Amish Firefighter Ignites Personal Flames

Posted on by November 24, 2016
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Deb’s Dozen: Wrong place, wrong time, wrongfully accused. Abigail and Sam ignite personal flames.

Abigail Stutzman is feeling abandoned—she’d been dropped at a bus station by the parents who apparently didn’t want her anymore. Living with some relatives she little knew, she got in with the wrong bunch of folks. Investigating smoke in a barn, she discovers a fire and runs out to get help, only to run into the arms of firefighter Sam Miller. Sam believes Abigail set the fire, but the emotional vibes between them are hotter than the barn fire.

The Amish Firefighter sold out of its first edition copies within a couple of weeks of its release last May. While I usually do not like Amish stories, I can understand the lure of escaping to a simpler, less complex life. And I could also see why this book sold out within weeks—this is the best Amish romance I’ve read in a couple of years! Five stars to the Amish Firefighter!

Laura V. Hilton is a pastor’s wife of five children: two sons and three daughters. She homeschools them, writes reviews, and writes two blogs. She says she is now “putting on the new” and seriously writing. When asked why Amish, she related research into the family history (her maternal grandparents are Amish) fascinated her. She wanted to bring the history up to contemporary times. She too believes Amish stories are popular because women are drawn to the simplicity—“escape to peace and quiet of a simpler time.” Laura includes Scripture and strong faith messages to draw readers closer to God.

I asked her what she learned about Laura while writing this book. She said she learned “God can come through even if I don’t know where the book is going.” She learned a total and complete surrender to God.

The Amish Firefighter is Laura’s 11th Whitaker House novel. Her next book, The Amish Wanderer, should release in February 2017. Laura Hilton graduated with a business degree from Ozarka Technical College in Melbourne, Arkansas. A member of the American Christian Fiction Writers, she is a professional book reviewer for the Christian market, with more than a thousand reviews published on the Web. Learn more about Laura at her website, www.lauravhilton.blogspot.com, and her book review site, http://lighthouse-academy.blogspot.com. She and her husband live in Horseshoe Bend, Arkansas.

I received a complimentary copy of The Amish Firefighter from Whitaker House but was not obligated to write a favorable review.

Formatting e-Books Made Easy

Posted on by November 23, 2016
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Deb’s Dozen: Formatting e-Books for Writers Made Easy and Understandable–A Must-Have for Writers

Susan K. Stewart’s Formatting e-Books for Writers is a study in simplicity. Susan has taken a complicated topic and made the steps of formatting books for electronic publication easy to understand. First, we are told the difference between e-Books and print books–very important for the person who hopes to self-publish (and should be better understood by many micro-publishers).

Obviously, you’re not going to have a sterling e-Book unless what you’ve written is excellent. Susan advises authors to make their books as good as possible and then to hire a professional editor to put the polish on the prose. The next step is a great cover. Readers spend an average of twenty seconds deciding whether to purchase a book–the spine text and the front cover must attract them or the book won’t come off the shelves. Cover design is both an art and a science–if you’re not skilled in graphic arts, hire a good cover designer.

Throughout the book, Susan discusses the areas you need to know to publish a good e-Book. Not only does she cover technical details in a manner a neophyte can understand, she touches on marketing and websites and promotion and setting up the necessary accounts. Once she gets into the technical aspects of creation, she shines. After reading Formatting e-Books for Writers, I felt I’d be able to do one myself. I also knew that if I decided to publish an e-Book, I’d hire someone skilled in the techniques to do it for me. Producing a quality product for an unskilled writer takes almost as much time as writing the book in the first place.

Well done, Susan! Four stars.

Susan K StewartSusan K. Stewart is not only a fine author, she is an excellent editor as well. Formatting e-Books for Writers won the Silver Scroll Merit Award for Nonfiction from AWSA (Advanced Writers and Speakers Association) at the International Christian Retail Show. I asked her why the book. She replied she wanted to make the technology understandable to writers who use Microsoft Word. Her expertise was hard won. She couldn’t afford a formatter for her second e-Book, so she learned and did the publishing herself. She relates she took twelve tries to get the book up, but she learned from her mistakes. She teaches classes now on formatting to help other writers handle the process more easily. She feels if you understand the process, you can help others not to make the mistakes. Her sales are going well–a testimony to the quality of the book. Her beta readers got the buzz going and others who have purchased the book are enthusiastically endorsing her work. She touts the simplicity of the process and says writers should not be afraid–they can format their books BUT they should work with an editor and cover designer.

Susan provided me a copy of Formatting e-Books for Writers, but I was under no obligation to write a favorable review.

World’s Financial Markets–A Cascade of Dominoes?

Posted on by November 23, 2016
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Deb’s Dozen: A brilliant analyst, two scheming scoundrels, the world’s financial markets at stake.

Esther Larsen, a reticent but brilliant financial analyst, is very troubled. She and her team are the best and she is better than the best. She believes she has discovered a plot by her bank’s greedy president and its prime investor to make the bank rich at the cost of the crash of the world’s financial markets. Esther has never opened up to anyone other than her brother. But her brother is hospitalized in a fugue state and not expected to recover. Esther finally decides she has to share what she has found with the closest friends she has. What she discloses starts a domino cascade of events that could affect us all!

Davis Bunn has succeeded in producing a novel that will entrance, enthrall, entertain, and educate you while simultaneously scaring you to death at the possibilities. In today’s computer-driven world, where financial transactions take place in nanoseconds, the plot could very well happen. As always, Davis’s characters are well-developed, but flawed. You’ll love seeing Esther start to bloom from a personal as well as intellectual standpoint. You’ll love all his auxiliary characters too. The Domino Effect is one of those suspense-filled books you’ll not want to put down until the nail-biting finish. In my opinion, The Domino Effect is Davis’s best book to date. Five stars from me—my husband rated the book four-and-a-half stars because the story came to an end.

Thomas Locke Trial RunDavis Bunn, also known to fantasy and speculative fiction readers as Thomas Locke, is a prolific (over seven million copies sold) and much-awarded author. He has received the Christy’s Lifetime Achievement Award among many others. While he and his wife, Isabella, live part-time in Florida, he is also a Writer-in-Residence at Regent’s Park College, University of Oxford. Davis graciously shares his experience and wisdom at a variety of writers’ conferences around the country.

Bethany House provided me a copy of this book although I was in no way obligated to write a favorable review.