Save the Date by Ellen Fannan

 

Join us for this tour from Mar 1 to Mar 19, 2021! 

  Book Details:

Book Title: Save the Date by Ellen Fannan Category:  Adult Fiction (18 +),  329 pages Genre:  Fiction Romance 

Publisher:  Forget Me Not Romances, an imprint of Winged Publications 

Release date:   October 2020 

  Content Rating:  G.

Book Description: What if you were given the chance to rekindle the flame with your first love? What happened to all those girls who were mean to you in school? Should Hannah Jensen take the chance of attending her high school reunion to find out? Hannah hasn’t been back to her hometown in more than twenty years. Now, a widow, raising a teenaged daughter, she has the opportunity to go home for her twenty-fifth high school reunion. The invitation to the reunion stirs up a lot of old memories at the same time she is dealing with loneliness, the challenges of single-parenting a teenager, people who want to “set her up” with eligible men, her own insecurities, and her eccentric family. The story interweaves the present with scenes from Hannah’s past and her fantasy of “happily ever after” with her high school boyfriend in a humorous and entertaining manner. Her feelings from being “shunned” by the cool kids resurface as she reflects back on her time as a teenager. There are several roadblocks on Hannah’s journey from a teenager through her present. The growing pains and amusing situations in which she finds herself are ones to which we all can relate. As she walks the path of self-discovery, she also discovers the most important life lesson of all–her relationship to God.

And now check out this interesting interview with Ellen Fannan

Q: What inspired the story for your novel, "Save the Date"? A: I got the idea for “Save the Date” from a post on a “Classmates” website. The post started me wondering how some of the people in my class turned out, and set me on a journey of “what if?” Like the protagonist, Hannah Jensen in “Save the Date,” I moved away from my hometown over 40 years ago and have pretty much lost touch with everyone from my high school years.   

Q: What is the Christian message in the book? 

A: There is more than one Christian message, but the main message is the faith journey of a young girl, Hannah Jensen, who truly believes she is a Christian because she is a good person and goes to church. As a teenager, she is challenged with the Truth and must come to terms with what she has believed her whole life versus what she is learning in a different church (one she is only attending to please her boyfriend’s mother). One large stumbling block on her road to faith is another girl, Shelli Delgado, who attends that church. Shelli claims to be a Christian but doesn’t act like one. In fact, she has bullied Hannah for several years and made her life miserable. Because of Shelli’s hypocrisy, Hannah wrestles with what true faith looks like. She eventually must come to understand that her personal relationship with Jesus as her Savior must not be allowed to be influenced by other people’s actions.            

Q: How can non-Christians relate to the story?

A: “Save the Date” is humorous, entertaining, and very relatable to anyone contemplating attending a high school reunion. While hoping to reconnect with an old boyfriend, Hannah is, at the same time, apprehensive about running into old nemeses and reopening old wounds. As a widow raising a teenager, Hannah has a lot of issues to deal with, including well-meaning people who want to “fix her up,” eccentric family members, typical teenage drama with her daughter, and reminiscing about her own teenage years. Although not a typical love story, there are romantic elements in Hannah’s relationship with her high school sweetheart and, later, with her husband. Although humorous, there are deep, heart-wrenching emotional insights as well, such as grieving the loss of a spouse, the lasting impact of the actions of people who hurt her long ago, and the effect that Christian hypocrisy can have on non-believers. 

Q: You wrote a fictional book entitled "Other People's Children" about fostering, but was it really more of a memoir? Why or why not? 

A: There are definitely some portions of “Other People’s Children” that are true stories. (I’m not telling which!) Other parts are heavily fictionalized, or a combination of characters into a “composite child,” partially based on real children we fostered. 

Q: You have personally fostered over 40 children. What do you believe people who are considering foster parenting should know? 

A: Foster parenting can be one of the most rewarding, while, at the same time, one of the most difficult jobs you will ever do. It is not a job for the faint-hearted! I don’t think people realize what all is involved. First, there are several hours of training, background checks, letters of reference, and home inspections before one can be licensed for foster care. The paperwork is endless. Once licensed, foster parents are required to renew their license every year—which involves filling out more paperwork, more letters of reference, more home inspections, and more continuing education. Foster parents need to be flexible because their schedules will constantly be rearranged to accommodate children’s visits with their biological families, caseworker and guardian ad litem home visits, mandated doctor appointments and other child assessments. Many people are under the mistaken impression that foster parents make money from the stipends paid for fostering. If anything, they are lucky to break even. Foster care stipends don’t cover the entire costs of most daycares, and out-of-pocket expenses for school fees, field trips, extra-curricular activities, birthday and Christmas presents, and babysitting. If the child is sick, foster parents may have to take unpaid time from work and lose income. I went into foster parenting completely naïve and altruistic, and I don’t want other people going into this venture blindly, as I did. No amount of training can prepare you for the reality of foster parenting. Be prepared to have your heart broken. Be prepared to be content with never knowing what happened to the children you fell in love with once they leave your home. Be prepared to not have a say in the welfare of the children you have taken in, cared for, and loved, because the “system” knows best. Be prepared to fight for those children, regardless, because you may be the only advocate your foster children have. Be prepared to open your home and your heart; and be prepared to love, laugh, and make cherished memories, as this will be the most rewarding job you will ever do.

Buy the Book:

Amazon

 

Meet the Author: Award-winning author Ellen Fannon is a practicing veterinarian, former missionary, and church pianist/organist. She originated and wrote the Pet Peeves column for the Northwest Florida Daily News before taking a two-year assignment with the Southern Baptist International Mission Board. She and her retired Air Force pilot-turned-pastor husband have been foster parents to more than 40 children, and the adoptive parents of two sons. Her first novel, "Other People’s Children," is a humorous account of the life of a foster parent. She is a regular contributing author for One Christian Voice, and her stories have been published in the Chicken Soup for the Soul series as well as Lifeway’s Open Windows devotional booklets, among many other publications. Her third novel about a veterinarian entitled "Don’t Bite the Doctor" will be released in 2021. She lives in Valparaiso, Florida, with her husband, sons, and assorted pets. connect with author:  website ~ facebook ~ pinterest

---

Tour Schedule: Mar 1 – Working Mommy Journal – book spotlight . giveaway Mar 1 - Locks, Hooks and Books – book spotlight / giveaway Mar 2 – Pick a Good Book – book spotlight / author interview / giveaway Mar 3 - Book Corner News and Reviews – book spotlight / giveaway Mar 3 – Viviana MacKade – book spotlight / guest post / giveaway Mar 4 – Rockin' Book Reviews – book spotlight / guest post / giveaway Mar 4 - Lisa Everyday Reads – book spotlight / guest post / giveaway Mar 5 – Books Lattes & Tiaras – book spotlight / author interview / giveaway Mar 8 – Gina Rae Mitchell – book spotlight / giveaway Mar 9 – Jazzy Book Reviews – book spotlight / giveaway Mar 9 - Sefina Hawke's Books – book spotlight Mar 10 – Splashes of Joy – book spotlight / author interview / giveaway Mar 10 - Sadie's Spotlight - book spotlight / giveaway Mar 11 – Lisa's Reading – book spotlight / giveaway Mar 12 – From the TBR Pile – book spotlight / giveaway Mar 15 – Cover Lover Book Review – books spotlight / giveaway Mar 16 – Stephanie Jane – book spotlight / giveaway Mar 16 - Books for Books – book spotlight Mar 17 – StoreyBook Reviews – book spotlight / guest post / giveaway Mar 18 – Kam's Place – book spotlight / author interview Mar 19 – BookishKelly2020 – book spotlight

Enter the Giveaway:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

⇔

https://widget-prime.rafflecopter.com/launch.js