Welcome to the Blog Tour & Giveaway for Where I Was Planted by Heather Norman Smith, hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours!
ABOUT THE BOOK
Title: Where I Was Planted
Author: Heather Norman Smith
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publisher: Ambassador International
Release Date: July 16, 2019
In the spring of 1961, ten-year-old Nate “Weenie” Dooley has a revelation-his father is not a good one.
Inspired by National Geographic, his favorite thing next to the Bible storybook his mother gave him before she died, Nate plans to leave his father and their home in the Smokies to set out on an adventure.
When he discovers that his father has left him first, it will take the help of a stray dog, some kind neighbors, a one-man-band, letters from a long-lost-aunt, and a new understanding of God to figure out he isn’t really alone.
Will he find that Copper Creek is where he’s always belonged? Or will his wanderlust keep him from ever coming back?
In her second novel, Heather Norman Smith demonstrates that love makes a family, and that while fathers may leave, our Heavenly Father is faithful, and He has a plan for all of us.
PURCHASE LINKS*: Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | Book Depository | Christianbook
Excerpt
The hammock was a simple invention, yet endlessly useful. Sometimes when Patrick came over, we spread the sheet out wide and used sticks as posts to turn it into a little canopy. Sometimes, I pretended it was a boat, and I was handlining a giant marlin like in The Old Man and the Sea, feeling the force of the waves as I rocked back and forth in tireless battle with the marine beast. Sometimes, it was an alien spaceship, carrying me off as prisoner to some unknown planet, while I plotted my escape and return to Earth. Most days, I was just Nate taking a rest. I liked to lounge and look up at the sky between the bare branches or the white bell-shaped flowers and down-turned green leaves or the red leaves. The skyward view depended on the time of year, and every change came faster than the one before it.
Both of my short arms dangled off the sides of the makeshift hammock, and I moved one of them like a pendulum to make it swing from side to side. After only about ten back-and-forths in my cozy ride, a quick feeling of something soft and wet on one of my hands nearly made me wet my pants. I sat up fast, with the hammock still in motion, fell out, and hit the ground hard on my stomach. Before I could right myself, I felt the same softness and wetness on the back of my neck. This time, I recognized it was a tongue on my skin, and I felt a momentary panic at not knowing whose tongue it was. I flipped myself over like a click beetle and was relieved to see a friendly-looking dog standing over me, panting right in my face.
I quickly pulled myself up to a seated position in the dirt, scooting back only a little, just in case the dog’s disposition changed quickly. “Where’d you come from?” I said.
The dog stepped toward me and stood on my legs with his front paws, as if to say, “It doesn’t matter. I’m here now.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Heather Norman Smith is a Christian Fiction and devotions author. Her goal is to use the written word to entertain and encourage while illuminating the redemptive love of God. Heather is proud to be a life-long North Carolinian and aims to present the beauty of the Tar Heel State in her fiction. Her home is just outside Winston-Salem, NC, where she lives with her husband and their four children, two cats, two dogs, and some fish.
CONNECT WITH HEATHER: Website | Facebook | Pinterest | Twitter
TOUR GIVEAWAY
(2) winners will receive a paperback copy of Where I Was Planted by Heather Norman Smith!
Be sure to check out each stop on the tour for more chances to win. Full tour schedule shown below. Giveaway will begin at midnight December 2, 2019 and last through 11:59 PM EST on December 9, 2019. US only. Winner will be notified within 2 weeks of close of the giveaway and given 48 hours to respond or risk forfeiture of prize.
Giveaway is subject to the policies found here.
Follow along at JustRead Tours for a full list of stops!
*NOTE: This post contains affiliate links.
preciousbitsandmusings 
Thank you so much! – JustRead Tours