5. Sacrifice

The turning point of many fantasy books is when the hero gives of their self for the cause. It might be to help the main character push through to the end or it might be to bring about an even better ending than there otherwise would be.

Brom.

Dumbledore.

Gandalf.

Aslan.

Some of these sacrifices deliberately point to Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. Others are more ambiguous. Tolkien himself said that Gandalf’s death and resurrection wasn’t intended to be symbolism, but when you look closely at it, there’s no denying Tolkien’s worldview showed through.

This foundational aspect of fantasy can’t but help point people to the ultimate sacrifice that Christ made for us. Again, a heart longing for fulfillment of a story element in real life.

6. Prophecy

Along with the chosen one, there is usually some kind of prophecy that guides the main characters through their fantasy story. Whether it’s a designation of the chosen one or a statement that helps the main characters unearth their quest objective, some form of prophecy exists in most fantasy stories.

How does this relate to Christianity and real life? It’s easy to see the correlation with the Bible. A book, written years in the past, guides our lives today. Or there are the literal prophecies that were given and then later came to pass—like in the book of Daniel.

Again, here’s an opportunity for believers to share their faith through fantasy stories.

7. Orphan

Eragon

The Elfstones of Shannara

The Horse and His Boy

Uprooted (Okay, I didn’t honestly plan on being part of such an ostentatious list, but it’s true.)

All of these have main characters who are orphans, or who become orphans thus setting them on their quest.

Christians may wonder how I’m placing this within roots of their faith, but we are all orphans.

The earliest vision their eyes beheld was not one another. Upon humanity’s awakening, they first saw the glad smile of God. ~Cara L. T. Murphy, The Inquisitive Christ

Back in Eden, we had family. God was our Father, but due to the fall, from the time of our birth until we die, we are now orphans—unless we look to Christ. Then he adopts us into His family. The Apostle Paul talks about us being adopted and crying out “Abba, Father.”

Adoption probably should go under found family, but it’s the idea that we had no family and now we are adopted into a family. Many fantasy heroes have a longing for connection with their lost parents or mentors.

And so we have the next three reasons Christians should read fantasy. As we delve into the genre, we find there are aspects that drive our hearts’ longing. May you fulfill your true purpose this week.

3. The Chosen One

Every fantasy lover knows this trope. The lowly stable boy, the orphan girl, the underdog who no one knows becomes the prophesied savior. I don’t know how many fantasy stories include this in some way. And yet, what if it had its beginnings at the beginning of time?

Genesis chapter three tells of the fall of man, but God doesn’t just punish Adam and Eve for doing what they weren’t supposed to do, he gives a promise! One day, there will come one who will crush the serpent’s head. A Savior would come from the woman.

How many women through the ages wondered if their child would be the chosen one? How many young boys dreamed of being the savior their people longed for?

Then one day, an angel spoke to a young woman betrothed to a righteous man and told her she would bear a child who would be the Savior.

But the chosen one trope doesn’t end with Jesus as the Savior of the world. It goes on. Jesus chose twelve men to travel with him, and many others followed.

Ephesians chapter one verses three and four state:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love (English Standard Version, emphasis mine)

Did you catch that? If we are believers in Christ, then we are chosen. The longing of every fantasy reader to be that chosen hero can be true.

4. Magic

I can just hear Christians ready to cry, “Heresy!” Doesn’t the Bible forbid magic? Put down your stones—okay, at least hold them for a moment and listen.

Magic by its very definition is a supernatural ability. There are two sources to supernatural abilities in this world—from God or from the Devil (Enemy, Satan.)

God gave his Old Testament servants the ability to perform miracles which would very much appear as magic. Moses turning his staff into a snake for instance. The Egyptian magicians did the same thing through their dark arts. There were several signs that Moses did that the Egyptians were able to duplicate, but eventually, they could no longer keep up with God’s power.

In the New Testament, again, God gave signs to help people come to a saving faith in Jesus.

But there is a definite dark magic that the Bible forbids and with good reason. Its source is from the enemy, and he only wants to entangle us in his grasp.

So, as believers we must be careful where our magic system comes from in a fantasy book. There are definite dark fantasy books out there that dig into magic on an evil front.

As you go about your week, remember the chosen one. Are you one of them? Do you know any? But even more importantly, are you living life as a chosen one?

Should Christians read fantasy? I grew up in a family that answered this in the negative. It wasn’t until I was in college that I read Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. Let alone C. S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia. But as I grow in my faith and dig deeper into fantasy, the more I see that fantasy is an outworking of the longing of the heart for God.

How? Here’s ten themes within the fantasy genre that harken back to the roots of Christianity. We’ll look at 2 at a time.

1. Found Family

The number of stories in fantasy that have found family as a theme are beyond my counting. Even The Lord of the Rings have the hobbits coming together as a family, not to mention Gimli and Legolas.

But where is found family in Christianity?

Back in the Garden of Eden, God placed Adam and Eve and told them to multiply and fill the earth—in essence, become a family. Unfortunately, it didn’t take them long to break the perfect world God had created, including the family. Cain killed Abel!

When Jesus came to earth, he created the church. Paul uses the image of family for the church. Could it be that the church in its perfect form is to be one big found family?

2. Kingdom Fantasy

One of the subgenres of fantasy is Kingdom Fantasy where there isn’t any magic, just a medieval kingdom; while another trope of fantasy is to have it in a medieval setting.

Many who read fantasy wish to return to the medieval era. Why else would we have Renaissance Faires and the SCA? But what is the draw to this kingdom setting?

Especially in the United States of America, I believe the draw is to the monarchy. Even though our forefathers separated from it, we still are drawn to the idea of a king, queen, prince, and princess—hence the fascination with the British royal family.

The overarching concept of a monarch is that they have supreme control over the kingdom. There’s a bowing down in honor to them; a feeling of awe and reverence.

Wayne Thomas Batson does this well in his The Door Within series where the throne room is held in awe, and Aidan can’t even look at it in passing if the door is open.

Just as Gwenne covered Aidan’s eyes with her hands, a thunderous rumble sounded. The King’s enormous doors began to open. The entire hallway filled with searing light. The fierce brilliance streamed in through Gwenne’s fingers.

Aidan fell facedown, burying his head in his hands. Gwenne bent down to his side as the King’s chamber doors closed and the light withdrew.

“I warned you,” she said sympathetically. “Are you all right?”

“My eyes!” he complained, rubbing both vigorously with his knuckles. He blinked tears and opened his eyes. The only image he could see, eyes opened or eyes closed, was the vague outline of Gwenne’s fingers.

“The glory of the King… it is perilously pure,” she said.

Every believer knows that Jesus is given the name King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Could the fascination with fantasy kings be our desire to understand our own King?

Even better, could reading a fantasy book like The Door Within or others help bring a ‘welcome awakening’ to someone who is longing for a loving king who controls everything?

We’ll look at another 2 reasons next week.

But it’s more than mirroring our world, it’s more so our innate longing for what once was. And so there are ten ways fantasy reflects what our hearts long for. Because of this, I also describe them as ten reasons why Christians should read fantasy.

I know, that can be controversial. But I’ll line out those reasons later. Meanwhile, I posted the question of how fantasy mirrors the real world.

Genres that Mirror the Real World

As I look at fantasy genres, there’s at least one that mirrors our longing for another world. C. S. Lewis and many others, including me, write Portal Fantasy.

Portal fantasy is where the characters go from our world into a fantasy world. But how does this mirror our longing? Listen as this facebook creator explains Aslan.

Did you hear what he said? Find me in your world. Portal fantasy is a longing for the world we were originally created for. A world that can be ours again at the end.

The Door Within by Wayne Thomas Batson not only is portal fantasy, but shows the ending of what could be–adventures with God, not sitting on clouds playing harps.

Characters that Mirror our Longing

The hero is a longing for something more as well. Think about it. We want someone to come in and rescue us!

I once heard a speaker describe it as “Bog Theology.” It’s the time in your life when you’re in the middle of a bog–think mile long and wide where you’re sinking into it. Kind of like the Fire Swamp in The Princess Bride. There are dangers and you’re sinking wanting out.

Bog Theology says that instead of God sending you a helicopter to get you out, he comes alongside you and walks with you through it.

How many fantasy heroes do that. We walk with them through their journey, but in so doing, they walk beside us, helping us through our real-life struggles.

If this sounds like something you want to know more about, follow the series. Next up will be a series of posts with two reasons each of why Christians should read fantasy. It’s the same idea. This longing for a place to call your own that resonates within us with fantasy.

What is Kickstarter?

You’ve heard of gofundme. Think of Kickstarter as a gofundme with perks! The gaming community has used Kickstarter for years. The indie-published book industry has just recently hopped on board.

This crowdunding option, enables the reader to have direct access to the author. The messsage feature works well, and many times the author has the reader interact with them through polls.

Since Kickstarter has been around for years, they’ve figured out the ins and outs of how to vet projects, provide secure payment options, etc.

How Kickstarter works

The project will be live for 23 days. During that time, you have the opportunity of pledging and encouraging your friends to pledge and back the project. If it funds, and only if it funds, you’ll pay what you pledged and get your rewards.

Reward tiers allow you to choose how much you wish to receive and how much you wish to support a project.

If the project funds early, then stretch goals are implemented–these are things that brings more value to your product and the project. For books, it’s often character art, maps, special art to include in the book, bookmarks, stickers, deleted scenes, extra short stories, etc. The more people who back, the higher the project goes and the more perks everyone gets!

When the project ends, late pledges can be in effect. (I’ve set mine to last until I make a final order of books.) This means there will still be people who can get the perks, even if they were late to the party.

A week after the project ends, Kickstarter uses Stripe to charge your credit card. Then if your card has changed since you pledged, Kickstarter, and often the author, will reach out to get that fixed. I just supported one Kickstarter where those errored cards made the difference in what art we would receive in our books! I was so excited to hear it got figured out and everyone still was able to have that stretch goal.

Kristjan’s Rise as a Kickstarter

I learned a lot from Bonded Crowns as a Kickstarter, and that helps you out.

You’ll be choosing from several options.

The first level is “back because you want to”–you can add some extra change to support it without receiving anything or add more to your pledge because you believe in it.

Then there are ebook options–from Uprooted to Kristjan’s Rise months before it’ll be available on outlets.

Physical product: Every physical product comes with an ebook as well. You’ll have your choice of paperback or hardback or sparkly hardback. Let me explain.

Both paperback and hardback will come with chapter art headings. These look really nice in the proof paperback I’ve received. There are two different images–one for Geirfinnur (the dad) and one for Kristjan’s point of view.

In hardback, you’ll have two choices–regular and shiny sparkly. The regular one has a dust jacket with the cover on it, and on the book, just Kristjan and his thinking spot.

The Sparkly Hardback special edition:

Let’s work our way from the outside in. There is a gold-foiled dust jacket–the title and author name in gold foil. When you turn the book to the side, you’ll see the gold-colored sprayed edges. When you open it, you’ll see leather-look endpages. If you take off the dust jacket, you’ll understand why the endpages are leather-like. This cover is as if you’re opening a leather tome like Kristjan would have in the library. There is gold foil on the metal corner pieces. And then each chapter has the art.

Stretch Goals

Once we reach our goal of $500 pledged, we’ll be working toward art that will be placed in each book. There are a lot of art-worthy scenes in this story, and Moonpix Art is already working on pieces for the game that will go along with Kristjan’s Rise.

This scene is of the original founders of Storeheltur.

Besides art, there are many deleted scenes. My editor was even sad to see these go! So, I’ll be offering those up.

There are also songs in the story and as those who followed Bonded Crowns knows songs can be fun to have digitally, but can also take a long time to produce. This time, I already have the songs composed and written down for musicians to play. I’ve spoken with a harpist and she has access to two different studios and has recorded before.

So as you can see, these books, besides being available months before the rest of the world gets access, have the potential to be unique and an interactive experience.

Now What?

How do you get your own special edition? Hop over to the Kickstarter and click follow (or make a pledge) depending on when you see this. It will only be available from May 13-June 5. A few tiers will be available after that.

Did you hear about the game? I’ll have more information later about that, but think Settlers of Catan meets Ticket to Ride meets Arkham. You’ll become one of the Ancients, the original settlers of Storeheltur, and help them create Storeheltur in under 30 days. Each round is one day, so the clock is ticking.

In the meantime, follow the kickstarter to get in on the special edition. It won’t be availble until November otherwise, and the sparkly hardback won’t be availble until next year sometime! And then only on my website.

What’s all the hype about?

Four sovereigns.
Two dragons.
One kingdom.

Peace evades them, but through it all, they’ll fight for family and their place in the history of Muintir—or die trying.

The first six books follow an 18-year-old stablehand who’s better with horses than he is with people. When a magnificent stallion walks through the barn doors, he’s in love, but when the soldier who owns the horse gives money to the innkeeper the next morning, Hest thinks he’s been sold as a slave. As he manuevers the ins and outs of court intrigue and tries not to anger a princess, he discovers the family he’s longed for and a place to call home, but when he rescues a baby dragon, suddenly, he’s destined to be the next king of Muintir!

As Hest learns what it’s like to be dragon rider, king, husband, and father, his own insecurities come to the fore, and his decisions are often made from emotions not what he truly values. Follow his story, his wife’s story, and their daughter’s in the first six books.

Books 7 and 8 are the story of the original dragon king of Muintir–Shawnahur. Shawn’s a simple herder who longs to be more–to do more. When he helps a wounded dragon, he gains the popularity he’s after, but it comes at a price. Soon he’s running for his life from the enemy on the battlefield but also from his own king and faither-in-law!

Reviews

I’m going to step into trouble, and immediately admit that the cover is not my thing, which made me hesitant to pick this one up (Yep, I’m superficial like that). Gosh, I’m glad I took a peek anyway because this is really an amazing read. ~Tonja from Goodreads

The world is well-developed and rich, and even the supporting characters have quite a bit of depth. ~Lily The Fairie Review

It is easy to get pulled into the world. ~Kimberly from Goodreads

It had what I was looking for in the genre. ~Kat M from Goodreads

There is no doubt that this author is a master of world building. ~Sandra Stiles from Goodreads

Every character is masterfully developed, so much you could think you’d see one of them any day walking down the street… if you lived in Medieval times with dragons, that is. ~Priscila Gilbert from Goodreads

I loved this book and how the characters developed over time. It is full of action with a bit of romance. ~Jaimie The Fantasy Princess

WOW, this story deserves more than the 5 stars that I gave it.  I LOVED it and I thought it was the best one of the series! ~Jamie The Fantasy Princess about book 8.

Learn more

You can read chapters from each book, check out info, etc on the series page.

Where to find it?

The best place is to purchase directly from the author. This supports a small business and takes out the middle-man. It also benefits you! That’s right. If you purchase from me, you get autographed books, and this series comes as a bundled boxed set–complete with box–and the spines will create an image when they’re all collected and put in order. But I understand that retailers have their place as well, so you have that option as well.

Cover Reveal celebration

To celebrate the cover reveal, you can pre-order Determined for only 99 cents! That’s this week only, so be sure to snag your copy.

If you haven’t started yet, you can start with book 1, Uprooted, for only 99 cents. The rest of the series is on sale for 30% off.

I also wrote an interview for The Fantasy Princess. It features Hest, Sydur, and Kyeth along with some Easter eggs, so you’ll want to bookmark it and return to it after reading Determined as well as Resolved and Divided.

What It’s About

What’s all the hype? Four Stars over Ardatz: Sovereigns is a coming-of-age epic fantasy set in a world where one side of the planet is always in night and the other side is always in sun.

18-year-old Hest lives on the dark side of the planet, and gets along with horses better than people. When a magnificent stallion walks into his stables, and the horse’s owner hands the innkeeper coins, Hest assumes he’s been sold into slavery.

It’s not until he’s traveled to the capital that Hest discovers he’s been taken on as squire to Captain of the Royal Guard of the neighboring kingdom.

If that’s not enough, he frees a baby dragon and sets into motion events that are beyond his small town heritage.

The first trilogy follows Hest as he learns to deal with castle intrigue, relationships, and his bond with the dragon. The second trilogy, beginning with Determined, focuses on Siobhan and then their daughter.

Blurb

When your nightmares waken, where do you find rest?

Eighteen-year-old Siobhan had lived a sheltered life until the Navwood attacked and a dragon bonded with her betrothed. Living with the remnant terrors of two abductions has left its mark, and that cut is getting deeper as she tries to adapt to life as a queen, a wife, and a mother.

Her husband is more interested in spending time with his dragon than being with her—or fulfilling his duties as king. Siobhan’s jealousy over their bond feeds her fear of the draconic features that come and go with his emotions, and the dragon’s silver around his eyes is a constant reminder that he’s not wholly hers—or ever will be.

But when the Navwood send a kidnapper to steal their daughter, Hest marches to battle, leaving his family under the protection of a palace guard. Unfortunately, the dangers of war are closer to home than either of them realized, and to save herself and her family, Siobhan will have to find new courage in the face of a waking nightmare.

When Hest returns, it’ll take all her strength to face the pressures from the court—let alone the changes war has wrought on her husband. Can their own bond survive both the pressures of a kingdom and the fears they both carry?

Cover

Nyssa Glass Series

H. L. Burke has a wonderful, whimsical way of telling a story. Her Nyssa Glass series is a steampunk fantasy that introduces you to a young girl whose former life involved pick-pocketing and cat-burglering. Her safe and secure life changes, however, when she finds her employer murdered and she’s accused of his death. Nyssa is blackmailed into entering a deserted mansion and getting company secrets. Along the way, she meets a unique computer and tries to escape robots and other attempts on her life.

I loved the first book but haven’t made it to the rest of the series, yet. Each of the books in the series is on sale for 99 cents right now on amazon. There are five in the series and a prequel, which is free.

Beggar Magic

This past fall, Fellowship of Fantasy put on a cosplay contest. My youngest son entered as Kirito and The Black Butler, and he won the juvenile division. His prize was supposed to be paperback books, but when the authors discovered he loves audiobooks better, they offered him audio versions of their books. Beggar Magic was one of H. L. Burke’s that David received.

In my life as a mom, I’ve learned to listen when my kids come up to me and say, “Mom, you’ve got to read this book!” I discovered Cornelia Funke’s Dragonrider and Inkheart as well as the Pendragon series that way. Well, at dinner one night, David asked if I’d read Beggar Magic. I had to ask what it was. He then proceeded to tell me it was one of H. L. Burke’s books. His eyes lit up as he talked about a story. Now, in his fifteen-year-old mind, the story started out slowly, but then (and this is where his eyes lit up) things started happening and he couldn’t put it down.

In and of itself, that should be enough to say, go get this book! However, I’ll tell you more. In a world where people are divided between Highmost and Common, two girls one from either of the two classes become friends. As they move to their apprenticeships, they discover a sinister plan that will threaten their very friendship. It’s a fun-loving story of good and evil and trying to manuever through the two.

Dragon’s Curse

This weekend, I had the privilege of traveling four and half hours to a conference. So, on my way there, I listened to Beggar Magic, and on my way home, I listened to Dragon’s Curse, another H. L. Burke tale. I was impressed with the variety of stories this author has. Dragon’s Curse is a bit more grown up. A young girl heads out on her first assignment after the academy. However, Shannon finds she must tread carefully in the court of the new king. He seeks revenge on the dragon that killed his brother. When a dragon comes to live on the mountain outside the king’s castle, Shannon’s world is turned upside down.

This tale is almost a fairy tale, and as I looked it up to give you a link, I discovered it’s a series. That means I have to add three more books to my to-be-read list! Just when I thought I could cross three off, I’m adding three more.

Firethorn chronicles

At the beginning of the year, Fellowship of Fantasy started a book club. (If you want to join, just tell them I sent you.) Each month the group chooses a book to read and then we interact with the author and other readers. February introduced me to Lea Doue and this fairy tale series. I’d not really read a retelling of a fairy tale before I read The Firethorn Crown. I became ill and had to stay home from work one day which enabled me to read most of the first book of the series in one sitting.

The story gives an intriguing look into the story of the Twelve Dancing Princesses. We are introduced to the first princess as she’s preparing to choose a prince and take over the kingdom. As she runs from one eligible suitor, she and her sisters are pulled into a secret passage under the maze in their garden. To rescue her sisters from a curse, she returns to the secret realm.

I really enjoyed the story. Not only did it have intrigue and romance, it also held some underlying themes of redemption and temptation. Again, it’s book one in a series. I believe, we’ll be introduced to each of the princesses through different books and fairy tales. So, if that’s true, I have another eleven books added to my to-be-read list.

Dragon Friend

This month the book club is reading Dragon Friend by Marc Secchia. I was excited to sit down and read this book because it’s been in the “also bought” section of Dragon’s Future in Amazon. I haven’t finished the book, but I am definitely giving it a thumbs up!

Lia has been thrown overboard, left to try to fly on her own, befriended by a dragonet, and now’s trying to restore the rightful heir to the throne. That’s all within the first half of the book. When a book has dragons, adventure, and romance, and it’s clean for my kids as well, it’s a book to put on my recommend list. Again, it’s the first of a series. So, I have even more books to add to my reading list, but it’s more than worth it.

What books are you reading? Any good recommendations? Please share in the comments.

I’ve always found the idea of a “bride from the sea” deeply disturbing. You know that bit of myth—the sailor or fisherman sees a pretty lady splashing about and steals her little fur coat, and now she can’t return to the water. She’s in his power, so yay! He scores a wife. I’m not sure whose fantasy that is, but it sure isn’t mine. It sounds like slavery to me, and I’ve never liked stories that glamorize that kind of thing.

But those stories still abound in folk lore, and so I think about them. I think about them from the woman’s perspective, what it would be like to be married to a man who stole your freedom, your identity. And what if he wasn’t all that awful of a person—what if he was my worst nightmare? A relatively decent person who just doesn’t see the wrong in what they’re doing? Or sees it, and perhaps regrets it, but just lets that slip by because life is comfortable as is? I mean, you’ve got a wife and maybe a kid, and maybe you shouldn’t have done that thing, but it’s okay, really. We’re one happy family now, aren’t we?

Seekers is about one such family. It’s a story of things that shouldn’t have been done, and love that isn’t enough. It’s a story of unraveling. And, strangely enough, it’s also a story of learning to seek for what your heart most needs.

 Mini-Giveaway

 Today, I’m excited to share my fantasy novella, Sunbolt, with you! Here’s the blurb:

” width=”297″ height=”475″ />The winding streets and narrow alleys of Karolene hide many secrets, and Hitomi is one of them. Orphaned at a young age, Hitomi has learned to hide her magical aptitude and who her parents really were. Most of all, she must conceal her role in the Shadow League, an underground movement working to undermine the powerful and corrupt Arch Mage Wilhelm Blackflame.

When the League gets word that Blackflame intends to detain—and execute—a leading political family, Hitomi volunteers to help the family escape. But there are more secrets at play than Hitomi’s, and much worse fates than execution. When Hitomi finds herself captured along with her charges, it will take everything she can summon to escape with her life.

Download your free copy today!

Intisar Khanani grew up a nomad and world traveler. She has lived in five different states as well as in Jeddah on the coast of the Red Sea. Until recently, Intisar wrote grants and developed projects to address community health with the Cincinnati Health Department, which was as close as she could get to saving the world. Now she focuses her time on her two passions: raising her family and writing fantasy. To find out more about her writings, visit her website or sign up for her monthly author newsletter.

What it’s all about

Here be dragons … and selkies and griffins and maybe even a mermaid or two.

Twenty fantasy authors band together to bring you a collection of thrilling tales and magical monsters. Do you like to slay dragons? Or befriend them? Do you prefer to meet cephalopods as gigantic kraken or adorable tree octopuses?

Each story focuses around a fantastic creature from folklore or mythology, and they range from light and playful tales for the whole family to darker stories that may make you wish to leave the lights on. These stories carry the Fellowship of Fantasy seal of approval. While our monsters may be horrifying, you won’t stumble into graphic sex and constant swearing.

Perfect for the fantasy lover who can’t get enough of mythical beasts.

Available at these retailers: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo

Scavenger Hunt Stops

Be sure to check out all the other stops to get all the clues to the giveaway and pick up special prizes along the way.

Kandi J. Wyatt

A. R. Silverberry

Bokerah Brumley

H. L. Burke

Lea Doué

Morgan Smith

Jessica L. Elliott

Caren Rich

Julie C. Gilbert

Nicole Zoltack

D. G. Driver

Intisar Khanani

Scavenger Hunt Giveaway

a Rafflecopter giveaway

If I was still teaching Wednesday nights, I’d definitely pick up Annie Douglass Lima’s Hide it in Your Heart coloring book. Not only does it have memory verses and puzzles to help kids memorize the verses, it was designed for a specific school’s curriculum to help the kids learn the Bible verses. If that wasn’t enough, proceeds from sales will go to Christar.org to help translate the Bible for a specific people group in East Asia who do not yet have the Bible in their own language. (Being a language teacher, that pulls at my heartstring as well.)

So, where can you find this coloring book? It’s available on amazon, but here’s the deal. You pay $8.99 there. On createspace you can use coupon code JZBVVBH8 and get 15% off! You’ll be helping a good cause and have fun coloring and doing puzzles that will help you hide God’s word in your heart.

Blurb: 

More than just a coloring book, this inspirational activity book will help you relax, unwind, and enjoy some creative fun while hiding God’s Word in your heart.

The 35 separate verses and passages are printed in colorable word art with decorative borders, blank on the back to make them easier to remove and frame or display, if desired. Each one is accompanied by two different activities or puzzles featuring the verse or key words from it.

Hide it in Your Heart is an ideal Scripture memorization aid for Christian schools, homeschool programs, Sunday schools, or your own personal use. Children and adults will enjoy learning, practicing, and meditating on these artistically presented verses from the New International Version Bible.

About the Author:

Annie Douglass Lima spent most of her childhood in Kenya and later graduated from Biola University in Southern California. She and her husband Floyd currently live in Taiwan, where she teaches fifth grade at Morrison Academy. She has been writing poetry, short stories, and novels since her childhood, and to date has published thirteen books (two YA action and adventure novels, four fantasies, a puppet script, five anthologies of her students’ poetry, and a Scripture coloring and activity book). Besides writing, her hobbies include reading (especially fantasy and science fiction), scrapbooking, and international travel.

Connect with the Author:

Email: AnnieDouglassLima@gmail.com

Blog: http://anniedouglasslima.blogspot.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AnnieDouglassLimaAuthor

Twitter: https://twitter.com/princeofalasia

Goodreads: http://bit.ly/ADLimaOnGoodreads

Google+: http://bit.ly/ADLimaOnGooglePlus

Amazon Author Page: http://bit.ly/AnnieDouglassLimaOnAmazon

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/AnnieDouglassLima

LinkedIn: http://bit.ly/ADLimaOnLinkedIn

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