It’s that time of year . . . the dill shows so many shades of green and yellow. Today I found a few stems perfect for picking – my mother-in-law taught me the shade to look for, and of course, the pungent smell.
Tickweed blossoms in our back yard couldn’t be brighter.
And the zinnias are not to be outdone. Talk about the “layered look!”
Then there’s the phlox . . . plain old-fashioned lovely.
Being gone for a couple of weeks in the middle of summer brings surprises when you return. I’ve been “gone” from my blog for too long, too, and this gets me started again. I’ve been editing the first book in the Women of the Heartland series, though, so haven’t gone completely AWOL.
In Times Like These shall rise again . . . and be all the better for it.
Now, a book on very early Arizona history has captured my attention. I really can’t imagine what it would have been like to ride those gorgeous canyons, viewing Sedona’s gorgeous red rocks or the outrageous beauty of Mogollon Rim Country for the first time. What would it be like happening on the Tonto Natural Bridge on horseback, or seeing a saguaro cactus in the distance?
Jan Cline, historical author, answers this question for us today. Here’s the latest Depression-era novel in her American Dreams series, and she’s offering a free paperback to one commenter on this blog.
It can be frustrating to us as readers to be lost from the beginning of a book, unable to be absorbed in the story because we don’t have an awareness of where the character is. As a writer, I finally discovered why that happens.
If any of you enjoy people watching, you might have observed the way folks interact, feel, and participate. People at a carnival act or even dress differently from what they would at a church service, or business meeting. Weather and time of day and year also come into play in how your character acts.
Our feelings and actions are often affected by our surroundings. A character in a book needs setting, a description of what they see, hear, and touch in order to do and say and feel what the author wants them to. The connection between the character and their setting should draw you into the story.
A setting that has been painted well gives the character something to bounce life off of, and goes a long way to deepen the story and the reading experience. It explains why we either trudge through the first few chapters of a book, or devour it because we feel we are there with the characters.
In the first book of my American Dreams series, Heaven’s Sky, the setting is much like another character in the story. The outer struggle of the relentless dust storms and barren land is a big part of what drives the main characters. The inner struggle is the push and pull of faith versus discouragement about circumstances. As the story of Heaven’s Skyopens, Clarissa Wilding, the main character, has been burdened by vicious dust storms for several years. One of the first lines is:
“The same contemptible dry wind that swallowed up their crops had blown across her soul, stealing her hope and things she held dear.”
That’s a character reacting to her surroundings, giving the reader a taste of whereshe is. This is the essence of book one in this series. In book 2, The Pruning, which has just released, the story continues in a new setting. The Pruningtakes the same family to a new place, quite different from their old home. As they move to a vineyard in Washington State, the dynamic changes of setting from dry and fruitless, to green and prosperous, is still full of challenges for Clarissa. The contrast of the vineyard setting shows us that even when our life’s setting or circumstances change drastically, the solid foundation of our faith, and our trust in one another, steadies us through the hard times.
I hope you have a better grasp on why some books grab you from the start, and I hope you’ll read both my stories.
Thank you, Gail, for an opportunity to share.
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Welcome to Elaine Stock today as she tells us about her latest release, When Love Blossoms. She’s also offering 1 Kindle copy of this novel to a commenter, good only in the United States.
Many years ago, a college student peered up from her philosophy textbook and off toward her right. She spotted him immediately. In a sea of students who might have been clones of each other because of the similarities of dress, hairstyles, and expression, this guy stood out in a most positive way. The first thing she noted that marked him as singular and possibly refreshingly special was his clothing choice of a vest. Hmm. Interesting. And what kind of glasses was he wearing? Rimless? Different. Not nerdy, but a signature that quietly stated he preferred a distinct preference and didn’t have to conceal it just to look and act like everyone else.
Wow—a fellow individual! Did he have a charming personality to accompany the way he carried himself?
Thirty days ticked by, happily filled with talk between this young woman and man. They enjoyed long walks, dinner out…just time spent with each other.
One night, after having a rough day—what a Friday the 13thshe was having!—she went to his off-campus apartment and surprised him with a dinner-out invitation. For dessert, he took her to buy a diamond engagement ring. Eight months later, they wed on a beautiful, mild cloudless July 4th.
To a few readers, this may sound like a whirlwind tale of lovers. Maybe you’re thinking that it just doesn’t happen in real life and therefore the concept isn’t plausible. Well, dear reader, love can and does happen pretty fast at times. That young man and woman in the above scenario is my husband and myself. And, as July 4thapproaches, we’re looking forward to another blessed wedding anniversary and year to come together.
In my newly released novel, When Love Blossoms, Book 2 of the Kindred Lake Romance Series (though a standalone read), Kierra and Ryan don’t plan on meeting and for that matter, aren’t looking for a romantic partner. The not-too-long-ago breakup with her fiancé still has Kierra’s heart aching. Meanwhile, Ryan is just beginning to get onto his feet after witnessing a sad tragedy, yet his teen daughter’s needs and demands rate number one in his concerns.
But.
Ah, love. True love happens when it does and where it occurs. True love is always right, never misplaced. True love arrives at the right time, never late, nor early.
I hope you will visit with Kierra and Ryan and that their story showers you with hope and joy. May true love bless each one of you.
Blurb for When Love Blossoms:
The journeys in life take you to unexpected destinations. The love of a good person brings you home.
Kierra Madden, proprietor of the Kindred Lake Inn, struggles for stability after her engagement ends, family strife continues, and business slows. When her mom, sister and teenage niece move in with her, life becomes a lot more complicated. There’s certainly spare room…until one guest arrives…on his bicycle. Ryan Delaney is fit and trim…quite the eye candy.
Ryan, a TV news anchor on a leave of absence following a horrific incident, enjoys the peace long-distance biking offers. Only in town to mend his strained relationship with his teen daughter, he never expects to fall for Kierra fast and hard. Despite her policy of separating business and pleasure, mutual attraction pulls them closer until unforeseen consequences threaten to wedge between them.
Surrounded by springtime beauty, will the temptation of desire bloom into a more powerful and lasting love?
Elaine Stock is an award-winning author of Women’s & Inspirational Fiction to uplift with hope of better tomorrows.Her novel, Her Good Girl, received the Outstanding Christian/Religious Fiction in the 2018 IAN Book of the Year Awards, 2018 Readers’ Favorite Silver Medal in Christian Fiction and the 2018 American Fiction Awards in the Christian Inspirational category.
Elaine is a member of Women’s Fiction Writers Association, American Christian Fiction Writers, and the Romance Writers of America. Born in Brooklyn, NY, Elaine has now been living in upstate, rural New York with her husband for more years than her stint as a NYC gal. She enjoys long walks down country roads, visiting New England towns, and of course, a good book.
Author Cleo Lampos visits with us today. I marvel at people surviving the Dust Bowl in the thirties, and Cleo’s parents did just that. During that time, people took whatever life gave them and did what they could to make ends meet. And Cleo has made this story from the Dust Bowl into a novel I’m looking forward to reading. She is offering a free book, e- or paperback, to one fortunate commenter. AuthoNow I’ll let her tell the story:
Blame it on the letters.
When my mother passed away, there was not much left of her earthly life. But a box of letters and journals came back to my home on the south side of Chicago. Too grieved to read them, they collected dust in the back of a closet until my age crossed the sixth decade. I decided to delve into my mother’s past.
Born in 1910, the oldest of eight children, Mom grew up on an Iowa farm and married my father in 1930. Just in time for the Great Depression. I can hear her now, saying, “Your father always had a job. We had food.” Times were tough.
Cleo’s father.
My father dug irrigation ditches, spud cellars, or drainage ditches for highways. There are photos of him with his dragline surrounded by curious Lakota Indians. Because his work was location specific, the letters were addressed to 26 different addresses in Wyoming, Colorado and Utah in a five year period. The address to Greeley, Colorado remained for over twenty years because my big brother needed a permanent place to go to school. Many of the letters were those written by my mother to my grandmother as she described her life out West.
It was first hand historical information with a personal appeal. Especially all the entries in the journal in which my mother is making another quilt square. She describes how she obtained the scraps needed to make the square, and the design used. Much fabric was taken from the remnants of the feed bags that she utilized to create aprons, curtains, and pillowcases. My sister guards one of the quilts that she made during this period. Quilting became important to me because it represents the women of this era.
While living in tents, cabin camps and a small wooden trailer hitched behind the dragline, my mom and dad visited Hoovervilles. They bought trinkets created by desperate people etching out bare subsistence. My parents carried their young son to view the mountains, square dance with sheep herders, and hunker in during the Black Blizzards that terrified even the most devout. All of these stories were in the letters and the journals of my mother.
Researching the decade of the 1930s uncovered so much information about the people who would become the Greatest Generation. With this background and my own perspective from living, the historical novel, Dust Between the Stitches,was written. As I penned this work, the emotions of the men and women who faced daily challenges of food, shelter, foreclosure, and destitution forced me to think of how they would respond. Much of what I researched pointed to a generation that held tenaciously to a faith forged from the difficulties of life. It is that solid-rock faith that I hope comes through in my writing.
Bio: Cleo Lampos was born in Greeley, Colorado, but lives on the south side of Chicago. She graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and from St. Xavier University-Chicago. After 26 years of teaching behavior disorder/emotionally disturbed students, she is retired with her husband, Vernon. Together they volunteer at the community pantry garden, and are urban farmers on their own city plot. Church and 11 grandchildren fill their lives with activities. Lampos has written numerous magazine articles, and seven books.
Remember the mama bird sitting on her nest in my last post? Well, things happen quickly once they begin.
This week, I’ll be doing my best to honor Dorothy Woebbeking’s World War II service. On Wednesday the 19th at 1 p.m., I’ll be at the Hiawatha Public Library sharing about Until Then.
Late that afternoon, Lyn Vande Brake, Carol Hedberg and I will join six other creative participants at Our Lady of the Prairie retreat center near Wheatland, Iowa. REVITALIZE…the Art of Writing…this’ll be a fun, meaningful time.
The center, set on rolling hills with oak groves, makes a perfect place for some time away in nature.
Then on Friday night, I’ll be at the White Oak Library in Romeoville, Il for the launch of Dorothy’s story. As you already know, she shares the stage in this novel with a London policeman who faced a nearly impossible task during the war.
There’s such a lot to do to prepare a book for publication, and then comes the big day…this time, my “big day” is spread over a couple of weeks. There’s still a lot to do–this mama is now busy feeding her babies . . . and I’m promoting Until Then in the best ways I know.
It never seems like enough, though, so I greatly appreciate you sharing the word with your own networks. Every review you post gives would-be readers another take on what Until Then has to offer.
Thank you so much for your support and encouragement through this entire process. If you are near Hiawatha, Iowa on Wednesday or Romeoville IL on Friday, I’d love to see you. And may you enjoy the beauties of this lovely season!
It’s summer, and we all need some laughs, right? You’ll find them here, courtesy of Elizabeth Calwell, and in her memoir, Dear Passenger: Welcome to My Wacky World as a Flight Attendant.
Some readers will want to know this book contains some mild “language,” because that’s part of the life of a flight attendant. Having said that, I think you’ll still enjoy her true stories. And she is offering a giveaway–one free paperback book to a commenter. Now, enjoy!
Hey y’all, I’m a “High Altitude Safety Technician”. That’s a highfalutin way of saying I’m a flight attendant.
It’s just not possible to get trained for all the bizarre things that happen on airplanes these days. You’ve watched the stories on the TV news from the comfort of your recliner, but I’m locked in with this insanity going on.
If you all think this inflight craziness has only been happening the last few years, let me tell you about my very first international flight over twenty-five years ago.
We were on the way to Jamaica. I was standing in the galley with several of the flight attendants when a woman tapped me on the shoulder and yelled, “You need to do something about that thing.”
“I’m the brand new flight attendant here but is there something I can help you with?”
She said, “I’m not kidding. That thing’s waking my baby.”
Then we heard a strange noise. “Cock-a-doodle-doo.”
“Cock-a-doodle-doo?” We all looked at each other then rushed to investigate.
A Jamaican man had snuck a rooster on board in a brown-paper bag and shoved it under the seat in front of him. Do you know what a cock does when it wakes up? “Cock-a-doodle-doo. Cock-a-doodle-doo!”
Everyone was laughing and all the passengers were pointing at the man, who didn’t understand all the excitement. He said, “Hey Mon, No problem here. It’s my dinner.”
Speaking of dinner, back when we regularly served meals on flights we hustled as fast as we could to get the passengers served as quickly as possible. Each new row, we repeated in rapid succession, “Beef? Or chicken? Beef or chicken? Beeforchicken?”
When I moved the cart forward to the next row, a man sitting next to the window declared in a booming voice, “I think I’ll have some of that thar’ beaver-chicken.”
“Excuse me?”
“Yeah. Beaver-chicken.”
There are things that just don’t bear explaining. I served him the chicken without a word. After all, doesn’t everything taste like chicken?
When we got closer to the back of the plane, we ran out of chicken. I asked a passenger, “Would you care for the beef for dinner?”
He demanded, with a Spanish accent, “I require cheeken.”
I said, “I’m so sorry, but we don’t have any more chicken, all we have is beef.
“I require cheeken. My ticket say I require cheeken.”
“Really! OK, show me your ticket.”
Sure enough, he pulled out his boarding pass and pointed to where it was printed in bold letters, CHECK IN REQUIRED.
Why couldn’t that man have been on my very first international flight? I could have handed him some really fresh poultry in a brown paper bag!
###
You’ll find lots of amusing situations like these in my comedy memoir, Dear Passenger: Welcome to My Wacky World as a Flight Attendant. It’s humorous, light-hearted and entertaining with some vital information about air travel slipped in. My small town upbringing has given me a unique Southern perspective on the antics of passengers and unusual happenings while traveling.
Have you ever wondered about the life of a flight attendant? Or maybe you’ve had a hard day at work and need to escape your on the ground job. Well, fasten your seat belt and join me at 35,000 feet. I can tell you all about it.
Monday evening, June 10 . . . I promised to share more information about UNTIL THEN as soon as possible, so here is the full cover for your perusal. Now you can read the back cover description and get a feel for the two stories interwoven in this book.
I’m so delighted with the careful work of Mike Parker, my publisher at WordCrafts.
And…the paperback should be available on Amazon.com in approximately 48 hours. As soon as it is, I will send out the purchase links. Thank you so much, dear readers, for waiting with me!
I’m visiting this blog today in anticipation of the release of Until Then. And you can be sure I’ll be chortling the news when this release goes live on Amazon!
Not complaining, but where did May go? All of a sudden, Memorial Day is already over–and the seventy-fifth anniversary of D-Day is upon us.
I’ve been enjoying the fabulous photos my husband Lance brings me from the great outdoors, and getting ready for the release of my next World War II novel, UNTIL THEN. Some of you may remember that old song…well, our heroine LIVED it.
A Waterloo, IA native, Dorothy served for five years. At the Battle of the Bulge, during D-Day, at Anzio, and in a lot of other places you’ll recognize. What an incredible Greatest Generation woman–I’m so pleased to be able to honor her by telling her story.
Here she is during some of her training. Be watching, we’ll be revealing the cover of Until Then for you one of these days.
Like this mother robin Lance captured in her nest, I’m waiting for my new book chick to hatch. Just FYI, I also am having a stem cell procedure in my hip, so am also waiting/praying for healing. Now, enjoy rural Iowa through Lance’s lens.
Welcome to Sherrinda Ketchersid with her debut novel. Sometimes, the timing for our projects change. This happened with Lord of Her Heart , the novel Sherrinda started about a decade ago, and many authors can relate. Sherrinda is offering an e-copy of this novel to one commenter.
I began my writing journey late in life. I had turned forty and still had teens in the house, but decided I wasn’t going to grow old and regret not writing a book. Since historical romance is my genre of choice, I began researching women from the middle ages and learned wealthy girls were sent to convents for an education. They learned to read, write, spin, weave, etc. to prepare them to run large estates after they were married.
The question ‘what if?’ kept running through my mind. What if a girl were abandoned at a convent? What if she was forced to either take her vows or marry an old man willing to pay money to the convent? These questions gave me Jocelyn’s story in Lord of Her Heart.
It took several years to write the story, and by then I had learned to edit the manuscript, and worked to polish it as best I could. The novel finaled in a few contests and won the TBL Contest back in 2011, but I couldn’t find an agent. It was a frustrating time.
Then in 2014, I felt led by the Lord to set aside my writing. It had become an idol in my life and I knew I had replaced my focus on God with a focus on writing—or at this point, publishing. This was not easy, but it was the right thing to do. I quit writing and blogging, worked an outside job and focused my free time on my family and church.
During this time I learned an important lesson. There is nothing in this life—no pursuit, no love, no career … nothing—more important than our journey with God. Anything that pulls us away from our relationship with the Lord needs to be re-evaluated.
When our focus is on God and His will, everything else in life falls into proper order. Now that I’ve taken up writing again, I’m learning that it is not about the success of my book—it is about my journey with God throughout the whole process.
I had set aside Lord of Her Heart and begun writing a second medieval romance when I heard about #FaithPitch on Twitter. On a whim I pitched Lord of Her Heart in March of 2018 and got a request to submit to Smitten, the historical line for Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas.
Within a few weeks I was offered a contract. It’s been a whirlwind of editing and marketing, and I feel so blessed to have been offered this opportunity. This truly is a dream come true.
Author’s Back Cover Copy
Lady Jocelyn Ashburne suspects something auamiss at her family’s castle because her father ceases to write to her. When she overhears a plot to force her into vows—either to the church or a husband—she disguises herself and flees the convent in desperation to discover the truth.
Malcolm Castillon of Berkham is determined to win the next tournament and be granted a manor of his own. After years of proving his worth on the jousting field, he yearns for a life of peace. Rescuing a scrawny lad who turns out to be a beautiful woman is not what he bargained for. Still, he cannot deny that she stirs his heart like no other, in spite of her conniving ways.
Chaos, deception, and treachery threaten their goals, but both are determined to succeed. Learning to trust each other might be the only way either of them survives.
Author Bio
Sherrinda Ketchersid is a lover of stories with happily-ever-after endings. Whether set in the past or present, romance is what she writes and where her dreams reside. Sherrinda lives in north-central Texas with her preacher husband. With four grown children, three guys and a gal, she has more time and energy to spin tales of faith, fun, and forever love.
