Peering Through Life's Window

  Hats... Horns... Congratulations, Janet!

A Warm Welcome to Donna Schlachter  Donna will give away an eBook of Merry Little Mysteries. Leave a comment and email address below and enter the Rafflecopter contest for a chance to win. Receive a free eBook for a newsletter sign up. See below. Romance, History and Mystery  If you enjoy a little romance, a little history, and a little mystery, you’re going to love “A Mistletoe Mystery” in the Merry Little Mysteries anthology. A half dozen authors have banded together to bring you a collection of contemporary and historical mysteries, all clean and sweet, that are sure to tickle your funny bone all the way down to your toes in your stockings. About A Mistletoe Mystery in Merry Little Mysteries A Mistletoe Mystery, is set in Boulder Colorado in 1883, and it opens with Holly and Ivy Christmas discovering that somebody has seeded their champion spruce trees with dwarf mistletoe, a parasitic plant every bit as destructive as the ordinary kind , but not as pretty. They follow t...

HAPPY THANKSGIVING  “The grateful heart is a happy heart,” Dr. George Simon The word thankful was originally thancful in Old English and meant grateful or obliged. Seems the days fly by so fast it’s difficult to keep up, and they’re a mixture of good and bad. In the midst of hard times, pain, illness or sorrow, we often find it difficult to think of much else. When times are good, we tend to take our gifts for granted. But Thanksgiving gives us a moment to step back and look at the many gifts God has given us and be thankful for them. Even in the bad times, we are not alone in the darkness of this imperfect world. God’s by our sides, giving us not only His love and comfort, but support from his almighty power to push us through.   Johnson Oatman, Jr.’s song “Count Your Blessings” encourages me to try to keep the spirit of Thanksgiving in my heart all year long. Here are the lyrics. “Count Your Blessings” by Johnson Oatman, Jr. When upon life’s billows you are tempest-toss...

  A Warm Welcome to Tracy Smoak Tracy gives away downloads from a Bible Study, Refuge of Grace: Finding Your Safe Place on  her  Website Read why Tracy wrote the Bible Study below. Hi Tracy, first, tell us a little about yourself. I grew up in Central Florida running barefoot over sandspurs, eating oranges picked right from the citrus trees, and riding horses through the groves. As a youngster, asthma troubled me so reading books took me places when my body wouldn’t cooperate. The dream of authoring a book started young, but I didn’t actually write my first book until I was 47. My passion is bringing people hope. Recently, a love for photography has resulted in three devotionals with full color pictures. Living Water to Refresh Your Soul features tranquil lakes around my home in Lake County. I was born in Lakeland, so there must be a water theme washing over me 😊.   Why do you write? There have been many dark chapters in my life with divorce, job loss, and poo...

  A Warm Welcome to Pamela Thibodeaux Pamela shares a wonderful devotional. Have you ever heard the audible voice of God? I have. I bet you have too, although you may not have recognized it for what it was. 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 listenin...

More in-depth descriptions of these books can be found on the ACFW Fiction Finder website Contemporary Romance: Authentically, Izzy by Pepper Basham -- Dear Reader, My name is Isabelle Louisa Edgewood—Izzy, for short. I live by blue-tinted mountains, where I find contentment in fresh air and books. Oh, and coffee and tea, of course. And occasionally in being accosted by the love of my family. (You’ll understand my verb choice in the phrase later.) I dream of opening my own bookstore, but my life, particularly my romantic history, has not been the stuff of fairy tales. Which is probably why my pregnant, misled, matchmaking cousin—who, really, is more like my sister—signed me up for an online dating community. But I’ve played it safe for a long time. Maybe it’s time for me to be as brave as my favorite literary heroines. Maybe it’s time to take the adventures from the page to real life. Wish me luck. (Contemporary Romance from HarperCollins Christian Publishing (Thomas Nelson an...

A Warm Welcome to Mary Marelli Hi Mary, tell us a little about yourself.    I’m Mary Marelli, wife, mother, grandmother, and author.  God and family are first and foremost in my life.  With them, God by my side and my family to support me, everything else falls into place.  We live on a private lake in the mountains of eastern Pennsylvania.   My children are grown, so it is just hubby and myself.  Oh, and I can’t forget our hound.  She won’t let me.   Were you an avid reader as a child? If so, what did you read? I couldn’t get my nose out of a book!  I remember the hot summer days I would sit in the shade of an apple tree and read.  We lived in a rural farming community.  My Oma and Opa raised chickens, had a huge garden, and were fairly self-sustainable.  Our neighbor across the street raised horses.  Horses and reading became a huge part of my life.  There was nothing more comforting on a lazy summer ...