Black 'n' Gold Girl's Book Spot

*Guest post by-- COTT Sr. Editor, April W Gardner *This clash sponsored by WhiteFire Publishing The first five hundred words of any story are usually enough to clue us is as to the author's style, the tone the book will take, and whether or not the story will hold our interest. It's those five hundred from two different unpublished novels that Clash of the Titles presented to you last week.  Will Ramirez's Soul Yearning and Nancy Kimball's Chasing the Lion **** We asked our readers which they would be most likely to continue reading and this is how they voted : CHASING THE LION by Nancy Kimball In addition to a hearty welcome to the COTT family, as announced yesterday, Nancy was invited by Astraea Press to submit a complete proposal for immediate review. Maybe one day very soon, we'll see  Chasing the Lion  come back to Clash of the Titles to compete as a published novel! This is what our readers had to say about  Chasing the Lion : *The first exc...

*guest post by April W Gardner "I often cry when I am in prayer for my children. When eternity breaks through the here and now and the only request left in me is please, God, bring my children into the Kingdom." -Michelle Massaro ***** It's my immense pleasure to introduce a lovely woman to you today, and offer an opportunity to get to know her! Michelle Massaro is my right arm at Clash of the Titles. I'd be lost without her, but she's so much more than just assistant editor at COTT. Michelle married her high school honey, Mike, and they now have four amazing children. They are passionate Creationists and attend Living Truth Christian Fellowship in Corona, CA where they have taught Jr High studies and where Michelle is involved in the worship ministry. Michelle is also a homeschooling parent and an aspiring author of contemporary Christian fiction. She loves coffee, peanut butter M&M's, and new eyeshadow. Her blog hosts weekly Story Improvs, where rea...

*guest post by Michelle Massaro (Ms. Davy) was an amazing cheerleader and I lived to make her smile with my stories. Whether I really was or not at that point, she made me believe I was a good writer.   ~ Sr. Editor April Gardner, on who inspired her writing. *** Today we get to spend some time with COTT founder April Gardner . April is an amazing author, good friend, and an inspiration to me. She’s a sometime home school mom, a military wife, a talented writer, and a frugal do-it-yourselfer. So I was excited to get to pick her brain! Below are the questions that I always wanted to ask. I’m sure you will find them just as fascinating as I do. Michelle : April, what was it like growing up with missionary parents? April : We never lacked for excitement, that's for sure! Some MKs struggle with change, but I never minded it. I was shy and content merely to be with my family; wherever they were, I was happy, no matter the town or country! Growing up in Spain and learning Spanish wa...

*by Sr. Editor, April W Gardner “I knew that I had just been given an amazing true story that needed to be told.” –Rosslyn Elliott, Clash of the Titles 2011 Laurel Award Winner Portions of that story— Fairer Than Morning —won the majority of COTT reader votes in June when it took the victory in the “Best Protagonist” ring. In November, it competed against a long list of other COTT champion novels then took home the Laurel. More hearty congratulations go to author Rosslyn Elliott for her win. Read June’s winning excerpt (excerpt B). Read the Laurel Award winning excerpt (excerpt A) The Saddler's Legacy series is inspired by a real family in American history--the Hanby family, who are to this day the most celebrated citizens of Westerville, Ohio. About Laurel Award-winning novel, Fairer Than Morning : Ann dreams of a marriage proposal from her poetic suitor, Eli—until Will Hanby shows her that nobility is more than fine words. On a small farm in 19th century Ohi...

Ever wonder what a writer thinks about other genres, authors, and books? Let's find out! I put together some fun questions for our Clash of the Titles authors, as well as our current anonymous Clashing authors. Some of their answer surprised me. Others made me chuckle, or made me think about my own motives. Here they are! If you had to choose... ...to do only one of these for the rest of your life, which would it be? Read or write? Amanda Flower -- Read- I write because I was reader first. Lisa Lickel -- I’ve written twenty-five novels so far, published five of them and hope that’s not it, and it’s not like I feel I’ve written everything I wanted to...but between Kindle and my p-tbr-pile, there’s well over a hundred books just calling to be read. Jennifer Slattery - Write, definitely, because that's when I feel God's presence strongest. I also process through my writing, whether penning articles, devos, blog posts or novels. So I imagine if I quit writing,...

guest post by April W Gardner Clash of the Titles is proud to announce that author Marianne Evans with her novel, Hearts Crossing , is our newest champion! About the book : Collin Edwards, a former parishioner at Woodland Church, has renounced God without apology, his faith drained away in the face of a tragic loss. Daveny Montgomery cares deeply about her relationship with God, and the community of Woodland. Lately though, she's been in a rut, longing for something to reignite her spiritual enthusiasm. A beautification project at Woodland seems the answer for them both. Daveny spearheads the effort and Collin assists, but only with the renovations, and only because he wants to know Daveny better. Despite his deepening feelings for her, even stepping into the common areas of the church stirs tension and anger. Can Daveny trust in Collin’s fledgling return to faith? And can Collin ever accept the fact that while he turned his back on God, God never turned his back on him? M...

This week, COTT's Book Club is taking a further look at The Stones by Eleanor (Ellie) Gustafson! Much of it is narrative, but when Ellie pens dialog, she does it with expertise. The things her characters say either crack me up or sober me with their depth of wisdom. Ellie is indeed a master at crafting compelling dialog. The event that stood out to me the most during the second quarter of the book was David’s move from Hebron to Jebus (which he renamed Jerusalem). I’m not sure if I just glanced over it every time I’ve read it in Scripture or if there just isn’t much there, but it was practically new information for me. Ellie wrote a nail-biting account of the take-over of the city from the Jebusites. I never thought about who occupied Jerusalem before David or for how long. For those who haven’t read the book, the Jebusites had control of the city for hundreds of years before David decided he wanted it for his capitol. But that’s all I’m saying! You’ll have to buy the book if you...

Authors and readers agree, those first words of a book are of vital importance. Some allow several chapters to convince them, others—no more than a few paragraphs. Authors feel the weight of this responsibility as they sit down to pen those first lines. At least they should! The older I get, the pickier I become about which novels I finish. I realized this last month, when I started a book and was struck by the lack of white space—those gaps between paragraphs. More white space = more dialogue. I flipped through the first chapter, then the book, and when I found massive paragraphs dominating the pages, I tossed it in my “donate to library” pile. Apparently, I like dialogue--so much, that a lack of it made me close the book before finishing the first page. I used to feel compunction over setting aside a book that didn’t hold my attention.  Now, my free time is more scarce and thus, more valuable. When I only have an hour a day to enjoy a book, I want it to be a good one. I want to b...