by Jason Joyner | Sep 4, 2008 | Blog, CFBA, fiction
This week, the
Christian Fiction Blog Alliance
is introducing
Back To Life
Avon Inspire (September 16, 2008)
by
Kristin Billerbeck
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Kristin Billerbeck was born in Redwood City, California. She went to San Jose State University and gained a bachelor’s degree in Advertising, then worked at the Fairmont Hotel in PR, a small ad agency as an account exec, and then, she was thrust into the exciting world of shopping mall marketing.
She got married, had four kids, and started writing romance novels until she found her passion: Chick Lit. She is a CBA bestselling author and two-time winner of the ACFW Book of the Year for What A Girl Wants in 2004, and again in 2006 for With this Ring. Featured in the New York Times, USA Today, World Magazine, The Atlanta Journal Constitution, Kristin has appeared on the Today Show. She is credited with jump-starting the inspirational chick-lit phenomenon. Most recently she has been names as a finalist for the Christy Award in the Lits category for The Trophy Wives Club.
Her other recent books include: She’s All That.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Lindsey realized when she married Ron, a man 17 years her senior, that the odds were he’d see heaven before her, but she never expected to be a widow at 35. There’s too much of life left for her to just sit around in mourning. But she can’t seem to kick start the rest of her life.
That is until she gets some help from Ron’s first wife, Jane, who shows up unexpectedly at her door one day as the executor of her husband’s estate. Jane is everything Lindsey’s not… independent, stubborn… and a lot older. Plus she has one surprise after another… including a son named Ron Jr. (she insists he’s not “really” Ron’s son). But an unlikely friendship develops as each woman begins to reevaluate what is really important, and owns up to the mistakes they’ve made in the past.
Told in the alternating voices of Jane and Lindsey, and with the return of many of the witty characters of The Trophy Wives Club, this book is a lighthearted, relatable read for when life goes in a direction you never planned. With faith and friends, there’s always light at the end of the tunnel.
If you would like to read an excerpt of chapter 1 of Back To Life, go HERE
by Jason Joyner | Sep 4, 2008 | Blog, CFBA, fiction
This week, the
Christian Fiction Blog Alliance
is introducing
Back To Life
Avon Inspire (September 16, 2008)
by
Kristin Billerbeck
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Kristin Billerbeck was born in Redwood City, California. She went to San Jose State University and gained a bachelor’s degree in Advertising, then worked at the Fairmont Hotel in PR, a small ad agency as an account exec, and then, she was thrust into the exciting world of shopping mall marketing.
She got married, had four kids, and started writing romance novels until she found her passion: Chick Lit. She is a CBA bestselling author and two-time winner of the ACFW Book of the Year for What A Girl Wants in 2004, and again in 2006 for With this Ring. Featured in the New York Times, USA Today, World Magazine, The Atlanta Journal Constitution, Kristin has appeared on the Today Show. She is credited with jump-starting the inspirational chick-lit phenomenon. Most recently she has been names as a finalist for the Christy Award in the Lits category for The Trophy Wives Club.
Her other recent books include: She’s All That.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Lindsey realized when she married Ron, a man 17 years her senior, that the odds were he’d see heaven before her, but she never expected to be a widow at 35. There’s too much of life left for her to just sit around in mourning. But she can’t seem to kick start the rest of her life.
That is until she gets some help from Ron’s first wife, Jane, who shows up unexpectedly at her door one day as the executor of her husband’s estate. Jane is everything Lindsey’s not… independent, stubborn… and a lot older. Plus she has one surprise after another… including a son named Ron Jr. (she insists he’s not “really” Ron’s son). But an unlikely friendship develops as each woman begins to reevaluate what is really important, and owns up to the mistakes they’ve made in the past.
Told in the alternating voices of Jane and Lindsey, and with the return of many of the witty characters of The Trophy Wives Club, this book is a lighthearted, relatable read for when life goes in a direction you never planned. With faith and friends, there’s always light at the end of the tunnel.
If you would like to read an excerpt of chapter 1 of Back To Life, go HERE
by Jason Joyner | Sep 2, 2008 | Blog, miscellaneous, parenting
“Put us to bed Daddy!” my four year old gleefully announced prior to their bedtime.
You may be asking, “How in the world can I get MY kids to accept bedtime so eagerly?” I will share my experience with you, absolutely free. Nowhere else, but this blog, will you get such amazing advice.
Get bunk beds.
Since we’re expecting Baby in October, we needed to compress space. My wife is an avid garage sale shopper, and she found a perfect solution for us, a bunk bed with a twin on top and a full on bottom, thus allowing for three boys in one room. My two older boys already shared a room and a full bed, but the youngest was very excited to join his brothers, and the novelty of the bunk beds fueled the older ones’ interest. Tonight was the first night they get to experience this, and I about fell over when the above statement was shared with us!
Of course, I have no delusions about this blissful state lasting. And note, I didn’t offer this excitement for bedtime as a permanent solution. But it should make bedtime for a few nights an anticipation, rather than trepidation…
by Jason Joyner | Sep 2, 2008 | Blog, miscellaneous, parenting
“Put us to bed Daddy!” my four year old gleefully announced prior to their bedtime.
You may be asking, “How in the world can I get MY kids to accept bedtime so eagerly?” I will share my experience with you, absolutely free. Nowhere else, but this blog, will you get such amazing advice.
Get bunk beds.
Since we’re expecting Baby in October, we needed to compress space. My wife is an avid garage sale shopper, and she found a perfect solution for us, a bunk bed with a twin on top and a full on bottom, thus allowing for three boys in one room. My two older boys already shared a room and a full bed, but the youngest was very excited to join his brothers, and the novelty of the bunk beds fueled the older ones’ interest. Tonight was the first night they get to experience this, and I about fell over when the above statement was shared with us!
Of course, I have no delusions about this blissful state lasting. And note, I didn’t offer this excitement for bedtime as a permanent solution. But it should make bedtime for a few nights an anticipation, rather than trepidation…
by Jason Joyner | Aug 28, 2008 | Blog, CSFF, speculative fiction
This book has an intriguing premise. At some point in the future America has split, with a fundamentalist Christian state called Appalachia formed inside its borders. The rest of America is a land with computer chip implants, virtual memories, and genetic tampering. These things are absent in Appalachia, replace instead by a theocracy that monitors everyone and drugs people with their communion meal to keep them from questioning things.
The main character in the book, Caitlyn, has a secret hidden from her by her father. This secret has a genetic component, and a tracker chases her to “harvest” this mystery.
However, there are people in Appalachia called the “Clan” who reject the oversight of the church. They try to practice a simple faith (in contrast to the official religion in the land), helping those in need and helping those wanted by the theocracy escape to freedom.
Theocracy. Control. Faith. Surveillance and safety. The future of bioengineering. Genetic manipulation. These are all potent themes for any book to address individually, much less in one book. It is a very ambitious task.
Unfortunately, it’s a risk that falls short of what it could’ve been. My impression is that the project was limited in its length compared with the scope. The author shared on another blog that he was constrained by the fact that the story only takes place over a few days, mostly as one long chase. He’s right that it isn’t necessarily the best setting to wrestle with so many weighty issues. I wonder if the book was cut too short, compressed too much.
The book is a taut thriller with breakneck pacing that has interesting, fleshed-out characters. It is worth a read for a suspenseful tale. It just seems to overshoot its constraints.
I also read yesterday that the author is writing the sequel. This may allow him to investigate the potential inherent in his bold themes further. I’m hopeful to see what comes next from Mr. Brouwer.
