Gun Toting Mommas ~~ Happy Mother’s Day

When readers think Christian Fiction, they usually don’t think of a “mother character” in terms of a woman with children at home who is carrying a gun. Yet, more than one Christian author has penned mother characters who are packing heat.

Kathy Herman’s THE REAL ENEMY, first in the Sophie Trace Trilogy, comes to mind with its heroine Police Chief Brill Jessup. This police chief got her nickname Brill due to her 18-year career filled with brilliant detective work before accepting the position of police chief in a small town. She most assuredly carries a weapon and knows how to use it.

http://goo.gl/qAaQa

Issie Putnam, the heroine in Fay Lamb’s BECAUSE OF ME is a mom on a mission to keep her son’s insane rapist father from learning about the precious boy she loves. Issie doesn’t like guns, so she carries and .22 caliber pistol and she shoots it with deadly accuracy at its farthest range. Issie and Cole are the only ones who know about the safe room Issie built in the attic of their farmhouse, and Cole knows exactly what he is to do if he ever needs to seek refuge there. No one will hurt Cole, including the man Issie loves. If Michael Hayes can’t see past the ugly truth of Cole’s beginnings and learn to love her son, well, he can’t love her. Even if Michael is the only safe refuge Issie’s heart has ever known. At Amazon. http://goo.gl/6ab3i

Christine’s Lindsay’s heroine Abby Fraser has brought her young son to India intending to begin life with her British Army lieutenant husband now that WWII is over. She’s faced with one disappointment after another, threats, and danger to herself and her son during periods of upheaval in the colonial sub-continent. The wives of British officers have been advised they must learn to be proficient with firearms. Abby, who learned to shoot in the states, shocks them all by repeatedly hitting the bull’s-eye on her first try. SHADOWED IN SILK recently won the 2011 Grace Award in the Action-Adventure/Western/Epic Fiction category.

http://goo.gl/49Vy6

Author Wendy L. Young’s creation, Laura Harmon, is a gun-toting Momma with four kids and a fifth on the way. Licensed to carry a concealed weapon, she knows her rights and knows how to use them. She grew up with a much-older brother who was a Marine and Police Officer and has been married to another officer for over 25 years. Until recently, she never had a cause to use a weapon but things are changing in Campbell Creek and she aims to protect herself and her family. Soon she will have her gun trained and know that she is ready to use it, whatever the cost. This third novel in the series is coming in Summer 2012.  Laura and her husband Will are the main characters in The Campbell Creek Mysteries:  COME THE SHADOWS http://goo.gl/cE0Ax and RED SKY WARNING http://goo.gl/OlJG3 .

*****

I’d like to wish a Happy Mother’s Day to gun toting mommas wherever they may be: in law enforcement, on the battlefield, driving bank armoured cars, and so much more.

A Crime Fiction Twist on Easter/Resurrection Sunday

 

As we approach Easter, I wanted to bring to everyone’s mind the words of Jesus in Matthew 22:39 [NASB] ~ “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

St. John further expounded upon this theme when he wrote: “The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. ~ 1John 4:8 [NASB]

If there is any over-arching theme I hope to convey in my writing it is that love never fails, never dies, and always triumphs. Some might wonder how I can reconcile this with penning stories that open with a dead body.

While the crime fiction genre (murder mysteries, thrillers, romantic thrillers, police procedurals, suspense novels) can be seen as dark, it also has a “light” side. The good guys often at peril to their own lives fight against evil and for justice. It’s my contention that the “who dun it” originated in the Christian west. The history of the murder mystery is that of solving a moral dilemma (a deadly crime). The main characters may have to sacrifice and endure great punishment to bring the guilty party to justice. Yet they persevere and do what is right.

I’d like to wish everyone who believes in the Lord Jesus Christ a blessed Easter. I’d like to wish my Jewish brothers and sisters a happy, healthy Passover.

Nike & Sophie at NBC Studios for Today Show Segment

This past Good Friday our family drove to the Manhattan NYC Animal Care and Control and adopted Sophie.

Sophie had been featured on the Today Show for adoption.

Well, to start the New Year off right, Sophie was invited back to the Today Show this morning…along with about a dozen other adoptive owners and their dogs. Here you can see her with her Christmas bells on her feet.

Here we are in the “doggie green room,” really a waiting area.

Sophie and Nike would like to wish everyone a healthy and happy New Year.

WINTER by Keven Newsome ~ Gothic, If Not A Gothic Tale Exactly

As we approach All Hallows Eve, now called Halloween, I’d like to turn to Christian fiction that takes a bit of a darker approach. 

Winter Maessen didn’t ask for the gift of prophecy. She’s happy being a freak — but now everyone thinks she’s crazy. Or evil. Goths aren’t all the same, you know. Some are Christians – Christians to whom God sends visions. Students at her university are being attacked, and Winter knows there’s more than flesh and blood at work. Her gift means she’s the only one who can stop it – but at what price?

Excerpt:

Winter heard footsteps. She looked to either side expecting someone else to come walking around the Ancient. But no one came and the footsteps continued. Cold chills came over her and she sat up straight. She had been here before…déjà vu. These footsteps meant something. This time Winter knew the danger was real.

Her time had come. All her premonitions and dreams of the past week had been leading to this moment. Now that it was happening, she had no doubt God had orchestrated everything. If only she could understand before it was too late. She stood. Adrenaline rushed through her body.

“What’s wrong…” she whispered to herself…Davis was about to say that.

“What’s wrong?” Davis asked as soon as the very same words had escaped Winter’s lips.

“Someone’s coming, I hear footsteps.” That’s what she was supposed to reply.

“I don’t hear anything,” he said, his voice betraying his confusion. He stood and watched her.

Winter looked toward the history building, where the footsteps seemed to come from. But she saw no one walking to the Ancient. She moved and searched all around the tree, but no one came from any direction. Yet she could still hear the footsteps.

“You’re freaking me…” she whispered.

“You’re freaking me out,” Davis said from right behind.

Reviews:

“Few things are as thrilling as finding a new writer whose talent for storytelling is obvious from page one. Well, meet Keven Newsome and prepare to be thrilled. If his chilling debut novel, WINTER, doesn’t leave you breathless and wanting more, you better make sure you have a pulse. Well developed characters, an intriguing, fast-paced plot, top-notch craftsmanship - WINTER (and Keven Newsome) delivers in spades.” Robert Liparulo, author of COMES A HORSEMAN, GERM, the DREAMHOUSE KINGS series 

“Newsome has delivered a taut thriller with a supernatural edge in WINTER. It starts as a slow burn and builds to a gripping climax and the last scene will leave you ready for more. The character of Winter is complex, compelling, and sympathetic and the dual storylines work to great dramatic effect. Well done.” Greg Mitchell, author of THE STRANGE MAN 

“In your hands you hold a treasure, superbly crafted and spirit driven. Keven Newsome has written a story that delivers on every level and is so powerful you’ll want to read it more than once. Hollywood needs this manuscript. Winter is that good.” Matt Koceich, author of THE SENDING

How Keven came up with the idea for this story.

WINTER developed as the emerging of several different story ideas.  I knew I wanted to write a story that told the fall and redemption of a character through two different time lines. I also knew I wanted to write a story with a lead character having the gift of prophecy. A third idea, writing a college story with a girl lead, led to the development of both the characters Winter and Summer. But it wasn’t until all three of these began to merge that WINTER was actually born.

Looking back, it’s easy to see how the three ideas were always meant to be one. But I can’t really pinpoint where those three ideas came from. It’s cliché to say that God gave me the story, but in essence it seems like that exactly what happened. On my own, I wouldn’t have had those three ideas. And on my own, I would have never thought to combine them as they were.

But even though God may have revealed the story to me, let me be clear that it took years of hard work and dedication to hone my craft and learn enough about writing in order to bring that story to life in a way that would make God proud. God instructs us to “study to show thyself approved.” Inspiration may be His, but He doesn’t call lazy people who expect him to do the work for them. If God’s given you a story to write — awesome. Now work your tail off so that you don’t embarrass Him.

What Keven hopes readers will get from the story:

WINTER tells the story of a life, broken and destroyed through the cruelty of this world. It’s the story of a person who is the most unlovable and unusable in the world, being taken and transformed into something extraordinary by God. The story is told in two timelines. In the secondary story, we follow Winter’s first year of high school. She has to deal with the slow death of her mother and learn to live with her estranged father. Through these circumstances, she slowly declines into the Goth subculture and experiments with witchcraft. But in the primary story, we follow her first year of college. Here we see that she has been changed by God. And though she’s been shaped by the tragedies of her past, God still loves her and still wants to use her.

And it’s exactly this past that makes her uniquely qualified to take on a Satanic priest.

I want everyone who reads this to be encouraged that no life is too broken to be used by God, and that God will continue to pursue you even in the lowest depths of your life. The reader should be inspired to not dwell on past mistakes or hurts, but to look forward to what God can do in spite of it all.

Author Bio:

Keven Newsome is a graduate student at the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, where he is pursuing a Master of Arts in Theology specializing in Supernatural Theology. He writes stories that portray the supernatural and paranormal with a Biblical perspective. Winter is his first book. He currently lives in New Orleans, LA with his wife and their two children. 

Keven is also the founder and administrator of The New Authors’ Fellowship and produces music and video through Newsome Creative.

Readers can reach Keven at:

www.KevenNewsome.com

www.facebook.com/thewordcrafter

www.twitter.com/kevennewsome

Purchase Links:Amazon (Kindle included). http://www.amazon.com/Winter-Keven-Newsome/dp/0987653105/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1319395093&sr=1-1

Barnes & Noble (Nook included). http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/Winter–Keven-Newsome?keyword=Winter%2C+Keven+Newsome&store=ebook

Sony Reader. http://ebookstore.sony.com/search?keyword=Winter%2C+Keven+Newsome

A Christmas Title with Some Angst by Shawna Williams

I’m thrilled to Shawna Williams doing a holiday interview as her new book In All Things has just been released. I’ve gotten to know Shawna in the last year and I absolutely can attest that she’s on of those Christian ladies who is lovely inside and out. Now on to the interview.

Nike: You know  In All Things is the perfect Christmas themed novel for this blog, even though it’s not a crime fiction novel. A lot of people are in a bad place as the holidays approach, while others get uplifted by the season only to plunge back into their usual depression in mid-January. Angst and self-doubt are some emotions your main characters are all too familiar with. What made you write this book?

Shawna: This book had originally started with a dream I had. It’s prequel, No Other, was inspired from that same dream. I wanted to write a story about God’s Grace and His sovereignty in all things. I don’t know anyone who has led a perfect life, made all the right choices and never had anything bad happen. Life isn’t easy, but God is always in control, working wonders and creating beauty from devastation. It’s usually not instantaneous, but it is assured. I wanted to write a story that portrayed this.

Nike: Your heroine, Meri, a successful actress in the novel, is disappointed when she comes home for Christmas to her abusive parents and finds nothing has changed. Isn’t it true that many of us who walk with the Lord have made huge changes in our lives, whereas some dysfunctional  family members and friends may have made the choice to remain as they were. How does this realization impact Meri and the direction the novel takes?

Shawna: It drudges up a lot of old pain that she’s buried for a number of years. For ten years, she’d told herself that what they thought of her didn’t matter. Jakob’s love was enough. Only it wasn’t. Jakob’s love was good, but he, like anyone, is only human. The love he offers is genuine, but it’s not enough to satisfy the soul. That kind of love only comes from God. Meri doesn’t learn this right away. She’s hurt, and the pain goes through a number of stages; rebellion, vengeance, self-blame and self-destructive behavior. Meri has to accept that some things are beyond her control, and allow God to help her work through her grief so she can understand what she’s been craving all those years was Him.

Nike: Jakob is such a complex character. He’s helped to make his wife Meri a Hollywood star, sacrificing a lot of his own life…only to find out being a celebrity may not have been what she wanted. In addition he has his own family issues. How does he reconcile all this?

Shawna: He is a complex character. Jakob’s biggest issue has always been his pride. His pride isn’t the snooty kind, it’s the protective kind. When he’s unable to protect or be all the things that he believes he needs to be he gets defensive. In the first book, No Other, Jakob had to face down a lot of this because of the internment that happened to his family. In In All Things there is one more thing he has to turn loose and trust to God, and that’s Meri. Pride had a lot to do with him pushing for Meri’s success because Jakob wanted to be good enough for her. He also wanted to cover the disgrace he’d brought to her by getting her pregnant before they were married. He believes that by being successful these other things will be forgotten. Instead of Meri learning to trust God and turn to Him for her needs, she’s always relied on Jakob. Jakob has to accept that he can’t be all that Meri needs, and when he tries to be he gets in the way. It’s hard for him to admit this. He’s afraid of failing her, and terrified of losing her. Entrusting her fate to God is a real struggle.

Nike: What would you like your readers get out of reading In All Things?

Shawna: Pretty much the same things Jakob and Meri learn. But also, there are side stories involving Jakob’s family and Roger, and I want the reader to ponder on the good things that come from the bad – not just in the story, but in life

Nike: Let’s talk about you. What’s your favorite part of the holidays?

Shawna: Everything. My kinds call me Christmas crazy, and I just adore every second. The time spent and memoires made with family are the best!

In All Things can be purchased at the Desert Breeze website.  http://stores.desertbreezepublishing.com/-strse-118/Shawna-Williams-In-All/Detail.bok

It can also be gotten at Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/In-All-Things-ebook/dp/B004A14PPQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1291432352&sr=1-1