Win Fields of Grace or Dangerous Heart

Hello friends,

We have a new contest for the month of December. You have a chance to win one of two new books.

Fields Of Grace by Kim Vogel Sawyer

or

Dangerous Heart by Tracey Bateman

To enter, click on the image in the sidebar and email me your entry. The contest ends at midnight, December 31, 2009.

Good Luck,

A.


Void where prohibited; open only to U.S. residents, odds of winning depend on number of entrants.

New Contest!

Enter to Win:



Who Made You the Princess by Shelley Adina

or


Love's Pursuit by Siri Mitchell

Contest is open to US residents only and ends at midnight November 30, 2009. To enter, click on the book cover in the sidebar to email me your entry.

Sorry for the weird sidebar, I'm having trouble with my code.

Win Scream or The Blue Enchantress

October is here already and I'm running so behind. The end of the year is approaching way too quickly. I'm getting a late start on this month's giveaways, but I'm hoping you'll forgive me when you see what great treasures are available.

This month I'm giving away free copies of:

To Read about The Blue Enchantress click HERE


And

To read about Scream click HERE

To enter, click on the book covers in the Sidebar and email me your entry. The contest is open to US residents only and ends at midnight on October 31, 2009.

Good luck!

A.

Win New Books: Breathe or Vanish

Is it September already?!?

I can hardly believe it. The kids are back in school and we're having record breaking cold spells here already. September always puts me in the mood to read, something about the onset of autumn and school begining. I love that sense of excitement and nostalgia. I've been out of school forever and I still get excited when I see all the pens and school supplies in the stores.

Since last months contest went so well, I thought I'd offer all of you another chance at winning TWO books this month. Might as well give the rest of you a chance to dig into a good book, right?

This month I'm giving away:

Breathe by Lisa T. Bergren

and

Vanish by Tom Pawlik

To enter, click on the book covers in the SIDEBAR. Fill in your info and email me your entry. The contest is open to US residents and ends September 30, 2009 at midnight. Time flies, so be sure to enter right away.

Good Luck,

A.

Void where prohibited; open only to U.S. residents, odds of winning depend on number of entrants.

Win Montana Rose or Through the Fire

Win a free copy of:

Montana Rose by Mary Connealy

or

Through the Fire by Shawn Grady

That's right, this month there are TWO FREE books to give away. Just click the book cover in the sidebar to email your entry.

The contest is open to US and Canadian residents only and ends on August 31, 2009.

Good Luck!


A.

Win a copy of Ghostwriter by Travis Thrasher

Enter to win a copy of:

Ghostwriter by Travis Thrasher

How To Enter:

Click on the book cover in the sidebar (not the image in this post). This will open an email window, fill out the form and send. The contest is open to US residents only and will end at midnight on July 31, 2009.

Good Luck!

A.

Win: Rose House by Tina Ann Forkner

This month (or what's left of it...) I'm giving away:



ABOUT THE BOOK:

A vivid story of a private grief, a secret painting, and one woman’s search for hope

Still mourning the loss of her family in a tragic accident, Lillian Diamon finds herself drawn back to the Rose House, a quiet cottage where four years earlier she had poured out her anguish among its fragrant blossoms.

She returns to the rolling hills and lush vineyards of the Sonoma Valley in search of something she can’t quite name. But then Lillian stumbles onto an unexpected discovery: displayed in the La Rosaleda Gallery is a painting that captures every detail of her most private moment of misery, from the sorrow etched across her face to the sandals on her feet.

What kind of artist would dare to intrude on such a personal scene, and how did he happen to witness Lillian’s pain? As the mystery surrounding the portrait becomes entangled with the accident that claimed the lives of her husband and children, Lillian is forced to rethink her assumptions about what really happened that day.

A captivating novel rich with detail, Rose House explores how the brushstrokes of pain can illuminate the true beauty of life.

To see more, click HERE.

HOW TO ENTER:

Just click on the book cover at the top of the sidebar and email me your entry. The contest is open to US and Canadian residents only and ends at midnight on June 30, 2009.

Good Luck!

A.

Win Chasing Charity by Marcia Gruver

It's May, Yay! This month, I'm giving away a copy of:

Chasing Charity by Marcia Gruver

ABOUT THE BOOK:

When, in full view of family and friends, Charity Bloom's fiance leaves her stranded at the altar and takes off with her best friend, Charity is humiliated. How will this raven-haired beauty ever recover from losing both her betrothed and best friend on what was supposed to be the happiest day of her life?

When tall, handsome roughneck Buddy Pierce finds oil on Charity's mama's land, he hopes to free the Blooms from their poverty-stricken state. But will Buddy find the real treasure lies above ground-in Charity herself?

Ruing the day he left his fiancee for Emily Dane, Daniel Clark is determined to recapture Charity's affection. But can he remove the three things that stand in his way-a manipulative mama, a spurned lover, and the stranger at his ex-fiancee's side?

When Daniel re-stakes his claim on Charity's heart, tongues wag and minds speculate amid schemes and scandals in Humble, Texas. Whom will she choose-the handsome roughneck or the deceitful rouge?

HOW TO WIN:

Just click on the link in the sidebar and email me your entry. The contest is open to US and Canadian residents only and ends at midnight on May 31, 2009. Good Luck!

A.

Chance to Win TEN Christian novels

Song Stuck on the Brain: Free to Be Me by Francesca Battistelli


Do you read Christian novels? Do you buy Christian novels? GRPR is conducting a research study and wants to know more about you! If you would like to participate, go to http://tiny.cc/G4IsN to take an anonymous survey about buying Christian fiction. At the end, you can enter to win a library of TEN Christian novels!

Win White Christmas Pie by Wanda E. Brunstetter

It's a new month, which means a new opportunity to win a great free read.

This month I'm giving away a copy of:

White Christmas Pie by Wanda E. Brunstetter

About the Book:

Step into Amish country for this bittersweet holiday romance. Here you'll meet Will Henderson, a young man tortured by his past, and Karen Yoder, a young woman looking for answers. Add a desperate father searching for his son, and you have all the ingredients for a first-class romance that will inspire and enthrall.

Abandoned by his father, Will Henderson was raised by an Amish couple. Now he's about to marry Karen Yoder but is having second thoughts. Can Will overcome the bitterness of his past in order to secure his future? Karen cannot break through the barrier her fiance has suddenly constructed around his heart. When she seeks the advice of an old boyfriend, Will begins to see green. Has he already lost his chance for happiness?

When an accident threatens Will's life, the strength of blood ties is tested. Will a recipe for White Christmas pie contain the ingredients for a happily-ever-after?

If you would like to read the first chapter of White Christmas Pie, go HERE


How to Win:

As always, the contest is open to US and Canadian residents only. Click the link in the sidebar and email me your entry. Contest ends as midnight on March 31, 2009.


Good Luck!
A.

Win Engaging Father Christmas by Robin Jones Gunn

Win Engaging Father Christmas by Robin Jones Gunn!

This was a fabulous and fun read featured on the CFBA tour, Click Here to read more.

To enter, click on the book cover in the side bar and email me your entry. The contest is open to US residents only and ends at midnight on Saturday, January 31, 2009.

Good Luck!

A.

Win The Summer the Wind Whispered my Name by Don Locke

Thank you all so much for helping me celebrate my birthday month. I appreciate all the comments and emails I received, you all are fantastic! I'm totally looking forward to another year with you all.

This month, I'm giving a way a copy of The Summer the Wind Whispered my Name by Don Locke.

To enter, click on the book cover in the side bar and email me your entry. The Contest is open to US and Canadian residents only and ends at midnight on December 31, 2008.

Good luck!

A.

Win A Promise for Tomorrow by Sara DuBose

Win a Promise for Tomorrow by Sara DuBose.

Just click on the book cover in the side bar to enter. The contest is open to US and Canadian residents only and runs ends at midnight on Sunday, November 30, 2008.

Good luck,

A.

Win Up Pops the Devil by Angela Benson

Hey ya'll, it's November again and you know what that means... It's Projecting A's birthday month! Whoo Hoo! Time for a celebration and lots of presents - for you!

This week I'm giving away a copy of Up Pops the Devil by Angela Benson, but along with each book given away this month, there will be a suprise! Who knows, you could get a cd or t-shirt or a bonus book... anything could happen.

Interested? Good. Click on the book icon in the top of the sidebar to email me your entry. As a bonus, for every comment you leave on this weeks blog posts, you'll earn an extra entry in the drawing.

This contest is open to US and Canadian residents only and ends at midnight on Sunday, November 9th.

Good Luck!

A.

Win Wounded by Claudia Mair Burney

It's a new week and time for a new contest. This week I'm giving away a copy of:

Wounded by Claudia Mair Burney

To read about this book, click HERE.

It's really easy to enter. Just click on the book cover at the top of the sidebar to email me your entry. This contest is open to US and Canadian residents only and ends Sunday, October 19th at midnight.

Good Luck,

A.

Win Beyond the Night by Marlo Schalesky

New month... new contests! YAY!

In the spirit of out with the old and in with the new, my family has been prepping for a garage sale this weekend. I packed 4 crates of books. Do you know how painful that was? Going over every book and deciding which ones to keep and which to part with? It was torture! But it needed to be done so that the books piled all over my desk, chairs, treadmill (hey, it was good for SOMETHING), they all got put up on bookshelves.

The saddest part? After all 4 crates were hauled away by my burly nephew Ben, my bookshelves DON'T LOOK ANY DIFFERENT. I have 4 large book cases and they're all two deep and two high. *sigh* And I'm constantly reading and adding new books. I don't think I could possibly part with any more at the moment. Maybe in the spring. In the mean time, my books are my girlfriends lending library, so at least they have purpose.

I'm sure I'm not the only one that clings so tightly to the papered past. My girlfriends all want first dibs at buying books before the garage sale opens on Saturday. They apparently cling pretty tightly too.

So would you like to add to your library? How about Marlo Schalesky's Beyond the Night? That's what I'm giving away this week. The contest will run through October 11th at midnight. Just click on the book cover in the sidebar and email me your entry. Don't forget, this is for US and Canadian residents only. I love the rest of my readers, but I can't afford your mail. :)

Good Luck everyone.

A.

Win Coming Unglued by Rebeca Seitz

Song Stuck on the Brain: Feels Like Tonight by Daughtry

Oops. I forgot to choose a winner and announce it for Wind River. Bad me! Sorry, ya'll. I'll try to pay better attention this next time.

This time around, you can win a copy of:

Coming Unglued by Rebeca Seitz

To read about this book and it's first chapter, go HERE.

This new contest will run through midnight, September 30th. As always, you must be a US or Canadian resident to win.

Good Luck!

A.

Guest: Author Mary Connealy - Day 2

Projecting A welcomes Mary Connealy today as a guest blogger.


April said something in her interview about getting inside a man’s head so I thought I’d tell you a little bit of what I found while trying to get men ‘right’.

I was inspired by this saying I heard, a quote by George Carlin.

Men are from Earth. Women are from Earth. Deal with it!

Calico Canyon is the story of the prissy Miss Calhoun from Petticoat Ranch and her forced marriage to Daniel Reeves the father of her most unruly students.

Five little boys who are as horrified to have her for their new Ma as she is to find herself stuck with the Reeves men.

She got his boys expelled from school.

He got her fired.

And then a completely innocent compromising situation forces them to marry. I mean sure she spent the night with him. Sure she’s in her nightgown. Sure he slept with her, but...nothing happened.

Daniel cannot get the parson to believe that.

No two people could be more unhappily married.

Calico Canyon is in bookstores now. To find out more, check here:
http://www.maryconnealy.com/

In the meantime, one of the responses I've been getting about Calico Canyon, similar to Petticoat Ranch, is 'How'd you get inside a man's head so well?'

All I can say is...”who knows if I did?” How can any of us really KNOW if we've figured out men?
And what’s with the word MEN, like they’re not individuals, with their own hopes and dreams, personalities and behaviors. CAN we figure out MEN-plural? We can maybe...eventually...figure out A man, one we know personally, but is it fair to paint with such a broad stroke?

Here are some Man cliches....

All men are after only one thing.

All men are alike.

My husband says, Men think things through. Women talk things through.

Literature says, Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus.

A jump rope ditty I remember goes:
Boys are rotten, made out of cotton
Girls drink Pepsi to get more sexy
Boys go to Jupiter to get more stupider
Girls go to Mars to get more candy bars

George Carlin says: Men are from Earth. Women are from Earth. Deal with it.

Nicole Hollander: Can you imagine a world without men? No crime and lots of happy fat women.

Mary Poppins: “Though we adore men individually, I agree that as a group they're rather stupid."

Marge Simpson: Most women tell you that you're a fool if you think you can change a man- but those women are quitters.

I'm going to mention here that if you think there aren't a bazillion woman bashing jokes out there, you're livin' in a dream world.--here's a good example:

Q: What's the difference between a woman having her period and a terrorist?
A: You can negotiate with a terrorist.

What I'd like to hear from you is 'guy stories'.

Can you think of a story with your son, your boyfriend, your co-worker, your brother, your husband that just makes you say, "He is SUCH a guy!"

And anyone who leaves a comment today gets their name in the drawing for a signed copy of Calico Canyon.

So leave a comment and tell me your 'guy' stories. And don’t even think about topping me. I can tell ‘guy’ stories all day long.

Thanks, Mary! I can think of a few 'guy' stories. I can't wait to see what the rest of the gang comes up with.

A.

Win AUTOGRAPHED Vanished by Kathryn Mackel

Hey everyone, it's a new week and a new contest. In addition to the copies of Mary Connealy's books we're giving away on her blog posts, I'm also running an additional contest to win an AUTOGRAPHED copy of Vanished by Kathryn Mackel.




HOW TO WIN:


Just click on the book cover in the sidebar to email me your entry. As always, the contest is open to US and Canadian residents only and it will end at midnight on Saturday, August 16th.



Good Luck,

A.

Guest: Author Mary Connealy - Day 1

Song Stuck on the Brain: Day Tripper by David Cook

Today is an exciting day for me. Why? Because Mary Connealy, author of Calico Canyon and many more, is visiting for the next two days. Yay!

About Calico Canyon:

Running from her Abusive foster-father, a man intent on revenge, the prim and perfectly proper Grace Calhoun takes on the job of schoolmarm in Mosqueros, Texas.

As if being a wanted woman isn't bad enough, Grace has her hands full with the five rowdy and rambunctious Reeves boys─tough Texan tormentors who seem intent on making her life miserable. When, in an attempt to escape from the clutches of her pursuer, Grace is forced to marry widower Daniel Reeves, father of the miniature monsters, she thinks things couldn't get any worse. Or could they?

Daniel Reeves, happy in his all-male world, is doing the best he can, raising his five boys─rascals, each and every one. Since his wife's death in childbirth, Daniel has been determined never to risk marriage again.

When God throws Grace and Daniel together─two people who couldn't detest each other more─the trouble is only beginning.

Will this hapless pair find the courage to face life together in the isolated Calico Canyon? Or are their differences too broad a chasm to bridge?


Sounds intriguing, right? I know I've mentioned before how much I enjoy Mary's writing style. I've already blogged once about Calico Canyon, Mary's latest release. But when the opportunity to have Mary as a guest came up, I jumped at the chance. Who wouldn't want to spend time with a succesful author and get all the dirt from behind the scenes?

To that end Mary was kind enough to answer my (and some of your) questions.


Q & A with Mary Connealy:


Q. Karen asked: "Where do you find your inspiration to write? What sparks these stories in your mind?"


A. I’m not sure where it comes from Karen, but I’m pretty sure it’s not exactly normal. I just see things and start ‘what iffing’.


The cozy mystery series that’s coming out this fall was inspired by a billboard along an interstate that said, “World’s largest Bumblebee, next left.”


Seriously. I found a book in that. :)

Q. Nancy asked: "You do such a good job of testifying about your faith. How do you know where the fine line is between sharing your faith and beating someone over the head with it?"


A. One thing I love about Christian fiction today is how widely it’s spread over genres and depths of faith. I like to write books where the characters are Christian, where that’s just understood, and they turn to God with thanks and petitions, and they live their life by Christian standards, but beyond that, they’re just caught in the story I’m telling.


That gives me guidelines I don’t want to cross as far as profanity and graphic sex. I don’t write that stuff because of who I am, and my own moral code, more than because the story doesn’t call for it.


Seriously I’d bet that about 90% of the Harlequin Romances written before about 1970 would qualify as Christian fiction today, simply because of the moral code the characters lived by.

Q. Angel asked: "In Calico Canyon, Daniel Reeves boys are quite the handful. What inspired their behavior? Have you met boys like them?"


A. Ah, this one is easy. My husband is from a family of seven sons. His mother, one of my favorite people on the planet, can tell little boy stories forever. So much chaos and bleeding and stitches and near death in her stories. The woman had snow white hair by the time she was forty. But she’s wonderful, she’s got this great ability to roll with the punches, accept life’s slings and arrows with a smile.

Q. Angel also asked: "The avalanche scene in Calico Canyon was so intense and realistic. How did you write that scene? Have you experienced anything like that before?"


A. I love action scenes but they’re a lot of work. I’m delighted to hear you think I did it well. To write a good action scene, just like a really fast paced comedy scene takes going over and over and over the manuscript. Short sentences, intense use of the five senses, but brief, smells and noises and sounds. You need to keep adding and adding and tweaking, cutting when something stops the flow, adding when you aren’t being drawn in and held hard.


I love writing them but when I know one is coming I feel myself dragging my heels because I know what it’s going to take to get it right.


Oh, and no, I’ve never been in an avalanche, but seriously, Angel, have you? Who knows if I got it right? :)

Q. In both Petticoat Ranch and Calico Canyon, you present the differences between the male and female mind so well. I was in stitches! How do you get inside the male mind? Did you base either Clay or Daniel on anyone you know?


A. Well, I did, but just like I said to Angel on her question, who knows if I’ve got it right. Who knows what’s really going on inside a man’s head.


I think of Petticoat Ranch as my husband’s story. He’s from a family of seven sons and we’ve got five daughters. Watching my husband react to the girls is just hilarious. If you’ve got a little brother or an older brother, you know that boys seem to LIVE to torment their sisters. Yay! I embarrassed her to death in front of her boyfriend. Yay! I made her scream when I stuck a bug in her face. Yay! I made her cry when I pretended to kill her favorite doll.

I think this is one of those things you learn when you’re young or you never learn it at all. My husband never learned it. The girls both fascinate and terrify him. Their tears make him CRAZY. He cannot handle it when they cry. If they’re giggling or just talking over every little detail of something, he’s just mystified. So I made Clay like my husband, of course cranked way, way up.


Then Daniel and his boys were my husband and his brothers. They really were little savages in a lot of ways. The lack of civilizing influences…despite my mother-in-laws efforts (she says her boys were a LOT better behaved at the table for instance) still left them just running wild with all boys most of the time. So I tried to capture that in Calico Canyon.

Q. Gingham Mountain, the third book in the series is scheduled for release in February 2009. How many more books in the series can we look forward to?


A. Gingham Mountain is Hannah’s story. It’s coming soon. It’s the last of the Mosqueros, Texas stories for now, but I may write a series based on Sophie’s daughters after the next three book series, which we’re calling Married in Montana. That will be new characters but oh man am I having fun with them. I’ve just finished a book called The Husband Tree that just makes me laugh, same historical western, and a woman who makes Sophie McClellen look like a wimp.

Q. Sophie McClellen a wimp? Wow! LOL, that's hard to imagine. So, what do you want readers to take away from your stories?


A. I hope this doesn’t sound shallow…but I write my books to entertain. I want the spiritual message to be…oh, I guess…organic to the plot, not shoe horned in. Does that make sense? I am a reader, practically compulsive. I read for entertainment while other people might watch TV. That’s what I want in a book and that’s what I want to write. I find writing really entertaining, almost as much as reading, so I’m writing to make myself laugh and to engage my own interest.

Q. Do you have any advice for aspiring writers?



A. There is a lot of learning for a new writer and you need to do all of it. But none of it works if you’re not writing. Write a book. Write the whole thing. Then, when you’re done, start a new one.

Do NOT spend five years trying to sell that first book. Send it in somewhere and forget it. It takes forever to be rejected. And you can have your next book done by the time you learn the first one isn’t going to sell. Enter it in contest and learn everything you can from the feed back. Join a critique group. Join on line writer’s communities like ACFW, their website section with online classes is worth the price of the dues. Plus you meet other writers, learn about the market, learn about contests, get connected.


And just go ahead now and grow a really thick hide because you’re going to need it, lots of rejections in the writing world. I had twenty finished books on my computer when I finally sold, and now I’ve sold seven of those, plus I’m writing new ones as fast as I can.

Q. Good advice, Mary. Okay, here are a few questions just for fun. What are you currently reading for pleasure?


A. Well, I just finished a kind of over-eating feast of books by favorite authors.
Mostly they were a disappointment. Does anyone read Janet Evanovich? Hers were pretty good. Fearless Fourteen. That woman can create chaos that blows my mind.

Q. What was your favorite book as a child?


A. Not fair, I was a maniac reader. Um…Dr. Seuss maybe? I read everything, Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, Happy Hollisters (anyone remember them?) Trixie Belden. I just read and read and read.

Q. You're right, it wasn't a very fair question. I probably would be hard pressed to name just one too. Good choices though, I loved Trixie Belden and Nancy Drew as well. Where is your favorite place to vacation?


A. Although we haven’t been there for years, all the years my daughters were growing up we went to a lake in Minnesota for a week. I’d say we went there fifteen to seventeen years. It’s a great vacation for a family. Swimming, eating, fishing, boating and all at the world’s slowest imaginable pace. Loved it.

Q. Any other good news you'd like to share?


A. I’ve got an exclusive contract to write books similar to Petticoat Ranch and Calico Canyon for Barbour for the next four years, starting next year there’ll be three a year. Eleven books in all. Plus I’m writing these cozy mysteries, a three book series, and I’m writing a three book Heartsong series set around a Buffalo Ranch in the Black Hills in South Dakota, those will be out later this year.

So altogether, eighteen books, plus some are being repackaged, like the cozy mysteries, and sold outside the book clubs, so Barbour is being wonderful to me and I’m thrilled.


Thanks for having me visit.


Wow, Mary I'm exhausted and amazed just hearing about your schedule. Congratulations on the latest contracts and your great success. I look forward to reading many more of your books.



CONTEST:

In honor of Mary's visit, one winner will be selected to recieve a free copy of Calico Canyon. Leave a comment on today's post and leave your email address. The contest is only open to US and Canadian residents and closes on August 15, 2008.


A.