Friday Countdown: Three ideas for winter weekends

This photo makes me nostalgic for the days my older two were the ages of my younger two. Ah...if only we had snow like that this year!

The weekend is upon us and one of the challenges when the weather is bitter is what can we do? Here are a few ideas and I'd love to hear yours, too:

1) Grab the heavy weather gear and move. Put all those mittens, hats, and scarves to good use. Find some snow boots, and strike out on an adventure. Walk through the mounds of snow if you're lucky enough to have it. If not, see if your town has ice skating, hockey or other cold weather activities. I heard on the radio that in Iowa their climbing ice on the sides of silos. Who know what your community may have!

ACFW Board Meetings!

Today I'm in downtown Indianapolis for ACFW Executive board meetings. We're plotting and strategizing for the future. We're also setting the schedule for the fall national conference. Woot!

The conference is coming up September 13-15 in downtown Indianapolis. I am so excited. We already have editors and agents signing up to attend. This year I will be offering mentor appointments instead of teaching. I can't wait to have one on one appointments with aspiring authors. I love being able to answer questions and give feedback. It's one small way I can thank all those who help me! You can learn more about the conference on the ACFW website.

I'd love to have you join us!

Review: Escape back to Smitten with Secretly Smitten

Secretly Smitten is written by four of my writing friends. If you've followed my blog at all you know I thoroughly enjoy Colleen Coble's romantic mysteries and I adore Denise Hunter's contemporary romances. With the Smitten novella collections these two authors pair with Diann Hunt and Kristin Billerbeck: both are brilliant, funny writers. 

With Secretly Smitten, these authors have returned to Smitten, their created town in Vermont. The town is still trying to find ways to stay alive. And four young women are on their way to find romance. These novellas tie together with those in Smitten, the other collection. You can also read this collection on its own. I love how real the characters are and the way I want to join them at Mountain Perks for a good conversation and update on their romantic adventures. The stories tie together and bring back characters I came to love in the first collection. Because there are four novellas in this book, each can be read in a long sitting and it's the perfect book to take along on a spring break trip. Easy to put down when you need to do something else, but also engaging enough, you'll want to return often to this delightful town. Here's more:

ABOUT THE BOOK

Summer, fall, winter, spring—Smitten, Vermont, is the place for love . . . and mystery!

There’s a secret in Grandma Rose’s attic—a forgotten set of dog tags belonging to her first love. But David Hutchins was killed in action and never returned to Smitten. How did the dog tags end up in the attic?

The mystery intrigues Rose’s three granddaughters—Tess, Clare, and Zoe—and they decide to investigate, though their mother, Anna, warns against meddling. But as the seasons turn and the mystery unravels, the three young women and their mother encounter some intriguing mystery men of their own. Has a sixty-year-old puzzle sparked something new for this close-knit family of women?

Join popular romance novelists—and real-life BFFs—Colleen Coble, Kristin Billerbeck, Diann Hunt, and Denise Hunter for four delightful intertwined tales of mystery and sweet intrigue.

Purchase a copy here

RITA-finalist Colleen Coble is the author of several best-selling romantic suspense novels, including "Tidewater Inn", and the Mercy Falls, Lonestar, and Rock Harbor series. * Christy Award finalist and two-time winner of the ACFW Book of the Year award, Kristin Billerbeck has appeared on The Today Show and has been featured in the New York Times. Her books include "A Billion Reasons Why" and "What a Girl Wants." * Denise Hunter is the award-winning and best-selling author of several novels, including "A Cowboy's Touch" and "Sweetwater Gap." She and her husband are raising three boys in Indiana. * Diann Hunt has lived in Indiana forever, been happily married forever, loves her family, chocolate, her friends, her dog, and, well, chocolate.

Delighting in the Scriptures: Exodus 3:16

This year I have committed to read through the Bible. It's been a few years since I intentionally set out to do that, and so far so good. I've wrapped up Genesis and into Exodus. What's been an absolute joy to me is the way God is causing individual verses tucked in the midst of Scriptures I know well to pop to life. I thought I'd share some of those with you in the coming weeks. Is that all right?

While I was reading the early chapters of Exodus over the weekend, God made this verse jump off the page:

Go and assemble the elders of Israel and say t them: Yahweh, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, has appeared to me and said: I have paid close attention to you and to what has been done to you in Egypt. (Ex. 3:16)

Are you in a place of slavery? A place where you feel abandoned, ignored, or overlooked? Is it a place of pain?

Then rest in this promise: God is paying close attention to you. It may look like you've been abandoned. It may feel like you've been abused. That does not mean God has forgotten you. Instead, God is paying close attention, not only to you, but to what has been done to you. Pray and wait, because His redemption is on the way.

Classic Hollywood Reviews: Arsenic and Old Lace

I'm neck-high in editing and writing this week, so I'm going to resurrect this post about one of my favorite movies of all time. It's the weekend, and if I weren't writing like mad, this is a movie I'd pop in and watch. My daughter watched it for the first time over Christmas. I LOVED watching her laugh loudly over the antics. It's a classic and Cary Grant is simply WONDERFUL. Insert happy sigh. So here we go:

Last week I unintentionally offended a friend (just kidding, Steph) by not inviting her over to watch this classic Cary Grant comedy. When I saw that the TCM Comedy Collection included Arsenic and Old Lace, I was a wee bit puzzled. Guess it had been too long since I watched the movie. It didn't take too many minutes and I was thoroughly delighted by Cary Grant's comedic acting.

9 Daily Truths to Absorb

Somedays (okay, lots of days) others say it better than I do. This is one of those times. I love these daily truths from Mary DeMuth. Absorb these. What would you add?

Four Great Family Games for Winter Nights

It's that time of year when the wind is cold and the snow might blow. A time when getting outside isn't always an option, and the kids might get a little whinny. What's a mom to do?

We love playing games at our house, but even the most enjoyable games can get boring after awhile. This month I've had a few new games and we're really enjoying them. So much I thought I'd share them with you. One thing I love about them is most of them have an educational purpose that doesn't distract the kids from enjoying them.

What's Your Word for 2013?

Sometimes I think God gives us a theme verse or word for the year. Kind of a heads-up or light shining down the path in front of us. 

 

I've been asking God over the last several weeks what my word or theme for this year is.

I don't remember where I first ran into the idea, but I love asking God for a word or theme verse to ponder and incorporate into my life. In 2011,  my word was BELIEVE and the verse was Isaiah 43:18-19:

“Forget about what’s happened! Don’t keep going over old history. Be alert! Be present! I’m about to do something brand new. It’s bursting out. Don’t you see it? There it is! I’m making a road in the desert and rivers in the badlands.” (MSG)

Last year I think the word was Trust and Dream. 

This year I'm still praying, but I wonder if it's Favor or Intimacy. I've had a couple prayers breathed into my heart over the last few months that indicate Jesus wants to usher me higher and deeper into relationship with Him until He is my all in all. That is so challenging...and encouraging to me. I'm still praying though because I want to focus on His heart for this year. 

So what's your word for the year? Here are some people have given me recently...maybe they'll inspire you or resonate...

o   Rest   o   Hope   o   Prosper  o   Work  o   Change   o  Finish  o   Love

o   Seeing  o   Productivity  o   Love: I Cor 13  o   Balance  o  Empowerment

o   Trust       o   Sustain   o Center (prior year was gather)  o  expectation  o   listen

o   intention  o   relax  o   focus  o   give  o   transformed  o  nurse  o   harvest

o   wait  o   faith

Vanished Review & Giveaway

I have long enjoyed Irene Hannon's romantic suspense -- so much that I preordered this one, and with each new book I wonder if she'll be able to recapture that perfect mix of engaging story and characters I enjoy getting to know. Vanished does both of those. The heroine, Moira Harrison, gets lost in a thunderstorm and loses control of her car when someone appears in front of it. After the accident she tries to find the person she hit, but that person had vanished. As an investigative reporter, she can't let the matter go, even when the police can't find evidence she hit anyone. So she turns to a private investigator for help.

Thus launches a story. Relatively early on, we know who the bad guy is, so it seems a forgone conclusion that they'll get him. But the bad guy is a powerful figure with so much good you wonder if he could really be it. But there's plenty of bad mixed in to make me

Have some Christmas Money? Great Historical Romance

The cover sold me on this book, but then I read a novella which had me laughing out loud as it introduced the characters in this novel. The novella had me racing to read the book...so much so that I almost went out and bought a second copy of the book because I couldn't wait to get home to start reading.

The book did not disappoint. There is a strong thread of humor that runs through the book, from the main characters to the large supporting cast. Lady Eliza Sumner is hiding who she is in an attempt to find the man who stole her fortune. She ends up serving as a governess in NYC and is thrust into a comedy of errors when she is asked to fill in at an elegant dinner party. Hamilton Beckett is fortunate enough to sit beside this young woman who can't do anything right, and he is intrigued by the very fact she could care less about who he is. Add in a couple kids, a young woman who is determined to be part of every adventure, a jail, interfering mothers, and a white horse and you have a recipe for an absolutely delightful read.

Downton Abbey: does it live up to the hype?

For almost a year, many of my writing friends raved about Downton Abbey, but it never quite worked out for me to find time to sit down and watch it. In the last month, I've found pockets of time to watch season one and the beginning of season two. Just enough to become hooked.

There are several reasons I think the show works:

1) The scenes cut back and forth between both the upstairs and downstairs world.

2) The upstairs folk seem to actually care about the downstairs folk.

3) There are villains, though my one complaint is that the villains have absolutely nothing likeable about them by the beginning of season two. They are simply there for us to hate.

Flight of the Earls: CFBA tour

This week, the

Christian Fiction Blog Alliance

is introducing

Flight of the Earls

B&H Books (January 1, 2013)

by

Michael Reynolds

With the holidays, I didn't have a chance to read this book, but I can't wait to dive into it. It has the sweeping look of a historical filled with great characters. And with a great cover like that, it would call to me without a great looking story-line.


ABOUT THE BOOK


It’s 1846 in Ireland. When her family’s small farm is struck by famine, Clare Hanley and her younger brother, Seamus, set out across the ocean to the Promised Land of America.

Five years prior, Clare’s older sister Margaret and her Uncle Tomas emigrated in similar fashion and were not to be heard from again. But Clare must face her fears as she lands in the coming-of-age city of New York. There she discovers love, adventure, tragedy, and a terrible secret which threatens to destroy her family and all she believes.

Five Ideas for Making Time for Romance after Kids

One question I often get asked is how can we as busy women find time for romance. Oy, I wish I had this one down. Sometimes life feels like that old country song: Hey Cinderella, how’s the slipper fitting now?

We all want to believe that once we get married, the fairy tale will go on forever. But if we’re honest with ourselves, sometimes life just gets in the way. Add in children, and it can be next to impossible to find time to be a twosome let alone have evenings filled with romance, roses, and passion.

While I will be the first to admit I do not have this down, here are a few ideas, and I’d love to see your suggestions!

1) Make it a priority. Like anything else, if it’s important, we will find ways to squeeze it in to our jam-packed schedules. One thing I’ve learned is that I can’t always wait for my husband to initiate a date night. So sometimes I have to swallow my longing to be the one being pursued and just pick a night and make it happen. If it’s important, then that’s what I have to do.

Christmas Giveaway Day 12

And so my month of giveaways comes to a close. If I look around my house, I'm sure I could find another couple dozen books to giveaway. I hope you've enjoyed learning about these books as much as I've enjoyed sharing them with you. Today I have two Love Inspired Suspense titles from Terri Reed. And Sharon Dunn has included one of her full length titles Romance Rustlers & Thunderbird Thieves. I love the way she mixes humor into this series.

I hope you'll participate one more time. It's been fun to meet so many of you this month.

Christmas giveaway: the what & hows

This month I'm giving away lots of books. It's been a year filled with great story, and I want to share some of those with you. The photo shows you just a few of the books I'll giveaway over the next weeks. 

Christmas Giveaway Day 11

Today I'm giving away two books by friends Tricia Goyer and Kathryn Cushman. Tricia writes in so many different genres it's truly amazing. The Memory Jar  is Amish and set in Montana. Who knew, right? And Kathryn writes gripping stories that run deep.

The Memory Jar: Every year, 30--40 young Amish men descend on the cozy little town of West Kootenai, Montana, arriving in the spring to live there for six months and receive 'resident' status for the hunting season in the fall. They

Christmas Giveaway Day 10

Today I have a collection of four Love Inspired Suspense titles from my friend Sharon Dunn. Several years ago I wrote two books for them, and I love the format of these. They're a great size to throw in a bag or purse. Here's more about these four titles:

Night Prey (2011 Carol Award Winner): As director of the Birds of Prey Rescue Center, Jenna Murphy wants to protect the wild raptors she feels such a strong connection to. When injury to the birds escalates to a break-in and threatening note, she enlists the help of childhood friend Keith

The Reason We Celebrate

In case anyone else needs a reason to remember the true meaning of Christmas, here's Linus from Charlie Brown's Christmas to help us all remember.

Christmas Giveaway Day 9: Suspense!

These are two more great suspense writers. Jim writes with a strong supernatural aspect: think Frank Peretti Clear & Present Danger. Steven James writes FBI with a twist, though this is the first in his new Jenkins Bank series. Soul's Gate is also the first in a series and literally made me yearn for a deeper relationship with God. I can't say that about many books I read in 2012. Placebo took a look into the what ifs of science and twisted them into knots.

Soul's Gate: Reece Roth once was able to

Christmas Giveaway Day 8: Romance!

Today, I'm bringing you two great books. The first is The Trouble with Cowboys by one of my favorite contemporary romance writers Denise Hunter. The second is Smitten, a novella collection by authors Colleen Coble, Denise Hunter, Diann Hunt and Kristen Billerbeck. It is a FUN collection of related stories about a town in Vermont that is trying to save itself from destitution.

 The Trouble with Cowboys: Annie Wilkerson is Moose Creek's premiere horse