Book Review | A Daring Venture by Elizabeth Camden

Review by Iola Goulton @iolagoulton

Rosaline Werner lost both her parents to cholera when she was just ten years old. The loss changed her life, but eighteen years later she's back in America, working as a biochemist fighting to eradicate waterborne diseases including typhoid. She's convinced the answer is to chemically treat the city's supply of drinking water with chlorine, but not everyone agrees.

Nicholas Drake is a plumber, and a commissioner of the State Water Board of New York, responsible for ensuring the citizens have access to clean water. But he can't see that adding poison to water is the solution—he prefers the tried-and-true method of filtering the water.

It's a great set-up: two people who want the same thing.

Two people with noble reasons. But two people who fundamentally disagree on the best process, to the point where their factions are fighting it out in court. It's a plot that isn't going to allow for compromise. Rosaline will win, or Nicholas will win. Unless Rosaline can convince Nicholas to change his mind ...

It's also a unique concept for a novel. Plumbing. Water. Dams. Chlorination. Filtration. Most of us in developed countries take safe drinking water for granted, and it's hard to believe that it's only been a little over a century since the idea was mooted, accepted, and popularised. Elizabeth Camden is known for taking little-known and intriguing historical factoids and turning them into compelling historical novels with plenty of romance and more than a little suspense.

The one possible fault with A Daring Venture is that while Elizabeth Camden's earlier novels were definitely Christian, this (and the previous novel in this Empire State series, A Dangerous Legacy) do not have any overtly Christian content. But nor are they general market titles, with all that implies. Perhaps it's that the faith element is woven in so subtly that it's not noticeable.

And in some ways, it shouldn't be. A Daring Venture isn't a faith-based story. It's the story of clean, disease-free water, and some of the people who helped change our world for the better by fighting for what was right. Which, if you think about it, is the outworking of the Christian faith.

A Daring Venture is an excellent novel with a unique premise.

Recommended for fans of historical fiction, especially romances and novels with a basis in historical fact. I hope there will be a sequel, because I want to see more of Nicholas and his growing family.

Thanks to Bethany House and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review.

About A Daring Venture

As a biochemist in early 1900s New York, Doctor Rosalind Werner has dedicated her life to the crusade against waterborne diseases. She is at the forefront of a groundbreaking technology that will change the way water is delivered to every household in the city--but only if she can get people to believe in her work.

Newly appointed Commissioner of Water for New York, Nicholas Drake is highly skeptical of Rosalind and her team's techniques. When a brewing court case throws him into direct confrontation with her, he is surprised by his reaction to the lovely scientist.

While Rosalind and Nick wage a private war against their own attraction, they stand firmly on opposite sides of a battle that will impact far more than just their own lives. As the controversy grows more public and inflammatory and Rosalind becomes the target of an unknown enemy, the odds stacked against these two rivals swiftly grow more insurmountable with every passing day.

You can find A Daring Venture online at:

Amazon | ChristianBook | Goodreads | Koorong

About Iola Goulton

Iola Goulton is a New Zealand book reviewer, freelance editor, and author, writing contemporary Christian romance with a Kiwi twist. She is a member of the Sisterhood of Unpronounceable Names (Iola is pronounced yo-la, not eye-ola and definitely not Lola).

Iola holds a degree in marketing, has a background in human resource consulting, and currently works as a freelance editor. When she’s not working, Iola is usually reading or writing her next book review. Iola lives in the beautiful Bay of Plenty in New Zealand (not far from Hobbiton) with her husband, two teenagers and one cat. She is currently working on her first novel.

Website | Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest | Twitter

Tuesday Book Chat | 26th June 2018 | Narelle Atkins

Narelle here. Welcome to our ACW Tuesday Book Chat where we encourage book lovers to answer our bookish question of the week. I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

Please join in the conversation in a comment on this post or in a comment on the blog post shared in our Australasian Christian Writers Facebook Group.  

Let's chat. Have you met any favourite authors in person?

My first major fan girl moment took place a decade ago. In July 2008 the lovely Debbie Macomber invited all the Australian and New Zealand conference attendees at the Romance Writers of America conference in San Francisco to a special breakfast. My Aussie writing friend Enisa Haines and I were thrilled to meet Debbie. This year Debbie is the keynote speaker at the ACFW Conference in September.

L-R: Enisa Haines, Debbie Macomber, Narelle Atkins

Running a Physical Book Launch (Fiction)

By Christine Dillon @ACWriters

Last week I shared my experience in running the physical book launches for my traditionally published non-fiction books. Today I'm talking about the opposite: launching my first self-published novel, Grace in Strange Disguise.

I found launching fiction harder than my non-fiction. This may have been because I no longer had a publisher behind me. However, I think it was also because fiction is a more personal thing rather than something based on an area of expertise.

The ‘how to’s’ of fiction will also depend on your genre. I looked on in envy at those who wrote historical fiction and thus could have fun with ‘fancy dress’ in the era of the book’s setting.

I took my time planning for my book launch, thinking about why I wanted to do a physical launch and therefore what elements would bring about my purpose.

Why?

Fiction was a new thing for me. I wanted to launch it properly so potential buyers would notice it. I also wanted to ‘reward’ people who had been behind me during the four and a half year gestation.

My non-fiction work with Bible storytelling had also demonstrated to me the power of ‘story’ and I knew that the ‘story behind the book’ was powerful. All my life when I bought a piece of artwork or similar, it was the ‘story behind it’s crafting’ or the ‘story of the artist’ that really made me want to buy the product.

Since my novel was Christian fiction, this was another way to minister to people and give a testimony of God’s character and work.

I wanted people to leave the launch saying, “Don’t we serve an amazing God.”

My book launch: Saturday 18 November, 2-4 p.m.

1. Warm welcome & prayer

2. ‘Story behind the story’ interview

• You never intended to write a novel what happened to change your mind?
• You didn't spring immediately into action, why not?
• It took you 4 1/2 and a half years to write and edit your novel. What kept you going?
• What was the process of writing a novel?
• You struggled to know how fiction fits in your life. Why have you struggled?
• What is self-publishing and why have you chosen that route?
• Why write this story? Why write a question fiction? Christian fiction?
• What has God taught you?

3. Q and A

I allowed the audience to ask their questions.

4. Book reading

I read the prologue and first chapter

5. Competition

Along the way we had a competition to name some characters for the next book. I described the characters and they could write down a name and will ‘win’ an acknowledgement in the next book and a free copy of book 2.

I also gave away some ‘thank you’ copies of the book to people like my editors, the cover designer and those who were a significant part of the book like the lady who I interviewed about breast cancer and the woman who designed my website. I wove these gifts into the ‘story’ of the book’s process.

6. Prayer

We had a prayer time to conclude which is very unusual but fits because of my ‘normal’ job (as a missionary) and how I view my writing. It also included a prayer that I would not be negatively changed by being an ‘author’.

Reflections

Timing

Mid-November turned out to be a good time because people were already thinking about Christmas presents’. Saturday afternoon mostly avoided the children’s sport issue and ensured more people were available since they’re often out in the evenings on a weekend. I would use this time again.

Interview

An interview is much easier to listen to than a monologue. I chose a good interviewer and we worked on the questions upfront. The questions focused on allowing attendees to take the spiritual journey with me. Obviously you wouldn’t have this focus when releasing a general market book but there are still plenty of questions about how your got the inspiration and the process of research and writing that would interest people.

Question and Answer time

This is a good time to learn what interests your audience. It gets them involved and increases their desire to support you (or not). I would definitely include this next time.

Book reading

I included this because when I asked around people expected it. Obviously with a young children’s book you could read more or perhaps the entire book. The key I think is for this not to be longer than ten minutes.

Competitions

These are fun and if it can be something that increases the audience’s connection with your books, even better. It could even be something like ‘vote’ on the title for the next book in the series or …

Thank you gifts

It is so hard to adequately thank all those who have been a part of the team. Keep this short and sweet and if possible weave it in and include bits of the ‘story behind’ the story with each presentation.

A general principle for me has been to involve as many people as possible and acknowledge them in some way.

What elements would you include in a physical book launch? Why?

About Christine Dillon

Christine never intended to become an author. The only kind of writing she wondered if she might do was biography. However, it was a surprise to her to write poetry, non-fiction and now, fiction.

Christine was a physiotherapist but now she writes ‘storyteller’ on any airport forms. She can legitimately claim to be this as she has written a book on storytelling and spends much of her time either telling Bible stories or training others to do so from her base in southern Taiwan.

In her spare time Christine loves all things active – hiking, cycling, swimming, snorkeling. But she also likes reading and genealogical research, as that satisfies her desire to be an historical detective.

You can find Christine online at:

www.storytellerchristine.com
www.storyingthescriptures.com (for Bible storytelling)
https://www.facebook.com/storytellerchristine/

Who's in Your Story

By Suzane Avadiar | @suzaneavadiar

My mother used to say that I tried to run even before I could crawl. I was always so eager and in a hurry to get to places. And I wanted to get there on my own. When I first started driving, I hit 80 miles/h within the week. I wanted to get from point A to point B in the shortest time possible. I hated the brakes.

In the last decade, however, God has taught me to slow down…way down. He has taught me to keep my foot on the brake pedals – sometimes to a complete halt. He has taught me how to be patient. He taught me how to wait.

And in one of those seasons in the wilderness, He taught me dependency. It was difficult – almost painful!

A season of dependency in the wilderness with God feels like winter when everything looks barren and dead. But, it is also when we rest and let our roots grow, much like trees.

After a lifetime of me trying to perfect the art of being independent, God began to unravel my art. He took apart my carefully adorned canvas. I began to learn that true maturity in Christ means complete dependency – solely and completely dependent on Him.

And like many other things in the Christian walk, Christ-like dependency was a bit of a paradox to me because it also involves a community.

You see, God wants us to first lean on Him without any crutches. He will sometimes isolate us and take away all our safety nets so we rest only in Him and then when we do, He begins to send people our way.

God likes to use a community to sustain and keep us in check. He never meant for us to walk this journey alone.

I’ll be honest; the idea of a community was (and sometimes still is) tough for me. It initially felt odd. Truth is, I had preferred to cast my social net over a few than wide.

The concept of ‘church-family’ was foreign to me because I never truly experienced a conventional family before. And at first, I didn’t understand how and where they fit into my way of life. In many ways, I’m still learning.

But, God’s way of life involves people.

Proverbs 24:6 says, “for by wise guidance you can wage your war, and in abundance of counsellors there is victory.”

 

We need wise voices to speak into our lives so we stay on course and finish well. We need witnesses to have our backs in our trials and struggles.

People are a necessity in life, not an option.

 

For me, it wasn’t easy to let people in and it was harder still to accept help because that meant letting go of independence. But, I’ve learned that independence is not all that its cracked up to be. Or at least, it is nothing close to what the world leads us to believe.

Let’s face it, no one can be completely independent; we can’t watch our own back. Aside from the fact that it is literally impossible, that kind of “independence” forces us to always look over our shoulder. And it won’t be long before we lose sight of what is ahead or around us.

Independence can be lonely. The pages are only a few.

Community helps us write the story of our life. People are the plot and no story can survive without one!

 

When we begin to wholly depend on God, we will learn to trust Him fully and that trust will always overflow into all areas of our life. We will then learn to trust and let people in. When we begin to do that, we will see our need for community.

We will realise the importance of slowing down. We will begin to invest in people, patiently. And a lot of the times, we will see the need to step on the brakes and linger for a while.

That’s when our real story will begin to write itself.

Who’s in YOUR story??

About Suzane Avadiar

Suzane Avadiar is a writer, blogger, cat-lover and avid traveller from Malaysia. Over the last 18 years, she has written extensively for various publications in the global marketplace. Writing is not only her passion but also her instrument of worship. 

She has a deep desire to reveal the Father’s heart through her writings so that every reader cultivates a deeper intimacy with Jesus and steps into their God-given identity. She believes Intimacy strengthens Identity! 

Suzane recently completed her first book, Sent To Journey – Devotions for the Traveller, and is currently working with a literary agent to pursue publishing opportunities. She can be reached at www.suzaneavadiar.com or you can follow her Facebook page for more content and updates.

Book Review: Falling for You, by Becky Wade

Review by @CarolynMAuthor

Famously beautiful model Willow Bradford is taking a temporary break from her hectic schedule to work as the innkeeper at her family's small-town bed-and-breakfast. She was enjoying the peace of her hometown, Merryweather, Washington, right up until she came face-to-face with Corbin Stewart, the man she loves to hate. A thoughtful rule-follower by nature, Willow threw caution to the wind four years ago when she entrusted her heart to Corbin--and suffered the consequences when it all fell apart.

Former NFL quarterback Corbin is forceful, charming, and accustomed to getting what he wants . . . except where Willow Bradford is concerned. Unable to forget her, he's never stopped regretting what happened between them. When their paths unexpectedly cross again, he's determined to make her give him a second chance.
When a decades-old missing persons case finds Corbin and Willow working together, they're forced to confront their past and who they've become--and whether they can risk falling for one another all over again.

Okay, full disclosure here: I’m a Becky Wade fan. Ever since reading My Stubborn Heart she’s an auto-buy for me, so I was fully expecting to enjoy her latest novel. So it took me by surprise to take a while to engage in Falling For You. Maybe it’s because I can’t relate to being extremely beautiful or extremely rich. Maybe it’s because I can’t relate to the culture surrounding NFL players. It took almost a third of the book before I could start to care, then wow, a revelation about Willow’s past that demanded attention, as it’s a topic not often discussed in books released by major US Christian publishers.

I do like that about Becky Wade’s books; they feel real, and she’s not afraid to touch on issues that give a grittier substance to both the character’s faith and subsequently the romance portrayed. This is the second novel in the Bradford sisters series, and we see the interweaving of her sister's stories giving hints as to what those novels may be about. (But I’d love to see her write something that doesn’t involve anyone rich!)

If you enjoy books with clever narrative prose and touches of humour, with characters that ultimately experience relatable challenges, then check out Becky Wade’s contemporary romances. As for me, I can’t wait to see what happens in Britt’s story!

Available at Koorong, Amazon, etc

Carolyn Miller lives in the beautiful Southern Highlands of New South Wales, Australia, with her husband and four children. Together with her husband she has pastored a church for ten years, and worked part-time as a public high school English and Learning and Support teacher. 

A longtime lover of romance, especially that of Jane Austen and Georgette Heyer’s Regency era, Carolyn holds a BA in English Literature, and loves drawing readers into fictional worlds that show the truth of God’s grace in our lives. Her Regency novels include The Elusive Miss Ellison, The Captivating Lady Charlotte, The Dishonorable Miss DeLancey, and Winning Miss Winthrop, all available from Amazon, Book Depository, Koorong, etc

Connect with her:        website | facebook | pinterest | twitter | instagram