Author Valerie Massey Goree shares about her hero in Shadows of Time
Cullen hosts a Bible study on God’s grace. Dealing with guilt-inducing issues from his past, Cullen has a hard time accepting grace, so his lesson is as much for himself as for his audience.
My heroine is in the audience, but while Cullen is making the presentation, he doesn’t know Anna is ready to explore accepting Jesus as her savior. She has always believed she isn’t worthy of God’s forgiveness, and with an atheist mother, she’s had no foundation upon which to build her faith.
The illustration Cullen uses to describe God’s grace convinces Anna that she is worthy of forgiveness. He describes grace as a free gift available to all who believe. But as with any gift, it must be accepted, opened, and used.
“Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” Hebrews 4:16 NIV
Cullen concludes his lesson by reminding us we must live in grace, get back on track when we fall, and tell other people about the amazing gift.
I don’t know about you, but I struggle with the reality of God’s grace, freely given and available to me all the time. Why would God care about a wretch such as me? The first verse of the wonderful hymn “Amazing Grace” says it all. ‘Amazing grace—how sweet the sound—That saved a wretch like me!’ God’s grace is limitless. He has more than enough for every one of his children. Oh, how precious life is when we live within God’s grace.
Shadows of Time is a romantic suspense under the umbrella topic of My Mother’s Secret. And what a secret Anna’s mother kept for decades.
Long estranged from her genetic scientist mother, artist Anna Knight is stunned by the contents of her mother’s will. Determined to ascertain the source of her wealth, Anna hires tech guru Cullen Kincaid to investigate.
Details the guitar-playing Bible-teaching computer expert discovers could drastically alter Anna’s future.
When mutual attraction blossoms, can she overcome her feelings of worthlessness? Will Cullen follow his heart without knowing the truth of Anna’s birth?
Valerie loves to hear from her readers. Check out her website to learn more about her romantic suspense novels and Glenn’s non-fiction books or to sign up for her monthly newsletter ValerieGoreeAuthor.com, or visit her on Facebook, BookBub, Amazon, or Goodreads
How do I know Jesus is real? As a Christian, I believe, but have been challenged by that age-old question. My answer is simple. Jesus has always been there for me, even before I was saved and didn’t realize it. He was there, never more so than when we lost my mother to liver failure at the age of 63, a bleak time for myself and my family. Mom needed a transplant, yet we couldn’t bring ourselves to pray for someone to die, so she could live. We put the decision in God’s hands.
My father and I went to the hospital every day. It didn’t matter that I had to drive an hour to pick up Dad and another hour’s drive to the hospital. We visited. The week Mom slipped into a coma, we still visited. When my brother and sister went to see her that weekend, there was no change in Mom’s condition. However, on Monday, Dad and I found her bright and alert. She spoke with us, and then she sent Dad away so I could have some quiet time with her. I’ll never forget what she said.
“Maggie, I had a visitor Saturday night.” A visitor? I knew my brother and sister were there, but Mom shook her head. “This was the middle of the night,” she said.
“Who, Mom?” I asked again.
Mom grew quiet. She smiled and held my hand. “Jesus.”
My breath caught. I felt as if my heart stopped beating, but I knew what she spoke was true.
“Jesus came and sat alongside me. I told him I wanted to go home.”
Where some might question such an occurrence, I never thought to do so. I believe Mom saw Jesus that night. Upon thinking more, I realized He visited me, also. Mom’s sickness took a toll on the entire family. Sleep was impossible. I often woke and sat at the table in the dark. Sometimes I prayed. Sometimes I forgot how to pray.
There didn’t seem to be an easy answer. But that Saturday night, I woke around three a.m., as I often did. Only instead of getting out of bed and sitting at the table, a comforting warmth spread over me. More like through me, you know? The feeling was all-encompassing, something I couldn’t deny if I wanted.
A soft voice whispered to my soul. “Everything is going to be OK.” That’s all. Those simple words by an unseen, but deeply felt presence, brought such a tranquil peace to my body and soul, I nodded and went back to sleep.
It was only after my visit with Mom, did I come to the realization that both of us, indeed, had a special visit from Jesus. He sat with my mother on her last lucid day on this earth. The last day she spoke to any of us. She passed later that week, and I knew she had gone home.
I remember a time when I was filled with shame and guilt and doubt because of the kind of life I was living. My husband and I attended a new church, a place we’d never set foot in before and there, in the quiet of the service, I heard God say, very plainly, “You are forgiven.”
Did that change my life? Not completely, but it did set me on the path to change. Isn’t that what faith is all about–changing as we get to know Him and hear His voice in whatever means He uses to speak to us?
When I start writing a book, I don’t always know the referencing scripture. Most of the time, I don’t even have a blurb or tagline or anything to develop the story around. I’m 100% panster when it comes to creating, but somewhere along the journey, these things fall into place (especially if I’m listening to the Holy Spirit, who guides my stories as well as my life). This is what happened with Kyleigh’s Cowboy. A secondary character, a young woman whose life has been anything but easy, comes to know the Lord from hearing His voice, even though she never knew Him before and had no idea at first WHO was talking to her! Thus, our defining or supporting scripture…
“The Lord appeared to him from afar, saying, “I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore, I have drawn you with loving-kindness.
Jeremiah 31:3
The Bible gives us many scriptures that assure us God speaks to those who “have ears to hear.” It also gives us vivid imagery of Jesus’ invitation to turn to Him and let Him into our hearts, minds, and lives. Let us be quick to listen and to act, but most importantly, to move toward Him instead of away in our darkest times.
Dear Lord, Whether audible, a whisper on the wind or a gentle knock on our hearts, may we be quick to hear, listen and obey Your voice.
She’s attempting to start a new life. He’s roamed for more than a decade. Can they let go of the past and grab hold of the future?
Seven years after the death of her husband, Kyleigh Winters turned their old vacation home into a brand new guest ranch. Not willing to join the ranks of lonely women trolling the bars or online in search of a man, Kyleigh is sure if God wishes her to have another husband, He’ll send the perfect someone in His own time. But will she be open to the possibility of new love when He does?
Searching for a place that calls to his soul, Lance Stevens has been a roaming cowboy for ten years since retiring from the Marines. He finds that sanctuary the moment he drives through the Silver Star’s gate and meeting the lovely owner speaks to more than his soul. Will he open to the healing power of love?
Get Pamela Thibodeaux’s second chance romance novella today and see how love and faith conquers all. Kyleigh’s Cowboy releases 10/18, but you can preorder it today!
Award-winning author Pamela S. Thibodeaux is the Co-Founder and a lifetime member of Bayou Writers Group in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Multi-published in romantic fiction as well as creative non-fiction, her writing has been tagged as “Inspirational with an Edge!” ™ and reviewed as “steamier and grittier than the typical Christian novel without decreasing the message.” Sign up to receive Pam’s newsletter and get a FREE short story!
Hi Stacey, thank you for having me here! I’m excited to share about my newest novel, A Dim Hope!
A Dim Hope is a story about not giving up—about pressing on. In the book, Amber, the main character in my story, is faced with many challenges. Not only does she face emotional challenges, but she’s also actually fighting for her life in a man-against-nature type plot. It is hard, and she wishes things were different. In fact, more than once, she is given the opportunity to back out of the adventure she’s been handed—to give up and go back to “normal.”
Of course, the problem with giving up is she would be returning to a “normal” full of problems. If she faces her challenges head-on, she might find the answers she needs to fix some of her problems.
Isn’t this how it is in life? We can settle for the status quo, but we won’t ever see things from the mountaintop. Maybe we don’t even have a choice to settle. Life has thrown us mighty challenges, and we do not get the choice to “give up.”
I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 3:14
It is my sincere hope and desire that A Dim Hope will give encouragement to Christians to keep going. Don’t give up! No matter the challenges we face, through God, we will always be victorious.
Does Amber find victory over her challenges? I won’t spoil the story for you, but I will say she finds more than she could ever imagine when her trials began!
Amber is in trouble. Her sister is dying—and so is her homeland. The Lifeforce stones that power their world are waning, and no one knows why. When the rulers of the land prepare a scientific expedition to study the place where the veins of the Lifeforce run deep, Amber is forced to travel as a servant with the expedition. Though Amber has longed for adventure, her dream always included her sister. Now her only wish is to return home with a cure before it’s too late.
Crops are wilting, food is scarce, and sandstorms, avalanches, and earthquakes threaten to doom the expedition. Besides this, there are more sinister forces at work. Quiet arguments and missing supplies lead Amber to believe their efforts are being sabotaged. She uncovers clues, but the real source of their trouble—and hope—lies in places she never expected.
About the Author
KATIE CLARK started reading fantastical stories in grade school, and her love for books never died. Today she reads in all genres; her only requirement is an awesome story! She writes young adult speculative fiction, including her romantic fantasy novel, The Rejected Princess, her Beguiled Series, and her dystopian Enslaved Series. You can connect with her at her website or on social media @KatieClarkBooks.
I’m often asked about YA titles, and since I don’t write them, I’m always excited to promote one. I LOVE this cover, and I’m happy to welcome author Carol Raj to the blog.
“Why would I go to church? Those Christians are all hypocrites. Just look in the front pew.”
How often have you heard words like that? And could they possibly be true? To answer that, we have to define our terms. What is a hypocrite? And what is a Christian? A hypocrite is defined as a person who pretends to be something good – generous or loving or faithful — but is actually the opposite.
One of the most despicable characters in literature is Ebenezer Scrooge. He loved money and had no respect for other people. But was he a hypocrite? No. He never pretended to be generous. He was a miser and proud of it. And how do we define a Christian? The one thing every born-again Christian claims to be is a sinner. A sinner whose only hope for salvation is being washed in the blood of Jesus.
We may dress up when we go to church. We may smile on the outside while inside we’re sad, discouraged, or even angry. That only means we can overcome our inner flaws in an effort to make others comfortable. But it does not make us hypocrites. We claim to be sinners, and we are.
In Charlotte Masterson Gets a Life, high school sophomore Charlotte discovers that appearances can be deceiving. As she uncovers her boyfriend’s motivations and her strict mother’s shady past, her world is turned upside down. In the process, she discovers what true love is. True love. Sacrificial love. Like Jesus has for us.
Carol Raj published several stories in children’s magazines before her first YA novel, Charlotte Masterson Gets a Life. Part of her inspiration came from working in a public high school library. What an eye-opener! One student asked for a copy of one of Shakespeare’s plays. In English, please. Still another said he hated all the rules in the high school so he planned to join the army. Good luck with that one!
The most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart.
Helen Keller
My mind and heart don’t always agree. I know what I know, but my heart feels. Sometimes my senses don’t agree with either heart or mind. I know God called me to write, but my heart is often reluctant. Where do I start?
Who am I to have anything of value to say? Oh, how I marvel at those pastors who use alliteration. They make it sound so easy, those one-word points that begin with the same letter, and the listener gives rapt attention.
Have you ever argued or pleaded with the Lord in cases of conviction? Those times He nudges and doesn’t let go because He has an assignment for you? You’re in good company.
Then Moses said to the Lord, ‘Please, Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither recently nor in time past, nor since You have spoken to Your servant; for I am slow of speech and slow of tongue’
Exodus 4:10
Writing can be like that for me. There is nothing new under the sun, so reality shouts that “it’s already been said.” So, what can I add that has any takeaway value?
But the Lord said to him, ‘Who has made the human mouth? Or who makes anyone unable to speak or deaf, or able to see or blind? Is it not I, the Lord?’
Exodus 4:11
Ah, the Lord. it’s all about Him; it’s not about what I have to say. It’s not about what I feel as I’m trying to say it. He’s given me an assignment, and it’s my responsibility to answer that call from the heart as much as the head. Now would you look at that? I just discovered alliteration.
Speaking of Hearts
One of my summer titles is Where Hearts Meet. I can see reluctance, reality, and responsibility in Deena Shores and Simon Hart’s relationship (there’s one that just slipped through my fingertips). She strives to keep her attraction for him a secret while caring for his mother. Simon looks into Deena’s dark eyes, sees his wife, and relives (and another!) her disappearance Will his obedience to God override the chance Deena may vanish as well?
Maybe that alliteration I’ve noticed isn’t a matter of knowledge after all. Could be it comes from the heart, and who knows hearts better than the Creator?
Thank you, Stacey, for sharing your cyberspace with me. I wish all of you happy reading during the final days of summer.
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart,as working for the Lord, not for human masters.
Colossians 3:23
Heartfelt Work
God creates beauty
In His sight
Flawed sinner I am
Jesus died for me
I can do no less
Than work for Him
All my efforts
Should bring Him glory
He enables, He equips
My heart is willing
I set him before me
In all I write
For Him.
Nebraska country girl LoRee Peery writes fiction that hopefully appeals to adult readers who enjoy stories written from a Christian perspective, focusing on the romance. These include novels and novellas for women and men in the Contemporary, Romance, Historical, Time Travel, and Mystery/Suspense categories. She writes of redeeming grace with a sense of place. Her Frivolities Series launched her releases, and the book based on her father’s unsolved homicide, Touches of Time, was a personal relief. She is who she is by the grace of God: Christian, country girl, wife, mother, grandmother and great-, sister, friend, and author.
