Author Interview (and a Giveaway!): Liz Tolsma & The Melody of the Soul

As part of the Litfuse blog tour for The Melody of the Soul, I am honored to welcome Liz Tolsma to the blog today!

Best-selling novelist Liz Tolsma is the author of several World War II novels and prairie romance novellas. She also works as a freelance editor. She lives in a semirural area of Wisconsin with her husband and two daughters. Her son serves with the US Marines. All of their chidlren came to them through international adoption. Her other passions include walking, gardening, camping, and reading.

You can connect with Liz on her website, Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube and Twitter.

Her latest novel, The Melody of the Soul, released January 16, 2018 from Gilead Publishing!

Anna has one chance for survival-and it lies in the hands of her mortal enemy.

It’s 1943 and Anna Zadok, a Jewish Christian living in Prague, has lost nearly everything. Most of her family has been deported, and the Nazi occupation ended her career as a concert violinist.

Now Anna is left to care for her grandmother, and she’ll do anything to keep her safe-a job that gets much harder when Nazi officer Horst Engel is quartered in the flat below them.

Though musical instruments have been declared illegal, Anna defiantly continues to play the violin. But Horst, dissatisfied with German ideology, enjoys her soothing music. When Anna and her grandmother face deportation, Horst risks everything to protect them.

Anna finds herself falling in love with the handsome officer and his brave heart.

But what he reveals might stop the music forever.

My Review

Hi Liz! Welcome to the blog!

Liz: Apples. I don’t like the texture of oranges.

Carrie: Eesh. Me either.

Liz: I like summer in winter and winter in summer LOL!

Carrie: hahaha!

Liz: Dogs. They’re just more fun.

Carrie: totally.

Liz: Tea. I guess because my grandparents and parents always drank tea.

Carrie: lol – isn’t it funny how we do that?

Q: Around here I like to say that reading is my superpower. If YOU had a superpower, what would it be?

Liz: Being like Jeannie on I Dream of Jeannie so that I can sit in my chair and get my house cleaned and dinner made.

Carrie: Oh! Yes please! Can we share this superpower?

Q: Tell me some good books you’ve read lately.

Liz: The best two books I’ve read in the past six months are The Illusionist’s Apprentice by Kristy Cambron and The House on Foster Hill by Jamie Jo Wright. They were both so well written and so intriguing. They just kept me going right to the end, and I wish they didn’t and so soon!

Carrie: Excellent reads!

Q: If I sneaked a peek in your purse right now (which I would never do, I promise!), what would it tell me about you?

Liz: It would tell you that I try very hard to be neat and organized but that I often fail. It would also tell you I have an obsession with hand sanitizer! I must have three bottles of it in my purse right now.

Carrie: haha! You can never have too much hand sanitizer.

Q: Describe your main characters, and tell me who you would cast in their roles if Hollywood wanted to produce The Melody of the Soul as a movie!

Liz: Anna — a Jewish Christian violinist living in Prague during World War II forced to give up her career when the Nazis invaded, who will do anything she needs to in order to protect her grandmother. I would cast Ava Gardner.

Horst — a Nazi officer with a haunting past who falls in love with Anna’s music, and with her. I cast Chris Hemsworth.

Carrie: I may need to go back and reread this book now that I have Chris Hemsworth in my head as Horst. Such a sacrifice 😉

Q: What surprised you about The Melody of the Soul or your characters as you wrote their story?

Liz: Horst’s background and the things he did in the past surprised me. Also what the secondary character Patricie did came as a real shock to me.

Carrie: Yes! me too! And one of my favorite parts of the novel too 🙂

Q: What do you most want readers to take away from The Melody of the Soul?

Liz: I would like them to know that our salvation does not come from ours circumstances are anything we do or anything around us, but our salvation comes only from the Lord.

Carrie: Amen.

Thank you so much for taking time to talk with me! 🙂 Before we say goodbye for today, tell us what‘s coming up next for you.

Liz: I have several new releases coming out this year, including The Mail Order Bride Collection in February, The Amish Widow’s New Love in May, and the second book in this series, What the Heart Sings in August.

Carrie: Yay!!

Travel back in time to 1943 and meet Anna Zadok, a Jewish Christian and concert violinist whose career is ended because of Nazi occupation in Prague. Don’t miss the new historical novel, The Melody of the Soul, by Liz Tolsma. Though musical instruments have been declared illegal, Anna defiantly continues to play the violin. But Officer Horst Engel, quartered in Anna’s flat and dissatisfied with German ideology, enjoys her soothing music. When Anna and her grandmother face deportation, Horst risks everything to protect them.

Join Liz Tolsma and other bookworms for a Facebook Live event on February 6, plus enter to win Liz’s prize pack giveaway!

One grand prize winner will receive:

• One copy of The Melody of the Soul
• A garnet bracelet
• A box of Czech Republic chocolate

Enter today by clicking the icon below. But hurry, the giveaway ends on February 6. The winner will be announced at Liz’s Facebook Live Party. RSVP for a chance to connect with Liz and other readers, as well as for a chance to win other prizes!

RSVP today and spread the word-tell your friends about the giveaway and Facebook Live party via social media and increase your chances of winning. Hope to see you on the 6th!