Daily Archives: May 22, 2008
Meet Sherri Sand and Get a Free Book!
I love meeting new authors, so when my friend Tina asked me to join another book blog tour, I was all over it.
Meet Sherri Sand.
Aside from her degree in psychology and her love of running, she’s much like me and many of you. She’s a wife and mother struggling to juggle everything those two roles require. And, of course, she’s a writer who loves to read. (Did you catch that? A mom of four succeeds in completing her book and getting published! Woo-hoo!) Oh, and she loves chocolate. Is it possible for moms to maintain sanity without it?
Now meet her debut novel.
I’ve got to be honest. When I first heard the premise of this book, I was more than skeptical. A boy, a girl and a horse. Sounds like a cheesy, teeny-bopper romance – right? I mean, didn’t we all dream about having horses and rugged men to come along and reign in our wild, independent streaks with their charm and devastatingly good looks? But then we grew up.
Leave it to Chance FAR exceeded my expectations. I’ve not been able to put it down! Yes, it has a boy, a girl and a horse, but the story is much more complex than that. And Sherri’s writng is fantastic. Her characters are intricately developed. Their struggles are relevant, and their faith is tried. I anticipated a predictable storyline, but instead was pleasantly surprised with each twist of plot and character’s choice.
Let me give you a synopsis. Single mom, Sierra, inherits a horse. Her three kids are thrilled, but there’s more than one problem. Her ex-husband is behind on child support, she just lost her job, she’s about to be evicted, and her overbearing mother wants Sierra and the kids to move in with her. Does she sell the horse to pay the rent and crush her children’s hopes in the process? Or keep it and face a bigger problem: her paralyzing fear of horses? Meanwhile a hunky landscaper becomes a role model for her oldest son and a definite distraction for Sierra. At the crux of the book is the issue of trust. God wasn’t there for Sierra when she needed Him most, so how can she trust Him now? If she doesn’t loosen her need for control, will her children ever forgive her?
The book is filled with endearing characters. My favorites: Elise, Sierra’s best friend; a fun, quirky chick and one of very few people Sierra has seen exhibit a sincere, uninhibited relationship with God, and Sid, the hunky landscaper’s neighbor and father-figure; an ornery grandfatherly type who challenges everyone around him to be their best and believe the Truth. It’s a great read! Did I mention you can get it free? *grin*
Leave a comment on this post and I’ll enter you in a random drawing for a FREE copy of this delightful, encouraging book. I’ll pick a winner on Saturday.
In the meantime, I encourage you to check out the author’s website: http://www.sherrisand.com/ and the other blogs participating in the tour.
Amber Miller
Blog Tour Spot
Camy’s Loft
Chatter Matters
A Christian Romance Writer’s Journey
Cliffy’s Mom’s Blog
Fictionary
Flying Changes
The Friendly Book Nook
Horse Book Reviews
I Don’t Wanna Blog
Leap of Faith
lighthouse-academy
A Little Bit of Sunshine
Margaret Daley
Ma Space
Musings on This, That & The Other Thing
Mystery, Suspense and God, Oh My!
Net’s Notes
Novel Journey
Penning Prose
Portrait of a Writer . . . Interrupted
Readin N Writing with Patricia
Real Women Scrap
Relevant Blog
Sharon Hinck
Sips ‘n Cups Cafeteria
Smells Horsey
So You Wanna Be Published
Toni V Lee
Writing by Faith
The Writing Road.com
Please pray.
If you haven’t heard, Steven Curtis Chapman’s youngest daughter was killed in a horrible accident yesterday. Most people are aware of Steven’s success in Christian music. He’s a definite icon in the industry, whether you like his music or not. But his family has embraced a ministry beyond music. They’ve embarked on mission trips to China and have become advocates of international adoption. Shoahannah’s Hope is an organization they founded to “mobilize the body of Christ to care for orphans.” They’ve even written children’s books about it. Maria, the daughter who died last night, was one of three girls the family adopted from China. Please pray for this family, especially their son Will.
My family endured an almost identical accident years ago. A two-year-old cousin ran into the driveway where she was crushed under the tires of my brother’s SUV. His wife, who was driving the vehicle, never recovered. Rather than turning to God and accepting His grace, she turned inward, blaming herself for Gabriella’s death. What’s worse, she resented all those around her who tried to help, those who didn’t hate her for what happened. We knew it was an accident, but she was never able to believe it. The “if only”s and “what if”s took over. It destroyed her and their marriage.
This is going to be an extremely difficult time for the Chapman family. They seem to be tight-knit and solidly grounded in God’s truth. I hope so. They’ll need to be to come out of this victoriously. May God be glorified through this situation! It sounds awful to pray that, but I know He can make even the darkest times radiant through His wisdom and love. I pray He’ll do just that for this family now.
‘Fro Me to You
Kristin over at We are THAT Family hosts a weekly “‘Fro me to you” carnival. It’s a fun way to show off old and maybe should be forgotten photos, like the ‘fros we all sported in the 80s. You know, the stuff that will never see the inside of a scrapbook because it’s either blackmail worthy or because we’re simply too busy doing other things, like writing that bestseller or keeping our children from playing in the toilet.
Unfortunately, I only have a handful of childhood photos. I’m a middle child and my parents are split which means all my baby stuff is too. Well, this weekend while visiting my brother in Pennsylvania, I got a new one. Ted (my brother) pulled out a few boxes of photos he got from our dad a while back. I just had to snag this adorable one.
This is Ted and I. I don’t remember this day or even where we were, but I love it. We’re 18 months apart, almost the same as Zach and Ellie, the older sister born in the winter followed by the little brother born in the summer. And in this picture we appear to be about the same ages as Ellie and Zach now. Everyone thought we were twins. I’m sure E & Z will get the same reaction. We’ve already been asked a few times. With him being so tall and his speech so advanced, the assumption is inevitable.
Yesterday I came out of the bathroom to find Ellie — yes! I actually got to go to the bathroom by myself!! Isn’t that exciting? Anywho, the first thing I saw after emerging from the loo was Ellie standing on a big cardboard box singing from the top of her lungs: “Me and Zach-a-wee are best friend FOE-EV-ER!!” She sang it over and over. Then Zach had a turn. “Me and I’abel are best friends forever!!!” It was so sweet.
My brother and I have had our ups and downs over the last thirty years, but we’re still friends. Hopefully forever.
