How precious are Your thoughts to me, O LORD ... how vast is the sum of them!

Friday, November 27, 2020

Love and Memory Cover Reveal + Black Friday Sale

 
I'm excited to be a part of the cover reveal for Love and Memory, the third book in the Rizkaland Legends series by Kendra E. Ardnek. I read the first book, Water Princess, Fire Prince, a couple of years ago and really enjoyed it. 
 
So ... without further ado, here is the cover in all its beauty!
 

When a Queen forgets,

Her enemies rejoice in her weakness.

But when the Queen remembers,

They tremble in fear.

When a King loves,

His country rejoices with him.

But when that love is broken.

The land is broken, too.

Can Water and Fire join again?

Can Love and Memory be restored?

They spent years in Rizkaland. They ruled the land, forged friendships, built families, and made it their home. But then it was time to return to Earth, and their former lives just don’t fit anymore. Clara and Andrew struggle to reevaluate their priorities when hundreds of miles separate them. Reuben and Petra are lost as they seek a balance between their old friendship and their Rizkan marriage. And Ashna and Noraeto never planned to return, so what live is there for them on Earth?

When the unthinkable happens and a new enemy arises, they’re all thrown back into Rizkaland, into a young prince’s rise to power and struggle to build alliances for his kingdom. But they no longer belong in their other world, either.

Are good memories too much to bear? 

 

Release Date: April 19, 2021 

Preorder on Amazon

Add on Goodreads

 
Snippet
“Is this the newest breakfast trend? Sit on the pantry floor and absorb the nutrients by osmosis?”

Clara looked up to see her dad staring down at them.

“Yeah, I saw it on the internet and thought we’d try it out,” said Mom, jumping to her feet. “It doesn’t seem to be working, so it’s back to plan A. How do bacon and eggs sound?”

“Absolutely delicious,” Dad answered. “Really, Juliet, you shouldn’t believe everything you read on the internet.”

“Who said I believed it, Pixie?” Mom returned. “But you know me. I’ll try anything once.”
 
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So, I had a different opening planned for the book – one involving Clara failing to remember how to do a backflip. But then I saw this pic and I was like “Nope! Not traumatic enough. Gotta up my ante.” And I really like the scene that happened in its place. 
 
About the Author


Kendra E. Ardnek is the self-proclaimed Arista of Fairy Tales. She lives in the Piney Woods of East Texas with her dragon babies and massive herd of mini-giraffes, and she is still waiting for one of her fifty nutcrackers to come to life and marry her. When not writing, you can usually find her sitting in a random box, and she's frequently known to act before she thinks. Find her online at: Website || Blog || Goodreads || Facebook || Twitter || YouTube || Newsletter || Instagram || TikTok || Amazon

 

 Black Friday Sale 

For Black Friday and in honor of this cover reveal, Kendra is offering book one, Water Princess, Fire Prince, as a FREE ebook on Amazon, and book 2, Lady Dragon, Tela Du, is just 99 cents! And, furthermore, she is offering Broken, which is part 1 of Love and Memory, for free as well as an early read! This sale is part of Perry Kirkpatrick’s Black Friday Sale, so do go check out all of the other books on offer for 99 cents or less!

 

On that note, my books (Kelsey's) are also part of this massive Black Friday through Cyber Monday sale on ebooks! Check out the huge selection at https://sale.perrykirkpatrick.com/.

 


 

 

Tuesday, November 10, 2020

Blog Tour: Preacher on the Run


 

Today, I'm pleased that my blog is a stop on the tour for Preacher on the Run by Jayna Baas! Read on to learn more about the book, the author, the giveaway, and her guest post, Behind the Scenes of Preacher on the Run.


About the Book 

 North Carolina, 1771

Robert Boothe has spent the last four years leading the tyrant-hating Regulators in standing against North Carolina’s corrupt British government. Just being an unlicensed dissenter preacher is enough to make Robert a target, but he refuses to back down from his conscience. Aside from a sympathetic court justice, the village of Ayen Ford has no other champion for its poor and defenseless. Then Charles Drake, emissary of His Excellency William Tryon, comes to town with one ambition: winning the governor’s favor, no matter what it takes. And Robert Boothe just might be his last chance.All Robert wants is a safe place for his little Baptist church to live and worship God. But the established church wants him to shut up. The governor’s men want him dead. And that safe place is farther and farther away. You can run, but you can't hide . . .

 

Preacher on the Run is the first book (hopefully!) of the For Liberty & Conscience trilogy, which combines North Carolina Revolution-era history with Christ-centered fiction: page-turning stories of Christian people living Christian lives in the daring era of America’s beginnings.  

View the book trailer HERE.


To Purchase:

Paperback (direct from author)
eBook (Amazon)

 

About the Author


Jayna Baas (pronounced as in “baa, baa, black sheep”) lives in northern Michigan with a great family of real people and the family of pretend people who live in her head. (Yes, she does know her characters are not real. No, she does not want you to tell them she said so.) She is notorious for working on several projects at once and writing her series in the wrong order. She hones her craft amid loud southern gospel music and an embarrassing number of composition books, and is convinced God wired her to write—she can’t not write, even though she believes German writer Thomas Mann was correct in saying, “A writer is someone for whom writing is more difficult than for other people.” She enjoys writing and reading in a wide range of genres, but her favorite story is this: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16) 

 

Website: www.booksbyjayna.com

 

 



 

 Guest Post: Behind the Scenes of Preacher on the Run

I do most of my writing late at night when the house is quiet, or at my desk when I have an uninterrupted block of time. I’ve tried in-depth outlining that goes on for pages and pages, but by the time it’s done, I feel like I’ve already written the story! So I use a very basic outline, which I rearrange as my story develops. Most of my drafting happens with a pencil and composition notebook—and a lot of  blood, sweat, and tears. I do my first round of editing as I type each drafted section. Occasionally I skip scenes and draft them later, especially if they require extra research, and I keep a file of “spare parts” in case I cut a scene I want to use later. Sometimes if I feel particularly stuck, I “procrastitask” by making character profiles, playing with cover art, or designing trailers so I can pretend I’m still working on the book. (It’s definitely procrastitasking if you’re working on the trailer before you even have a storyline to work with!) I rewrite a lot, edit meticulously, send the finished product to my beta readers, rewrite again based on their recommendations, and then close my eyes and tell myself it’s time to say “good enough.” Here’s a peek at what did and didn’t make the cut in Preacher on the Run:


- In various preliminary drafts, the opening scenes included material I later used in other places: the courtroom scene, a lengthy version of Justice Sheridan’s warning to Robert, and the idea of property being auctioned to pay unjust debts. In my earliest drafts, Charles Drake was the court clerk. He worked much better as the governor’s emissary, triggering trouble by his arrival in Ayen Ford. 


- Hank Jonas was originally just a circuit-riding partner to Mitchell Boothe. When I needed a fuller storyline for Mitchell, Mom suggested I tell the story of how he and Hank met. That development added so much to Hank’s character that he’s one of my favorite supporting characters now. 


- Caleb Thurmond began as Asa Hammond, suffering from an unnamed disease. “Asa” made me picture a much older man, so I eventually changed the name and gave him an actual injury that could become part of the story. “Hammond” seemed too close to the surname of co-villain Malcolm Harmon—who became Malcolm Harrod after I discovered a prominent Regulator, Herman Husband, was also known as “Harmon.” I didn’t want any confusion if readers did further research on the Regulator Uprising. 


- Neither Alec Perry nor Jacob Chauncy were in my original outline. I added Alec when I needed a secondary Regulator leader, and Chauncy when I needed a representative of the Church of England.

 
- I planned a second book before this one, intending to write Preacher on the Run later as a prequel. When I got severely stuck in my initial project, Mom suggested I write the first book first. (Imagine that.) I’m so glad I did—a lot of things changed as I wrote Preacher on the Run, and I discovered characters and plotlines that have altered the course of the sequel. The biggest instance of that is Magdalen Boothe’s character. I originally imagined Robert Boothe as a widower, but once I got to know Magdalen’s character, I both liked and needed her too much to leave her out. 


There are more “tweaks” I could mention, but some would be definite spoilers. I’m sure there are more tweaks I could have made, too, but I had stop somewhere or the book would never have gotten  published! (It was almost a relief to send it off to press so I had to stop editing.) I hope you enjoyed this little behind-the-scenes look at my writing, and if you think I should have left well enough alone on any one of these points, please don’t tell me!



 

Prize: One signed copy of Preacher on the Run, one necklace hand-stamped with “In God I Trust,” and one bookmark with a Bible verse and book cover art. All entrants will receive free recipes from the colonial era.

 


a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Want to catch up with the blog tour and follow along? Here's the schedule!

Week One 

Nov 2: Leona @ Great Books for God’s Girls (http://www.greatbooksforgodsgirls.wordpress.com) Guest post, excerpt 

Nov 3: Madi @ Madi’s Musings (http://madismusingsblog.wordpress.com/) Book review, interview 

Nov 4: Kaitlyn @ Maidens for Modesty (http://www.maidensformodesty.com) Book review, guest post 

Nov 5: Laura @ Beautiful Things (https://beautifulthingsbylaura.com/

Book spotlight 

Nov 6: Malachi @ Brainstorms With Rain (http://brainstormswithrain.wordpress.com) Excerpt 

Week Two 

Nov 9: Abby Rose @ Photos by Abby Rose (https://photosbyabbyrose.com/) Book review 

Nov 10: Kelsey @ Kelsey’s Notebook (https://kelseysnotebookblog.blogspot.com/) Guest post, excerpt 

Nov 11: Lauren @ Novels That Encourage (https://www.novelsthatencourage.com.au) Book review, interview, exclusive ebook giveaway 

Nov 12: Abigail @ Read Review Rejoice (http://readreviewrejoice.com/) Excerpt, book spotlight 

Nov 13: Callie @ An Unfinished Story (https://anunfinishedstory.home.blog) Book review

Week Three 

Nov 16: Tara @ Tower in the Plains (http://www.towerintheplains.wordpress.com) Book review 

Nov 17: Kelly-Ann @ Musings of a Sassy Bookish Mama 

(https://www.musingsofasassybookishmama.com/

Excerpt 

Book review, character interview

 

Nov 18: Kassie @ Soldier Girl Stories (http://soldiergirlstories.com) Book review 

Nov 19: Natalie @ Kenmore Pines 1 (https://kenmorepines.wordpress.com/) Book review, interview 

Nov 20: Michaela @ Tangled Up in Writing (https://tangledupinwriting.com) Book review, excerpt, guest post 

Tour Wrap-Up 

Nov 21: Giveaway winners announced in Rafflecopter widget and on Books by Jayna (https://www.booksbyjayna.com)