Erica Vetsch's Blog, page 175

Unexpected Twists & Fur Babies

My morning took an unexpected turn. I'm late posting this blog because my plan was to get to the coffee shop around 8:30 and start work. I have a zillion company evals to proof and get back to managers and supervisors. But my cat Maddie, the black one hiding in the blankets in the pic to the left, was hissing and growling and meowing.

She's a normally affectionate cat and one of my two kitty-babies. (I know, it's disgusting how I melt around them) After inspection, her rear left leg is definitely sprained or worse, cracked. She cannot put weight on it. :(

I called my vet-friend who will be helping me take care of her. In the meantime, Maddie has been wrapped in a Tinkerbelle fleece blanket and nestled into her kitty bed in the garage (they're outside cats due to my husband's horrendous allergies, but highly spoiled). Water, food, litter box ....

I'm at the coffee shop now, and I realized something.

I am a closet sap. When it comes to my cats, I turn into an oozing puddle of mush. I want to sweep her up and take her in for Xrays, surgery, steroid shots, whatever . . . but the bank account screams its protests and my country-girl upbringing resonates the words "it's only a cat".

But she's my cat. So I'm hoping today, Maddie is comfy and cozy. She has been given some pain medication per the instructions of my vet friend. I'd sure like to sit in a lazy boy chair today with Maddie on my lap, though. Poor baby.

Do you have a pet? A fur baby? Something that melts your stiff exterior into a pile of goop?

____________________________________________________

Professional coffee drinker, Jaime Jo Wright, resides in the hills of Wisconsin. She loves to write spirited turn-of-the-century romance, stained with suspense. Her day job finds her as a Director of Sales & Development. She’s wife to a rock climbing, bow-hunting Pre-K teacher, mom to a coffee-drinking little girl, and a little boy she fondly refers to as her mischievous “Peter Pan”. Jaime completes her persona by being an admitted social media junkie and coffee snob. She is a member of ACFW and has the best writing sisters EVER!

"The Cowgirl's Lasso", The Cowboy Bride's Novella Collection - Barbour Publishing - COMING MARCH 2016

"Gold Haven Heiress", California Gold Rush Romance Collection - Barbour Publishing - COMING AUGUST 2016

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The Great Reveal...

...and the day after.

Yesterday was Easter. The day the stone was rolled away, when early in the morning, Mary and three others came to the tomb.

The great reveal.
All that Jesus had said to that day, was revealed in his resurrection.
I can scarcely comprehend how all of history pointed to this moment.
Even less, I can hardly wrap my mind around, or make my heart understand the depths of his love.


I wonder...what was it like to be Mary waking up Monday morning after he had appeared?

I think I would pinch myself and wonder what crazy thing I'd just been a witness to.
I would wonder if it had all been real or imagined.
I would need to go find him again just to be sure I hadn't gone off my rocker.
I would ask him to tell me one more time, as he'd told those on the road to Emeaus, all that had been said, promised, told about the Messiah and how God had plainly completed His plan for my rescue.
For the rescue of the world.

If I had been Mary waking up the next morning...
I think I would open my eyes from slumber and just relive and remember all that he'd said and done.
I would wonder how I had not seen the forrest for all the trees.
I would be worried that in telling everyone about the big picture, the big story, that I might leave out an important detail.
I would want him to stick around and keep explaining and retelling the story until I was sure I'd gotten all right.
I would be afraid of telling the story, and more afraid not to tell it.

But more than anything, I'd wonder if everyone would really and truly get just how much he loved.
How deep, how wide, and wonderful his love is.

I'd wonder if those who heard the story would really and truly get how he rocked the foundations of the unseen universe and set straight a path for victory over death, decay, bondage, sickness, sadness, anger, and hatred.

I'd remember the night when Peter wanted to usher in an earthly reign, a throne for Jesus that would have far limited his eternal rule over the Evil One in a way I could never have understood that night.

I'd want the world to know the look, the love in Him when he looked at me in the garden yesterday morning--how in a moment of revelation--I knew everything he'd said was true--how in one moment, such revelation changed everything forever.

I would hope that moment of revelation....could come to everyone...

_____
Luke 24:1 &2 But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared. And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb...
-------------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.


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Gasp! Easter & I Forgot!

That moment you realize Easter is upon you and you are frazzled, weary, but SOOOO grateful. Because there is no reason not to be thankful in all things. Easy for me to say? Perhaps. Yet I look at the cross and there it is. 
What does Easter mean to you? 
Leave a comment and I'll enter you to win some coffee and a great read by Dani Pettrey! 

#Throwback Thursday: The Spirit of St. Louis

I'm traveling home today from a week vacation in Hawaii. Next week, I'll share some of the highlights.

For now, here's a little Throwback Thursday. Last year, I took my girls to Washington, D.C. to see The Spirit of St. Louis on the ground. This plane is special to me, because it was flown by Charles A. Lindbergh, the first person to fly solo and non-stop across the Atlantic Ocean. Charles grew up in my hometown and I worked at the Charles A. Lindbergh Historic Site for ten years.

Here I am with my daughters in April 2015 with
The Spirit of St. Louis behind us.In 2001 I visited the National Air and Space Museum for the first time with my sister, Andrea, who also worked at the Lindbergh Historic Site. I love this picture, because we were so excited to be standing here, and several people looked at us with very strange expressions. :)
Here I am with my sister in October 2001 with
The Spirit of St. Louis behind us.I'd love to know what favorite place you've visited with friends or family that holds significant value. Have you been back more than once?

Gabrielle Meyer
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New Scrapbook Pages & A New Book Announcement!

Erica Here: Warning, this post is VERY image heavy. :)

As some of you know, whenever I have a writing milestone or new book out, I like to create a page in my writing scrapbook to commemorate the event. For the past little while, my printer has been on the fritz, so I have gotten behind in creating new pages. However, with a brand new printer installed, it was time to catch up. Many thanks to my daughter, Heather, for playing scrapbook with me and helping create so many new pages for the book. :)

If you would like to see previous pages in the scrapbook, check out my posts about it on my old blog: http://onthewritepath.blogspot.com/search?q=scrapbook






Here is the completed page for The Cactus Creek Challenge! We had created one previously, but we didn't have the cover art, and the old page didn't match AT ALL! I love what Heather did with this one. She included all the fun elements of the story, even a wedding cake and a horse to represent a couple of subplots.


She included the fact that The Cactus Creek Challenge received a Publisher's Weekly Starred Review!! 


I love that she included a little picture of an outhouse, since the exploding outhouse scene is one of my favorites in the book!


This page is for my RedBud/Serenade novella The Trail Boss's Bride. there are two covers, since it was released as part of a collection and also as a single title. 



"Little Critter" is what the cowboys in The Trail Boss's Bride call the baby girl who is born during the story. 



I especially love the picture frame sticker I found and how the book cover fit right in! :)



This page is to commemorate the repackaged/reissued titles I've had recently. The Love is Patient and Where the Heart Is collections feature four of my novellas that originally appeared in the Sagebrush Knights Collection.



I left space on this page for the cover art for The Log Cabin Christmas Collection, which will release in large print through Thorndike/Ulverscroft soon!



This is a page of newspaper clippings and catalog entries that I've been collecting. (In one of the headlines my last name is misspelled. :D )



This page has been almost completed for awhile. It just lacked cover art. 



I did add a couple of elements, a row of sewing themed buttons and a sticker of a dress-maker's dummy, since my heroine is a seamstress in the story.



Cover art, on a 'flannel shirt inspired' plaid paper completed this page.



I just love these little dresses. They represent the three adorable little girls that Bear gets dropped into his lap. Each dress has its own little embellishment, lace, a flower, a belt...Heather did a great job with this page.



Cover art for The Most Eligible Bachelor Collection. 



The title of my novella, written in hieroglyphs. 



Art supplies, since my heroine is an accomplished artist.



Here is the page for His Prairie Sweetheart! Snowflakes!!! The original title was The Snowflake Bride, since the story takes place in the fictional town of Snowflake, Minnesota. 



I love what Heather did with this page. She included so many story elements. A Norwegian flag, since Snowflake is a mostly Norwegian settlement, a photo of Renee Chaw's amazing collie who inspired the character Captain in the book, schoolhouse touches, since the heroine is a schoolteacher, and a quote from Hans Christian Anderson that embodies the story. "Where words fail, music speaks." When Savannah can't communicate with her Norwegian-speaking pupils, she decides to use music to help them learn. It's PERFECT!



She also included across the bottom "Romantic Times Top Pick! Four & a Half Stars" because That Happened This Week! :D 



And now for an announcement!!!! 

I have a new book releasing in January of 2017!

I am thrilled to launch a new line of historical fiction for Barbour Publishing. The books are considered 'destination romances' and will all be titled according to location as "My Heart Belongs In..."

My story is set in Fort Bliss, Texas, and is titled Priscilla's Reveille.

Here is a bit about the book:

Fashion artist Priscilla Hutchens has a grudge against the army. The military has ruined her family and taken from her the people she holds most dear. When her niece and nephew are left orphaned at Fort Bliss, Texas, she is on a mission to get custody of them as soon as possible. There’s just one thing standing in the way. The post surgeon, Major Elliot Ryder, who also has a claim to the children. They’ll cross swords, but each will have to lay down arms if they’re to find a lasting peace and the love and family both are longing for.



Isn't the cover art stunning? The Franklin Mountains in the background, and a field of Mexican poppies...this is just what the desert around Fort Bliss would've looked like in the 1870's after a rain. 



This is Major Ryder, the hero of the story. (Actually, it's a photograph of a post physician who served at Fort Larned, Kansas in the 1870's. I think he looks like Kurt Russell as Wyatt Earp in Tombstone, don't you?) Handsome and brave! :)



Each of the small photographs pertains to the story. The heroine is a catalog artist for a women's fashion magazine in the east, so I included a picture from a Godey's Ladies' Book from the 1870's. The flower photograph is because the hero is working on an herbal journal of medicinal plants in the American West. The heroine agrees to do the drawings for the journal. And the bottom picture is of the current reproduction museum of Old Fort Bliss, in El Paso, Texas. This is what the fort would've looked like in the 1870's.



The quote to the left is from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and says "It is difficult to know at what moment love begins; it is less difficult to know that it has begun."  

There are a couple more pages in the works, and I will share that news as soon as I can, but for now, this was a big day of scrap-booking and laughter and celebrating all the blessings God is pouring on my writing life.


Do you Scrap-book?


Which of the pages above is your favorite?



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Tricky, Mixed-Up Romance @BarbourBuzz - from Susanne Dietze

Today, I'm THRILLED to have Susanne Dietze to fill in for me on this hectic week at my job. She is a fellow author in The Cowboy's Bride novella collection, and I figured it was high time I stopped yakking about me and highlight one of my fellow contributors. I gave Susie the floor for today, so here is this beautiful soul ... ENJOY
________________________________________
Thanks for inviting me to Coffee Cups & Camisoles, Jaime! I am delighted to be in The Cowboy’s Bride Collection with you, and I appreciate you asking about the inspiration for my novella, For a Song!

Like many of us, I love cowboy romances. I also enjoy romances that are founded on a mix-up—maybe because my real life has been full of detours and re-routes, and more often than not, they’re times when God set me on a better path.

How delightful to set up my characters in a tricky, mixed-up situation, too! Right away, I imagined that my 1850’s Texas hero, Jackson, would be struggling as a widowed dad. Naturally, as a rancher in somewhat isolated conditions, he’d have to place orders for any items not carried in his small community’s general store. Things like books, dolls and clothes for his young daughter, refining touches for the house. What if he ordered an item and received something else instead—like the heroine, Lily?

Crazy, of course. But I love crazy.

Neither Jackson nor Lily is looking for a spouse. He just wants a purchase from up north, and she just wants a job to provide for herself and her sister. So what could Lily do or be that could be misconstrued in a merchandise order?

I made a list of possibilities, but it didn’t take long to figure out Lily was a singer. A “songbird,” with a goal to be the next Jenny Lind (which inspired much of Lily’s background and her need to cling to her Lind souvenir token). And if Lily is a songbird, naturally, what Jackson wants is an honest-to-goodness bird, beak, wings, feathers and all.

But of course, someone has to make the mistake and cause the trouble. Maybe, instead of ordering from a store, Jackson should ask his Great Aunt Martha to bring the songbirds with her. Too bad she can’t read his handwriting that well.

Inspiration is all around us, and I found additional nudges throughout my little universe. Lily sounds just like my friend Suzanne, who sings like a proverbial angel. Georgie, Jackson’s daughter, has a little bit of my own children in her. A picture on the internet made me smack my head and say, “Of course I need a cat in this story!” (PIC OF LITTLE GIRL WITH BIRDCAGE ON PINTEREST)

Most of all, I find inspiration in family love. Romances aren’t just about romantic love, to me. They’re also about characters growing in their love of God, and then sharing that love with the world. In For a Song, Jackson’s daughter needs love; so does Great Aunt Martha. Everybody needs to be better off than when they started.

And sometimes, God uses mix-ups to get us there.
___________________________________________________________
Woo! Sounds like a fun-loving story and set in the west, you just can't go wrong if love a good romance. And Susie is as nice and warm as she sounds in her words above! :) Jaime's-honor!
Here' s a blurb about her novella:

Two songbirds, red and yellow—a straightforward order for an upstanding widowed rancher’s lonely daughter. But when a sister-act of saloon singers (a redhead and a blonde) arrives on the stagecoach expecting him to give them a job, his daughter changes her tune and starts singing not for a pet, but a pretty ginger-haired Mama.
Susanne Dietze began writing love stories in high school, casting her friends in the starring roles. Today, she writes in the hope that her historical romances will encourage and entertain others. A pastor’s wife and mom of two, she loves fancy-schmancy tea parties, travel, and curling up on the couch with a costume drama and a plate of nachos. Susanne is the author of over half-dozen historical romances; her latest, For a Song, is in Barbour’s The Cowboy’s Bride Collection, and she’ll be back this autumn with The Honeymoon Express in The Rails to Love Collection. You can visit her on her website, www.susannedietze.com.


Susanne’s Links:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SusanneDietzeBooks

Website: www.susannedietze.com

Blog: www.susannedietze.blogspot.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SusanneDietze

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Susanne-Dietze/...

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13657688.Susanne_Dietze

Happy Spring!

Wishing you all a happy springtime as we ushered in the first day of the season!
I'm taking a break from a lengthy blogpost today since I'm fighting a cold.I'll be back next week, until then--Happy Spring!-------------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.


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Happy St. Patrick's Day!

St. Patrick's Day isn't a huge celebration in my small town, but it's a big deal in St. Paul where there were many Irish immigrants. I have a little Irish in me, but I don't know much about St. Patrick's Day, so I did a little research.


St. Patrick was born in the fourth century and was the child of a deacon and the grandchild of a priest of the Christian church. When he was sixteen, he was kidnapped and taken to Ireland where he was a shepherd for six years, and during that time he found God. When he returned to his home in Britain, he became a priest and then went back to Ireland to spread the Gospel of Christ. He used the three-leaved shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity.

March 17th is the date of St. Patrick's death and the day chosen to celebrate his life and work.

Do you celebrate St. Patrick's Day? If so, how do you celebrate?




Gabrielle Meyer

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March Madness is Underway!

Erica Here: Anyone who knows me, knows I am a loyal Kansas Jayhawks fan. I love KU basketball. From November to hopefully early April every year, I follow the team, watch the games, read the articles, check the forums, and cheer hard.
In the off-season, I follow the team, re-watch the games, read the articles, check the forums, and wait for November. :)

And when March rolls around, and it's tournament time, things get even more exciting! The NCAA Men's Basketball tournament to determine an overall champion gets underway. Bracket announcements, seedings, upsets, Cinderellas, and dancing shoes. It's the most wonderful time of the year!

This year is no different, with my Jayhawks the No. 1 overall seed, playing well, and expected to go far in the tournament.
And I am on deadline. Two deadlines, in fact. But, the Jayhawks! Ack!!! How can I juggle both my passions at a time when both are clamoring for my attention????
I have a few tricks up my sleeve.
1. Plan ahead. I know March Madness is coming each year, and I know (at least for the last 27 years straight) that Kansas will play in the tournament. 
2. Separate the two. NCAA Basketball happens Thursday-Sunday over the course of three weeks. So Monday through Wednesday, do more writing. 
3. Enjoy the madness! Embrace the madness! While the tournament is going on, do some writerly things like blog posts, art cover sheet picture searches, broad-stroke future story idea plotting. And while the writing days are happening, reward reaching certain goals by watching a podcast or reading an ESPN article. 
Everything in life is a balance. Sometimes the tightrope is higher and smaller than at others, but that's what makes it exciting, right?
Rock, Chalk, Jayhawk, and Write On!!!
What passions of yours do you have to balance?




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My #NewMexico #Cowboy

Who doesn’t love a cowboy? I grew up with my very own, and Uncle Dave taught me much about being strong, in-your-face, feisty, and a teensy bit gruff. He was all grizzle and toughness, wrapped with muscle, leathery skin, calloused hands, and legs that bowed. But inside? The man was as mushy as a biscuit left out in the rain.

The proverbial cowpoke is often portrayed that way in novels, but in real life, that’s how Uncle Dave was. Just like "Charlie" in my 
novella, The Cowgirl's Lasso, Uncle Dave knew how to talk his way right into your heart. A cigarette hung from his mouth in a lazy slope, but his grumbling “Hey, Babe” was usually followed with a ruffle of my hair, a squeeze of my hand, or sometimes, I was lucky to get a kiss on the cheek.

He’d been bitten by a black widow spider, wrangled tarantulas along with mustangs, branded steers, and shot rattlers. He also read me stories, took me on burro rides, and taught me how to throw a lasso—maybe not successfully, but tossing a rope into the air is darn fun whether you rope a hay bale or a sheep.

I like to argue we love our heroes because of the heroes we knew. Maybe from afar, or maybe blessed to curl up on their lap when we were dog-tired as a kid. That familiar smell of smoke, coffee, and leather will always awaken my senses to the strength of a cowboy—and the strength of my hero. Because a good hero lives on with every memory, with every heartbeat. 
A good hero captivates the imagination, buries themselves in your soul, and hangs on to you like a champion.
We may not always need saving. Goodness knows, my uncle taught me to be a strong woman who didn’t need to be rescued. But, he also taught me that loving hard isn’t a weakness either, and needing another is something precious. Like a wild mustang, freedom is exhilarating, but as our eyes connect in that wildness, we know the chasm between independence and commitment is not as wide as we like to make it out to be.

So Uncle Dave is a hero, and as he swaggered across the desert into the horizon and Heaven, he left behind a niece, with a hopeless sense of romanticism and wild and crazy will to stand. 
Who is your hero?

______________________________________________________________

Professional coffee drinker, Jaime Jo Wright, resides in the hills of Wisconsin. She loves to write spirited turn-of-the-century romance, stained with suspense. Her day job finds her as a Director of Sales & Development. She’s wife to a rock climbing, bow-hunting Pre-K teacher, mom to a coffee-drinking little girl, and a little boy she fondly refers to as her mischievous “Peter Pan”. Jaime completes her persona by being an admitted social media junkie and coffee snob. She is a member of ACFW and has the best writing sisters EVER!

"The Cowgirl's Lasso", The Cowboy Bride's Novella Collection - Barbour Publishing - COMING MARCH 2016

"Gold Haven Heiress", California Gold Rush Romance Collection - Barbour Publishing - COMING AUGUST 2016

Visit Jaime's web site: jaimejowright.com
Email Jaime - jaimejowright at gmail dot com
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