Lyn Cote's Blog, page 20
September 1, 2019
My Book Meant for Me Honored!
I just received a notice that my book, MEANT FOR ME, has been recognized by Ezvid Wiki as one of
“10 Perceptive Historical Romance Novels Full Of Period Details.”
Among the others honored are many of my favorite historcial authors. If you’re curious, here’s the link:
For more info about MEANT FOR ME, CLICK HERE.–Lyn
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August 18, 2019
Lyn Asks Her September Question
Now for the September question. The photo above is meaningful to me because gladiolas in late summer bring back sweet memories of my mother. Her birthday was the first week of September. We lived at the edge of town with a farm across the road. They grew gladiolas and had a stand on the highway nearby every year. A dollar for a bunch of glads. My brother and I always saved our nickels and dimes and bought her a bouquet for her birthday. Her friends knew this and gave her the large glass vase in the photo to hold this yearly gift. Now do you have something such as gladiolas that bring back memories of a gift given or gift received? Please share.I really enjoyed hearing from my readers–you. As usual I will choose a few to include in my monthly newsletter and gift an ebook to those few. I’d love to hear your stories!–Lyn
I
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August 13, 2019
Help Me Choose an Image
A
B
Which image would most likely cause you to click it to find out more about the book? A or B? Leave a comment and enter a drawing for a copy of my book Journey to Respect. THANK YOU!–Lyn
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August 6, 2019
Lyn Reviews Rhys Bowen’s Her Royal Spyness
Her Royal Spyness by Rhys BowenMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Another great book by Rhys Bowen. I love Lady Georgiana Rannoch. Life has dealt her many blows-her parents divorce, her father ignring his children and land and then genteel poverty. But Georgie doesn’t just give in. She wants a life of her own and that means leaving the castle where her sister in law makes life miserable for her. She goes to the London house and learns how to take care of herself like making a cuppa. And she meets a man she shouldn’t fall in love with-:-) Darcy O’Mara, a dashing Irish peer who is so unsuitable she MUST fall in love with him. I enjoy the characters and the time period and OF COURSE the mystery. I LOVE THIS SERIES!
To learn more or to purchase, click cover.
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July 22, 2019
Lyn Asks the August Question
Now for the August question:
What are you reading? (And you don’t have to say one of my books :-).
I want to know what others authors, especially the ones you always buy or check out at the library. Tell me about these authors. I’d like to find a few new ones too!
Please leave your comments. You might see them in my next month’s newsletter and perhaps win an ebook in my monthly drawing. Thanks in advance–Lyn
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July 13, 2019
Lyn Reviews Miranda James’ Arsenic and Old Bones
Arsenic and Old Books by Miranda James
As usual I enjoyed Miranda James’ mystery with Charlie Harris and Diesel; this was truly a knotted mystery with many strings tied up in confusing patterns. Also as usual I enjoyed the setting Mississippi town and all the southernisms. However one word yanked me out of the story “bade.” I realize of course that is the past tense of “bid.” But it is such an unusual word to find in a modern story, that it jarred me each time it was used. That is my only criticism of this book. Otherwise it was great, great mystery and kept me wondering till the end. I also liked the short story at the end about how Charlie and Diesel met so another great mystery but Miranda James, please don’t fall in love with odd words. Please.
For more info or to purchase, click cover above.–Lyn
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July 7, 2019
Need Help Choosing 2 Cover Models
Yes, I need your help once again choosing 2 cover models. I am going to update two of my book covers and need reader feedback. Both stories are Christmas novellas and I need two models. One story is more serious than the other but both include a romance and mystery. Ready?
Here are four choices: I need two!
Model #1
Model # 2
Model #3
Model #4
So do any of these catch your eye? Remember that I’m looking for two models who catches your interest–who makes you want to read her story. So please share your opinions with me! And thanks in advance! BTW, I will gift a copy of each novella to one commenter. So don’t forget to leave a comment to be entered into the drawing!-Lyn
Here are four choices: I need two!
Model #1
Model # 2
Model #3
Model #4
So do any of these catch your eye? Remember that I’m looking for two models who catches your interest–who makes you want to read her story. So please share your opinions with me! And thanks in advance! BTW, I will gift a copy of each novella to one commenter. So don’t forget to leave a comment to be entered into the drawing!-Lyn
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June 22, 2019
July Question-What Makes you Proud of America?
Every month I ask a question. Here’s July’s Question:
What do you most value about America
or being an American?
Please leave your comment on my blog and I’ll be holding a drawing and giving away a free ebook to a few responders. I look forward to reading your ideas!–Lyn
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June 20, 2019
Another Chance to Win $ PLUS Find Great Books!
Here’s another chance to win a gift card to the digital bookstore of your choice in the Poolside Romance Books Promotion. Click this link and find out exactly how large the gift card is!
And sample new authors. My book Only Her Heart at a bargain price is included under Sweet Romance!
Click here.–Happy reading. Hope you win!-Lyn
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June 16, 2019
A New Book by Janet Bly and Paperback Giveaway!
I’m happy to feature a dear writing friend Janet Bly and her latest book.PLEASE BE SURE TO LEAVE A COMMENT as Janet is giving away one paperback copy (US ONLY) to one commenter. Here’s the scoop!
I Learned From My Fiction Characters
Janet Chester Bly
We’re all on a journey. I certainly know I am. And so are my fictional characters.
In Beneath a Camperdown Elm, three generations of women travel separate journeys of the heart. And as the writer of their stories, I walked through each of their joys and sorrows, trials and troubles, as well as triumphs with them.
Looking back, I’ve endured so many different seasons over the years. I’ve been young and looked for love and struggled with family hurts similar to Reba Mae Cahill. I relate to Reba’s chosen career becoming her main identity. When threatened with the loss of the Cahill ranch, she fights to not only regain it, but also to know who she is without it.
In addition, my parenting and life choices haven’t always been perfect, like with Hanna Jo Cahill. And I relate to Grandma Pearl Cahill’s struggles with aging and guilt for failures, health issues and finances, and finding purpose for the rest of her widowed existence.
One of the thrills of being a writer is to get characters into deep troubles and go on a mission of discovery to find the way out for them. The Cahill women deal with lies, deception, and betrayal. In the real world, we all have many trials and troubles. We so long for some wonderful resolution. To make sense of it all. To know our sacrifices and attempts to do things right will all be worthwhile. Our heart cries out that justice will rule over unfairness.
I find that the trek through my characters world, with each of their faults, quirks, and viewpoints, helps to build my own character. I’m inside their come-to-life-in-my-mind skin for a while. What they think penetrates me. I dig deep to find out why they act like they do and understand myself a bit better. When they agonize or shout ‘hooray,’ we weep and rejoice together. Who they become shapes me too.
Walking with the Cahill women has increased my faith by dealing with their fears and looking at the full overarch of a family’s history. For instance, they must live with hurts and wounds from choices other people made that impacted them. Their own decisions brought consequences too. Divine providence worked in it, through it, and in spite of it. I trust God is doing the same for me and mine.
Writing dramatic fiction can be emotionally traumatic work, if you do it right. In a few days or hours, in a moment, something happens to change the whole course of a character’s future. That’s when art imitates life.
Writing fiction helps me to work through the fortunes and failures of others. Enduring their miseries provides catharsis for reckoning with my own. Finding surprise solutions for them reminds me God has many more resources from which to provide for my needs. I’m encouraged to release Him to write my own story.
We can be assured of this:
God, who knows all and sees all,
will set all things straight in the end.
Even better, he will dry every tear.
In the meantime,
He mysteriously takes our sorrows
and uses them to heal the world.
Richard J. Foster
Question: How did a fictional character impact your personal life?
Copyright©2019 Janet Chester Bly
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Janet Chester Bly is a city girl with a country heart who doesn’t corral horses, wrangle cows, or even mow her own lawn. She’s not a womba woman, but she loves to write about gals who are. She followed her late husband, award-winning western author Stephen Bly, to country living in north-central Idaho at 4,200 ft elevation to write books and minister to a small town church. When she lost him, she stayed. She rakes lots of Ponderosa Pine needles and cones and survives the long winters, one snowstorm at a time. She authored and co-authored with Stephen 40 fiction and nonfiction books for adults and kids 8-12 years old. For more about Janet and books by the Blys, check website: www.BlyBooks.com
Janet can also be found here:
Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/BlyBooks/
Facebook Personal: https://www.facebook.com/janetchester...
Twitter: https://twitter.com/BlyBooks
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/janetcbly/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/janetches...
Beneath A Camperdown Elm, Book 3, Trails of Reba Cahill Series, is a contemporary western romance with a zing of mystery.
BOOK BLURB:
It’s August 1991. Reba’s scary stalker is locked up in jail. She finally snatches a rancher fiancé. Her runaway mother returns home. She has everything she ever wanted. But Grandma Pearl has disappeared! Is Reba about to lose it all? Three generations of women travel separate journeys of the heart while a mystery lurks under an old, mutant Scottish Elm tree.
I Learned From My Fiction Characters
Janet Chester Bly
We’re all on a journey. I certainly know I am. And so are my fictional characters.
In Beneath a Camperdown Elm, three generations of women travel separate journeys of the heart. And as the writer of their stories, I walked through each of their joys and sorrows, trials and troubles, as well as triumphs with them.
Looking back, I’ve endured so many different seasons over the years. I’ve been young and looked for love and struggled with family hurts similar to Reba Mae Cahill. I relate to Reba’s chosen career becoming her main identity. When threatened with the loss of the Cahill ranch, she fights to not only regain it, but also to know who she is without it.
In addition, my parenting and life choices haven’t always been perfect, like with Hanna Jo Cahill. And I relate to Grandma Pearl Cahill’s struggles with aging and guilt for failures, health issues and finances, and finding purpose for the rest of her widowed existence.
One of the thrills of being a writer is to get characters into deep troubles and go on a mission of discovery to find the way out for them. The Cahill women deal with lies, deception, and betrayal. In the real world, we all have many trials and troubles. We so long for some wonderful resolution. To make sense of it all. To know our sacrifices and attempts to do things right will all be worthwhile. Our heart cries out that justice will rule over unfairness.
I find that the trek through my characters world, with each of their faults, quirks, and viewpoints, helps to build my own character. I’m inside their come-to-life-in-my-mind skin for a while. What they think penetrates me. I dig deep to find out why they act like they do and understand myself a bit better. When they agonize or shout ‘hooray,’ we weep and rejoice together. Who they become shapes me too.
Walking with the Cahill women has increased my faith by dealing with their fears and looking at the full overarch of a family’s history. For instance, they must live with hurts and wounds from choices other people made that impacted them. Their own decisions brought consequences too. Divine providence worked in it, through it, and in spite of it. I trust God is doing the same for me and mine.
Writing dramatic fiction can be emotionally traumatic work, if you do it right. In a few days or hours, in a moment, something happens to change the whole course of a character’s future. That’s when art imitates life.
Writing fiction helps me to work through the fortunes and failures of others. Enduring their miseries provides catharsis for reckoning with my own. Finding surprise solutions for them reminds me God has many more resources from which to provide for my needs. I’m encouraged to release Him to write my own story.
We can be assured of this:
God, who knows all and sees all,
will set all things straight in the end.
Even better, he will dry every tear.
In the meantime,
He mysteriously takes our sorrows
and uses them to heal the world.
Richard J. Foster
Question: How did a fictional character impact your personal life?
Leave a comment and your name will be entered into the drawing for the book. Thanks, Janet!–Lyn
Copyright©2019 Janet Chester Bly
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:Janet Chester Bly is a city girl with a country heart who doesn’t corral horses, wrangle cows, or even mow her own lawn. She’s not a womba woman, but she loves to write about gals who are. She followed her late husband, award-winning western author Stephen Bly, to country living in north-central Idaho at 4,200 ft elevation to write books and minister to a small town church. When she lost him, she stayed. She rakes lots of Ponderosa Pine needles and cones and survives the long winters, one snowstorm at a time. She authored and co-authored with Stephen 40 fiction and nonfiction books for adults and kids 8-12 years old. For more about Janet and books by the Blys, check website: www.BlyBooks.com
Janet can also be found here:
Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/BlyBooks/
Facebook Personal: https://www.facebook.com/janetchester...
Twitter: https://twitter.com/BlyBooks
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/janetcbly/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/janetches...
Beneath A Camperdown Elm, Book 3, Trails of Reba Cahill Series, is a contemporary western romance with a zing of mystery.
BOOK BLURB:
It’s August 1991. Reba’s scary stalker is locked up in jail. She finally snatches a rancher fiancé. Her runaway mother returns home. She has everything she ever wanted. But Grandma Pearl has disappeared! Is Reba about to lose it all? Three generations of women travel separate journeys of the heart while a mystery lurks under an old, mutant Scottish Elm tree.
The post A New Book by Janet Bly and Paperback Giveaway! appeared first on booksbylyncote.com.
