Alicia has been such a cheerful support to me and my writing, so when the tables turned and she asked for bloggers for her release of All Our Empty Places, I was excited to jump on board!
THE
BOOK
AllOur Empty Places is the second book in Alicia's "A Time of Grace” trilogy
However, you don't want to miss Book One, The Fragrance of Geraniums. The good news, is that you can get it for 99 cents on Amazon right now! (until October 31) http://amzn.com/B00P4PB7W6
(I have read and reviewed Book One on Goodreads)
BACK
COVER BLURB
In 1935, when the bank
calls in her mortgage, Sarah Picoletti – now a penniless widow – finds herself
and her children on the brink of homelessness. Sick at heart, she plans to beg
her brother in New Jersey to take her family in.
Then Doctor Samuel
Giorgi knocks on her door. Godly and well-off, Sam seems to have put the
careless ways of his youth behind him, and he also appears to have one desire:
to make Sarah his wife, two decades after he broke their engagement.
However, nothing
prepares Sarah for the storm that breaks once she makes her decision.
Everywhere she turns, the errors of her former choices confront her, insisting
on her inferiority and the irreparable brokenness of her past. Sarah begins to
wonder if Christ really can bring true redemption or if He is limited by her
frailty.
Meanwhile, her daughter
Grace faces new challenges in her own life. When her relationship with Paulie
changes unexpectedly, Grace realizes that she must make a decision with the
potential to alter both of their futures.
Compassionate and
intensely poignant, All Our Empty Places
paints the portrait of a mother and daughter with broken pasts, who dare to
step into a future overflowing with the grace of the Cross.
ABOUT
THE AUTHOR
Alicia G. Ruggieri
writes Christ-centered fiction that speaks of redemption. She received her B.A.
in Communications and History from Rhode Island College and lives with her
husband and their emotionally-disturbed pug on the New England coast.
AUTHOR
LINKS
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/AliciaGRuggieri
Twitter:
@aliciaruggieri
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/AliciaGRuggieri
INTERVIEW
I was blessed to be able to interview Alicia. Her striving to keep Christ first is such an encouragement and challenge to me.
1) What most
influenced you in writing A Time of Grace trilogy?
Well, the A Time of Grace trilogy began with The Fragrance of Geraniums, and that
began with a strong childhood memory of an upstairs room filled with
“winterized” geraniums. They say that memories that have scents attached to
them imprint themselves most strongly on our minds; this was certainly that
case for that. I’m thankful to the Lord for imprinting the memory of an old,
slightly-dusty room with sunlight filtering through sheer curtains, heat
emitting from old radiators, table after table of cut-back geraniums, and –
most potently – the flowers’ bitter-spicy fragrance filling the air. All
through my growing-up years, I knew that a story lurked there.
2) With which
character in your series can you most identify?
I get asked this a
lot, and it’s always a hard question to answer. J Here’s why: Every
(main) character I write has something of me in them – Otherwise, I couldn’t
identify with them enough to depict them believably. But, in All Our Empty Places (book two), I
definitely can relate to the theme of finding our sufficiency in Christ alone –
not in our education, nor who our friends are, nor in our own abilities, nor
even in our identification with Christianity – but in Christ Himself. It’s so
easy for me to lean on something other than the Lord Christ for satisfaction,
for competence, etc. But as Sarah finds – and to some extent, Grace – there is
no true sufficiency but His grace. “The well is deep” (John 4:11), but He is
our Living Water, who will quench our thirst utterly.
3) How do you balance
writing with home duties?
It’s a combination of
a few things for me – first, I prioritize. As my pastor says, we have to put
God first, always. Then we have our responsibility to our families, and then to
our work. So my goal is always that God gets my best time, not the leftovers. That
means that I go to Him first in the morning through His Word and prayer and
that I seek Him throughout the day. Then I have my responsibilities to my
family; those need to get taken care of next. And my writing – my work – gets
the final place. I also make lists of what needs to get done both in my
household and in my work. That has proven extremely helpful for me. Finally,
but not least, I seek the Lord regarding how He wants me to spend my time. He
is very near to us, if we would but call on Him. So, if I’m conflicted about
something seemingly small, I ask Him to give me His wisdom and then move
forward with what I believe He wants me to do. J Of course, I am not
saying that I do this perfectly or even well. But that’s my goal: to honor Him
first, then my family and the work He’s given me to do.
4) How long have you
been writing?
I’ve written for as
long as I’ve known how to write, and I’m so thankful for teachers and a mother
who strongly encouraged me in that. For years, I wrote play adaptations for a local
children theatre, which was a great blessing! My first novel was published in
2013.
5) Do you usually plot
out your novels or just write as the ideas come?
I used to write as the
ideas came, but I’ve gradually transitioned to a mixing that with plotting.
Funny as it sounds, I love the freedom loose plotting gives me. Having said
that, if I feel that God is leading me to direct the story in a different way
than I’d originally planned, I change it. And I usually don’t plot my endings. J Those just have to
“flow” out of the story, and, if the story’s right, then the right end will
come. Before I plot, I usually have lots of notes regarding where I think the
story should head. I can’t start plotting without that composting.
6) Do you find
yourself using struggles, victories, and spiritual lessons that you have
personally experienced to help teach lessons in your books?
Oh, yes. 2 Corinthians
1:4 tells us that God gives us difficulties and learning lessons so that we can
comfort others with the comfort we’ve been given by Him. It’s hard to give
someone in the trenches tips on how to survive and defeat the enemy unless
you’ve gone down into the trenches, too, and by God’s grace, lived to tell of
it.
7) What would you say
to encourage a young Christian writer?
First, seek the Lord
above all else. Don’t be mediocre in your walk with Him, and don’t separate
your walk with Him from your writing. Second, read classic, well-written
literature widely. Third, write the way God has gifted you – don’t copy someone
else. Yes, other people’s writing should influence your style, but let your
writing be unique, the way God has gifted you.
8) Would you share your salvation testimony?
Certainly. J I became a Christian when I was a young
child; I am blessed to have a mother who loves the Lord and strove to bring her
children to Him. However, it wasn’t until I was in my early teens that I really
began to wrestle with whether I truly believed that Christ is the only Way
among all other religions. At that time, I sought the Lord strongly. He heard
me, and He brought me into a deeper walk with Him through my own study of His
Word, through prayer, through Christian living books such as those by Oswald Chambers,
and through the godly example of my older sister who lived at home.
9) What are some of
your favorites?
- Song
Oh, that’s hard. J I’ll narrow it down
to hymns, okay? One of my favorite hymns is “Jesus, I Am Resting, Resting” by
Jean S. Pigott.
- Book(s) ;)
This is a cruel
question. ;-) It somewhat depends on genre, but I think that I can safely say
that my favorite fiction book is Til We
Have Faces by C.S. Lewis and my favorite nonfiction is My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers.
- Pastimes
Reading (obviously!),
baking, organizing, finding more dogs to rescue on Craigslist, and enjoying my
nieces and nephews.
- Dessert
I’m going to pick two.
First, my mother’s Italian Easter bread – She only makes this anisette-flavored
braided bread once a year, and it’s so good that I sometimes eat it for
breakfast, lunch, and (shh!) dinner in the few days preceding Easter! And,
second, peanut-butter cheesecake.
- Bible verse
There are a few that
are very dear to my heart. Two that God brings me back to are:
2 Corinthians 4:7 nkjv
– “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the
power may be of God, and not of us.”
and
Romans 8:38-39 – 31 nkjv – “For I am persuaded that neither death nor
life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things
to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to
separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Thanks for having me, Amanda. J It has been a delight!
THE
GIVEAWAY
One winner will receive
– a signed softcover of All Our Empty
Places; a mug with 2 Corinthians 12:9 inscribed on it; Caramel Apple Biscotti; and Harvest Spice Pumpkin White Hot
Chocolate mix. (Open to U.S. residents only due to shipping costs.)
Hurry! The giveaway ends tonight at midnight!
Hurry! The giveaway ends tonight at midnight!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
ELSEWHERE
If you want to see Alicia's book reviewed on other blogs, have fun hopping! :)
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2015
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2015 (release day)
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2015
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2015
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2015
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2015
2 comments:
Thanks for hosting All Our Empty Places and me, Amanda! :-)
So happy to do it, Alicia! :) May the Lord bless you and your writing!
~Amanda
"For by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God," Ephesians 2:8
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