Deadly Echoes by Nancy Mehl - GIVEAWAY

I'm delighted to have Nancy Mehl visit the Inkwell and tell us about her latest release, Deadly Echoes.  Nancy is one of the premier contemporary suspense writers in Christian fiction, a fellow Bethany House author and a real sweetheart. And don't miss her GIVEAWAY at the end of the interview! Soooo, Nancy tell us . . .


1.      What inspired you to write your newest book, Deadly Echoes?
Actually, I’d been thinking about jealousy and competitiveness. Why sometimes we feel threatened by someone else’s success, looks, or possessions. I was wondering what causes us to compare ourselves to others in the first place. Jealousy is like a slow poison that can work its way into every area of our lives if we open the door to it. It weakens us and steals our joy. I believe a lack of knowing who we are in Christ makes us susceptible to the green-eyed monster. Addressing this problem inspired Deadly Echoes.

My main character, Sarah Miller, was orphaned at a young age. Her sister, Hannah, was adopted, but Sarah wasn’t. Even though her life has turned out well, She’s never lost her belief that Hannah was adopted because she was prettier and more worthy of love.  Sarah would never admit to being jealous of Hannah. She truly loves her sister, yet she lives under Hannah’s shadow, accepting a false reality based on her own feelings of inadequacy. As my story unfolds, Sarah will not only have to deal with threats from the outside, she will have to look inward and deal with her own demons. 


2.      Ah, sibling rivalry. I think we're all familiar with that. Tell us about the plot.After a youth filled with tragedy and upheaval, Sarah Miller's life is finally settled with all echoes of the past silent at last. She happily calls Sanctuary her home and spends her days teaching at the local school.

Sarah's joy at her recent reunion with her sister, Hannah, and meeting the niece she didn't know she had is too soon interrupted when Deputy Sheriff Paul Gleason informs Sarah her sister has been killed.

As she learns more about Hannah's death, the circumstances are eerily similar to their parents' murder. Sarah enlists Paul's help in digging deeper into the murders the police are dismissing as burglaries gone wrong. Paul's concern encourages Sarah's growing feelings for him, but as their investigation peels back the layers of lies almost twenty years old, they get close to uncovering the truth one person will do anything to hide--even if that means coming after the last remaining members of the Miller family.


3. Intense! Now we just have to know what happens! What usually fuels your inspiration?Deadlines certainly make me look for inspiration, LOL! But the truth is, I’m in love with stories – and characters. I love to see my stories and my characters develop and change.


 4.      Oh, so true! There's nothing like crunch time to keep an author moving. Besides those deadlines, why do you write?I write because I truly believe I’m called to it. And I love it. At this point in my life, it’s just part of who I am.
 

5.      I understand that. There is nothing as satisfying as doing what God made us to do. What are your favorite types of books to read?
I like almost everything, but I think my favorite genres are mystery and suspense. Believe it or not, I also love biographies. I’ve found that many writers are the same way. I think it has to do with a love for understanding people so we can create interesting characters.


6.      What are you working on now? Any new books being released this year?Actually, right now I’m writing an Amish cozy mystery for Guideposts. I’m working with one of my all time favorite editors. It’s been so much fun. Blessings in Disguise, Book One in the Sugarcreek Amish Mysteries series, will release in June of this year.

I recently finished the third book in my Finding Sanctuary series. Rising Darkness brings back two characters from my Road to Kingdom series. I felt I’d left them hanging in Unbreakable. It was very satisfying to complete their story. This book will hit book shelves later this year.


7.      That sounds very interesting. I love reading about characters I've met before. How can readers connect with you?My website is: www.nancymehl.com. I’m very active on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Nancy-Mehl-Fan-Page/124075957622557https://www.facebook.com/pages/Nancy-Mehl-Fan-Page/124075957622557 And I work with several other suspense/mystery authors on the Suspense Sisters! http://suspensesisters.blogspot.com/http://suspensesisters.blogspot.com/


8.     Oh, I love Suspense Sisters! Anything else you’d like to share?
I love to hear from readers! Thanks for hosting me!





Thanks, Nancy. I'm looking forward to seeing your new books on the shelf!




 
Bio:

Nancy Mehl lives in Festus, Missouri, with her husband, Norman, and her very active puggle, Watson. She’s authored twenty books and just finished a new series for Bethany House Publishing. The first book in her Finding Sanctuary series, Gathering Shadows, was released in May of 2014. The second book, Deadly Echoes became available in February.  The third book, Rising Darkness, will release late in 2015. She is also working on an Amish cozy mystery series for Guideposts.

***GIVEAWAY***

Readers, you can win a copy of Nancy's brand new book, Deadly Echoes, right here! Between now and March 11, 2015, leave a comment telling us either (a) which one of Nancy's books you've enjoyed the most or (b) the type of book you most like to read. The winner will be chosen at random from qualifying entries.

An Unscripted Courtship

By Lisa Karon Richardson

The seed idea for this series sprouted when I was reading an excellent biography of Emily Post by Laura Claridge. She mentioned this semi-magical sounding place called Tuxedo Park, and I just knew that it could be the setting for some great novels.

During the Gilded Age the gap between the haves and the have-nots was growing larger by the day. Unlike English nobles, the American aristocracy had no more inherent rights, privileges, or standing than the common man. Being capitalist to the core, however, American industrialists, such as J.P. Morgan, John Jacob Astor, and Cornelius Vanderbilt, soon remedied this circumstance by making sure that they cornered the market on society and shunned parvenus by carefully listing those worthy of notice. 

In 1885, Pierre Lorillard IV had a vision. On his family’s 4,000 acres in the Ramapo Mountains forty miles north-west of New York City, he wanted to create an exclusive country retreat, where his society friends could gather in the spring and autumn for the manly sports of hunting and fishing and where ladies cold join them at dusk for dinner and conversation. No fences, only low stone walls that blended into the surrounding would separate properties. Property ownership in this exclusive club was the shining jewel that meant someone had “arrived.”  Newsprint pages pulsated with reports on the happenings in “Tuxedo Colony.” 

The imposing main gatehouse of Tuxedo Park

Mansions, described as cottages, dotted the skirts of the lake. Their manicured lawns perfect for croquet or badminton. A boathouse held everything from canoes to long boats for regattas. Stables housed some of the finest horseflesh in the country, and a private racetrack made it possible to turn even that to a profit. Stocked lakes and land provided abundant fishing and hunting. Tennis courts, golf links, bowling lanes, and hiking trails also offered their delights to residents.

The rebuilt Tuxedo Park Clubhouse after the original was destroyed in a fire.

Social life revolved around the Tuxedo Club. Built in a “rustic” style by Bruce Price, father to Emily Price Post, who also owned property on the grounds, the Clubhouse was an architectural triumph perfectly suited to the setting. Sunset teas were held on the glass-enclosed veranda. Weekly orchestral concerts entertained the residents from a stage occupying one end of the stunning, circular ballroom. The stage also housed all the necessary accoutrements for producing amateur theatricals, which were regularly enjoyed. The most sought-after debutantes of every season came out at the Autumn Ball, a glittering event which was held each year around the first of November—a time when the forest itself looked dazzling in its flame-colored gown of autumn leaves. The debutantes launched at Tuxedo Park were expected to make brilliant matches.

 

Despite the opulence, life in the Tuxedo Park could be stultifying both to those who grew up with access to the park as part of their birthright, and the men and women who served them. The relationship between the Park property owners and renters and those from the Town followed strict class lines so that there was always a barrier to understanding between the wealthy socialites and the country workers.

And yet there were some who challenged the status quo, who decided there might be something more to life than social status. Life growing up in Tuxedo Park eventually enabled Emily Post to write, “Thus Best Society is not a fellowship of the wealthy, nor does it seek to exclude those who are not of exalted birth; but it is an association of gentle-folk, of which good form in speech, charm of manner, knowledge of the social amenities, and instinctive consideration for the feelings of others, are the credentials by which society the world over recognizes its chosen members.”

The stories in THE TUXEDO PARK series feature four heroines determined not to allow the Park rules ruin their chances for love. An Unscripted Courtship is the third in the series and it just released in January!

The play's the thing when a resident of Tuxedo Park wants to produce a re-imagined Shakespearian script in an amateur theatrical. The play was written by Julia Wren, the daughter of the local ice cream parlor owner. She reluctantly agrees to see her play on the stage, but her reluctance quickly erodes as she works closely with Robert Malcolm, one of the park's most notorious playboys. He makes his interest in Julia clear, but attractive though he is, she knows park dandies only marry girls of their own class. Parting is such sweet sorrow until a script is burned, then props start going up in smoke. When the attacks become more personal, Robert and Julia must cross the social divide in order to catch an arsonist before someone is seriously injured. As the bard said, “love ever runs before the clock.”

You can read the first chapter on my website here or exercise blind faith and buy a copy here.

The first two in the series tell the story of some of the other Park occupants during the same rather eventful year. The Honorable Heir by Laurie Alice Eakes can be purchased here. The Marshal's Pursuit by Gina Welborn can be obtained here.

Writing Myth #2 Called by God to Write

 by Gina Welborn

After being involved in numerous writing groups over the last decade, I've noticed a difference between Christian and non-Christian perspectives. This post is not about faith,, sorta. This post is not about values. This post is not about language or sex in books.

It's about two myths I've repeatedly heard Christian writers tout as truths.

#1 Everyone Has a Book in Him/Her
#2 Called by God to Write

To read Myth #1, click here.

So let's talk Myth #2.  
If God has called you to write, He will equip you. 

I've been struggling with this subject since I began writing fifteen years ago because what I heard as "truth" didn't feel right. And I wasn't sure what was wrong because how could it be wrong if all these spiritual people were saying it?

For the last four years, I've attended the ACFW national conference and heard speakers, fellow writers, and industry professionals talk about "God's call to write." It's almost gained this spiritual mysticism because when someone says anything contradictory to it, there is an outcry, almost, of heresy.

Sometimes I'm tempted to ask, "Do you truly believe this, or are you saying this because you want to come across as being more spiritual? And if God calls people to write, then why not people to be truck drivers or pharmacists or farmers? Why isn't there a convention for farmers called by God to farm?"

I'm not saying I don't think God calls people to be writers, or to write specific things. It's the next step that this belief takes.

When God calls a person to write, then God will equip that person to write.

The equivalent of that is if God has called a person to be a doctor, then God will equip that person to be a doctor. Or if God has called a person to be an NFL quarterback, God will equip that person to be an NFL quarterback.

Do you want that person doing surgery on you? Do you think any NFL team will sign a guy solely because he says God has called him to quarterback?

Or maybe writers are just more special than other professions. I'm a writer. We're not.

Education, training, practice, and experience matter. And matter big.

I've met men and women who were "called by God" to preach. Were they great preachers? Not necessarily. Preaching well is more than delivery. You need to know how to write a good sermon, or else you're just an orator. A few people are naturally good orators. But oratory is a learnable skill. Writing a good sermon is a learnable skill. Preaching is a learnable skill.

When my husband was a music minister, ladies would tell him how God had called them to sing. Some sang well. Others . . . didn't. Just because you believe God had called you to sing does not mean you sing well, or that you deserve to be the lead soprano. And when they weren't chosen for a solo . . . .

The majority of people who talk about being "called by God" are Christian writers and people in the ministry.

A calling is not equal to skill.

Skill does not equal a calling.

The reality is, very few people are gifted-by-God writers who didn't have to read a craft of writing book or take a class on creative writing. Most writers are learned writers. Just like becoming a surgeon or a nurse is a learned process. But it seems I keep coming across fellow Christian writers who tout the importance of God's call to write, as if His call is equal to Samuel anointing the shepherd boy David.

Beyond that . . .

A call does not guarantee success.

Success does not require God's call.

There seems to be this unspoken belief that if God has called us to write, then He is obligated to get us published, make us best-selling authors, get us huge contracts, blah blah blah. Why not? We submitted to God's will. If this is His will, then shouldn't He make all things work for the good?

Clearly, God owes us success because He's called us to do this.

I've been writing for fifteen years. Never have I felt God's call to write. I started writing because of a challenge. I continue writing because I enjoy the end product. And for those who have experienced God's call, success in God's eyes is your obedience to what He's asked of you. Writers with God's call on their lives are not any better (or worse) than those without. And if God has truly called you to do something, then let your left hand not know what your right is about. Take time to think how your "testimony" comes across to others, both Believers and not.

To all who follow Jesus, we are given two commandments:

To love Him. To love others as we love ourselves.

As you do those two things . . .

Just write.
Just paint.
Just sing.
Just practice shooting hops.
Just sketch manga, buildings, and people.
Just take photographs.
Just run.
Just build.
Just drive.
Just play the tuba, violin, clarinet, drums.
Just study.
Just do accounting things.
Just sell insurance.
Just produce tv shows.
Just sew square-dancing dresses, quilts, and dog costumes.
(I would say just doctor, but I don't want to advocate cutting people or pets for the purpose of sewing them up.)

And if you feel God has called you to do something specific, then as long as it honors Him and doesn't harm others, then do it. And learn to do it well.

QUESTION OF THE DAY :: I recently watched Anna Karenina with Keira Knightly and Jude Law. Early in the movie one character says to Anna, "I would rather reach the end of my life wishing I hadn't done something than wishing I had."

What about you? And has there ever been a time when you know God called you to do something and you did/didn't do it?

~*~

Gina Welborn is the author of eight romances, including one ECPA bestseller and her newest release, Holly Daze, an Amazon bestseller in Christian Historical Romance and Short Reads. After a decade in Virginia, she now lives in Oklahoma with her pastor husband, their five Okie-Hokie children, and a slew of pets.

www.GinaWelborn.com

A Triumphant Tribute

by C. J. Chase

I had intended another post. I had supplies, camera, etc. all ready. All I needed was a bit of time. Alas, an annoying convergence of (1) Mom (yours truly) being sick when (2) weather closed school for a week while (3) Dad (spouse of yours truly) is working 3,000 miles from home rendered my best plans inoperable.

But you know, a quick glance at the news makes my problems wither to insignificance. If you paid any attention this week, you probably heard the horrifying account of 21 Christians beheaded for the “crime” of being Christians, whose last words were “Lord Jesus Christ.” I’m not going to post the infamous picture of them as they await their deaths. Instead, I’d rather you ponder a few words from Revelation 20:4.

…and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshiped the beast…

Evil is powerful and real, but even though it seems to be carrying the day, it isn’t forever.  Just one chapter prior, in Revelation 19, the Apostle John recorded Lord Jesus Christ’s triumphant victory over the beast--and that is forever. Handel set the words to some of the most famous music ever composed.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus. (Revelation 22:20).