Author: Amanda Tero

Music has always been a part of Amanda Tero’s life–from her mom singing Steve Green specials to her dad honking out the rhythm of “Jingle Bells” in the driveway. She began teaching in 2007 and fell in love with sharing music. Amanda started arranging hymns for herself in her teens, with fast and furious advanced hymn settings. Then, as her students began requesting hymns at their levels, she branched out to hymn arranging for pedagogical reasons. Because of Amanda’s interest in various genres, in her shop, you will find hymn arrangements of various levels embracing classical elements, light jazz style, Southern Gospel flair, and more.

Five Book Series | Five Fall Favorites Day 3

Published on by Amanda Tero23 Comments

Day three–halfway through already!!

Hop on your bike and stop by Rebekah’s blog then continue traveling through all of the other lovely book bloggers. Better have a heavy-duty bicycle, cause I’m fairly certain your TBR list is going to be towering! Especially because today is series day… that means if everyone else is like me, I’m not recommending five books but five series which, in my case, is seventeen books!! 😮 

Don’t forget… there’s a giveaway at the end of the post!

Viking Quest Series by Lois Walfrid Johnson

I’ll start with a series for the kids. Out of all of Johnsons’ series (which, I do recommend them all, but that would be stretching the rules of “five favorites” just a little, but just so you have it, look up her Riverboat/Freedom Seekers series and Northwoods Series), this is the most kid-friendly. The other two series have a little more boy/girl stuff in them, but this one saved it until the last book, and even then, felt wholly acceptable.

These also happen to be the latest Johnson series that I’ve read so it’s freshest on my mind AND I have reviews of them on Goodreads.
Add to your Goodreads list here | Read my review of the entire series here | Individual reviews for book 1, book 2, book 3, book 4, book 5
Culper Ring Series by Roseanna White
  
The Culper Ring highly fascinated me. I do just like Roseanna White, I’ll admit. Some of these I liked more than others (book one is probably my favorite… I mean… Winter!!!). You can read my individual reviews on Goodreads.
Add to your Goodreads list for book 1, book 2, book 3 | Read my reviews for book 1, book 2, book 3

Time of Grace by Alicia Ruggieri
Have you ever read a series where all you could think was, “This was just the most sweet series ever?” That’s this series. Heart-aches and pain throb through the pages, but never without the hope of God’s grace.
 
Add to your Goodreads list here | Read my review here
Add to your Goodreads list here | Read my review here
 
Add to your Goodreads list here | Read my review here
Ancient Words by A.M. Heath
  
This series. If you like the War Between the States era, put these on your list. And even if you don’t, still put them on your list. 😉 Clean and historically accurate, these definitely belong on my top-five favorites list.
Add to your Goodreads list for book 1, book 2, book 3 | Read my reviews for book 1, book 2, book 3

Serena Jones by Sandra Orchard

  

I’m still trying to figure out why I like this series so much. 😉 There are a few elements that I usually don’t like (love triangles and not the most well-written for two), but they are just the kick-back-and-relax-and-read books. With a good bit of humor to boot.
Add to your Goodreads list for book 1, book 2, book 3 | Read my reviews for book 1, book 2, book 3 

Now for the fun part:
What are some of your favorite book series?

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thinking About Beta Readers…

Published on by Amanda Tero3 Comments
After the big news of last week (finishing this draft of Nat’s story), the rest of the week was a relatively quiet writing week. One day, I did have time to sit down and work some on writing—mainly, adding a little meat to some of the last few chapters of the story. But I still need to do that major read-through and final touch-up on Nat’s story before I send it off to beta readers.

Speaking of beta readers… 

Do you have a polite, critical eye? I am looking for ten beta readers for Nat’s story. If you’re interested in applying, please sign up here.

One exciting thing that I’m hoping to do this week, if the Lord allows, is take pictures of my “Nat” (a friend named Seth) for the cover!! I have a general cover-idea in my mind, but I kind of need a picture of my guy before I can really work on the final cover. I’m super excited about that. If you think about it, pray that Thursday afternoon is clear and that I have the wisdom to know exactly which shots to get.

How can I pray for you this week?


Five Clean, Christian Romance Books | Five Fall Favorites Day 2

Published on by Amanda Tero17 Comments

Welcome back to day two of Five Fall Favorites! Remember to hop by Rebekah’s blog for links to the other fun rooms in this party–and remember to keep your eye out for the book room, cause there’s something good there for you. 😉

Today I’m the backpack room!

I’m definitely a book packer and always bring at least two books with me anywhere I go–plus… my Kindle. You know, just in case an emergency strikes and I need more than one book to read. 😉

Five clean, Christian romance books… I’m definitely a huge component of CLEAN romance. There have been several books that I’ve shut because the romance wasn’t clean enough for me. So I’m really looking forward to seeing what the other bloggers have for this topic.

Love Comes Softly by Janette Oke

One almost can’t think Christian romance without thinking Janette Oke. And I’ve never had to put one of her books down because it’s taken me “into a bedroom scene.” She is clean. Very clean. And usually very Christian. I haven’t read this one since I started writing reviews, so I don’t have one (need to read it again, I suppose 😉 ), but you can still read it for yourself. 😉

Add to your Goodreads list here

A Home for my Heart by Anne Mateer

This one was one of those adorably sweet books. From what I remember, there were absolutely no uncomfortable romance scenes whatsoever. Actually, it didn’t strike me as primarily a romance… guess you’ll have to read it and figure out your thoughts. 😉
Add to your Goodreads list here | Read my review here

This book! ❤ I liked it very much! Of course, I've gotten to where I tend to like all of the Kim Vogel Sawyer books that I've read… 😉 But this one especially. If you've not read Kim Vogel Sawyer, it's a good one to start with!
Add to your Goodreads list here | Read my review here

Of course, a Roseanna White has to go on this list! Some of hers, I feel, are a little cleaner than others because in books (like The Reluctant Duchess) deal with situations that are for more mature readers. But this one. I really liked this one! 🙂
Add to your Goodreads list here | Read my review here
It’s been over a year since I read this, and I haven’t read other of Sundin’s books (my sister says that some of them have more detail than others), but overall, I remember really liking this one and finding it clean (a few references were made to past events, which you’ll see in my review)
Add to your Goodreads list here | Read my review here
Your turn!
What are some of your favorite clean Christian romance books?

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Five Historical/Bible Fiction Books | Five Fall Favorites Day 1

Published on by Amanda Tero19 Comments

Last year, I was a part of reader-blogger group who did this super duper fun “Five Fall Favorites” party. I’m happy to do it again! 

Before I get into my post, a huge, special thanks to Rebekah at Read Another Page for her hours of hard work putting this together! Visit her blog for her feature of today’s post and a nice, handy-dandy link to everyone’s blogs who are participating in Five Fall Favorites.


Today, I’d like to welcome you to my blog… for FFF today, I’m the book room which means…

A FREE BOOK!
Oh yeah, did I mention that this week also has a lot of fun stuff like free eBooks and giveaways? You are now informed. 😉
Today, one of my eBook short stories is free on Amazon. Since today’s theme is Historical or Bible Fiction, I thought it fitting to offer “Debt of Mercy” for Free.
Beyond that, at the end of the post is a giveaway… so you can either be like me and scroll all the way down and enter, or you can be polite and read through the entire post first. 😉
Now, my favorite part… talking about five of my favorite books in this theme (loosely using the word “favorite” here cause it’s almost impossible to choose actual favorites 😉 ). So get your Goodreads open and ready to explode your TBR pile!

A second year has been tough, cause I’m trying to think up books I did not feature last year, but still books that I like. I tend to keep my favorites for a long time and I just don’t usually get 30 new favorites in a year. 😉 But I think I managed to change about 50%.

Christ Arose by Faith Blum

Faith did an excellent job of writing the resurrection from the tomb’s perspective without adding too much creative license.
Add to your Goodreads list here | See my review here
The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Speare
My childhood favorite! It has been years since I’ve read this, but I have fond memories of reading and re-reading it!
Add to your Goodreads list here

The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare

I waited way too long to read this wonderful historical fiction book. Easy to read, captivating, and yes… I just loved it.
Add to your Goodreads list here | See my review here

The Last Sin Eater by Francine Rivers

I need to reread this so I can write a review on Goodreads. Many people stay away from this book because it sounds weird. For me, it was more of a beautiful concept of taking an old custom and comparing it to the truth of Scripture. It’s not for everyone, but everyone in my family who has read it has really enjoyed it.
Add to your Goodreads list here

Grace Triumphant by Alicia Willis

An excellent historical fiction book about the slave trade. Definitely action-packed, thought-provoking, and Christian.
Add to your Goodreads list here | See my review here

What are five of your favorites?
Whether Biblical fiction or historical fiction… what books do you like?

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Scripture Graphics #59

Published on by Amanda Tero2 Comments
In the day when I cried thou answeredst me, and strengthenedst me with strength in my soul. (Psalms 138:3)
How often do we doubt God’s ability to answer because His answer does not come exactly how we think it should? How often God sustains us and gives us grace to go through trials and troubles—is that not answer to our cries? God may not remove our trouble, but that does not mean He doesn’t hear us and answer our needs.


It is human nature to think first and foremost of the personal comfort of ourselves. How often do we desire answered prayer JUST for another reason to praise God?

James 1:5 reminds us that, if we lack wisdom, we can ask of God Who gives it liberally. The verses prefacing Proverbs 2:6 give a little more insight about being recipients of God’s wisdom. We are to receive His Words and hide His commandments in us (vs. 1), incline our ears to wisdom and apply our hearts to understanding (vs. 2), cry after knowledge and understanding (vs. 3), seek it as silver, search for it as hid treasures (vs. 4), and *then* verse five comes. We can’t just ask for wisdom and get it. If we truly want to know God’s wisdom, we won’t just pray occasionally for wisdom—we will saturate ourselves with God’s Word, which reveals His wisdom.

How often do we look at our substance (wealth, riches) and ask, “Am I glorifying God with this?”


If these are words from father to son, how much more important is it for us as God’s children to continually keep His Word in front of us?

Understanding Color in Photography | Book Review

Published on by Amanda Tero2 Comments
Since photography is one of my hobbies, I like to grab up photography books as they come up for review. I have found Bryan Peterson to be a helpful photographer author, so when I saw this book coming up, I grabbed the opportunity!
This was the easiest to read of Bryan Peterson’s books that I’ve read so far–possibly because it is relevant to any photographer (whereas other books, like his flash book, requires a little more advanced knowledge of equipment knowledge). It is easy to read, also, because there are so many images–which, for a photographer and visual learner, is a fantastic thing. I also found this to be helpful for me as a graphics designer. My favorite section was when Peterson and Schellenberg took each color of the color wheel and gave examples of photographing that color–as well as some handy tips on how to get the most vibrant color. Now I’m ready to go out and shoot some colors!
Quick disclaimer: there was one page of nude photography, so conservative photographers, be forewarned.

*I received this book from Blogging for Books and happily provided my honest review.*

Where Dandelions Grow | First Line Friday

Published on by Amanda Tero9 Comments
Today, I’m happy to feature a release by an Indie author. It was a cute story, an easy, short read.


What first line do you have for this week?

~*~*~
Be sure to hop along to all of these other blogs and see what First Lines they have to share!
Please note that I may not fully endorse all of the books that these bloggers read or the content in these blogs.

Rachel – Bookworm Mama
Andi – Radiant Light
Robin – Robin’s Nest
Kathleen – Kathleen Denly
Trisha – Joy of Reading
Jeanette – CJane Read
Iola – Iola Golton
Anna – Cross Romance
Alicia – A Brighter Destiny




My Review

I fell in love with Swallow Ridge–first by its name, and second, by its people. It was a sweet town, which fit right along with the sweet story of cousins being reunited.

I would hand this book over to any child with good conscience, seeing as there is no romance, suggested scenes, or questionable content.

The Christianity in this was slightly confusing. From what it appeared, Destiny was not a Christian, did not accept Christ, yet was able to “take the high road” and make changes apart from Christ (I could have missed something, but this is what my impressions were). When it came to the cousins and “Grams,” they had a solid faith and gave credit to God for their ability to live differently. Also, the church service… it was more of an inspirational, “do better” speech than a sermon (there were great points, just no Scripture and very little mention of God besides “putting God first”). It was definitely a Christian book, just some things weren’t quite clear to me.

This author is showing promise in her writing and I look forward to seeing how she grows in this talent.

*The author gave me a free copy of this book and I happily gave my honest review*

If you want to connect with the author…
Find her blog, Amazon, Goodreads

Interview with Lydia

Me: Did the idea for Where Dandelions Grow come as a punching idea of, “Hey, I’m a story you need to write, and here’s what I’m about” or more of a subtle suggestion?

Lydia: The idea of writing a book about cousins was very much of “punching idea” complete with names that wouldn’t let me go. Kamryn, Lexie, Destiny, and Teal swam around in my mind nonstop until the rest of the story eventually followed.  

Me:  What was your favorite part of writing Where Dandelions Grow?
Lydia: Having a story all about the bonds cousins have thrilled me because I really love my cousins. In addition to that, Where Dandelions Grow was my first young adult book, and I so0on discovered that it’s my favorite genre to write. 

Me: If you could sit across the table from any author and pick their brain about any subject in the world, who would it be, and what is the subject you’d most like to discuss?


Lydia: Ohh! Goodness, this is such a good question! I’d have a hard time picking between Brother Andrew and Patrica St. John. Since Miss Patrica is no longer alive though, I’ll go with Brother Andrew. He wrote the book “God’s Smuggler” (among other books), which talks about his life as a follower of God and a smuggler of Bibles behind the Iron Curtin. Sitting down and asking him for more stories about his life and how he’s seen God work would be utterly amazing. 

Guess what!!

Published on by Amanda Tero11 Comments
Last week was busy…as in not-home-all-week busy. But, at the same time, God allowed me to get some random writing time in. Then yesterday: my first day home in a week and I was seriously dragging. However…I wrote two very exciting words yesterday.
That’s right. Amidst a crazy busy schedule for the past two months, God has allowed me to make small steps of progress and I have reached the end of draft two for Nat’s story! This draft has finished with 74,308 words. I still need to do a final read-through and some tweaking (particularly toward the end) but it’s almost ready to hand out to beta-readers! I’m super excited and grateful to the Lord for this progress!! I honestly had begun to think that it would be December before I’d see these two words, but God is good.
What progress are you celebrating this week?

Scripture Graphics #58

Published on by Amanda TeroLeave a comment

No matter who we are, we are always responsible for how we keep God’s Word.


 Two anchors of Christianity that many people debate today: God’s presence and His truth. Where do we stand on the issue? Can we, as the Psalmist, state this with assurance?


Waiting for the Lord—in anything, at any stage—should never be hopeless desperation. Our waiting should be coupled with a calm, assured hope in His Word—for He is faithful that promised.

What one verse encourages you in a waiting time?