MaryLu's Musings - Peek at the making of the cover of Abandoned Memories!

First things first, the winner of last weeks drawing for Michelle Griep's new release,  A Heart Deceived is!!!!.......      Salyna!!!!!   Congrats to Salyna! And thanks to all who entered.  The winner was chosen by Random.Org.

It's always exciting to get the first peek at a cover for one of my books. For some reason, I LOVE covers. I think they can make or break a book. Even a good book that has a bad cover won't sell as many copies. Also the cover must give an immediate impression of the story. Is it romantic, suspenseful, adventurous? Is it mysterious, supernatural? Is the mood dark or light? Happy or sad? Are your eyes drawn into the scene portrayed on the cover?

I have to say I'm extremely pleased with the covers for my Escape to Paradise series. The first one you've seen already is the cover for Forsaken Dreams, released this past March. The second one is for the next book in the series, Elusive Hope, releasing in November. Aren't they gorgeous?

Forsaken Dreams, Book 1

  

Elusive Hope book 2

What sort of mood do they invoke for you?

This past week I got the first peek at the cover for book 3, Abandoned Memories
My publisher sent me three "comps" .  These are just general backgrounds with the space for a model to be added later blacked out for placement.  Here's the back cover blurb for the story.

Something sinister lurks among the lush Brazilian jungle. . .

It is 1866 and the fledgling Confederate colony of New Hope is Angeline Moore’s last chance at a normal life. Running from the law, she longs to make a fresh start in this new Southern Utopia. But a series of disasters strike, threatening to destroy everything the colonists have worked for, while strange visions threaten to reveal the truth of a past Angeline is desperate to hide.

James Callaway failed at both doctoring and preaching, but he hopes that his move to Brazil will give him another chance to become the spiritual leader he so desires. He longs to create a world free from the immorality that plagued every street corner back home and ruined his life. And Angeline is just the sort of chaste woman he needs to keep him on the right track.  

But something is amiss in New Hope: haunting visions, the discovery of crypts beneath an ancient temple, and an archaic Hebrew book, set the colonists’ fears on edge. When one of their own is found murdered, a series of disasters strike that lead them to believe they have been selected by God and brought to Brazil in order to defeat an evil that if unleashed could destroy the world.

Here are the three "comps"

Comp1

   

Comp 2

Comp 3

So, what do you think??   Guess which one I chose as my favorite??

Then, they sent me the picture of a model they hope to use in the photo shoot for the cover. Here's my description of Angeline Moore:

At only twenty years old, Angeline has endured enough horror and heartache to fill a lifetime. When her father was murdered, she was sent to live with an abusive uncle but was soon forced out onto the streets. Starving and cold, she trusted a woman who took her under her care, only to discover that she’d been thrust into a life of unimaginable disgrace. Running from the law for another crime, Angeline joins Colonel Wallace’s expedition to Brazil, hoping to hide her past and start a new life. And maybe even become a lady again.   Angeline is petite with russet hair and violet eyes, petite with feminine curves.

Here's the model they sent.  All three are of the same girl, just different poses. So what do you think? A good fit or not? She will have her face turned away for the most part.

So, now I wait to see the finished product! I'll pass it along to you when I get it.

Have a great weekend!!

Wordless Wednesday!

For they do not know to do right,’ Says the Lord, ‘Who store up violence and robbery in their palaces.’”  Amos 3:10

The key to enduring until the end!

Ever since God scooped me out of the mud and ushered me into His Kingdom, I've had a great interest in End times.  I think a lot of people got inundated with Eschatology (End Times theology) when all the Left Behind books and movies came out, and then people started arguing about pre-trib, mid-trib, post-trib, pre-millennial, post-millennial, etc. etc.. All about the timing of end times events.  Basically we humans like to argue, don't we? Especially if we think we are right!  So, I think people got burned out on discussing these events, particularly when the year 2000 came and went and nothing happened. 

But I'm still fascinated by the Bible prophecies!!  I think about them a lot. I read current events and compare them to what the Bible says will happen. I pray, I speculate, I hope, I dream! I'm so excited!!  And I'm not ashamed to be!  Jesus himself, along with all His disciples spoke often of the future and His second coming. It is also found throughout the Old Testament. Why would God let us know these things if He didn't want us to be excited about them???  To look forward to them? 

Prophecy is what led me back to God. I had drifted so far from Him, I cant' really say I was even a Christian anymore. I had done some horrible, unspeakable things and had dug a pretty deep pit of steaming, stinking mud for myself. So there I sat amidst my sin and filth and I picked up my old Bible, searching for answers.  I made it to Ezekiel, wondering all the while why I was wasting my time? I mean there are tons of cool stories, but come on.. what does this have to do with me? 

Then I hit Ezekiel 22 or so and I started reading about how God was going to scatter the Jewish people all through the world as a punishment for their sins.  Then I read Ezekiel 34

And I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries and will bring them to their own land and I will feed them upon the mountains of Israel, by the watercourses, and in all the

inhabited places of the country

Then in Ezekiel 37, we have the prophecy of the dry bones.. where God proclaims He will restore the nation of Israel.. then in 38  "I will take the children of Israel from among the nations to which they have gone and will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land"

As I sat and read these Scriptures, the news was on in the other room reporting on a the ongoing Palestinian war with Israel. Israel was very much in the news at that time (as it is now) and I knew that they had only become a nation again back in 1948. I also knew that no other nation in the history of mankind had ever been completely dispersed and scattered across the globe for thousands of years where they had become immersed in other cultures and languages and then had come back to their former land and became a country again.. maintaining thier original language and culture. AMAZING!!!  But there it was in Scripture prophesied by God thousands of years ago. 

That's when I KNEW that God was real and that He was the God of the Bible. So, I got on my knees and gave my life to Him!  All that to say that we should not ignore prophecy.  God can use it to bring so many people to Him!!  Just because some people became fanatics and others like to argue doesn't mean we should never discuss what God has foretold!

So, I guess you could say I'm a prophecy nut. Do I focus all my energy on it and neglect the hard work of the Kingdom? NO. But does studying it and thinking about it give me hope to go on, hope to get through the hard times, hope to persevere until the end? YES   How else do you think the early Christians endured the tremendous persecution they suffered day in and day out?  They were fed to Lions, impaled, dipped in pitch and set on fire, and crucified. Yet Christianity blossomed!! How does that happen? How do people endure that?  It's because they had hope. They knew what was coming.

C.S. Lewis puts it best in the last paragraph of his Narnia series

And for us, this is the end of all the stories, and we can most truly say that they all lived happily ever after. But for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read: which goes on forever, in which every chapter is better than the one before.

A Heart Deceived by Michelle Griep - Giveaway!

Today I have the pleasure of introducing my GOOD friend and GREAT author, Michelle Griep.  I first met Michelle at an ACFW conference years ago. Then when my publisher sent me on a booksigning tour in Minnesota, she offered me a place to stay in her home.  I can't say enough good things about this woman. She's fun, quirky, a great mom, wife, homemaker, fabulous hostess, extraordinary friend, lover of God, and an awesome writer. I've often told her that she puts my writing to shame. And I mean it!  She's the new voice in Christian Fiction.

Anyhoo, she has a new release this month that I had the privilege of reading awhile ago. It's a Regency Romance, but unlike any Regency Romance you've read!   Michelle has a way of drawing you into a story with a combination of wit and suspense that will capture your senses and keep you wanting more and more. I don't say that about many authors.  Her stories are not typical. They are far above typical.   She also has two incredible Viking romance novels out that you won't want to miss!  And if you want to see what a doll she is and how funny and quirky she is, be sure and visit her blog,  Writer Off the Leash
And now, without further ado, let's hear from Michelle!

Avoiding the Fellas in White Jackets

My mother took me to a pediatrician when I was five because I spent an excessive amount of time beneath the dining room table talking to my best buddy…Daniel Boone. Yeah, I know. He’s dead. I knew it at the time as well, but that didn’t stop me from having heart-to-hearts with him. In my mind, he was as real as the old cat lady who lived next door, only he didn’t smell as funky.

The doctor vindicated me by telling my mom there was nothing to worry about. I simply had a bad case of a vivid imagination. I don’t dare tell her (or the good doctor) that my gray matter now devises horrific murder scenes in cinemagraphic color—and that I actually make money doing it.

All this to say that writers are a quirky lot. They have to be, or they won’t get paid, which is really interesting because a few hundred years ago, the same twitchy behavior might’ve landed one in the loony bin. It didn’t take much...

Attitude

Husbands committed wives for being “melancholy”. Translation: the fella took a fancy to the hot babe down the lane and wanted to ditch his wife.

Physical Glitch

Yo, mom and dad…got too many mouths to feed and one of them has a slight deformation? Maybe a cleft palate, perhaps? No worries. Pack that kid off to the asylum and voila; one less plate to serve at dinnertime.

Revenge

If someone higher up the food chain has an issue with you, watch your back, buddy. Dueling is against the law, but getting you committed sure isn’t. All it takes is a lie or two whispered into the right ears and you’ll be packing your bags for Bedlam.

Traitorous Tendencies

One of the most famous nutjobs in Bethlehem Royal Hospital was James Tilly Matthews, who was little more than a verbal threat to the crown. Well, to be fair, there was the rumor that he was a double agent, and he did think there was a conspiracy to place bad thoughts into his head by use of an “airloom”, but other than that, he was relatively harmless…unless you happened to be one of the politicians he spoke against and were worried he might froth up the rabble against you.

Getting packed off to a late eighteenth century asylum was about as much fun as stint in a Poorhouse. Many were understaffed, over populated, and the mental health industry itself was in need of reformation—which would and did come, but not in time to help out the heroine in my latest release, A HEART DECEIVED.

Miri Brayden teeters on a razor's edge between placating and enraging her brother, whom she depends upon for support. Yet if his anger is unleashed, so is his madness. Miri must keep his descent into lunacy a secret, or he'll be committed to an asylum—and she'll be sent to the poorhouse.
  

Ethan Goodwin has been on the run all of his life—from family, from the law ... from God. After a heart-changing encounter with the gritty Reverend John Newton, Ethan would like nothing more than to become a man of integrity—an impossible feat for an opium addict charged with murder. 
When Ethan shows up on Miri's doorstep, her balancing act falls to pieces. Both Ethan and Miri are caught in a web of lies and deceit—fallacies that land Ethan in prison and Miri in the asylum with her brother. Only the truth will set them free.

Today, writers, daydreamers and silly hearts don’t need to be as fearful about the men in white jackets coming to haul them away. Still, it wouldn’t hurt if you kept all your talk about airlooms to yourself.

Endorsements for A Heart Deceived

Michelle Griep will keep you enthralled in A Heart Deceived. While her style is more Bronte than Austen, she weaves in a subtle yet dry humor that makes me wonder if her roots aren't dipped in the soil of the U.K. But whether Vikings or Brits, she will keep you turning the pages. Novel Rocket and I give A Heart Deceived our highest recommendation. It's a must read! Ane Mulligan, editor at Novel Rocket

Ke

Keep up with the exploits of Michelle Griep at Writer Off the Leash, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest

Buy it here:

David C. Cook
Amazon
ChristianBookDotCom

If you'd like to enter to win a copy of A Heart Deceived, please leave a comment for Michelle, along with your email address. I'll select a winner on June 28th!