Past Forward by Chautona Havig
April 19, 201

Alone without friends or family to comfort her after the death of her mother, Willow Finley’s idyllic life is over—and just beginning.

The Finley women’s lives, while rich and full, aren’t easy. Rejecting electricity and many other modern conveniences, they live purposefully and intentionally–alone and isolated from the world around them.

When Willow Finley awakes on a hot summer morning, she is unprepared for the grief that awaits her. Jerked from a life of isolation with her mother, Willow learns what alone really means when she finds her mother dead.

From the moment Willow arrives in the police station with her startling announcement, Chad Tesdall fights the friendship he knows he can’t avoid.

The Past Forward series opens with Willow’s life-changing discovery and gently guides the reader through aspects of her life–the past weaving through the present and into the future. Experience her first morning in church, her first movie, and the culture shock of her first trips to the city. A birthday party and a street faire add welcome diversion from butchering, canning, and the beating of area rugs. Disaster strikes. Will she choose to continue her simple life, or will an offer in the city change it all? Find out in this first volume.

My Review

Past Forward begins rather startling. When Willow Finlay walks into the police station, you don’t really expect her reason for being there. Not exactly. The story continues on with rapt attention from there.

This is another book that I have read more then once. Actually, I’ve read every volume. I first read it years ago and parts of it are ingrained into me, like any other good book.

I like Willow. She’s different, but that’s one of the things that keeps you wanting to find out what she’s going to do next. There are times that I find the reactions of the people around her to be a bit tiresome, but not enough to make me want to put the book down.

Chad, I quite liked, though there are a few times I want to shake him. But, since I want to do the same to Willow at times, I suppose that’s not much of a complaint. I do like his character development a good deal – though I shall never reconcile my mental picture of him to the buzz cut that he apparently has.

Overall, I found the first volume of Past Forward well written, filled with interesting characters, and worth a reread. You will likely find your interest peaked to move onto Volume 2. I would recommend this book.

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Chautona is giving away a grand prize that includes a complete paperback set of Past Forward & a custom Past Forward Lavender Lemonade candle!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter. https://promosimple.com/ps/e319/past-forward-celebration-tour-giveaway

Blog Stops

Through the Fire Blogs, May 15

A Reader’s Brain, May 15

Godly Book Reviews, May 16

Abba’s Prayer Warrior Princess, May 17

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, May 17

Blogging With Carol, May 18

Inklings and notions, May 18

Bigreadersite, May 19

Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, May 19

All-Of-a-kind Mom, May 20

Texas Book-aholic, May 20

Aryn The Libraryan, May 21

Quiet Workings, May 22

Retrospective Spines, May 22

Inspired by Fiction, May 23

Carpe Diem, May 24

For Him and My Family, May 25

janicesbookreviews, May 25

Book Bites, Bee Stings, & Butterfly Kisses, May 26

Rebekah’s Quill, May 27

Inspiration Clothesline, May 28

About the Author

Chautona Havig lives in an oxymoron, escapes into imaginary worlds that look startlingly similar to ours and writes the stories that emerge. An irrepressible optimist, Chautona sees everything through a kaleidoscope of It’s a Wonderful Life sprinkled with fairy tales. Find her on the web and say howdy—if you can remember how to spell her name.

Tot the KING be all the glory!

War in the Wasteland by Douglas Bond
Released 2016

“Full-scale assault,” said Sergeant Ayres.

“Another one?” said Nigel. “Boche learned nothing from the last one?”

“Not them.” Ayres shook his head soberly. “It’s a counter attack. Tomorrow morning, first light. It’s us over the top.”

Nigel Hopkins finds himself in the trenches of World War I under the command of teenage atheist 2/Lt C.S. Lewis. Nigel and his war dog must learn the source of true courage while facing a desperate enemy in No Man’s Land in the final offensive of the war.

Meanwhile, underage WAAC Elsie Fleming, working at the field hospital in Étaples, will have her idealism about war challenged by the brutal realities she sees in the broken men who return from the Front—and the many who never return.

My Review

I went into reading War in the Wasteland with very little knowledge of WWI. Not the battlefront. I had studied how the people at home coped, at least, in the United States, but I hadn’t really read much about the actual war.

War in the Wasteland kept close to Nigel as he shipped out, joined his platoon on the Front, landed in the hospital, fought battles, got to know his comrades, faced the harrows of killing the enemy… I could almost feel the mud and filth, hear the guns and explosions, see the destruction of land and the death of men. I know that my imagination still falls far short of the reality, but I left the book with a far deeper perspective and appreciation for what so many soldiers fighting in the Great War went through. Just how much those left at home lost.

I really also enjoyed Nigel, the young eighteen-year-old, shipped out to war so soon after his birthday. Courageous, yet very human, seeing the war through his eyes, listening to the debates of his senior officers, and taking care of his loyal terrier.

Reading about an atheist C.S. Lewis, I found to be fascinating. In many ways, Mr. Bond kept the “voice” that I have come to recognize from reading works by C.S. Lewis intact, though his verbalized opinions were certainly not those I tend to associate with him. Knowing that the author well-researched the man, before attempting to write him into a historical fiction novel, it is truly amazing to think of the change the LORD wrought in C.S. Lewis’ life and thoughts. I knew much of this before, but seeing it in dialogue form proved to be fascinating and memorable.

I can honestly say that I never figured out for certain if a few characters were fictional or truly from history. I would have loved a complete list of historical characters, such as Mr. Bond included in the back of Duncan’s War. I can’t say that the lack affected my enjoyment of the story, but it would have satisfied my historical curiosity.

I would certainly recommend this book.

About the Author
Douglas Bond, father of six, is the author of a number of successful books. He directs the Oxford Creative Writing Master Class, speaks at conferences, and leads historical tours. Visit his website at: www.bondbooks.net

To the KING be all glory!

My love of telling stories began almost in babyhood, coursing on through childhood, high school age, and my early twenties. However, as adulthood lengthened to my late twenties, I became increasingly disillusioned. My published books, though received fairly well when they were actually read, didn’t sell particularly well. I struggled with marketing and building an audience, and as I tried to begin learning it, so many voices began to clamor at me.

Write more. Change your style. Change what you write about. Change how you write. Change your writing speed. Publish more often.  

And I started to shift with the voices. Every time I sat with my pen, I thought of the reader. The market. Could I get this book done fast enough? Would it be well received? Would it fit within my brand? Could I publish quickly enough? Would it sell?

The more I tried to push speed, the more I tried to listen to the clamoring voices, the less I enjoyed my craft. I rewrote and rewrote, trying to like my manuscript and only partially succeeding. I would learn to love my characters, but never reached a proper level of satisfaction with how I told their stories. Then, the other questions started. Should I dial back on the message of the book? Write books that might sell better? My books weren’t selling; almost subconsciously, I began to shift with the clamor. I still enjoyed writing, but it wasn’t the same as it used to be. Perhaps, it wasn’t supposed to be. Maybe writing should change when you become an author with six books published.

Then, the LORD sent me to Oxford.

I say sent, because every single step of my heading off to the Oxford Creative Writing Master Class, I could see orchestrated by God. When the year began, I had no plans of heading to Britain this Spring, but He did and I never had any doubts that the LORD sent me there.

As I spent a week walking the same streets as C.S. Lewis, hearing and nearly seeming to witness the fiery end of the three martyrs, singing hymns by Newton and Cowper, listening to C.S. Lewis’ written thoughts on writing, becoming immersed in church and literary history, Scripture and hymns, a light seemed to break in my mind. Listening to Douglas Bond speak on writing, read from those gone before, and lay out the meaning and the joy of being a Christian Writer, the passion that I could remember, the excitement that I all but rarely experienced anymore, began to burn brightly again.

I had come with the hope of improving my craft – I left with so much more.

In that week, I re-analyzed my reasons for writing, helped on by discussions with Mr. Bond and my fellow students, who soon became my friends. Long ago, I chose my writing motto; what I wanted all of my books, no matter what they were, to reflect. I spent much time and thought coming up with a sentence that would remind me of it. I wanted to write Bible Centered, Modern Literature.

During my week in Oxford, I regained that vision.

I want to write stories, so well told, that God willing, they will stand the test of time. That, if our LORD tarries, in one hundred, two hundred years, my books might be read and seen as literature, crafted with words and cadence, characters and story-lines that still draw people in.

I want them to have a depth beyond a good story. A richness. I don’t want to merely tickle the fancy of the reader; I want to reach them.

Ultimately, at the end of everything, I want to point my reader to Christ. I want His followers to leave my stories encouraged and blessed in their walk. I want the rest to leave convicted or, at the least, with some knowledge of my LORD and His words. I don’t ever want anyone to question whether I could be called a Christian Writer, because that is exactly what I am.

That does not mean that I won’t still try to navigate the confusing world of marketing. I can’t reach anyone if my books are never read. I’ll still learn what I can, hopefully implement it, and, LORD willing, both gain a growing readership and not lose my sanity completely. It really just means, that I’ve re-shifted my focus.

It also doesn’t mean that I have nothing else to learn about writing. Goodness, do I! I don’t believe the day will ever come when I don’t have something to learn about writing. I shall always be learning.

Since returning home, despite jet lag, getting back into a nannying schedule, and a few others things, I have written more then I did in the two months previous. I began my current manuscript over again and have passed the previous point that I stopped at, and it is better then it ever could claim to be before. I have not had this much joy and inspiration to write in some time, and the LORD used my trip to Oxford to bring that about.

To the KING be all the glory!

Another year has reached an end. At 12:00am the gong will strike and 2017 will join its predecessors as a Ghost of Years Gone Past.

I have often seen a year referred to as a chapter that comes to a close on December 31st. While I can understand that, I tend to see each year as more of a book.

Each day of the year is a scene, each week a chapter, each month a part, and each year a book in this series of Life. And each dawn of the New Year, as I close the book on the last paragraph, I store the volume away in my mental library to review later.

Some books are reviewed more often than others. Some are quite dusty from hardly any handling. Some are well used. Some, even when I pull them down, have such faded writing, as to only have certain section visible anymore. 1995 for instance, only has some chapters in legible print. 1992 only has certain pages.

Over some chapters, despite the clear presence of the ink, the pages are difficult to read, because water drops have damaged the paper and made the ink begin to run. The storm left its mark and is sometimes clearer than the actual events accompanying it.

Other pages, mostly pressed together in one sole book, are obscured by so many marks and splatters of dark ink, that it’s difficult to review the words inscribed at all. The mental darkness of those days made itself quite visible on the written page.

Still, though the ink in every book shifts from dark to bright, if I remember to look closely at each page, I’ll be able to see that every word is written in shimmering gold, a reminder that the LORD’s hand is always evident in my life. Sometimes the darkness fades away and the ink shines brighter with age, other times those pages remain dark as ever.

Now, I’m drawing near to closing the book on 2017. The LORD blessed me with many lovely experiences this year. October was one of my favorite chapters. I went on an airplane, I met one of my dearest friends in person, I saw Virginia, visited Mount Vernon, and later in the month, we all attended our church Reformation Party, which is always a highlight of my year.

December was another favorite chapter. Besides Christmas with its lights, music, and celebration of Christ’s birth, my nephew Triumph made an appearance and his whole family spent two weeks at our house.

Other chapters and pages stand out as I glance through the book. I published Presumption and Partiality in November. I manned a book booth at the Homeschool Convention in July. We celebrated my niece’s first birthday in May.

Yes, there are tear-stained pages and ink splattered chapters. I’m not sure I have more than one book without them – just the first, which is honestly so faded now, that I can’t read it at all. Yet, I tend to focus on the sad and darkened parts far too often, so tonight, I’m focusing on the blessings and joys.

As I close the Book of 2017 and let it slip away as a Ghost of Year’s Gone Past, while the first page of 2018 opens with a bright clean slate, I pray this year proves to be one of Giving and Growth, while giving glory to my LORD.

Happy New Year! It’s time to greet 2018 with a smile and with the knowledge that whatever is ahead, our God is sovereign and in control. Enter the New Year praising HIS Name!

To the KING be all the Glory!