Happy 3rd Birthday, Ancient Words Series!!

I’m celebrating the birthday of a beloved series this week with a giveaway! I hope you’ll join me! 

First, I want to clue you in on something you may have never known before. Bringing a book to publication and childbirth have a lot in common. After giving birth to 4 children and 1 1/2 novels, I can speak with experience. Let me explain:

In the beginning, there’s the excitement of the story to come. The thrill of making plans and dreaming of what it’ll look like in the end. The baby name books come back out, and you’re on the search for the perfect name. Only this time, you don’t have to get your husband to agree with it! 😉 Then you move on to the long wait. Carrying a child for 9 months is no easy task, and neither is walking around with an entire novel in your brain…and your heart! And just when you think the baby will never come, your labor pains begin! Labor pains…as in editing!! But eventually these too must come to an end, and you’re left to hold your sweet baby in your arms. Is there any prouder moment? I remember the first time I printed WCIF off and was able to touch it for the first time. It’s a sweet moment, but as with any birth, the private moment will come to an end, and you’re ready to show your baby with the whole world. The excitement, anticipation, sweat, tears, and joy. Bringing a novel through to publication is a lot like giving birth.

The birth date of the Ancient Words Series is July 3rd, 2012. So this year, I celebrate 3 years since my world turned upside down. I’ve shared several behind the scenes moments with you in a few blog posts in the past. A quick recap: Ancient Words started out as a stand alone novel. You can read about the difficulties I faced when God changed my best-laid plans in the previous posts: Humble Beginnings and When God Intervenes.

Random Facts About the Series:

* The earliest ideas for the series was birthed from the hypothetical question: What story would I write if I wrote something for the series, Love Finds You In..?

* The story line was in development for about a year before the pieces fell into place.

* I was driving from Unionville to Normandy for a July 4th celebration when the idea was conceived.

*I spent the evening eating dinner and watching fireworks with my family on the Arrowhead Ranch while the story burned and festered inside of me.

* The picture for Where Can I Flee was taken on Arrowhead Ranch.

* Ancient Words Series was named after the song, Ancient Words. The meaning of the song was a perfect fit for the series.

* The original novel, Ancient Words, now titled His Love Endures Forever, is about a teenage girl that finds a stack of letters written during the Civil War. But these letters contain more than history, they contain the gospel. In His Love Endures Forever, we’ll see how God uses the message penned by Claire Harper in Allie’s life 150 years later.

* His Love Endures Forever was almost a complete draft when sweet Allie took a step back so the Harpers could first tell their story in not one, but THREE novels: Where Can I Flee, In the Shadow of Thy Wings, and Out of the Ashes.

* “Ancient Words Series” is printed in red to symbolize the red printed words of Jesus in the gospels.

* Cover models for Where Can I Flee and Katherine’s Good News are husband and wife.

* Never Once became my theme song while I worked on the series. When I started this venture, I understood that I wasn’t capable of the task before me. God has amazed me over the last 3 years as He showed off His amazing power while using someone so feeble. I plan to share personal details about this area sometime in the future.

Here’s a look at the lineup as it stands today. *The covers are still missing for books 3 and 4, Out of the Ashes and His Love Endures Forever. You can read more about my summer plans concerning those covers here. :

Giveaway Details:

It’s exciting to see this small idea spring to life and grow into a five book series. Three years later and I still remember the series that sparked the idea. Ancient Words not only was inspired by one of my favorite Christian Fiction Series, but it’s also inspired by local history.  You can read more about the inspiration behind my series here.
To celebrate the moment, I want to share one of my favorite books from the Love Finds You In Series!

I recommend that you add all of these books to your reading list, but I’ll give away 1 book to 1 lucky winner this week!

And it’s Winner’s Choice! 1 lucky winner will choose between the 6 books listed below in their favorite format: Kindle Ebook or Paperback (Paperback is gently used).

Here’s How to Enter: 

1 Entry for Following my Facebook Page
2 Entries for Following my Weekly Blog
1 Entry Every Time you Share the Giveaway Link

To gain entries: simply like, follow, and/or share THEN let me know about it. You can reply to this blog post OR my Facebook link.
*Please make sure you follow through and confirm the blog follow when they email you. Your entry will NOT count if your email isn’t on my follower’s list.
**Once I reply or like your comment, you can rest assured that your entries are in my bowl.
***You can share the giveaway link on as many social media sites as you desire. You can also share it daily. Every share counts as a separate entry.

GIVEAWAY CLOSES JULY 3RD AT MIDNIGHT. WINNER TO BE ANNOUNCED HERE ON THE BLOG SATURDAY MORNING.

Prize Options:

*The links below will take you to the Amazon page where you can read a full book description.

Love Finds You in Annapolis, Maryland by Roseanna White

Love Finds You in Liberty, Indiana by Melanie Dobson

Love Finds You in Bethleham, New Hampshire by Lauralee Bliss

Love Finds You in Bridal Veil, Oregon by Miralee Ferrell

Love Finds You in Wildrose, North Dakota by Tracey Bateman

Love Finds  You in Tombstone, Arizona by Miralee Ferrell

And last but not least, some randomly useless facts…or memories that I have with this series:

Bridal Veil, Oregon was one of the first, if not the first, book that I read from this series, and it remains one of my favorites to this day.

Through this series, I met and became fans of Miralee Ferrell and Melanie Dobson, among others. However, these authors stand out because they both have multiple books in this series alone, and I’ve yet to read one that I didn’t LOVE. Seriously, this list is a very small sample of the great books this series has to offer.

Wildrose, North Dakota was the first book I read on my Kindle.

I read Bethlehem, New Hampshire three years ago while I was recovering from a tonsillectomy.

There was a very small, yet specific, detail in Liberty, Indiana that actually inspired part of the story line for my second novel, In the Shadow of Thy Wings.