Becky Wade's Blog, page 67

Inspired by Scripture

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Desire Fulfilled

“Hope deferred makes the heart sick,
But desire fulfilled is a tree of life.”
(Proverbs 13:12, NASB95)

Back in October, I shared with Inspired by Life and Fiction readers about the historical series I’ve wanted to write since 2010. Well, at last, at last, the first book in the series is almost here. The official release date is Monday, May 22. But if you can keep a secret , the non-Kindle ebook and Amazon paperback are already available due to some hiccups on my part plus the vagaries of publishing.

To Enchant a Lady’s Heart is set in Victorian England. It’s the love story between Adam, the illegitimate son of an earl, and Eliza, the gentlewoman who is supposed to marry his half-brother if only her heart didn’t want something more than a title. This novella has a second purpose besides the romance (which I happen to adore). It introduces three other characters, and their stories will be told in three full-length novels, coming in 2023 and 2024.

Here’s the series blurb:

The British Are Coming series begins with a novella set in Victorian England where readers meet Adam Faulkner, the illegitimate son of the Earl of Hooke, and Eliza Southwick, the gentlewoman he loves. It continues with novels set in America in the mid-1890s featuring Sebastian Whitcombe, heir to the Earl of Hooke; his younger sister, Lady Amanda Whitcombe; and his tradesman friend, Roger Bernhardt. They have come to the American West—Sebastian for a last adventure before taking himself a wife, Amanda to experience some of the thrills she witnessed as a child in London at Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show, and Roger to paint the beauty of Yellowstone before taking over the family business in London. Adventure and romance abound!

Seeing To Enchant a Lady’s Heart release is a desire fulfilled (see the Proverb above). So much so I’m just a little bit giddy.

I think I shared the beautiful chapter pages in the paperback (available on Amazon and B&N). But just in case, here it is again:

And I cannot wait to get to share the audiobook version. I spent a lot of time last fall, listening to narrators of books with British characters. I already had a couple of favorite narrators from audiobooks by other authors, stories set in England in both Regency and Victorian time periods, and one of those favorites, Ann Marie Gideon, narrated To Enchant a Lady’s Heart. Much to my delight.

As I frequently share, I don’t have favorites among my own books. Each was written for a reason. Some are sweet love stories. Some make readers cry. Some are more gritty, dealing with tough life issues. Some make a reader smile or even laugh. All represent a lesson or lessons that God has taught me or is teaching me. They come from my heart, and I know readers will have their own favorites for their own reasons.

When it came to writing To Enchant a Lady’s Heart, I found real joy in the Victorian England setting. My last story set entirely in England was released in the general romance market in 1992. That’s a long time! So going there in my story was like visiting an old friend.

Thanks for celebrating this book birthday with me a few days early. And if you read the book—in ebook, paperback, or audio—I hope you’ll find it enchanting.

~robin

Book Party!

I just love book parties. Don’t you? A chance for book nerds to get together and share their love of words and stories. So fun!

If you enjoy Christian historical romance, I’d love to invite you to a book party happening Monday, May 22 on Facebook. Hosted by the lovely Kathleen Denly, this party will feature authors Carolyn Miller, Kim Vogel Sawyer, Joanna Barker, Cara Grandle, Stephenia H. McGee, Crystal Caudill, Misty Beller, and me!

There will be interactive author chats, free bookmarks, games, giveaways, and loads of bookish fun! I’ll be giving away signed copies of my brand-new novel, Fairest of Heart, that hasn’t even released yet!

Join the party here!

I hope to see you there!

Have you ever attended or sponsored a book-themed party?

When my daughter was a pre-teen, she loved Nancy Drew, so we threw a Nancy Drew party where clues had to be solved in order to find the prizes, which were copies of Nancy Drew books. That was a fun one to host. How about you?

ACFW Conference, Here I Come!

For many consecutive years, both as a pre-published and newly published writer, I attended the ACFW (American Christian Fiction Writers) Conference. However, it has now been many years that I haven’t. Honestly, I can’t even remember the last time I went. But 2023 will be different, because I’ve registered to attend! 

Why go back again? For one thing, I miss my writer friends. I don’t know who will be there, exactly, but I need that fellowship with other fiction writers. But I wouldn’t be able to justify the time and expense for just that. So I let myself look at the workshop offerings. Two in particular caught my attention. First, the early bird with Donald Maas. I took one of those with him eons ago, and I always find all his writing books helpful. Second, a continuing track taught by my friend Tracy Higley on how to run your writing life from an entrepreneurial perspective. I love Tracy. And I know that her topic is one of my great weaknesses. 

All those things combined to make me take the plunge. I’m excited, even though August is still a long ways off. But I have a summer of fun things to distract me until then. 

I thought I’d leave you with a few of my ACFW memories. (Warning: they are sparse! We are temporarily out of our house at the moment and I think many of my pictures were physical, not digital! But here’s what I found.)

Me impersonating Deb in a skit long ago. One of my favorite ACFW memories!My first ever selfie with Liz Curtis Higgs! Obviously my self skills and my phone camera have improved over the years! The year I had a short story published in a Guideposts Christmas compilation, I got to have dinner with Susan and Jon, the editors, and friends Lisa Ludwig and Anita Higman, who wrote for Guideposts. I had no idea then that I’d get to work with Guideposts again so many years later! Two of my longtime ACFW compadres–Carla Stewart and Mary DeMuth (who is not only a dear friend but now also my agent!)

Writing friends, will I see you there? 

Quick! Let’s play a game!

Happy Tuesday all!

It’s time to play, “What are the last four items you’ve ordered on Amazon—and would you recommend them?”

Disclaimer: If you’ve recently ordered something that’s either really personal or simply not appropriate to share publicly, then you REALLY HAVE to share it! It’s the game, after all! ; )

Okay, I’ll go first. And I’ll admit up front that there’s a strikingly similar pattern to my recent orders. LOL #NewGrandmother

I was shopping for teething toys for Leo when I saw that cute little musical cow, which is fabulous. Leo loves the little penguin teether, and it’s really a clever design (how it slips over the infant’s hand). He hasn’t used the elephant teether much yet, but I have a feeling that will be more appealing once he actually starts teething.

The musical cow is SUPER cute and really holds his attention. He loves pressing the buttons and just chatters back in response. So I would highly recommend that one, too. And for reference, Leo is 5 months old now.

The last item included in the screenshot above is something I needed in order to “help” a friend celebrate her 60th birthday. Because no way could I blow up 60 duck balloons on my own!

That little balloon pump is fabulous! Now I’m wondering how I ever lived without it. I’ve already used it twice because our daughter’s birthday was Saturday so, of course, I needed to take her 36 bday balloons when we took her to breakfast. I think this little balloon pump is going to get a lot of use!

Here are Kelsey (right) and Kellie (our daughter-in-law, Leo’s mom!) acting all bougie after a wine tasting at Arrington Vineyards. They bought me some peach wine for Mother’s Day and oh…it is sweet and delicious. Which is saying a lot because I’m not usually a wine drinker.

But back to the duck balloons and helping my dear friend celebrate her 60th…

Sunday morning, Joe and I visited Kim’s car (while she and her husband were at church). The security guard saw us but I did some fast explaining, and he was quickly all in!

The duck balloons (also highly recommend) make more sense when you know that Joe & I and Kim & Jerry have been hiding an angry rubber duck back-and-forth in each other’s houses since 2019.

Here’s the duck in our house the last time they came to see us. After they left, I was sitting on the sofa a day later, looked up, and there he was in our cabinet! She’d slipped it in there without me seeing.

Here he is closer up. And there’s a story behind his angry face too…

A long while back, Kim had been “kindly encouraging” Jerry to do something (as wives often do with their husbands), and Jerry commented that it was like “being pecked to death by a duck’s bill.” LOL So, another quick Amazon order and voila…a duck (made angry with the help of a Sharpie) stealthily appeared in Kim’s kitchen cabinet one Sunday night during community group.

Anyway, I digress…

Now it’s your turn, if you dare! What are the last 4 things (or even 1) in your order cart from Amazon—and would you recommend them/it?

Hugs from my corner of Nashville,

Tammy

P.S. If you happen to be looking for tiny little ducks to hide in your friend’s house while she’s away—again, helping her celebrate her 60th—these tiny squeaking ducks are fabulous! Just sayin’!

MAY GIVEAWAY

Enter to win
Lisa Harper’s new LUKE Bible study!

Watch the trailer

BONUS PIC IF YOU READ THIS FARMost Monday afternoons, I have the total pleasure of keeping Leo, and yesterday was one of those days. Oh, I adore this little boy!

Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links on this site are “Amazon affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, Tamera Alexander will receive an affiliate commission. We are disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission‘s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Airbnb Adventures

Have you stayed at an Airbnb? I’d love to hear about your experience, because I’m on the other end of the situation.

My husband and I moved into an interesting house in 2017. It consists of several detached buildings–a caboose, a workshop, a two-bedroom house, and a building that once housed an artist’s office, studio, and a place to stretch his canvases. We bought it because it was artsy and because I wanted to use the art studio for my photography studio. It had been unoccupied for nearly NINE years before we moved it–it was a little too “interesting” for most people.

Pretty quickly we realized that this older wooden house was going to need some repairs–a LOT of them. Wood–especially if it’s in a forest by a creek in Florida–tends to rot over time, and our wood was rotting–the wooden decks, the wood on the exterior of the house, even the support structure. So we’ve been replacing and repairing wood ever since.

The house before we moved in. It doesn’t look nearly as manicured now.

To help offset the cost of all that wood–and the carpenters who install it–we decided to use the “stretch canvases” room as an Airbnb. We redid the bathroom, spruced up the attached laundry, and put in all the furniture that had been in our family room at the old house. It turned out pretty cute and comfortable, if I do say so myself.

And then came the adventures. Let me assure you that 95 percent of our guests are wonderful, nice, normal people who are a pleasure to host. It’s the other five percent that make life a challenge. The twenty-somethings who have never washed a dish in their lives, the folks who rent the place for the afternoon only, the photographers who rent the place to take photos, etc.

I’ll never forget one day when my daughter (she and her family were living upstairs in the photo studio at the time) called to say there was a naked woman on the swing in our backyard.

I ran out so fast I probably set a land speed record. The photographer and a young lady (wearing a crocheted sort-of coverup, that didn’t cover anything), came around the corner. “NO,” I told him. “No, no, no.” They left, thank goodness.

Then there was the young man who asked if he could have a few family members over. I said, “Sure,” and then he and his girlfriend went to the beach. While they were gone, an entire family reunion came walking down the driveway, so many I lost count. They came, some of them stayed, they smoked (against our rules), etc. I was fit to be tied.

One of our young guests in the “secret garden.”

But we’ve learned a lot as we’ve been hosting. I’ve learned to set reasonable rules and listen to my gut instincts. And, as I said, most of the folks have been great. Some have been so wonderful we wanted to adopt them. A couple from Europe saw an alligator swimming by, something I have yet to spot in the creek. They asked me–LOL–if the gators were dangerous.

One of my 2023 books, What a Wave Must Be, features a frazzled grandmother with a caboose and an airbnb at her house. (Hey, we write what we know . . . )

So if you ever want to consider staying in an Airbnb, I would urge you to look at the ratings and reviews by previous guests. Just like guests, most Airbnb places are great. But occasionally you encounter a stinker.

Now we have two units (we turned the upstairs studio into another one), so I spend a LOT of time doing laundry. But the added income has helped pay for all the carpenters, and we enjoy exercising the gift of hospitality. And when the experience isn’t wonderful, God gives grace.

And scrubbing toilets keeps life real.

Have you tried an Airbnb? How was your experience?

~~Angie

Inspired by Scripture

This Sunday feature is brought to you by ClashVerseoftheDay.com. You may sign up to receive a beautiful photo with Scripture in your inbox each morning or view the verse each day online.

What Causes Readers to Place a Book on Their Keeper Shelf

I’m in California this weekend celebrating our oldest daughter’s college graduation! Please give a warm welcome to my wonderful reader friends Joy, Crissy, and Amy. They’re here to provide insight on a question near and dear to an author’s heart. What elevates a book to a reader’s “keeper shelf”? -Becky

What Causes Readers to Place a Book on Their Keeper Shelf:

1. The characters move off the page and take up residence in our hearts.

2. We start referring to the characters as if they’re our friends. “My friend Nora told me a story about this chapel…”

3. The cover gave us heart eyes the moment we saw it. You know the ones… Author? Doesn’t matter. Back blurb? Didn’t even read it. But that cover smooth-talked us into buying it all on its own.

4. It’s autographed to us personally.

5. We went from wanting to toss the book across the room at one point, followed quickly by wanting to hug it to our chest in adoration.

6. We want to both shout from the rooftops for the world to read it AND keep it close so that it’s only ours. Sharing can be hard when you find a book that is special to you. What if no one else likes it? The Horror!

7. We were unable to pick up another book for a few days after reading it.

8. We’ve met the author.

9. We were on the launch team and had a great time getting to know both the author and our teammates so now the book is a treasured keepsake.

10. We lived and found ourselves within the pages.

11. We read the entire book in one sitting and then contemplated starting it over because we finished it too fast.

12. One of our future children (or pets) will be named after one of the characters.

What causes you to add a book to your “keeper shelf”?

The unique challenges of writing out of order…

Last month I wrote a prequel to my next legal suspense.

One challenge was that it was written AFTER the first book in the legal suspense series. I had/have a very detailed outline. It was why I could write the book so very fast. And I also had/have a detailed character study of the hero and heroine. But I heard from my editor last week and the heroine isn’t quite working. I wasn’t entirely surprised. In fact, it’s why I hired this particular editor. I knew she would tell me what I needed to hear to make this book great.

Normally, I’d just settle in and start reworking the heroine and make the plot changes needed. However, this time, the book that follows it is already through two rounds of edits and on to the line edit stage. That means there are certain parts of the story in the prequel that can’t change. So I’ve been a bit frozen. Finishing grades for my day job have given me a good excuse, but I’ve really been wrestling with what to do. I’ve been binge listening to books in the Gabriel Allon series and wondering how to fix the heroine. I think I have ideas, but this is one point where writing is really hard.

It would be really easy to tell my editor that I disagree and my story is perfect as it is.

However, that would be lazy and not what’s best for the story and readers.

If I’m honest though, I would really love to take the easy way out. Fortunately or unfortunately, this is not my style. Tomorrow I’ll start working through the ways to bend the plot to fix the character issues with the heroine. There are ways to do this, but it’s challenging.

So I’m reminding myself that this is why I love writing. I’ll never arrive. I’ll always get to push myself to be a better writer.

It’s great to say…until I actually have to do it.

So today, I thought I’d give away the book that released last month…In part to remind myself I can do this! And then in August, you can read the book I’m rewriting this month. I hope life is treating you well!

<a Rafflecopter giveawayp>

Flashback Fun

Hi friends, 

My novella, The Shifting Current: A Coastal Guardian novella, released next week and I’m so honored and humbled by all the amazing feedback I’ve received. I’m thrilled so many of you are enjoying Logan and Emmy’s adventure. If you haven’t had a chance to pick up their story, grab it now for only $2.99 on e-book. It’s also available in print and will release on Audiobook on May 16th. I’m blessed to have the same narrator who did an amazing job with the rest of the Coastal Guardian series.  

Speaking of the Coastal Guardian series, I’m excited to announce that my novel The Crushing Depths—book two of Coastal Guardian series—is on sale for $3.99 on e-book for a limited time. 

In honor of the sale, I thought we’d check in and find out what’s up with Rissi Dawson and Mason Rogers. 

Looking back at Rissi & Mason’s adventure:

Raised together in an abusive children’s home for orphans, Mason Rogers makes himself a pledge that he’ll do whatever it takes to protect Rissi Dawson. She’s a couple of years younger and still possesses a tenderness and optimism he lost years ago. But something about the girl transfixes his heart and causes him to hope. Hope one day they can be out of the wretched house and together.

Leaving for the Coast Guard Academy, he plans to come back once he graduates and can provide a home for Rissi, to save her from that horrid place. But when he goes back, he finds she’s disappeared. Apparently, she ran away the same day he left. He tries to find her but to no avail. Fast forward a decade and who should walk into Rissi’s Coast Guard Investigative Service station but Mason Rogers. A wealth of emotions rush through them as they try to wrap their head around the fact that they’ve found each other after all these years, but also the fact they are colleagues. 

When an accident claims the life of an oil-rig worker on the first drilling platform off the North Carolina coast, Rissi and Mason are paired up and sent to investigate the case. Tensions surrounding the oil rig are high and the death has everyone on edge. Environmental activists are threatening to do whatever it takes to stop the structure from being completed, while rumors are being whispered about ancient curses surrounding this part of the ocean. 

Mounting evidence shows the death may not have been an accident at all. Was he killed by one of the activists or, perhaps more frighteningly, a member of his own crew? Rissi and Mason have to sort through not only a plethora of suspects but also their own pasts and attraction to one another. As the case seems like it’ll break open, worse news arrives. 

A tropical storm has turned their way and soon they’re cut off from any rescue–and right where the killer wants them. It’s a race to discover his identity before he eliminates the threat they pose.

Where are Rissi & Mason Now?

It’s been a few years since their case on the oil rig. The two are still working at the Wilmington, NC CGIS Station, but given the depth of their relationship, they are no longer paired together on the job. But, outside, they are practically inseparable. Rissi doesn’t know it yet, but Mason’s got a ring in his pocket and he’s planning the perfect proposal for the woman he loves. Given her love for the water, he’s securing a sailing boat under the guise of taking her out for a simple picnic on board, but when she goes to winch the jib line, she’s going to find more than the rope.  

If you haven’t had a chance to read Rissi and Mason’s adventure, I hope you’ll check it out. Now is a great time to snag it for a good price. 

Question for you:

Have you read any of the books in the Coastal Guardian series? 

If so, who’s your favorite character and why?

Thanks for spending a little of your Wednesday with me. Hope you all have a wonderful rest of your week!