Hello, readers! I hope you have enjoyed your Christmas and New Year holidays! This week’s blog is a guest post from writer friend Cara Putman. Cara is the author of 17 Christian fiction books, including her latest Shadowed By Grace, which just released on January 1st! After Cara shares a reflection on dreams and writing, you can enter to win one of THREE copies of Shadowed By Grace!
With an authentic knowledge of Word War II history, a gentle hand of artistry, and a heart for true love, Cara Putman draws in readers until they feel they’ve traveled through time to watch a story unfold of heroes and the women they love.
~Cindy
Dreams…
Sometimes I think when God was forming me He placed deep dreams and passions inside me. Dreams that would challenge me. Push me deeper into Him. Make me uncertain I could possibly be hearing Him.
Yet I don’t dream.
At least not in the traditional sense.
I rarely wake up in the morning with a dream slipping from my conscious to my sub-conscious. Instead I feel like a blank slate. When I hear someone spinning out the stories they experience in the night, I wonder why I don’t dream.
I’ve decided it’s because I get to live a dream. A dream filled with hard work, dares to live bigger, dig deeper. But a dream none the less.
When I was about 14 I decided that my favorite authors didn’t write Christian fiction fast enough. Then there were only a few authors: Janette Oke, Gilbert Morris, Michael Phillips, Sandy Dengler, Frank Peretti. So I decided to write. I was reading 30 or more books a month, my favorites over and over, and I wanted to create my own stories. Bring history to life.
I wrote them. Remember I was 14. The world was mine. Why wouldn’t I write my favorite authors and ask for advice? Because I was homeschooled, my mom let me turn it into a research project. What steps should I take then to become a writer? What advice did they have for me.
Shockingly enough they wrote back! From a couple it was a form letter. From most it was a letter that addressed my questions. I have two or three letters Janette Oke typed on stationary just like my grandma gave me! Sandy Dengler actually read a couple of my short stories and offered advice. I was awed! (Frankly, I still am!)
A few Christmases ago after my first few books had released, my mom found those letters as she was cleaning. She put them in a scrapbook and gifted them back to me.
I was humbled again. On this side of the dream, I was reminded how God prepared a way and mentors from a far for me when I was that teen deciding I wanted to write. There were years in the interim. I pray those first attempts at novel writing are lost to the ages – though my Dad assures me he can resurrect them from one of the computer carcasses in his basement. But today I am living the dream.
This month my 17th novel, and a story of my heart releases. Shadowed by Grace is one more effort to tell the stories of the Greatest Generation and honor what they did. I pray there will be many more, but even if there aren’t, I can look back and know I have lived a dream. Even as I ask for more, I know He’s given in abundance.
Today, will you take a few minutes and ask God if there are dreams in your heart He wants to resurrect? Are there steps you should take today to prepare you for when the time is right to chase your dream?
Cara C. Putman graduated high school at 16, college at 20, and completed her law degree at 27. An award-winning author of seventeen books with more on the way, she is active in women’s ministry at her church and is a lecturer on business and employment law to graduate students at Purdue University’s Krannert School of Management. Putman also practices law and is a second-generation homeschooling mom. Putman is currently pursuing her Master’s in Business Administration at Krannert. She serves on the executive board of American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW), an organization she has served in various roles since 2007. She lives with her husband and four children in Indiana. You can connect with her online at:
Facebook: www.facebook.com/caraputman
Twitter: www.twitter.com/cara_putman
Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/caraputman
Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/CaraPutman
Purchase links:
Christianbook.com: http://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/product?event=AFF&p=1141766&item_no=681783
Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/shadowed-by-grace-cara-putman/1115951174?ean=9781433681783
About Cara’s book, Shadowed By Grace:
Rachel Justice is desperate to save her dying mother. She doesn’t want to leave her, but she accepts her newspaper’s assignment to travel to Italy and photograph war images. No one knows her photography is a cover and that Rachel is really seeking to find the father she never knew, hopeful to get some help with her failing mother. Dedicated to her mission, Rachel is focused on completing it. Soon, though, she finds her priorities and plans changing when she is assigned to Lt. Scott Lindstrom, on mission as a Monument Man. Their meeting will have far-reaching consequences. Will this derail her plans? Will she ever find her father? Is her faith enough to carry her through?
To read the first chapter, visit this link: http://caraputman.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Shadowed-by-Grace-chapter-excerpt.pdf
Book Giveaway:
Cara is giving away a copy of Shadowed By Grace to three different winners! To enter to win, simply leave a comment on this post.
If you are reading about this giveaway anywhere other than Cindy’s website, such as on Facebook, in an email, or on Goodreads, please hop on over to the website by clicking here: https://www.cindywoodsmall.com/2014/01/04/dreams-by-cara-putman/ and then leave a comment at the bottom of the post under the words “Leave a Reply.”
Only comments left on my website will be entered into the giveaway.
https://www.cindywoodsmall.com/2014/01/06/dreams-by-author-cara-putman/
The deadline for this contest is Tuesday, January 14, Thursday, January 16 at noon Eastern Time. (Deadline extended due to circumstances.) The winners will be chosen using Random.org and will be contacted privately, as well as announced on next week’s post.
As always, please remember that all of my giveaways are limited to US residents only. For a complete explanation of the terms and conditions of this giveaway, please go to https://www.cindywoodsmall.com/giveaway-rules/
Helpful info for first time commenters:
- For your protection against web crawlers gathering your e-mail address for purposes of spamming, please do not put your e-mail address into the body of your comment. Only write it in the field provided. That way only I can see it. Your e-mail address will ONLY be used to contact you if you win.
- When you leave a comment, you may see a note that says your comment has gone to “moderation.” That means it is in a holding place until either my daughter-in-law or I can approve it. That keeps spammers from being able to post a comment. If you comment while we’re away from our computers, we may not get to it until the next day.
- The first field in the commenter form asks for your name, feel free to only give your first name.
- The second field asks for your e-mail address. Please be sure to type in the correct e-mail address so we can contact you if you win.
- The third field states: Got a website? This is simply a question. You may leave that field blank. If I could, I’d remove that field, but this is a WordPress comment form, and I can’t hone it to my liking.
- If you’ve been notified that you’ve won and you’re unsure about giving your postal address by replying to an e-mail, I welcome you to send the name of the item you won and your postal address through the Contact Cindy page of this website. We keep good records, so we’ll be able to verify your information and get the item in the mail as soon as possible.
- Please be aware that I aim to get the items sent as quickly as possible, but at really busy times it can take up to six weeks. (I don’t have a staff. But I do have two daughters-in-law who help when they can. But they each have a life and professions not connected to my writing and giveaways. What?! <big grin>
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