2010 RITA Nominee-Author Irene Hannon

Lyn:What does it mean to you to have a book nominated for a RITA?

Author Irene Hannon: It means I’m absolutely thrilled! Even though I’ve won the RITA once and this is my fourth nomination, the thrill never diminishes. For a romance writer, there is no higher honor than a RITA. It’s the Oscar of this genre. So in a very real sense, it’s a validation that all of the hard work of mastering the craft, the longs hours at the computer, and the painful rejections along the way to publication have been worth it.

What makes the RITA especially valuable to me is the judging process. Only published authors judge—five in the first round, five in the second. In other words, a finalist book goes through two complete judging process and is read by 10 published novelists. So the credibility of the contest is very high. For that reason, to me being a RITA finalist is as good as a win in almost any other contest.

I also feel honored to be in the company of so many wonderful authors. The competition is always stiff for this coveted award, but I can honestly say that in the years I’ve been a finalist, I’ve never had an issue with a book that won over mine. In one case in particular, if I’d been a judge I would have picked the book that won! So no matter who wins this year, I still feel like a winner just to be included in such an amazing group of authors.

www.irenehannon.com

Irene's book is An Eye for An Eye, out by Revell. Drop by a past blog using this link to read about this book.

http://strongwomenbravestories.blogspot.com/2009/09/author-irene-hannon-her-unmarried.html

2010 RITA Nominee-Author Julie Klassen

Lyn: What does it mean to you to be a finalist for a RITA award?

Julie Klassen: "I have never been a RITA finalist before, so when I learned my book, The Silent Governess, was among this year’s finalists, I was thrilled. I have been involved in publishing for fifteen years—long enough to know that the RITA awards are well regarded within the industry. Being a finalist is a true honor. For me, being a finalist means I can justify going to my first Romance Writers of America National Conference. I am very much looking forward to attending. I will have the opportunity to meet and spend time with other authors who write books set in Regency England, learn more about the clothes, servants, history, and etiquette of the time period. Better yet, I will attend my first ball and learn some 19th-century dances. I have a Regency dress and everything!

I am also looking forward to attending the RITA and Golden Heart awards ceremony during the conference. Whether The Silent Governess takes home the coveted RITA statuette or not, I am looking forward to a night to celebrate romance with my other sister-authors."

To find out more about Julie Klassen and her books, drop by
http://www.julieklassen.com/
http://noveljourney.blogspot.com/2008/01/julie-klassen-author-interview.html

2010 RITA Nominee-Author Carla Capshaw

Here's today's RITA nominee, Carla Capshaw:

Lyn: What does it mean to you to be a RITA finalist?

Carla: "Being a Rita finalist is a blessing...and it's fun! :-) Whether you win or lose, just knowing the judges really enjoyed your book is a huge honor.

The other nominees will probably come up with something awesome and meaningful, but I don't know what else to say. LOL Hugs!!"

As you can tell from Carla's spontaneous and unpretentious reply, she's a keeper. She's also a double RITA finalist. Since her book, the Gladiator, is also up for Best First Book! Way to go, Carla!
www.carlacapshaw.com
The Gladiator, Double Rita finalist 2010
The Duke's Redemption, LIH Jan. 2010
The Protector, LIH Jul. 2010

Quintus Ambustus is a slave—Adiona Leonia is a wealthy socialite. He fights for his life in the gladiator's ring—she plays cutthroat politics in Rome's high society. He's sacrificed everything for his Christian faith—she believes in nothing and no one. But when Adiona's life is threatened, Quintus is chosen as her bodyguard, and their fascination with one another shocks them both. Neither thought to find joy in a match society would condemn…but their feelings cannot be denied. Have they lost too much to believe in happiness? Or will their growing love let them leave the past behind—and build a new future together?

First Page-The Vanishing Sculptor by Author Donita K Paul

A View from a Tree

Beccaroon cocked his head, ruffled his neck feathers, and spread his wings, not to fly, but to test the air. He stretched, allowing his crimson wings to spread. The branch beneath him sank and rose again, responding to his weight. Moist, hot air penetrated his finery, and he held his wings away from his brilliant blue sides.

"Too hot for company," he muttered. Having declared his opinion, he rocked back and forth from one four-toed scaly foot to the other on the limb of a sacktrass tree. The leaves shimmered as the motion rippled along the branch. "Where is that girl?"

His yellow head swiveled almost completely around. He peered with one eye down the overgrown path, and then scoped out every inch within his range of vision, twisting his neck slowly.

A brief morning shower had penetrated the canopy above and rinsed the waxy-coated leaves. A few remaining drops glistened where thin shafts of tropical sun touched the dark green foliage. On the broot vine, flowers the size of plates lifted their fiery red petals, begging the thumb-sized bees to come drink before the weight of nectar broke off the blooms.

Beccaroon flew to a perch on a gnarly branch. He sipped from the broot blossom and ran his black tongue over the edges of his beak. A sudden breeze shook loose a sprinkle of leftover raindrops. Beccaroon shook his tail feathers and blinked. When the disturbance settled, he cocked his head and listened.

"Ah!" he said. "She's coming." He preened his soft green breast and waited, giving a show of patience he didn't feel. His head jerked as he detected someone walking with the girl.

"Bah!" The word exploded from his throat. He flew into a roost far above the forest floor where he couldn't be seen from the ground.

For more, visit

http://donitakpaul.com/

http://donitakpaul.com/books/chiril/index.html

2010 RITA Nominee-Author Tamera Alexander

Today's guest nominee Author Tamera Alexander has offered a free copy of her nominated book, The Inheritance. The giveaway will continue for the rest of the week through Saturday. If you'd like a chance to win it, please leave a comment with your email address written with the (at) and (dot) so the spammers don't harvest yours! Now for Tamera's reply to
Lyn: What does being a RITA finalist mean to you?

Tamera: "I'm honored to be a RITA finalist this year for The Inheritance (Thomas Nelson, Women of Faith Fiction), and to be counted among the other writers listed in your post below, Lyn. I've read almost every book in our category and these ladies are exceptionally talented! They push me to try harder and to give my very best, while they also teach me a ton.

Being a finalist in the RITAs is exciting, and the award ceremony at the conference is something special too. Romance Writers of America really goes all out to make the evening a memorable experience. Getting dressed up, sitting with your fellow nominees, cheering each other on, having that girl time with other writers you respect and admire...well, it's a kick, to say the least, and a real blessing. One that, unfortunately (sad face), I won't be able to take part in this year, but I'll be cheering everyone on from Nashville." Tamera Alexander

For more about Tamera and her books, drop by
www.tameraalexander.com
www.tameraalexander.blogspot.com
www.writespassage.blogspot.com

2010 RITA Nominee-Author Judy Duarte

Ever since attending my first RWA national conference in 1997 and watching the awesome award ceremony in Orlando, I've dreamed of being a Rita finalist. A year later, I had an opportunity to touch a Rita statuette. As I did so, I wondered what it would be like to win one of my own.

Last year, the book of my heart, MULBERRY PARK, was a Rita Finalist, and I walked several inches above ground for months. I couldn't help wondering if it was a fluke, though. Had I somehow lucked out when I'd gotten the nod?

When the winner's name was called in Washington D.C., I wasn't the least bit disappointed that it wasn't mine. Well, maybe just a wee bit. But from the end of March until the last Saturday night in July, I felt honored beyond belief.

This year, when I got the call that ENTERTAINING ANGELS also finaled in the Rita, I was thrilled. And I began to realize that it might not be a fluke. That maybe I really could create stories that touched both readers and my peers.

Being a Rita finalist is one of the best things that ever happened to me as a writer. And I have no doubt that, no matter who gets to take the statuette home on July 31, I'll still feel like a winner. Judy Duarte
http://www.judyduarte.com/

2010 RITA Nominee -Author DiAnn Mills

Lyn:What does it mean to you to be a RITA finalist?

DiAnn Mills: Years ago, I met Rita Gallagher and her daughter Rita Clay Estrada. (These two women a mother and daughter were some of the founders of Romance Writers of America.) In fact Rita Gallagher gave me my first writing lessons--tools for the craft that I have never forgotten. It was years later before I put these tools into practice, but the writing basics came from the Rita's. I never forgot the structure and the means of deepening characterization.

To be nominated for a Rita award is a way to thank these dynamic women for their contributions to the writing and publishing industry. They expressed and taught excellence, and I believe that is a motto for all writers and those who teach writing. We writers are all students. The learning never ceases for then we fail. What we write today is not the quality we will write tomorrow. Not every writer is able to accept this challenge, but those who do will see their writing and publishing goals attained and reach for greater heights.

This is what being nominated for a Rita means to me. And I am proud to be on the list of other dynamic writers who aspire and encourage others to write well and pursue excellence.

www.diannmills.com

BREACH OF TRUST – Tyndale House Publishers – March 2009 A WOMAN CALLED SAGE – Zondervan – March 2010 SWORN TO PROTECT – Tyndale House Publishers – April 2010

PURSUIT OF JUSTICE – Tyndale House Publishers – October 2010

2010 CHRISTY AWARD WINNER

2010 RITA Nominee-Author Kathleen Y'Barbo

Lyn: What does being a RITA nominee mean to you?

Kathleen Y'Barbo: Having a book nominated for a RITA is beyond my wildest dreams! I was thrilled when my editor Shannon Marchese told me Waterbrook would entering THE CONFIDENTIAL LIFE OF EUGENIA COOPER in the contest. So when I got the call, I was shocked....stunned! I was packing for a trip to London and Paris that my kids had given me for Christmas when the call came in. God is just so very, very good. That He allows me to write these books is a blessing beyond measure. Being mentioned in the same category with these other ladies...priceless!!

Kathleen Y'Barbo
www.kathleenybarbo.com
http://twitter.com/KathleenYBarbo

IN STORES NOW:
The Confidential Life of Eugenia Cooper -recipient of 4.5 Stars from Romantic Times Magazine!-2010 RITA FINALIST!
Anna Finch and the Hired Gun - June 2010-recipient of 4 Stars from Romantic Times Magazine!
I Know I'm Not Alone, Lord! - Surviving Divorce - June 2010
Beloved Counterfeit - -recipient of 4 Stars from Romantic Times Magazine!
Cajun Hearts - August 2009
The House is Quiet - Now What? Surviving the Empty Nest- November 2009
Riverwalk Christmas - Coming in September 2010

2010 RITA Nominee-Author Margaret Brownley

Here's Author Margaret Brownley's reply to the question: What does it mean to me to final in the RITA?
Here's Margaret:
I'm a RITA finalist? Wow! I thought I was dreaming. Seriously, the day I received "the call" that A Lady Like Sarah was a Romance Writers of America RITA finalist I was shocked. More than that I was speechless (which my husband insists is a first).

With more than twenty published books I'm hardly a rank beginner, but it is my first inspirational and I had many reasons to be concerned. Would readers warm to my unconventional outlaw heroine? My preacher hero? Did I get the inspirational theme right or was I (heaven forbid) too preachy? In other words, I didn't have the slightest idea what I was doing (still don't!).

Readers' response has been great (and the book is currently on the CBA bestseller list-another first!) but to get a nod from my peers is more than I ever dared hoped for.

Wait a minute. What am I saying? My name up there with all my favorite authors? Not possible. I was right all along: I am dreaming."

In bookstores now: Margaret Brownley's love and laughter in the Old West

RITA Finalist: A LADY LIKE SARAH

She's an outlaw. He's a preacher. Both are in need of a miracle.

My homestead: www.margaretbrownley.com

Stagecoach Etiquette: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prY2q9Oasp4

Have a little faith!--Author Margaret Brownley
Thanks, Margaret

The 8 Finalists for the Inspirational Category in RWA's RITA Award

Trumpets Sound-Announcing with pleasure the---

2010 RITA for Inspirational Romance Finalists

The Inheritance by Tamera Alexander
Thomas Nelson, Inc., Women of Faith Fiction
Editors: Ami McConnell and Natalie Hanemann
ISBN: 978-1-59554-632-6

A Lady Like Sarah by Margaret Brownley
Thomas Nelson, Inc.
Editor: Natalie Hanemann
ISBN: 978-0-59554-809-2

The Gladiator by Carla Capshaw
Harlequin Enterprises, Steeple Hill Love Inspired Historical
Editor: Melissa Endlich
ISBN: 978-0-373-82824-1

Entertaining Angels by Judy Duarte
Kensington Publishing Corp.
Editor: John Scognamiglio
ISBN: 978-0-7582-2016-5

An Eye for an Eye by Irene Hannon
Baker Publishing Group, Revell Books
Editor: Jennifer Leep
ISBN: 978-0-8007-3311-7

The Silent Governess by Julie Klassen
Bethany House Publishers
Editor: Karen Schurrer
ISBN: 978-0-7642-0707-5

Breach of Trust by Diann Mills
Tyndale House Publishers
Editor: Stephanie Boerne
ISBN: 978-1-414-32047-2


The Confidential Life of Eugenia Cooper by Kathleen Y'Barbo
Random House Publishing, WaterBrook Multnomah
Editor: Jessica Barnes
ISBN: 978-0-307-44474-5

All this week and next, I'll be featuring one of these authors each day. On Saturday night, July 31st at a big EVENT in Orlando FL, the RITA Awards will be given.

I'll post the Inspirational winner on Sunday, August 1st. And congratulations to all the finalists!!!--Lyn

First Page-Leaving Carolina-Author Tamara Leigh

Leaving Carolina by Author Tamara Leigh

First Page

Family is rarely convenient. Case in point: Uncle Obadiah Horace pickwick. Despite his summons to discuss his will, likely brought on by hospitalization for chest pains, I won’t be flying to Pickwick, North Carolina. As I explained to his ancient attorney before he put me on hold, as much as I like my uncle, I can’t get out from under my workload on such short notice.

Of course, neither am I ready to return to the town I escaped twelve years ago.

Staring at the phone on my desk, I will Artemis Bleeker to return to the line, but the music continues to drone from the speakerphone. Whine, whine. “Oh ma darlin’….” Groan, groan. “You left me standin’ here…” Wah, wah. “Left me starin’ after you.”

“Yeah, yeah.” I flop back in my chair. “Cry me a river.”

“Well, ma dear,” the nasal voice drops several octaves, “I’m back.”

I roll my eyes. “Nice lyrics.”

“What’d ya say, Piper?”

It’s him! I grab the receiver. “Mr. Bleeker—“

“You’re no longer a little girl, Piper Pickwick. Do address me by ma first name.”

As he asked me to do when I took his call, after which I politely informed him I had dropped the “Pick” part of my name. Though he spluttered over the “butcherin’” of the family name, I didn’t defend myself. But had I, my defense would have been based more on the Pickwicks’ scandalous reputation than on the nursery rhyme alliteration that plagued me through my school years.

Piper Wick clears her throat. “Thank you, Artemis. I’ll try to remember that. So you said the doctors are running more tests to determine the cause of Uncle Obe’s chest pains.”

http://www.tamaraleigh.com/

Do You Know What a RITA is?

The RITA Award is the most prominent award given throughout the genre of romance novel and some other romantic fiction. It is presented by Romance Writers of America (RWA). It is named for the RWA's first president, Rita Clay Estrada.(and also her mother Rita Gallagher.) It signifies excellence in one of 13 categories of romantic fiction.

Authors and editors submit manuscripts for consideration in the fall. In mid-spring, 100 finalists are announced. The winners are presented with a statuette in a ceremony held on the last day of the RWA National Conference each July.

Categories

The categories are:

• Best First Book
• Best Contemporary Series Romance
• Best Contemporary Series Romance: Suspense/Adventure
• Best Contemporary Single Title Romance
• Best Historical Romance
• Best Inspirational Romance
• Best Novel with Strong Romantic Elements
• Best Paranormal Romance
• Best Regency Historical Romance
• Best Romance Novella
• Best Romantic Suspense
• Best Young Adult Romance

The novels are picked from among the novels published the previous year.

I am going to be featuring the eight 2010 RITA nominees, one a day, on my blog starting on Thursday. Drop by and read about the best in inspirational romance!

BTW, I was a RITA nominee in 2006 for my book Chloe. Did any of you hear about the RITAs before now?I'd really like to hear if you've heard of this before this posting. THANKS!-

Book Monday-Author Linda Ford & Dakota Cowboy

Today my guest is Author Linda Ford who speaks about rejection from experience. Here's Linda:

"Love in the face of rejection requires incredible strength. Rejection comes in so many forms from outright hatefulness to subtle things like being constantly overlooked and undervalued. Sometimes the rejection is more in our imagination than in reality. For instance, I remember how many times I was the last to be picked for a sports team. It was because I was bad in sports. Looking back I can see how unimportant being able to make a homerun matters in the scheme of life but as a child my failure to perform in this area meant rejection by my peers.

But other times, the rejection is real and profound. I have adopted children. Adoption for me signifies that I chose this child. I wanted him or her enough to go through the invasive homestudy, the medical questionnaires, etc. But for the child it is a very real evidence of rejection. Not by me but by his biological parents. For some that sense of rejection is insurmountable. I had one son say to me, ‘You can’t love me. If my own mother didn’t love me, no one can.’ Every day and in every way he lived out the repercussions of his pain, sabotaging every step that could lead him to success. It was extremely hard to watch this process repeated over and over. I felt rejected by his pain and refusal to accept my love. How does a person learn to deal with rejection?

Even little rejections hurt. Big ones consume one’s very soul. I believe it takes a miracle of love—God’s love to heal this kind of pain. And a lifetime of learning to live in God’s love. I had to learn to let go and let God. Let go of my need for a loving response, let go of my need to fix, let go of my pain and simply be—through God’s healing love and strength—all that God wanted me to be in Him. I had to learn to live the truth of 2 Corinthians 12:9 My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.


I address the subject of rejection in a very small way in my Love Inspired Historical story DAKOTA COWBOY (release July 2010). My heroine, Lucy, has been brushed aside and ignored by her mostly absent father. It’s taught Lucy to guard her heart especially around men. It colors many of her decisions. Yet she must trust a man to help her and in the end learns that some men are worthy of trust. I hope you read this story to find out how she learns this valuable lesson and whether or not she can be reconciled to her father. Two more stories will be released in this series that deals with children that need love. DAKOTA FATHER will be out in Jan. 2011 and PRAIRIE COWBOY later in the year.

I’d be interested in hearing how others have dealt with rejection.--Author Linda Ford

Well, Linda, I know a lot about rejection. At one time, I was rejected by practically every editor in New York City. But seriously we all face rejection except from God.
Thanks for sharing.--Lyn

Author Patricia Hickman & The Miracle Refrigerator

Today my guest is Author Patricia Hickman, who shares her experience with The Miracle Refrigerator. Here's Patricia:

"Over a decade ago, my daughter Jessica and I organized a gift for some children we heard were often passed over during Christmas. The children and/or their mothers were unfortunately infected with the HIV virus. Most were in need of essentials like warm clothing, but we wanted to provide them with both some clothing and a toy. It was a small outreach, but the families’ spirits were lifted and it seemed the right thing to do.

But tragedy darkened our ministry endeavors when Jessica was taken from us later that spring in a car accident. I didn’t think I could possibly continue to do the outreach because she had done so much and because it was too painful to do it without her. Besides, I was a Christian novelist and at that time, even writing was hard enough to manage.

But a group of moms surrounded me with support and said that if I would lead and give them directives, they would oversee the Christmas drive. We more than doubled our giving that Christmas in spite of my desire to avoid the holiday season altogether.

A couple of years passed and we continued to give, asking merchants and other churches to put up what we called a Secret Angel Tree, secret because of the privacy laws protecting a stigmatized group of women and children.

But that spring the case worker I worked in conjunction with from the Carolinas Medical Center called me, remembering that our group had provided the gifts for her young clients.

She told me, “A patient’s refrigerator is going out. All of their medications are refrigerated. If this family loses their refrigerator, in an hour all the meds will be gone.”

That was aside from the fact that all their food would spoil too. For a family stressed under the weight of the financial problems caused by AIDS, this was a crisis.

I didn’t know what to do and complained to my husband. He told me, first of all, to hit my knees. Then he coaxed me into making some calls to the families who had provided the Christmas gifts. I alluded to the need, asking people for money whenever possible. I picked up the phone and started calling each family to tell them what was happening to one of our families. Within a half hour, families from all over town were driving over with checks and cash to our house. My husband called the local Lowe’s Home Improvement store and told the manager about this family’s situation. The manager told us to bring whatever we had collected to him as soon as possible. I hated to be the one to tell him, but we had only raised a little over three hundred dollars. The store manager accepted it without reservation and delivered a brand new refrigerator to the house within the hour.

That was a pivotal moment in the history of the Secret Angels Project. What I came to realize over time was that the women we had been helping suffer crises throughout the year, so the need for our raising support should become year-round support. Besides their health issues, some are victims of a spouse or partner who doesn’t tell her he is leading a double life. Some of our moms were battered and left in women’s shelters only to return home and find their bank account drained and their electricity off. They were fired for their illness, evicted, their children taunted and abused by a community that did not understand the HIV virus. The work we had been doing in secret was creating a bond with an outcast group of truly wonderful women who loved their children and were in desperate need of simple compassion.

When I was going through a crisis myself, I assumed that I was too numb for God to work through me. What I realized over time was that my numbness was another opportunity for God to be God.

Novelist Patricia Hickman is an award-winning author of over seventeen books. Her novel The Pirate Queen will release August 10, 2010 and is a story of a woman who thought her life was over until she opened it to a special child who taught her the meaning of love."--Author Patricia Hickman

Thanks so much for sharing that story, Patricia. God works through us but doesn't need us to be anything but willing. I read The Pirate Queen and loved it. I recommend it highly to all women.--Lyn

First Page-Against All Odds-Author Irene Hannon

AGAINST ALL ODDS by Irene Hannon

Book 1—Heroes of Quantico series

Prologue

“Sir? I think you need to hear this.”

With a preoccupied frown, David Callahan looked up from the security briefing in his hand. His aide, Salam Farah, stood on the threshold of his small office deep inside the fortified U.S. Embassy compound in Kabul, Afghanistan. The man was holding a tape recorder and a single sheet of paper.

“A new message from the terrorists?” David lowered the briefing to his desk.

“Yes. And another personal threat.”

“I’m not interested in threats directed at me.” David waved the comment aside. “Let our security people worry about them.”

“This one is different, sir.”

After forty years in the diplomatic service, most of them spent dealing with volatile situations in the world’s hot spots, David had learned to trust his instincts about people. And in the two months he’d been back in Afghanistan trying to help stabilize the local government, he’d come to respect Salam’s judgment. His aide wouldn’t raise a red flag unless there was good cause.

“All right.” David adjusted his wire-rimmed glasses and held out his hand. “Let’s see what they have to say.”

In silence, Salam set the recorder on the desk, pressed the play button and passed the sheet of paper to David.

As the spoken message was relayed in Pashto, the language favored by the Taliban, David scanned the translation. The warning was similar to those that had come before: Convince the country’s struggling fledgling government to release a dozen incarcerated terrorists and pay a twenty-million-dollar ransom, or the three U.S. hostages that had been kidnapped a week ago would die.

But as he read the last line, he understood Salam’s concern. The nature of the personal threat had, indeed, changed.

If you do not convince the government to meet our demands, your daughter will be our next target.

www.irenehannon.com

Lyn Reviews Author Nancy Mehl's Simple Secrets

Simple Secrets by Nancy Mehl


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I truly enjoyed Nancy Mehl's Simple Secrets, the first in her "Harmony" series. Her heroine was a believable, complex character. Her hero was a man any woman would fall for. The conflicts were real, not forced. The suspense thread was intriguing and compelling. I guess the theme is Sir Walter Scott's: "Oh, what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive." I would recommend this for anyone 13 and older who enjoys a sweet romance and a good mystery.

View all my reviews >>

Book Monday-Author Stephen Bly & Cowboy for A Rainy Afternoon

Today's book is Cowboy for a Rainy Afternoon by Award-winning Author Stephen Bly.

"A 10-year-old boy with red straw cowboy hat, cap gun, and silver-painted wooden bullets. Six story-telling, cribbage playing old cowboys. A ’49 Plymouth with open trunk. A damsel in distress. All the fixings for a summer’s day adventure at the Matador Hotel in 1954 Albuquerque. Maybe you weren’t born 100 years too late!

Cowboy For A Rainy Afternoon is a twist on the traditional Western story. In 1954, six men who spent their youth as cowboys in the Southwest, now gather at the Matador Hotel lobby in downtown Albuquerque, New Mexico, for weekly games of cribbage. One rainy afternoon, one of the men brings his grandson. They’re delighted with this captive audience. They all play cribbage and the men tell stories of their exploits in the old days. The eldest was born during the Civil War. All of them cowboyed from the late 1880s until the 1940s. They tell first-hand stories of what the West was truly like.

Many years later, the boy looks back and remembers the day he heard of a way of life and western tradition that’s quickly becoming extinct. He also recalls the lessons he learned and the excitement of a drama that unfolded before them that provoked the cowboys’ last stand. This reminiscent account of real cowboy lives resonates like Andy Adams’ book, The Log of a Cowboy, written in the early 1900s.

Author’s suggestion: this book is best read aloud, as though around a campfire, by someone who gets the hang of the rhythm of the language.

EXCERPT FROM CHAPTER ONE: http://snipurl.com/z5n0g


REVIEW QUOTES from previous Stephen Bly novels: “I have always been a fan of Louis L’Amour but I must say your book is as good if not better than anything of his. I shall remain a fan of Stephen Bly.” -- Jimmy Dickens, Grand Ole Opry
“Bly offers a kinder, gentler Western that should appeal to fans of Louis L’Amour.” – Library Journal
BIO:
Stephen Bly has published 103 books of historical and contemporary fiction (37 classic westerns) and Christian life and family nonfiction for adults, teens, and kids (9-14 yrs.). Eighteen books were co-authored with wife, Janet. Four of his novels were finalists for the Christy Award. His historical western, The Long Trail Home, won a Christy. The Blys have 3 married sons and 3 grandchildren and live in north-central Idaho at 4,000 ft. elev. on the Nez Perce Indian Reservation.

Learn more about the Blys at their website www.BlyBooks.com or “On A Western Trail” blog www.BlyBooks.blogspot.com or follow then on twitter www.twitter.com/BlyBooks or friend them on Facebook (Stephen Bly or Janet Chester Bly). Cowboy For A Rainy Afternoon (hardback, Center Point) is available by order through your local bookstore (Ingram Distributors) or online www.Amazon.com or www.BlyBooks.com . You may also check it out at your local library.

Winners of Her Abundant Joy-February & June

Way back in February, I announced that anyone who sent me a family love story to post on my blog would be entered in a drawing to win a copy of my June release, Her Abundant Joy.

The winner of that book is Mary Preston of Australia.

If you'd like to read her love story, drop by
http://strongwomenbravestories.blogspot.com/2010/02/family-love-story-from-australia.html
and read it. It is delightful! I couldn't send the copy sooner because I didn't have any yet! So I hope Mary won't hold that against me.

And as you should know, I always give away a copy of my latest book in the month it is released. This copy is gifted in a drawing of those readers who leave a comment in that month.
The winner of a copy of Her Abundant Joy is Juanita Wickey!

Now if you're not Mary or Juanita, there is another way to win a copy of Her Abundant Joy. Join Goodreads and enter another giveaway of this book which will end on July 31, 2010.

Has anybody read Mariel and Carson's love story yet? Did you enjoy it? Throw it against the wall? What???

My next release is in September, a Love Inspired Romance, Shelter of Hope!

Author Cara Putman & Stronger than I Knew

My guest today, Author Cara Putman, is so young and perky that sometimes I have to blink to be sure she's real. But she is. We just saw each other at a Christian booksellers Convention, the ICRS in St Louis and had a great time reconnecting. I even got to meet her cute dh! When I visited Cara's website, her first sentence let me know that she and I are on the same wavelength. Her first sentence?

Do you know how strong you are?

Here's Cara's touching story:

"Stronger than I knew…

I’ve always thought of myself as fairly strong…easy to do when I was homeschooled at a time when it was considered very odd. Then there’s starting college at 16 and taking junior classes as an 18-year-old holding my own against grad students. Or moving to D.C. as a twenty-year-old who didn’t know anyone.

All my life I’ve lived in a way that requires strength, but it’s stemmed from a deep sense of who I am and who God is.

I got married, had a career, went to law school, started a family, moved to a new community, and on and on. I’m sure y’all can relate, too.

Then my life got tipped on its head.

For some of you this wouldn’t be a big deal. But for me, it rocked my world. Made me question everything I’d built my life on. Question what I believed and why. You see, after a period of struggling to get pregnant with our third child, I got pregnant then went in for my first appointment at eleven weeks, and something was wrong.

Everybody has a what-if. That deep seated fear that they can’t even whisper to anyone else for fear it will come true. For me, it’s always been the fear that something would happen to one of my children. What if they got sick? What if God-forbid they died?

Then in January 2007 I had a miscarriage. It was horrific. The reality of my deepest fears. A child I’d never meet this side of heaven yet dearly loved had died. In my case, I had to have surgery and then explain to my two small children that Mommy was okay but the baby they’d been so excited about was in heaven.

And my world rocked on its axis. You see, neither of our families had much experience with miscarriage. So I felt incredibly, utterly alone. How do you explain to others what is happening and why you are such a wreck when you have no framework for the pain?

Oh, the struggles. The pain. The questions.

You see, I tend to wrestle with God. Where others except and move on, I question, beg, and scream.

But you know what? Through it all God was there. He understands what it’s like to lose a child. He understands the questions. And even when it felt like He was silent, I still knew He collected everyone of my tears.

And through the struggle I learned through some important truths. My faith is as strong as I thought – probably stronger thanks to my questions. I do believe everything I’ve claimed. But I’ve also learned that in my weakness He can be strong. Much stronger in me. And that as I question, my faith grows stronger.

My challenge to you: Don’t run from the crises in your life. Instead fall against God, and let Him build your strength in Him. And watch Him turn your tragedies into good – as only He can."--Cara C. Putman

Here's her latest book, Stars in the Night. Isn't the cover gorgeous?

Could the man Audra loves be her sister's Murderer?

During WWII, attorney Audra Shaeffer travels with the second Hollywood
Victory Caravan ­ but she's more interested in solving her sisters murder
than selling war bonds. When two people on the train are found dead,
including the ex-wife of handsome star Robert Garfield, Audra starts to
wonder if Robert's affectionate overtures are setting her up to be his next
victim.


Stars in the Night is Cara Putman's ninth novel and eleventh book. An
attorney and sometimes lecturer at a Big Ten university, Cara lives in
Indiana with her husband and three children. She can be found online at her
website (http://www.caraputman.com), facebook, twitter, and shoutlife.
Also visit her blog http://carasmusings.blogspot.com/

First Page-If Tomorrow Never Comes by Author Marlo Schalesky

Today's First Page is from IF TOMORROW NEVER COMES by Author Marlo Schalesky:

First Page

Only the fog is real. Only the sand. Only the crashing of the sea upon the restless shore. The rest is a dream. It has to be. I say it again and again until I believe it, because I cannot be here. Not now. Not with mist dusting my eyelashes, sand tickling my toes, salt bitter on my lips. Not when the whole world has narrowed to a strip of beach, a puff of fog, and a single gull crying in an invisible sky.

This is crazy. Impossible. And I’m too old for crazy. I won’t be some loony old woman with a house full of cats. I refuse to be.

Besides, I prefer dogs.

I touch my neck, and my breath stops. The chain is gone. My locket.

My mother’s voice teases me. “Not impossible, hon. Improbable. Because with God all things are possible.” Her words, spoken in that ancient, quavering tone, hide a laugh turned wheezy with age. I hear her again. “Someday you’ll lose that locket, Thea Jean. You just wait.” Her grin turns the sides of her eyes into folds of old parchment. “And that’s when the adventure will really begin.”

But I don’t want any adventure. Not here. Not now. All I want is a comfortable chair, a good book, and the sounds of my grandchildren playing tag under the California sun, and my Boxer at my feet.

What I want is to go home.

Author Website: www.marloschalesky.com

Amazon Purchase Link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1601420242?ie=UTF8&tag=marloschalesh-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1601420242

Facebook Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Marlo-Schalesky/103475746357601?v=app_389355083668

A Summer Gift to My Readers-A Short Story by Lyn Cote-Part 2

Watermelon Cowboy by Lyn Cote-Part 2

The first part of this story was posted on Friday July 2nd-

"The county's Sweet Corn Festival was the last big summer celebration. Sarah just wasn't in the mood for festivities, but Grandma wouldn't dream of missing the fair. In the evening breeze, Sarah walked slowly beside her grandmother who leaned on her cane. Grandma struggled over the uneven grass to the shady area where the older generation sat on lawn chairs and fanned themselves. Grandmother was greeted cheerfully. With Danny beside her, Sarah snapped open a lawn chair and helped her grandmother settle into it.

"Mom! It's the Watermelon Cowboy!" Danny waved. "Hi!"

"Hello." Tate greeted Danny, then the assembled grandparents.

Sarah noted their warm response to Tate. Obviously, he was a favorite with them.

"Thanks for helping my granddaughter pick out that corn and those melons." Martha held onto his hand. "Nobody can out-do Quint melons."

"They were great!" Danny bounced up and down.

Tate offered Danny his hand. Danny took it, but didn't let go. Tate grinned down at the boy. "In the mood to eat some more?"

"No, I want cotton candy!"

Tate chuckled along with the grandparents. "Well, Sarah Jane, I guess we better get this boy some cotton candy."

"That's all right," Sarah stammered. "You don't need to bother."

"No, bother." He began walking away. Since Danny still happily gripped Tate's big hand, Sarah hurried to keep up.

Soon Danny was pulling at a pink wand of cotton candy. Tate lounged beside her. Sarah decided to speak to Tate now. Danny, busy watching the nearby musical merry-go-round, wouldn't overhear them.

She might make a fool of herself, but she didn't want to mislead Tate. She'd been burned too bad.... "Tate, this has nothing to do with you, but I'm not looking for…." She couldn't think of how to say she wasn't interested in romance or more importantly, didn't want people to presume she might be interested in Tate.

"I heard," Tate said softly, "that your marriage didn't turn out the way you wanted."

She frowned. "I'd hoped to avoid small-town gossip."

"This isn't gossip, just sharing."

Feeling hurt, she folded her arms in front of her. "How would you like it if people were talking about you?"

"If the people talking are just concerned, what's wrong with that?"

She looked up into his eyes.

Tate gazed at her searchingly. "Why did you come to my stand to buy your corn and melons?"

"What?"

"You came to my produce stand because everyone knows Quints only sell the best. If people didn't talk to each other, how would everyone know that?"

She shrugged. "I suppose they just have to find out for themselves."

He smiled sadly. "Finding things out by yourself can be the hardest way to learn something ."

The truth of what he said made her wince. She'd found out the hard way about her husband. Maybe if she'd met him here, where people had shared about him, she might have saved herself all the pain. Embarrassed, she avoided Tate's gaze.

Danny took Tate's hand and looked up. "They're dancing! My mom likes to dance!"

"Does she?"

Before she could protest, she found herself in Tate's arms dancing to the "Tennessee Waltz" on the fair's nearby open-air, dance floor. She felt breathless, held so close against him. Finally she murmured, "So the Quints have the best melons? What would people share about the Quints themselves?"

"I think you already know the answer to that."

Sarah didn't know how to reply. "Oh?" was all she could manage.

"Quints aren't afraid to 'plug' our melons. We are honest...." Tate's face crinkled into a killer smile. "About melons and everything else."

The way he said the words made her blush like a teen-aged girl.

They danced over to where Danny watched. "A bunch of us always go to the fall rodeo up in Fort Madison. Maybe Danny and you would like to go along?" She read honest interest in Tate's eyes.

Something hard and hurting deep inside Sarah suddenly relaxed. She was among friends now.

"A rodeo!" Danny whooped, "Wow!"

Sarah gazed into Tate's clear, direct eyes. "Is it a genuine rodeo?"

He brushed back her bangs. "Why, ma'am, even a Watermelon Cowboy knows the real thing when he sees it."

Hope you all enjoyed this summer read. Invite your friends to drop by and read it. Can anyone guess what my favorite food is? GRIN

2010 Copyright Lyn Cote

A Summer Gift to My Readers-A Short Story by Lyn Cote-Part 1

WATERMELON COWBOY

Short Story by Lyn Cote

(Copyright 2010 Lyn Cote)

"Hi, are you a cowboy?" Danny asked.

Sarah stood behind her freckled, about-to-enter-kindergarten son. Affectionately she finger-combed his red curls. On the way home from her new job and Danny's new daycare, they'd stopped at the roadside produce stand.

"Well…" The tall, good-looking man in denim eased out of his lawn chair, then stood up by the weather-beaten stand. "Do you think a watermelon needs roping?"

"But you got on a cowboy hat." Danny pointed to the battered straw hat shaped like a Stetson the man wore.

"No, this is my melon hat. Always wear it when I work the melon patch and this stand."

"Oh." Danny's voice showed his disappointment.

Sarah sighed inwardly. She knew all about the kind of disappointment that comes when appearances were deceiving. Her six-year marriage to Danny's father had been an unfolding story of disillusionment. The only things genuine she'd gotten out of the marriage were debt and Danny.

"What can I get for you, ma'am?" the Watermelon Cowboy asked.

As Sarah read aloud her grandmother's shopping list, perspiration trickled down her back from the late summer heat. How did the cowboy look so cool?

He slapped open a paper bag. "Why don't you pick out the ears of corn you want?"

"Right." She'd lived so long on generic macaroni and cheese she'd forgotten what it was like to pick out fresh produce. She walked to the table heaped with sweet corn. A sign over it said, "Fresh picked today." Promises, promises, she said to herself.

She stripped down a piece of green husk from a plump ear of corn. Performing the test for freshness she'd learned years ago during summer visits at her grandmother's, she pressed her thumbnail into one pearl-sized, pale yellow kernel. Creamy corn juice spurted out. "Fresh," she murmured in approval.

"That's what the sign says." The cowboy grinned.

Assessing him, she dropped it in the bag he held.

"Can I do that?" Danny asked.

"Sure can." The man swung Danny up to sit on the edge of the table and showed him how to test the corn. "You're Sarah Jane, Martha McDowell's family, aren't you?"

"Yes, I am." Sarah sighed. Small town gossip. She'd been afraid people here might talk behind her back. She watched her son test each ear and drop it into the bag.

The man leaned against the table and gave her a slow smile. "I'm Tate, Jessie Quint's grandson."

Sarah smiled back. She'd met Tate's grandmother again just the other day.

"This is fun!" Danny squirted the last ear of corn. "What's next, Mom?"

"A muskmelon."

Danny grimaced. "A mush melon. That don't sound good!"

Tate chuckled. "They're kind of ugly on the outside, but they sure taste good." He bent down and opened a cooler. "Want a sample?" He held out two orangy chunks on toothpicks to them.

He went on, "I heard you came to live with Martha and help her out. We're glad. She didn't want to leave her home yet."

She nodded, then swallowed the sweet melon. "It's my grandmother who's doing me a favor." She couldn't hold back the regret in her voice. Living with her grandmother would give her a chance to pay off debts her ex had left behind in both their names.

Danny warily licked his melon chunk, then shoved it into his mouth. "Yummy!"

Tate showed Danny how to shake a ripe muskmelon to hear the seeds

rattle. "That's how you know it's a good one, ready to chill and eat."

"Right!" Danny formed his fingers into the "OK" sign.

"Next?" Tate asked.

"Watermelon," Sarah said, glancing away, too aware of the man's easy charm.

Tate escorted them over to the shaded pile of watermelons.

"Why don't you just pick one out for me?" Sarah said.

"No, you pick out one out and I'll 'plug' it for you." Tate grinned down at Danny who had perched on the largest melon.

"No one 'plugs' watermelons any more," she objected warily. Was he trying to impress her?

He crossed his arms casually over his chest. "I do. Only sure way to know."

She pointed at a green and yellow-striped melon. He pulled out a knife, cut a triangle-shaped plug and handed it to her. She bit into the sweet red melon, then caught the sugary juice as it trickled down her chin. She couldn't help it; she giggled.

"I want some!" Danny declared.

Tate cut and handed him a second plug.

"We'll take that one." Sarah smiled shyly, her eyes lowered.

"Just a few days to the Sweet Corn Festival. You planning on going?" Tate asked as he carried the melon to her car's trunk.

It was a simple question, but Sarah wondered if a possible invitation was close behind it. She'd warmed to this friendly Watermelon Cowboy, but she hoped he hadn't mistaken her smiles as flirtatious. Romance was the last thing on her mind. "Maybe." With a polite wave, she drove away."

Drop by Tuesday July 6th to read the romantic ending!

Author Bonnie Leon & Lessons from her Alaskan Grandmother

I met my Grandmother Roberts only a few times in my life, but I always felt close to her. She lived in Alaska and I lived in Washington State. Although we lived far from one another, she made sure to stay in touch. She wrote regularly and always answered my letters. Although she had little means, she never missed birthdays or Christmas.

My grandmother knew a lot about living without and about surviving in the challenging environment of Alaska. From an early age, she understood the power of nature to destroy. As a young woman, she stood on a bluff and watched a tsunami hit the shoreline. The story of that day was handed down and told many times throughout the years. It is where I discovered my first book, The Journey of Eleven Moons.

Although my grandmother was Aleut and lived in Alaska, she was one of the fortunate natives who received an education. She attended the Chemawa Native School in Oregon. While she was a student there, her mother died and my grandmother was needed at home to care for her younger brothers. She returned to Alaska. She didn’t question the sacrifice; she just did what was necessary.

When a Welshman approached her father and asked to marry her, it was decided that marrying a white man was the best opportunity for a native girl. And so even though my grandmother was in love with a native man, she married Thomas Roberts. Her marriage began without love, but my grandmother’s tender and devoted nature and her belief that if she made the best out of what life had offered that love would grow. She was right. She and my grandfather shared a lifetime together and had eight children.

Much of their married life was spent on a homestead. Each day’s tasks were about survival. There were few days for rest. My grandmother worked hard and she learned to depend upon herself and God. One day while cleaning a fish, she cut herself so badly she nearly severed her thumb. There were no doctors to help. She sewed up the injury and went back to work.

She lived a life of subsistence, but her home was filled with music and storytelling. My grandfather had a rich voice, which he passed down to his family along with a love for stories. My grandparents created an atmosphere where hope and love grew. My mother’s life was filled with delightful moments and adventure-filled days.

Grandma was strong because she had to be, but she was also tender and full of love. She made her way in Alaska and so did my most recent heroine, Kate, in my new book Touching the Clouds. Kate lived an adventure. She did what she had to and faced each day with courage. Just as my grandmother did, Kate lived life with grace and anticipation. When all looked lost, she refused to give up, and determined to do more than just survive she made a difference in the lives that touched hers.

Bio
Bonnie Leon dabbled in writing for many years but never set it in a place of priority until an accident in 1991 left her unable to work at her job. She is now the author of several historical fiction series, including the Sydney Cove series, Queensland Chronicles, the Matanuska series, the Sowers Trilogy, and the Northern Lights series. She also stays busy teaching women’s Bible studies, speaking, and teaching at writing seminars and women’s gatherings. Bonnie and her husband, Greg, live in Southern Oregon. They have three grown children and four grandchildren. www.BonnieLeon.com

Here's Bonnie's Latest book-out today!