Captain's Log, Supplemental Continuing the 12 Authors of Christmas, here’s suspense author Robin Caroll ! View the tour, including Rachel Hauck and Tricia Goyer’s authors, here . Tell us about your first Christmas memory? I was about 6 years old, and I remember that I'd wanted this cowgirl outfit so bad. My mother was a single mom then, with 3 kids (scary how we become our parents in some areas, huh?) and so we only really got one "big" present. I remember waking up that morning and going into the living room with my mom and sisters--we weren't allowed to go without us all going at once (yet another mirror of my mother I've become!)--and seeing a Baby Beans doll, which I'd also wanted. I was excited and immediately picked up the doll and began playing. Imagine my shocked surprise when my present under the tree from my mom was the cowgirl outfit! Growing up, did your family have Christmas traditions? Tell us how you incorporated them into your family life. ...

Captain's Log, Stardate 12.09.2007 Leave any prayer requests in the comments and I’ll be praying this week. You don’t have to be Christian to leave a prayer request. If you’d rather not advertise to everyone on the blogosphere, just leave an unspoken prayer request or e-mail me. If I forgot your prayer request, email me. Not to be mean or anything, but if you don't email me or comment to update your prayer request, I'm only going to pray ONE Sunday. I’m trying something new with my Sunday Prayer. I’m really bad about doing it on Sunday , so I’ll be updating it during the week. Dear Lord, thank you for today. I pray for complete healing for Bruce, Doug, Malia, Helen, Kelli, Kristy, and Tony. Please deliver justice to Case swiftly. I lift up him and his family to you. Help Candes’ doctor appointment go well. I pray for wisdom for both her and the doctor, and keep your hand over her throughout the day. I pray for Jimmy, and ask for healing for his liver. I also lift up T, and ...

The Restorer (The Sword of Lyric, book 1) by Sharon Hinck NavPress, 2007 Book One of The Sword of Lyric series has garnered critical praise for its unique blend of fantasy genre and contemporary women's fiction voice, and went into a second printing only a few months after releasing. The story unfolds the adventure of a modern-day mom pulled through a portal into another world where a nation grappling for its soul waits for a promised Restorer. To read a chapter of this exciting new title go to ChapteraWeek. If you don't belong to Chapter a Week, it's free and easy to join. Just click here .

Captain's Log, Stardate 12.07.2007 Continuing the 12 Authors of Christmas, here’s Julie Lessman ! View the tour, including Rachel Hauck and Tricia Goyer’s authors, here . About Julie: Julie Lessman is a debut author who has already garnered writing acclaim, including ten Romance Writers of America awards. She is a commercial writer for Maritz Travel, a published poet and a Golden Heart Finalist. Julie has a heart to write “Mainstream Inspirational,” reaching the 21st-century woman with compelling love stories laced with God’s precepts. She resides in Missouri with her husband and their golden retriever, and has two grown children and a daughter-in-law. Her first book, A Passion Most Pure , will be in stores January 2008. Visit her Web site at www.julielessman.com . Tell us about your first Christmas memory? We had this great, little Nativity set tucked under the Christmas tree, as if in a giant pine forest. It had lots of cows and sheep and kings, and a pretty molded-plastic angel ...

Captain's Log, Supplemental It’s here! I’m featuring 12 Authors this month, all talking about Christmas. Kicking off the tour is Cheryl Wyatt . View the tour, including Rachel Hauck and Tricia Goyer’s authors, here . About Cheryl: Cheryl Wyatt's closest friends would never dream the mayhem she plots during announcements at church. An RN-turned-SAHM, joyful chaos rules her home and she delights in the stealth moments God gives her to write. She stays active in her church and in her laundry room. Cheryl is convinced that having been born on a naval base on Valentine's Day destined her to write military romance. Cheryl completed courses through Christian Writers' Guild and Longridge Writers and has been previously published in various non-fiction projects. She currently writes Inspirational Romance for Steeple Hill's Love Inspired line. Her debut novel, A Soldier's Promise (Book 1-Wings of Refuge Series) received a Top Pick! from Romantic Times BOOKclub. It releas...

Captain's Log, Stardate 12.04.2007 Well, it’s a necessary part of the holidays—holiday parties at work, Christmas gifts for coworkers and other industry professionals you interact with. What do you give them? Naturally, it can’t be too expensive. Nor can it be too inelegant in nature. Nor too intimate. My friend gave scented candles, which is a nice gesture—especially since she gave them to some very nice ladies—but these days, too many people are allergic to scents. With professional gifts, it’s especially difficult because you might not be close enough to the recipient to know what they’re allergic to. Cookies/cakes/brownies/fudge? What if they don’t like chocolate or they’re allergic to gluten? I usually fall back on gift certificates, but even that’s hard sometimes because you’re not always sure if the shop/store you’re getting the gift certificate for is a place the recipient shops at. I mean, this is such a dilemma. What do you get your coworker? Your boss? Your client? I am ...

Captain's Log, Supplemental I just saw Kingdom of Heaven (2005). I TiVo’d it because ... well, it has Orlando in it. ’Nuff said. :) It also has other favorite actors of mine—Liam Neeson, Jeremy Irons, David Thewlis (I just adore him in the Harry Potter movies), and Edward Norton as King Baldwin (LOVED him in this role. I was mesmerized). Christianity is mostly portrayed as hypocritical (no surprise there, when is it ever portrayed as the good guys? I mean, I know Christians aren’t perfect and there are lots of times Christians or those who call themselves Christians act hypocritically, but why can’t Hollywood ever show someone as both a strong Christian and a good guy? Both good and bad Muslims are represented on the silver screen—why not a good Christian for a change? Sorry, rant is over). I had a hard time keeping people straight sometimes—maybe it was the chain mail and helmets on everyone??? And I didn’t like the adultery part. And Captain Caffeine would have loudly proteste...