Join me as I chat with fellow CWO columnist and renown author, Allison Bottke, about her newest novel, One Little Secret.

Allison heads up God Allows U-Turns, an international outreach that includes books, tracts, logo merchandise, a line of greeting cards, a speaking ministry, and a foundation. The cornerstone of God Allows U-Turns is an inspirational book series many are calling “the next Chicken Soup.” The God Allows U-Turns book series is available around the world with over a dozen books in the U-Turns “brand” currently available for adults, kids and youth.

Allison’s first novel in the “hip-lit” genre, “A Stitch in Time” premiered in 2006, as well as a new non-fiction book, “I Can’t Do It All,” based on the lies women believe being co-written with Tracie Peterson and Dianne O’Brian. Her second novel, One Little Secret, was released in August 2007. With her move to fiction, Allison has defined the genre of “Contemporary women’s fiction-with-an-attitude!” Her next non-fiction book will be “Setting Boundaries with Your Adult Children,” releasing in 2008. Allison speaks and teaches at conferences and writer’s events around the country, often attending as an Acquisitions Editor for books in the God Allows U-Turns true short story compilation book series.

Listen in as Jill chats with author Rachel Hauck about her new book, Diva NashVegas. Rachel is a pastor’s wife whose first novel, Lambert’s Pride, was published in 2004. Her current release is Diva NashVegas, May 2007 from Thomas Nelson.

In addition to writing, Rachel works alongside her husband, Tony, who has been a pastor for twenty years. Her heart is to see teens and adults passionate, radical and whole-hearted for Jesus.

You can read the first chapter of Diva NashVegas at Rachel’s website, Rachelhauck.com

Listen in as Jill chats with author Christy Barritt about her new book, Hazardous Duty. Christy Barritt is a freelance writer, author and speaker. Her newest book, Hazardous Duty (Kregel, 2006), is a chick-lit mystery about a  crime-scene cleaner. She is also the co-author of Changed: True Stories of Finding God in Christian Music (Standard, 2005).

Christy enjoys teaching and speaking at various functions, from writers groups to women’s luncheons. She has a passion for sharing the truths and lessons that she’s learned throughout her life. For two years, she was an assistant editor at Standard Publishing. When her father became ill, she moved home to be closer to him. The move propelled her back to her first love—writing—and she hasn’t stopped since.

When Jane Evans found herself pregnant at 40 years of age, she wasn’t sure she could do it all again. The mother of two teenage boys at the time, and wife of a pastor, Evans’ life was already busy beyond compare. Yet despite her fear and uncertainty, she felt God’s presence and knew He had a plan for this new season of her life. Her new book, Raising Children Without Going Insane, was born out of those experiences.

Evans and her husband, Ashley are the senior pastors of Paradise Community Church in Adelaide, Australia. Their congregation numbers over 6500 people. They have three sons, now ages nineteen, seventeen and four. In her “free” time, Evans travels the world speaking and teaching and she is also on the board of directors for Compassion Australia.

From the prologue of Raising Children Without Going Insane, Jane writes: “I am definitely not the perfect mother. I don’t have perfect kids – trust me, there are plenty of people who would agree with me! If you are are looking for formulas for raising children who are flawlessly behaved, then this is probably not the book for you. Rather, if you want to hear about another completely human mother’s journey, lessons I’ve learned along the way, things I’ve done wrong, and things that have worked, then read on.”

Join me and travel across the world to Australia and listen in as I speak with Jane Evans. You’ll be surprised how similar mothers are around the world….

Note: If you’d like to watch a televised appearance of Jane this month, she will be on the following shows:

TBN’s Praise the Lord September 17th at 10pm ESTDaystar’s Celebration September 18th at 12pm EST
LeSea’s The Harvest Show September 27th at 9am EST

This month Jill talks with author Sharon Dunn. Sharon is the author of four books including the Ruby Taylor Mysteries series. Her newest book, the first in the Bargain Hunters series is called Death of a Garage Sale Newbie.

Listen as Sharon talks about what it’s like to be a wife, mom and writer. She’ll tell us how she got started writing and what keeps her going.

In Death of a Garage Sale Newbie, you’ll meet Ginger Salinski. Her heart beats faster when she passes a clearance rack and there has never been a good deal she couldn’t sniff out. Ginger and her bargain hunter friends are bonded together by the need to be first in line at doorbuster sales, but when one of the bargain hunters goes missing, they must track down clues instead of discounts.

Visit Sharon’s website: www.sharondunnbooks.com

This month Jill chats with author Melody Carlson, author of more than 200 books. Melody has written childrens books, novels for teens covering some very important issues like drugs, mental health, etc., and many fiction and a few non-fiction books for adults. Her new chick-lit book, These Boots Weren’t Made For Walking, is a light-hearted, entertaining tale about a young woman trying to find her place in the world.

Melody Carlson has published  books for children, teens, and adult–with sales totaling more than 2 million and many titles appearing on the ECPA Bestsellers List. Several of her books have been finalists for and winners of various writing awards. Her Diary of a Teenage Girl series has received great reviews and a large box of fan mail. Melody has two grown sons and lives in Central Oregon with her husband. They enjoy skiing, hiking, gardening, camping, and biking in the beautiful Cascade Mountains.

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Kristin Schweain grew up with a dream of becoming a professional musician. Following in the footsteps of her grandfather, Frederic Spies, who was an accomplished jazz pianist, Kristin began playing the piano at an early age, and wrote her first song “I Need You” at the age of eighteen. Since 2000 Kristin has been recording and touring nationally and abroad with the Christian pop/rock trio ZOEgirl. ZOEgirl burst onto the music scene in 2000 immediately earning the title as the fastest-selling debut artist in Sparrow Records history.

Kristin recently gave birth to her first child, Stella. In part, the role of motherhood led her to Apronique, a new company of which she is co-founder. Apronique began in the mind of Kristin’s friend, Marilyn Brown, and as residents of the same midwestern community, Marilyn and Kristin have teamed up to create designs that target all generations of cooks, hostesses, and entertainment divas.

Tune in to hear about Kristin’s life in ZOEgirl, her joy at becoming a mom, and her excitement about her venture–Apronique.

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Sharon Hinck is the author of The Secret Life of Becky Miller and the newly released , Renovating Becky Miller. Sharon writes in a fairly new genre–mom-lit–and is one of Christian publishing’s rising stars.

Listen in as Jill speaks with Sharon about life as an author, being a mother of four, and how the two go hand in hand. Sharon shares about her experiences in the writing world and what it’s been like writing a sequel. She also shares a glimpse of what is in store in her writing future.

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