Monday, September 3, 2012

End of Summer Bash: Party with Sarah Sundin!

Welcome, dear readers, to the "End of Summer Bash 2012"!

Looking for some grand WWII stories with characters that will be your new best friends? Sarah Sundin's books are fabulous historical romances! You can read my reviews of A Memory Between Us and Blue Skies Tomorrow HERE and HERE. And be on the lookout for my review of With Every Letter - coming soon!

Would you like to learn more about With Every Letter (released a couple of days ago!) and how you can have the chance to win a copy? Then help me welcome Sarah Sundin to the blog!

Amber: Welcome, Sarah! What’s one summer-themed song you would love to hear at an “end-of-summer” party?

Sarah: I’d love to hear Glenn Miller’s “Moonlight Serenade.” Although it’s instrumental, there are lyrics referring to June nights, so I think of it as a summer song. Besides, it’s so beautiful and romantic. Some of the chords in that song just resonate.


Amber: It's quite lovely! And love the people dancing in this video - reminds me of your books!

If the heroine of With Every Letter was planning an “end-of-summer” party, what might it look like?

Sarah: This is fun because With Every Letter ends with an August beach party. Sadly, Mellie Blake isn’t the party-planning type, but that’s all right, because her friend Georgie Taylor lives to plan parties. This particular party serves an important role in Mellie’s love story, plus it celebrates the Allied victory in Sicily in August 1943. It takes place on a Sicilian beach near the airfield where Mellie is stationed. Activities include volleyball, football, swimming, and dancing under the stars. Barbecue is served, and for airmen and nurses used to Army chow, this is a huge treat.

Amber: It's a great ending to a great book! Love how that all worked out! =)

Now for the hero of With Every Letter… What would he look forward to most about autumn?

Sarah: Tom MacGilliver was raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, so of course, he’s looking forward to the Steelers’ next season, although in 1943, the draft caused a serious shortage of players. The Steelers and the Philadelphia Eagles joined forces that year and played as the Phil-Pitt Steagles! (Go figure.) He’ll also root for his college team, the University of Pittsburgh Panthers.

Amber: That's an...interesting...name, LOL! Thanks for sharing the historical tidbits!

Could you share some more about With Every Letter? We’d love a brief snippet if you’d care to share one!

Sarah: With Every Letter is the first book in the "Wings of the Nightingale" series, which follows three flight nurses in the Mediterranean. As part of a morale-building program, World War II flight nurse Lt. Mellie Blake begins an anonymous correspondence with Army engineer Lt. Tom MacGilliver in North Africa. As their letters crisscross the Atlantic, they develop a deep friendship. But when they're both transferred to Algeria, will their future be held hostage by the past—or will they reveal their identities?

The summer scenes are all at the end of the book, so they’d be major spoilers, but the novel starts in October 1942. Here’s the first page…

~ Excerpt from With Every Letter ~ 

Lt. Philomela Blake believed mornings should start gently, with the nighttime melting into golden sunshine and birdsong luring to wakefulness. 

Most nurses on the morning shift assaulted the patients with electric light and harsh voices, but not Mellie. 

She pulled the cord of the blackout curtain and sang “At Last,” and the volume of her tune built with the intensity of light. Hurting and healing men deserved a soft hand. 

On the nearest bed, Corporal Sloan shifted under the blankets. He’d undergone an appendectomy late last night. “Any dame . . .” He cleared his throat, his voice raspy from the ether. “Any dame with the voice of an angel must have a face to match.” 

Mellie’s song and her hands stilled. How many soldiers dreamed of a beautiful nurse who might fall in love with him? 

He rubbed his eyes, looked at her, and his smile flickered. 

Papa called Mellie his exotic orchid, but American men seemed to prefer roses.

~ End of Excerpt ~ 

Amber: Thank you so much for visiting with us today, Sarah! It's always a pleasure to host you!

Readers, Sarah is offering a copy of With Every Letter to one of you! For a chance to win, just leave a comment for Sarah, including your name and e-mail address. All "End of Summer Bash" winners will be announced on Saturday, September 8th.

*This giveaway is open to residents of the U.S. and Canada only.*

Tomorrow's guest is someone who has been regularly featured here - and her exciting historical romances are ones you don't want to miss! Her latest book came out in July, and you can have a chance to win a copy if you stop by!

(Music video found on YouTube.)

29 comments:

Julie said...

A fun interview to kick off your End of Summer Bash Amber! I've not read any of Sarah Sundin's books so would love to read this one!!

Julie@ My Favorite Pastime
gravesok(at)gmail(dot)com

lgm52 said...

Thanks for the interview. I've not read this author before but this sounds like a great book to "head up" an interesting series. Thanks for the giveaway.
lgm52@hotmail.com

Elyssa said...

Hi, Amber!!! How exciting- I LOVE Sarah's books! Great interview... I always love reading them to see an author's perspective on certain things. =) Thanks for the great giveaway!

lubell1106(at)gmail(dot)com

Jenny said...

Great interview and awesome giveaway! I've never read any of Sarah's books, but this looks like a great one! Please enter me!

jennycohen104(at)gmail(dot)com

Ira said...

My daughter is a huge fan of Sarah's books... she'd love to win this one! Thanks for the chance!

icohen62(at)gmail(dot)com

Hutt-Write Voice said...

Happy Labour Day, Amber and Sarah. I don't think I've read any of this author's books, so thanks for this introduction and giveaway. Would love to win the book!

Julia said...

You always have fun parties here, Amber. Love the video and Sarah seems like an appropriate beginning to your site party with your heart for the military.

Emily said...

Thanks for the giveaway! Can't wait to read this one!!!

Emreilly303(at)gmail(dot)com

Debbie said...

I've never read anything from Sarah, but I've heard a lot of good things! Thanks for the chance to win!!

Dreilly316(at)gmail(dot)com

John said...

Please enter my name into the drawing. My daughter would really enjoy this book!

Jreilly316(at)verizon(dot)net

Sarah Sundin said...

Thanks for stopping by, everyone! It's fun to see new faces - and familiar ones :) - in the comments.

Liz R said...

Great interview! I can't wait to read this series, WWII stories are always some of my favorites.

ecriggs1990(at)aol(dot)com

Abbi Hart said...

This was a fun interview! I love the fact that the hero is from Pittsburgh since I live about an hour from there! Though he went to Pitt which is a big rival of the college my dad went to, Penn State, so I'm not the biggest fan of that-lol
I have been really wanting to read one of Sarah's books and With Every Letter sounds really good! Thanks for the chance to win!

gatorade635(at)gmail(dot)com

Amber Holcomb said...

Hello, everyone! :) So good to see you all here! With Every Letter is such a great read, so you'll definitely want to be in on this giveaway if you haven't yet read it!

If you'd like another chance to win the book, as well, check out Casey's giveaway:

http://enjoyingthewritingcraft.blogspot.com/2012/09/giveaway-with-every-letter-by-sarah.html

It was fun to discover that we're both featuring Sarah on the same day. :)

~Amber

Sarah Sundin said...

Abbi - how funny! My parents live outside of Pittsburgh, and when we visited a few years ago I knew it had to be Tom's hometown. He's a civil engineer who wants to build bridges - so all of Pittsburgh's bridges would definitely have inspired him. We went up to Pitt's campus and saw the Cathedral of Learning, so that's why I chose it :) But I know how you feel - I went to UCLA (Go Bruins!) and my son's there now, so I might not be fond of a hero who went to (gasp!) USC.

Wendy Newcomb said...

This sounds like a great read! Thank you for hosting the giveaway.

wfnren(at)aol(dot)com

Pattie said...

I do want to read this, as I've enjoyed Sarah's other WWII books :)
Pattie (at) wivesoffaith.org
PS: I live in Alaska, but you can still use media rate shipping up here. It just takes a couple more weeks :)

Laura Frantz said...

So fun to see new faces here and then the guest of honor, Sarah!! Amber does throw great parties:) Her love of good books and the Lord really shines through. Please don't enter me in the drawing as WEL is on my to-be- read-shelf. Happy reading to you all!

Michelle said...

Loved the interview ladies, and the song! : )

I'm currently reading With Every Letter, so please don't enter me.

Karina said...

I can't wait to read this book!!!!!
~Karina kglushchak@gmail.com

Renee (BlacknGoldGirlsBookSpot) said...

Okay so I haven't read this book yet but it's on my TBR pile (check out Laura Frantz's author FB page and you'll see a pic of it being used as a head rest by my dog Coco) and I can already tell I'm going to love Tom! I mean really a guy who loves the Steelers AND the Panthers????!!!! Be still my heart. I'm sad that summer is fading away but I do love football season! ;-)

xoxo~ Renee C.
(please don't enter me in the giveaway)

Jenny said...

Thank you for the opportunity to win a copy of With Every Letter! I absolutely love Sarah's writing, and have been looking forward to reading her latest release.

jennyjenjen92[at]gmail[dot]com

Amber Holcomb said...

SARAH: So good to host you here again! :) Looks like everyone's excited to read your book - if they haven't already!

LAURA: You're so sweet! :) I'm grateful for your encouragement, and I'm glad you like my blog parties!

RENEE: Hahaha, why am I not surprised you latched onto that "Steelers" response? ;) Tom really is a great hero!

EVERYONE: Thank you for stopping by today and making this party jivin'! :) Good luck in the giveaway!

~Amber

Sarah Sundin said...

Renee - honestly. I WASN'T writing this book just for you. Really, I wasn't.

Amber - thank you so much for inviting me to your summer bash. Now I'm hopping over to the next stop on your tour...

karenk said...

sarah,
can't wait to read this story...

amber,
another wonderful posting ;)

karenk
kmkuka at yahoo dot com

Anonymous said...

Thank you for this giveaway!! :) Sarah, I love your books! I've read A Distant Melody, A Memory Between Us, and Blue Skies Tomorrow. They all kept me captivated; you have amazing, God-given talent!! :)

shantelle@truevine.net

Lynnette Bonner said...

Sounds like a wonderful read. I love war stories.

Rebekah Hart said...

I've been looking forward to reading this book for awhile. Thanks for the chance to win!
Rebekah Hart
bekaboobear(at)gmail(dot)com

Marjorie/cenya2 said...

I have 3 of her books and enjoy them soooo much.
I am really looking forward to this book, my favourite timeline is WW2.
Thanks so much for the chance to win and read it.

cenya2 at hotmail dot com