What’s a semiquincentennial? Celebrating America’s 250th in Fiction.

Welcome back to the Extra Edition newsletter!

What’s in this Edition:

America 250 – Celebrating our semiquincentennial
God Bless America – My favorite patriotic Christian Fiction books.
Releasing in June– Other authors’ new releases I’m most excited about.

America 250

My books deal predominantly with United States history, so of course, I think America’s 250th birthday is a big deal. My upcoming book, Astonished, also includes a fictional U.S. Senator and his run for the 1916 Presidency. Research for that was particularly interesting. Did you know that prior to the 1914 mid-term election, U.S. senators were appointed by the state government, rather than elected by the people? Or that presidential and vice presidential candidates were nominated separately rather than the presidential candidate choosing a running mate as is done today?

The unnecessarily long term for a 250th anniversary is a semiquincentennial. While I won’t be visiting Washington D.C. for the big day, I have been blessed to visit our nation’s capitol four times in my youth. In 8th grade, my family went for vacation and in high school, I visited three times with my youth group for the National March for Life. If you’ve never attended this pro-life march, I highly recommend making the trip in person, or at a minimum, watching the event online. The speeches and sheer size of the crowd is inspirational to witness. Here are a few pre-digital-era disposable camera photos from my past travels:

This year on July 4, I’ll be wearing my patriotic shirt which states, “Home of the Free Because of the Brave,” and praying for all those men and women who fight to keep our country safe.

God Bless America!

This month, I’ve seen several authors posting their favorite patriotic reads, so I decided to jump on the bandwagon. Here are some of my favorite Christian Fiction books that take place around the time of the American Revolution. (Note: I receive no compensation for featuring the books below.)

The Sugar Baron’s Daughter’s series by Lisa T. Bergren – 1772-1777 West Indies
The Molly Chase Series by Rhonda Ortiz – 1793 Boston
When the Day Comes by Gabrielle Meyer – Time Travel between 1774 Colonial Williamsburg and 1914 New York City
Many Sparrows by Lori Benton – 1774 Ohio-Kentucky Frontier
The Love Letter by Rachel Hauck – 1780 South Carolina & Present Day
Perpetual Rainbows by Jessika Caruso – 1776 New Jersey

Releasing in May & June

Need even more books? Here are this month’s (and last month’s) new releases. (Note: I receive no compensation for featuring the books below.)

Shipwrecked Faith by Danielle Grandinetti – Caught between duty, a dangerous past, and a budding love, Kellan and Sadie must rely on their newfound faith in each other and renewed faith in God to weather a shipwreck and a growing storm.
Ashes to Ashes by Hannah Hood Lucero – romantic suspense following Phee Flynn, in beginning the next generation of Hannah’s Sons of Vigilance series.
Breaking Triviality by Sarah Everest – The first book in a time travel serial from the 21st century to WWII Rotterdam
Uncharted Blessing by Keely Brooke Keith – The 16th book in her historical fiction/dystopian/magical realism series. This series is long but well worth it!
Someone to Lean On by Carrie Walker – As three adults seek control in their lives, a young child with no guarantees teaches them to trust. Book 3 in the Faith Endures series.

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