Michelle Ule's Blog, page 63

12 Brides: A Sunbonnet for Health?

Even though I grew up in Southern California, I never gave a thought to wearing a sunbonnet.

In those days, we frolicked in the sunshine and watched our hair sun-bleach and our skin turn brown. Some of us got freckles but no one would be caught dead in a sunbonnet.

It was different long ago.

My first introduction to the concept was from Mrs. Ingalls in the Little House books and her continual admonition, “Laura, wear your sunbonnet.”

Why? Was she worried about ultra violet light?

Of course not. Mrs. Ingalls was concerned about her daughter’s complexion. A sunbonnet was designed to protect her skin.

Women have been wearing hats and bonnets for hundreds of years to protect their skin. A pale white visage was considered a fashion ideal.

Some women went so far as to take small doses of deadly arsenic in an effort to keep their faces pale.

Today, a calico sunbonnet is a throwback to our pioneer past. Women working on the farm, hiking across the prairie, threshing the crops and spending so much time out of doors are almost always depicted as wearing a sunbonnet.

That’s how you know the era.

The title for my novella, The Sunbonnet Bride, was deliberately chosen for several reasons: to identify the time period, to focus the story on a young woman, to suggest outdoor work, friendliness and homespun practicality.

I put all those characteristics into my heroine Sally.

But I also wanted to write a story about a young business woman in a man’s world and at that time, women tended to work alongside their husbands or as teachers or seamstresses.

Sally is a seamstress. The sunbonnet is her signature product in 1875 Nebraska.

Early in the story, her younger sister Lena marvels at the clever sunbonnet Sally constructed for her. Sally’s bonnet  makes use of the same reeds that Ewan, Kate and Malcolm turned into reed pipes in The Yuletide Bride.

Sally cuts the reed when it’s young. She soaks it in water to keep the thin reeds pliable until she can form them into the brim of her prize sunbonnets.

I’m sure it’s been done before, but I wanted her to create a product that would withstand the instigating drama of the story: a tornado.

After Lena’s sunbonnet comes through the tornado in one piece, the traumatized teenager picks up a needle at her sister’s work and embroiders a reminder. Using gray silks, Lena whips her fingers round and round to create a small tornado on the side of her sunbonnet.

Sort of like a team logo.

Sally loves what her sister has done and the two set to work to help redeem the horror of that damaging tornado for the women whose lives were changed.

In The Sunbonnet Bride, the sunbonnets fashioned by Sally and ornamented by Lena become not just a screen from the sun, but a reminder of resiliency in the face of severe challenges.

A far healthier statement, fashion or otherwise, for a young woman with dreams and hopes for her future.

On sale now! http://amzn.to/1sbm79B

Tweetables

Sunbonnets for fashion or health? Click to Tweet

A surprising use for reeds in 1875 Nebraska. Click to Tweet

Tornados and sunbonnets? What’s a girl to do? Click to Tweet

 

 

 

 

 

 

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12 Brides of Summer: Diana Brandmeyer

For romance lovers, The Honey Bride by Diana Brandmeyer is a sweet addition to The 12 Brides of Summer.

Set in the spring following Diana’s The Festive Bride, it follows the fortunes of a young couple in 1887 Trenton, Illinois.

Kate’s life spirals into difficulties when her father is killed during a severe storm. She and her brother and grandmother try to make do on their farm before the bank repossesses it. What did her widowed father do with their money? How could it have disappeared?

A sympathetic neighbor (who works for Roy from The Festive Bride) wants to help but is spurned by Kate’s independence. When he happens upon beehives in the woods, he wonders if he’s found the secret to the lost funds and a way to Kate’s heart.

Photo by Tony Webster (Wikipedia Commons)

Diana enjoyed writing The Honey Bride, even as she felt great sympathy for her heroine: “I felt so bad having Katie go through so many trials!”

The story required a lot of research about bees.

“It seems like most of it ended up in a file on my computer instead of the story, but I read Langstroth’s Hive and the Honey-Bees: the Classic Beekeeper’s Manual [written 150 years ago] and talked with a friend who keeps bees.”

The idea to write about bees came when she nearly stepped on a bee one day.

“I did that a lot as a child and it hurt so much. Then bees were everywhere. Now the bees are dying so I was thankful I didn’t squish it. That made me wonder if there were bee keepers in this area. I didn’t locate any records in Trenton, IL that said there were but I did find a small advertisement about Italian Queen Bees for sale.”

The Honey Bride is a sweet addition on a summer day!

 Who is Diana Brandmeyer?

Bigger. Better. Together.         Stories of love, blending and bonding.

Christian author, Diana Lesire Brandmeyer, writes historical and contemporary romances. Author of Mind of Her Own, A Bride’s Dilemma in Friendship, Tennessee and We’re Not Blended-We’re Pureed, A Survivor’s Guide to Blended Families. Once widowed and now remarried she writes with humor and experience on the difficulty of joining two families be it fictional or real life.

LINKS

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Tweetables

Who is Diana Brandmeyer? Click to Tweet

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We’re offering six autographed (by all 12 authors) copies of The 12 Brides of Summer Collection in a Goodreads Giveaway May 18-June 1. Enter the Giveaway by following the link below!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

The 12 Brides of Summer Collection

by Mary Connealy

Giveaway ends June 01, 2016.

See the giveaway details

at Goodreads.

Enter Giveaway

 

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Scuttling Subs to Play

With summer upon us, I’m remembering the year my husband scuttled his submarine career to play with his children.

He’d been out to sea for long periods of time as chief engineer of the oldest nuclear submarine in the Atlantic Ocean.

Our boys were young, but he was conscious of the passage of time.

A successful engineer in a challenging environment, he had a promising career before him, likely commanding a submarine.

But he wanted to play with the boys.

He wanted to teach Sunday school.

He wanted a fuller life–and he loved engineering.

So, he applied to be a naval engineering duty officer (EDO)–a support role–keeping submarines running well from a shore command.

Such a change required a 1/3 cut in his (our only) pay.

We could just do it.

And he got to play with, by then, three boys of his own.

Not to mention an entire soccer team.

Life Lessons

When orders came to Washington state, we bought a raised-ranch house set in a clearing of trees. The boys were eight, six and two. We spent the first month raking and then planting grass on the roomy scraped lot in front of the house.

He gave me the west side yard and four raised beds to plant a garden. I got flower beds on the perimeter of the grass.

As usual, this brilliant tactician was one step ahead of me. (Another reason the nukes hated to let him go).

He had come home to play.

He needed a football field.

There was always a man down.

And for the next four years, in addition to keeping submarines overhauled and going under the sea, working long hours and standing duty, he spent his weekends playing football on the front lawn.

Our boys loved it.

So did, ultimately, nine neighborhood boys who came out of the woods to join him.

The doorbell would ring: “Can Mr. Ule come out to play?”

They liked our kids, fine, but having that adult man interact was more important.

I watched from the windows as he taught his children and the neighbor boys elements of life through the playing of a game.

I baked cookies constantly.

When he had to go to work, the boys learned another game: croquet.

It amused me to watch them knocking the wooden balls around the course, often into the underbrush.

We had crying and complaints from time to time, and Mr. Ule occasionally had to go out and give more life lessons.

Those kids grew up so much.

And their fathers noticed, too.

That Navy guy in the woods knew things about their sons they didn’t.

It came home to one neighbor the day our sons showed up for his son’s birthday party bearing lumber as gifts.

A tinkering inventor who worked with motors, he didn’t know his son had been building a fort in the woods not 200 yards from his workshop.

I always wanted to ask, “tea?” Blank looks. They were playing killer croquet!

But the supervising play engineer–who also pied pipered his way through construction of an elaborate wood shed with the help of his football team–knew the neighbor boy’s interests.

He’d been down to inspect the platform, and with the gift of a few hefty boards now ensured all the neighborhood boys safety in the trees.

Good work, sailor guy.

The results?

Sometimes the hard choices a man makes to sacrifice money and power for the sake of play, benefits more than his own family.

My husband’s Sunday school students from those years grew up to become prestigious workers in God’s kingdom, lawyers, machinists, engineers and numerous teachers.

One of them is now our own personal money manager.

Our own boys grew up to become wonderful men and my naval engineer kept a fleet of submarines sailing long after others had planned to scuttle them.

God can use even a desire to play for the good of others.

What’s He whispering in your life?

(Note: This is NOT a judgment call on the many fine people who serve on the front lines and far from home on lengthy deployments. This is what my husband chose to do with his life. I am more than grateful for those who sacrifice so much for the sake of our country–many of whom are my friends and people I love.)

Tweetables

Scuttling a sub career to play with the boys. Click to Tweet

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12 Brides of Summer: Michelle Ule

Available at all the normal book outlets June 1!

With the publication of The 12 Brides of Summer in book form, you can now read Michelle Ule’s The Sunbonnet Bride on an actual page.

Instead of in pixels!

A sequel to her 12 Brides of Christmas story, The Yuletide Bride, The Sunbonnet Bride revisits the community of Fairhope, Nebraska during the summer of 1875.

The players are all the same, except for the new seamstress in town, Sally, and her family and neighbors from nearby farms.

While Kate and Ewan from The Yuletide Bride have settled down into married life together, Kate’s brother Malcolm is struggling to find peace of mind. He’s working as a teamster, has finally mastered basic math skills, but feels large and awkward around the beautiful new seamstress in town: Sally Martin.

Sally has come to the town of Fairhope in a tizzy of joy. A larger community, clothes and hats to make, people to meet, a church to attend. Life looks glamorous compared to the farm eight miles away where she lived with her father and younger sister.

Her father understands the odds and wants the best for his girls. He sends Sally to work in town to pave the way for a brighter future than farm life.

Her clever needle, vivacious charm and earnestness attract Malcolm, but also banker Josiah Finch, returned to town to take over his father’s bank.

The polished, comparatively urbane Josiah paints a pretty picture for Sally of a life making hats and dressing the local townswomen from her own shop.

She likes the idea of her own business, but she’s got to earn some money first.

Things come to a head when a tornado sweeps through the farmlands and her father and neighbors lose their home and barns.

While Malcolm harnesses his horses and heads out with Ewan to help, Josiah trails behind on his fine stallion.

One of the men gets his hands dirty.

The other does not.

As Fairhope rallies to help those in need, Sally and her father see the difference between the men’s hearts.

But are they so different in their desire to help or in their ways of helping?

Josiah, perhaps, puts the question best: Do you want to marry a man who gets his hands dirty or one who uses his brain?

Is it a sin to make a profit on someone else’s fund raiser?

Will Ewan and Fairhope ever really love the bagpipes?

All this and more, including an incident with a blackberry pie, await readers of The Sunbonnet Bride.

Inspiration

Inspiration for The Sunbonnet Bride came from several areas.

“I’d been thinking about how a community comes together to help those in need and how that played out in a prairie setting. I took some of my inspiration from events in the Little House books as well as movies.”

Malcolm’s fear of finding leeches on his legs while helping Sally cut reed, came directly from Laura Ingalls Wilder‘s On the Banks of Plum Creek. The pie contest and dancing scenes come from two of her favorite movie musicals: Oklahoma and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.

While she originally planned to use the infamous grasshopper invasion for the natural calamity, a 15,000 word novella wasn’t long enough to explore the idea well. A trip to an IMAX film about natural disasters convinced her a tornado would serve the purpose much better.

Michelle also explores the morality of making a profit.

“I’ve had a number of friends start businesses that ended up being under capitalized. I wanted to encourage anyone thinking about starting a business to think through some of the questions both Josiah and Malcolm ask the aspiring shop owner, Sally.”

The two stories, The Yuletide Bride and The Sunbonnet Bride, provide fun bookends for two seasons of the year.

The Yuletide Bride is still available for 99 cents here.

Who is Michelle Ule?

Michelle Ule is the author of five historical novellas and the Navy SEAL novel, Bridging Two Hearts, all published through Barbour.

She is currently writing a biography, Mrs. Oswald Chambers, which will be published by Baker Books in fall, 2017

A native of southern California and a graduate of UCLA, she trained as a newspaper reporter and loves writing her blog on Tuesdays and Fridays each week.

This is her fourth book with Margaret Brownley and third with Vickie McDonough. The Log Cabin Christmas Collection, The Pioneer Christmas Collections and The 12 Brides of Christmas Collection were all best sellers.

For more about her, examine this website!

How to be Blessed? Hear and Obey.

Lutheran Women’s Missionary League logo

I spoke on May 21, 2016 on how to be blessed at a local luncheon of the Lutheran Women in Missions League (LWML).

Here are my remarks based on Luke 11:27-28:

“Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you. He [Jesus] replied,’blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.'”

Context: In the verses preceding this passage, Luke 11: 14-26, Jesus responded to those accusing him of being in league with Satan.

He talked about a “house divided cannot stand,” and described what happens when a demon was ejected from a house but no one filled the house with good things. When the demon returned with demon friends,the household ended up worse off than before the evil was cleaned out the first time.

Jesus’ words of truth inspired a woman in the crowd to shout, “blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you,”– a traditional form of blessing among Jews.

God is not a respecter of persons and while Jesus loved his mother, he replied with what was most important to him:

 “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”

Let’s look at a couple other verses to get to the heart of Jesus’ message—hearing and obeying the word of God.

Acting on what God has said is more important than who you are (in this case, his mother). Matthew 12:46-50:

While Jesus was still talking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, wanting to speak to him. Someone told him, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you.”

He replied to him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?”  Pointing to his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers.  For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”

Again, Jesus stressed it wasn’t who they were that was important to him so much as what they did: obeyed the will of God.

Mary, of course, is the epitome of obedience to God, as noted in Luke 1:43-45. As soon as Mary learned she was pregnant with the Messiah, she journeyed to see her cousin Elizabeth. Elizabeth’s response:

“But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!”

Elizabeth praised God because of Mary’s obedience to believe what God has done in her womb.

St. Mary Church Gdansk

Mary was blessed because she heard the word of God from an angel and submitted to it—obeyed it.

The personal application to us?

We cannot all be Jesus’ mother—he had only one—but we all can choose the second half of that blessedness: we all can be women who hear the word of God and obey it. “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”

How do you do that?

The best way to know Jesus? The best way to obey the word of God?

By hearing the Word of God and taking the Word of God to heart.

The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.

Jesus is the Word of God. Studying his Word, applying his Word, obeying his Word, loving his Word–are the keys to being blessed.

How does all this apply to the Lutheran Women’s Missionary League?

Romans 10:12-15:

For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile [between Mary the mother of God and you]—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent?”

This month’s initiative with the LWML, “The LCMS Global Seminary Initiative,” aims to provide scholarships so pastors from emerging countries can attend seminary and return to their communities to teach—to share the Word of God in a way that people can obey it.

The mission statement of the LWML is “to assist each woman in the LCMS in affirming her relationship with the Triune God so that she is enabled to use her gifts in ministry to the people of the world.”

The LWML aims to assist those seeking to know Jesus and to act.

Mary was blessed because she obeyed God and gave birth to Jesus seemingly without complaint.

But that’s not all she did.

She nursed her child.

To nurse, obviously, is to feed the baby—but it was more than giving the baby her breast.

She nurtured her child, just as any of us can nurture the gifts, talents and abilities of those within our own church body—particularly those who would go out to preach the Word of God, whether in a church or on the mission field.

We all can be part of that nurturing within our own homes and our own church community. The Body of Christ has many members, and we all have been giving certain skills.

Matteo Pagano [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Sometimes we can better see the skills and abilities in others than we can recognize in ourselves.

As part of the Body of Christ, and in obedience to God, we should stir up one another to love and good works—and among those good works are nurturing others in the faith—whether by leading a Bible study, praying, contributing to missions work or just standing by to help in times of need.

Mary was Jesus’ mother, but she also was his sister in the faith. She pondered things in her heart about the precocious child in her midst.

She made sure Jesus participated in the rituals of our faith.

She may have gotten impatient with him when he tarried in Jerusalem and missed the family trip home, but when she realized he was about his Father’s business Mary knew her teenager had paid close attention to the most important thing: knowing the Word of God and obeying it.

(We can talk about obeying your father and mother later!)

Are you blessed?

My charge to you all today is to give serious thought to two questions:

1. How am I hearing the Word of God and obeying it?

2. How can I encourage others to hear (and thus obey) the Word of God?

Because, according to Jesus, it’s not who you are, but how you listen to and obey the Word of God that enables you to be blessed.

Tweetables

The key to being blessed by God. Click to Tweet

Jesus on who is more blessed than Mary. Click to Tweet

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We’re offering six autographed (by all 12 authors) copies of The 12 Brides of Summer Collection in a Goodreads Giveaway May 18-June 1. Enter the Giveaway by following the link below!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

The 12 Brides of Summer Collection

by Mary Connealy

Giveaway ends June 01, 2016.

See the giveaway details

at Goodreads.

Enter Giveaway

 

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12 Brides of Summer in Book Form!

The 12 Brides of Summer , released in the summer of 2015 in ebook format, is now being released as a hold-in-your-hand book.

It makes a great summer read: a dozen novellas recounting stories of romance in the 19th century.

It only takes about an hour to read each story, making the book an excellent companion to the beach, lake, pool, or even while sipping lemonade under a fan!

Albeit stand alone stories, most of these tales have the benefit of being sequels to last winter’s best-selling The 12 Brides of Christmas.

Each story has a happily-ever-after, even as it recounts interesting and surprising events that took place in the American past.

Here’s a rundown of each one:

Diana Brandmeyer; The Honey Bride:

Set in the spring following Diana’s The Festive Bride, it follows the fortunes of a young couple in 1887 Trenton, Illinois.

Kate’s life spirals into difficulties when her father is killed during a severe storm. She and her brother and grandmother try to make do on their farm before the bank repossesses it. What did her widowed father do with their money? How could it have disappeared?

A sympathetic neighbor (who works for Roy from The Festive Bride) wants to help but is spurned by Kate’s independence. When he happens upon beehives in the woods, he wonders if he’s found the secret to the lost funds and a way to Kate’s heart.

Margaret Brownley; Dog Days of Summer Bride:

Music teacher Miralee Davis hasn’t got a beau but she does have a dog—sometimes.  His name is Mozart, but she calls him Mo. He would be the perfect canine companion except for one very disturbing fault; Mo disappears every week like clockwork for three or four days.

Blacksmith Jed Colbert’s dog Dynamite (Dyna for short) has the same disturbing habit.

Neither Jed nor Miralee know they share the same dog until . . . Mozart/Dynamite digs up a stash of stolen loot.  The reward will go to the dog’s owner—if only Miralee and Jed could agree on who that owner is. And that’s not all they disagree on

Amanda Cabot; The Fourth of July Bride:

The Fourth of July Bride takes place about six months after The Christmas Star Bride.

Jeremy ispainting a portrait of wealthy bachelor Gideon Carlisle in a corner of his wife’s bakery. Gideon’s mother back east is after him to settle down and he hopes a painting will convince her he’s doing fine and doesn’t need a bride.

Gideon enjoys passing the time with the beautiful Naomi who works at the bakery.

For her part, Naomi is smitten, but waiting for Gideon to make a move. She’s worried about money and when Gideon comes up with an interesting proposition to meet her need, she agrees even as her heart breaks.

Can he really be so blind? What will his mother think when she comes to visit in time for the fourth of July?

Mary Connealy; A Bride Rides Herd:

A Bride Rides Herd follows up on stories from several of Mary’s full length novel series and two books in particular: Calico Canyon and Husband Tree.

Matt Reeves and Betsy Harden are thrown together to run the gauntlet of ranching and childcare (Betsy’s babysitting for three little girls with way too much Reeves blood flowing in their veins), because Betsy’s big sister Sarah married Mark Reeves and left Betsy to babysit while Mark and Sarah went on a cattle drive.

Matt and Betsy fall in love right under the drawn gun of famously overprotective Belle and Silas Harden.

It’s in the American west with children running amok and plenty of sparks flying in this old west version of the pre-Brady bunch.

Susan Page Davis; Blue Moon Bride:

Ava Neal is nursing a disappointment after her younger sister marries in 1871 New England.

When her father consoles her about her marital chances disappearing, she asks to take a train to Cheyenne, Wyoming to visit her friend Polly from The Christmas Tree Bride.

[image error]

Along the way, she encounters far more adventure than she’d ever expected: a handsome artist, bandits, and stolen sentimental jewelry.

Joe loses his job over the encounter but when his drawing skill helps the local marshall,a surprising chain of events unfold for a young man without prospects.

How does a blue moon fit into the story?

Miralee Ferrel; The Dogwood Blossom Bride:

The Dogwood Blossom Bride details the romance between a red-headed tomboy and a former cowboy in Goldendale, Washington.

Two and a half years have passed since Curt and Deborah from The Nativity Bride were married and Curt employs a new man at his woodworking job, Curt.

Spunky, adventurous Addie doesn’t want to be pushed into marriage, particularly this summer, when she runs into Will under a spreading dogwood tree.

With an orphaned niece to raise, Will is focused on his job, not romance, but love is in the air despite the pretty girl’s resolution she doesn’t need a man.

Pam Hillman; The Lumberjack Bride

The Lumberjack’s Bride returns to the heart of the Mississippi pine belt in 1889.

The family sawmill and logging operation has expanded. They need additional help and ask for business assistance from Annabelle’s uncle.

Annabelle’s plans for a white Christmas in The Evergreen Bride involved a trip to Illinois to visit her relatives, in particular her cousin Lucy Denson, a dainty petite city gal.

When the opportunity arose to write a sequel, Pam explained, “I wanted to use the same setting, the sawmill and the logging industry, for the second book. Lucy Denson was the obvious heroine.”

The pretty young woman soon catches the eye of Eli, a rough-and-tumble Mississippi lumberjack in an earth-shattering meeting deep in the forest.

Amy Lillard; The Wildflower Bride

The Wildflower Bride follows the fortunes of Grace Sinclair, the second sister from The Gingerbread Bride.

Maddie makes a gorgeous bride and Grace rejoices with her, all the while wishing someone as handsome as Harlan would sweep her off her feet. She has resigned herself to staying home and helping her widowed pastor father with his congregation.

Then she gets a look at the best man.

[image error]

Oliver tartan kilt (Wikipedia)

Wearing a kilt, no less.

Just hired at his dream job as an assistant pastor, Ian McGruer is on top of the world standing up for his closest friend, even if he has had to travel all the way from upstate New York.

And then he sees the girl.

Could that really be the hand of God tugging at both Grace and Ian?

Does God remember how far apart Arkansas and New York are?

Maureen Lang; The Summer Harvest Bride:

Pretty Sally, the shy young girl who played Mary in The Giftwrapped Bride’s nativity pageant, has grown up in the intervening three years and settled into a small town west of Chicago with her farming parents.

Still timid, she’s caught the eye of the mayor’s son–who is quite a catch in the small town.

The status quo changes for Sally the day Lukas Daughton arrives with his father and brothers to build a controversial grist mill.

Suddenly the thought of “settling” for a marriage to someone who never once made her pulse speed makes Sally reconsider her future.

Will a traveling builder change his ways for the love of a pretty girl?

Vickie McDonough; The County Fair Bride:

Prudy Willard, the snooty antagonist in The Fruitcake Bride, has changed.

A year and a half after she made a fool of herself trying to catch Pastor Clay, Prudy returned to 1891 Advent, Texas to help care for her ailing father.

Advent has grown and with her mayor father ill, a handsome newcomer stepped in as interim mayor.

Prudy isn’t happy about Adam Merrick taking her father’s job and offers her “assistance” to make sure he’s doing things properly. Adam doesn’t appreciate her help.

How will the County Fair settle the differences?

Davalynn Spencer; The Columbine Bride:

Five months after The Snowbound Bride,  Ara and Nate are married and pregnant–everyone fears she’s carrying twins because of her size.

But the biggest change is in Uncle Buck who – well, I won’t give that away.

Enter Lucy Powell and her two small children and watch Buck’s world turn up-side-down.

Columbine

Lucy is struggling to get over her late husband’s freak accident at their ranch last summer. She wrangled a teaching job to support her family, but the school year is over and it’s time to return to the scene of their heartbreak.

Can she and her young children manage?

And if not, how will they survive?

Michelle Ule; The Sunbonnet Bride:

The Sunbonnet Bride revisits Fairhope, Nebraska during the 1875 summer.

A seamstress, Sally has moved to town with a clever needle, vivacious charm and earnestness that attracts teamster Malcolm, but also banker Josiah Finch.

Things come to a head when a tornado sweeps through the farmlands and her father and neighbors lose their home and barns.

While Malcolm harnesses his horses and heads out with Ewan to help, Josiah trails behind on his fine stallion.

One of the men gets his hands dirty. The other does not.

As Fairhope rallies to help those in need, Sally and her father see the difference between the men’s hearts.

But are they so different in their desire to help or in their ways of helping?

All this and more, including an incident with a blackberry pie and the return of the bagpipes, await readers of The Sunbonnet Bride.

Publication History

All twelve stories appeared in summer 2015 in several different guises and combinations.

They all were available as ebooks (of three novellas each) called The 12 Brides of Summer Novella Collection #1, #2, #3 and #4.

Four stories appeared in three different books (and combination of stories) available only at select Walmarts: Prairie Summer Brides, Small Town Summer Brides and Old West Summer Brides.

The 12 Brides of Summer Collection, in a deluxe format, is the first time all twelve stories are available in one book.

It makes a fine companion to its prequel, The 12 Brides of Christmas.

Tweetables

12 Brides of Summer: 1 Book, 12 happily-ever-afters. Click to Tweet

12 Summer romance novellas in 1 book! Love in the air. Click to Tweet

12 summer sequels to 12 winter romances: The 12 Brides of Summer. Click to Tweet

 

 

From May 18 to June 1, 2016,  six autographed copies of  The 12 Brides of Summer Collection are being offered as a Goodreads Giveaway. Sign up via the link in the box below that says “enter giveaway.”

Goodreads Book Giveaway

The 12 Brides of Summer Collection

by Mary Connealy

Giveaway ends June 01, 2016.

See the giveaway details

at Goodreads.

Enter Giveaway

The 12 Brides of Summer Collection can be purchased at all major booksellers, as well as here.

For those looking for a complete collection of The 12 Brides of Christmas novellas, you can find the book here.

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Tennessee: Lookout, Smokies!

We recently vacationed in Tennessee and one word popped out of my mouth continually: “beautiful.”

I’d been there before, but on this trip we aimed for two specific locations we’d not visited: Lookout Mountain and Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

April is a fine month to travel: the roads are good, the weather warm but not humid, the skies clear and the landscape green with spring.

Beautiful.

See?

I’d always loved the name “Lookout Mountain,” but had no idea how it erupted from the gentle pastureland into a pinnacle above Chattanooga and the Tennessee River.

We approached through Alabama, climbing from rich green farmland into pine woods and onto the narrow ridge with a spectacular lookout in all directions.

Magnificent.

We got confused by the time zones and were quite surprised to discover our B&B was in Georgia, but beyond that our day on the mountain was splendid, awe-some and eye-full.

(The Georgia part of the mountain is in the Eastern Time Zone, the Tennessee section is in the Central Time zone; the state line marks the difference.)

We loved the view over Chattanooga from Lookout Mountain’s Battlefield Point Park–run by the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park— with detailed explanations of the battle that took place on the mountain during the Civil War.

My military guy assessed it all with a practiced eye and shook his head at the audacity of the US troops climbing the mountain during the Battle above the Clouds.

The view of the Union troops must have been spectacular for the Confederates up top in late 1863, but when the Confederate lines broke, so did the war.

Sobering to consider

Even if the views were beautiful.

The Smokies

From the mountain top we drove several hours east to Great Smoky Mountains National Park (Smokies). Friends had posted gorgeous photos of the “smoky” mist  sifting through the trees and hillsides.

We followed the one-way loop road to Cade’s Cove where we were surprised by four different bears peering out at the tourists from behind trees.

I never got out of the car!

Despite prominent signs warning folks to stay at least 50 yards away “because these animals (elk, bear) can kill,” people were out of the cars with their phones and cameras clicking away.

I took my photos from the car.

A variety of old buildings dot the park, remains of the families and farms that lived in these valleys before the National Park drew its borders in the late 1920’s.

There’s a timelessness about the old cabins, and at Cade’s Cove, I caught my breath while walking across a lush meadow. The clapboard farmhouse and the water-run grist mill nearby could have belonged to my Hanks and Hill ancestors 200 years ago and not very far away.

The land felt more like home once I realized that.

The beautiful scenery is best seen in person, not captured on pixels:

 

The Smokies look gorgeous even out a car window!

10 million people a year visit the Smokies; it’s the most visited US National Park.

April was a splendid month to go.

But then, Tennessee is beautiful year round!

Tweetables

A beautiful Tennessee trip. Click to Tweet

Springtime at Lookout Mountain and the Smokies. Click to Tweet

A bear in the Smokies and other photos. Click to Tweet

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Louisiana Eating: a Traveler’s Tale

The daunting menu

This Los Angeles native recently visited the southern United States where she had an interesting experience in Louisiana eating.

We stayed with friends in Baton Rouge who took us to a local market and provided a sample of food I’d never seen before–including items I’d never heard of before.

This will be a photo essay–with commentary.

Wandering the store provided plenty of surprises: alligator heads, alligator potato chips, frozen alligator meat. I’m sure it tastes like chicken, but we didn’t sample any on this Louisiana eating experience!

I’m not sure what makes these gator tators . . .

 

A lovely woman in front of us in the line explained some of the tasty treats our friends planned for us that afternoon.

She even had to correct my pronunciation of Boudin–“boo-dain,” (with just a touch of that n)  she laughed when I called it “Boo-deen.”

Of course she was talking about a form of hush-puppies– batter fried cornmeal balls– while I was thinking of the upscale French bread bakery in San Francisco.

“I gained 50 pounds when I moved back to Louisiana,” she continued. “This food is that good.”

I knew we’d be eating fried catfish–and it looked crispy batter fried–but that was about it for me.

The thought of eating crawdads–crawfish– which I had hunted as an innocent child near Los Angeles, was ridiculous.

I’ve never craved crawfish.

But they were on the Louisiana eating menu.

In my experience, the small freshwater crustaceans were for catching with a coffee can and taking home–where we quickly forgot about them and my mother tossed the black water and bodies out a week later.

Now my friends were purchasing crawfish pie. “You’ll like it.”

Individual crawfish pies

I smiled.

I couldn’t imagine.

(I did like it–as my friends said, the crawfish was sweet, sort-of).

They bought a large bag of boiled crawfish, along with fried okra, dirty rice and the aforementioned items. We’d brought Russian River brewery beer–a taste of home–and decided to skip strawberry ale. 

But it was tempting.

Once home, the food was spread across the table and my husband and I gingerly filled our plates.

We liked the boudin balls–they had a sort of spicy paste in the middle made of who knows what.

Our friends set the bag of red boiled crawfish in the middle of the table with a bowl beside it for the “leftovers.”

I wasn’t paying attention until they opened the bag and a lot of little eyes looked at me. With all their feelers and tiny paws, they looked alive.

Oh, my.

Our Louisiana eating was done with fingers, but I couldn’t imagine how to even start.

Fortunately, a local was able to demonstrate:

 

I wanted to study the video before it was my turn, but with great encouragement my friends would coach me on Louisiana eating, I made a stab at it myself (using my fingers).

 

My husband just laughed. “I don’t eat things that can look at me.”

We were so full we barely had room several hours later for that other Louisiana eating classic: beignets and cafe au lait.

But we managed.

Delicious!

Beignets: a delightful excuse to have powdered sugar explode in your face!

Tweetables

A city girl meets Louisiana food. Click to Tweet

Crawfish and fried catfish–Louisiana food cuisine and a city slicker. Click to Tweet

Food I’ve never seen before in a Louisiana market. Click to Tweet

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Mud and Trenches: WWI

IWM (Q 4665) (Colourised by Doug Banks from the UK)

Mud and trenches often are the first things that come to mind when picturing World War I.

We remember the bloody horrors of gas and the unbelievable casualties, but the photos always remind us of trenches full of mud.

It started in Belgium in the first days of August 1914.

Germany surprised the world when instead of marching straight into France, it took a hail Mary trip into neutral Belgium in a move known as the Schlieffen Plan.

The secret strategy, devised a decade before, had the German army marching through Belgium and into the less heavily defended northwestern quadrant of France with the goal of taking Paris. They had to move quickly, but had the plan worked, Germany could have taken control of France within a short period of time.

The heroic actions of King Albert of Belgium foiled their movement.

Passchendaele, France

King Albert ordered the destruction of the dikes in Flanders, thus allowing seawater to invade the prime agricultural lowlands of his country.

Flooding over the land and a high water table produced thick, sucking, sludgy mud in the clay or sandy soil.

The British Expeditionary Forces mobilized quickly and were on hand to stop the German army.

Everyone dug trenches.

Into the mud.

No one was prepared for it.

The Germans had expected to sweep into Paris. The British had trained on the Salisbury Plain where it rained, but the water table was not so high.

No one expected the stalemate that caused them to dig in so far. Everyone expected to be home by Christmas, their enemies defeated.

Instead, millions of men wallowed in the mud, frequently knee deep, for more than four years.

Here’s an excellent examination of the horrors: Muddy Hell.

To avoid the sharp shooters on the other side, soldiers had to keep their heads down. They lived in caves burrowed in the sides of the trenches. When it began to rain, the water had no where to go but along the bottom of the trench, forming deep, sucking mud.

Remedies included duck board laid out in the trenches, waterproof boots, trench coats, putties, changes of socks and frequent rotation to the rear. It was impossible not to get–and stay–muddy while facing “no man’s land.”

Days of feet not drying out frequently resulted in “trench foot,” a disabling condition that if not treated resulted in blackened limbs and dead skin–often leading to more debilitating ailments like gangrene.

The German army had it a little better. They tended to hold the higher ground and they dug in for the long haul–building trenches that involved complex engineering that helped keep them dry.

The BEF and the French armies generally built their trenches as temporary complexes and didn’t devote time, energy or money into making them habitable, particularly in Flanders.

No Man’s Land itself, filled with craters caused by enemy artillery from both sides. Deep holes dotted the landscape and quickly filled with the same muddy water.

Far too often, men slipped into the holes as they traversed No Man’s Land in the dark. Weighed down by their weapons and many’s inability to swim meant thousands of soldiers simply disappeared into the muddy pools of water that collected.

The nightmares never ended.

Harry Patch, the final WWI soldier to die, described it this way:

“Life in the trenches was dirty, lousy, unsanitary. The barrages that preceded battle were one long nightmare. And when you went over the top, it was just mud, mud and more mud. Mixed with blood. You struggled through it, with dead bodies all around you.

Any one of them could have been me.”

He survived until 2009, age 111.

For more than enough photos of muddy trench misery and WWI, check out my WWI shots Pinterest board.

Tweetables

Mud and trenches: emblems of WWI. Click to Tweet

The misery of muddy trench warfare. Click to Tweet

King Albert saves France; but mud and trenches remain. Click to Tweet

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Mother’s Day in the US and Abroad

One happy year

I celebrated Mother’s Day three times last year.

The first time was in England, when we happened to be there on Mothering Sunday.

(It actually was my second time in England on Mothering Sunday; the first time my boys were three and one; in 2015 the accompanying child was 28!)

Two weeks later we were in Slovenia with relatives on Parent’s Day.

In my home country, the United States, I was surrounded by children and family on our May Mother’s Day.

Lots of fun.

I celebrate a conventional Mother’s Day now that my nest is empty and my children’s requests not so demanding.

Years ago, my husband gave me what I really wanted on Mother’s day: time to myself.

We’d attend church on those Sundays. He’d stop to buy me a New York Times and after lunch would take the children out for the afternoon.

Hand made (Wikipedia)

That meant I could sit in peace and read the paper and work the crossword puzzle.

Glorious.

It puzzled my father-in-law, who was up one year visiting. “You don’t want to spend Mother’s Day with your children?”

Of course I did.

But I also wanted just a little bit of time to myself.

They returned. We ate spaghetti.

Life was normal.

These days I have plenty of opportunity to read the paper and work the puzzle without interruption–though I often scan and print it to share with the son living at home.

Or, once I’ve had a crack at it, whomever is visiting can write in their own answers.

Mothering Sundays in England were also splendid.

It’s the fourth Sunday of Lent and traditionally was the day when children who worked as domestic servants were given a day off to visit their families–specifically their mothers!

On my first Mothering Sunday we admired daffodils peeking from the ground and I ate my first Cadbury chocolate cream egg.

Memorable, for sure!

We were staying at a farmhouse bed and breakfast in Devonshire and the woman of the house served a classic English breakfast.

Delightful!

Last year, we attended early services at Westminster Abbey, savoring the soaring voices of the boys’ choir in that ancient place of worship.

This part of vacation was an indulgence for me anyway–so following services we walked to the Imperial War Museum so I could, finally, experience their new WWI exhibit.

(Hey, they know me well).

Hyde Park, London (Wikipedia)

We traveled from there to St. Martin’s in the Field, where we heard another concert.

I nodded to the Edith Clavell memorial and we crossed the street to visit the National Portrait Gallery before catching up with our godson for dinner.

A wonderful day of great music, glorious art and fun conversation with two terrific young men.

In Slovenia on Parent’s Day, we took a tour of a cave, admired daffodils and, since I was sharing this celebration, ate a delicious meal of Slovenian sausage.

I listened to stories of parenting children behind the former Iron Curtain.

Suggestions for children and fathers for this year?

Flowers are always welcome.

Time to herself is good.

Candy can be tasty.

Cards are perfect, so are phone calls.

Telling stories is the best.

But whether in the United States, England, Slovenia or anywhere else in the world, just acknowledging Mom is sufficient.

I’ll be home for Mother’s Day this year. Maybe I’ll send a card to the two terrific women who gave birth to my perfect daughter-in-laws.

Maybe I’ll give those two hard-working, lovely mothers another gift card to the car wash for a thoroughly cleaning of their busy minivans.

Maybe the guys will grill and clean up?

My own daughter will be here.

I’ll see them all.

It will be wonderful no matter what happens because that’s what being a mother is all about.

What was your most memorable Mother’s Day/Mothering Sunday?

What’s the best Mother’s Day surprise you’ve ever given or received?

For all you moms and children out there in the United States, happy Mother’s Day.

Tweetables

Mother’s day in the US and abroad. Click to Tweet

Mother’s Day ideas. Click to Tweet

Sometimes a vacation from the kids is a great Mother’s Day idea. Click to Tweet

 

 

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