Author: Carol Underhill

Baskets Full of Books Event

/ Carol Underhill / Leave a comment

I’d like to take the time today to tell you about a great group that I have been a part of since December 2019: The Christian Women Writers.

Here is an introduction from their website:

“First, a word about who we are. Our founder, Jen Gentry, established Christian Women Writers to create a caring and loving Christian environment that provides support to women of faith in their writing. With our combined resources, we can assist each other in our efforts to bring a light into the dark world in which we live.
As Christians, we believe the Bible is the inspired Word of God, and is our source of truth. Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, came as a man but was still fully God. He was tempted but lived without sin, died, was buried, and rose again as the perfect sacrifice for sin. He lives today to intercede for us.
The book you promote with us need not be overtly Christian, but it should be a clean read that is not offensive to the Christian faith. In addition, we request that promoting authors behave in a manner that is loving, caring, supportive, and kind. CWW’s Code of Conduct goes into more detail.“

Also from the website:

“The goal for this promotion is to build bridges of friendship with Christian women readers. As you know, Christian women face a bewildering array of reading choices. Where can they find compelling, entertaining, and thoughtful fiction that is supportive of their Christian worldview? Books that do not contain offensive language and/or sexual scenes? Amazon categories labeled “Christian” are no guarantee!

Basically, these readers are asking, “Whom can I trust?”

This is where we come in. Our Facebook parties give readers the opportunity to meet authors through chatty interaction and games. We want readers to enjoy our events, and to return again and again. Not because we have book ads blasting, but because our authors are likeable and engaging and fun. And also because readers can win eBooks and learn about special sales and other stuff.

Keep in mind that once Christian readers find an author they enjoy, they are incredibly loyal. Your job is to create trust and good feelings through friendly exchange. Book sales will come later.

All hosting takes place in this Facebook group: Free Christian Books and More. During the party, you will be given the ability to post. A moderator will be hovering in the background, should you run into any trouble.” (The Christian Women Writers)

As a reader, I’ve run into into “Christian” books on Amazon that had some shocking scenes and language that I didn’t expect for that genre. As stated above, it’s hard to find new authors that I can trust to present romance that has a Christian worldview.

As an author, I have participated in the Free Books and More events and have thoroughly enjoyed it. I have become acquainted with readers and garnered interest in my books. The events are fun to host and participate in.

If you are interested in connecting with readers, you can follow the link below to find out more about Christian Women Writers, Free Books and More Facebook group, and the Baskets Full of Books Event taking place in March.

https://www.freechristianbooksandmoreevents.com/?fbclid=IwAR28h4xvoMNluND_Kvwtbmk36h4S49AmGu8NV6vhG-yUAGCWS4z5Vgp6mUY

From the Vault: Healing a Broken Heart

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We are in the middle of February, the month when we are surrounded by hearts. Back in high school, a student could buy a carnation for their sweetheart to be delivered on Valentine’s Day. I always wanted to receive one, but never did. I suppose like any teenaged girl, the longing for a boyfriend was a huge one. I wrote stories about romance back then, but I admit that I had no personal knowledge to back them up.

In the first few weeks of my freshman year of college, I dated someone and ended up with a broken heart. It wasn’t the last one I’d ever have, but the pain was real. During the breakup, I heard a song called, Dreamer’s Dream, by Pete Carlson. (I tried to add a link here, but it wouldn’t work. You can find it on YouTube and listen to it.) The song speaks of broken dreams and how we can trust God to heal us.

I wish I’d never dated anyone before my husband, but then I might not have known how special he was. The first time he kissed me, my lips tingled. It didn’t take long to fall head over heels in love with him. He was the one I’d been looking for all along, and I’m so thankful for the twenty years I had with him.

I think back on the pain I felt each time the person I thought I was falling in love with turned out to be the wrong one. Without those failed relationships, I might never have known what true love was when I found it in my husband. Garth Brooks’ song, Unanswered Prayers, is definitely true in my life.

Broken hearts are painful at the time they happen, but they make excellent material for writing romance novels. As an author, I like to write about second chances in love. Most of my characters have loved once and lost, before falling in love again.

In my romance novel, The Reluctant Billionaire, Jessica returns home with a broken heart. Her longtime friend Liam is there to help her through it, showing her what it means to be cared for. They find that with God, and true love, broken hearts can be healed.

Easy Recipe: Mock Salisbury Steak

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Um, this kind of looks bad, doesn’t it?

Believe me, it is made with people food, not dog food. And it is food, not some other substance.

It tastes better than it looks. And it only uses 3 pantry ingredients, not counting the mashed potatoes.

Mock Salisbury Steak

Ingredients:

1 – 16 oz. canned beef, drained (See, it’s people food.)

1 jar brown or beef gravy

1 can cream of mushroom soup

Instructions:

In saucepan, whisk together gravy and soup. Add drained beef and stir. Heat until desired temperature.

Serve over mashed potatoes.

Makes enough for 4 generous servings.

From the Vault: Unconditional Love

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Before planning my own wedding, I had no idea of the details and decisions we would need to make. A wedding dress and veil, rings, registries, invitations, musicians, and…cake napkins? We didn’t have a lot of time or money to work with. We had to sacrifice some of the things we wanted to save money.

One of the things we saved money on was our wedding cake. There were two people we knew who did wedding cakes as a side business and neither of them could make ours. One suggested we make our own cake. So we decided to. Since it was a February wedding and close to Valentine’s Day, we went with a heart-shaped cake.

Or rather, several of them. Different flavors included chocolate, carrot cake and cherry chip cake. We, meaning my fiancé Pat and I, mixed up the batter and baked the heart-shaped cakes in my mom’s kitchen. We coated the baked cakes with an icing glaze to keep them moist.

My sister iced and decorated the cake and added some sugared hearts that a friend helped her make. A friend gave us a musical figurine that we used as a cake topper. It wasn’t perfect, but it was pretty, and uniquely ours.

We had way too much cake left over. I think we were eating it for weeks. We put the top layer in the freezer for our one-year anniversary, but we didn’t eat it when that day came. The thought of eating one-year-old cake, even though it had been preserved by freezing it, didn’t appeal to us.

We didn’t just have cake left over. We also ended up with about 50 unused cake napkins. We packed them away and planned to take them out on our 25th anniversary , when we would have family and friends gather to celebrate.

However, we didn’t make it to our 25th anniversary. Not because we fell out of love, but because a tragic work accident took Pat’s life after just 20 years of marriage.

1 Corinthians 13 is known as the Love Chapter. It is incorporated into many wedding ceremonies. I don’t remember if it was read at ours, because my head was in the clouds that day.

…Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails.

1 Corinthians 13:4-8

These verses speak of unconditional love. Pat loved me unconditionally. He was my rock, my biggest supporter, provider and protector. I miss him, but God is healing my grief. I’m learning to stand on my own two feet, with the love and support of family and friends.

Our “Happy Ever After” was cut short, but I’m grateful for the twenty years we had together.