Review: PEACEWEAVER

There are always good reasons to pick up a book to read.

The title is intriguing.
Ditto for the cover art.
You've read other books by the author and you're willing to take the chance this one is just as good as the previous ones.
You've met the author, and you think she's a pretty cool chick.
Guilt -- someone you know is pressuring you to buy the book to support the author, and you do so just to shut them up even though it's not your taste in reading.

With Deb Kinnard's latest from Desert Breeze Publishing, PEACEWEAVER, reasons A through D apply. Besides, she's my friend, and I edited some of her early books, and I know she has the talent and style and imagination to always deliver. Always. So this one was a slam dunk.

And if you're still not convinced, then I'll gladly hit you with reason E. (But if you don't trust me, why are you reading this blog in the first place, hmm?)

Setting: Britannia/Wales, early days of Christianity, uneasy relations between the Cymry and Saesons (I interpret this as the Celts and the Saxons) with some Viking invaders thrown into the mix to make you think making friends and joining forces is a smart move. Throw in two children of nobility, forced to marry for the sake of an alliance to strengthen both tribes. Anmair is headstrong, eager for love, and doesn't quite know where she stands in her faith. Caddall wants to be a priest, but politics and the deaths of his older brothers forced him to become the heir -- much to the disappointment of his crude, opinionated, impossible-to-please warrior father.

Anmair has a talent for weaving, but it's peace and spiritual maturity she's called upon by God to weave into her own life and the world around her -- especially when she is taken prisoner by Viking invaders.

Not going to tell you any more. Why ruin the sheer pleasure of falling into the world Deb brings up from the past, and finding out how our heroine and her hero weave their hearts and lives together? Read the book. If you've read other books set in this time period, you won't be disappointed -- this gal knows her stuff. If you've never tasted this period of history, in this particular part of the world, you're in for a treat.

Into Scriptwriting?

Are you attending the NEORWA "Cleveland Rocks Romance" conference May 11 and 12 in Strongsville?

If so, I'll see you there!

The topic for this year is a little different -- Alexandra Sokoloff will be talking on scriptwriting techniques for authors. Sounds like fun, to me! Every new tool in the writer's toolbox is valuable -- you just have to find out how to use the tools in the way that suits you best.

I'll be signing my newest print books: Azuli Eyes and Scouts' Pride, from the Chorillan Cycle -- part of the Commonwealth Universe -- and The Second Time Around, the first book in the Tabor Heights series.

Hope to see you there!

Even if you're not coming for the workshop and to learn something, come by for the booksigning on Saturday afternoon. I would love to see you!

Crazy Love

Quote:
GOD IS LOVE. crazy, relentless all powerful love
Does something deep inside your heart long to break free from the status quo? Are you hungry for an authentic faith that addresses the problems of our world with tangible, even radical, solutions? God is calling you to a passionate love relationship with Himself. Because the answer to religious complacency isn't working harder at a list of do's and don'ts — it's falling in love with God. And once you encounter His love, as Francis describes it, you will never be the same.
Because when you're wildly in love with someone, it changes everything

HOLD ME ACCOUNTABLE.

I just finished reading CRAZY LOVE by Francis Chan.

http://www.crazylovebook.com/

I got it free from Olive Tree software at Easter. It seems to be available everywhere. I'm also reading the next book they offered me by Francis Chan, FORGOTTEN GOD. I hope it affects me as much, if not more, than the first book.

Read it.
Please.

You'll be disturbed -- at least, I hope so.
I hope you feel guilty.
I hope you feel hungry -- for more in your spiritual walk and life.

The truth is, I reek at prayer. I reek at thinking about God more than a "Good morning, Lord. Help me not mess up," in the morning and a fleeting thought of "Thanks, God, for everything that got done," at night.

I should be praying every time I sit down at my computer to write. I should be praying for clients I edit, and for the people who will read the stories I write. I should be praying for the people I encounter when I'm on errands. I should be praying over meals and conferences and book fairs and sports events and just gabbing with friends. I should be praying more often than when a friend or family member faces a crisis.

I should be on a daily, ongoing, never-ending conversation with God.
And somewhere along the way get so used to being tuned in to Him that I actually start to HEAR what He says to me through everything and everyone around me.
Should
Should
Should

When am I -- when are you -- going to break out of the list of "SHOULD" and just start DOING?

So hold me accountable.

Will you be accountable?

Be accountable with me.