Lyn Cote's Blog, page 72
January 8, 2013
January 6, 2013
Mississippi Author Pam Hillman & Her Three Mamaws in Cameo
Three strong women pictured with the author and her husband on their wedding day:
Lorene Graham, Ollie Tune, and Callie Evans.
My guest today is Mississippi author Pam Hillman, a long time acquaintance, who has a new book out- CLAIMING MARIAH. DO NOT MISS ALL THE WONDERFUL OPPORTUNITIES TO WIN PRIZES, EXPLAINED AT THE END OF THIS BLOG. But don’t jump ahead and miss Pam’s stories. Pam is going to sahre about not one but THREE grandmothers or in Mississippian Mamaws to share with us. These three are not your everyday grandmothers or today maybe they are! Here’s Pam:
”A strong woman is a smart woman.
My maternal grandmother, Mamaw Evans, was a smart woman. Down here in Mississippi, people used to say, “She’s a smart worker.” That meant that she worked smarter, not harder. She planned the work and worked the plan. Mamaw Evans was that kind of woman. Mamaw and Papaw lived in the middle of forty acres and grew cotton, corn, and vegetables. Papaw was a truck farmer, and spent many summer days peddling vegetables. Mamaw liked to stay at home and sew and putter around the house while he was gone. But Mamaw’s puttering wasn’t the ordinary stay-at-home-mom-and-bake-cookies housewife kind. Papaw might come home to find the walls in the house had been moved. Kitchen needed to be bigger? No problem. Mamaw made it so. From all accounts, Mamaw moved every wall in their house at one time or another. Now that’s a smart woman.
A strong woman is a caring woman.
My paternal grandmother, Granny Tune, was a caring woman. She had five children and a host of grandchildren. She was a short, dumpy woman and could come across a little grumpy sometimes. One of my cousins affectionately called her Granny-Grump-Stump. I wanted to call her that because it fit so perfectly, but I was too polite to ever actually utter the words. Granny had five children and three of them lived within walking distance of her country home. So that meant in her elder years, she had a host of grandchildren and great-grandchildren parading in and out of her house from daylight to dark, especially during the summertime. No wonder she got a little grumpy on occasion. But she loved every child that came through her door, and her Christmas shopping started the day after Christmas when toys went on sale. By June, she’d proudly announce that she’d not only completed her shopping but her wrapping as well. Now, that’s not only caring, that’s smart!
A strong woman is a Godly woman.
My husband’s grandmother, known far and wide as Ms. Lorene or just Mamaw, is a Godly woman. She’s 94 years old and still pastors our church. She dropped out of school in the eleventh grade to get married, went back to school to get her GED at the age of 77, then went on to get her college degree. She was the oldest person in the state of Mississippi to be inducted into the Phi Theta Kappa Hall of Fame and was invited to the Phi Theta Kappa Convention in Washington, DC. With degree in hand, she spent the next ten or so years teaching GED Algebra at the local community college while sharing the gospel with her students. I’d say that makes her smart, caring, and Godly. You can read more about Mamaw Lorene at Calico Trails in a post honoring her 93 birthday in December 2011.
Strong women have hidden strengths that might not always be apparent to passing acquaintances, but those of us who know them well can spot those strengths a mile away. And we strive to emulate them.
I’d love for you to share a cameo of a strong woman who’s influenced you.”–Pam
BIO
Pam Hillman was born and raised on a dairy farm in Mississippi and spent her teenage years perched on the seat of a tractor raking hay. In those days, her daddy couldn’t afford two cab tractors with air conditioning and a radio, so Pam drove the Allis Chalmers 110. Even when her daddy asked her if she wanted to bale hay, she told him she didn’t mind raking. Raking hay doesn’t take much thought so Pam spent her time working on her tan and making up stories in her head. Now, that’s the kind of life every girl should dream of! Claiming Mariah is her second novel.
Pam is thrilled to announce the release of her second novel,
Claiming Maria
To purchase, click here. Claiming Mariah
To celebrate, Pam is giving away two eReaders
(choice of Kindle Wi-Fi, 6″ Display, or Nook Simple Touch) to
Two Winners.
Two ways to win: Like Pam Hillman’s Author page on facebook and/or sign up for Pam’s newsletter.
Registering both places is not required but will double your chances of winning. Also keep in mind that you will receive updates more often being connected on facebook than through the newsletter. Just sayin ’
Contest runs from January 1st until March 31st, 2013.
And….that’s not all! There will be prizes offered randomly during the tour. The best way to keep up with these is to check in regularly on Pam’s facebook page.
Like Pam’s facebook author page and click on Events to sign up for current giveaways.
PREVIOUS STOP ON TOUR
January 5th: http://inspirationalhistoricalfiction.blogspot.com/
NEXT STOP ON TOUR:
January 8th-9th: http://www.novelpastimes.com
Click for a Complete List of Stops Along the Tour
As you can tell from all the info at the end, Pam Hillman takes after her grandmothers! Don’t miss a chance to enter her contests, etc!–Lyn
January 1, 2013
Author Carol Steward & The Top of Her List!
First of all, HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! No, my guest today Carol Steward is NOT a golden retriever puppy! But I lost her photo and somehow saved the one she sent me of her mother in law’s new puppy which she delivered to her mil over the holiday weekend! But we all like puppies, especially my friend author Carol Steward who is now going to tell us the woman she puts at the top of her list of strong women! Here’s Carol:
“When I think of strong woman, there’s one woman who tops my list. My mother, Phyllis Bohannan. Mom fell in love with a Marine, who then became a law enforcement officer after WWII, and together they raised 5 amazing children, if I do say so myself. She wasn’t a traditional working mom -we owned and operated small motel when I was young, which meant both Mom and Dad worked day and night to keep business growing. When times were tough, she sewed rather than bought our clothes. When she didn’t have a pattern, she improvised. We cleaned motel rooms to give the hired help holidays off. She did the motel laundry herself in the back of the attached home. It wasn’t easy, but it meant everything to her to be there for our family. At times that meant moving grandparents and parents in with us after illnesses or surgeries, and sacrificing a social life that so many of their friends enjoyed.
Mom set the bar very high when it came to strength. She had a debilitating stroke in her late 60′s and just a few months later she had mastered walking with a one-handed cane. She continued to serve meals to families after funerals at her church. After my dad died she lived in their duplex and learned to drive again. Fourteen years living with paralysis showed all of us the depth of her strength. Eleanor Roosevelt once said that women are like a tea bag, you never know, how, strong it is until you put it in hot water. My mother showed the truth of that quote. Two years ago, when she was in hospice, Mom’s doctor told us her body just didn’t know how to stop. That was Mom, strong to the end. I miss her greatly, but the lessons of her long life of strength live on in me and my own daughter.”–Carol
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To purchase, click cover.
This is Carol’s latest book. Here’s the blurb:
Katarina Berthoff had everything planned out. Her business was developing well, and her stable boyfriend would propose in eight weeks, according to his timetable. Then smoke jumper Alex MacIntyre—Katarina’s teenage crush—reentered her life. Alex was kind and romantic and just as handsome as she remembered. And he was definitely not part of the plan.
Things weren’t exactly going as Alex expected, either. He’d left smoke jumping only temporarily to help his brother Kevin run his construction business. Eventually he would be going back to his dangerous calling as a firefighter. There was no place in that life for a vivacious and beautiful woman who also happened to be practically engaged. But Alex couldn’t deny that he liked the regular hours in construction, being there for family get-togethers…and coming home to Katarina. Which meant he had a choice to make—and so did she.
Sounds like a winning story to me! So how do you like Carol’s puppy or her mother in law’s puppy?
Puppies and kittens are dangerous–I want to take them all home with me.
Do you have a pet? What? Their name?–Lyn
December 30, 2012
December 27, 2012
An After Christmas Bargain for Your E-Reader!
December 24, 2012
December 23, 2012
December 18, 2012
Author Lois Greiman Asks Which Part of a Romance Do You Like Better?
My guest today is author Lois Greiman, a long time friend. She’s going to share her grandson’s take on romance and ask for yours. Here’s Lois:
Last June my son, Travis, or Son One as I call him (some of you might remember him as Romantic Times Review’s Mr. Romance runner-up from a few years back–tee hee–you cannot imagine how fun it is to tease him about that) got married to a gorgeous young woman from Cameroon. Gorgeous young woman, as it happens, has an equally gorgeous son, who I will hereby refer to Grandson One or G-1. Anywhoo, a while back I pried my wallet open and took G-1 to see Untangled. You know the film-spunky heroine, sexy hero, opinionated horse, lots of hair. It was a fun flick and just about right for a six year old…or a romance writer…since it was basically a love story.
So after the credits were rolling away and the popcorn salt had been licked from every finger I turned to G-1 and asked what his favorite part of the movie was. Now remember…he’s a boy…he’s six…he’s being raised by macho 6’3’ Son One. So what do you think his answer was? Anybody? No?
Well I’ll tell you…he didn’t pause, didn’t bat an eyelash, didn’t take time to breathe. He just said, “When they kissed.” Huh? I did a double take, did another take, then stared at him agog, because when he asked what my favorite part was I had to tell him the truth; It was when spunky heroine hit sexy hero with the frying pan…which by the by was quite often. I don’t know if you remember the film, but sexy hero spent about half the movie unconscious and I was more thrilled each time the cast iron reverberated against his skull.
Lyn here-note to self-Do not make Lois mad!
So (note clever segue here) when I began writing Finding Home, the first book in the Hope Springs series, which is not quite a romance, but more woman’s lit-ish, I wasn’t exactly sure how to begin. I mean, I knew Casie Carmichael, feisty owner of the Lazy Windmill ranch, had a thing for Colt Dickenson, but I also knew she was far from ready to admit it.
So their first scene together was fraught with snarky dialogue. And if there’s anything I like better than seeing a guy hit in the head with a frying pan, it’s snarky dialogue
So what about you? What’s your favorite part of a romance, the fighting or the flirting? Or do you need both to make it work?
www.loisgreiman.com
http://www.facebook.com/lois.greiman
To purchase, click here. Finding Home (Hope Springs)
FINDING HOME
1 broken down mare, 2 baby lambs, 3 lost teens, and a busted up bronc rider with more balls than brains…They all add up to trouble in Casie Carmichael’s book. She’s come back to Hope Springs, South Dakota, with only one thing in mind–selling the family’s tumble-down ranch and returning to Sioux Falls and her very practical fiancé. But leaving isn’t as easy as she imagined, not when every bedraggled stray in the territory has a homing beam straight to her barn.
Suddenly, angry parents, hairless goats and a former flame’s new heat aren’t Casie’s most pressing problems. Her own mixed-up heart is at the top of the list, and as she throws herself into making a safe haven for her motley crew, she realizes home is a lot closer than she thought.
So what do you think about Lois’ question? Do you like the push part of romance where the hero and heroine conflict OR the pull part where the romance blossoms? Hmmm?–Lyn
December 16, 2012
Lyn’s Decision on Book Giveaways! Am I Right or Wrong?
Last Monday I asked the question whether or not I should continue to permit guest authors to do book giveaways. My contention was that people only left comments when a book was offered. Here’ the link to my original post:
Lyn’s Decision on Book Giveaways!
Last Monday I asked the question whether or not I should continue to permit guest authors to do book giveaways. My contention was that people only left comments when a book was offered. Here’ the link to my original post:
