Debbie writes contemporary fiction from an historic Gold Rush town in Northern California. By day, she manages after school and day camp programs, and she burns the midnight oil to write what she loves. Her first book Tuesday Night at the Blue Moon, is a Christy finalist. Raising Rain, her second book became available September 2009.
Debbie has contributed to story collections such as Chicken Soup for the Bride’s Soul, and Lord, I Was Happy Shallow, along with articles in Coping With Cancer magazine.
She has two teenagers and her husband is the executive pastor on Sonrise Church with 1,000 members. Debbie is a manager at Auburn Area Parks and Recreation.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
Raised to be a ‘new woman’ by her mother and three college roommates in the 70’s amid anti-war protests, feminist rallies, and finals, Rain Rasmussen discovers that putting her career first has left her overdrawn at the egg-bank, and her baby fever has now driven off her significant other.
When her terminally ill mother demands a Celebration of Life before she dies; they all confront ghosts from the past on a ‘stormy’ weekend in Monterey. Bebe, the roommate closest to Rain’s heart, revisits choices that have impacted Rain the most, raising doubts about God’s—and her own—willingness to forgive and to be forgiven.
If you would like to read the first chapter of Raising Rain, go HERE
It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old…or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!
You never know when I might play a wild card on you!
***Special thanks to Marjorie Presten for sending me a review copy.***
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Marjorie Presten is a native Georgian who has her own fair share of experience juggling career and motherhood. She lives outside of Atlanta with her husband, Tom, and their three children.
List Price: $13.99
Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Kregel Publications (April 1, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 082543565X
ISBN-13: 978-0825435652
AND NOW…THE FIRST CHAPTER:
Prologue
1972
In a thirty-second phone call, Hamilton Wells would make a decision that would earn him more money than he could spend in his lifetime. Everything was on the line, but he was not nervous, euphoric, or eager with anticipation. In Hamilton’s mind, the matter was not speculative, debatable, or anything less than a sure thing. Hamilton had the gift, and it had never let him down. Yet even before he made the call, he knew money wouldn’t cure the unrelenting pain of his grief. He sat at his desk with only a single orange banker’s lamp for illumination and cried silently.
Her death had been inevitable, but feelings of helplessness still overwhelmed him. His young son’s dependency on him only multiplied his grief and anger. Six-year-old Jack Wells had insisted his father do something to help Mama, but the only thing Hamilton could do was sit at her bedside and try not to cry. Now it was six weeks after her death, and Hamilton knew his son needed him to be strong, to return life to normal. A neighbor had enrolled Jack in the local church baseball league. They played a game every Wednesday afternoon. It will be good for him, they’d said. Life has to go on.
Hamilton cradled his head in his hands and groaned. The enormity of the risk he was about to take didn’t concern him. It was purely mechanical. He would surrender all he owned for just one more blissful afternoon at the lake he and his wife both loved, but now that was impossible. His wife was dead. Nothing he could do would change that.
He remembered the book of Job. Would a loving and caring God do this to the love of my life? Well, he did, Hamilton thought bitterly. Earline had lingered for months. The doctors said it was miraculous that she had endured as long as she had. Be grateful for these last days to say goodbye, they’d said. But for Hamilton, the prolonged end only added anger to his bottomless sorrow. Standing alongside his son as a helpless witness to her slow deterioration and suffering in the final weeks was more than he could bear. It was the worst time of Hamilton’s life. Nothing really mattered anymore, and it seemed he had nothing left to lose.
Under different circumstances, he might have played it safe and put the proceeds away for his son’s education, bought a new house, or perhaps invested in a bit of lake property. He could have become like the rest of the players and worn monograms on his starched cuffs so everyone could remember whose hand they were shaking. Instead, he had gone it alone. His brokerage business had few clients. He was the only big player left. Now he planned to risk everything on something happening on the other side of the world.
Ham couldn’t remember exactly when he had recognized his innate ability to pick the winner out of a crowd. It had always been there, ever since he was conscious of being alive. The talent had blossomed in the military when the card games occasionally got serious. Now, with every dollar he had to his name, Hamilton approached wheat futures with that same instinct. The Russian harvest had been a disaster, and the United States was coming to the rescue. The price of wheat was going to go through the roof, and then through the floor. He was going to make a fortune on both ends.
He picked up the phone and dialed a number on the Chicago Mercantile exchange. He listened for a few moments as the connection was made. Young Jack tugged at his father’s shirtsleeve. “Pop? Can we go now?” Jack held a baseball in his hand and a glove under his arm. Hamilton swiveled his chair, turning his back to his son.
A familiar voice announced his name. “How can I help you?”
“It’s Ham,” he said. “Short the entire position.”
“What? Everything?” the voice asked.
“Everything.” No emotion colored his voice.
Young Jack crept gingerly around the chair to face his father. “Pop,” he whispered, “come on, the game is about to start.” Hamilton shook his head and looked away.
The voice on the phone was still talking. “Most folks are still enjoying the ride, Ham. You could get hurt.”
“It’s not going a penny higher. Short it all.”
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
“Warn me? My wife is dead. What else matters?”
The voice mumbled something about her passing.
“She didn’t pass. She’s dead. Just do what I ask.”
“OK, Ham.” The phone disconnected.
Jack was standing there in front of him, shoulders slumped. The ball hung loose at the end of his fingers, and the glove had fallen on the carpet. “Pop, can we go now?”
“Sorry, Son. Not today.”
“It’s not fair!” Jack erupted. Hot tears sprang up in his eyes. “What am I supposed to do now?”
Ham looked down, silent.
Jack hurled the ball to the floor, wiped his tears angrily, and stormed out of the house.
Ten minutes later on the futures board, wheat ticked down.
It ticked down again.
And so it would continue. Ham would be richer than he’d ever imagined. He’d never experience another financial challenge for the rest of his life. It was not really important, though. Scripture came back to him: “what good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?”
He would trade it all to have his love, his life, back again.
But that was not an option.
Out his window, Ham could see young Jack riding his bicycle furiously down the street. He watched with a passive surrender as his son’s small frame shrank into the distance.
MY REVIEW:
As the title suggests Essie in Progress is primarily a story about Essie Wells. However, the narrative also focuses on the important people in her life and their journeys, both together and separately, to find their true destinies . . . and each other. As a pregnant Essie struggles to keep it together as a mother of two children, wife to a husband who is having his own identity crisis, and a full time employee whose job description has just changed, she finds herself surrounded by people who speak encouragement to her just when she needs it. A few divine appointments along the way reveal God’s involvement in her life in a tangible way.
Essie in Progress is a beautiful composition with several quotations well worth remembering. My favorite is on page 144-145 when Mrs. Tuttle tells Essie:
“Honey, we have to be willing to pour out our lives in order to find them. If you characterize your life by what you give rather than what you get, you will discover that extraordinary, image-bearing child of God you were designed to be. A shining reflection of his glory. Remember who you are child. You were born to shimmer!”
Essie in Progress is filled with real people with real struggles. The inclusion of Essie’s children adds a special touch of humor and charm. Cole’s fixation on heroes was a thread that added depth and some great lessons. And Juliet’s love of sparkly shoes was a sweet reminder of little girls in my own life. Essie in Progress is a story of spiritual growth and restored relationships. I believe that it has something special to offer everyone.
Christian “vampire” novels seem to be showing up more frequently – no doubt a result of the overwhelming success of the Twilight series. Having read and reviewed a couple of them during the past year, I was not too excited about another one. I am happy to say that Thirsty is not another typical vampire tale.
The primary plot of Thirsty revolves around Nina Parker who is once again trying to live her life sober after another session in alcohol rehab. Her many failures have cost her pretty much everything – her marriage, a once close relationship with her teen daughter, her veterinary practice and her self-respect. When she returns to her home town to try to get her life back together, she is confronted with the past she ran from and someone she doesn’t remember who remembers her to the point of obsession. That person just happens to be a vampire who wants to be loved in spite of what he is.
The vampires in Thirsty serve to add some danger and suspense to the story that could have been done with a normal serial killer, etc. However, the author has chosen to use the contrast of Nina’s thirst for alcohol with the vampire’s thirst for blood.
Thirsty is an easy to read story once the reader figures out the differing points of view. It tells Nina’s story in first person through journal entries and second person for current events, and her husband Hunt’s point of view is told in first person. The vampire’s story is related to Nina by Markus as he tells her the local legends. Good points throughout which include reaping what you sow, forgiveness, restoration, and dependence on the Lord. Would recommend this book in spite of the vampires.
There’s no place like home, they say.
“Hello, I’m Nina Parker…and I’m an alcoholic.” For Nina, it’s not the weighty admission but the first steps toward recovery that prove most difficult. She must face her ex-husband, Hunt, with little hope of making amends, and try to rebuild a relationship with her angry teenage daughter, Meagan. Hardest of all, she is forced to return to Abbey Hills, Missouri, the hometown she abruptly abandoned nearly two decades earlier–and her unexpected arrival in the sleepy Ozark town catches the attention of someone–or something–igniting a two-hundred-fifty-year-old desire that rages like a wildfire. Unaware of the darkness stalking her, Nina is confronted with a series of events that threaten to unhinge her sobriety. Her daughter wants to spend time with the parents Nina left behind. A terrifying event that has haunted Nina for almost twenty years begins to surface. And an alluring neighbor initiates an unusual friendship with Nina, but is Markus truly a kindred spirit or a man guarding dangerous secrets? As everything she loves hangs in the balance, will Nina’s feeble grasp on her demons be broken, leaving her powerless against the thirst? The battle between redemption and obsession unfold to its startling, unforgettable end.
I have a copy of What the Bayou Saw by Patti Lacy to give away. If you would like to enter the drawing, please read my post containing the promotional material and my review at this link. Once you have read it, come back to this post and leave a comment expressing your thoughts about this book. Deadline to enter is Friday, November 20. I will choose a winner using the Random Generator and post the results on Saturday, November 21. Good luck!
Though Patti’s only been writing since 2005, she thinks her latest profession of capturing stories on paper (or computer files) will stick awhile.
The Still, Small Voice encouraged Patti to write after a brave Irish friend shared memories of betrayal and her decision to forgive. In 2008, An Irishwoman’s Tale was published by Kregel Publications. Patti’s second novel, What the Bayou Saw, draws on the memories of two young girls who refused to let segregation, a chain link fence, and a brutal rape come between them.
The secrets women keep and why they keep them continue to enliven Patti’s gray matter. A third book, My Name is Sheba, has been completed. Patti’s WIP, Recapturing Lily, documents a tug-of-war between a Harvard-educated doctor and an American pastor and his wife for a precious child and explores adoption issues, China’s “One Child” policy, and both Christian and secular views of sacrifice.
Patti also facilitates writing seminars in schools, libraries, and at conferences and has been called to present her testimony, “All the Broken Pieces,” at women’s retreats. She also leads a Beth Moore Bible study at her beloved Grace Church.
Patti and her husband Alan, an Illinois State faculty member, live in Normal with their handsome son Thomas, who attends Heartland Community College. On sunny evenings, you can catch the three strolling the streets of Normal with their dog Laura, whom they’ve dubbed a “Worchestershire Terrier” for her “little dab of this breed, a little dab of that breed.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
Segregation and a chain link fence separated twelve-year-old Sally Flowers from her best friend, Ella Ward. Yet a brutal assault bound them together. Forever. Thirty-eight years later, Sally, a middle-aged Midwestern instructor, dredges up childhood secrets long buried beneath the waters of a Louisiana bayou in order to help her student, who has also been raped. Fragments of spirituals, gospel songs, and images of a Katrina-ravaged New Orleans are woven into the story.
The past can’t stay buried forever Rising author Patti Lacy’s second novel exposes the life of Sally, set amid the shadows of prejudice in Louisiana.
Since leaving her home in the South, Sally Stevens has held the secrets of her past at bay, smothering them in a sunny disposition and sugar-coated lies. No one, not even her husband, has heard the truth about her childhood.
But when one of her students is violently raped, Sally’s memories quickly bubble to the surface unbidden, like a dead body in a bayou. As Sally’s story comes to light, the lies she’s told begin to catch up with her. And as her web of deceit unravels, she resolves to face the truth at last, whatever the consequences.
With the great book description that was provided, what more is left to say? I can say that What The Bayou Saw is a thought provoking book that touches the heart. When Sally begins to relate the buried memories of her childhood, her experiences are seen through the understanding of an innocent child. Sally’s determination to set things right no matter the personal expense was her mature response to the situation as an adult.
Patty Lacy has written a masterpiece that takes the reader from the tense days of racial prejudice of the Louisiana of the sixties to the devastating aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. It is a tale of innocence shattered and fearfully buried secrets that come to light decades later. It is a story of the fear and injustice perpetrated by racism. And it is a story of courage that is strengthened by faith. You may not think What The Bayou Saw is your type book but it is a MUST read.
I have a copy of White Picket Fences by Susan Meissner to give away this week. To enter to win, please read the review post about the book and leave a comment on this post telling me why you would like to read this book. The entry deadline is Friday, November 13. I will post the winner on Saturday if possible.
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Debbie writes contemporary fiction from an historic Gold Rush town in Northern California. By day, she manages after school and day camp programs, and she burns the midnight oil to write what she loves. Her first book Tuesday Night at the Blue Moon, is a Christy finalist. Raising Rain, her second book became available September 2009.
There’s no place like home, they say. 
I have a copy of 
I have a copy of White Picket Fences by Susan Meissner to give away this week. To enter to win, please read the 
