Writing

 After fourteen years of hard work, Sherrie Ashcraft and Christina Berry Tarabochia are thrilled to announce the release of their novel, On the Threshold. Interested in how a mother and daughter can write a book together? Want a chance at winning a Kindle and a business card design from a top-notch company? Keep reading!

Why did you ladies begin writing this book?
Both of us had always talked about writing a book, but fourteen years ago Sherrie said if we were ever going to write, maybe we should work on a book together. It would hold us accountable. We lived on different sides of the state of Oregon at the time, so we did a lot of it via e-mail, and once a month Sherrie would make the 250-mile drive to Christina’s house and we’d work on it in person. We wanted to share a real look at depression and trying to be good enough to please God–what that might look like in a family’s life.
Fourteen years? Really?
That’s from the first word penned. The very first contest we entered, we actually talked about how we needed to decide how to fight off all the editors who’d be making offers. Instead, we found out we had a lot to learn! Attending writing conferences and reading craft books brought our writing to a higher level.
Tell us about On the Threshold.
We loved having the chance to tell this story! In fact, we have a few more stories to tell about these characters  if readers love this one. Here’s what the book is about.
Suzanne—a mother with a long-held secret. Tony—a police officer with something to prove. Beth—a daughter with a storybook future. When all they love is lost, what’s worth living for?
Suzanne Corbin and her daughter, Beth Harris, live a seemingly easy life. Suzanne has distanced herself from her past, replacing pain with fulfillment as a wife and mother, while Beth savors her husband’s love and anticipates the birth of their child. But all that is about to change.
Like a sandcastle buffeted by ocean waves, Suzanne’s façade crumbles when her perfect life is swept away. Tragedy strikes and police officer Tony Barnett intersects with the lives of both women as he tries to discover the truth. Left adrift and drowning in guilt long ignored, Suzanne spirals downward into paralyzing depression. Beth, dealing with her own grief, must face the challenge of forgiveness. Can these two women learn to trust each other again? Will they find the power of God’s grace in their lives?
 And a little about you?
Mother/daughter writing team Sherrie Ashcraft and Christina Berry Tarabochia bring a voice of authenticity to this novel as they have experienced some of the same issues faced by these characters. They like to say they were separated at birth but share one brain, which allows them to write in a seamless stream. Both live in NW Oregon and love spending time together. Many years ago, they were both on a winning Family Feud team!

Sherrie is the Women’s Ministry Director at her church, and loves being the grandma of eight and great-grandma of one. Christina is also the author of The Familiar Stranger, a Christy finalist and Carol Award winner, and runs a thriving editing business.
Please sign up for their Infrequent, Humorous Newsletter at Ashberry Lane for a chance to win cool prizes.
What about this contest?
If you help get the word out, you can earn different points for each thing you do, and every point represents an entry in the contest.
Say, for example, you name your next child “Threshold” in honor of our book. You would earn 100 points (entries), which would greatly increase your likelihood of winning.
Fine print to be read as quickly as those medical side effects are glossed over on TV: A certified copy of the birth certificate must be sent to Ashberry Lane proving the child was born between now and when the contest ends on June 30rd at 10 PM, PDT. Some restrictions apply, such as you must also promise not to change the child’s name to anything else for at least the next fifteen years. You are, however, allowed to use “Thresh” as his or her first name, and “Hold” as the middle.
If that seems like we’re asking a little too much, there are other ways for you to enter the contest.
~ Post about On the Threshold on Twitter or LinkedIn, or share the cover on Instagram or Pinterest, and you’ve doubled your points to TWO.
~ Refer someone to sign up for the newsletter. If he or she notes you as referrer, guess what? You just earned THREE points.
~ Blog about it and reap FOUR points. (We’re available for more blog interviews.)
~ And for those who buy the book (e-book or print copy), you will gain FIVE points.
~ Leave a review—positive or negative—on a retailing site after reading the book, and TEN points to you!
All you have to do to enter is drop us an email to Christina [at] ashberrylane [dot] net with a description of what you did. We trust you.
Here is a sample email:
Dear Sherrie and Christina,
Fortunately, my last name is Hold, so when my triplets were born yesterday, all I had to do was name them “On,” “The,” and “Thresh.” (Yes, that makes a double “h,” but without it, the name just looks silly and I don’t want a kid with a funny name.) I also got the cover of On the Threshold tattooed on my arm, took a picture of it, and posted it on every possible social media site, including Facebook, though I understand I don’t get points for anything done on there. Next, I forwarded the Infrequent, Humorous Newsletter to a few of my friends and ALL of my enemies. After reading the book in two hours, I posted an honest review on three different retail sites. Please enter my name 349 times.
Love,
Your #1 Fan
Or something like that. 🙂
Where else can we find you gals online?
 Buy the book, e-version or paperback, on Amazon or B&N or iTunes or in any other version on Smashwords. Sign up for the newsletter (all the kids are doing it!). If you want a signed copy mailed anywhere in the United States, email us. (Christina [at] ashberrylane [dot] net)
www.twitter.com/authorchristina
www.facebook.com/sherrie.ashcraft
www.facebook.com/authorchristina
www.christinaberry.net/
www.authorchristinaberry.blogspot.com

I’m pleased to welcome back novelist Sandra Orchard today. Sandra is an award winning writer of Christian romantic suspense. She writes for Harlesquin Love Inspired Suspense (LIS) and Revell. Her most recent LIS, Critical Condition (October 2012) won the 2012 RT Reviewers’ Choice Best Book Award. And her latest novel Deadly Devotion releases this month from Revell.

Welcome back, Sandra! Can you tell our readers about yourself?

I’m a mother of three grown children, grandmother of one, soon to be two, and wife to the most supportive husband. I hail from the Niagara Peninsula in Ontario, Canada. I have an Honours Bachelor of Arts and Science degree from McMaster University, and taught high school math before staying home to raise and home educate my children. I now write full-time when not doting on my grand daughter.

What led you to pursue novel writing?

I always dreamed of being a writer, but never thought I had the imagination to write fiction. Then I discovered Christian fiction. The more I read, the more I loved it and I started to imagine my own stories. But I was busy homeschooling my children, helping my husband with his business, renovating our old farmhouse. Then I blew a disk in my back, and suddenly couldn’t do a lot of what I’d been doing, but I could sit at my computer, so I started writing my stories!

What is Deadly Devotion about?

Deadly Devotion is the first book in my Port Aster Secrets series with Revell Publishing. It is a standalone mystery, however, the budding romance between the hero and heroine, and an underlying suspense will arc the three-book series.

 Here’s the back cover blurb:

Kate knows the truth is out there—but if she’s right, that means a killer is out there too.

Research scientists Kate Adams and Daisy Leacock were on the brink of a breakthrough for treating depression with herbal medicine when Daisy was suddenly found dead. Kate knows that her mentor’s death wasn’t suicide or a careless accident—and she’s determined to do whatever it takes to unearth the truth about what happened to the woman who changed her life.

Former FBI agent Tom Parker is finding it hard to adjust to life back in his hometown of Port Aster. Though an old buddy gave him a job as a detective on the local police force, not everyone approves. Tom’s just trying to keep a low profile, so when Kate Adams demands he reopen the investigation into her friend’s death, he knows his job is at stake. But despite his attraction to her, Tom thinks Kate herself may have something to hide.

How did you come up with the concept for Deadly Devotion?

The initial inspiration came from a dream sparked by my children’s work at a local greenhouse. I can’t share the details, because it would give too much away. Of course, the more I delved into herbal medicine and herbal teas and horticulture and poisonous plants, the more intriguing twists I was able to add to the plot, as well as some intriguing herbal remedies and unusual uses for plants, such as the plant my heroine would reach for as a weapon when cornered in the lab. J

What do you hope readers walk away with after reading Deadly Devotion?

To put their faith in God, not people. It’s easy to let the actions of those who we look up to in the faith affect our perceptions, but what others do or don’t do doesn’t change who God is. Sooner or later just about everyone comes up against a side of God that’s hard for them to accept, and will have to decide if they trust him no matter how the situation looks.

What other projects do you have in the future?

My next Love Inspired Suspense, Fatal Inheritance, releases in August. And I’m just finishing up edits on another one for LIS, as well as, book 2 in my Port Aster Secrets series. Then…I’ll be starting work on book 3 and another LIS.

What is one thing people may be surprised to know about you?

Until I blew a disk in my back, and took up writing, I was a Jill of all trades. I’ve installed windows and doors, done roofing, installed siding, installed floors and trim, did plumbing.

How can readers get in touch with you?

They can connect with my on Facebook at: http://www.Facebook.com/SandraOrchard

They can subscribe to my quarterly newsletter:  http://bit.ly/OrchardNews

They can connect on my blog, or via email at my website: http://www.SandraOrchard.com

Thanks for stopping by today Sandra!

You can order Deadly Devotion at Amazon, Amazon CA or Christianbook