A Free Book and an Excerpt

Do you need reading material? Well, I’ve got it for you – six full-length novels, two novellas, and two short stories.
 
You see, one of the things I noticed about the COVID-19 crisis is that people have discovered my first novel, Saint Maggie on the subscription program Kindle Unlimited.
 
My goal when I write is to offer up the power of hope, stubborn love, open ears (and sometimes closed mouths), and positive action through my characters. By setting the Saint Maggie series in mid-1800s USA, my characters find themselves walking through issues that still are echoing around us today.
 
I want two things for you, my lovely readers, especially during this pandemic. I want to give you a form of escape. But moreover, I want you to understand that this is not the first time that people have found themselves in the midst of a massive crisis. This has happened in the past and will happen in the future. What matters is not the crisis itself, but how human beings respond to it. And I believe that realistic hope, love, and faith are the best ways for us to respond. Kindness and acceptance, rather than anger and polarization, are the keys.
 
In light of the above, I made a choice to make the Saint Maggie series and my lonely little contemporary romance, Heart Soul & Rock’n’Roll, as affordable as possible during this time. Alas, I cannot lower the price of my paperbacks. If I did, it would cost more to ship them than to buy them!
 
That said, I have lowered the books' prices on Kindle. I won’t get much of a royalty – somewhere between 35 and 70 cents per download, depending upon whether the purchase is a full-length novel or a shorter book. But we’re all in this together, I want to do what I can, and what I can do is write books with engaging characters and stories.
 
So until the crisis is over Saint Maggie, Walk by Faith, A Time to Heal, Seeing the Elephant, and A Good Community, as well as Heart Soul & Rock’n’Roll are available for $1.99 each; The Enlistment, The Great Central Fair, The Dundee Cake, and The Christmas Eve Visitor, are all priced at $0.99.
 
Also, if you’re willing to wait a bit, I have started doing promotional events. Certain books will be free on Kindle for five days at a time. I have already done this with Saint Maggie, and the promotion got the book into more hands. Now, starting April 10 (today) through April 15, Walk by Faith, will be free on Kindle. And I plan to list a new freebie every three to four weeks.
 
Of course, if you have a Kindle Unlimited subscription, my books have always been free there.
 
The first half of Walk by Faith details why and how Maggie, Eli, and their extended family move from Blaineton, NJ to Eli’s hometown of Gettysburg, PA. But there's a problem with that. It is 1863. Of course, we all know what happened in Gettysburg in July, but my characters do not. Eli thinks everyone will be safe in his old family home. However, the town, which lies in Union territory, is soon invaded by Confederate forces. The story moves between Chester Carson and Eli’s experience covering the war as field news correspondents, and the experience Maggie and the family are having in Gettysburg.
 
Below is an excerpt, Maggie’s journal entry on the second day of the battle. You’ll see how she struggles to understand the new reality into which she has been thrust, the needs of her family and the wounded men in her house, and her changing perceptions of Confederate soldiers.

If you’re interested, please download the book for free between today through April 15:
https://www.amazon.com/WALK-FAITH-Saint-Maggie-Book-ebook/dp/B01DGZ2P80/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=janet+r+stafford+walk+by+faith&qid=1586522897&sr=8-1
 
 
Meanwhile, I’ll be back on Monday with my personal adventure with face masks!
 
 
Until then, be safe, stay home, and love one another.
 
 
Janet Stafford