The Longest Season - By Christian Schaub

This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducting The Longing Season (Bethany House July, 2006) by Christine Schaub.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Christine Schaub is the author of the MUSIC OF THE HEART series, including Finding Anna, the “rest of the story” behind the writing of the hymn “It Is Well With My Soul” (October 2005) and The Longing Season, the story behind “Amazing Grace” (July 2006) with Bethany House Publishers, a division of Baker Books.

In 2003, Christine won the “On the Page” screenwriting contest at Screenwriting Expo 2 in Los Angeles. Her one-page story, written on-site in 24 hours for Jacqueline Bisset, was selected by the actress as the best Oscar Wilde-type comedy for her persona.

While working in freelance corporate communications, Christine completed three feature-length screenplays, including a drama/comedy, romantic comedy, and sci-fi action/drama; developed four biopic teleplays for the stories behind the hymns; and published an online column for the MethodX website (Upper Room Ministries).

Christine honed her writing skills after more than 15 years in corporate communications for healthcare, pharmaceutical, and entertainment companies. She has also been a featured conference speaker on working with at-risk youth and changed lives in the classrooms with her creative presentation style.

Christine's love for the arts and creativity have taken her from church platforms to civic and professional stages, performing classics and dramas from her own pen.

Christine graduated from Anderson University with a bachelor’s degree in Mass Communications. She has served on numerous boards and committees, usually as Communications Chair, and has received both regional and national awards in writing and design.

ABOUT THE BOOK

All of the books in the MUSIC OF THE HEART series are based on a hymns and their histories. The Longing Season is about one of the greatest redemption stories of all time: John Newton and his song, Amazing Grace.

Nature conspires against him, tossing the ship like a toy. Directionless--just like his life.
It seems his odyssey will end here, in the cold Atlantic.
Grief and terror grip his heart, but he will not surrender...not yet.
She reads the sentence again and again.
The first day I saw you I began to love you.
He'd written the words, sealed and posted them, then vanished.

She has a choice--turn toward the future, or wait, wating and hoping.

And so begins her season of longing.

Landon Snow And the Island of Arcanum

It's time again for the book of the week for the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance. This looks like a good series for those who are looking for an alternative to Harry Potter type books.



Landon Snow And the Island of Arcanum by R.K. Mortenson.

About the book:
Landon Snow’s life has been anything but boring and commonplace. Ever since he got swallowed up by a book not too long ago, (yes, a book, and a magical one at that), he’s been opened up to a whole new world of wonders and sights. He’s traveled to the faraway, magical land of Wonderwood, met talking animals, books, and chess-pieces, encountered strange but brave warriors, and taken advice from a sage, mystical poet who can sense the future. Life will never be the same as a mysterious library in boring old Button Up, Minneapolis becomes a portal for adventure, excitement, and breathtaking feats of courage.

His travails haven’t been without danger though, as he’s battled the nefarious, shadowy forces of Malus Quidam, battled to free his sister Holly from his dark magic, and struggled to set the people of Wondewood free. That – and trying to be a normal kid all at the same time, with all the normal things kids worry about: his sometimes annoying sisters, fitting in at school, making good on the football field…

That’s where we find our young hero in his latest adventure, Landon Snow and the Island of Arcanum. Landon’s school, Winterwild Middle School, is embroiled in heated grudge match against their gridiron rivals, Tangleriver Middle. Landon’s just been handed the pigskin on a dive play up the middle, determined to burn former classmate Jake – a linebacker who’s a little too cocky for his own good – with a dazzling combination of speed and agility.

What he’s not counting on is another one his patented visions – right in the middle of the game, for Pete’s sake! Instead of a football field full of players, Landon finds himself surrounded by strange, talking animals speaking in a foreign tongue, on a dark, Stygian night. Of course – bam! – the vision goes away, and the confused Landon finds himself flat on his back, tackled once again by Jake, his vision fading into a dreamy nothingness.

The vision is just the start of Landon’s new adventure, and even as his family travels to visit his grandparents in good ole’ Button Up, Minneapolis, he mulls over what it means, and what may lie ahead. Of course, without fail, he and his sisters Holly and Bridget find themselves in that magical library again, and no sooner do they arrive, it happens – The Book Of Meaning starts flipping its pages, the entire library floods to the brim with water, and just when they are sure they’re going to drown – they find themselves in the middle of an ocean on an abandoned ship, headed for a new adventure!

This new installment in the Landon Snow series simply adds to a growing movement within Christian young adult fantasy to return the magic to storytelling. R. K. Mortenson writes a well-crafted. enjoyable tale that feels so much the beloved Narnia Chronicles, (this one especially evoked memories of The Voyage of the Dawn Treader), but still retains its own originality. It doesn’t merely borrow elements of Lewis’ classic tale; it reshapes them into a timeless story that’s very relevant to kids today.

About the Author:

R.K.Mortenson is an ordained minister with the Church of the Lutheran Brethren. He has been writing devotional and inspirational articles since 1995. He currently serves as a navy chaplain in Florida and lives with his wife, daughter and son in Jacksonville.

At his publisher's site, Barbour provides a few good links, two as recent as last week, about Randy's adoption experiences, the second link goes to the Landon Snow short at Clubhouse magazine.

Randy got the idea for this series one late night, when flute music woke him from a sound sleep. As he stood at his window, trying to locate the source of the sound, he spied a library across the lawn. Suddenly, he envisioned an eleven-year-old sneaking out of his bed and stealing to the library in the dead of night...And thus Landon Snow was born.

Book Blog for the Week

This week the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is blogging about Calm, Cool & Adjusted by Kristin Billerbeck.

About the Book:
Calm, Cool, and Adjusted is the third book in the Spa Girls Novels.

Billerbeck did a great job with the characterization of Poppy, a quirky Christian chiropractor who is a health nut. I'm talking real NUT. She is so obsessed with health that she forgets about living. When she finally realizes that she is over the edge obsessed, she doesn't know how to stop herself.

The third novel in the Spa Girls Series focuses on Silicon Valley chiropractor Poppy Clayton, who is as calm, cool and adjusted as they come. Or is she? Known for her bad fashion sense, a love for all things natural and the inability to get a second date, Poppy is beginning to wonder if she might be misaligned herself. Her route to self discovery will be an unnatural one - a plastic surgeon, a dilapidated house in Santa Cruz, a flirtatious client, and a blind date from the dark side.

It's all enough to send a girl - and her gal pals - running for the comfort zone of their spa.

About the author:

Kristin Billerbeck was born in Redwood City, California. She went to San Jose State University and majored in Advertising, then worked at the Fairmont Hotel in PR, a small ad agency as an account exec, and then, she was thrust into the exciting world of shopping mall marketing. She got married, had four kids, and started writing romance novels until she found her passion: Chick Lit.