Welcome to ACFW SFBayArea

Welcome Christian fiction writers. If you’re in the northern CA area, we’d love to meet you! Check out our Meetings page to find the date and location of our next meeting. It’s always on the 3rd Saturday of every other month, beginning in January. You can also find us on MeetUp or email us at acfwsfbayarea@gmail.com. The first meeting for non-members is free, $10 for the 2nd, and by the 3rd meeting, you must be a member of the national and local ACFW groups.

We had a great turnout for Randy Ingermanson’s Skype presentation in November, providing us with insight regarding his “Snowflake” method for planning a novel.  Join us in January as we welcome in our new 2017 board members. For details on our upcoming January event, see:  https://www.meetup.com/ACFWSFBayArea/events/232632836/.

No Turning Back

No Turning Back
by Katie Vorreiter
Cross & Dot Editorial and Publishing Services
December 24, 2016
ISBN-10: 0998525308
ISBN-13: 978-099852530

Following a stalking incident, Livvy Fischer’s life has become derailed. Having sung for audiences since she was a child, the classically trained opera soprano is now terrified to sing publicly. Stuck in a dead-end job, she musters the courage to audition for Opera San Jose. Though she starts strong, the audition is a disaster. She decides to begin with a smaller goal—she’ll try singing at her church. Partly due to a mix-up, partly to her crush on the young pastor leading the outreach, Livvy joins a worship team bound for the chapel at San Quentin. When a riot breaks out, she is separated from her pastor and the rest of her church group, sheltered by a Christian inmate. Though the plan is to keep hidden and ride out the storm, Livvy becomes the obsession of a serial killer. Livvy must rely upon God, find her own courage, and trust a small cadre of protectors as she flees the hunter, escapes burning buildings, and hatches schemes to get herself and the others rescued. Yet, through all of the uncertainty and danger, the biggest surprise Livvy encounters is her feelings for her inmate rescuer.

Walking Between the Stones

Walking Between the Stones
by Pamela Trawick
Create Space
November 30, 2016
ISBN-10:1540308014
ISBN-13:978-1540308016

They had the perfect marriage. At least she thought they did. Dory-Ann and Willie Joe’s marriage is the envy of many in their small Arkansas hometown until the day before their fortieth anniversary celebration when Willie Joe leaves, giving Dory-Ann no excuses, no chances to convince him otherwise. What is she to do? She can’t admit that her mother’s prediction that Willie Joe would leave her has suddenly come true.

Strings of Faith

Strings of Faith
by Terry Stafford
Publisher: Author Academy Elite
October 4, 2016
SBN-10: 1943526613
SBN-13: 978-1943526611

How do you find that magical place just beyond your dream? You may have been carrying the answer with you all along.

Darcy, a classically trained violinist, connects with her dream to play bluegrass soon after she graduates from The Boston Conservatory – much to her parents’ dismay. She firmly sets her sights on winning The National Oldtime Fiddle Contest in Weiser, Idaho.

When tragedy strikes, Darcy lays her gift aside for her family. Unimaginable pain and loss lead to dissension with her husband, disappointing judgment from her church, and anger with God Himself. Can her friends get her through such pain? What about the church that turned on her? Can her gift of music survive when her life is turned upside down, causing her to question the foundation that her relationships are built on?

The Silver Coin

The Silver Coin
Volume 3, Ancient Elements Series
by Marie Sontag
Sunbury Press, Inc.
September 19, 2016
ISBN-10:1620067986
ISBN-13:978-1620067987

The Mycenaean captain laughed and addressed his prisoners. “By the time people realize you’re missing, you’ll all be slaves of Greek merchants or landowners. And I’ll be that much richer!” Sam swallowed hard. Now I’ll never find Uncle Zim. And who will want to buy a crippled slave? Numbness overtook him as he saw his hopes, like the sail of the Phoenician ship, go up in flames.

What Others Are Saying:
“Sontag’s Mediterranean world is a vivid one, and the story makes clear that even thousands of years ago, residents of the region were well traveled and knowledgeable about their realm . . . individuals looking for curriculum-based fiction may find the book a valuable tool.” — Kirkus Reviews

Arsenic with Austen: A Mystery

Arsenic with Austen: A Mystery
Crime with the Classics, Book 1
by Katherine Bolger Hyde
Minotaur Books
July 12, 2016
ISBN-10: 125006547X
ISBN-13: 978-1250065476

When Emily Cavanaugh inherits a fortune from her great aunt, she expects her life to change. She doesn’t expect to embark on a murder investigation, confront the man who broke her heart 35 years before, and nearly lose her own life.

Emily travels to the sleepy coastal village of Stony Beach, Oregon, to claim her inheritance, centered in a beautiful Victorian estate called Windy Corner but also including a substantial portion of the real estate of the whole town. As she gets to know the town’s eccentric inhabitants–including her own once-and-possibly-future love, Sheriff Luke Richards–she learns of a covert plan to develop Stony Beach into a major resort. She also hears hints that her aunt may have been murdered. Soon another suspicious death confirms this, and before long Emily herself experiences a near-fatal accident.

Meanwhile, Emily reads Persuasion, hoping to find belated happiness with her first love as Anne Elliot did with Captain Wentworth. She notices a similarity between her not-quite-cousin Brock Runcible, heir to a smaller portion of her aunt’s property, and Mr. Elliot in Persuasion, and her suspicions of Brock crystallize. But as she and Luke continue to investigate and events speed toward a climax, Emily realizes that underneath the innocent-looking rocks of Stony Beach lurk festering jealousies that would have shocked even the worst of Jane Austen’s charming reprobates.

Anchor in the Storm

Anchor in the Storm
Book 2 of Waves of Freedom
by Sarah Sundin
Revel
May 3, 2016
ISBN-10:0800723430
ISBN-13:978-0800723439

One Plucky Female Pharmacist + One High-Society Naval Officer = Romance–and Danger

For plucky Lillian Avery, America’s entry into World War Ii means a chance to prove herself as a pharmacist in Boston. The challenges of her new job energize her. But society boy Ensign Archer Vandenberg’s attentions only annoy–even if he is her brother’s best friend.

During the darkest days of the war, Arch’s destroyer hunts German U-boats in vain as the submarines sink dozens of merchant ships along the East Coast. Still shaken by battles at sea, Arch notices his men also struggle with their nerves–and with drowsiness. Could there be a link to the large prescriptions for sedatives Lillian has filled? The two work together to answer that question, but can Arch ever earn Lillian’s trust and affection?

Sarah Sundin brings World War Ii to life, offering readers an intense experience they won’t soon forget.