Guest Blog--Tracy Krauss--Free Book and a Chance for Another UPDATED: Kaethe Pittman WINNER

Thanks for having me here, Christina! I’m Tracy Krauss, from a small town in

northern British Columbia, Canada called Tumbler Ridge. However, I’ve actually

moved about thirty times in my life and have lived in many remote locations in the

far north. (When I say far north, I mean the REAL north, as in above the 60th

parallel—places with 24/7 daylight in the summer, polar bears roaming the streets,

50 below zero in winter… not even kidding!) My passion is for writing Christian

romantic suspense with a bit of an ‘edge’, but I also write devotionals, and I’m a

playwright. (My plays have been performed all over North America.)

I have a new devotional series out based on the Jewish calendar called DIVINE

APPOINTMENTS, but I am actually promoting my THREE STRAND CORD Series this

summer. It’s a trilogy centered around three women who have been friends since

boarding school—Tempest, Stella, and Cherise. (I was trying to be clever in that

their names also form an acrostic for the title of the series!) Throughout the series,

they find themselves involved in international espionage, drug trafficking, and

diamond smuggling, among other dangers. There’s kidnapping, murder, conspiracy,

and lots of other intrigue. Of course, there’s romance, too, but sometimes the final

match-ups aren’t as expected. (At one point, one of our heroines finds herself in a

love triangle.) Locations vary, too—Boston, Los Angeles, Rome, Mexico, Texas, and

an NWT diamond mine. Each book in the series is written from three separate

points of view, so the story weaves itself together rather unconventionally. You can

check out the individual back cover blurbs below.

I love highlighting God’s grace and redemptive power, but one of the things that

challenges me is deciding how edgy I can go without crossing the line. Not all of the

main characters are Christians at the beginning, and even those that are don’t

always “behave”. Not that there are any graphic scenes by any means, but my

characters are not squeaky clean. I’ve had some criticism for this. “That’s not how a

Christian should behave.” I heartily agree—which is kind of my point! My husband

and I were in ministry for years and trust me, there are a lot of Christians out there

but whose behavior isn’t always Christ-like. We all struggle with the flesh, even if it

is within our own minds, and I think the struggle is even more intense in today’s

culture. So, I try to be authentic in that regard. Some call it edgy, but I feel like my

work is fairly tame compared to some others that I’ve read. It’s why I chose my

tagline: “fiction on the edge without crossing the line”.

One question I have for your readers is, how far have you travelled just to have

coffee or do a little shopping without staying over? I mentioned above that I’ve

lived in some pretty remote places. When we lived in Fort Smith, North West

Territories, the nearest other town, Hay River, was literally three hours away with

absolutely nothing in between. Once we drove there for lunch and then drove all

the way home. We had a similar experience in the Yukon where the nearest city

(Whitehorse) was a five hour drive away, although there were some smaller villages

and gas stops in between. It wasn’t uncommon for us to do a ‘day trip’ for

shopping. That’s ten hours of driving for a couple of hours of shopping! Good thing

there was twenty-four hour daylight! People in remote places just get used to

driving long distances.

I’m also curious about animals your readers have seen in their natural habitat. I’ve

seen plenty of moose, bison, bighorn sheep, grizzlies, and the like, but probably the

most exotic are polar bears. When we lived in Churchill, MB, we actually did a

‘noise making’ routine in the mornings before leaving the safety of the front

landing because polar bears were known to hide under the crawl space under the

front steps. Special polar bear ‘police’ did sweeps of the town and chased bears

out, but people still had to be very cautious.

I suppose while we’re at it we could talk about the strangest thing they’ve eaten.

(Sorry to my vegetarian friends…) We eat a lot of wild game (moose, elk, deer etc.)

but I have tried muskox, seal meat, and muktuk (whale blubber). All of these are

part of a traditional Inuit diet and were shared with love by Inuit friends, so please

don’t judge! FYI–I didn’t care for any of them!

You can find me on social media by going to my linktr.ee:

https://linktr.ee/TracyKrauss

All of my books are listed on my website with links to buy wide. (Amazon plus

everywhere else.) So, folks have choices!

https://www.tracykrauss.com/books/

Thanks again!

Back cover blurbs:

Three Strand Cord (Book 1)

Tempest. Stella. Cherise. Fate brought them together, but can their friendship survive the tangled web of danger and deception that threatens their lives? When Cherise convinces Tempest to pretend to be her so that she can sneak out of the country to be with her dashing Italian boyfriend, she is inadvertently implicated in an international drug ring. An unexpected complication forces Tempest to prolong the charade and she finds herself attracted to the very

man who might be out to cause her harm. Meanwhile, Stella’s high ideals are met with

suspicion and disdain at her father’s Texas ranch, until she uncovers a dangerous secret that

could put all their lives in jeopardy. At the same time, her own errant emotions take over as she falls in love with two brothers at the same time. Things heat up when Cherise is kidnapped and the three friends must turn to one another–and God--to get out of harm’s way. Three Strand Cord is a story of intrigue and romance told from three different points of view, all coming together to prove that when it comes to true friendship, ‘a three strand cord is not easily broken’.

Blood Ties (Book 2)

Socialite Cherise Hillyer has a terrible track record with men. When she falls for cowboy Blue

Shepherd, she knows it will only be a matter of time before her wandering eye turns elsewhere, so she abruptly ends the relationship. Blue’s rebound turns out to be a vengeful woman who threatens to ruin his life when he doesn’t reciprocate her feelings. Meanwhile, Cherise and her brother Dirk get drawn into a drug smuggling operation while volunteering at an orphanage in Mexico. Through their trials, all three learn that human love is no substitute for the unconditional love of God. Blood Ties is the sequel to Three Strand Cord, following the lives of three people tied by blood as they search for true love amidst danger, intrigue, and their own human frailty.

Tempest Tossed (Book 3)

When journalist Tempest Ross uncovers suspicious circumstances surrounding her parents’

death, she must find the truth before deadly forces take her own life. FBI agent Ryan O’Toole

has survived many dangerous missions, but this time the stakes are even higher as he tries to

crack a diamond smuggling operation amidst insider corruption. Anne-Marie is a capable nurse,

but her personal insecurities make her run away to the NWT, where she inadvertently gets

mixed up in the diamond heist. Follow the lives of three separate, but connected people as they navigate danger, corruption, and international intrigue. Book 3 in the Three Strand Cord Series, reacquaints readers with characters from Books 1 and 2, bringing their story arcs to a close while reaffirming that unconditional love--including that of the heavenly Father--is worth far more than diamonds.

The first book, Three Strand Cord, is perma-free on Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/Three-Strand-Cord-TSC-Book-ebook/dp/B07CB7SDZP/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=Tracy+Krauss&qid=1628983113&s=books&sr=1-3

and those who comment below are entered into a drawing for the second book! Enjoy! :)