First Page-Her Healing Ways by Author Lyn Cote

Here's the first page of my December Love Inspired Historical, Her Healing Ways, the final book in the "Gabriel Sisters" series.

Chapter One

Idaho Territory, Late September 1868

High on the board seat, Mercy Gabriel sat beside the wagon master on the lead Conestoga. The line of the supply train slowed, pulling into the mining town, Idaho Bend. Panicky-looking people raced toward it, with bags and valises in hand. What was happening here? Like a cold wet finger, alarm slid up Mercy's spine.

She reached down and urged her adopted daughter Indigo up onto the seat beside her away from the onrushing people. Though sixteen now, Indigo shrank against Mercy, her darker face tight with concern. “Don’t worry,” Mercy whispered as confidently as she could.

She looked down at a forceful man who had pushed his way to the front. He was without a coat, his shirt sleeves rolled up and his colorfully embroidered vest buttoned askew. From the flamboyant vest, she guessed he must be a gambler. What would he want with her?

Indeed, what would he want with her??? To read a longer excerpt, click here. To purchase, see right column. Just click and it's on its way!

First Page-Wyoming Lawman by Author Victoria Bylin

FROM "WYOMING LAWMAN"

By Victoria Bylin

Chapter One

Cheyenne, Wyoming

October 1875

Pearl Oliver stepped out of the carriage in front of Dryer’s Hotel and glanced down the boardwalk in search of her cousin. Instead of spotting Carrie, she saw a little girl with hair as pale as her own. Loose and wisping around the child’s face, it glinted white in the sun. Pearl’s mother had told her daughter that a woman’s hair was her crowning glory. Pearl knew from experience it could also be a curse.

She turned back to the carriage intending to lift her son from her father’s arms. Before he could hand the baby to her, she heard an excited cry.

“Mama!”

Expecting to see another mother, she looked back at the little girl. What she saw stopped her heart. The child, with her pinafore flapping and a rag doll hooked in her elbow, was charging across the street. Behind her, Pearl saw a freight wagon about to make the turn. The girl hadn’t looked before stepping off the boardwalk, and the driver wouldn’t see her until he rounded the corner.

“Stop!” Pearl cried.

The girl ran faster . . ."

Wow, now that's a beginning that's hard to put down! I've never read any of Victoria's books but this one has caught my eye!

Have you tried any Love Inspired Historicals? Next month the line increases from 2 titles a month to FOUR! Here's the link to join the monthly book club
https://offers.eharlequin.com/index.asp?code=E7X7-

or call 1-800-873-8635
7am-11pm EST
You get 2 free books for trying the club for a month! (This might be a great Christmas present for someone.)-Lyn

For more info:

website: www.victoriabylin.com

facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=100001287093699

amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Wyoming-Lawman-Love-Inspired-Historical/dp/0373828462/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1289882126&sr=1-1

Who are you thankful for? Would you like to win an autographed book for them?

December is coming--in case you didn't know. GRIN When they start talking about the day after Thanksgiving as Black Friday, we know that Christmas is coming. (Or at least the retail side of the holiday.)

Her Healing Ways, the final book in my Gabriel Sisters series for Love Inspired Historical will be released the second week of December. And I want to give a few copies away!

Lyn Cote's Books

Promote Your Page Too

Here's the badge or link to my new Facebook LIKE page, "Lyn Cote's Books."

Don't ask me why it say "elcome" instead of Welcome. Some little imp is in there playing around. But if you want to keep up with my books on Facebook, just click the badge above and give me the thumbs up!

Now my question is--who would you like to give an autographed copy of Her Healing Ways to and why?

Please leave a comment either today or Friday through Sunday, Nov. 28th. And I'll enter all the names into a drawing. I'll send autographed copies of Her Healing Ways, one each to two different people whom two someones nominate. That means you can nominate more than one person but I'll be choosing one winner from two different people who leave comments. Hope that's as clear as turkey gravy!

So leave a comment with their first name and why you are nominating them.

Don't forget to leave your email address written thus: l(dot)cote(at)juno(dot)com. OK?

Author Renee Ryan Gives Away an autographed copy of her Latest-Open for comments to win through Sunday!

My guest today is Author Renee Ryan who speaks about her personal faith journey and her latest book. Please let Renee know what you think of her journey into a deeper trust of our Lord and her venture into writing a WWII historical. Here's Renee:

"Thank you, Lyn, for inviting me to participate in your blog today. Although I write about strong, brave women, I’m not always that way myself, especially when it comes to my writing ministry. Even though I consider myself a conservative evangelical Christian, I sold my first manuscript to the secular market. At the time, I didn’t see a contradiction in my faith versus my career. I was proud of the fact that I was following Jesus’ command to “go out and make disciples of all nations.”

That first sale brought lots of validation. All my hard work had finally paid off. I’d arrived. I was doing something important. I was God’s vessel. I was woefully misleading myself.

Within months of that first book hitting the shelves I was released by my publisher. Enter a very long, very frustrating dry spell. For months I rationalized why I couldn’t make another book sale. It was everyone else’s fault, of course. Westerns were dead, the market was shrinking, the editors didn’t like people with the first name Renee.

Long story short, the pursuit of publishing my second novel became my obsession. No, it became my idol. When I realized this, I knew something had to change--me. So I started working on my relationship with the Lord, something I had let lag to a dangerous level of indifference. I began studying the Word on a deeper level and turning to God for answers, rather than myself.

It was around this same time that I decided, hey, if I was going to collect rejections I might as well swing for the fences and stop playing it safe. I was going to write what I wanted to write, not what people said would sell. Enter WWII, a taboo time period for romance writers.

The resulting book was my first attempt at writing Inspirational romance. By the time I wrote “the end” I’d found my home. Writing isn’t any easier, but knowing that I’m the quill and the Lord is the Great Author brings unspeakable joy (and peace).

That WWII story is my next release. DANGEROUS ALLIES is a romantic spy thriller set in 1939 Nazi Germany. The hero is an American officer on loan to the British government. The Brits sends him into enemy territory to photograph the blueprints of a Nazi secret weapon that is having unprecedented success. Because this book is an Inspirational, the main characters happy ending includes a return to a life of strong faith (something I myself had to learn).

So what’s the point in all this? Simple. Swing for the fences in everything you do, never play it safe and always put the Lord first. The rest will work itself out in time.

I’ll be giving away a copy of DANGEROUS ALLIES today. All you have to do is leave a comment and you’ll be entered in the drawing.

Renee Ryan writes for Steeple Hill’s Love Inspired Historical and Love Inspired line. Her fabulous editor is Melissa Endlich. For more information, visit Renee at www.reneeryan.com

Author Allie Pleiter & The Disaster That Fascinated Her

My guest today is Author Allie Pleiter, a woman who like most of us have been forced to find out just how strong we are. Her son has been struggling with a combination of medical problems recently. Here's how her own personal struggles have impacted her Here's Allie:

"What doesn’t kill you....

The disaster fascinated me.

Actually, it wasn’t San Francisco 1906 earthquake and fires themselves, but the aftermath. The challenge of rebuilding a city from scratch. Things had been wiped out to the point you could stand on a street corner and not be able to tell which corner it was (by the way, if you ever wondered why the street names are embedded in the San Francisco sidewalks, that’s why). How does one rebuild a life on such a monumental scale? Over months? Surrounded by thousands of other people in the same catastrophic situation?

In the children’s hospital where I spend way too much of my time, there is a sign that reads: “You don’t know how strong you can be until strong is the only choice you have.” I believe this. I’ve lived it, granted on a slightly smaller scale than the all-out destruction of a city, but nothing shows you who you really are like a major disaster. You learn things about yourself you can’t learn any other way. Hard things. Valuable things.

Nora Longstreet doesn’t realize her own inner strength until the earthquake asks more of her than she thinks she can give. Still, God works best in those kinds of desperate places. Nora learns the difference between genuine compassion and polite charity. She learns to see people in ways she’s never seen before. She learns that lines we “think” exist in the world often don’t--and that deeper lines show up in places we didn’t expect. She learns to love in the deepest, most Christ-like sense of the word.

Tragedy has a way of strengthening our ability to love. I love the image of the potter from the Bible; the pot is formed from dual pressure on both the inside and the outside of the pot. As uncomfortable as that tension feels, it is the necessary process of growth. You can’t make a pot without it. Talk to the strongest woman you know, and I guarantee you she will tell you stories of incredible strife and challenge.

Maybe that’s what fascinated me most about the 1906 San Francisco disaster. The aftermath of the soul, not the rubble of the city. I made Nora the kind of woman who would look back on her disaster as a turning point in her life, essential to the woman she became.

MISSION OF HOPE

by Allie Pleiter

Steeple Hill Love Inspired Historical

August 2010

ISBN#: 978-0-373-82842-5

BACK COVER COPY:

No one knows who he is or where he’s from. But witnesses throughout San Francisco report a masked man in black is bringing supplies--and badly needed hope--to homeless earthquake survivors. Some believe that the city’s gallant rescuer is a gentleman of wealth. But others whisper that he is a working class man with courage as great as his faith. And rumor has it that one of the city’s most spirited society belles is helping him against her family’s wishes. What can be confirmed is that the masked messenger will need more than a miracle to escape those on his trail--and win the woman risking everything to save him...

ONE SENTENCE BOOK DESCRIPTION:

The gallant sequel to Pleiter's San Francisco historical, "Masked by Moonlight," MISSION OF HOPE follows an unlikely hero and his surprising young love as the pair help the city heal from it's massive 1906 earthquake.

EXCERPT:

She looked right into his eyes, and Quinn felt his stomach drop out through what was left of the soles of his shoes. “You’ll probably think it’s silly, but you’ve been such an encouragement to me. Here I was thinking God had left me alone, and you do all those things—those little but very big things—that let me know He’s still minding my path. You’re an answer to my prayers, Quinn Freeman. How does that make you feel?”

He knew the exact moment his heart left his body. The exact instant it disobeyed all the good and solid reasons he had for not pining over Nora Longstreet and left to follow her of its own accord. He stared at her, knowing his affections had just overstepped all kinds of bounds and not caring. He no longer had any choice in the matter. “I’m thinking it might not be wise to answer that, Miss Longstreet.”

AUTHOR BIO:

An avid knitter, coffee junkie, and devoted chocoholic, Allie Pleiter writes both fiction and non-fiction. The enthusiastic but slightly untidy mother of two, Allie spends her days writing books, buying yarn, and finding new ways to avoid housework. Allie hails from Connecticut, moved to the midwest to attend Northwestern University, and currently lives outside Chicago, Illinois. The “dare from a friend” to begin writing has produced two parenting books, twelve novels, and various national speaking engagements on faith, women’s issues, and writing. Visit her website at www.alliepleiter.com or her knitting blog at www.DestiKNITions.blogspot.com

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