FREE! New Book! Meet Prolific Author, Lisa Lickel!

What a privilege to have this talented author visiting today! Welcome, Lisa.


Free book promotion date: April 4-6 on Amazon (link below)

Prism Book Group
Release Date: March 25, 2016
This novella is in the Love Is series, and is book #5:
“Love is not Proud” from I Corinthians 13

Everything About You blurb:
She needs a movie set miracle, he needs cash...can a farmer morph into a movie star in five days?

If Shelly has her way, Danny will become America’s next heartthrob and she’ll get her own promotions company. He’s already gorgeous but a little naïve. Danny considers Shelly pompous, but holds the key to his dreams...if he can follow the rules, say the right things for the vlogs, keep his heart strings in place, dodge Shelly’s vicious former boyfriend and the movie set diva. Shelly will lose a lot more than her heart if she can’t learn to trust.







Read an Excerpt:

By the time Fred corralled Shelly for her final vlog entry, it was dark on the outdoor set, mosquitoes overcame the aerial spray, and Shelly had not eaten since mid-morning. Winston was safely ensconced in Roma’s quarters, a canvas tent she insisted on so vocal distortion was kept to a minimum.

“You got Winston on film today, right?” Shelly twisted her neck to loosen up and swung her shoulders. 

“Oh, yeah, I did that, sweetheart.”

“How’d he do? Sound okay?”

“He’ll need some work with Roma, but he handled himself well.”

Fred wore a strange grin.

“What? He have good angles? He looks all right?”

“That he does. Okay, I’m going to run film, so pretend I’m not here and talk like the camera is your best friend. Spill your guts, doll, and mean it.”

Shelly swallowed a few times and put the long, long, long day to the back of her mind. The light kept her from seeing Fred. She blinked at the red light and…

“Tommy set me up for this. I am a good publicist and he knows it. Tommy Lord became what he is because of me. Wait. I take that back. He’s a rat fink, but I didn’t make him that way.

You hear me?” Shelly laughed from the back of her throat. “For dropping me, I’m going ride tracks all down your back on the way to taking Jovian Productions to number one. You don’t deserve to be second rate in the industry, either. Everything about you and your joke of a distribution company is second-rate

Cripes, now she was repeating herself. Shelly stared at her hands, trying to think of stuff to say that sounded good. People loved at that juicy dirt talk. Even if she was over Tommy. She had her pride, after all, and none of the gossip in the tabloids was true. Talk about her day. Yeah.

“Since the moment Mr. Pettibone kicked Seth Taylor off the set and Winston Daniels stepped into the spotlight, I knew I could do something with him. Such great bones and good physique to work with. I guarantee you that within five days, I make every woman in the world drool over him and every man admire him. With his naturally thick hair, romantic build, and dreamy eyes, we’ll create a publicity campaign that puts his picture on billboards in every city, ads in all major publications, and do an online drive in everyone’s face and ear. The world will fall in love with him, the new lead in Everything About You, a movie that will make Love Story look like a postcard.”

Buy her book here:
Amazon




About Lisa:
Lisa Lickel lives in the rolling hills of western Wisconsin. Surrounded by books and dragons, she writes inspiring fiction. Her novels include the Buried Treasure mystery series (The Last Bequest, The Map Quilt and The Newspaper Code) and the award-winning romance, Meander Scar; A Summer in Oakville, co-authored with best-selling author Shellie Neumeier, Healing Grace, The Last Detail and a series of historical early reader books, First Children of Farmington among others. She also writes short stories, feature articles, and radio theater.

She is a member of Wisconsin Writers Association and the Chicago Writer’s Association. Lisa loves to encourage new authors through mentoring, speaking, and leading workshops. Lisa also is an avid book reviewer and blogger, and a freelance editor. She is married to a high school biology teacher, and they have two sons and daughters in law, grandchildren and a grand-kitty.

Find out more at:
Web: www.lisalickel.com
Blog: http://livingourfaithoutloud.blogspot.com
Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/lisalickel
Amazon Author page: www.amazon.com/author/lisalickel
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/@lisajlickel
Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/authorlisalickel

Don't forget to head to Amazon and get YOUR FREE copy TODAY!

Blessings!!

Excited to have Lisa Lickel Visiting Today!

Thrilled to have a very special person visiting today! Read on to find out more about prolific author, Lisa Lickel!

How long have you known that you were a writer?  Did you receive a clear “call?” Or have you just loved writing all your life?
It’s been ten years now since I began writing professionally. My clear call was having an article accepted in Writer’s Digest. It’s great when others in your chosen profession also believe in you and accept your work.


What is the genre you write in?  Would you explain what it is?
I’m taking a step outside of genre for The Last Detail. It might slide between Women’s Fiction and General Inspirational fiction. General Fiction might be harder to explain than something like romance or mystery, but I had at one time written this book four different ways to fit different publisher requests, two of them romance. But that’s not what this book is about. It’s really about learning to be and stay married, so the story doesn’t end with a proposal or wedding, though there are romantic elements. The story is not about figuring out what happened to Merit and Pru’s lost brother, though there are elements of mystery. We watch Amalia and Merit and learn about each other, then feel they’re ready to marry. But are they? How well can we know each other, and how long does it take to learn how to trust another person?


How do you spend your writing days?  Do you set goals to reach a certain number of words per day?  Can you give us a general idea of how long it takes you to write a novel?
Different aspects of writing is my regular job/business. Since I expanded into the freelance editing field, I am blessed with a great clientele that keep me busy. Carving out time to write my own material is getting a bit hard. I spend several hours on my clients, and a certain amount of time a week on promotion. I also mentor others, do book reviews and write for a couple of blogs. I try to work on several blogs at once, doing several posts at a time.


What is the spiritual message in your latest book?  What can readers expect to get from reading it? 
The Last Detail is probably my most inspirational book to date. I’m not sure if that’s because the main male character is a missionary, but it seemed natural for the characters to live out their faith, their struggles, doubts, and triumphs in a very open way, drawing from Scripture and using it as an application to the circumstances of everyday life. The basic message is that it’s not good to be alone—even when we’re part of a couple. Both Merit and Amalia tried to take care of things that came up in their lives without “worrying” or “bothering” each other. I think we do that a lot, and it’s a sign of mistrust and fear that also says a lot about our faith and damages relationships. Sometimes it takes a major tragedy to show us the better way – that is, to give what we are to another.


You recently had another book published.  Would you take this time to describe it to us?  How and where can readers buy your books?
I had a pretty good publishing year in 2013, starting with a standalone mystery, Meow Mayhem, then the third book in the Buried Treasure mystery series, The Newspaper Code, which spent the summer in the top 100 best sellers at Amazon. In the fall I was part of two anthologies, one called Brave New Century, which is a group of historical romantic novellas, written with three other wonderful authors, Kathleen Rouser, Teena Stewart, and Paula Mowery, and the other, Wisconsin Harvest, Vol II, which includes one of my radio plays. Then the time was finally right to start publishing a series of children’s early reader historic books with wonderful illustrator Brenda Hendricks. The series has been well received so far. I don’t think I’ll see another year like that. My books are all available either for order at your local bookseller, at the usual online retailers, or from me. All the links for my other books are on my website, and below are the links for The Last Detail and Brave New Century.

The Last Detail: Amazon   or:  BN
Brave New Century: Amazon  or:   BN


Where do you get ideas?  Character names?  Do you find your characters similar to you in any way?

In a sense, all my characters have something of me in them. That might be scary with the antagonists—but even evil comes from someplace, whether experienced or imagined, right? I will take names from tombstones and obituaries, and distant family names, mixing and matching elements that seem to fit the stories.


Do you ever feel like giving up?  Most people don’t understand the stress, the work, and the joy of being a writer.  How tenuous becoming a writer is. Do you care to share how it feels, what discouraging/encouraging times you’ve gone through?  Who’s inspired you the most?

I think it’s pretty common, feeling like giving up. Even with The Last Detail, there were a couple of typos in the “final” book, which, PTL, were caught by another editor before the manuscript went to print, and when I saw that, I just wanted to run and hide and never publish or edit another thing ever again. And this is my twelfth book. But I think of others who worked so hard to achieve their goals, some waiting decades and willing to make major changes in their work in order to see other people reading their books.


Would you explain how you “chose” (or was chosen) a publisher?  Do you just go “inny, minny, miny, moe?”  Grin.  Now that you’re published, can you sit back and relax from the success you’ve experienced?
Ha! Never sit back until they close the lid! Yes, it sort of is “inny, minny, miny moe” at first, and in between. You look at publishers to see if they publish what you’re writing, or if you can adapt your work to fit what they need. You query. You wait. You keep going.

Prism is a fairly new publisher, but one with an inspirational line that was accepted by ACFW. They don’t focus on any particular genres, and I was fortunate to have two books, the anthology Brave New Century, and The Last Detail, contracted for publication.


Do you mind telling us some of your likes and dislikes?  Hobbies, interests?  Where would you like to travel if you could?  Etc.
I love to travel and was fortunate to be raised in a family that traveled, and married a man who enjoys it too! We visited Newfoundland and Labrador last summer. We may try an exotic trip this year, courtesy of my parents who want to go on one last trip and can’t really go alone anymore. My mom wants to visit Istanbul. I’m excited. Otherwise, I read a lot and collect dragons. I’m not a huge fan of dogs. I’m not crazy about asparagus, but I’ve learned to love it grilled with balsamic vinegar.


Would you give us your blog or webpage so everyone can check it out?   Anything else you’d like to share?  Promotional information?
Sure thing. You can find me at http://www.lisalickel.com. When you click on The Last Detail page you’ll ’ll be directed to the page that has lots more goodies, like the history and current information on Starved Rock Park, including links to a virtual tour, an excerpt and the questions for reflection.


BIO: 
Lisa Lickel is a Wisconsin writer who lives in a hundred and sixty-year-old house built by a Great Lakes ship captain. A muti-published, best-selling and award-winning novelist, she also writes short stories and radio theater, is an avid book reviewer, blogger, a freelance editor, and magazine editor.

Connect with Lisa here:
Blog

Thanks, Lisa, for visiting! Enjoyed it.

Blessings

The Potawatomi Boy by . . .

Lisa J Lickel, illustrated by Brenda Hendricks

Short Blurb – 

Green Leaf’s cousins are all older than he and don’t like to play fair. He longs for a friend his own age he can play with, explore and fish with. When he meets a Luxembourger boy, Henri, Green Leaf is sure they could become friends, but Henri’s words are strange to Green Leaf. How can they play and explore together? 
Green Leaf’s mother says, “Friends learn to speak one another’s words.” But will Green Leaf learn to say his friend’s words well enough to save Henri when he falls into danger?

Link to Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/q86n4lc

Also available in print from online retailers or from your favorite bookseller. $5.95

A few words from Lisa:

Ten years in the making, The First Children of Farmington series of early reader books has finally reached book sellers.

I spent two years researching and writing this series. Several years after I worked with other community historians to collect and record our early pioneer history, I realized that we had quite a diverse ethnicity to Farmington, Wisconsin. Although these stories are based on real people and real events, they are representative of issues and struggles and joys families face every day everywhere.

The Potawatomi Boy is a character with a running thread through all the books. When I first started out with the project I was taking classes from the Christian Writers Guild. I set out to put together a series of picture books and connected with a couple of different artists. I wrote the text, but learned over several years that it’s harder to get the attention of a publisher for children’s books than it is for adult books. I’d never considered self-publishing, but through connections with my current illustrator and publishing partner, Brenda Hendricks, and others at the John 316 Marketing Network, learned a lot about not only self-publishing options, but how to publish well. 

The second book in the series, The German, is now available, as well, about a curious young girl who becomes lost while searching for the family cow, and the third book, The Saxon Boy, about a young boy who must learn to accept a stepfather, may be out by Christmas. I was quite surprised and pleased to have won a prestigious Jade Ring award for the Saxon Boy from the Wisconsin Writers Association. The other three stories, The Yankee Boy, The Irish Girl and The French Girl, are planned for release in 2014.

The books include references, glossaries, and special illustrations and a picture search. They are suitable for early to middle grades, ages 7-9 or so.

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Potawatomi-Boy-First-Children-Farmington-ebook/dp/B00GDHZYZU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1384105348&sr=8-1&keywords=The+potawatomi+Boy

Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-potawatomi-boy-lisa-j-lickel/1117170123?ean=9780985621520

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18697983-the-potawatomi-boy?ac=1

Booksamillion: http://www.booksamillion.com/p/Potawatomi-Boy/Lisa-J-Lickel/9780985621520?id=5840013700048

* * *

My Review of the Potawatomi Boy

A lovely children's story filled with pieces of information that are creative and helpful in learning. Loved the simple little story of two different cultures becoming friends, and Brenda's sweet, informative and colorful pictures added the right touch of interest. Loved, loved, loved the activities and the word definitions, the glossary and the informaton about the months.

Well done, Lisa! This is a book all families should have in their libraries.



From December 1 through December 16, the John 3:16 Marketing Network is hosting a Christmas Book Launch and The Redemption of Caralynne Hayman is a featured book. 


As part of the event, the Network is offering a $200 Amazon gift certificate to one lucky winner. For a chance to win, go to: http://bit.ly/Christian_Books and enter the Raffle copter (toward the bottom of the page. Be sure and pick up your Kindle version of The Redemption of Caralynne Hayman for $.99 at http://bit.ly/Carole_B



a Rafflecopter giveaway

Blessings, readers!

I'm Thrilled to Announce prolific writer Lisa Lickel is on my blog this week! 

Join us as we learn more about her writing life, and leave a comment and email address for a chance to win a $10 Amazon gift card. Nice.

How long have you known that you were a writer? Did you receive a clear “call?” Or have you just loved writing all your life?

Hi, Carole, thanks for having me back. I’m not a lifer. I colored the walls with crayons when I was three, and even though maybe I had tried to tell a story, I didn’t entertain more than a passing fancy for writing professionally until I took the Apprentice program of the Christian Writer’s Guild in 2002.

What is the genre you write in? Would you explain what it is?

I have published in a couple of different genres. Cozy mysteries, which are lighter, not gory, crimes solved by an amateur sleuth. I’ve also published romance, which I enjoy, but I dream of being taken…um, forgive me, but—literarily, so to speak.

How do you spend your writing days? Do you set goals to reach a certain number of words per day? Can you give us a general idea of how long it takes you to write a novel?

I don’t have strict schedules because I’m an at-home housewife first. I’d like to get more serious about getting back into article-writing where the income is, and I’m an editor and like to help people when they ask. As a mentor and magazine editor, I also have responsibilities. Marketing is a huge chunk of time and sometimes I have to watch to jump on opportunities as they come. I do book reviews and network by doing interviews also, as well as blog in several places. When I’m in writing mode, I do the research first, then by the time I’m writing, it goes pretty fast – usually six weeks or so.

You recently had a book published. Would you take this time to describe it to us? How and where can readers buy your books?

I’m excited about the re-release of my cozy mystery series. MuseItUp from Canada bought the second book of my Buried Treasure series, re-did the cover which I adore, and put it out electronically December 1.

What is the spiritual message in your book? What can readers expect to get from reading it?

The theme of The Gold Standard is about how money, or the love of it, destroys people—a pretty old theme, but one we never seem to “cure.” There are more important choices in life than building up treasures on earth. How we treat others, even the suspects, shows our real character.

Do you ever feel like giving up? Most people don’t understand the stress, the work, and the joy of being a writer. How tenuous becoming a writer is. Do you care to share how it feels, what discouraging/encouraging times you’ve gone through?

More often than I’d like to admit. It feels wasteful, with so much sitting, typing, staring into space, researching, the constant learning curve, even networking and marketing, and especially the reading we must do. It’s one of those jobs that demands both working with people, and being alone. At least, I do my best work when I’m in a quiet environment. Each time someone says “no thanks” to your work, you have to learn to not let it sink you. A real author gets right back on the keyboard and goes to work.

Who’s inspired you the most?

Ann Schrock, my longest-term writing pard. She’s had a lot to deal with, including getting another job experience outside her home, but she’s still writing, still being a great mom and wife, still managing to get published by Barbour and work on proposals for her agent, and find time to celebrate Guy Fawkes day. Now that’s class.

Would you explain how you “chose” (or were chosen by) a publisher? Do you just go “inny, minny, miny, moe?” Now, that you’re published, can you sit back and relax from the success you’ve experienced?

My first publisher, Barbour, offered a cozy mystery line, so I tried it and was contracted. Authors should be careful to study the market, the publisher’s guidelines, the types of material and other authors they represent before submitting. Success is very loosely and liberally interpreted in this business. Some authors are happy to hold a book with their name on the cover, some define success as reaching best-seller status; some as getting into their favorite magazine, some by number of copies sold or money earned. You can relax in your coffin, but until then…get to work!

Do you mind telling us some of your likes and dislikes? Hobbies, interests? Where would you like to travel if you could?

I’m not much of a pink person. I like dragons, watching movies and cinnamon raisin toast. I’d like to travel to Great Britain someday.

I like that! Would you give us your blog or webpage so everyone can check it out? Anything else you’d like to share? Promotional information?

Sure, Carole: my web site has a lot of information on it, and all my links to social networking and my blogs: http://www.lisalickel.com/.

I have workshops, writer’s tips and links to the organizations I participate in, as well as information about my editing business and an online store. As I mentioned above, The Map Quilt, the second book of the Buried Treasure series releases in April, and deals with an old family story of the Underground Railroad. I enjoy working with a small cadre of authors around southeast Wisconsin who travel together for programs at book stores and libraries and writing conferences.

My second edition of OtherSheep magazine released this month. OtherSheep is a Christian world-view science fiction/fantasy/monsters magazine of short fiction, essays, interviews and reviews, poetry and games from Written World Communications. I’m always looking for contributions.

Thanks so much for  visiting, Lisa!

Readers, comments and email addys, please.

Blessings!