Thursday, March 24, 2016

Orphan Journeys Blog Tour {+ a Giveaway}


It's always a joy to see a new, encouraging series take wing. Today, I'd like to highlight a new novella release - the first in a series - by Amanda Tero. At the end of this post, you'll find a giveaway to celebrate the novella's release. :-)


The Orphan Journeys Series:

Journey to Love (Marie's Story, 1901)

By Amanda Tero


About the Book

Now orphaned, Marie is swept miles away from the only life she knew to be sheltered by unknown guardians. Caught in the challenges of a new life, she cannot prevent changes from happening, but she can keep the Bowles and their friends at arm's length. Or can she?

While things appear to transition smoothly on the outside, Marie struggles against the turmoil she faces on the inside. She sees something in the Bowles and her new friends that she had never experienced before...but should she trust what the preacher is teaching when it goes against everything she had accepted as truth? Is God really a God of love? If He is, then is Marie willing to accept it?


Follow Marie as she begins the journey to love.

About the Orphan Journeys Series

Imagine yourself as an orphan, struggling for survival on the filthy New York streets, where disease and crime run rampant. Journey from these wretched streets to a temporary lodging in an overcrowded orphanage and then to the train station. After riding the train for hours, picture yourself lining up with other children, waiting as adults look you over. Would you be chosen—or would you have to hold onto the hope that maybe, at the next station, someone would want to bring you home?

Minister Charles Loring Brace had a vision for New York orphans that brought them through this journey from streets to homes. He began his orphan work in 1853, then in 1854, because of lack of orphanage space, Brace sent the first orphans by train to Dowagiac, Michigan, where the children could be sheltered by local families. The "orphan train" continued until 1929, bringing at least 150,000 children to new homes where they were fostered and, occasionally, adopted.

Brace desired to place children in good, Protestant homes. Many orphans experienced Brace's desire, but some orphans had different stories: siblings were separated, and some couples took orphans to use for cheap labor. Though many orphans ended up as successful men and women, not all of them turned out to be trustworthy citizens.

Orphan Journeys is a fictional novella series based off of the American Orphan Train saga, following orphans not only as they adjust to a new life, but also as they embark upon a spiritual journey.

About the Author

Amanda Tero is a homeschool graduate who desires to provide God-honoring, family-friendly reading material. She has enjoyed writing since before ten years old, but it has only been since 2013 that she began seriously pursuing writing again – starting with some short stories that she wrote for her sisters as a gift. Her mom encouraged her to try selling the stories she published, and since then, she has begun actively writing short stories, novellas, and novels. If something she has written draws an individual into a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ, it is worth it!



And there's a Giveaway!


Blog Tour Schedule:

3/14 - http://apinchoffaith.com/
3/14 - https://thewindowfriend.wordpress.com/
3/14 - http://willowywhisper.com/
3/15 - http://www.honeyrockhills.com/
3/17 - https://faithblum.wordpress.com/
3/19 - http://meagandavenport.com/
3/21 - http://hisprincesswarrior.blogspot.com/
3/22 - http://kelseysnotebookblog.blogspot.com/
3/22 - http://inthebookcase.blogspot.com/
3/22 - http://thetruthinseaglass.blogspot.com/
3/24 - http://www.abrighterdestiny.blogspot.com/
3/28 - www.alishainprogress.blogspot.com
3/ 29 http://elishapress.com/





Friday, March 4, 2016

Spreading Some Mercy {Free Softcover Opportunity}

Hello, dear readers! I'm breaking my usual First-Fridays schedule because I have a delightful opportunity for you that I wanted to tell you about. :-)

I'm preparing to redesign the cover for my first published novel, The House of Mercy, so that the softcover and the e-book will "match." I've been gathering ideas for this on a secret Pinterest board for a while now, and I'm really looking forward to how it all comes together. :-)



BUT

I still have a few copies of the softcover with the "old" cover design on it. I'd love for those who haven't had the opportunity to read this book and could benefit from a glimpse of the mercy of Christ to have these final first-edition copies.

And that's where you come in, friends.

If you can give me your word that you will carefully distribute or give away the number of books you request, I would love to send them to you, absolutely cost-free! Yes, I really mean that. :-) I will pay for the cost of shipping AND I will absorb the cost of the books IF you distribute them to people who might benefit from them. That is, after all, the main reason I write: to bring the love of Christ to more people and to bring believers to a deeper experience of His love for them.

Where could you distribute them? Whom could you give them to?

  • Your church library
  • A friend who likes non-traditional Christian fiction
  • A neighborhood free-book-library (a.k.a. community book exchanges, "little free libraries")
  • Your local library - Just ask if they would like to incorporate the book into their collection


So now you might be asking, "I'd like to do that! How do I get one (or more) copies?"
Just e-mail me at: aliciagraceroque@gmail.com -- or use the contact box on the sidebar of this blog. Let me know how many copies you would like and where I should send them. They will arrive via media mail within a couple of weeks. That's it! :-)

My supply is limited to what I have left on hand, so if you would like to participate in this, please get in touch with me asap. Due to shipping costs, I'm able to ship within the continental U.S. only. :-)

Looking forward to hearing from you!

Grace and peace,
Alicia


*** Update 3/7/16: All the copies have been taken! Thank for your help in distributing these, friends! :-) ***