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Sunday, July 19, 2015



2015 Christy Award Winner

THE STORY KEEPER
by 
Lisa Wingate



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Successful New York editor, Jen Gibbs, is at the top of her game with her new position at Vida House Publishing -- until a mysterious manuscript from an old slush pile appears on her desk. Turning the pages, Jen finds herself drawn into the life of Sarra, a mixed-race Melungeon girl trapped by dangerous men in the turn of the century Appalachia. A risky hunch may lead to The Story Keeper's hidden origins and its unknown author, but when the trail turns toward the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains, a place Jen thought she'd left behind forever, the price of a blockbuster next book deal may be higher than she's willing to pay.




Amazon Buy Link for THE STORY KEEPER

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Praise for Lisa Wingate


The Sea Keeper’s Daughters


“Readers will delight in this compelling saga that sweeps from past to present, coastline to mountains. Compassion and forgiveness pave the road to redemption in this gem of a book.  The Sea Keeper's Daughter is a keeper!”
Mary Alice Monroe, NY Times bestselling author of The Summer's End.   





The Story Keeper


“Wingate is, quite simply, a master storyteller. Her story-within-a-story, penned with a fine, expressive style, will captivate writers and non-writers alike.”
Booklist 
 “Fans of contemporary and historical romance, women's fiction and
light literary romance will find plenty with which to fall in love in 
The Story Keeper.”
USA Today, Happily Ever After blog


“Wingate’s latest tale is beautifully crafted and has so many
layers to appeal to readers – history, a contemporary love story,
a bit of mystery and details about the book publishing industry.”
Romantic Times


“Fans of both historical and contemporary fiction will delight in Lisa Wingate’s latest tale.
The Story Keeper is a modern-day quest that beckons readers into the Appalachian lore of
yesteryear. Simply put, The Story Keeper is enchanting, inspiring, and beautifully told.”
Denise Hunter, bestselling author of Dancing with Fireflies


Not since To Kill a Mockingbird has a story impacted me like this.” 
Colleen Coble, USA Today bestselling author of Seagrass Pier


“For anyone who enjoys master storytellers such as Adriana Trigiani and Karen White. The Story Keeper . . . transports readers across time.”
Julie Cantrell, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of Into the Free


The Story Keeper has to be the best book I've read in two years. It's heartwarming, a story within a story, love that blooms from within and without. A definite keeper and reread.”
Fresh Fiction


The Prayer Box
“With a careful eye to detail and a beautiful, lyrical style
reminiscent of those of Mary Alice Monroe and
Patti Callahan Henry.”
Starred Booklist
“Journeys begin with one single step . . .  in Wingate's masterful exploration of the road to redemption. Relatable characters and vivid portrayals of events both current and historical create an enchanting, memorable pilgrimage into the fullness of faith and love.”
Publishers Weekly
With a gift for crafting a story that digs into how a person's
past can shape their view of themselves and of hope itself,
Lisa Wingate never disappoints to deliver a first-class novel.”
USA Today
“Readers will delight in this gorgeously written, true gem of a
novel. . . . a saga of life, love and
rebuilding make for a treat.”
Romantic Times, top pick
“I am in awe of Lisa Wingate’s talent. She strikes the heart and
turns my gaze toward heaven’s door.
The Prayer Box is a masterpiece of story and skill.”
Debbie Macomber, New York Times bestselling author

The Prayer Box is Lisa Wingate’s best work so far! Tandi’s story is an enchanting take on
family ties, redemption, and allowing oneself to
be swept up into a river of grace regardless of one’s past.”
Karen White, New York Times bestselling author of The Time In Between

The Prayer Box is a beautiful, lyrical story of two women looking for peace, wholeness, and purpose. Wingate weaves hope and truth amid their brokenness and pain.”
Rachel Hauck, author of Once Upon and Prince and The Wedding Dress

“Tenderly woven. Skillfully threaded. A grab-your-heart story about faith, the healing power of love, and how both are often found in unlikely places.”
Charles Martin, New York Times bestselling author of Unwritten
“Lisa Wingate is a remarkably gifted storyteller. Her novels both captivate and cradle you, and The Prayer Box is Lisa at her finest. Tandi’s extraordinary journey of healing and hope on Hatteras Island is a mesmerizing thrill and a joy you’ll want to savor. However, beware—you will not be able to put this story down!”
Beth Webb Hart, Bestselling author of Moon Over Edisto
“A lively and inviting small-town atmosphere . . .  [The Prayer Box] captures the insecurities and inner fears we all struggle to keep hidden.”
CBA Retailer + Resources
Other novels by Lisa Wingate


“A rising star in the world of women's fiction.”
Romantic Times


“Lisa Wingate is a Glorious Storyteller!”
Adriana Trigiana, New York Times bestselling author

“Gripping… compassionate and lyrical… reminds us that it is love that changes our world.”
Patti Callahan Henry, New York Times bestselling author




Q&A with Lisa Wingate



Your stories so often involve fascinating bits of history. Can you tell us about the inspiration for The Sea Keeper’s Daughters?

I never know where my stories will come from. While working on my first Carolina book, set on the Outer Banks, I became fascinated with the mystery of the Lost Colonists of Roanoke Island. You can’t spend time on the Carolina Coast without realizing that theories abound as to the fate of the 117 people who vanished from Sir Walter Raleigh’s ill-­fated colony over thirty years before the Pilgrims would land on Plymouth Rock. While writing my second Carolina book, The Story Keeper, I delved into the mystery of what early explorers deemed to be “blue-eyed Indians,” who were found to have been living in the Appalachian mountains decades before other Europeans pressed in. I knew that the third Carolina book would somehow bring these two fascinating bits of history together. An interesting thing happened when The Story Keeper hit the bookstores. Because the novel is about the discovery of an untold story, readers began sharing their own family stories with me. One reader mentioned that she’d traveled through the mountains many times as a child and one day had noticed that there were doors in the mountainside. When she asked about the doors, her father told her that during the Depression, families who lost their farms or had no place to live would often move into a nearby cave. Many salvaged doors, windows, and furniture from their repossessed homes before leaving and used those to outfit their new cave houses. I couldn’t resist researching that tale, but I found very little about Americans living in caves during the Depression.  What I did come across were life history interviews written by participants in a little-known WPA program called the Federal Writers’ Project. The Project hired impoverished writers, academics, housewives, and reporters, then turned them into Field Interviewers whose jobs were to travel the hidden corners of America and record the stories of the common man. The adventures of these Federal Writers were equally as fascinating as the narratives and stories they discovered during their travels.



Selected among Booklist’s Top 10 for two consecutive years, Lisa Wingate skillfully weaves lyrical writing and unforgettable settings with elements of traditional Southern storytelling, history, and mystery to create novels that Publisher's Weekly calls "Masterful" and Library Journal refers to as "A good option for fans of Nicholas Sparks and Mary Alice Monroe." 

Lisa is a journalist, an inspirational speaker, and the author of twenty-five novels. She is a seven-time ACFW Carol Award nominee, a multiple Christy Award nominee, a twotime Carol Award winner, and a 2015 RT Booklovers Magazine Reviewer’s Choice Award Winner for mystery/suspense. Recently, the group Americans for More Civility, a kindness watchdog organization, selected Lisa along with Bill Ford, Camille Cosby, and six others as recipients of the National Civies Award, which celebrates public figures who work to promote greater kindness and civility in American life. Booklist summed up her work by saying, “Lisa Wingate is, quite simply, a master storyteller.” More information about her novels can be found at www.lisawingate.com.


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More about Lisa can be found on her 

She can also be found online at:
https://twitter.com/lisawingate https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/178832.Lisa_Wingate


Blog tour services provided by Lone Star Literary Life.


 


I received a copy of this book for an honest review

Jen is excited about her new job at Vida House Publishing. She is looking to make an impression and thinks she has found the next best seller. There is a room they call "Slush Mountain that has old seemingly unwanted manuscripts . She has been told never to go to that room. Surprisingly one day laying on the edge of her desk, is a story in an envelope which just appeared out of thin air. As Jen beings to read the story, she is mesmerized by the writing. It does have an eerie likeness to the place she left a long time ago. How did this story from "Slush Mountain" get on her desk? What mysteries will it reveal ?

Jen knows in her hands is a story that must be published. She has convinced the publishing company that she needs to find the author who wrote this amazing story and get his permission to publish it. She finds herself thinking back to when she lived not far from where the story takes place. Jen never thought she would ever return to Blue Ridge Mountain, but she must travel there to find the elusive author of this story that has captured her heart . The story that has intrigued Jen is about a young girl named Sarah. It shows the struggles in the 1800s and how people had to deal with hunger and poverty. She gives us a strong character in Sarah that is determined to overcome her circumstances. Jen is a determined woman who must face her past as she sees similarities in the story she wants to publish and her own life. What will happen to Sarah? Can Jen embrace her past? Who is the author behind this story?

The book is well written and filled with a great background of the Appalachian people. I loved how the author draws her readers in with an uncanny realism of the characters. It is a story that takes you on a journey of survival and dealing with past memories. The writing is a treasure similar to a present that is unwrapped slowly to reveal a breathtaking gift. Lisa has given readers a book that will be hard to forget.