Marta Perry's Blog, page 6
April 29, 2015
Great New Book from a Friend
I just wanted to let you know about a terrific new book from my friend, Linda Goodnight. Linda and I got to know each other because we both write for Love Inspired, and although our writing and lives only allow us to see each other once a year or so, I never want to miss a chance to remind others of her wonderful books.
Linda has broken through into a new level of her beautiful, emotional story telling with her current book, "The Memory House." Here's a bit about her story:
New York Times bestselling author Linda Goodnight welcomes you to Honey Ridge, Tennessee, and a house that's rich with secrets and brimming with sweet possibilities
Memories of motherhood and marriage are fresh for Julia Presley—though tragedy took away both years ago. Finding comfort in the routine of running the Peach Orchard Inn, she lets the historic, mysterious place fill the voids of love and family. No more pleasure of a man's gentle kiss. No more joy in hearing a child call her Mommy. Life is calm, unchanging…until a stranger with a young boy and soul-deep secrets shows up in her Tennessee town and disrupts the loneliness of her world.
Julia suspects there's more to Eli Donovan's past than his motherless son, Alex. There's a reason he's chasing redemption and bent on earning it with a new beginning in Honey Ridge. Offering the guarded man work renovating the inn, she glimpses someone who—like her—has a heart in need of restoration. But with the chance discovery of a dusty stack of love letters buried within the lining of an old trunk, the long-dead ghosts of a Civil War romance envelop Julia and Eli, connecting them to the inn's violent history and challenging them both to risk facing yesterday's darkness for a future bright with hope and healing.
Grab your copy of "The Memory House" today online or at your favorite bookstore!
Linda has broken through into a new level of her beautiful, emotional story telling with her current book, "The Memory House." Here's a bit about her story:
New York Times bestselling author Linda Goodnight welcomes you to Honey Ridge, Tennessee, and a house that's rich with secrets and brimming with sweet possibilities
Memories of motherhood and marriage are fresh for Julia Presley—though tragedy took away both years ago. Finding comfort in the routine of running the Peach Orchard Inn, she lets the historic, mysterious place fill the voids of love and family. No more pleasure of a man's gentle kiss. No more joy in hearing a child call her Mommy. Life is calm, unchanging…until a stranger with a young boy and soul-deep secrets shows up in her Tennessee town and disrupts the loneliness of her world.
Julia suspects there's more to Eli Donovan's past than his motherless son, Alex. There's a reason he's chasing redemption and bent on earning it with a new beginning in Honey Ridge. Offering the guarded man work renovating the inn, she glimpses someone who—like her—has a heart in need of restoration. But with the chance discovery of a dusty stack of love letters buried within the lining of an old trunk, the long-dead ghosts of a Civil War romance envelop Julia and Eli, connecting them to the inn's violent history and challenging them both to risk facing yesterday's darkness for a future bright with hope and healing.
Grab your copy of "The Memory House" today online or at your favorite bookstore!
April 20, 2015
Book Covers
Can you really tell a book by its cover? Sometimes yes, sometimes no. I've made the mistake a time or two of buying a book because the cover drew me in, only to discover that the story didn't live up to the artwork! And sometimes books in a series have such similar covers that I'm not sure whether I've read them or not. But usually, a book cover that speaks to me will at least make me read the cover copy and perhaps the first page or two.
Get any group of writers together, and they'll be happy to exchange cover stories--usually about the ones that were so far from the story they wrote that they'll think the covers got on by mistake! I've had a few covers in the last 58 books that had what I thought were glaring errors, but also a number that were exactly right, and a few that took my breath away because they were so perfect.
In the misfits, there was the cover that gave my blond, blue-eyed hero black hair and dark eyes. And the one in which my husband pointed out that the windmill was in the wrong place on the farm scene. And one in which my mother of three looked about fourteen, and another where a clothesline seemed suspended in space!
But then there were the great ones, like the cover Berkley has given to my upcoming June book, THE RESCUED, Book two in the Keepers of the Promise series. The initial art, without the printing and folding, is so lovely that I want to hang it on the wall.
Isn't that lovely?
And here's how it looks once it was transformed into the actual book cover.
So what do you think? Does the cover lure you into buying the book? I hope so!
Get any group of writers together, and they'll be happy to exchange cover stories--usually about the ones that were so far from the story they wrote that they'll think the covers got on by mistake! I've had a few covers in the last 58 books that had what I thought were glaring errors, but also a number that were exactly right, and a few that took my breath away because they were so perfect.
In the misfits, there was the cover that gave my blond, blue-eyed hero black hair and dark eyes. And the one in which my husband pointed out that the windmill was in the wrong place on the farm scene. And one in which my mother of three looked about fourteen, and another where a clothesline seemed suspended in space!
But then there were the great ones, like the cover Berkley has given to my upcoming June book, THE RESCUED, Book two in the Keepers of the Promise series. The initial art, without the printing and folding, is so lovely that I want to hang it on the wall.
Isn't that lovely?And here's how it looks once it was transformed into the actual book cover.
So what do you think? Does the cover lure you into buying the book? I hope so!
April 15, 2015
Books in Series
There's something about collecting books that makes a person a little nutty, I'm afraid. At least, it's true for me. (Oops, maybe I'm the only one!) But from the time I started collecting Nancy Drew and Trixie Belden and the Dana Girls, I loved having those matching covers lined up on my book shelf. There's just something about a series that makes me happy. Maybe it's the sense that when I've finished one book, there's another waiting to plunge me into that same world again.
As a matter of fact, some of those books are still on my crowded bookshelves. I have a bunch of Nancy Drews with the orange silhouette of Nancy with the magnifying glass. Please tell me someone else is old enough to remember those! And the Dana Girls, too--I wanted to go to boarding school with them and solve mysteries. The Trixie Belden books were the first I collected that had the bright, colorful covers from Whitman that gave a sense of the story within. Unfortunately, those covers didn't last very well, although better than paper covers, so my remaining books now have plastic wrap around them to protect them.
So given the love I have for books in series with that special "look" I'm especially pleased to see HQN doing something similar for my current Amish suspense series of books. I just received the cover for Book 2, which will be out in October, and I love the way they've created a new scene which echoes the sense of the first book.
Here they are. Let me know what you think.
As a matter of fact, some of those books are still on my crowded bookshelves. I have a bunch of Nancy Drews with the orange silhouette of Nancy with the magnifying glass. Please tell me someone else is old enough to remember those! And the Dana Girls, too--I wanted to go to boarding school with them and solve mysteries. The Trixie Belden books were the first I collected that had the bright, colorful covers from Whitman that gave a sense of the story within. Unfortunately, those covers didn't last very well, although better than paper covers, so my remaining books now have plastic wrap around them to protect them.
So given the love I have for books in series with that special "look" I'm especially pleased to see HQN doing something similar for my current Amish suspense series of books. I just received the cover for Book 2, which will be out in October, and I love the way they've created a new scene which echoes the sense of the first book.
Here they are. Let me know what you think.
April 7, 2015
Easter Dessert
I always feel that the dessert I serve for Easter dinner ought to be something cool and springlike, no matter what the weather looks like outside. And I don't know about you, but we had snow flurries on Easter Saturday!
With that in mind, I present my take on Cherry Cream Cheese Pie. Everyone seems to have a recipe for this old favorite, and most of them involve sweetened condensed milk. Mine, preserved in my recipe box in my mother-in-law's handwriting, is a different version. I make it using light cream cheese and light Cool Whip, and if I ignore the sugar, I can pretend it's not so unhealthy after all!
Mom Greta's Cherry Cream Cheese PieMake or buy a graham cracker crust for a nine-inch pie plate.
Whip together 12 ounces of light cream cheese, an 8 ounce container of Cool Whip, and 1 cup of powdered sugar. Beat until light and fluffy and pile into the graham crust. Chill.
Once the pie is set, spread with cherry pie filling, serve, and enjoy a cool, light treat.
With that in mind, I present my take on Cherry Cream Cheese Pie. Everyone seems to have a recipe for this old favorite, and most of them involve sweetened condensed milk. Mine, preserved in my recipe box in my mother-in-law's handwriting, is a different version. I make it using light cream cheese and light Cool Whip, and if I ignore the sugar, I can pretend it's not so unhealthy after all!
Mom Greta's Cherry Cream Cheese PieMake or buy a graham cracker crust for a nine-inch pie plate.
Whip together 12 ounces of light cream cheese, an 8 ounce container of Cool Whip, and 1 cup of powdered sugar. Beat until light and fluffy and pile into the graham crust. Chill.
Once the pie is set, spread with cherry pie filling, serve, and enjoy a cool, light treat.
March 13, 2015
Amish Authors
Here's a fun look at some of your favorite Amish authors and their preferences, with huge thanks to Kathy Fuller for compiling it!
March 4, 2015
Winter Pleasures
While the cold winds blow and the snow piles up, what do you enjoy doing? Winter is, for many of us, a time to catch up on the pleasures we don't take time for when the warm sunshine beckons. I'm sure reading is near the top of your list, as it is mine! I've been re-reading a number of old favorites this winter, enjoying some that are newly available on my Kindle. And I'm reading my way through a stack of Rita books as I near the end of my judging time period.
During the winter, we usually have a jigsaw puzzle spread out on our coffee table, and anyone who comes in is welcome to put a few pieces in to share the fun. Here's a picture of the great Amish scene jigsaw puzzle my husband gave me for Christmas. It even prompted him to suggest that an Amish buggy repair shop would be an interesting occupation for one of my characters!
I've been enjoying sewing this winter, as well, and teaching my grandchildren how to use the sewing machine. We've made some great projects together, to say nothing of having a lot of fun! Do you have a favorite hobby to share with children or grandchildren?
And then there are the projects that I feel must be done at our vacation home while we're here. This year that included a first for me--making a slipcover for my recliner. Harder than I expected, but I'm fairly pleased with the results. I think a few wrinkles are inevitable if it's going to be removable!
Hope you had a productive winter--or a restful one--or whatever your spirit needed this year.
Blessings,
Marta
February 24, 2015
BOOK INSPIRATION
Hear about one of my favorite B&B inns – and the inspiration for my new novel, WHERE SECRETS SLEEP, on #AmishWisdom today: http://bit.ly/1zCOkm2
February 20, 2015
WHERE SECRETS SLEEP WINNERS!
Here are the ten winners of WHERE SECRETS SLEEP: Jewli (soaring.eagler@outlook.com), Carolsue (Digicats@sbcglobal.net), Leslie Beiser McKee, Celeste Wright Lacey, Heidi Nordby Cantrell, Maryellen Manley Young, Donna Groth Potozcek, Carol Welscher, Sandy Shearer, and Peggy Atlkins. Winners, please send your mailing address to me at mpjohn@ptd.net, and I'll get your books out as soon as possible. Thanks for playing, everyone! And congratulations to the winners!
February 16, 2015
BOOK GIVEAWAY!
This week I'll give away ten copies of my upcoming Amish romantic suspense novel, WHERE SECRETS SLEEP. To enter, either leave a comment below with your e-mail address or e-mail me at marta@martaperry.com.
I'll draw ten winners on Friday, February 20th, at noon. I hope it's your lucky day!
I'll draw ten winners on Friday, February 20th, at noon. I hope it's your lucky day!
February 11, 2015
Coming Soon!
My new Amish Romantic Suspense novel, first in a new three-book series, will be available in stores and online soon. Don't miss WHERE SECRETS SLEEP!
Here's a look at the story:
In Amish country, not everything is as simple as it appears.
After a terrible betrayal, Allison Standish flees Philadelphia for the small Amish community of Laurel Ridge to claim an unexpected inheritance. Allison intends to sell the mansion housing various shops—until she meets Nick Whiting, a single father and tenant of Blackburn House, who challenges everything she believes about her estranged grandmother and the Amish community.
Strange stipulations in her grandmother’s will soon bring distant relatives and seething townsfolk to Allison’s door. As anonymous threats escalate, Nick grows protective of Allison, and she finds herself falling for the handsome carpenter… But then she discovers her grandmother’s death may not have been accidental, and someone wants Allison gone. Permanently.
And here's what Publishers Weekly has to say about it:
Abundant details turn this Amish romantic thriller launch into a work of art. The intricately constructed plot features relatable, believable characters faced with realistic struggles both large and small. This is an excellent beginning to what promises to be a series of rewarding, satisfying novels.
STARRED REVIEW.
Here's a look at the story:
In Amish country, not everything is as simple as it appears.
After a terrible betrayal, Allison Standish flees Philadelphia for the small Amish community of Laurel Ridge to claim an unexpected inheritance. Allison intends to sell the mansion housing various shops—until she meets Nick Whiting, a single father and tenant of Blackburn House, who challenges everything she believes about her estranged grandmother and the Amish community.
Strange stipulations in her grandmother’s will soon bring distant relatives and seething townsfolk to Allison’s door. As anonymous threats escalate, Nick grows protective of Allison, and she finds herself falling for the handsome carpenter… But then she discovers her grandmother’s death may not have been accidental, and someone wants Allison gone. Permanently.
And here's what Publishers Weekly has to say about it:
Abundant details turn this Amish romantic thriller launch into a work of art. The intricately constructed plot features relatable, believable characters faced with realistic struggles both large and small. This is an excellent beginning to what promises to be a series of rewarding, satisfying novels.
STARRED REVIEW.
