Izzy James's Blog

LoRee Peery tells the best stories. She has a new release this Christmas!

Part of my planning for a new story project is going through an ideas file. I had saved a magazine article about a woman who overcame growing up in a storage unit. I still marvel at how a family could live in a ten-by-twenty-foot aluminum box. This woman’s courage and determination haunted and intrigued me. The siblings didn’t go to school. Their father only worked on weekends and sounded like a man I would have run away from. For whatever reason, God planned that for her life and looked over her. As I read the article again, Pepper came to life for me. Christmas House for a title just made sense and I never considered another. (I’ve actually started a sequel, “Christmas in Garland,” since my story ends on Thanksgiving.)

Blurb:

Pepper Rainwater has just bought the first real home she’ s ever had, and she’ s decorating and celebrating Christmas with everything she has. The neighbor’ s miniature donkeys and meeting Foxx interrupt her life. Can she turn from all she’ d been taught and trust strangers?

A startling discovery after his father’ s death forces Foxx Haven to face an unknown past. His life has been a lie. He’ s distracted from work for the first time— by his heritage and his new neighbor. Can he fight his attraction to an unbeliever and discover his new life chapter at the same time?

Miniature donkeys and learning about Christ have a profound impact on Pepper. But God has a mighty work to bring her hurting soul and Foxx’ s new perspective into alignment. Can hope override hurting souls and enable a happily-ever-after?

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Merry Christmas!

Welcome to the Christmas Christian Fiction Scavenger Hunt!!

Here’s how it works: At each author’s blog post, you will find a question that can be answered by checking out the free Amazon preview of their book. Provide the answer at this form.

Note: You must answer the questions for every author in the round-robin to be considered to win an Amazon gift card:

First Place: $200.00

Second Place: $150.00

Third Place: $75.00

These prizes are USD values. If you are not a U.S. resident, you will get a gift card from the Amazon store for your country; however, it will be valued at these USD amounts.

At the end of my post is a link to the next blog, which will provide a link to the next blog, etc., to the very end, creating a circle (a round-robin) visit through all of the authors’ blogs.

Have you ever been completely misunderstood? I mean really misjudged with no opportunity to make your case? 

When I was in the fifth grade, I was chosen to be in a gifted math class. I loved math then and I love it now. The class was small, maybe eight students at most. I do not remember the teacher or all of my classmates, but I remember the day I got kicked out. 

My teacher had put a puzzle on the board for us to work on, whoever solved it first won the prize. I know now that the puzzle was a Sudoku. I had never seen one before. We worked on it during class, and two of my classmates solved it together. My teacher was so impressed she had them fill out their answer on the board for all of us to see. The project was over, my classmates had won the prize. 

I thought it was so clever and interesting a puzzle I wondered if it could be solved another way. So, I copied down their solution and put it in my papers to be thought about later. My teacher saw the imprint of my copied solution when she came by to check some other of my work. She told me, loud enough for the whole class to hear, that she would not tolerate cheating in her class and that I was to leave and never come back again.

Even as I write this, feelings of embarrassment and humiliation pink my cheeks. I went to a small parish school and there was no speaking up or explaining ever. And here’s the thing. I was a good little girl. I loved God and believed what I had been taught about lying and cheating. I didn’t do it ever. Not to mention that any mischief I may have conceived was always countered with my father’s belt. My teacher misunderstood my intention, judged, and convicted me without any input from anyone—including me. At that age it never occurred to me to argue or even tell my parents. The verdict had been handed down and I went back to regular math class.

Reed Archer is in a slightly different situation in that he was not a good little girl who would never cheat anyone. In fact, he’d been a bit of a hellion before he left the Virginia Colony to complete his education in England. While there, he found friends in some devout young men who caused him to give his life to Christ. In The Woodcarver’s Snow-Kissed Christmas, Reed has come home to the community who is predisposed to think badly of him. He has hopes that childhood friend Ann Wright will look favorably on him and consent to be his wife.

His hopes were misplaced.

Ann Wright is not interested in a man who can always be found at the heart of trouble. She wants a man who will be a partner, not a lord. Nothing about Reed Archer indicates that he could be that man.

Can a risky proposition at Christmastide make them see each other in new light and bring a happily-ever-after for both of them?

Let’s begin this scavenger hunt! Go to the book on Amazon at this link.

Find the answer to this question:

Where is Ann Wright spending Christmastide?

When you have the answer, FILL OUT THIS FORM and head on to the next blog!

Thank you so much for visiting! The next author on the tour is Lyn Cote, who is telling us all about her Christmas book. You can find it at this link. Remember that the round-robin will end on December 11th at 11:59 PM EST!

Today we have a guest post by Carol James. Carol has a new book out this Christmas, it’s a treat!

People always ask where I get the ideas for my novels. Most are born from an over-active imagination as I listen to a song, read the Bible, or hear a sermon. Others come from real experiences. In Choosing Christmas, both the hero and the heroine have life-experiences that are born from reality. 

Angela, the heroine, is a teacher. I’ve spent most of my adult life teaching. I’ve taught students as old as nineteen and as young as two. The last teaching position I had was in a private Christian school whose philosophy was based on the writings of Charlotte Mason, a British educator who lived in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. She was an advocate for rigorous education for all, not just the wealthy. One of the tenants of her philosophy is that children are born persons. Angela finds life-saving truth in this philosophy. 

Adam, the hero, suffers from a back injury sustained while on a mission trip as a teenager. He struggles to overcome both the horrible memories and the physical disabilities of the accident.

This idea was born from a true incident that injured members from a nearby church when they were on a mission trip.

But in the fictionalized account, the two discover they have an old connection. And surprisingly (or maybe not so…since it’s a romance), their pasts draw them together in the present.

Blurb:

Heartbroken over the unfair loss of a position in the school where she teaches, Angela Taylor is determined to find an Assistant Principal position. 

Adam Thornton has struggled for years to overcome the physical and emotional effects of a devastating accident that occurred when he was a teenager. A successful real estate attorney and part-time handyman, Adam uses his gifts and talents to serve others.

When Angela is hired as an AP at the school where Adam’s mother is the principal, Angela and Adam find they share a past…an unexpected connection. And they must choose whether to surrender to the pain of that past or find hope for the future in the spirit of Christmas.

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Happy Black Friday!!

Today we have a guest post by Barbara Britton. Barbara has a wonderful new book out this Christmas!

Creating “Christmas at Whispering Creek”

Pinecones are pretty and they smell like Christmas. When I have to pick them up before mowing the lawn, they become a nuisance. As I was collecting my pinecones, I thought it would be nice to write a Christmas book with a tree farm in the novel. I write mostly Biblical Fiction, so I tucked the idea away for the future.

Later on, I received two calls from friends who had been diagnosed with breast cancer. I’m a six-year survivor and I shared my advice on treatment with my friends. Could I put some of my experience as a cancer survivor and breast-free woman in a book? A Christmas book? Could I make it fun like a holiday movie?

I did my best brainstorming and left Biblical Fiction behind, momentarily, to write “Christmas at Whispering Creek.” It’s intimidating to leave a tried-and-true genre, but I had so much fun writing a contemporary romance.

I hope you enjoy Samantha and Cole’s story set in an imaginary small town in Tennessee.

Book blurb:

All Samantha Williams wants to do is to use her teaching degree to instruct a classroom of second graders. But, after a breast cancer diagnosis at the age of twenty-three and failed reconstruction surgery, Sam finds herself without a job and temporarily living with her parents. This isn’t the life Sam expected. When a family friend dies and leaves Sam a house and land in Whispering Creek, Tennessee, Sam must decide if leaving Wisconsin for Southern living is in her lesson plans.

Nashville native Cole Donoven left his family’s electrical business to write country music. When Cole’s song-writing partner and girlfriend dumps him for a country music star, Cole abandons Nashville to hole up in Whispering Creek and compose one more song. The last thing Cole expects to find in the sleepy small town is a deceased friend, estate squabbles, and a Northern beauty. Will the chaos in Whispering Creek help create a bestselling song for Cole and possibly help him find a life-long collaborator?

You can find “Christmas at Whispering Creek” on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or wherever books are sold. Your library can order it too.

Book Trailer

Barbara M. Britton lives in Wisconsin and loves the snow—when it accumulates under three inches. She writes Christian Fiction from Bible Times to present day USA. Her Tribes of Israel series brings little-known Bible characters to light. Her novel “Christmas at Whispering Creek” shines a light on overcoming hardships like breast cancer. Barbara has a nutrition degree from Baylor University but loves to dip healthy strawberries in chocolate.

You can find out more about Barbara and her books on her website www.barbarambritton.com.

For most of October, my husband and I were on the road. We loaded up our jeep and headed for Washington State where our daughter and son-in-law live with our grandson. To say we had a good time is a fantastic understatement. Several things impeded our ability to stop and gaze at all the things we found interesting along the way, so we’ve vowed to do it again!

In South Dakota there is an iconic must-stop: Wall Drug!

In 1931, pharmacist Ted Hustead and his wife bought a small pharmacy in a town with a church. After nearly five years of struggling, one day his wife came up with an idea to bring people into their store. Offer travelers free ice-water.

Now that might sound a little odd these days, but the Wall Drug Store was an old-time drug store which had a lunch counter. Lunch counters and soda fountains like Wall Drug Store were transitioning out of existence when I was growing up, but there were a couple of them still around. You could go in there and get a sandwich and a coke while you waited for your medicine to be ready. A neat example can be seen in the movie Murphy’s Romance. 

Nowadays, Wall Drug is a small mall filled with shops. They still offer free ice-water and coffee for 5 cents. I understand the doughnuts are good as well, but we didn’t have any of those. We wandered through the shops and chapel and then we found the bookstore!  (It was raining the day we stopped. So, the place was packed. I did not get one photo without random people passing through. So, no, I don’t know the couple in front of the bookstore.)

I can never pass up a good bookstore and The Hole in the Wall was a great bookstore. The selection was broad and interesting. History, fiction, it had a smattering of it all. I found a couple of good ones. Staking Her Claim is about single women homesteaders. The beginning is quite interesting. If it keeps it up I’ll probably do a review here about it.

If you pass through South Dakota, and you should, it’s beautiful there, Wall Drug is a good stop. It’s a bit touristy, but that’s okay. The restrooms were clean, the people were friendly. In retrospect, I’m sorry I didn’t grab an ice-water just to say I did that, but there you go. Next time. And there will be a next time. 

https://www.walldrug.com/

The Woodcarver’s Snow-Kissed Christmas is the prequel to The Shopkeeper’s Widow and The Dollmaker’s Daughter.

Have you ever felt completely out of control of the events in your life, even the most important ones?

Being a freshman in high school can be positively terrifying for an introvert like me. I went to a small parish school which was fed by a series of parish elementary schools. I have always been a bit socially awkward in groups and it was accentuated when I was at school. 

During the first couple of weeks at my high school the senior class subjected the freshman class to some harmless hazing. I never saw anything that rose the level of dangerous, most of it, in retrospect, was just silly and usually took place in the cafeteria at lunchtime. Freshman were singled out and required to form a train and choo-choo around the room, things like that. So, one day, it was my turn. 

A rather large senior girl came to our table and told us we had to make a train and choo-choo around the room. Well, I didn’t want to. My compatriots stood. I remained sitting. I was terrified to be in front of a group of people like that, it was bad enough when I had to present my work in front of the class. To choo-choo around the cafeteria. No.

“That means you too.” The senior girl snarled at me and made her way to my chair. She put her meaty hand on the rail at the back and pulled. I held on to the table and didn’t budge. Once she figured out that I wouldn’t move, she walked away leaving me shaking. My “friends” rolled their eyes and choo-chooed around the room. 

Of course, I realize now that it was indeed harmless fun. My friends laughed as they went around the room and the whole thing was done in a few minutes. 

Unfortunately, Ann Wright in The Woodcarver’s Snow-kissed Christmas faces the possibility of a marriage arranged out of her control and against her will. A man she’d considered marrying when she was very young was coming home after finishing his education. Her match-making mother would very much like Ann to marry Reed, but Ann is not interested in a man who can always be found at the center of trouble. It will take a lot more than holding on to a table to keep Ann from doing something she doesn’t want to do.

Can a risky proposition at Christmastide make them see each other in new light and bring a happily-ever-after for both of them?

You can find The Woodcarver’s Snow-Kissed Christmas wherever you buy ebooks!

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Happy Reading, my Friends!

5 Stars

First I have got to say that I LOVE the cover. Don’t you? It has all the things that if I was in a bookshop somewhere I would pick it up. The colors, the air-ships, all of it, I just love the cover!

The Lady’s Triumph is the last book in The Regent’s Devices series by Shelley Adina and R. E. Scott. It is a light adventure-filled read. This time Loveday and Celeste are back in England and working to solve another issue with the air-ships of their design.

There are more fun little gadgets. I won’t describe them because it would spoil the story, but I do like the clever little machines invented by the authors. They remind me of the little details in the Harry Potter books.

In this book, Celeste, Loveday, Emory, and Arthur catch a spy, give an air chase, charm a curmudgeon, and participate in an air-battle. And they come to terms with the romance that’s been simmering in the background of the first two books.

I am a re-reader and this series will be perfect for a long weekend read where the action never stops and the romance is satisfyingly resolved in the end.

My Rating Scale:

5 Stars = I loved it || 4 Stars = I liked it || 3 Stars = It was okay || 2 Stars = I didn’t like it || 1 Star = I hated it 

I

I will be participating in a local author fair at the library in downtown Norfolk, Virginia.

I’ve not done many library book fairs, but I love libraries so it should work out to be a fun time!

As all savvy readers know, books are written from a point of view, or POV. In romance fiction character POV comes in three main varieties: first person, third person, and omniscient.

First Person POV reads like this: As I rested my hand on the window glass, a man’s hand appeared opposite mine fingertip to fingertip.

Third Person POV reads like this: She grabbed the window to steady herself. Fingertips matched to her fingertips a hand took shape on the other side of the glass.

Omniscient POV reads like this: Olivia grabbed the window to steady herself. An unlikely choice to steady oneself you might say and yet, she stood there, hand on the glass watching as fingertips matched to her fingertips took shape on the other side of the glass.

There are many examples of third person narratives, most of the books I find to read are in third person. First person is also very popular. Jody Hedlund’s Knight’s of the Brethren Series is first person.

Omniscient POV is the most rare, although it is by no means absent, from the romance genre. A great example is Sheri Cobb South’s Weaver Series. The four books are all told in omniscient POV as well as her acclaimed John Pickett Series. They are excellently done.

All in all my favorite is third person. Which is why I write in third person. My new release, Rita, is the final installment of the Yorktown Christmas Time Travel novella series released this week. It has two character points of view, Rita and Josiah, and is written in the third person.

Do you have a favorite?

Here is a survey. Absolutely no information about you is gathered in this survey, just your answer to the question: Which point of view is your favorite?

POV Survey

Merry Christmas in July!!

Welcome to this stop in the 2022 Christmas in July Reader Blog Tour & Giveaway, which runs July 15-22, 2022 (contest closes at 8 p.m. Eastern on 7/22). At the bottom of each author’s blog post, you will find the name of a Christmas song. Write them all down and provide all song titles (26 in total) on this Google form. Click here for a list of all participating authors and their links!

Note: You must grab all the song titles from every author in the 2022 Christmas in July Reader Blog Tour & Giveaway to be eligible  to win the grand prize of a $520 Amazon gift card, plus a copy of each participating author’s book OR first place prize of a copy of each participating author’s book.  At the end of this blog post is a link to the next blog, and so on, to the final blog post (26 authors in all). 

This giveaway includes my new release Rita: A Yorktown Christmas Time Travel Novella. Rita releases on July 19th right in the middle of this blog tour and giveaway!

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Rita is the third in my Yorktown Christmas Time Travel series. The Yorktown series is a lighthearted romp where everyday, modern people travel back to the eighteenth century.

The wonder continues…

Dr. Rita Woods thought she was going back in time to save the children. She didn’t count on falling in love.

Rita Woods—retired physician, widow, with a granddaughter about to be married—misses her patients. She’s tired of knitting. She wants to do something that makes a difference again. When Max Ballard and his time-traveling conservatory pop in to her life, the voice of Dr. Josiah Jones’ diary calls. The voice who’d inspired her vocation. The last line of the diary haunts her quiet moments:

“…the children succumbed in the night…”

In 1769 Dr. Josiah Jones has a good life. His practice is thriving and, except for the the guilt he carries over the death of his wife, life couldn’t be any better. His biggest worry is the zealous match-making activities of his best friend…that is until a hurricane throws an unexpected guest on his doorstep.

Can Josiah trust a woman from the twenty-first century to save the only grandchildren he’ll ever have?

Is it possible for two people living 250 years apart to have a second chance at love?

Be sure to stop by my website for further information about my books: www.izzyjamesauthor.com.

You can sign up for my monthly newsletter and be registered for a monthly giveaway: Newsletter

Every year, at Christmas, I send out Christmas cards to those who sign up for my Christmas Card Club. I pray for each person as I write and send send the card. There is nothing to buy and no advertisements. If you’d like to get a Christmas card from me this year be sure to sign up at my website: izzyjamesauthor.com

My Christmas Song Title is: Silent Night

Save the holiday song titles from each of the 26 blog stops, and when you reach the final blog, enter all the song titles on this form for a chance to win the grand prize of a $520 Amazon gift card and a copy of each participating author’s featured book OR first prize of a copy of each participating author’s featured book.

Thank you so much for visiting!

The next author on the tour is Terri Reed and her Christmas book: Murder Under the Mistletoe. You can find it at this link.

Remember, the 2022 Christmas in July Reader Blog Tour & Giveaway ends July 22 at 8 PM EST!