Lyn Cote's Blog, page 93
August 9, 2011
Lyn Reviews Author Tamara Leigh's Restless in Carolina
Restless in Carolina: A Novel by Tamara Leigh
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Tamara Leigh creates another of her quirky heroines, Bridget Pickwick
Buchanan, in Restless in Carolina. Bridget is sassy and
unconventional, a green peg in a brown hole. She meets her match in J
C Dirk. Don't miss an entertaining read about forgiving past wrongs
and even forgiving the ones we love who make us crazy.
August 8, 2011
How to Support Books You Love!
Readers and authors have a unique relationship. You can't have one without the other. In the digital world, readers and authors create their own neighborhoods. I have created one here on this blog where women tell and read stories of strong women.
A few weeks ago, I posted a blog, titled: "I Need a Little Help from Christiane's Friends" If you didn't read it, here is the link. In it, I asked if anyone had ever purchased a book online or had ever posted a review online or were a part of Facebook, etc. Five readers responded and offered to promote La Belle Christiane online.
In the new digital world, readers depend not so much on reviews in big magazines and newspapers like Publishers Weekly or the NYT. Readers now depend on other readers to recommend books to them.
If you've never written a review, you should consider doing so. If you've loved a book, you should help others find it. Thousands of books get published every year and then tries to find its audience. An author can spend years researching and writing and revising a book. What if it's a gem but very few readers find it in the "forest" of books? What a waste.
If you wish to support my books or those of another author, you should take the plunge and write a review. But you say–I don't know how.
Reviews are easy. You don't have to follow any guidelines. There are a few things to keep track of:
1-No SPOILERS. A spoiler in a review gives away plot surprises. Speaking from experience, I use a lot of effort to craft plots that surprise my readers. Please don't SPOIL the story for other readers by giving away the surprises in your review!
2-Mention a little about the time and place and the type of story so people can know it interests them.
3-Then give a brief comment. Examples: "I loved this heroine." "I always enjoy this suthor's books." "I couldn't put it down."
To post a review on Amazon, etc., look for a notation about write a review on the page of the book you want to write about.
That's all there is to it!
I will be letting you all know when La Belle Christiane becomes available online. If you've enjoyed reading her story here, please write a review and then let me know so I can thank you. Soon I'm also going to ask for quotes to put in the front of the book, another way to help a book you love.
So would you like to join my five volunteers and write a review or promote LBC online? I hope you will and that you will do it for other authors too. After all, I/We can only write so many books. And readers read faster than any writer can write!–Lyn
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Amish Vampires–What Do You Think?
Yes, you read that title right. Today Author Leanna Ellis is going to tell us about her story FORSAKEN, the first from her Amish-Vampire "PLAIN FEAR" series. Leanna has written this for a secular publishing house but the stories OF COURSE has a lot to say about spiritual matters. Here's the blurb:
Hannah Schmidt,a young Amish woman mourning the mysterious death of her beloved Jacob, must decidebetween two brothers, between good and evil. When she learns her first love is now the vampire Akiva, she must forsake him and cling to a new love, a lasting love, one that will protect her soul.
Here's Leanna and why she wrote this story:
"Amish and vampires? Really? Yes, really. I'm asked a lot how this book came into being. Forsaken actually began as a joke. I was at a book signing and another author and I made a joke about we should write an Amish-vampire story because those were the two genres that were selling so well. Well, it really was a joke. I didn't rush home and start writing the book. But I suppose some seed was planted in my warped little brain and took root. Soon a character was speaking to me about her story and wanting me to write it. I resisted. But there was a veryintriguing element that I couldn't seem to ignore. To me, this was a Phantom ofthe Opera type story, with a love triangle, and a clear dividing line between good and evil. So I wrote the prologue and first chapter. Then I set it aside because I was busy meeting other deadlines. Besides what was I to do with anAmish-vampire story? I mentioned it eventually to a couple of writer friends.They laughed but in a good way and encouraged me to write it. Well, I wasn't so sure although I was becoming obsessed with the story. I spent a lot of time in prayer over this book, because I don't want to write something that God doesn't want me to write. Also, I knew I'd have to leave the Christian market and sell it in the secular market. I wasn't about to make that move without God's clear direction. And he began to show me in more ways than one that this was the book He wanted me to write. More than a year passed, and I was at a writer's conference minding my own business and not pursuing this story at all. An editor said the perfect submission would be…you guessed it! An Amish-vampirestory. So I made an appointment to meet that editor and just talk about the idea.It almost felt like when an addict first admits she has a problem. I felt likeI was teetering on the edge when I said, "I'm a writer and I've written an Amish-vampire story." Well, she requested it. What I love about this story is that it shows the battle of good and evil. Evil doesn't always appear with pitchfork and horns. Quite often, evil is appealing and attractive and hooks us in before we realize what has happened. Such is the case with my heroine Hannah. She simply loved a boy. But she opens her heart and her mind too easily and the consequences could be devastating. Even though this story is published in the secular world, it has a powerful spiritual message, a message the world needs to hear."–Leanna
Bio:
Winnerof the National Readers Choice Award, Leanna Ellis writes women's fiction.Known for her quirky characters and wacky plots, don't let the quirkiness fool you as Ellis probes deep in the heart and plucks at the heartstrings. She lives deep in the heart of Texas with her husband and children and an assortment of dogs and cats, including her crazy labradoodle, aka Hilo Monster, and her new kitten, Sawyer.
Amazon link:
Excerpt link:
http://leannaellis.com/forsaken.html
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Leanna-Ellis/49487472434
So that's the story and Leanna's reasons. I've often thought that the popularity of vampire fiction is one way for God to send out his message of good vs. evil in a world that has turned its back on spiritutal matters. So do you like vampire novels or movies? Does Leanna's story intrigue you?–Lyn
August 3, 2011
Author Shana Burton & Flawfully Wedded Wives!
My guest today is Author Shana Burton who has just released Catt Chasin. Please give her a warm welcome. Here's Shana:
"Flawfully Wedded Wives
Few things can spark a conversation like asking a group of men to give their definition of a strong woman and to explain the difference between a woman having strength and being emasculating. The answers ranged from cynical ("Is there a difference?") to brutally honest ("Some men are intimated by strong women who are independent, opinionated, and focused. Those who are usually date white or Asian chicks."). However, the consensus from all the men seems to be that a strong woman is someone who compliments the man's role rather than trying to dominate it. The real strength, it seems, lies in being able to balance her role as wife and mother while still being independent of a man.
When I think of strong women, women in my family and close friends immediately come to mind, but one could argue that the epitome of a strong woman can be found in Proverbs, where Solomon describes "The Wife of Noble Character," also known as the Proverbial Woman. She is a woman who many endeavor to be but few can actually achieve.
According to the text, the Proverbial Woman is nothing short of Super Woman. Her husband is confident in her. She brings him good, not harm all of the days of her life. She's a hard worker and has her own business. She wakes up early to cook for her family while acquiring land, sewing her own clothes and feeding the poor. She's clothed in strength, dignity, and wisdom. Her children call her blessed, and her husband adores her. (Solomon forgot to add that she also gives ordinary women a complex.) Simply put, she is strength personified, but is she the person that women should strive to be?
Feeding the poor and waking up at dawn to make breakfast are noble indeed, but where are this woman's flaws? Doesn't she ever get tired her husband? Is she never too exhausted from work to cook dinner? Do her kids ever "work" her nerves like mine do? Yes, she epitomizes strength and character, but the one thing she is lacking is humanity.
In my latest novel, Catt Chasin', my goal was to create a Proverbial Woman for the modern age with my heroine Catt Cason. Like the Proverbial Woman, Catt works hard, she's smart and savvy, she takes care of her family, and she's sensitive to the needs of others, but unlike the Proverbial Woman, Catt has her share of flaws. She struggles with her weight. She both attracts and drives men away. She's emotional. She's been hurt by the people who claim to love her. She's slept with men she'd rather forget and has done things she's not proud of. Like most women, Catt's strength is not how many balls she can juggle at one time, but how many times she can pick herself up after falling down, how well she can maintain grace under pressure, how she keeps her dignity in a world filled with degradation, and how she shows courage when the odds are stacked against her. She's a strong woman, but she's also human, which not only makes her virtuous but also makes her phenomenal. Just like you and me.
Ironically, no man I questioned really expected any woman to be the Virtuous Woman Solomon describes. Ultimately, they view strength the same way most women do: someone who supports, who gives and loves unconditionally, knows when to step in and when to fall back. I have to wonder if even Solomon knew no woman could live up to his ideal and still be sane at the end of the day. After all, he had 700 wives and 300 concubines and no mention of a Proverbial Woman in the whole bunch."–Shana
Shana's links:
www.shanaburton.com, www.shanajburton.blogspot.com, www.facebook.com/shanajohnsonburton.com, www.twitter.com/shanajburton
Thanks, Shana, for that interesting post. I've always wondered why there wasn't a Virtuous Man description in the Bible. But maybe Christ is the example for men. Also I'm always interested in the fact that heroines in African-American inspirational romance can sin sexually and repent but that is taboo in white inspirational romance. Though my next heroine is a former prostitute, but that's a historical. I can get away with more–if it's in the past. 
So ladies, what do you think of Shana's thoughts on the virtuous women? Know one? –Lyn
August 2, 2011
Lyn Reviews Timeless Author Betty Neels' Love Can Wait
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I love Betty Neels because she reminds me of the English roots of romance–Jane Austen, the Bronte sisters, Georgette Heyer. She uses the same elements over and over–heroine in dire straits and masterful hero usually a doctor. In this book, Love Can Wait, she does use the hero's point of view which was something she dabbled with in her later books. And they travel to Norway not Holland as usual. As an American, I'm always interested in the element of "class" differences which can separate a couple. In America that really doesn't exist for 90% of Americans. I think it must only be a reality for the SUPER rich who inherit wealth. So that's an intriguing difference between American and English romance. One difference in this romance, Betty Neels creates a curvacious and beautiful heroine instead of her usual Plain Jane. Like that. If you've never read a Betty Neels romance, you should at least try one. But remember it's not your American Harlequin, definitely the charming English cousin.
August 1, 2011
Debut Author Pam Hillman & Her Free Ebook for Anyone!
My guest today is a long time friend Author Pam Hillman. Tyndale has initiated an ebook only publishing program and Pam is one of their first authors. I'm happy to have her to share a story of a strong woman and her new book. I've included the codes if you want to download her book for free. I know some of you–like me–don't have ereaders yet, but you can download software from Amazon for free that will enable you to download books to read on your computer. FYI. Here's Pam:
"Livy O'Brien is a strong woman. She spends her time scouring refuse-strewn alleys coaxing street-kids out of alleys, taking them food, tending to their wounds, and sheltering them from the adults who exploit them. Why would Ms. O'Brien risk her own life and her reputation to wade into the underbelly of society to rescue these kids? Because she's been there, living on the streets with them, huddling against the cold, and fighting off the rats to make sure everyone makes it through the night. She's determined to save every child she can from a desperate fate.
Livy O'Brien is the fictional heroine of my debut novel, Stealing Jake, set in the 1880's. She does not exist.
Or does she?
She could be any missionary's wife in any third world country in 2011. Or even the woman who risks her life at the soup kitchen in the ghettos of our own skyscraper-filled cities in the United States. These heroic women's hearts are burdened for the children cast off by society, struggling for survival, battling addictions and exploitation by the very adults who should care for and protect them.
There are millions of children worldwide, from toddlers to teens, living in circumstances too horrendous to comprehend. And the women who risk their lives daily trying to save them are strong, brave women indeed!"–Pam
Stealing Jake Blurb:
When Livy O'Brien spies a young boy jostling a man walking along the boardwalk, she recognizes the act for what it is. After all, she used to be known as Light-fingered Livy. But that was before she put her past behind her and moved to the growing town of Chestnut, Illinois, where she's helping to run an orphanage. Now she'll do almost anything to protect the street kids like herself.
Sheriff's deputy Jake Russell had no idea what he was in for when he ran into Livy–literally–while chasing down a pickpocket. With a rash of robberies and a growing number of street kids in town–as well as a loan on the family farm that needs to be paid off–Jake doesn't have time to pursue a girl. Still, he can't seem to get Livy out of his mind. He wants to get to know her better . . . but Livy isn't willing to trust any man, especially not a lawman.
Kindle Giveaway Link:
http://pamhillman.blogspot.com/2011/07/pams-blog-tour-kindle-contest.html
Kindle Giveaway BUTTON (html code):
http://calicotrails.blogspot.com/2011/07/blog-post_07.html
Bio:
Award-winning author Pam Hillman writes inspirational fiction set in the turbulent times of the American West and the Gilded Age. Her debut book, Stealing Jake, won the American Christian Fiction Writer's Genesis contest and was a finalist in Romance Writers of America's prestigious Golden Heart contest. She lives in Mississippi with her husband and family.
Pam On the Web:
Website: www.pamhillman.com
Personal blog: www.calicotrails.blogspot.com
Group blog: www.seekerville.blogspot.com
Pam, my heroine Felicity Gabriel was one of these women. She started an orphanage for children orphaned by the Civil War. I also think of Gladys Aylward who saved so many Chinese orphans in WWII. Here's a link to her story. Do any of you know of any other women who risked much to save or protect children?–Lyn
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Debut Author Pam Hillman & Her Free Ebook
My guest today is a long time friend Author Pam Hillman. Tyndale has initiated an ebook only publishing program and Pam is one of their first authors. I'm happy to have her to share a story of a strong woman and her new book. I've included the codes if you want to download her book for free. I know some of you–like me–don't have ereaders yet, but you can download software from Amazon for free that will enable you to download books to read on your computer. FYI. Here's Pam:
"Livy O'Brien is a strong woman. She spends her time scouring refuse-strewn alleys coaxing street-kids out of alleys, taking them food, tending to their wounds, and sheltering them from the adults who exploit them. Why would Ms. O'Brien risk her own life and her reputation to wade into the underbelly of society to rescue these kids? Because she's been there, living on the streets with them, huddling against the cold, and fighting off the rats to make sure everyone makes it through the night. She's determined to save every child she can from a desperate fate.
Livy O'Brien is the fictional heroine of my debut novel, Stealing Jake, set in the 1880's. She does not exist.
Or does she?
She could be any missionary's wife in any third world country in 2011. Or even the woman who risks her life at the soup kitchen in the ghettos of our own skyscraper-filled cities in the United States. These heroic women's hearts are burdened for the children cast off by society, struggling for survival, battling addictions and exploitation by the very adults who should care for and protect them.
There are millions of children worldwide, from toddlers to teens, living in circumstances too horrendous to comprehend. And the women who risk their lives daily trying to save them are strong, brave women indeed!"–Pam
Stealing Jake Blurb:
When Livy O'Brien spies a young boy jostling a man walking along the boardwalk, she recognizes the act for what it is. After all, she used to be known as Light-fingered Livy. But that was before she put her past behind her and moved to the growing town of Chestnut, Illinois, where she's helping to run an orphanage. Now she'll do almost anything to protect the street kids like herself.
Sheriff's deputy Jake Russell had no idea what he was in for when he ran into Livy–literally–while chasing down a pickpocket. With a rash of robberies and a growing number of street kids in town–as well as a loan on the family farm that needs to be paid off–Jake doesn't have time to pursue a girl. Still, he can't seem to get Livy out of his mind. He wants to get to know her better . . . but Livy isn't willing to trust any man, especially not a lawman.
Kindle Giveaway Link:
http://pamhillman.blogspot.com/2011/07/pams-blog-tour-kindle-contest.html
Kindle Giveaway BUTTON (html code):
http://calicotrails.blogspot.com/2011/07/blog-post_07.html
Bio:
Award-winning author Pam Hillman writes inspirational fiction set in the turbulent times of the American West and the Gilded Age. Her debut book, Stealing Jake, won the American Christian Fiction Writer's Genesis contest and was a finalist in Romance Writers of America's prestigious Golden Heart contest. She lives in Mississippi with her husband and family.
Pam On the Web:
Website: www.pamhillman.com
Personal blog: www.calicotrails.blogspot.com
Group blog: www.seekerville.blogspot.com
Pam, my heroine Felicity Gabriel was one of these women. She started an orphanage for children orphaned by the Civil War. I also think of Gladys Aylward who saved so many Chinese orphans in WWII. Here's a link to her story. Do any of you know of any other women who risked much to save or protect children?–Lyn
July 31, 2011
What do You Think of La Belle Christiane's Cover?
So here is La Belle Christiane's cover. I purchased the photo from Getty Images and then hired a cover artist, Kimberly Van Meter, to make it into a book cover.
And here's the back cover blurb:
"In the tradition of Gone With The Wind, a sweeping saga of a beautiful woman caught in a revolutionary time of drastic change and loss…
In the early 1770′s, Christiane Pelletier, an extraordinarily beautiful young woman, is next in a line of courtesans who have been favorites at the French court during the reigns of two monarchs. Yet she longs to be the beloved wife of one man, not a lovely piece of human art passed from one noble to another. And the winds of change are sweeping Europe.
After her mother's violent murder, Christiane flees France with her renegade father. In the Canadian wilderness, she survives the shock of leaving a life of wealth and privilege. To escape frontier violence, she moves southward only to become involved in the burgeoning American Revolution. Daughter of a French courtesan to frontier wife to companion of Lady Washington, Christiane moves into the heart of the American rebel elite. But one man in her life can never be forgotten. Once he was her friend. Now he has become her enemy. Will he become her destiny? Only God knows."
What do you think? Would that pique your interest? And what did you think of my cover?–Lyn
July 28, 2011
Epilogue La Belle Christiane–The Final Pages
If you've just discovered this free read, click Archived Free Read and start at the beginning.
La Belle Christiane
2011 Copyright Lyn Cote
All rights reserved
Epilogue
Christiane and John waited on the rough dock at New York harbor, looking up to Alfred who stood on the deck of a ship. Their expressions were somber and the day was brisk as only a late March day along can be at the Atlantic. Christiane held onto her hat and clutched her cape, all the while trying to wave farewell.
The ship had just cast off and was picking up the wind, using it to edge away from the dock. Alfred waved again and John answered it with almost a salute, just a stretching up of the arm. Then the ship was bucking away bound for England.
The husband and wife stood, watching, till the ship completely disappeared. Then they turned without words and mounted their horses. Slowly they edged their way through the narrow and busy streets of New York City, heading west to Hobb's Ferry and home.
So many memories came through Christiane's mind as she remembered her first trip to this city almost eight years before. It seemed a lifetime ago. She glanced over at her husband. He was deep in thought also. It was a year now since they had come to their understanding, a year of great happiness and contentment for both of them. After years of wandering they both–at last–had settled down. The only unhappy occurrence had been the death of Josiah at the beginning of January. After nearly fifty years of marriage Sarah Anne was alone. And now Alfred, John's last link to Easthaven, was leaving. She wondered again if John had any second thoughts about staying.
Both of them had wanted to break with their families. She knew the price she had paid when she came to this land. It had been a price much higher than she could ever have imagined. Did he question his decision to stay? The sun came out from the clouds and shone brightly. Suddenly she smiled and flicked John's arm lightly with her crop.
"What, madame?" he asked, looking up.
"Nothing," she answered pertly, "I just wanted to see you smile."
"What man wouldn't smile at you, madame?" He smiled broadly.
"I love it when you flatter me. Don't ever stop."
"As long as I have breath, Christiane." He beamed at her.
"Are you all right, John?"
"Worried about me?" he answered lightly.
"I just want you to be happy."
"I am happy."
"Truly?"
"Upon my word, madame, I could not be happier and live. I am glad that Alfred is going home to his family and Easthaven and you know I have sent with him a letter to my father, explaining our marriage, our decision to stay and announcing Sarah's birth. He may not be happy, but, at least, he will know where I am and that my life is in order." He looked at her probingly. "Now, madame, are you happy?"
"Of course! But my happiness depends on yours. I don't want your mind to be concentrating on what might have been."
"My lady, my heart is set on you and my mind is turned toward the future! The land near Meadow Farm is purchased and this year work on our own estate will commence. We live in exciting times. The peace treaty is nearly signed. We will be raising our family during the birth of a whole new country and government. I am filled with expectation!"
Suddenly she felt the thrill he was expressing. It would be exciting, a time to experience, a time to remember. Then immediately she felt an overwhelming desire to be home. Glancing over at her husband, she saw the same yearning in his eye. They smiled and quickened their pace.
THE END–THE END–THE END!!! Seven months of posting 3 scenes a week and I have finally finished. I hope you enjoyed this wild ride! I have valued your comments and appreciate those who have stayed with me.
I hope you will leave a comment here and elsewhere so that others can enjoy Christiane's brave story. On Monday, I will reveal the beautiful cover that I had made for this book. For yes, La Belle Christiane is going to become an ebook and a print book this fall! I will keep you posted on developments. Until then tell your friends. If they didn't want to read it on their computers, it will within a few months be available!–Lyn
July 27, 2011
I Need a Little Help from Christiane's Friends :-)
Tomorrow I'll post the Epilogue to La Belle Christiane. The final pages of this long journey from a manuscript that in the past only a few editors and agents and friends had read. Now on this blog it has beomce a free read that nearly a thousand people have read.
When I started this journey, I said it was a gift to my readers. And I hope you have considered it that. But your comments and the fact that you all have returned time after time and kept reading have been a thank you to me.
This project, 450 some pages of Christiane's story, has taken me countless hours– first to write and then revise and then post on this blog.
Now I'd like to share it with more readers. As you know, I plan on publishing La Belle Christiane as an ebook and in print form. As I go through the final stages of preparing to upload this book to be available to readers worldwide, I need a few good words from Christiane's friends (& mine) and I need them to go out onto the Internet so they can be shared.
So I have three questions for you.
1- Have you ever bought a book online through Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble.com, Eharlequin.com or Christianbook.com or any other online bookseller? I really need to know since you can help me by writing a review there or which I can post there.
2- Are you a member of GoodReads, Shelfari, Library Thing, Facebook, Twitter, Shoutlife, MySpace? If you are, I could use your help in spreading the word about La Belle Christiane when it becomes available.
3-I could have just let Christiane's story sit on my shelf on a CD. But Christiane is my very first heroine. And I wanted others to read her story. Do you feel the same? Yes or no?
BTW, drop by Monday to see for the first time, the cover I've had made for La Belle Christiane. I want to know what you think!–Lyn
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