To Be or Not To Be A Potbelly Stove

By Anita Mae Draper

Raise your hand if you've read a piece of historical fiction and found fault with it. Can you see both my hands waving high in the air? I'm ashamed to say I've not only found what I considered inaccuracies, but I've actually told the authors (friends of mine) what I found. One laughed it off because she'd discovered it too late, and the other disagreed with my finding saying there has to be some leeway in fictional writing.

As my stories started their publishing journey, my biggest fear was that someone would find a major flaw in my historical facts. But who is to say what is a true fact? As God's creation, we are all unique in what we see and process. Two people can witness the same event and then report it differently based on what they perceived. The New Testament is a good example of this where we find the same story of Jesus' birth, repeated several times, yet each is different in details depending on what the writer either saw, or what he decided was more important to write about.

This blog reaches people around the world. As such, we can look at the same item, yet call it by different names. How do you choose which word to use? The solution is to cater to the intended readership, right? But what if today's wording is different than what is historically known? If this sounds confusing, look at this image:

Potbelly Stove in Railway Station, WDM North Battleford

I took the photograph of a potbelly stove in a railway station waiting room at the Western Development Museum in North Battleford, Saskatchewan. It's the stove type I envisioned for my latest novella, Love in Store. The stove would be a fixture in my hero's store and is quite suited to the setting of 1890 Montana. 

However, as I worked on the final edit, I decided to see if it was called a potbelly, pot belly, or pot-bellied stove. Guess what? I couldn't find reference to any of those terms. Here's what I did find:

Sentinel, Large Cannon Stove.
Source: 1888-9
Superior Stove Catalogue

Pug, Globe Heater.
Source: 1890-1 Illustrated Catalogue of
Favorite Stoves and Ranges

Both of the above catalogue descriptions refer to it as a cannon stove and globe heater. My research in journals and writings of the time commonly refer to it as a globe heater or parlor stove. Potbelly doesn't appear until the 20^th century. And surely I didn't read everything from that period in history.

So what was I supposed to call the potbelly-shaped stove in my story? If I described it as a cannon stove or globe heater, would today's readers know what I meant? Would they skip over it, or would they stop reading and wonder about it? For the full impact of the story, I didn't want them to stop reading. But if I called it a potbelly stove, would I be accused of not staying true to historical facts?

After agonizing for hours, I left it alone. Perhaps someone will mention it someday and say I was wrong. Hopefully, I'll smile and think back to when I did the same to another writer or two. May God give me the grace to ignore what doesn't matter, so I can enjoy historical fiction for what does.    

What do you call such a stove?

For a chance to win a print copy of The Secret Admirer Romance Collection, check out my Contests & Giveaways page.

The Secret Admirer Romance Collection is available wherever Christian books and ebooks are sold including Amazon.com.

Anita Mae Draper writes her historical romances under the western skies of the Canadian prairie where her love of research and genealogy yield fascinating truths that layer her stories with rich historical details. Her Christian faith is reflected in her stories of forgiveness and redemption as her characters struggle to find their way to that place we call home. Anita loves to correspond with her readers through any of the social media links found at www.anitamaedraper.com.

Readers can enrich their reading experience by checking out Anita's Pinterest boards for a visual idea of her published stories at www.pinterest.com/anitamaedraper.

Stitching Up A Story, by Karen Rees

Being both a writer and a quilter I've discovered that piecing a quilt and writing a story have a lot in common. Take precision for example.

Any good quilter knows that precision is the key to getting all of those corners to come together perfectly. Not only precision when sewing pieces together, but precision from the beginning. I have to be precise in marking my pieces, cutting my pieces and then stitching them all together on the same side of that finely marked line.

Failure to be precise, even in small ways such as sometimes sewing on the wrong side of the line, will create blocks of different sizes and corners that don't come together as they should. The final result is a quilt that could have been better.

Precision is also necessary in piecing a story together. I have to select the word that best conveys the meaning I want. Carefully chosen words strengthen my writing and give it clarity. When I grab the first word that pops to mind, it's often not the best choice. I've discovered that I tend to write 'irritate' when I should use 'annoy'. (I make the same mistake when I talk.) What about the difference between brag and boast? In that scene does the character stroll, stride or amble? Does she drop her eyes or does she drop her gaze?

The blocks in my quilt, pictured above, appear to be two different patterns. In reality, all of the blocks are the same pattern – A Gentleman's Fancy. The apparent difference comes from my choice of colors. In some blocks I used light colors for a particular part, in other blocks I used dark colors. My choice of color and shade – light or dark – created the difference.

Writing is the same. The details that I give will create a particular impression in the mind of the reader.  When describing a park I could mention bird messes on benches and trash on the trails. Or I could describe colorful rose gardens and shady paths. The park may have both trash and flowers but the reader's impression will be formed by the details. Before I start writing, I need to decide what impression I want to give and then use the details that will create it.

This is equally true with my characters. Do I want readers to see someone as kind? Self-centered? Timid? Irresponsible? When introducing a character, what description or behavior will leave the desired impression with the reader?

A third similarity between creating quilts and creating stories has to do with the unexpected. I could have sewed every block in my quilt using red and some light color. But I didn't. Even when I used red in a block, I sometimes paired it with a dark color. Those particular blocks stand out like freckles on a blond. They add variety.

When developing characters, we can give them depth by adding something unexpected to their personalities. The hardened criminal who, now and again, treats some stranger's child to an ice cream cone. Why does he do that? Or the sweet elderly widow who has a history that would shock her neighbors.

Quilters say that it's not a quilt until it's quilted. In the same way a manuscript isn't a book until it's published. For a quilt to win at a quilt show and a book to earn honors, both need to contain our best work. Be precise, select the right details and create interesting characters. By doing that, you could end up with a winner.

Karen Rees and her second-generation missionary husband Benjamin have served in Hong Kong since 1975. Besides her involvement in the mission work, Karen loves history, quilting and writing. They have two children, Matthew and Megan, and two grandchildren, Hadessah and Arthur. She is the author of the award-winning historical novel, The Ruby Ring.

MY FAMILY BUILT THE TITANIC by Christine Lindsay

There are a lot of things my ancestry did, but one of the accomplishments I’m proud of is they actually built the RMS Titanic.  I admit they didn’t do it all by themselves, but my great-great grandfather and his son (my grandfather) were both riveters in the Harland and Wolff Shipyard in Belfast, N. Ireland. In fact, my paternal grandfather’s first ship when he started as a 14-year-old apprentice was that very ship that was struck by an iceberg and went down in 1912.

However…as a family we accept no responsibility for the sinking of that infamous ship. 

You can blame my family ancestry for my fascination with the building of ships, even though having a male ancestor who worked on the Titanic is not a rare thing for immigrants from N. Ireland, especially the city of Belfast. The majority of men in my grandparents’ era were employed by the world famous Harland and Wolff.

To understand why one of Britain’s largest shipbuilders, both of passenger liners and naval vessels, was located in Belfast, you have to remember that the 6 counties in the north of Ireland have been a part of Great Britain for centuries and still are to this day. The remaining 26 counties in the island make up the independent country of Ireland. 

The number of ships built in Belfast today are much less than they were in the golden years of shipbuilding, from about 1861 until the decline, around the mid-fifties when my father followed in the footsteps of his father and grandfather and joined the ranks of shipbuilders. In the late 1800’s there were up to 10,000 workmen, and around the time of the Titanic around 4000.

I remember as a little child (I’m 58 now) being taken to the yard and staring up at the bow of an ocean liner sitting in dry dock. To this day the sight of the huge steel bows of ships arcing upward gives me the shivers, the scary shivers.

My father’s first job at the yard was messenger boy. He was only about 16 at the time. With the yard being 300 square acres, he rode a bicycle with an attached leather saddle in which he delivered messages, blueprints, technical drawings, etc. from one point in to yard to another. Later he became a boiler maker and eventually immigrated to Canada, in the search of shipyard work as that trade began to die. An interesting note, is that might be the last great wave of Irish immigrants to the new world.

But back in the day, Belfast was where hundreds of world-known leviathans were built for countries around the globe. They built 70 ships alone for the White Star line, aside from the Titanic and her sister ships Olympia and the Britannic.

I always knew that one day I would write about the Belfast riveters who built these liners. Always a dangerous trade, 5 to 8 casualties a year in the shipyard was considered acceptable back at when Titanic was launched. Thank God things have changed. But no doubt my grandfather and great grandfather stood on the shores of the River Lagan as the Titanic sailed out for her sea trials.

Based on my research I wrote the following piece for a novel that shows the dangerous ballet of a riveter whether it be in shipbuilding or that of bridges, the two trades featured in my next release Sofi’s Bridge.

“Watching the riveter’s ballet of throwing white-hot steel always made Neil’s stomach harden to a lump.

Neil picked out his brother, Jimmy, from among the men on the bridge deck, and expelled a long sigh. Working on those meager platforms hanging over the side, one slip, one fumble from that height...and a man could die.

On the deck, Jimmy rapped his elongated tongs against the cone-shaped catcher can, waiting for the man known as the heater. The heater sent Jimmy a nod and thrust the peg of steel into the portable cast iron forge. When the peg of metal glowed to a molten white, he pitched it forward. Jimmy caught it in the catcher can and inserted the glowing rivet into a hole in the girder. With the same concentration Neil would use with a scalpel, Jimmy waited for the bucker to place his buckling tool against the head of the rivet, and for the riveter to hammer it home.”

Like most people, I’m proud of my ancestry on both my mother and my father’s side. My mother’s family military history inspired my multi-award-winning historical trilogy, Shadowed in Silk, Captured by Moonlight, and Veiled at Midnight. But it was my paternal family history in the building of ships that inspired Sofi’s Bridge which will be released May 1, 2016.   

Find out more about Christine Lindsay 

and her books on her website www.ChristineLindsay.org

Interview with Christine Lindsay

Narelle here. I'm delighted to have the pleasure of interviewing ICFW member Christine Lindsay today on our blog.

Irish-born CHRISTINE LINDSAY writes award-winning historical novels. In Shadowed in Silk and Captured by Moonlight, Christine delights in weaving the endless theme of the Heavenly Father’s redemptive love throughout stories of danger, suspense, adventure, and romance. 

The Pacific coast of Canada, about 200 miles north of Seattle, is Christine’s home.

Prisoners to their own broken dreams… 

After a daring rescue goes awry, the parched north of India grows too hot for nurse Laine Harkness and her friend Eshana. The women flee to the tropical south…and run headlong into their respective pasts. 

Laine takes a new nursing position at a plantation in the jungle, only to discover that her former fiancé is the owner…and that Adam has no more to say to her now than he did when he crushed her years ago. Why, then, is she still drawn to him, and to the tiger cub he is raising? 

Eshana, captured by her traditional uncle and forced once more into the harsh Hindu customs of mourning, doubts whether freedom will ever again be in her future, much less the forbidden love that had begun to whisper to her. Is faith enough to live on? Or is her Savior calling her home? 

Amid cyclones and epidemics, clashing faiths and consequences of the war, will the love of the True Master give hope to these searching hearts?

Narelle: What was your inspiration for writing Captured by Moonlight?

Christine: Two characters from the first book, Shadowed in Silk, insisted I tell their story. They are Eshana, the young Christian woman who served in the mission, and Lieutenant Laine Harkness of the Queen Alexandra Imperial Military Nursing Corp. 

Eshana’s story of being a child Hindu widow needed to be told, so I had someone come out from Eshana’s past to capture and imprison her for being a Christian. 

Laine also needed to be imprisoned by her emotions for her former fiancé, Adam. Things become interesting for her when she finds Adam in a refuge-like plantation in the thick jungle. 

But the overall inspiration was India, and the many Christians in India. Indian women like Pandita Ramabai who did so much for suffering widows and children, American missionary Dr. Ida Scudder, and Indian preacher Sundar Singh, who I wanted to share with modern-day readers.

Narelle: Does Captured by Moonlight include many characters from Book 1, Shadowed in Silk?

Christine: Captured by Moonlight includes Geoff and Abby in a tiny way. But the story is predominately about the adventure and danger that Eshana and Laine are thrust into when they must flee the north of India. The police are seeking these two women for rescuing young Indian girls from the sex slave trade, and the Hindu population is up in arms about that.

Narelle: What do you find most fascinating about the British Raj period of India’s history?

Christine: To me the British Raj is more exciting that even the Wild West is to the Americas. British Colonial India was a time caught in a capsule. It could not last, because it was built on an imperialistic attitude of Britain. But oh, such a time of memsahibs and sahibs, cavalry officers and their steeds, huge Indian armies, grand glittering palaces, beautiful women in saris, the grandeur and beauty of India. Color and spice. Romance in the desert or a flower-perfumed jungle. Need I go on?

Narelle: Captured by Moonlight touches on the historic sex trade in South East Asia. What inspired you to write about this issue?

Christine: You can’t study much about India before realizing the Hindu caste system is one of the cruelest philosophies in the world. It is the height of injustice to believe that some people are of more importance simple because of their lineage as a high-caste person, versus the horror and filth that the lowest class of people (the untouchables) must live with. Even Gandhi did his best to stamp this out. 

One of the practices of Hinduism is called Devadasi. This is where a young girl is “married” to a Hindu deity and dedicated to service in a temple for the rest of her life. Sometimes these girls were from high-caste families who thought they were pleasing their gods by giving them their daughters. Many times the girls were from the untouchable class, who were simply brought in to be prostitutes for Hindu men who came to worship in the temples. This practice is often debated that it really happened this way. But if you read the writings of women such as missionary Amy Carmichael, Dr. Ida Scudder, or Indian heroine Pandita Ramabai, then you know these horrible practices took place. These godly women were just a few who rescued young girls and women from the atrocities of the sex trade. 

I weave part of these truth injustices into Captured by Moonlight. The current-day sex trade is still as strong and still as horrendous as in the days of my fictional story. Something we as Christians nowadays need to be aware of and concerned.

Narelle: What faith issues do your characters struggle to overcome in the story?

Christine: Eshana has been happily living as a Christian and serving God in the medical mission that was built by her mentor, Miriam from Shadowed in Silk. After Miriam’s death, Eshana is convinced it is God’s will for her to administer the mission in her mentor’s footsteps. But God allows something terrible to happen. Eshana is captured by her traditional Hindu uncle and imprisoned for living a life as a Christian. He forces Eshana to be dressed in the course white funeral clothing of a widow and have her head shaved. 

Eshana must go through a sort of death to her own dreams and ambitions. She learns like I am learning—to die to myself so that Christ may live His life and complete His plans through me. Eshana learns that the Lord’s plans are far more wonderful than anything she or I could ever devise.

Narelle: How has your faith influenced your writing?

Christine: I would not be writing if it were not an opportunity for me to show in story format who Jesus Christ is, and what a yielded life to Him can accomplish. What I learn in my devotions at the feet of Christ is what comes out in my character’s journeys.

Narelle: Please tell us about your upcoming releases. Are you planning to write more books in the Twilight of the British Raj series?

Christine: I had always wanted to write a series that would take the reader from what is the beginning of the end of the British Raj and up to its total end in the Partition of India. 

Book 1 Shadowed in Silk starts out with the Jallianwala Bagh massacre that pushed the Indian independence movement into high gear. 

Book 2 Captured by Moonlight carries on with that and focuses on British people who had been born and raised in India. With the end of the Raj nearing they aren’t sure what nationality they are. They’re not truly India. Nor are they quite British. 

Book 3 Veiled at Midnight will finish this series. It will showcase all the glory of the British Raj leaving India. That leaving brings about the Partition of India into a new independent India and the new country of Muslim Pakistan. This was a brutal time in history. But through that I hope to inspire people that God can gather His people from all four corners of the world. No matter where you go in this world, He will find you and care for you.


Christine, thanks for providing us with a fascinating insight into your latest release, Captured by Moonlight. If you'd like to learn more about Captured by Moonlight or connect with Christine, please check out the following links.

• Book Trailer for Captured by Moonlight
• Amazon Purchase Link for Captured by Moonlight
• Barnes and Noble Purchase link for Captured by Moonlight
• Kobo purchase link for Captured by Moonlight
• website www.christinelindsay.com
• Facebook Author page, please drop by and 'like'
• Join Christine on Twitter
• Join Christine on Pinterest

NARELLE ATKINS writes contemporary inspirational romance and lives in Canberra, Australia. She recently sold her debut novel, set in Australia, to Harlequin's Heartsong Presents line in a 6-book contract. Her first book, Falling for the Farmer, will be a February 2014 release. 

She has published Bible Studies on Smashwords and blogs regularly at http://30MinuteBibleStudies.wordpress.com 

Narelle is a co-founder of the Australian Christian Readers Blog Alliance (ACRBA) http://www.acrba.blogspot.com 

To learn more about Narelle, please visit her website.

INTERVIEW with BRUCE JUDISCH and GIVEAWAY!

Today, I have the great pleasure of interviewing multi-published author, Bruce Judisch. He’s going to tell us about his upcoming novel, For Maria. Bruce also generously offered to give away one copy of its prequel, Katia. The drawing is open to readers worldwide! So at the end of the interview, please leave a comment along with your email address before Thursday, July 19^th. The winner will be announced in the Sunday Edition on July 22^nd.

An introduction to For Maria:

December, 1939: The Gestapo haul Izaak and Maria Szpilmann away to the Lublin concentration camp, leaving their twin infant daughters behind to die. But the twins do not die. Rescued by a neighbor couple, Gustaw and Ròsa Dudek, they escape occupied Poland to Salzburg, Austria. They are not heard from again.

Today: Maria Szpilmann has survived Lublin, Auschwitz, and Bergen-Belsen. She is now grandmother to Madeline Sommers, a young journalist who, despite the odds, passionately clings to the belief that the lost twins are still alive. She makes it her single-focused mission to find and reunite them with her failing grandmother before it’s too late.


Welcome, Bruce! First of all, where are you from?

Originally, Canton, Ohio.  I enlisted in the Air Force when I was 18 and, after a 21+-year career, I retired in San Antonio, Texas.  I guess that make me a closet Yankee deep in the South.  J

What kind of novels do you write?—and how were you influenced to become a novelist?

Actually, I never envisioned myself as a novelist. I’d been affirmed in my writing abilities, but it was all non-fiction. What got me started—rather, who got me started was my wife, Jeannie. I was teaching a course through the Minor Prophets at our church, and when I began my research on Jonah, I was struck by how unique he was and how little we actually knew of him. There were also several questions left hanging in the Scriptural account of Jonah’s ministry, and they intrigued me. When I introduced the study on Jonah to my class, I said, “If I were ever to write a novel, it would be on Jonah.” I had no intention of ever writing a novel; however, my wife was in the class, and afterward she elbowed me in the ribs and said, “Well…?” So, in 2002, returning from a business trip to DC, I typed the first lines of Ben Amittai, intending it to be a single novel beginning with the first reference to Jonah in the Bible (2 Kings 14:23-25). Well, being a seat-of-the-pants writer, I soon lost control of my story, and eight years later, again on a business trip to DC, I typed the last lines of The Word Fulfilled, the third work in “A Prophet’s Tale.” The bug had bitten, and from there I went to write Katia (it flowed from the pen; first draft of 78K words in 30 days). For Maria was much more difficult; the first draft taking well over a year, due to the intense research and emotional exhaustion of the subject.

Not only are we a global group here at ICFW, but we appreciate fiction that takes us around the world. In what countries have you set your novels thus far?

Katia is set in Berlin, Germany.  For Maria travels from Stettin, Poland (1940), to Salzburg, Austria, through Vichy France, Spain, and on to Lisbon, Portugal.  If I tell you much more, I’ll spoil the story.  J

My earliest work, “A Prophet’s Tale,” is set in ancient Israel, Judah, and Assyria.

In today’s featured book, For Maria, you chose a very complicated issue surrounding WWII and the Holocaust—and I admire you for that, as well as handling it so sensitively and well. Please share what led you in this direction, to tackle the topic of the Hidden Children. What’s the story behind the story?

For Maria, as the sequel to Katia, follows two characters who really only receive brief mention in the previous work.  It was in researching the logical progression of the story I had in mind that I came upon the Kindertransport and the work that the Oeuvre de Secours aux Enfants (OSE) did on behalf of displaced children before and during WWII.  Some of these children escaped Europe, others—like your Hidden Children—did not.  The story is incredibly poignant; I still tear up at scenes after over a dozen full edits of the manuscript.  The ending is satisfying, but the journey is painful.

It’s evident that For Maria is well-researched. The facts and details you incorporated are impressive. I love how you integrated real life characters with your fictional characters. Yet, this all couldn’t have been easy. So I’m curious, how did you conduct your research for this book?

I bought several books written by alumni of the Kindertransport, as well as interviewed two of them.  I’ve since, to my unlimited joy, have befriended them (in fact, I chatted with one on Facebook just before beginning my reply to these interview questions).  Interestingly, if you study the documents on the cover of the book closely, you’ll see the name of one of them.  I also contacted organizations like the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society in New York and others for information on the times, events and people.  It was exhausting, emotionally draining, yet at the same time wonderfully satisfying.

Many characters’ lives were changed in a profound way within the context of your plot. Did this project change you in anyway? If so, then how?

Oh my, Tessa, you know how to ask interview questions, don’t you?  I don’t really consider myself a softy, but I actually got misty eyed when I read this question.  There are no words to express the emotions I encountered in writing this book.  For those who do read For Maria, the Author’s notes at the end of the book will tell it all—but please don’t read them until you’ve read the story!  J

Any surprises—good or bad—along the way?

Hah! It wouldn’t be much of a novel without surprises, would it?  And I wouldn’t be much of an author if I gave them away, would I?    ;-)

What would you say is the overall spiritual theme, if any?

Wow, another great question.  I don’t think there is one.  There’s food for thought along the way, nuggets to mull over—as there were in Katia—but an overall theme?  No, that would be a little bit limiting for a book like this.  Sorry.

For Maria is the sequel to your novel, Katia, which I also had the privilege of reading. Here’s a blurb of Katia (OakTara Publishers/2010), the book offered in today’s giveaway:

“Seek the truth, embrace the pain, cherish the freedom.”

Spirited Madeline “Maddy” McAllister is a twenty-one year-old journalism major completing her year as an exchange student at the Freie Universität, in Berlin, Germany. She has a career to launch.

Stalwart Katia Mahler is a sixty year-old German invalid who grew up in post-World War II East Berlin. She has a story to tell.

Enigmatic Oskar Schultmann brings together the journalist and the storyteller. Maddy’s task: to chronicle Katia Mahler’s life.

All three of them discover more to Katia’s story than they bargained for.

Cultures and generations clash, as the young American and the German matron strive to understand each other’s present and past. Maddy learns more than a personal history; Katia receives more than a memoir. And always in the background is Oskar, who gets drawn into the story in ways he never intended.

Peek behind the Iron Curtain and over the Berlin Wall as Katia’s story—the story of a lost generation from a failed state—comes to life through the scribbled notes of a girl struggling to grasp the significance of what she has written for her own life as well as for future generations.

Without giving too much away, how are these two stories, For Maria and Katia, tied?

I’ve alluded to the fact that the two primary historical characters weave a thread between the two books.  However, as this is a hybrid contemporary/historical work, the characters in the contemporary setting—especially Madeline—are very strong carryovers from Katia.  Although it’s not necessary to read Katia to appreciate For Maria, I honestly think the experience would be fuller for the reader if s/he would read the prequel first.  That’s not a veiled marketing ploy, just an honest assessment.

What’s next for you, Bruce?

I’m working on some non-fiction Bible studies in eBook format through Cape Arago Press.  As far as fiction goes, how’s this for a seed? (This is a genuine news article.  I have the brittle yellowed newspaper on the desk in front of me.)

Rangeley Lakes, Vol. II, No. 13
Rangeley, Maine – August 20, 1896

The center of attraction Thursday was at the railroad station after the arrival of the 1 o’clock train.  There came on that train a “bridal trunk,” anyway, one of the cards attached said: “I am a bride,” another announced, “We are married.”  There was a drawing of a loving couple with wedding bells and a cupid.  But the happy couple didn’t come.  There was a crowd awaiting the train at night, and again they were doomed to disappointment, but they have the pleasure of looking over the trunk just the same.”

So, who were the newlyweds and why didn’t they show up to claim their trunk?  Or maybe this wasn’t a bridal trunk after all...hmmm.

This won’t be international per se (although there may be Canadian connection), but it’s pretty cool anyway, don’t you think?  J

Pretty cool, indeed! Thanks, Bruce! J

BRUCE JUDISCH is a senior information operations analyst on contract to the Department of Defense.  His fiction includes the above-mentioned prequel to For Maria, Katia.  He is also the author of “A Prophet’s Tale” (The Journey Begun and The Word Fulfilled, as well as Ben Amittai: First Call, the prequel), a novelization of the story of Old Testament prophet Jonah.  He is also published in a Department of Defense professional journal, the IO Sphere.  His unpublished non-fiction includes more than 18 Bible-study booklets, as well as topical studies on the Seven Churches of Revelation, the Resurrection, and Discerning God’s Will.

Bruce’s work can be found on his Web site at www.brucejudisch.com.  He also reviews Christian fiction on his blog at www.brucejudisch.blogspot.com.

He lives in San Antonio, Texas, with his high school-sweetheart wife, Jeannie.  They are parents of three and grandparents of fourteen.

For a chance to win a copy of Bruce’s novel, Katia, the prequel to the soon-to-be-released For Maria, leave a comment and include your email address replacing @ with (at) and .com with (dot) com, before Thursday, July 19^th. The winner will be announced in the Sunday Edition on July 22^nd.

“Void where prohibited; the odds of winning depend on the number of entrants. Entering the giveaway is considered a confirmation of eligibility on behalf of the enterer in accord with these rules and any pertaining local/federal/international laws.”