Lyn Cote's Blog, page 77

Raspberry Island Anyone? (And Last Week’s Winners)

Welcome to Raspberry Island, one of the Apostle Islands on the southern shore of Lake Superior. Last Wednesday, my dh and my daughter and I drove up to Wisconsin’s “topknot,” stopping for lunch and shopping in Ashland WI and then driving up the coast to Bayfield, WI. We took a tour boat around the islands, something we’ve wanted to do for a long time!

The day was overcast and gloomy, but we didn’t let that get us down! And half way through the tour, the sun came out and everything was blue and lovely! As the tour guide told tales of the exciting history of this area where French fur trappers traded with the Chippewa (or Objiwa) in the 1600′s and later Americans logged and cut browstone, I came up with at least three story ideas. I am a writer, okay?

One story that intrigued me was a 70-ish rock baron (NOT rock star) going to New York City and finding himself an 18 year old high society bride.  He built her a fabulous house on the island where his stone quarry was. She came, she looked, she didn’t even spend one night there! I think my story will go a bit differently–definitely more romantic!

This final photo is of ducks on the shores of our smaller lake in WI. Not too clear but you can see the sunset reflected behind them.

Finally the winners from last week:

Lisa Nelson won Amish Author Kathleen Fuller’s Faithful to Laura!

And the winner of my slightly read copy of Author Irene Hannon’s FATAL JUDGMENT is Norma Stanforth!

This week, Author Sherri Shackelford will guest on Thursday-don’t miss her & her giveaway!–Lyn

Lyn Reviews Author Irene Hannon’s Fatal Judgment

Amish Author Katheen Fuller & The Way to Hope

My guest today is Author Kathleen Fuller. She tackles the topic of what leads to hope. She is also offering a book giveaway of her latest, Faithful to Laura. Here’s Kathleen:

“Living Through Adversity

In my latest release, Faithful to Laura, the main character, Laura Stutzman, must find a way to deal with the adversity in her life. Not only is she betrayed by the man she thought she loved, that same man scars her both physically and emotionally. Just as we do in our own lives, Laura must make choices about how she will deal with these negative events. Her decisions have an everlasting impact on her future, depending on what path she will take—God’s, or her own.

The Bible has many, many passages about suffering. One that speaks to me the most is Romans 5:2-4.  “…through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God.  Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.”

To purchase, click here. Faithful to Laura (A Middlefield Family Novel)

Frankly, there are days where I think I have enough character. As a thyroid cancer survivor still undergoing treatment, I’m familiar with adversity. What I need is more hope. Yet if I take the time to look around me, hope is everywhere. It’s in the child whose cancer is now in remission, the widow who helps another woman grieve the loss of her husband, the man who, because of a youthful mistake, makes a new life for himself after serving his time. Hope comes in all shapes, sizes, and forms. Even in our darkest hours, there is a sliver of hope, because our hope is not in this world, but in Christ.

Living through adversity isn’t easy, or fun, or desired. We all want our lives to be as smooth as possible. Yet what Paul wrote to the Romans is absolutely true. What we suffer, how we handle the suffering, and Who we seek out to help us through it is how we find our hope. And hope is what helps us carry on.”–Kathleen

Website:

Last Week’s Winners & a Free E-Book!

Last week’s winners are

Janet Dowell and Annette Davidson each won a copy of Patricia Davids’ A Home for Hannah!

Sylvia won a copy of Lorena McCourtney’s Dying to Read.

And here’s a Free E-Book–I am one of the 25 romance authors. So if you want to read how I met my husband, download a copy!

Or on Nook: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/How-I-Met-My-Husband?keyword=How+I+Met+My+Husband&store=ebook

Or on Smashwords, for other ereaders:

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/143016

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Amish Author Patricia Davids & The Day She Didn’t Want to Be Strong

Today my guest Amish Author Patricia Davids talks about the effect of often well meaning words and a day where she didn’t want to show strength. BTW, she is offering two copies of her latest Amish novel, A Home for Hannah. Be sure to leave a comment. Here’s Patricia:

“You’re such a strong woman, Pat. You’ll get through this.”

I can’t tell you the number of people who said those words to me in the days following my husband’s illness and death last year. “You’re such a strong woman.” On the day of his funeral, I whispered to my daughter, “The next person who tells me how strong I am, I’m going to wrap my hands around their neck and show them just how strong I can be.”

I honestly didn’t want to do violence to my friends and family, but I didn’t want to be strong, either. Being strong meant I couldn’t fall apart. I couldn’t melt into a puddle of tears. I had to be the one who got things done. I had to make the funeral arrangements, call all the family, take his clothes to the mortuary and arrange for the dinner afterwards. I didn’t want to do any of those things. I didn’t want to be strong. I wanted to sit in a dark corner and weep.

Strength, like courage and faith, is something we hope and pray we will have when we need them. We can never be sure what we’re made of until we are called upon by the Lord to show our stuff.

Was I strong? I’m not sure. Was I brave? I have no idea, but things got done. Did I have faith? Yes, I know my beloved is with God, but it doesn’t make me less sad. I’m human, after all. Someone I loved was taken away from me. I survived. I’ve gone on with my life as best I can, but I will never tell a friend how strong she is in the face of her tragedy. Instead, I hope I will pick up as much of her burden as I can carry so she doesn’t have to be so strong.

To purchase, click here. A Home for Hannah (Love Inspired)

My latest book in the Brides of Amish Country series from Love Inspired, A HOME FOR HANNAH, you’ll met Miriam Kauffman, an ex-Amish woman still struggling eight years after the death of her only brother. She thinks she is being strong, but she hasn’t learned the difference between strength and bitterness. Both emotions can hold a person up, but only one allows the heart to heal.

The car crash that killed her brother was the fault of the man Miriam once loved, Nick Bradley. Nick is now the sheriff in Hope Springs, Ohio. When Miriam finds a baby on her doorstep, she has no choice but to involve the law. Together, they must try to find the baby’s desperate mother, who may be hiding in plain sight among the close-knit Amish. Can Miriam find the strength to forgive and love again or will she only find more loss waiting for her?

Writing Miriam’s journey from guilt and bitterness to acceptance and healing definitely helped me travel that same road. I know I’m not the only one who has suffered a life-altering loss. Tell me how you handled the journey. Everyone makes the trip differently, but hearing how others cope can help us all. Blessings,”–Pat

When I heard Pat had lost her husband, I prayed for her. Losing a beloved spouse is something we all dread and may have to face. I’m glad that Pat has been able to keep writing. She’s giving away two copies of her latest.

Here’s the question:

What do you think is appropriate to say to a someone who has just lost a loved one? Suggestions?–Lyn

Author Lorena McCourtney & Hanging On in Tough Times

I’m so happy to have Author Lorena McCourtney as my guest today! She is one of my favorite cozy mystery authors both because her books are fun but also because she’s fun and a person who sticks with it. BTW, she will be giving away a copy of her latest, DYING TO READ. Here’s Lorena:

“This is a time of economic hardship. Job losses for so many people. Inability to find a new job. Desperation!

This is the situation in which Cate Kinkaid, the woman in my new mystery, “Dying to Read,” finds herself. This is the situation I also found myself in several years ago.

Cate is 29. It never really occurred to her that she might find herself out of a job and unable to find another one. After all, she has a college degree, and she’s never actually been fired from a job. But after the dismaying realization that she’s totally unsuited for the career for which her college education prepared her, and the hard economic realities of the bankruptcy, merger, or downsizing of several companies she’s worked for, this is where she finds herself – unemployed and desperate.

My situation was a little different. As a writer, I didn’t have a regular go-to-work job, but I’d had some 40 books published, and now had a contract to do five books for a publisher. But there were some big upheavals within the company, changes were made, contracts were cancelled – and mine was one of them. So there I was, like Cate – unemployed.

To purchase, click here. Dying to Read: A Novel (The Cate Kinkaid Files)

Cate isn’t a quitter. She moves to a different state, puts out job applications and résumés in person and online, and accepts whatever she can find to fill in. She’s a Christmas elf with Santa at the mall, puts advertising flyers on windshields, wears a bunny costume and waves a big sign directing people to a tax service. She hasn’t much more confidence in the job her uncle offers her as an assistant private investigator with his PI agency, Belmont Investigations, but she’s willing to give it a try.

Where she learns something about being open to God’s plans, because he knows what he’s doing.

I’m not a quitter either. I wrote books. I submitted them. I got rejections, or sometimes simply silence.

So finally I had to step back and ask God (as I no doubt should have earlier), Hey, I thought you wanted me to write for you. What’s going on here?

And the realization, which didn’t come in an e-mail from God, or big words booming out of the heavens (which would have made it easier for someone who can be as thick-headed as I am!), was that my identity in life was not Writer, but Child of God.

So I kept on trying, but with the willingness that I would quit if that’s what God wanted. I could trust that God knows what he’s doing, and our true strength lies in trusting him even when things look bleak.

And, like Cate, he’s brought me through the bad times. Sometimes strength means letting go and letting God take over.”–Lorena

Her website is

Author Lorena McCourtney & Hanging in Tough Times

I’m so happy to have Author Lorena McCourtney as my guest today! She is one of my favorite cozy mystery authors both because her books are fun but also because she’s fun and a person who sticks with it. BTW, she will be giving away a copy of her latest, DYING TO READ. Here’s Lorena:

“This is a time of economic hardship. Job losses for so many people. Inability to find a new job. Desperation!

This is the situation in which Cate Kinkaid, the woman in my new mystery, “Dying to Read,” finds herself. This is the situation I also found myself in several years ago.

Cate is 29. It never really occurred to her that she might find herself out of a job and unable to find another one. After all, she has a college degree, and she’s never actually been fired from a job. But after the dismaying realization that she’s totally unsuited for the career for which her college education prepared her, and the hard economic realities of the bankruptcy, merger, or downsizing of several companies she’s worked for, this is where she finds herself – unemployed and desperate.

My situation was a little different. As a writer, I didn’t have a regular go-to-work job, but I’d had some 40 books published, and now had a contract to do five books for a publisher. But there were some big upheavals within the company, changes were made, contracts were cancelled – and mine was one of them. So there I was, like Cate – unemployed.

To purchase, click here. Dying to Read: A Novel (The Cate Kinkaid Files)

Cate isn’t a quitter. She moves to a different state, puts out job applications and résumés in person and online, and accepts whatever she can find to fill in. She’s a Christmas elf with Santa at the mall, puts advertising flyers on windshields, wears a bunny costume and waves a big sign directing people to a tax service. She hasn’t much more confidence in the job her uncle offers her as an assistant private investigator with his PI agency, Belmont Investigations, but she’s willing to give it a try.

Where she learns something about being open to God’s plans, because he knows what he’s doing.

I’m not a quitter either. I wrote books. I submitted them. I got rejections, or sometimes simply silence.

So finally I had to step back and ask God (as I no doubt should have earlier), Hey, I thought you wanted me to write for you. What’s going on here?

And the realization, which didn’t come in an e-mail from God, or big words booming out of the heavens (which would have made it easier for someone who can be as thick-headed as I am!), was that my identity in life was not Writer, but Child of God.

So I kept on trying, but with the willingness that I would quit if that’s what God wanted. I could trust that God knows what he’s doing, and our true strength lies in trusting him even when things look bleak.

And, like Cate, he’s brought me through the bad times. Sometimes strength means letting go and letting God take over.”–Lorena

Her website is

Last Week’s Winners & What’s Coming!

Mary Jackson won Author Virignia Smith’s book THE HEART’S FRONTIER.

And Nancee won my slightly read copy of Author Pat Simmons’ GUILTY BY ASSOCIATION.

This week Authors Lorena McCourtney & Patricia Davids will guest! One writes cozy mysteries and one writes Amish stories. Do you know which is which?–Lyn

Lyn Reviews Author Pat Simmons’ Guilty by Association

Author Virginia Smith & Is Patience Strength or Being Wishy-Washy?

My guest today is Author Virginia Smith and after reading her post, all I can say is her aunt must be real because nobody would craft a character this amazing! BTW, Virginia will be giving away one copy of her book to a commenter. Here’s Virginia:

“Being faithful in the smallest things is the way to gain, maintain, and demonstrate the strength needed to accomplish something great.” – Alex Harris

I was browsing through some material the other day (okay, I was surfing the internet) when I came across this quote. It struck me as deeply profound, and at the same time it filled me with hope. I’m not one who aspires to greatness, but I am faithful. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that I am surrounded by examples of strong women who have accomplished great things through faithfulness in the small things.

One of my favorite people in the entire world is my Aunt Patti. She was ten when I was born, and I thought she was the coolest, most awesome grown-up ever. As a teenager she listened to “deep” music, and talked to me about the meaning as though she cared about my thoughts. (Bob McLeans’s American Pie comes to mind.) She loved to learn, and communicated her thirst for knowledge by telling me what she learned in high school, and then college.

After college she worked at a series of incredibly interesting jobs, like prison guard, and police officer. She never lost her desire to learn, and worked her way through graduate school, earning a Master’s in Social Work. Then she joined the army where she served for years, including a tour in Korea. I’ll never forget my pride when I flew to Washington D.C. to see her promotion to the rank of Colonel at the Pentagon.

You’d think she would stop there, wouldn’t you? Nope. She was selected to attend an exclusive War College and graduated with a second Master’s degree. Then she retired from the military and returned to school, and last year earned her Doctorate in Psychology. Now she fulfills one of her heart’s desires and counsels victims – juveniles, rape victims, and veterans with PTSD. But she hasn’t stopped learning.

Next year she plans to enter Law school! She is doing great things with her life, but not one of them happened because of a single act of greatness. Instead, she has been faithful to her dreams and her goals one small step at a time.

The heroine in my recent book, The Heart’s Frontier, doesn’t have the opportunity to go to college. The Amish don’t place an emphasis on education. The setting is the American West, where there weren’t many opportunities for women, Amish or not. But Emma is strong like my aunt in one very important way – she is faithful, even in the face of difficult situations that stand in the way of her and her desires. And in the end she accomplishes…well, you’ll have to read the book to find out, won’t you?”–Virginia

To purchase The Heart’s Frontier, by Lori Copeland and Virginia Smith, click here. The Heart’s Frontier (The Amish of Apple Grove)

Well, what a story!

Question to answer in order to enter drawing:

Do you have anybody in your family who amazes you? Please share!–Lyn

Virginia Smith’s Website: