Carrie Fancett Pagels Interviews Colleen Coble

Colleen Coble

Colleen Coble is the author of Tidewater Inn and of the Lonestar Series and the Rock Harbor series.

I met Colleen through some online groups, including American Christian Fiction Writers. She is CEO of ACFW.

Colleen, welcome to Overcoming Through Time – With God’s Help.  We appreciate your willingness to share your testimony of overcoming with our readers.  Would you tell us about the most difficult thing in your life you have had to overcome, with God’s help?

I suffered with debilitating migraines for decades (40 years.) It was often hard to deal with everyday life, and even harder to write when the pain crushed me. I had to rely on God day to day. I searched all the time for relief and finally found what worked (bioidentical hormones) and am now migraine free! So grateful to the Lord for that.

What is your favorite Bible verse and why?

Romans 8:28. My family and I were involved in a bad auto accident. At the time I couldn’t see anything good in it. A teenage boy had been killed, and we were all injured. But through that accident, I came to know Jesus and so did my family. A year after the accident eleven people had come to Christ as a result of that accident. It’s difficult to go through challenges like that and we can’t always see the reasons, but God always brings good out of it in the end.

Disability friendliness: Is this latest release available in audio format or do you have any other works available on audio?  Do your e-books have audio capability? Do you have any in large print? 

Yes, Tidewater Inn will be available in audio and large print. Quite a few other books are in large print and/or audio.

What has been the most important thing you hope your readers will get from your books and why?

You have the strength and courage in you to face challenges and overcome them. God will never leave or forsake you, and you can rise above any challenges you face. That’s the theme that runs through all my books. My heroines are all overcomers. I love seeing strong women take on the world and win with God’s help. 

As you researched your books, did you learn anything that particularly touched your heart?

I particularly enjoyed writing Tidewater Inn because Libby learns to take one step each day that will strengthen her character and her faith. It’s the little decisions we do every day that either take us closer to God or further away. So often sin is not something big—it’s a tiny step that reaps huge consequences down the road. So even as Libby learned how rewarding generosity was to her soul, the villain chased after greed to disastrous consequences.

In this latest work, do you have any topics useful for bibliotherapy, or therapeutic influence through reading about a disorder or situation?  

I often have information about healthy diet in my books, but that subject didn’t come up in this book. For example, in Lonestar Secrets, my heroine has multiple sclerosis and she learns that gluten free eating will help her disease. I’m a huge believer in a paleo lifestyle and rarely eat grains. I never eat gluten. My new book, Rosemary Cottage, features a midwife who uses homeopathy and herbs to help her patients as well. God designed our bodies so well, and if we give it the right fuel, it can repair a lot of damage. I recommend everyone with an autoimmune disease watch this video of Dr. Terry Wahls and how she healed her MS with diet.

Thank you Colleen for agreeing to answer these questions.  Have a blessed day and keep on writing!!

Thanks so much for having me! It’s a wonderful work you’re doing.


Colleen's books are available through Amazon. Tidewater Inn is also available through Barnes and Noble.  You can also find it at CBD.

GIVEAWAY:  Leave a comment and your email to be entered in this week’s contest.  Drawing will be late Saturday.  Your choice of Colleen’s books, choice of format*. Void where prohibited by law. *International winners will only receive the book in ebook format not as a paperback.

Carrie Fancett Pagels Interviews Candace Calvert

CandaceCalvert  is the author of Trauma Plan and of the Mercy Hospital series. I met Candace through Facebook and fellow ACFW members.

Candace, welcome to Overcoming Through Time.  Would you share either the most difficult thing in your life you have had to overcome, with God’s help, or the most tragic situation or circumstance one of your character’s has had to get past?

God blessed me with a quirky wit and buoyant optimism, but I didn’t come to really know Him until after a “triple whammy” turned my life into a bad country song. In a span of eighteen months, I experienced a painful and unexpected divorce, the Northern California floods of 1997, and (just when I was coping like a champ, no problem) an equestrian accident that left me with fractured ribs, a bleeding lung, broken back, neck fractures and a spinal cord injury. With no warning, my comfortable life was gone and I became a single mother, a disaster evacuee, and a patient in my own trauma room. I sometimes say that God took drastic measures to get my attention!

In the months of rehabilitation, I healed in body and spirit. And came to fully understand the difference between being a “strong” woman and a woman of strength. The difference is faith, and that lesson has been my biggest blessing. My story, “By Accident,” appears in Chicken Soup for the Nurse’s Soul, and launched my writing career. Readers of my Mercy Hospital and Grace Medical series will find that my fictional characters struggle with similar issues. In fact Riley Hale, heroine of Trauma Plan, suffers from lingering disability after a spinal cord injury.

What is your favorite bible verse and why?

Though it’s hard to choose a favorite, I’d have to say Jeremiah 29:11, the verse that became the Scriptural base for my first novel, Critical Care. I love that it so beautifully shows God’s loving plan for our lives and that it speaks of hope. Hope is a recurrent theme in my work, and I’m always pleased when folks call me the author of “medical hope opera.”

Disability friendliness:

Is this latest release available in audio format or do you have any other works available on audio?  Do your e-books have audio capability? Do you have any in large print.

The first book in my Mercy Hospital series, Critical Care, is available in large print and has recently been recorded by the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped. It is my hope that my other books will follow suit. All of my e-books have audio capability.

What has been the most important thing you hope your readers will get from your books and why?

As I mentioned before, my medical fiction themes all center around hope—and healing. I offer exciting glimpses into the world of emergency medicine and, more importantly, into the hearts behind the stethoscopes, people with wounds—physical, emotional, and spiritual.  I love when readers call these characters “relatable,” telling me that these struggles, doubts, fear—and joys—mirror their own.  We are all flawed human beings; we make mistakes and need second chances. My characters may be medical heroes, but it is through the grace of God that they find true hope and healing. I’m heartened when readers feel encouraged by that.

As you researched your books, did you learn anything that particularly touched your heart?

At the core of my stories—in both the Mercy Hospital & Grace Medical series—is the issue of post traumatic stress. I address the serious emotional toll taken on rescue, fire, medical, and law enforcement teams who put their hearts and lives on the line in service to others. In my book, Disaster Status, I needed to write from the point of view of a hospital worker suffering PTSD as a result of his service in the Gulf War. A member of my church, a retired Army Lt. Colonel, offered to sit down with me and share his memories of fighting in that desert conflict. Some of it was difficult for him to voice—and for me to hear. His input added much to the character of Sarge Gunther, and I was deeply touched that he wanted to help with my story so that it might offer “hope to other people.”

In this latest work, do you have any topics useful for bibliotherapy, or therapeutic influence through reading about a disorder or situation?

Yes, absolutely. As mentioned earlier, all of my books deal with the subject of critical stress (“burn out,” post traumatic stress disorder). Trauma Plan offers coping strategies for people (medical teams as well as civilians) who have been emotionally affected by tragedy. It also gives encouragement to victims of violent crime, and for those who must cope with debilitating injury in its aftermath. Fear (vs. faith) is an overarching theme, and the subject of agoraphobia is explored via a secondary character.

Thank you Candace for agreeing to answer these questions.  Have a blessed day and keep on writing!!

Website Link: http://candacecalvert.com/

You can purchase Trauma Plan through Amazon 

through Barnes and Noble, as well as CBD and other book stores.

Candace Calvert is a former ER nurse who believes love, laughter and faith are the best medicines. Her Mercy Hospital and Grace Medical series offer readers a chance to “scrub in” on the exciting world of emergency medicine—along with a soul-soothing prescription for hope. Wife, mother, and very proud grandmother, she makes her home in northern California. 

GIVEAWAY:  Leave a comment and your email to be entered in this week’s contest.  Drawing will be late Saturday.  Candace is offering two paperback giveaways of each of the books reviewed this week and we are offering an e-book of either one, for a total of five possible chances to win this week!

Bibliotherapy Review of A Heart Revealed by Julie Lessman

A Heart Revealed

by Julie Lessman

Winds of Change Series, Book Three
(Revell, 2011)

Review by Carrie Fancett Pagels

5 Stars *****

Emma Malloy is a survivor. She wears her wedding ring like a talisman to protect her against men, having been abused by the man who put the ring there. He even scarred her face during a drunken rage.  She doesn’t trust a man who can’t control his temper. But her deep shame has finally caught up with her when her young friend falls in love with a man as bad as Rory Malloy had been. Emma is a deeply spiritual woman who has compartmentalized her marriage as a way of coping with her intense distress over the reality of the relationship.

(SPOILER ALERTS)

Sean has demons of his own. He loves Emma, but she keeps him at arm’s length. And another young woman, his boss’s daughter, won’t leave him alone.  When she corners him in his office, he ends up losing his job.

A son in the O’Connor family, Sean is guilty over failing to protect his sister from their uncle’s abuse when they were young. A veteran of WWI, he lost a love and a child. He doesn’t want to be hurt again. But God’s plan is different than Sean’s.


Julie's tagline is "Passion with a Purpose" and this story is no exception.  She's not afraid to include multiple character's storylines and we get an update, in this book, on the characters from the earlier two books in this series.

Bibliotherapy: This book rivals Jennifer Hudson Taylor’s latest release for bibliotherapy elements. 

We have: results of physical abuse, sexual abuse (back story - implied, not on the page), commitment to vows, shame, alcoholism, trauma, scarring, ability to control anger, overcoming the past, and even mental instability brought on by repression of the truth. 

I can think of MANY people who would benefit from this wonderful and deep story about God’s restorative power in the hearts of two traumatized individuals who love and respect one another, a bottom line basis for every marriage.
This is a great example of how compartmentalization as a coping mechanism cannot hold up under scrutiny when the Holy Spirit convicts a believer. 


I really loved this story and Julie is such a master of charactization and story that I almost feel as though these characters are real people!  Bravo, Julie!!!

Julie Lessman's books can be purchased at CBD, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other bookstores.

GIVEAWAY:  Leave a comment and your email to be entered in this week’s contest.  Drawing will be late Saturday.  Your choice of this author’s books, choice of format.

Christians Recovering from Trauma

We have wrapped up our Susan May Warren week. In her interview, Susan shared how she and her family survived assault and robbery while serving the Lord in Russia. Why does this traumatic stuff happen? I don't know. We can only trust God and let Him work it out for us. But what can we do to cooperate with that process? As Christians we need to turn to God, pray, search His word, and follow His directions. One of my favorite resources is Blackaby's book - Experiencing God. Christian Book Distributors list of Henry Blackaby resources also includes other great titles.


Recovering from trauma is much like dealing with death. There are many stages you have to go through to get to a healing point or even a "living with it" point. I highly recommend that people find a Christian psychologist to help them talk about their experiences. Be sure whatever therapist you see has a background treating survivors. While God can certainly use anybody to deliver a message, we do well to to seek out a fellow believer for counseling. 


A newer and promising treatment, particularly with our wounded warrior veterans, is the use of neurobiofeedback or neurotherapy.  EEGInfo is a great online resource that explains about neurobiofeedback and also has links to providers.


Psychiatrists can also prescribe medications to help deal with the initial severe emotional reactions such as depression and anxiety.  The need for medications for reaction to trauma typically is short term.  There are antidepressants, for instance, that are more suited to briefer periods of use (such as bereavement). 


Mindfulness - being aware of what situations triggers PTSD reactions is important. God can heal the broken-hearted and He can make these hurtful memories and images lessen. For some it is almost instantaneous but for most it takes time. Hypervigilance is another issue that resolves with God's help, in time.


Bibliotherapy - Look for Christian books that have a hero or heroine who are addressing their recovery from trauma.  This is one reason I include this element in my reviews.  


We will be discussing PTSD again in future posts. 


Our winner this week will be announced later this evening.


What about you? Have you survived trauma and how has God pulled you through?

Teresa Mathews Reviews The Shadow of Your Smile by Susan May Warren

The Shadow of Your Smile, by Susan May Warren

The Shadow of Your Smile

By Susan May Warren
(Tyndale House, 2011)

Review by Teresa Mathews

4Stars~ ****

This book introduces us to Noelle and Eli Hueston, married couple of 25 years, parents to three children. It seems that Noelle and Eli have grown apart because of a tragic event that forever changed their lives. I would go into detail but since it is the reason behind all of the pain each character has endured I won’t.

Noelle, a 46 year old wife and mother that has finally come to the end of her rope with life, has decided to make a life changing decision but before she can act on it another tragedy or maybe not a tragedy at all, strikes. On a road trip she stops at a coffee shop and while in the restroom a robbery takes place. Hoping she can get out of the store without getting hurt she makes a run for it and takes a nasty fall and as a result she loses her memory. Noelle not only forgets her name, she forgets everything from the last 25 years. She wakes up from a coma and thinks she is still a young beautiful college co-ed. She is SHOCKED to find she has the body of a 46 year old. I have to say this part had me laughing out loud. Noelle is even more shocked to find out she is “supposedly” married to a totally “grumpy old man” who is trying to convince her that she is also a mother. The two young men in her room seem very nice and they are handsome but she cannot remember anything about them. Will Noelle get her memory back? Will she ever remember the good times she had with Eli before her world fell apart?

Eli, the former sheriff of Deep Haven, a beautiful snow covered town in Minnesota, has pretty much given up on his marriage. After “the event” happened, he has lived in guilt for what he thinks was his fault, after all he was the sheriff and it was his job to protect. Eli has tried to find solace in a lot of different things to ease the pain but nothing except the friendship he has with another woman has seemed to work. He knows this is not what he should be doing but again out of guilt of what happened he has taken their friendship further than he should. When Eli gets the call that Noelle was in a town several hours away from home and has had an accident, he rushes to the hospital to be with her. To say he is shocked when Noelle doesn’t remember him would be putting it mildly, but for her not to remember her children was almost more than he could take. Will Eli finally realize the solace his heart has been looking has been right here with his wife the whole time?

There are several secondary characters that Susan does a good job telling their story and how their lives play out. Especially Noelle and Eli’s children, in fact I would love for there to be a sequel based on their oldest son’s story. (Hint Hint)

This is a story that will make you think about “what if”. I’m sure we have all had those moments, especially if something tragic has happened to us, a loved one or a friend. “What if” we could turn back the clock to another time? Would our lives really be better? Shouldn’t we just be grateful for what the Lord has given us? Yes! “In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” 1 Thessalonians 5:18

Susan May Warren did an excellent job of making you think while reading this book. Thank you Susan for making me stop to remember how thankful I am for my wonderful husband of almost 25 years (April 11) and my family. I can’t wait to read your next book!


GIVEAWAY:  Leave a comment for a drawing later in the week!