Friday, December 12, 2014

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 29th we will announce the winner! Let the comments begin!

20 comments:

  1. Thanks, Sue, for posting a great blog about my books. I so appreciate it and look forward to picking a lucky winner! God bless you all.

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  2. Lovely morning to you Chris! I so appreciate you and your books for they come from your precious heart! Thank you my friend! :)

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  3. I also love the picture you took with the poinsettia and my book. It's perfect!

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    1. Chris you are sooooo sweet!! I wanted it to be Christmas-like for your beautiful devotion! :)

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  4. Cnnamongirl (at) aol (dot) com
    What a beautiful idea The Christmas Story in 40 Days is. The month or so leading up tp Christmas can be such a stressful time. Unfortunately alot of times we spend the holidays focusing on just the right gift to get someone or how to impress our neighbors with our house decorations. What we really need to do is slow down and focus on what the holiday season is really about, celebrating our saviors birth. I know for me an excellent way to do this would be by taking the time to reflect on the season as I am reading The Christmas Story in 40 Days daily.

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    1. And hopefully, everyone finds each day's reading short and easy to read. This is not the time of year to be thinking deep thoughts, but a time to relax whenever we can and grow in our faith.

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  5. Thank you Deanne for stopping by and for your wonderful thoughts! All of which I agree with! You are in the running!

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    1. Susan Marlene Kinney thank you very much !

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  6. You know I love Chris! I loved her last book, and of course I loved sitting in on her session at Becky's conference. What an amazing woman of God! She made me laugh and cry all at once.

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    1. I so agree with you Bulamu Mama! I too enjoyed her book & teaching. I still can visulize scenes from her last book! Thank you for stopping in! ;)

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    2. Bulamu Mama, you are too kind! Life is too short to not be able to cry when we have to and laugh when we want to.

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  7. I wasn't familiar with Chris or her book, so I'm happy you featured her on your blog, Sue! :) It's always a blessing to discover new (to me!) authors and their work.
    Thank you for sharing this post, and this special guest!
    Hugs, Patti Jo

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    1. Hi Patti Jo! I'm so glad you stopped in & that you appreciate our Chris! To know her is to love her! Thank you for your sweet comments!

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    2. Patti Jo, I'm glad that we were able to "meet" via Sue's blog. I hope that my writing doesn't disappoint.

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    3. Hi Chris, nope you have that comfortable - easy to know you writing and I've enjoyed your devotion very much! :)

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  8. p.s. LOVE your photo of Chris's book and the lovely poinsettia! Very nice! :)

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    1. LOL! SO the flowers still look good after Wild Zoey knocked them over a couple of times! Thank you much!

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  9. We returned home from our PA trip to visit family late Monday night so I'm getting to Chris's book give away rather late! Sooooo sorry about that! Also, every once in a while I have someone who expresses difficulty in getting onto my blog. Becky McLafferty did try to get here on time and let me know when the give away was still running so I will but Becky in the running! :) RebeccaMcLaffertyatgmaildotcom
    I've got a date with my granddaughter for her to pick the name tonight! I will post it later tonight or tomorrow morning! :) WooHoo!

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  10. We have just chosen the winner for Chris Loehmer Kincaid’s The Christmas Story in 40 Days! Again Aria, our graddaughter was quite tired when we visited her last night. So my hubby chose the winner! Drum roll…the winner is Patti Jo! Congratulations Patti Jo, I have the feeling that you and Chris may be kindred spirits!  Enjoy this wonderful devotional! Be blessed!

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