Changing Seasons by Sharee Stover

I love autumn. Everything about the season appeals to me, from the beautiful rich colors in the changing leaves and the crisp air to wearing fuzzy warm sweaters. And of course, pumpkin spice in abundance. There’s something so defining about the change from summer to autumn, a definite turning of the page so to speak.

But it never seems to last long enough. Before I’ve had a chance to enjoy the gorgeous morphing landscape, the leaves have fallen off the trees leaving bare branches for winter’s arrival. When October ends, I feel as though someone hit the fast-forward button. November and December just seem to whiz by. Or maybe it’s that I’m not prepared for the rush of the holidays.

What Are You Going To Read In 2015? by Terri Weldon

I adore Christmas books. So while I’m reading Christmas stories and trying to find time to work in a few uninterrupted hours to write, my To Be Read (TBR) shelf is growing. I have some wonderful books on that shelf. Books I’m already making plans to read. Periodically I look longingly towards one and tell myself to hold off until January.

What about you? Do you have a TBR shelf? What book are you looking most forward to reading? I’ll confess, I can’t pick just one! There are too many good ones and more great titles are releasing after the first of the year. I’ll never catch up. But that’s OK, if I thought I’d run out of great books to read, I’d freak! Trust me, not a pretty sight.

The desire and ability to read is an awesome gift from the Lord. Non-readers may not understand that, but if you’re reading this blog I know you do. Don’t forget, Jesus told stories in the form of parables all the time. God is an author.

Is His book on your TBR shelf for 2015? If it isn’t, I encourage you to give it a place of preeminence. If it is, make sure it is the first book you reach for every day. After all, God wrote the greatest story ever told.

Each year I like to read a version of The Bible In A Year. I’ve read numerous translations and layouts over the years. In 2015 I plan on reading the New Living Translation Chronological Bible.

If you’ve never read a chronological version of the Bible I encourage you to do so. It is eye opening to see what prophets go with what kings and what Psalms, if any, are from the same timeframe.

It doesn’t matter whether you choose to read the entire Bible in 2015 or spend more time on an in depth study of a single book, you can’t go wrong reading and studying any part of God’s word.

I hope you’ll leave a comment and let me know what fiction book you’re looking to reading in 2015 and whether you plan on reading the entire Bible or if you have a particular book you plan on studying.

Oh, have yourself a Merry Christmas!

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Purchase Link

Misty Winslow is determined to find her prince, and she meets the man of her dreams through an Internet dating service. Or is he, because the new dentist in town also sets her heart aflutter.

It's love at first sight for Tyler Davenport, but before he can finish his first root canal, Misty is involved in an exclusive online romance with Wes99—Tyler’s online persona. How can he tell her he’s the man she’s been waiting to meet, and how rational is it for him to be jealous of Wes99! Soon Tyler's pulling out all the stops to woo Misty.

As Christmas approaches, Wes99 and Tyler both ask her to meet them under the mistletoe. Which man will she choose?

Terri Weldon

Terri is a lead analyst by day and an author by night. She enjoys gardening, reading, and playing in the hand bell choir. One of her favorite pastimes is volunteering as the librarian at her church. It allows her to shop for books and spend someone else’s money! Plus, she has the great joy of introducing people to Christian fiction.

She lives with her family in Oklahoma. Terri has three dogs – a lovable mutt and two adorable Westies.


Terri is a member of ACFW and OCFW, a local chapter of ACFW. Her dream of becoming a published novelist came true in November 2013 when Mistletoe Magic, released from White Rose Publishing. To learn more about Terri visit her website at www.TerriWeldon.com.

Christmas 2012 Series: Let It Snow

Hey everyone, Annette here. Today we're featuring another Christmas story as we continue our Monday series on Christmas books releasing this year. This time, Yvonne Lehman is stopping by to share about her book, Let it Snow. Happy reading!

Welcome, Yvonne, please share a bit about your book, Let it Snow, releasing this month from Barbour Heartsong.

Twenty-five years ago Nancy Walker and Woodrow Lawing are neighbors, and friends until the night seventeen-year-old Nancy whacks Woody with a snowball and he chases her behind a tree. She kisses him and expresses her undying love for him. At his age of twenty-three, and being the best friend of Nancy’s older brother, Woody will not speak of love to this teenager, but stresses friendship.

After Nancy is an adult, and Woody can be open about his love for her, a misunderstanding keeps them apart. Both believe they have been rejected by the other, and go their separate ways.

Now that circumstances bring them together again, Woody a bachelor and Nancy a widow, each tries to revert to being friends. However, the misunderstanding that separated them is solved and they wonder if it’s too late to be honest about their enduring love for each other.

But then, Christmas is a magical time, when a soft snow falls…miracles can happen.

What makes your Christmas novel different than others you’ve seen or read?

The main characters, the female widow and the male bachelor, relate again after having lived separate lives for the past twenty-five years. They were neighbors when she was seventeen and declared her love for the twenty-three-year-old who began to take note of her but believed she was too young for him at that time.

How did the story come about? 

It is the third in a Washington DC series, and I wanted each book in the series to be different and at a different time of year so I chose the Christmas season for this one. Setting had something to do with it. Also, I thought it would be interesting to see what would happen with a couple who had been neighbors, their ages preventing them from getting together when she was seventeen and he twenty-three, but now are available.

What time of year did you write it and how did you motivate yourself to write a Christmas novel at that time of year?

 

Not sure, but it seems like it was Christmastime when I came up with the idea of the third in the series being set at Christmas. I’d already two others set in Washington DC and wanted a different season from the others. Most of the time, it’s the characters and their problems or conflicts that motivate me more than the time of year or setting. But Christmas is always an enjoyable time of year to write about. So many possibilities for scenes.

What’s next for you in writing?

 

I’m currently writing a series of three contemporary romance novels set in Savannah, Georgia for Harlequin/Heartsong. Recently finished the first one, The Caretaker’s Son, and now writing the second, Ghost of a Chance.

The date the book releases – Heartsong (Barbour) will release Let it Snow in November 2012, and then Harlequin Heartsong will release it in February 2013.

Thanks for visiting, Yvonne! 

Yvonne Lehman is an award-winning, best-selling author of more than 3,000,000 books in print, who founded and directed the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference for 25 years, is now director of the Blue Ridge “Autumn in the Mountains” Novelist Retreat. She mentors for the Christian Writers Guild. She earned a Master’s Degree in English from Western Carolina University and has taught English and Creative Writing on the college level. Her latest releases include eight ebooks for Barbour’s Truly Yours line, A Knight to Remember (Heartsong), Let it Snow (Heartsong, November 2012), and her 50^th novel, Hearts that Survive – A Novel of the TITANIC (Abingdon).

Christmas 2012 Series: Postmark: Christmas

Question for you, dear reader-writers: How many Christmas stories have you read so far this fall? Maybe none. Maybe you wait until a bit closer to the big day. Because I'm a reviewer, I've read two so far. They always help me anticipate the beautiful Christmas season. Today we're launching a Christmas story series for Mondays through to the New Year. We'll feature interviews with authors of holiday books due out this Christmas season. So, I know it's a little early, but light a cinnamon candle, grab a pumpkin latte, and let's check in with
Darlene Franklin, one of the authors of Postmark: Christmas, a novella compilation from Barbour. Enjoy! ~ Annette

First, welcome, Darlene! Please share a bit about the book, Postmark Christmas. 

The holidays are stamped for love in Christmas, Florida. While keeping her eye open for her next job lead, will nomadic event planner Stella find romance instead? How will one retired major change war widow Randi’s postcard-sending mission? Can photographer David Levine draw shy Gabi Archer out of her shell? Will retired police officer Rick Stanton be able to steal postmistress Edie Hathaway’s heart?

Postmark: Christmas is contemporary romance.The authors on the compilation are:  Paige Winship Dooly, Darlene Franklin, Kathleen E. Kovach, and Paula Moldenhauer. How did the compilation come about?

I turned to people with a working knowledge of Florida. First, Paige Winship Dooley, a resident of Miramar Beach, joined me. Next I invited Kathy Kovach, who wrote part of the contemporary Florida volume, Florida Weddings. In turn, Kathy invited new-to-fiction author, Paula Moldenhauer. It didn’t hurt that I knew Kathy and Paula from my years in Colorado! We had a reunion of sorts.

What makes your Christmas compilation different than others you’ve seen or read?

The setting—Christmas, Florida—isn’t your typical snowy Christmas scene, although we do add a snow machine at the Christmas festival for those who must have snow with their Christmas. The use of the post office is another unusual angle. Several years ago, I saw a news story about the post office in Christmas that would postmark Christmas mail with “Merry Christmas, Christmas, Florida.” The idea of using that post office as a setting for a Christmas novella immediately appealed to me. We also sought to have a variety of ages among the heroes and heroines. Love can happen at any age!

What time of year did you write it and how did you motivate yourself to write a Christmas novel at that time of year?

Becky Germany (the Barbour editor who offered us the contract) made us wait until the ACFW conference in late September, because she wanted to introduce Paula as the recipient of a first-time fiction contract. The manuscripts were due on February 1^st. So we got to write the stories during the Christmas season. Becky is good about that! 

I remember Paula receiving that contract. What a moment! Nice of Becky to give you the "assignment" during the season. What’s next for you in writing? Will you do more Christmas stories?

I hope to write more Christmas stories! But nothing slated for Christmas 2013 at this time. Next year I’ll have three books in the Maple Notch Dreams series published in the new Heartsong book club from Harlequin. Those are historical romances set in northern Vermont from 1927-1942. I also have more novellas coming out next year: all four stories in Calico Brides (June 2013) and Angel in Disguise in Texas Brides (May 2013).

It's been delightful hosting you today. Congratulations to you and the team!

To learn more about Postmark Christmas or these authors, visit Barbour's website.  See you next Monday for another great Christmas book feature!



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