Black 'n' Gold Girl's Book Spot

The winner of the September New Releases Clash is... The Road To Mercy by Kathy Harris Congratulations, Kathy!! And thank you to all our participating authors: Catherine West, author of Hidden in the Heart Donn Taylor, author of Deadly Additive Jennifer A. Davids, author of Restored Heart Stephanie Grace Whitson, author of The Shadow on the Quilt It was a tight race and everyone did great. Many, many of our readers commented they would like to read all of them! About The Road To Mercy : Tragedy, love, & secrets meet on a journey of faith. Josh Harrison, a contemporary Christian singer, and his wife Bethany face a difficult decision that also tests their faith. A rupture in Beth's carotid artery leaves her on the brink of death even as she's pregnant with their first child. While Dr. Ben Abrams urges her to terminate the pregnancy to save her own life, she and Josh step out on faith and decide to carry the baby to full term. During the next ...

It's August and the cusp of changing seasons, but here at Clash of the Titles we never vary our quest for perfect fiction. Here are five more titles hot off the press for your contemplation. A governess, a spy for Abraham Lincoln, a spoiled rich girl, a hideaway, and a thief…what could be more enticing? Remember …vote for the book you’d most like to add to your favorite reads pile, and share the news with your friends and family! Vote today through next Tuesday when the polls close at Midnight EST; then come back on THURSDAY to find out which book received the most votes. The winner will tour with our Clash of the Titles blog alliance, so have fun being a roadie without all the heavy lifting if you want to go along. And now…Peruse, Ponder, Press the button of your choice. Hunter’s Prize , by Marcia Gruver When Addie left her sheltered Mississippi life to become governess to Ceddy Whitfield, she never dreamed she’d be underta...

At Clash of the Titles , we're interested in the Christian Fiction that's making a splash, flying onto the scene in a burst of attention-grabbing technicolor and gripping our imaginations. Every month we're seeing batches of new stories hit the shelves and here's one that has also hit our hearts. Dineen Miller's The Soul Saver recently competed on our website and garnered a lot of attention there. We just had to know more about this book and its author. Here's what we discovered... About Dineen Miller: Dineen Miller readily admits that one of the greatest lessons she’s learning about life is that there’s purpose in our trials. It’s all about trusting God and putting our hope in Him. Her favorite stories are of the miracles God has wrought in the lives of her family. Through this lens she also believes her years as a youth counselor, a Stephen Minister, a women’s ministry leader, and a small group leader fuel her desire to ignite the souls of others th...

*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...

*by Michelle Massaro Last week Clash of the Titles held their first ever Clash of the Covers. This fast-paced clash was different than their usual fare, because instead of judging the author's story, we judged how well their cover designs matched their theme or made us want to pick up the book. There were four books to vote on, from authors  Cathy , Erica , Lacy , and Maggie . The books were Marrying Miss Marshal, Spring For Susannah, A Bride's Portrait, and Deeply Devoted . It was a VERY CLOSE race and it saw enough voter participation to max out the scoreboards! Some of the comments included: Spring for Susannah - Susannah is aware of the man but she looks as though she could turn away, or turn towards him. Marrying Miss Marshall seems to speak volumes about the heroine-just in her position. The cover of A Brides Portrait, really sells the title by having the woman with a camera on it. Caught my attention. I love cover C...looks like the "old west"!!...

Guest post by Michelle Massaro The winner of this week's COTT battle is.... Joanne Sher! Joanne joins the notable COTT Conquerors family as a pre-published author. Her writing passion is Biblical and historical fiction—paving rough roads with God’s presence. Joanne says her dream is to be able to submit to Clash of The Titles as a published author. We are confident that day will come. Find her at http://www.joannesher.com/ Her winning excerpt came from her manuscript entitled Handmaiden to a Princess : “Don't you have to leave now?” Mama took a sip of water and looked out at the sun. Rivka's eyes followed her mother's. The colors of the sunrise were already beginning to fade into the blue of the Israeli sky. Rivka nodded. “Good bye, Mama. Off to the gardens.” She half-jogged toward the next part of her morning ritual. Rivka’s sandals flip-flopped on the dirt, her steps brisk and light. The scents of the lilies of the valley and hyacinths slowed her pace the closer sh...

Shellie Neumeier has just received the honor of being named a COTT Champ with her teen novel, Driven . This is a first for COTT, having a YA title take the crown. And Shellie deserves high accolades. She had some stiff competition: Julie Carobini and her book Fade to Blue . So how did this story come about? "The plot [for Driven] morphed over several dinner conversations with my kids and my hubby," Neumeier says. "It started with a whole lot of what-if questions and ended with a girl, a demon, and a whole lot of forgiveness." You can read COTT's excellent interview with Shellie here . A clip of her winning excerpt: Robyn can’t help but notice the handsome new guy at her school. She ignores, however, the arrival of another being at Brookfield Central High School—a demon assigned to destroy her… Read the full blurb, along with that of her competition, here About the book: Robyn can’t help but notice the handsome new guy at her school. She ignores, however, the ar...

by Michelle Massaro Christine Lindsay crowned COTT champ! Shadowed in Silk won the vote for Best Back Cover Blurb against competitor Sunny Eads. A clip of her winning excerpt : After the Great War, Abby Fraser returns to India with her small son, where her husband is stationed with the British army. She has longed to go home to the land of glittering palaces and veiled women . . . but Nick has become a cruel stranger. It will take more than her American pluck to survive. read the full blurb here A few reader comments :  I'm drawn to the post war aspect of the second one. Both really pulls you in but the romance of India under the Bristh rule caught my attention. Oh, India! Sounds mysterious!! Makes me wonder if this is a romance or not. Would def give this book a go. Blurb B is just so intriguing! Definitely makes me want to read the whole thing. So much clearly going on. Christine says :  The only reason I write is in order to encourage readers to love Christ and follow Hi...

When it comes to books, how easy are you to reel in? Do you swim against the current, requiring a strong line to tug you along? Or do you flow right in to a story's net? I admit I can be a stubborn swimmer. I've become a more critical connoisseur of fiction. Occasionally I'll abandon ship, but I'll usually still swallow a tepid plot even while making a face. It just takes more to make my knees go weak from the complex flavors of a novel. Writing chops get me baited. Strong plotline pulls me in. It's a magical moment when everything comes together perfectly and I'm happy to leap into the boat without resistance. A couple weeks ago COTT put up a survey asking how long you give a book to reel you in. We received 54 responses! So today we're going to share those results and many of the comments that came in: 11.1% of responders said one page 35.2% said one chapter 46.3% said until they lose interest 7.4% said they finish every book they start...

Naomi Musch and the opening paragraphs from her historical novel, The Green Veil . CONGRATULATIONS, NAOMI! Naomi takes the title in her clash against the very worthy runner-up, Karen Baney , author o f A Dream Unfolding . A snippet from Naomi's winning passage: Pain seared Colette's temples, neck, and shoulders. Behind her eyelids, everything blazed like a powder keg of dynamite going off inside her. Explosions roared and blasts glared - red, and now and then a streak of hot white. She stirred on the bed, and her satin dress rustled. ( read the full excerpt here ) Naomi says her best ideas come from overlooked portions of history she stumbles upon and in The Green Veil those include lumberjacks, land barons, and mill owners racing to control the pine lands in 1840s Wisconsin Territory. To read more about the book and find out what her favorite reads of the last year were, check out her interview ith COTT's Senior Editor April Gardner here . What did readers have to say? A ...

Attention! Ann Gaylia O'Barr has been crowned CHAMPION at Clash of the Titles! For her excerpt from Singing in Babylon , Ann Gaylia O'Barr garnered favor in a Clash against fellow contender Dee Smith for Best Antagonist. Both excerpts showcased sinister adversaries. As one reader put it: Both antagonists were well described, and both gave me a chill up my spine. Another assures us: Both are VERY creepy! But only one can claim victory, and that honor falls to O'Barr this time around. How did she do it? Ann believes a good antagonist elicits a measure of sympathy from the reader so that we are both drawn to and repulsed by his character. It must be true because it secured her the win. In her interview with COTT staff member Amanda Flower, Ann shares how she spent years country-hopping for her work as U.S. Foreign Service officer and collected plenty of raw material for her antagonists by her immersion in Muslim-dominated culture. Wow! Want to know who her favorite fictiona...