Real Life is Better Than Fiction

My last indie author, but certainly not least, during the Indie Authors Sale is Claire Banschbach. Claire M. Banschbach is a native West Texan. She discovered a deep and abiding love for fantasy and science fiction at a young age, prompting her to begin exploring worlds armed only with an overactive imagination and a pen while obtaining degrees in Kinesiology from Texas A&M and Physical Therapy from Texas Tech University. She talks to fictional characters more than she should while struggling to find time for all their stories. She currently resides in Arlington, TX where she works as a Pediatric Physical Therapist. You can connect with her on  Twitter  |  Facebook  |  Goodreads  |  Blog  |  Instagram Have you ever named a character in honor of someone you know? I have not named a character for someone in particular, but I’ve based a few characters off family or real life people before. At what moment did you feel like you...

I have yet another Indie Author guest that might be new to you. Keep reading to get to know Lisa Flickinger. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and the first time someone complemented you on something you had written? I live and write along the banks of a river shadowed by the Rocky Mountains. I love walking in the woods, camping, and over the last couple of years, fishing. I remember my fourth grade teacher being impressed with a poem I’d written and sharing it with the class. From that time on, I considered myself a bit of a poet even though I don’t write poetry. What can a reader expect when they pick up a book written by you? According to my readers, you can expect a lot of realistic adventure and surprises! You will also find heartwarming characters who struggle with their faith. Elements of humor also creep into my characters personalities and surprise me, too. What genre do your write and are there any unique challenges to this genre? If so, how have you o...

Today's guest is Sarah Holman. I thought we'd have a little fun and play 20 Questions with her. 1.) What is your Author name? Sarah Holman 2.) What is the first book you ever published?  The Destiny of One 3. What is your publiversary? March 2011 4.) What is your favorite book you've written thus far?  I hate to pick favorites. I would probably have to pick A Different Kind of Courage. 5.) What book took you the longest to write?  The one I wrote between the ages of 11 and 14? Of my published works, probably The Destiny of One 6.) How long did it take you? The Destiny of One took me two years 7.) What kind of music (If Any) do you listen to while you write?  I love stuff by Sound Critters, Audiomachine, Two Steps from Hell, and movie soundtracks. 8.) Who is your favorite character from any of your books?  Click the cover to go to Amazon That would be a toss-up between Kate Mayfield (Kate’s Case Files) and Maria Morr...

It has amazed me this year to find out how many indie authors were homeschooled. Kimia Wood, my guest author today, is yet another homeschooler turned author. Tell us a little about your "real" (Non-writing) life -- family, job, church life. Does it give you inspiration for your writing? Does it get in the way of your writing, or are there times when you get help, from people or circumstances? I work part-time at Hobby Lobby, count offering at my church, and spend my spare time on the internet or talking with my family. We spend a lot of time together, and a lot of my story ideas are hashed out with my father and brother. I get story ideas from all over – articles I read online, personal stories from other people, even just brainstorming. I've also included people from our church as characters in my books – ssh! Tell us about things you enjoy -- what you do for fun or personal satisfaction. I do almost any kind of handcraft involving yarn (knitting, crochet,...

Please welcome, Livy Jarmusch to the blog today. She is another indie author you need to meet. 1. Tell us a little bit about yourself. Hi there! So, my name is Livy, I'm in my twenties, and I'm just a liiitttllleee bit obsessed with writing. (But I'm sure you already guessed that, hehe!) I love creating pure, lovely, uplifting Christian fiction for teen girls, most of which is contemporary. (So far, anyway ;)). I love Disney, castles, glitter, and pretty much all-things-girly. I enjoy singing, playing guitar, and writing songs. I'm 50% introverted and 50% extroverted (yep, I'm split exactly down the middle), which makes for an interesting life (half the time I crave human interaction, and the other half of the time I'm locked upstairs in my room! hehehe...), but the most important thing about me, no, the only thing that truly matters about me, is my relationship with Jesus! Jesus is my Savior and Best Friend, and I love Him SO very much! 2. Do ...

Today's Indie Author is Erika Mathews. Erika Mathews is an editor and the author of Promise's Prayer (squeaky clean Christian kingdom adventure fiction and book one in Truth from Taerna) who lives in farm country with her husband and daughter. She’s a homeschool graduate with a Bachelor’s in Communications, a Master’s in Biblical Ministries, and a passion for sharing Jesus Christ and His truth. When she’s not working with books, she enjoys reading, outdoor activities, piano and violin, organizing, and using the Oxford comma. You can connect with Erika at restinglife.com . Having a little fun with Erika Mathews Nickname or “wannabe” name (If you don’t have a nickname, you can choose one you’d like, that tells us a little bit about who you are):  I don't have many nicknames, but one friend nicknamed me "Smiley." Another friend calls me "St. Erika the Commentator" because of my love of writing lengthy works. My best trait: abiding in Jesu...

I always enjoy meeting new authors, and the Indie Christian Books sale has been a great opportunity for me to do that. So, for every day during the sale, I thought I would invite one of them to stop by for an introduction. Today's guest author is Priscilla Krahn. Can you tell us a little about yourself?  I’m twenty years old, I live on a farm, and I’m the youngest of seven kids. Personality wise, I like to describe myself like my purse, bling on one side, camo on the other side, and the cross in the center. Depending on what settings you know me in, you might think of me as a loud tomboy who likes ice hockey, trapping and fishing, or you might think of me as a shy girl who likes bling, shopping, and coffee drinks. I enjoy spending time with my nieces and nephews, visiting with friends, and of course, writing. When you were a child did you have a favorite book or books? When I was little, my favorite books were Amelia Bedelia books. I learned to read with those books,...

Glass Blowing and The Christmas Admirer   By Laura V. Hilton Right before my youngest son joined the Coast Guard we went on a short mini-vacation to Springfield, Missouri, actually going farther north almost to Kansas City to see another Amish community near there in Osceola. There is a cheese factory there and my son wanted to try some of their cheeses – such as a ghost pepper cheese. Too spicy for me. But upon the return to Springfield, Steve read about a glass blowers shop in the downtown area. We found the address and went to visit it. It is owned by an older gentleman and his son. They had a display area set up where people could see their wares and buy them and then a work area where the son mostly worked, and talked about how the fire needed to be so hot, and showed us how he worked and made things. As we watched, he made a lovely flower, a lily, in different colors of glass, green, white, pinks. It was fascinating. And I got to thinking what if…  ...

Click on the cover to go to Amazon A Different Sort of Book My usual books are fast-paced suspense and mystery novels but my newest release, Puzzle House is a different sort of book than I usually write. However, that makes sense. I’ve been living a different sort of life for more than five years. My life was turned upside down when I was diagnosed with brain tumors and a genetic condition known as Neurofibromatosis Type 2 (NF2) in 2012. During these past several years, I’ve come to understand that nothing can be taken for granted. Except for God and his faithfulness. God has been there with me—every step of the way on this journey I didn’t want to take. After all who wants to get brain tumors?  In many ways PUZZLE HOUSE is the book I never wanted to write because I know had I never been diagnosed with the brain tumors, I would never have written this particular story. Like me the main character, Rachel, has NF2 but that’s not the main point of the story. T...

This Undeserved Life: Uncovering The Gifts of Grief and The Fullness of Life EVERY FRACTURED HEART ACHES FOR GRACE TO JUST BE Is it okay to grieve? What about loss other than death? Can I be sad and still trust God? Have you ever had the walls of your life shatter and feel you weren't allowed to be upset? Me too. The phrases, "This must be God's plan" and "It was meant to be this way" are often thrown around as encouragement but only deepen the wound. Loss after loss, I felt these fix-it phrases stripped my consent to grieve and acknowledge sorrow. This Undeserved Life invites you to honestly grieve your losses. You will recognize loss and brokenness are not a part of God's plan. It isn't weak to grieve; it takes courage and strength to choose to give loss the space it demands. "This is the story of how I surrendered my sorrow by grabbing ahold of it, leading me to unearth an immense amount of grace. My sorrow created in me an undeniable ...