Review of Deep Cover -- and interview with Sandra Orchard

Rick Gray gave up the love of his life 15 months ago when he didn't dare correct Ginny Bryson's misconception that he was a gang member instead of an undercover cop on assignment. He walked away, hurting, because the last thing he wanted to do was draw the gang's attention to a vulnerable, unsuspecting woman--vulnerable because of her connection to him.

Now posing as a construction foreman to gain evidence of the boss's previous insurance frauds, Rick finds that Ginny, the boss's niece, has been hired as the PR person on the current project, a group home for people with special needs. One of the new home's residents will be Ginny's younger sister.

Rick doesn't dare tip Ginny off as to the type of man he suspects her uncle is. In Rick's desire--drive--to protect her, he once again has to pretend to be someone he isn't. When Ginny unwittingly talks about how she could never marry a cop, he believes that the real Rick would never have a chance with her anyway.

But Ginny and her sister are in more danger than he at first suspected, and all the lies--or truths--in the world may not be enough to save them when trouble comes calling.

Deep Cover is the first in a series of undercover cop stories for Love Inspired Suspense, set in the Niagara region of Ontario, Canada. The author did a great job with a believable story line and intertwining theme threads in the exploration of the morals of deception.

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Help me welcome fellow Canadian Sandra Orchard to ICFW!

VC: Sandra, Where did you get the idea for the undercover cop series?

SO: I read a newspaper article about an undercover sting and was surprised by how many “illegal” things the cops involved had to do, let alone the duplicity required. It got me wondering how a believer in that situation would reconcile the requirements of the job with those of his faith, and what the emotional strain of his duplicity would be on his personal life.

VC: Did you pitch them as a series?

SO: Yes, when I pitched it to Love Inspired Suspense.

VC: Ah, were you targeting them to Love Inspired all along?

SO: I was, but along the way I got sidetracked by requests from editors at other houses. As a result, I spent about a year lengthening the story to suit their required word count, and then waiting for responses, before I was free to submit it to LI.

VC: Have you written other books before that you pitched to agents or editors? Tell us about your writing journey: how you landed your agent and your first contract.

SO: Yes, I’ve written and rewritten several books. The first was a novella that I never pitched anywhere. It was the prove-to-myself-I-can-do-it book. I sent a query for my second book to Love Inspired and they requested the full. I was stunned, because I’d been forewarned by every writing craft book I’d read to be prepared for rejection.

Well, a very kind rejection letter soon followed. So I scooted over to my local Christian bookstore to scout out other potential publishers. I learned about Write!Canada and made plans to attend and paid to have my newly-rejected ms and a third one critiqued by a couple of published authors. Both thought they were ready for publication, and Linda Hall recommended me to an agent who signed me on.

I continued to write, took The Christian Writer’s Guild Journeyman’s course, discovered a wealth of online resources, joined several writing organizations, and met lots of wonderful authors.

But having an agent just meant I got rejections faster from publishers that I knew the story wasn’t suited to anyway. Then I met fellow Canadian and LI author Carolyne Aarsen. She suggested I part ways with my agent, and simply focus on writing for LI.

Her reasoning made a lot of sense to me and was incredibly freeing, so I followed her advice. Sort of. I couldn’t resist taking advantage of editor appointments at conferences, and probably because one year I was a Genesis finalist, and another I was the Daphne DuMaurier Award of Excellence winner, I always came home with requests. Requests that required me to lengthen the stories and hold off submitting them to LI, which doesn’t accept simultaneous submissions.

In the end, agent Joyce Hart, one of the Daphne final round judges, offered to represent me, and we sold to LI the following year.

VC: In reading Deep Cover, I enjoyed the southern Ontario setting. Was there ever a question about where you might set these novels?

SO: From the beginning, I set the story in the Niagara region. I knew a Canadian setting wasn’t a problem for LI. But the single title publishers who wanted to see the story asked for an American setting so in the longer version (and actually quite different version) the story took place on the south shore of Lake Erie in Pennsylvania. I was glad to bring it back to Canada.

VC: What's next after the undercover cops? Do you have any other projects in the works?

SO: Shades of Truth, the second book in the series, releases in March 2012. I’m currently working on revisions to the third book in the series, tentatively titled Dose of Deception, which will release at the end of 2012. I am also working on a proposal for another romantic suspense. And my editor has given me the green light to rework my Daphne winning manuscript to better suit LI’s requirements. So far, I haven’t found the time...but soon.

VC: How do you think being Canadian has impacted your writing journey? Has it created any special challenges or opened any unique doors?

SO: I was blessed to discover The Word Guild and Write!Canada early in my writing journey. The dedication of TWG’s board to encourage Canadian Christian writers and to bring top name publishers and agents to our annual conference opened a lot of doors for me.

With the tremendous growth in online writing communities, and the move toward electronic submissions, I don’t think the challenges are nearly as great for Canadian writers as they once were. None of the editors I met over the years at conferences had an issue with taking on a Canadian author.

Many, however, were not interested in novels with Canadian settings. I found that disappointing. I know the Canadian market is tiny compared to the US market, but I think American readers would be equally intrigued in learning about unique Canadian regions as I am in learning about unique American regions.

Sandra Orchard hails from Canada where inspiration abounds for her novels set in the fictional Niagara town she's created as their backdrop. Married with three grown children, when not writing, she enjoys hanging out with family, brainstorming new stories with fellow writers, and hiking or kayaking in God's beautiful creation. She’s also an active member of ACFW, several RWA online chapters, and The Word Guild. To connect with Sandra visit her website or her Facebook page.

To celebrate the launch of her undercover cops series and show her appreciation to her supporters, Sandra is giving away a $25 online bookstore gift certificate to a randomly selected fan. To learn more, visit the giveaway page on her blog.

Valerie Comer's life on a small farm in western Canada provides the seed for stories of contemporary inspirational romance. Like many of her characters, Valerie and her family grow much of their own food and are active in the local foods movement as well as their church. She only hopes her creations enjoy their happily ever afters as much as she does hers, shared with her husband, adult kids, and adorable granddaughter.

She is represented by Joyce Hart of Hartline Literary Agency and has recently sold her first work, a novella, to Barbour Books. Visit her website and blog to glimpse inside her world.

REALITY CHECK

Several weeks ago, my husband asked a young Christian man to share with our congregation how he was coping with a live-in course he was doing with a Christian organisation. He comes from a difficult family background and only made a personal commitment to Christ about three years before when still a teenager. As he spoke, this previously retiring, rather inarticulate young man thrilled us as we saw the growth in this young man both physically and spiritually. One thing he shared with us was what God was currently challenging him to study and think through. Quite a few times since, his words have crept back into my mind and I have had to re-examine my own heart.

What does being a Christian really mean to you?

So, here I am, a woman who has personally loved My Lord as long as I can remember, asking myself this same question.

Is it just about the Christian lifestyle I have known all my life?
Is it about all the blessings God has poured out on me over all these many years? A loving mother and father – even though my Dad died when I was sixteen? A wonderful marriage and family of my own? Years of personal fulfilment in my nursing career – and now this writing career?

Is it all the joy, peace, blessings God has – and still is –pouring out for me to enjoy? Sure, there have been times of trial, times of anger, times of tears, times of trembling in concern, but I find myself thinking of all the things I have been given.

Is this what being a Christian really means to me? God’s blessings, His gifts?

And as I dwell on all I have been given to enjoy, my mind fills with the remembrance of that new Christian’s beaming face as he told us he was still working through all this. I know what being a Christian was delivering him from - a family life and circumstances so very, very different from my own story. You see his face shone as he added rather self-consciously that he was learning it was all about simply “fixing his eyes on Jesus.”

As my hair becomes greyer, as my strength becomes weaker with age, as I take longer and longer to do things I want and need to do, as I try to write that next manuscript, all that really matters is that I moment by moment “fix my eyes on Jesus.” The writer of Hebrews 12: 1,2 reminds us to “run the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith...”

This race through life can take unexpected twists and turns. In all of life there will always be the mountains to climb, the pleasant as well as the shadowy valleys to journey through. How much more so this seems to be true for writers!

I need to not only “look” but fix my eyes constantly on Jesus who “for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame” is now seated at the right hand of God interceding for this child who loves Him.

The times I take my eyes from Him, they so quickly become blurred by things of this world. They may even be very pleasant things, not even wrong necessarily in God’s eyes, but if they are not where Jesus is and where He wants me to be at that time and in that place, they will take me away from my intimate, loving fellowship with Him.

So, time for a reality check. What does being a Christian – and especially a Christian writer - mean to you?
 Mary Hawkins is a best-selling inspirational romance author. A Queensland farmer’s daughter, she became a registered nurse before going to Bible College. She and her minister husband have three adult children and five grandchildren, enjoyed over 46 years of ministry including church planting in Australia, two years in England, three short term mission trips to Africa and now live in Tasmania, Australia's island state. Her 19th title, Justice at Baragula was released May, 2011
Read more about her books, her husband Ray and his devotional books on their blog from the website:
Mary Hawkins - and also on Facebook

HARDEST THING A WRITER HAS TO LEARN by Christine Lindsay

Writers have no problem making the huge sacrifices for a writing career or ministry. With barely a shudder we fork out hard-earned dollars to pay for that writing course, books on how to write, the conferences that are so necessary.

We scrape the barrel to pay for a website, book trailers, and we burn the midnight oil to actually write. I’m not the only writer who gave up a good position to pursue this tug—no yank—on my heart to write. We try hard to keep up the faith when we suffer rejections, and manage to persevere.

And we do it cheerfully because we feel called to tell others about Christ through the medium of story-telling.

But I discovered there is something even harder for a writer. Something that goes against the grain with the way God wired our literary and contemplative minds. It’s something we don’t discover . . . until we’re published.

MARKETING.

I’ll say it right here . . . Yuck, yuck, yuck, I hate it. Oh Lord, I hate it. That’s a prayer, not a cuss. See . . . it’s italicized.

It used to be that if a writer was published by a bigger and more established publisher, he or she could rest on their laurels, trust in that marketing team to get their book visible to the buying public. But we all know the publishing world is changing—even authors with larger houses have to do so much more marketing than they used to.

In many ways their marketing isn’t much different than what a self published author has to do. The whole Ebook versus paper has re-drawn the lines on the playing field.

My publisher, WhiteFire, decided to release my book, Shadowed in Silk, in 2 stages. First as an E-book in May, and the printed book coming out on Sept. 1 as a printed version. I am now counting the days.

This gave me an insight into the woes of authors whose books are released strictly as E-Books. Because how does one make their tiny Ebook visible in what looks like a sea of Ebooks all shimmering on-line like a school of shrimp?

Again, I had to do the same as my contemporaries with the bigger houses. I began to contact the friends I’d made through blogs, I planted tiny seeds. I bought advertising...

So you’re saying, “Ah . . . so marketing is the hardest thing a writer has to learn.”

Nope, it isn’t.

The hardest thing a writer has to learn is to recognise, to accept, even embrace the yucky-ness of marketing. It feels pushy to be asking people to blog about your book. It feels horrible to ask people to write a review. But this going against the grain is to be a good steward of the gift God gave you.

The only way to get comfortable with that is to focus on relationships. Always put people first. Though the task is important to God, ultimately He will want to see us treating each other with love. And that will count more in eternity than the number of books we sell.

I hope you'll join in my happiness as I celebrate the release of my debut novel Shadowed in Silk as it comes out in paper format this September 1.

And Please drop by my website www.christinelindsay.com

SUNDAY EDITION

Coming Up This Week

Monday

Christine Lindsay: Hardest Thing a Writer has to Learn

Tuesday

Mary Hawkins: Reality Check

Wednesday

Valerie Comer: Review of Deep Cover and Interview with Sandra Orchard

Thursday

Rita Galieh: Signed, Sealed, and Delivered plus book giveaway

Friday Devotion

Ray Hawkins: Listening is hard work

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Contest Giveaway Winners

LeAnne is the winner of Jillian Kent's book, Secrets of the Heart (Narelle's post, August 22)

Congratulations LeAnne!

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New Book Releases

Nick Daniels' thriller set in the Middle East, The Jihad's Messiah, Book One in the Jihad series, is a September 2011 release from Risen Books.

Rita Galieh's book, Signed, Sealed and Delivered, is a September 2011 release from Ark House Press.

Jenn Kelly's children's book for middle grade readers, Jackson Jones: the Tale of a Boy, a Troll and a Rather Large Chicken, is a September 2011 release from Zonderkidz.

The print edition of Christine Lindsay's book set in India, Shadowed in Silk, will be released on September 1, 2011 by WhiteFire Publishing.

Kathi Macias' book set in San Diego, CA and the Golden Triangle area of Thailand, Deliver Me from Evil, Book One in her Freedom series involving human trafficking, is a September 2011 release from New Hope Publishers.

Kathi Macias' Christmas themed book, A Christmas Journey Home, set in Arizona and Ensenada, Mexico, is a September 2011 release from New Hope Publishers.

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Upcoming Book Releases

Kathi Macias' book set in San Diego, CA and the Golden Triangle area of Thailand, Special Delivery, Book Two in her Freedom series involving human trafficking, will be a January 2012 release from New Hope Publishers.

Valerie Comer's debut novella, Topaz Treasure, which is part of the Rainbow's End collection, will be a March 2012 release from Barbour.

Kathi Macias' book set in San Diego and Mexico, The Deliverer, Book Three in her Freedom series involving human trafficking, will be a April 2012 release from New Hope Publishers.

To find more International Christian Fiction books, please visit our Recent Releases page, Backlist Titles page and our International Christian Fiction wiki.

Day in the Life

One typical day, or maybe not so typical... not like any other anyone has ever had, anywhere.

I wriggle out of my sleeping bag and three fleece blankets and duvet, waking the cat, and stumble into the kitchen to put the water on to boil. As usual, I do breakfast with my email inbox followed by the latest updates from top Facebook friends, blogs I follow, and the local paper.

I dig back into the current proofreading job. I got halfway through 90,000 words last night; today will see the rest finished. As lunchtime nears, a flatmate whispers from the stairway and hands over a brown cardboard envelope. My book! Aquasynthesis, this one, written by 12 authors. Many of them have seen it before me because I live farthest from the printing presses. So that's how the design worked out. I'm happy.

Time to clean up the backyard after the builders left it in a huge mess. I grab a flatmate and a spade and wheelbarrow, and we spend a couple of hours separating yellow clay from concrete rubble, and stashing the clay in a hole that gaped in the front yard since the drain unblockers were there. My hands are muddy and tender when we call it quits for the day, even though the mess doesn't look that much different than when we begun.

After I get the mud off, a sandwich follows - eggplant and spinach - and then it's back to work upstairs. Read, read, read. Caught a few more typos. But by the time I get through, I'm satisfied that we have done our best. I cast my gaze to the distant sea, to the volcano wearing a bluish tinge today. Winter is showing his gentle side.

Voices float up the stairs. It's a prospective flatmate come to look at the room I'm trying to rent. We hit it off pretty well, and I tell her I just have someone else having a look later on and then I'll decide who I want. She loves cats. Good thing around here.

The fellas are giggling over a computer game as she leaves, and then I educate them on how to pronounce a name in another language. The other would-be tenant arrives, and likes the room, but says it's too far from town. So with much well-wishing we bid adieu and I call up the first one to tell her the room is all hers.

An email drops in to say that one of my short stories has made it through preliminary acceptance for an anthology. That's good news! I am fond of that story. It carries much of my soul in it, though only 5,000 words long.

Night has fallen over the city, and the roar of traffic dulls a little from the evening rush. The valley's twinkling lights suddenly remind me of Christmas tinsel before I draw the curtains and fire up the heater. After midnight I finish my work and toy with the idea of waiting up a little more until a faraway friend or three might be getting up in another time zone. But no, tonight I am sleepy. It's been a long day. I boil the kettle for my hot water bottles and climb carefully into all my layers.

Writing was no more than a breath in the wind today, but it is still the essence of my being.

Review: There You'll Find Me by Jenny B Jones

18-year-old Finley Sinclair has been struggling since the death of her beloved brother Will, a CNN correspondent in Afghanistan. When Will had been her age, he'd spent a glorious year as an exchange student in Ireland. Now Finley is armed with her brother's journal and is determined to follow in his every footstep, certain that she'll find meaning for her life in Abbeyglen…or at least the ending for her musical composition which will certainly get her into the New York Conservatory, which will provide meaning enough.

But life in Ireland is more complicated than she expected. Teen heart-throb Beckett Rush is not only her seat-mate on the flight, but turns out to be staying at the bed-and-breakfast owned by Finley's host family while starring in his current vampire movie. No stranger to wealth or the tabloids, Finley is strongly unimpressed by Beckett, which only intrigues him the more.

Life in a Catholic high school where her worst enemy turns out to be both the principal's daughter and a minor (but jealous) actress on Beckett's set is not as fun as Finley had hoped. Add in an assignment requiring her to spend twenty hours playing granddaughter to a caustic old woman dying of cancer. And the fact that every time she shows someone the final photo in her brother's journal--that of a single Celtic cross--they tell her it could be one of thousands.

But it can't be. Finley is driven to find the one exact cross in the photo, and Beckett is willing to help her, so long as she'll keep rehearsing his lines with him. Against her better judgment (because the tabloids say he's involved with his co-star), Finley is falling for his Irish charm and discovering all is not well in his vampire empire.

One of the things I enjoyed about There You'll Find Me is the vivid Irish imagery in it. To me, it felt obvious that the author, Jenny B Jones, has visited the Emerald Isle, though Jenny says that when she went, she didn't have a story in mind to match the experience. Once the story arrived in her head, her vacation memories helped a lot, as did her editor, her editor's Irish fiance, and his family.

"That's an old cathedral. St. Ciaran's."

A ruin stood in the center, just walls, and we walked toward it. "Look at the way the sky looks so blue through what's left of the window openings."

It wasn't just the ruin, it was everything. The riot of headstones and crosses. Their stark white shapes against the vivid green grass beneath them and the cloudless sky above. I had to walk the grounds, touch the stones. My fingers ran over inscriptions, the shapes and designs, the rough grain, the textures so cool to the touch.

Jenny B Jones's vivid descriptions of the Irish countryside, the pub in Galway, the workings of a Catholic high school, and the beautiful Irish brogue in various characters' dialogue all pulled together to make this a memorable read for me.

Jenny writes Christian fiction with a few giggles, quite a bit of sass, and lots of crazy. Her novels include the Katie Parker Production series, A Charmed Life series, and her contemporary romances, Just Between You and Me and Save the Date.  She would also like to take credit for Twilight , but somewhere she thinks she's read you’re not supposed to lie.

When she's not typing her heart out (or checking email), she teaches at a super-sized high school in Arkansas.

Valerie Comer's life on a small farm in western Canada provides the seed for stories of contemporary inspirational romance. Like many of her characters, Valerie and her family grow much of their own food and are active in the local foods movement as well as their church. She only hopes her creations enjoy their happily ever afters as much as she does hers, shared with her husband, adult kids, and adorable granddaughter.

She is represented by Joyce Hart of Hartline Literary Agency and has recently sold her first work, a novella, to Barbour Books. Visit her website and blog to glimpse inside her world.

There You'll Find Me is due to release from Thomas Nelson on October 4, and is now available for pre-order. I received an ebook version for review via NetGalley. As always, the opinions are mine alone.

Reader Poll: Ebooks

Hi! This is Lisa here. A few months ago, my husband bought me a Kindle for our 20th anniversary. At the time, I was excited, but not sure how much I'd really use it. On the one hand, I saw the benefits for a reader like myself. The nearest bookstore is at least ten hours away, which means I end up lugging a lot of books home whenever I can. The downside, though, was the fact that I wouldn't be holding a real, paper and ink book. Could I really get used to reading on an electronic device?


I'll save my thoughts for my next post, but in the meantime I'd like to hear from you. As I writer, I'm interested in the changes in the publishing business, so your opinion is important.

Take a moment to answer the questions on the poll that is located in the right sidebar, then stop by the end of September where I'll post the results. I'll leave up the poll through August 30th.

I'd also like to hear your own questions and comments on ebooks, so please leave a comment below and let me know what you think!

Thanks!

Lisa

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LISA HARRIS is a Christy Award nominated author who has over twenty novels and novella collections in print. She and her husband, Scott, along with their three children, live near the Indian Ocean in Mozambique as missionaries. As a homeschooling mom, life can get hectic, but she sees her writing as an extension of her ministry which also includes running a non-profit organization The ECHO Project. To find out more about her books you can visit her website.

Book Review and Interview with Jillian Kent plus book giveaway

Narelle here. I'm delighted to welcome Jillian Kent to our blog. Today we are giving away a copy of Jillian's debut release, Secrets of the Heart.

Jillian Kent is more than enthusiastic about the release of her first novel, Secrets of the Heart, The Ravensmoore Chronicles, Book One. She’s a full-time counselor for nursing students and holds a masters degree in social work. She’s fascinated with human behavior and thought it would be interesting to explore what might have happened in a lunatic asylum during England’s Regency era, her favorite time period. Jillian hopes you will escape into the past with her and find faith for the future.

Book Review by Narelle Atkins

Secrets of the Heart (Realms, May 2011) is Jillian Kent’s debut Regency romance and Book One in The Ravensmoore Chronicles. A compelling romance set in 1817, with elements of intrigue and suspense that delves into the darker side of life in Regency England.

Devlin Greyson inherits the title of Earl of Ravensmoore after the unexpected death of his father and elder brother. He continues studying medicine at a hospital in York, despite strong disapproval from society and his peers.

Lady Madeline Whittington is grieving the loss of her beloved father and younger siblings, and she is distressed by her mother’s attraction to the mysterious Lord Vale. Lord Vale claims to be an old friend of her father’s, and Madeline distrusts Lord Vale’s intentions toward her mother.

Lord Ravensmoore aka Doctor Greyson provides medical assistance to Madeline after her horse stumbles during a hunt. She is drawn to Devlin but later recalls that he was the attending trainee doctor at the hospital when her father died, and Madeline holds Devlin responsible for her father’s death.

Devlin is smitten with Lady Madeline, but he is holding his own secrets that jeopardise a potential match between them.

Madeline shows kindness to a disturbed girl she comes across in the woods, and who she later learns is an escapee from the nearby Ashcroft Lunatic Asylum where Lord Vale is a benefactor.

Secrets generating from Ashcroft Lunatic Asylum threaten to destroy both Devlin and Madeline’s lives. Danger lurks and their faith is challenged as they fight for what is right in a world where polite society would prefer to ignore the plight of the mentally ill.

Secrets of the Heart provides an insightful and honest look into life in a nineteenth century lunatic asylum. Human rights take second place to the agendas and greed of those in authority. The powerful story has engaging characters and exciting plot twists that will keep you turning the page until the very end. I highly recommend Secrets of the Heart to those looking for a thought provoking Regency romance that addresses the tough issue of mental illness.

Narelle: What do you find most fascinating about the Regency era?

Jillian: I think it’s the only period in England’s history where the king was unable to carry out his duties because of mental illness, which in fact probably was an illness related to the disease pyforia and even now experts are thinking it may have been arsenic poisoning from the wigs they wore at that time.

I also love that Jane Austen lived during this time period, as well as other authors like Lord Byron. I found this link about British female writer’s that others might enjoy: http://locutus.ucr.edu/~cathy/womw.html

The fashion plate of the day was a man, Beau Brummell, but I love the women’s clothes. It was also a wild and crazy time, a time when rules weren’t very strict prior to the Victorian era and this allows a writer’s imagination to soar and deal with fascinating and complicated issues. Writers can focus on the aristocracy and the upper crust and/or the extreme poverty of the day and the effects this had on everyone. And then there are the medical and mental health issues. I love exploring how people’s thoughts and attitudes from another century can still be heard in our present day, for better or worse.

Narelle: How did you go about researching mental illness during the nineteenth century? What did you learn about life in lunatic asylums during this period of English history?

Jillian: Roy Porter was an English researcher who died a few years ago from a heart attack as he rode to his garden. He was prolific and wrote many, many books and papers, related to England, mental illness, medicine, and much more: here’s the link to his obituary that you might find interesting: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/professor-roy-porter-729803.html

I’ve read:

Mind Forg'd Manacles: a history of madness from the Restoration to the Regency

A Social History of Madness: stories of the insane

The Greatest Benefit to Mankind: a medical history of mankind from antiquity to the present

Madmen: A Social History of Madhouses, Mad Doctors & Lunatics (Revealing History)

Roy Porter’s books are a wealth of information.

Many years ago I read a book by author Laura Kinsale called Flowers from the Storm which was about the effect the Quaker, John Tuke, had on the asylum system. The hero in her novel had been the typical rake of the day who’d suffered a stroke which made this book very interesting.

I also looked up the asylum laws on line and it was during the early 1800’s of the Regency that significant changes took place in mental health laws. There were those who believed that demon possession was the root cause of mental illness. Even King George was burned, restrained, and brutalized in efforts to help him regain his mental health.

Narelle: How do attitudes toward mental illness in today’s society differ to those held by society during the Regency era?

Jillian: Significant strides have been made in mental health through the use of medications and therapy; however we’ve got a long way to go. The problem of stigma still weighs heavily on many people who have suffered very serious mental illnesses and others are afraid to seek therapy and use their insurance for fear that employers will hold it against them. We have many veterans returning home from war who will need a lot of help. Many individuals are exposed to all kinds of trauma: loss of a spouse, a child, rape, physical illnesses, and more. I hope some day that we can stamp out the stigma of mental illness to encourage treatment so that others do not suffer needlessly. I really like the following video and website information. I hope you’ll tell others who may be interested. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUaXFlANojQ

I also hope you will visit this link at NAMI: "Not, 'Whose Fault Is It?'"

Jillian, thanks for joining us today. It's been a pleasure to interview you and learn more about mental illness during the Regency era.

By commenting on today’s post you can enter the drawing to win a copy of Secrets of the Heart. The drawing will take place on Friday, August 26 and the winner announced on Sunday, August 28. Please leave an email address [ ] at [ ] dot [ ] where you can be reached.

"Void where prohibited; the odds of winning depend on the number of entrants. Entering the giveaway is considered a confirmation of eligibility on behalf of the enterer in accord with these rules and any pertaining local/federal/international laws."

To learn more about Jillian Kent, please visit her website.

Narelle Atkins writes contemporary inspirational romance. She resides in Canberra, Australia with her husband and children. To learn more about Narelle, please visit her website.

SUNDAY EDITION

Coming Up This Week

Monday

Narelle Atkins: Book Review and Interview with Jillian Kent plus Book Giveaway

Tuesday

Lisa Harris: Reader Poll - Ebooks

Wednesday

Valerie Comer: Book review - There You'll Find Me by Jenny B. Jones

Thursday

Grace Bridges

Friday Devotion

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Contest Giveaway Winners

LeAnne is the winner of Dina Sleiman's book, Dance of the Dandelion (Ruth Ann's post, August 9)

Congratulations LeAnne!

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Contest News

Kathi Macias' book, Red Ink, won first prize in the Advanced Writers and Speakers Association's 2011 Golden Scroll Book of the Year Award in the fiction category - congratulations Kathi!

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Upcoming Book Releases

Nick Daniels' thriller set in the Middle East, The Jihad's Messiah, Book One in the Jihad series, will be a September 2011 release from Risen Books.

Rita Galieh's book, Signed, Sealed and Delivered, will be a September 2011 release from Ark House Press.

Jenn Kelly's children's book for middle grade readers, Jackson Jones: the Tale of a Boy, a Troll and a Rather Large Chicken, will be a September 2011 release from Zonderkidz.

Kathi Macias' book set in San Diego, CA and the Golden Triangle area of Thailand, Deliver Me from Evil, Book One in her Freedom series involving human trafficking, will be a September 2011 release from New Hope Publishers.

Kathi Macias' Christmas themed book, A Christmas Journey Home, set in Arizona and Ensenada, Mexico, will be a September 2011 release from New Hope Publishers.

Kathi Macias' book set in San Diego, CA and the Golden Triangle area of Thailand, Special Delivery, Book Two in her Freedom series involving human trafficking, will be a January 2012 release from New Hope Publishers.

Valerie Comer's debut novella, Topaz Treasure, which is part of the Rainbow's End collection, will be a March 2012 release from Barbour.

Kathi Macias' book set in San Diego and Mexico, The Deliverer, Book Three in her Freedom series involving human trafficking, will be a April 2012 release from New Hope Publishers.

To find more International Christian Fiction books, please visit our Recent Releases page, Backlist Titles page and our International Christian Fiction wiki.

Devotion: Stay on the Bus! - Kathi Macias

And let us not grow weary while doing good,

for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart (Gal. 6:9).

            Years ago I heard a story about a little boy whose mother put him on the bus for school. Before the bus doors closed and the mother could walk away, the little boy turned around and got back off.

            “What are you doing?” the mother asked. “You need to go to school.”

            “I know,” he answered. “But I want to stay home today. School is hard, and sometimes it’s boring. And besides, it takes too long.”

            The wise mother knelt down and looked him in the eyes. “Son,” she said, “you just described life. Now get back on the bus.”

            Lately I have noticed that many of us (myself included!) have had some very long, extremely hard, and sometimes boring days at “school,” and we’ve been tempted to get off the bus and just go back home. It seems no matter how hard we try or how much effort or time we expend, no one appreciates it and we just don’t see much in the way of a return on our investment.

            But God sees what we do. He knows our heart, and He knows that we are often weary and on the edge of discouragement. But He has given us a great promise in Galatians 6:9 that if we will not grow weary while doing good and fulfilling His purpose and call for our lives, then “in due season” we will reap the reward for our efforts. We will see that lost one come to Jesus. We will receive the necessary provision or the long-awaited healing. We will experience that restored relationship. We may even be recognized for the long hours we put into working for the Kingdom.

            Or not. And that’s the key—that we hold tight to God’s promise and His faithfulness, even if we don’t see the rewards in this lifetime. If we know that we know that we KNOW that we are following hard after Him, pursuing the goal He has set for us, then we don’t need to lose heart, regardless of the results (or lack thereof). We don’t know the “due season” in which we shall reap what we have sown in His name, but we can trust Him to bring it to pass in the fullness of His time. And when He does, the joy will more than compensate any tears we may have shed along the way.

            So stay on the bus, beloved! Life is sometimes hard, sometimes boring, and sometimes seems to take forever. But we serve a mighty God—and we serve Him shoulder to shoulder, together. It is an honor to sit next to you on the bus.

Kathi Macias is a wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother—as well as an “occasional radio host” and an award-winning author of more than thirty books, including her popular international Extreme Devotion fiction series from New Hope Publishers. 

Thank you for sharing your devotions with us through this column, Kathi.

http://www.kathimacias.com/