I’M RUNNING A GIVEAWAY OF AMANDA’S BOOK—SEE BELOW.
Novelist Amanda Wen has been a guest on this blog twice for two books in her Sedgewick County Chronicles series. Today I’m sharing book three: The Rhythm of Fractured Grace.
I’m particularly grateful to Amanda for endorsing my novel, A Hundred Magical Reasons, published by Scrivenings Press last month.
Teaser for A Hundred Magical Reasons
Most fairy tales have happy endings, but is it too late for this one? After all, Mrs. Gordon is 88.
This split-time fiction set in 1980 and the early 1900s encompasses . . .
- A child’s unlikely friendship with The Wizard of Oz author, L Frank Baum, & his influence across 4 generations
- A young woman following a risky dream
- An old woman haunted by regret as she reveals her past

Amanda’s entire endorsement:
“Impressively researched and beautifully told, A Hundred Magical Reasons paints a portrait of two true-to-life women who experience redemptive power in their lives. It’s a story full of heart, brains, and courage!” ~ Amanda Wen, Carol Award-winning author of The Rhythm of Fractured Grace and The Songs That Could Have Been
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If you like historical fiction and character-driven stories—with a touch of romance—this novel fits the bill. If you like fairy tales, that’s another bonus.
If you’re a fan of Wicked, the musical or the movie, you’ll get a chance to see where all the Oz hoopla originated—with the inimitable L. Frank Baum.
If you’re a Baum fan, you’ll get the feel of what it was like to be with him.
If you’re unfamiliar with Baum, you’re in for a treat, for you’ll have the pleasure of getting to know him.
Read more and watch the book trailer on my website here.
You can purchase the book on Amazon here.
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Now I want to put the spotlight back on Amanda, author of dual timeline fiction set in Sedgewick County, Kansas.
Today I’m running a GIVEAWAY!
Comment below on any of Amanda’s books for a chance to win a paperback of The Rhythm of Fractured Grace.

Blurb
Is Siobhan too far gone to respond to the song of a God who’s calling her back to him?
When a new customer brings a badly damaged violin into Siobhan Walsh’s shop, it is exactly the sort of challenge she craves. The man who brought it in is not. He’s too close to the painful past that left her heart and her faith in shambles.
Matt Buchanan has had a rough start as the new worship pastor. A car accident on his way into town left him with a nearly totaled truck, and an heirloom violin in pieces. When he takes it to a repair shop, he’s fascinated with the restoration process–and with the edgy, closed-off woman doing the work.
As their friendship deepens and turns into more, they both discover secrets that force them to face past wounds. And the history of the violin reveals more about their current problems than they could have ever expected.
On the nineteenth-century frontier, a gruesome tomahawk attack wiped out most of Deborah Caldwell’s family. Her greatest solace after the tragedy is the music from her father’s prized violin. Given her horrendous scars, she’d resigned herself to a spinster’s life. But Levi Martinson’s gentle love starts to chip away at her hardened heart, until devastating details about the attack are revealed, putting their love–and Deborah’s shaky faith–to the ultimate test.
Full of forgiveness and the message that no one is too damaged for God’s healing touch, the final book in the split-time Sedgwick County Chronicles will thrill fans of Rachel Hauck, Lisa Wingate, and Kristy Cambron.
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My Thoughts
The “secrets” referred to in the blurb have to do with the difficult elephant-in-the-room topic of religious abuse in the church. This happens more than anyone wants to admit, and has caused so much hurt and spiritual disillusionment throughout Christendom. I really appreciate Amanda tackling this subject in a realistic way—unveiling the abuse but also shining the light of hope onto those who become victims in these type of scenarios.
Amanda does this through deep, complex characters and a compelling plot that entwines the lives of two contemporary characters on opposite ends of a huge problem. This is another time-slip story with historical scenes effectively weaving through the contemporary ones—connected by a violin that has meaning for both protagonists in their respective timelines.
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Amanda’s other books
These are the ones I’ve featured on the blog, along with the blurb for each. I can heartily recommend them.
Amanda doesn’t shy away from tough topics:
- Alzheimer’s and abandonment in the first book
- Eating disorders, interracial romance, and Alzheimer’s (again) in the second book
- Religious abuse in the church in the third book
Click on the titles below to go to the corresponding blog post.


Blurb for Roots of Wood and Stone
This historic home holds the keys to their destiny . . . and their hearts
Abandoned at birth, her family roots a mystery, historical museum curator Sloane Kelley has dedicated her life to making sure others know theirs. When a donor drops off a dusty old satchel, she doesn’t expect much from the common artifact . . .until she finds real treasure inside: a nineteenth-century diary.Now she’s on the hunt to find out more.
Garrett Anderson just wanted to clean out his grandmother’s historic but tumbledown farmhouse before selling it to fund her medical care. With her advancing Alzheimer’s, he can’t afford to be sentimental about the family home. But his carefully ordered plan runs up against two formidable obstacles: Sloane, who’s fallen in love with both the diaries and the house, and his own heart, which is irresistibly drawn to Sloane.
A century and a half earlier, motherless Annabelle Collins embarks with her aunt and uncle on the adventure of a lifetime: settling the prairies of Sedgwick County, Kansas. The diaries she left behind paint a portrait of life, loss, and love–and a God who faithfully carries her through it all. Paging through the diaries together takes Sloane and Garrett on a journey they never could have planned, which will change them in ways they never imagined.
This warm, beautifully written split-time novel will resonate with readers looking for stories that reveal the beauty of God’s plan for our lives, and how our actions ripple for generations.
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Blurb for The Songs That Could Have Been
Two couples in love. Two sets of impossible circumstances. One powerful God of grace.
After a tailspin in her late teens, Lauren Anderson’s life is finally back on track. Her battle with bulimia is under control, her career is taking off, and she’s surrounded by a loving family. Then a chance meeting with Carter Douglas, her first love and the man who broke her heart, leads to old feelings returning with new strength. And suddenly her well-balanced world is thrown off kilter.
Now a TV meteorologist, Carter is determined to make amends with Lauren. After all, she still owns his heart. But the reasons they broke up aren’t lost–and those old demons are forcing him toward the same decision he faced in the past. He isn’t sure he’s courageous enough to make a different choice this time around.
When Lauren’s elderly grandmother, Rosie, begins having nightmares about a man named Ephraim–a name her family has never heard before–a fascinating and forbidden past love comes to light. As Lauren and Carter work to uncover the untold stories of Rosie’s past in 1950s Wichita, they embark on a journey of forgiveness and second chances that will change their lives–and Rosie’s–forever. Along the way they’ll learn that God wastes nothing, his timing is perfect, and nothing is beyond his grace and redemption.

Amanda also contributed a story to this three-author collection (though I haven’t read it):
O Little Town (2022) — Blurb: Stories of small-town Christmas and the enduring love of God from three critically acclaimed authors. In the sleepy small town of Mapleview, Michigan, Christmas is always something special. In this charming collection of romance novellas, join three generations of Mapleview residents longing for love–and finding it–on the most wonderful night of the year.
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Here are excerpts from previous Q & As. Click on the title to go to the blog post.
First, an excerpt from the Roots of Wood and Stone Q & A:
What was your inspiration for writing Roots of Wood and Stone?
Amanda: The germ of inspiration came from an ancestor of mine, William Fletcher Stevens, who moved to Sedgwick County, Kansas from Kentucky in 1870 along with his wife and children. However, shortly after their arrival, William’s wife, Sarah, and infant son, George, both passed away. In fact, William would go on to bury one more wife and several more children during his struggle to eke out a living on his new homestead, and he endured several more hardships including grasshopper invasions, blizzards, and drought.
Yet by all accounts his faith survived—and even thrived—and so did his family. I was inspired by William’s story when I first heard it, and when I started dabbling with the idea of historical fiction/split-time, it seemed perfect to pay homage to him and his perseverance in the face of unimaginable obstacles.
What is your personal connection to the setting?
Amanda: In addition to the story of William Stevens, Roots of Wood and Stone is inspired by an old farmhouse which still stands a few miles from where I live. For a couple decades in the early 20th century, this farmhouse was the home of my great-great-grandfather, Francis Thomas Little, who came to the United States from Ireland in 1861.
My mom is a genealogist who has traced our family history for nearly 50 years, so I grew up well aware of the stories of those who’d come before, and every time we drove past that big white farmhouse, Mom would remind me that that was Grandpa Little’s house. I always thought it’d be cool to buy that house, fix it up, and live in it, but given the practicalities of adulthood and the reality that I am not in any way, shape, or form the type of person who loves to remodel houses, I decided to do the next best thing: create characters who might be able to do it.
What are the challenges of writing a novel with two storylines in different decades?
Amanda: Writing in multiple timelines is indeed a challenge! I heard it once described as having to write two books, but only getting paid for one, and that’s truer than I’d like to admit. All the work that goes into any story (character arcs, plot threads, conflict, theme) has to go into each timeline I write, and both stories have to be equally compelling in order to avoid the reader skimming or ignoring one timeline in favor of another. In addition, both timelines need to weave together in an organic way; if one can be lifted out without affecting the story of the other, then one of those timelines isn’t necessary.
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Q & A excerpt from The Songs That Could Have Been
What was your inspiration for writing this story and for tackling two difficult topics—bulimia and interracial romance?
Amanda: The interracial romance part came from both my own love story (my husband’s parents are from China) and a relative of my dad’s who fell in love with someone of another race in high school in the 1960s. Both families objected to the match and the couple eventually broke up.
Although the other person went on to marry and have a family, my dad’s relative never did, and I always wondered what would have happened if the families had accepted their love rather than allowing their own prejudices to get in the way. Rosie and Ephraim’s story blossomed out of that wondering.
As for the bulimia piece, that came from Lauren herself. In Roots of Wood and Stone, there’s a scene where the health-food-obsessed Lauren, in a stressful moment, digs into a chocolate cake. Garrett finds her, and the two of them had a conversation that made me think there was a lot more I had to learn about Lauren. Gradually, she revealed her secrets, and that formed the basis of her story in Songs.
What would your characters Lauren and Rosie have to say about you?
Amanda: What a fun question! I think they’d probably be a little irritated with me that I kept digging into their stories and wouldn’t let them keep secrets from me, but I’m hopeful that they’d appreciate the happy endings I was able to facilitate for them.
What’s the most unusual thing you had to do, learn, or research to create this story?
Amanda: Rosie insisted that I write a few scenes from her point of view, in first person! I balked at first, as I have no up-close-and-personal experience with Alzheimer’s, so the idea of writing from that perspective was very daunting. I even asked my editor if it would be okay, and she graciously gave her blessing. Honestly, I think those are some of my favorite scenes in the book!
REPLY IN THE COMMENTS BELOW FOR A CHANCE TO WIN A PAPERBACK OF THE RHYTHM OF FRACTURED GRACE! (YOUR COMMENT MUST PERTAIN TO HER BOOKS.)
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Amanda Wen Bio
Amanda Wen’s debut novel, Roots of Wood and Stone, released to both reader and critical acclaim, including a Christy Award nomination for First Novel. She also placed first in multiple contests, including the 2017 Indiana Golden Opportunity Contest, the 2017 Phoenix Rattler Contest, and the 2016 ACFW First Impressions Contest, among others. In addition to her writing, Amanda is an accomplished professional cellist and pianist who frequently performs with orchestras, chamber groups, and her church’s worship team, as well as serving as a choral accompanist. A lifelong denizen of the flatlands, Amanda currently lives in Kansas with her patient, loving, and hilarious husband, their three adorable Wenlets, and a snuggly Siamese cat. Visit her on her website.
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Join me next time for a visit with author Patti Callahan Henry.
Meanwhile, have you read The Rhythm of Fractured Grace or any others by Amanda Wen? What’s your favorite? What are some tough topics you’ve read about in fiction, or would like to see addressed? Answer in the comments below.
COMMENT BELOW ON AMANDA’S BOOKS FOR A CHANCE TO WIN A PAPERBACK OF THE RHYTHM OF FRACTURED GRACE!
Ever reading,
Laura
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I have had this series on my TBR list for so long. I just love the cover on Fractured Grace. I’m going to move these books to the top of my list because of these reviews.
Good idea, Lorraine! Glad my reviews could facilitate that decision!
I haven’t read any of the novels in The Sedgwick Chronicles, and now I know it might be hard to choose which one to start with. I’m drawn to Deborah Caldwell’s story, so the Rhythm of Fractured Grace might be my first Amanda Wen novel. Thank you for highlighting all three!
I liked reading them in the order they were written, but it really doesn’t matter which one you start with. They are complete in themselves, with some overlapping characters.
It sounds like a good read.
It certainly is!
Like many many others, I read “Roots of Wood and Stone” and was impressed by the smooth writing and excellent storytelling.
This book sounds like another winner! People who love and make music always impress me, and when they can incorporate that gift into their writing, my respect increases tenfold!
Many blessings to you, Amanda, and other gifted writers who honor God by writing well and doing it via the worldview of a believer.
If you enjoyed Roots of Wood and Stone, you would definitely enjoy this one!
Both these books sound amazing. Roots of Wood and Stone especially intrigues me as it deals with Alzheimer’s. It’s such an unfair disease! I’ve read Hopes and Fears from the Christmas anthology. Such a sweet story of a teacher’s desire to give her student’s a powerful Christmas program message. Who knew there could be so much conflict. Amanda is a wonderful writer!
I’m glad you’ve had the opportunity to read some of Amanda’s writing!
Roots of Wood and Stone sounds like such a good book. The family history, the diary, and the depth of story makes me think this is the kind of book to set aside for a long afternoon read. It isn’t one to rush through.
I agree! If you like a story that also has beautiful writing, you don’t want to rush. You want to savor.
Hi Amanda. I love your books. Isn’t it fun to find family history that inspires a story. My husband has fascinating family history. Mine needs more spice!
Family history is often a great source of story material! I’m guessing you can probably be thankful, Barb, that your own family doesn’t have enough spice!