Christian Indie Black Friday Sale 2016

It's past midnight and I'm WAY past tired, because it's been a LONG day, but I'm gonna get a post out, so get a post out I shall.




Like most other bookworms, great books make their way onto my "things I'm thankful for" list every year. It's hard to choose favorites (especially since this hasn't been a great reading year for me, and most of what I have read has been popcorn or review copies), but I went ahead and picked five books I read in 2016 and am thankful for.

1. Crannig Castle by Morgan Elizabeth Huneke. The final book of the Time Captives Trilogy. It made me sad. I also was a beta reader for the story, and she sent it to me when I was having a bad day, and getting to read that story completely changed it around (even though the story was sad). So thank you, Morgan. You're amazing.
2. Please Don't Tell My Parents I'm a Supervillain by Richard Roberts. This book is one of the reasons that I chose to write ROCKS for NaNo this year. (One of the other reasons is that you guys voted for it). It's an interesting take on the superhero genre, and I quite enjoyed the worldbuilding.
3. Yorien's Hand by Jenelle Schmidt. Because my ship sailed. Yay! (Actually, it flew on Dragonback, but why squabble over details)
4. Song of the Sword by Hope Ann. One of the best Rapunzel retellings that I've ever read. I'm not sure that it tops Rapunzel's Revenge, but it's close. Very close.
5. Lady Dragon, Tela Du. Yes, it's my own book, but I'm thankful for it. Without this story, I wouldn't be the author that I am today, and this story has been with me through some of the most difficult chapters of my life. Also, I'm just thankful that it's finally done, and published, and DONE.

I don't know about you, but I'm looking forward to another great year of reading!

Speaking of more reading, here's one more thing to be grateful for. Books on sale! In honor of Thanksgiving and Black Friday, a group of independent Christian authors banded together to offer over seventy discounted books on Nov 25-28. There's literally something for everyone. Every single book listed on Indie Christian Books is on sale in one or more ways. Find discounted paperbacks, dozens of books offered with free shipping, $0.99 ebooks, package deals and more. Even if you have a budget of $0, new reading material awaits you. Don't know what to pick? The fearless Indie Christian Books team created a quiz that will generate a book list perfect for you! Check it out!

Yes, my books are in the sale, and yes you can get them for awesome prices!

What awesome reads of 2016 are you grateful for? What books are you looking forward to reading in 2017?

A note on the Ebooks Only page. All books are listed as "Sold Out." This only refers to paperback copies of these titles. Please click onto the product pages to find descriptions and links to discounted or free ebooks. Also, some of the authors this year chose to not sell their paperbacks directly through the site. Those books are also marked "Sold Out" but if you click them open, you'll find a link to the site where they are on sale and a discount code for you to use at check out.

Acknowledgements: Thanks to Leah E. Good and Kendra E. Ardnek for their work organizing this sale, and Hannah Mills for her fantastic design work on the website graphics. Hannah can be contacted at hmills(at)omorecollege(dot)edu for more information about her design services.

I tell you waht, this sale almost didn't happen this year, since Leah was going to let it slide until I mentioned something on facebook, she realized that the site could be brought back to life with very little effort, and I volunteered to help with the organization. I've gone almost crazy pulling it together. I've been drinking coffee. COFFEE. I don't like coffee. And I've been drinking it.

Kendra out.

Free Books In Exchange for a Blog Post!!!

Hello people! Do you like reading? (Of course you do, you're reading my blog!) Do you enjoy getting ebooks for free? (Of course you do, because it means you don't have to spend money on your reading habit!) Do you have your own blog? (Actually, I'm not so certain on this one. Anywho.)

You may remember, in previous years, I've participated in Indie Black Friday sales, and this year will be no different.

And like last year, we need you guys to volunteer your blogs and help us spread the word. I don't care if your blog is small, because you are still spreading the word and that is awesome.

Just head over here and fill out the form. Deadline for sign up is the 22nd.

There, done, boom.

I don't know yet for certain who all will be represented, or whose books you'll have access to - we're still gathering authors (Oh, and if you're an author and are interested in offering your books in the sale, email me at kendraeardnek@gmail.com and I'll get you those details. Deadline for this is the 19th.), however the authors I do know will be on there are good, and you won't want to miss this sale. Or the opportunity to get free books.

Crannig Castle - Interview with Samantha Hubbard

Oh, hey, internet people! I am currently dying under a nasty case of Writer's Block (that not even my Writer's block t-shirt could help), and have lost all of my NaNo lead that I made for myself.

Anywho - I'm here to share with you an interview with Samantha, a character in the Time Captives Trilogy, one of my favorite Portal Fantasies. Despite having a smaller role in the book, Samantha holds a special place in my heart since she shares a name with my first best friend. So what if I was two when I last saw her and that I can't even remember her. BFF's forever. 

So why have I never given the name to one of my own characters?

About the Book

God, please look after Adriel. Keep him safe and keep him from acting foolish. And please help him to be able to find me.

Rae knew she could trust God to look after both of them. It was all she had now.

The Time Captives have been reunited. The rightful king has been freed. Now all that remains is to defeat the strytes who still hold a tyrannical rule over the people of Calhortz. But with their lack of soldiers, it’s a task that is easier said than done. They need allies, but are they worth it when it requires facing ghosts from their pasts?

Returning to his home country only brings the loss of Adriel’s family to the forefront of his mind. His determination to find Rae has never ceased, but now that determination could potentially destroy all that he and the Time Captives have been working towards. And his new-found faith may not be able to withstand the challenge.

Will they be able to set aside their personal struggles for the sake of the freedom of all or will they allow their pasts to consume them? Will they manage to win back Crannig Castle from the rule of the strytes? The fate of Calhortz hangs in the balance.

Crannig Castle is the final book of the Time Captives trilogy, a tale of faith, family, fantasy, and a fight for truth and freedom.

Buy Now

Kindle ~ Paperback ~ Signed Copy

Add to Goodreads

Also, the first two books in the series are currently FREE, so do go check them out.

Creighton Hill: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00XV5R5XG

The Crossways: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B015OTSCJ2

Hello, and welcome to Knitted By God's Plan! Would you tell me a bit about yourself?

Hi! My name is Samantha Hubbard. I look like I’m twelve, but I’m really 112. I’m the sixth of the Time Captives to come to Calhortea. At home, I’m from the year 1900. It was quite a change coming from then to Calhortz, but things are changing so fast at home, I’ve gotten used to it. I also think I picked the wrong direction to travel when I got here. Eleanor went south and escaped Toarna for years, but I went west like George and got picked up right away. So I’ve spent most of my time here in the dungeon, but it wasn’t as bad as it could have been since I had family with me.

Can you tell me a bit about your family back home?

Why certainly! I’m the second of eight children. I have one older brother, just like all the rest of the Hubbards except the last, and his name is Henry. He’s Calvin’s father. The six younger than me are Grace, Joshua, John, Lucy, Cilla, and Ava. Ava was just a baby when I left. We lived at Creighton Hill with our parents. I’m sure you knew that already; where else would we live? After all, if we hadn’t, I couldn’t have gone through the portal in the attic. We studied at home with a private tutor, except Henry who went away to school, and of course, the babies who were too young. I wasn’t very good at lessons…usually I would have Grace help me. She and I are rather opposite as she likes to read and things of that sort and I’d rather not, but we got along well anyway. Being in the middle of the boys helped with that, I think. Papa was a lawyer. He’s the first generation to not work the plantation, but it just wasn’t really worth it anymore. It’s kind of a sore point with Theodore, since he was proud of it being a plantation, but it was just hard to sustain after the Civil War ended. It’s a surprise it lasted as long as it did. But you probably have more questions for me.

Who do you miss the most?

That would be Grace. I spent most of my time with her and we were really close. Also, she was always the one to make our decisions. *shrugs* If someone else has an idea that sounds good, I go for it. Luckily, Grace’s ideas usually turn out to be good ones. Not all the time, like when she thought it would be fun to dig an underground playhouse. It sounded neat, but the digging was too hard…and we got in trouble for digging on the grounds without permission and realized that it likely would have collapsed on top of us. But it was fun while it lasted. I do miss Grace a lot. I hope I will be able to see her again soon.

What is your favorite animal? Color?

Dogs. Grace likes cats best, and we always had to be different. You can do more with a dog than a cat, though our dog doesn’t like to mind. My favorite color is green, the green of growing things. I love the outdoors, and green reminds me of spring.

How do you feel about death?

Death? That’s an odd question. It’s a normal part of life, just one we haven’t had to worry about since we came to Calhortz. As long as you believe on Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you don’t have to fear death. I’d rather not die painfully, and I’d like it to be quick, but I have lived a long time, so I don’t really need many more years to live. After all, I’m 112! People don’t usually live that long these days.

What has been the best thing about coming to Calhortz?

I’d say getting to meet all the other Hubbards. We’re all from such very different times, it can be interesting to get all fourteen of us together. I never liked history much before, but when they tell about it from their own experience, it suddenly becomes real. It’s not just a bunch of battles and dates. It was real, and people really lived through it the way I lived through my own time. And I also get to find out about the future.

About the Author

Morgan Elizabeth Huneke is a homeschool graduate who lives in Georgia. She has enjoyed creating characters and writing stories since early childhood. Books have always been a big part of her life, never more so than when working at the local library. Her other interests include reading, playing the piano and violin, and politics.

You can connect with Morgan on her website, blog, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, and Pinterest. Find the rest of the tour here:http://morganhuneke.blogspot.com/2016/11/crannig-castle-is-here.html

Beautiful Books: All According to Plan...

So Round 2 of Beautiful Books questions have been issued, so answer them I shall. Mwahaha.

(It's hosted by Cait and Skye, by the by, if you want to go link up.)

(Oh, and in case you were wondering, I'm writing ROCKS, the first volume of my Superhero Dystopia trilogy.)

1. Overall, how is your mental state, and how is your novel going?

Boing, boing, boing... Um, I'm not as exhausted as I was the first few days, so that's good.  The hardest part is that we've had to send my sister to our grandparents' house for an undetermined amount of time and I've been having to do her chores as well as my own. It's going to get interesting.

I started NaNo with 7,500 words already written, and I've added almost 10,000 as of right now. Yesterday was my best day thus far with 3,500 words, while Wednesday was my worst with less than a thousand. (But I did get to do some driving practice and I put in a job application, so it wasn't an unsuccessful day)

Also, I might have decided to completely rearrange the series and take out Lavalight's story and add a third book at the end instead. We'll see.

What’s your first sentence (or paragraph)?

You can read the opening chapter here if you'd like. It needs a serious rewrite, though.

Who’s your current favourite character in your novel?

Probably Myr, Roxanne's Electrokinetic, blue-haired roommate. Who is currently explaining to Roxanne why she can't use Diamondz - a comic book hero that William, Roxanne's best friend from back home, created - as her villainous persona. And why she needs to wear black armor.

What do you love about your novel so far?

All the fun characters with all the fun powers. The concept of heroes and villains being forced into their roles by an oppressive school/government, rather than them choosing for themselves. 

Have you made any hilarious typos or other mistakes?

Me? Make typos? What ludicrousy is that? Apart from me consistently misspelling "lose" as "loose."

What is your favourite to write: beginning, middle, or end — and why?

Endings. Because then you're done. I've written a lot of beginnings, with all their pressure to get them just right, and I've gotten stuck on a lot of middles. Endings are a special treat of doneness that I rarely get to savor.

What are your writing habits? Is there a specific snack you eat? Do you listen to music? What time of day do you write best? Feel free to show us a picture of your writing space!

My brain is crazy and tries to focus on everything except writing. I like to take frequent breaks to run around the yard like a crazy person. I don't often eat while writing, or listen to music. Most of my writing is done in the evening as I crunch it out before midnight. Sorry, no pictures. 

How private are you about your novel while you’re writing? Do you need a cheer squad or do you work alone (like, ahem, Batman)?

I'm not terribly private at all. Here - have a snippet.

   Tournaments were on Saturday, and lasted the whole day. It was, simply put, a war. The principle was the same as their daily afternoon practices, and was in the same room – the heroes had the room to practice in the mornings – but on a much larger scale because there were twice the people and the heroes brought completely different powers to the table.

   Susan refused to listen to listen to Roxanne and send her after Riley. Nor did she take the other logical option of having Roxanne build fortifications with her rock powers. Nope, she had Roxanne guarding prisoners. Roxanne made a steel box for them and sat on it.

   Her brother, it appeared, had been put in charge of building the other team’s forts, and Roxanne knew, from looking at the wooden buildings he was putting together, that the other villains weren’t going to get in easily. Yodel knocked a few down with his the yodels he took his name from, but Riley quickly learned and started adding extra fortification.

   He had limited materials, though. While there were some plotted plants scattered about whose growth he accelerated, most of the structures were made out of a large supply of wooden planks.

   Roxanne, on the other hand … well, they were in a mountain. Simply put, she had access to all the rock in the world. If Susan had played her cards right, she could have a fortress that would have put any and all that Riley was building to shame – especially given how well Roxanne was doing in the school, and how many bonuses she had won as a result.

  And it wasn’t even as though she had a lot of prisoners to guard. One smallish first-year girl whose power was turning into a bird, and who had been caught by a fourth-year whose power was flight.

And I need a cheer squad, definitely.

What keeps you writing even when it’s hard?

My cheer squad.

What are your top 3 pieces of writing advice?

Get a cheer squad.

Have a plot.

Have a character whose head you don't mind being in.