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Friday, August 10, 2012

Guest Bloggers Kathleen E. Kovach and Paula Moldenhauer and Titanic: Legacy of Betrayal

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Kathleen E. Kovach lives in northeast Colorado where she leads a critique group and is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers, serving as Rocky Mountain Zone Director. With a passion for movies, she has created Craft Cinema (www.craftcinema.blogspot.com) where she discusses movies through the craft of fiction. An award winning author of Christian romance, she presents spiritual truths with a giggle, proving herself as one of God's peculiar people. Visit her at www.kathleenekovach.com.

Author, speaker, and mom of four, Paula Moldenhauer has published over 300 times. Her first two novels release in 2012. She serves as Colorado Coordinator for the American Christian Fiction Writers and homeschools. Paula loves peppermint ice cream and walking barefoot. Her greatest desire is to be close enough to Jesus to breathe His fragrance. Visit www.paulamoldenhauer.com for devotionals, parenting articles and book info.

For fun info and to order Titanic: Legacy of Betrayal please visit www.titaniclegacyofbetrayal.com.

TITANIC: LEGACY OF BETRAYAL
by Kathleen E. Kovach and Paula Moldenhauer
Published by CreateSpace

ABOUT THE BOOK

A secret. A key. Much was buried when the Titanic went down, but now it’s time for resurrection.

April 1912 - Olive Stanford boarded the Titanic determined to protect all she held dear. Her secret will go with her to the grave—but how can she face the afterlife carrying the burden of her actions?

April 2012 - Portland real estate agent, Ember Keaton-Jones, distrusts men, with good reason. Ever since her great-great-grandfather, Thomas, deserted the family after the fateful sinking of the Titanic, every Keaton male has disappointed. Ember is on the brink of a huge sale when a stranger shows up with a key to a century-old secret challenging everything she believes. She meets forward-thinking Jeff Dawson who is working in the family’s musty antique shop and finds an unexpected ally in unlocking the mystery of her past. But can they undo the legacy of Thomas Keaton's betrayal? Carefully researched, this engaging tale includes true stories of the Titanic embedded in historical fiction.

Readers, buy your copy of Titanic: Legacy of Betrayal today!

AND NOW A WORD FROM OUR FEATURE AUTHORS

Draw All Men Kathleen E. Kovach and Paula Moldenhauer

How does one write a Christian story without writing a Christian story? Why would they even attempt that? We hope to answer these two questions in this article.

Let me begin with the second, using a slight paraphrasing. Why would anyone professing Christ want to write a book outside of the traditional Christian publishing market? In the beginning stages of our latest publication, Titanic: Legacy of Betrayal, we knew we were called to write real, to share our hearts without Christian verbiage. Not that writing for the inspirational market isn’t real, but to a fallen world it can certainly sound too good to be true. It becomes a turn-off, or in our case, they shut the book and refuse to give it a chance. We wanted to tell a story that might help someone who doesn’t know Jesus consider who He is. While we hope our Christian readers follow us, we tried to write in such a way that someone without faith will find it believable—and maybe even wrestle with God’s place in his or her life.

And now to answer the how of writing this type of story. Often in our past individual projects, we knew the spiritual thread even before the plot. This time all we knew was that we wanted readers to think about God by the end of the book. As we got deeper into the project we felt God whisper, “Do you see what we’re doing now?” Only God knows who is going to read this book. We gave it to Him to shape and to marble in the spiritual meat. As we worked through the plot, we’d occasionally declare that we had Ember figured out. Ember distrusted men—for good reason. Her journey requires her to step outside her walls and prejudices. She had to see her life through a different lens. We envisioned all sorts of themes, from trust to fear. But when we figured out what God wanted to say, the whole story fell into place. It appeared that He wanted to address generational bondage—how the choices of those who’ve gone before us affect how we think about life.

Some of us are in a prison of pain, blinded by our past, or even the past of our ancestors. We’re oppressed by things that were set in motion before we were old enough to make choices for ourselves. But these generational strongholds can be broken. We don’t have to live in the same dysfunction and patterns of our past or the past of our parents or grandparents. Jesus came to give freedom and a life of fulfillment. “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free” (Galatians 5:1 NIV). “My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life” (John 10:10 NLT).

He also said, “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself” (John 12:32). Even though this verse speaks of his crucifixion, the NIV version also states in the footnotes that “lifted up” can mean exalted. This is what we hope to have done in our story. We have exalted Christ in our worldview knowing that by doing so it will draw ALL men to Him.

How does one write a Christian story without writing a Christian story? Through faith that the One who is really writing it will be sure His message is told. Why would they even attempt that? To draw ALL people to Him.

* * * * *

Thank you, Kathy and Paula, for sharing with us today.

Reader Question: How important is it to you to read a book with a strong spiritual thread?

ENTRY RULES Readers, leave your email address (name at domainname dot com/net) along with your answer to the question for your chance to win a free Kindle eBook copy of the book featured above. Don't have a Kindle? You can download the free Kindle app for your PC, iPhone, iPad, or Mac. If you do not answer the question, and your email address isn't provided, you will not be entered.

This week, the contest is open to anyone worldwide.

7 comments:

Kathy Kovach... said...

Thanks for hosting us, Amber! Once your readers have finished this article and answered the question so they can receive a free eBook, perhaps they could jog on over to http://kristenatunstall.com/ and read parts one and two of Paula's and my writing journeys.

squiresj said...

I have not read anything by either of these authors. I would love to win and get to know their writing. Also would review and share. This book sounds very interesting.
Now to answer question - I love a strong spiritual connection in a book because during times like I am facing right now it can be an encouragement. Especially when you have no one to hug you close enough.

jrs362 at hotmail dot com

Kathy Kovach... said...

squiresj: Thank you for your honesty. One of the prayers I pray consistently for people is for them to feel Jesus' arms around them. I pray that for you right now.

Cheryl said...

I read a variety of books--some with a spiritual thread, some without. What inspires me most, however, is stories that show how God works in people's lives.

Blessings to you both,

Cheryl

ccmal(at)charter(dot)net

Unknown said...

Books and their characters stay with me
long after I've finished the last page

.
I like having good memories and a spiritual theme to carry with me.

Best wishes with Titanic the story sounds great!

Ruth Ann Dell said...

Thank you for this interesting blog post Amber, Kathy and Paula. Thank you for opening the contest to international readers--I live in South Africa.

It's fairly important to me for a story to have a strong spiritual thread and I would prefer such a story, but it's not essential. I'm an avid reader and sometimes read books without such a spiritual thread if they have a good storyline and are clean.

Legacy of Betrayal sounds like a terrific read.

Best wishes
Ruth Dell
ruthdell@mweb.co.za

Deb said...

It’s very important to me, I believe this is the writer’s opportunity to reach the unreached and to ministry to those who might be experiencing what that characters maybe going through in the book. For example when I was reading Julie Lessman’s Hope Undaunted there is a scene in the book where characters Patrick and Marceline O’Connor are talking about how she disregards his feelings and from that scene I was finally able to understand what my husband had been telling me about certain things we had discussed. My name is Deborah and my email address is rdunson@knology.net