I am super excited to have pastor, speaker and award-winning author, Dan Walsh, facing-off with me today!
Dan is the bestselling author of 15 novels including The Unfinished Gift, The Discovery and When Night Comes. He has won 3 Carol Awards (finalist 6 times), 3 Selah Awards and 3 of his books have been finalists for RT Review’s Inspirational Book of the Year. A member of American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) and Word Weavers International, Dan writes fulltime in the Daytona Beach area. He and his wife Cindi have been married 38 years. You can find out more about his books or follow him on Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads or Pinterest from his website at http://www.danwalshbooks.com.
Right now, you can score a free copy of his book, The Dance. 
Now we play!
The rules are simple. I ask Dan some random questions. He replies and then I give my answers. Each winning answer is worth one point and I get to decide whose answer is better.
It’s my blog.
Here we go!
1. I see you are from Florida. Any shark stories at the beach?
Dan – Plenty. But that should be no surprise considering we live in the “Shark-Bite Capital of the World” (the Daytona Beach area). I’ve lived here since I was a kid. I saw sharks quite a few times when I was a surfer. A surfer friend of mine was bitten by one. Two weeks ago, my son was out surfing with his friend and got chased in by several sharks. Two years ago, my wife was wading in waist deep water when she felt something bump her leg. She looked down and saw a 6 foot shark swim by. Obviously, she got out of the water right away, thankful the shark wasn’t interested.
The upside to all this is, our sharks are not the man-eating type. Locally, we call them ankle biter’s. I’ve never heard of anyone losing their life, or even losing a limb. They’re usually just looking for food, and you got in the way.
Charity – 😮 YIKES! Those are all terrifying stories!!!!!!
I have seen a shark washed up on the beach where we were vacationing (in the Outer Banks, NC), but…no.
— NO chance for me!
Charity 0 / Dan 1
2. Funniest thing one of your grandchildren has done?
Dan – I only have two, and one of them has just started walking (she’s mostly cute, not funny). But my grandson is constantly saying funny things (he’s four). For example, his mom asked him to come help her for a minute, and he replied, “Umm, no. I’m really busy right now.” He was on a tablet. He’s very polite in his rebellion. I’ve asked him to do something only to hear him reply, “No, thank you.”
One of his favorite songs to sing is, “Tinkle, tinkle little star.”
Charity – Oh my goodness! haha. So precious. “No, thank you.” Love it.
— Dumb question for me to ask. I don’t have grandchildren yet! How could I win this one??
Charity 0 / Dan 2
3. Favorite show from the 70’s or 80’s?
Dan – Hard to pick a favorite, but there were certainly some we tried to never miss. Of course, back then if you missed a show that was it. VCRs were notoriously hard to work with and there was no such thing as watch-on-demand. Our favorite comedies were probably Seinfeld, Bob Newhart and Cheers. Favorite dramas Quantum Leap, Moonlighting (Bruce Willis’ first big role) and Miami Vice (totally corny now, but then it was big stuff).
Charity – Oh the long lost days of VCR. It never really leaves you. I find myself still asking if we “taped” the game. We don’t even have cable or dvr. ha.
Quantum Leap was on of my favorite growing up!! Oh my word. It looks so cheesy now!
I was also a fan of Knight Rider and A-Team, OF COURSE! My family loved Scarecrow and Mrs. King too. Personally, the 1968-1978 Mission Impossible was my favorite.
— Tie
Charity 1 / Dan 3
4. Do you watch football? What team?
Dan – We’re not super-devoted fans. The Daytona area has no national teams, so people have different reasons for picking teams they follow. We tend to watch more consistently once the playoffs start, though we watch a few games during the season. We like the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks (made for an interesting Super Bowl last year). I also like certain quarterbacks, so I’ll cheer for their team when they’re playing. Guys like Peyton Manning, Aaron Rodgers and Drew Brees.
Charity – Now, Dan, you know I can’t let you get a point when you say THE PATRIOTS! ack!!! haha
#HTTR 
I am a HUGE football fan and we love the Washington Redskins. I took my two boys and Steelers loving nephew to see them practice with the Texans. Of course we love the Skins, but they were pretty pumped about seeing J.J. Watt too.
— No way you are getting that one! ha 🙂
Charity 2 / Dan 3
5. Who is your spiritual “hero” that is currently alive?
Dan – That’s easy. My wife, Cindi. She’s simply the best person I’ve ever known and the finest Christian I’ve ever met. That’s really saying something, when you consider how much time I get to observe her conduct and attitudes. Her rewards in heaven undoubtedly will exceed mine. I’m not even in her league. My only hope is she’ll still want to hang out with me in the age to come, even though it will be like “slumming” for her.
Charity – ha! Nice 🙂 I would have to agree about choosing a spouse. When people ask what my husband does, I like to tell them that he’s a designer, but majored in being Godly and minored in being hot.
He doesn’t like it too much…but, that’s ok. He’s amazing.
— Tie
Charity 3 / Dan 4
6. What is the hardest word, in the English language, to pronounce?
Dan – This might not be everyone else’s, but I’ve messed up the word “statistics” on several occasions. My diction is usually pretty good. I do speak publicly more often than most people, and on a good day I can say this word properly. But sometimes, I’ve stumbled over it when speaking publicly. Not just once, sometimes two or three times before I say it right.
Charity – I cannot say “rural” to save my life.
— Tie
Charity 4 / Dan 5
7. Have you ever fished for your meal?
Dan – Yes. We used to do it quite often when camping, back when our kids were little. I used to love catching fish, cleaning them, then frying them up the next morning with eggs. I also remember one rustic camp experience with a friend years ago. We boated out to an uninhabited island in the middle of the intercoastal waterway where we live. All day long we fished and dug for oysters and clams. That evening over an open sky and an open campfire, we cooked them all and stuffed ourselves. It was SO good.
Charity – Uh…fishing? Can I take my recliner, iPhone and tv?
— Fail for me.
Charity 4 / Dan 6
8. How do you strive to bring God the most glory in your life?
Dan – By endeavoring to be fully His, not just when I’m with others but when no one else is watching. To live as fully dependent on Him as I can. Then when with others, to try and think more about them and their welfare than my own. I don’t always succeed, but that’s my aim.
Charity – Nice. Love it.
— God wins!
Charity 4 / Dan 6
9. What led you to fall in love with your spouse? What was the deal clincher?
Dan – It was love at first site for me. For her, not so much (I had to stop acting like a moron first). I met her in the family room of a prayer meeting. I was a fairly new believer and never imagined a Christian girl could be so beautiful and, at the same time, so genuinely nice and easy to be with. From that first meeting, I couldn’t stop thinking about her. Over the next month or so, my love had grown so strong I couldn’t imagine ever loving anyone else more. I knew I had met the love of my life. I have the unique privilege of getting to spend the rest of my life still loving the only woman I’ve ever loved.
This month is our 39th anniversary.
Charity – That is amazing! Congrats!!!!!!
The deal clincher for me was the first time we hung out. I was a single mom, hot mess and newly saved and in love with Jesus. He was a former drug addict, alcoholic, newly saved and in love with Jesus. We went out and all we talked about for hours was how much God had changed our lives. I had never met someone so passionately in love with Jesus. That weekend, I told my sister that I was going to marry him.
We are celebrating our 11th anniversary in December! ❤ ❤
— Tie
Final:
Charity 5 / Dan 7
Still lost.
Thank you for facing-off with me! It was a blast!! I really enjoyed getting to know you better and hearing your fun stories 🙂
Make sure to stop by and connect with Dan Walsh on Facebook!!
Guess what??
Dan has offered to do a giveaway!
First, head over to Amazon and pick up his free book, The Dance. (Link up top). Then, head over to the Rafflecopter link and enter to win your choice of another book from the series. Choices are: The Promise, The Desire or The Legacy.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
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*U.S. Rez only (We do love the rest of you too!)
*Entries will be checked
Good Luck!!
Charity Andrews 