Making Your God-given Dreams Come True

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Tricia Goyer has a wonderful series going on over at her Writing Mentor blog called "Dare to Dream". There are so many practical and insightful quotes in these pieces, and here's one of them:

The easiest way to tell if we are missing our unique purpose is to consider the things that bring joy to our lives. Things that are uniquely us. It may be singing, baking, or even landscaping. Many of us need to ask, “If I could be doing anything for God’s kingdom what would it be?” and “Do I ‘thrive’ in my daily duties and feel God’s pleasure, or do I simply ‘survive’ as I try to keep up with the world’s ideas?”

Read all three parts of Dare to Dream:

Part 1 : What dreams are hidden in your heart?
Part 2 : Discover - What are God's Dreams?
Part 3 : Granting Ourselves Freedom - How can the impossible become possible?
Part 4 : How dreamers have changed our world

A Shadow of Treason by Tricia Goyer blog tour

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Today I'm pleased to be a part of Tricia Goyer's blog tour for her novel A Shadow Of Treason. This book is Book #2 in her Chronicles of the Spanish Civil War series. You'll also want to be sure to check out Book #1 A Valley of Betrayal (read the first chapter here).

Summary:

Sophie discovers that nothing is as she first imagined. When Walt, the reporter who helped her over the border, shows up again after Guernica is bombed, Sophie is given an impossible mission. She must leave behind the man she's fallen in love with and return to the person who betrayed her. Another layer of the war in Spain is revealed as Sophie is drawn into the international espionage schemes that could turn the tide of the war and help protect the soldiers from the International Brigade ... she must find a way to get a critical piece of information to Walt in time.

Read an excerpt here!

Interested in signing up for Tricia's newsletter? Click here.

Question & Answer session with Tricia:

Q:

A Shadow of Treason follows A Valley of Betrayal. This is the first time you've written books as a series instead of stand alone. Which way do you like better?

A: I love writing in series. It was great to continue with the same characters. In my stand-alone books I fell in love with these people and then I had to say good-bye after one book. It was wonderful to be able to continue on.

Q: In A Shadow of Treason Sophie must return to the person who betrayed her in an effort to help the Spanish people. It makes the book hard to put down because the reader has to know how Sophie's heart will deal with it. Why did you decide to make this an element of the book?

A: There are very few of us who go through life without giving away a part of our hearts to someone who didn't deserve it. Even though Sophie had the best intentions, she gave away her heart and she was hurt-not only that she must revisit those emotions.

I wanted to include this element-to delve into the topic that emotions are sometimes as big of a trap as any physical cage. Emotions are real and they guide us -- even when we don't want to admit it. Poor Sophie, not only does she have to deal with a war around her -- she also has to deal with a war within herself. It's something I've battled, and mostly likely others have too.

Q: There is an interesting element that arises in this book and that is Spanish gold. I know you can't tell us what happens in this book, but can you give us a brief history of this gold?

A: Sure. When I was researching I came upon something interesting. The Spaniards, as we know, had taken much Aztec and Inca gold during the time of the conquistadors. Well, at the start of The Spanish Civil War much of this gold was still held in Madrid. In fact Spain had the fourth largest gold reserves in the world at that time. The Republican government was afraid Franco would take the city and the gold. They had to get it out of Madrid and this included transporting priceless artifacts. The element of gold does make its way into my story. It was great to include this little-known (and true!) element into my story.

Q: Another historical fact I learned about was the Nazi involvement during this time. Not only were the Germans active in Spain, but they had spy networks busy around the world. How did you find out about this?

A: I love reading tons of research books. Usually I find one little element that I dig out and turn into a plot line. This is what happened with my plot-line for the Nazi pilot, Ritter. I dug up this bit of research of Nazi involvement in Spain -- and the United States -- because a lot of people aren't aware of the Nazi involvement prior to WWII. The truth is they were busy at work getting the land, information, and resources they needed far before they threatened the nations around them. The Germans knew what they wanted and how to get it. And most of the time they succeeded!

Q: A Shadow of Treason is Book Two. When will Book Three be out? Can you give us a hint of how the story continues?

A: Book Three is A Whisper of Freedom. It will be out February 2008. The characters that we love are all still in the midst of danger at the end of Book Two. Book Three continues their stories as we follow their journeys in -- and (for a few) out -- of Spain. It's an exciting conclusion to the series!

Read an interview I conducted with Tricia awhile back here.

A Shadow of Treason, Chronicles of the Spanish Civil War #2 By Tricia Goyer (Click to purchase at Christianbook.com)

A great resource for writers

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I just discovered a brand new blog/newsletter put out by Tricia Goyer (A Valley of Betrayal). It's called My Writing Mentor, and I'm looking forward to learning from Tricia and others. The first post features a Q&A with James Scott Bell (No Legal Grounds) and others.

Check it out here and sign up for the free newsletter today.

Tricia Goyer Blog Tour for A Valley of Betrayal

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It's my pleasure to be a part of the blog tour for Tricia Goyer's new novel A Valley of Betrayal, Book #1 in the Chronicles of the Spanish Civil War series.

Tricia is an accomplished writer who was named "Writer of the Year" in 2003 by Mount Hermon Christian Writer's Conference. Her previous historical fiction series took place during World War II and included From Dust and Ashes, Night Song, Dawn of a Thousand Nights, and Arms of Deliverance. She is married to John, and they have three great kids whom she homeschools: Cory, Leslie, and Nathan. They make their home in Northwest Montana with their dog, Lilly.

Cool Stuff to Read & Do:

• Read the 1st chapter of A Valley of Betrayal here.
• Read an interview I did with Tricia a couple months ago here.
• Read Cara Putnam's review of A Valley of Betrayal at her blog: The Law, Books and Life.
• Read Cheryl Russell's review of A Valley of Betrayal at Infuze.
• Sign up for On Trakk, the e-newsletter of TitleTrakk.com, and be entered in a drawing to win a FREE copy of A Valley of Betrayal. Be sure to mention this blog when you do.
  
• Listen to a podcast of Tricia talking about her books here.
• Buy A Valley of Betrayal here.

So, Tricia, what inspired you to write A Valley of Betrayal?

A few years ago when I was researching for my fourth World War II novel, Arms of Deliverance, I came across a unique autobiography. One B-17 crewmember I read about claimed to make it out of German-occupied Belgium after a plane crash due, in part, to his skills he picked up as a veteran of The Spanish Civil War. Reading that bit of information, I had to scratch my head. First of all, I had never heard of the war. And second, what was an American doing fighting in Spain in the late 1930s? Before I knew it, I uncovered a fascinating time in history—one that I soon discovered many people know little about. This is what I learned:

Nazi tanks rolled across the hillsides and German bombers roared overhead, dropping bombs on helpless citizens. Italian troops fought alongside the Germans, and their opponents attempted to stand strong—Americans, British, Irishmen, and others—in unison with other volunteers from many countries. And their battleground? The beautiful Spanish countryside.

From July 17, 1936-April 1, 1939, well before America was involved in World War II, another battle was fought on the hillsides of Spain. On one side were the Spanish Republicans, joined by the Soviet Union and The International Brigade—men and women from all over the world who have volunteered to fight Fascism. Opposing them, Franco and his Fascist military leaders, supported with troops, machinery, and weapons from Hitler and Mussolini. The Spanish Civil War, considered the “training ground” for the war to come, boasted of thousands of American volunteers who joined to fight on the Republican side, half of which never returned home.

Unlike World War II, there is no clear line between white and black, good and evil. Both sides committed atrocities. Both sides had deep convictions they felt worth fighting and dying for.

Loyalists—also know as the Republicans were aided by the Soviet Union, the Communist movement, and the International Brigades. If not for the weapons and volunteers from these sources their fight would have ended in weeks rather than years. While many men fought side by side, their political views included that of liberal democracy, communism and socialism. The Catholic Basque Country also sided with the Republic, mainly because it sought independence from the central government and was promised this by Republican leaders in Madrid.

Nationalists—or Francoists were aided mainly by Germany and Italy. The Nationalist opposed an independent Basque state. Their main supporters were those who believed in a monarchist state and fascist interests. The Nationalist wished for Spain to continue on as it had for years, with rich landowners, the military, and the church running the country. Most of the Roman Catholic clergy supported the Nationalists, except those in the Basque region.

During the Spanish Civil war, terror tactics against civilians were common. And while history books discuss the estimated one million people who lost their lives during the conflict, we must not forget that each of those who fought, who died, had their own tales. From visitors to Spain who found themselves caught in the conflict, to the communist supporters, Basque priests, and Nazi airmen . . . each saw this war in a different light. These are the stories behind A Valley of Betrayal.