P.S. about Brandilyn Collins

She is one of my FAVORITE authors!! When she says don't forget to breathe, she means it!! Her books are the ultimate thrill ride in suspense fiction!!! I LOVE Brandilyn Collins!!

Crimson Eve

Carla stared at the gun and David Thornby—or whatever his name was. Her mind split in two, one side pleading this was some sick joke, the other screaming it was all too real.

“Please. You must have the wrong person. There’s no reason for someone to want me dead. I don’t have any enemies.”

“Then you’d best rethink your friends.”

Realtor Carla Radling shows an “English gentleman” a lakeside estate—and finds herself facing a gun. Who has hired this assassin to kill her, and why?

Forced on the run, Carla must uncover the scathing secrets of her past. Secrets that could destroy some very powerful people...

Brandilyn Collins fans and reviewers are saying Crimson Eve is her best book yet:

“Collins tops herself by creating a suspenseful nonstop thrill ride … Truly the best Christian Fiction suspense title so far this year.”
– Library Journal, starred review


“Crimson Eve is Collins at her very best. It left me feeling as if I’d climbed Mount Everest without oxygen … I didn’t think Brandilyn could outdo herself after reading Coral Moon. She did.”
–TitleTrakk.com

“I’ve never edited a more tightly crafted, deftly woven, compellingly written book.” –a Crimson Eve editor, with 20 years experience

“This is your best book! I could not stop reading!” – one of many readers with similar responses


Read about Violet Dawn and Coral Moon, books one and two in the Kanner Lake series.


Do you know someone who’s never read a Brandilyn Collins novel? Surely no such person exists. However, should you scrounge up such a friend—someone who enjoys suspense—here’s a special offer from Brandilyn. Be among the first 50 people between now and October 21, 2007 to e-mail her assistant at gayle.brandilyncollins@gmail.com with the person’s name, e-mail address and street address. (Due to exorbitant overseas mailing costs, United States residents only, please).

A signed copy of Crimson Eve will be sent to your friend—free—along with an e-mail from Brandilyn announcing the book is on its way, courtesy of you. (Don’t worry. Brandilyn won’t spam these email addresses. She just wants your friend to know who to thank.) No worries that this story is third in the Kanner Lake series. Each book stands alone. Brandilyn is convinced your friend will so love Crimson Eve, he/she will surely reciprocate with expensive chocolate.

About the Author

Brandilyn Collins is a best-selling novelist known for her trademark Seatbelt Suspense™. These harrowing crime thrillers have earned her the tagline “Don’t forget to b r e a t h e…® ” She’s so well known in the industry there’s actually a club for her non-readers. That’s right. The Big Honkin’ Chickens Club (BHCC) members are proud of the fact that they’re too wimpy to read Brandilyn’s intense fiction. Now and then one of them tries. Bribing works pretty well. (Just ask Deb Raney.) Somehow they live to tell the tale.

Brandilyn writes for Zondervan, the Christian division of HarperCollins Publishers, and is currently at work on her 17th book. Her first book, A Question of Innocence, was a true crime published by Avon in 1995. Its promotion landed her on local and national TV and radio, including the Phil Donahue and Leeza talk shows.

She’s also known for her distinctive book on fiction-writing techniques, Getting Into Character: Seven Secrets a Novelist Can Learn From Actors (John Wiley & Sons), and often teaches at writers conferences. Brandilyn blogs at Forensics and Faith.

Visit her website to read the first chapters of all her books.

Reading...thinking out loud...and other odd bits.

I've been reading through some of my favorite blogs this morning trying to sort out my own thoughts about what I want to accomplish here in my own internet space. There are some beautiful sites out there, and there are discussions that dig pretty deep into a lot of different subjects. However, I'm going to stick with my main idea, and leave this blog to the realm of Christian fiction.

I'm reading like crazy these days, and so far, I've enjoyed what I've read. But I will encourage everyone...myself included in this....don't read so much fiction, or write so much fiction, that you push time for God's word out of your day. Start the day in the Word. Dwell on it throughout the day. Honor God's word in your choice of reading and honor Him in what you choose to write. It's not about "me" in this very temporal existence, it's about HIM...our Father, our Saviour, our Friend. Give Him first place and all other things will fall into their right place.

Just thinking out loud!

Friends help Friends Blog!!

Becky at Joyful Mother is giving away a copy of Boo Humbug by Renee Gutteridge. Sign up for a chance to win by October 29th!! Thanks Becky!

Amy Grant's newest book: Mosaic!!! 3 copies to Give Away!!

Mosaic, by definition, is a word that defines something designed out of small pieces to create a whole pattern – be it from small pieces of glass, cloth or any other thing that is colorful and unique. Biologically, the term describes a person displaying alternative characteristics of both parents. But, I suppose one of my favorite definitions is the image of colored threads arranged side by side so that the cross section shows a pattern. I’ve often been directed to the analogy of God weaving a beautiful pattern in our lives…we see only the strings and pieces of our own lives, but He views the completed and beautiful whole.

Amy Grant must have chosen the title of her book with all of those meanings in mind, for her book Mosaic Pieces of my Life So Far is exactly what the title implies. It is a book built of random stories from her life joined by the words of songs she has sung and poems she has written throughout her forty-some-odd years of living. However, once you reach the end of the book, you see the picture of her life as a whole and the beautiful way that God has worked in her and through her to create the light of His love among the people and places He has designed especially for her. She knows that and recognizes the awesomeness of His love and mercy in her life, and that is what makes Mosaic a beautiful book.

I will admit, the only thing I knew about Amy Grant when I agreed to review her book was that she sang a song (Age to Age) that I liked a lot when I was younger. Now, after reading the book, I know that she is only eight years older than I am and that her childhood was not much different from mine. Because of that fact, I could relate to alot of the stories she shared in her book. There were stories that made me laugh, made me cry and stories that made me want to dance unto the Lord as she did once. I love the way she loves her children and her extended family, and I especially love how real and personal her relationship is to the Lord.

I imagine that if I was ever presented with the opportunity to meet Amy that we would find a lot to talk about. I have always felt it was important to record the events of my life, and I too have written journals full of events and many poems along the way to commemorate the moments that stood out in my own forty years of living. As a Christian, I am able to look back on the mosaic of my own life and see how gloriously God designed each step of the way and I am able to be thankful for His faithfulness and mercy. I can go back to the words of the song Amy sung for the first time so long ago, and be very, very glad that Age to Age He’s still the same!!

It was a privilege to be able to review this book, and I would highly recommend a copy to anyone who enjoys people who are real and who love the Lord. I have three copies that I will be giving away here on my site, so I invite you to leave a comment…you might receive your own copy to keep!! Please leave your email address in your comment so I can notify you when you are chosen! I hope you enjoy this book as much as I did! Thanks, Amy for following God’s direction and sharing the Mosaic of your life with us!

In High Places by Tom Morrisey

Haunting would be a good word to describe Tom Morrisey's book In High Places. I just finished the book moments ago, and I feel like I've just awakened from a dream...real, but not real. This book is a beautiful story of love, loss, sacrifice and God's mercy in the lives of those who seem determined to deny that He loves them.

I really loved Patrick and the way he shared his heart with the reader. I love the way he loved his dad and how he went to such lengths to make sure things were always as right as they could be between the two of them. Having finally reached the end of the story, I understand its perspective completely, and I love the way that Morrisey deals with the final question many of us deal with when someone has gone into eternity and we are left uncertain as to where they will spend that span. Tom Morrisey deals beautifully with the entire scope of that painful quest, and does it in a way that is tender and real.

I highly recommend this book! Thank you so much, Tom Morrisey for writing such a beautiful story! You are definitely NOT "mumbling to yourself in the dark!"