Guest Blogger: Betsy St. Amant

I love reading authors' tales of getting The Call, so when I signed up to be a part of Betsy St. Amant's Return to Love blog tour, I asked her to be a guest blogger and talk about the day she got The Call.

Getting the Call

Ring, Ring...

It was any other typical day at work, where I am employeed as a receptionist for an oil and gas company. Phones were ringing, faxes were waiting to be sent, filing was stacking up, my to-do list ever growing...

And then...Ring Ring. Not the company phone. My cell phone. Most of my family and friends know not to call my personal line during work, so I was actually a litle nervous when I pulled it from my purse, hoping it wasn't an emergency.

I saw my agent's phone number in the caller ID screen and froze. I almost couldn't open it. I finally managed with shaky fingers and held my breath. Then realized I had yet to say hello. "HELLO" - part squawk, part squeak. The company phone rang again then, but truthfully, I couldn't care less. I've been with my agent long enough to know now that when she has bad news, she emails. Good news merits a phone call.

And my phone had rung.

(And actually, the company phone was still ringing but again - priorities!! haha!) I could hear the smile in my agent's voice as if she were in front of me instead of half a country away. "I have good news."

My heart line danced in true southern fashion and I clutched my stomach. "Oh?" (trying to sound all professional when I wanted to join my heart in a dance on top of my desk!)

"Steeple Hill bought your romance."

This is when I squealed, and tried to stay professional, but nope, I was little kid, Christmas morning, lots of candy giddy. I don't remember exactly what I said, or rather shrieked, but I remember someone came out of their office down the hall, confused, probably thinking I was being attacked. I hung up with my agent (hopefully not hung ON her, I don't remember now!) and kept squealing, hands over my mouth, head down, trying to be as quiet as I could.

Life was changing in those moments, and I could feel it in all its adrenaline rush glory.

And you know what? The second and third calls regarding my second and third contracts were quite similar. The rush never fades. Or atleast, it hasn't so far. I hope it doesn't. I never want to take for granted hearing that my dreams have once again come true.

God is good, isn't He? =)

Bio: Betsy St. Amant lives in Louisiana and is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers. Her contemporary romance RETURN TO LOVE is under contract with Steeple Hill Love Inspired for a July 2009 release, and the sequel A VALENTINE’S WISH is contracted for a February 2010 release. Betsy has also been published in the Christian Communicator magazine and Praise Reports: Inspiring Real Life Stories of How God Answers Prayer. One of her short stories, Kickboxing or Chocolate, appears in a Tyndale compilation book, and she is also multi-published through The Wild Rose Press. Betsy has a B.A. in Christian Communications and regularly contributes articles to Crosswalk.com. Betsy is a wife, author, new mother, and avid reader who enjoys sharing the wonders of God’s grace through her stories.

Links to blog and website:
www.betsy-ann.blogspot.com
www.betsystamant.com

Back cover copy:

"I'm not the man I used to be!" - if only Gracie Broussard could believe that. Years ago, Carter Alexander broke her heart and betrayed her. Now, just when she needs him most, he's back -- asking her to believe he's changed. But this time, its not just Gracie who'll be hurt if he disappears. A penguin keeper, Gracie urgently needs to find a new home for her beloved birds. Carter is the only one who can help. He promises that she can trust him, that he's not the rebel he once was. And that he needs Gracie as much as her birds do.

To purchase Return to Love, click here.

Social Media Tour--Sunset Beach by Trish Perry

Be sure to leave a comment for a chance to win a Sunset Surprise!

Sunset Beach
by
Trish Perry
ISBN: 978-0736926751

Back cover blurb: Sonny Miller plans to use a week's vacation at a San Diego beach house to find answers she has wanted all her life. She invites her mother, Teresa, and her mother's estranged sister, Melanie, to the quiet and quirky retreat. They both show up...and with surprises of their own. Teresa, a successful classical singer, brings her latest protege, and Melanie brings along secrets about Teresa and the identity of Sonny's father.

Strong personalities cause big waves, and Sonny quickly finds herself in over her head. But as the sisters begin to reconcile and reconnect, Sonny makes some surprising connections--romantic and otherwise--of her own.

I was excited to read this novel for a couple of reasons. I read the first two books in the The Beach House Series by Sally Johns and loved them. Oh, my! That woman can tell a story! But when I learned Trish Perry was going to continue The Beach House Series, I was even more excited because not only is Trish Perry a good friend, but she is also one of my favorite authors.

I read Trish Perry's first novel, The Guy I'm Not Dating, and LOVED it. It was the funniest book I've read in my life. Every single girl needs to read this book before she begins dating.

Another reason I wanted to read Sunset Beach is because I love beaches. In fact, my skin is still peeling from the sunburn I received during our vacation on Sanibel Island. As I read Sunset Beach, I could hear the ocean waves, feel the sun on my skin, hear the gulls cawing overhead. Reading this novel continued the beach experience for me, so yeah, I loved reading it.

Sunset Beach is more women's fiction, in my opinion, with a romantic thread woven into the plot. The characters were so real with their emotions and dialogue. Kudos to Trish for making them come alive for me. I love the quirky cast that goes along with the well-worn beach house--Julian and Zeke. I think everyone needs a Julian or Zeke in their lives to be their Voices of Reason. Sonny's relationship with her mother could be experienced by many mothers and daughters around the world. Lack of communication, pride, and shame are great motivators for keeping families apart.

If you would like to learn more about Trish Perry, be sure to visit her website, friend her on Facebook, or follow her on Twitter.

Be sure to check out the other blogs participating in the Sunset Beach Social Media Tour.

You can buy Sunset Beach through Amazon.com by clicking here.

Since the book is titled Sunset Beach, I'd like to a couple of pictures I took of sunsets over Sanibel.

Check out other beach pictures posted by other Sunset Beach Social Media Tour on Flickr

Be sure to leave a comment for a chance to win a Sunset Surprise!

LitFUSE Blog Tour: Nothing But Trouble

Nothing But Trouble

by

Susan May Warren

About the book: PJ Sugar knows three things for sure:

After traveling the country for ten years hoping to shake free from the trail of disaster that’s become her life, she needs a fresh start.

The last person she wants to see when she heads home for her sister’s wedding is Boone—her former flame and the reason she left town.

Her best friend’s husband absolutely did not commit the first murder Kellogg , Minnesota , has seen in more than a decade.

What PJ doesn’t know is that when she starts digging for evidence, she’ll uncover much more than she bargained for—a deadly conspiracy, a knack for investigation, and maybe, just maybe, that fresh start she’s been longing for.

It's not fair to say that trouble happens every time PJ Sugar is around, but it feels that way when she returns to her hometown, looking for a fresh start. Within a week, her former teacher is murdered and her best friend's husband is arrested as the number-one suspect. Although the police detective investigating the murder--who also happens to be PJ's former flame--is convinced it's an open-and-shut case, PJ's not so sure. She begins digging for clues in an effort to clear her friend's husband and ends up reigniting old passions, uncovering an international conspiracy, and solving a murder along the way. She also discovers that maybe God can use a woman who never seems to get it right.

Read the first chapter: http://gotsugar.susanmaywarren.com/

About Susan: Susan May Warren is the award-winning author of seventeen novels and novellas with Tyndale, Steeple Hill and Barbour Publishing. Her first book, Happily Ever After won the American Fiction Christian Writers Book of the Year in 2003, and was a 2003 Christy Award finalist. In Sheep’s Clothing, a thriller set in Russia , was a 2006 Christy Award finalist and won the 2006 Inspirational Reader’s Choice award. A former missionary to Russia , Susan May Warren now writes Suspense/Romance and Chick Lit full time from her home in northern Minnesota .

A note from Susan May Warren

Sometimes, do you feel like you just don’t fit in? You look around you and if anyone knew how difficult it was just to put yourself together, to smile when you feel completely overwhelmed, to even figure out what you were making for supper, they’d know what a mess you were. Maybe you totally relate to those words in 1 Peter – God’s elect, strangers and aliens in the world. Do you feel like when you look in the rear view mirror, all you see are your mistakes?

Maybe not. But if so, then PJ is your gal. I wanted to write a story about the person in so many of us who just wants to get it right…but can’t seem to stay out of trouble. My friend and I have what we call the “stupid mouth” club…and we report our weekly foibles (usually on Monday, after Sunday church!). PJ is our charter member. She’s the girl that changes her mind, always hopes for the best, is always discovering that she is just a little different than everyone else. PJ is us.

And that’s good news. Because God loves PJ. He loves her messiness, and her impulsiveness, her heart bent toward others, the hope that fuels her actions. And He has a plan for PJ – one that includes her weaknesses as well as her strengths.

Yep, I need to hear that – need to hear that I don’t have to be perfect for God to love me, use me, sing over me. Need to hear that although I don’t fit in, well, I’m not supposed to…in fact, I’m supposed to be a little…alien.

I wrote PJ for everyone who feels just a little messy, just a little like they can’t quite get it right. And who needs to hear that God loves them. Period. Full stop. Hallelujah.

What is your favourite Bible verse and what does it mean to you?

My current favourite is: Hebrew 4:16, “Let us approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” It means that even when I come crawling, my face to the floor, He won’t reject me. I pull it out whenever I blow it, or feel inadequate, or when someone hurts me, or...when I hurt someone else. Basically whenever I feel like I’m Trouble, I remember that God won’t turn away. In fact, He may even do what I do to my children – turn me to face Him, despite my puffy red face, wipe off my tears and pull me into His arms.

How did I come to be a writer?

I’ve always been amazed at the journey God has taken me on. I always loved to write, but being a missionary in Russia , I never dreamed about being an author. I just tried to do the best with what God had entrusted to me, and for me that meant writing missionary newsletters. I honed my skills through my newsletter, and then, after a number of years, began to write devotionals and magazine articles. Although I tried my hand at writing novels (I wrote 4 before I ever had one published), I never thought I would get anything published. But I diligently studied craft and analyzed books, even though I was hidden away in Siberia . I’ll always be grateful that Tyndale took a chance on me! I’m still learning, and still trying to be a good steward of the gift and task I’ve been given to write books that draw people closer to God.

Where did the idea for PJ Sugar come from?

Every author dreams of a moment where someone says something, or they see something on the news, or in a newspaper and it springs out at them, nearly shouting – STORY IDEA! This happened to me a number of years ago while talking to friends about their daycare situation, and how one of the parents ended up being a murder suspect! Scary! But an interesting idea. About that time, I was a mom who wore many hats – homeschooling mom, writing teacher, speaker, children’s church leader, -- and it occurred to me that a mother really has to be a sort of PI. Not only taking on different roles, but sleuthing out daily household mysteries like, who ate the last of the peanut butter (and put it back in the cupboard?) and whose socks are laying in the middle of the floor, and finally…(in our house), who let the dog (and her muddy feet!) in the house! PJ is the alter-ego in every mom, that super-hero inside of us that allows us to have esp (I know you’re not really done with your homework!), or have “eyes in the back of our head,” (stop poking your sister!) or even figure out how to whip together an award-winning science project the night before the fair. PJ just applies all those skills to bad guys and figuring out the truth.

PJ Sugar is also a woman who wants to be all things to all people. She wants to be her nephew’s champion and her sister’s best friend, and her mother’s favorite daughter, and Boone’s special girl, and the hero of her hometown. That’s not too much to ask, is it? Maybe…because God wants her to be His girl, and satisfied in who He made her to be. And that is a journey for all of us PJ Sugars.

CFBA Blog Tour: Jillian Dare

This week, the
Christian Fiction Blog Alliance
is introducing
Jillian Dare: A Novel
Revell (May 1, 2009)
by
Melanie M. Jeschke


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Melanie Morey Jeschke (pronounced jes-key), a native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, grew up in Richmond, Virginia, and graduated from University of Virginia as a Phi Beta Kappa with an Honors degree in English Literature and a minor in European and English History.

A free-lance travel writer, Melanie contributed the Oxford chapter to the Rick Steves’ England 2006 guidebook. She is a member of the Capital Christian Writers and Christian Fiction Writers as well as three book clubs, and taught high-school English before home-schooling most of her nine children. Melanie lectures on Lewis and Tolkien, Oxford, and writing, and gives inspirational talks to all manner of groups, including university classes, women’s clubs, young professionals, teens, and school children.

A fourth generation pastor’s wife (her father Dr. Earl Morey is a retired Presbyterian minister), Melanie resides in the Greater Washington, D.C. area with her children and husband Bill Jeschke, a soccer coach and the Senior Pastor of The King’s Chapel, an non-denominational Christian church in Fairfax, Virginia.



ABOUT THE BOOK

Jillian Dare leaves her Shenandoah Valley foster home behind and strikes out on her own as a nanny at a large country estate in northern Virginia. She is delighted with the beauty of her new home, the affection of her young charge Cadence Remington, and the opportunity for frequent travel to the Remington castle in England.

She is less certain about her feelings for her handsome but moody employer, Ethan. In spite of herself, Jillian realizes she is falling for her boss. But how can a humble girl ever hope to win a wealthy man of the world? And what dark secrets from the past is he hiding? This contemporary story, inspired by the well-loved classic Jane Eyre, will capture readers' hearts.

If you would like to read the first chapter of Jillian Dare: A Novel, go HERE

CFBA Blog Tour: Deceptive Promises

This week, the
Christian Fiction Blog Alliance
is introducing
Deceptive Promises
Barbour Publishing, Inc (2008)
by
Amber Miller


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Hi, I'm Amber, but my friends call me Tiff, short for Tiffany, my first name. I am in my 30's, married the love of my life in July 2007, live in Colorado and just had an incredibly beautiful daughter named Victoria.

I love to travel and visit new places. Ultimately, my dream is to own horses and live in a one-level rancher or log cabin nestled in the foothills of the mountains. For now, I will remain where I am and do what I love—design web sites and write.

I got involved with web design in 1997, when I was asked to take over running the official web site for the television series Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman. That eventually led to a series of negotiations where I was offered the job of running world-renowned actress Jane Seymour's official fan site. That has branched into doing web sites for a variety of clients, including: authors J.M. Hochstetler, Trish Perry, Kathy Pride, Louise M. Gouge, Susan Page Davis, and Jill Elizabeth Nelson, actor William Shockley (the voice of AT&T and Toyota) and many others. With the help of a handful of other web site "technos," Eagle Designs was born! Feel free to visit and see our other clients.

Amber's very first book, Promises, Promises, released in February 2008. It's a historical fiction set in Delaware during the Colonial period and the Great Awakening. The other 2 books in the series are Quills And Promises (July 2008) and this one, Deceptive Promises (December 2008). In 2009, they will be repackaged for a state set entitled Liberty's Promise. She has also sold another series set in historical Michigan during the Industrial Revolution. The 3 books in that series will begin releasing in May 2009 and will be repackaged in 2010.


ABOUT THE BOOK

MARGRET WANTS TO BELIEVE SAMUEL'S PROMISES.

Is deception fair in wartime Margret Scott must deal with this question as she finds herself attracte to the enigmatic Samuel Lowe. As the tensions grow between the colonists and the British soldiers and loyalists, Margret cannot always tell where Samuel's loyalties lie.

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"If I have walked with vanity, or if my foot hath hasted to deceit; Let me be weighed in an even balance that God may know mine integrity." -Job 31:5-6

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Samuel's duties have him working for both sides of this war, and he often finds himself torn between what is right and what is wrong. He promises Margret she can trust him, and Margret promises him she does. But can promises born in deception be trusted? Can a relationship built in uncertainty survive?

If you would like to read the first chapter of Deceptive Promises, go HERE.