Friday on Kitchen Chat: Tosca Lee, Jim Rubart and Erin Healy

Welcome to this week's Kitchen Chat - Be sure to tune in on Friday at 11:00AM Central! To listen, follow the link and click on the player in the upper right hand corner.

Join us for Kitchen Chat this week as we hear from three of the best in Christian Suspense: Tosca Lee, Jim Rubart and Erin Neely. I had the privilege of interviewing these three during the International Christian Retailing Show in July.


About Tosca: Tosca Lee is the critically-acclaimed author of Demon: A Memoir--Christy Award finalist and ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year Silver Award winner--and Havah: The Story of Eve, which received a starred review from Publishers Weekly and 4.5 stars from Romantic Times.

Forbidden, the first book in her new series with New York Times Bestseller Ted Dekker, releases September 2011.  Iscariot, Tosca's highly-anticipated novel about the infamous betrayer of Christ, releases January of 2012.

A former first runner-up to Mrs. United States, Tosca received her B.A. from Smith College in Massachusetts. She also studied at Oxford University. For more info visit Tosca's website at www.toscalee.com.

About Jim: I've been a professional marketer since 1994 through my company Barefoot Marketing, but my passion is writing fiction.

I'm also a photographer, guitarist, professional speaker, golfer, and semi-pro magician. I live in the Northwest with the world's most perfect wife and my two almost-perfect sons. No, I don't sleep much. You can catch up more with me at

www.jimrubart.com.

About Erin: Erin Healy is an award-winning fiction editor who worked with Ted Dekker on more than a dozen of his stories before their collaboration on KISS and BURN. Her new novel NEVER LET YOU GO released in May 2010. She owns WordWright Editorial Services, a consulting firm specializing in fiction book development.

Friday on Kitchen Chat: Jeane Wynn and Bodie Thoene!

Welcome to this week's Kitchen Chat - Be sure to tune in on Friday at 11:00AM Central! To listen, follow the link and click on the player in the upper right hand corner.

Join me Friday morning at 11:00 AM for an incredible interview with two of Christian publishing's biggest forces, publicist Jeane Wynn and Bodie Thoene. You won't want to miss a moment as Jeane and I chat about the lastest in publishing trends and hear about the woman behind Wynn-Wynn Media. During the second half of the show we'll be hearing from one half of the Bodie and Brock Thoene team. The Thoene's have been dubbed "the cornerstones of Christian Fiction".

About Jeane Wynn:

Wynn-Wynn Media was formed in 2001 by Jeane Wynn and her husband Tyson. Jeane began her career in publishing in 1989 as a salesperson for NavPress. During her time at NavPress, she was promoted to a six-woman team that developed and launched Clarity magazine. She has worked in various positions in publishing, from sales to marketing, with such companies as WaterBrook Press and Honor Books. During her time as a marketing manager she hired and worked with a number of publicists.

The Wynn-Wynn Media vision was a combination of her love for good books and her understanding of all aspects of publishing, from acquisition to editorial to marketing to sales. The whole of her publishing experience has enhanced her abilities as a publicist. Jeane has spent over 20 years in Christian publishing. Her business partner is her husband Tyson Wynn, who holds a degree in English from Oklahoma State University. He works with her in the business as an editor, strategist, and administrator. Jeane is also an alumnus of Oklahoma State, with a degree in communications. Tyson and Jeane were raised in the same small town of Welch, Oklahoma. 

Fiction titles make up over 70 percent of our list. We work with all types of media for fiction campaigns from long lead print to internet broadcast and social media. Our clients have included publishers such as Thomas Nelson, Zondervan, Hachette, Cook, B&H Publishers, Summerside Press and WaterBrook Press. Wynn-Wynn Media works with various authors of many genres. With several of these authors we have had the privilege of working on several of their titles.  We have also happily served as the publicists for the Christy awards for the past five years. Our mission is to strive for integrity, creativity, deliberation, and consistency every day for every client. Our offices are located out of Welch, Oklahoma.

About Bodie:  
 
Bodie and Brock Thoene (pronounced Tay-nee), often called “the cornerstones of Christian fiction” for their pivotal role in launching Christian fiction in the 1980s, have written over 50 works of award-winning historical fiction with publishers such as Viking-Penguin, Thomas Nelson, Bethany, and Tyndale. That their titles have sold more than 20 million copies and won eight ECPA Gold Medallion awards affirms what millions of readers have already discovered—the Thoenes are not only master stylists and researchers but experts at capturing readers’ minds and hearts. Their classics are timeless—Vienna Prelude, first published in 1989, in The Zion Covenant series, was a finalist in two categories for the 2008 Audie Audiobook Award. Prague Counterpoint, also from the Zion Covenant series, competed with The Shack and other well-known titles to win the 2009 Audie Audiobook Award for Most Inspirational Audiobook of the Year.
The Thoenes are not only master stylists but experts at capturing readers’ minds and hearts.

Bodie began her writing career as a teen journalist for her local newspaper. Eventually her byline appeared in prestigious periodicals such as U.S. News and World Report, The American West, and The Saturday Evening Post. She also worked for John Wayne’s Batjac Productions (she’s best known as author of The Fall Guy) and ABC Circle Films as a writer and researcher. John Wayne described her as “a writer with talent that captures the people and the times!” She has degrees in journalism and communications.

Brock has often been described by Bodie as “an essential half of this writing team.” With degrees in both history and education, Brock has, in his role as researcher and story-line consultant, added the vital dimension of historical accuracy. Due to such careful research, The Zion Covenant and The Zion Chronicles series are recognized by the American Library Association, as well as Zionist libraries around the world, as classic historical novels and are used to teach history in college classrooms.

Bodie and Brock have four grown children—Rachel, Jake, Luke, and Ellie—and seven grandchildren. Their sons, Jake and Luke, are carrying on the Thoene family talent as the next generation of writers, and Luke produces the Thoene audiobooks.

Bodie and Brock divide their time between London and Nevada. Find out more at their website.

About their latest release:
As Nazi forces tighten the noose, Loralei Kepler, daughter of a German resistance leader, must flee her beloved Germany. But is any place safe from Adolf Hitler's evil grasp? Loralei's harrowing flight leads her into the arms of needy child refugees, who have sacrificed everything in exchange for their lives, and toward a mysterious figure, who closely guards an age-old secret.

Explore the romance, the passion, and the danger of the most anticipated series of the last twenty years.

Born from the highly acclaimed and best-loved novels of three generations of readers -- The Zion Covenant series and The Zion Chronicles series -- Zion Diaries ventures into the lives of the inspiring and intriguing characters who loved intensely, stood up for what was right, and fought boldly during Hitler's rise to power and the dark days of World War II.

TOMORROW on Kitchen Chat: Editors Beth Adams and Ginger Kolbaba

Welcome to this week's Kitchen Chat - Be sure to tune in on Friday at 11:00AM Central! To listen, follow the link and click on the player in the upper right hand corner.

I'm thrilled about our guests this week - two amazing women who are both editors and authors. Best of both worlds I'd say! The first half hour we'll hear from Beth Adams who is an Editor with Guideposts. The second half of the show will feature Ginger Kolbaba, who is an editor for Kyria.com. All you aspiring authors (myself included!) have your questions ready. Call into the show (1-877-864-4869), tweet them (@mcsweeney) or leave them on the segment post.

About Beth: Beth Adams is a senior editor at Guideposts Books. She works on primarily on inspirational fiction. She hails from California, and lives in Brooklyn with her husband.

About Ginger: Ginger Kolbaba is editor and manager of discipleship and women’s resources, including the newly launched Kyria.com, and Marriage Partnership.com, an award-winning publication and website of Christianity Today International, both with more than 2.5 million unique visitors annually. She is also a freelance book editor for several major publishing houses and a former editor of the award-winning publication Today’s Christian Woman.

Also an accomplished author, Ginger has written more than 300 articles and has written or contributed to more than 16 books, including the best-seller Refined by Fire, which received a starred review in Publisher’s Weekly and was nominated for a Gold Medallion award. Her most recent novel series, Secrets from Lulu’s Café, includes Desperate Pastors’ Wives, A Matter of Wife and Death, and Katt’s in the Cradle.

Ginger also teaches and speaks across the country. She’s been quoted in Newsweek and the Chicago Sun-Times and has appeared on national venues such as CNN’s Nancy Grace and Court TV’s Catherine Crier Live, as well as Chicago’s top rated talk radio station WLS, Family Life Radio, and Moody Radio’s Midday Connection.

She is a graduate of Anderson University (Anderson, Indiana), and worked as a professional actress and singer before making the transition to more sane and solitary roles behind a computer.

When she isn’t chained to her computer, Ginger enjoys spending time with her husband motorcycling through the countryside, visiting Yellowstone National Park, walking her Doberman, reading good books, and talking theory with her friends about the television series Lost. She believes one of her greatest accomplishments would be dusting off her piano and treadmill and using them both—at least once this year.

Visit her at www.GingerKolbaba.com.

About Ginger's latest book: Four pastors' wives. All desperate for something.

Is it possible that their desperation will lead to hope?

Mimi, Lisa, Jennifer, and Felicia all live in the fishbowl of Red River, Ohio. Everyone expects something from them. Gourmet casseroles. Perfect husbands. Well-behaved children. They expect even more of themselves.

The constant demands and always-ringing phones are enough to drive any sane woman crazy. Add to all that the condescending Katherine Fleming Katt -- self-promoting pastor's wife of the town's largest church -- who loves to flaunt her superior position. In the midst of such chaos, will each woman find the one thing she longs for?

When the unflappable Kitty Katt starts showing up at odd places, the four friends get suspicious. Is Kitty hiding something? What secrets lie behind her "perfect" exterior? But even more significant than unraveling Kitty Katt's secrets is finding answers for themselves.

Win an on-line membership to Kyria.com and a copy of Desperate Pastors' Wives, the first novel in the Lulu's Cafe series. Leave a comment {HERE} and don't forget to include your email address.

Guest Blogger ... Debora Coty

“Mom,” my 24-year-old daughter looked at me sheepishly, “I have something, um, not so good to tell you.”

Oh, no. “Just call your congressman and leave a message.” Not very profound, I’ll admit, but after 9000 things going wrong on top of the jungle rot stomach flu, I just couldn’t take much more.

“I don’t want to talk to my congressman,” she replied with thinly stretched patience, “I want to talk to you.”

I definitely didn’t want to hear this.

“No, don’t glaze over, Mom.” She peered into my eyes and grabbed my arm. “And don’t disappear into that cave you call your office.”

Rats. The girl knew all my tricks.

“First of all, it was an accident, so don’t be mad.”

My tremulous tummy roiled.

“I came over to help you by cleaning the house.” She began towing me ever so gently into the living room. “But your psycho vacuum went ballistic and chewed up the new carpet.” She steered me to the center of the room where previously perky Berber fibers had somehow been sucked into the bowels of the vacuum and ripped loose from the carpet nap across a 5-foot swath. It looked like a giant run in a stocking.

Sigh. Ever have one of those days when the relentless forces of Spontaneous Degeneration kick you in the gut? What? Never heard of that infamous Coty Near-Fact of science?*

My theory of Spontaneous Degeneration declares that when left in an unnaturally clean state, matter will spontaneously deteriorate. Atrophy. Unravel.

You, too, have witnessed the ravages of Spontaneous Degeneration: an hour after you triumphantly finish slaving over a clean house, mold begins sprouting on shiny faucets, green slime oozes from the vegetable crisper, tiny hairs creep up from the drain and imbed themselves in the bathroom sink, and dust bunnies proliferate for a closet reunion.

The obvious conclusion? It’s best not to clean. Housework is something nobody notices until you ignore it. Then everybody becomes your mother: Do you live in a barn? I don’t remember an indoor blizzard! I forget - what color is this carpet?

So I’m not Martha Stewart. Or even the biblical Martha who zipped around tidying, cooking and organizing when the Son of God came to visit (Luke 10). But isn’t that a good thing? Didn’t Jesus rebuke Martha for her preoccupation as a human do-ing rather than a human be-ing?

So when we’re tempted to forsake our devotional moments, family time, or prayer walks to toothbrush the grout, disinfect the toilets, or scrub the baseboards like Martha on steroids, let’s remember Jesus’ words to His beloved spiritual sister: “Martha, dear Martha, you’re fussing far too much and getting yourself worked up over nothing” (Luke 10:41, TM).

Only one thing is truly of eternal importance: Papa God. And He created dirt!

* Consult my book Mom NEEDS Chocolate for other Coty Near-Facts of Science such as the TCC (Time Contortion Continuum) and Theory of Negative Relative-osity.

____________________________________________

Debora M. Coty is a humorist, speaker, internationally published writer of over 80 articles and award-winning author or co-author of 11 inspirational books including Mom NEEDS Chocolate, Heavenly Humor for the Woman's Soul and Everyday Hope. Her children's devotional, Prayers for Daughters, debuts this month in bookstores and she is currently working on Too Stressed to Feel Blessed (And Other Feminine Fairy Tales). Deb has two kids and lives and loves in central Florida with her husband Chuck and desperately wicked pooch, Fenway. Stop by and swap cyber-hugs at www.DeboraCoty.com

For so long I have lived my life in fear...

My Lesson from a Horse Whisperer

On Kitchen Chat a few weeks ago I interviewed Dr. Lew Sterrett, an internationally acclaimed horse whisperer. Little did I know that this show would transform my life.  As someone who is afraid of horses, I did not miss the irony that I was interviewing a horse whisperer.  When I was ten years old and went to a church camp, I rode a tall horse for the very first time.  This horse trotted away.  The saddle was not completely tightened and it slid down the side of this large animal. I fell off. Like a heavy tumbleweed, I rolled through the dusty dirt among the gravelly rocks.

Read the rest here.


Also, the interview with Andy Andrews from last Friday's show was SO interesting. What an amazing man. The podcast is up - listen here! He shared about how he got started writing, about what life was like living on the streets and about his latest book, The Heart Mender. A must read. In fact, you still have a chance to win a copy of The Heart Mender. Leave a comment on the Andy's segment post here. The winner will be announced Thursday.

TOMORROW on Kitchen Chat: Andy Andrews!

Welcome to this week's Kitchen Chat - Be sure to tune in on Friday at 11:00AM Central! To listen, follow the link and click on the player in the upper right hand corner.

Don't miss Friday's show. Andy Andrews will be here talking about The Noticer and his new release, The Heart Mender. Hailed by The New York Times as a “modern-day Will Rogers who has quietly become one of the most influential people in America," Andy Andrews is an internationally known speaker and novelist whose combined works have sold millions of copies worldwide. He has been received at the White House and has spoken at the request of four different U.S. presidents. I'm thrilled at this chance to interview Andy. Tune in on Friday at 11:00 CST.

About Andy: Andy Andrews, hailed by a New York Times reporter as someone who has quietly become “one of the most influential people in America,” is a best-selling novelist and in-demand corporate speaker for the world’s largest organizations. He has spoken at the request of four different U.S. presidents and at military bases worldwide. He is best known as the author of the international bestseller The Traveler’s Gift, which has sold more than a million copies worldwide and has been translated into 20 languages since it was released in 2002. Andy is also the author of The Lost Choice, Island of Saints and Return to Sawyerton Springs. He lives in Orange Beach, Alabama, with his wife Polly and their two sons. For more information, please visit AndyAndrews.com.

About The Noticer: Orange Beach, Alabama, is a simple town filled with simple people. But they all have their share of problems—marriages teetering on the brink of divorce, young adults giving up on life, business people on the verge of bankruptcy, and many of the other obstacles that life seems to dish out to the masses.

Fortunately, when things look the darkest, a mysterious old man named Jones has a miraculous way of showing up. A man of indiscriminate age and race with white hair and wearing blue jeans, a white T-shirt, and carrying a battered old suitcase, Jones is a unique soul with angelic-like qualities. Communicating what he calls “a little perspective,” Jones explains that he has been given a gift of noticing things about life that others miss. In his simple interactions, he speaks to that part in everyone that is yearning to understand why things happen and what they can do about it.

Based on a remarkable true story, The Noticer beautifully blends fiction, allegory, and inspiration. It provides simple, yet powerful distinctions about love, relationships, value, and integrity and will
inspire readers to take that first step toward a major life change.

About The Heart Mender: Can natural enemies make peace? Actually . . . can they fall in love?

In 1942 and 1943, German subs are dispatched to the Gulf of Mexico to sink U.S. vessels carrying goods and fuel. While taking a late-night walk, Helen Mason‚ widowed by the war‚ discovers the near-lifeless body of a German sailor. Enraged at the site of Josef Landermann’s uniform, Helen is prepared to leave him to die when an unusual phrase, faintly uttered, changes her mind.

In The Heart Mender, a small town must prepare itself for the worst the world has to offer, and Josef and Helen must reconcile their pasts to create a future. Andy Andrews once again provides a unique blend of historical fact and engaging fiction showing the power of forgiveness. For more info or to purchase the book, visit The Heart Mender website.

The Twilight I Longed For by Kathi Macias part 2

Read part 1 here.

Didn’t we all begin our lives with great dreams and plans? As we grow up and establish lives of our own, those dreams and plans expand to include those we love. Did all those dreams and plans work out as we’d hoped? Probably not, though some may have come close and possibly even exceeded our expectations.

But what of the plans and dreams that were birthed in us when we came to that place in our natural lives where we gave our hearts to Christ and became true believers? Did any of those new plans or dreams include hurting others or dishonoring our Lord? Of course not. Yet those things sometimes happen, don’t they? When they do, we confess them and ask for forgiveness and move on. Yet a whisper of disappointment often lingers in our hearts, floating like an unwanted wisp of smoke or vapor on the wind, reminding us of our failures and disappointments when we least expect it.

• The broken relationship
• The prodigal child
• The wasted opportunity
• The selfish choice
• The failed career/ministry

The list could go on indefinitely, and each of us could add to it. But what’s the point? Remembering the past only changes the present if we receive God’s forgiveness and focus on what He has promised us for the future.

And that’s the key. Though we as Christians know that our lives here on earth are but a tiny speck in the unending, incomprehensible enormity and joy of eternity, we are still trapped in these temporal, decaying bodies. If we don’t stay vigilant and focused, our everyday existence will overwhelm the reality of what lies ahead. Today then becomes the measuring stick of our lives, and somehow we all come up short. The “twilight we longed for” bears little resemblance to the actual final years of our life on earth, and that can prove to be a great tragedy.

The Scriptures tell us that God has put eternity in the hearts of all men (see Ecclesiastes 3:11), and that includes a sense of homesickness that can never be satisfied until we are at last in His presence. Our eternal home is not so much a place as it is a Presence—His—and basking in it will be the fulfillment of all the longings that have teased and tortured us while we walked the world in our fleshly limitations. That includes the poignant sense of regret and sadness that sometimes lingers or hovers over us, marring the twilight we longed for as our life on earth draws to a close.

Maybe the twilight you long for includes seeing your children and grandchildren grown and healthy and actively serving God—excellent aspirations! Or perhaps something a little more self-centered, such as a comfortable retirement nest egg and the ability to travel whenever and wherever you wish. Maybe it’s something as simple as maintaining your health and mental faculties so you won’t be a burden on someone else. If your heart is truly dedicated to serving the Lord, do you dream of coming to the twilight of your life after a long and effective term of service in ministry to God and others?

Whatever makes up the twilight you long for, there is always the chance that things may work out quite differently. We get sick, children make choices we wish they hadn’t, the economy collapses, your job is phased out, an earthquake hits….

Another endless list, and another pointless activity to dwell on it. For it isn’t so much what has happened (or not) by the time we reach the twilight of our lives, but rather where our heart is as we make that transition from twilight to everlasting Day, where the Son is the Light and our tears are at last wiped away. If our twilight years were as perfect as heaven, why would we want to leave here and move on? Though it’s important to serve God and others until our last breath, we do so with our focus on the joys that lie ahead, not the memories or sorrows that tug at us from behind.

If we truly want the twilight we dreamed of to become a joyous reality and not a time of heartache and regret, then we must be certain that from our earliest years our dreams are focused on the One who waits for us at the end of that twilight time. With God at the center of all we do and say and think, then the inevitable fading of twilight into darkness will be washed away in the brilliant burst of Sonlight that waits to show us the way home. Even the most difficult trials or visions of evil, such as those seen by the prophet Isaiah, cannot stand up to the glory that shall one day be revealed in those of us who belong to the One who has already conquered the regrets and disappointments that lurk at twilight.

______________________________________________

Kathi Macias (www.kathimacias.com) is a radio show host and the author of more than thirty books, including Valeria’s Cross from Abingdon Press (co-authored with Susan Wales and releasing in September 2010) and the four-book Extreme Devotion fiction series (No Greater Love, More than Conquerors, Red Ink, and People of the Book) from New Hope Publishing.

______________________________________________

The Twilight I Longed For by Kathi Macias part 1

As a longtime lover of words, there are instances when their timing or arrangement unexpectedly snags my heart and evokes such deep emotion I can scarcely verbalize it. And so I ponder the meaning as well as the emotion for a while before trying to give them voice.

That’s what happened to me recently as I read through a very familiar portion of Scripture in Isaiah 21, where the prophet sees and declares the impending, violent overthrow of Babylon. Regardless of how Isaiah felt toward the city or culture of Babylon, he was nearly undone at the vision of what would happen to the people who lived there.

And rightfully so. Though we may feel compelled to proclaim God’s Word and to stand for His righteousness in the face of whatever evil comes our way, we should also grieve at the pain that comes to those who reject God’s warning and mercy.

Isaiah was so grieved that he said, “My mind reels, horror overwhelms me; The twilight I longed for has been turned for me into trembling” (verse 4, emphasis mine.) How descriptive of his anguish! And how lovely his words that so describe my own feelings as I approach the end of my earthly sojourn.

Oh, I know. I’m only sixty-two, and in today’s world that’s really not that old. But let’s be honest here, shall we? I’m a lot closer to the end than the beginning of my life. And I’m fine with that! After all, I know without a shadow of a doubt where I will go when I breathe my last. But even as a believer who has been blessed to walk with God for more than thirty-five years and to have spent much of that time in public ministry, I will admit that I have regrets. And Isaiah’s words, “the twilight I longed for,” brings many of those regrets to the surface.

What about you? How have you handled regrets?

Come back on Wednesday for part 2 of Kathie's article.

______________________________________________

Kathi Macias (www.kathimacias.com) is a radio show host and the author of more than thirty books, including Valeria’s Cross from Abingdon Press (co-authored with Susan Wales and releasing in September 2010) and the four-book Extreme Devotion fiction series (No Greater Love, More than Conquerors, Red Ink, and People of the Book) from New Hope Publishing.

______________________________________________