THE GRATITUDE GIVEAWAY HOP

THE GRATITUDE GIVEAWAY HOP

Thank you to Kathy at I AM A READER NOT A WRITER, and All-Consuming Books for sponsoring this Gratitude Hop.

The purpose of this hop is to thank our followers for the great support you've given each of us this year. So . . . THANK YOU for popping by, for coming back and reading posts, for making great comments and supporting my work. I really appreciate it!

We're making this an easy-entry hop--only one required entry per person. Just become or be a follower of this blog. That's it!

And the prize? I'm putting together a nice package--your choice of any volume of my FREE MEN and DREAMERS books, another new book from my shelf, and a gently read book I've enjoyed this year. How's that sound? Thanks again for coming by, and here's my wish for you to enjoy a blessed Thanksgiving.

Now pop on by these other grateful bloggers:

THE STAR PROPHECY

With the holidays drawing close, hearts seek books that uplift and build faith. Joan Sowards' The Star Prophecy" is just such a read that would make a great family Christmas tradition.

From the back cover:

"You are crazy. No Nephite has ever returned."

Most people laugh when they hear of Enoch's dream of returning to Jerusalem to find the infant Messiah. Even Enoch's future father-in-law mocks him when he asks for a postponement of his long-awaited wedding to his beloved Rebekah. A few take Enoch seriously--the shipbuilder Omnihah, Enoch's teacher David, and the prophet Nephi.

Five Years before, a Lamanite named Samuel had stood on the wall of Zarahemla and prophesied that "five years more cometh" and the Christ would be born in Jerusalem. Time is running out! Enoch knows he must set sail across the great water in search of his dream--to see the face of the Messiah.

The Star Prophecy is a surprising story of courage and love, faith and fortitude. Sail with Enoch and his friends across the sea through hardship and adventure in search of the Christ child.

"I love Joan Sowards' inventive mind. She begins this adventurous tale with "what if?' and tells it so well that the reader closes the book thinking 'why not?' The Star Prophecy adds a surprising new dimension to the Christmas story." -Liz Adair, author of Counting the Cost

"Action-adventure, romance, inspirational, and historical fiction all rolled into one make the Star Prophecy an exciting page turner." -Margaret L Turley, author of Save the Child

My "THANK YOU" to our Veterans

Happy Veterans' Day!

My "thank you" to our veterans appears in the Deseret News today. It recaps a marvelous glimpse I was privileged to catch of these heroes.

MY BOOKS ARE HERE!!!!

The demonic expression on my face belies the sweet enthusiasm of the moment when I opened the box and held a copy of "In God Is Our Trust" in my hands. It's volume five of Free Men and Dreamers, and my seventh published novel, but the thrill of seeing your words and thoughts in published format is still the same.

Signings are being scheduled in DC and Utah, and hopefully in L.A. as well. If you're a FM&D fan, please come by and say hi.

If you've never read a volume, please jump on board and catch some great American history wrapped around a tender story of family, God, and country.

I've gotta go and stare at the books again. Thanks for stopping by!

laurie

NOVEMBER GIVEAWAY HOP

NOVEMBER GIVEAWAY HOP

Thanks to Kathy, at "I'M A Reader Not a Writer," and to Tristi Pinkston, for sponsoring this hop. It opens at 12:01 a.m. on November 8th and ends at midnight on November 11th.

Once again over 400 sites are offering up great bookish prizes, so enjoy!

This month marks a huge professional milestone for me. After eight years of research and writing I've launched In God Is Our Trust, the concluding volume in my FREE MEN and DREAMERS historical fiction saga. I could use some help spreading the word.

Here's what I'm offering on my patriotic stop along the hop: a copy of "George Washington: The Founding Father," and an autographed copy of any one of my books listed on my web site.

Here's how you enter. Each entry must be posted separately to be considered in the drawing.


1. You must be, or become, a follower of this blog, preferably by email.

2. Become my friend on Face Book

3. Copy the above pic of the Star-Spangled Banner and my books to your blog, Face Book page, or Twitter with this caption:
"One Nation Under God" It was not left to chance! Read L.C. Lewis's Free Men and Dreamers.

Report each posting separately. You can earn one entry per posting.

That's it! Thanks so much! Now stop by these other amazing blogs on the tour.

OLD SOLDIERS

Veterans' Day is drawing close and I wanted to share a glimpse of some senior soldiers I've been privileged to share the past few years.

The last few Septembers I've headed down to Quantico Marine Base with Tom for some fund raisers for The Wounded Warrior Foundation, and a massive Marine expo. A friend of Tom's, a great patriot named Pete, organizes a golf tournament/auction to raise scholarship funds for for a foundation called "The Young Marines." I had never heard of this group before, but like the ROTC, it teaches military discipline and service the marine way, preparing future officers and leaders.

The experience was moving. I was surrounded by officers in all their variety, from generals on down, with post commanders and retirees proudly wearing their caps and shouting "Ourah!!!" at any mention of the corps. These men are proud Marines, and proud of their Marine heritage which dates back to 1775, and rightly so. Even in my research on the War of 1812, the toughest fighting squad, next to Joshua Barney's Flotillamen, was a group known simply as "Miller's Marines."

As the golfers moseyed in off the greens, the older soldiers posted their golf scores on the board and then gathered around a table to talk, and there was no shortage of opinions or wisdom reflected there. And the topics on these veterans' minds? It wasn't sports scores or movies or popular media darlings. They were doing what they had done for a lifetime--assessing the news, reading between the lines, gathering intel and discussing strategic political and military options some of them no longer had the power to implement. I was a fly on the wall, and the conversations were fascinating as they discussed places that still seem to strange to most of us but places that had clearly been on their radar for many years--Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Israel.

Their faces were emotion-filled. They were deeply invested in these corners of the world where their young comrades-in-arms were serving or might serve one day. Some had sons and grandsons deployed here, and clearly, they were on their minds.

They talked about God, and about country as if they were unseverable appendages to one another. They knew the Bible, and saw a clear connection between events written there and our circumstances today. These men of different colors, different nationalities, and likely of many different faiths, see their service as an extension of their personal faith, and they see their defense of America as a defense of Christianity in a world becoming increasingly negative towards Christians.

A highlight of one day ocurred when three sisters of a Marine killed at the 1983 bombing in Beirut came to participate in the launch of a scholarship named for their slain brother. Several were also Marines themselves, and they wept over the ache of their loss as well as the pride that his memory would be honored in such a manner. It was an honor to be there, and to see steeled, battle-scarred brothers-in-arms from every branch of the service shed a tear or two as well. It reminded me of something Colin Powell once said about how no one works harder for peace than a soldier.

Hug a soldier today. Better yet, thank one.

CONTEST QUESTION OF THE WEEK: Who Has The Greatest Influence On a Nation?

God or Government---

Who Has The Greatest Influence On a Nation?

This is a fundamental theme behind all the Free Men and Dreamers books, but it is the primary force behind volume five, the concluding volume of the series, "IN GOD IS OUR TRUST," and the question you'll have to comment on in order to enter this week's giveaway. I'm offering a winner's choice of 3 great patriotic prizes.

Did, or even could, the Founding Fathers have realized the religious fallout that would occur following the break with Britain. They had calculated the political, military, social and economical concussions, but could they foresee how being cut off from the king, the supposed conduit to God, would affect the faith and worship of the fledgling nation?

And how would America bridge that break? Who would be their advocate to God? And how? It left a spiritual vacuum.

Would they model their new churches on the model of the Church of England many thought was corrupt? And what of the immigrants from foreign lands with their different religions, different views of deity?

One of the first great tests of the freedom to worship began immediately.

In the interim, they sought stability through government, but the Founders were aging and dying, and a new generation of visionaries was needed.

America remained a weak confederation of states, having never achieved the vision of "one nation under God."

Citizens' loyalties were to their states, not their country.

Some states threatened secession.

The years preceding the Revolution churned with political tumult that did not settle with the end of the fighting. Even the signing of the Constitution did not lift Europe's boot from America's throat, until a strangling America was forced to go to war again to end Europe's oppression once and for all.

The War of 1812. It cost both nations dearly in blood and treasure, and secured no great concessions of land or rights for either side.

Some call it a nothing war, but historians agree it changed America forever--

It produced a new generation of leaders just as the last of the Founders were passing away.

It produced national pride that relaxxed attachments to individual states. We were no longer just Virginians or Marylanders or identified by our state. . . We were Americans.

It unified a weak confederation into The United States of America.

It produced the first icons of America--a victory flag lovingly titled the Star-Spangled Banner, and the song that heralded its appearance over an embattled fort.

It catapulted a respected America onto the world stage.

It opened trade doors that had previously been blocked.

What else did it do? Let IN GOD IS OUR TRUST show you.

An American Renaissance began.

Immigration increased.

Westward expansion increased.

A decade of peace and prosperity ensued between 1816 and 1826. With our energies no longer focused on war and defense, religious debate began anew, spawning a new religious reformation. In the middle of that decade of peace and spiritual searching a boy emerged, claiming to have spoken to God and His Son, and America's claim of religious tolerance was put to the ultimate test.

Within the pages of IN GOD IS OUR TRUST, Jed and Hannah Pearson experience each of these changes in America, alongside the people whose lives have intersected with theirs during the war. Like Jed, many believe America's strength lies in strong government. Hannah and others believe God holds the answers to America's future. When tragedy again strikes the Pearsons, Hannah is reacquainted with a young man named Joseph Smith, whose tales of visions and gold plates divide families, and test the mettle of the Constitution.

THIS WEEK's GIVEAWAY

The prize this week is one I'm very excited about. The bicentennial of the War of 1812 begins in a few months, launching a two-year celebration of wonderful American history. In 1814 we will celebrate the two-hundredth anniversary of our national anthem, The Star-Spangled Banner, and the flag it commemorates. For this week's prize, I'm offering a winner's choice of one of the following:

1. A replica of the fifteen-starred flag that became known as the Star-Spangled Banner.

2. An unframed, parchment-printed version of the U.S. Constitution, suitable for framing. (See what this document looks like if you choose to mat and frame it)

3. Your choice of any volume of Free Men and Dreamers, autographed and personalized for the recipient of your choice.

HOW TO ENTER You can enter up to FIVE times, but each entry MUST be posted separately to be considered.


1.You must be, or become, a follower of this blog, by GFC or by email, to be considered.

2. Post your comment on the question above. I'm anxious to hear what you think.

3. Copy and paste the following graphic and caption for IN God is OUR TRUST onto your blog, Twitter, or Face Book page. Yuo'll get one entry for each posting.



"One Nation Under God Wasn't Left To Chance."

Thanks! Good luck!