Chasing Liberty Trilogy Giveaway

My fellow author, Theresa Linden, is having a book giveaway. She will be giving away the complete set of her trilogy “Chasing Liberty.” You can enter through the link below.

 

 

The giveaway ends July 9th, so be sure to enter soon.

 

Liberty trilogy

A young woman named Liberty lives in a dystopian society where the earth has been elevated above man and the government controls everything. Moving from one trial to another—escapes, imprisonment, secret missions, rescues, 3D games—this action-packed trilogy follows Liberty to her final sacrifice as she learns that true freedom is within, cannot be taken away, and is worth fighting for.

 

Author bio:

Raised in a military family, Theresa Linden developed a strong patriotism and a sense of adventure. She began writing in grade school and her passion for writing has never waned. Love for faith, family, and freedom inspired her to write the Chasing Liberty trilogy, a dystopian story about a future she hopes never becomes a reality. Her other published works include award-winning Roland West, Loner, first in a series of Catholic teen fiction, Life-Changing Love, and her newest release, Battle for His Soul. A member of the Catholic Writers Guild and the International Writers Association, she balances her time between family, homeschooling, and writing. She lives in Elyria, Ohio with her husband, their three adopted boys, and a sweet old dog named Rudy.

My Favorite Beach

This month I was asked to do a guest post over at Rx For Travel Blues, run by Nathan Hill. You can read it here: My Favorite Beach

 

Defining Catholic Fiction

I’m still playing catch-up and tag-a-long a little so today I’ll share my interview on Defining Catholic Fiction that is being carried on the Indie Catholic Authors Blog.

https://indiecatholicauthors.wordpress.com/2017/01/24/defining-catholic-fiction-tim-speer/ 

December – An Open Book

Now that my latest book Seventy Times Seven has been published, I have finally had a little time to do some reading. For the December “An Open Book” posting, I am posting a review of a book I just finished. It is a historical fiction novel based on the life of Mary and Joseph entitled Road To Bethlehem by E.G. Lewis.

 

Road To Bethlehem
A Prelude to The Seeds of Christianity Series
By E.G. Lewis

The Road To Bethlehem is a fictionalized account of the life of Mary and Joseph starting shortly before they met, and ending just prior to the birth of Jesus. Since the overall story is well known, there really aren’t any surprises. That said, E.G. Lewis does a good job of providing a plausible fictional account that fills in the gaps left by the biblical record. The book is well written and well researched. And despite its overall predictability, it keeps the readers interest throughout. I also like the use of biblical passages that serve as introductions to the chapters. All of that said, I feel that there are two big opportunities that the author misses. The first is not giving a more detailed account of the annunciation from Mary’s perspective, and the second is not continuing the story through the actual birth of Jesus. These are arguably the two most important and most amazing events in history. And by leaving them out, the author misses a big opportunity to fill the story with emotion and add a true sense of awe and wonderment. The only other flaw I found is that, while on the whole the Road To Bethlehem does a good job of following the biblical account, it departs slightly from the biblical record regarding the birth of Jesus.

Purpose And Success In Writing

​Today I have a blog post being carried over at Catholic Mom. Rather than repeat it here, I am posting the link. I hope all of you had a very blessed Thanksgiving and a peaceful Black Fiday. The feature picture for this post is from where I spent my Black Friday. It was taken from the top of Casa Grande in Big Bend National Park.

http://catholicmom.com/2016/11/29/purpose-success-writing/

New Releases from Indie Catholic Authors

I’m once again behind on my blog posts. However, I would like to take the time to share a post from the Indie Catholic Authors blog highlighting some of their recently released books, including my new book Seventy Times Seven. I encourage you to check out these great books.

https://indiecatholicauthors.wordpress.com/2016/11/17/new-releases-from-indie-catholic-authors/

 

 

 

 

Life In The Desert

About a month ago, I went down to Big Bend National Park. This is a place that I have been blessed to be able to visit a number of times. For those of you who are not familiar with Big Bend, it lies along the Mexican border in the far southwestern part of Texas, and is a part of the vast Chihuahuan Desert. As you might expect it is characterized by a hot, arid climate. And although the Chisos Mountains, located near the center of the park, provide for a more temperate climate, with accompanying forests and wildlife; much of the park is composed of sparsely vegetated desert. With the exception of various cacti dotting the landscape, it often appears very barren. That is not to say that it isn’t still beautiful. Numerous rugged hills and small mountains form a uniquely beautiful landscape that is different from any other place.

However, as we often discover, looks can be deceiving. The desert only looks barren, most of the time that is. Hiding within it is an abundance of life. Some of it can be seen at most any time, if one just looks closely enough. But much lays dormant, waiting for the next rain to receive its life giving water. And when the rain comes, the desert life springs forth. Grasses and other vegetation sprout out covering the valleys and hills with a lush green. Wildflowers bloom all around, dotting the landscape with all of the colors of the rainbow. It is as if the entire desert is giving praise to God for the rain that it has received.

Our souls are the same way. When we ignore God, our souls lie dormant and barren. But when we turn towards God, and accept the love and forgiveness that Jesus gave us on the cross, we are filled with the Holy Spirit and our soul springs to life. For those of you who have experienced this, you know that it is a feeling unlike any other. For those who haven’t, I pray that you soon do. And how do you recognize those who have? Just look around, they are the ones walking with a spring in their step, often humming or whistling as they go. They are the ones greeting others cheerfully as they pass, and helping those they meet who are in need. For just like the desert, when the life giving rains come, you can’t keep it in.

 

Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created. And You shall renew the face of the earth. 

October – An Open Book

This month, after being absent from this blog for a while, I am again participating in the “An Open Book” posting. The reason I haven’t posted for a while is that I have been busy finishing up my latest book Seventy Times Seven. Thus, most of my “reading” time has been spent proofreading, revising and preparing the book for publishing. Seventy Times Seven was just released on Amazon last Friday. Below is a synopsis.

 After first playing a hero and rescuing Amy from imminent danger in the wilderness, Michael agrees to help her again. This time providing legal help to try to save the Life Center that Amy manages. However, it may be Michael who is the one most in need of help. And however daunting his rescue of Amy may have been, Amy now faces an even more challenging task. She soon finds that Michael is haunted by a troubled past. And that he has undertaken a mission that she knows can only lead to darkness. While Michael saved her life, Amy must now try to help save Michael’s soul. To do so she will have to get him to face his past, to find and accept the forgiveness that not even he is willing to give himself, and more importantly, to forgive those who are the objects of the hatred he holds deep within him.

With my latest book now published, I hope to have a little more actual reading time. And be a little more regular in my blog postings. I have accumulated quite a stack of books in my “to read” pile. I have at least, managed to start on a book. It is Road To Bethlehem by E.G. Lewis. It is a historical novel following the life of Mary and Joseph before the birth of Jesus. So far I am finding it very interesting and enjoyable. I hope to be able to give a full review in next months “An Open Book”.

 

To Have Nothing

What do you do when you have nothing? Let’s say you have nothing but the clothes on your back. What do you do? And what, if in such a position, do you do if you are then faced with a task so monumental that a thousand people would be hard pressed to handle it? But you are faced with having to take on the task completely by yourself. What do you do? Do you give up? Say it is too much to handle?

I ask this question not just rhetorically. I ask it, because that is what Mother Teresa was faced with when she first left the Loreto convent in Calcutta, India. She went out completely on her own, without help, without anything but her white sari and a few medical supplies to help the poor, the sick, and the dying. And the task, she says that was given to her by God, was to take care of the poorest of the poor. In slums so destitute, that most of us can’t even imagine what they were truly like.

So what did Mother Teresa do? She did exactly what she could. Helping whomever she could, however she could, one person at a time. In her words, “If you can’t feed a hundred people, then feed just one.” Mother Teresa worked this way for over a year before she was joined by about a dozen young women who, under her leadership, would ultimately form the Missionaries of Charity.

By 2012, the Missionaries of Charity had grown to over 4,500 sisters and was active in 133 countries. All because, when having nothing and facing an insurmountable task, rather than giving up, Mother Teresa went to work doing what she could. Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta was canonized this last Sunday.

Looking For Love

It seems like too often in life we seem to be searching for happiness, but never really finding it. I think the main reason for this is that, just as the Johnny Lee song says, we are looking in all the wrong places, looking in too many faces. In reality, there is only one place that we need to search, and that is with God. And the only face that we need to look into is that of Jesus Christ.

We end up unhappy because we try to find happiness purely in earthly things. Sure, there are things here on earth that can help to make us happy, but without God, we will always have a void that earthly things can never fill. As for looking at faces, take some time and look at the face of Jesus on the cross. And think about the fact that his love for you is so great that he was willing to be scourged, tortured, and hung on the cross to die for you. Just think, the God who created the entire universe loves you. Loves you so much that he was willing to come down and die for you. Now can you really be all that unhappy. And all it takes is to look in the right place, to look in the right face.