Monday, November 15, 2021

Mid-month Madness Party!!

We really appreciate you coming by! 

We will be giving away books so be sure to pay attention about how to enter. To enter for a chance to win, you MUST leave a comment WITH your EMAIL and you MUST ask one or more of the authors a question you’d like to know about them, their writing, or their books. 

We are looking forward to getting to know you better and hope you’ll get to know us better, too! 

Be sure to drop by the Facebook Party for a chance to mingle with the authors, and nab even more great giveaways! 

The party is today from 3:30 PM to 5:30 PM Eastern Time. 




A Song for Her Enemies 

By Sherri Stewart 

A Song for Her Enemies is the story of a talented young opera singer and the bittersweet love that grows amid the tyranny and fear of World War II. Set against the backdrop of neighbors willing to risk their lives in the German-occupied, war-torn Netherlands, A Song for Her Enemies is an inspiring and beautiful novel celebrating the resilience of the human spirit and the determination of Christians in the face of persecution. It is a novel for everyone seeking to understand the pain of the past and be inspired to embrace hope for the future. 

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Spies & Sweethearts 

By Linda Shenton Matchett 

According to the OSS training manual, the life expectancy of a radio operator in Nazi-occupied France is six weeks. Partnered with one of the agency’s top spies, Gerard Lucas, newly-minted agent Emily Strealer plans to beat those odds. Then their cover is blown and all bets are off. The border to neutral Switzerland is three hundred miles away—a long way to run with SS soldiers on their heels. Will Emily and Gerard survive the journey? And what about their hearts? Nothing in the manual prepared them for falling in love. 

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Sword of Trust 

By Debbie Lynne Costello 

When Deirdre Mackenzie is caught stealing she becomes the hated English laird’s prisoner. Bryce Warwick determines the female reiver who continues to lie is as deceitful as his late fiancée who nearly cost him his life. The woman is the least of his worries with the turbulent threats of another border war and King Richard's distrust of his nobles. With old wounds in need of healing and adversaries who would ruin their chances at true love, both must learn to trust in a way they never knew possible. The stakes are high, secrets prevail, and treason is just a kiss away. 

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Justice for Julia 

By Donna Schlachter 

Julia Brown changes her name and escapes unfounded medical malpractice claims. Josiah hides in a small town in Iowa with his daughter, trying to escape the abuse of his wife and her mother. A local commune offers them the chance to hide in plain sight as husband and wife. But will they be willing to settle for a loveless marriage? Can they fool the residents with their subterfuge? Or will their pasts catch up with them? 

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Sherri Stewart writes clean novels, sprinkled with fast-paced romance and a strong message that challenges faith. She spends her working hours with books—either editing others’ manuscripts or writing her own. Her passion is traveling to the settings of her books, sampling the food, and visiting the sites. Her latest trip—Paris. A recent widow, Sherri lives in the Orlando area with her lazy dog, Lily, and her son, Joshua, who can fix anything. Subscribe to her newsletter at http://eepurl.com/gZ-mv9 



Linda Shenton Matchett writes about ordinary people who did extraordinary things in days gone by. She is a volunteer docent and archivist for the Wright Museum and recently created her first exhibit entitled “Shaped by Conflict.” Linda is a native of Baltimore, MD, and was born a stone’s throw from Fort McHenry. She has lived in historic places all her life and is now located in central New Hampshire where her favorite activities include exploring historical sites and immersing herself in the imaginary worlds created by other authors. 




Debbie Lynne Costello is the author of Sword of Forgiveness, Amazon's #1 seller for Historical Christian Romance. She has enjoyed writing stories since she was eight years old. She raised her family and then embarked on her own career of writing the stories that had been begging to be told. She writes in the medieval/renaissance period as well as the 19th century. She and her husband have four children and live in upstate South Carolina with their 4 horses, 3 dogs, a miniature donkey, and 6 1/2 Pekin ducks. 




Donna Schlachter writes historical suspense under her own name, and contemporary suspense under her alter ego of Leeann Betts, and has been published more than 40 times in novellas, full-length novels, and non-fiction books. She is a member of several writing communities; facilitates a critique group; teaches writing classes; ghostwrites; edits; blogs regularly; and judges in writing contests.

41 comments:

  1. All of these novels sound wonderful. I've had the joy of reading Debbie Lynne's book.
    My question for anyone is..What comes first for you as you consider starting a new story? Is it the setting, the characters, interest in a particular subject (like opera in Sherri's book)? Or something else? I look forward to reading your answers! bcrug AT twc DOT com

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    1. Hi Connie! Great question. For me, the answer depends on the era. For my WWII stories, I like exploring the unusual ways women served, so the protagonist's role generally comes first, such as war correspondent, doctor, etc. and I build my book around that. For my 1800s stories, setting tends to come first so I can learn about the different territories and states and what life was like.

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    2. Connie!!!! Thanks for coming by, my faithful HHH follower! Mine truly varies. Because my medievals are sequels I would say those are exploring the characters and the plot and what was going on in Europe at that time so I can bring it into the story. ON my 19th century Charleston Earthquake, I knew I wanted to write a story set during that tragic part of Charleston's history. My Bride by Blackmail and the sequels were more developing characters and exploring what they would be experiencing during that time period.

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  2. The MMM party is always fun; however, I'll miss the party due to my volunteering schedule for today. Will the party be open afterwards? I've read Debbie's book already and books by Linda and Donna.
    A question for all authors: What is one of the most inspirational moments during your research into your stories? marilynridgway78 (at) gmail (dot) com

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    1. Thanks for stopping by, Marilyn. We'll miss you. The party will remain open until Noon eastern time tomorrow (November 16). Feel free to stop by until then. Probably the most inspirational moments I experienced was when I was researching Love's Rescue which is about the German occupation of France, specifically Paris, and I learned about the French Resistance. Ordinary men and women doing incredibly brave things to try to rid their country of evil. I'm not sure I would be as brave.

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    2. Hey Marilyn, be sure to stop by tomorrow before noon EST for chances to win. My most inspirational is tough I have two, but I'll go with Shattered Memories, set during the Charleston Earthquake. Probably my most researched book. I read a lot of eye witness accounts. During the earthquake people went into the garden squares to be away from falling debris. They held hands and sang hymns! Their response to such devastation was beautiful. I actually had someone contact me and tell me that I did a poor job showing how people react during an earthquake. She said she knew because she'd been through several in CA. It was nice to be able to respond and tell her that every reaction I put in the book was from an 1886 eye witness account!

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  3. My question is for you all…. Do you ever argue in you heads about a character and whether he or she should be this way or that way? Or may you decide on one profession for the character but have to change because it just doesn’t fit?
    mauback55 at gmail dot com

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    1. Hi Melanie! Thanks for stopping by! I am a plotter which means I create a character bible and full outline for the story before I begin to write. So, the "arguing" happens when I'm pulling everything together. Sometimes it's quite a wrestling match, but once it's set, I'm generally good to go.

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    2. Hey Melanie! Great question! I do go back and forth sometimes. I find that often when I plot out my story (which I always do to some extent) my characters often times lead me down roads I never planned. It is like I'm getting to know them as I write and they tell me sometime they don't like where I was sending them. LOL

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  4. these books sound wonderful. all different yet a similar theme.
    quilting dash lady at comcast dot net

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    1. Thanks for stopping by, Lori. We appreciate your support!

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    2. Thanks for coming by Lori. Hopefully the theme and take away in all of them is the love of a Savior!

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  5. Hi, all these books sound like very good reads. I love the book covers. My question is : Do your book characters talk to you, and if they do have you had to change something in the story because of it? aliciabhaney(at)sbcglobal(dot)net

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    1. Great question! I outline my stories before I write, but my characters sometimes talk to me, and we end up going in a different direction in the story.

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    2. Alicia, Yes!!! They most definitely do. I always plot out my story. Sometimes a very detailed chapter by chapter and sometimes more of the highlights, spiritual, romantic, growth arc, tension, and suspense. But they almost always take me someplace I hadn't expected as I get to know them. The first 4 chapters are always the hardiest for me because I'm learning who my characters are.

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    3. Thank you so much for answering my questions Linda and Debbie, I love both your answers. aliciabhaney(at)sbcglobal(dot)net

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  6. Sherri, is any of this based on a true story? Sounds interesting.
    I've read and reviewed Linda's and Debbie's.
    Mary
    haketm @ msn.com

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  7. Hi Mary: Thank you for your encouragement and support. Reviews are so important to authors, and I appreciate the time you take to leave one.

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  8. Awesome day. Thank you. Era WWIi, the 40s love it. Favorite movies, the Thin Man.Series.

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  9. Hello Ladies! Are you ready for the holidays?
    psalm103and138atgmaildotcom

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    1. I am getting there! I'm going to do the unthinkable and take down my Thanksgiving BEFORE Thanksgiving and put up Christmas!

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    2. My husband's birthday is early December so we always wait until after that to decorate, but this year we're going to be away, so no decorating for me, but I have started to do some shopping.

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  10. Great party! my question is this: Do any of you put characteristics of yourself/someone you know in your characters? sheliarha64(at)yahoo(dot)com

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    1. Yes! I would say there are a good many of my H/H that have some characteristics of someone I am close to. My husband and his father both are strong believers that a man is only as good as his word and you'll find that in one or two of my books as well as other characteristics. Great question!!!

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    2. I sometimes include traits of folks I know, but most of my characters are more brave than I'll ever be!

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  11. All these books look amazing!! Especially the WW2 ones!! My question for the authors is how long do you research before you start writing?? Do you do research all beforehand or during the writing of the books?? Looking forward to hearing your answers!!
    angiepool1606(at)gmail(dot)com

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  12. Hi Angie! I'm a plotter, outlining my books before I write so I know what to research before I start writing. As far as how long I research, it depends on the topic, sometimes it's a couple of hours, sometimes it can go as long as several days because of watching interviews or reading memoirs, etc.

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  13. Hi from warm and sunny Macedonia ❤
    I am glad meeting some new authors and about their books at this amazing event.
    Question for all authors:
    Do you have any storyline you wanted to write but you didn't yet?

    Thank you

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    1. Oh my goodness, yes! I have many stories that are still waiting to be told!

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    2. Hi Natali from chilly New Hampshire where we are headed into winter. Brr! Thanks for coming to our party! I have a folder where I keep story ideas, some of which may never see the light of day, many of which will eventually get written. If a storyline speaks strongly to me, I will try to rearrange my writing/publishing schedule to fit in the story.

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  14. Do you ladies prefer to read the same type of fiction you write?
    For a long time I have preferred reading historical fiction--mostly western but sometimes regency. (lemonade050)(at)(hotmail(dot)com)

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    1. Brenda, I do. I love medieval and I enjoy 19th century as well. I don't write westerns, but I do enjoy them.

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    2. Hi Brenda: I write historical fiction (WWII and mid-1800s) and mostly read that, but I have several authors whose books I love, so also read contemporary and sometimes regency or revolutionary era books. I've started reading some WWI books lately too.

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  15. I love historicals. How did each of you become interested in history and writing about it?
    paulamarys49ATgmailDOTcom

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    1. Hi Paula! I was somewhat interested in history during school, but unfortunately most of my instructors were somewhat dry. When my husband and I began to visit historical sites and see re-enactors I became much more interested as the history came alive

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    2. I became interested in history from reading. The more I learned the more I wanted to know. I automatically gravitated to historicals when I began writing because of it.

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  16. Hello authors :)
    I'm curious if any of you act out their characters in front of the mirror.
    Thank you!
    kykla99ATgmailDOTcom

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    1. Hi Natalya! I've done that when I was trying to figure out how to describe an expression or manner of walking. Hopefully, no one can see inside the house! :-)

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    2. Haha. I'm afraid yes. Especially gestures and expressions. Sometimes what you see in your head is hard to describe, so acting it out can be helpful. Like Linda, I do it in private!

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