The Christmas Story in 40 Days - Author interview and book give away!

Devotions by Chris Loehmer Kincaid

Greetings all,

I have in my hand Chris Loehmer Kincaid’s—Life Sentence Publishing LLC devotional, The Christmas Story in 40 Days. This devotional provides some unique qualities for the reader. First off, have you ever considered the early life of Jesus before—especially in devotion style? Well Chris has in an enjoyable, easy to read fashion. The Bible quotes are from the The Message:The Bible in Contemporary Language by NavPress.

In addition to Chris’s down to earth—sitting across from you with a cup of coffee approach—she provides a place for the reader to share their thoughts, If they want to! The lines of space after the devotion are roomy and easy to write in, so that the reader can capture their first reaction to the scripture and Chris’s comments. Yes, this is a delightful addition to the usual devotional set-up.

The Christmas Story in 40 Days would make a nice gift for Christmas or birthdays. It definitely shares a warmth and glow that can only come from someone who truly and devoutly loves the Lord with her whole heart. Thank you, Chris, for sharing these wonderful thoughts and kingdom building glimpses. 

Questions:

1. Chris when did you start working on this devotion? 

 I love answering this question! Back in the fall of 2008 both of my children were away at college and I wanted to send them something to help them prepare for the Christmas season. I started looking for a book that would tell the Christmas story in language that they would understand and learn from. I thought, there must be a devotional out there that would fit the bill. When I found no such book, I decided, why don't I write a daily devotion and email it to them. I counted the days on the calendar; 41 days until Christmas. Perfect! I would write a Bible verse and add my thoughts to it each day and then email it to my children and a few friends. That was the start of The Christmas Story in 40 Days. It went through many revisions since then and many of the passages are not recognizable from those first ones I emailed out years ago. Even though it is a short book, I have not been able to pull off writing a book in 40 days since then. But when I am really stumped as to what to write, God guides my fingers across the keyboard until I have written what he intends me to.

2. Your blogs(The Dino Chronicles and writing what i can when i can ) are so refreshing and I see you maintain that friendly conversational expression in this devotion collection.  Where do you come up with the time to work on all of these?

 I listen to my co-workers talk about what happened on The Bachelor the night before or who they think should win Dancing with Stars or how bad the Monday night football game was, and I ask myself, is that all you have to do with your evenings? There are so many other things to do with one's time. And I spend my spare time in my home office, writing, blogging, researching and quite often just plain surfing the internet. In addition to my writing and working full-time in a medical clinic, I mentor a local kinship girl, sponsor a Compassion child, write to my church's college students, and am the vice chairman for my daughter's nonprofit organization, Tumaini Volunteers. Earlier this fall I wrote my church's children's Christmas program and for the month of December am working on pulling that all together. I don't share all this to brag, I share it so that others will realize that, yes, there are enough hours in the day, you just need to prioritize. And for me, that is doing what helps others the most. 

3. Do you have plans for more devotions in the future?

  I'm glad you asked. My publisher, Life Sentence Publishing, released the e-book version of my second devotional on December 9 and the paperback version should be available after December 15. "The Early Life of Jesus in 40 Days" is the second book in the 40 day devotional series. This new book shares the life of Jesus from just after he is born until he is a 12-year-old. You may have guessed that more books are the horizon. I have the verses chosen for the third book; I hope to start writing on it in earnest after the first of the year. 

4. What are your other publications and plans for publications?

My first book, "A Time for Every Purpose Under Heaven", is a memoir of my first trip to Africa in 2006. It was also published by Life Sentence Publishing. This fall I finished writing a novel which was inspired by experiences in Kenya and the love I have for the people there. 

5. How can your readers connect with you?  Or purchase your books?

You can purchase my books through Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble or Life Sentence Publishing. You can also send me a personal email and I can mail you a signed copy. My email address is chrisloehmer@gmail.com. You can also connect with me via my Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/ChrisLoehmerKincaid ; my website, http://www.chrisloehmerkincaid.com/home.html, ; or my blog, http://chrisloehmer.blogspot.com/.

The good news is that this is also a book give away! 

What we need is for the readers to post their contact info (email) so that Chris or I can inform them that they have won a book and get their address so that it can be sent to them. The winner's email and address will not be sold to marketing agencies. Now Chris, which book do you wish to give away to the person who is fortunate enough to win one?

I will offer a copy of either book, "The Christmas Story in 40 Days" or the newest book, "The Early Life of Jesus in 40 Days", which ever the lucky winner would like.

Excellent! Now you all have the information you need. I always look forward to finding out who the lucky winner will be! Monday December 29^th we will announce the winner! Let the comments begin!