Best-selling national author, Brenda Novak spoke with Candace tonight about how she sold her first book to Harper Collins, being picked up by Harlequin and working in the national market. With millions of books sold, Brenda has 20 books under her belt with more on the way. Her newest, Dead Giveaway hits the stores soon and is the second in the Stillwater, Mississippi series.

Brenda and Candace also talked about her online auction which benefits the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Running from May 1st to May 31st, Brenda has over 600 items of art, books, meetings with agents, authors, weekend getaways and so much more. Be sure to check out www.brendanovak.com and click on Auction!

Author Fay McCracken of the Bitterroot Valley in Montana stopped by Imagine to tell us about her book, Jud’s Journey, the story of a pioneer boy crossing the plains to Utah. Turns out it is based on the journey her own great-grandfather made. A woman of varied talents, including being a professional ski coach and instructor, the 76-year-old great-grandmother is still conquering new horizons and sharing her great enthusiasm for life.

The Gospel Q&A question addressed today was submitted by Steve Wallace of Alpine, Utah. He wrote: “I was told that my dead daughter would be resurrected in the millennium and get to experience all the events of mortality that she missed since she died at 18. If so how will that work? she is immortal and she will have mortal children? Do I get to be the Grandpa to the children?” Candace used the book Plan of Salvation by Matthew B. Brown to address this issue. An issue, in fact, that is near and dear to her heart.

The books mentioned in this podcast are Jud’s Journey by Fay McCracken, A Lantern in Her Hand by Bess Streeter Alrich, as well as the sequel A White Bird Flying. Tristi Pinkston’s books Nothing to Regret and Strength to Endure were also spoken of as was Matthew B. Brown’s Plan of Salvation.

As always, the opening and closing background music segments (10 seconds) of the show are provided by Josh Groban and Gary Morris.

With the New Year around the corner, we are publishing the podcast a day early. Happy New Year to one and all. Please be careful on the roads and have a wonderful, safe holiday weekend.

Barbara dropped by once again to discuss her book “Beating the High Cost of Eating.” This book had such a powerful impact that large grocery chains sued to stop her from having it published or promoting. We are very happy to bring this wonderful knowledge to our listeners. We’re excited to have her back — she did so well preparing us for upcoming disasters that learning to eat well and in a budget was something we couldn’t pass up.

In the Gospel Q&A section this week, Candace answered a question out of Santaquin, Utah regarding the state of those who commit suicide. The bulk of her answer came from a talk by Elder Russell M. Ballard found in the October 1987 Ensign.

The music from today’s podcast came from the Osmond Family Christmas Album which is found on the family website.

Merry Christmas to one and all. In a world as volatile as ours, it is a beautiful thing to have this moment in time to celebrate the birth of He who freed us all. May Christmas be one full of hope, peace, laughter and family.

Jordan Bluth, a Gilbert, Arizona native, recently completed a bachelor’s degree in Vocal Performance at Indiana University. While at there he performed the roles of Archibald Craven in Lucy Simon’s musical, The Secret Garden, Tamino in Mozart’s The Magic Flute, Ferrando in Mozart’s Cosi fan tutte, and Count Almaviva in Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia. In February of 2006, Jordan performed as the tenor soloist in Robert Levin’s newly completed edition of the Mass in C Minor by W.A. Mozart under the direction of John William Gray. He repeated that performance at the Chattaqua Music Festival in July of 2006 under the direction of Uriel Segal. Other concert works performed while at Indiana University include the tenor soloist in G.F. Handel’s work Alexander’s Feast, and the tenor soloist in Ludwig van Beethoven’s Mass in C Major. Jordan has also performed with Glimmerglass opera as the Strolling Player in Benjamin Britten’s opera Death in Venice, and with Utah Festival Opera as Angus MacGuffie in the musical Brigadoon. In addition to stage performance, Jordan enjoys recording whenever he gets the chance, spanning genres from classical and opera to jazz and pop. He comes from a family of seven children, and is grateful for many years of support and love that they have given him. He currently resides in Gilbert, Arizona.

You can book Jordan by contacting

For anyone interested in booking Jordan, they can contact Sue or Norm Watkins at 480-892-6123 or Norm;s cell 602-321-5252, or by email at info@jordanbluth.com. 

To learn more Jordan Bluth, go to his website www.jordanbluth.com, where you can also purchase his music.

The Gospel Q&A Question centered around Temples in Ancient Times to the Present. I used a talk by James E. Talmage located here: http://www.lds.org/temples/purpose/history/0,11594,1955-1,00.html as well as some responses Matthew B. Brown gave me.

Abe Mills of Jericho Road dropped by the Imagine Podcast for a chat with his college friend, Candace. They’ve come a long way from the College 1st Ward and enjoyed speaking about Jericho Road, Abe’s life, hopes and dreams. Included are the songs “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing,” “There is No End” and “A Single Tear.” All of Jericho Road’s music can be bought at Deseret Book or any other church bookstore across the world. Learn more about them at www.jerichoroadmusic.com.

Tonight was Candace’s first time using a remote setup to interview a guest. It still could use some fine tuning, but all in all, it worked well.