Meet and Greet Monday: Christa Allan

Book giveaway!
See the details at the end of this post.

With the exception of having spent some years in Texas, I’ve been a lifelong Louisiana girl. After college, I started teaching high school until the mommy years. I have five children, who are now 32, 29, 26, 26, and 24, a son-in-law, and two precious grandgirls ages 4 and 2. Twenty plus years ago I returned to teaching high school, and I’m hoping to graduate in the next five or so years! My husband Ken and I spend our time with our three neurotic cats, play golf, and dodge hurricanes.
Hello to Book Readers Central! My name is Christa Allan, and I’m so pleased to have the opportunity to chat with all of you today. As I write this, the wind is howling outside my windows, and it’s another chilly day in Abita Springs. The cats and I are hunkered down, and I’m doing my best to keep them out of my morning coffee!

I hope that my story gives every struggling writer hope that dreams can come true. God’s timing is more spectacular and His gifts more beautifully wrapped than anything we could imagine. Over five years ago, I would not have predicted that I’d be celebrating the publication of my debut novel. I encourage you to persist, even when all else seems to the contrary, because if God has planted the desire in your heart, He will deliver it to your hands.

Walking on Broken Glass was written over a period of three years. Hurricane Katrina accounted for a lapse of two years between (my) starting and finishing it. Our family, though truly blessed with no home damage, was displaced because of my husband losing his job. The business he had worked for ended up mostly in the Gulf of Mexico! For two years we lived in a city about three hours away from our home, and looking back, I realize God placed us exactly where we needed to be. It was during those two years that I connected with Jessica Ferguson, an ACFW member and now president of The Bayou Writers’ Group in Lake Charles. She and I had actually “met” online through ACFW before I even moved. She encouraged (challenged?) me when she told me that if I was serious about writing, I needed to attend a conference. Never doubt that God places people in our paths for a reason!

Between the decision to attend the conference and the actual conference date, everything that could go awry, did. My husband’s job opened up again, so I returned to my former job, but he had to work for two more months before leaving. I came back and lived with a friend for two weeks. I didn’t have an internet connection, so all of my work had to be finished at school. And since funds were tight, I attempted to print my own business cards. The school web blocker wouldn’t allow me on the site, then -- when I finally found a site it wouldn’t block -- my printer died! I left school late and, what should have been a five hour drive to meet my daughter who would eventually drive me to meet Jess, ended up being almost seven hours because of an accident. My cell phone died in the process, so I had to make the last few miles on a prayer because I’d never been to my daughter’s new apartment. Again, looking back, I believe that the one who doesn’t want us to succeed is always on the sidelines waiting for us to give in to despair.

Had I not attended that conference, I would not have met a writer whose critique eventually led me to Rachelle Gardner, my agent, who sold Walking on Broken Glass eight months after she sent it to editors.

My debut novel tells the story of Leah Thornton, a woman whose life looks pretty from the outside; she seems to “have it all.” But appearances can be deceiving because she’s a mess. She drinks to numb her pain and, until her friend confronts her with the truth, she thinks no one else has noticed. Leah admits herself to rehab, and the novel -- told from Leah’s point of view -- follows her through her recovery as she attempts to discover who she really is and what she’s willing to sacrifice to find out.

My prayer is that Leah’s story speaks to families struggling with addiction -- to tell them they’re not alone. God speaks to us through people in our lives, and we can find grace even at the bottom of an empty bottle. Alcoholism is a tough subject; one that many Christians are hesitant to discuss as an issue in their lives. As a person who has been a recovering alcoholic for over twenty years, I know that God can heal us. There is hope…even when our lives don’t follow the script we’d written for them.

I have two proposals Rachelle is now shopping. Like Walking on Broken Glass, these two novels will break open other areas that are not often at the forefront of Christian writing. My goal is not for my novels to be labeled as “edgy”; I don’t write for the purpose of sensationalizing. My passion is to comfort those facing issues in their lives, to let them know that being a Christian doesn’t mean immunity from the world’s problems. But if my words can pierce the façade, then people can see God on the other side.

View the book trailer either in the right column of this blog or a full-sized version here.

WHERE TO PURCHASE MY BOOK
Cokesbury
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Borders
Christian Book Distributors

FIND ME ONLINE:
Website
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Book Giveaway: Leave a comment to this post and you'll be entered to a free copy of Walking on Broken Glass.

Whistlestop Wednesday: I Run to the Hills

A cloaked figure climbs the Mount of the Lord. The pilgrim draws near, glances at me as I read along the wayside, and presses on. I gasp and turn my head, for this pilgrim has my face. In a flash of clarity, I realize the pilgrim is me. And so it goes. I find myself - and you - everywhere within the pages of I Run to the Hills. Filled with intimate glimpses of reality that cut to the heart of a matter, illustrated in poetic imagery, and couched in allegory, I Run to the Hills is a modern-day Pilgrim's Promise. It's complex truths clothe themselves in simplicity and knock at the door of the reader's heart.

It would be difficult to read I Run to the Hills in a single sitting, something like eating too much chocolate. This book should be studied, little by little, over time, for it highlights lessons learned by its author over a ten-year stretch of living. Read it, and then reread it to glean again.

I recommend this book for teenagers and adult readers who enjoy devotionals, poetry and allegory.

Whistlestop Wednesday Book Review: "Like a Bird Wanders"

"Like a bird wandereth from her nest. So is a man who wandereth from his home (Proverbs 27:8 KJV).

Authored with rich diversity, redolant with the aromas of small-town life in the Pacific Northwest, and illustrated with beautifully-drawn characters, Like a Bird Wanders sings a song of heartbreak and forgiveness. The timeless story of a wayward girl who leaves home in pursuit of a dream that crumbles bridges the gap between social mores on the cusp of the Twentieth Century and modern times.

Grace Rose McFarlane, while dying, leaves a cryptic note for her great-granddaughter: Julia, the lion will destroy you. Puzzled, Julia pockets the missive. When she discovers old letters and journals in a trunk in her great-grandmother's attic, however, Julia unlocks a family secret that clarifies Granny Grace's message.

The story unfolds as Julia reads the letters and journals, which tell of a younger Grace full of ambition and disparaging of her family's rural lifestyle. Grace makes a decision to leave it all behind and "come up" in the world, running off for a better life with handsome Jake Hudson. But fulfillment of her dreams eludes Grace, and she learns -  the hard way - the definition of "home."

A fine and moving work containing high-caliber writing, Like a Bird Wanders seamlessly blends the voices of its three co-authors: Sharon Bernash Smith, Rosanne Croft and Linda Reinhardt. I found it a little off-putting at first that, although the author of each journal entry was identified, the letters were only identified by their signatures, which might not come for several pages. This made for some flipping back and forth for me until I became familiar with each character and could pick up on clues as to identity. I also found certain aspects of the plot a bit contrived, but the book is so well done overall I recommend it for those who enjoy family sagas and historical fiction. I also approve this book for teenage girls since it focuses on home and family, defines a Biblical morality and gives clear consequences for sin.

*Thanks to the authors for a complimentary copy of this book provided for purposes of review.


**Janalyn Voigt is an Amazon Associate and benefits when products are purchased on Amazon through links from Book Readers Central.

"The Noticer" by Andy Andrews (Thomas Nelson Publishers)

A homeless young man weeps in despair as he hides in a crude shelter beneath a pier. A couple, disappointed in marriage, faces the prospect of divorce. A landscaper too busy to take his wife's phone calls still makes time to fleece his customers. A businessman on the brink of bankruptcy makes the decision to end his life.

What do these people, the residents of Orange Beach, Alabama, have in common with one another? Each of their lives changes for the better after an encounter with Jones, an elderly fellow wearing jeans and sandals and carrying an aged suitcase. Jones, a self-described "Noticer," does just that. He points out the obvious to those unable to see it for themselves.

Andy, the homeless young man, attains success. He no longer has to sleep under a pier. In gratitude, he looks for Jones. No one seems to know where the old man lives. Andy learns that Jones goes by other names. He wants answers but doesn't begin to find them until one day a battered suitcase turns up without its owner.

"The Noticer" engaged me from start to finish with its charming storyline and memorable characters. A true sign of great writing is when a character "lives" off the page. Jones lives for me.

I have a few quibbles, but not enough to prevent me from recommending this book. Jones seemed given to violating people's personal space, barging in on Andy in the opening scene, getting into a truck uninvited, showing up on a boat without the owner's permission. His intrusions always ended up as more than welcome, but I found his methods a little unsettling. That was probably the author's intent, but no reader likes to feel manipulated.

Also, some of Jones' advice came across as cliched since it draws from popular Christian wisdom. And yet, cliches often exist because of their truth. The beauty of "The Noticer" could arguably lie in its ability to repackage and deliver conventional wisdom afresh.

*Janalyn Voigt is an Amazon Associate and benefits when books are purchased on Amazon through links from Book Readers Central.