Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Contest Results

I'm here to announce the winner of Jaye L. Knights book, Resistance. The winner is.....


John Newton!!!! Congratulations John! 

His entry:

  "Come on, Carissa." I said for about the third time. "Mom and Dad are waiting for us. They specifically told us not to be late this time."
        "I'm almost done, so be quiet." Carisa replied from her room on the second floor. She trotted downstairs in a flutter of fabric. "I'll be right back," she said before disappearing into a room for who knows what.
        "We can't wait. Now come on!" Carisa could take the smallest thing, like getting ready for a fancy dinner party, and turn them into huge affairs. Okay, so a fancy dinner party at the castle isn't a small thing, but she still makes too big a deal out of it.
        Carissa finally came into the entry way. "Okay, I'm ready. Let's go." Finally.
        My sister and I walked out into the street where our carriage was waiting. As we paused by a bakery near the center of the city to let a carriage and a few people pass, I couldn't help but notice a young boy in a corner next to the bakery. He looked half starved. Before I could stop myself, I had jumped out of the carriage and run into the bakery.
        "What are you doing?!" Carissa cried after me, but I didn't take the time to answer her. I chose the biggest, warmest loaf I could find, paid for it and ran back outside. The boy was in the same spot where I saw him first. I slowly walked up to him. It wasn't till then that I noticed that there was a little girl huddled next to him. She looked up at me with a sad face. Her eyes grew large when she saw the bread and she nudged the boy to wake up. Remembering that I was late for a party, I lowered the bread into their awaiting hands and turned towards the carriage when I heard a voice. The little boy, seeing the bread in the little girl's hands and me walking away, yelled, "Thank you, and God bless you!" in my direction. A very polite little boy, to say the least--and a Christian. I silently offered up a prayer for the little faithful boy and his companion. I then turned, waved, and re-boarded the carriage. Carissa was smiling at me as I took my place across from her.
        "That was a very noble thing to do."
        "It was the least I could do."
        "To bad most of those kids don't have any hope." She said as people and buildings blocked the two children from view.
        "Yes they do." I replied. Carissa looked at me questioningly. "As long as they are alive, God will never forget them."
        "And as long as he has servants like you to help out." She added. A big grin spread across my face, and an idea started forming in my head.
        "I have an idea on how we can help the poor kids of this city." I said.

Second place goes to... Clare Farrelly!!! Thank you so much for your entry Clare!!
Her entry:

I had no hope. Why should I? What with a child on the way and two already that walked the streets hungry, and a husband who had left. Not that I blame him, and none may be better than an abusive one. My little ones had to beg for sustenance. I threw up whatever anyone had the kindness to give me. At least I could lie in the meagre privacy of our little curtained place, situated in the corner of the room we shared with three other families. Death would come to me warmly anyway.

Then the angel walked in. Without knocking, we had no door anyway. The spirits skin glowed in the dim light of the room. She bent over me. I had always thought dying would be more painful, and then nothingness, or torment, until I had paid for my life. A man angel rounded the curtain and together they lifted my feather weight and bore me away. I caught one last glimpse of my boy, tears dribbling out of his brown eyes, watching as I left, unable to do anything about it. I should have stayed for him, or for the little girl with bouncing black curls that I knew would be standing in the dirt somewhere, watching. I reached out to my boy and a moan escaped my lips then they were all gone. 

Light reflected off light blue walls. A sheet of crinkling white lay over and under me. The angels came and went. They fed me, and talked to me. They were not spirits but people like me; they just had different coloured skin. Now, I remember sometimes seeing other spirit coloured people before, but not often, they usually avoided us, especially women and others as poor and worthless as me.

These people who are not spirits are strange, they have strange ideas. They think I am worth something and they say that someone great loves me. But I know they are wrong. They say he sent them, but I have seen many to whom he has not sent them. I tell them there is no point in what they are doing, even if I get better, there is no hope. I have lost this child and I know not what has become of my others. Truly all I did have, that little, is gone.

Still they will not give up on either my health or my soul. I should not be frightened, someone they call God is watching me, but I have heard of God. He requires the life of people, of children, he is not good. Nevertheless they tell me stories, of a great creator who loves, everyone, even me. A Jesus who says; “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

They have made my body better, my spirit, not yet.  I can leave; I have to, so they can help others, show the love of their Jesus to more. That is why they help. I will go, but I am coming back. Ha that is also something their Jesus said. They say I am to come to the little house next to these rooms. There they will tell me and others more stories; stories that are true, or so they say. I will listen, because if they are true, I have hope.

Thank you so much everyone! =D 
 -Mikayla-

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Interview with Jaye L. Knight

Today I have the honer of presenting an interview with Jaye L. Knight!

Displaying JayeAuthorPhoto.jpg

Hello Jaye and welcome to Future Homeschool Authors!

Thank you so much for having me! Homeschooling and writing are one of my favorite mixes. ;)

First could you tell us a bit about yourself?

I’m currently in my mid-twenties (starting to get a little past that, actually, yikes), and a stay-at-home daughter. :) I’ve been writing full time for a couple of years now, and I also run an Etsy shop where I make and sell writing and book inspired jewelry. I’m 100% a country girl and love the outdoors . . . except in the winter. I am NOT a winter girl. That’s not so great when you live in the Northwoods of Wisconsin.

Why did you decide to be an author?

Blame my mom, haha. ;) She’s been writing since she was in her teens. When I saw her writing as I was growing up, it looked like so much fun that I had to try it too. There’s really no stopping once you start. I was about fourteen when I truly decided writing was what I wanted to do with my life. You can blame that one on J.R.R. Tolkien. After falling in love with The Lord of the Rings, I wanted to share my own stories like that.

What’s your favorite book?

The Lord of the Rings, of course. Although the Books of the Infinite series by R.J. Larson is pretty much tied with it. And then there’s Chasing the Lion by Nancy Kimball. I’m not sure I could pick between the three if I had to.

Who's your favorite Author?

Short answer: J.R.R. Tolkien. I wouldn’t be the author I am if not for him. Longer answer: I absolutely love R.J. Larson, Nancy Kimball, Wayne Thomas Batson, and Karen Witemeyer as well. It’s as hard to pick a favorite author as it is to pick a favorite book.

Can you tell us anything about the book you’re working on right now?

Well, I released Resistance, the first book of my new adult Christian fantasy series, Ilyon Chronicles, back in May. I am currently working on getting book two, The King’s Scrolls, ready to publish in February. That has consumed most of my time, but I am also working on writing book five of the series. Plus a super-secret project I can’t talk about yet. ;)

What were the best and worst parts of writing Resistance?

The best part was my main character Jace. He’s the best part in all the books of Ilyon Chronicles. :) He’s my favorite character I’ve ever written, and I just adore him. But I also like all the different relationship dynamics. There a quite a few characters, and the way they interact is always very interesting. The worst part was probably getting to know my main girl, Kyrin. It was really tough to get her right for a while. It turned out she was just missing her twin brother who didn’t exist when I first started the book. When he popped into my head one day a couple of months later, it changed everything, and Kyrin finally became who I always wanted her to be.

What is your favorite genre? 

Definitely fantasy. I do love a good historical novel. After all, that’s what Chasing the Lion is, but there’s something about fantasy that really draws me. I love discovering new worlds, and I find the characters in fantasy to be particularly interesting. I love to write fantasy because of the freedom and creativity in gives me. It’s so much fun to create different cultures, peoples, and creatures.

Do you do any research for you books? If you do, what are your main sources?

Yes, there is always some research involved, even writing fantasy. I research weapons, medical topics, and things like that. I have done some historical research for Ilyon Chronicles since it’s a very medieval type world, but also has a Roman feel to it. Probably one of my main resources would be Pinterest--not exactly for information, but more for inspiration. I put together a lot of story and character boards. I also put together boards for each of the races in Ilyon that really gave me a good sense of what each culture was like and has been very helpful in writing the series.

What do you like most about writing?

The characters. I’m very big on characters, whether it’s writing or reading. I love relationships--siblings, fathers and their children, romantic relationships, and both good and bad relationships. I love it when the characters take over and become so real. It’s amazing to have all these people with personalities, fears, talents, flaws, and histories, and then sit back and realize it all came from inside your mind. It’s really cool that God gave us that sort of creativity.

Any final thoughts? 


I’ve been publishing for almost eight years now, but it wasn’t until just this last year that I felt like I’ve finally achieved what I’ve been trying to accomplish with my writing. It takes a lot of time, learning, and trying, but you just have to keep on pushing forward and keep improving. It can get discouraging at times, but don’t give up. After all, if God gave you the gift of writing, you can be sure He’ll help you use it.

Also find her here: 



Wednesday, January 7, 2015

January Contest

Wow! I can not believe it is 2015! I am super excited to announce that the winner to our first Giveaway for 2015 will be awarded a copy of Resistance, by Jaye Knight. Second and Third place will get posted on the blog!


For January's Contest, please write short a story about Hope from this picture:


This story can be anywhere from 200-800 words. This short story is to be written in first person. For this contest we are going for a story that touches the heart and moves the soul to action. You want to be able to invoke emotion in your reader. Happy 2015! Be hopeful! Write on!

Then please take the time to look into this little guy's real story.