Eileen Hinkle Rife's "Restored Hearts"

We're happy to have Eileen Hinkle Rife with us today talking about her book, Restored Hearts. To learn more about Eileen and her book, read on!

1) How did this story come to you?
A few years ago, my husband, a licensed professional counselor and marriage/family therapist, asked if I would write a pamphlet on homosexuality which he could use in his office. I agreed and delved into research. However, it didn’t take long to realize I didn’t have the stomach for what I was discovering, so I abandoned the project. A couple years ago, the Lord renewed my interest in the issue and pushed me to pursue the topic in a way I had not envisioned—in fiction format. As I walked through this journey with my protagonist, Tim, God used his story to shed light on my own healing journey with obsessive-compulsive disorder. In writing Tim’s story, I learned in deeper ways to identify with another fellow struggler. And in doing so, my own prison door flung open and I was set free.

2) Tell us about the journey to getting this book published.
After proposing possible series’ concepts to the OakTara team, they fully supported and encouraged the idea that tough issues, such as homosexuality, need to be addressed in Christian fiction.

3) Tell me three things about yourself that would surprise your readers.
The opening honeymoon scene with Maggie and Gavin in RESTORED HEARTS is based on my husband’s and my 25th anniversary trip to Maui. We kissed in the enormous banyan tree I describe in chapter one. Unrelated, but another bit of book trivia—my brother-in-law is a doctor who cleared up some questions I had about Gavin’s medical mission work in India.

4) What are you working on now and what's next for you?
Having completed all three books in the Born for India trilogy, I am now editing a stand-alone manuscript titled, SECOND HALF. Mave Robertson, a recent empty nester, wants the fire back in her marriage, but her husband, Jerry, remains aloof. Is he having an affair? She frets. Midlife crisis? When a neighbor suggests she “get a life,” Mave accepts the challenge and volunteers at an inner city teen ministry where she is thrown into a culture of drugs, gangs, and unwed teens. She soon discovers a friend whom she can help, but she never guesses that he might be the cure for both her stale marriage and her crumbling relationship with her father.

5) Parting comments?
My prayer through RESTORED HEARTS is that those who struggle and long to be free from same-sex attraction, or any sinful dysfunction for that matter, will experience the release God has for them through the Lord Jesus Christ. I also pray that the Church, with grace and compassion, will reach out to the one who struggles.

6) Where can fans find you on the internet?
Stop by and visit me at the following locations:
http://www.eileenrife.com/
http://www.eileen-rife.blogspot.com/
http://www.guardyourmarriage.com/
http://www.christianspeaker.net/

C.S. Lakin's "The Wolf of Tebron"

We're happy to have C.S. Lakin with us today talking about her book, The Wolf of Tebron. To learn more about C.S. and her book, read on!

1) How did this story come to you? I prayed for God to show me what to write. I’d been writing commercial psychological mysteries, so was very surprised when he directed me to write fairy tales, which I’ve always loved. I feel strongly that there is an untouched mission field out there—people who only read fantasy and are searching for something to put their hope in.

2) Tell us about the journey to getting this book published. I pitched this series through mail and e-mail queries, and through my agent. But I met the AMG editor at a conference and he was interested and ask for my proposal. A year later, AMG offered to buy my first finished three books in the series, although they only read my proposal. I’m very honored by their support and the way they partner with me to produce these beautiful books.

3) Tell me three things about yourself that would surprise your readers. I have no idea what would surprise readers. I doubt anything I do is all that surprising. I love to backpack and would rather spend my days sixty feet underwater. Is that surprising?

4) What are you working on now and what's next for you?I’m completing my tenth novel—The Unraveling of Wentwater. This is book four in the fairy tale series (and they can be read in any order, just like a fairy tale collection). I’m also plotting out my fifth psychological mystery: Intended for Harm, which is a modern-day story of Jacob and Joseph detailing a dysfunctional family with unmet needs. I’m praying my agent will start selling my many mysteries for the commercial market.

5) Parting comments?I love to help new authors with their books and work as a professional mentor, coach, and copy editor, so if you are working on a novel or have finished one and need some serious input, I’m here!

6) Where can fans find you on the internet? My website is www.cslakin.com but there are numerous other sites: http://www.gatesofheavenseries.com/ and http://www.wolfoftebron.com/ are for the fantasy series. www.someonetoblame.com is for—you guessed it—my new release Someone to Blame, with Zondervan.

Lyle A. Way's "Junta"

We're happy to have Lyle A. Way with us today talking about his book, Junta. To learn more about Lyle and her book, read on!

1) How did this story come to you?

This story came to me as I sat in my favorite chair watching the evening news. Congress was passing bills and running up the deficit to levels we will never be able to pay, even though the people of America were clearly against them doing this. They acted as if we didn’t exist, that they could do as they pleased. My novel is about an army general taking over the government to save the nation from a corrupt congress.

2) Tell us about the journey to getting this book published.

I had already had a previous novel, Murder in Shades of Gray, published by a new publisher in Lubbock, Biblemystery.Com Publishing. The publisher was wonderful to work with and extremely helpful, designing wonderful covers for both novels, so I chose to self publish with them again.

3) Tell us three things about yourself that would surprise your readers.

A. I have had many careers with the last one being serving as president of the largest retirement center in Lubbock. I retired after serving for 22 years.

B. I served ten years as a Deputy Sheriff in Oregon.

C. I received a Bachelor of Theology degree when I was 60 years old. It was the first degree of my life.

4) What are you working on now and what’s next for you?

I just finished co-authoring a new novel entitled The Day of The Lord. It’s an exciting suspense about a Biblical event that occurs during the end times. My co-author is a physician who has spent his entire adult life studying eschatology so together we came up with an exciting, but accurate novel. I am just starting a new novel about the history of the world from the eyes of an angel.

5) Parting comments.

For me, writing is a thrilling part of my life. It requires tireless dedication and the willingness to continue learning about all things.

6) Where can fans find you on the internet?

http://www.lyleaway.com/

Erin Rainwater's "Refining Fires"

We're happy to have Erin Rainwater with us today talking about her book, Refining Fires. To learn more about Erin and her book, read on!

1. How did the idea for these stories, all combined into one, come to you?
As a writer, a nurse and an army veteran, I’d been formulating the idea of a story about a nurse and a disfigured vet for quite a long time. Mel Gibson’s movie The Man Without a Face inspired me further. It still took me several more years to put the idea to paper, but it finally came to fruition in the first story, “Refining Fire.” I actually wrote the second story, “Blind Courage,” as a writing assignment in the eighth grade. Though I wrote it under duress and with a deadline, I found myself really liking the girl I was creating. I still didn’t think it anything worthy of a good grade, but the teacher thought otherwise. She not only gave me an A but said it was so good she read it out loud to the class. That experience didn’t spur me to become a writer by any means, but somehow I never got that story out of my head. I’d long been thinking about rewriting it, so decided to do that but change the ending and blend it with the first story. I honestly didn’t want to write the story of the “Kept Woman.” I didn’t like her, didn’t want to delve into her past and didn’t want to have to figure her out. Yet I genuinely felt the Lord prompting me about the necessity of telling her story. I had no idea where I was going with it. It turned out to be a very moving story, and the most evangelical of the three.

2. Tell us about the journey to getting this book published.
I knew it would be a challenge getting this style of book published. A Christian agent, who turned me down but was kind about it and offered some comments beyond the “sorry, not for us” rejection, said that the stories were too diverse to be bound into one novel. But my heart was so deeply entrenched into all of these characters and their stories that I couldn’t let them go, didn’t want to separate them, and didn’t want to give up. In August of 2009, I discovered a new Christian publisher, Torn Veil Books, located in Winnipeg, Manitoba. They liked the idea of how the love between the couple in the first story spills over into the lives of the characters in the other stories—the little girl and the kept woman—and agreed to publish the stories as one book, just like I had hoped and prayed. They also publish in both print and eBook formats to satisfy readers in both paper and electronic camps.

3. Tell me three things about yourself that would surprise your readers.
I can share all three by saying that during the five years I lived in Hawaii I experienced 1) a hurricane (Iwa, pronounced Eva), 2) a volcanic eruption (although it was on the Big Island, and the only effect we on Oahu got from it was even more gorgeous sunsets), and 3) a tsunami (we were forced to evacuate to higher ground but the wave turned out to be only four inches high).

4. What are you working on now and what's next for you?
I am collaborating with a theatrical producer in Pittsburgh who is translating a scene from one of my previously published books, True Colors, onto the stage. It will be performed on opening night of the annual conference of the Military Writers Society of America. I’ll be present there on September 30, and can hardly wait to see my characters literally come alive. Well, almost literally.

5. Parting comments?
One of the great things about my publisher, Torn Veil Books, is that they publish in both print and eBook format. So for those readers who just have to be holding the book in their hands, as well as for those modern readers who just have to be holding some sort of electronic device in their hands, this book is for YOU.

6. Where can fans find you on the internet?
At my web site, http://www.erinrainwater.com/

Eileen Hinkle Rife's "Journey to Judah"

We're happy to have Eileen Hinkle Rife with us today talking about her book, Journey to Judah. To learn more about Eileen and her book, read on!


1) How did this story come to you?
In November 2004, two days after my single missionary daughter arrived in India, a veteran missionary wife said, “Rachel, your ministry will be more effective if you’re married, and I have the perfect match!” My level-headed Rachel was skeptical, but curious. Two months later, her faith, as well as mine, got a shot in the arm as we watched the Lord lovingly pick up a young man in Washington State and take him to India to meet Rachel. In a culture of manmade matchmaking, God wrote their love story, thus deepening my assurance in Ps. 84:11 which says, “The Lord is a sun and shield; He gives grace and glory; no good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly.” At the same time Rachel met Nathan, I was involved in a Bible study titled, A Lady in Waiting. As I thought about the similarities between Ruth and Rachel, a story began to emerge. I woke up one morning with the title for my novel: JOURNEY TO JUDAH.

2) Tell us about the journey to getting this book published.
I wrote JOURNEY TO JUDAH in 2005 between two weddings. It was one of those stories that just flowed out of me. Once finished, the manuscript slept on the shelf for several months. Later in the year, I sent a proposal to literary agent Steve Laube who rejected taking the novel on, but had several positive things to say about the work along with helpful suggestions for improving the writing. A few months later, I submitted the proposal through Writers Edge Service. When a year passed with no word from a publisher, I concluded that perhaps the Lord only had in mind for me to present it to my children. However, while in India visiting my daughter and family, I received an email from the editors at OakTara, then Capstone Fiction, saying that they had seen the proposal and first chapter posted on the Writers Edge website and would like to read the manuscript. Long story short, they accepted it in early 2007 and JOURNEY TO JUDAH was published in 2008.

3) Tell me three things about yourself that would surprise your readers.
Hmm . . . even though I’ve been to India several times, I have never developed a liking for curry, cumin, and coriander—at least not in the massive doses that the Indians love to apply it. However, my son-in-law is on a mission to convert his mother-in-law to his love for Indian cuisine. Interestingly enough, I do like coconut milk, straight from the coconut. In India, I can pull up to the “fast food joint,” i.e., the roadside open-air hut with coconuts piled on a wooden table, have the Indian punch a hole in the top with his machete, stick a straw in, and wah-lah—better than a milkshake! Well, almost.

4) What are you working on now and what's next for you?
Having completed all three books in the Born for India trilogy, I am now editing a stand-alone manuscript titled, SECOND HALF. Mave Robertson, a recent empty nester, wants the fire back in her marriage, but her husband, Jerry, remains aloof. Is he having an affair? She frets. Midlife crisis? When a neighbor suggests she “get a life,” Mave accepts the challenge and volunteers at an inner city teen ministry where she is thrown into a culture of drugs, gangs, and unwed teens. She soon discovers a friend whom she can help, but she never guesses that he might be the cure for both her stale marriage and her crumbling relationship with her father.

5) Parting comments?
JOURNEY TO JUDAH is packed with action, adventure, and romance. If you like a great love story, this book is for you. My passion in writing the novel is to assure readers that following the Lord is not a step to fear, but a fulfilling journey in which He proves to be a faithful Lover, Provider, and Protector. Book Two, RESTORED HEARTS is also available with Book three, CHOSEN ONES, to follow shortly.

6) Where can fans find you on the internet?
Stop by and visit me at the following locations:
http://www.eileenrife.com/
http://www.eileen-rife.blogspot.com/
http://www.guardyourmarriage.com/
http://www.christianspeaker.net/

Richard L. Mabry's "Code Blue" or "Medical Error"

We're happy to have Richard L. Mabry, M.D. with us today talking about his books, Code Blue and Medical Error. To learn more about Richard and his book, read on!

1) How did these stories come to you?
With Code Blue I decided to follow a young doctor who retreats to her home town to put her life together, drawing on my thirty years of medical practice and my knowledge of towns like the mythical Dainger, Texas.
The inspiration for Medical Error was the experience of a family member with identity theft. I began wondering, “What effect could that have on a doctor and his/her patients?” After that, the story just flowed.

2) Tell us about the journey to getting these book published.
After three unsuccessful novels and forty rejections, I actually quit writing, but a series of circumstances convinced me to try once more. I signed with agent Rachelle Gardner, who pitched my latest book, which became Code Blue, to editor Barbara Scott who was charged with starting the fiction line at Abingdon Press. Through a series of circumstances that can only be termed providential, I wound up with a three-book contract with Abingdon.

3) Tell me three things about yourself that would surprise your readers.
a) I’ve played volleyball with the Franco Harris of the Pittsburgh Steelers and baseball with Mickey Mantle of the New York Yankees.
b) I love TV sitcoms, especially the old ones.
c) I’ve sung with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra.

4) What are you working on now and what's next for you?
I’ve just completed reviewing the galley proofs for my third novel, Diagnosis Death, which will be published by Abingdon Press next spring.
Now I’m working on another novel of medical suspense, Strong Medicine. It deals with a “wonder drug” that has side effects, hidden by one of its developers and now putting patients’ lives in danger.

5) Parting comments?
If you’re a writer, never stop trying to improve your craft. And don’t give up. If the only person who reads your work is you, you’ve still affected one person.

6) Where can fans find you on the Internet?
My website is http://rmabry.com/
My blog is http://rmabry.blogspot.com/

I’m providing a signed copy of Code Blue and another of Medical Error for Dawn to give away. Enjoy!