Tell Me More . . . Yolonda Sanders {Author Interview}

In today's Tell Me More feature I want to introduce to you a new-to-me author Yolonda Sanders. The third book in her newest series recently came out and it is a spine-tingling suspense thriller. If that is the genre that you love (like me) you should check it out!

I began to wonder just who this mystery woman was behind these intense story lines. I wanted to know the important things that a curious sort like myself wonders about. I decided to reach out to her and ask her to tell me more . . .

If you could invent something that would make life easier, what would it do? 

I would invent a time suspender so that, when there are not “enough hours in the day,” I can pause time around the whole universe to complete my daily tasks without having them carryover into the next day.

What two items would you grab if your house was on fire?

I would grab my Bible and my laptop.

If you could travel back in time to a specific moment in history, what would it be?

I would go back to the Garden of Eden to try and convince Eve not to eat the fruit.

If you had three wishes,what would they be? (You’re not allowed to wish for money or another wish!)

My first wish would be to live a long, healthy life. My second wish would be to make a valuable contribution to our world through some new discovery that will make people's lives easier or cure a deadly disease. My third wish would be to successfully complete a marathon by running the entire way.

What’s the one thing for which you’d like to be remembered? 

I would like to be remembered for my compassion for others.

There you have it friends . . . the important things we need to know about Yolonda! If you had the opportunity to ask her anything what would it be? Leave your curious questions in the comments and we'll see if we can get her to chime in and end the suspense.

www.YoProductions.net

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Tell Me More . . . Sandra Byrd {Author Interview}

by Fitzysmom

For the record Sandra wants you to know that her hair is dark . . . but not this dark! She thinks she looks like Morticia Addams. Hmmm . . . I always liked the Addams Family. That house of theirs was amazing. I think it would make a great setting for one of Sandra's novels. Just a suggestion!

I first became aware of Sandra's work when my daughter Whitney (aka RambleSAHM) was a pre-teen. I was at our local Christian book store looking for something for Whitney to read and I stumbled upon Sandra's Secret Sisters series. They turned out to be just the thing for my avid reader. She went on to devour every book that Sandra would write over the next few years. To my great delight those same books are about to be introduced to my oldest grand girl. What a great investment that was!

More recently I have fallen in love with Sandra's historical fiction books. My favorites so far have been her Ladies in Waiting series. They are set during the Tudor period which I find fascinating. I am eagerly waiting for her next novel, Mist of Midnight, which is book one in her Daughters of Hampshire series. It doesn't release until March 2015 so it's going to be a long cold winter. 

I began to wonder just who this mystery woman was behind these very diverse books. I wanted to know the important things that a curious sort like myself wonders about. I decided to reach out to her and ask her to tell me more . . .

What’s the best way to spend a rainy day?

Napping or reading on the couch while my husband watches football.

If you were given one chance to travel back in time, what event would you like to see?

As a Christian and as a history nerd, there are probably hundreds of events, but from a personal angle, I would have liked to have seen and experienced what my forebears did when they first landed in America, the home of their dreams.

What are the three most favorite products you own?

Bialetti Espresso Pot, my phone (I so overuse emoticons!) for keeping in touch with my family and friends, and my Kindle Fire HD tablet.

What is your favorite smell in the whole world?

Lavender, followed closely by the scent of a baby's cheeks, and then vanilla pound cake.

What superpowers would you like to have?

The ability to de-frizz my hair for good. And maybe lose weight without trying. Hey! I'd share!

There you have it friends . . . the important things we need to know about Sandra! If you had the opportunity to ask her anything what would it be? Leave your curious questions in the comments and we'll see if we can get her to chime in and end the suspense.

www.SandraByrd.com

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Interview with Ted Dekker About His Newest Release 'HACKER' from The Outlaw Chronicles Series

1. Your main character in Hacker, Nyah, makes a living by cracking the firewalls of major corporations. What role does technology play in her development as a character?

TD: Nyah roots a great deal of her identity in technology. In doing so she defines who she is by what she does. She even says so at the beginning of the book. I am a hacker. We all do this. For her, technology is what she knows, it’s what defines her, and provides the comfort zone. But it’s also her prison, which she comes to discover later.

2. How does personal loss affect Nyah’s view of God?

TD: When we meet Nyah, we find her in a place of great suffering especially for someone her age. That colors everything, just as it does for everyone else. For Nyah, the inescapable question is, “Why is there such suffering in the world?” Or more to the point, “Why is all of this happening to me?” That offense, that feeling of injustice and unfairness, feeds her entire view of the world, including her view of God as a distant, uncaring creator.

Read our review!

3. Why do you consider Hacker a modern-day parable?

TD: Parables are meant to re-frame the world differently so we can experience it again for the first time. Hacker takes a simple concept that many people already believe, that there’s another reality so near to us that we’re unaware of its presence most of the time, and puts it center stage. The story doesn’t have a moral or try to make a point per se, because that’s not what parables are for, but it does ask you to look at the world through new eyes—Nyah’s.

4. The central question in each book in this series is, “Who am I?” What prompted you to explore that question?

TD: The question of identity is central to all of life and, in fact, most of my own striving and struggle can be traced back to it. We define ourselves, almost without thinking much of it, by what we do. I’m a mother, a father, a man, a woman, a writer, an accountant… The list is neverending. But strip that all away, as death will one day for all of us, and what remains? Are you, at your core, really a mother or a father or an accountant? Or are you something far more and we’ve only bought into the notion that this costume, which we call the body and our careers and talents, is really who we are?

Read our review!

5. The series so far includes a 17-year-old who claims she has been buried alive, a 13-year-old orphan with no memory, and a 17-year-old genius computer hacker. What are the similarities between these characters?

TD: [Laughs.] You’ll have to read the books to find out for yourself. Ultimately, they are all forced to take a journey that begins in the valley of the shadow of death and ends on the other side of it.

6. What role does the unseen play in your books?

TD: An enormous role, because that’s how it is in real life even in a literal way. Physicists tell us that the visible universe is a miniscule slice of what actually exists, we just can’t see the rest. But just because you can’t see something doesn’t mean it’s non-existent.

Read our review!

7. What makes your characters in this series “outlaws”?

TD: It’s their journeys, which lead them “out of the law” of death and suffering into the light. It’s the same journey we all get to take, and which we’re called to.

8. You grew up as a missionary kid among cannibals in Indonesia. How do you think your unusual upbringing affects your writing and your faith today?

TD: My upbringing gives me a unique way of looking at the world. Understand, I grew up among people for whom spirituality was integral to life. It wasn’t tacked on or part of life… There was no separation. They believed in the unseen, they witnessed its powers, and lived as though the seen and the unseen were woven together in a beautiful, mysterious way.