Mona Hodgson's Blog, page 25
March 3, 2013
Research Trip for The Quilted Heart: 1st Stop, Gateway Arch
In March 2012, after thirteen years, I returned to St. Louis and St. Charles, Missouri. This time, as a historical novelist writing for WaterBrook Multnomah, to do research for my new series, The Quilted Heart. The post Civil War mid-1860s provides the historical backdrop for my three Quilted Heart eBook novellas.
First stop: The Gateway Arch and the Museum of Westward Expansion in St. Louis. Everything about the grounds and the Arch mesmorized me, but the museum…well, it was like a candy store with all my favorite sweets. Props from American history.
The park at the Gateway Arch
Going Up inside the Gateway Arch
Hubby Bob inside Gateway Arch
The Quilted Heart novellas, the Prequel to a wagon train series
Already daydreaming for the next series
Less than one year later, Dandelions on the Wind, the first of The Quilted Heart Novellas released, and is now available as an exclusive eBook.
Do you have a favorite museum? Where is it?
February 28, 2013
Easter Egg Blog Hop
Welcome to the Easter Egg Blog Hop!
Today, I’m excited to host the fifth stop along this ten-stop-hop. You’re halfway there!
What’s the Easter Egg Blog Hop? Learn more about it here, and join the fun!
I
n celebration of Lisa Tawn Bergren’s new book, God Gave Us Easter, some fun coloring pages were created for you and your little cub to enjoy! You’re invited to download these coloring pages from the God Gave Us series and spend some time adding a little color to your life with your little one!
God Gave Us Easter Coloring Page
All other God Gave Us Coloring Pages
Today’s Easter Egg: Download one (or all!) of the coloring pages and color it with your child. Take a photo of the results and post it on your blog or social media! Then head over to the entry form and submit the link to your blog or social media post.
February 27, 2013
My Favorite Dr. Suess Book
In honor of Ted Geisel’s birthday on Saturday, March 2nd, I thought it’d be fun to share my favorite Dr. Suess book with you.
Oh, the Thinks You Can Think! by Dr. Seuss
When I teach a Writing for Children course at a writers’ conference, my students can expect me to read Oh, The Thinks We Can Think!. The book embodies traits writers, especially those writing for children, should embrace.
Childlike wonder about the world around them. Engaging your imagination and dream. Playing with words and concepts. Embracing adventure and discovery.
Do you have a favorite Dr. Seuss Book?
What traits do you most appreciate in Dr. Seuss BookS?
New Quilted Heart Series, Giveaway, and More
Thank you for celebrating the release of Dandelions on the Wind with me last week! In case you missed something, I’m rounding everything up right here. A Civil War Era Quilt Square Giveaway? That’s here! A familiar character chatting about the new setting? That’s here too. A snapshot of history during the series. Yep, it’s here.
Dandelions on the Wind, Bending Toward the Sun, and Ripples Along the Shore
You don’t want to miss any of The Quilted Heart novellas fun!
Enter the Drawing for the Dandelions on the Wind Civil War Era Quilt Square!
Miss Hattie Reminisces About Saint Charles!
A Snapshot of American History During the 1860s!
How You Can Help
Would you consider helping me celebrate Dandelions on the Wind and my new Quilted Heart Series by sharing some of the items below? I appreciate your partnership!
Pin the cover on Pinterest!
2. Like and share The Quilted Heart board on Pinterest!
3. Please Tweet:
“Excited to read @MonaHodgson’s newest, #DandelionsOnTheWind, from @WaterBrookPress! Read an excerpt: http://waterbrookmultnomah.com/catalog.php?work=221542
4. Write a short review of Dandelions on the Wind for Amazon, ChristianBook, BarneandNoble, GoodReads, NovelCrossing, or on your blog. Just a few sentences of your impressions or what the story meant to you can be quite helpful to seeking readers and to an author trying to spread the word about a story. If you write a review, there are sometimes options to share it to Facebook. If you have that option, would you consider doing that to? It would be an added blessing!
5. List Dandelions on the Wind on your GoodReads.com or NovelCrossing.com profile as “To be read,” “Reading Now,” or “Have Read.” I’d love it if you’d leave a one or two-line review there too.
Many Thanks for any and all the help you can offer!
I’m excited to share the adventures of the Saint Charles Quilting Circle with you in the three Quilted Heart novellas!
The Quilted Heart novellas are exclusive eBook releases. You don’t have a dedicated eReader? No problem. You can download a free app to your computer. Here’s how!
Bending Toward the Sun, Novella #2 in The Quilted Heart Series is now available for pre-order!
Have you ever been to St. Charles, Missouri, the setting for the novellas? Do you have a favorite place to go there?
February 18, 2013
Bob’s Corner: No E-Reader, No Problem
Bob Hodgson, resident techie, chief cook, and dapper driver for book signings.
Howdy from Bob’s corner!
TODAY is Release Day for Dandelions on the Wind, the first novella in Mona’s new series, The Quilted Heart. The three mid-1860s stories are available this spring exlusively in e-Book format, but you don’t need a fancy schmancy handheld e-Reader to read Dandelions on the Wind.
Since you’re reading this post, I’m guessing you already have a computer, iPod/iPad/iPhone, Android tablet, or smart phone. That means you have the ability to install a free app that will allow you to enjoy the new series (and all of Mona’s historical fiction) on your device.
The app that seems the universal choice is the Kindle app, available from the Amazon.com website. All compatible platforms are listed on the site, including those with a fruit logo, but keep reading for an important caveat.
If you have a PC or Android, you can purchase the books in Amazon/Kindle, then read it on any device with the Kindle app installed.
If you own a Mac and iPhone, iPad, or iPod, you can and should install the iBook app from Apple. Keep in mind that if you use an Apple product, they do not allow what are referred to as in-app purchases. So, with a Kindle app, you can read the book, but you will have to purchase it on some other device. You would be ahead to keep it all in-house.
E-Books are not transferable between different brands of e-Readers. My advice is to go with the strongest brand for you, so you don’t have to re-purchase your books if you change readers. Kindle and iBooks both allow you to read your books on any of your compatible devices. Start on your desktop, and continue on your handheld.
There are other readers available. If you plan on purchasing one of them, you would want to go to their website and see about downloadable readers for your current device. Then, when you buy that reader in the future, you will be able to transfer the books to your device.
I hope I have not confused the matter in my “simple” explanation. If you have any further questions, go to the website of your device or operating system. They get paid to make it complicated.
Good reading!
The bob
The Quilted Heart Novellas
February 14, 2013
Miss Hattie Reminisces About Saint Charles
I suppose some folks might assume I’ve always lived in Cripple Creek, Colorado. Why, they might even figure I haven’t done anything but run Miss Hattie’s Boardinghouse on Golden Avenue. Truth is, I was once the age of our dear Sinclair Sisters. And younger.
Two Brides Too Many, Too Rich for a Bride, The Bride Wore Blue, and Twice a Bride
My hair might have grayed on me, but you can be certain my Cripple Creek adventures won’t be my last. Nor were they my first.
The days of my childhood dawned not in a mining camp or anywhere in the mountains of Colorado, but in Saint Charles on the banks of the Missouri River. Oh, you might also like to know that’s where I first met Boney Hughes. Or as the Sinclair Sisters like to call him, Mr. Boney.
Remembering those bittersweet days, I can’t help but breathe a wistful sigh.
I was but fifteen years of age, quilting with Mother and my dear friends in Mrs. Brantenberg’s circle, when talk of the caravan going west first buzzed through Saint Charles like a restless bumblebee.
Three Quilted Heart eBook Novellas
Maren, Emilie, and Caroline probably wouldn’t want to hear this, but I like to think of The Quilted Heart novellas as my stories too. After all, I was there with them.
Have you pre-ordered your copies?
© 2013 Mona Hodgson, Author and Speaker
February 12, 2013
While You Wait for Dandelions on the Wind
Drum roll please. My second historical fiction series debuts in only six days!
On Tuesday, February 19th, Maren Jensen and the other women from the Quilting Circle in Saint Charles, Missouri, will make their way into your eReader and into your hearts as well (I hope). Dandelions on the Wind is the first of three novellas in The Quilted Heart, which serves as a prequel to my next series Hearts Seeking Home (August 2013).
Thankfully, some of you have expressed impatience, so I’ve put together a list of seven things you can do while we wait for Dandelions on the Wind. Most are ways in which you can partner with me to share this story of hope and second chances with as many readers as possible.
Seven things to do while you wait . . .
1. Enter the Giveaway for a Dandelions on the Wind Civil War Era Quilt Square.
2. Pre-Order Dandelions on the Wind from your favorite eBook seller. (If you do so, I’d love it if you’d mention it on your Facebook wall and “tag” me (Mona Hodgson Author Page) or on Twitter and “mention” me.)
3. Are you on Pinterest? Might you visit The Quilted Heart board and “like’ and “repin” your favorite pins, including the book covers?
4. Are you a member of a book club or reading circle, or do you know someone who is? I’d love it if you’d suggest that the group read Dandelions on the Wind, a Qiulted Heart novella. It’d be great fun to chat with your book club via Skype, or in person if I’m going to be in your area.
5. Are you on NovelCrossing? NovelCrossing is the intersection at which Faith and Fiction meet. Please join me on NovelCrossing, and add Dandelions on the Wind to your “to be read shelf.” (Also, if you’ve read my Sinclair Sisters of Cripple Creek Series, I’d love it if you’d comment on those too.)
6. Would you share this post on your Facebook wall, Twitter, or Google+?
7. Read (or reread) The Sinclair Sisters of Cripple Creek novels–Two Brides Too Many, Too Rich for a Bride, The Bride Wore Blue, and/or Twice a Bride.
Friends, I value your support of my wordsmith ministry and your enthusiasm for my historical fiction. Thank you!
Happy Reading!
If you follow any of my seven suggestions, please let me know on my Facebook Mona Hodgson Author Page. Do you have any suggestions to add to my list?
© 2013 Mona Hodgson, Author and Speaker
February 10, 2013
A Snapshot of American History, 1860s
For the United States of America, the 1860s represent a time of division, devastation, rebuilding, and reconciliation. For families, and for the nation.
Abraham Lincoln ran for President of the United States, and was elected, 1860.
President Abraham Lincoln
South Carolina was the first southern state to secede from the Union, December, 1860.
The Pony Express carried overland mail from April 1860 to October 1861.
Completion of the transcontinental telegraph, 1861.
Southern states officially set up the Confederated States of America, with Jefferson Davis as President, February 1861.
The beginnning of the conflict between the states, known as the American Civil War, began at Fort Sumter, April 1861.
The Homestead Act was approved, granting family farms of 160 acres to settlers, May 1862.
Land Grant Act approved, calling for public land sale to fund agricultual education, July 1862.
President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, which proclaimed all those enslaved were to be set free, January 1863.
President Lincoln was re-elected, November 1864.
General Robert E. Lee surrenered his army to Ulysses S. Grant, ending the four years of Civil War conflict, April, 1865.
Confederate General Robert E. Lee
Union General Ulysses S. Grant
President Lincoln was assasinated, April 1865.
Andrew Jackson became the seventeen president, April 1865.
The 13th Amendment was adopted, outlawing slavery, December 1865.
This is the backdrop for my next historical fiction series, The Quilted Heart, which is set in mid-1865 to mid-1866.
Dandelions on the Wind, Bending Toward the Sun, and Ripples Along the Shore
Is there a time in American history that particularly interests you? Why?
© 2013 Mona Hodgson, Author and Speaker
February 8, 2013
Giveaway! Dandelions on the Wind Civil War Era Quilt Square
I have embarked on yet another adventure! And, of course, I’d love it if you joined me.
I can’t wait for you to meet Elsa Brantenberg and the women from her Saint Charles Quilting Circle.
An adventure because . . .
We’re going back in time, to 1865
We’re moving out story setting from Colorado to Missouri
We’re switching from a mining camp to a farm and a river town
We’re stepping out of the boardinghouse into a quilting circle
The Quilted Heart, Novella #1
Wait, there’s still more to our adventure!
My new series consists of three novellas
The three stories focus on three women from the quilting circle
The novellas are releasing as exclusive eBooks
The novellas are releasing about six weeks apart
Dandelions on the Wind, Bending Toward the Sun, and Ripples Along the Shore are now available for Pre-Order
AND the novellas are a prequel to my next series
Exciting times call for a GIVEAWAY, don’t you think?
My sister, Linda, quilted some beautiful Civil War-era quilt squares for me to give away in celebration of my new eNovella series, The Quilted Heart.
Click on the link below to enter the drawing!
I’ll announce the winner of the first square on February 28th.
Stay tuned for a chance to win one of the remaining three squares in the next few months!
ENTER Dandelions on the Wind Quilt Square Giveaway
February 3, 2013
Guest Author: Kathi Macias, Plus Book Giveaway
Kathi Macias is my guest author on Hindsight today!
Kathi Macias
Award Winning Author
Kathi has published 40 books.
Kathi writes contemporary fiction and nonfiction.
Kathi’s stories tackle tough issues with heart-stirring grace and hope.
When Kathi and I meet at a Starbucks in California , she orders spiced chai.
See why I’m so excited for you to meet Kathi, or to get to know her better?
MONA: Welcome to Hindsight, Kathi!
KATHI: Thanks, Mona. I appreciate the invitation!
MONA: What Bible verse is most meaningful to you right now? Share why?
KATHI: Philippians 2:1-11, particularly verse 5: “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.” Our pastor spoke on this passage recently and encouraged us to spend time memorizing and meditating on it. It’s amazing, regardless of how familiar a passage of Scripture may be, how fresh it can become when we take the time to really let it work in our heart. And it tracks so well with Romans 12:2: “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”
When I became a believer on July 5, 1974, at the age of 26, I knew in that very moment that everything I’d ever believed had been based on faulty thinking and I had to relearn everything. I’ve come a long way since then, but I also know I still have a long way to go. These verses speak of that very need to “repent”—to turn from the wrong thinking of the world and toward the right thinking of God. It’s a lifelong process, and worth every step of the journey.
MONA: What book are you currently reading, or do you have on the top of your to-be-read list?
KATHI: I’m reading a pre-pub copy of Widow of Gettysburg by Jocelyn Green. It’s wonderful! (A real page-turner that’s keeping me from getting other things done.) At the top of my to-be-read pile is American Phoenix by Jane Hampton Cook and Unbreakable by Nancy Mehl.
MONA: What is one of the most interesting things you’ve learned while researching a novel?
The Moses Quilt
KATHI: Oh my goodness, there’s been so much, especially when I’m learning about other countries and cultures—or time periods. Before I began writing The Moses Quilt, for instance, I thought I knew about the life of Harriet Tubman. As I really dug into the history of that amazing woman’s life, I found out how little I actually knew. I’d always thought of her in connection with her work on the Underground Railroad, which of course is quite true. But I had no idea she was also involved in fighting for women’s suffrage and even served as a spy and a nurse for the Union Army during the Civil War.
I had much the same experience of surprise discoveries when I researched the life of Elizabeth Blackwell, America’s first woman doctor, for the second book in this series, The Doctor’s Christmas Quilt, and for the final book, which I’m working on now—The Singing Quilt, based on the life of the “Queen of Gospel,” Fanny Crosby. These women have become great inspirations and role models for me.
MONA: You don’t shy away from tough issues. How do you “find” your stories—the settings or character you want to write about?
KATHI: Many of my books are written around a specific cause that I care about. For instance, my Extreme Devotion Series is about the Persecuted Church around the world; the Freedom Series is about human trafficking; my 2011 Christmas novel, A Christmas Journey Home, dealt with the immigration issue, while the 2012 Christmas novel, Unexpected Christmas Hero, dealt with homelessness in America.
The new Quilt Series isn’t really much different, in that the first book deals with interracial relationships, the second with the pro-life issue, and the third with people struggling with disabilities. I guess I never really get off the proverbial soapbox, but I’ve always been cause-oriented, so I suppose it’s only natural that those issues would find their way into my stories.
MONA: The Moses Quilt is the first story in your new Quilt Series. Could you give us a peek into the background of these books? What sparked the ideas for these characters and this series?
KATHI: Each of the three books in this series are actually contemporary stories, but told against the backdrop of a woman of great faith and courage in American history, a woman whose story still makes a difference in lives today. And in each book, the story of the historical woman is told through the patches of a quilt, as the listeners work through the issues in their own lives.
MONA: What advice do you have for those who dream of being a published novelist?
KATHI: Be sure God has called you to it, because it’s no easy profession to enter or endure. There have been countless times I wanted to throw in the towel—after receiving my twentieth rejection or getting a royalty statement that made me wonder if I wouldn’t be better off working for minimum wage at a “real” job somewhere—but knowing that God has called me to this keeps me going.
I know that my success as a writer/novelist is not measured in book sales or royalty checks, but rather in knowing that I am being obedient to the gifts and calling God has placed on my life. If you are convinced of that same gift and calling, then pursue it with all your heart, knowing that it won’t be easy but the blessings of obedience you find along the way will make it all worthwhile.
MONA: Where and how can readers connect with you?
KATHI: My website/blog is the best place to connect with me: www.kathimacias.com. There you can browse my books, watch the video trailers that go with them, order them if you desire. You can also find out where I’ll be appearing/speaking and even invite me to come to your area. You can also sign up to receive my weekly devotional, which I mail out each Wednesday. And, of course, you can find my personal page on Facebook under Kathi Macias, and my professional page under Kathi Macias Author.
Mona: Thanks so much for joining us here, Kathi.
Kathi: My pleasure, Mona. Thank you!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=p7Ku5tygrMs
Were you familiar with Kathi’s books? What intrigued you most about Kathi or her writing?
Comment to enter the drawing for one of two copies of The Moses Quilt. YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS IS REQUIRED FOR NOTIFICATION. Drawing Friday, February 8th at 5:00pm (Arizona time)
