Debra Clopton & Reflections on Strong Women

Today, my friend Debbie Clopton is my guest. Here's Debbie:

I only write strong women in my books. I love writing about strong women who face struggles. Many think strong women don't have moments of weakness but--being one myself as I'm sure many of you are--I face weakness constantly. What sets a strong woman apart is that she refuses to give into those weaknesses. She fights to get through them and become stronger on the other side.

She does what she must and many times she does the wrong thing but still she pushes through. Sometimes she must learn that accepting help from others also takes strength...relying on God sometimes takes strength and also the people He sends into our lives to help us make it through whatever we are going through. Pride is a hard thing for a strong woman to overcome sometimes. Strong women tend to pride themselves on doing it themselves.

But God sometimes has to bring a strong woman to a point where she has to get past her pride and totally rely on Him. Other strong women don't have this problem, they are strong always in their faith and their walk. It is this dynamic of strong women that make them fascinating to write about because we come in so many different forms.

My grandmother was one of the strongest women I've ever known. Abandoned by my grandfather when my dad was about 4 she raised 3 sons alone during the depression (along with my dad's help)When I'm struggling I think of her and know that my troubles are nothing compared to what they faced.

When I came up with Rose Vincent, the heroine of my latest release TEXAS RANGER DAD, I wanted a woman of faith who stepped up and did what was right though it cost her everything. I'd always been curious about the good guys--especially women--who enter the witness protection plan and what it must have cost them to do so.

I mean, not criminals who have enter it because of something they've done but, an innocent person who happens to witness a random act of violence and steps up to do whats right and then has to give up life as they've known it because of choosing to testify...those are the people who intrigue me.



I loved creating Rose's story. It is a bit different from most of my Mule Hollow books but exploring what made Rose tick gave me a fresh and exciting spin to write about. In a series that has lasted as long as Mule Hollow I loved this idea. I hope you'll pick up a copy of TEXAS RANGER DAD and find out more about Rose.

Have you been to Mule Hollow yet? Visit debra at: debraclopton.com

Thanks, Deb.

Book Monday-Cheryl Wyatt's Ready-Made Family

Today for Book Monday, I'm featuring another Love Inspired author, Cheryl Wyatt.

Ready-Made Family

April 2009-Steeple Hill Love Inspired--IN STORES NOW!

Wings of Refuge Series

Amelia North needs refuge, and finds it--in Refuge, Illinois. Stranded there after a car wreck, the single mother expects to be cold-shouldered. After all, she's already been rejected by her parents, her church and her daughter's father. Instead, she finds a town full of people with open hands and hearts…including pararescue jumper Ben Dillinger.

Ben wants to help Amelia and her daughter find safety and stability. Instead, he finds himself freefalling--right into love with the ready-made family.

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AUTHOR INFO/BIO:

Cheryl Wyatt's closest friends would never dream the mayhem she plots during announcements at church. An RN-turned-SAHM, joyful chaos rules her home, and she delights in the stealth moments God gives her to write. She's convinced that having been born on a Naval base on Valentine's Day destined her to write military romance. She stays active in her church and in her laundry room. Her debut novels (Books 1 and 2-Wings of Refuge Series-Steeple Hill) received Romantic Times Top Picks. In addition, her debut books received the honor of coming in at #1 and #4 on eHarlequins's Top Ten Most-Blogged-About-Books, lists which included several NYT Bestselling authors. Cheryl is currently serving as Vice President of American Christian Fiction Writers. www.acfw.com

To receive her quarterly newsletter for updates on new releases and contests with GREAT prizes (think: free books, CDs, iPods, and a Kindle!), visit her Web site at www.cherylwyatt.com and sign up in the space provided. Cheryl respects your privacy and will not share your e-mail address with a third party.

Her current contest:

KINDLE CONTEST--NO FOOLIN!

Starting April Fool's day 2009 I'll be running a Kindle contest. Only my newsletter subscribers will be eligible for entry. To receive those quarterly newsletters as well as more information on the Kindle contest, visit www.cherylwyatt.com and sign up in the newsletter space provided. This is a double-opt-in feature and you will receive an e-mail prompting you to confirm that you wish to receive the newsletter. I respect your privacy and will not share your e-mail address with a third party. Winner will be announced on Independence Day 2009 on my newsletter and blog.

AUTHOR CONTACT INFO:

E-mail: cheryl@cherylwyatt.com

Web site: http://www.CherylWyatt.com

Cheryl's Blog: http://www.scrollsquirrel.blogspot.com

Though Ready-Made Family is part of Cheryl's Wings of Refuge Series, each story stands alone.

A Soldier's Promise and A Soldier's Family are still available at most online booksellers.

Look for Cheryl's upcoming Wings of Refuge books:

A Soldiers Reunion-June 2009

Soldier Daddy-October 2009

A Soldier's Devotion-January 2010

Home Sweet Hero (tentative title)-Spring 2010

Terri Reed & Good Samaritan Ministries

Today Terri Reed shares about a woman she admires.

Here's Terri:

One of the strong women I’ve had the pleasure of spending time with is Bettie Mitchell, founder of Good Samaritan Ministries in Beaverton, Oregon. When my husband and I first moved to Oregon we needed some guidance. Through a friend we learned of Bettie and Good Samaritan Ministries.

For over fifteen years Bettie has been our mentor, counselor and friend. I thank God that Bettie answered His call on her life. For over thirty years this ministry, inspired by the Biblical story of the Good Samaritan, has been sharing unconditional love and helping those in need throughout the world. GSM reaches out in compassion to help those in crisis within their communities through counseling, fundamental education, and emergency services without fees regardless of race, nationality, religion or economic status.

This ministry is unique in that those who run the GSM offices in other countries are natives of that country. The GSM headquarters offers support and training so that others may be a Good Samaritan to their neighbors. If you would like to learn more of this amazing ministry go to www.gsmusa.org ."

Terri's latest Love Inspired romance, two stories in one

Love Comes Home

Twelve years ago, Dr. Rachel Maguire followed her faith into medicine, choosing her career over love. But time never diminished her feelings for Josh Taylor, and now God is giving Rachel another chance—if she can overcome the pain of the past.

A Sheltering Love

With her faith as strong as her shoulders, Claire Wilcox opens a shelter for runaways. But it's her mysterious handyman who causes her sleepless nights. As their attraction grows, Nick Andrews must decide if he can trust in God's power to heal.

Terri Reed

http://ladiesofsuspense.blogspot.com/

www.loveinspiredauthors.com

http://craftieladiesofromance.blogspot.com/

Rosemary of Kenya & DiAnn Mills

I'm so happy that DiAnn Mills is sharing a story of a strong woman of Africa today.
Here's DiAnn:



The Courage to Take a Stand



When I think of courageous women, I think of Rosemary of Kenya. I first met her at a Christian guest house in Nairobi in November 2006. My husband had arranged for her to escort me into Southern Sudan so I could research a novel. I was excited about the trip, and she’d done all the leg work to make it happen. With a smile and a genuine hug, we became fast friends.




I didn’t assume a journey into a third world country would be easy. But with Rosemary having made several trips into Southern Sudan, I knew I was in capable and loving hands. She and I had our share of adventures. Once, while driving beyond the city limits of Juba, Sudan, our driver ran out of gas. I swallowed my apprehension and modeled my behavior after calm Rosemary. I prayed hard, and the situation worked out fine. Another time, we were in a car and suddenly found ourselves trapped by several vehicles. Just like the hub of a bicycle wheel, the spokes had us trapped. Again, I modeled my behavior after Rosemary, and a vehicle finally moved to allow us to pass.




One evening, several of us were sitting outside our compound. A man began to tease Rosemary about her heroic feats during the two decade long civil war between northern and southern Sudan. Rosemary had journeyed to the northernmost province of southern Sudan to bring food and medical aid to the suffering people. Amidst gunfire from enemy soldiers, she had to choose between diving into a snake-infested shelter and dodging bullets. She chose the snakes.



Today, Rosemary is hard at work helping the people of Boma, Sudan. Initially, she approached this primitive tribe of mountain people for permission to build a school. Once that was obtained, she gathered teachers to show them how to make bricks for the building, construct a mill for grinding grain, and lay out other buildings in the community. Through her leadership, the children of Boma are obtaining an education, and the people have learned about nutrition, sanitation, and Jesus. Did I mention she is a single parent rearing four daughters? All four girls are devoted to missions and the cause of Christ.




Who knows what tomorrow may bring for Rosemary? But one thing I know for sure is she will not allow a threat of danger to stop her from following God’s will.

You can read about Rosemary’s work at http://www.sea-partners.org/.

Book Monday-If Tomorrow Never Comes by Marlo Shalesky

Now that Marlo has let us into her life, she shares more about her latest book.


If Tomorrow Never Comes By

They say you should reach for your dreams.

This time, they’re wrong…
Childhood sweethearts Kinna and Jimmy Henley had simple dreams—marriage, children, a house by the sea…everything they needed for happily ever after. What they didn’t plan on was years of infertility, stealing those dreams, crushing their hopes. Now, all that’s left is the memory of young love, and the desperate need for a child to erase the pain. Until…


Kinna rescues an elderly woman from the sea, and the threads of the past, present, and future weave together to reveal the wonder of one final hope. One final chance to follow not their dreams, but God’s. Can they embrace the redemptive power of love before it’s too late? Or will their love be washed away like the castles they once built upon the sand? The past whispers to the present. And the future shivers. What if tomorrow never comes?


Marlo lives with her husband and five young children in a log home in Central California. When she’s not changing diapers, doing laundry, or writing books, Marlo loves sipping Starbucks white mochas, reading the New Testament in Greek, and talking about finding the deep places of God in the disappointments of life.


What is the symbolism for the title If Tomorrow Never Comes?

The idea behind the title is that the choices and decisions we make today dramatically impact our future, our “tomorrows,” and not only ours but the tomorrows of others as well. Choosing to love, choosing to do right despite pain, disappointment, and sorrow, allows tomorrow to come. But choices made out of desperation, fear, and clinging to our own desires can cut off the future God wants for us.


We don’t know, we can’t see, what tomorrow holds. So all we can do is do what’s right now, love now, trust now. Because God sees the whole of our lives and weaves all things together, even those hard and painful things, in a way that will make a beautiful masterpiece in the Kingdom of God.


So, really, the title means that if we choose love today, if we choose sacrificial love, God will hold our tomorrows in His hand. That’s what’s at the heart of If Tomorrow Never Comes . . .the choice to love, the choice to believe, the choice to let go of our dreams in order to embrace His. To do it today, for the sake of all our tomorrows.

Marlo Schalesky--If Sarah, Why Not Me?

Today another writing friend shares a story. This time it's her story.
Here's Marlo:

"Infertility. Most of my adult life, I fought it. It’s challenged my faith, robbed my bank account, and in the end, made me into a stronger, braver woman. From it, I’ve written a nonfiction book on infertility, Empty Womb, Aching Heart, and several novels. But none of that would have happened if I hadn’t remembered Sarah.

For years friends and family would say “Remember Sarah!” to encourage me to have faith. Rebecca, Rachel, Hannah, Elizabeth--God opened their wombs, but mine was still closed. Didn’t I have enough faith? So, my Bible sat on the shelf, unopened, my prayer journal lay unused, and my attendance at church dwindled.

Then, one day I was cleaning out the closet when I found a small journal with peonies on the front. I sat on the floor, with my back against the closet door, and rubbed one hand over the first page. “Junior Year,” it read in big purple letters, my favorite color. I flipped to about half way through and began to read.


I saw the sunrise today, Lord. It was amazing. I wish I could say that I saw it because I was up early to pray, but as You know, I had to pull an all-nighter to get that paper done. But it was worth it to see the streaks of orange, red, and gold at the dawn of a new day. I stood there and thought to myself, I know the One who made that sunrise. The same One who lives in me. You know, I can feel You there, Lord, in my heart. Some days, like today, Your love is a tangible thing, like a warm blanket that wraps around my insides. In these moments, I feel like I could shout to the stars about what an awesome, incredible, super-wow God You are. I can’t believe there was ever a time when I turned my back on You. What a fool I was. But everything’s different now, God. My life, my heart, is filled with the wonder of knowing You. I’ll never forget this feeling. I’ll never forget to keep loving You. I promise . . .


Tears came to my eyes. I’d lost something more precious than my hope for a child. I’d lost my closeness with God. And that had made my heart even emptier than my womb. Yet, I could still feel the anger at God that was lodged in my heart like a huge stone, burying me in my self-made tomb. How could I ever get past my pain?

I rose from the floor and began to write.


God, it’s me, you know, the one who keeps asking you for a baby. Well, I’m so mad at You I could just spit . . .

That long, slow journey back to God is also reflected in Kinna the main character in If Tomorrow Never Comes. She, too, finds a new kind of strength and sacrifice through her journey through infertility.


Only when I surrendered all my dreams, doubts, and difficulties to God, He gave me two daughters, and after miscarriages, twin boys.
All God asks is that we bring our frustration, fears, anger, and questions to Him. He has big shoulders, as big as the sunrise."

Marlo, I also had to go through infertility and all the nasty tests and dismissive doctors. I am grateful for the son and daughter God gifted me with. Yet sometimes God does not send children. I think however that your story shows that God never abandons us and the true victory is to live within His gracious will for us.

Cynthia Hickey's Grandmother & The Endless Summer

Today a newer mystery author tells us about her best summer.
Here's Cynthia:


The summer I turned ten-years-old, my parents dropped me and my younger sisters off with my Grandmother in Arkansas. My father was in the army and we'd lived all over, not having time to get to know our relatives. I'd never been away from my parents before, and didn't know this woman I'd spend the next two months with.


The next day was Sunday. Grandma took me to my first church service. I cried through the entire thing, missing my parents, fiercely. My younger sisters went to Sunday School, but I suffered from great shyness and decided to stay next to Grandma while she fanned me with a paper fan that portrayed a picture of Jesus on it. Within a few days, engulfed with my Grandma's love, I realized I had the opportunity for the best summer of my life. Total and complete freedom. To a city girl, the country offered thousands of adventures. Surrounded by a multitude of cousins, we swam, rode horses, and hiked the woods. All that was required of us was to be home by supper, do the dishes afterwards, and dust Grandma's knickknacks on Saturday mornings.

My precious grandmother died several years ago. The little country church where the funeral service was held was so full, people were standing outside looking in the windows. Through these people's reminiscing, I received the opportunity to know my Grandma like I never had before. Although she'd raised eleven children of her own during the Great Depression, and lost one in an accident, her door was always open to anyone needing a warm meal. They'd grown their own food, sewed their own clothes, and even built their home with their own hands. Through it all, Grandma retained a firm faith in God, and a fierce love for family. I had only witnessed her love for family. These dedications only increased the respect I had for this simple woman.

I want to be like her when I grow up. With the church over-flowing with people I've touched.
The female characters in my novels are all caring, strong women.They may not realize their strength at the beginning, but come to realize where their true strength comes from during the course of the story. I often wonder whether I would have come to know the Lord if not for my Grandma's unwavering rule of attending church each Sunday. This firm belief in what is right is what I try to instill in each of my female characters.

In Candy-Coated Secrets, my heroine, Summer Meadows must rely on this same faith and strength in order to save not only her life, but the life of the man she loves."

Thanks, Cynthia
www.cynthiahickey.com

DiAnn Mills & Her Latest--Breach of Trust!

Here's the latest from another talented writer!

Paige Rogers survived every CIA operative’s worst nightmare.

A covert mission gone terribly wrong.

A betrayal by the one man she thought she could trust.

Forced to disappear to protect the lives of her loved ones, Paige has spent the last several years building a quiet life as a small-town librarian. But the day a stranger comes to town and starts asking questions, Paige knows her careful existence has been shattered.

He is coming after her again. And this time, he intends to silence her for good.

Take a look around at the people you see every day. The friendly clerk at the coffee shop. The cheerful woman who teaches Sunday school. The quiet, unassuming librarian. Wouldn’t you be shocked if one of them turned out to be a former CIA operative with a secret too big to keep under wraps?

It could happen.

This edge-of-your-seat thriller is the first book in the new Call of Duty series. In Breach of Trust, Paige Rogers is a former CIA agent who is living incognito as a librarian in the sleepy little town of Split Creek, Oklahoma, after experiencing a life-altering disaster in the line of duty. But the unwelcome past has suddenly turned up to find her, in the form of a ruthless politician who is out to destroy everything Paige holds dear. She knows too much, and he’s desperate to silence her. Can she bring him down before he ruins her life? And most of all, what would the Lord want her to do?

DiAnn encourages readers to visit her website's homepage where you can view the trailer for Breach of Trust, Book 1 in the Call of Duty series by Tyndale House Publishers. While there, please sign-up for her monthly e-newsletter so she can stay in-touch with her readers.

--Breach of Trust Book Trailer: www.diannmills.com



--Endorsements from back cover:

“[Breach of Trust] is romance with an operative kick when the quiet life Paige Rogers enjoys is sent into overdrive by a past that refuses to stay buried.” —Tamera Alexander, best-selling author of From a Distance

“DiAnn Mills has crafted a tightly woven tale of danger and deception. Breach of Trust is a page turner to the very end.”—Kathy Herman, author of The Grand Scheme

“Mills creates extraordinary characters wrestling with profound life issues in the face of immediate danger. A surefire recipe for a great read!”—Jill Elizabeth Nelson, author of Reluctant Smuggler



--What people are saying about Breach of Trust:

"DiAnn Mills certainly knows how to stay one step ahead of her readers in Breach of Trust!" Kim Ford, CFBA

"Readers who enjoy the works of Dee Henderson, especially her O'Malley series, will love Breach of Trust." - Harriet Klausner

"If you have been waiting for a story to match Dee Henderson's O'Malley series or Susan May Warren's Team Hope, look no further than Breach of Trust, the first in the Call of Duty series. Breach of Trust is romantic suspense at its finest." Rel Mollet - Relz Reviewz

--DiAnn has Chapter 1 of Breach of Trust, Discussion Questions suitable for Book Clubs, Reviews, etc. available on her website www.diannmills.com.



You can purchase your own copy of Breach of Trust at bookstores everywhere including:

www.tyndale.com,

www.bn.com,

www.amazon.com,

www.christianbook.com

and at your favorite Christian bookstore.



A direct link to Amazon is http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1414320477



--Author Bio - DiAnn Mills
Award-winning author DiAnn Mills launched her career in 1998 with the publication of her first book. Currently she has over forty books in print and has sold over 1.5 million copies.

DiAnn believes her readers should “Expect an Adventure.” Six of her anthologies have appeared on the CBA best seller list. Three of her books were selected by Heartsong Presents as best historical of the year. Five of her books have placed in the American Christian Fiction Writers Book of the Year awards from 2003 to 2007. She also received Inspirational Reader’s Choice awards in 2005 and 2007. She was a Christy Award Finalist 2008.

DiAnn is a founding board member for American Christian Fiction Writers, a member of Inspirational Writers Alive, Romance Writers of America’s Faith, Hope and Love, and Advanced Writers and Speakers Association. DiAnn is also a mentor for the Jerry B. Jenkins Christian Writers Guild. DiAnn’s home is in Houston, Texas.

www.diannmills.com - Expect an Adventure

There’s no road too far where love takes you.

Today's story is told by Debra Ullrick.
Here's Debra:

"Talk about a strong woman. My grandma was one. She didn’t speak English, but that never stopped her from letting us know how much she loved us. Her hugs were sweet and filled with love. Her wrinkled hands tenderly patted our cheeks, and her blue eyes overflowed with kindness. Special treats always awaited our visits. As we sat at Grandma’s feet, she relayed stories in German to my mother who translated them into English to us kids.
Grandma spoke of the Bolsheviks, and how when they were starting to form, food became scarce in Marienfield, Russia. And how in 1911, Grandpa had decided to follow his dreams to make a better life for them. With the Russian government’s approval and a six month visa, he left Grandma and her four children and headed to the United States.
Because the Volga’s—Germans who came over from Germany to Russia with Catherine The Great in the 18th century—had been given land and were growing in population, the Bolsheviks, now a massive army of power and strength started raping and torturing the Volga people.
Grandma spoke about risking her life many times when she hid her two eldest sons from the Bolsheviks so that they wouldn’t be forced to join the Bolsheviks army. Grandma lived in constant turmoil, and endured the death of her two sons, famine, drought, a massive epidemic, family members dying due to starvation, disease, and extreme torture by the Bolsheviks. Yet Grandma never wrote Grandpa how bad things were. She didn’t want him to worry. Plus she thought it would pass. But it didn’t.
Even though eight long years had passed since Grandpa left for America, Grandma had never given up hope, and her faith in God remained steadfast. She knew one day she’d be reunited with Grandpa. Her prayers were finally answered when Dr. Valentin Rothermel came to Marienfield and offered the Germans a way out of Russia. Grandma left her land, belongings, and much of her family, to set out on a long arduous journey to America. She spent four days on a wagon, then five and half months on a train, living in a box car, where she endured vile living conditions, watched people and loved ones drop like flies due to extreme cold, pneumonia, diseases, and starvation. They hauled their bodies off like cattle in a truck.

Years later with her German Bible on her lap (now in a place of honor in my home), Grandma’s blue eyes paled when she reminisced about being forced to leave her son behind because he took to the Scarlet Fever. Those same eyes, however, brightened when she praised God for a friend who had recognized her son and brought him to her.
Grandma shared how it took two long years of traveling to finally reunite with Grandpa. Her favorite saying was, “There’s no road too far where love takes you.” Face all aglow, Grandma spoke of her beloved savior Christ, and how He was the One that kept her going through it all. While my heroine in Déjà vu Bride, the sequel to The Bride Wore Coveralls, may not have maintained her faith after the loss of so many loved ones and after enduring one tragedy after another, she did move miles away to start over. It takes a lot of resilience and courage to move to a strange town, or like my grandma, a strange country.


I can so relate to Olivia. In ranching when you lose your job, you lose your home too. I’ve been uprooted over thirty times. Like Olivia, many times my prayers seemed to have gone unanswered, and I endured spiritual and mental abuse and turned my back on God. Acts of love restored my faith. I’ll leave it at that. *smiling*

Stephanie Newton's Great-Grandmother & Recipe

Today a new Love Inspired Author shares a family story.

Here's Stephanie:

My great-grandmother Helen was born in 1898. She lived in swampy lower Alabama. There were no buses, no public schools, not even many roads other than the dirt tracks that the farmers used to take their goods to market to sell. The War Between the States had been hard on the South, especially the rural areas. There was no money and very little food. Education was a luxury. Helen's parents were determined that she would be able to read and write. The old stereotype that women didn't need to be educated didn't apply to her.

And even though times were hard, they would do everything they could to make that happen. Because there was no school in the rural area where she lived, she had a governess when she was young. When she was old enough to attend high school, the choice became harder. If she wanted to continue her education it meant leaving home. There was no high school in her area, but there was one in Selma, Alabama where her aunt lived. She would have to ride the riverboat to Selma and live with her aunt during the semesters, returning home only for holidays--if she was lucky. Sometimes the river was impassable--like the Christmas Eve when she made it halfway home before the boat ran aground. The crew on the boat gathered little trinkets from the staff and passengers for Helen and the other students on board. When she woke Christmas morning, she found a tattered stocking full of little baubles on the door of her cabin.

Helen went to college at Montevallo University (known as Alabama Girls Technical Institute and College for Women while she was there) at a time in history when not very many women did. She had a dream to be a teacher, to give other little girls and boys the opportunity to discover the world that she had discovered through the eyes of her governess and teachers in high school. When she graduated, she moved to the tiny town of Latham, Alabama and lived with a family, teaching in a tiny one-room schoolhouse until she married.

Those of us who knew her remember her as a funny, smart, opinionated, strong-willed woman. She loved to garden and had a showplace of a yard. She could do a crossword puzzle in ten minutes flat and loved to make her grandchildren and great-grandchildren laugh. I feel very lucky to have been born in a family where being educated isn't considered a luxury, but a part of life. I was never asked, “Do you want to go to college,” but “Where do you want to go to college?” In my family, learning was an everyday occurrence and an expectation. The legacy of a strong woman named Helen.


In PERFECT TARGET, my heroine Bayley, comes from a privileged family. She doesn't face the same issues that Helen did in her life. But certainly, Bayley does confront things in her life that she is unprepared for and feels unequipped to handle. She faces them with courage and a strength of spirit that reminds me of a certain steel magnolia great-grandmother.

Thanks for that great story, Stephanie.

Also Stephanie put Helen's recipe for sour cream pound cake on her blog, so if you want that recipe, click this link.

http://stephanienewton.blogspot.com/2009/03/geegees-sour-cream-pound-cake.html

Book Monday-Robin Lee Hatcher's When Love Blooms

It's my pleasure to feature the latest release of a longtime friend. (Notice I didn't say OLD friend--I'm learning!) Robin always writes a rich and emotionally satisfying story.
Here's the scoop:

WHEN LOVE BLOOMS

by Robin Lee Hatcher

Zondervan, February 2009

She could say what she wanted. Emily Harris didn't belong in the hard life of the Blakes. She would wilt there like a rose without water. He'd be sending her back to Boise before the first snows. He'd be willing to bet on it.

From the moment Gavin Blake set eyes on Emily Harris, he knew she would never make it in the rugged high country where backbreaking work and constant hardship were commonplace. Beautiful and refined, she was accustomed to the best life had to offer. Heaven only knew why she wanted to leave Boise to teach two young girls on a ranch miles from nowhere. He'd wager it had to do with a man. It always did when a beautiful woman was involved.

Emily wanted to make some sort of mark on the world before marriage. She wanted to be more than just a society wife. Though she had plenty of opportunities back East, she had come to the Idaho high country looking to make a difference. Gavin’s resistance to her presence made her even more determined to prove herself. Perhaps changing the heart of just one man may make the greatest difference of all.

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REVIEWS:

Penned with the descriptive nibs of all the five senses, Robin Lee Hatcher transports the reader to the magnificent high country of Idaho in a thoroughly engaging tale of love and wounded heroes. When Love Blooms is layered with appealing characters, and I was so at home with the story's cast, I felt like I was like viewing my own family history. I have yet to read a Hatcher novel that didn't entrance me from the first page, and with a unique plot for a romance, When Love Blooms is no exception. Novel Reviews and I give it a high recommendation.
— Novel Reviews

Christy Award winner Hatcher's (Wagered Heart; Catching Katie) latest novel is a historical romance set in the rugged high country of Idaho in the late 1800s... Populated with lively characters, this delightful title deserves a place in [Christian Fiction] and historical romance collections and will appeal to those who enjoy Lori Wick or Lori Copeland. Recommended for Public Libraries.
— Library Journal

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Robin Lee Hatcher discovered her vocation as a novelist after many years of reading everything she could put her hands on, including the backs of cereal boxes and ketchup bottles. The winner of the Christy Award for Excellence in Christian Fiction (Whispers from Yesterday), the RITA Award for Best Inspirational Romance (Patterns of Love and The Shepherd's Voice), two RT Career Achievement Awards (Americana Romance and Inspirational Fiction), and the RWA Lifetime Achievement Award, Robin is the author of over 60 novels, including Catching Katie, named one of the Best Books of 2004 by the Library Journal.

Robin enjoys being with her family, spending time in the beautiful Idaho outdoors, reading books that make her cry, and watching romantic movies. She is passionate about the theater, and several nights every summer, she can be found at the outdoor amphitheater of the Idaho Shakespeare Festival, enjoying Shakespeare under the stars. She makes her home on the outskirts of Boise, sharing it with Poppet the high-maintenance Papillon.

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Link to Amazon.com:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0310259282/novelistrobinlee

Link to Christianbook.com:

http://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/product?event=AFF&p=1138486&item_no=259282

Link to book trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usnuoJNuBdE

Becky Melby-Her Gutsy Grandmother & a Skinny Angel

Today, we hear from Becky Melby and Oku-san. Becky:


In 1924 my grandparents, Harold and Alice Foght, traveled to Japan. My grandfather, a professor, was there to study Japanese education and give lectures. My grandmother wanted to come along as “excess baggage” and to “cheer and encourage” her husband. It had to have been a heart-wrenching decision, as they left behind a three-year-old—my father.
My grandmother’s--Oku-san’s--determination to go everywhere her husband--Foto-san--visited, caused no small stir in a culture where a woman’s place was in the home. When she appeared at male-only gatherings in her fashionable American sleeveless dresses, she was immediately offered shawls. After realizing that bare arms were considered immodest, she sewed sleeves on all her garments. Another culture shock was the ricksha. My grandmother was not a tiny woman, and, besides feeling silly, was in great fear that rickety-looking vehicles would collapse under her “Western avoirdupois.” Another custom that surprised them was the furo, or common bath, attended by nesans eager to help one disrobe!
On many occasions, this prim and proper white woman ventured out bravely her own. In Tokyo, determined to see the flowers of Sheba Park, she passed women openly nursing babies and workers using the ditches as toilets, and then found that beautiful Sheba Park was crowded with huts of refugees from the recent earthquake. She soon found herself in Zogoji Temple where she reported being “quite overcome by the atmosphere” and would have bowed in reverence to her own God, but “true Anglo-Saxon reticence” stopped her.
Overall, Oku-san left an impression that may have paved the way for a bit of freedom for some of her Japanese sisters. In time, their male companions “confessed somewhat reluctantly to new light on the position of women in Japan.” They wrote the book Unfathomed Japan upon their return.

In my book Dream Chasers, my heroine April Douglas is very open about her fears, especially the two biggest--heights and storms. I have no idea what my grandmother's fears were, but I have to believe that being the first white woman to set foot in many rural areas of Japan was a set-up for some anxiety attacks. The one thing both of these women have in common is their determination to put themselves in risky situations in order to experience life to the full.
Lyn-- I am a third generation author. My father's sister, Thelma Foght Jones, wrote a book about her family called Skinny Angel in honor of Grandma Foght who loved her homemade biscuits and always said that in heaven she'd be a "skinny angel."
I also want to let you know your blog has started something! I'm reading, really savoring Unfathomed Japan as if I were sitting down to tea with my grandparents. My own mother never read it because she thought it was a dry old history book. So here I am, a grandmother myself, finding out that my father's parents were witty, creative, funny, and wonderful writers! There just may be a historical fiction novel in this someday.
My middle name came from my grandmother and I now share it with our youngest grandchild, Lillyanne Alice, who was born on Christmas Eve. I can’t wait to tell her stories of her gutsy great-great-grandma.

Thanks for sharing that with us, Becky. It's quite a heritage that you have from the strong women who have gone before you!

Stephanie Grace Whitson's Inspiration

Stephanie Grace Whitson has written both contemporary and historical novels for Bethany House. Her latest is the book above.
Here's my friend Stephanie:

"Strong women made me a writer. It was in the early 1990's and in our home school we were learning the history of our home state, Nebraska. It's no secret that the average history textbook doesn't make for very exciting reading. One day I decided on a more "hands on" approach to the lesson, and we walked up the road and into an abandoned pioneer cemetery near our country home. The children began gathering facts about who was buried there, and during the process I began asking them questions about how those pioneer lives were different from ours. Where did this mother go for help when her child was sick? What did they eat for dinner? How did that family cope with losing all those children (one row of graves were five children from the same family)?

As "history" became real to my children, the lives of the pioneer women of Nebraska began to speak to me. I began to read about the women who crossed the Oregon trail, and the ones who eventually settled in Nebraska, and I met amazing women--many of them nameless. Women who buried five children and carried on. Women who braved prairie fires and blizzards and carried on. Women who wrote of terrible things happening, and yet also wrote, "God knew best." Women who had a strong faith in a personal God and who found Him sufficient even in the face of trials and difficulty I could never imagine.

I began "playing with an imaginary friend" who would become Jesse King, the heroine in my first novel. Since that day, I've had the incredible privilege of being inspired by dozens of mighty women who lived quietly in the past and who have been largely forgotten. Their stories are retold in a fictional way in my books, the latest of which is A Claim of Her Own, about a single woman prospecting for gold in Deadwood, South Dakota. Mattie faces down an ugly past and risks everything to find happiness.

Not long after I began the journey into learning about pioneer women of the west, my husband was diagnosed with an incurable form of cancer. Those pioneer women from the past encouraged me. Their tough times gave me perspective and helped me endure. During that time I began to hand quilt a small unfinished crib quilt left behind by a mother some time around 1870. Why didn't she finish her quilt? Probably because her baby didn't survive. As I sat with my husband during chemotherapy sessions, I was again reminded that the women who have gone before me have experienced the same kinds of trials and the same kinds of challenges I. They endured. . . so can I. Their faith was strong. . .and it reached out across the years and reminded me that God walks with us through our valleys and He does give us the strength to endure.

Someday in heaven I hope to meet the mighty women who have inspired my historical fiction and learn their names as we rejoice together at the goodness of the One who is the same yesterday, today, and forever."

Thanks for sharing that, Stephanie. Your entrance into writing by identifying with the lives of American women who went before is intriguing as well as uplifting.
Her new book will be released the first week of April. I'm looking forward to it!

Drop by her website: http://www.stephaniewhitson.com/

Book Monday-Daniel's Den by Brandt Dodson

I'm so happy to feature Brandt Dodson's Daniels Den today. He has also written a touching account of his grandmother's faith during the Great Depression which will be featured here on March 30th. Don't miss it. And his book sounds like a page-turner--my favorite kind of book.

Daniel's Den

In this fast–paced thriller by popular author Brandt Dodson, a young government accountant learns to trust God when his life begins to fall apart and unseen enemies pursue him with relentless zeal.

Daniel Borden is a thirty–year–old government accountant who lives a quiet life and plays by the rules.
But when events transpire that shatter his orderly world and a team of assassins mark him for death, Daniel must flee for his life.

While on the run, Daniel encounters Laura Traynor. Carefree and easygoing, Laura is everything that Daniel isn’t. But when the killers assigned to eliminate Daniel find him at Laura’s bed–and–breakfast, gunfire erupts and the two set out on the run once again.

As they try to unravel the mystery that confronts them, they discover how tenuous life can be and how their very existence depends on the God who will never abandon them.

A perfect suspense tale for readers who love Dee Henderson, James Scott Bell, Brandilyn Collins, and James Patterson.

To purchase: http://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/search?author=Brandt%20Dodson&detailed_search=1&action=Search

Bio: Brandt Dodson comes from a long line of police officers, spanning several generations, and was employed by the FBI before leaving to pursue his education. A former United States Naval Reserve officer, Brandt is a board Certified Podiatrist and past President of the Indiana Podiatric Medical Association. He is a recipient of the association's highest honor, "The Theodore H. Clark Award".

He currently resides in southwestern Indiana with his wife and two sons and is at work on his next novel.
Author Website: http://www.brandtdodson.com