Christian Indie Authors Network Blog

Kindle Giveaway and E book Sale  Brought to you by CIAN and the CIA Christian Women's Writers Club   Don't have a Kindle?  Then enter to win a shiny new Kindle from the good folks at CIAN and CWW. Entering is simple. You'll find the link to contest below.  We've got some great books on sale and if you want to learn more about these groups you can do that also at the CIAN website link below. Click here to find the Rafflecopter to enter to win the Kindle and to see the great books we have on sale!!!  

We'd like to thank the Writing Truth blog for sharing their review with us you can find Writing Truth here Writing truth in many different genres from novels,  to poetry, to book reviews. . . Landlords and Tenants and their Circumstances EVICTED by Matthew Desmond     I was drawn to Evicted by my own circumstances. I had made friends with a poor family living about an hour away. We hosted their daughter’s 18 th birthday party and invited her to live with us while she attended school. When they were losing their home through financial ignorance (they thought they could pay ahead and then stop paying for a while), I offered to sell them a property which I was preparing to rent—to sell it to them on land contract because they had bad credit: no bank accounts, no credit cards. In the back of my mind I carried the idea that everyone should be given the opportunity to own their own home.

   We hope that you enjoy this Interview: B.J. Robinson and we'd like to thank Pamela Cable King for sharing her interview with us.    I am delighted to have Author B.J. Robinson here on the blog today for an interview, B.J. is the author of several novels including her latest civil war era romance – Azalea Plantation. 1.) When did you decide to become a writer? In other words, what made you actually sit down and write something? I wrote a story in the third grade about my pet dog, and it was published in the local newspaper. After that, I wrote poems and played at writing songs. In college, my first essay was published in another local newspaper, and I won first prize in fiction-writing competition. My short story was published in the university’s literary magazine. That influenced me to write more and confirmed for me that I could. 2.) Every writer is eventually asked this question, but where do your ideas come from? Life. Family. Friends. New

Recently my husband experienced a heart attack followed by open heart surgery. I'm sharing this account of our experience with the CIAN readers as it may be helpful for others who have gone through this experience or for those who know people who have.    When Your Husband has a HEART Attack  Two weeks ago today Monday February 1 started out like any ordinary Monday. When my husband was ready to leave the house for work he gave me a kiss good-bye. I told him I loved him and he told me he loved me too. Then I asked him to be careful driving to work. He said he would. Not long after he left I started to get myself ready for that day. I got my kids lunch ready for school that day. I took my kid to school came back home. When I got home I started doing my usual. Take the dog out to use the bathroom, get my breakfast ready to eat and eventually open my laptop and do my normal Monday cleaning. That Monday I did my normal routine with promoting my books, checking Facebook, Twitt

I'm sharing this account of my husband's recovery from heart surgery for the CIAN readers in the hopes it will help you understand more of what someone goes through in this process. Recovering From Major Surgery If you read my blog last week then you know that on February first my husband had a heart attack. You also know about that days events through my eyes leading up to his heart attack. And you know about his quadruple bypass surgery and my feelings through out that entire week. Today's blog is about my husbands recovery so far.  It's been a little over two weeks now since he had his quadruple bypass surgery. We can't believe all that took place a little over two weeks now, but it did. I am happy to say that my husband is doing well. The first week he was home he needed to learn how to sit down and get up from both our love seat and recliner with only using his legs and feet. This wasn't an easy thing to do. He held on to the heart shaped pillo

  Solomon described this same amount of effort to acquire wisdom. Wisdom is of utmost importance, therefore get wisdom, and with all your effort work to acquire understanding. (Proverbs 4:7 ISV) Everyone knows the rigorous training the military puts their recruits through. The training of professional athletes is on billboards, TV and radio ads is deeply ingrained in every culture, ancient and modern. Olympic athletes train their entire lives. And just putting forth the effort is not enough. It is the way they train, the techniques, the coaching, and the encouragement from others. But we as Christians simply “add Jesus” to our already busy, overcrowded lives. The Messiah might even be the most important part or the most important person in our lives. But do we put all of our effort into pleasing Him? One aspect is knowing His Word. If God makes His Word available to us, that comes with the obligation of studying it and becoming familiar with it. That includes setting aside r

We Said “YES” To Homeschooling The option of homeschooling has been around as long as school itself. There used to be stacks of paper and workbooks. It was the parent's job to be the teacher and ‘expert’ on everything. Well, that was my view, anyway. I have never been confident in my skills to properly teach my kids all that they would need to know. I did not want to do anything to prevent them from excelling in every aspect of their lives. But, we found out some new and exciting information and about two weeks ago my 15 year old daughter and I decided to say “yes” to homeschooling. Here is why: All of her courses are 100% online – no paper, except the notes she takes to help her study She is in complete control of her education She has deadlines to meet each week: to teach her how to manage her time wisely She is able to learn at her own pace She has access to a wide variety of courses to go along with her core classes that a public school may not h

I hope you enjoy this interview from one of our CIAN Authors. Luana Ehrlich I'd like to thank Pamela King Cable for sharing her interview with us. 1. When did you decide to become a writer? In other words, what made you actually sit down and write something? A: As soon as I learned to read and began to devour books, I started to dream of becoming a writer. I even decided I would write under another name, and I chose the name Pam Black, because I thought mine was too difficult for people to remember. Now, I love my slightly unconventional name, but I did include Pam Black as a minor character in one of my novels. I finally decided to put pen to paper (or to open up my laptop) when my husband retired from a long-time pastorate. Since I wasn’t as involved in his ministry, I found I could finally indulge my love of writing. 2. Every writer is eventually asked this question, but where do your ideas come from? Why do you write what you do? A: The idea for my series,

Winning the Heart Attack Lottery Last week I wrote about my husbands recovery from major surgery. The week before that I wrote about his heart attack and surgery through my eyes. Today’s blog is being written by my husband so he can share with you all his personal account of HIS heart attack.  Two things i am disappointed with. First, the clock in the ambulance was broke. It was just a small wall clock hanging on the wall in the ambulance—but I noted the battery had expired. Second, I remained conscious on the way to the hospital. I had thought a major medical event would give me the opportunity to not be aware and awake during the event. But I was aware and awake. Let’s start at the beginning. I knew I was going to win the cancer lottery or heart problem lottery sometime soon. I expected it to be sometime in my 40s or early 50s and hoped to catch it before it caught me. Two months shy of my 40th birthday it caught me. I was sitting at work when I felt “awful” — I started swe

  The photo credit goes to JWPhoto Strengthen Your Family by Turning Off Media on the Sabbath By Rachel Branton Exodus 20:8—Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Years ago as a young mother of three, I loved Sundays. I was a full time author, but I didn’t work on the Sabbath, and I used Saturday to run errands, so on Sunday the only goal I had was attending church and resting up for the week. This rest usually involved some form of television. And why not? My brain had to work overtime all week. I deserved a day to tune everything out. However, my three active children had other ideas. “Mommy, he’s hitting me!” one would say. Or, “That was so funny when . . .” Or, “What did he say, Mom? What does that mean?” I’d find myself saying things like “Be quiet!” Or, “I told you already five times to stop standing in front of the TV!” And, “I’ll explain in a minute. Let me hear!” Or simply, “SHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!” My words were often sharp and impatient, and I’d yearn to l

"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." - Jesus (Matt. 28:19-20 ESV) The Great Commission is one of the most familiar passages in the Bible. Churches put it up in sanctuaries and kids memorize it in children's programs. We're all reminded on a regular basis that it's our job to go and make disciples of all nations. Wait. Hold on. We're supposed to be doing this? How? A new book from bestselling author Brad Francis seeks to answer those questions. Go Make Disciples: How Jesus Did It, How We Can Do It examines the life and ministry of Jesus to discover how Jesus turned His inner circle from followers into disciple makers who "turned the world upside down" (Acts 17:6). Brad searched the Gospels and identifies five different ways that Jesus made d

I'd like to thank Allison Reker   I found her post very useful and I play online games with my husband and family I can't wait to try out some of her advice. All images are from the great photographers at Pixaby How Video Games Can  Transform Your Writing   No, I haven’t lost my mind, and I’m not a video game addict either—I am totally serious. I’ve been passionate about writing my whole life; participated in writing groups, gone to conferences, taken more classes on writing than I can remember, and even majored in writing in college. But it was through a video game that I learned to really be a story teller and develop characters that breathed a life of their own. Roleplay  Find a game where you can role-play with others. I’m not talking about your standard shoot-em-up, follow the canned story line from point A to point Z until you defeat the big boss kind of game though. I’m talking about the open-ended kind. The games that give you an interactive world full of o