Tuesday, May 15, 2018

#GuestPost w/ @DonnaWichelman #History behind LIGHT OUT OF DARKNESS & UNDAUNTED VALOR w/ @PrismBookTours

On Tour with Prism Book Tours

Light Out of Darkness
(The Waldensian Series #1)
By Donna Wichelman
Romantic Suspense
Paperback & ebook, 320 pages
April 2nd 2018 by Soujourner's Press

A prestigious art exhibition turns into a horrific spectacle when a murder sends an art curator and a professor on a hunt for a highly coveted stolen painting.

Escaping a painful past in Cleveland, Ohio, Jamie Holbrooke flees to Milan, Italy as an art curator. But her past follows her during an evening stroll along Varenna’s shoreline walk when an assailant, who looks like her dead brother, presses a mysterious riddle into her hand. Still reeling from shock the next day, she discovers her long-time paragon, Dr. Alessandro Marianni, may have a link to the enigmatic riddle. Before she can discover the answers, their colleague falls prey to an assassin’s bullet. Convinced the riddle and murder are connected, Jamie and Alessandro risk their lives to uncover why an obscure painting has caught the attention of art critics and criminals alike. At stake is a two-thousand–year-old drama, unfolding in the contemporary world of the Northern Italian Alps.

Will Jamie and Alessandro stop powerful organized crime figures before the painting is lost forever and with it a secret more valuable than the prized artwork? Will Jamie find the answers to help her reclaim her life again? She will need the courage to face her fears and the persevering faith of Dr. Alessandro Marianni to heal her wounded heart.


Undaunted Valor
(The Waldensian Series #2)
By Donna Wichelman
Romantic Suspense
Paperback & ebook, 281 pages
April 4th 2018 by Sojourner's Press

For nature lovers, ski aficionados, travel enthusiasts and history scholars, the French Alps offer some of the most spectacular scenery and outdoor recreation in all Europe with its majestic mountain peaks, cascading waterfalls, unspoiled forests and quaint mountain villages. People come to get away from the daily grind and rejuvenate their spirits.

But when Alessandro Marianni’s grandmother Luciana is kidnapped during a church conference in Chamonix, the same landscape becomes an ominous height to scale, and Jamie Holbrooke and her fiancé Alessandro have difficulty distinguishing between friend and foe on the race to find her. They will have to weather a rainstorm on a mountain trail, negotiate a dangerous waterfall, outmaneuver a car chase, and defy an assassin’s gun in their search.

Will they find their beloved Luciana before it’s too late? Who will die on the way to the finish line? Who can they trust? And where will Jamie find the courage to confront her adversaries?

In this sequel to Light Out of Darkness, the answers will lie in unanticipated places and with unexpected allies and require Jamie to discover what it means to trust God with Undaunted Valor.


Get a peek into history and some of the inspiration in Donna's books...

A Future Historical is Born




In Undaunted Valor, Book 2 of The Waldensian Series, Jamie finds a letter written by her seventeenth century cousin Anne Charbonnier. Anne’s story of courage and strength bolsters Jamie’s fight against the men who want to destroy her and Alessandro. Jamie identifies with the persecution her ancient cousin faces at the hands of King Louis XIV during the Nine Years’ War. Setting out to eradicate Waldensians and Huguenots from existence, Louis sends dragoons—military soldiers—to their home valleys to confront them at gunpoint. His message—convert, accept exile in Switzerland. or die for their faith.


Anne’s story so moved me as I wrote it that I felt it needed to stand on its own. I’m currently writing the screenplay about a young seventeenth-century woman who, during King Louis’ XIV’s reign of terror against Protestants in France, risks all when she becomes involved with the king’s dragoon son, then joins a military operation to defeat Louis’ war against them. The book is also to follow.


Anne’s letter in the second book, dated 2 May, 1690, begins:

I pray the one who finds this true and accurate account will not judge me too harshly. For in the time of the great persecution that swept through our faithful flock by order of His Majesty, King Louis XIV and executed by Duke Victor Amadeus II, I fell utterly in love.
I wish I could say all has turned out well and true love conquers all. That certainty left me long ago. Hope for the kindness of the Almighty has faded. I have wintered here on this mountain near Balziglia with my fellow soldiers—only five leagues from France. We do not know if we shall survive the imminent battle that knocks at our door.
Perhaps it is best to begin with those wearisome days three years ago when French dragoons, ensconced in our homes, tarried in our beloved Alpine valleys …
Wait! The French grenadiers advance upon us. I have heard Mssr. Arnaud’s cry, “Soldiers to their battle stations.” I go now and know not if it is the Lord calling me home … 
3 May, 1690,
For now, weather and Providence have been with us. Blustery winds and blizzard conditions have stopped the advance of the French. We are certain this only delays the inevitable—that they intend to return to finish the lot of us.
I do not know how long I have, but I am compelled to write this testimony for as long as the Almighty gives me breath. It is imperative you should know the whole of the story. For in the days when the dragoons entered our valleys, I stole away with one of the soldiers. I know you cannot believe how our hearts melded in such tendrils of love, aware that we defied the natural order of society. We should not have dared to cross those barriers, and yet we found we could not help ourselves. We became lovers…

Stay tuned for more of Anne’s story to come at www.donnawichelman.com.



About the Author


Donna Wichelman was a communications professional before writing full-time. She has authored short stories, essays and articles in various inspirational publications and lives her dream writing novels and screenplays. She and her husband work with teens at their local church in Fort Collins, Colorado. They travel, bike and kayak whenever their schedules allows.


Tour Giveaway


 1st Prize: $25 Amazon Gift Card, Copy of the LIGHT OUT OF DARKNESS (signed print copy to US winner, ebook to international winner) + 4 oz. Tea of your choice from the Tea Source or 1 LB of Coffee from DazBog Coffee (will Add $10 to Gift Card for international gift in lieu of tea or coffee)

2nd Prize: $15 Amazon Gift Card + Copy of LIGHT OUT OF DARKNESS (signed print copy to US winner, ebook to international winner)

3rd Prize: Copy of LIGHT OUT OF DARKNESS (signed print copy to US winner, ebook to international winner)

Ends May 23rd

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