I'm featured in a magazine!

Check out this month's edition of Christian Fiction Online Magazine - a magazine that stands out from all the rest of the e-mags. The format is similar to a print magazine and is professional in appearance and quality.

Check it out! Read about your fave authors and their books and, well, check out the spotlight on little ol' me.

M. L. Tyndall's THE RED SIREN

Worlds collide when a pirate lady meets a godly naval captain.

Faith Westcott abandoned her shallow faith when a series of tragedies struck her family. To save herself and her sisters from forced marriages, this fiery, born-to-the-manor redhead is a lady by day and a pirate by night. How long can she maintain this dual identity before she’s caught red-handed?

The God-fearing Dajon Waite, who scours the Carolina coast, expunging it of pirates and smugglers, is a more-than-capable captain in the British Royal Navy. But when he is asked to take on the guardianship of Faith and her sisters, he’s headed for deep water. Having vowed to avoid women, what will he do when he finds himself falling for Faith?

Sir Wilhelm Carteret has always gotten everything he desired, but Faith seems to be unaffected by his charms. When he devises a plot to rid himself of his competition, more than Captain Waite’s reputation is at stake as alarming secrets are revealed.

Will Faith regain her trust in God only to find herself headed for the gallows? Will Dajon scuttle his good name—and neck—to save her?

Best-selling author of The Legacy of the King’s Pirates series, MaryLu Tyndall writes full time and makes her home with her husband, six children, and four cats on California’s coast. Her passion is to write page-turning, romantic adventures that not only entertain but expose Christians to their full potential in Christ. For more information on MaryLu and her upcoming releases, please visit her website at http://www.mltyndall.com

Lady Pirate. I like that. Actually, after reading about Faith's adventures, being a pirate sounds kinda fun right now... okay, so maybe breaking the law isn't such a good idea.

High seas adventure is what I enjoyed most about this book. Rich settings and historical characters transport readers into a fresh kind of adventure.

If you like romance, then you'll love this book. Romance isn't my thing, but Tyndall balances it well with enough action and suspense to satisfy my need for an intense plot.

So how in the world did the author come up with the idea of a female pirate? Check out her answers to interview questions below (Q & A provided by Tyndall's publisher, Barbour www.barbourbook.com )

Q: Pirates and adventures on the high seas are topics you love to write about. What draws you to craft stories about these topics?
A: Tall ships in the Age of Sail have always been a passion of mine-- one that I gained early on as i grew up on the beaches of South Florida. I used to lie on the sand, listen to the waves lapping onshore, and dream of grand adventures on the sea. There is something romantic, yet dangerous, about the sea, and I admire the men and women who ventured upon it seeking new lands, fortune, and adventure. No matter what story I formulate in my mind, it always tends to include at least one of those magnificent ships sailing on the ocean blue.

Q: In The Red Siren, the story of Faith Westcott is taken from the parable of Matthew 13 in which the farmer sowed a seed on rocky soil. When the plant came up, it was withered and scorched because it had no root. What are the foundations that are so important in order for us to develop a faith with roots?

A: Great question! I believe the biggest and most important foundation for a victorious Christian life is to know God. By knowing God, i mean to really know Who He is. To know His character, His desires, His sorrows, and most of all His love. And like any relationship, you cannot get to know someone unless you spend time with Him. To know God should be our greatest desire. And we do this by reading His Word often, by praying without ceasing and by abiding in His presence. When we do these things, despite our enemies' continual attempts to stop us, we will come to see how wonderful, how faithful, how glorious and how powerful our God is. But most of all, we will get a glimpse into how much He truly loves each one of us. Then when bad things happen as they did to Faith in The Red Siren we won't fall away or become scorched by our trials. Why? Because we know that God loves us, and no matter how bleak things appear, He is working all things out for our good.

Q: Of the three sisters in The Red Siren who do you relate to most and why?

A: I'd like to say that I relate to Faith the most. She's independent, strong, confident, and courageous: everything I've wanted to be most of my life! Plus, who wouldn't want to try their hand at being a pirate? But, in all honesty, Hope is the sister I relate to the most. She's had a tough go of things. She's insecure, wounded and she's seeking more than anything to be valued and loved. She longs to be strong like Faith and to be pious like Grace, but she finds she can be neither. Though she knows about God, she doesn't value herself enough to think that God would give her a passing glance. So, she is easily drawn away from Him by the things of this world. This was my life before I came back to the Lord, so Hope's story (The Blue Enchantress, summer 2009) is very dear to my heart.

Q: What kind of books do you enjoy reading?

A: What I enjoy most in any book is a great adventure, heartfelt romance, lots of conflict, edge of your seat tension, and deep interesting characters who I can root for, cry for, and rejoice with. As long as a book has those elements, I'm not particular about the genre, although if I find these qualities in an Historical Romance, I'm in heaven!

So, if you enjoy intrigue, adventure and romance rolled up into one package, pick this book up today. Oh, and don't forget Valentine's Day is coming - pick up a few for some friends and drop hints to the men in your lives!

Spice it up, people!

You're missing out if you haven't read Searching for Spice by Megan DiMaria! The cover may look chick-lit, but it's so NOT.

Below is my review of the book, first published on Title Trakk.

Searching for Spice
by Megan DiMaria

“He’s standing in the middle of the kitchen, the questionable carton of half-and-half in one hand and a mug of steaming coffee in the other. His plaid robe hangs partway open, the belt loosely tied over wrinkled pajamas. A look of perplexity transforms his intelligent features into a caricature of a hapless sad sack.”

Sound like someone you’d want to lure into a steamy affair?

Linda Revere, assistant to an upscale photographer in Metro Denver, does. In fact, she initiates extreme efforts to seduce this clueless man, her husband. But wouldn’t you know it; when Linda launches her LAME (Linda’s Adventurous Marriage Experiment) plan rumors of an illicit affair burn through Dream Photography involving her boss and a co-worker and worse yet, Linda is subjected to the whims Carol the Wrecking Ball – a wealthy client her employer wants to keep happy. If that isn’t enough…

As her life spins out of control, Linda lowers her romantic expectations. She and Jerry are about to reach the twenty-five year benchmark in their marriage.
Jerry surprises Linda with an anniversary trip to Aspen. Unfortunately, Linda’s resigned her LAME plan to being lame. In fact, lying next to him night after night evolved to an exercise in tolerance.

Will Linda’s heart open to the wooing by her Savior as trials escalate? Can her marriage survive a cataclysmic discovery further down the road? Megan DiMaria crafts a novel so compelling, so real, you forget you’re reading fiction. Readers of all ages and stages of life will relate to the diverse cast of characters.

In past reviews, I’ve touted Barbra Kingsolver’s Poisonwood Bible as the paradigm for three-dimensional characterization on a two-dimensional page. DiMaria soars to paradigm quality.

Life is hard. Just when we think we’re through the fire, another log, a squirt of kerosene, or even a bomb is thrown in before the embers cool. Searching for Spice doesn’t shy away from this reality, however, the book is anything but a downer. DiMaria uses humor to buoy readers through the tough stuff Linda, Jerry, Emma and Nicky must face as a family.
Another strong thematic thread is the friendships Linda has with both Christians and non-Christians. These friendships are a lifeline.

Too many contemporary novels give men a bad reputation. Searching for Spice breaks that mold, restoring lost integrity to the male sex. Marriage is valued as something worth fighting for, not a disposable activity.

Megan DiMaria transcends the boundaries of genre, using fiction as a powerful tool to teach all of us how much Jesus loves us and comforts us in our deepest pain. Spice is a MUST READ for both men and women.

You can buy Searching for Spice at Borders, Amazon, Christianbook.com and other book retailers.

I urge you to support authors of great fiction and buy their books for yourself, friends and family.

In the coming posts, I will be posting reviews of some fiction you don't want to miss out on!

God knows. God sees.

Ever feel like God doesn't know what you're going through? Oftentimes, my cries are met by;

Nothing.

Silence.

Pain.

I was convinced He had no clue. Nor did He care.

Until . . .

Healing Stones: A Sullivan Crisp Novel by Nancy Rue & Stephen Arterburn.

Christians can be some of the cruelest people on the planet.

Not all.

But way too many.

Zora & Nicky by Claudia Mair Burney, rocked my world as I knew it, giving me the courage to be authentic. Burney's book was the first addition to the new genre I've coined: Transformative Fiction. It sat alone until now.

Healing Stones pulls out a plot so powerful no one can read it and remain the same. Rue and Arterburn shatter the illusion enveloping many Christian institutional settings, while infusing healing, hope and a plan toward authenticity.

EVERY pain, fear, hurt, doubt I'm experiencing now, showed up on the pages. Main character, Sullivan Crisp and secondary character Dr. Ethan Kaye rolled together ARE me.

Just change some genders, settings and details but keep the basic plot the same - except for the affair part and you've got my life. Down to the Breast Nazi.

Nancy Rue and Steve Arterburn pulled me out of my tiny little world, placing the puzzle piece called "The Adventurous Life of Darcie" into The Big Picture.

God sees. God knows. God grieves. God heals.

Healing Stones offers way more than a fantastic read. My opinion is that the book should be a handbook for any person wanting to do more than warm 3 square feet of sitting space in a church building once a week. It should be read by people who've been hurt by folks claiming the name of Jesus. It should be read by pastors, professors, Sunday School teachers and ministry leaders who yearn for expanding the Kingdom.

Okay. Go. Buy. It. Now.