More on Lucas Daniel Boyce

I've been sharing with you the fantastic story of my high school friend, Lucas Daniel Boyce. He's an amazing man with a lot to share with the world. His upcoming book, Living Proof, is one more tool in his belt to spread his story and message of God's grace. The video below was made by a mutal friend, Jason Shaw Richards. Check it out.

For more information on Lucas Boyce click HERE. For more about Jason Shaw Photography and media, click HERE.

GRPR: The Topkapi Secret by Terry Kelhawk

Song Stuck on the Brain: Merry Christmas Baby by Christina Aguilera


Today I'm touring a book provided to me free by Glass Roads Public Relations.

The Topkapi Secret

by

Terry Kelhawk

MY TAKE:

I agreed to review this book, because the premise intrigued me. I'm not overly familiar with Islamic beliefs or history and the chance to see a different world and set of beliefs through an experts eyes sounded interesting. It was too, in some ways. The book is amazingly detailed in history and description. It really is a step away from my known life. However, despite the great detail and history, I had trouble connecting with the main characters. I wanted to be swept away by romance and an exotic tale, but it just didn't happen for me. The writing style was a little stiff for my taste and the story just wasn't as compelling as I'd hoped.

However, I know my tastes are not always the same as others. You may find this to be right up your alley. The reviews on Amazon.com were pretty positive. Overall, I would I say I can only recommend it to those who have a strong love for this style and genre of book. I don't think it's a mainstream novel for all readers.

I do appreciate GRPR allowing me to participate in the tour. I enjoy new reading and new experiences.

ABOUT THE BOOK:

On display within the Topkapi Palace Museum in Istanbul lies the Topkapi Codex – an ancient Koranic manuscript, and part of a murder that split Shiite from Sunni. What’s the truth about the Topkapi Codex? No one knows because the Topkapi Codex is off limits.

Mohammed Atareek is obsessed with getting to the codex. His research has convinced him the Koran has been changed many times, and this famous manuscript could help prove it. But the risks of getting a hold of it increase as other scholars start turning up dead.

After traumatic life circumstances Angela, a UC Berkeley English professor, makes a career move which puts her in the Middle East and across Mohammed’s path. His unique personality – overconfident, witty, and impulsive – is both puzzling and refreshing to Angela. But when Mohammed tries to engage her in his quest, he finds she has an agenda of her own. Between their cat and mouse games, heated discussions, and sparks of romance, the historical origin of the Koran unfolds.


View the Book Trailer HERE
Visit the Facebook page HERE



ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Terry Kelhawk is an award-wining speaker, writer, and teacher with significant personal and professional experience with Islam and the Middle East.

In Terry’s words, “I love peoples and cultures. We have so much to learn from each other, and this makes the world a richer place. Yet when I come across a misunderstanding or deception which adversely impacts a culture or people group, for the sake of those people I believe it should be exposed.”

Terry Kelhawk holds a doctorate degree, but believes people should keep on learning through life. Her areas of interest are culture, religion, and women’s rights – especially of Middle East. She blogs on huffingtonpost.com, foxnews.com, and politicalmavens.com, and likes travel, reading, and asking questions.

Terry believes we should, as Honey Jean of Atlanta in The Topkapi Secret would say, “Make the world a better place, or y’all just taking up space!”

Little Drummer Boy with Whole lot of Rock and Roll

This 4 year old knows how to rock! Watch his face, his smile is killer. :) Merry Christmas!

A Rush of Wings by Kristen Heitzmann

Song Stuck on the Brain: If I Were a Rich Girl by Gwen Stefani

Bethany House Publishers sent me a free copy of A Rush of Wings by Krisen Heitzmann to review, and I'm so glad they did. Wow, I love Kristen's work. She has such emotional and spiritual depth to her stories and characters.

In A Rush of Wings, Noelle St. Claire flees her wealthy and elite life in New York to escape her ex-fiance and a terror she doesn't fully comprehend. Running on pure instinct, chased by fragments of memory and horrifying images, she lands at the Rocky Mountain horse ranch owned and run by Rick Spencer. Noelle wants to hide and find a new life for herself. Rick and his brother, Morgan, are both willing to help in their own ways, all while falling in love with her. But Noelle's past is darker and more twisted than even she realizes, the more Morgan and Rick pick at her protective shell, the more wounds she finds. Wounds that no human love can heal.

Noelle's journey to find her independence, faith and healing is emotionally stunning. Rick and Morgan are like two sides of the same coin, just as in life and faith we must choose one of two paths, so does Noelle. Will she choose Morgan and his busy, world driven life? Or Rick and his solid faith?

I loved this novel. Every image is carefully formed to be crystal clear, where you can smell the dusty horses and see the gold aspen leaves against the clear blue sky. The characters are fully fleshed and compelling. Even Rick and Morgan's extended family. Although the Christmas spent with the Spencer family almost felt too perfect, it was a good contrast for the life Noelle used to lead; showing her just how different life could be with Jesus as your Savior. It made me wish I could celebrate with them this Christmas.

Rush of Wings isn't a Christmas specific story, but what better way to honor the birth of our Savior, than a story of healing, redemption, hope and the ultimate love?

A.

CSFF: The Charlatan's Boy by Jonathan Rogers

Song Stuck on the Brain: Last Christmas by Wham

The CSFF is proudly touring:

The Charlatan's Boy

by

Jonathan Rogers

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to review this book, but Jonathan's books are always so much fun, I had to share the book info with you. Let me know if you read it and what you think.

ABOUT THE BOOK:

“I only know one man who might be able to tell me where I come from, and that man is a liar and a fraud.”


As far back as he can remember, the orphan Grady has tramped from village to village in the company of a huckster named Floyd. With his adolescent accomplice, Floyd perpetrates a variety of hoaxes and flimflams on the good citizens of the Corenwald frontier, such as the Ugliest Boy in the World act.

It’s a hard way to make a living, made harder by the memory of fatter times when audiences thronged to see young Grady perform as “The Wild Man of the Feechiefen Swamp.” But what can they do? Nobody believes in feechies anymore.

When Floyd stages an elaborate plot to revive Corenwalders’ belief in the mythical swamp-dwellers known as the feechiefolk, he overshoots the mark. Floyd’s Great Feechie Scare becomes widespread panic. Eager audiences become angry mobs, and in the ensuing chaos, the Charlatan’s Boy discovers the truth that has evaded him all his life—and will change his path forever.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Jonathan Rogers is author of many well received novels, including The Bark of the Bog Owl, The Secret of the Swamp King and The Way of the Wilderking (All of The Wilderking Trilogy) and Saint Patrick.

The Feechie Film Festival, 2010

What is the Feechie Film Festival? In short, the Feechie Film Festival is grass-roots cryptoanthropology: of the people, for the people, by the people. The assignment is simple: get in front of a video camera and tell the world (in a minute or less) whether or not your believe in feechies–and why. Post the video to YouTube, and send me the link (you can either send me an email in the ‘Contact Me’ box on the right, or comment on this page below).

For too long we’ve let the so-called “authorities” tell us what to believe about feechiefolk.* The Feechie Film Festival gives the people a voice.

Through this project things have been revealed that even I didn’t know about feechies. They hate banjo music. They can’t tolerate Dr. Pepper. They leave coconuts in people’s laundry baskets.

* Editor’s note: I actually am an authority on feechiefolk. It’s okay if you believe what I tell you about them.

The Feechie Film Festival kicks off with the flagship film, “What Is a Feechie?”



Visit the other tour members to find more fun information:

Sally Apokedak
Amy Bissell
Red Bissell
Jennifer Bogart
Thomas Clayton Booher
Keanan Brand
Beckie Burnham
Jeff Chapman
Christian Fiction Book Reviews
Valerie Comer
CSFF Blog Tour
D. G. D. Davidson
Andrea Graham
Tori Greene
Katie Hart
Bruce Hennigan
Christopher Hopper
Becky Jesse
Cris Jesse
Jason Joyner
Julie
Carol Keen
Shannon McDermott
Allen McGraw
Matt Mikalatos
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Nissa
Donita K. Paul
SarahFlan
Sarah Sawyer
Chawna Schroeder
Tammy Shelnut
Kathleen Smith
James Somers
Donna Swanson
Robert Treskillard
Fred Warren
Phyllis Wheeler
Nicole White
Elizabeth Williams
Dave Wilson

Dog and Cat Love Story

This is one of the best pet videos I've seen. The music selection is priceless and it only takes one look into the dog's eyes to fall head over heels in love too.

The Story of Jonah

A friend shared this video on Facebook and I fell in love with this little girls dramatic skills. She could have a real future in audio books.

The story of Jonah from Corinth Baptist Church on Vimeo.

CFBA: Emily of Deep Valley by Maud Hart Lovelace & Mitali Perkins

Song Stuck on the Brain: Pat-A-Pan by David Archuleta. My new fav Christmas song.

This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing:


Emily of Deep Valley
Harper Perennial Modern Classics; Reprint edition (October 12, 2010)

by

Mitali Perkins

and

Maud Hart Lovelace

MY TAKE:

How did I miss these books growing up? I read all the great classics from the original Nancy Drew to Mary Poppins. Little House on the Prairie to Pippi Longstockings. I devoured the entire young adult and middle grade reader section in my town's library. I'm glad that I was given a second chance to meet Emily. Maud Hart Lovelace was a great writer. I enjoy her style and characters. It's not just a modern author's look at history. It's a fun peek into the past with authenticity that can't be created from our day and age's research. So much fun. I look forward to reading more.



ABOUT THE BOOK:

Often cited as Maud Hart Lovelace’s (of Betsy-Tacy fame) best novel, Emily of Deep Valley is now back in print, with a new foreword by acclaimed young adult author Mitali Perkins and new archival material about the characters’ real lives.

Emily Webster, an orphan living with her grandfather, is not like the other girls her age in Deep Valley, Minnesota. The gulf between Emily and her classmates widens even more when they graduate from Deep Valley High School in 1912. Emily longs to go off to college with everyone else, but she can’t leave her grandfather. Emily resigns herself to facing a “lost winter,” but soon decides to stop feeling sorry for herself. And with a new program of study, a growing interest in the Syrian community, and a handsome new teacher at the high school to fill her days, Emily gains more than she ever dreamed...

In addition to her beloved Betsy-Tacy books, Maud Hart Lovelace wrote three more stories set in the fictional town of Deep Valley: Winona’s Pony Cart, Carney’s House Party and Emily of Deep Valley. Longtime fans and new readers alike will be delighted to find the Deep Valley books available again for the first time in many years.

If you would like to browse inside Emily of Deep Valley, go HERE.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS:

A word from Mitali: Who In The World Is Mitali Perkins?

That's a good question. I've been trying to figure it out myself, spending most of my life crossing borders.

I was born Mitali Bose in Kolkata (Calcutta), India, and always tried to live up to my name—which means “friendly” in the Bangla language. I had to! Because my family moved so much, it was the only way I could make new friends.

By the time I was 11, I'd lived in Ghana, Cameroon, London, New York and Mexico before settling in California just in time for middle school. Yep, I was the new kid again, in seventh grade, the year everybody barely makes it through.

My biggest lifeline during those early years was story. Books were my rock, my stability, my safe place as I navigated the border between California suburbia and the Bengali culture of my traditional home.

After studying political science at Stanford and public policy at U.C. Berkeley, I taught in middle school, high school and college. When I began to write fiction, my protagonists were often—not surprisingly—strong female characters trying to bridge different cultures.

Mitali Perkins is the author of several books for young people, including SECRET KEEPER (Random House), MONSOON SUMMER (Random House), RICKSHAW GIRL (Charlesbridge), and the FIRST DAUGHTER books (Dutton).


Maud Hart Lovelace was born on April 25, 1892 in Mankato, Minnesota. She was the middle of three children born to Thomas and Stella (Palmer) Hart. Her sister Kathleen was three years older, and her sister Helen was six years younger. “That dear family�? was the model for the fictional Ray family.

Maud’s birthplace was a small house on a hilly residential street several blocks above Mankato’s center business district. The street, Center Street, dead-ended at one of the town’s many hills. When Maud was a few months old the Hart family moved two blocks up the street to 333 Center. Shortly before Maud’s fifth birthday a “large merry Irish family�? moved into the house directly across the street. Among its many children was a girl Maud’s age, Frances, nicknamed Bick, who was to be Maud’s best friend and the model for Tacy Kelly. Tib’s character was based on another playmate, Marjorie (Midge) Gerlach, who lived nearby in a large house designed by her architect father. Maud, Bick, and Midge became lifelong friends. Maud once stated that the three couldn’t have been closer if they’d been sisters.