M. Jean Pike's Blog, page 32
April 24, 2023
to remember
In my book, The Little Things, my heroine, Rochelle, faces the daunting task of sorting through her beloved foster mother’s things after her passing. One night a neighbor stops by and asks if she might have some little thing to remember Bessie by. I’ve done that, too. When we lose someone dear to us their things become precious. Not so much for what they are, as for the memories they evoke.
Years ago, after my grandmother passed, I was invited to choose something from her home, something to remember her by. I went through her books and thought of long summer days curled up beside her on the porch swing. I considered various pieces of costume jewelry, remembering the fun of playing dress-up. Then, in the kitchen, I spotted her juice pitcher. I’d always loved the little pitcher, frosted glass with hand painted fruits on the sides. Grandma did not use it often, that I can remember, but somehow it unlocked the warmest memories of time spent in Grandma’s kitchen. Of Saturday mornings sitting in the breakfast nook, looking out over the thicket of pine trees my grandfather had planted many years before. Of countless games of cards and stories of her turn-of-the-century childhood that I enjoyed at Grandma’s table. Yes, the little juice pitcher was just the right thing.
Throughout the years I have called many places home, but the juice pitcher has always claimed a place of honor in my kitchen. Even now, as I take it down from the cabinet to wash it, memories of my lovely Grandma echo down through the years. And though, like Grandma, I rarely use it, it will always be one of my favorite possessions.
Do you have a special something like that? I’d love to read about it in the comments.
April 20, 2023
Order your copy today!
A decade ago, Rochelle Delany made a decision that changed her life forever.
Wanting more than football games and potluck suppers in her small Ohio town, she boarded a bus for California and didn’t look back. But instead of a glamorous life, she became trapped in a nightmare of labor trafficking. Now, she’s made a daring escape…
The Little Things
Now available for preorder at Amazon.
Order your copy today!
April 13, 2023
Available for Preorder
Exciting news! The Kindle edition of my new Christian romance, The Little Things, is now available for preorder at Amazon! Check it out…
March 22, 2023
Coming Soon!
Coming July, 2023!
From Pelican Book Group
July 17, 2022
Older Title, New Review
I just got a new review for Frankie’s Heart, one of my older titles. It always gives me such a boost to know someone has read and enjoyed one of my stories! Speaking for all authors everywhere, a huge thank you to all who take the time to read and review our books. You have no idea how much it means 
5.0 out of 5 stars A story of New beginnings and New Love
Reviewed in the United States on July 11, 2022
Fifty-year-old Frankie has bought an older house in her new town. She contacts builder, Tracy Johanson to do some much needed work. The attraction between them is immediate, as is their caution because of past relationships.
Ms. Pike is a master of word choices and descriptions. Two pages into the novel I felt as if I already knew both of the main characters. One page more and I was desperate to find out about their story. Her characters, Frankie Bonetti, Tracy Johanson and Lilly are very much real people. The author is a master too of putting the reader into each clear and beautiful scene.
One cautionary note, Frankie’s Heart will make you cry. But it is a good cathartic sort of crying.
June 8, 2022
Tomatoes!
I have always loved to grow things. There’s something about the miracle of flowers returning to my garden year after year that never gets old. And though I have experimented with almost every perennial known to man, I had never tried my hand at vegetables. This year I decided to change that.
Fresh tomatoes. Is there anything more delightful? I dreamed of BLT’s, pots of creamy tomato soup. All made with my own home- grown tomatoes.
Since I have many night visitors to my yard; deer, skunks, raccoons and woodchucks, and they have been known to make a salad bar of my flower beds, I knew that putting in a vegetable garden would be a thankless venture. So I started reading up on porch tomatoes. It made sense, so in early May I bought a few seedlings, a bag of nutrient rich potting soil, and some soil booster. I planted them in pots, set them in a sunny corner of my little porch and hoped for the best.
Two weeks later, they were thriving!
The weather took a rainy turn and I worried my plants would drown, but after another two weeks I had blossoms! They were as beautiful to me as any flower in my garden
I checked them last night and was downright blissful to discover that the blossoms had become tiny tomatoes!
I’m told it will take another three weeks or so for them to fully grow and ripen. I’m so looking forward to that. Thank You, Lord, for the joy of tomatoes…
April 30, 2022
Coming Soon!
Coming soon from Pelican Book Group!
April 6, 2022
Wordless Wednesday: sweet things
A couple of sweet things for your day
February 10, 2022
January 28, 2022
snow day
Since the weather has turned downright frightful here in Southern Ohio I thought I would repost this photo of a ghost family playing in the snow…
