Many Sparrows Audio Version: An April Shower Giveaway

Wooden Shoe Tulip Festival, Woodburn Oregon. Photo by Lori Benton. April 2018

Happy Spring, everyone! April has arrived and so have the showers and flowers (at least in my neck of the woods). It's also raining books around here.

I'm happy to have in my possession FOUR copies of the audio version of my latest release, Many Sparrows (WaterBrook Press 2017), published by Recorded Books, Inc. and read by Kate Forbes (who read The Pursuit of Tamsen Littlejohn, my earlier novel which has a strong connection to Many Sparrows and quite possibly should be read right after it, even if you've read it before... just saying).

Listen to a sample of Many Sparrows

One of those copies of Many Sparrows is MINE. I've been a Recorded Books fan since long before I was a published author, and it's still surreal to hear my name announced as the author at the start of one of my audio books. Another fun fact: when I receive these author copies it's the first time I read my published books. This time was a longer than usual wait. But they're here at last and while I do keep one for my personal library that leaves three copies for me to give away. So that's what I'm doing. Right here. Right now.

Here's what to do.

If you have a USA mailing address, leave a comment on this post to enter and give me some way of contacting you (a masked email address would be great) in case you are the winner. If I don't have a way to contact you and your name is drawn, I'll have to draw another name (so sad, please don't make me do that).

If you want to enter more than once:

~ Follow me on my Facebook author page for an extra entry.
~ Follow me on Instagram for another extra entry.

Be sure and tell me you did so (and I'll check too) in your comment on this post, else I might miss it.

Prizes to win

Grand prize: one randomly drawn winner will receive one audio CD copy each of the Recorded Books audio versions of Many Sparrows AND The Pursuit of Tamsen Littlejohn, and a signed paperback copy each of Many Sparrows and The Pursuit of Tamsen Littlejohn. Plus bookmarks!

First prizes: two randomly drawn winners will receive an audio CD copy of the Recorded Books version of Many Sparrows, plus a signed paperback copy of Many Sparrows. And
bookmarks!

Second prizes: six randomly drawn winners will receive a signed copy of Many Sparrows (paperback) and yes, bookmarks!

The drawing will remain open until April 30th, at the end of which I'll close comments (the end of my day here on the west coast USA usually happens around 9pm). I'll draw names on May 1 and notify the winners via the handy email address you'll leave me in your comment. 

Thanks for all your encouragement and support, reader friends. I hope you are (or will be soon) enjoying my fifth novel. If you're just hearing about it now, here's what it's about:

Many Sparrows

Either she and her children would emerge from that wilderness together, or none of them would…

In 1774, the Ohio-Kentucky frontier pulses with rising tension and brutal conflicts as Colonists push westward and encroach upon Native American territories. The young Inglesby family is making the perilous journey west when an accident sends Philip back to Redstone Fort for help, forcing him to leave his pregnant wife Clare and their four-year old son Jacob on a remote mountain trail.

When Philip does not return and Jacob disappears from the wagon under the cover of darkness, Clare awakens the next morning to find herself utterly alone, in labor and wondering how she can recover her son...especially when her second child is moments away from being born.

Clare will face the greatest fight of her life, as she struggles to reclaim her son from the Shawnee Indians now holding him captive. But with the battle lines sharply drawn, Jacob’s life might not be the only one at stake. When frontiersman Jeremiah Ring comes to her aid, can the stranger convince Clare that recovering her son will require the very thing her anguished heart is unwilling to do—be still, wait and let God fight this battle for them?

April Shower Giveaway... coming soon!

Hey Reader Friends! Watch this space for a Many Sparrows giveaway, coming soon!

Just getting my ducks in a row....

Scavenger Hunt winners at Stop #8

Thank you to all who participated in the Scavenger Hunt this past weekend. I hope you found lots of great books and new authors to check out. The grand prize winners have been announced by Lisa Bergren at Stop #25. Now it's time to announce the three winners here at my stop on the loop.

Winners who will receive a signed copy of Many Sparrows, plus a copy of the Many Sparrows companion photo/quote book are....


Book Lover/Unknown 12:07pm

Mallori Norris

Deena Hays

Congratulations! I've sent you each an email notification. Please respond with your mailing address as soon as possible. 

Thanks again everyone! Happy reading.

Christian Fiction Scavenger Hunt Stop #8

***The Scavenger Hunt's all done. Comments are closed. See my newest post for the winners in my drawing, and click over to Stop #25 for the grand prize winners.***

Welcome to the Christian Fiction Scavenger Hunt! If you’ve just discovered the hunt, be sure to start at Stop #1, and collect the clues through all 25 stops, in order, so you can enter to win one of our top 3 grand prizes!

·        The hunt BEGINS with Stop #1 at Lisa Bergren’s site. Hunt through our loop using Chrome or Firefox as your browser (not Explorer).

·         There is NO RUSH to complete the hunt—you have all weekend (until Sunday, 10/22 at midnight MST)! So take your time, reading the unique posts along the way; our hope is that you discover new authors/new books.

·         Submit your entry for the grand prizes by collecting the clue on each author’s scavenger hunt post and submitting your answer in the Rafflecopter form at Stop #25. Many authors are offering additional prizes along the way!

It's my honor to host NY Times bestselling storyteller Jane Kirkpatrick, author of many historical fiction titles including All She Left Behind: Already well-versed in the natural healing properties of herbs and oils, Jennie Pickett longs to become a doctor. But the Oregon frontier of the 1870s doesn't approve of such innovations as women attending medical school. To leave grief and guilt behind, as well as support herself and her challenging young son, Jennie cares for an elderly woman using skills she's developed on her own. When her patient dies, Jennie discovers that her heart has become entangled with the woman's widowed husband, a man many years her senior. Their unlikely romance may lead her to her ultimate goal--but the road will be winding and the way forward will not always be clear. Will Jennie find shelter in life's storms? Will she discover where healing truly lives?

THE SEVEN STORIES THAT HOLD US BACK by Jane Kirkpatrick

Jennie Pickett had her challenges. In order to achieve her dream to become a physician in frontier Oregon, Jennie had to leave behind seven emotions that kept getting in her way. They’re the same emotions we have to deal with if we’re going to pursue our hopes and dreams too.  Here they are with a tip on how to transform those negative emotions into the fuel to move us forward.

Fear - Fear of looking foolish; fear of making a mistake; fear of failure. But almost any new adventure involves fear which is really spending too much time in the future. An acronym to remember is that FEAR stands for False Evidence Appearing Real. Jennie had to remember what fears she’d had that didn’t materialize and how she’d overcome them. Memory can help us feel more confident in managing our fears.

Anxiety -  Can’t sleep? Imagining the worst case? Anxiety can help us study for the test, do our best. But too much impairs us. When anxiety shows up remind yourself of this.  “All I can do is the best I can in a new situation.” That’s all that’s required of us.

Guilt - There’s the guilt that requires confession and acceptance of forgiveness and then there’s false guilt that reminds us to make a personal change. For young Jennie, she did everything she could to meet the obligations her husband had left her with. When the task seemed overwhelming, she made a change in her life and in her thinking and that kept the guilt at bay.

Hurt Feelings - How often do we back away from a task or dream because someone has made a comment we’ve taken as critical? If we’re called to move forward, we can’t allow words to hold us back. When I feel hurt, I remind myself that it means I’m a person who feels deeply and thank goodness. 

Anger -  Anger is a secondary emotion. We usually skip over the first feeling which is often grief or loss. How do we convert such strong feelings? We grieve and we give sorrow words. Even writing can help us put anger into energy that makes global changes, working for something larger than ourselves.

Unworthiness -  Jennie felt that since she hadn’t healed the problems in her own family, she was unworthy to pursue her dream to become a doctor hoping to help heal others. Moses felt unworthy. But none of us is insignificant. What Jennie came to understand is feeling unworthy is a reminder to remember the calling, the goal. She had done what she could and each of us deserves to listen to that inner voice and pursue a life that serves others and brings us joy.

Perfection - This one touches each of us! Perfection doesn’t mean “without errors.”  It means complete. Jennie had to take the risk to enter school, believe in herself, and trust that she was not alone on her journey. Being perfect couldn’t be the reason she didn’t try. She knew how to make and complete a commitment and really, that’s as close to perfection as we can get.

Jane Kirkpatrick is a NY Times bestselling author of 31 books, most based on the lives of actual historical women. Her novels have won numerous awards but the biggest reward is having readers who take these characters into their lives. Jane and her husband of 41 years live in Central Oregon with two spoiled dogs.

You can order Jane's book on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, CBD or at your local bookstore! 

 

 

Here’s the Stop #8 Skinny:

Clue to Write Down: hunt

Link to Stop #9, the Next Stop on the Loop: Jane Kirkpatrick's own site! 

But wait! Before you go, I’m offering three entrants two free books—a signed paperback copy of my new release Many Sparrows PLUS a copy of the limited edition Many Sparrows: a companion photo book with quotes, featuring excerpts from the novel alongside my landscape photography from the Pacific Northwest. All you have to do to enter is leave me a note with your name and a means of contacting you (if you are one of my winners) in the comment section of this post (only USA addresses eligible for this drawing). Follow me as an author on Facebook and/or on Instagram and I'll throw your name in the Random.org hat more than once!

Drawing will be held October 23

Happy Hunting!

A note on comments: I'm still getting them, even if they aren't loading here on the page after about 200. Email alerts are a beautiful thing. So you all are entered into the drawing, no worries!

Many Sparrows: Publishers Weekly starred review

Publishers Weekly gives Many Sparrows a starred review. This is a first for my books! 

"Couched in vivid depictions of American frontier life, Clare and Jeremiah’s story is an exploration of the timeless biblical themes of faith, hope, and love. This is an excellent addition to the author’s inspirational frontier histories."

 

Happy Release Day Many Sparrows! 

If you haven't picked up a copy, check my Books page for links!