Archive for the ‘Books’ Category

99¢ SALE: One Day Only!

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For 24 hours we’re offering a brand new title for just 99¢! Pick up the author Carrie Daws and Kathy Barnett’s new book The Warrior’s Bride: Biblical Strategies to Help the Military Spouse Thrive for less than a buck for the Kindle during our one-day sale event. After Thursday the price will go up to $2.99 through the weekend and then it will return to regular price. So don’t wait– pick up The Warrior’s Bride right now for just 99¢ on Kindle.

The Warrior's BrideSynopisis: The call came down from Command, and your warrior husband is out the door, leaving you behind to handle whatever he has left undone. Whether it’s the day-to-day monotony, the inevitable appliance that breaks, or the months without his presence beside you, being a military spouse brings challenges few appreciate. Yet God sees you and longs for you to boldly step into His plan. He purposely chose you for this moment—for your man. He wants to give you abundantly more than what you have right now and desires you to thrive as your warrior’s bride. BUY NOW!

Gripping Novel Follows Young Orphan As She Navigates Tragedy

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Despite Devastating Loss, Young Girl Resolves to Let Hope and Love Prevail

The River KeeperFor immediate release: Witnessing her family die in a flood could have been enough to ruin Callie Mae McCauley, but she doesn’t let being orphaned at the age of eight destroy her tender spirit. The River Keeper (Ambassador International; October 2014; $14.99, paperback) follows young Callie as she navigates the stream of life. Through gentle ripples and vengeful rapids, she finds healing living with her grandmother in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Set along the banks of the New River in North Carolina in the 1940s, author Sarah Martin Byrd artfully writes about the rugged hillsides and idyllic meadows with familiarity that can only come from someone who has called this place home. Believed to be one of the oldest rivers in North America, the author has woven its natural history into the story of The River Keeper. “I have probably done more research on this one story than I’ve done on all my others,” explains Sarah, who has fished, swam and paddled through miles of the river. “The New River is so rich in history and folklore.”

Based on actual events, The River Keeper tells the story of the 13-year battle to protect the New River from development. In 1965 Appalachian Power filed an application with the Federal Power Commission for permission to build a two-dam hydroelectric and pumped-storage facility. This project would have flooded over forty thousand acres of rich bottomland, displacing as many as 3,000 people, destroying hundreds of cabins, churches and cemeteries and one of the most important archeological areas in the eastern United States.

The River Keeper is Byrd’s third project with Ambassador International. In 2012 Ambassador International published Byrd’s novel The Color of My Heart, which pushes readers to contemplate whether they believe heart matters more than skin. In 2013 Byrd released The Manger Mouse, a touching children’s book about a tiny mouse’s big role in the Christmas story.

About the Author: Sarah Martin Byrd is a graduate of The Institute of Children’s Literature. She is a published novelist, newspaper columnist, blogger, and former Advertising Manager for a regional newspaper. Sarah loves sharing her life story with children of all ages. She speaks at schools, book clubs, libraries and book festivals. Sarah lives at the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in North Carolina with her husband of 38 years. Her only daughter and grandchild live close by. When not creating new stories she loves camping, canoeing, fishing, her daily walks, and spending time with her family.

To receive a review copy of The River Keeper or to connect with the author please contact publicist Alison Storm by email at [email protected].

Does Your Kid Have an Amazing Smile?

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Does your kid have an amazing smile? We want to see it! Your child could star in the upcoming children’s book Everyone Smiles! We’re looking for a few great smiles to feature in the pages of this beautiful children’s book. Besides having a claim to fame, winners will also receive a Everyone Smiles Graphiccopy of the book plus FREE digital images from the photo shoot! All you need to do to be considered is submit a smiling photo along with your child’s name and age to [email protected]. Only entries from the Upstate of South Carolina will be considered. The deadline for entry is November 10, 2014 so hurry!

5 Things About Author Andrea Rodgers

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Learn more about your favorite Ambassador authors with our “Five Things” series. Author Andrea Rodgers wrote the recently released novel, The 20th Christmas, available now. Here are Andrea’s “five things”:

The hardest description for me to write about is sense of smell. . .because I don’t have one! There’s an actual name for this: Anosmia. Just as some people are without sight or hearing, approximately two million people are without the ability to smell, although I haven’t met a fellow non-smeller personally. I’m not sure whether I was born this way or if it was due to head injuries as a child, all I know is that it was gone by the time I was four years old and my friends were passing around scratch n sniff stickers! I failed my kindergThe 20th Christmasarten smelling test, but no one took it seriously. They thought I was telling stories. Most people considered me lucky because the only time I heard about anything smelling was if it stunk. I can be in an area with a skunk and not bat an eye.

I signed my first book contract on what would have been my paternal grandmother’s 100th birthday. I feel like it was her wayAndrea signing contract of letting me know that she was aware of my dream coming true. She used to give me a notebook and pen when I visited her, and then I’d sneak away to write. She always asked to read my stories which meant a lot. My grandma loved to read and I wish she could have read The 20th Christmas, especially since several years in a row I bought her a holiday-themed book as her Christmas present. But, I’m so thankful she lived ninety-seven-and-a-half years; she had the best case scenario for life—she was healthy right until the very end and still sharp, always beating everyone at the game of Rummikub.

Most people on both sides of my family hate to write, although it’s likely that I inherited the writing gene from my maternal side. My grandma’s brother wanted to be an author but had to go to war and work to pay the bills—however, he was briefly a writer for the Kansas City Star Newspaper. His grandmother was the first in our family to come to the United States from Naples, Italy. Her father died when she was young, and when she was sixteen her mother married a man with two teenage sons so she was sent as steerage on a ship to a convent in New York. Supposedly, she had a great passion for storytelling—it was what got her through depression as she didn’t have an easy life. Despite the nuns at the convent introducing her to their gardener whom she married, moved to Kansas City, and had three children with (+three who didn’t survive past infancy), he turned out to be an alcoholic and she was a widow before the age of thirty. She was a strong, independent, successful woman ahead oAndrea author shotf the times, though. She opened a produce store, candy shop, and had an apartment complex built for her family to live and rent out—and lived to be almost 100 years old. It’s a fascinating story and I would love to use it as inspiration for a novel someday. I feel a connection to these two ancestors—like, I’m not only pursuing my dream for myself but for them because they wanted to be published and weren’t able due to their circumstances.

Andreas first bookI’ve improved on my titles since my childhood stories. I recently came across a box of my first work and I laughed my way through reading them. Some are as follows: Doritos Don’t Care, Where The Cornfield Is Alive, Potato Chip Sundaes, and The Truth About Dillyanna (I made up the name Dillyanna when I was in fifth grade and thought it was the coolest name ever. I’m sure my daughter is very glad I didn’t stick with it and name her that)!

I love music. My artistic/creative energy has always gone toward writing, but I still appreciate all of the other arts. If I had any singing ability, I would have gone that direction. Music really helps me get into the zone of writing if I’m stuck. Many of my stories are inspired by songs that I hear, such as “Breath of Heaven” which is the theme song for The 20th Christmas!

99¢ SALE: One Day Only!

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For 24 hours we’re offering a brand new young adult title for just 99¢! Pick up the author Laura Taylor’s new book EE Otter and the Bullfrog Bullies for less than a buck for the Kindle during our one-day sale event. After Thursday the price will go up to $2.99 through the weekend and then it will return to regular price. So don’t wait– pick up EE Otter right now for just 99¢ on Kindle.

E.E. OtterSynopsis: Everyone has to deal with a bully at some point in life, and it can be really, really hard! Come tag along on an adventure in Laurel Wood and see how a young otter named Elliot Emerson, or E.E. for short, and his gang of friends square off with a group of bullfrog bullies on the basketball court at Dogwood Park.

You’ll meet Random Raccoon, Gracious and Gallant Gosling, and Worrisome Woodchuck as they stay faithfully by E.E. when he stands up to the Bullfrog Bully and his three toadies. And you will listen with the gang as Opaah tells one of his famous Compass Tales to help E.E. learn how Jesus can help him do the very thing that the young otter thinks is impossible! BUY NOW

New Book Teaches Kids How to Biblically Combat Bullying

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Author Draws Inspriation from a Her Sons

For immediate release: October is National Bullying Prevention Month. Over 3.2 million students are victims of bullying each year and 17 percent of American students report being bullied at least two times a month according to dosomething.org. Author Laura Taylor hopes her new children’s book, EE Otter and the Bullfrog Bullies (Ambassador International; October 2014; $6.99, paperback) will give kids tools to help them put a stop to bullying the Biblical way.

E.E. OtterStudies from the National Association of School Psychologists show that one in four teachers don’t think bullying is wrong and only intervene 4 percent of the time. “Bullying is a heart issue and so many of the programs that are implemented deal with punitive measures that address the behaviors and don’t address the issues of heart,” says Taylor, a teacher herself. “And while punitive measures need to be in place as a consequence to bullying someone, we need to understand that God’s desire is to change hearts with His love and power.

EE Otter and the Bullfrog Bullies follows a band of loveable animals as they encounter relevant issues that many kids face at school today. When a group of scary bullfrogs threatens them for using the basketball court EE and his pals try to fight back. EE’s grandfather uses the situation as an opportunity to explain how the Bible says we should treat our enemies. He points to Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, citing Scripture as a powerful source of guidance. Using the wise advice, EE is able to show love to the bullies, relying on God’s Word and prayer to help him through a difficult situation.

About the Author: Laura Taylor resides in rural South Carolina. She holds a B.S. degree in Therapeutic Recreation from Houghton College and teaches at Wardlaw Academy. She and her husband are the parents of five amazing and busy boys! They operate a small martial arts school where their passion is ministering the transforming love of Jesus Christ through the medium of martial arts.

 

For interview requests please contact publicist Alison Storm via email at [email protected].

 

 

99¢ SALE: One Day Only!

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For 24 hours we’re offering a brand new non-fiction title for just 99¢! Pick up the author Sarah Martin Byrd’s new book The River Keeper for less than a buck for the Kindle during our one-day sale event. After Thursday the price will go up to $2.99 through the weekend and then it will return to regular price. So don’t wait– pick up The River Keeper right now for just 99¢ on Kindle.

The River KeeperSynopsis: Callie Mae McCauley knows a girl’s got to be leathery, or she’ll be tore to pieces by the weight of all her troubles and trials . . . The tragedy Callie endures will forever change her simple, yet full life in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Orphaned at age eight, she must move to her Granny Jane’s, where she soon realizes the shock of what she’s seen has stolen her voice.

A new neighbor and Granny Jane’s swarm of honeybees help Callie find her tongue. She soon discovers that, although Chloe Combs may be peculiar, Miss Chloe may be her only friend when her uncles come to claim their share of Granny Jane’s land that straddles the New River.      Her uncles have a plan, and they won’t let anything or anyone stand in their way, certainly not their niece Callie. When Callie ends up in an orphanage, she knows a mountain girl can’t be held inside walls of plaster and wood. A mountain girl’s got to feel the earth beneath her feet and listen as the river makes sweet music in her ears.

But time is running out for Callie to save the New River—her river—from her greedy uncles’ plan. BUY NOW

Military Spouses Open Up About Fears, Worries and Stress of Military Life

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Authors Hope to Help Other Military Spouses Thrive

For immediate release: They’ve gone weeks without talking to their husbands, spent sleepless nights worrying about infidelity and agonized over whether they will see each other again. Marrying someone in the military means you not only marry them; you marry their profession, too. And as authors Kathy Barnett and Carrie Daws learned years after saying “I do,” they must not only love their men, but they must love the calling of those men as well. In The Warrior’s Bride: Biblical Strategies to Help the Military Spouse Thrive, (Ambassador International; October 2014; $15.99, paperback) Barnett and Daws hope to help others find hope and joy in their military marriages.

The Warrior's BrideWhether bearing the frustration of being a single parent while their spouse was deployed or dealing with the stress of yet another move, military spouses handle a unique set of life challenges. “One of the greatest frustrations about being married to a mili­tary man is knowing that you cannot plan your own life,” writes Barnett. “Your husband, and thus your marriage, is owned by the United States Government, and you are forced to accept the plans for the greater good over your own.”

The Warrior’s Bride includes funny stories, major failures and plentiful amounts of encouragement for people walking the path of being a military spouse. Daws and Barnett deal with touchy topics like the fear of death, the pain of infidelity and living with a wounded soul. “We are sharing what we have learned,” explains Daws, “and what Christ has taught us.”

About the Authors: Kathy Barnett has been Sam’s Warrior Bride for 24 years. With his recent retirement from the U.S. Army, she eagerly continues to serve Sam as they raise and homeschool their nine children. She and Sam counsel and minister to the needs of military families pointing them to the freedom found in Christ.

God rewrote Carrie Daws’ dreams, including being a stay-at-home mom and writer. Originally writing devotions, the Christian Writer’s Guild cultivated in Carrie a love for writing fiction. Carrie’s husband medically retired from the USAF, and they now live in Virginia with their three children. She stays busy homeschooling and volunteering within military ministries.

For more information about the authors visit Facebook.com/TheWarriorsBride. To connect with the authors please contact publicist Alison Storm at [email protected].

 

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99¢ SALE: One Day Only!

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For 24 hours we’re offering a brand new non-fiction title for just 99¢! Pick up the author Blake Westerns’s new book There’s No One Like Jesus for less than a buck for the Kindle during our one-day sale event. After Thursday the price will go up to $2.99 through the weekend and then it will return to regular price. So don’t wait– pick up There’s No One Like Jesus right now for just 99¢ on Kindle.

There's No One Like JesusSynopsis: Do we look for a love beyond full human comprehension? There is no one like Jesus in His love. Do we look for a power that can not only change us, but also change society? There is no one like Jesus in what He can do. Do we look for one who knows the future and will lead us into the future? Jesus is the only one who can do that.

Jesus surpasses the greatest human beings in His character traits. He excels in all His ministries. He is unique from whatever perspective we look at Him. Here is a person who will never disappoint and will never bore us. He is new even though He is eternal. If you want an anchor for all of life, Jesus is the only one dependable. There is no one more exciting, no one more wonderful, and nothing more beautiful than Jesus. Jesus is everything you will ever need, and He is more than everything you could possibly desire. He is “all in all” in one person! BUY NOW