Adult Review – Novelist in November – anthology

Roth, Kellyn. Novelist in November. Wild Blue Yonder Press, 2024.

Guide to Categories – Adult Review – review of books for adults – may or may not be appropriate for a school library

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About the Stories

Novelists in November

a Wild Blue Wonder Press anthology

Novelists in November is a Christian short story collection featuring eleven emotional tales of authors finding their calling in Christ and pursuing hope, joy, and inspiration. This anthology contains touching stories from contemporary and historical fiction authors with a mix of romance, women’s fiction, and mystery!

Melting-Pot Thanksgiving by Andrea Renee Cox

Can she create the Imperfect Perfect Thanksgiving?

Sarah Jones has many responsibilities on her plate, but Thanksgiving wasn’t supposed to be one of them. When asked to host the holiday, she can’t push aside the task, even if it means dealing with her mother’s interference. As Sarah juggles meal preparations, a tight writing deadline, and guiding her two foster children through difficult life events, she must also find the courage to buck high expectations and family traditions. 

Will the trials of strained communication, disappointment, heartache, and altered plans strengthen Sarah’s God-given novelist dreams? Will this imperfect yet dutiful daughter find a way to craft the perfect Thanksgiving dinner?

And As She Talked by Bethany Willcock

Nestled deep in the English countryside, Mossfern Lodge promises quiet and rest. After World War Two tore apart her family a few years ago, author Autumn Greenwood is searching for inspiration and peace. She’s eager to spend time with her brother and nieces at their picturesque inn, while at the same time being able to lose herself in writing and illustrating her historical fiction novel. Her young nieces love having her read aloud her book to them every day after she writes, but Autumn’s peace is soon shattered into terrifying reality when suddenly her novel starts seemingly coming to life around her. To make matters worse, she’s apparently the only one able to see it …

Reasons to Be Thankful by Hannah E. Gridley

Josie doesn’t know what her purpose is anymore, since a tragic accident ripped her away from everything she loved most.

All Josie has left of her old life is her husband Frank; even her little son wasn’t able to enter witness protection with them.  As she struggles to find something meaningful to do as a homebound disabled woman, she’s distraught when her second novel is plagued by unexpected crippling writer’s block.  Her deadline looms and her agent threatens to end her career for good if she can’t fulfill her contract.  Worse yet, Frank has to go on an extended work trip just before Thanksgiving, leaving a stranger to come into her home to help her do the cleaning, driving, and other tasks she can no longer do herself.  Will Josie be able to get past her fear of rejection and open up to letting Tabitha befriend her?  Will the shakeup of her home life ruin or mend her broken story?

Act in the Living Present by Katja H. Labonté

Myriam Carey is searching for a purpose. She has no interest in the cold, shallow world of her fashionable parents. Writing a novel sounds like a good use of her time, but the creative juices have stalled, and now she has all the time in the world to face and question her future. When her brother returns from university and suggests a walk, Myriam agrees, and presently finds herself visiting his old nursemaid. Perhaps the wise old Québécois woman holds the key to true success in life… if only Myriam can find it. 

In a short story reminiscent of Frances Hodgson Burnett’s The Secret Garden and A Little Princess, explore 1934 Québec and the conflicting questions of young adulthood.

My Heart Still Sings by Faith D. Cox

Seventeen-year-old Kaylee McKenzie has her heart set on winning a Summer Olympics gold medal—not creating a fake protagonist for a writing contest with a bunch of geeks. However, during an afternoon adventure, her lifelong swimming dream is ripped away. As she struggles with physical limitations and grief, will her friends remain by her side? Will she become a swimmer-turned-novelist or hide in her wheelchair as the world passes her by?

Tollemache House by Kellyn Roth

Newlywed Effie Harriot needs to write a novel. However, with no ideas and even less motivation, she struggles to put pen to paper. This inspirational drought is made worse by the fact that her romance-authoring endeavors are supposed to help support her family … and keep them off the path to ruination.

Already behind on her deadlines, and afraid her upper-class London audience will soon grow bored with her, Effie needs to finish her next novel by the end of November. With that kind of pressure, how could anyone write? When her new brother-in-law suggests she retreats to his estate with his prickly wife, Effie agrees. Perhaps writing in the misty, rainy countryside will be just the thing to spark her creativity and bring forth a novel this November.

Finding Beauty in the Suffering by Katie Zeliger

When Rowena’s father passed away, her heart turned cold toward God, and she abandoned the one thing they both cherished—writing. But when her best friend, Laney, books a surprise trip to a NaNoWriMo retreat in the heart of Germany, Rowena finds herself at Chateau Chambéry, a cozy yet haunting castle filled with strange artists and writers.

Amidst writing workshops and lessons on healing through storytelling, Rowena is confronted with her unresolved pain. As tensions rise with fellow creatives, can Rowena face her inner turmoil and the God she ran from, or will the conflict force her to run further from the God she knew?

The Lost History of Lavender Lockbourne by Shira J. Rodriguez

It’s November 20, 1984, and Lavender Leoni’s time is running out.
A bestselling romance author struggling with social anxiety, she’s been diagnosed with terminal leukemia just  two weeks shy of her twenty-sixth birthday. Or what she assumes to be her birthday. Her only hope of ever tracing her lost family hinges on a single locket left in the box where her adopted parents found her while on a trip to Yorkshire, England. As her fate ticks down, she sets out on a journey back to her birthplace to unearth her lost history, where the answers—or the lack of them—may haunt her for the rest of her life.

Pages of Grace by Heather Flynn

Emilee Claymont may be a modern working woman, but she feels empty inside. Her passion for writing, her creativity, and just her energy in general are feeling drained these days. She feels like a ship lost at sea without a purpose anywhere in sight. As she challenges herself to write for National Novel Writing Month, she is faced with romance surprises and work decisions. With the help of friends, will Emily begin the journey of rediscovering her joy in writing again? Will she grow deeper in her faith in God?

The Sound of Healing by Avrie Swan

Rebeka Wagner is haunted by memories of the past, desperate to forget the things that linger at the back of her mind. There is only one way to escape the shadows, and that is through writing. Rebeka spends her days putting pen to paper, determined to win a contest being hosted by her favorite radio station. However, it will take more than fairytales to gain the peace she desires. Will Rebeka find a way to put the memories to rest, or will she forever be trapped in the events of one past November? 

Between Moor and Mountain by Kelsey Bryant

Leslie Fraser believes she will never write again.

At thirty years old, she feels like her life is going nowhere. Six months ago, she broke out of an emotionally abusive relationship, but not in time to save her dreams or her once deep friendship with God. With her family’s help and insistence, she follows through on just one longtime desire—going to Scotland to stay with a family friend for three weeks in late autumn. Can two special people, the mystical landscape, and a famous painting draw her back to a life she thought she’d never return to?

Purchase Novelist in November on Amazon – https://amzn.to/3ZSAvou

My Adult Review

I love anthologies with a theme. Novelist in November is a collection of stories with the theme of authors writing a book in November. The genre range from historical fiction in several eras to more modern day. Most of the stories run around 40 pages – short enough to read in one sitting.

Even if you are not an author, you will find encouragement in the stories. The authors in these stories deal with every day challenges (or in some cases tragedies) like you and I which, in their cases, play a role in the stories they are trying to write. In every case the author gets their book finished in spite of life events. 

While written for adults, teen authors may be encouraged reading this anthology. The authors of the stories in Novelist in November are all young authors. There is nothing to keep Novelist in November from being placed in a K-12 Christian school.

I received a complimentary copy of Novelist in November. This is my honest review. 

About the Authors

Andrea Renee Cox

Born and raised in north Texas, Andrea Renee Cox is a born-again child of God who enjoys writing stories that inspire, copyediting fiction manuscripts, tutoring middle school students, and going on road trips with her family. Whether she’s working on historical or contemporary, women’s fiction, romance, or romantic tragedy, she uses her skills in research and writing techniques—as well as a large dose of prayer and guidance from God—at every turn in the journey to produce the best story of her ability every single time. Her books may be found on her website, and readers are welcome to follow her blog and subscribe to her newsletter for the latest updates in her journey. 

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/author/andreareneecox
Blog: https://andreareneecox.com/blog/
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/andrea-renee-cox
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/andreacox
Newsletter: https://andreareneecox.com/newsletter/
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/andreareneecoxauthor/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/screenwriter87
Website: https://andreareneecox.com

Bethany Willcock

Bethany Willcock is a Christian South African homeschool-grad who loves cats, coffee, classical music, history, and all things vintage and retro. She lives in a seaside cottage and runs a home bakery called BakerStreat, named after the classic Sherlock Holmes books. When not in the kitchen she spends most of her time finding ways to combine her favourite book genres, mystery and historical fiction, into new stories with God-honouring themes. Her books are mostly set during the Edwardian age and the 1940s. 

When not writing or obsessively researching new story ideas, Bethany can be found book shopping, painting, reading, playing the piano, cover designing, and crocheting, usually with a mug of coffee in hand and cat by her side.

Website: www.vintagevolumesblog.weebly.com
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/bethanywillcock
Pinterest: https://pin.it/44YJ0RbUA
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bethanywillcock_author
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bethany.willcock.1?mibextid=ZbWKwL

Hannah E. Gridley

Hannah Gridley is a lifelong bookworm and lover of words.  After writing her first story at age 9, in order to fix a disappointing ending of a loved book, she found the written word addictive.  She’s a great lover of vintage, suspense, mystery, and family stories; you can find many of those elements in her writing.

When not involved in the written word via book or notebook, you can find her in the garden trying to harvest more veggies than she kills, or dealing with a never-ending to-do list of life as a church employee and a music teacher.

Substack: https://open.substack.com/pub/hannahscreative/p/making-a-beginning?r=1ie55c&utm_medium=ios

Katja H. Labonté

Katja H. Labonté is a bilingual French-Canadian, which is wonderful and very difficult, and although she doesn’t call herself a Mixed Culture Kid, she certainly is one. To make things more interesting, her first name is Scandinavian, which causes some difficulties… francophones skip it entirely in favour of her middle name; anglophones can’t pronounce it at all; both tend to misspell it; and both also tend to misread it as Katie. But she loves how it looks when it is hand-written, so she doesn’t complain too often; and she is more than willing to accept nicknames.

Katja’s main points are that she’s a disciple of Jesus Christ with a deep love for words; an extreme bibliophile who devours over 365 books a year; and an exuberant writer with a talent for starting short stories that explode into book series. She was homeschooled all her life the Charlotte Mason way and graduated university as a copyeditor, which gives her both heart-eyes happiness and hair-pulling frustration. She spends her days obsessing over dozens of topics she’s excessively passionate about and discussing with anyone long-suffering enough to participate (and that’s why she writes books and blog posts). For a more complete list of her obsessions (we didn’t even mention Sherlock Holmes or the Titanic yet), head over to littleblossomsforjesus.wordpress.com.

You can also find her on …
~ Amazon ~ Goodreads ~ BookBub ~ Instagram ~ Facebook ~ Newsletter ~ Pinterest

Faith D. Cox

Faith D. Cox discovered her love of writing with a fourth-grade class assignment. She carried around her spiral notebook for weeks and penned the story. She followed her dream and now, many years later after homeschooling children and having an after-school tutoring business, she is a published author and a multi-award-winning professional screenwriter of family-friendly, heartwarming works. Faith writes children’s and middle grade books along with women’s fiction, romance, and tragedy.

Faith and her husband live in Texas and have two daughters. Faith has a heart of compassion and is devoted to God, family, and writing as she shares God’s love to encourage, inspire, and entertain through laughter and tears.

Website: https://faithdcox.com
Blog: https://faithdcox.com/blog/
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/author/faithdcox
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/faith-d-cox
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/faithdcox
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm14439650/
Published Books/Links: https://faithdcox.com/books/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/FaithDCox

Kellyn Roth

Kellyn Roth is the author of ten historical romance novels with strong Christian themes, a touch of humor, and messy situations that put the main characters through the wringer and force them to face hard questions. Her stories include The Chronicles of Alice and Ivy, a Christian Victorian family saga. Her goal is to create stories that matter, to delve into the deepest and sometimes the saddest parts of life, and to return from the darkest valleys resplendent in the light of hope and the fullness of joy. When not building her author career, Kellyn is likely drinking iced coffee with her husband, getting lost somewhere in the Pacific Northwest with her friends, or watching period dramas and facetious comedies with her border collie.

Website: https://kellynrothauthor.com/

Newsletter: https://kellynrothauthor.com/newsletter/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/kellynrothauthor 

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/author/kellynroth 

Instagram: https://instagram.com/kellynrothauthor/
Facebook: https://facebook.com/kellynrothauthor/

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/kellyn-roth 

Katie Zeliger

Katie Zeliger is a passionate storyteller and founder of Meraki Press, a hybrid publishing company. With eight years of missionary work in 16 countries and roles as an assistant director at a mental health drop-in center and an assistant pastor, Katie brings a unique perspective to her writing, enriched by deep compassion and understanding.

Katie’s quick-witted and heartfelt style in Christian young adult fiction explores themes of identity, purpose, and our relationship with God, aiming to remind readers that God’s love can overcome any challenge. Outside of writing, she enjoys cooking, deep conversations with friends, leisurely walks, crocheting, painting, and spending time with family.

Website: https://www.merakipress.org

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/katiezeliger

Instagram: https://instagram.com/katiezeliger
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kajb94/

Shira J. Rodriguez

Shira J. Rodriguez is a novelist, filmmaker, and podcaster who writes stories woven of words, wonder, and whimsy. Growing up in the company of Anne Shirley, David Copperfield, and the Pevensie children, she quickly fell in love with the magic of stories and the glorious beauty of a well-spun yarn as she nibbled on apples from her backyard tree and lost herself in a good book. (They may have turned her head a little.) 

When she’s not belting Broadway songs in her living room or perusing some new book that’s caught her fancy, you can find her on Her Reading Life Podcast, her home-away-from home where she invites you on a cozy virtual coffee date to talk all things writerly, inspirational, and bookish. You can also catch her on Instagram (@shirajrodriguez), where you can take a peek into her day or simply pop into her dm’s to have a bookish chat with a new friend.

FIND HER ON:

Website: bio.site/shirajrodriguez
Instagram: instagram.com/shirajrodriguez
Podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/herreadinglife/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@HerReadingLifePodcast
Pinterest: https://pin.it/2bqvC0qrL
Threads: https://www.threads.net/@shirajrodriguez 

Heather Flynn

Heather Flynn finds solace walking among the trees and trails, nurturing her love for God’s creation and the stories it holds. Heather’s passion lies in crafting Christian fiction that touches hearts and brings smiles. She enjoys both stories set in times of the modern day and way back into the days of old, especially around the time of the American Revolution. Her locally self-published devotional has resonated with readers, and she dreams of someday creating children’s picture books to inspire young minds. She is new to the publishing world but is enjoying the journey so far. Beyond writing, Heather enjoys various crafts, including jewelry making, photography, drawing, soap carving, and wood burning.

Website: https://heatherflynnauthor.weebly.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heather_flynn_author/

Avrie Swan

Avrie Swan is a Christian author and avid reader with a love for all things historical. Having grown up exploring antique stores and museums, she eventually decided to combine her interest in history with her love for writing and began working on her first full-length novel at the age of fourteen. She especially enjoys writing stories that focus on themes of family, faith, and growth through difficult times. When Avrie is not writing, she is watching old movies, collecting antique books, and hunting for agates. A native Wisconsinite, she enjoys spending the cold winters indoors with her cat on her lap and a good book in her hand.

Website: https://avrieswan.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/avrieswanwrites/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61555341827832&mibextid=LQQJ4d

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/avrieswan/

Kelsey Bryant

Besides writing and editing, Kelsey Bryant loves classic literature, traveling, and exploring the Jewish roots of her faith in Yeshua (Jesus). She and her husband make their home in the Texas Panhandle and enjoy hiking, visiting bookstores, and going to symphony concerts together. Among Kelsey’s favorite achievements are getting to see Jane Austen’s writing desk, becoming a black belt, and marrying her beloved. 

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