Davalynn Spencer's Blog, page 51
September 14, 2015
Did You Mean What You Said?
“Have a god start to your day.”
Oops. That wasn’t what I meant to say, but it was too late. No taking back the words once you hit “send.”
My thumbs are fatter than the virtual keys on my smartphone. That’s why the text I sent my friend had a typo that changed the message.
I meant to say “Have a good start to your day.” But as I watched the message box turn blue to an accompanying musical “whoop,” I realized the words winging away were better than my original intention.
Isn’t that just like God? What He has in mind is better than anything I come up with.
So here’s wishing you a God start to your day.
Take a moment. Begin with Him.
He’ll change everything.
The mind of man plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps.
#lovingthecowboy
September 7, 2015
7 Reads for National Buy-a-Book Day
Today, September 7, is National Buy a Book Day. I’m not sure who comes up with these designations, but they’re fun to follow, and as an author, this is one of my favorites.
Therefore, I encourage you to go to your local book store and buy a book. A real book with paper pages. One you can hold and smell and flip through to create a little breeze against your face.
I also want to share seven of the many books I’ve recently read. They are not all new releases; some are a couple of years old. But a good book is a good book, regardless of when it was published.
Several of them are romances and all are fiction, because that’s what I write. In no particular order:
House of Mercy 2012 by Erin Healy – Contemporary
The Outlaw Takes a Bride 2015 by Susan Page Davis – Historical
The Journey of Josephine Cain 2013 by Nancy Moser – Historical
Somebody Like You 2014 by Beth K. Vogt – Contemporary
A Love Like Ours 2015 by Becky Wade – Contemporary
The Inn at Ocean’s Edge 2015 by Colleen Coble – Contemporary
A.D. 30 2015 by Ted Dekker – Historical/Biblical
However, fiction isn’t all I read. Devotional books help me develop fresh perspectives, and every morning I use one during my time of prayer and Bible reading. This combination gives me a great start to the day. My two favorite devotionals are:
My Utmost for His Highest
Jesus Calling
So celebrate. Buy a book!
If you can’t travel the world,
the next best way to experience it is
through the pages of a book.
Don’t forget about The 12 Brides of Summer! Three novellas in each of four collections.
August 31, 2015
7 delights in The Columbine Bride
1. Relax with a quick summer romance before summer is over
2. Escape to a simpler time (Not easier, just simpler!)
3. Experience (vicariously) a Colorado summer storm
4. Stir up some strawberry lemonade (recipe in my newsletter)
5. Enjoy the fragile beauty of Colorado’s blue columbines
6. Fall in love with a cowboy
7. Trust God’s leading on an unexpected path
The heroine of the The Columbine Bride, Lucy Powell, asks the Lord to make very clear to her the “path of life” – which way she should go, what choices she should make. The trouble is it’s not always as clear as she’d like.
Ever been there?
#lovingthecowboy
August 24, 2015
Real-life inspiration for historical romance
A week from tomorrow is release day for the last book in The 12 Brides of Summer collection – and my novella “The Columbine Bride” is in it!
Today I’m sharing my inspiration for Buck and Lucy’s story. The tale includes many things I enjoy about Colorado: columbines, summer storms, rich high parks with good feed, and rugged Rocky Mountains. It also deals with the generous spirit of Colorado pioneers who drew the best from the land and gave back to it in their sweat and toil and love.
My inspiration spot for the story is a ranch in the hills above Cañon City. It’s not hard to mentally wander back 130 years to what it might have been like with the old hand pump, fenced-off garden, and wood pile. Add my hero and heroine and a couple of kids, and the story takes on a life of its own.
Sometimes I believe that heaven hangs just over the hills up there, where if I look close enough and listen with my heart, I’ll see and hear the same things that drew cowboys of old to this country.
If only the meadows and the streams could talk …
… I might hear them say Lucy Powell isn’t afraid of much other than summer lightning storms—and with good reason. The storm pictured here was ten minutes away when I took this photo. Sudden, swift-moving, and serious. There’s rain in them thar hills!
Buck Reiter sees a clump of columbines on his way to Lucy’s ranch and stops to dig them up for her. People can’t do that today—the blue columbine is the Colorado state flower. But if you keep reading, I’ll tell you how you can get a clump of your own.
Lush summer pastures offer feed for cattle and horses.
I imagine Lucy’s ranch house to look something like this.
Buck nearly gets himself in a jackpot with the woodpile.
To celebrate the release of The Columbine Bride, I’m giving away two prize packages to two randomly selected newsletter subscribers next week, so be sure to sign up for my quarterly newsletter. You can do that here. The prize package includes an e-book, a packet of Colorado blue columbine seeds, a columbine key chain, and a plaque with the key verse from the story plus a few other goodies. Don’t miss out!
#lovingthecowboy
August 10, 2015
Five Reasons to Love Romance
1. Happy ending.
2. Dreams come true.
3. Hopefulness.
4. Bright future.
5. Love wins.
Okay, I admit it. All five reasons sound suspiciously alike. But I love romance and August is Romance Awareness Month. Did you even know there was such a thing?
It’s also National Catfish Month and Inventor’s Month, but I’m not much of a fisherman or inventor, so I’m sticking with romance.
In the literary world, romances differ from love stories because a happy ending is guaranteed regardless of the struggles and obstacles along the way.
To me that sounds a lot like God’s story. It’s definitely a romance because it’s all about how much He loves us and how He will love us forever. I’d call that a happy ending – or beginning, whichever way you want to look at it.
Life is full of enough unhappy circumstances, so I choose to read (and write) stories that leave me and others feeling good.
Do you have a favorite romance? Is it a book, a movie, your own marriage?
I’d love to hear which romance got your attention and made you smile. But remember, you can’t pick Romeo and Juliet, or the 1970 movie, Love Story. No happy endings there!
Four e-books with three stories each, available June 1, July 1, August 1, and September 1.
#lovingthecowboy
August 3, 2015
Three More Reasons to Read
If you’ve been following The 12 Brides of Summer, then you’ll know half of the twelve stories have been released.
Book 3 is now available for download on your e-reader with three more summer-bride novellas.
Stories include:
Dog Days of Summer Bride by Margaret Brownley
Music teacher Miralee Davis and blacksmith Tom Colbert don’t realize they’ve been sharing the same dog until. . .it digs up a stash of stolen loot. The reward will go to the dog’s owner—if only that can be decided.
The Dogwood Blossom Bride by Miralee Ferrell
Gracie Addison is a tree-climbing tomboy, and practical Will Montgomery objects to her unladylike influence on his niece. Will his judgmental attitude come back to bite him?
The Lumberjack’s Bride by Pam Hillman
Chicago transplant, Lucy Denson cooks for a logging crew in the Mississippi backwoods until she can return to her idea of civilization. Can Eli Everett help her rethink her ideals?
For historical fiction readers, The 12 Brides novella collection is perfect for a lazy summer afternoon read. Get your copy today, and send one to a friend.
The final installment, Book 4, releases just as summer flies out the door on September 1, but is available for pre-order.
Happy reading!
#lovingthecowboy
July 27, 2015
Too harsh, too barren, too lifeless
Nearly everyone has heard the optimistic adage, “Bloom where you’re planted.” Though it’s become cliché, most of us give it our best shot.
But what if the environment is harsh, barren, and lifeless? What if we’re all alone? What if we’re some place we really don’t want to be?
A few feet past my front door sits an old grinding wheel that was my father’s. This year I placed a pot of petunia’s on the seat and a pot of geraniums nearby. Due to the southern exposure and stony atmosphere, these potted plants require water twice a day to survive. But beneath the wheel, rising from the gravel-covered landscape is a healthy, blooming, pale pink volunteer petunia. And I’ve no idea where it came from.
I first saw the valiant seedling earlier this summer during our monsoon-May rains and nearly pulled it out along with other weeds. However, the leaves looked different—pale green and soft, so I left it to see what would develop.
I thought it might be a petunia, but I have never planted pink petunias, and I certainly wouldn’t plant them there. A few weeks later, I decided it was a morning glory, and delighted at the thought of it twining around the antique grinding stone.
Now I’m back to petunia. No twining vines and the blooms aren’t right for morning glories. Regardless of what it is, the seed from which it sprouted chose the most unlikely place to grow. A brutal environment, really, with the high radiant-heat temperatures and lack of water. 
Still, it thrives—a gentle reminder that with God, all things are possible, even surprises.
I’m convinced God leaves us messages in His creation that relate directly to His presence in our lives.
What have you seen lately that reminded you of God’s surprises and miraculous life-giving nature?
For with God, nothing shall be impossible.
Lucy Powell faces an impossible task: resurrecting her ranch that was left to ruin when her husband was killed. How will she and her two small children do everything?
#lovingthecowboy
July 20, 2015
Who Is Your Favorite Bad Guy?
One of my favorite movies is Michael Mann’s The Last of the Mohicans from 1992, based on the 1826 novel by James Fenimore Cooper. The story captivates me with its internal and external conflict, historical setting, and romance of course. But quintessential antagonist, Magua (played by Native American actor Wes Studi), threads deceit and vengeance throughout the tale with such cunning, that I came close to hating the man.
“Love your enemies,” right? It was a tough call. For me, Magua was the perfect bad guy.
Studi’s acting career encompasses many more roles than Magua, but I was not that familiar with them. So when our August/September edition of Cowboys & Indians magazine arrived last week, I didn’t make the connection at first.
The pleasant-looking rancher wearing a burnt-orange western shirt on the cover did not equate with the throat-slitting traitor portrayed in The Last of the Mohicans. No topknot haircut. No hate-filled eyes. No acting.
As a romance author, I don’t write such blood-letting scenes as found in a movie like The Last of the Mohicans, and viewers beware if you rent it—there are scenes that will ruin your dinner. But the believability of the characters, even the bad guy, is something I want to achieve in my stories.
Nearly every novel has an antagonist, even if it’s merely the setting and circumstances. Making that role believable is every actor’s and author’s quest.
Remember Cruella De Vil from 101 Dalmations? Bad. Very bad.
Do you have a favorite bad guy? If so, is he (or she) from a novel or a movie? I’d love to hear who you pick.
Who’s the antagonist in The Columbine Bride?
Fear? Circumstances? Another woman or outlaw?
Find out September 1 when Book 4 of The 12 Brides of Summer goes on sale. Pre-order here today!
#lovingthecowboy
July 13, 2015
Ever Feel You Have Too Much to Do?
Lucy Powell is a young widow with a hard summer ahead of her in my soon-to-release novella, The Columbine Bride.
How soon, you might ask?
Tomorrow!
That’s right. July 14, 2015, Old West Summer Brides, book 3 in Barbour’s limited print collection of The 12 Brides of Summer comes to select Walmart stores across the country.
In The Columbine Bride, Lucy’s main project for the summer is getting her ranch up and running – a nearly impossible task. But she is reluctant to accept neighboring rancher Buck Reiter’s help. Can the old cowboy convince her his interest is more than charity?
My personal goals for this summer include completing a novel about a young woman who saves the day in a 1910 one-reel “flicker” while falling for a local rancher near Cañon City, Colorado – the Western silent movie hub of the era. Here’s a short article about Fremont County, Colorado, that mentions those early silent pictures.
What projects do you have lined up for this summer? Are they more than you feel you can handle, or is there someone who’s willing to give you a hand?
Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and he will establish your plans. (Proverbs 16:3 NIV)
#lovingthecowboy
If you’d like in peek inside my imagination while I was writing The Columbine Bride, check out my Pinterest board.
Lucy’s story appears with three other novellas by fellow historical romance authors Mary Connealy, Susan Page Davis, and Miralee Ferrell. Read a little about each one.
A Bride Rides Herd by Mary Connealy
Matt Reeves arrives at his brother’s ranch to find Betsy Harden alone with the little girls during a cattle drive. Will the ladies be too much to handle when Matt steps in for the missing ranch hand?
The Blue Moon Bride by Susan Page Davis
Ava Neal hopes moving west will be a new start, and then she meets handsome Joe Logan who helps her hide her valuables when the train is robbed. Might their paths cross again?
The Dogwood Blossom Bride by Miralee Ferrell
Gracie Addison is a tree-climbing tomboy, and practical Will Montgomery objects to her unladylike influence on his niece. Will his judgmental attitude come back to bite him?
July 6, 2015
Grateful for Dependency
The Fourth of July always leaves me grateful for the freedoms of this country, and especially for those who fought and died to secure those freedoms.
But I’m also grateful that I don’t have to live independently—totally alone, counting only upon myself for everything. Thank God for the One who died to secure my eternal freedom. I am ultimately and joyfully dependent upon Him.
On another more temporal level, I’m pretty dependent upon caramel and chocolate. This year to celebrate I tried an easy new recipe that I want to share with you. Here’s to dependency!
Caramel Oatmeal Squares
(or spoons if you can’t wait until it cools completely!)
Mix until crumbly:
1 c. flour
1/2 tsp. soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 c. quick oats
3/4 c brown sugar
3/4 c. butter
Press half of crumb mix into a 9×9 baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.
Remove from oven and sprinkle ¾ c chocolate chips on top.
Mix 1 tablespoon flour into ¾ c sugar-free caramel-flavored dessert topping and pour over chocolate chips.
Continue baking for 15-20 minutes. Let cool and cut into squares.
The winner of last week’s contest is Patti Shene. Thank you every one for participating. Be on the lookout for future contests!
If the son sets you free, you will be free indeed. John 8:36
#lovingthecowboy
