Do Not Disturb, I'm Disturbed Enough!

It happens. People look at me with wide-eyed wonder when I tell them I'm a published author. Sometimes I think it's really cool too. But weeks like this make me wonder if there is something else I could do that pays more money for the amount of work (and stress!) this career path can generate.This week, for example, I received galleys that needed proofed for my second historical. Then two background outlines were requested, one for my third cozy,...

Read More

Author Interview ~ Lynette Sowell

Lynette Sowell works as a medical transcriptionist and a part-time reporter for the Copperas Cove Leader-Press. In her “spare” time, she loves to spin adventures for the characters who emerge from story ideas in her head. She hopes to spread the truth of God’s love while taking readers on an entertaining journey. Lynette is a Massachusetts transplant who lives with her husband...

Read More

Sunday Devotional

Max weighed about two pounds when my husband brought him home. I could literally hold him in the palm of my hand. He was so cute and little! His tiny legs could barely support him as he wobbled around the house, bumping into things and sprawling on the tiled floor. Anytime he wanted up onto the couch, I’d have to lift him since he wasn’t big enough to jump that high.Eventually,...

Read More

Winners!!

It's always so much fun to give away great books!! Congratulations to this week's lucky winners:Charlotte Holt – Love Finds You Under the Mistletoe by Irene Brand and Anita Higman . Carmen7351 – Refining Fires by Erin Rainwater . Winners of this week's books, please use the button in the upper right side of this page to email me with your mailing address so I can forward your information to the authors. Then, sit back and wait for your book to arrive.Thank...

Read More

Weekly Drawing

Entering our weekly drawing is easy:1. Leave a comment on Fridays or...2. Sign up to follow The Borrowed Book. Followers will automatically be entered for a chance to win that week's drawing!This week, The Borrowed Book is giving away two great books: Refining Fires by Erin Rainwater ~ A disfigured veteran. / A ruined nurse. / A tormented child. / A kept woman. / Strangers...

Read More

Reader Excerpt ~ Refining Fires by Erin Rainwater

PART ONE“Refining Fire”June, 1957WANTED: Live-in nurse to care for disabled vet. Good wages, benefits. Own room in large house. Lite housekeeping, cooking.* * *The writer of the ad hadn’t asked for references, and the applicant prayed to God he wouldn’t. She prayed he wouldn’t require her current address. Wouldn’t ask to sample her cooking. For the entire hour-long bus ride...

Read More

Author Interview ~ Anita Higman and Irene Brand

Award-winning author, Anita Higman, has twenty-six books published (several co-authored) for adults and children, and she has been honored in the past as a Barnes & Noble "Author of the Month" for Houston. Some of Ms. Higman's publishers are Bethany House, Summerside Press, Barbour Publishing, McGraw-Hill, Lillenas Drama, Roman & Littlefield, and Howard Publishing.A...

Read More

Backstory 101 ~ Backstory Ascends Its Throne

August 24, 2010If you'll remember from last week, we talked about how to hint at backstory (events that occur previous to chapter one) within your story. Today we will take that same example and build on it to show the importance of *knowing* your character's backstory before you begin writing. It adds depth to your character/s. Layers. Think onion.LAST WEEK: A woman who has endured abuse in the past at the hands of her spouse is sitting at a table...

Read More

Debut Author ~ Erin Rainwater

Erin Rainwater is a Pennsylvania native who probably should have been born in the 19th century but somehow got flash-forwarded into the 20th. There was never any question that she would be a nurse when she grew up, regardless of which century she was in. And beginning in about the seventh grade, there was no question that she’d launch that nursing career in the military....

Read More

Sunday Devotional

Max loves his squeaky toys…er…perhaps I should say, he loves to rip them open and tear the squeaky out. Afterward, he struts around the house with the squeaker hidden in his mouth. Now that’s a strange sight, I tell you. Unless you know what’s in his mouth, you’d have to wonder why an eight-pound dog is squeaking like that.I’m going to have to run to the pet store again....

Read More

Winners!!

It's always so much fun to give away great books!! This week, winners have their choice of Promise of Tomorrow, Polly Dent Loses Grip, and Murder on the Ol' Bunions..Congratulations to this week's lucky winners: laura frantzAmy LandegTammy G.Winners of this week's books, please use the button in the upper right side of this page to email me with your mailing address AND your choice of book so I can forward your information to the author. Then, sit...

Read More

Weekly Drawing

Entering our weekly drawing is easy:1. Leave a comment on Fridays or...2. Sign up to follow The Borrowed Book. Followers will automatically be entered for a chance to win that week's drawing!This week, The Borrowed Book is drawing THREE winners. Winners receive THEIR CHOICE of three great books:Polly Dent Loses Grip by S. Dionne Moore ~ Polly Dent loses grip on the treadmill...

Read More

Reader Excerpt ~ Promise of Tomorrow by S. Dionne Moore

OneSouth Fork Fishing and Hunting Club,Lake Conemaugh, Pennsylvania, May 10, 1889Jack Kelly stood cloaked in the shadow of a large tree. From this vantage point, his view of the woman he hoped to make his wife remained quite clear.Alongside the lake, surrounded by veils of white dogwood blooms, the three Hensley children flocked around the skirts of Alaina Morrison’s day...

Read More

Author Interview ~ S. Dionne Moore

S. Dionne Moore aka Sandra Moore, is an author who writes both cozy mystery and historical romance. If you would like to learn more about her, visit her Website at http://www.sdionnemoore.com/, or order a case of her books and she'll put you on her Christmas card list and send you boring newsletters of family events every year. Aren't you glad you have a choice in this?When...

Read More

Backstory 101 ~ Backstory Ascends Its Throne

We've discussed the improper use of backstory within a manuscript, but let's get to the main reason why backstory is so important. Backstory builds your characters into 3-D humans. It adds depth to who they are, what they are, and shows why they act and react as they do within the pages of your manuscript. Let's work on an example together. This is the opening scene of your newest work-in-progress: A woman who has endured abuse in the past at the...

Read More

Debut Author ~ Jonathan Acuff

Sometimes, we fall in love on mission trips even though we know we’ll break up when we get back. Sometimes, you have to shot block a friend’s prayer because she’s asking God to bless an obviously bad dating relationship. Sometimes, you think, “I wish I had a t-shirt that said ‘I direct deposit my tithe’ so people wouldn’t judge me.”Sometimes, the stuff that comes with faith...

Read More

Sunday Devotional

One of Max’s least favorite activities is bath time. He hates it. The moment I say, “Let’s give you a bath,” Max is hiding under the couch. Unfortunately, he doesn’t always give me choice.Take, for example, last Saturday. My family and I were busy doing yard work. Max came outside with us, but since we couldn’t pay much attention to him, it wasn’t long before he found his...

Read More

Winners!!

It's always so much fun to give away great books!! Congratulations to this week's lucky winner:kate (from California) – A Shore Thing by Julie Carobini.kate, please use the button in the upper right side of this page to email me with your mailing address so I can forward your information to the author. Then, sit back and wait for your book to arrive.Thank you all so much for stopping by The Borrowed Book and thank you, Julie Carobini, for your generosity...

Read More

Weekly Drawing

Entering our weekly drawing is easy:1. Leave a comment on Fridays or...2. Sign up to follow The Borrowed Book. Followers will automatically be entered for a chance to win that week's drawing!This week, The Borrowed Book is giving away:A Shore Thing by Julie Carobini ~ Callie Duflay just isn’t like the rest of her family. While they’ve built white collar lives, she prefers...

Read More

Reader Excerpt ~ A Shore Thing by Julie Carobini

Chapter One.The rope in my hand resembled a noose. "Sorry, pal, it was all I could find.".The stray doggy with the dewdrop eyes had found me earlier today as I jogged along the shores of Otter Bay while trying to shake off a tough weekend. I slipped the makeshift leash around his skinny neck. It was almost evening and our trot through the woods on the way to my sister's house...

Read More

Author Interview ~ Julie Carobini

Julie Carobini writes seaside novels filled with faith, flip flops and waves of grace. This summer she celebrates the release of her fourth novel, A SHORE THING (B&H Publishing Group). Julie blogs, owns an online store—Juliesbeachshop.com—and runs on the beach (when her bum knee cooperates). She lives with her husband Dan and three children on California’s central coast.When...

Read More