Davalynn Spencer's Blog, page 56
October 13, 2014
Book 2 – The Nutcracker Bride
Already we’re in week 2 of The 12 Brides of Christmas novella collection. This week’s story offers:
Family traditions, outlaws, Texas Rangers and a beautiful blue-eyed baker – it’s all here in The Nutcracker Bride by Margaret Brownley.
Each of the 12 Brides stories celebrates a special, out-of-the-ordinary gift, and gives the reader a peek into historic holiday traditions.
What family traditions do you celebrate year after year?
About the book: While Lucy Langdon gathers walnuts, someone throws a bag of money into her wagon and rides away. Now Chad Prescott, a Texas Ranger, is determined to recover the bag, but not before he is shot as a prowler. Waking up in a house full of German nutcrackers is rather disconcerting for this lawman, but not as troublesome as feeling his heart fall for the lovely Lucy.
Margaret Brownley has penned more than thirty novels. Her books have won numerous awards and she’s a former Romance Writers of American RITA® finalist. She’s also written for a TV soap, and is currently working on a new series of mystery/romance novels. The first in the series, Petticoat Detective, will be published in December 2014. Connect with Margaret at her website, on Twitter, and Facebook.
October 6, 2014
Twelve Ways to Enjoy Christmas
Did you realize there are twelve weeks left until Christmas? Some of you are jumping up and down in excitement like you did as a child … and some of you are screaming and running to the other room.
No worries either way—you are perfectly entitled to respond as you choose. But I hope you’ll also choose to join in the fun of a new Christmas love story for every one of those 12 weeks.
Eleven other authors and I have written novellas set in the 1800s. These historical romances are part of Barbour’s The 12 Brides of Christmas collection for the holidays. A new story will be released each Monday until Christmas, and is available for your e-reader—even if you don’t have one. You can download a free app on Amazon that will let you read on your phone or home computer.
Over the next 12 weeks, I will highlight the novella of the week with a buy link included for your convenience. Only .99!
Here’s to enjoying a simpler holiday from days gone by. And don’t forget to tell your friends!
Merry Christmas!
Book 1:
The Advent Bride, by Mary Connealy 
Three lonely people explore the mystery of a puzzle box that takes them through the cold days of December on a journey to Christmas. A journey that soothes their lonely lives and leads them to love.
Join in the life-changing puzzle of the Advent Box.
Mary Connealy is a best-selling author who writes romantic comedy with cowboys. She is a Carol Award winner and a Rita, Christy, and Inspirational Reader’s Choice finalist. Her Western series include “Wild at Heart,” “Trouble in Texas,” “Kincaid Bride series,” and many more. Mary is married to a Nebraska rancher and has four grown daughters and three spectacular grandchildren.
Find Mary online at her website and on Facebook. She also blogs on Petticoats and Pistols and Seekerville.
The Snowbound Bride – Dec. 15. Pre-order here!
September 27, 2014
What’s the question again?
If God asked you a question, what would it be?
“God doesn’t need to ask me a question,” you say. “He already knows everything about me.”
True, He does, but God is relational. He has always asked questions of those He loves. Here are a few examples:
He asked Adam in the Garden of Eden, “Where are you?” (Genesis 3:9)
He asked Elijah on Mount Horeb, “What are you doing here?” (1Kings 19:9,13)
He asked a blind man, “What do you want me to do for you?” (Mark 10:51)
The answers all seem pretty obvious, but I believe God still asks those same questions today.
Where are you? Is God waiting for you in the cool of the evening or the quiet pre-dawn to talk with you, listen to your concerns, warm you with His presence as you worship Him? Have you missed that appointment often enough that God is whispering, “Where are you?”
What are you doing here? Have you run away from something the Lord called you to do? Have you thrown up your hands in disgust or discouragement and quit? Are you in the wrong place at the wrong time, wondering how you ended up in a cave, how you got off track?
What do you want me to do for you? Jesus said we miss out on a lot because we don’t ask. What is it exactly that you need from Him? Can you pinpoint it? Are you willing to ask, or are you afraid He won’t come through with an answer?
An all-knowing God who asks us questions is a personal God who cares about relationship.
What is He asking you?
September 21, 2014
WHAT VOICES DO YOU LISTEN TO?
Voices from the box on my desk tell me the world is too hot, too wet, too cold, too out of control.
Those voices shout doomsday declarations about the industry I’m involved in. They tell me that evil is on the rise and justice is on the lam. That I need more money, a smaller figure, a newer car, a bigger house.
And then I walk outside and see the morning. Again. Just like yesterday. And I hear God say, “I’ve got this.”
If there were no electricity, we could still hear God.
Where morning dawns and evening fades
You call forth songs of joy.
Psalm 65:8 NIV
September 12, 2014
What Would You Recommend?
Too many books; too little time.
No one can read all the good books out there, but everyone can read a few, and what a great way to relax, learn, experience, escape.
Last week I shared some award-winning novels with you. This week I’m adding a few earlier releases to the list (alphabetically by title).
What books (by any author) have you read that you would recommend? I’d love to hear your choices. Comment below and be entered in a drawing to win a copy of my latest historical.
Anyone who says they have only one life to live
must not know how to read a book.
–Author Unknown
A March Bride by Rachel Hauck (A Year of Weddings Novella Book 4)
A Pioneer Christmas Collection with stories by Lauraine Snelling, Margaret Brownley, Kathleen Fuller, Marcia Gruver, Cynthia Hickey, Vickie McDonough, Shannon McNear, Michelle Ule, Anna Urquhart
Shattered by Dani Pettrey
Short Straw Bride by Karen Witemeyer
The Substitute Bride by Linda S. Glaz
Wedding on the Rocks by Rose Ross Zediker
September 5, 2014
Why You Read Fiction – part 2
Last week’s comments about why you read fiction were enlightening, encouraging, and as varied as the titles on my office book shelves. But it was the results that really touched my heart. Here’s a breakdown:
Reasons for reading fiction:
Refueling
Entertainment
Emotional and mental relaxation
Stimulation
Mental get-away
Results of reading fiction:
Hearing God’s voice
New hope
A changed life or marriage
Spiritual growth
Information and example
Experiencing unknown worlds
Meeting new people
As a novelist, I read a lot of books. It’s my favorite pastime. In the last few months I’ve read several novels that offered one or more of all the things mentioned above. I‘d like to share a few of the newer titles and recent award-winners with you this week, and next week, I’ll list older releases.
In exchange, I’d like to hear what book or books have blessed you this year—that way we can all benefit from new-to-us stories. An old classic or a recent release, it doesn’t matter.
Resources:
Five Days in Skye by Carla Laureano
2014 RITA Award winner for Inspirational Romance
All in Good Time by Maureen Lang
2014 Selah Award Winner, Romance
Once Upon a Prince by Rachel Hauck
2014 Selah Award Finalist, Romance
For Such a Time by Kate Breslin
It Had to Be You by Susan May Warren
Four Weddings and a Kiss a Western Bride Collection by Margaret Brownley, Robin lee Hatcher, Mary Connealy, and Debra Clopton
So tell me, what great book has touched you in a unique way this year? Any genre (other than those obviously inappropriate). Let me hear from you!
August 29, 2014
Why do you read fiction?
Last weekend I met a scientist who shared with me her recent bout of burnout. Blackout, checkout, whatever term fit, she needed out.
The only books she had in her home were nonfiction, science, history, how-to. They weren’t what she needed during those weary days. Too much effort, no comfort.
She called a friend for suggested reading material, and the friend brought her a few Janette Oke novels.
Those simple stories spoke to this highly educated and scientifically minded woman’s heart unlike her library that spoke to her brain. They touched something deep inside and brought tears and healing, she said.
Then she looked me in the eye with a smile and added, “Jesus told stories.”
There’s something about the power of story.
Why do YOU read fiction? I’d love to hear from you.
August 19, 2014
All the world’s a page
Our daughter Amanda came out from California to spend a few days here last week, and one of the first things she noticed was the blue sky—a crystal clear, sapphire canopy right overhead. Where she lives, the sky is typically white.
While she was here, we went on a half-day Jeep tour through Red Canyon and the mountains beyond. Thank the Lord for seat belts!
And of course Amanda had to stand on the EDGE of the ledge to take a picture while Mom took a picture and prayed for stability.
During our trip that day, I thought about what was right in my backyard: grandeur, beauty, history. If I hadn’t taken a tour off the normal everyday path, I would not have seen these wonders. A similar thing happened to Moses when he turned aside to see the burning bush. If he hadn’t stepped off the normal everyday path, he might have missed hearing from God.
All the world’s a page, and the stories written there are worth the discovery.
Take a moment, an hour, a day. Step aside and listen, observe. See what amazing things the Lord has written.
August 4, 2014
Give-away
What will you pick?
Contrast is everywhere, especially where I live in Fremont County, Colorado. On one side of the Arkansas River Valley, paleontologists have spent nearly two centuries uncovering dinosaur fossils including encrusted footprints, fossilized eggs, and the complete skeletal remains of a stegosaurus.
A few miles to the south and east lies some of the most fertile land in the state, where early 19th century settlers planted row crops, hay fields, and apple orchards—some of which still produce today.
The land here is a life metaphor: arid and verdant.
We have all trudged through dry, dessert-like periods, wondering where the water of our faith was. And we’ve relished the cool and restful periods, rich in productivity where the fruit of our labor abounds.
The key is remembering the faithfulness of our Lord: He is with us in both settings. But the miracle comes when He brings life from the wasteland.
This theme plays out in my new release, Romancing the Widow. Martha Hutton believes she will never leave the dry, arid place in which she has found her heart. But God has more for her – just like He does for you and me. That more is life.
I have come that they might have life, and have it more abundantly. –Jesus
See that little word “might”? It implies we have a choice.
What do you choose? Dry fossils of a dead past or the promise of fruitful life in Jesus?
(Colon Orchards – a fourth-generation orchard near Canon City with still-bearing heirloom trees.)
