Erica Vetsch's Blog, page 156

Conspiracy of Silence - By, @RonieKendig - AMAZING new suspense fiction from @Bethany_House Publishers! #Giveaway included!

Jaime here! I have a special affinity for this novel. Mainly, because I love it's author, to death, but also because the hero is loosely based off of my son. What can I say, Ronie has good taste in boys? :) In fact, when she was writing it, I'd send her picture messages of my 4 yr. old flexing his muscles, dressed in camo, playing air guitar, or trying to look man-tough. Basically, my son was "Tox" (the book's hero) as a child.

If you haven't read Ronie Kendig's novels, now is a fantastic time to start! Conspiracy of Silence has just the right balance of romance, suspense, military, and history! Cole "Tox" Russell is sort of a military version of Indiana Jones meets American Sniper.

AND! If you're like, "not interested in military fiction", stop that! There's some delectable romance included and what's better than a hero wielding a weapon, a haunted soul, and tough-guy persona that seriously needs a woman's touch??

I love, love, love this book! It's on my list of BEST READS OF 2016. So to celebrate it, I'm giving away a copy!!! :) Enter to win and don't miss out on the grown up version of my Peter Pan. :)


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Assembling the Cast of Characters

Gabrielle Here:

I have just begun writing my twelfth novel. It's almost hard to believe! This story will be published with Love Inspired Historical in December, but it's yet-to-be-titled. Once I finish it, and my editor reads it, we'll toss some ideas back and forth until we come to a title we both like.

This will be the third novel in the Little Falls Legacy series, so some of the characters are carried over from the first two books, while some are new. The hero in this story is Reverend Ben Lahaye who was introduced in book #1, A Family Arrangement, and who plays a role in book #2, Inherited: Unexpected Family (releases in August). In both stories, Ben is instrumental in getting the reluctant hero and heroine together, so in book #3, it's his turn to get his happily-ever-after.

I always start with an actor or actress in mind when I create characters. I try to find one that fits my idea for looks and personality, based on movies I've seen them in.

Since I only do this for heroes and heroines, I didn't have an actor for Ben until it was time to write his story. Since Ben is the son of a French fur trader and an Ojibwe mother, he needed to have some Native American features. I scoured the web until I found just the right man. His name is Jerry Wolf. He's an actor I'd never heard of, but he looks a lot like I imagine Ben to look.


The heroine in book #3 is named Emmy Wilkes. I'm just getting to know her, but she's a deeply wounded woman who has set out on her own to see the west. She's strong, brave, and very feminine. I picture Jennifer Morrison who plays Emma from Once Upon a Time (the name was just a coincidence).


There are twin boys in this story who are orphaned and taken in by Ben. They will be based on my own twin boys, which should be fun. I'm changing their names, but everything else will remain the same about their looks and personalities. I used my four children as personality templates in A Mother in the Making, my first Love Inspired Historical, and those as some of my very favorite characters ever.

Here are my boys.


My older twin at the age of five, the same age as my character Zebulon in book #3.


My second twin who will be the template for my character Levi in book #3.

I just wrote the first scene of book #3 tonight, and I'm already in love with this story and these characters. I'll share more in the coming weeks, but wanted to give you a sneak peek at what I'm working on.

Your Turn: When you read a story, do you think of the characters' looks based on front covers? Or do you pick actors/actresses to keep in mind while you read? 

Fun side note: My author photo was taken the same day as the pictures of my twins. :)

Gabrielle Meyer
Find me on Facebook
Find me on Pinterest
Find me on Twitter
Find me on Amazon
Find me on Goodreads
Find me on My Website
Sign up for My Newsletter

Heroes and Heroines - a little differently

Erica here:

Recently I tackled a new project, one that is going to take me years to complete.

Those of you who know me, know that I like to write fiction, to sew, to crochet, and to quilt. But did you also know that I like to cross-stitch?

So, awhile back, while looking online at cross-stitch patterns (You mostly have to find them online because cross-stitch has fallen out of fashion in recent years and stores just don't carry the supplies and patterns like they used to.) I came across a site called Heaven and Earth Designs.

It was as if I had fallen down a rabbit hole! I might've been gone for days!

While there, I found the work of Aimee Stewart, and I loved her patterns! I picked one out, and this last week, I started it.


This one is called Heroes and Heroines, and I think it is stunning! But it is HUGE. And the stitches are tiny. (This photo doesn't even show the entire thing. The part I am working on right now is the stitched frame of the piece and doesn't appear in the picture.)


This is the first page of the pattern...and there are 185 pages! The pattern calls for 240 different colors of floss! I'm working it on 25 count cross-stitch fabric...that's 25 stitches per inch, and when it's done, it will be 40x29 inches.


This is how far I've gotten. :) And you can bet I work using a magnifying glass and strong light! You might also notice that I am using a fabric that has grids. This is the first time I've used something like this, and it is WONDERFUL! There are 100 stitches in each of those little squares, 10x10, and it is extremely helpful and makes counting and stitching in the right spot so much easier! I found the fabric on Etsy from a place called Tinge of Color Fabrics. I would not want to tackle this project without the gridded fabric, and the gray lines will rinse out with cold water and not show later

I have years of stitching ahead of me. I worked it out that if I put 1000 stitches a day on the project every day for two years I would still not be finished.

But you know what? I don't mind. I enjoy the stitching, and I love the subject matter, and I always know what I'll be working on.

I've had fun figuring out who the heroes and heroines are in the pattern. There are twelve couples. Can you name them? (Click on the picture above to make it larger.)

SIGN UP FOR MY NEWSLETTER
Find me on AMAZON.COM
Find me on FACEBOOK

@EricaVetsch book launch and #giveaway

I read a great book this weekend, by our own Erica Vetsch! :) What fun it was to curl up with her latest novel and book baby. I thoroughly enjoyed it, like I always do with any emblazoned with Erica's name on the front.

So to help her celebrate, I'm giving away a copy of her novel! (Contest closes 1/15/2017 - USA only). Sign up for my newsletter and you'll be entered to win. If you're already signed up, then you're automatically entered!

Meanwhile, in the comments, tell me YOUR favorite Erica Vetsch book and help us help Erica celebrate this fun new book launch!





_________________________________________

Professional coffee drinker & ECPA/Publisher's Weekly best-selling author, Jaime Jo Wright resides in the hills of Wisconsin writing spirited turn-of-the-century romance stained with suspense. Coffee fuels her snarky personality. She lives in Neverland with her Cap’n Hook who stole her heart and will not give it back, their little fairy TinkerBell, and a very mischievous Peter Pan. The foursome embark on scores of adventure that only make her fall more wildly in love with romance and intrigue.Jaime lives in dreamland, exists in reality, and invites you to join her adventures atjaimejowright.com.
Web site: www.jaimejowright.com 
Facebook: www.facebook.com/jaimejowright
Twitter: www.twitter.com/jaimejowright 
Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/jaimejowright 
Instagram: www.Instagram.com/jaimejowright 
Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/author/show/13916081.Jaime_Jo_Wright
Periscope: @jaimejowright

Rangers & Indians & Tories... Oh My!

Anne here.
Usually my fiction research takes me to late 19th century times and places. For my debut story coming out in July I've spent most of the last six months researching the adult education movement called Chautauqua that swept the nation beginning in Chautauqua, New York. Stay tuned, more on that in future blogs and newsletters!

But this week while waiting on returned edits, I dove back into genealogy research that took me to my husband's 6x great grandfather, Reuben Place's first hand accounts of his experiences during the Revolutionary War. I was perched on the edge of my comfy chair, heart nearly pounding as I read about forts, indians, rangers, and tories on the banks of the Delaware River. (You know, the river George Washington crossed...)

When congress passed a law in 1832 to  ensure pension payments to war veterans, many from the revolution were very aged and living further west on the frontier than during the days of battle. They were required to testify in court to verify their identity and proof of their years of service. The affidavits they presented often required them to relate battle stories and have others testify to their character and veracity.

Reuben was 88 years old in 1851 when he testified, but I'm sure he very much remembered the battles of 1777 and 1778 when he wore Pennsylvania's 5th Battalion green uniform that was classic for the Rangers of the Continental Army. He was only fifteen years old!

The old fashioned script of the document I found on Fold3.com tells how the indians often raided the settlers, forcing them to flee to the protection of the nearby forts. The twenty-one pages of his account tell in his words his duties that included guarding the fort, protecting women and children who fled there, and battle against the Indians and Tories. He helped to build a wing of Bill Smith's fort made of pitch pine logs.

He relates being involved in the battle of Peenpack when Butler led the Indians in a brutal attack. As close as I can decipher, Reuben is referring to the battle at Minisink Valley. In his words, he states that Butler was "one of whose parents were a negro and an Indian." In fact, the Minisink Valley Historical Society remembers the man and the battle on their memorial website: "this raid was the second Minisink raid in July of 1779 led by Joseph Brant, a Dartmouth-educated Mohawk warrior commissioned a colonel in the British Army. The actual attack on the settlements at Minisink was destructive enough, but it was the ensuing Battle of Minisink, in which nearly fifty New York and New Jersey militiamen lost their lives, that really sent shockwaves of loss and grief though the frontier population along the Delaware."

Reuben recalls the casualties were so many, and the weather so hot, that being ordered to return to the battle field later in order to bury the dead, the stench was unbearable and prevented them from completing much of the task. Though the numbers of the account vary, Reuben's account relates the the battle started with over three hundred men, and history recounts that only about forty-five to fifty men remained, battling as they retreated while only seven of Butler's men were killed. Reuben recounts "that while in performance of his duty as a Ranger at or near Bill Smith's fort they were attacked by a superior form of Indians and retreated through the fields of rye which were ripe and some already harvested, and were hotly pursued by the Indians, but accomplished the retreat safely."

Reuben Place's Account
The Minisink Valley Historical Society's website says of the heroes:

"Today the Minisink Battleground Park is hallowed ground where so many patriots fell in defense of an ideal - liberty. They were passionate men who perished here, a long distance from their farms, their families and friends. Because of their sacrifice and that of thousands of other patriots during the American War for Independence, our nation was born."


Of the old days of battling for independence, Reuben recounted in 1851: "having served to the close of the war, he never received a written order of discharge, and that he never received one cent of pay as compensation for his services."  But after the final assessment, Reuben Place was in fact granted a full pension for the remainder of his life.

I'm so incredibly amazed at the raw scale of sacrifice made during those days.
The descriptions of intense risk to life and liberty actually had my heart pounding as I deciphered my way through the old story. I only wish we had such descriptions of the times from the women who lived there as well. I really cannot imagine.

But I'm certainly tempted to write a fictional story of revolutionary times!
We could all stand to imagine more realistically how it may have been.
We could all stand to glean lessons we've perhaps forgotten.
~~~~~~
Readers:If you were going to read a fiction based on this account, what kind of a story would you imagine?Do you read stories from the colonial era?Have you ever visited a colonial battle site? (I've visited Civil War sites, but now this is on my bucket list!)-------------Blog post by Anne Love-




Writer of Historical Romance inspired by her family roots. 



Nurse Practitioner by day. 



Wife, mother, writer by night. 



Coffee drinker--any time.

Find me at: www.anneloveauthor.com


Find me on:FacebookFind me on: PinterestFind me on: Goodreads
Find me on: Twitter
Find me on: Instagram

That Nasty Comparison Trap

A few weeks ago I was scanning Facebook and I came across a friend's post that made me pause. It was a picture of her four children sitting around their dining room table, grins and frosting spread across their faces. The caption said: "Yesterday since the kids had an early release day we decorated sugar cookies."

My first thought: "Yesterday, when we had an early release day, I didn't take time to decorate sugar cookies--my kids watched Christmas movies while I packed. What's wrong with me? Why don't I make memories like this with my children? Why am I so busy all the time? What kind of experiences will my children remember from childhood?"

And then, I glanced over and met the big green eyes of my excited ten-year-old daughter, Maryn. She grinned and wiggled her shoulders in excitement, and then looked back down at the book she was reading.

Where were we? Sitting in an airplane on the tarmac, waiting for our flight to Phoenix to take off.

And I wanted to hit myself upside the head for falling into yet another comparison trap.


I was in an airplane. On my way to Arizona. With my daughter. Making a memory she would carry with her for the rest of her life. My husband and I had made a conscious decision to spend the extra money to give her an experience most children her age aren't getting.

Because this is our life. These are our experiences. We are making the most of our resources and time and giving our children what we believe is best for them. I'm a writer and my friend was releasing her debut novel in Arizona. We were going to help her celebrate this awesome achievement. How many children can say they've had that experience?





No. I'm not a baker (the thought of gathering my children around the table to decorate cookies makes me squirm). I'm a writer who lives and breathes books. I love history. I'm passionate about homeschooling. I love my community. I'm a Christ-follower. I have a large extended family. We live on the Mississippi River and love to spend time with close friends. What does that mean for my children's experiences? It means I read to them, dedicate books to them, write them into the characters on my pages. I take them to cool historic sites and museums all over the state and country. I spend hours and hours with my children while we do schoolwork. We volunteer in our community, go to local shops, spend time at the library, play in the parks, take historic walking tours. We go to church, where we fellowship with like-minded believers and where my children are being brought up in the ways of our faith. We spend hours and hours on the Mississippi in the summer months and we host lots of family parties at our house throughout the year.

I may not be a baker, and my children might not have memories of sitting around the table decorating cookies, but they will have memories. Ones specially-tailored to our unique life.

But that's the trouble with the comparison trap. Instead of focusing on what we're doing right, and what God created us to do, we're beating ourselves up when we see others doing things we "think" we should be doing. Maybe we even want to do them, but our lives aren't conducive to what they're doing. It stresses us out and makes us feel guilty, adding more and more to our already full plate. Instead of doing some things well, we're doing all things half-hearted.

Comparison is a tricky, deceptive thing. It causes us to give ourselves a hard time for not doing enough. Doing too much. Spending too much. Not spending enough. Working too hard. Not working hard enough. Playing too much. Not playing enough. Traveling too much. Not traveling enough. The list goes on and on.

So I say STOP! Stop comparing yourself. Stop looking at your friends (or acquaintances) and finding yourself lacking. You are a one-of-a-kind person. Specifically-tailored by God for the purpose He has decided.

If you're a baker, bake! If you're a writer, write! If you're a teacher, teach! And appreciate what you have to offer to your children, your spouse, your friends, and the world because of what you do and who you are.

Don't you dare compare yourself to my list, either. Make your own list and realize you're doing amazing things with your life. Yes, we all have areas we need to improve--but give yourself a break and realize all of us fall into the comparison trap from time to time.

As 2017 begins, I challenge you to make a list of all that you do. Sit down, pull out your laptop or a pad of paper, and write away. I guarantee you'll be amazed--and maybe a little tired--when you realize you're already doing a lot of awesome things. I've found people are quick to share their faults and shortcomings, but they hesitate when you ask them to share their strengths and what they like about themselves. Don't hesitate. Start appreciating what you are doing and then relax. You're awesome just the way you are.

I'd love to hear what you do well. Come on, don't be shy! I'm not asking you to boast, but to be honest with yourself and see that what you're doing is amazing.

Gabrielle Meyer
Find me on Facebook
Find me on Pinterest
Find me on Twitter
Find me on Amazon
Find me on Goodreads
Find me on My Website
Sign up for My Newsletter

A Book Birthday

This past Sunday marked release day for the first book in a new series from Barbour Publishing: My Heart Belongs in Fort Bliss, Texas: Priscilla's Reveille

I'm thrilled that this book is getting nice reviews from both professional outlets as well as from early readers. Romantic Times Book Reviews gave it four stars, and Publisher's Weekly was most complimentary.

Christian Market Review has nice things to say as well.



This book...the writing of it at least...is a story of perseverance through a hard time. Several years ago I went through a publishing drought where I had no new contracts, nothing coming out, and little happening on my writing front. My agent, in addition to encouraging me, asked me what I needed from her, how she could help. I asked her for a deadline. I needed a goal to aim at, something to work towards. So she said, "Fine, get a manuscript on my desk by May 1st."

So I set to work, and the manuscript I completed was My Heart Belongs in Fort Bliss, TX. Of course it wasn't called that at the time...and it wasn't actually set in Texas. It was set at Fort Larned, KS on the Sante Fe Trail.

I was happy when Barbour picked up the story to launch their new line of historical romances. I reworked the setting to one they felt would be better for the line, and while there were some challenges, I think it rounded into form.

The lesson for me was that no writing is ever wasted, and if I hadn't had the writing drought, I wouldn't have written Priscilla's and Elliot's story and had it available when Barbour came calling.

To celebrate the launch of both this book and the new line, the My Heart Belongs In, the authors of the first books in the series are throwing a Facebook Launch Party. You can find the details by clicking on the link below.

https://www.facebook.com/events/1160977390623950/

Last Friday, I held a giveaway for My Heart Belongs in Fort Bliss, TX, and the winner (chosen through random.org) is Bonnie Roof!  Congrats, Bonnie! I will get your book to you ASAP!

SIGN UP FOR MY NEWSLETTER
Find me on AMAZON.COM
Find me on FACEBOOK

Why You Shouldn't Set New Year's Goals

Are you a New Year's goal setter? Resolution maker? Word-picker? (As in: pick a word to define your upcoming year, like "Grace" or "Dependence")

I'm not. At all. I actually have an argument against the yearly onslaught of goals and resolutions and words for several reasons. So at the risk of stepping on toes, here goes:

 Wrong Perspective - I believe, as human beings, we like to compartmentalize our lives. Especially as Americans, frankly. We like to categorize, plan, color-code, and timeline things. There is a place for this, obviously. I own two planners for work and have an online project management tool for shared projects in our corporation. But there's a difference between organizing what a person must get done versus trying to outline what a person wants to become. Whether it's to lose fifty pounds, to read 75 books in one year, or to reconnect with an estranged loved one, these "goals" when set at New Year's, tend to become weights around our necks. Like nooses. It's why the whole New Year's Resolution idea gets mocked. We rarely meet them. Which means, in short, we're setting huge expectations with an almost inevitable take-rate of failure. The ROI is pretty sad (Return On Investment).

My Dad taught me a valuable lesson as a teenager. One that has formed me for years and brought so much peace and freedom to this becoming as a person. His philosophy was: know Jesus. Yep. That was the big, profound concept that he impressed on me as a child.

Knowing Jesus sounds simplistic and rather broad. It doesn't define a specific goal, or a resolution, or a word, as it relates to a particular life change. But, really, let's face it, when did you ever set a goal/resolution/word and it mapped itself out to the navigation you'd set for it?

My sole purpose in life is a gift from God. He, as my Creator, has given me the purpose of living to honor and to glorify Him with my life, my actions, my beliefs. Life is going to throw curveballs, insert wedges, and tip upside down continuously. But if, like Paul the Apostle stated, I "fix my eyes on Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith", I will already be prepared for the New Year. I don't need anything else. I don't need a specific word (outside of "Jesus"), I don't need a specific goal (lose weight - because if I'm honed in on Jesus he'll probably plant that spark of Holy Spirit conscience when I reach for the apple fritter in a moment of sinful gluttony), and I don't need a word (because why limit God to one lesson or try to squeeze life lessons to fit one word?).

So this year, like last year, and the year before, I'm going to seek Jesus. I have a lot of "goals" to accomplish in regards to daily life. I have things I'd like to do, sure. I'd love to be fifty pounds lighter, to be honest. But I'm ten pounds down already and it was only after I followed my own advice to know Jesus, that I really started hearing His staying voice when I reach for those unhealthy products.

I encourage you to simplify this year. Know Jesus. Put away your color-coded New Year's resolution planner with the map of how it will be achieved (God may have other plans, you know, so why defeat yourself with your own plan?). Set aside your goals from your focus and put Jesus in the center. Throw away the one-word prison and let Jesus bring in a gazillion beautiful words.

Looking back on 2016, I didn't start the year with a word, but I love to summarize what the Lord did through my year with the WORDS He supplied: Inspiration, Dream-granting, Healing, Humbling, & Devotion.

I love that list. Because in a New Year, it's really all about what HE can do, not what we want to do. 

So fly free, know Jesus, and watch it unfold . . .

#2017 Let's Do This!

Good Morning 2017!
I don't have a "word" for my year.I have a prayer.I pray, Lord, that You will guide my steps.That You will whisper to my heart, mind, and soul.That in Your great mercy You will grant health.That by Your power and will, the nations will have peace.That by Your Spirit, doors will be opened and closed.That joy should mark the days of this year.That love should weave through all the seasons.That You, oh Lord, will abide with Your people.Amen.~~~~~~~~~~Readers:Do you have a "word" for the year?A prayer, a goal, or exciting plans?Please share!-------------Blog post by Anne Love-




Writer of Historical Romance inspired by her family roots. 



Nurse Practitioner by day. 



Wife, mother, writer by night. 



Coffee drinker--any time.

Find me at: www.anneloveauthor.com


Find me on:FacebookFind me on: PinterestFind me on: Goodreads
Find me on: Twitter
Find me on: Instagram

Happy New Year!

We here at Coffee Cups & Camisoles wish you the Happiest of New Years!

To celebrate the new year and a new release, I'm giving away a copy of

My Heart Belongs in Fort Bliss, Texas: Priscilla's Reveille.

Just leave a comment telling us how you're planning to celebrate the New Year.



SIGN UP FOR MY NEWSLETTER
Find me on AMAZON.COM
Find me on FACEBOOK