Category: Sponsors

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Isabelle Webb: Legend of the Jewel by N.C. Allen

Former Pinkerton spy Isabelle Webb needs a vacation. The broken leg she suffered while trying to warn President Lincoln of his impending assassination has mended a little, but her grief over his death has not. She and her young charge, Sally Rhodes, have an open itinerary when they board a steamer ship to Bombay. But upon meeting Utah blacksmith James Ashby, the two women opt to join the search for his younger brother Phillip, who’s traveling abroad with the ill-reputed Thaddeus Sparks in search of a mystical treasure. Upon arrival in India, other passengers are also interested in taking up the search. But the seeming good will of some soon turns dark on the streets of Bombay. As murder and kidnapping tears the group apart, James and Isabelle race to uncover the hidden motives and harrowing connections that threaten not only Phillip’s life, but also their own. First in N.C. Allen’s new series, this tale’s cunning characters and twisting plot will wrap you tightly in the action, intrigue, and romance surrounding the Jewel of Zeus.

Nancy Campbell Allen has a total of nine published novels, including her popular Faith of Our Fathers series. She has a degree in Elementary Ed and is the mother of three.

Miss Delacourt Speaks Her Mind by Heidi Ashworth

When the dowager duchess of Marcross insists he
accompany her niece, Ginny, into the country for the day to execute a special task, Sir Anthony is appalled, to say the least. Ginny, who thinks little of the fashionable Sir Anthony, is as eager to be done with the chore as he, but before they arrive at their destination they are stranded by highwaymen and launched into adventure.

Forced into each other’s company, Ginny begins to sense the passionate nature beneath Sir Anthony’s mask of ennui, while his exasperation with the forthright Ginny turns into admiration of her wit and charm. Then beautiful Lucinda Barrington and Lord Avery, a poet, come onto the scene, sparking Ginny’s imagination and revealing a way to unmask the true man behind Sir Anthony’s frivolous facade. Meanwhile, the dowager duchess has plans of her own for this pair, and her special task turns into a battle of words, wills, and wit.

Heidi Ashworth. I’m a SAHM (my husband thinks it means Still A Hot Mama) with three children. In spite of all the challenges life throws at us, we do our best to laugh at the bad and accentuate the good.

My first novel, Miss Delacourt Speaks Her Mind, a Jane Austen meets Wodehouse meets George Burns and Gracie Allen kind of romp, comes out December 24th through Avalon Books.

Abinadi by H.B. Moore

Raquel has a secret. As the daughter of one of King Noah’s priests, she enjoys a luxurious life and the admiration of powerful men. But her heart belongs to a commoner, a man with no earthly wealth but rich heavenly gifts. When King Noah demands that Raquel join his harem, she flees the only life she has known and marries her secret love. His name is Abinadi.

The couple finds abundant joy in their community of believers and in their firstborn son. But when the Lord calls Abinadi as His prophet, their faith is tested to the outermost limits. Abinadi’s commitment to the Lord requires them both to give their all—even unto death. Yet if Alma, the newest priest in King Noah’s court, chooses to overcome his troubled past and cleave unto the truth, their sacrifice may yield rich fruit.

With vivid detail and poignant emotion, this historical novel pulls readers into a fiery tale of love, courage, and faith that is difficult to put down and impossible to forget.

Heather Moore was born in Providence, Rhode Island, but spent most of her childhood in Orem, Utah. During these years, her family traveled back and forth between the Middle East and Utah. At the age of eight, while living in Egypt, she was baptized in the Red Sea. Heather attended the Anglican School of Jerusalem from 1987-88, and returned again to Jerusalem with her husband in 1994.

Heather graduated from Brigham Young University with a major in Fashion Merchandising and minor in Business Management. This has nothing to do with writing books, but at least she can color-coordinate her kids school clothes and balance a mean checkbook.

Heather is a member of the League of Utah Writers and LDStorymakers. She also manages the editing company, Precision Editing Group, LLC.

Click here for details on sponsoring this LDSP blog.

Here are the winners of the November Comment Contest, randomly selected from comments made during the month of November.

Thanks again to our sponsors. Please take a moment to read their bio info here.

Reunion

by Allyson Braithwaite Condie

Winner: Jedi Mormon
Commenting on “Why Bother”

Loyalty’s Web

by Joyce DiPastena

Winner: Stephanie Black
Commenting on “Whitney Awards Benefit Auction”

Three Angels for Christmas

by Lori Nawyn

Winner: Kent Larsen
Commenting on “Royalties & Negotiations Revisited“

To claim your prize, you must e-mail your mailing address to me by Friday, December 12, 2008.

(Unclaimed prizes will be up for grabs on Monday, December 15th.)

Click here to learn how you can win a copy of one of our sponsoring books.

Please take a moment to learn more about our wonderfully generous sponsors.

Reunion by Allyson Braithwaite Condie

Addie Sherman isn’t popular, she’s not exuberant, and she’s not known as the class clown. She’s just Addie, a high school junior who is convinced that she has nothing in common with the rest of her outgoing family, including her brother Dave. When Dave’s wife, Avery, needs help during a difficult pregnancy, Dave calls on Addie. Addie has to hide her resentment over having to help her sister- in- law when there are plenty of things going on in her own life that need her attention.

Sam Choi is one of Addie’s best friends, and he has a few secrets of his own. He doesn’t want to go on a mission, and he’s not sure how to break the news to his parents.

Cate Giovanni is a freshman in college, and enjoying the chance to reinvent herself and leave her high school years behind. As she makes new friends and encounters new people, she also can’t help but think about someone she left behind.

Reunion, the final book in the Yearbook trilogy, is a novel about the journeys home that become possible after you’ve discovered more about yourself.

Allyson Braithwaite Condie received a degree in English teaching from Brigham Young University. She went on to teach high school in Utah and New York for several years. She loved her job because it combined two of her favorite things—working with students and reading great books.

Currently, however, she is employed by her two little boys, who keep her busy playing trucks and going to the park. They also like to help her type and are very good at drawing on manuscripts with red crayon. In addition to spending time with them and with her husband, she loves reading, running, eating, and traveling.

Loyalty’s Web by Joyce DiPastena

In twelfth century France, King Henry II of England has just finished quashing a rebellion by his power-hungry sons and now seeks to tame the lawless barons who supported them in this corner of his “Angevin empire.” To this end, the king has sent the Earl of Gunthar as his royal representative to ensure that Prince Richard and his former cohorts faithfully adhere to the terms of the peace treaty.

Far from being welcomed with open arms, Gunthar no sooner steps foot in the county of Poitou than he is greeted by a series of assassination attempts. All appear to be linked to the former rebellious prince through the agents of the family and friends of young Heléne de Laurant. A clever, intrepid young woman, she realizes that the only way to prove her loved ones’ innocence is by exposing the true assassin. Heléne races against time—and dark secrets of the past—to unmask the killer before the kingdom plunges back into war.

Fierce determination gives way to mutual attraction as Heléne and Gunthar spar over the identity of the traitor. But their blinding magnetism almost causes them to overlook an even deadlier threat from an entirely unexpected direction.

Joyce DiPastena fell in love with the Middle Ages when she first read Thomas B. Costain’s The Conquering Family in high school. She is a graduate of the University of Arizona with a degree specializing in medieval history.

Joyce lives in Arizona with her two cats, Clio and Glinka Rimsky-Korsokov.

Three Angels for Christmas by Lori Nawyn

What happens when two people you looked to for strength suddenly, and unexpectedly, pass away? Do you succumb to grief, or choose to follow the legacy they’ve left behind?

This poignant true story follows the author’s decision to press forward and create something of lasting worth—angels named Faith, Hope, and Charity—who symbolize recognition of values that are important during the Christmas season, as well as throughout the year.

An endnote offers a chance for families to redefine their observance of Christmas, and a challenge to record their thoughts for future generations.

Lori Nawyn is the author/illustrator of Three Angels for Christmas. She is co-author of three inspirational short story collections and one cookbook. In addition, her award winning fiction and non-fiction works have appeared in regional and national publications. She works as an artist and graphic designer. Lori and her husband, Brian, a firefighter, enjoy their four children, two grandchildren, and three dogs.

Click here for details on sponsoring this LDSP blog.

Here are the winners of the October Comment Contest, randomly selected from comments made during the month of October.

Thanks again to our sponsors. Please take a moment to read their bio info here.

The Journey

by J. Adams

Winner: Heather B. Moore
Commenting on “Write Before You Query”

All’s Fair

by Julie Coulter Bellon

Winner: Laura
Commenting on “Submission Opportunity“

The Ruby

by Jennie Hansen

Winner: Tamra Norton
Commenting on “The Value of a Sequel“

To claim your prize, you must e-mail your mailing address to me by Friday, November 7, 2008.

(Unclaimed prizes will be up for grabs on Monday, October 10th.)

Click here to learn how you can win a copy of one of our sponsoring books.

Please take a moment to learn more about our wonderfully generous sponsors.

The Journey by Jewel Adams

The war between good and evil is as old as time itself– so is the absolute truth that each choice is accompanied by a consequence. Ciran is about to be faced with both. Two roads lie ahead. Only one leads home. Which will she choose?

Ciran is a young woman from the land of Krisandor. She must leave this land, as must everyone born there, to go on a journey to discover who they are and if they can earn their way back to Krisandor. To guide her, she has words of wisdom written on a scroll and is told to read it everyday. During her jouney, Crian discovers that her choices have consequences and some of these consequences could prevent her from returning to her beloved Krisandor.

J. (Jewel) Adams was born and raised in Asheville, North Carolina. Her hard childhood spurred her imagination and later on those imaginings fueled her love for writing. She moved to Utah in 1989 and started writing seriously a few years later.

Jewel is a wife and the mother of eight children. When she is not home schooling her children or writing, she loves to curl up with a box of chocolates and read, her favorite books being romance and fantasy novels. She frequently speak to youth and adult audiences. She has a great love for the youth and because of her own painful childhood, she is always anxiously engaged in helping them to understand how marvelous and special they are. She also loves doing signings and meeting new people. Jewel and her family live in West Point, Utah. She loves hearing from her fans. You can write to J. Adams at: jewela at netzero dot net. Visit Jewels Blog at jewelsbestgems.blogspot.com

All’s Fair by Julie Coulter Bellon

Political campaign expert Kristen Shepherd excels at staying cool under pressure, but this time she’s in over her head. After leaving her high-profile fiancé at the altar, she uncovers the shocking truth about the man she nearly married—truth that could ruin her life. With the press on her tail, the only person she can trust is Ryan Jameson, her political opponent and former boyfriend.

Army doctor and LDS convert Brandon Shepherd shares his sister Kristen’s talent for keeping a level head, and his newfound faith gives him steady strength during times of turmoil. But when he and fellow doctor Rachel Fields are seized as Iraqi prisoners of war, he faces a crisis of personal integrity that may cost him his life.

In this gripping tale of unlikely heroes and unexpected romance, two siblings must risk everything for freedom. And in the heat and sand of enemy territory, they discover that all’s fair in love, even if not in war.

Julie Bellon and her husband Brian are the parents of seven children. Julie’s greatest joy is being a mother and spending time with her family. She graduated from Brigham Young University with a Bachelor’s degree in Secondary Education—English teaching, and she currently teaches a journalism course for BYU Continuing Education. When she’s not busy being a mom, teaching, serving in the community or writing, you will find her browsing through bookstores to add to her book collection, at the library borrowing books, or reading the treasures she’s found.

The Ruby by Jennie Hansen

Charlie Mae is sick of fetching things for her brothers and father, and for getting yelled at over things that aren’t her fault, while her brothers get to do whatever they want. She doesn’t blame Ma for leaving.

Determined to escape her house for at least one night of adventure, Charlie Mae sneaks into Nauvoo behind her brothers. But she discovers a lot more than she bargained for, including the dark cruelty inside her father’s heart and a mysterious red stone. Oddly, she feels a kind of peace when she holds the stone. It almost seems to be an assurance that she isn’t alone—that somewhere, someone is watching over her.

When Charlie Mae meets Spencer—a boy her age—and his grandmother, she is astonished at their kindness. She should have guessed they were Mormons. Pa had been lying all that time when he had said that Mormons were wicked. Pa was the wicked one—he and her brothers burned houses and shot people. She didn’t want to live with thieves and liars and cook their meals anymore. She would leave this place someday and find a better life—no matter what the cost.

Jennie Hansen graduated from Ricks College in Idaho, then Westminster College in Utah. She has been a freelance magazine writer, newspaper reporter, editor, and librarian. Her published novels fall in several genre categories including romantic suspense, historical, and westerns.

She was born in Idaho Falls, Idaho, and has lived in Idaho, Montana, and Utah. She has received numerous first and second place writing awards from the Utah and National Federation of Press Women and was the 1997 third place winner of the URWA Heart of the West Writers Contest.

Jennie has been active in community affairs. In addition to ward and stake responsibilities in the LDS church, she served a term on the Kearns Town Council, two terms on the Salt Palace Advisory Board, and was a delegate to the White House Conference on Libraries and Information Services. Jennie and her husband, Boyd, live in Salt Lake County. Their five children are all married and have provided them with ten grandchildren. When she’s not reading or writing, she enjoys spending time with her grandchildren, gardening, and camping.

Click here for details on sponsoring this LDSP blog.

Here are the winners of the September Comment Contest, randomly selected from comments made during the month of September.

Thanks again to our sponsors. Please take a moment to read their bio info here.

Room for Two

by Abel Keogh

Winner: Becky
Commenting on “Deciphering Deseret Book’s Bestseller List“

Her Good Name

by Josi S. Kilpack

Winner: Janet Burningham
Commenting on “LDS or National Market“

Time and Eternity

by E.M. Tippetts

Winner: Annette Lyon
Commenting on “LDS or National Market“

To claim your prize, you must e-mail your mailing address to me by Tuesday, October 7, 2008.

(Unclaimed prizes will be up for grabs on Wednesday, October 8th.)

Click here to learn how you can win a copy of one of our sponsoring books.

Please take a moment to learn more about our wonderfully generous sponsors.

Room for Two by Abel Keogh

“Sweetie, I’m home.” I tried to put as much kindness into my voice as possible. I didn’t want to have another argument – at least not right away.

Everything slowed down.

***

When a life is destroyed, when guilt says you played a role in its destruction, how do you face the days ahead?

Twenty-six-year-old Abel Keogh chooses to ignore the promptings he receives concerning his wife’s mental illness, and now he feels he is to blame for her choices. If only he had listened . . .

At some point in our lives, each of us face devastating afflictions and must eventually cope with loss. Regardless of how it happens, the outcome is still the same—we are left isolated, alone, wondering what we could have done differently, and where we can turn for peace.

This is Abel’s story in his own words. His search for peace and the miracle that follows is proof that love and hope can endure, despite the struggles and tragedies that shape each of our lives.

Abel Keogh is the author of the memoir Room for Two. During the day he works as a writer, editor, and political columnist. His previous fiction and poetry has been published in Rough Draft and Metaphor and Strong Verse. He is currently working on his second book—a work of fiction.

Besides writing, Abel enjoys running and lifting weights. Abel and his wife Julianna are the parents of two boys and a girl. He has a bachelor’s degree from Weber State University.

Her Good Name by Josi S. Kilpack

Chrissy is having an identity crisis. As a single woman and convert to the Church, she has always managed to find her place in life—at least until someone else begins using her credit cards, her bank account, and, most important, her name. Now the real Chrissy must prove her innocence against a growing pile of collection notices and unpaid bills. But with no job, no money, a warrant for her arrest, and a closet full of high-heeled shoes, a girl can only get so far.

When Chrissy meets Micah Heet, the other half of a blind date gone bad, the two discover they are facing the same battle and join forces to find the perpetrators. Little do they know that the small semblance of life they have left will be put on the line in the process.

Josi S. Kilpack bwas born and raised in Salt Lake City, the third of nine children, and accounts much of her success to her mother always making oatmeal for breakfast. In 1993 Josi married her high-school sweetheart, Lee Kilpack, and went on to raise her own children in Salt Lake and then Willard Utah where she currently lives. She loves to read and write, is the author of eight novels, the baker of many a delicious confection, and the hobby farmer of a varying number of unfortunate chickens. In her spare time she likes to overwhelm herself a multitude of projects and then complain that she never has any spare time; in this way she is rather masochistic. She also enjoys traveling, cheering on her children, and sleeping in when the occasion presents itself.

Josi is the author of nine novels, including Sheep’s_Clothing, winner of the 2007 Whitney Award for Best Mystery/Suspense. She loves to hear from her readers and can be reached at Kilpack@gmail.com

Time and Eternity by E.M. Tippetts

When Alice O’Donnell joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, she thought her life could only get better. She hoped to marry her boyfriend, Darren, who had baptized her, and live happily ever after. After all, her prayers had confirmed that a proposal was coming.
But Alice’s faith is tested when her plans are turned upside-down. Her father files for divorce, her company decides to relocate her to another state, and to top it off, Darren starts acting strangely and accuses her of being a “Molly Mormon” — whatever that is.

When Spencer Sharp enters the scene, he seems like a good prospect. He’s attractive, gainfully employed, a returned missionary, and seeking an eternal companion. But something is just . . . missing.

Follow the chaotic but exciting life of Alice as she deals with being a new convert, learns to have faith in the Lord’s plan for her, and comes to know whom she wants to be with for time and eternity.

E. M. Tippetts lives in New Mexico, which is where she grew up. A former attorney, she did her undergraduate degree in philosophy, politics, and economics at Oxford University and her law degree at UCLA. She practiced real estate law and estate planning, with a specialty in literary estate planning, but she has always wanted to be a writer and used to get up at 5 A.M. to write before going to work. She joined the Church as an adult shortly before meeting her husband, Trevor.

Here are the winners of the June Comment Contest, randomly selected from comments made during the month of June.

Thanks again to our sponsors. Please take a moment to read their bio info here.

Flashback

by J. Michael Hunter

Winner: Sandra
Commenting on “Break for LDS Booksellers“

Twilight’s Last Gleaming

by L.C. Lewis

Winner: Melanie J.
Commenting on “Break for LDS Booksellers“

FarWorld: Water Keep

by J. Scott Savage

Winner: Rebecca Talley
Commenting on “Break for LDS Booksellers“

To claim your prize, you must e-mail your mailing address to me by Friday, September 5, 2008.

(Unclaimed prizes will be up for grabs on Monday, September 8th.)

Click here to learn how you can win a copy of one of our sponsoring books.

This week’s new titles over on the LDS Fiction blog:

The Divine Talisman by Eldon Thompson

Orson Scott Card’s Intergalactic Medicine Show edited by Edmund R. Schubert and Orson Scott Card

Rapunzel’s Revenge by Shannon and Dean Hale

Did we miss any? If we did, let me know.

We’ve also posted the next contest and the winner of last week’s contest.

P.S. Authors & Publishers—If you’d like to be a sponsor for this contest, contact me.

Please take a moment to learn more about our wonderfully generous sponsors.

Flashback by J. Michael Hunter

Laura McClain has screamed herself awake again. Her old nightmare is back. And now the timid kindergarten teacher is convinced that someone is following her—watching her every move. It could just be coincidence that she and the chillingly memorable man seem to show up at all the same places. Perhaps her paranoia is just a result of her deep fear of change. After all, so much has changed in her life recently.

To make matters worse, Laura is now supposed to travel halfway across the country to take possession of a family estate she has inherited. As unnerved as she is with her “stalker” in St. Louis, the plantation in Virginia seems even more frightening to Laura. And what is a Mormon girl going to do with miles of tobacco crop?

But then again, maybe the family estate holds the secret to why Laura’s parents would never talk about their past. In hopes of finding clues to this mystery, Laura packs her bags and catches a bus to Bufordville, a tiny town with more than its fair share of rumors, suspicions, and deadly secrets. Then panic sets in as Laura finds her returning nightmare is, in fact, a twenty-year-old reality—a reality that could very well repeat itself.

J. Michael Hunter received a BA in History and a MS in Library and Information Science from BYU. He has been the Chair of the Religion and Family History Department at the Harold B. Lee Library at BYU.

Twilight’s Last Gleaming by L.C. Lewis

While cannons roar and rockets ignite American skies, disease ravages the upper Connecticut Valley. Few notice the sufferings of the families . . . of a single child . . . a remarkable lad named Joseph. Attentions are forced elsewhere on the Chesapeake, which guards the entrance to the infant nation’s threatened capital.

It is the height of the War of 1812. As the beleaguered American forces begin to rally, Britain’s military is divided between battlefronts on two continents. Until Napoleon can be toppled and all of the Crown’s resources can be diverted to the American campaign, Britain needs a tactical diversion. They attack the Chesapeake Bay!

Lieutenant Jed Pearson heads to war, leaving his beloved Willows estate in the care of powerless freed slaves. But soon circumstances will blur the line between adversary and friend, family and foe, British and American.

In this second volume of the epic historical series Free Men and Dreamers, witness the saga of five families caught in the tumult of the oft-forgotten war that cemented American liberty and set the stage for the great work of the Restoration.

Laurie Lewis was born in the history-rich area neighboring Baltimore, Maryland, and has spent most of her life there. She and her husband raised their four children in this area, and Laurie, a homemaker, used her free time to write novels and plays. During a seven-year stint as a science-education facilitator in the Carroll County Public School System, Laurie honed her research skills, and as her children left home, she focused her energies on writing full time. She also became an avid traveler, constantly researching locales and their colorful people to flesh out her work. Laurie now spends her time bringing that research to life in family novels and historical fiction.

Farworld: Water Keep by J. Scott Savage

Other people may see thirteen-year-old Marcus Kanenas as an outcast and a nobody, but he sees himself as a survivor and a dreamer. In fact, his favorite dream is of a world far away, a world where magic is as common as air, where animals tell jokes, and trees beg people to pick their fruit. He even has a name for this place-Far World. When Marcus magically travels to Far World, he meets Kyja, a girl without magic in a world where spells, charms, and potions are everywhere, and Master Therapass, a master wizard who has kept a secret hidden for thirteen years, a secret that could change the fate of two worlds.

But the Dark Cicle has learned of Master Therapass’s secret and their evil influence and power are growing. Far World’s only hope is for Marcus and Kyja to find the mythical Elementals-water, land, air, and fire-and convince them to open a drift between the worlds. As Kyja and Marcus travel to Water Keep, they must face the worst the evil Dark Circle can through at them-Summoners, who can command the living and the dead; Unmakers, invisible creatures that can destroy both body and soul; and dark mages known as Thrathkin S’Bae. Along the way, Marcus and Kyja will discover the truth about their own heritage, the strength of their friendship, and the depths of their unique powers.

In addition to Water Keep, which will be released in September, J. Scott Savage is the author of Cutting Edge, Into the Fire, and the Shandra Covington Mystery Series. Upcoming novels include Dark Memories, the first mainstream Mormon horror novel, and the next Shandra book. Jeff loves doing anything with his family, anything Disney, medium well steaks, and the Oakland Raiders. He is firmly against prologues and SASEs.

Here are the winners of the June Comment Contest, randomly selected from comments made during the month of June.

Thanks again to our sponsors. Please take a moment to read their bio info here.

A Modest Proposal

by Michele Ashman Bell

Winner: A. Morgan
Commenting on Hornet’s Nest #4: Is ‘LDS Fiction’ a genre label?

Freshman for President

by Ally Condie

Winner: Becky
Commenting on Blog Tours

Angel Falling Softly

by Eugene Woodbury

Winner: Th.
Commenting on Hornet’s Nest #4: Is ‘LDS Fiction’ a genre label?

To claim your prize, you must e-mail your mailing address to me by Wednesday, August 6, 2008.

(Unclaimed prizes will be up for grabs on Thursday, August 7th.)

Click here to learn how you can win a copy of one of our sponsoring books.

Yesterday I posted July’s sponsors, then logged off with something nagging at my brain. I was forgetting something but I couldn’t put my finger on it…DUH! I forgot to post June’s contest winners. Where, oh, where has my mind gone? Oh yes, I know. It’s all tied up in knots getting ARCs and posters and all that jazz ready for LDS Booksellers next month. [Deep breath. Sigh.]

Okay.

Here are the winners of the June Comment Contest, randomly selected from comments made during the month of June.

Thanks again to our sponsors. Please take a moment to read their bio info here.

Delicious Conversation

by Jennifer Stewart Griffith

Winner: Danyelle Ferguson
Commenting on June 2008 Sponsors

Brother Brigham

by D. Michael Martindale

Winner: Rachelle
Commenting on Where Do I Find an LDS Editor?

Ride to Raton

by Marsha Ward

Winner: LY
Commenting on Self-Editing Errors

To claim your prize, you must e-mail your mailing address to me by Wednesday, July 9, 2008.

(Unclaimed prizes will be up for grabs on Thursday, July 10th.)

Click here to learn how you can win a copy of one of our sponsoring books.

Please take a moment to learn more about our wonderfully generous sponsors.

A Modest Proposal by Michele Ashman Bell

All my life I had dreamed of changing the ordinary girl’s world of fashion by designing modest formal gowns—ones that you’d actually want to wear. With my super-hero stitching I would save you mothers and daughters crying in dressing rooms over yet another “the straps are just too small” prom dress. Don’t worry, I even thought of a catchy tagline for my brand: “Modest Is Hottest.” I told you I was good!

So I moved to New York and am finally living that dream … well, almost. I am at one of the top fashion companies, and my designs are definitely modest—but let’s face it, when it comes to outerwear, would you want to buy a skimpy trench coat? Didn’t think so.

Even though I don’t have my dream job, my family is a mess, and my love life stinks, I have a feeling things are going to change. I mean, they have to soon, or I’ll be forced to marry Jace. I did promise to become his wife only if I turned thirty and was still single, but I honestly didn’t think it was possible. Now twenty-nine, I’m cutting it way too close. Right now I’m flying back to Utah for our Butterfly Girls reunion. And since it is the Mormon Mecca, I might find myself a modest proposal. Utah engagements can take mere weeks. Never mind, I’m not that desperate. Really.

But maybe the girls can help. We’ve been best friends since high school. We Butterfly Girls are not the typical Pink Ladies, although we’ve definitely had our share of drama. We’ll laugh and cry over memories, from pageant glory to tragic endings, but the ones stored inside our butterfly box will surprise you most. We only open it when we’re all together, and our lives never seem the same after.

Michele Ashman Bell: What can I say, I’m a middle-aged mother of four, who, after ten years of hard work, perserverance and a lot of rejection letters, finally got a book published.

I grew up in St. George, Utah, where a lot of my family still lives, but now reside with my husband and family in the Salt Lake City area. My favorite thing to do is support my kids in their many interests. Between basketball, ballet and piano lessons we squeeze a lot into a week, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Freshman for President by Ally Condie

Fifteen-year-old Milo J. Wright and his best friend, Eden, are crazy to even consider participating in the election for President of the United States of America, aren’t they?

Never mind that Milo is twenty years too young. Never mind the fact that he’ll have to balance the election with school, his lawn-mowing job, soccer practice, and trying to understand girls. There are times in life when you just have to go for something, no matter how impossible, and this is one of those times. Not only does he have to redefine who Milo J. Wright really is, but he also has to decide what winning and losing really mean.

Allyson Braithwaite Condie received a degree in English teaching from Brigham Young University. She went on to teach high school in Utah and New York for several years. She loved her job because it combined two of her favorite things—working with students and reading great books.

Currently, however, she is employed by her two little boys, who keep her busy playing trucks and going to the park. They also like to help her type and are very good at drawing on manuscripts with red crayon. In addition to spending time with them and with her husband, she loves reading, running, eating, and traveling.

Angel Falling Softly by Eugene Woodbury

Over the past six months, Rachel Forsythe’s perfect life has descended from the ideal to the tragic. The younger of her two daughters is dying of cancer. Despite her standing as the wife of a respected Mormon bishop, neither God nor medical science has blessed her with a cure. Or has He?

Milada Daranyi, chief investment officer at Daranyi Enterprises International, has come to Utah to finalize the takeover of a Salt Lake City-based medical technology company. Bored with her downtown hotel accommodations, she rents a house in the Sandy suburbs.

And then the welcome wagon shows up. Her neighbors perceive her to be a beautiful, intelligent, and daunting young woman. But Rachel senses something about Milada that leads her in a completely different—and very dangerous—direction.

Rachel’s suspicions are right: Milada is homo lamia. A vampire. Fallen. And possibly the only person in the world who can save Rachel’s daughter. Uncovering Milada’s secrets, Rachel becomes convinced that, as Milton writes, “all this good of evil shall produce.”

As the two women push against every moral boundary in order to protect their families, the price of redemption will prove higher than either of them could have possibly imagined.

Eugene Woodbury was born and raised in the upstate New York community of Scotia-Glenville. After serving for two years in the Tokyo South Mission, he graduated from Brigham Young University with degrees in Japanese and TESOL.

His stories have appeared in the New Era, Sunstone, Cricket, American Gardener, and Clubhouse. He has twice been a Utah Original Writing Competition finalist and is a recipient of the Sunstone Foundation Moonstone Award for short fiction.

He lives in Orem, Utah, where he works as a freelance writer and translator. He can be reached via his website at www.eugenewoodbury.com.

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Here are the winners of the May Comment Contest, randomly selected from comments made during the month of May.

Thanks again to our sponsors. Please take a moment to read their bio info here.

Fool Me Twice

by Stephanie Black

Winner: Melanie Goldmund
Commenting on Summer Story: Lock, Stock and Arrow

The Moms’ Club Diaries

by Allyson Condie

Winner: TC
Commenting on Summer Story: Bus Tickets and Blood Tests

The Topaz

by Jennie Hansen

Winner: Betsy
Commenting on Judging LDS Authors by LDS Standards

To claim your prize, you must e-mail your mailing address to me by Friday, June 6, 2008.

(Unclaimed prizes will be up for grabs on Monday, June 9th.)

Click here to learn how you can win a copy of one of our sponsoring books.

Please take a moment to learn more about our wonderfully generous sponsors.

Delicious Conversation by Jennifer Stewart Griffith

Susannah Hapsburg is totally ready for Plan C. Plan A was to get married at 22 and have a passel of kids. Still unmarried and 31, that option is out. Plan B was to work her way up the corporate ladder. However, the company she devoted eight years to just went bankrupt, giving her a bad taste for the corporate world. Which leaves her with Plan C.

Plan C involves chocolate.

With the support of friends, Susannah puts her future on the line to open up downtown Salt Lake City’s first all-chocolate café, The Chocolate Bar, a place where scrumptious conversations and delectable desserts abound.

In the midst of all this, social turmoil hits Susannah when she catches the interest of the city’s most eligible bachelor just as her long-lost love returns to town—with intentions of marrying anyone but Susannah.

Can Plan C offer Susannah her just desserts?

Jennifer Stewart Griffith was born in Logan, Utah and raised on a dairy farm in Cache Valley. She studied English at Utah State University. During that time she also traveled through Europe with her roommates, spent a year on two U.S. Senate campaigns, and served as a missionary in the Japan Tokyo North mission.

After graduation she worked on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., where she met Gary Griffith, her own Mr. Right. They now live in Arizona, where Gary is a judge and they are raising their four young children.

You can contact her at public_relations@springcreekbooks.com

Brother Brigham by D. Michael Martindale

Like many young boys, C.H. Young grew up with an imaginary friend. In C.H.’s case, it was his ancestor Brigham Young–or rather, “Brother Brigham,” as C.H. knew him. During C.H.’s formative years, Brother Brigham filled the boy’s head with grand expectations of an important mission in life.

Now grown up with a wife and two young sons, C.H. has sacrificed his dreams to earn a living for his family. Brother Brigham is just a distant memory–until one day he returns in a most unexpected way. As Brother Brigham’s appearances and instructions grow increasingly bold, C.H. struggles to hold together his faith, his marriage, and his sanity.

D. Michael Martindale was born in Minnesota, where he developed a taste for science fiction and a love for telling speculative stories. After serving an LDS mission in Frankfurt, Germany, he settled in Utah.

D.Michael has served on the board of the Association for Mormon Letters and has written a number of articles and book and film reviews for the literary journal Irreantum. He worked as a staff writer for The Sugar Beet, a publication of LDS satire, and he composed the contemporary opera General Prophet Joseph Smith, which he produced on CDs. He has written several science fiction short stories and the novel Brother Brigham, which he categorizes as “LDS speculative fiction.”

He has several other novels in the works, but his true love is film. He is currently composing the screenplays Quantum Love and Mary and Joseph, and is adapting his opera General Prophet Joseph Smith to the screen.

D.Michael currently resides in Sandy, Utah, and is the father of three children.

Ride to Raton by Marsha Ward

Will a journey to Santa Fe for a young man and his unintended bride end in marital bliss or disaster?

Estranged from his family, James Owen leaves home to make a new life for himself. The turbulent world of post-Civil War Colorado Territory is fraught with danger and prejudice that increase his bitter loneliness as personal setbacks threaten to break him. Then James’s journey brings him into contact with another wayfarer, beautiful young Amparo Garces, who has come from Santa Fe to Colorado to marry a stranger. Through a twist of fate, their futures are changed forever when their lives are merged in a marriage of convenience. James and Amparo undertake a hazardous horseback trek over Raton Pass to Santa Fe, battling their personal demons, a challenging language barrier, and winter’s raging storms. Will their journey end in life or death?

Click here for details on sponsoring this LDSP blog.

Annette Lyon won Bound on Earth by Angela Halstrom.

Marny Parkin won Heaven Scent by Rebecca Talley.

Over on the LDS Fiction blog, Carrie Lambertsen won The Emerald by Jennie Hansen.

You winners don’t need to do anything more. I’ve forwarded your addresses to the authors and they will be shipping your books directly to you.

Unclaimed prizes have been awarded.

I was reminded by our April sponsors that two of last month’s prize winners did not claim their prizes. Therefore, Heaven Scent by Rebecca Talley and Bound on Earth by Angela Halstrom are now up for grabs.

The first two people who e-mail their mailing address to me will win those books.

Here are the winners of the April Comment Contest, randomly selected from comments made during the month of April.

Thanks again to our sponsors. Please take a moment to read their bio info here.

Counting Blessings

by Kerri Blair

Winner: Patricia
Commenting on The Bare Necessities of an Internet Presence

Bound on Earth

by Angela Halstrom

Winner: Nicole Prash
Commenting on Ghostwriting and Book Doctoring

Heaven Scent

by Rebecca Talley

Winner: Small-and-Simple
Commenting on Lisa Mangum, Deseret Book Editor

To claim your prize, you must e-mail your mailing address to me by Friday, May 9, 2008.

(Unclaimed prizes will be up for grabs on Monday, May 12th.)

Click here to learn how you can win a copy of one of our sponsoring books.

Please take a moment to learn more about our wonderfully generous sponsors.

Fool Me Twice by Stephanie Black

When it comes to pleasing her twin sister, Megan O’Connor is an easy touch. She’ll do just about anything to gain Kristen’s approval, including trading places with her. After all, Kristen’s plan promises to get Megan out of a dead-end job and make them both rich. It will be a nice reward for a little genealogical investigation—something that couldn’t have happened without the help of Kristen’s new LDS acquaintances. And who could blame the twins for using a tiny bit of deceit to manipulate an inheritance out of someone as demanding as their estranged aunt Evelyn?

All Megan has to do is pretend to be Kristen, move into Evelyn’s house, and take care of the wealthy old woman until her failing health kills her. It shouldn’t take too long. It shouldn’t be too difficult. Megan’s the nice one. Except for the lie, the task is a natural fit. Everything would be perfect if she could just ignore the guilt—a feeling that only grows stronger as she spends more time with the new friends Kristen arranged for her.

But soon Megan discovers there is more to worry about. She’s living in a house of illusions where she isn’t the only one playing a part. Someone has developed a new plotline that ends with a death scene—and in this version, the victim won’t die of natural causes.

Beneath the surface of the sleepy New England town of Britteridge, deceit weaves a deadly web where turnabout is anything but fair play.

Stephanie Black: I’ve enjoyed making up stories since I was a child, when my sisters and I would play long, strange Barbie games or write and direct plays for ourselves and younger siblings. I took a creative writing class in high school, but my stories stunk, since I hadn’t yet figured out that a story needs a plot. But I finally got An Idea, and an encouraging comment from the teacher got me rolling. After a few years of writing random scenes, I decided to try writing a novel start to finish, but that led to a failed unfinished manuscript and the realization that there was a lot more to writing fiction than I’d ever understood. I began reading books about fiction technique and started over with my novel project. After a veerrrry long time of reading, writing, rewriting, more rewriting, submitting, and then—when I thought I was finished—major rewriting, my first novel, The Believer, was published by Covenant Communications in January 2005.

The Moms’ Club Diaries by Allyson Condie

“What do you do all day?”

If you have ever heard these words, you likely have experience as a mom of young children. You are definitely not alone!

Seventeen talented LDS authors share their embarrassments and missteps of motherhood through this collection of stories and essays. They also share the love and growth that they have experienced during the daily upheavals that others never see. Each chapter is different, but the motivation is the same—the authors’ love for their children, and for the gospel. So take this humorous journey into the world of playdates, pacifiers, plenty of diapers—and the poignant moments that make it all worthwhile.

Allyson Braithwaite Condie received a degree in English teaching from Brigham Young University. She went on to teach high school in Utah and New York for several years. She loved her job because it combined two of her favorite things—working with students and reading great books. Currently, however, she is employed by her two little boys, who keep her busy playing trucks and going to the park. They also like to help her type and are very good at drawing on manuscripts with red crayon. In addition to spending time with them and with her husband, she loves reading, running, eating, and traveling.

Topaz by Jennie Hansen

It was a pretty stone that brought Charles Caswell and Hannah Waterton together. That same topaz jewel may have also brought about Hannah’s death. Now, more than five years after her murder, two unusual young men come looking for the passionate abolitionist in the small Quaker community where Charles has remained to raise their daughter Serenity. One of the men, Edward Benson, seems to know more about Hannah than Serenity does—including where the stone in her mother’s beautiful topaz ring came from. Serenity had promised her mother that she would treasure and wear the jewel. But upon Hannah’s death, the valuable ring was missing and the murderer’s motives and identity were never discovered. Soon Serenity’s world is brutally turned upside down, and she is forced into marrying a man she hardly knows. It seems the still-missing ring carries a dark legacy that will put her life in mortal peril. Now it feels impossible for the young woman to discern between true friends and those using her for their own greedy purpose. Will her never-realized inheritance destroy her? Or will blossoming love and growing faith deliver her from the evil that has taken away those closest to her?

Jennie Hansen graduated from Ricks College in Idaho, then Westminster College in Utah. She has been a freelance magazine writer, newspaper reporter, editor, and librarian. Her published novels fall in several genre categories including romantic suspense, historical, and westerns.

She was born in Idaho Falls, Idaho, and has lived in Idaho, Montana, and Utah. She has received numerous first and second place writing awards from the Utah and National Federation of Press Women and was the 1997 third place winner of the URWA Heart of the West Writers Contest.

Jennie has been active in community affairs. In addition to ward and stake responsibilities in the LDS church, she served a term on the Kearns Town Council, two terms on the Salt Palace Advisory Board, and was a delegate to the White House Conference on Libraries and Information Services. Jennie and her husband, Boyd, live in Salt Lake County. Their five children are all married and have provided them with ten grandchildren. When she’s not reading or writing, she enjoys spending time with her grandchildren, gardening, and camping.

Click here for details on sponsoring this LDSP blog.

Here are the winners of the March Comment Contest, randomly selected from comments made during the month of March.

Thanks again to our sponsors. Please take a moment to read their bio info here.

Scotlyn, Knightess of the Dragon

by Deirdra Eden Coppel

Winner: Janet Kay Jensen
Commenting on Branded for Life

Don’t You Marry the Mormon Boys

by Janet Kay Jensen

Winner: Stephanie Black
Commenting on Is LDS Fiction a Genre?

On the Road to Heaven

by Coke Newell

Winner: Kent Larsen
Commenting on Poetry—A Devalued Art Form

To claim your prize, you must e-mail your mailing address to me by Friday, April 4, 2008.

(Unclaimed prizes will be up for grabs on Monday, April 7th.)

Click here to learn how you can win a copy of one of our sponsoring books.

Please take a moment to learn more about our wonderfully generous sponsors.

Counting Blessings by Kerry Blair

Spiritual refreshment is only pages away in this down-to-earth collection of inspiring stories and essays. Like a wise and witty friend, Kerry Blair leads you through the rough spots of life by poking gentle fun at herself in such a vivacious way that you’ll be smiling at your own foibles. You’ll laugh out loud — and occasionally be moved to tears — as you discover some of life’s greatest truths hidden within these simple pages. Reclaim your sanity and enrich your soul with this humorous and poignant anthology that celebrates the joy of being alive and shows how greatly each of us is blessed.

Kerry Blair wrote her first novel when she was eight years old and promised herself that she would do it again when she “grew up.” She makes her home in West Jordan, Utah, with her husband, Gary, and four children.

Kerry says, “I’d always said I wanted to be an author when I grew up—and forty is pretty darn grown up by anybody’s standards. The Heart Has Its Reasons was released in 1999 and I’ve since published 8 more books (one was a collaboration) and been included in a compilation of inspirational essays for mothers. I’ve edged from LDS romance into romantic mystery into murder mystery with romantic overtones into romantic comedy into the new Nightshade series— books one reviewer said is what you’d expect ‘if you watched Buffy join CSI on the Romance Channel.'”

Bound on Earth by Angela Halstrom

It is Thanksgiving Day and the Palmers have gathered to celebrate. But one person is missing: Kyle, Beth Palmer’s young husband and a once integral member of this close-knit Mormon family. Kyle’s bipolar disorder has spun out of control, and each family member’s reaction to his disease reveals tensions that have been at work among the Palmers for generations. In the interconnected narratives that follow, the family’s past is revealed, illuminating themes of loyalty, betrayal, forgiveness and, ultimately, love.

“Combining deep emotional candor and spare, elegant prose, Hallstrom’s debut novel is a poignant exploration of family, faith, and the ties that bind.” —Kathryn Lynard Soper, editor of Segullah: Writings by Latter-Day Saint Women

“Angela Hallstrom demonstrates an admirable mastery of the art of fiction. The subtle background to this novel is the Mormon world view, established without preaching or assumptions of superiority. But it presents a far from idealized vision of reality. By moments the members of this extended family writhe with conflict, tension, depression, self-pity, and misbehavior. If there’s a lesson to be learned from this novel, it’s that the pain and endurance required to create a family are worth it.” —Levi Peterson, author of The Backslider and editor of Dialogue magazine

Angela Hallstrom lives in South Jordan, Utah, with her husband and four children. Her fiction has received awards from the Utah Arts Council and has appeared or is forthcoming in Dialogue, the New Era, Irreantum, and Salt Flats Annual. She holds an MFA in creative writing from Hamline University and has served on the editorial boards of Water-Stone Review, Irreantum, and Segullah. She teaches writing at Salt Lake Community College. Her novel, Bound on Earth, is now available.

Heaven Scent by Rebecca Talley

“She’d wanted her father to pay more attention to her, and she’d wanted her family to be like it used to be. She hadn’t wanted everything to change so drastically that she may not even survive it.”

As Liza proves herself a basketball star, everyone—from college basketball recruiters to the gorgeous Kyle Reynolds—seems to take note of her. Everyone, that is, except her own father. While her father is busy at his law practice, Liza learns about a strange new religion from Kyle. Could Kyle’s religion help her family? Or is it already too late for her father to make amends?

When yet another broken promise finally leads to tragedy, Liza doesn’t know if she will ever be able to forgive her father. It will take a good friend, a new belief, and a miracle straight from heaven to help Liza see that she still has a choice. The compelling story of a high school basketball star, this is a novel every girl will want, and none will be able to put down!

Rebecca Talley grew up in Santa Barbara, California and now lives on a ranch in Colorado with her amazing husband, 8 of her 10 creative children, horses, goats, and a llama named Tina. She is the author of a children’s picture book, Grasshopper Pie. Her stories have been published in Story Friends, Our Little Friend, The Friend, and Stories for Children. Cedar Fort released her YA novel, Heaven Scent, in spring 2008.

Besides writing, Rebecca enjoys eating chocolate by the pound, dancing to disco music while she cleans all the messes that seem to multiply and replenish her house, and contemplating all the craft projects that still need to be completed. You can find Rebecca at www.rebeccatalley.com.

Click here for details on sponsoring this LDSP blog.

Please take a moment to learn more about our wonderfully generous sponsors.

Scotlyn, Knightess of the Dragon by Dierdra Eden Coppel


This is a historical fantasy about the adventures of a young girl in the final years of the 12th Century England and the challenges that fight her dreams. With unforgettable characters, the story delivers a rare combination of romance and mystery, humor and inspiration.

Scotlyn’s story weaves through the crusades and takes her into womanhood. It tells of young men who dreamed of becoming knights, the many who returned heroes and those left on the battlefield. Certain knighthoods, like the Order of the Dragon of the Count of Foix, inducted women to the call of knights. Scotlyn was numbered among those who answered the call and defied impossible odds to become a revered lady knight.

Her powerful tale teaches the importance of dreaming, courage in the face of death, the strength of character and the rewards of persistence.

Deirdra Eden Coppel has been writing stories, poems and lyrics from the age of four. As a child, she was also fascinated with mythology and historical customs and sports. She has studied weaponry and frequently attends and competes in sword fighting tournaments. Combining her love of literature, theology, mythology and history, her historical fantasy stories have captivated audiences of all ages. Readers have applauded the books’ high values, morals and admirable characters. Deirdra loves sharing her talents and will continue to create products that will inspire others.

Don’t You Marry the Mormon Boys by Janet Kay Jensen

When Andy McBride met Louisa Martin, he knew he had found the girl for him. There was only one problem: polygamy – a lifestyle that Louisa could not escape and Andy would not embrace.

As medical students at the University of Utah, Andy and Louisa fall in love – but can a mainstream Mormon and a Fundamental polygamist overcome the cultural barriers between them? Both realize that their choices will not only affect their own lives, but will also have an impact on their family, friends, and even their communities. Fearing that the sacrifices required of them would be too great, they go their separate ways.

Yet for Andy in Kentucky and Louisa in Utah, life does not go as they’d planned. While Andy is serving as a country doctor and trying to bury his pain, Louisa is coming to terms with the fact that all is not as perfect in her tight-knit community as she’d believed. As doctors, each will have to choose between keeping the peace in their communities or doing what they know is right. And someday, both will have to face their past and decide if they can make the sacrifice to be together.

Set in the red hills of southern Utah, the cosmopolitan center of Salt Lake City, the Smoky Mountains of Kentucky, and the lake-studded country of Finland, Don’t You Marry the Mormon Boys is the heartfelt and engaging story about the power of love and acceptance in an ever-changing and often surprising world.

Janet Kay Jensen is author of Don’t You Marry the Mormon Boys (Cedar Fort, 2007), named a finalist by USA Best Books 2007. She is co-author of The Book Lover’s Cookbook: Recipes Inspired by Celebrated Works of Literature, and the Passages That Feature Them (Wenger & Jensen, Ballantine Books, 2003). Her work also appears in Writing Secrets, Everton’s Family History Magazine, ByLine, Meridian, and The Magic of Stories. She holds degrees in Speech-Language Pathology from Utah State University and Northwestern University and is an adult literacy tutor. She is a member of Author’s Guild and has won numerous awards from the League of Utah Writers. She and her husband are the parents of three college student sons and have recently become grandparents. Visit her web page and her blog and watch a video preview of Don’t You Marry the Mormon Boys

On the Road to Heaven by Coke Newell

An autobiographical novel by Coke Newell

From the author of Latter Days: A Guided Tour Through Six Billion Years of Mormonism comes this exuberant and groundbreaking autobiographical novel about the modern Mormon convert experience. Revealing the author’s hard-won path to meaning, faith, and forgiveness, On the Road to Heaven is a love story about a girl and a guy and their search for heaven—a lotta love, a little heaven, and one heck of a ride in between.

In a style reminiscent of and offering homage to Jack Kerouac, On the Road to Heaven traces an LSD-to-LDS pilgrimage across the geographic and cultural landscape of two continents in the late twentieth century. From the 1970s hippie heyday of the Colorado mountains to the coca fields of Colombia, it’s a journey through Thoreau ascetics, Ram Dass Taoism, and Edward Abbey monkey-wrenching to the mission fields of one of the world’s fastest-growing—and most trenchantly conservative—religions.

Of twelve million Mormons worldwide, more than seventy percent are first-generation converts, including Coke Newell. A former tree-hugging, Zen-spouting, vegetarian Colorado mountain hippie, the author later worked for more than a decade as an LDS Church media relations officer at world headquarters in Salt Lake City. His byline or citation on the topic of Mormonism has appeared in mmore than a thousand North American periodicals, including the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and the Los Angeles Times. Newell’s award-winning journalism and fiction have appeared in such publications as Columbia Journalism Review, Grit, Ensign, True West, Irreantum, and the Rocky Mountain News. He lives with his wife and children in rural northern Utah.

Here are the winners of the February Comment Contest, randomly selected from the comments made during the month of February.

Thanks again to our sponsors. Please take a moment to read their bio info here.

Ghost of a Chance

by Kerry Blair

Winner: Paul West
Commenting on Basic Submission Package

Hunting Gideon

by Jessica Draper

Winner: Rachelle
Commenting on The Quality of LDS Fiction by Jeff Savage

Hooligan

by Douglas Thayer

Winner: Christine Thackery
Commenting on What’s Lacking in the LDS Market

To claim your prize, you must e-mail your mailing address to me by Friday, March 7, 2008.

(Unclaimed prizes will be up for grabs on Monday, March 10th.)

Click here to learn how you can win a copy of one of our sponsoring books.

Please take a moment to learn more about our wonderfully generous sponsors.

Ghost of a Chance by Kerri Blair

True love is like a ghost. Many people believe in both, but few find either.

Samantha Shade has been hired to find out if there is something more than rats and feral cats haunting the crumbling San Rafael Mission, home of Father Rodriguez’s impoverished flock. But soon, the donut-addicted rookie private investigator is sidetracked by a series of murders occurring within the parish — and by the bookish, yet attractive, police detective leading the investigation.

Several young men are found executed in the same gruesome manner — and each is discovered with a marigold between his lips. The clues all seem to lead to someone at the San Rafael Mission. Who could be responsible? Soon Samantha comes all too close to the answer as she is led through the crypts below San Rafael’s cemetery on a journey that could only end on the Day of the Dead.

Kerry Blair wrote her first novel when she was eight years old and promised herself that she would do it again when she “grew up.” She makes her home in West Jordan, Utah, with her husband, Gary, and four children.

Kerry says, “I’d always said I wanted to be an author when I grew up—and forty is pretty darn grown up by anybody’s standards. The Heart Has Its Reasons was released in 1999 and I’ve since published seven-and-a-half more books (one was a collaboration) and been included in a compilation of inspirational essays for mothers. I’ve edged from LDS romance into romantic mystery into murder-mystery-with-romantic-overtones into romantic comedy into the new Nightshade series – books one reviewer said is what you’d expect ‘if you watched Buffy join CSI on the Romance Channel.'”

Hunting Gideon by Jessica Draper

Tracking hackers and crackers for the FBI’s National Infrastructure Protection Center looks like a vivid video game to an outsider, but the outcome of the play is deadly serious. Through her online feline avatar, Sekhmet, Sue Anne Jones stalks the V-Net, the ultimate virtual-reality interface, in pursuit of evil in all its online forms. Her partner, ex-cracker Loren Hunter, provides cynical commentary along with his expertise in the V-Net’s shadier alleys.

Their days of busting routine identity thieves and insidious corporate spies end when they get a new assignment: Hunt down a cyber-terrorist calling himself Gideon, who has infiltrated the financial system, rerouted supply lines, and murdered the supervisor of an automated factory. Now Gideon is sending taunting messages, quoting scripture, and warning Sue that she must join his crusade or suffer—along with the rest of the virtual world—when he takes total control of the V-Net.

Jessica Draper is the author of the Last Days adventure trilogy: Seventh Seal, Rising Storm, and Final Hour. A bibliophile and wannabe librarian, she landed unexpectedly in the wired world. After several years of writing software documentation—which sometimes qualifies as speculative fiction—she left the tech industry to become an instructional designer creating multimedia courseware. Her latest novel Hunting Gideon and its upcoming prequel, Dancing with Eddie D’Eath, represent additional forays into a not-so-distant future, simultaneously fantastic and believable.

Hooligan: A Mormon Boyhood by Douglas Thayer

In the days before sunscreen, soccer practice, MTV, and Amber Alerts, boys roamed freely in the American West—fishing, hunting, hiking, pausing to skinny-dip in river or pond. Douglas Thayer was such a boy, and in this poignant, often humorous memoir, he depicts his Utah Valley boyhood during the Great Depression and World War II.

Known in some circles as a Mormon Hemingway, Thayer has created a richly detailed work that shares cultural DNA with Frank McCourt’s Angela’s Ashes, Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and William Golding’s Lord of the Flies. His narrative at once prosaic and poetic, Thayer captures nostalgia for a simpler time, along with boyhood’s universal yearnings, pleasures, and mysteries.

Douglas Thayer teaches English at Brigham Young University, where he has served as director of composition, chair of creative writing, associate department chair, and associate dean. He has received various awards for his fiction, including the Karl G. Maeser Creative Arts Award. He is the author of the novels Summer Fire and The Conversion of Jeff Williams and two collections of short stories, Mr. Wahlquist in Yellowstone and Under the Cottonwoods and Other Mormon Stories, and he has been published in Colorado Quarterly, Dialogue, Prairie Schooner, and elsewhere.