Skid by Rene Gutteridge

The next novel in Rene Gutteridge's Occupational Hazards series, Skid, is scheduled for a May 2008 release. This one features the character Hank.

Read our interview with Rene here.
Read our review of Scoop here.
Read our review of Snitch here.

Harvest House to Launch ConversantLife.com Books

EUGENE, OREGON—October 15, 2007—In a move that will reach out to a technology–driven culture as well as non–traditional believers and those searching for faith, Harvest House Publishers is launching ConversantLife.com Books, a new line that will bring four new titles in January, including I’m Fine With God...It’s Christians I Can’t Stand by popular authors Bruce Bickel and Stan Jantz.

In conjunction with the new line, Harvest House has partnered with the Conversant Media Group, a company dedicated to delivering quality content to a wide–ranging audience, utilizing the “new media” phenomena found on the Internet, in digital technology and in the rapidly evolving communications world. The group’s website, ConversantLife.com, will launch in January.

I’m Fine With God...It’s Christians I Can’t Stand relates how many non–Christians find the behavior of some Christians offensive rather than inviting. Many Christians do too! Bruce Bickel and Stan Jantz, authors of Knowing the Bible 101, take an unflinchingly honest and often humorous look at some believers’ outlandish behavior. This candid assessment of the church will bridge the communication gap, empowering Christians to share their faith more freely and helping those who don’t yet believe discover the truth about God without being distracted by...

• judgmental attitudes, hypocrisy, and condemnation
• confusing mixtures of politics and the gospel
• defensive positions in the “God vs. science” debate
• extreme teachings about prosperity

This refreshing call to authentic Christianity will help Christians and non–Christians get past the peripheral issues and communicate openly and honestly about God.

Other ConversantLife titles releasing in January include: Wrestling with Angels by Carolyn Arends; Why Guys Need God by Michael Erre; and Five Sacred Crossings by Craig J. Hazen (all four titles currently available for review in galley format).

“Our main goal in this partnership with Conversant Media Group is to encourage people in their faith by presenting biblical truths in compelling, creative and culturally effective ways,” says Bob Hawkins, Jr., president of Harvest House. “ConversantLife.com and its authors will present content and encourage communication in such a way that will motivate people to relate and engage in conversations, interact with trustworthy content, and more. It’s a venture that we hope will generate dialogue throughout society, crossing barriers and breaking down walls.”

According to author Stan Jantz, the intellectual questions about God and the Bible are still important to this new generation of people, but they are more likely to be drawn to Christianity first through the back door of conversation and community.

“Without this relational aspect, people seeking faith may never ask the questions whose answers will lead them through the front door of God’s truth,” says Jantz.

One More Sunrise by Michael Landon, Jr. & Tracie Peterson

Originally scheduled to release in January but now scheduled for Spring 2008, Michael Landon Jr. & Tracie Peterson's One More Sunrise has also been assigned a new cover.

A mysterious feather…an odd stranger…another chance? Joe Daley's life is spiraling out of control. In more ways than one…

His dreams of WWII glory died along with his plans to serve his country. Fifteen years later, Joe Daley flies a crop duster and struggles through life, with his marriage to high-school-sweetheart Meg running on fumes.

Until one morning when Joe's daily routine turns into the ride of a lifetime as his beat-up biplane begins a heart-stopping spiral toward earth. What did he hit? An enormous bird? With the only evidence a long white feather, Joe embarks on a new odyssey.

When an old high-school suitor of Meg's—now the charming representative of a corporate farming enterprise—arrives in town, he offers better lives for everyone. Is this the opportunity Joe and Meg have been waiting for? Or a collision course with disaster?

A Gripping Story of Lives Turned Upside Down and
Dreams Transformed Into Something Beautiful and New…

Read our interview with Michael Landon, Jr. here.

James Scott Bell updates

James Scott Bell is a busy man these days. His latest offering Try Dying has just been released. It's the first book in a series, which marks Jim's first foray into writing a suspense series character.

In a recent interview Jim conducted at Novel Journey he explained more about Try Dying:

"This is not strictly in the inspirational genre. This is a book I wrote for the general market, and here's why. I got mad. I think there's a trend in secular thrillers that is too dark and gratuitous. I wanted to go the other way. I wanted to write in the tradition of 1940s and 1950s film noir and crime fiction. These managed to be suspenseful without gagging you. Why can't we still do that? We can."

The next Buchanan novel comes out in July, and is titled Try Darkness."

In other news, Jim has also penned another writing how-to book for Writer's Digest Books called Revision and Self-Editing. Its description is thus:

"This unique guide provides writers with an exclusive four-draft plan that takes them from an organic draft though the rough draft to a final draft, and ultimately a polished draft. This comprehensive plan makes the task of revision manageable and helps writers to significantly increase their odds of publication. In addition, the book features specific revision tips geared toward the first read-through, as well as targeted instruction that focuses on the individual elements of a novel like plot, structure, characters, voice, style, setting, and endings."

Read our interview with Jim here.
Read our review of No Legal Grounds here.
Read our review of Presumed Guilty here.

Beyond the Night by Marlo Schalesky

Marlo Schalesky's next novel Beyond the Night is set to release in May of 2008.

Marlo recently had the following to say about her projects, including Beyond the Night:

After Veil of Fire, I'm writing 3 contemporary novels for Waterbrook-Multnomah. All of them are "Love Stories with a Twist!," a new type of story that I think will knock readers' socks off. The first, Beyond the Night, releases in May 2008. With groovy 70's trivia and a whopper of an ending twist, this one was as fun to write as it will be to read. Here's a blurb about it:

They say love is blind. This time, they're right.

A poignant love story . . .

A shocking twist . . .

Come, experience a love that will not die.

Nicolas Sparks (The Notebook) meets M. Night Shyamalan (The Sixth Sense) in this moving story of two people trying to find love in the dark. A woman going blind, a man who loves her but can't tell her so, a car crash, a hospital room, and an ending that has to be experienced to be believed. Watch for it next May!

Read our interview with Marlo here.
Read our review of Veil of Fire here.

Havah: The Story of Eve by Tosca Lee

Coming in October 2008 from the acclaimed author of Demon: A Memoir. Tosca Lee has this brief excerpt of Havah on her website:

I have seen paradise and ruin. I have known bliss and terror.

I have walked with God.

And I know that Elohim made the heart the most fragile and resilient of organs, that a lifetime of joy and pain might be encased in one mortal chamber.

I still recall my first moment of consciousness—an awareness I’ve never seen in the eyes of any of my own children at birth. Of course the memory is fainter now, like the smell of the soil of that garden, like the leaves of the fig tree in Eden after dawn—dew and leaf green. It fades now with that sense of something once tasted, savored now in memory.

His eyes were blue, my Adam’s.

His breath a lost sough, the scent of earth and leaf mold that was his sweaty skin has faded too quickly. So like an Eden dawn—dew on fig leaves.

How I celebrate that blue, shrouded now in shriveled eyelids—he who was never intended to have even a wrinkle! But even as I bend to smooth his cheek, my hair has become a white waterfall upon his Eden—flesh and loins that gave life to so many.

I think for a moment that I hear Elohim, and that he is weeping. It is the first time I have heard him in so long, and my heart cries out: He is dead! My father, my brother, my love!

I envy the earth that envelopes him. I envy the dust that comes of him, and my children who sow and eat of it.

This is my love song: I will craft these words into the likeness of the man before I too return to the earth of Adam’s bosom. It is my testament to the strength of the heart, that it has such capacity for joy, such space for sorrow, like a vessel that fills and fills without bursting.

My seasons are nearly as many as a thousand. So now listen, sons, and hear me, daughters.

In the beginning, there was God…

But for me, there was Adam.

Read our review of Demon here.
Read our interview with Tosca here.

Within This Circle by Deborah Raney, sequel to A Vow to Cherish

Deborah Raney has written a sequel to her much beloved A Vow To Cherish (made into a movie).

Summary:

After a tumultuous courtship, John and Julia Brighton have a second chance at happiness, a fresh marriage and, now that their children are grown, a new era in their lives to revel in the promise of the future. Only such a promise is never guaranteed. And life can change in a moment. The Brightons life is turned upside down when Johns daughter Jana abandons her husband Mark and three-year-old daughter. John and Julia reach out to young Ellie, to give the young couple time to heal, but how can they help this child, so confused and longing for Mommy? And how much sorrow and stress can both fledgling marriages endure? Two very different couples, each with only their love and faith to guide them, can only pray that it will be enough.

Read our interview with Deb here.

Brandilyn Collins' next stand-alone novel

In a recent audio interview conducted by Christianbook.com, Brandilyn Collins reveals the title of her next stand-alone piece (after Amber Morn releasing in Spring 2008).

It's title is to be Vain Empires, based on a John Milton quote in Paradise Lost. Brandilyn also revealed she will be writing stand-alones exclusively for a bit. No word on the plot, but it's sure to be interesting!

Read our interview with Brandilyn here.
Read our review of Crimson Eve here.

Adam by Ted Dekker

The wait will soon be over, Ted Dekker fans. His next full-length adult novel will be released in 2008. Titled Adam, it sounds like an intriguing one.

Here's Thomas Nelson's summary:

FBI behavioral psychologist Daniel Clark has been made famous by his arguments that religion is one of society's greatest antagonists. What Daniel doesn't know is that his obsessive pursuit of a serial killer known only as "Eve" will end in his own death at Eve's hand. Twenty minutes later Daniel is resuscitated, only to be haunted by those twenty missing minutes of life.

It soon becomes painfully clear that the only way to stop Eve is to recover those missing minutes by dying . . . again. What isn't nearly as clear is just how many times he will have to die to discover the truth, not only about Eve, but about himself. Daniel will have to face haunting realities about demon possession in the modern world-and reevaluate his prejudice against religion-to stop Eve.

Says the Ted Dekker website:

And for those of you who have been sleeping a little too well lately, maybe you have grown a little too comfortable in your own home, the release of Adam will once again remind you that sleep is overrated. This thriller will make you second guess having any closed doors in your own home.

Read our review of Adam here!

Read out older interview with Ted here.
Read our newest interview with Ted here.
Read our review of Skin here.

Danny Gospel by David Athey (April '08)

An interesting new book coming down the pike from Bethany House this April. Don't you just love that tree on the cover. Very dynamic.

Description:

Once he'd performed in his family's gospel band, but now most of his loved ones have passed on. Still known as "Danny Gospel," he is living a sedate, quiet life as a postman in a small Iowa town. Soon his tranquil existence is broken open by—a dream, a vision, a sign?—a beautiful woman he is sure is his "beloved."

Logic and sense tucked safely out of harm's way, Danny launches a quest to find his true love. Always good-natured, he is a hero on a journey—dreaming impossible dreams and, no matter how much he must suffer, pursuing romance and heavenly glory.

But is his quest really for a vision of beauty—or is it a journey through pains too deep to name and emotions too raw to feel?

Hazardous Duty awarded

Friday, October 5, 2007--Christy Barritt's novel Hazardous Duty won third place in the suspense book of the year category from American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW). The ACFW was formed in 2000 to offer resources and encouragement to new and established Christian fiction authors. Each year, ACFW honors the achievements of its many members (over 1,300) with their book of the year awards, recognizing outstanding Christian fiction from historical novels to sci-fi.

Christy Barritt's humorous and gripping Hazardous Duty claimed third place in the 2007 suspense book of the year category. This memorable murder mystery begins the adventures of Gabby St. Claire. A forensic science dropout, Gabby now runs her own crime scene cleaning business. The work may be gory, but at least it's quiet. Unfortunately, Gabby's typically uneventful life is interrupted when she finds a piece of evidence the police overlooked. Gabby's adventures will continue in Suspicious Minds, a new mystery coming soon from Kregel Publications.

Christy Barritt, a speaker and freelance writer, runs the Web site www.willwrite4food.com, named one of the "101 Best Web Sites for Writers" by Writer's Digest magazine. Author of many books and articles, she is also a worship leader at her church. Christy lives in Virginia with her husband, Scott.

Read our review of Hazardous Duty here.

Homer Hickam "Red Helmet" novel for Thomas Nelson

From the New York Times best-selling author and creator of October Sky comes a new coal-mining adventure.

Forever unlucky in love, Song Hawkins has the reputation of being a cold-hearted yet beautiful businesswoman. But everything changes when this New Yorker finds the man of her dreams in Cable Jordan, the manager of a West Virginia coal mine.

After they marry, it quickly becomes apparent Cable has no intention of leaving his beloved hometown of Highcoal. Reluctant at first, Song is soon swept up in the strange, funny, and always interesting highjinks of the little mining town's quirky citizens. But things turn deadly serious when, to save her husband and her town, she must put on the red helmet of the new coal miner and make a life-changing sacrifice.

Coming in February 2008! Visit Homer Hickam's website here.

Marcher Lord Press Launch!

The wait is over, friends. Marcher Lord Press has just opened its doors.

Why is this a big deal? Because so many for so long have lamented the lack of Christian speculative novels on the market. The reasons are many, but Marcher Lord Press is hoping to change the trend.


Says Marcher Lord Press's website:

"Whether it's fantasy you love, or science fiction, time travel, chillers, supernatural thrillers, alternate history, spiritual warfare, superhero, vampire, or technothriller—if it's speculative and it comes from the Christian worldview, Marcher Lord Press is your publisher."

Created by author and editor Jeff Gerke (a.k.a author Jefferson Scott), read more about the dream behind the house here.

What type of fiction does Marcher Lord Press seek?

"Marcher Lord Press publishes only the coolest speculative stories from the Christian worldview. So if you've got one you think is amazing but you realize the traditional Christian publishing industry is not the place for you, you're in the right place." Read more about what they're looking for here.

When can we expect to see the first novels published?

Says Jeff, "The Web page went live October 1, 2007. God willing, the publishing company itself will officially launch one year later, on October 1, 2008. On that day we will release three original novels by three wonderful Christian novelists. At this writing I had two of them locked down and a third in negotiation, so I can't reveal anything yet. But rest assured they will be fabulous. Keep checking the Marcher Lord Press site for details and updates. And be sure to go there and register to win one of the awesome prizes we'll be giving away at the launch day event. There will even be bonus goodies for those who purchase one or more Marcher Lord Press novels on the day of the launch."

What exactly is a Marcher Lord?

For that interesting story, you'll have to click here.

Also, be sure to check out the Marcher Lord Press gallery here. There are some cool images here, plus you'll have the chance to re-watch the opening animation sequence of the website.