shannon lives in a small seaside town where she works, writes, runs and paints. She believes the word can be changed one heart at a time and then even small acts can make a difference.










Author Interview

1. What top 5 books do you currently have on your TBR pile?

​5) I just finished Traci Abramson’s version of, Safe House, and loved it. I would like to go back and read the 1st book in the guardian series. I met Traci at Storymaker’s ​ Conference in Utah and she is not only fun and entertaining, she is as deep and caring as the characters in her stories.
4) I am currently reading, The Road to Freedom, by Shawn Pollock. I look forward to reviewing it on my blog. Already, I love his descriptions.
3) I want to finish Melanie Bateman’s The Time
​ Key
.​ ​I am part way through and have had to read other books. I look forward to finishing it.
​2) One by One by David A. Bednar. My daughter is a relief society president and she said the book was invaluable. She recommended I read it in relation to my work with survivors.  I have it downloaded in my Deseret Book, “Book Shelf,” and will listen while I clean, weed, and work.
1) The Book of Mormon, Old Testament. A little time with the scriptures on my iPhone, or audio each morning fills my spiritual bucket. I can’t face the world without bolstering my faith. We live in pretty tough times. I  believe, no matter what you believe spiritually, time spent on your physical, mental, and spiritual growth is time well spent.

2. What does your writing process look like and specifically what did it look like for Safe House?

I run daily on the beach or cement seawall called the “Prom,” by my house. I usually see the story I am working on like a movie while I am running. I think about the characters and spend time with my imaginary friends. Although I had the story outlined before I started writing Safe House, dialogue and little details were worked out by the sea. When I got home, I sat by my fireplace and wrote on a laptop.
When I wrote Safe House, I began in the winter. I spent many nights by the fire writing and then calling my sister Stacy to read to her, or reading my work out loud to Scott​. When I finished it,  I mailed it to Stacy and my cousin Kristi who red-penciled it and sent it back. They were my greatest cheerleaders.
I sent it to one publisher, who referred me to another. I rewrote the whole thing, changing a main character and had Stacy read it one more time. Stacy suggested I name it, “Saving Grace.” We were both excited by the name Grace, I changed my main character’s name.
I was so afraid to send it in, I let it gather dust for a while. Stacy kept pushing me. Finally, I sent it online to Cedar Fort. I will forever be grateful to Stacy for pushing me, and Cedar Fort for publishing my first novel.
Stacy passed away from Cancer a week before she could hold a hard copy in her hand. I gave her the first PDF copy and if you open the cover, you will see the book is dedicated to her. Stacy worked on the “Christmas Box House Foundation,” with Richard Evans, and did many other service projects internationally. She never told anyone. She never asked for attention. She gave all the credit to God. I am so grateful my sister Stacy and I had the Safe House adventure together and that I get to give her the credit she deserves.

3. What can you tell us about the sequel to Safe House (your current WIP)? What is this story about and when will it release?

The sequel to Safe House is a stand-alone story which takes place in the same beach town of Necanicum on the Pacific Coast as Safe House and with some of the same characters. Reader’s favorite characters like Advocate Grace James, her family, and Joe Hart are back. You will also meet Hope.
Grace James, Sexual Assault Advocate, and single mother is seeing signs of sex trafficking in the small coastal town of Necanicum, but what she doesn’t see is a way to do her job and protect her own family while Morgan, her ex-husband is out of prison. Will she and officer Joe Hart be able to stop the spreading evil before Hope Experience Flanagan, a homeless 17-year-old disappears forever or will Morgan take Grace’s life at the same time as he and his partner Vlad plan to take Hope to sea forever?
​I have an outline and a partial manuscript! I am so excited about this story. I love the characters. I currently run in the morning, work with foster youth at FosterClub during the day, and write at night. The draft will be complete June 1 if I can keep up the pace. I hope to have copy edits done in June. A book takes time to put together after it is approved by a publisher so I don’t have any dates yet.

4. Can you tell us what a day in the life of Shannon Symonds, Author looks like? What type of writing schedule do you have and what other obligations do you have on any given day?

​I think I am a pretty typical woman, I have more work than hours in a day. I wake up at 5:30 and run. I have my hair down to 5 minutes. Unfortunately, I just can’t get my shower down to less than 20 minutes of luxury. I am a gluten free, dairy free, fun free kind of eater, so I pack breakfast and lunch for work and listen to scriptures.
During the day, I work at FosterClub, a national non-profit headquartered in Seaside, Oregon with an office in Washington D.C.  I am the Outreach Manager. About 27 interns join us each summer for training and then go out and work with youth, state-level stakeholders, child welfare professionals, and policymakers across the country. It is busy!
After work, during the week, I write. I usually eat by the computer. I drag it to bed and write until I can’t stay awake any longer.
My daughter, her husband, and my adorable grandson Elliott live with me. Occasionally I break away from writing to bike ride with Elliott or take him for a walk to the beach. Fridaynight is date night. Saturday is run and family time. We fish, clam, have bonfires, hike, and kayak.  If it rains or storms, I write (Sometimes I pray for more rain!)
I never write or work on Sunday. Sunday is for family and good books. I have six children and their families. We try to get together a few times a month on Sundays. During the summer about 50 of my closest relatives also come to town and stay in my house, our family beach house, “Lassie Hame,” which is just down the road, or my sister’s  nearby “River House.” So I need to get my next book done before the gang gets to town June 17th.
My parents also have an apartment in my house and stay with me for 3 or so months a year. I love it when they come. My mother is a wonderful cook and helps me with the flowers. When I write in the evenings, she comes in to read or keep me company by the fire.
So you see, all in all normal. Trying every day to serve others and figure out what is good, better, or best.

Sneak Peek from Book Two

Hope Experience Flanagan had to get out of the Rat’s trailer tonight. It made more sense to wait until her 18th birthday, or until the cold Oregon Coast weather warmed, but everything told her the Rat was dangerous and she was out of time.
“Come on Hope! I just want you to watch a movie with me.” the Rat begged from the other side of her locked bedroom door.
“I’m not coming out until Mom’s home!”
“See how nice I am! Your Mom hasn’t been home for weeks and I let you stay with me.”
“Just let me finish my homework,” she said nicely, trying to hide her frustration.
The flimsy bedroom door in the timeworn 1967 Rancho trailer shook angrily. Poised to move, Hope held her breath until it stopped. “You promise?” he yelled.
Finally,  she heard the Rat shuffle down the little hall. Five foot one Richard Culligan, ironically known as ‘Rich’ to his friends, and Rat to her, was her mother’s latest partner in a steady stream of companions. Hope hated them all.
The lacey ice on the windows of the Rat’s ancient trailer was as much on the inside in winter as on the outside. The trailer hadn’t moved for more years than Hope had been alive. It was parked in the Yeti Trailer Haven among other molding heaps of aluminum hidden by forest, vines, and foliage which obliterated their existence. Hope thought it was the best part of the coast. Magic green that erased every sign of man if you gave it long enough.
She sat on an old sleeping bag on a bare mattress, headphones in, music playing, when hailstones began pelting the aluminum walls. Gradually the torrent picked up. Larger and larger hailstones assaulted the windows so loudly it broke through her music and then it stopped.
Everything else she owned was packed in her old orange backpack including a Ziploc bag with a picture of her missing mother. Quietly, she pulled back the red rug, moved a loose floorboard, and dropped her pack into the black hole. Then, Hope slid down through the same hole and out from under Rich Culligan’s trailer forever.
***
Grace James had a smile painted on her face, but her nylons had gradually fallen until she was sure the crotch was at her bony knees and below the hem of her skirt. She had been wearing two hour high heels for four hours and her feet begged for mercy. She stood tall, at the end of her thirties with her long blond hair sprayed into submission on stage next to her boss in the old Victorian Church, now the Bay City Performing Arts Center.
Grace’s boss Eunice had the microphone. Her gray bob looked purple in the spotlight. She took off her bedazzled cat eye glasses, and said to the audience, “Next I want to introduce our senior advocate, Grace James.”
Hailstones started pelting the large stained glass windows in the ancient hall.
Every head turned to look at the row of 20-foot windows lining both sides of the room as a cascade threatened to break through the glass. The echo was deafening and then ended almost as quickly as it started.

***NOTE: The working title for book two is FINDING HOPE by Shannon Symonds.  This book is not currently under contract and is in a draft form (although it has been to an editor).

Giveaway

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Wednesday, May 16, 2018

Review & Giveaway: Guess Who's in the Book of Mormon by Molly McNamara Carter, illustrated by Katie Payne




Heidi Reads... Guess Who's in the Book of Mormon by Molly McNamara Carter, illustrated by Katie Payne

My rating: 5 stars / It was amazing

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Synopsis

Learn all about the prophets and heroes in the Book of Mormon! This colorful picture book uses a simple question-and-answer format to help children discover who built a boat, who saved the king’s sheep, and who climbed up on a wall to tell the people to repent. An easy-to-read introduction to scripture stories that’s fun for the whole family!

My Review

What a cute book! I instantly fell in love with the illustrations which are colorful and dynamic. The questions and answers are rhyming and share the importance of what each Book of Mormon figure did and learned from their experiences. I loved that Abish is included so there is a female as well as male role models. This book is fun to read and is a great way for children to remember stories that teach valuable lessons. My daughters loved it and we read it at bedtime and bring it to church on Sundays. This book would be a perfect gift for a family or child!

(I received a complimentary copy of the book; all opinions in this review are my own)

About Author Molly McNamara Carter


Molly has been writing stories since she learned to read them. She earned her degree in English at Brigham Young University, where she was studying when she fell in love with her husband while on a road trip. They have since continued exploring the world together and have three amazing children. She loves reading, writing, traveling, being outside and exploring new places with her favorite people. She currently lives nestled in the pines in Arizona with her family.

FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM

About Illustrator Katie Payne


I've been drawing since the day I could hold a pencil, and started teaching myself to draw digitally in 2003. Upon finishing high school in 2008, I studied at the Corcoran Gallery of Art and Design in Washington DC for two years before finally transferring to Brigham Young University and obtaining my BFA in illustration. After living in New York City for four years, I now reside in Bountiful, Utah with my husband Andrew Payne. My work has been included in Spectrum 24 and also gallery shows. I have illustrated children's books and board games and I am excited about my future in both of these areas.

WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM 

Giveaway

 

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Tuesday, May 15, 2018

Love in Bloom Giveaway Hop: Just Let Go by Courtney Walsh


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This is one of my favorite giveaway hops! I love romance and flowers, so it's the best of both! I'm so excited to give away a book that have both of thoise elements as well- an ARC of Just Let Go by one of my favorite authors, Courtney Walsh! Her stories have memorable characters that I fall in love with, depth of emotion, and inspiring wisdom. Just Let Go releases on June 5th, so if you don't win the giveaway, add it to your Amazon wishlist and grab yourself a copy!

#GIVEAWAY Just Let Go by Courtney Walsh at Heidi Reads (ends 5/30/18)

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Synopsis

For Quinn Collins, buying the flower shop in downtown Harbor Pointe fulfills a childhood dream, but also gives her the chance to stick it to her mom, who owned the store before skipping town twenty years ago and never looking back. Completing much-needed renovations, however, while also competing for a prestigious flower competition with her mother as the head judge, soon has Quinn in over her head. Not that she'd ever ask for help.

Luckily, she may not need to. Quinn's father and his meddling friends find the perfect solution in notorious Olympic skier Grady Benson, who had only planned on passing through the old-fashioned lakeside town. But when a heated confrontation leads to property damage, helping Quinn as a community-service sentence seems like the quickest way out--and the best way to avoid more negative press.

Quinn finds Grady reckless and entitled; he thinks she's uptight and too regimented. Yet as the two begin to hammer and saw, Quinn sees glimpses of the vulnerability behind the bravado, and Grady learns from her passion and determination, qualities he seems to have lost along the way. But when a well-intentioned omission has devastating consequences, Grady finds himself cast out of town--and Quinn's life--possibly forever. Forced to face the hurt holding her back, Quinn must finally let go or risk missing out on the adventure of a lifetime.



Monday, May 14, 2018

Review: My Sister's Intended by Rachael Anderson


Heidi Reads... My Sister's Intended by Rachael Anderson

My rating:4 stars / I really liked it

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Synopsis

For as long as Prudence can remember, it has been understood that her sister will one day wed the eldest son of their nearest neighbor. Such an alliance will benefit both families and bring a great deal of joy to all parents involved.

Unfortunately, Prudence has never been able to feel as joyful. She believes her sister is mad to consider marrying a man she hardly knows, even if he will one day make her a countess. Titles and wealth shouldn't factor into matters of the heart, and as an aspiring romance novelist, Prudence cannot fathom how anyone could even think of settling for less than love. She certainly wouldn’t, and she doesn't want her sister to either.

Unable to stand by and do nothing, Prudence sets out to help the awkward couple discover the best in each other with the hope that they will eventually find love. What she neglected to foresee, however, was the possibility that she might fall in love with Lord Knave herself.


My Review

I enjoyed this entertaining Regency romance! Prudence is so likeable with her passionate and vibrant personality, and even though she needs to take a backseat to Sophia for the time being, she understands and supports her sister. Sophia seems a bit flat at first, but I love how the deeper layers of her character are revealed. Brand was a great hero, conflicted and reluctant but willing to do his duty for his family. His interactions with Prudence are full of humor and teasing, which is my favorite type of relationship! I was filled with anticipation as their affection grew deeper yet they had to hold back for Sophia's sake and I couldn't wait to see how the situation resolved with a happy ending for all. There will be two more books in the series, one for Sophia and one for Prudence's friend Abby which I'm looking forward to reading!

(I received a complimentary copy of the book; all opinions in this review are my own)


Book Tour and Guest Post: Author Donna Wichelman of The Waldensian Series


On Tour with Prism Book Tours

https://amzn.to/2rFkrpRLight Out of Darkness
(The Waldensian Series #1)
By Donna Wichelman
Romantic Suspense
Paperback & ebook, 320 pages
April 2nd 2018 by Soujourner's Press

A prestigious art exhibition turns into a horrific spectacle when a murder sends an art curator and a professor on a hunt for a highly coveted stolen painting.

Escaping a painful past in Cleveland, Ohio, Jamie Holbrooke flees to Milan, Italy as an art curator. But her past follows her during an evening stroll along Varenna’s shoreline walk when an assailant, who looks like her dead brother, presses a mysterious riddle into her hand. Still reeling from shock the next day, she discovers her long-time paragon, Dr. Alessandro Marianni, may have a link to the enigmatic riddle. Before she can discover the answers, their colleague falls prey to an assassin’s bullet. Convinced the riddle and murder are connected, Jamie and Alessandro risk their lives to uncover why an obscure painting has caught the attention of art critics and criminals alike. At stake is a two-thousand–year-old drama, unfolding in the contemporary world of the Northern Italian Alps.

Will Jamie and Alessandro stop powerful organized crime figures before the painting is lost forever and with it a secret more valuable than the prized artwork? Will Jamie find the answers to help her reclaim her life again? She will need the courage to face her fears and the persevering faith of Dr. Alessandro Marianni to heal her wounded heart.


https://amzn.to/2KRNOhzUndaunted Valor
(The Waldensian Series #2)
By Donna Wichelman
Romantic Suspense
Paperback & ebook, 281 pages
April 4th 2018 by Sojourner's Press

For nature lovers, ski aficionados, travel enthusiasts and history scholars, the French Alps offer some of the most spectacular scenery and outdoor recreation in all Europe with its majestic mountain peaks, cascading waterfalls, unspoiled forests and quaint mountain villages. People come to get away from the daily grind and rejuvenate their spirits.

But when Alessandro Marianni’s grandmother Luciana is kidnapped during a church conference in Chamonix, the same landscape becomes an ominous height to scale, and Jamie Holbrooke and her fiancé Alessandro have difficulty distinguishing between friend and foe on the race to find her. They will have to weather a rainstorm on a mountain trail, negotiate a dangerous waterfall, outmaneuver a car chase, and defy an assassin’s gun in their search.

Will they find their beloved Luciana before it’s too late? Who will die on the way to the finish line? Who can they trust? And where will Jamie find the courage to confront her adversaries?

In this sequel to Light Out of Darkness, the answers will lie in unanticipated places and with unexpected allies and require Jamie to discover what it means to trust God with Undaunted Valor.


Guest Post from Author Donna Wichelman


A Series is Born

A number of years ago while my family and I were on vacation in Varenna, Italy and enthralled with the beauty of the Lake District and the Northern Italian Alps, I pictured the place as an enchanting setting for a book. On our return home, I couldn’t get the allure and Old World charm out of my head. Still, I needed a story to make the setting come alive.

I went in search of a story—something that was unique to the setting and to Italy and its history but still hadn’t been done a thousand times before. That’s when I became fascinated with the real-life story of the Waldensians or Vaudois (pronounced voo-dwa), as they call themselves. This pre-reformation Christian sect remained resilient as a persecuted people and often suffered martyrdom and great strife in their search for religious freedoms.

The Waldensian story is a universal story that most people can identify with, because we all long to live unfettered in the pursuit of our hopes and dreams and life-long happiness. It’s the story of the African American slave in Roots, the French peasantry in Les Miserables, and more recently, Eastern Europeans when the Berlin Wall fell. In fact, Zamir comments on that event during a moment when he is being honest with Luciana and talks about his sheltered life under strict communism in Albania. “Until nineteen ninety-one, [Zamir’s family] had never imagined they could enjoy a reality outside their small world.”

Waldensians wanted religious freedoms to live and worship and assemble in the peace and tranquility of their home valleys in the French and Italian Alps. Their real-life story is fraught with drama, romance and intrigue as families were separated, whole communities exiled, and individuals martyred for what they believed.

Though church historians have written volumes on the religious sect, I found only a handful of fiction novels set around the Waldensian story.  I also didn’t want to write a historical, because it seemed too niche. However given the history of another Italian institution—organized crime—I saw the potential for our modern-day heroes to have a different enemy to fight, a foe powerful enough to entrap, enslave, and expunge them from existence but could be defeated by an even more powerful force—love.

I developed a fictional Christian suspense series that created a contemporary story around a people whose real-life history of valor and faith endured the test of time. In The Waldensian Series, their history becomes integral to the plotlines and character arcs, enabling them to find courage and hope in their own circumstances where death is only a breath away.

Jamie and Alessandro’s stories convey something we all long for—to find peace and joy and love in spite of the complexities of life. In the process, they also find each other. Their faith in God and love in each other transcends the confines of our earthly lives, and we have hope that it can be our stories, too.

If you read my books and would like to comment on your own journey, please contact me at www.donnawichelman.com.




About the Author


Donna Wichelman was a communications professional before writing full-time. She has authored short stories, essays and articles in various inspirational publications and lives her dream writing novels and screenplays. She and her husband work with teens at their local church in Fort Collins, Colorado. They travel, bike and kayak whenever their schedules allows.


Tour Giveaway


1st Prize: $25 Amazon Gift Card, Copy of the LIGHT OUT OF DARKNESS (signed print copy to US winner, ebook to international winner) + 4 oz. Tea of your choice from the Tea Source or 1 LB of Coffee from DazBog Coffee (will Add $10 to Gift Card for international gift in lieu of tea or coffee)

2nd Prize: $15 Amazon Gift Card + Copy of LIGHT OUT OF DARKNESS (signed print copy to US winner, ebook to international winner)

3rd Prize: Copy of LIGHT OUT OF DARKNESS (signed print copy to US winner, ebook to international winner)

Ends May 23rd

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