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Elizabeth McKenna

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Elizabeth McKenna

Tag Archives: inspirational

Meet Author Nadine C. Keels

07 Wednesday May 2014

Posted by Elizabeth McKenna - Author in Meet the Authors

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Tags

Authors, Christian Fiction, inspirational, Romance

Movement TrioThe Movement of Crowns Series

Royalty. Romance. War. Hope.
The Movement of Crowns Series 

The Movement of Crowns 
At the point when kingdoms’ ideas of humanity differ…
The nation of Diachona is on the threshold of war, and Constance, coming into power under her father the king, deems this an inopportune time to be falling in love with one Commander Alexander.

The Movement of Rings 
A time to remember what lies deeper than one’s fears…
With the rise of unrest in the Mundayne empire, will the heart of a beautiful imperial servant, Naona, survive intact enough for an unforeseen chance at love with a foreign man?

The Movement of Kings 
The order of things, the nature of succession, and a nation that must march on…
Can the young ruler of the Eubeltic Realm handle the rise of domestic and colonial crises, the bereavement of his family, and his curious attraction to a councilman’s unassuming daughter, or is everything in this king’s untried hands on the verge of falling apart?

EXCERPT

Constance hadn’t been as ready as she would’ve liked to be for such an exchange, and in retrospect, she couldn’t help wondering to what level her response to his affection had pleased him. Yet, his heart had been in his voice, particularly right after he’d cupped her face with one hand, and, with more ardor than the prince of Rêeh had been capable of mustering in a day, Staid had impeccably pressed his warm lips to either of Constance’s cheeks for as long as he dared to stop time, resisting the allure of her trembling mouth as he’d eased her away from him at last. “Leave me, please, my lady. Now.”

Constance hadn’t taken a second to think but had left Staid at once, her whole being ablaze with a mixture of desire, rapture, and dejection. Why on earth did she have to care so for this military man, of all the men in the country, at such an inopportune, trying national time?

Still, looking out at the assembly before her, Constance knew this was not the time to bemoan inopportunity. Critical judgments about life and death were waiting to be made. A force stood menacingly without their land, taunting their nation, and this woman, this royal junior, had something to say about it.

Constance rose from her seat in the audience stall, waiting to be recognized.

A full minute or two passed before her father glanced over at her, but she knew that he’d noticed the moment she’d risen. The king then held up a hand to pause the standing Greenly, along with the other chieftains, elders, and the handful of soldiers whose voices were colliding in the middle of the Mundayne deliberations. Matthias sat there with his hand up as the assembly hall grew silent, and while he looked steadily at Constance in a way she could not interpret, she imagined that he was going to shake his head at her, and order her to sit back down.

He did not order her to do that, however, instead acknowledging her as she’d never thought she would be acknowledged by him in her life.

BUY LINKS

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Nadine-C.-Keels/e/B004GBK6QM
Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/c/nadine-c.-keels
Apple: https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/nadine-c.-keels/id528754057

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/nadinekeels

Nadine C. KeelsAUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Nadine. A French name, meaning, “hope.” 
Spreading hope to her readers and listening audiences, author, editor, and speaker Nadine C. Keels of Seattle, Washington is well-known for The Song of Nadine, the powerful lyrical poetry seen in four of her several books and found on her spoken word album, Hope. Lyricized. Drawing from her lifelong passion for highly enjoyable and transformational fiction, Nadine has written a number of novels and novellas, including Love Unfeigned and The Movement of Crowns Series. In response to inquiries from other aspiring authors, Nadine put together a simple reference entitled Write Your Genius, Genius! A Rather Quick Guide to Book Writing. Being the founder of Prismatic Prospects, a communication company based in Seattle, Nadine has served as editor and co-editor for a number of titles, and it is her aim to be a proven wellspring of inspiration for creativity and innovation in the marketplace.

1. How did your life as a writer begin?

I’ve been a bookworm all my life, and my love of writing stemmed from the many books I read as a child, from authors like Beverly Cleary and Judy Blume. Hence, I’ve been writing stories since I was seven or eight years old. Then, during the few days of a horrific experience I had when I was thirteen, a novel saved my life: John Nielson Had a Daughter by Ruth Livingston Hill. That whole experience is a long story, but my purpose for writing books (beyond writing for my own pleasure) was first awakened there. I now write to help people: to bring hope, to change minds, to expand imagination, to provide entertainment, and to save lives, all of which other authors’ books have done for me.

2. How did you come up with the idea for your current story?

I hadn’t planned on making The Movement of Crowns Series a series, at first. I’ve wanted to write a story with an epic sense of setting, plot, and characters for a number of years, and I began drafting scenes for my novella, The Movement of Crowns, while I was a high school senior, inspired by the thought that although my generation was young, we weren’t precluded from aiming toward greatness. It’s taken some years of growth, as a human being and as a writer, for me to be able to convey the story as I see it. I published Crowns in 2012 in Love & Eminence: A Suite of Stories, and one day in the spring of 2013, the thought of the “other side” of the Crowns story came to me one afternoon, pretty much all at once, and I knew I had to write a sequel. Out came The Movement of Rings. After that, I realized that one more novella would nicely complete the Crowns message, so I wrote The Movement of Kings, including the first leading man I’ve ever put right at the helm of any of my books.

3. What is your most interesting writing quirk?

My writing quirk that I find the most interesting is my tendency to physically play out some of the scenes in my fiction, either to get a feel for the way I’d like to write them, or to make sure I’ve written them the way I see them playing out in my head. I’ll take on the role of a character or two: standing in their positions, quoting their lines in my best renditions of their voices, doing my best to make their facial expressions and to use their body language, whispering, yelling, crying (sort-of)–whatever gives me the best sense of the scenes. Songs I know or musical scores I’ve made up accompany most of my fiction, and if it’s the scene for it, I’ll hum the music in the background if none of the characters are talking. (I actually recorded myself humming the main part of The Movement of Crowns score. The full orchestra sounds much better in my imagination, though.)

4. What is the highest goal that you desire to meet as an author?

I’m not sure I’d call it a goal, exactly, but my highest dream as an author is that something I’ve written will save someone’s life in some way.

5. What is the best piece of advice you would give to someone who wants to get into writing?

My main piece of advice to any active or aspiring writer is to know precisely why you, the individual, write, or wish to write. Remind yourself of your specific reason(s) often, so that no matter what happens, you will maintain a sense of purpose to keep on doing what you’re doing, and to do it well.

6. What is in your To Read Pile that you are dying to start?

Lately I’ve been set on reading as much as I can by L.M. Montgomery, rereading what I read by her years ago and getting my hands on books by her that I’ve not read before. She’s been one of my favorite authors since my preteen years, and there’s much about her writing that still takes me back to that particular “comfort” place I’ve found in reading ever since I was a child. Different kinds of books give me different experiences that I enjoy, but “comfort reading” is what reconnects me with my first love for literature the most.

7. Can you share with us something off your bucket list?

I’d like to have a hand in making a film or experience the filmmaking process in some way, whether that’s writing a screenplay for one of my books, playing a role in a film, or just being on set/location during a shooting. I’m becoming as much of a film lover as I am a bookworm. All of it stems right from my love of fiction, of storytelling.

NADINE C. KEELS ON THE WEB

Author Website: http://prismaticprospects.wordpress.com
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/nadine_keels
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nadine.keels
Twitter: https://twitter.com/nadinekeels
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/NadineTimes10

 

 

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Deluge by Daniel Diehl – Book Tour

23 Sunday Mar 2014

Posted by Elizabeth McKenna - Author in Book Tour

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Authors, Book Tour, Family Saga, Historical, inspirational

deluge_bannerDeluge cover 2Synopsis

When Noah tells his family an unknown God was about to destroy the world and that he had been ordered to build a huge ship, they start fearing for his sanity – at least until the day a group of mysterious strangers appear out of the desert claiming to have been sent by God to help Noah build his Ark. As construction on the ship progresses, relations between Noah’s family and their neighbors deteriorate into ugly confrontations and threats of violence. Then, as the ship nears completion, it starts to rain. That’s when the real problems start.
Daniel DiehlAbout the Author

For more than three decades, Daniel Diehl has been involved in writing for publication and documentary television production. His canon of work includes 20 non-fiction books (which have been translated into 11 foreign languages) and scripts for more than 170 hours of documentary television for A&E, History Channel, BBC, Biography and Discovery.

Mr. Diehl’s work has won awards from the Houston Film Festival, the National Trust for Historic Preservation (US) and the City of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Arts Foundation. He is currently short-listed for the 2014 Crompton Crook Award for Best New SiFi/ Fantasy Novel.

In addition to his books and scripts, Diehl has served as historical consultant on such films as The Color Purple (Amblin Entertainment, 1986), Darrow (PBS Television Theatre, 1991) and Baskin’s Run (Finnegan’s Wake Productions, 1994).

He has written for such periodicals as Victorian Homes, Gilded Age, Old House Journal, Voice of Russia, MAXIM, Country Victorian, FLAIR, Tournaments Illuminated, Popular Woodworking and Conde Nast  Traveler. He frequently lectures and has been interviewed for television, radio and podcasts in both the US and UK.

1. How did your life as a writer begin?

Although I had been writing occasional magazine articles since 1981, it was not until 1996 that I stumbled into writing as a full-time occupation. My writing partner, Mark Donnelly, and I had both seen the same – very bad – documentary program on TV and were bemoaning the fact that we could do a vastly better job than whoever had scripted this show and after discussing it for a few hours we decided to do just that. Since then we have written more than 170 hours of documentary television and collaborated on 20 nonfiction books. Although my novels are my own work I am sure Mark and I will work together on many, many more nonfiction projects in the future.

2. What makes you feel inspired to write?

I think there are two questions inherent in this and I find both of them kind of odd. The first is ‘how do you decide what to write about?’ My list of topics that I would love to write about has more than 200 subjects on it and I know that I could never live long enough to cover even a fraction of them and more and more come to me every day. The world is filled with fascinating subjects. The second question here is literal – ‘what inspires you to set down at the computer and start writing’. Writing is a job just like any other job. I get up, walk the dogs, have breakfast and go to work. My work day usually lasts from about 6:30 am until 3:00 pm and I do the same routine 6 days a week. I don’t need to feel inspired to do my job; I don’t know anybody who needs more inspiration than next month’s bills to go to work in the morning.

3. How did you come with the idea for your current story?

Since Deluge is a novelized version of the Noah and the Flood legend, the idea hardly originated with me. Although I can usually remember when and how I come up with most of my ideas, I honestly can’t remember what first gave me the idea to turn this tiny, ancient legend into a full length novel. What I do remember is being amazed how rich and expansive the plot line turned out to be. The few hundred words from the book of Genesis and a few lines from the Gilgamesh saga provided me with an amazing framework on which to build an intricately developed family saga filled with love, strife and endless adventure and discovery, all set in a society that is so far removed from the modern world in time that we cannot possibly conceive of their day-to-day reality.

4. Tell us about your writing process. Do you outline, or are you more of a seat of your pants type of a writer?

Before writing my first novel I had co-authored 20 nonfiction books and written more than 170 hours of documentary television scripts, so I am thoroughly accustomed to doing massive amounts of background research and developing a sizeable working outline for each chapter.  I want to know where I’m going before I set out on each step of the journey that is the writing process and I insist on developing a solid set of directions and a reliable itinerary before going to work.

5. What is your favorite scene in the book? Why?

This is, after all, the story of Noah and the great flood.  As a strong and vocal advocate for animal rights I could not help but find myself particularly drawn – and deeply touched – by the process of collecting the animals that were to be housed on the Ark.  While I don’t like to brag about my work, I think that these chapters are among the best writing I have ever done.

6. What do you have in store next for your readers?

Noah seems to have come out in the middle of an on-going trilogy of fantasy books that I have been writing.  The first book in this series ‘Revelations: book one of The Merlin Chronicles’ came out last year and in late May of this year (2014) GMTA Publishing will be releasing the second installment entitled ‘The Sorcerer’s Apprentice: book two of The Merlin Chronicles’.  At the moment I am deep into writing the third book in the trilogy and I think that Merlin fans everywhere will be delighted with how this trilogy portrays the old wizard and with the fact that I have brought him into the modern world.  It’s a ton of fun.

7. Is there anything else you’d like to share with your readers?

I just want to stress that although Deluge is the story of Noah and the great flood it is in no way a religious book.  It is the saga of one family who find themselves caught up in an absolutely extraordinary and unique set of circumstances.  Like any family, Noah and his extended family are alternately drawn together and pulled apart by forces which are ultimately beyond their control and it is their challenge – as it is the challenge for each of us – to deal with what life throws at us in the best way we can.

Connect with the Author

Dan Diehl’s Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/#!/daniel.diehl.31

Deluge Website: http://deluge1.webs.com/

Twitter: @DanielDiehlBook

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Stronger than the Rest by Shirleen Davies Book Tour

05 Wednesday Feb 2014

Posted by Elizabeth McKenna - Author in Book Tour

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Authors, inspirational, Romance, Western

Stronger-Than-The-Rest-Banner

Stronger-Than-The-Rest

Title:  Stronger Than the Rest

Author:  Shirleen Davies

Published:  January 13th, 2014

Word Count:  approx. 68,000

Genre:  Western Historical Romance

Content Warning:   Mild Sexual Content

Recommended Age:  18+

Synopsis

Smart, tough, and capable, the MacLarens protect their own no matter the odds. Set against America’s rugged frontier, the stories of the men from Fire Mountain are complex, fast-paced, and a must read for anyone who enjoys non-stop action and romance.

Drew MacLaren is focused and strong. He has achieved all of his goals except one—to return to the MacLaren ranch and build the best horse breeding program in the west. His successful career as an attorney is about to give way to his ranching roots when a bullet changes everything.

Tess Taylor is the quiet, serious daughter of a Colorado ranch family with dreams of her own. Her shy nature keeps her from developing friendships outside of her close-knit family until Drew enters her life. Their relationship grows. Then a bullet, meant for another, leaves him paralyzed and determined to distance himself from the one woman he’s come to love.

Convinced he is no longer the man Tess needs, Drew focuses on regaining the use of his legs and recapturing a life he thought lost. But danger of another kind threatens those he cares about—including Tess—forcing him to rethink his future.

Can Drew overcome the barriers that stand between him, the safety of his friends and family, and a life with the woman he loves? To do it all, he has to be strong. Stronger than the Rest.

 Amazon | Barnes & Noble | GoodReads

About the Author

Shirleen-DaviesShirleen Davies began her new series, MacLarens of Fire Mountain, with Tougher than the Rest, the story of the oldest brother, Niall MacLaren. During the day she provides consulting services to small and mid-sized businesses. But her real passion is writing emotionally charged stories of flawed people who find redemption through love and acceptance. She grew up in Southern California and now lives with her husband in a beautiful town in northern Arizona. Between them they are the proud parents of five grown sons.

Amazon Author Page | Facebook | Twitter | GoodReads | Website

Giveaway Details:

There is an international tour wide giveaway. Prizes include the following:

  • $25 Amazon Gift Card
  • $10 Amazon Gift Card
  • 2 eCopies of Tougher Than the Rest
  • eCopy of Harder Than the Rest
  • eCopy of Faster Than the Rest

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Excerpt from Stronger than the Rest by Shirleen Davies:

“Hello, Drew.” She walked forward to stand a few feet away. “I hope it’s all right that I’ve come.” Her voice was unsteady, her nervousness apparent.

No, it’s not all right. “Of course. I’m glad to see you.” You look beautiful. He cleared his throat. “Did you have a safe trip?”

“Oh, yes, it was wonderful—so majestic and breathtaking. Sometimes we forget how beautiful some things are when we haven’t seen them in a while.”

Drew drank in the sight of her. “Yes we do, Tess. We certainly do.”

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