Tamera Alexander's Blog, page 17

From a Distance & Rocky Mtn Chocolate GIVEAWAY

Three readers will each receive a copy of From a Distance, Timber Ridge Reflections book 1, plus delicious Rocky Mountain Chocolate to enjoy as they read... 



USA Mailing Address only please, due to postage costs
The only mandatory option is that you comment on this blogpost. See inside the Rafflecopter box for instructions about what you need to comment on (can't wait to read your responses!).

All other options are "as you wish."
To earn 10 extra chances…
You receive 10 EXTRA CHANCES TO WIN each time you post an online review of one of my books. Because––like chocolate (and yes, Southern biscuits too!)––"word of mouth" marketing is still the best there is.

a Rafflecopter giveaway
About From a Distance: 


Determined to become one of the country's premier newspaper photographers, Elizabeth Westbrook travels to the Colorado Territory to capture the grandeur of the mountains surrounding the remote town of Timber Ridge. She hopes, too, that the cool, dry air of Colorado, and its renowned hot springs, will cure the mysterious illness that threatens her career, and her life.

Daniel Ranslett, a former Confederate sharpshooter, is a man shackled by his past, and he'll do anything to protect his land, and his solitude. When an outspoken Yankee photographer captures an image that appears key to solving a murder, putting herself in danger, Daniel is called upon to repay a debt. He's a man of his word, but repaying that debt could bring secrets from his past to light.

Forced on a perilous journey together, Daniel and Elizabeth's lives intertwine in ways neither could have imagined when first they met . . . from a distance.


Best wishes, and with all the books out there to read, thanks for choosing to read mine…

To Whisper Her Name releases in Germany

Wie ein Flüstern im Wind
 (Like a Whisper in the Wind)

To Whisper Her Name (Wie ein Flüstern im Wind, or Like a Whisper in the Wind, is the German title), releases in Germany this month and I couldn't be more thrilled. I love connecting with my German readers and am excited to share that Francke, my German publisher, has invited me to come for a visit next summer.

So get ready, my German friends, next June I'm headed your way! More details once we get them confirmed, but I'm grateful to Francke for the kind invitation, and I'm looking forward to meeting my readers in Germany.

Read a sample of Wie ein Flüstern im Wind

Watch the German trailer for Wie ein Flüstern im Wind…




Now here it is in English… 


Blessings on your day…

Winners of the Southern at Heart Giveaway

Thanks to everyone who entered the Southern at Heart Giveaway! 
I loved learning what you love most about fall. We share many common "favorites" of this season.




Congratulations to the two readers who won a copy of A Lasting Impression and Loveless Biscuits & Jam:

Mary Calhoun
and 
Susan Brown Hatcher

Mary and Susan, I've already emailed you requesting your snail mail address as well as your favorite kind of Loveless jam. Let me know and we'll get your package in the mail to you.
And to everyone… 
I'm announcing a new giveaway tomorrow so be sure to check back. 
Blessings, and hope you're enjoying the holiday.

Eleanor Braddock's Pumpkin Bread

I made pumpkin bread yesterday - yum! - and my house still smells cozy and fallish… 


Eleanor Braddock's Pumpkin Bread
~ recipe below ~ 




This is a recipe I've had for many, many years, and that my heroine Eleanor Braddock makes in A Beauty So Rare , the second Belmont Mansion novel. I'm finishing rewrites on that novel now! 

Eleanor loves to cook and bake so this book is chock-full of scrumptious Southern delights. Can't wait to share Eleanor's story (and her cooking!) with you. 


What recipe do you make that says "fall" to you? 





Eleanor Braddock’s Pumpkin Bread

3 cups plain flour
3 cups white sugar*
½ tsp baking powder
1 ½ tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp each cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg
1 cup oil
1 cup water
1 15-ounce can pumpkin
4 eggs
1 cup chopped nuts

Mix dry ingredients first, then blend in the rest. Bake in two greased and floured loaf pans for 50 minutes at 350. Check for doneness. Don’t overbake.

*I bake with Xylitol, which is a naturally occurring sugar substitute found in most plant sugar substitute, and it bakes like a dream! Great for diabetics and if you’re looking to lower calories.

More about A Beauty So Rare
(April 2014)


A Beauty So Rare available for pre-order now

Read an excerpt from A Lasting Impression Eleanor Braddock, a spinster––plain and practical, no stunning Southern beauty--
has long since dismissed any hope of marriage. But when a dying soldier whispers his final words, she believes her life can still have meaning and determines to find his widow. 

But this compassionate deed takes a harsh turn, and Eleanor finds herself dependent upon the richest woman in American and the most despised woman in Nashville--her aunt, Adelicia Acklen, mistress of Belmont Mansion. A clandestine act of kindness leads Eleanor to an unlikely path for her life--building a home for destitute widows and children from the Civil War. And while Eleanor knows her own heart, she also knows her aunt will never approve.

Rudolf Marcus Gottfried, Archduke of the House of Habsburg and fourth in line to the Austrian throne, arrives in Nashville in search of a life he determines, instead of one determined for him. Collaborating with botanist Luther Burbank, Marcus seeks to combine his own passion for nature with his expertise in architecture. But his plans to incorporate natural beauty into the design of the widow's and children's home run contrary to the wishes of practical, frugal Eleanor, who sees his ideas as costly nonsense.

Yet as the construction project continues, Marcus and Eleanor find common ground--and a love neither of them expected. But Marcus is not the man Adelicia has chosen for Eleanor to marry, and even if he were, someone who knows Marcus's secrets is about to reveal them all.

Reader pictures from Belle Meade Plantation and Belmont Mansion

How I love it when readers visit Belle Meade Plantation (setting of To Whisper Her Name ) or Belmont Mansion (setting of A Lasting Impression ), and when you share your pictures with me! Keep 'em coming! Thanks so much, Jeanne Alfveby Crea!!



Note from Jeanne:
LOVED your book TO WHISPER HER NAME and I told the folks at Belle Meade that your book was the reason for our visit. Would not have known about it had it not been the setting for your book! My daughter and I enjoyed our tour along the way on our road trip from MN to FL. Thank you for your beautiful stories!

Thank you, Jeanne, for reading and for visiting Belle Meade.

Anyone else have a picture? I'd love for you to post it on my Facebook Page.

Beautiful little vintage steamer trunk

My latest find at the Nashville Flea Market…


A pretty little vintage steamer trunk. The real trick was convincing my husband that this purchase was ALLLL about the "downsizing" we've agreed to do. Ahem…



The inside has a tad of water damage and signs of wear (of course), but is in really great shape, considering. I've wanted one like this for a long time. This color, too. 
And there it was…just sitting there, waiting for me this weekend at the Nashville Flea Market (that's held on the fourth weekend of every month). Have you been to it?




Couldn't resist this one. Jack was just sitting there watching.




And a close up. It's been "loved" back into better shape with some paint and wax through the years. And still has both leather handles. Now to find a special place for it in the house.



I love the bottom of the old steamer trunk, too. Wonder where all it's been… If only "bottoms" could talk! 

Do you love "flea marketing" too? 

Tour of Belle Meade Plantation

Join me on a personal tour of the Belle Meade Plantation, the setting of To Whisper Her Name…




I'm already working on the second book in this series and am so grateful to have the chance to share the history of this place and of the real people who lived––and died––there.

More about this book
If you've been to Belle Meade and have a picture of yourself there, please share it on my Facebook Page! I'd love to see you at Belle Meade.

Do you love Antique Dolls?

If you do… 
Then you'll love author Cathy Hake's post today as she shares on Writes of Passage about her 1897 Heurbach doll that still wears her original peach-colored dress. Beautiful! Any other doll collectors among us?  Young Girl Holding a Dollby Fritz Zuber-Buhler (1822-1896)View more of his beautiful paintings

Join us at Writes of Passage a group blog with 12 bestselling historical authors

Revealed, Fountain Creek Chronicles

If given a single wish, Matthew Taylor would turn back time and right a grievous wrong. If given a second wish…he would make Annabelle Grayson pay. 

Click for more
It's fun to go back and revisit stories written years ago. It's like visiting old friends. Revealed is a favorite of mine because of the oh-so-fun-to-write sarcastic banter between the two lead characters, Matthew and Annabelle. I promise you, at times I could actually "hear" them in my head. I'd love to write a sequel to this series. Someday! 

About Revealed , the second Fountain Creek Chronicles novel and winner of the 2007 RITA Award for Best Inspirational Romance:

Annabelle Grayson has been given a second chance at life, but she can't claim it with the cloud of her past hanging over her in Willow Springs. After her husband dies, she advertises for a trail guide to accompany her to land waiting for her in Idaho—and a most unlikely candidate applies for the job.

Matthew Taylor is a man on the run, with consequences of past mistakes pursuing him at every turn. Meeting Annabelle Grayson the first time was unpleasant enough, but when she crosses his path again, her presence in his life—and what she reveals—is devastating. 

Have you read  Revealed ? Or Rekindled and  Remembered , the other two books in the Fountain Creek Chronicles series?

A little bit of heaven…down here

Last week, I had the absolute delight of enjoying dinner with friends and family…
Some of these dear friends we hadn't seen in 20+ years so it was really more of a mini-reunion. But first…some background.
In the picture below on the left, you'll see my precious mother-in-law, Claudette Harris Alexander (second from the left), with her college buddies, and Claudette's first grandchild, Brittney. These four ladies were roommates at Harding University (College, back then) in the 1950s. Those four friendships continued on long after that until, in 1995, Claudette passed into eternity very unexpectedly following a brain aneurysm. She was 58 years young (only six years older than me now, sobering).
~ Click the pics to make them larger ~ 
As the years passed, Nadine, Clara Nell, and Ramona continued to meet and travel, as Claudette would have wanted them to. So when the gals called and said they were going to be in Nashville and could they please come by and see us so they could "have a little of Claudette among them this trip," we were thrilled. You'll notice Brittney is a little older in the picture on the right. But we thought it appropriate to capture an image similar to the one years ago. : )
And something fun about how God weaves lives together…
Claudette's roommate, Clara Nell (and her late husband, John) were also very good friends of my parents and family growing up in Atlanta. Dad & Mom and John & Clara Nell used to go on trips together. Yet we never knew the "Clara Nell and Claudette connection" until my parents met Joe's parents at my college graduation (because Claudette was my girl's club sponsor at Harding). Small world, huh?
When I hugged Clara Nell last week…
It felt a little like what I imagine it's going to be like when believers in Christ are finally all gathered Home. So I hugged her again! It was one of those hugs that just lingers, you know? When you realize you're not just holding a person, you're holding a life of memories and of shared loves that will last long after we're all gone. That will last throughout eternity. What a blessing we have in Christ!
A few more pictures…


Denise is mom to Alex and Claudette,and doesn't she look like her mother, Claudette!?



And finally, David (Denise's husband) and Alex
who need no orange background, LOL!
We had lasagna (my mom's recipe) with all the fixings. But I forgot to take pics of that. However! I got the important part: DESSERT! 

Want the Belle Meade Carrot Recipe?


That evening was a little bit of heaven down here. It's a night I'm still treasuring, and will for a long time to come.
When you and your family and friends get together, what's it like? Are y'all huggers? Do y'all all talk at once? Is there lots of laughter and storytelling? What about food? What's a favorite meal you like to fix for those occasions? I love knowing more about you and your families!
And don't forget the SOUTHERN AT HEART GIVEAWAY!