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New Amish Romance, “Ruth’s Gingersnap Surprise”, Releases December 1 from Barbour Publishing!
Countdown to Book Release Day Has Begun!
Ruth’s Ginger Snap Surprise, book two in the new Heart of the Amish series from Barbour Publishing, Releases Digitally Nov. 15; and in Print December 1! As a brand new author looking forward to the release of my debut novel, “Ruth’s Ginger Snap Surprise”, everything is new to me! I keep hearing other authors, my agent, my editors and the wonderful folks I’ve met on various reading sites talk about terms that are unfamiliar to me.
Getting a book published involves a steep learning curve.
One of the things I recently learned about was the author’s street team.
Don’t know what that is? Neither did I until recently! An author’s street team is a group of lovely people willing to take the risk of reading a book by an author – in this case, a totally unknown author, me! – and then going online to various sites and reviewing the book.
It’s one thing if you’re reviewing the latest from your favorite author; but in this case, for all these folks know, it could be terrible! (I promise, it’s NOT!)
Exciting developments! The wonderful Connie Spradling Lynch from the Keeping Up With The Amish group on Facebook, has helped me put together my very first “street team”.
To these brave, selfless souls, I say THANK YOU! Because getting reviews (hopefully positive) out into the world as a book releases is essential to the success of that book.
It motivates Amazon and other such sites to keep that book in front of the public eye. It may influence readers who have never, ever heard of an author to take a risk on their book.
The Street Team doesn’t pay for the book; and when they review it, they say so clearly – that they’ve been given a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
That being said, if you are someone who, despite never having read anything I’ve ever written before, decides to purchase my book, and you love it? Please go leave a nice review at Amazon.com, and maybe a few other places.
If you hate it – say nothing! (Hee hee!)
Hopefully the fact that my agent and editors liked my book means most of you will, too. But you never know! Right?
Do you think I may have a case of first-time-author jitters? I really think I do!
Only nine more weeks until my book releases online, and 11 until it releases in print! Oh boy oh boy! The Countdown has BEGUN!
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I Loved Mindy Steele’s new Amish Romance!
“The Flower Quilter” is just wonderful; and it releases in just a few days!
Mindy Steele’s new book, “The Flower Quilter”, the first book in Barbour Publishing’s new series, “The Heart of the Amish”, releases in a few days! I just finished reading it last night. And I loved it! Here’s why: Barbara Schwartz is an Amish woman who hates to sew. She always seems to have tape on her fingers, to keep the blood from needle sticks from staining the fabric she’s trying to turn into a quilt. Why does she keep sewing? Because everyone expects an Amish woman to sew and quilt, especially her family of gifted quilters!
What would Barbara rather be doing? Gardening! Her gift is with flowers and plants of all kinds.
It takes Melvin Bontrager, a grumpy Amish man worried about supporting his sister and niece with his landscaping business, to point out the obvious to Barbara; she is a quilter, but not with fabric – with flowers!
That’s the Moment of Realization, when Barbara starts to believe maybe she has an important place in the world, and that her gift and work can make a difference, just as much as if she were creating her art with fabric and thread.
Now all she has to do is convince her parents!
Meanwhile, she and Melvin are falling in love. But can there be a future for the couple, when Barbara’s home is back in Kentucky with her large, beloved family, and Melvin has to stay in Indiana and support his sister and niece?
Meanwhile, Melvin is secretly harboring grief and guilt over the death of his parents. Until he allows his faith to bloom and grow like the flowers he loves, he can’t offer his whole heart to Barbara.
Of course, love will find a way. To see how, read Mindy Steele’s wonderful new book about overcoming obstacles, “The Flower Quilter”.This book is the first in the series in which my own very first book, “Ruth’s Ginger Snap Surprise”, releases in December. I’m so thrilled to be part of a series including such wonderful authors as Mindy Steele and Lisa Jones Baker. Lisa’s book comes out this winter/spring. Then we each have a second book in the series! In fact, I see that Mindy is revealing her second cover very soon! Oh, boy, this is such fun.
Take my word for it, “The Flower Quilter” needs to be on your reading list! -
I Found a New Amish Romance Author I love!
Canadian Author of Sweet Romance, Cozy Mysteries and Amish Romance, Patricia Johns, Didn’t Disappoint!
“The Amish Marriage Arrangement”, the third book in Patricia Johns’ “Amish Country Matches” series, was my first by this author. I was immediately captivated by Patricia’s main characters, Sarai Peachy and Arden Stoltzfus.
The couple have a history…
Okay, not a personal history…they were not previously romantically involved. But Sarai knew several friends who were attracted to Arden years ago when he’d lived in their town while visiting his grandfather. He’d let them believe they were special to him, and broken all their hearts, playing fast and loose with their feelings. As far as Sarai was concerned, Arden was not a man to be trusted.
How could she know that while she’d been living with her elderly grandmother, raising chickens and helping to care for their home, the four years Arden spent in Ohio helping to establish a new Amish community had matured him?
All she knew was that he was back to talk his grandfather into returning to Ohio with him. Sarai didn’t want that to happen, because her grandmother Ellen was sweet on the old man, and it was Sarai’s hope that the two elders would marry and care for each other, freeing her to leave Pennsylvania to travel to Indiana, where she hoped to find new adventure, and possibly the man God had been saving just for her.
Yet she couldn’t deny the attraction she felt for the handsome young Amish man – a man she simply couldn’t bring herself to trust.
As for Arden, he had no time for love, because he had a big secret; one that wouldn’t allow him to marry – not until he confessed his biggest regret, and paid back the man he’d wronged years ago.
Sarai Peachy was the last woman he wanted to fall for – because the man he’d wronged was Sarai’s father. How could that have a happy ending?
Read “The Amish Marriage Arrangement” to find out! Meanwhile, I’m off to buy the first two books in the series! Happy reading! -
Amish Country Adventure Meet & Greet
Warm Welcome from Admins, Authors and Readers!
Recently I was fortunate to be invited to join a wonderful group of people in a group called Keeping up with the Amish. They are made up of authors and readers of Amish romance, and people who are simply interested in the Amish way of life.
What a happy bit of luck or serendipity it was that I joined the group right before their annual Amish Country Adventure Week! This year’s adventure happened to take place in Berlin, Ohio – less than an hour from where I live!
I don’t have any books out yet (my very first Amish romance releases from Barbour on December 1!), and it was too late to take three days off work. So I shrugged and thought, oh, well, too bad I can’t go this year; I’ll plan to attend next year.
But the lovely Connie Lynch, an admin of the group, invited me to attend their Thursday evening Author/Reader Meet & Greet. I was able to go! So my buddy Linda and I hopped in the car and headed for Ohio’s beautiful Amish Country! About an hour later, we arrived at the well-appointed Berlin Grand Hotel, and parked in a lot filled with colorful three-wheeled motorcycles.
Chit-chatting at the Meet & Greet! We sat with lovely ladies from around the country. Photo by Connie Lynch Inside, we found the gathering of authors and readers of Amish romance, and they immediately made us feel welcome, giving us swag bags filled with fun items donated by participants in the event.
There were beautiful items for sale and auction, and I bought a chance on a lovely wall-hanging and table runner made by an Amish woman from the western part of the U.S.
Linda and I checked out the auction and sale tables, and then found a place to sit with some really nice people, all avid readers of Amish romance!
We got cold iced tea, and settled down to enjoy an evening making new friends, playing games and feeling most welcome.
I brought along some very pretty bookmarks made for me by the folks I work with in our print shop, and people seemed genuinely happy to get them. Some even said they’d pre-ordered my book! What a thrill!
This lovely, Amish-made wall hanging was won by a lucky woman this week! At the end of the evening, Linda and I hated to go. Now we’re making plans to attend next year’s Amish Adventure in Shipshewana, Indiana – the third largest Amish community in the U.S. I’ve never been there, and I can’t wait to go!
I’m booking my AirBnb so I’ll have all year to look forward to the fun. If you’re an author or reader of Amish romance, I highly recommend that you join the group Keeping Up With The Amish on Facebook, and that you consider attending next year’s adventure week in Shipshewana in June. If you do, I’ll look forward to meeting you in person!
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Heart of the Amish Book One Releases Sept. 1!
Mindy Steel’s “The Flower Quilter” Available now for Pre-order!
I know I’ve mentioned – a few times, lol! – that my very first published book, “Ruth’s Ginger Snap Surprise”, is part of a brand new Amish romance series soon to release from Barbour Publishing – right?
Well, if you’ve missed that fact, tune in! I’m one of three lucky authors of Amish romance to be chosen to write two books each (so far – we’re all hoping for more!) in this series, which is called “Heart of the Amish”.
My sister authors are both well-known Amish romance writers, with a number of published books to their credit. They are Mindy Steele and Lisa Jones Baker.
Mindy has the first book in the series, which will be released in paperback on September 1. Here is the link to her book, “The Flower Quilter”, on Amazon.com. https://a.co/d/7UuK1kO
I’m reading the book now, and will soon do a review of it here, and in other useful places!
Here is a synopsis of Mindy’s book:
“Barbara Schwartz was born into a family of quilters, but she would rather eat dirt than partake in another quilting frolic or sew on another binding. When her parents send her to Indiana to help her grandmother in her quilting shop, she finds herself amongst a very different community. It’s only one summer and then she will be back in Kentucky where she belongs.
Melvin Bontrager’s world stopped six years ago when his parents died. Now when his only means of providing for his widowed sister and niece is threatened, Melvin finds his landscaping business disappearing too. When spring delivers a newcomer who is immune to his salty moods, Melvin does something he has never done before, accepts help.
What blooms is the last thing Barbara ever expected, and everything Melvin could ever want.”
Go pre-order your copy today so you won’t miss out on the first book in this fun new Amish series! Then you’ll be all ready to read mine in November!
My own book releases in paperback on Dec. 1, but I see it is coming out on Kindle in mid-November! You can find it on Amazon.com, too.
The third book in the series, “The Quilt Room Secret”, by Lisa Jones Baker, releases in the spring. More on that soon! And then we each get to do a second book! Blessings on blessings.
To see images of the real Quilt Gardens in Indiana, part of the inspiration for Mindy’s book, check out https://visitshipshewana.org/quilt-garden-trail/. This image is from that site.
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Ruth’s Ginger Snap Surprise Releases on Kindle Nov. 15!
Brand new Amish romance author Anne Blackburne’s debut novel releases from Barbour Publishing!
Hmmm…it seems that this link does not work yet, here…yet I just tested it by purchasing the book myself! It works. If you’re interested, go to Amazon.com and input “Ruth’s Ginger Snap Surprise” by Anne Blackburne, and you’ll be taken to the correct page. Sorry the link won’t work here!
That’s two weeks before it releases in print! I can’t wait. As soon as I have info on book signings in the Southeast and Central Ohio areas, I’ll let you know.
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“The Darcy Secret”, a “Pride & Prejudice” Variation
Author Kelly Miller Delivers Another Terrific Jane Austen Variation!
I just finished reading author Kelly Miller’s latest Austenesque variation on Pride & Prejudice, “The Darcy Secret”. I love all of Austen’s classic romances, and Pride & Prejudice is in my top three.
Miller has written a number of variations on this and Austen’s other novels. I recommend checking them out. They’re all available from Amazon.com.
I wish Jane Austen had lived another ten or twenty years and published another ten or twenty books! But since she didn’t, the next best thing is reading well-executed books based on Austen’s works and characters.
Unlike the Pride & Prejudice & Zombies series – which I loved, I have to admit – Miller’s variations stick pretty much with canon. She takes a few risks and sends the characters down roads the reader doesn’t expect. But for the most part, I’m always happy and satisfied with what happens in each, stand-alone variation.
In “The Darcy Secret”, the reader begins the story learning about a terrible legacy which Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy will have to deal with. He only learns the terrible truth upon the eve of his wedding to Miss Elizabeth Bennet.
Can he go through with the wedding? Will Elizabeth still want him?
Additionally, suspicion is cast upon Darcy’s young sister, Georgiana; is she hiding a violent streak in her personality? Has she even committed . . . murder?
What happens when an old flame of Darcy’s makes inappropriate, drunken suggestions to Darcy in front of Elizabeth?
And what happens when an old friend of Darcy’s decides he’d make Elizabeth a better husband than Darcy?
Finally, our characters have to deal with a terrible tragedy in the loss of a family member. Who is it, and how does it happen?
You’ll have to read “The Darcy Secret” to learn the answers to all of these questions. You won’t be sorry – it’s a fast-paced, easy-to-read tale that will grip you from beginning to end.
Once you find out what an excellent storyteller Miller is, be sure to look up her backlist. My personal favorite is her “Persuasion” variation, titled “Captive Hearts”.
You’ve got some thrilling, satisfying hours of reading ahead of you with Kelly Miller! Enjoy!
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Another Satisfying St. James Sisters Story from Tana Jenkins!
I love good, clean fun, and that’s what I’ve come to expect from Tana Jenkins.
I was thrilled to learn Tana was publishing a fourth St. James sisters book, as I loved getting to know the smart and relatable sisters featured in the first three books.
But wait; there are only three St. James sisters – right? So how does that work? Sandra is a sister-friend to the three St. James ladies, and this is her story!
An attorney on St. Croix in the Caribbean, Sandra has a heavy secret weighing her down, and keeping her from exploring her attraction to Jim, the very sexy farm boy from Texas with whom she’s worked for the past two years.
But her bestie, Mila St. James, whose wedding is coming right up, has other ideas, and plots to get Sandra and Jim together as “fake” wedding dates.
Once again, in “Love is the Treasure”, Tana writes intelligent, realistic characters I enjoyed getting to know. They have humor and integrity in addition to being smokin’ hot! In other words, these are people you wouldn’t mind knowing in real life.
See if Sandra and Jim can overcome their unfortunate family history and learn to trust that what they feel for each other is no scam. I can’t wait for the next book in this excellent series! Take these to the beach, or read them in your living room; it doesn’t matter, because you’ll soon be lost in the worlds created by the talented Tana Jenkins.I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
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Complete: First Round of Edits on my Amish Romance!
Each Step in the Publishing Process is a Revelation!
This is me as Sister Robert Anne in Nunsense! What a month!
The musical I directed and acted in, “Sister Amnesia’s Country Western Nunsense Jamboree,” closed a week ago after two full weekend’s and six shows. It was so much fun playing Sister Robert Anne again! But I can’t say I’m sorry to have my evenings back so I can focus on my writing.Just as the show was closing, my editor from Barbour Publishing sent me the first round edits for my first book, “Ruth’s Ginger Snap Surprise,” which will release from Barbour on December 1! I had a week to complete those, and I made the deadline. It was a challenge at first, because I’m such a rookie. I had no idea how to use Track Changes in Word, for example.
Now I know a little bit more about this publishing journey. Each step is a new revelation. I’m waiting now to hear back from the editor to see if she needs me to make any more changes.
She made me feel great though, by telling me she loved my book and my characters! It was her first Amish romance, and I was pleased that she found herself caught up in Ruth and Jonas’s story.
I’ll be honest: I was secretly afraid she would send me a manuscript full of red ink indicating it was a hot mess! Okay, okay, I knew it wasn’t, but my brain wasn’t being logical. New writer’s terror, I guess!
I’m finishing up another project currently, an original Sherlock Holmes murder mystery I write every other year as part of a murder mystery weekend sponsored by my area VCB. I’ll direct it this fall, (and play Dr. Joan Watson!) and it will finish up right before “Ruth’s Ginger Snap Surprise” is released.
After I finish writing the play, I’ll have time to go through the second book in the “Heart of the Amish” series. I’m one of three authors writing for this series. We each have two books contracted so far. If the series is a success, we could be asked to write more! Fingers crossed on that.
The first draft of my second book in the series, “Mary’s Calico Hope,” is finished. I completed it at the end of February, and it’s been “cooking” on a back burner since then.
I’m about ready to dive in for a second look at the manuscript, to find all the things that made sense the first time through, but need to be tweaked now!
I’ll let you know when “Ruth’s Ginger Snap Surprise” is available for preorder in the Kindle edition.
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My Secret Delight: Beach or Sea Glass Hunting!
Scratching in the sand looking for smoothly polished glass can keep me entertained for hours!
Everyone has something they love to do; something they can keep on doing hour after hour, year after year. Aside from my first love, reading, and my second love, writing, what I love best is looking for glowing treasures from the sea; beach or sea glass!
Basically the same thing, beach glass comes from fresh water such as lakes and rivers, while sea glass is found on the shores of salt water seas and oceans.
I can’t remember when this obsession started; I’ve always loved hunting for natural treasurers. As a child, my parents would take my sibs and me to the beach in New Jersey where we’d pick up shells – mostly clam shells, which were legion.
I didn’t care if they all looked alike; each seemed prettier than the last! It reminds me of Laura Ingalls Wilder writing about her childhood visit to the shores of Silver Lake, where she picked up so many pretty pebbles the pocket fell off her dress!
I have bowls and jars filled with beach glass treasures I’ve found on my travels – as I don’t live near big water, alas – and looking at these treasures fills me with contentment.
Beach glass makes a great souvenir, too. It doesn’t cost anything, you’re cleaning up a beach by picking up what really amounts to trash, and most local governments have no problem with people cleaning up their beaches. Places where you’re forbidden to pick up shells or coral are happy to let you take their beach glass.
There are some beaches where picking up glass is prohibited, mostly because they are known for their glass, the polished, washed-up remnants of old dumping which has turned trash into treasure. They want it to stay there for everyone to enjoy. People who go ahead and take it anyway are besmirching the spirit of glass hunting, and cheating others from enjoying local tourist attractions. Follow the rules, folks. There are plenty of places you can collect the stuff.
Get Your Toes Into the Sand!
Some people are worried that beach and sea glass is becoming harder to find as the world turns more to plastics and also tries to improve trash dumping practices to avoid further polluting the oceans and lakes of the world. Maybe this is true. But since the stuff is still largely regarded as garbage, I’m not worrying about it. My grandchildren will probably be able to collect something that isn’t a “thing” for us today. Who knows?
So when you get to the shore, cast your eyes to the sand. Pebbly areas are best. Maybe you’ll find a small, polished gem twinkling up at you to remember your trip by. It beats a coconut bra!
