The Secret Slipper Author Interview!

Howdy there, folks!

Today I have here, Miss Amanda Tero, author of the newly released book, The Secret Slipper. This book just released on Thursday, the 25th, but I've had the wonderful opportunity to advance read it. It is Ms. Tero's best work yet, in my opinion!  I can tell that she has improved in her writing, and I am SO amazed at how God gave her the plot line of The Secret Slipper! Like whaaat.....?? How did she think of that?? I guess it had to be God's ultimate, genius, wisdom :D  I am so close to being done with the book--it's taken me longer because of business and a big art project, but once I'm done, be looking for my review of it on Amazon :D

Well, would you like me to get on to the interview now? Okay, okay! Here you are:

What was your favorite part about writing The Secret Slipper? 

My favorite part was probably the initial first-draft writing process. It is always exciting to watch the ideas form!

Oh, yes, for sure!

Which part was the most difficult? 

That would be the rewrites. ;) Particularly Raoul’s story. For some reason, I just couldn’t figure out how to make his story interesting. Thanks to some of my first readers and friends who helped me brainstorm. A lot.

Uh-huh. I haven't got to that stage in any of my works yet, but I can imagine that would be tough. You did a great job with his story! 

Which character was your favorite to write about and why? 

I really liked a lot of my character cast in “The Secret Slipper.” Jolin is probably my most favorite, but then Dumphey and Zuzene and Lia and Raoul…oh and Noel. I even liked Bioti. They were all fun to write because they were all different.

Are any of the characters modeled after you or people you know, in some way? 

Not directly, for this novella. I feel like most of my characters are some way indirectly influenced by the people that I know.

Same with me :D

What do you hope your readers will take away from this book? 

There are a few main lessons in this book: completely trust in God no matter what situation and what’s at stake, and realizing that God has created us in His wisdom and has a purpose for the things He allows in our lives. 

What is the best piece of writing advice that you have received as an author?

Every great book was once an awful first draft.

YES! I have learned not to edit before a book or piece of writing is finished, or else I'll get frustrated and put it down. I guess that's pretty much the essence of your advice, no?

What inspired you to write The Secret Slipper?
I had finished  "Befriending the Beast" (a spin-off of Beauty and the Beast) as a stand-alone when an author friend asked, "Hey, have you ever considered a father/daughter Cinderella story?" And that is exactly where the inspiration started. I prayed about it, and the Lord supplied the full story.

Thank you so much, Amanda! It was fun to read your answers :)

And now, folks, for the fun stuff. Ms. Tero is offering a Giveaway of both Befriending the Beast, book one of Tales of Faith (but not at all necessary reading in order to understand The Secret Slipper; Befriending the Beast just ties in a very slight bit), and The Secret Slipper!

Be sure to check that out.  And 1 paper set-ooh, fabulous! :D I have really enjoyed The Secret Slipper and I hope you will too, once you get and read it--of course you will get and read it, won't you? ;)

Oh, perhaps you would like to know a bit about the book, too, eh? 

About the Book

Being a cripple is only the beginning of Lia’s troubles. It seems as if Bioti’s goal in life is to make Lia as miserable as possible. If Lia’s purpose is to be a slave, then why did God make her a cripple? How can He make something beautiful out of her deformity?

Raoul never questioned the death of his daughter until someone reports her whereabouts. If Ellia is still alive, how has she survived these ten years with her deformity? When Raoul doesn’t know who to trust, can he trust God to keep Ellia safe when evidence reveals Bioti’s dangerous character?

As time brings more hindrances, will Raoul find Ellia, or will she forever be lost to the father she doesn't even know is searching for her?

And you can buy it here: 

Purchase Link

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071R5859Y    

Or you can:                                        Get “Befriending the Beast”

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01L2IDEUQ

                                                                   About the Author

Amanda Tero is a homeschool graduate who desires to provide God-honoring, family-friendly reading material. She has enjoyed writing since before ten years old, but it has only been since 2013 that she began seriously pursuing writing again – starting with some short stories that she wrote for her sisters as a gift. Her mom encouraged her to try selling the stories she published, and since then, she has begun actively writing short stories, novellas, and novels. If something she has written draws an individual into a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ, it is worth it!

“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding.” (Proverbs 3:5)

Connect with Amanda

Email: amandaterobooks@gmail.com
Website: http://amandatero.com/
Facebook: www.facebook.com/amandaterobooks
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amandateroauthor/
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/amandaruthtero/
Blog: www.withajoyfulnoise.blogspot.com
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/AmandaTero
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/author/amandatero

Excited yet? Well, I'll let you get on to the rest of the blogs and checking out the book for yerself :) (yes, I know I said yerself)  Let me just finish with a quote--or two:

Okay, now you can go.  After you see who else is blogging about The Secret Slipper this week.

May 25, 2017
Amanda @ With a Joyful Noise | Release Day, Giveaway
Leila @ Leila Tualla's Bookshelf | Spotlight
Faith @ Writings, Ramblings, and Reflections | Review, Giveaway
Leona @ Great Books for God's Girls | Review, Interview

May 26
Emily @ Zerina Blossom’s Books | Interview
Kendra @ Knitted By God's Plan (Spotlight) and O'Scarlett Reviews (Review) | Spotlight, Review
Alicia @ A Brighter Destiny | Review, Giveaway

May 27
Anika @ This Journey Called Life | Spotlight, Review, Giveaway
Katie @ His Princess Warrior | Review, Giveaway
Sarah @ The Destiny of One | Spotlight
Heather @ Encouraging Words from the Tea Queen | Spotlight, Interview, Giveaway

May 29
Kate @ Once Upon an Ordinary | Review, Interview
Sarah @ Penumbra Reviews | Review
Dary @ Peculiar Miss Darcy | Character Interview
Julia @ My Joyful Journey with Jesus | Interview

May 30
Kenzi @ Honey Rock Hills | Review, Giveaway
Anita @ Christian Author: A.M. Heath  | Review
Judith @ JudithWNicholson  | Interview

May 31
Jesseca @ Whimsical Writings for His glory  | Spotlight, Review
Raechel @ God’s Peculiar Treasure Rae  | Spotlight, Review
Esther @ Purposeful Learning | Review, Interview, Giveaway

June 1
Kellyn @ Reveries Reviews  | Review
Victoria @ Victoria Minks Blog  | Spotlight, Review
Kelsey @ Kelsey’s Notebook | Spotlight

June 2
Hanne @ RockandMinerals4Him | Spotlight, Review, Giveaway
Erica @ Roxbury Books Blog | Spotlight
Janell @ Views from the Window Friend  | Review
Crystal @ Crystal’s Adventures for Christ  | Spotlight, Review, Interview

June 3
Alexa @ Verbosity Reviews  | Spotlight
Faith @ Chosen Vessels  | Review
Melissa @ Clothed with Scarlet | Review, Interview, Giveaway

And as a last note, thank you to all those soldiers who have given their lives so that we might have the comfort of freedom and protection. Thank you to all of the families of those who have died fighting, for their willingness to let their family members serve and give their lives for our freedom. Most of all, thank You, JESUS, for sacrificing Your life to free us from the bondage of sin and buy us into Your family to live forever with You, and thank You for reversing the normal cycle--life and then death--You died and then lived!! And now we can have the hope of living in Your presence and glory after we die (unless you take us sooner :D)! 

"If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living." ~Romans 14:8-9 (emphasis added)

And now you can go. Really. 

I hope you have a glorious week! 

Jewels <3

Works of Darkness part 2

In continuation with my last post:

Another work of darkness is same-sex marriage.   I know some disagree, but to me, it is very obvious and clear in the Bible that God disapproves of this. 
There is the example of Sodom and Gomorrah. The sin of the inhabitants of these two cities was extremely great and offensive to God--and that sin included same-sex marriage.   In fact, gay-marriage is the only sin I found in the recorded story that is distinctly spoken of about the cities, though I am 99.9% sure that their sin included many other things. God destroyed the cities and their inhabitants and the entire plain around them, including the vegetation, by 'raining down burning sulphur on Sodom and Gomorrah--from the LORD out of the heavens', so that when Abraham looked out the next morning he saw 'dense smoke rising from the land, like smoke from a furnace',  as the NIV says. 

Now here's a passage from Romans 1 that is a really tough one if you know people who live in this pattern of sin:  
The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.

For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.

Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.

Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.

Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.

Now, I know this is a long passage, but I have posted the whole part so that you can better understand it and get the context. Isn't that a tough passage? Yet it makes it clear, to me anyway, that same-sex marriage is not a result of godliness, but rather a result of sinfulness, God giving them over to their own sinful desires, and is abominable to God, deserving of death. This is a work of darkness, yet it is becoming more and more accepted and even encouraged.  

Here is another verse in the first chapter of 1 Timothy that I came across a few days ago: "We also know that the law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, ¹⁰ for the sexually immoral, for those practicing homosexuality, for slave traders and liars and perjurers—and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine ¹¹ that conforms to the gospel concerning the glory of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me." 
Again, homosexuality is spoken of in the context of 'sinful, unholy, irreligious, lawbreaking, ungodly, rebels'. 

Guys, people who fall into this sin are in a dangerous place. They are deserving of death--just like you and I were! For the wages of sin is death, says Romans 6:23.   But, you know what, they are not too far gone, either, just like you and I. ...But the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. 

Of course you will remember Paul's testimony. Paul was an avid hater and persecutor of God's followers. He was at the stoning of Stephen, in Acts 7. When Paul was on the road to Damascus, it was with the purpose of finding Christians, taking them and throwing them in prison. But on the way, he was stopped. Here is the passage from Acts 9: Meanwhile, Saul [Paul's other name--Acts 13:9] was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”

 “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked.

“I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”

So Saul was a pretty bad guy. God makes it clear that when Saul, or Paul as he is commonly called, persecutes the followers of God, he is actually persecuting God Himself--a pretty serious offense, and Saul's persecution of the church wasn't light, either.  Yet God in His mercy, chose to shine His light into Paul's dark heart, and save and change him.

There are countless testimonies throughout the Bible of wicked, wicked people who received God's merciful and gracious gift  of forgiveness--only obtained through Him, and were changed. Rahab the harlot, for example. Nothing is too hard for God, even though it may seem at times like the wall we've hit is too tall or someone has gone too far. "Now as for you, son of man, say to the house of Israel, 'Thus you have spoken, saying, "Surely our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and we are rotting away in them; how then can we survive?"'  "Say to them, 'As I live!' declares the Lord GOD, 'I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways! Why then will you die, O house of Israel?' " This is what is said in Ezekiel 33:10-11.  God created the world and everything in it, and the king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes, says Proverbs 21:1.   

My point is, if you know someone who has chosen the sinful pattern of same-sex marriage, know that they are in a dangerous place before God, pray with me for them, and believe that they are not too far gone for God to save and change them.  

I have posted about these two topics because they are heavy and they are assuredly works of darkness as far as I can tell from what the Bible says. This is a way that I can expose works of darkness. How can you?  Do you have any thoughts about this? 

May the Lord bless you as you go about your week.

Jewels <3

Works of darkness

Howdy folks!

My mom and I have been going through a devotional called Behold Your God. It is really good. Week seven discussed worship--acceptable worship versus unacceptable worship.
One of the days, we read Ephesians 5:8-12, 15-16, and were asked to summarize what God says about how the Christian is supposed to live a Godward life in the culture around him.   Here is what the verses say: 

"For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light ⁹ (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth),¹⁰ finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. ¹¹ And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. ¹² For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret...See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, ¹⁶ redeeming the time, because the days are evil."

Here is something that hit me as I was reading this passage and thinking about the question:  The verse says that we, as Christians living in our culture, need to walk as children of the light (the Light being God--1 John 1:5),  finding out, or proving as KJV says, what is acceptable to the Lord.  The way I take this is living as children of the light and setting the example of what is pleasing and acceptable to the Lord.   But then here's the contrast: We are to have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. 

In summary, we are to live a life that shows what is acceptable to the Lord, and also exposes what is unacceptable to Him.

I was thinking about this. It's tough to expose works of darkness. Does that mean that we are to point out everyone's faults?  No. Because we all have faults and we can't expect anyone to be perfect. Of course, if a brother or sister in Christ is walking in sin, it might be out duty to confront them, bring their pattern of sin to their attention--lovingly--and, if they are willing, help them get back on the right track.    But exposing the works of darkness. What does this mean? This verse came up awhile ago in our sunday school.    We can expose the works of darkness by showing the world the truth. In our sunday school topic, we were talking about abortion. 

As Believers, (and I hope every true Believer in Jesus Christ is convinced of this) it is clear from the Bible that life is sacred and no one has the right to take it.  Including the life of an unborn child.  An unborn child is still made in the Image of God, and it is a direct assault on God if one deems that child unworthy to live life and kills it.  Life obviously begins from the womb, if you believe in the Bible.  

God tells Jeremiah in the first chapter of Jeremiah's book: 

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.”

It is said of John the Baptist in Luke chapter 1: He will also be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb.

Later in the chapter when Mary, the mother of Jesus, came to visit her cousin Elizabeth who was 6 months pregnant with John the Baptist, it says,  "And it happened, when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, that the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. ⁴² Then she spoke out with a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! ⁴³ But why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? ⁴⁴ For indeed, as soon as the voice of your greeting sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy." "

First of all, the fact that John was able to experience emotion at 6 months in the womb, and was able to recognize who Jesus was before either of them were even born, is a telling fact. Another interesting thing to point out in this last passage is that Elizabeth already referred to Mary as the mother of Jesus--when Jesus hadn't even been born yet. 

Then of course you have the whole 139th chapter of Psalms that describes God's sovereign hand in the formation of a child.    Guys, God has a plan for each child. He creates each child special and unique from their mother's womb--and in His Image! Each child bears the image of God and if we say that God's handiwork is not worth living life, or think that their life will be difficult and would be better for child and mother if that life was just not lived at all, we are putting ourselves in the place of God! That's a dangerous place to be, folks. 

Abortion is one 'work of darkness' that we can expose as being wrong. We need to be the voice for the voiceless, and we need the mothers of the precious children to know how precious their children really are--even if life might be difficult for both. 

I have made this into a two part post because it would be too long to fit into one, so be looking for part 2!

Any thoughts of yours on abortion, or Ephesians 5:8-12, 14-16? I'd like to hear!

Blessings,
Jewels <3