book giveaway

A Pair of Fun Western Flicks . . . and a Giveaway

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At the end of September, I flew to Phoenix for a writing conference. I had some major bumps along the way, but I made it. (If you are interested in reading about my bumpy travel adventures, you can find the account here.)

I’m one of those introverted flyers. I’ll smile at my seatmates and speak to be polite, but I’d much rather read or watch a movie than carry on a conversation. Knowing I’d have about 2 hours of flight time between Texas and Arizona, I downloaded a couple of movies that had caught my interest on Netflix. Both had a western romance flair, and both were quite enjoyable.

The Wrong Paris

If The Bachelor were to come to rural Texas, this is what it might look like.

Here is the blurb:

The romantic comedy The Wrong Paris follows a down-home Texas girl with big dreams. After getting into art school in Paris, Dawn is overjoyed — but quickly realizes she can’t afford to live there. In comes a popular dating reality series whose upcoming season is set in the City of Lights. If Dawn can get on the show, she’ll get a big fat check to pay for housing overseas. When she miraculously ends up a contestant, however, it turns out her Parisian future is … in Texas. Paris, Texas, to be exact. After the show’s producers bait-and-switch, the ladies are introduced to a fiery-hot cowboy bachelor, Trey. Now Dawn’s sole mission is to get eliminated as fast as possible. Which will be easy, right? It’s not like she’ll fall for a hunky rancher or anything.

Overall, I really enjoyed this movie. Spunky heroine? Check. Hunky cowboy hero? Check. Humor? Check. Beautiful western setting? Check. Quirky supporting cast? Check. It is rated PG-13, and there is some language, so beware of that. There are also a couple scenes that are a bit suggestive, but nothing beyond a kiss actually happens on-screen. It was cute and a little corny in places, but it made me smile and left me believing Dawn and Trey would find their happy ending.

On the way home from the conference, I loaded up another western romance with a strong central heroine.

Walk. Ride. Rodeo.

This movie is based on the true story of barrel racer Amberley Snyder and her return to competition after a car accident left her paralyzed from the waist down.

I’m a sucker for an inspiring based-on-a-true-story movie, and this one hit the spot. A courageous young woman who was a nationally ranked barrel racer at the age of 19 loses control of her truck and is thrown from her vehicle, barely surviving with her life. The movie chronicles her recovery and her fight to find a way to not only ride but race again. The romance thread is light in the movie, but it’s there, and Tate is a sweetheart. So patient and supportive.

One amazing note is that the real life Amberley Snyder does the stunt work in the movie!

Actors on left, real Amberley and her mom on right.

This movie is clean and inspirational, and I’m happy to recommend it.

 

Giveaway

Another fun thing that came from attending the conference is that I picked up extra books! I have two novels from the fabulous Linda Ford that I’ll be giving away to one lucky reader today. To enter, leave a comment on today’s post.

What movies have you enjoyed lately that you would recommend?
If you aren’t a movie watcher, how do you pass the time while traveling?

Goodies for You!

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My next book releases in December, and I’m trying something new for the launch. Cloaked in Beauty is the third book in my Texas Ever After series, and it wil be a mash-up of Little Red Riding Hood and Sleeping Beauty. 

Here’s a little snippet of the plot: Raised in isolation with only her grandmother and her pet wolf for company, Letty Hood must learn to trust the Pinkerton agent tasked with her protection as she embarks on a journey to face her destiny and the dragon who has sought her destruction for the last 15 years.

I’ve watched other authors offer bonuses to readers who preorder their books, and I’ve always thought it would be fun to try. So after talking with my marketing team this fall, I’m taking the plunge!
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The first 250 readers who preorder Cloaked in Beauty from Baker Book House will receive three bonus goodies. A custom bookmark that features the entire series, a fun vinyl sticker, and an autographed book plate.
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Even better than the goodies, preordering from Baker gives you a 40% discount on the retail price along with free shipping. Yay!
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If you have already preordered the book from Baker Book House, you are already in line to receive the goodies.
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Giveaway
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In addition to the preorder goodies, I also want to share some bookish goodies with you. I recently attended a writing conference in Phoenix, where I got to meet up briefly with fellow filly, Cathy McDavid. I also had the chance to pick up some free books, including these three western reads!
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One person who leaves a comment will receive all three of these books. Just tell me about your favorite place to read during the fall season. Indoors? Outdoors? Hammock? Reading Chair? Front porch swing? Bed? Pumpkin patch? Hay loft? Where do you go for the perfect fall reading experience?

Turning My Hero into a Cowboy & A Giveaway

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When I first met my husband, he was very anti-cowboy. Except for the Dallas football team. 
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Got him to “try on” the cowboy look a couple years ago for our 30th anniversary.
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Despite being raised in Texas, he hated country music and wanted nothing to do with trucks. He preferred sporty cars and high tech gadgets. But after over 30 years of living with me, he’s slowly turning into my very own cowboy hero. I got him into a pair of Wrangler jeans a couple years ago, then he bought himself a pair of boots for my birthday this year.
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Here we are boot-to-boot during my birthday trip to Wildcatter Ranch.
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And this month he traded in his sporty car for a . . . truck!
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Now, there still won’t be any country music twanging from the speakers, and there is a whole host of high tech gadgets for him to play with, but it’s still a truck. A BIG truck. The side mirrors are taller than I am.
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His old car was starting to fall apart and we both want to get a travel trailer eventually, so we decided we’d take the first step by getting the truck that will pull the trailer whenever we can afford to buy that piece of the travel puzzle.
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But for now, I’m enjoying watching my man embrace the inner cowboy he never knew was there.
Giveaway!
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This past weekend, I had the pleasure of attending the American Christian Fiction Conference in New Orleans. While I was there I got to enjoy lunch with two of my P&P Filly Sisters – Winnie and Mary.
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Also, while I was there, I had the opportunity to pick up a couple of free books. I thought I’d share the fun with one of our P&P readers. Leave a comment for a chance to win these two romantic suspense books set in the west.
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Do you have cowboys/cowgirls in your family, or do most of your cowboy friends live inside books?

The World of Midwives

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Midwives have been around since the beginning of time and they saw lots of joy and sorrow. In 1716, New York City was the first to license midwives and try to legitimize and see them as professionals. At the time, few doctors were formally educated so it made sense for midwives handle births since they did have greater knowledge.

In 1925, a nurse named Mary Breckenridge started the Frontier Nursing Service in Kentucky. The nurses rode horseback all over the Appalachian Mountains delivering babies mostly but also treating all kinds of sickness and injuries. The service received high praise for the invaluable medical care they provided.

As anesthesia came about and began to be used in the late 1800s and early 1900s, more and more women sought doctors and hospitals for deliveries. They wanted something for the pain and I don’t blame them.

In FANCY, Fancy Dalton used a midwife to deliver her baby, trusting the woman to give her excellent care. But the woman took her baby and told her it had died, giving the infant to her sister who was plagued by miscarriages.

Two years passes and Fancy grieves for the child she never got to see. Then one night during a bad storm, the midwife knocks on her door and confesses her crime in order to live with herself. This sets the journey in motion and changes her life forever.

 

Stolen. The word still brought chills. Fancy set her jaw. She wasn’t going to be a victim anymore. She’d fight and claw and hold on with the last shred of strength until she got back what was hers.

Today, pregnant women are increasingly choosing a midwife over a hospital setting. My niece had a midwife at home with each of her four children. Do you know of someone who opted for a midwife instead if choosing the hospital? I’m giving away three ebook copies of FANCY so leave a comment.

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This sweet historical western romance is #10 of the Love Train series and is on sale now. Only $2.99 for Kindle Unlimited or free to those who have a membership. It’s also available in print for those who prefer that.

I’m on a book blog tour with Lone Star Literary until the 18th. Enter the rafflecopter for a chance to win a $25 Amazon gift card or one of four copies of the book. Click on the image to take you there.

In October, I’ll have a new Christmas novella called HOPE’S ANGEL so you’ll be hearing more about that in the coming days.

Birthday Games & A Giveaway

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Today is my middle son’s 22nd birthday. The same son who both graduated college and got married earlier this month. Needless to say, we’ve been partying with Wyatt a lot lately. Which is great, because he’ll soon be out on his own, and I won’t be around to snatch random hugs whenever the urge strikes.

So in honor of Wyatt, I thought I’d share some photos, play a game, and offer up some gifts.

Wyatt is a huge Star Wars fan, so before the wedding, he and his groomsmen created this awesome “Force Push” moment. Isn’t it great? Not only did they add a little Star Wars flavor here, but his tie featured tiny Millennium Falcons and all of the male wedding party (including both dads) wore Star Wars themed socks under their fancy suits.

Game & Giveaway

Since Wyatt has just started his happily ever after journey, I thought we could play a game celebrating romance and true love. And since I just happen to have a brand new book out, there will be two autographed copies of In Honor’s Defense up for grabs.

Game

Use either “Honors” or “Defense” to make a romantic acrostic. Form a sentence using words that start with each letter in the chosen word.

Here’s an example:

H – Hope
O – Overcomes
N – Numerous
O – Obstacles, making
R – Romance
S – Sweet

If you need to add an extra word or two to round out the sentence, like I did, that’s fine, but the fewer extra words, the better the acrostic. My favorite two acrostics will win!

Happy wordsmithing!

OUT IN THE WEST TEXAS TOWN OF EL PASO (AND A GIVEAWAY!)–BY CHERYL PIERSON

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How many songs do you know that had sequels to them? Remember “back in the day” when recording artists would sometimes “answer” a song with one of their own? Well, if you love Marty Robbins like I do, you’ll know that his song El Paso had not only one sequel, but two, and he was working on a third sequel when he died in 1982! I think that’s a “record” for musical sequels, don’t you? I love ballads, or story-songs, and to find out that there were sequels to my all-time favorite one was pure pleasure!

El Paso was written and originally recorded by Marty Robbins, and was released in September 1959 (I was two years old at the time, but Marty was my man from the minute I heard this song!) Though it was originally released on the album Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs, within a month it was released as a single and immediately became a hit on both the country and pop music charts, reaching NUMBER 1 IN BOTH at the start of 1960! But that wasn’t the end of it at all—it also won the Grammy Award for Best Country & Western Recording in 1961, and with good reason. It still remains Robbins’ best-known song, all these years later.

 

Wikipedia states: It is widely considered a genre classic for its gripping narrative which ends in the death of its protagonist, its shift from past to present tense, haunting harmonies by vocalists Bobby Sykes and Jim Glaser (of the Glaser Brothers) and the eloquent and varied Spanish guitar accompaniment by Grady Martin that lends the recording a distinctive Tex-Mex feel. The name of the character Feleena was based upon a schoolmate of Robbins in the fifth grade; Fidelina Martinez.

The storyline is this: The song is a first-person narrative told by a cowboy in El Paso, Texas, in the days of the Wild West. The singer recalls how he frequented “Rosa’s Cantina”, where he became smitten with a young Mexican dancer named Feleena. When the singer notices another cowboy sharing a drink with “wicked Feleena”, out of jealousy he challenges the newcomer to a gunfight. The singer kills the newcomer, then flees El Paso for fear of being hanged for murder or killed in revenge by his victim’s friends. In the act of escaping, the singer commits the additional and potentially hanging offense of horse theft (“I caught a good one, it looked like it could run”), further sealing his fate in El Paso. Departing the town, the singer hides out in the “badlands of New Mexico.”

The song then fast-forwards to an undisclosed time later – the lyrics at this point change from past to present tense – when the singer describes the yearning for Feleena that drives him to return, without regard for his own life, to El Paso. He states that his “love is stronger than [his] fear of death.” Upon arriving, the singer races for the cantina, but is chased and fatally wounded by a posse. At the end of the song, the singer recounts how Feleena has come to his side and he dies in her arms after “one little kiss”.

Robbins wrote two songs that are explicit sequels to “El Paso”, one in 1966, one in 1976. Robbins intended to do one more sequel, “The Mystery of Old El Paso”, but he died in late 1982 before he could finish the final song.

Feleena (From El Paso) (FIRST SEQUEL TO EL PASO)

In 1966, Robbins recorded “Feleena (From El Paso)”, telling the life story of Feleena, the “Mexican girl” from “El Paso”, in a third-person narrative. This track was over eight minutes long, but what a story it tells!

Born in a desert shack in New Mexico during a thunderstorm, Feleena runs away from home at 17, living off her charms for a year in Santa Fe, New Mexico, before moving to the brighter lights of El Paso to become a paid dancer. After another year, the narrator of “El Paso” arrives, the first man she did not have contempt for. He spends six weeks romancing her and then, in a retelling of the key moment in the original song, beset by “insane jealousy”, he shoots another man with whom she was flirting.

Her lover’s return to El Paso comes only a day after his flight (the original song suggests a longer time frame before his return) and as she goes to run to him, the cowboy motions to her to stay out of the line of fire and is shot; immediately after his dying kiss, Feleena shoots herself with his gun. Their ghosts are heard to this day in the wind blowing around El Paso: “It’s only the young cowboy showing Feleena the town”.

El Paso City (SECOND SEQUEL TO EL PASO)

In 1976 Robbins released another reworking, “El Paso City”, in which the present-day singer is a passenger on a flight over El Paso, which reminds him of a song he had heard “long ago”, proceeding to summarize the original “El Paso” story. “I don’t recall who sang the song,” he sings, but he feels a supernatural connection to the story: “Could it be that I could be the cowboy in this mystery…,” he asks, suggesting a past life. This song reached No. 1 on the country charts. The arrangement includes riffs and themes from the previous two El Paso songs. Robbins wrote it while flying over El Paso in, he reported, the same amount of time it takes to sing–four minutes and 14 seconds. It was only the second time that ever happened to him; the first time was when he composed the original “El Paso” as fast as he could write it down.

Though there have been many cover versions of the original “El Paso” song, Marty Robbins put out more than one version of it, himself. There have actually been three versions of Robbins’ original recording of “El Paso”: the original full-length version, the edited version, and the abbreviated version, which is an alternate take in stereo that can be found on the Gunfighter Ballads album. The original version, released on a 45 single record, is in mono and is around 4 minutes and 38 seconds in duration, far longer than most contemporary singles at the time, especially in the country genre. Robbins’ longtime record company, Columbia Records, was unsure whether radio stations would play such a long song, so it released two versions of the song on a promo 45—the full-length version on one side, and an edited version on the other which was nearer to the three-minute mark. This version omitted a verse describing the cowboy’s remorse over the “foul evil deed [he] had done” before his flight from El Paso. The record-buying public, as well as most disc jockeys, overwhelmingly preferred the full-length version.

I can’t tell you how many times I played my 45 record of El Paso on my little portable record player as a little girl. As a country and western song, this has to qualify as my all-time favorite, and my husband even managed to record and adapt the ringtone for me on my iPhone, so when my phone rings it plays the opening words to EL PASO. This has been a huge embarrassment for my kids when they were teens and had to be with me in public, but also was a source of amazement for them when other people actually smiled and said, “Hey! Marty Robbins!

Now THAT recognition is the mark of endurance—a song that is still beloved by so many after over sixty years!

A picture of “retro” Rosa’s Cantina that hangs in my breakfast nook.

 

I have not written any stories that take place in El Paso, but I’m offering a free copy of The Devil and Miss Julia Jackson or Gabriel’s Law, winner’s choice, to one lucky commenter–so don’t forget to leave a comment and your contact info!

What’s your favorite classic country & western song? Is there a sequel to it?

Marilyn Turk: No Iced Tea?

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The fillies are handing a big hey welcome to guest blogger Marilyn Turk! Come on in!

When I began planning the menu for the Cowboy Café in my new novella, Love’s Cookin’ at the Cowboy Café, I was pretty sure I knew what foods would be served. After all, my main character, Sarah Beth Taylor, is a southern belle who hails from a Georgia plantation not far from Savannah. Since I, too, am a southern belle, (ahem), I’m familiar with southern food, and I was certain she’d serve iced tea.

But when I discovered our setting in Crinoline, Texas was in 1868 west Texas, I had a problem getting ice to her café. After years in the food service business, I had to rethink how they managed food preservation in 1868. How did they keep things cool in hot, dry Texas? Some of the gracious western writers on this blog offered solutions like spring houses, wells and basements. But ice? Now that was another matter.

Researching the history of commercial ice, I discovered that natural ice was originally harvested in the winter from frozen lakes, ponds and rivers in the north and stored in icehouses through the summer. Frederick Tudor of Boston began the ice trade in 1805, shipping ice blocks stacked with wood shavings and sawdust for insulation by ship or train. By 1847, ice was shipped to 28 cities in the United States, including those in the South like Savannah and Galveston. From there, the product was shipped inland via train or wagon.

As demand grew for natural ice, so did the competition. In 1851, Dr. John Gorrie of Florida (of course) invented mechanical refrigeration and the first ice machine. By 1876, the process had been perfected by other inventors. And in 1877, Elisha Hall and R.R. Everett established the Houston Ice Manufacturing Company, then other ice companies followed. Most ice plants produced 300-pound blocks of ice. Once made, block ice was delivered to homes and commercial businesses, first by mule or horse-drawn wagon. Of course, these wagons were not refrigerated, so they couldn’t travel too far from the ice plant and keep their ice frozen.

But Crinoline Creek was too far to get deliveries by wagon and there was no train there yet. It never got cold enough for the lakes and rivers to freeze, so they couldn’t cut ice from them. So, Sarah Beth couldn’t get ice in 1868 and she couldn’t serve iced tea. The best she could do was make lemonade as long as the general store could get lemons, or maybe order some bottles of sarsaparilla and hope to keep them cool in the well. I’m sure that eventually, ice was available in Crinoline Creek and the Cowboy Café could finally offer iced tea to its customers.

Hey guys, Marilyn has graciously offered to give away a copy of this marvelous book (I know that because I love these authors!!!!) Leave a comment, an opinion, or a pithy remark below about how you’ve managed to “make do” without something you’d like to have over the years? It could be ice… or chocolate?

No. 🙂 Not chocolate! Let’s see what you’ve got below!

“Love’s Cookin’ at the Cowboy Café” by Marilyn Turk

A refined but feisty southern belle inherits a saloon she plans to convert into a genteel café. Even though her lack of cooking skills threatens disaster, she rejects the town banker’s advice. What will happen when the two lock horns and an unlikely romance simmers on the back burner?

 

A “literary archaeologist,” Marilyn Turk writes historical fiction flavored with suspense and romance for Barbour Books, Winged Publications and Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas. One of her World War II novels, The Gilded Curse, won a Silver Scroll award. She has also written a series of novels set in 1800 Florida whose settings are lighthouses. In addition, Marilyn’s novellas have been published in the Great Lakes Lighthouse Brides collection and Crinoline Cowboys. Marilyn also writes for Guideposts magazine and Daily Guideposts Devotions.  She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers, Romance Writers of America, Advanced Writers and Speakers Association and Word Weavers International.

When not writing, Marilyn and her husband enjoy boating, fishing, playing tennis or visiting lighthouses.

Marilyn is a regular contributor to the Heroes, Heroines and History blog. https://www.hhhistory.com). Connect with her at http://pathwayheart.com, https://twitter.com/MarilynTurk, https://www.facebook.com/MarilynTurkAuthor/, https://www.pinterest.com/bluewaterbayou/, marilynturkwriter@yahoo.com.

Happy Thanksgiving!

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I love Thanksgiving. I love the old New England version of Thanksgiving with the turkey and stuffing and potatoes and all the trimmings, minus green bean casserole. (No offense, green beans, but I don’t like them mushy!)

Cranberry and orange relish…

Eggnog.

Apple pie, pumpkin pie, chocolate cream pie, pecan pie, banana cream pie, cream puffs.

I love a great dessert table after a beautiful meal, mostly because we spend summer and fall living on burgers and sandwiches and whatever we can grab quickly because there’s little time for fussing. So it’s fun to fuss on Thanksgiving and there are a whole bunch of us helping.

Now we don’t celebrate Thanksgiving on Thursday (today). We do the family Thanksgiving tomorrow so that my kids with in-laws aren’t split by two hours at one house, two hours at another, and then two hours at another. So today whoever is at our house baking for tomorrow will have Chicken French and Artichoke French and for the two fellows who don’t love those, we’ll throw a steak on the grill….

That picture is two years old, but you get the idea… All hands on deck for baking!

And then tomorrow, tradition reigns.

I love seeing family all get together, but it happens rarely with a couple of kids far away, so whenever it happens, we celebrate! It doesn’t have to be a holiday because anytime I’ve got my kids around is a holiday.  And that’s even when we’re grabbing bologna sandwiches during the busy farm season because we’re all doing this together. And together is what makes it special.

And if you’re at a stage of life where you can’t or don’t get together with family for Thanksgiving, then you can spend your day with the sweet Lord who offers life and hope. It’s fun to have family around, but I know it’s tiring, too.

God isn’t tiring. He’s inspiring and loves you to distraction, so whatever your day holds, I pray that it’s a warm, embracing day, filled with love near and far.

A day to just simply give thanks.

God bless you!

And yes, I’m giving away another copy of our Christmas anthology “Christmas at Star Inn”!

I love these stories!

Leave a comment about whatever you’re giving thanks for today… no thought is too little or too grand. It’s all good. And if you’d like prayers for something, well we’re happy to do that, too!

Happy Thanksgiving, sweet friends!

Ruthy

Photographer on a Sidesaddle

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with guest blogger Regina Scott.

 

I love researching for a new novel, finding those unique nuggets that are going to bring a character or setting alive. In my recent release, A Distance Too Grand, my heroine Meg Pero is a photographer who wrangles her way onto a survey of the North Rim of the Grand Canyon in 1871, only to discover the Army captain leading the expedition is the man she once refused to marry.

 

That doesn’t stop her. Meg’s used to being a woman in a man’s world. She followed her late father as he shot pictures of everything from a Civil War battlefield to Niagara Falls. Now she has to lug heavy cameras and deal with the harsh chemicals to prepare the glass plate negatives and develop the pictures. On such a rugged expedition, I thought surely she would ride astride.

 

Nope.

 

At that point in American history, except for a few daring or practical ladies out west, most ladies still rode sidesaddle. If Meg wants to be taken as a lady and a professional, she has to ride sidesaddle too. Which means, she needs a riding outfit.

 

And not just any riding outfit. For a two-month survey, Meg has one small trunk and two saddlebags in which to place all her personal belongings. If she wants to change her underthings, she has room for about two outfits. These outfits have to allow her to mount and dismount easily and climb into her photography van to set up her negatives. She must clamber over rocks, duck under trees, and venture out onto ledges to get the perfect shot. Nothing is more important to Meg than getting the shot.

 

Typical riding habits would not work. They were usually designed to look more like men’s wear, with tailored jackets and long, often tight sleeves. They also featured long skirts that could drape over the side of the saddle and hide the lady’s legs. Many of these skirts were so long they trailed on the ground when the lady was standing. All that would make it challenging for Meg’s work. 

 

However, as early as the 1830s, it was possible to purchase a riding habit that came with breeches or even trousers that were worn under a modest skirt. The short pants buttoned just below the knee. The longer trousers extended down over the boots and had a strap that went under the instep to keep them in place. If you look at this picture from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, you can just see the hem of the trouser peeking out under the skirt on the right. Meg brings two such habits with her—one navy with brass buttons and one cream-colored version like what you see on the cover.

 

So, would you have been daring enough to wear breeches under your riding habit or even, ahem, ride astride? Comment below for a chance to win a print copy of A Distance Too Grand.

 

 

 

Regina Scott is the award-winning author of more than forty-five works of warm, witty historical romance. She and her husband live in the Puget Sound area of Washington State on the way to Mt. Rainier. Her fascination with history has led her to dress as a Regency dandy, drive a carriage four-in-hand, learn to fence, and sail on a tall ship, all in the name of research. You can learn more about her at http://www.reginascott.com or connect with her on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/authorreginascott) or Pinterest (http://www.pinterest.com/reginascottpins

Spring in Texas Means Bluebonnets (Plus a Giveaway!)

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One of my favorite parts of spring is watching the roadsides for Texas bluebonnets. They cover entire hillsides in the area around Austin, but up in northwestern Texas, they are more of a rare find. There are certain places that I know to look each year, and about a week ago, I noticed the first patches of vibrant blue.

Two of my three kids have graduated from high school, and as part of their senior pictures, I made sure to get them out in a field of bluebonnets. There is a reliable patch out by our small airport, and we’ve made pictures there several times.

Many years ago, I snapped some photos of them myself in a field of bluebonnets in a vacant lot not too far from their school. Aren’t they adorable? (I’m not biased or anything.)

Peter, the youngest, won’t have his senior pictures made until next year, but here are Bethany and Wyatt in their bluebonnet photo shoots.

 

The year we made Bethany’s senior pictures, I also had a few author photos taken – yes, in the bluebonnets. Here are a couple of my favorite. (Unfortunately, it was very windy on the day we took the pictures, but I kept telling myself I was just like one of those models standing in front of a giant fan. Ha!)

  • Do you have favorite photo traditions in your family?
  • What are your favorite spring flowers?

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Oh, and one more thing . . .

A Huge Christian Historical Romance Giveaway!

If you love historical romance, this is the giveaway for you. Two winners will receive all 23 books pictured below. One winner will also receive a free e-reader. Authors participating include well-known names like Suzanne Woods Fisher, Susan May Warren, Misty Beller, and Rebecca deMarino. What a great way to discover new favorite authors!

I’m giving away a copy of More Than Meets the Eye, the prequel to my June release, More Than Words Can Say. Most of the books in the giveaway will be in e-book format, but some authors (including me) will offer the winners (if in the US) the option of choosing an autographed print copy. To enter, click here. The contest runs through April 17, so enter soon!