Playlist for ONCE UPON A PAINTED HORSE

With only 3 days to go before the release of ONCE UPON A PAINTED HORSE, I'm posting the playlist of songs that were mentioned in the book. If you'd like to listen to the song, just click on the title to be brought to a YouTube video for each individual one. (And hopefully I got them all!) Music figured quite a bit in this one, especially with a hero who is the church pianist.

Enjoy!

The Blood Will Never Lose Its Power (Andrae Crouch)
Amazing Grace (sung by the church, but here's a great version by Alan Jackson)
Thrive (Casting Crowns)
Pretty Woman
Midnight Cry
I Am (Crowder)
Shoulders (For King and Country)
The One I'm Running To (Seventh Time Down)
Slow Fade (Casting Crowns)
More Than Wonderful (Sandi Patti & Larnelle Harris)

Upcoming Release & More Updates

Here's a little mish-mash of updates, etc. Seems like between this month and last month, I've been doing more writing than posting, and that's always all right!

First, just a reminder that September 19 is right around the corner. Reserve your copy of ONCE UPON A PAINTED HORSE at 99 cents before the price goes up to $2.99!

Also, as you can tell by the work-in-progress bar on my blog's sidebar (to the right), GOODNIGHT MY LOVE is coming right along. I'm really looking forward to sharing the story-behind-the-story on that one, as well as revealing the cover for this upcoming book, which is looking at a tentative release date of sometime early November.

More coming, but I'm on my way in a few minutes to attend a MICHAEL W. SMITH concert tonight with my hubby! Check back this week for more posts/updates.

Happy Reading!

Quickie September Note

First...Happy September!

And ONCE UPON A PAINTED HORSE is now available for preorder on Amazon!

Please note, too, that this book is on sale for 99 cents until after its release, when the price will change to $2.99. So reserve your copy today!

Excerpt from ONCE UPON A PAINTED HORSE

That's me, to the right, with a friend! Is that not cool? While on vacation with my husband, Bill, I couldn't resist getting a shot with a REAL painted horse!

And with the release of ONCE UPON A PAINTED HORSE only weeks away, I thought I'd give readers a little taste of what's on the way.

So here goes, an excerpt from my new, soon-to-be-published Christian romance novel (which as I said before, has paranormal elements).

Enjoy!

“Welcome to Meridian Amusement Park,” Tom said softly. “Opened in 1908. For many years it was a dream come true. That is, for the first owner.”

“Was that your great-great-great grandfather?” she joked.

He led the way in, shaking his head. “No, it was another man. He sold it to my great-grandfather in 1958. That was the real heyday of this park, 1958 to about 1968. He sold it to my grandfather because he was afraid. He was the first one to say it was haunted.”

“By the farmer who killed his family and then killed himself?”

Turning to her, Tom didn’t seem either annoyed or surprised.

“That, and the little girl who fell out of the roller coaster,” he said. “She wasn’t restrained properly. She was also too young and probably shouldn’t have been on the ride anyway. That was in 1924.”

“How old was she?”

“Five, almost six. Her name was Bridget.”

“Ohhh…”

They were walking past a couple of old-fashioned ticket booths. Seeing the park from behind the gates was different from being inside it. Tom flashed her a kind smile.

“I don’t want you to think it’s always been tragic here,” he explained. “Yeah, there was also a man who was said to be disturbed who pushed another man off the Ferris wheel—and he fell about fifty feet to his death. But all that’s happened here hasn’t always been bad.”

“So there were happy times here, too?”

“A lot of happy times. Like—well, this way…”

Deeper into the park with him. With Tom, a guy she barely knew. Her parents knew him from church. Interestingly, Heather didn’t feel threatened by that at all. She felt safe with him.

And where were the ghosts? The spirits hidden in every shadow in that place?

The park wasn’t as scary as it was sad. Sad, lonely—and yes, a tragic place.

She thought back to all the scary movies she had seen. Now that Heather thought about it, she had seen more than she could name, including “classics”—or at least, a friend of hers at Barton Lamplight had called them classics. Movies like Night of the Living Dead, The Omen, The Exorcist. Lots of those slasher-style films, too, like Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13^th.

The amusement park wasn’t like that. Just an old place, frozen in time. They walked past an old, rusted Himalaya ride. A shop that might have sold baseball caps, T-shirts and plastic cups, other souvenirs, with the park’s logo. An area with games, like the one with the sign that read WIN A TEDDY BEAR, 25¢.

There had been fun there. Once, a long time ago. Heather found herself wishing it was still like that. Wishing the park was still alive.

“From what my grandfather told me,” Tom recounted, tossing out an arm showily at the entrance to the Tunnel of Love, “there were more than a few wedding proposals in this place.”

Heather smiled. “Wish it was still working.”

“Me, too. The water either was drained or they let it all evaporate over the years. Even if it wasn’t,” he told her, “there’s no electricity running through the place.”

“Nowhere in the park?”

“Nowhere.”

“Not even the lights?”

“Nope. I use a flashlight. I try not to come here at night, though.” Tom paused. “Since I was jumped.”

“You were jumped?”

“Yes. That happened in broad daylight, actually. They beat me and they left me there. Made off with my wallet and about thirty dollars. I guess they thought there was more money or something to find here.”

Heather sighed. No wonder he was that way around her the day he’d found her snooping around at the gate.

“Did you ever think about opening it again?” she asked.

“My dad did. He went broke. Not because of the park. He closed it a long time ago, back in ’74. Want to see something amazing?”

“I think the whole place is amazing.” She was being truthful with him. “Sad and old—but amazing.”

Grinning appreciatively, Tom took her gently by the arm and led the way.

“Well, then, you’ll really love this, Heather,” he promised.

He’s like the park.

Where had that thought come from? But it was true. Tom Clayton, though not old, was sad and rather haunted. Heather clasped her hand over the one he had on her forearm.

Now Available for PRE-ORDER

So excited to report that ONCE UPON A PAINTED HORSE is now available for pre-order from Smashwords! Check out the little widget on my sidebar.

Of course, if you prefer to pre-order from Barnes & Noble, Apple, Kobo or the others, that should be coming very shortly.

Also, please note that this book will actually be released on September 19, 2015. But if you wish, go ahead and reserve your copy!

August 2015 Updates

A couple of updates for readers today, to keep you abreast of what's happening on my end:

* ONCE UPON A PAINTED HORSE -- First draft will be finished TODAY. Although, for editing purposes, as well as preparing this baby's paperback version, I'll be pushing back the "official" release date to September 2015, the book will be ready for pre-order as early as THIS WEEK. I'll keep you updated so that you can reserve your copy!

* GOODNIGHT MY LOVE -- This one's in the works, and like many of my books has a little backstory that I'll be sharing shortly. This is a never-before-published sweet romance novel, historical (1960s), an old-fashioned, touch-your-heart tale! Again, like with CRYSTAL WAVES, I don't have the original and it almost made it to publication, so I will be rewriting it from scratch. For old-fashioned romance story lovers, I really think you'll like this one. Anyhoo, more on that later. Tentatively scheduled for an October/November release, with more info to follow.

That's it so far, but more news to come. Check back!

Movie Review: DO YOU BELIEVE?

Rating: Five doves!

Last night was movie night for my husband and me. Bill reserved a film from Redbox and told me, "We have to go pick it up at the kiosk." He didn't tell me the title of the movie nor what it was about, preferring it be a surprise.

So at the kiosk, I watched the title show up on the machine for the film he'd reserved and the pictures on the cover that formed a cross. I was elated that movie night would be spent on a Christian movie--but I was also leery. Christian movies are sometimes a hit or miss proposition.

Do You Believe, from the same people who brought us God's Not Dead, earned every one of its five doves from this reviewer. This one is a definite hit.

First off, this has quite a cast, including familiar faces that we haven't seen on screen in many years: Lee Majors, Brian Bosworth, Ted McGinley, Cybill Shepherd and Mira Sorvino. Delroy Lindo also has a brief but powerful role as a street preacher. In fact, it is his scene that lights the fire for the story.

Or should I say stories? Other reviewers have commented that Do You Believe? is like a Christian Crash, and to a point, that's true. Like Crash, there are several characters, along with their individual storylines--but that's pretty much where the similarity ends.

Make no mistake: This is definitely a Christian film. The gospel is not at all watered down but rather both presented and demonstrated through the story, which well written and well acted, to the credit of its fine screenwriters and actors. I found myself caring about every one of the characters.

Do You Believe? is about broken people: a runaway pregnant teen with nowhere to go...a soldier who's returned from war and is suffering PTSD...a young woman who has attempted suicide...an older couple who are still grieving the loss of their only child...two brothers involved in crime and headed for an early grave...a dying ex-con...a homeless widow and her daughter...an EMT whose marriage and career are at serious risk, all because he's about to stand up for his faith...a pastor and his wife, who have been unable to have children. Each of these characters will have an encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ and His cross, and as is the case with every person who has ever lived, each will have to answer the question for themselves: "Do I believe?"

No spoilers ahead--but I will say this movie is an emotional and powerful ride. It's a storyline that moves swiftly; you can't look away for a moment, because each scene is used to develop the characters or move the story along, and that's what's called "good storytelling."

Unlike Crash, Do You Believe? is guaranteed not to win an Academy Award. Do You Believe?, as a reviewer noted on IMDB, is not a movie striving for an earthly award that sits on a mantle and gathers dust. Instead, it seeks to plant a seed of faith in believer and nonbeliever alike, to offer hope to a hopeless and dark world. Its simple and timeless message is that, no matter what trials you face in this world, there is victory and peace to be found at the foot of the Cross on Calvary.

That is worth more than any award on this planet.