Peering Through Life's Window

  A Warm Welcome to Serena Clarke Serena shares an excerpt from  In Royal Ruins, which is a retelling of the Grimms’ fairytale, King Thrushbeard.  She also shares an excerpt and her favorite recipe, Chinese Chicken Salad. (see below). About In Royal Ruins Appalled by his daughter’s vain and impertinent attitude, the king forces her to marry a peasant, hoping to teach her a lesson. Feeling devastated by this decree, Alora loses everything she knows and is thrust into a world she is not prepared for. The skills she learned to help her rule a kingdom have not prepared her for the drudgery of living the life of a peasant’s wife.  Larik, her new husband, is determined to help Alora and show her kindness despite her unfriendly personality. Will Larik’s example and affection towards her be enough to heal her heart of anger and grief so that she can see the beauty in the world once again? Can she let go of the past and allow herself to be loved?  Praise and Re...

A Warm Welcome to Morgan Gardner Illustrator for The Littlest Shepherd by Laverne Story Stanley (Shown above with the author) Hi Morgan, it's great to have you visit. Tell us the theme of this book?  It follows a shepherd boy on the night of the birth of Jesus and his journey to seeing the newborn savior. How did you meet the author? I met Laverne Stanley through my mom. My mom said one of her friends needed an illustrator for the children’s book she had been working on. We met up and it just kinda went from there. It was a lot of fun! What was your favorite part of the illustration process? My favorite part was interpreting the author’s ideas of the scene, and then composing it. I also enjoyed drawing the little sheep. What was the most difficult part? Learning how to use the digital program I was using was a little difficult. I had just gotten my first drawing tablet and downloaded my program only a month or so before I met Mrs. Laverne, so I was...

Summer's here. These are the days of good books and lemonade.  I'm sending a virtual giant-sized lemon grown on my friend's farm in Florida, but the Strawberry Brownie recipe below and the .99 book sale are real for a limited time. About the Books Stopped Cold, a young adult mystery, is a great summer read or back-to-school gift. A Grace Awards Finalist, Stopped Cold finished 4th in the 16th Annual Preditors and Editors Readers Poll.(It's for young-at-heart adults too.) Flirting, swimming, fun with friends, it all changed when Margaret's brother, Sean, suffered a stroke. Readers say: Pallotta has written a truly inspirational book about how a family grows and comes closer together after a traumatic experience. (GABixler Reviews) Follow Margaret's journey to discover the depth of true character and faith not only in school and friends, but family. (Lisa Lickel) Buy on  Amazon - Kindle copy .99 Buy on Barnes and Noble - Nook copy ...

A Warm Welcome to Victoria Simcox Victoria Discusses Her Books and Writing Journey What part of your first novel did you find hardest to write? Hmm … that’s a tough one. I can’t pin-point a specific section in the story, but there were a few times that I scratched a scene and wrote something totally different. What scares you most? … Too many things to mention, but the way I handle fear is by not thinking too far into the outcome of situations, and I try to stay focused on the here and now. Coming from the old country, Austria, my mother is one for idioms, and one of her favorites is: The soup is never as hot when you eat it as when you cook it. What is one of the most special things to you as an author? When people, especially children tell me that they love my books. That makes me very happy. How did you get the idea for The Bernovem Chronicles ? I was sitting in the movie theater watching the first Harry Potter movie and I envisioned my main character, Kri...