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Chautona Havig

Chautona Havig

Using story to connect YOU to the Master Storyteller

Why This Is My #1 Christmas Book Recommendation This Year

by Chautona Havig · 1 Comment

Author of Saving Ebenezer, S. Daniel Smith talks about journalism, learning the writing craft, and Saving Ebenezer! Enter to win a copy. via @chautonahavig

Journalist, podcaster, and multi-genre author of Saving Ebenezer, S. Daniel Smith is this week’s guest and here to talk with us about:

  • His articles regarding missions during the Covid-19 pandemic
  • His podcast and writing about science fiction and fantasy
  • His fabulous Christmas novel, Saving Ebenezer (that I mentioned in Episode 21)

If you want to skip to just our discussion of the book, you’ll find that at approximately 23.5 minutes into the episode. But I encourage you to listen to Dan’s heart for missions, what the Lord is doing with his writing, and how he got started.

saving ebenezer

Note: links may be affiliate links that provide me with a small commission at no extra expense to you.

Who Is S. Daniel Smith?

Dan’s first works were nonfiction articles for magazines and newspapers.  In fact, he has two recent articles about how the Covid-19 pandemic is affecting missionaries in different countries.

Dan always wanted to write fiction, so he decided back in 2015 to learn how to write fiction. So he made that decision and started learning writing craft using things like the Novel Marketing’s 5 Year Plan to Becoming a Best-Selling Author. That program helped him learn to write short stories which will help him with writing longer works.

His Facebook group of Sci-Fi fans led to Dan’s podcast, Coffee in Space. Guys, it’s a fun podcast, so if you love Sci-Fi or fantasy, you might want to check it out. I mentioned in the podcast that I’d listened to the episode with Madeleine Mozley, and if you enjoy Christian Sci-fi, I think you’d really enjoy that episode.

Why Saving Ebenezer Is My #1 Christmas Book Recommendation This Year

Saving Ebenezer is one of the best novel continuations I’ve seen. While staying faithful to the original story, he gives us more and shows us where Dickens fell just a bit short of the true goal of Marley’s warning. He even brings in one tiny element of It’s a Wonderful Life, which, of course, makes perfect sense.  After all, It’s a Wonderful Life is a retelling of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.

Saving Ebenezer begins seven years after the events of A Christmas Carol. It explores giving everything away without faith behind your actions.

After an opening line that ripped out my heart, Dan then really made the whole Cratchit family come alive. He wrote with a flair and style very similar to Dickens without the excessive wordiness that Dickens employed. The characters stayed who Dickens made them to be, but they grew because that’s what people do.

Dan spoke to how the original manuscript for this went to a much darker place than he finally ended with in his final draft. Instead of that dark place, he and his editors and beta readers worked together to make sure the book ends on hope.  As we discussed in the podcast, Dickens focused on hope and love, but Dan brought the element of faith in here and created a perfect trifecta right there.

Also… let’s talk about a beautiful cover, guys.

Saving EbenezerCheck this out.  See?

Beautiful.  Here’s the synopsis:

Seven years after Jacob Marley and the three ghosts of Christmas changed Ebenezer’s life, Scrooge has a problem. He’s given away most of his money and brightened many lives, restored churches, and made London workhouses better for those living and working inside. If only all of that made him feel better about his life…

Doubt plagues Ebenezer. Even with all of his philanthropy, he still has questions he can’t answer. Are the scales balanced? Did he do enough good after that fateful Christmas Eve to avoid Jacob Marley’s fate? And after a very special person dies, he adds another question: Why did God let it happen?

When he falls ill himself, Ebenezer’s questions take on a new desperation.

From the Cratchits to the workhouse fundraisers to nephew Fred, you’ll be reintroduced to several old friends, as well as a few new ones. With each visitor, Ebenezer tries to get closer to the answers to his questions. As the clock starts to run out, Ebenezer will need the words from an old friend to tip the scales in his favor.

Saving Ebenezer picks up on a story started by Charles Dickens in 1843 with A Christmas Carol. Christians will appreciate a heartwarming story of God’s love shown in tragedy while all readers will enjoy the common points between Saving Ebenezer and the original work.

Even better than that…

Read the book on Kindle Unlimited, and then go grab your kindle copy for .99!  That’s right, Saving Ebenezer is on sale for just .99 right now. But once you are done reading it and seeing how awesome it is, go grab a paperback of the book for a gift or two or three.

AND… leave a comment below about when you first read or heard A Christmas Carol read and I’ll giveaway a copy next week.

Also… did you hear what he says?  He is working on continuing the story of Belinda Cratchit and her adventures.  I’m so excited.

To find out how to sign up for his newsletter, I recommend going HERE and emailing him. 🙂

Like to listen on the go? You can find Because Fiction Podcast at:

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  1. Sarah Snider says

    November 24, 2020 at 12:52 pm

    Oh my, “A Christmas Carol” has been a perennial mainstay in our house for as long as I can remember! It’s always been a favorite of my mom’s, and I love it too. We’ve watched most of the adaptations, although our favorites are the historical ones rather than the modern parodies. We both definitely need to read “Saving Ebenezer”!

    Reply

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The Because Fiction Podcast

The Because Fiction Podcast
The Because Fiction Podcast

Taking the pulse of Christian fiction

Episode 162: A Chat with Author, Nancy Naigle
byChautona Havig

Hey, we’re back after a couple of weeks of vacation, and boy did I need it. And, have I got a fabulous interview for you. Nancy Naigle and I talked about her books, her most recent release, What Remains True as well as her Christmas books and the one I’m most anxious to read, The Shell Collector. Listen in and learn about what Nancy says about this bet she has going on in What Remains True. Great stuff!

Note: links may be affiliate links that provide me with a small commission at no extra expense to you.

Need a Great Romantic Read to Wind Up Your Summer Reads?

As I said in the podcast, a while back, someone told me I’d LOVE The Shell Collector–one of those people who recommends books you HAVE to read if they say you do.  So I bought it and it’s been sitting on my shelf ever since. Well, now it’s on my GoodReads shelf, and I’m about to start it (and I optimistically thought I’d be done with it by the time this episode released. Oh, me of too much faith in myself and my time management!)

Author of over thirty books, not to mention a bestselling author who also has movies made of her novels (And The Shell Collector has been optioned! EEEP!), Nancy loves to write Christmas books and small-town stories. Seriously, as we talked, I felt like she was talking about me half the time. We’re so very alike in so many ways. It was fun.

Nancy also pointed out that her first books (if you go WAY back) are not Christian fiction and are a bit spicier than she prefers to write and definitely more than she writes today. So be warned there, but she did assure us that they are all closed-door books.

What Remains True by Nancy Naigle

One woman wants to win a bet. One man wants to become a rodeo champion. One little girl may give them both something even better—from USA Today bestselling author Nancy Naigle.

“A commitment-phobic rodeo star and a divorcée with secrets find love in this wholesome romance. . . . As uplifting as it is sweet.”—Publishers Weekly

Working at a little shop on Main Street in a small town is exactly the break that executive Merry Anna Foster needs following her divorce. She’s made a bet with her ex-husband that she can live on the amount of money she’s giving him in alimony. If she can do it, then Kevin will have to stop complaining and leave her alone. But after three months of this new life, will she even want to leave Antler Creek?

Adam Locklear, bull rider and owner of the local feedstore, is having the best year of his rodeo career. He’s also a bit distracted by the pretty new neighbor living in his old bunkhouse. But Adam has no time for matters of the heart. He’s got his future all mapped out, and that future doesn’t involve a woman just yet. It doesn’t involve parenting a little girl either. However, Carly Fowler still suddenly leaves five-year-old Zan—the daughter Adam didn’t know he had—in his care.

Is it possible that the future holds a life even better than what Merry Anna and Adam had each dreamed of? One that includes both tenderness and even love—not just for each other but for Zan too?

You can learn more about Nancy’s books and movies on her WEBSITE.

Oh, and PSST… I’m loving the audiobook of this one!

Like to listen on the go? You can find Because Fiction Podcast at:

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Episode 162: A Chat with Author, Nancy Naigle
Episode 162: A Chat with Author, Nancy Naigle
August 9, 2022
Chautona Havig
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July 26, 2022
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Episode 160: A Chat with Liz Johnson about The Last Way Home
July 22, 2022
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Episode 159: A Chat with Biblical Fiction Author, Mesu Andrews
July 19, 2022
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A Chat with Historical Christian Fiction Author, Stephanie Landsem
July 12, 2022
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Episode 157: A Chat with Historical Christian Fiction Author, Lynn Austin
July 8, 2022
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Episode 156: The Fragrance of Violets by Susan K. Beatty
July 5, 2022
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July 1, 2022
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Episode 154: A Chat with Romantic Suspense Author, Sami A. Abrams
June 28, 2022
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Episode 153: A Chat with Historical Author, Tracie Peterson
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