Thanks to everybody for your good wishes and comments yesterday.
I drew Mary J’s name out of the Stetson, so I hope you will enjoy your copy of Marrying Mattie.
When you have a sec, Mary J, please send your mailing addy to
Again, thanks to y’all for an enjoyable day.
Get ready, ladies! Tonight the Filies will be announcin’ the winner of the $25 gift card to Barnes & Noble. As the official counter of guesses, Miss Felicia can tell ya it’s a real horse race. Take your best shots. Today’s prizes are…
1. Whoever said hell was hot had lied.
2. Jaret Walker crested the last hill and hauled back on the reins.
3. Thunder hauled him from a restless sleep.
1. Zeb Garrison didn’t think much of church or preachers, but he had to give Reverend Preston credit for striking a chord that hadn’t stopped echoing since Sunday morning.
2. If Adelaide Clarke had been asleep like a sensible woman, she wouldn’t have heard the thump on her front porch.
3. Cassiopeia O’Rourke had been named for a constellation, but Heaven couldn’t have been further away as she stepped inside the Guthrie Corners sheriff’s office.
That’s all, ladies! The Fillies are gonna tally up all the guesses for the winner of the $25 Barnes & Noble gift card. Looks to me like they’l have to take off their boots and use their fingers and their pretty toes! Check back for the winners of today’s prizes and the biggest prize of all!
Y’all sure know the Filly books! You guessed ‘em all, but no surprises there. You ladies are good at this! Filly #7 is none other than Miss Elizabeth Lane. Those first lines are from The Borrowed Bride, His Substitute Bride and The Horseman’s Bride.
Filly #8 made things nice and easy. Miss Tanya Hanson even had a title in her first lines. She wrote Marry Mattie, Hearts Crossing Ranch and Marrying Minda.
Filly #9 is none other than Miss Winnie Griggs. Her titles are Something More, Lady’s Choice and The Christmas Journey.
Congratulations to catlady! You won a glass beaded bookmark and a book to go with it from Miss Cheryl St.John. Give her a shout at SaintJohn@aol.com
Doctor in Petticoats by Mary Connealy goes to . . . ReneeC! Give Mary a holler at Mary@MaryConnealy.com
Another shout-out goes to Tabitha. She won Give Me a Texas Ranger from Phyliss Miranda. Email Phyliss at PhylissMiranda@aol.com
A hard copy of Marrying Minda by Tanya Hanson goes to Laurie G! You can find Miss Tanya at TanHanson@aol.com
Hello, ellie! You won the title of your choice from Winnie Griggs’ back list. Email Winnie at winnie@winniegriggs.com
And one more prize . . . Miss Phyliss is giving away an extra copy of Give Me a Texas Ranger. It goes to JackieW. Email Miss Phyliss at PhylissMiranda@aol.com
That’s it for today, ladies! Tomorrow’s our last day for Fabulous Filly First Lines. The Fillies will be tallying up the right answers and announcing the Friday winners and the winner of that Barnes & Noble gift card in the wee hours of Friday night.
Ready for more prizes? Y’all know how to play. Take your best guess at which Filly wrote these cowboy-loving first lines. No need to guess the book unless you want to show off! Leave a comment and you’re eligible to win a prize for today. The grand prize of a $25 gift card to Barnes & Noble will go to the gal who gets the most right answers at the end of the week. In case of a tie, which there sure could be, the Fillies will put the names in the Stetson and pick one. Take a look-see at today’s give-aways…
A Glass Beaded Bookmark and a book to go with it from Cheryl St.John
Okay ladies… take yer best guesses!
1. Hannah felt the approaching train before she heard it.
2. By the time Quint found the woman, she was dying.
3. Clara Seavers closed the paddock gate and looped the chain over the wooden post.
1. Caldwell Hackett was getting married tomorrow, and Lord save him, he was a virgin.
2. Underneath the brim of his black Stetson, Kenn Martin squinted against the sun rising over Hearts Crossing Ranch.
3. Where is Norman Dale? Minda’s heart thumped. The noon stage had run late, so he had plenty of time to get here. Unless he had backed out.
1. Caleb crept downstairs, carefully avoiding the creaky third step. He wasn’t supposed to be up, but this was important. Besides, he was six. That made him a big boy. Daddy said so.
2. An unholy shriek ricocheted through the forest, startling a raucous cloud of blackbirds from the roadside trees. “Easy, Trib.” Adam Barr patted the horse’s neck as the animal shied. What now?
3. “Hey!” The reedy voice coming from inside Wylie’s Livery and Bridle Shop thrummed with outrage. “You can’t take those horses ‘til you settle up with Joe.”
The prizes are a-dwindling, but we’ve got plenty more to give away to y’all. And don’t forget. The gal who gets the most right answers is up for a $25 gift card from Barnes & Noble. In case of a tie, we’ll break out that ol’ Stetson for a draw-off. Here’s today’s pile o’ prizes from the Fillies.
Y’all know the rules . . . It’s simpler than horseshoes. All you gotta is take a stab at guessin’ which Filly wrote these first lines… Holler out some names in the comment section, and you just might win a prize.
1. “Watch out!”
2. “Sometimes I want to take the top of your head off and screw your brain in right.”
3. Dense clouds parted to reveal a slice of silver moon in the narrow gap of sky above the dark alley where the fourteen-year-old girl crouched beside a stack of crates. She wasn’t afraid. No, there were plenty of things more terrifying than night.
Filly #61. Quinten Corbett plucked his watch from his printer’s apron pocket and studied the hour. Damnation, maybe time didn’t matter to some folks, but to Quin the world revolved around deadlines … professional and personal.
2. “What in the …” Morgan Payne wasn’t sure whether to cuss or fight. “Son of a …” He stared across the alley at a young woman holding a bow. He damn sure knew where her arrow had ended up!
3. Not only was he tired, hungry, and dirty, but technically, Hayden McGraw guessed he was still on suspension with the Texas Rangers.
The Fillies have a heap more prizes to give out, so keep your guesses a-coming’. It’s as easy as pie to enter. All you gotta do is take wild-mustang guess and leave a comment. Right or wrong, your name gets dropped in that big ol’ Stetson. Let’s round up two more Fillies and give away five more prizes. Take a look-see at what’s up for grabs.
Give Me a Texas Ranger from Phyliss Miranda
HERE WE GO….Remember now, all you gotta do is guess the Filly who kicked off her books with these first lines… 
1. Vultures signaled trouble ahead.
2. Of all the blasted luck! Josh Travis couldn’t believe his eyes. Now he had no choice but to cut the dumb thing off.
3. Old man Hank Applegate should have known trouble was brewing the moment the stagecoach thundered into town one week and two days late.
1. “Don’t kill me! Please!”
2. The steel wheels screamed as the train slowed.
3. Angela Bentley breathed a sigh of pure exasperation.
Are y’all ready for Filly First Lines? Before we get started, here’s what’s up for grabs from that ten gallon hat chock full of prizes…
Winning sonethin’ is easier than falling off a greased log. You don’t have to guess which book, just the name of the Filly who wrote these high-kickin’ first lines. Leave a comment and your name goes in the hat for today’s drawin’. Right or wrong, you’ve got a shot at a prize.
On Friday the Fillies are gonna count up the guesses on their fingers and pretty little toes. Whoever gets the most right wins a $25 gift card from Barnes & Noble. If there’s a tie, we’ll break out the hat and have a draw-off. Good luck, y’all!
1. The Five Horsemen of the Apocalypse rode in, late as usual.
2. Belle Tanner pitched dirt right on Anthony’s handsome, worthless face.
3. Beth McClellen would die before she missed Mandy’s wedding.
1. There were times in life you either had to go big, or go broke.
2. When Mike Gardner came walking up the path in just that way, Grace knew she was in trouble.
3. “In two hundred meters, turn left.”
Post your guesses, ladies! The lucky winners will be named in the wee hours of the mornin’, so check back tomorrow . . . There’s good stuff a-coming from Wildflower Junction!
A huge yeehaw to Pat Cochran, who has won an e-copy of SOLD TO THE HIGHEST BIDDER!
Pat, if you can pony express an e-mail to me at donnaalward@hotmail.com, and let me know what format you’d like, I’ll get a copy to you right away quick-like.
Thanks everyone for visiting this weekend!
Donna
Congratulations to . . . 
Deb
Veronica
Lisa
My email is VictoriaBylin@aol.com. When I get your mailing addresses, I”ll send the books. I hope you each enjoy the story!
To order from Amazon, click here: Kansas Courtship.
The pub date for my next Love Inspired Historical, Kansas Courtship, is Tuesday, March 16th. That’s just around the corner. This is a milestone book for me. When I sold to Harlequin in February 2002, I never dreamed I’d someday have 10 books to my name. Well, Kansas Courtship is No. 10! It’s also the book I most enjoyed writing.
Here’s why . . .
Kansas Courtship is book No. 3 in a three-book continuity series called “After the Storm: The Founding Years.” That means I received the characters and basic plot from the editors at Steeple Hill. Two other LIH authors, Valerie Hansen and Renee Ryan, wrote the first two books, High Plains Bride and Heartland Wedding. (You’ve met Renee here at Wildflower Junction.) All three books are set in 1860 in a Kansas town that’s been devastated by a tornado. As authors, we had to coordinate certain elements, which meant being in constant contact via email.
I can’t say enough about these two women. I loved working with both of them. Early on, I ran into a plot problem with the timeline for my heroine’s arrival in High Plains. Renee came up with the perfect solution. Not only did she solve the problem, she made the whole book more believable. Val had done a continuity before, and she knew how to keep us all on track. I loved checking email and finding notes from these two wonderful writers.
The other thing I loved about doing this book was the research. My hero, Zeb Garrison, is one of the town founders and he owns a mill. I knew zilch about mills when I started this story, buy my husband came to my rescue. We were living in northern Virginia when I wrote this story, and he knew about Colvin Mill. Colvin Mill is a fully restored 19th century mill that turned out to be a 30 minute drive from our house. We had a great day watching the mill in full operation.
So far I’ve gotten several comments on the realism of the mill scenes. I owe that accuracy to my husband and the docents at Colvin Mill. We were there for a good two hours, watching and especially listening. You can look at pictures online and in books, but you can’t usually hear what something sounds like. I’ll never forget the music of the mill, and I used it in the book.
Readers also seem to be noticing the medical research. My heroine, Dr. Nora Mitchell,
is one of the first female physicians in America. I wrote about a lady doctor for Harlequin Historicals, but that book was set in 1899, not 1860. Fashion changed in those 40 years, and so did medicine. I had to start from square one when it came to Dr. Nora’s training.
I also had to educate myself on a particular kind of injury. I was fortunate to be working for a modern day lady doctor at the time, and she set me straight on a few things. No spoilers (though I’m itching to say what happens!) but she saved from embarrassing inaccuracies. It’s not smart to kill off a main character by accident!
Since I’m celebrating, I want to give away three more copies of Kansas Courtship. We’ll do it like we did it last month. Anyone who comments will be eligible for the drawing. Good luck!
To order now or right after the drawing, here’s the link to Amazon: Kansas Courtship.
