Nadine Brandes – Tricia Mingerink

Sign up for Cover Reveal, News, & More

May 7, 2019May 7, 2019triciamingerink3 Comments

This is going to be a rather eclectic blog post. It has been far too long since I’ve posted, and things have begun to pile up.

In April, I pushed really hard to finish the first draft of Midnight’s Curse, the sequel to Dagger’s Sleep. I’m happy to say I finished it! Even if it took writing 55k words in 32 days. Social media and posting on here took a back seat to writing all the words.

CampNaNoWriMo Stats

Since I finished the first draft and have been lining up all the stuff to release the book, it is time to do a cover reveal and announce a release date. Yay!

Fill out the form below to join the cover reveal for Midnight’s Curse!

Why help with the cover reveal?

It helps an author launch a book on the right foot.
You get to see both the shiny new cover and the release date before anyone else.
You get this author’s sincere gratitude for being an awesome person. If I could give you all maple sugar cookies, I would.

The cover reveal is going to take place on May 17. That’s less than 2 weeks away. I know I’m cutting the time short, but life was too crazy for me to arrange this before now.

You don’t need to have a blog to participate. Any social media (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, etc). will work.

On that weekend, the preorder for Midnight’s Curse will go live on Amazon, and the Kindle version of Dagger’s Sleep is going to be on sale for $.99. So there will be a lot to celebrate!

Here’s the form for the Cover Reveal

I’m so excited to reveal this cover to all of you! Savannah Jezowski of Dragonpress Designs did this cover, and it’s amazing. She’s the same person who designed the new cover for Dagger’s Sleep, and as amazing as that cover is, I think the one for Midnight’s Curse is even more stunning.

RealmAward_2inch Speaking of Dagger’s Sleep, it was announced a couple of weeks ago that Dagger’s Sleep is a finalist for a Realm Award for the Fantasy category. It is such an honor to see Dagger’s Sleep alongside all the other amazing finalists. You can see a full list of the finalists here.

Friend Features

Several books by author friends and acquaintances have released in the past couple of weeks, and I wanted to highlight a few here.

Flight of the Raven by Morgan Busse released on April 30. It is book 2 in her Ravenwood Saga and continues the story of Selene and Damien. It is Christian fantasy published by Bethany House.

I’m not going to say tons about it now since I’ll be posting about it (well, fangirling about it) as part of the blog tour at the end of May. But you can find my review here on Goodreads and here is the link to the book on Amazon.

I’ve enjoyed all of this author’s books and I can’t wait for book 3 in this series to release!

The Lady and the Wish by J.M. Stengl released on April 25. It is book 4 in the Faraway Castle series and is a retelling of the King Thrushbeard fairy tale. All of the Faraway Castle books are adorable fairy tale retellings, and I can’t wait for the next book in this series! If you have read Dagger’s Sleep or enjoy books like K.M. Shea’s Timeless Fairy Tale series, then you will want to pick up the Faraway Castle series.

Besides, isn’t that cover simply gorgeous?

Here is the link to find the book on Amazon and here is the link to my review on Goodreads.

Romanov Finally, today is the release day for Romanov by Nadine Brandes. It is a historical fantasy/retelling of Anastasia, and I’ve been dying to get my hands on it from the moment I knew she was writing this book. I haven’t started reading it yet, but I’m sure it is going to be as amazing as all her other books!

Here’s the link for the book on Amazon.

Congratulations to all of these authors on their recent releases!

Do you know of any other new releases that you would like to tell everyone about? Feel free to leave your recommendations in the comments.

Also, don’t forget to sign up for the cover reveal and release date announcement for Midnight’s Curse. I’m really excited to share this book with you!

Cover Reveal for Romanov

September 26, 2018September 26, 2018triciamingerink1 Comment

If you’ve been hanging around this blog for any amount of time, you know I absolutely LOVE every book Nadine Brandes has ever written. She’s an amazing writer and the sweetest person ever. (Seriously, check out her social media sites and hang out even five minutes and you’ll see what I mean).

And today she is revealing the cover for her next book Romanov, which is a YA standalone historical fantasy/retelling of the Russian history surrounding Anastasia. I’m so, so, so excited for this book! I grew up loving the Anastasia movie and loving The Angel on the Square by Gloria Whelan, which is a middle grade book set during the Russian revolution. I can’t wait to read Nadine’s historical fantasy version of the story!

About the Book

The history books say I died.

They don’t know the half of it.

Anastasia “Nastya” Romanov was given a single mission: to smuggle an ancient spell into her suitcase on her way to exile in Siberia. It might be her family’s only salvation. But the leader of the Bolshevik army is after them . . . and he’s hunted Romanov before.

Nastya’s only chances of survival are to either release the spell, and deal with the consequences, or enlist help from Zash, the handsome soldier who doesn’t act like the average Bolshevik. Nastya’s never dabbled in magic before, but it doesn’t frighten her as much as her growing attraction for Zash. She likes him. She thinks he might even like her . . .

That is, until she’s on one side of a firing squad . . . and he’s on the other.

Doesn’t the blurb just send tingles down your spine? Or perhaps give you the sudden urge to preorder the book right this minute? (If you wish to preorder, you can find the links to all the various places to buy the book here).

The book releases May 7, 2019. Why is next May so far away?????

Anyway, I’ve kept you waiting long enough.

Here

The

Cover

Romanov Cover - FINAL

Eeep!!!! It’s so beautiful!!!

Romanov Cover Reveal

Are you excited for this book? Have you read any other of the books by Nadine Brandes?

Book Signing

July 18, 2018July 18, 2018triciamingerink2 Comments

This week is Realm Makers week!!!! Yay!

For those who don’t know, Realm Makers is a Christian speculative fiction writers’ conference, and just about the most fun thing ever. It’s like getting together with 300 of your best friends to chat about all things fandom and writing related.

This year, you all can drop by if you want! For free! All you have to do is get to the St. Louis area by Saturday night. You’ll be able to attend an open to the public book signing where you can meet all the 300 plus authors attending Realm Makers if you want.

On Saturday, July 21st, Realm Makers is having its first official book festival, which will be open to the public. Hundreds of authors will be there, including Wayne Thomas Batson, Nadine Brandes, Mary Weber, Jaye L. Knight, and me. 🙂 If you live anywhere near St. Louis, MO, I highly recommend you to check it out.

Besides preparing for Realm Makers, I’ve been busy being a reader fangirling over books. So many writers I know have been releasing books, releasing titles, releasing covers, it’s been crazy lately! So here’s a quick summary of a few of them! Click on the cover to link to Goodreads to learn more about the books.

Jaye L. Knight revealed covers for both book 5 and a companion novella to the Ilyon Chronicles. I’m so excited for these books! They look amazing!

Not to mention, just LOOK at that cover. Even though I knew I’d probably read it as audiobook (which I did, and the audiobook is amazing!), I still bought the hardcover because I knew I wanted this book gracing my shelves. It’s even more stunning in person.

This week, Nadine also revealed the title for her next book, which is going to be Romanov, a historical fantasy about Anastasia! *cue the incessant urge to re-watch the Anastasia movie for the 1000th time* You can read the full blurb about Romanov here on Goodreads. Doesn’t it just give you tingles?

What upcoming books are you excited for? Will I be seeing you in St. Louis on Saturday?

Turning Points – A Time to Rise Blog Tour

October 4, 2016triciamingerink6 Comments

I’ve been thinking a lot about turning points lately. It has been about two months since I posted on this blog, and most of that is due to stumbling across and purchasing a fixer upper house, moving, and making do without internet. A new house, a new turning point.

As I’ve posted about before, I’ve been into listening to history courses through the Great Courses lately. If you get them through Audible, they are pretty affordable. Recently, I listened to one on Turning Points in Medieval History, done by an English professor, not a history professor. Her perspective took on history as one big story, showing how each turning point isn’t a separate event standing all by itself, but interconnected with all the past turning points and influencing all the future ones. As a Christian, I could appreciate this even more because I believe the reason history is so interconnected and seems to be one story is BECAUSE it is one story. Christ’s story. God’s story.

Our own lives are also filled with turning points. Days and events that stick out to us as the moment something changed and set us on a new course. Often, these turning points are tragedy. But not always.

And sometimes, someone else’s turning point affects your own turning point.

Nadine Brandes has talked about several times how a turning point in her life started her on the path to writing her debut novel A Time to Die. In this novel, the main character Parvin experiences her own turning points when, with only a year left to live, she realizes she’s wasted her life, and she sets out to change that.

This was all a good three years before I even knew Nadine Brandes existed. I was partway through college, getting my degree in writing and dreaming about being a published author.

Fast forward a few years. I graduated college, was a year into a full time job, and was submitting a nonfiction manuscript I’d written and getting nowhere with it. I was frustrated that my dream of graduating college and having the time to write books hadn’t worked out. I felt like I had no time and would never have the time I wanted.

Honestly, I don’t remember what made me sit down and give myself a good shake from my pity party. One day, I realized that the reason I wasn’t a writer and wasn’t finishing books was that I was wasting time whining about my lack of time.

This was March 2014. That same month, I started writing Dare. Three months later, I had a completed book. I set it aside and started Deny.

During this time, I also turned my attention away from researching nonfiction publishing toward fiction publishing. I read blogs, books, articles. Traditional publishing. Self Publishing. All of it.

And this is where the turning point thing starts getting cool. I stumbled across Jill Williamson’s Replication as a free ebook. It was the first time I’d discovered the whole Christian speculative fiction world out there. I then went on to read her other books, and the Blood of Kings trilogy showed me that there was still such a thing as Christian fantasy besides Lewis and Tolkien.

Since I was researching publishing, I tracked down the publisher. It was Marcher Lord, right when it was transitioning to Enclave Publishing. I explored every inch of that website, and of course read the blog. Guess who had posted on the blog promoting the release of her debut book?

Yep, Nadine Brandes. nadine-early-release-2

The book sounded really cool, so I stalked her site. Learned she was an editor. Submitted Dare to her for editing. I was too late to officially join the blog tour for A Time to Die, but I unofficially joined it with a post of my own. It had to have been one of the first two or three posts I did on my blog, since I started my blog in August of that year, and that post is from September.

When I was finally able to read A Time to Die in October, Parvin’s realization of wasting time mirrored my own realization from a few months before. Wasting time. Waiting for something to plop out of the sky instead of actively pursuing God’s will.

atimetodiecov

That idea of being active in pursing God’s will and glorifying Him stuck with me. It still resonated when, early in 2015, I sat down and had to decide how I should publish Dare. Traditional or indie? Through all my research, the indie route had tugged at me, but I wasn’t sure I dared do it. What did I really know? What if I messed all this up and Dare flopped and…and…

It was all my fear talking, and finally God made it clear indie was the route to go with these books. That moment I hit the publish button, I gave it all to Him. I’d sown the seed. The increase was His, no matter how large or small or whatever it might be.

But I wasn’t wasting time anymore. I was doing my best to actively pursue His will in a way I hadn’t before.

And He did bless the increase way beyond anything I had dreamed for that book.

Then the fall of 2015 came around. I was drained from the rewrites of Deny. Wondering if it would ever measure up to everyone’s expectations. Scared because everyone HAD expectations now, when they hadn’t with Dare.

Then A Time to Speak, Nadine’s next book, released. It was Parvin’s time to speak, to draw on the confidence of the lessons she’d learned in the first book. atimetospeak5

But it also pushed me to speak. To stop stuttering and stammering and hoping someone would change the topic when they asked about my books. To figure out how to keep giving it all to God now that this crazy ride was set in motion.

It’s strange to look back now and see how much a year and a half can change a person. In the year since publishing Dare and reading A Time to Die, I’ve become much more confident in how I interact with people. I’ve signed books at a craft sale. I spoke at a small Christian school. I’ve gone to two writer’s conferences and was able to relax instead of remain a bundle of introverted nerves in the corner. All of that confidence, those turning points, led to the turning point I started this whole post with: buying a house, moving. It wasn’t something I would’ve been ready to handle a year ago.

Looking back, I’m amazed at the way God used the turning points in my life to bring me to this point.

If I hadn’t gotten Replication as an ebook…

If A Time to Die hadn’t been releasing…

If I hadn’t stumbled across Nadine and found an editor and friend…

If A Time to Die and A Time to Speak hadn’t given me pushes when I needed them…

Would I have published Dare? Would I have gone to the writer’s conferences and made a whole bunch of writer friends?

And now, another turning point. A Time to Rise, the third and final book in the Out of Time series releases officially in 10 days, though Amazon is shipping it early if you want to order it now. You can read my review (also known as flailing fangirling) of the book here.

Yes, you all totally have the Out of Time series to thank, in part, for the fact that I ever published The Blades of Acktar.

Have you experienced turning points in your life? How have they affected you?

Want to connect with Nadine yourself? Because, after all, she’s an awesome human being.

Website: http://nadinebrandes.com
Newsletter: http://nadinebrandes.com/my-newsletter
Facebook: http://facebook.com/NadineBrandesAuthor
Instagram: http://instagram.com/NadineBrandes
Twitter: http://twitter.com/NadineBrandes

Nadine is also the queen of Facebook parties, so you won’t want to miss the one she is hosting on October 18

Want to check out the Out of Time series for yourself?

A Time to Die

A Time to Speak

A Time to Rise

The Awesomeness that is Realm Makers

August 9, 2016triciamingerink2 Comments

I know, it has been over a week since Realm Makers and everyone else and their brother-in-law has already written their Realm Makers post. I’m a little behind. More news on that later.

All I really have to say is IT WAS AMAZING!!!!!! That would pretty much sum it up, but that would be a sorry excuse for a blog post, especially after I haven’t posted anything in four weeks.

Realm Makers is a writer’s conference for Christian writers in the speculative (fantasy, science fiction, horror, steampunk, etc) genres. It is kind of like a four day retreat with 150 of your closest friends (even if you didn’t know they were your friends until you arrived). This year, it was at Villanova University outside of Philadelphia. Me being crazy me, I drove the 11 hour drive all by myself. Who wouldn’t want to drive themselves with views like this?

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I did the drive in two days, one long day and one morning so that I had time to stop at the Valley Forge National Monument. Valley Forge is where George Washington and his men spent the winter of 1777-1778 and started being better organized as an army. While most of t
heir huts and entrenchments are no longer visible, the farmhouse where George Washington spent the winter is still there. It is about 80% original, down to much of the interior floorboards, railings, and paneling in the rooms.

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Finally, I arrived at Villanova. The campus was beautiful, all stone buildings and brick paths. Lots of scope for a fantasy writer’s imagination there!

I roomed with Nadine, Katie, and Ashley. Of the three, I’d only known Nadine before the conference, but that didn’t stop all of us from bonding. Katie is super perky and amazingly dedicated to her blog fans. Ashley and I swapped curly hair horror stories and product tips. Seriously great Realmie Roomies! I could go on and on about how amazing our three AM chats were! Ashley and Nadine both have books available, and I adore both of their series! There was a rather hilarious moment when I wore a Nadine’s Ninjas shirt all day, but Nadine didn’t notice it until nearly midnight. She screamed incredibly loudly and totally freaked out. Katie and I got a good laugh about it, because Katie asked in the morning how long I thought it would take Nadine to notice. Apparently it took her all day.

Realmie Roomies

Nadine's Ninjas — Photo Credit: Nadine Brandes This is Nadine’s “I can’t believe I never noticed this” face!

Ashley and I got each others books at the conference. So excited to read the rest of her series now that I have them!

The sessions were amazing, especially Steve Laube’s. He focused on building our own faith since, as writers, we pour out what we take in. If we aren’t taking in God’s Word, we can’t pour it into our writing.

The costume night was also a highlight. I dressed as a Blade, but I struggled to be intimidating.

Dressed as a Blade

Then there was the lack of sleep. The last night I got about 20 minutes of actual sleep before I had to be up to drive a carload of faculty to the airport. I’m really surprised none of them refused to ride with me when they realized I’d had pretty much no sleep, I was driving in the dark in an unfamiliar area, and it was a torrential downpour. Thankfully, they all arrived safely, and I was able to doze in bed for a few more hours before I had to start my drive home.

In case you hadn’t noticed, no one at Realm Makers sleeps. For four days, people should get about 32 hours of sleep. I haven’t seen any Realmie report anything more than 20 hours of sleep. I think I got about 10 hours of deep sleep and a lot of catnaps and dozing. Good thing everyone at the conference is too buzzed on hanging out and caffeine to care how little sleep they got!

The best thing about Realm Makers I think is the whole atmosphere. It is very relaxed, very friendly. Like I said, it feels like a several day retreat with 150 of your friends more than a stuffy conference. I made so many new writer friends it would take pages to list them all here. I miss them all so much already!

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Seriously, if you are a Christian speculative fiction writer, you should go to Realm Makers if at all possible! I can see now why people go back to it every year!

A Time to Rise Cover Reveal

July 6, 2016July 6, 2016triciamingerink7 Comments

I have a super special treat for you guys today. A cover reveal! But not just any cover reveal. This is a cover reveal for A Time to Rise, book three in the Out of Time series by the extraordinary Nadine Brandes. Yes, the same Nadine Brandes who happens to be the freelance editor for The Blades of Acktar.

I was super excited when I got the chance to sign up for the cover reveal and see the cover a day earlier than the reveal. The benefits of being on Nadine’s street team. If that sounds good to you, you can find the sign up here.

Now, the cover reveal…

Ta da!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ATimetoRiseCover

Isn’t it gorgeous? Then again, I didn’t expect anything less. All of the covers for the Out of Time series have been amazing, done by Kirk DouPonce, DogEaredDesign! I can’t wait to have this book on my shelf!

About the Book

What more can you sacrifice than your life?

Parvin Blackwater is dead.

At least…that’s what the Council—and the world—thinks. But her sacrifice tore down part of the Wall long enough to stir up hope and rebellion in the people. Now she will rise again. Strong, free, and fearless.

Parvin and Solomon must uncover the mysterious clues that Jude left behind in order to destroy the projected Wall once and for all. Meanwhile, the Council schemes to new levels of technology in its attempts to keep the people contained. Can a one-handed Radical and a scarred ex-Enforcer really bring shalom to the world?

Add to Goodreads

Release Date: October 14, 2016

How am I ever going to survive until October? Ah!!!!

If you want to add a countdown timer to your blog (because you’re an excited fangirl like me), then here’s the link for one: https://countdownsbyerin.com/cd/time/

All Covers - IG - ST

Sadly, the preorder isn’t available at this time. But if you haven’t picked up the first two books, you can find them here:

A Time to Die

A Time to Speak

You can connect with the author Nadine Brandes at her website, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

To top off all the fun, Nadine is hosting a giveaway for Happy Hello Out of Time character bookmarks. Follow this link to enter: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/7c244e3122/?

What do you think? Isn’t the cover amazing?

Contest Results & Book Signing Memories

February 19, 2016February 19, 2016triciamingerink6 Comments

I could be mean and wait until the end of this post to announce the winners of the Name That Character contest. But, I’m not.

You all came up with such great names! It was sooooo hard to choose! 33 different people submitted names! Wow!

General GENERALS NAME shall henceforth be known as General Uriah Stewart.

Congratulations to Emily Drown for the name Uriah and Addyson Huneke for the name Stewart.

Honorable mentions are Chloe L. for the names Tavish and McLain, and C.B. Cook for the name McGowan.

HE WHO MUST BE NAMED shall henceforth be known as Ian McCrae.

Congratulations to Amy K. for the name Ian (she also came up with the name Tavish) and to Valerie S. for the name McCrae.

Honorable mentions are Jesseca Wheaton for the name Dunn and Josie Ophoff and Sierra Faith, who both came up with the name Jotham.

Congrats to all the honorable mentions and winners! And thank you everyone who entered! I’m definitely keeping this list of names, so you never know when I might use it again.

This past Saturday, I went to Indiana for a book signing, meet & greet, and book talk. About 20 people, both kids and adults, showed up. I had a great time chatting with everyone. I even managed to sound somewhat intelligent while answering questions. I doubt any of the kids getting their books signed realized that I was just as terrified to talk to them as they were to talk to me.

One of the questions I was asked was what books to I recommend. I should’ve been prepared, but I wasn’t completely. So here’s a better list:

My top 7 recommended Christian YA books

The Ilyon Chronicles by Jaye L. Knight. So far, 2 books and a novella are out, and book 3 releases in May. I already had the chance to beta-read it, and it’s amazing. 🙂
- Genre: fantasy
- Magic: None
- Spiritual Content: Very well done and doctrinal sound. The Christian aspects are not so much allegory as a mirror of our own world.
- Sexual Content: None besides a few hints at what men can do to vulnerable young girls. It is tastefully dealt with.
- Violence: Some fight scenes. A few executions. Mild torture. Nothing above PG13 level violence.
The Makilien Trilogy by Molly Evangeline. This is actually the earlier pen name of Jaye L. Knight. This trilogy has more of an allegorical, basic good vs. evil feel to it.
- Genre: fantasy
- Magic: None
- Spiritual Content: Well done. Mostly focuses on belief in God and trusting God through hard times.
- Sexual Content: None
- Violence: Some fight scenes and large scale battles. Mild torture. Nothing about PG13 level, though most of it isn’t above PG.
Out of Time series by Nadine Brandes. The first two books are out and the third book releases in October. I can’t wait. 🙂
- Genre: dystopian
- Magic: none
- Spiritual Content: Well done. Focuses on pursuing God with the time you’ve been given and finding peace in God.
- Sexual Content: Nothing besides a kiss, some mentions of attraction between a girl and boy, and one childbirth scene (tastefully dealt with).
- Violence: This is a very intense book. The author recommends 14 and up, depending on the maturity of the reader. There are some maiming, deaths, intense action scenes, explosions, etc. Still, nothing is too graphic and sticks in the PG14 level.
Follower of the Word series by Morgan Busse.
- Genre: fantasy
- Magic: Yes
- Spiritual Content: Pretty well done. The spiritual aspect is very much an allegory. I might not agree with everything, but the allegory really helped me think about the nature of Christ’s sacrifice.
- Sexual Content: a clean PG13 level. One character is sold as a female slave and given to a guest for “entertainment” (but nothing happens). Past, impure actions are mentioned. It is all tastefully done.
- Violence: PG13 level violence. Some battle scenes and violence like that.
The Bailey Baxter series by Kim Moss. A sweet, contemporary series that deals with the problems of a young girl growing up in a small town.
- Genre: contemporary
- Spiritual Content: pretty well done. There isn’t much spiritual aspect in the first book, but as the main character grows in her faith, the spiritual content of the books grow as well.
- Sexual Content: some kissing. The fourth book has a few more mature themes since the main character is now graduating high school, but it is still clean and very tastefully done.
- Violence: Very little.
Legends of the Woodlands by Angie Brashear. An allegorical fantasy series.
- Genre: fantasy
- Magic: Yes
- Spiritual Content: fairly well done. It is very allegorical, so sometimes the spiritual part can be difficult to detect in the story part, and I don’t always agree with all the spiritual aspect part, but it is still a very encouraging and uplifting series.
- Sexual Content: Clean. Some kissing. A lot of attraction between characters. This series is heavy on the romance part, though the romance is clean.
- Violence: PG13. Some battles scenes and executions.
Tales of Goldstone Wood by Anne Elisabeth Stengl. A very dense, old-style fantasy-allegory.
- Genre: fantasy
- Magic: Yes
- Spiritual Content: Well done. It is the type of series where each time I read it, I get more out of it. It is allegorical, so sometimes the the spiritual part can be hard to detect from the fantasy part.
- Sexual Content: None
- Violence: Some violence, but not much.

There are many more, but perhaps I’ll have to save those for another blog post. 🙂

A Look Back

January 2, 2016January 2, 2016triciamingerink4 Comments

I realized today that I haven’t blogged at all since Deny released. Not a good way to go about keeping up my social media presence.

At the beginning of December, my carpal tunnel syndrome started acting up again in my right wrist. I’m still not sure what set it off. You’d think spending 11 to 12 hours a day on the computer to get Deny out into the world would’ve caused problems, but it didn’t. But when I cut back my time on the computer to give myself a break, then it got bad again. So I cut out even more computer time (including blogging) until my wrist no longer hurt. Thankfully, the pain is gone now, so I’m back. 🙂

A New Year 2016

It’s the day after New Year’s, so it’s as good a time as any to look back and reflect. God did so many amazing things in my life this year, I’m still blown away. Especially once I started making a list.

This time last year, I had just finished writing three manuscripts for what I had called The Blades of Acktar. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with them or what publishing route God wanted me to pursue. I was waiting for my first professional edit to come back on Dare from Nadine Brandes, an editor I was just beginning to get to know. I’d just connected with Angie Brashear online and began pestering her with questions on indie publishing. And I’d just heard of Jaye L. Knight. I’d only had a blog for a few months, and I wasn’t even on Goodreads yet, much less most of the other social media sites.

Crazy, when I think about it. Now I have so many writing friends online I’m blown away. I connected with the wonderful Kim Moss through a book launch team we were on together. Angie Brashear became a prayer warrior who helped pray Deny into existence. I don’t know what I’d do without Nadine as a friend and mentor. And Jaye’s encouragement has been amazing. All the other bloggers and fellow authors who volunteered for my launch team: Claire, Shantelle, Hope, Alyssa, Abigail, Jessica, Gabriela. Sierra, my amazing critique partner who helped so much. All the fans who have contacted me or written reviews or simply interacted in some way on line. I can’t believe that a year ago, I didn’t really know any of you.

I now have two published book and a third in the process of publication. My three book series turned into four. Dare hit #1 on Amazon’s bestseller list for Christian Fantasy (sharing the list with such estimable writers as Jill Williamson, Jaye L. Knight, and Patrick Carr. Seriously never thought I’d see my books anywhere near theirs on a bestseller list!). Deny hit the #1 Hot Newest Release in Christian Fantasy for the first month after its release, and both Dare and Deny are still bouncing around in the top 20 on the Christian Fantasy bestseller list. I am so blown away by the response to these books.

I’m excited to see what God does with 2016.

Fun with Book Selfies

October 16, 2015triciamingerink10 Comments

Okay, so I wasn’t actually planning to write this post, but I had so much fun last night taking pictures that I thought I’d share a few of them with you.

I decided to take a few selfies of me with my horse with Nadine Brandes’s book A Time to Die to celebrate the release of it’s sequel A Time to Speak (which released today! Yay! Though, only the ebook version is available. Click here for Nadine’s full explanation of why).

Anyway, I marched over to the horse pasture with book and camera in hand.

My horse refused to cooperate until I bribed him with treats.

My horse: “Can I eat it?” Me: “Um, no. That’s my super special paperback that I got signed IN PERSON. You are not allowed to so much as breathe on it too deeply.”

I’m making a sneaky ninja face while my horse still refuses to cooperate. Not enough bribes yet.

I finally convinced him to read the book with me. 😉

Another ninja face while my horse makes a stealthy sneak attack looking for more treats.

My horse: “Can I eat it?” Me: “No, that’s my camera.”

If you couldn’t tell by the great lengths I went to, I really, really love this series. And, if you enjoyed the characters in Dare, it is in part because Nadine was my gracious editor to point out things where “this decision doesn’t make sense” or “this character is really flat” or “this character doesn’t do anything but sit around and cower the entire book.”

Her books are available here:

Book 1 (A Time to Die) – bit.ly/AmazonATtDpaperback
Book 2 (A Time to Speak) – bit.ly/AmazonATtSPaperback

Have you ever done a selfie with a book before? How about a selfie with an animal? Ever tried doing both at once?

An Interview with Adventuring Author Nadine Brandes

October 13, 2015October 13, 2015triciamingerink11 Comments

Today, I’m interviewing author Nadine Brandes about adventures, writing, and other awesome randomness. 🙂

You can connect with Nadine on her website, blog, NEWSLETTER, Goodreads, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Google plus.

Don’t forget to enter the Rafflecopter giveaway and join the Facebook party to celebrate A Time to Speak‘s release.
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Hi, Nadine! I can’t believe I haven’t interviewed you on my blog yet. Time for that to change!

I happen to know you really like tea. What’s your favorite kind? Do you have any special way you make tea? (rituals, tips, special teapot, etc)

Ooh! My favorite kind of tea is Yorkshire Tea – I discovered it when living in York, England and I drink it with milk and sugar. When I have a long day of writing ahead of me, I’ll usually make an entire pot of it. I have a couple cool teapots I’ve collected from around the world. One looks like a globe with a lid and has pirate ships on it. That’s my favorite, haha.

A globe teapot with pirate ships on it? That does sound epic for a teapot! And living in England? That sounds like an adventure!

Parvin Quote - ATtS

You live in Idaho not far from Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons (I’m a little jealous. I love that area!). What’s your favorite part about living where you do?

I love being able to go on adventures! In just the past two years I’ve done so many exciting things like dogsledding, rock climbing, and walking in nature for inspiration. Hubby and I got married here and even got to ride away from our wedding in a one-horse open sleigh. *Hums Jingle Bells* You just don’t get to do that in other places.

That does sound amazing! The one time I’ve been to that area, we had a blizzard in June and we had to hike through knee-high snow in our tennis shoes. It sounds like it is just as adventurous to live there!

Unity Village, Parvin’s home town, is in a dystopian Missouri. What made you pick that state for her village?

I was living in Missouri at the time and completely adored that state. I prefer writing from experience, so I set it in Missouri simply because I’d be able to tackle the descriptions much better while living through them – down to the time of year, weather, etc.

Missouri is very beautiful. My friends and I took a road trip there this past summer. 🙂

You take Parvin on quite an adventure in A Time to Speak. How much research did you do for the book? What was your favorite part of researching? Least favorite?

So much research! My goodness! Without giving too much away, I spent days and weeks and months watching videos, reading books, and interviewing travelers about Antarctica. I also traveled with my dad to Panama and rode a sailboat through the canal. I chased a boxcar train and ate a raw potato. If you couldn’t tell…I go all out. 😛 My favorite part of researching is probably getting to go on adventures…with a notebook. [grin] My least favorite part of research is when it’s something I can’t experience. Like…Antarctica. (Trust me, I looked up costs to visit. Um…NO.) Because no matter how much I research, there’s nothing like first-hand experience.

Even if you didn’t get to go to Antarctica, you had me convinced! Then again, you’ve had first had experience with ice and snow where you live.

Parvin Quote - ATtS 2

What is one thing on your bucket list of adventures/things to try (besides travel to Antarctica some day)?

I want to go skydiving! Yes, because it will help me with a certain scene in a future book, but also because I really want to imagine I’m flying. And I hope that my many adventures will inspire my children to have adventurous spirits. (I’ll probably force them into adventures whether they like them or not.

Now you have me really curious for this next book!

My parents dragged my brothers and me through many adventures when we were growing up, and I’m glad they did.

Thanks, Nadine, for stopping by my blog!

Now, Nadine has a question for all of you:

What’s an adventure on your bucket list?

Fill out the form below to join the cover reveal for Midnight’s Curse!

Here’s the form for the Cover Reveal

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