Happy Mother’s Day. It’s Mother’s Day today in USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. In the UK, Mother’s Day was celebrated on March 27. I welcome our international readers to let us know if they celebrate Mother’s Day today or on a different date.
I’ll be spending time with my young adult children today. I had hoped to visit with my mum, but I’m unfortunately sick and I don’t want to risk sharing my illness with my parents. I’m thankful modern technology can connect us when we can’t be together in person. I’m also aware that Mother’s Day can be a hard day for many people. My thoughts and prayers are with those of you who may be struggling today.
Winners this Week
If you’re a winner, you should have received an email from the author in charge of the giveaway. If not, please email us at: prizes at inspyromance dot com.
Janine Roche’s winner is Trixi!
Tara Grace Ericson’s winner is Lincoln!
Lindi Peterson’s winner is Denise!
Teresa Tysinger’s winner is Elly Cantrell Gilbert!
Congratulations!
Don’t forget… every comment you make qualifies you to win one of the monthly Amazon card giveaways!
The gift card winners for April are Sophie and Kelley Blair! Congrats!
Reader Gathering
Did you know Inspy Romance hosts a Christian Romance Reader Gathering group on Facebook. Teresa Tysinger will be our host this week. Join us… but don’t forget to answer the questions for admittance!
StoryChats @ InspyRomance
Story Chats is back this week with an all new episode launching Friday! Elizabeth, Valerie, and Narelle talked about mental health issues in CCR (and in the Church, in general) in our last episode. You won’t want to miss it!
Listen to our new weekly show on your favorite podcasting app, through the player on our podcast tab, or watch us on YouTube! Wherever you listen or watch, please be sure to hit subscribe so you don’t miss an episode!
Last Week on Inspy Romance
On Monday, Heather Gray shared a new instalment in A Day in the Life (part 9)
On Tuesday, Janet Ferguson talked about Character Hometowns: Jasper Alabama + #Giveaway
On Wednesday, Elizabeth Maddrey discussed Loving the Unlikeable
On Thursday, Toni Shiloh talked about Summer Lovin’ + #Giveaway
On Friday, Jaycee Weaver discussed Unkissable and other unconventional titles
On Saturday, Valerie Comer shared The Hunt for Treasure
Next Week on Inspy Romance
Monday: Amy R. Anguish (Awkward Proposals)
Tuesday: Mandi Blake
Wednesday: Angela Ruth Strong (Quiz: Could You be a Heroine in a Romance Novel?)
Thursday: Hannah Jo Abbott (Reality in Fiction)
Friday: Lindi Peterson (Faith, Hope, and Love – part 2 + #giveaway)
Saturday: Jan Thompson (Not Having to Explain: Book Cover Makeover + #FreeBook)
New Releases
May 2021
Topaz Treasure (Pot of Gold Geocaching Romance 1) by Valerie Comer
Stealing the First Mate (Independence Islands 11) by Tabitha Bouldin
Once Upon a Summer by Jaycee Weaver, Toni Shiloh, Teresa Tysinger, and two others
Retying the Knot (The Fab Forties 1) by Liwen Y. Ho
So You Want a Second Chance (So You Want to be a Billionaire 1) by Elizabeth Maddrey
June 2021
Love’s Treasure box set by Elizabeth Maddrey, Valerie Comer, Valerie M Bodden, Mandi Blake, and ten others
Someone Found (Laurel Cove Romance 3) by Teresa Tysinger
Resisting Rose (Bloom Sisters 6) by Tara Grace Ericson
A complete list of Inspy Romance books by our authors is always available on our BOOKS tab. Find our audiobooks, our permanently free e-books, and our thank-you gifts for newsletter subscribers there as well!
A fun loving Aussie girl at heart, Narelle Atkins was born and raised on the beautiful northern beaches in Sydney, Australia. She has settled in Canberra with her husband and children. A lifelong romance reader, she found the perfect genre to write when she discovered inspirational romance. Narelle's contemporary stories of faith and romance are set in Australia and international locations.
Hi Narelle! Happy Mother’s Day to all our fabulous Inspy Romance authors and their wonderful readers. It is a chilly morning of 41 degrees (5 Celsius), but the birds are happily chirping. I am having a leisurely Mother’s Day with hubby and grand puppy. Best wishes.
Hi Renate, Happy Mother’s Day! 5C or less are our overnight temps atm. Enjoy your day and I hope it warms up a little bit. 😊
Today is also Mother’s Day in Chile, a small country in South America!
Sadly, we have almost no Christian fiction here in our language, sometimes there are no Christian romance books in bookstores like maximum clean romance (very little) and there are cities without any especially Christian bookstore even though there are many Christians! We have to learn to read in English or buy books in Spanish through Amazon (which arrive in Spain).
I really hope that one day that changes, I would love to be able to go to a store and see a whole shelf of safe books to read that increase my faith.
We have to keep track of three different Mother’s Days every year! My mother-in-law is in Norway, so we try (and often forget!) to celebrate her on the second Sunday in February. Then since we live in the UK, we try to keep track of Mother’s Day (or Mothering Sunday), here, which happens before Easter. And we try to give a nod to the other Mother’s Day, since I have family, friends, and readers who mark it today.
Hi Lilly, Happy Mother’s Day in Chile! I hope you’ll have access to more Christian fiction soon. I have Christian author friends with fiction books translated into Dutch, Portuguese, German, but I’m not sure about Spanish? I find that interesting because Spanish is a common language spoken in the US.
Are there Christian fiction ebooks available in Spanish? Since COVID, I’ve found it difficult to buy new release paperbacks if they’re not being printed in Australia. Ebooks have been the easiest way to source new books.
I’d love to see Christian fiction on our retail book store shelves, too. For many years it has only been Christian stores who shelve Christian books. Thanks for commenting. 😊
Hi Milla, Wow, that sounds very complicated! Our Father’s Day in Australia is the first Sunday in September, which I don’t think aligns with other countries. Enjoy celebrating your third Mother’s Day for 2021! 😊
Happy Mother’s Day to all of the Inspy authors and readers! It’s my first without my Mom, so I know it’s going to be difficult. I’m prepared with lots of kleenex! lol! I’m thinking I should have bought stock in Kleenex!
It is both a sad and happy day for those who are unable to be mothers and would love to be, those who have lost mothers and those who are.mothers or are mothers to be both in body and heart. A day to remember and celebrate!
Hi Lilly! My son-in-law was born and raised in Chile! His parents just retired (like, a few weeks ago) from a lifetime of serving God there.
It must be frustrating to know there is so very much Christian fiction in another language but not in your own. Do you have the ability to purchase Kindle books in Chile? And yes, most of those would be in English only. I once looked into Spanish translations but it was cost-prohibitive for what seemed a small potential market for specifically Christian stories.
Have a blessed Mother’s Day ❤️
Happy Mother’s day Narelle and the rest of the ladies here in IR!!! Whether you’re a mother because you’ve had children, or God has placed kids in your life that you consider as part of your family :-) (Grandma’s, Aunts, Cousins, Church kids, friends, etc).
I’m having a quiet day with my family & later my husband will be grilling steaks & potatoes on the BBQ. He took me out last night for dinner and we walked down to the ice-cream shop to get a scoop (or two) of some yummy ice-cream…mine was Kona coffee & he chose dark cherry. It was a wonderful night to spend with my love :-)
Congrats to the winners & I hope everyone has a blessed day!! I am looking forward to this weeks posts.
We can access electronic books here! but almost all in English the only authors translated into Spanish are Francine Rivers and in Christian historical romance Julie Klassen and Kristi ann hunter and none of them are sold in conventional bookstores only with Christian and our Christian bookstores do not have fiction sometimes or only one or two novels (at least in my city and in other small ones, the capital of the country is usually different).
Yes … it’s a big market. I didn’t even know it existed as a teenager! (That wasn’t long ago) because you don’t know if you don’t search the internet.
Thanks, Tara, for your giveaway and congratulations to all the winners. Our Mother’s Day is a bittersweet one, as both our moms are now gone. To all of you who have (or have had) the role of mother, thank you for your faithfulness, perseverance and selfless love. Only heaven will know the impact you have had on eternity. Blessings.
Congratulations to all the winners. Happy Mother’s Day. God bless you.
Hi Lilly! The problem for authors is that getting our books translated is really expensive. Some traditional publishers will take that step for some of their bigger name authors (like Francine Rivers) but for many authors, we are our own publishing house, and we don’t have the funds to sink into translations and hope it pays off. Unless we are fluently bilingual and can translate our own, it’s simply too prohibitive.
Even in North America, most bookstores (Christian or secular) will only carry paperbacks by a select few very well known Christian fiction authors – maybe 10-12 authors total. Most of the rest of us major in ebook sales – yes, in English.
I can’t see the cost of translation coming down — translators deserve to be paid, as do authors and anyone else who works! And with the lack of shelf space on traditional bookstore shelves worldwide, I don’t see in-store paperback sales in any language improving by much.
And that leaves most books selling best in English and in ebook format. I wish I could give you better news! But that seems to be the reality for the foreseeable future.
Happy Mother’s Day! (USA)
Congratulations!
Thank you!
Hi Trudy, Happy Mother’s Day and (((hugs))). I hope and pray you’ve managed to find some joy today despite the difficulties. Thanks for commenting. 😊
Hi Dianne, It’s a happy and bittersweet and sad and hard day, depending on your circumstances. Thanks for commenting. 😊
Hi Natalya, Thank you! Despite being unwell, and unintentionally sharing my illness with my children who are both sick today (hubby has so far stayed well), it was a quiet day with many blessings. Thanks for commenting. 😊
Hi Trixi, Happy Mother’s Day. I’m glad you enjoyed a quiet day that included a lovely dinner and ice cream. Those flavors sound delicious! Thanks for commenting. 😊
Hi Lincoln, yes, heaven will know the impact of their faithful and selfless love. Blessings and thanks for commenting. 😊
Hi Debra, Happy Mother’s Day and blessings to you. Thanks for commenting. 😊
Hi Denise, Happy Mother’s Day! Thanks for commenting. 😊