Welcome to the Blog Tour for Charting the Course by Leslea Wahl, hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours! I’m delighted to have Leslea on the blog today to talk about her new book!
CHARTING THE COURSE by Leslea Wahl
SERIES: Finding Faith
GENRE: YA Christian Adventure
PUBLISHER: Vinspire Publishing
RELEASE DATE: June 27, 2023
PAGES: 262
A ten-day Caribbean cruise might sound like a fabulous way to spend the holidays, but Liz would rather be anywhere than stranded on a ship with her estranged father for his high school reunion.
While an anonymous note, an onboard mystery, and a cute boy help turn the tide on the unwanted trip, Liz and her father drift even further apart. However, when Liz’s reckless actions create a tsunami of unintended consequences, she recognizes that she’s drowning in pent-up hurt and anger. As her carefully created façade begins to ebb away, she turns to her faith and sets off to chart a new course for her life.
affiliate links used
Other Books in This Series
Behind-the-Scenes facts about Charting the Course
by Leslea Wahl, author of Charting the Course
The main character Liz is the best friend of Josie, who is the main character in the first book of my Finding Faith series, Into the Spotlight. Liz was a relatively small character in the first book, but over the years, I thought about her often and eventually decided it was time to explore her story.
I’m the type of writer that begins with a premise and then just starts writing, seeing where the story takes me. The twists and turns in this story made the process particularly challenging as I had to go back and adjust scenes to make sure it all fit together.
Charting the Course is set on a cruise ship and includes several real incidents that my family experienced on cruises, including many family card games, shore excursions, a favorite piano player, and an onboard scavenger hunt.
One of the interesting aspects of the story is the class reunion that Liz’s father is attending while on the cruise. For years I’d thought it would be fun for a teen character to get a glimpse into the adolescence of a parent. This was the perfect story for that element.
During the lockdown of Covid, I had quite a bit of uninterrupted time to write this story. It was fun to see how several ideas that had floated around my mind came together in this novel. The research of the tropical islands provided a little imaginary getaway which was quite welcome. However, with the uncertainty at the start of the pandemic, I worried that people might never be vacationing on cruise ships again. Thankfully, that was not the case!
playlist for charting the course
I always have certain songs that inspire my stories and character development. More than any of my books, music plays a key role in this particular story, especially these songs.
You Say by Lauren Daigle
Every Step of the Way by Cade Thompson
You Will be Found by Natalie Grant
Somewhere Over the Rainbow by Katharine McPhee
On My Own by Samantha Barks
Can’t Help Falling in Love by Kina Grannis
Leslea Wahl lives in beautiful Colorado and is the author of several award-winning teen novels. She strives to write stories that encourage teens to grow in their faith through fun adventurous mysteries. Leslea is often inspired by her family, their travels, and real-life adventures. She particularly enjoys including the furry, four-legged members of her family in her novels. Besides writing Leslea also reviews faith-based novels on her website and is a founding member of CatholicTeenBooks.com.
Connect with Leslea by visiting lesleawahl.com to follow her on social media and sign up for email updates.
(3) winners will each win signed copies of Charting the Course, Into the Spotlight, and Where You Lead by Leslea Wahl!
Full tour schedule linked below. The giveaway begins at midnight June 26, 2023 and will last through 11:59 PM EST on July 3, 2023. Winner will be notified within 2 weeks of close of the giveaway and given 48 hours to respond or risk forfeiture of prize. US/CAN only. Void where prohibited by law or logistics.
Giveaway is subject to JustRead Publicity Tours Giveaway Policies.
This giveaway is hosted by JustRead Tours, not RimSP
Follow along at JustRead Tours for a full list of stops!
What about you? What makes you want to read Charting the Course by Leslea Wahl?
Captivating stories which are real treasures.
I love going on cruises. Going on a ten day Alaskan cruise soon. This should be a fun book to read.
ooo i’m jealous – i’ve always wanted to go on an Alaskan cruise
Nice cover. It sounds like a really interesting book. Thank you for sharing.
you’re welcome!
These look like great summer reads! Thanks for sharing
you’re welcome 🙂
Thank you so much for sharing. God bless you.