Roxanne Rustand's Blog, page 20

Jill Eileen Smith chats about her cats–and her new book, Sarai!

The first year of our marriage, Randy and I got an orange tabby that we named Sandy. Sandy lived 21 years and was the most loving, tolerant cat I've ever known. He allowed our nieces and nephews, and later our children to carry him around – and they weren't all that careful in how they held him – without a complaint. He could be fussed over and loved to snuggle, and when I was sad, he knew. He had a sixth sense about emotions and knew how to comfort in time of need. He caught a bird once and had to "show" me, then when I freaked out, he kindly let the bird go. He played with the Spaniel next door and though declawed, had no fear of exploring the outdoors. The day we had to say goodbye was so hard!

The next day we bought Shadow – a gray tabby. Shadow isn't like Sandy. He is a feral cat and in his younger days did not care for snuggling like Sandy did. He does come when called, and his favorite time of day is evening when he knows he will get a snack of Fancy Feast. He lives to eat, I think. And as he's aged, he's mellowed. Especially when we brought Tiger home.

At first, Shadow did not like Tiger invading his house! Tiger was about four months old when we got him, and he loved everybody! He wanted to play with Shadow, and to sleep snuggling at Shadow's side, but Shadow made it pretty clear that he wasn't the snuggling type. Sometimes they do sleep side by side. Shadow tolerates Tiger more now, though he still gets annoyed with "that kid."

Tiger is an affectionate, playful tiger striped tabby, who now weighs more than Shadow. He is appropriately named, as when he gets feisty he shows his "tiger" face, but he is as gentle as Sandy was and equally loving. All three kitties have brought a lot of joy and laughter to our lives over the years, and comic relief to stressful situations. They can be counted on to make us smile.

The picture is of Shadow and Tiger. I don't have a digital one of Sandy. Shadow is about 13 now and Tiger is 6. I can't imagine life without a cat.

 

SARAI

Revell Books

by Jill Eileen Smith

He promised her his heart. She promised him a son. But how long must they wait?

Sarai, the last child of her aged father, is beautiful, spoiled, and used to getting her own way. Even as a young girl, she is aware of the way men look at her, including her half brother Abram. When Abram finally requests Sarai's hand, she asks one thing–that he promise never to take another wife as long as she lives. Even her father thinks the demand is restrictive and agrees to the union only if Sarai makes a promise in return–to give Abram a son and heir. Certain she can easily do that, Sarai agrees.

But as the years stretch on and Sarai's womb remains empty, she becomes desperate to fulfill her end of the bargain–lest Abram decide that he will not fulfill his. To what lengths will Sarai go in her quest to bear a son? And how long will Abram's patience last?

A review from PW (Publisher's Weekly):

"Smith is at her best in handling the triangulated relationship between Abraham, Sarah, and Hagar…Smith breathes new imaginative life into a well-known sacred story."

For a sample chapter, visit Jill's website: http://www.jilleileensmith.com/books/...

For links to purchase the book online visit: http://www.jilleileensmith.com/books/...

or visit your favorite local bookstore.

Jill Eileen Smith is the bestselling author of Michal, Abigail, and Bathsheba, all part of the the Wives of King David series. Her research into the lives of David's wives has taken her from the Bible to Israel, and she particularly enjoys learning how women lived in Old Testament times. She lives with her family in southeast Michigan.

Thanks so much for visiting The All Creatures Great and Small blog, Jill. Your latest release sounds wonderful, and I look forward to reading it!  If any of you would like to ask questions or chat with Jill, here is your chance!

Margaret Daly, and "Fun with Cats!"

By guest blogger Margaret Daley

We have three cats in our home that found us over the years. Each one is unique and different from the others.  My male, Ringo, rules the house and tries to keep the two females in line. He doesn't always succeed. Peppers is my neurotic cat but is so loving. Her favorite place is to wrap herself around my neck, which can make it difficult to write at the computer. My third cat is the one that has made me laugh more than any animal I've had. She is so curious and gets herself into trouble. Once she snooped inside a plastic bag and got it caught around her. She ran through the house scared as though something was chasing her. I still laugh when I think back to that. She is also the one that growls when she hears someone coming to the house. She thinks she is a dog. I often know when someone is coming before they ring the doorbell because she growls–then goes and hides.

One picture is Peppers being Catzilla through my Christmas village. The other picture is Ringo in his usual position.

What are some funny things your pet does?

Saving Hope by Margaret Daley is out this month from Abingdon Press. It is the first in The Men of the Texas Rangers Series.

When a teenager goes missing from the Beacon of Hope School, Texas Ranger Wyatt Sheridan and school director Kate Winslow are forced into a dangerous struggle against a human trafficking organization. But the battle brings dire consequences as Wyatt's daughter is terrorized and Kate is kidnapped.

Now it's personal, and Wyatt finds both his faith and investigative skills challenged as he fights to discover the mastermind behind the ring before evil destroys everyone he loves.

 

Thanks so much for visiting the All Creatures Great and Small blog, Margaret! What a stunning cover for your new book.  I can't wait to read it!  Let us know where it is available, so we can find a copy!

FREE books by Lyn Cote & Leigh Michaels today!

Lyn Cote and Leigh Michaels are both wonderful writers, and good friends. If you zoom over to Amazon right now, you can receive a FREE download by each of them.  I just did it a few minutes ago, and wanted to share the opportunity with you!  I don't think the links work if I try to copy/paste them here, but I'll do so just so you can see what to look for.

Have a wonderful day!

Roxanne

Come visit the "Riding With the Top Down" blog!

Howdy!

Just wanted to pass along the address of a really cool blog  at:   http://ridingwiththetopdown.wordpress...

There are lots of wonderful authors there, fun blog posts every week, and  I have a post there today–so please come on over and say hello!  Harold and Elmo  (our border collies) are featured in my post, because I never seem to stray far from my country life and four-legged buddies, I guess—and both of the dogs enjoyed the ride.

Hope to see you at Riding With the Top Down!   And I hope you'll keep coming back here, too.   I have lots of authors on the calendar for future posts, and we also are playing a fun waiting game here–wondering when Buttons is going to foal.  There will be lots of photos of the new arrival when it happens!

Roxanne

Lions, Elephants, and Zebras, Oh my! Author Carrie Turansky

Guest blog by Carrie Turansky

We have a several animal lovers in our family, especially my two youngest daughters, Megan and Elizabeth, who are pet groomers. They've brought home fish, frogs, turtles, bunnies and birds and taught me to love and appreciate them all. But today I'd like to tell you about my older daughter Melissa who lives and works in Africa as a nurse case manager.

Melissa enjoyed animals when she was growing up, but I wouldn't call her an animal lover. . . .until this past summer when she gained a new perspective on animals while she spent time at a lion research center in Zimbabwe and at a safari camp in Kenya. She and her husband Peter were interviewing for jobs and learning all they could about African wildlife while they were there

They walked with the young lions and learned about the efforts being made to breed and release lions into the wild since their numbers are declining all around Africa. She also spent time with several elephants and decided they were her favorite African animals. She enjoyed feeding them, playing soccer, and riding them. Peter was hired, and he now arranges safaris and travel around east Africa for tourists and missionary groups. Melissa works in Nairobi with children who are HIV positive and their families.

I hope one day Melissa and I can team up and write a novel set in Africa. Our family lived in Kenya for one year, and Melissa has spent several years there now. She's a terrific writer, and I think we'd make a great team. For now I enjoy reading her blog: www.musingsandzest.com, and she enjoys reading my books.

My latest release is: A Man To Trust, From Love Inspired, March, 2012

After years spent helping manage her family's Christian bookstore, it's time for Adrie Chandler to give her own dream of playing her flute with a symphony orchestra a chance. But can she really trust the beloved shop to new manager Ross Peterson? The man is too handsome, too charming. . .and too much a reminder of another dream Adrie had to let go of—marriage. Yet Ross surprises her by knowing a thing or two about making sacrifices. Suddenly, Adrie is questioning what she really wants. And whether the dreams she once thought unlikely are within reach after all.

You can connect with Carrie at: www.carrieturansky.com

 

 

This is such a fascinating post, and I can't wait to read Carrie's latest book.  be sure to watch for it in the stores–it should be out any day!

If you are reading this on Facebook or Goodreads, come on over to the All Creatures Great and Small blog  (www.roxannerustand.com), where you can visit with Carrie and ask her questions this week, too!

Shelter dog story….

Click on this link, which appeared on Facebook (or copy/paste it into your search bar):
http://www.godvine.com/Meet-the-Scare...


CLCIWrite Something…





A Dog Scared to Death of Everyone Just Needed a Hug – The Most Beautiful Video ?
http://www.godvine.com/Meet-the-Scared-D…

Edie was scheduled to be put down, and she was deathly afraid of anyone coming near her. But watch this very moving, beautiful video and you'll see what happens to Edie.

This made me cry! One of our dogs  (Elmo) came from a shelter, and he's the most loving dog ever.  Have you visited your local shelter lately?  if you can't rescue one of the animals, consider making a donation!

Therapy dogs, and author Deanna K. Klingel

Guest blogger  Deanna K. Klingel  says….

I'm delighted to be invited to "The Creatures Great and Small." I feel right at home with book lovers who also love animals. My first book is about two great, small creatures, golden retrievers, Jessie and Lily.

Just for the Moment: The Remarkable Gift of the Therapy Dog

published October 2010; Awarded the Seal of Approval of Catholic Writers' Guild

ISBN:978-160844-656-8. Available at all indie bookstores, Amazon.com.  Check Deanna's website www.BooksByDeanna.com to enjoy the book trailer for Avery's Battlefield and Avery's Crossroad, Christian YA historical fiction.  Here is a chapter from Just for the Moment: The Remarkable Gift of the Therapy Dog.

LOLA

She sat in her wheelchair in the hall accosting employees, visitors, and other residents. Anyone she could reach out and grab, anyone within hearing, heard her calling, "Hey, I have to get home. Will you take me home? I've got to get out of here. They won't let me go, and I have to get home. Please take me home. I have to get home."

Her agitation set the personnel in motion preparing her medication. They wheeled her down the hall and tried to calm her down.

"But I must go home!"

"Aw, Lola, don't you love us anymore? C'mon, Lola, let's go somewhere quieter, okay?"

All of this was in process when she spotted my dog approaching down the hall.

"Oh, Molly, you came! Oh, Molly, come see mama." With tears tumbling down her wrinkled cheeks and her arms outstretched, she embraced my dog. Lily moved herself to the front of the wheelchair and rested her head on Lola's lap.

"Look who's here," she called to the nurse. "It's my Molly, and she's come to see me. Oh, Molly, I've been so worried about you, darling. They wouldn't let me go home to feed you and let you out, and I've just been frantic with worry about you. Oh, Molly, I've missed you so much. But, you look just fine, darling."

Lily sat patiently while Lola ran her fingers up and down the canine spine as if she were an experienced AKC judge. When her hands came to the leash, she looked up, and noticed me for the first time. She was wrestling the leash from my fingers.

"Have you been taking care of my Molly for me?"

"Yes, of course," I answered. Technically, that was true since Molly was Lily.

"Well, thank you for bringing her to me; that was kind of you. What day is this?" I told her it was Tuesday.

"Do you feed Molly on Tuesday?" She was getting more distracted, and Lily's leash was getting shorter.

"How about I hold this for you, while the nurse helps you to your room," I suggested. It took the firm nurse to free the leash from Lola's gnarled, but still determined fingers.

"Oh, Molly, what will we do? They won't let me come home to take care of you." The sedative was taking hold, and her slurred words slipped into drug-induced snoring. Lily and I moved on down the hall.

The following week when we came back, Lola had a visitor. We tried to slip past her door unnoticed, but the visitor spotted us and came into the hall.

"Are you the lady who visited Lola last week with the dog?" I nodded. She took my elbow and moved down the hall with us.

"I see why Lola thought this was Molly. Your dog looks a lot like Molly. I wanted to tell you that your visit meant the world to Lola. She's been so upset and worried about not being home to care for Molly. Some days she's frantic trying to escape to go feed Molly. Thank you so much; your visit reduced a lot of stress for her."

"You're welcome. Are you caring for Molly, then?"

"Oh, dear, no. Molly's been dead, oh, I'd say about seven years now. She was an old dog, and Lola had her for a long time. Molly died just before Lola got…you know…sick."

Thanks for visiting the All Creatures Great and Small blog, Deanna!

 

 

 

Kincaid's Hope and Teddy, the Hero Cat

by guest blogger  Grace Greene

Cats and I have a long history. When I was a toddler we started with one cat, Peaches, and then there were several, and then a bunch. They were outdoor cats and they multiplied, but they knew where their home and dinner table was (on the back porch). I have an old black and white photo of thirteen cats, of all shapes and sizes, lined up and eating from thirteen bowls.

That was a long time ago and I don't recommend outdoor living for pets or uncontrolled breeding to anyone. Back then, we lived next to the woods and it worked for us and I loved those cats—every one of them. I would spread a blanket under the tall pines to read or do my homework and the cats would join me. We were one big litter.

Fast forward to adulthood.

We brought Bunny home to live with us when my sons were in elementary school. They named her Bunny because she hopped when she ran and she had long, thick white hair. Bunny lived with my family for seventeen years—an only cat and more spoiled than any only child could be. When I spoke of her, folks sometimes thought I was talking about my daughter.

Empress Bunny ruled our house and disliked almost everyone, especially children; however, she could be persuaded to tolerate you if you scratched around her neck and ears. If you would scratch her regularly, then she'd greet you at the front door, welcoming you with a purr as she escorted you to the sofa.

Bunny was an indoor cat—I took no chances with car tires or cat fights having seen enough of those when I was growing up. She was MY cat and I was her….mom, I guess. We lost her in 2004 and I still miss her. I confess, though, I do not miss the quantities of thick white hair that coated everything.

Now, in present time.

Given my history, it was natural that a cat should play a role in my novels. In fact, Teddy, a large, thickly-furred orange tabby, is one of the heroes in Kincaid's Hope. Teddy was modeled on our neighbor's cat, a bit orange kitty sentinel, who watched all comers from his perch on the stairs. I never saw him attack, and his owners said he was actually timid, but I could never quite accept that. He had steely, no-nonsense eyes and, like my Bunny, he had all of his claws.

In Kincaid's Hope, Teddy is an inconvenience that works his way into Beth's heart and helps break down the defenses she erected to protect herself emotionally after surviving a difficult childhood. Teddy is Beth's excuse for staying in town longer—near to where Michael (her childhood crush) lives. Teddy plays a huge role in the latter part of the story, but I can't tell you more without playing the spoiler!

Here's a brief synopsis of Kincaid's Hope:

Beth Kincaid left her hot temper and unhappy childhood behind and created a life in the city free from untidy emotionalism, but even a tidy life has danger, especially when it falls apart. In the midst of her personal disasters, Beth is called back to her hometown of Preston, a fictional small town in southwestern Virginia, to settle her guardian's estate. There, she runs smack into the mess she'd left behind a decade earlier: her alcoholic father, the long-ago sweetheart, Michael, and the poor opinion of almost everyone in town.

As she sorts through her guardian's possessions, Beth discovers that the woman who saved her and raised her had secrets and the truths revealed begin to chip away at her self-imposed control.

Michael is warmly attentive and Stephen, her ex-fiancé, follows her to Preston to win her back, but it is the man she doesn't know who could forever end Beth's chance to build a better, truer life.

Grace Greene writes fiction with romance, suspense and inspiration ~ always with a strong heroine at its heart, and a happily-ever-after ending. Grace is also an artist and photographer who loves houses and landscapes that ooze character and is fascinated by human nature. A Virginia native, Grace lives in central Virginia.  Her debut novel, Beach Rental, was released in July 2011. Her most recent, Kincaid's Hope, was released January 2012.

Please visit Grace at www.GraceGreeneAuthor.com

Kincaid's Hope is available in trade paperback and ebook at Amazon B&N and all of the usual retailers.

Mugsy, the most lovable dog–and Linda Goodnight's newest book

The Love Dog

by  Linda Goodnight

Some couples celebrate a twenty-fifth anniversary with a new wedding ring or a trip to Hawaii. We celebrated with a new puppy. You see, my old rat terrier had died and I had mourned his loss deeply – so deeply that I refused to consider another dog for a long time. On our anniversary, my husband was gone most of the day and when he returned, he came into my office with something inside his jacket. When he took out the tiny rat terrier I fell in love.

Everyone that ever met Mugsy liked him. Neighbors would bring people over to watch him do tricks and climb trees. Children wallowed him without fear of a snap or growl. Dogs didn't fight with him either, because Mugsy loved everyone. He simply refused to have an enemy. Even cats soon stopped hissing because he just kept on loving them until they loved him back. I guess there's a lesson to be learned from that little dog. Keep on loving, even the unlovable. No one can resist love forever.

Mugsy's gone now but we will never forget the little dog that loved so well. In my latest Love Inspired, THE LAST BRIDGE HOME, the heroine owns two rat terriers. Just for fun one of them is named Mugsy.

THE LAST BRIDGE HOME

Love Inspired

February 2012

Zak to the rescue…..

Doing the right thing always came easily to firefighter Zak Ashford. So he can't refuse taking in the dying wife he thought divorced him long ago—and watching over her three troubled children. The only person Zak can turn to is his cute neighbor, Jilly Fairmont, who helps him and the children through their loss. And not just because she secretly cares for Zak. Yet it isn't long before Zak realizes what this honest, compassionate woman means to him, too. Can he convince Jilly that his life would be complete if she agreed to share his future?

Series:  Redemption River….where healing flows

 

THE LAST BRIDGE HOME  is available in bookstores everywhere, as well as christianbook.com, harlequin.com, barnesandnoble,com, and amazon.com

Note from Roxanne:  I'm so happy that this book has hit the shelves!  Linda Goodnight is an "auto buy" for me, and I have loved every book in this series.  I read it in one sitting and was only sorry when I reached "The End.'  Don't miss it!

OLD DOGS, WONDERFUL FRIENDS…& A NEW BOOK: HOUSE FULL OF HOPE by MISSY TIPPENS!

Our Babies Are Growing Old

By Missy Tippens

A couple of years ago, I shared with you about my dogs. Well, they're growing older, now, getting a little gray on the muzzle. Slowing down just a bit.

Our oldest dog, the lab, is almost 12! But last week, she just had a good yearly checkup at the vet. All her blood work was normal. I'm so thankful she's healthy! But we're having to start to think about doing doggie diapers. A friend recently shared that they use them for her older dog. I think it's time for a trip to Petsmart.

You know, when you adopt or buy a puppy, you tend to forget it's a life-long commitment. You're excited about the newness. The cuteness. The sweet puppy breath and kisses lapped across your cheek. The precious romps in the back yard.

Then 12 years later, you have a senior dog who needs care just like a human member of the family. I'm ready and willing, though. Our lab has been a contributing member of our family for years, offering…

Unconditional love.

A pretty vicious sounding bark as a great guard dog.

Entertainment for the kids.

Soulful brown eyes and happy ears when she "grins."

A wagging tail to welcome us home every time we arrive.

There's nothing better than a faithful, old dog.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Missy's newest book from Love Inspired just released!

A HOUSE FULL OF HOPE.

Love Inspired

February, 2012

From black sheep to father of four…

Before becoming a Christian, Mark Ryker ran with a bad crowd and broke hearts. Including his father's. Now a successful businessman, Mark has come home to Corinthia, Georgia, to make amends. But no one will forgive him. So when the widowed mother of four renting his dad's run-down house needs help fixing up the place, Mark gets to work. Pretty Hannah Hughes and her sweet kids have him longing to be part of the clan, but Hannah isn't ready to let go of the past. Still, they are working together on a house full of hope—and that's all Mark needs.