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Sharing Links Saturday

Karen Ball, with The Steve Laube Agency, shared why to write:
http://www.stevelaube.com/dont-waste-your-time/

Patricia Johns gives a peek into "The Method Behind the Madness":
http://patriciajohnsromance.com/2016/02/17/the-method-behind-the-madness/

Laurie Schnebly Campbell was over at "Writers In The Storm," sharing the importance of Motivation:
http://writersinthestormblog.com/2016/02/the-driving-force/

Vincent Mars is a guest blogger over on "A Writer's Path," sharing The Benefits of the Written Word...
http://ryanlanz.com/2016/02/22/the-benefits-of-the-written-word-upon-the-worried-mind/

God bless.

Holiday USA Anthology 2015 cover reveal

Carol Fiorillo created this beautiful cover, incorporating Ruth Mower's covers for the four novellas featured in the anthology. The book is downloaded, awaiting reviews. It takes a few weeks. I'll post when it's available.

Wordless

Sharing Links

For Readers: Writers In The Storm offered advice on how to write good reviews:
http://writersinthestormblog.com/2016/02/help-your-readers-write-good-reviews/

For Authors about marketing:

Bill Taysom: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/brand-alignment-your-vast-untapped-resource-bill-taysom

I read this and thought of myself as the business. I need work on my branding. My sales team is hiding, and marketing is clueless. Operations is finally getting its act together, and the executive is tearing her hair out wondering when she'll figure out how to pull it all together.

Chris McMullen: https://chrismcmullen.wordpress.com/2016/02/04/organic-is-better-for-book-marketing/

One of my favorite Spoken Word videos by Jon Jorgensen "Who You Are: A Message To All Women":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWi5iXnguTU&index=7&list=PLm4vXA2z3GzRW2zsDeAZ7XtpkxSFhrrLx

God bless.

Posts About Me 4

This is the fourth in a series of posts about me. I hope these help you decide my books are worth the read. I also hope they help save time for those who have no interest in my books. I know there's nothing more disappointing than expecting one kind of book and discovering what I'm reading isn't something I'm interested in reading. Not all books in a single genre are the same. Authors in the same genre are as different as football players on the same team and cupcake bakers. A lot of similarities but no two are alike.

I use a lot of long words and less used vocabulary. In my Regency books, I enjoy peppering my stories with words and phrases more commonly used in the early 1800s. I even check to make sure the word was invented before I use it. The etymology dictionary on line is helpful. My contemporary stories also lean toward more variety in my word usage.

There is a reason behind both of these choices. I'm dyslexic.

Big books intimidate me. It isn't to say I don't read them. I do, but I have to really love the author, i.e., the writing. I know if I'm going to read a long book, I'm making a major time commitment. This is why I write shorter books. When I thumb through my Kindle books, I always choose the shorter books to read first.

Short paragraphs are another plus for me. I'm less likely to become lost. I'm endeavoring to use more long paragraphs of description occasionally, for those who prefer it.

On the other end, short easy words are the ones I'm most likely to misread. Oddly enough, I discovered it's easier to read long words, hence the use of big words and a wide variety in vocabulary. Really. It's easier to read the longer words and the less than familiar words. I don't know why. I only know it works for me.

Post About Me 3

This is the third in a series of posts about me. I hope these help you decide my books are worth the read. I also hope they help save time for those who have no interest in my books. I know there's nothing more disappointing than expecting one kind of book and discovering what I'm reading isn't something I'm interested in reading. Not all books in a single genre are the same. Authors in the same genre are as different as football players on the same team and cupcake bakers. A lot of similarities but no two are alike.

The length of my books:

If you like fat books, my books are probably not for you.

If you like what I would call super long books, anything over 100,000 words, I'm not for you. My books run 60,000+, the longest being 82,000, unless you look at my Anthologies, 4 books in 1 paperback. I'm putting out my second one, this month. Each of my novellas run between 20,000-25,000 words.

Perhaps you could look at my books as a tasty appetizer or a midnight snack.

My novellas would qualify as yummy hors d'oeuvres.

Happy Valentines Day

Holiday, USA has it's own Valentine novella:

Valentine Delivery

Time for the third novella in the series...

Welcome back to Holiday, USA, small town America, where nothing happens, except holidays... and maybe a little romance, if the hero and heroine trust God.

Lance Nelson delivers flowers every Valentine's Day. This year, he decides to show the woman he's secretly loved all his life exactly how he feels, creating a unique bouquet especially for her.

This Valentine's Day, Sharon Kelly decides to stop waiting for someone to send her what she wants and orders a bouquet of flowers for herself. She might as well arrange for her secret crush to deliver them.

God works in mysterious ways to provide the way to Happily Ever After, even when His children stand in their own way...

http://www.amazon.com/Valentine-Delivery-Holiday-Laurel-Hawkes-ebook/dp/B00IGVA8SY/ref=sr_1_3

Available at Amazon for $2.99 or Free on Kindle Unlimited.

If you prefer paperback, it's available in the Holiday, USA Anthology 2014, along with 3 other novellas. Only on Amazon.

Wordless

Posts About Me 2

This is the second in a series of posts about me. I hope these help you decide my books are worth the read. I also hope they help save time for those who have no interest in my books. I know there's nothing more disappointing than expecting one kind of book and discovering what I'm reading isn't something I'm interested in reading. Not all books in a single genre are the same. Authors in the same genre are as different as football players on the same team and cupcake bakers. A lot of similarities but no two are alike.

I write clean romances. No swear words. No explicit anything, which does not mean I sanitize. I'm an abuse survivor, so many of my characters are abuse survivors. The resultant problems do not magically disappear. Several of my characters deal with PTSD. Curing them isn't part of the story. I share methods of coping, from prayer and counseling to coloring books and therapy dogs. I endeavor to offer hope. In several of my books I touch on human trafficking. It's ugly. It's dehumanizing. I handle it as gently as possible.

I don't believe in anyone going it alone. Building a support system is part of every journey to becoming healthy, which may include a pastor and his wife, friends, and family. Sometimes family is the problem, and my characters choose to walk away. There is no fairy dust to make the family all better when the family chooses dysfunction over healing.

I write less "sweet" and more "blush." Sweet is holding hands and quick kisses and focusing on the emotional aspect not the physical. I find it difficult to relate to sweet books. Blush adds more of the physical responses, in addition to the emotional side. My heroes have "typical male" responses.

Even before seeing the movie Old Fashioned, I endeavored to have my characters lean more toward courting. Some of my heroes have been playboys, others have made mistakes, a few made the chastity vow early and held to it. My heroines are more likely to be the sexual abuse survivors but not exclusively. My teen nieces have read my books.

I write in third person, not first, and only from the point of view of the hero and heroine.

Sharing Links...

For Readers: Seth Adam Smith was born the day after the explosion of the Challenger "You Came From the Stars." I wanted to read it again, so I'm sharing it here:
http://sethadamsmith.com/2016/01/28/star-stuff/

Candidkay reminded me of the story about a red dress, hanging in the closet, waiting for a special occasion and never being worn. I endeavor to embrace the moment but confess I'm not particularly good at it. I'm learning. I appreciate the reminder of all the ways it can be done:
http://candidkay.com/2016/01/28/worth-it/

Aerykah over at Expressions of Me shares regular book reviews on Christian books. If you're looking to find something new, she may be able to help:
https://aerykah.wordpress.com/

For Writers: Ryan Lanz, over at A Writer's Path, shares a two part series on writing short stories:
http://ryanlanz.com/2016/01/29/20-tips-for-writing-a-captivating-short-story-part-1/
http://ryanlanz.com/2016/02/01/20-tips-for-writing-a-captivating-short-story-part-2/

As a side note: My novellas run over 20,000 words, too long to be a short story.

For inspiration: Sharing a music video I like found on YouTube:
Hawk Nelson's Faithful: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kPKTwzrAn8

God bless.

Posts About Me 1

This is the first in a series of posts about me. I hope these help you decide my books are worth the read. I also hope they help save time for those who have no interest in my books. I know there's nothing more disappointing than expecting one kind of book and discovering what I'm reading isn't something I'm interested in reading. Not all books in a single genre are the same. Authors in the same genre are as different as football players on the same team and cupcake bakers. A lot of similarities but no two are alike.

I'll start with the type of books I write: Christian Romance.

Jesus is my Savior and influences my life and thus my writing. Faith in God is a central element in all my stories. Some characters come from a place of unbelief but most are simply struggling with their faith, like a lot of people.

I write about relationships, how I've seen them and how I wish they were. I've made plenty of mistakes. Like Clay, in Old Fashioned, I have a lot of theories. My stories give me an opportunity to explore those theories.

Questions I have, problems I'm struggling with, "what ifs" are worked out in my stories.

Wordless

Saturday Links Sharing...

Candidkay shares a blog that inspires me.
http://candidkay.com/2016/01/22/postcards-from-the-scenic-overlooks-of-life/

Beth Trissel offers some old time remedies:
https://bethtrissel.wordpress.com/2016/01/27/old-time-remedies-from-the-shenandoah-valley-of-virginia/

Chris McMullen shared several helpful posts on marketing; this is one:
https://chrismcmullen.wordpress.com/2016/01/24/relevance-the-key-to-advertisingmarketing/

Ryan Lanz, over at A Writer's Path, shares advice on How to Write Battle Scenes:
http://ryanlanz.com/2016/01/26/how-to-write-battle-scenes/

God bless.

What God Wants Me To Be...

This, in general, will not be new to people who know me. There may be new details but not much else. What was new to me was the bone-deep realization.

I hate it when I wake up at 1 a.m. with a massive realization, a hit the wall, epic fail, stop you in your tracks realization.

This all started because Holley Gerth in You're Already Amazing and Evan Sanders of The Better Man Project both challenged me to discover what I'm drawn to and in the end who I'm supposed to be. I've been pondering what God wants me to be. I thought I knew. I've felt like I've fallen short or missed the mark or something. I feel like I've been wandering in the dark with only flashes of enlightenment. I hit the wall. I was wrong for all my life.

Last week, I woke up on Wednesday morning, at 1 a.m. and it hit me:

I believed God wanted me to be a wife and mother. I believed with all my heart.

It's something I believed my whole life. I geared everything toward that end. I didn't give in to my boyfriends pushing to go further. With each one, we were already going further than I wanted, but I didn't know how to say 'no' without risking losing him. Except I managed to say 'no' to giving him the one thing I believed deeply only my husband should have. A couple of my boyfriends even proposed. I said, 'yes' to one. No one knew. We kept it secret. I still wouldn't give him what only a husband should have. He got cold feet temporarily, recovered, and I got cold feet permanently. I couldn't give to anyone else what I thought belonged only to the man I married because God wanted me to be a wife and mother, in that order, not the other way around.

My parents wanted me to go into engineering because that's where the money is. It set me up to fail on an epic scale. I don't just turn numbers around. I turn 6 and 9 upside down. I will say the number out loud while I write it and still write a completely different number. It's bad enough when only a single digit is involved. Do that when writing out a four or five digit number. I don't simply switch the digits; I write completely different numbers. I have to remind myself that 3 and cursive E go in opposite directions, while 5 and s really do turn the same way and the same with 2 and z. I have to remind myself that the cursive Z and 2 look similar but 2 really doesn't have a tail on it. And this is the child who wasn't given any choice but to enroll in college as an engineering major.

I found my backbone, a little bit, and changed it to home economics, but was met with opposition, so I changed it to computer engineering. I proceeded to take classes from every department at the college except automotive and art, only because it didn't occur to me to take an automotive class, and I didn't want to sketch naked people and that was a part of Art 101. I did learn to change oil, filters, windshield wipers, and tires. I also took a calligraphy class from Parks and Rec. I considered cooking and sewing to be my art. I wanted to be well rounded because I was going to be a wife and mother. I wanted to be able to encourage my children in whatever they wanted to pursue.

Over the years, I took classes in finances, accounting, psychology, sociology, English, French, Spanish, chemistry, college algebra, typing, gourmet cooking, sewing, real estate, ice skating, yoga, communication, and a variety of others. During that time, I also worked in Yellowstone for a summer, served a mission in Thailand, lived in Europe for a summer, worked at a variety of jobs, including for the airlines. By the time I graduated with my two-year degree, I was in my 30s, and I'd acquired several certificates of completion in other programs like travel agency and sign language interpreter. If I could have graduated on credit hours, I would have had a Bachelors. However, they weren't all in one program, so it was only a two-year degree.

All of it, every last thing was done with the thought in mind that I wanted to be a well-rounded wife and mother. I wanted to give to my husband and children someone who was willing to learn almost anything to become a better person, to bring as much as I could to the table to make life richer, fuller, happier.

I'm over 50 now. There is no husband. No children. All I ever wanted or dreamed about. And I wonder what God intended me to be, and how did I miss hearing the message because it wasn't what I wanted, to be a wife and mother.

I don't have enough skills in any one area to support myself in a gainful profession. It's my own fault because I focused my attention on the dream of being a good wife and mother someday instead of figuring out a way to support myself.

I'm also ashamed to say that to me they were mutually exclusive. I wanted to be a stay-at-home wife and mother. I also feared I'd miss the opportunity if I became involved in a career. I'm single-minded as a way of battling OCD and other problems with being easily distracted. I know this about myself. I understood choosing one would exclude the other in my mind. I pursued what I wanted most.

Only in the last few years have I discovered I'm also a storyteller. I have been all my life. It's really all I know.

So, if you wonder why I write romance, it's what I know.

Don't miss Chocolat Cake Day!

Tomorrow is Chocolate Cake Day. I wrote a novella celebrating it.

Chocolate Cake for Two

Ready for the second novella in the series?

Welcome back to Holiday, USA, small town America, where nothing happens, except holidays... and maybe a little romance, if the hero and heroine trust God.

Freed, after being wrongly imprisoned for a crime he didn't commit, Henry Weaver needs a fresh start. The "Help Wanted" sign in the cupcake shop window couldn't possibly be the answer to his prayer.

Holiday Sweets, a specialty cupcake shop, is Annie Sweet's heritage. Everything would be perfect if only she could find competent help. An ultimatum demands Annie make a painful decision.

Choosing God is rarely the easy way, and sometimes the way to Happily Ever After appears impossible...

http://www.amazon.com/Chocolate-Cake-Two-Holiday-USA-ebook/dp/B00HYLK0P8/ref=sr_1_1

Sharing Links Saturday...

Writers In The Storm shared ideas on time management for writers:
http://writersinthestormblog.com/2016/01/tackling-a-writers-greatest-challenge-time-management/

K. Ross posted over at A Writer's Path about What Words to Avoid in Your Writing:
http://ryanlanz.com/2016/01/20/what-words-to-avoid-in-your-writing/

Ryan Lanz, over at A Writer's Path shared the top 10 writing tips posts for 2015 (more links):
http://ryanlanz.com/2016/01/17/top-10-writing-tips-posts-of-2015/

Donna Hatch shares a post on Regency coaches, carriages, etc:
http://donnahatch.com/coaches-carriages-and-other-conveyances/

God bless.

DBP released new books...

New books released, today, by Desert Breeze Publishing...

http://www.desertbreezepublishing.com/

Wherever books are sold in eformat, though some are slower at posting than others. Paperbacks are available soon after at Amazon.

Christmas Present

Book 8:

The eighth novella in the series is here...

Welcome back to Holiday, USA, small town America, where nothing happens, except holidays... and a little romance, if the hero and heroine trust God.

Terra Connor is looking forward to her first two-week vacation, even if it means working part of the time to ease her daughter's mind. Her daughter's wedding on Christmas Eve is her only priority, and she definitely doesn't have time for romance.

Carson McDonald is in Holiday for his younger brother's wedding. The friendly town is as good a place as any to rest and recover from the upheaval of losing his job due to an accident. He has enough on his plate for the foreseeable future.

God's ways are not man's ways...

Available on Amazon: Free through KDP or $2.99 

http://www.amazon.com/Christmas-Present-Holiday-USA-Book-ebook/dp/B01ASDPDJQ/ref=sr_1_1

Saturday Links to Share...

I found a wonderful link sharing all things Regency. Last month, Rachel Knowles shared the history of Wedding Over the Anvil in Gretna Green. As a side note, I visited the blacksmith shop when I took a tour of Scotland, back in 1986. Little did I know then what it would come to mean to me.
http://www.regencyhistory.net/2015/12/the-blacksmiths-shop-at-gretna-green.html

Jo Beverley created "English Titles in the 18th and 19th Century." I wish I'd found this long ago.
http://jobev.com/title.html

Stephanie Burkhart shared a fun bit on Grumpy Cat:
http://sgcardin.blogspot.com/

This memory of Alan Rickman was shared on FB, however, I didn't see it there. My sister shared it on her blog, so I'm sharing the link here:
http://weareone-ruth.blogspot.com/2016/01/sad-harry-potter-fan.html

God bless.