One Final Breath is out in the world and the reception has been amazing!

To celebrate the release of One Final Breath and the conclusion of the Dive Team Investigations series, my publisher, Revell, has put together an absolutely fabulous giveaway.

The Grand Prize

is a Carolina Basket from Southern Supreme and a full set of Dive Team Investigations books. Southern Supreme is located in central North Carolina and I’m 100% sure that it is a favorite of the Dive Team! It’s absolutely a favorite of the author!

The First Prize

is a Coffee Sampler and a full set of Dive Team Investigations books. Let’s face it, Anissa’s not the only one who can’t live without her coffee in the morning.

The Second Prize

is a $10 Starbucks gift card and a full set of Dive Team Investigations books. If your heart is warmed by some pumpkin spice lattes, then you’ll be able to grab one and maybe another to share with a good friend!

To enter, you can click here. You’ll have opportunities to grab more entries by signing up for my newsletter, checking out my author page on Facebook, following me on Twitter, and following me on Goodreads.

I hope you’ll take advantage of this fabulous opportunity and I cannot wait to find out who wins!

Grace and peace,

The post One Final Breath Giveaway appeared first on Lynn H. Blackburn.

It’s Here!

ONE FINAL BREATH

BOOK 3 IN THE DIVE TEAM INVESTIGATIONS SERIES is now available for purchase in paperback, audio, and digital formats!

About One Final Breath:

When investigator Gabriel Chavez had his cover blown by an aggressive reporter, the silver lining was being able to rejoin the dive team. The downside? Dive team captain Anissa Bell–a woman who both fascinates and frustrates him.

Anissa grew up as a missionary kid on the Micronesian island of Yap and always planned to return after college. But she remained stateside, determined to solve the case that haunts her–the murder of her best friend and the disappearance of a three-year-old child.

When Anissa’s fractured past collides with Gabe’s investigation into the tragic shooting death of a teenage boy in Lake Porter, they’ll have to put their complicated history with each other aside in order to uncover the identity of a killer. What they’ll discover is that revenge has no statute of limitations.

Award-winning author Lynn H. Blackburn closes out her nail-biting Dive Team Investigations series with a story that will have you wondering how long you can hold your breath.

Y’all, I love this book. I really do. I love the way Gabe and Anissa overcome so many obstacles and how they rely on their faith in their darkest hours. I love the way their friendship with each other and their friendships with Ryan, Leigh, Adam, and Sabrina have continued to deepen and flourish. I can imagine them hanging out together by Lake Porter for the next forty years, and it makes me happy. 

For those of you who’ve already read Beneath the Surface and In Too Deep, I hope One Final Breath more than exceeds your expectations. And for those of you who are new to the Dive Team Investigations series, I hope One Final Breath leaves you excited to go back and read the previous books in the series. 

Most of all, I hope that as you read One Final Breath you grow closer to Jesus – because He is the BEST!

Note: If the backstory between Gabe and Anissa intrigues you, I’ve written a short story (5K words) that explains, maybe not everything, but a lot! It’s available today to my newsletter subscribers. If you haven’t subscribed, now would be a great time! You can subscribe here!

And tonight, at 9PM (Eastern), we’ll be celebrating the release of One Final Breath, LIVE on Facebook! I’d love for you to join us!

Grace and peace,

The post One Final Breath – Available TODAY! appeared first on Lynn H. Blackburn.

You know what’s true about August? It’s brutal. Every year.

I know it. I try to be ready for it. I never am.

This August will go down in the history of Augusts as a doozy. But if you looked at my calendar, you wouldn’t be able to tell what had happened.

• I went to MurderCon. It was AWESOME.
• Our family went to the lake. It was AWESOME.
• The boys started baseball practice. Their teams and coaches are AWESOME.
• Emma started a new high school. Her teachers and the culture there – AWESOME.
• Our homeschool year began. My boys are doing AWESOME. Our community is AWESOME.
• One Final Breath releases in a few days. Y’all. My 5th book. AWESOME.

Are you sensing a theme here? August was AWESOME! Right? 

Um . . . Yes . . . But . . .

August brought a lot of change to our family and especially to my personal routine, and here’s a fun fact for you: I don’t have a great relationship with change. It takes me longer than your average bear to regain my footing after any sort of upheaval. I get there. But it’s work, and I can’t say I enjoy it. At all.

I’m exhausted – physically, mentally, and creatively. For reasons that don’t show up on a list of highlights, that don’t make it into social media posts, that aren’t shared with the world, August has just been hard. 

But as August bows out and September takes the stage, the thing that I am most overwhelmed by isn’t the chaos and confusion.

It’s the grace.

Y’all. God is so good. In the past week, He has showered me in grace.

Subtle, quiet grace.

The grace of my mother-in-law having Emma spend the night with her. The grace of friends jumping in to help with the boys when I unexpectedly had to pick Emma up early from school this week.

The grace of a friend quietly saying, “The Lord has already gone before you” in some initial moments of confusion. The grace of takeout for dinner. The grace of a friend joining me for a long drive.

The grace of beautiful music and talented artists. The grace of coffee, chocolate, and grocery delivery.

The grace of the postal employee (shout out to Mindy at the Ace Hardware post office on Woodruff Road) whose kindness and willingness to offer a solution to what would otherwise have sucked an hour of my life away, quite literally brought me to tears.

A week ago, I told some friends that while I knew God was in control, the knowledge was all in my head. I knew it. I just couldn’t feel it. And I asked them to pray that the certainty of God’s presence and plan during this season would move from my head to my heart.

He has more than answered that prayer.

He is so, so good.

Let those who fear the LORD say, “His steadfast love endures forever.” Out of my distress I called on the LORD; the LORD answered me and set me free. The LORD is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me?

~ Psalm 118: 4-6 (ESV)

The post When August Angst Gives Way to So Much Grace appeared first on Lynn H. Blackburn.

Hey y’all!

I shared this photo on my FB author page and Instagram earlier today and I’m thrilled with how excited y’all are about One Final Breath!

I also did a video (how goofy do I look in this thumbnail?!) with a little bit of  “behind the scenes” information and a few questions for my readers.

I’d love for you to check it out and give me your thoughts!

One Final Breath releases September 3, 2019, and is available for pre-order at your favorite bookseller!

Grace and peace,

The post One Final Breath – Final Edits appeared first on Lynn H. Blackburn.

Do you BookBub? 

Here’s the description from the BookBub site…

BookBub is a free service that helps you discover books you’ll love through unbeatable deals, handpicked recommendations, and updates from your favorite authors. BookBub doesn’t actually sell books. We simply introduce you to books you’ll love that are available on retailers like Amazon’s Kindle store, Barnes & Noble’s Nook store, Apple Books, and others.

When you sign up, you choose which genres you’re most interested in and which authors you want to follow, and then you’ll receive a daily email with a listing of books that are curated to appeal to you, and that are steeply discounted. Typical e-reader prices are less than $3.

If you do most of your reading on an e-reader, BookBub is a slam dunk. You’ll receive an easy to scan email every day with book deals that are designed to appeal to you.

But what if e-readers aren’t really your thing? I get that! I didn’t jump on the Bookbub train right away because while I do read on a Kindle from time to time, I prefer the feel of a book in my hand.

But I’ve found BookBub to be an excellent resource for several reasons:

1. It’s a great way to try out a new-to-me author. Sometimes $15 is a bit much to spend on the unknown. But $1? I can take a chance on an author for $1!
2. Author updates! I follow my favorite authors on BookBub, and BookBub sends me an email whenever they have a new release. They also will send me recommendations from my favorite authors.
3. Sale priced e-books can often be used to land steeply discounted audio books. What? Follow me on this. When you purchase a book on Amazon, it is not uncommon to see an “add Audible” option. While many audio books run $20+, when you purchase the e-version for $1.99, you can often grab the Audible version for an additional $3-$9. You wind up with both the e-version and the audio version for under $10! THAT is a STEAL! (And an Audible account is NOT required). I have recently fallen in love with audio books, so this feature has been a game changer for me!

So why am I talking about BookBub now? Well, it turns out that the e-version of Beneath the Surface, Book 1 in the Dive Team Investigations series, is currently discounted to $0.99 (and sometimes as low as $0.79) and if you follow me on BookBub (@LynnHBlackburn), you should see something about that later this week (3/27/19). And at the time of this post (3/24/19), you can add the Audible version of Beneath the Surface for just $7.49 which will land you both the e-version and the audio version for less than $10.

If you already have your copy of Beneath the Surface, THANK YOU! If you don’t, this would be a great time to claim one before the price goes up in April.

Grace and peace,

The post Do you BookBub? appeared first on Lynn H. Blackburn.

It’s time to edit the third book in the Dive Team Investigations series. While this is exciting and wonderful because it means that this book is getting closer and closer to being in the hands of readers, I have to say that, well, editing and I don’t have the best relationship. Please note that I said editing – not to be confused with editors – my editors are amazing and I’m extremely thankful for them!

As I’ve been processing my feelings toward this part of the process, I wrote this prayer and I thought I’d share it with you. I’d be honored if you would pray with me over the next two weeks as I dive into this story and try to make it all it can possibly be.

Dear Heavenly Father,

It’s me. Again.

I’m dreading this. Again.

Dreading opening the file and seeing all the places I got it wrong. All the places my meaning was murky and my words were misunderstood. 

I’m dreading the hours of work ahead. The rewording, rearranging, and rewriting. 

I’m dreading having my mistakes pointed out to me—over and over and over again.

Deep in my core, I want perfection. 

In some ways, I know it’s because that’s what I was created for. A perfect world where every day began—and ended—with no mistakes in it.

But the same sin that ended that perfect place also corrupted my desires. 

Now, my perfectionism is more about control. More about saving face. More about longing to be be impressive. More about the desire to be praised than about the desire to put something into the world that will draw others to praise You. 

Father, pry my fingers from my words. Open my hands and my heart to the beauty that is waiting on the other side of this journey. Open my mind and my will to make changes that will better convey the story that You gave me, the story that You want told. 

Jesus, thank you for dying and rescuing me from my own tiny world where I want to reign and rule. Thank you for living now and interceding on my behalf, even when I regularly try to take the throne away and sit on it myself. As I dive into this story would you, the Word made flesh, fill my mind with the words that will best draw readers closer to You?

Spirit, I long for a fresh breath of Your creative power. I need You to give me the desire to do this work with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength. And when I falter, to remind me that all things are possible through You.

I’m so thankful that You’ve already gone before me into this day, into this story, into the future where readers will someday join me on this journey. You’ve proven yourself faithful—time and time again—as I wrote this story. Why would I doubt that You will be faithful as I finish it? Please help me see this part of the process, not as a painful necessity, but as a glorious opportunity to make every chapter, scene, paragraph, and word, matter for eternity. 

To You, the Author and Finisher, be the glory.

Amen

The post A Prayer for Editing appeared first on Lynn H. Blackburn.

For my first post of 2019, I thought it might be fun to share some of my “what worked/what didn’t work” list with you. 

I got this idea several years ago from Anne Bogel (Modern Mrs. Darcy). It’s simple and filled with grace. This isn’t a “beat yourself up over your mistakes” method, but a calm approach to evaluating what is or isn’t working so that you can work to eliminate the negatives and repeat the positives. I like to use this method of reflection to help me think well about everything from vacations to book launches. (If you’re a writer, you might find this post interesting- it’s about how I use this method for my writing life). 

Here are a few things that made my lists for 2018.

What worked, and what didn’t work for me in 2018. #NewYear #DiveTeamInvestigations
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What Didn’t Work for Me in 2018

Scrolling. I’m embarrassed to admit this, but my phone and I have an unhealthy relationship. It’s just so easy to scroll—when I’m tired, when I’m frustrated, when I’m bored. How many hours of my life have been lost to … what? The latest Instagram post? Don’t get me wrong. I enjoy social media and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with letting your mind disconnect and scrolling aimlessly. For a little while. But I found that it was becoming my default—standing in line at Costco, waiting on my kids’ during sports practices, at the end of a long day. There are much better ways I can spend that time. 

Not Reading Enough. I love to read. I was a reader before I became a writer. Books are my first love and best friends. Oh sure, I read my own words over and over and over again, but I didn’t spend enough time reading other people’s words. 

Traveling. I love to travel. But this fall I scheduled too many trips in too short a period of time. It wasn’t good for me or my family. Lesson learned. 

Running on Empty. I’m a very task-oriented person and it’s hard for me to give myself permission to relax when there’s work to be done. But when I don’t take the time to recharge my tanks—creatively, emotionally, spiritually, physically—I can’t do anything well. 

What Worked for Me in 2018

Audiobooks. I’m a visual learner and audiobooks are not my favorite way to consume stories and information, but they totally count as reading, and in the last half of 2018 I finally jumped on the Audible bandwagon. I’m so glad I did. Not only did my kids and I enjoy listening to books as we ran errands and zipped back and forth from ballgames, but I was able to “read” while I did laundry and cooked dinner. 

Saying No. I hate to say no to people. Truly hate it. But 2018 was the year I learned to say No more than I said Yes. Finally. There’s something very freeing about knowing your calling and knowing when saying no is the right thing. 

Learning New Things. I learned to scuba dive (barely – you can read my thoughts on the beginner life here) and I learned to crochet (you can read about that here). There’s something both terrifying and frustrating about being a beginner, but it’s also so rewarding. 

Choosing to Fuel My Creativity. My sister and I purchased season tickets to the Broadway series at our local performing arts center. It was a splurge and it felt very indulgent, but three shows in (and five more waiting on me in 2019) and I’m already planning for next year. I know that live performances are one of the best ways to recharge my creative well. Having set times to do that, already on the calendar and paid for, has already proven to be a true investment in my career. Plus, it’s just a lot of fun! 

As we dive into the new year, I’m contemplating all of these things (and many more) as I prayerfully consider what 2019 needs to look like.

I hope you’ll continue to join me on this journey! It’s going to be fun!

Grace and peace,

The post 2018 In Review – Here’s What Worked and What Didn’t appeared first on Lynn H. Blackburn.

I hope many of you were able to participate in the Fall Christian Fiction Scavenger Hunt over the weekend! Over 1000 readers made their way through the entire hunt!

If you signed up for my blog posts or newsletter or liked my author page, followed me on Twitter or Instagram, commented on the post – whatever you did, I am truly thankful and I’m so glad you’re here!

I wanted to pop into your inboxes and feeds to let you know that I’ve drawn the winners for the giveaway I held on my site during the scavenger hunt.

The winners are:

• T. Kzoe – First prize! A copy of Beneath the Surface and In Too Deep as well a $20 Amazon gift card.
• Natasha E. – Second prize! A $15 Amazon gift card.
• Karen M. – Third prize! A $10 Amazon gift card!

The winners have been notified by email and prizes will be headed their way this week!

Grace and peace,

The post The Winners Are… appeared first on Lynn H. Blackburn.

Welcome to the Christian Fiction Scavenger Hunt! If you’re just joining us, the hunt begins at www.LisaBergren.com, with Stop #1. If you complete the loop of 26 stops, writing down the clue on each author’s site, you can enter to win all 25 books as well as Amazon gift cards, an iPad and more!

Without further ado, it’s my pleasure to introduce you to my guest for the Scavenger Hunt, Cara Putman.

I was thrilled to join Cara on a panel at ACFW this past September. She is outgoing and kind and possibly the most energetic woman I’ve ever met!

Cara’s romantic legal suspense is gripping–you don’t want to miss it!

Here’s her professional bio: Cara Putman is the award-winning, best-selling author of more than 30 books. Her current novels are ripped from the headlines romantic supsense. You can read first chapters at www.caraputman.com/books.

Here’s the summary of her latest book: 

She had long given up the desire to be loved. Now she only needed to be heard. Jaime Nichols went to law school to find the voice she never had as a child, and her determination to protect girls and women in the path of harm drives her in ways both spoken and unspoken. As Jaime, now a criminal defense attorney, prepares to press charges against someone who wronged her long ago, she must face not only her demons but also the unimaginable forces that protect the powerful man who tore her childhood apart.

You can purchase this book at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, ChristianBook or your local bookstore.

And here’s her EXCLUSIVE content that you’ll only find in this hunt!

Building Deep Characters

Writing is hard work. To give readers an emotional experience I have to dig deep. I’ll need to cry. I’ll want to chortle. For any emotion to resonate, I have to be willing to go there.

For some books that’s relatively easy. I’m writing a book set in WWII on the home front. There’s rationing. There’s boys going to war. But there’s also dances. And games. And the importance of family.

Then there are the books that require deep things from me. Delayed Justice was one of those books. Jaime Nichols was a character who was shy to make her story known. In Beyond Justice, she said a few snarky lines and gratefully slid into the shadows. In Imperfect Justice, she hinted at darker secrets, but kept her difference. But in Delayed Justice her story erupted. It oozed with pain and angst…and to get her to a point of healing and hope, I had to walk through the pain, too.

That meant I had to research the lingering effects of childhood abuse on adults. I had to explore the trauma’s impacts in emotional and physical ways. I had to talk with survivors and read their stories, so I could honor their experience in the telling of Jaime’s. I also wanted to write the story in a way that conveys hope without triggering those who may have experienced the painful realities.

To do that I balanced Jaime’s journey with her stand-offish cat Simba and a lovable Golden Retriever named Aslan. The two of them provided comic relief and a mirror for the growing friendship between Jaime and Chandler Bolton. The animals also reflect the shifting nature of Jaime’s spiritual journey. I also surrounded Jaime with friends, and made sure she couldn’t escape one. It was impossible for her to continue to hide behind a mask when Caroline is around. We all need friends like that, don’t we?

Thanks for stopping by the hunt! Before you go, make sure you WRITE DOWN THIS CLUE: 

Secret Word: those

Got it down?? Great! Your next stop is #22, Cara Putman’s site!

But before you go, I’d love for you to take a moment to enter the giveaway I’m doing! You can win one of three great prizes!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The post Christian Fiction Scavenger Hunt Stop #21 appeared first on Lynn H. Blackburn.

Hey y’all!

I’ve been gone a LONG time – but I’m back!

I can’t imagine a better way to get things rolling for the release of In Too Deep than by sharing this fabulous book trailer with you!

The team at Revell did an awesome job!

I can’t wait to hear what you think!

There’s going to be a lot more to talk about over the next few weeks!

Stay tuned!

Grace & peace,

The post The In Too Deep Book Trailer is HERE! appeared first on Lynn H. Blackburn.