Coming Soon . . . Freedom's Captive

The official release date for my first historical fiction book, Freedom's Captive, is March 1st!!! It will be available as a print book, or kindle book on Amazon, as well as available at the ND homeschool convention March 5-7 for $12. For all you locals, I'm still working on getting a book signing lined up for April where I'll have it available for sale! 

A father’s debt . . .
    A brother’s failure . . .
        And the wrong sister . . .

     Lord DeWilt already had everything. Everything but his name. And he’s back for that. On the run, and fighting painful memories, James Wakefield doesn’t know where to turn. Is it possible that freedom can offer peace?
     George Wakefield knows the life of cultured England, but in the wilderness of the Americas, finding answers to DeWilt’s pursuit seems impossible.
       Can years of deceit and pain bring the Wakefield brothers together? Or will it just distance them more? Can they find freedom in Christ while captives? Can God’s freedom shine in even the darkest of nights?
Can two brothers be united after years of betrayal?

No Chance Meeting - Author Interview

I had the opportunity to read Jaye Elliot's new release, No Chance Meeting, as well as the opportunity to interview her, in exchange for being a part of her blog tour release, so here's an interview with the author!

Priscilla here, and I'd like to start the interview by letting my readers get to know you a bit. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

Jaye - I’m a 31-year-old (who still likes to believe she’s 21) Wisconsin country girl. I’m very

much a hopeless romantic, though I have yet to meet my future husband. I was

homeschooled K-12, which I’m thankful for to this day. I don’t think I would have had the

time to develop my love for writing if I hadn’t been. I currently rent a house from my

brother and live with my three cats, Arthur, Timothy, and Lucy. That number may go up

this year. I’m starting to get “kitten fever.” So I may find myself at the local animal

shelter this spring looking for a new addition to the family.

Priscilla -  Did you always want to be a writer when you grew up?

Jaye - I didn’t actually. Though I started writing young and loved it, it wasn’t until I was fifteen

that I decided it was the path I wanted to pursue in life.

Priscilla -  So, Jaye, you've just released a book. Would you tell us a little bit about it and what

your hopes are for it?

Jaye - No Chance Meeting is my first ever contemporary romance. Aside from writing horse

stories when I was young, the only genres I had ever written before this were historical

and fantasy. For a long time I believed I couldn’t write a contemporary romance to save

my life. I didn’t even have any interest in it. Never say never, I guess. The book idea

popped into my head just over a week before NaNoWriMo 2016 and demanded to be

written. The book deals with some rather difficult topics like depression and suicide, but

the theme is that God never gives up on us and is always working in our lives even

when we can’t see it. Since this is an entirely new genre and audience for me, I have no

idea what to expect, but I’m very excited (and nervous!) about it.

Priscilla -  Did you have any one author, or book that really inspired you when you first started

writing?

Jaye - My mom. :) My mom is a writer, and she is the one who inspired me to start writing. My

very first stories were heavily inspired by my favorite books at the time, the Pony Pals

series. I was very horse crazy then.

Priscilla - If you had just one piece of advice for a beginning writer, what would it be?

Jaye - Read. My whole life, both in writing and just who I am have been impacted and shaped

by books. Reading is the best way to help develop your writing style and learn to write

well.

Priscilla - Are you a tea or a coffee drinker?

Jaye - Tea. I have a mug (a big mug) of Irish Breakfast Tea almost every day. I occasionally

can enjoy a cup of coffee, but I don’t have much of a taste for it. Except for McDonald’s

mocha frappes. I LOVE those. Do those even count as coffee?

Priscilla - How old were you when you first knew you loved to write?

Jaye - I was eight when I started writing and fell in love with it immediately. I’ve had some

extended periods where I didn’t write anything, but for the majority of my life I’ve had at

least one book project in the works.

Priscilla - What kind of things do you like to do for fun when you need a break from writing?

Jaye - I love movies and TV shows. I’m a very visual person, so not only is it fun for me, it’s a

great source of inspiration. In the summer time, I like to spend as much time as I can

outdoors and doing summer activities. Once winter hits, I tend to become something of

a hermit. I also enjoy various creative projects like crocheting and sewing historical

outfits since I’m also a historical reenactor.

Priscilla - How has your relationship with God influenced your writing?

Jaye - It pretty much colors everything. I’m not even sure I know how to write a story that

doesn’t have a strong theme of faith.

Priscilla - Where can people find you and your books on the internet?

Jaye - You can find me on various social media platforms and on www.jayeelliot.com and

www.jayelknight.com. All of my books are on Amazon, and No Chance Meeting can

also be found through a variety of other eBook retailers.

Priscilla - Thank you so much for sharing with us! It was a real blessing to get to interview a fellow author. And to all of you readers out there, Jaye has two giveaways that she's holding. Check them out!

Giveaway #1
To celebrate the release of No Chance Meeting, Jaye is giving away a reader bundle that
includes a signed copy of NCM, a hand-painted watercolor bookmark, a coffee mug, and a bag
of Dove chocolates! Enter using the form below. U.S. entries only. Not open internationally.

Click here to enter the contest!

Giveaway #2
For her second giveaway, Jaye is offering 3 ebook copies of No Chance Meeting. Open
internationally!

Click here to enter the contest!

If you're interested in learning more about Jaye's new release, check out the blog tour schedule!

Here's the schedule for the rest of the book tour!

14 Ways to Get a Valentine Date

 In the past, I've done a humorous blog post about Valentine's Day. With 16 Ways to Avoid Getting a Valentine Date and 18 Excuses for Not Having a Valentine Date, I wasn't sure what to do this year, and then, someone suggested Ways to Get a Valentine Date.

   Now, like my other Valentine posts, I feel like I need a disclaimer. Maybe a few. For several reasons. One. I don't actually approve of trying to find a Valentine date. Relationships are not something to play with, they're a beautiful thing designed by God, and we shouldn't be out chasing guys trying to get a date for a night just to tell people we have one. So, by my posting this, I'm NOT saying I approve of any of the suggestions, and I do NOT recommend you try any of them! The story I shared about my friend, Why She's Glad She Didn't Flirt, really is true. Trusting God, following HIS leading, is the best way. I realize that looks different for everyone, but if God's at the center, it's right.

All that being said, why am I posting something about trying to get a Valentine date when I don't approve of any of my own suggestions? Well, if you're a single young adult, chances are, people are always trying to get you match made. Always trying to ask about your love-life, or lack thereof. These Valentine posts, are meant to be funny. Something to make you laugh, and maybe, if you're struggling to come up with good answers when people ask you how you're going to get a Valentine date, you can use one of these answers as a way to lighten the mood, and bring a smile to their faces.

 So, here it is. You need to do something with someone on Valentines so that you can tell people you had a date.

1.  Find a homeless guy and offer to buy him a meal.

2. Blackmail your brother. Or Clean his truck to get him to take you out.

3. Run your car battery dead and ask random guys to jump it. Then offer to buy him dinner.

4. Get hurt, call an ambulance, and hope there's a single paramedic.

5.  Run into guys in stores with shopping carts. Then apologize profusely.

6. Make friends with older ladies who have grandsons.

7. Get a job at a mechanic shop.

8.  Reserve a table for two at a nice restaurant, show up alone, and cry. Hopefully, some guy will be having a hard day too, and join you.

9. Go shopping at a sporting goods store looking for a gift for your dad for Valentines, and get a nice worker to help you out. Hopefully, he'll want to spend Valentines with someone who believes in buying sporting goods for Valentine presents.

10. Visit a gym, and ask all the guys for advice.

11. Text every guy in your contacts, surely one of them doesn't have plans.

12.  Put an ad in the paper. You'd be surprised how many other people are desperately searching for a date too. Only, use a fake name. If everyone knows you advertised for a date, it kind of defeats the purpose.

13. Go on a dating website and explain your predicament. Someone will help you out.

14. Go golfing on Valentines, and hire a caddie, then invite him out for dinner.

This day in History . . .

It's been a while since I've done one of these history posts, so here are some of the things that happened in history on February 4th.

  1789 - George Washington was elected as the first president of the United States of America.
 
 1847 - The first U.S. telegraph company was established in Maryland.

 1861 - The Confederate States of America were established.

 1902 - Charles Lindbergh was born.

 1932 - The first Winter Olympics were held in the United States at Lake Placid, NY.

 2004 - Facebook was founded.