Tropical Musings

Christine Johnson here today, and I’d like to offer everyone suffering through the spate of winter storms a glimpse of summer. Some of my non-LIH books are set in 1850s Key West. There’s nothing like the beauty of the tropics to give us a boost on those gloomy days.

This is one of the older homes in Key West. It was actually built in the Bahamas, disassembled and brought to Key West after the 1846 hurricane! Having suffered through Hurricane Irma, I can see why the owner resorted to this tactic. We have building supply stores and a road to the mainland. Key West had neither of those in 1846. They relied on ships to bring supplies. It could be a long wait. 

Speaking of ships and remote destinations, you can still visit one of the United State’s most remote National Parks, Dry Tortugas National Park, where Fort Jefferson is located. It’s a couple hour ferry ride or a seaplane ride from Key West to get there. The fort takes up nearly the entire island. https://www.nps.gov/drto/index.htm

Key West has its own fort, named Fort Zachary Taylor, which was originally built offshore with a sand spit connecting it to the land. Now it’s completely landlocked. The storms and flow of the sea are constantly changing the shape of every key (island) in the chain. Hurricanes birth new islands and remove others.

But I love the colors the best. The waters have a wide range of blues and turquoises, and then there are the flowers. Many have been brought to the island from other locations, but they are still beautiful.

My Keys of Promise series is set in this area in the 1850s, when Key West looked very different from today. In March, April and May, I will be hosting book club discussions on each of the three books at the free Women’s Bible Café Book Club online. 

Our March discussion of Love’s Rescue has begun, but you are certainly welcome to join in. See https://womensbiblecafe.org/2018/03/loves-rescue/

Thank you for sharing this walk through one of my favorite places.

Christine Johnson

Would-Be Mistletoe Wife (December 2017, LIH)

Freedom’s Price (Revell, June 2017)

http://christineelizabethjohnson.com

https://www.facebook.com/ChristineJohnsonAuthor

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Linda Goodnight here. It’s that time of year again. Spring has come to Oklahoma, and I have a yearning to be out in the garden playing in the dirt. Below is a photo I took near our pond, an old "home place" where flowers grow untended. Can anyone tell me what that white bush is?

I normally grow little tiny tomato gardens but this year Mr. G. plowed up a huge garden spot. I hope I can follow through with this grand idea of growing and preserving my own corn, okra,  tomatoes and so on. One thing I know about gardening. It takes work. Even on days when the sun is too hot or my body is too tired, a garden won’t wait. Weeds take over. The plants dry out. The fruit over-ripens and dies. I have to persevere.

Writing a book is a lot like growing a garden. It takes perseverance-from plowing the fertile ground of the imagination to the seed of an idea that, with careful tending, can take root on the page. Once the story seed blooms, I must dig out the pesky weeds of too much back story, overused adverbs and stilted dialogue. Yes, writing a book takes lots of work, but like the garden harvest, the end result is worth all the sweat and effort.(Remind me I said this in August when it’s 100 degrees!)

Are you planting a garden this spring? Have you ever? And please somebody, identify that white bush!

Linda Goodnight’s latest writing “fruit” is The Rain Sparrow, available now anywhere books are sold. 

The Library Journal says: Tender, haunting, and soul-satisfying, this story of hope, redemption, and justice skillfully blends romances in two separate time periods.

www.lindagoodnight.com

Flowers of the Season with Allie Pleiter

Normally, I’m not much of a flower person.  I like to receive them, of course, but tending and gardening are far from my strengths. 

I was fortunate enough to inherit several patches of peonies when my husband and I bought our house.   The opening of the peonies is the official start of my summer.  Yes, June 1 was yesterday, but on Friday when my first peonies showed their full lovely blooms? That’s the launch of my season.  I think they are my favorite flower—and not just because they require no effort from me save my appreciation.

Roses seem like the opposite of peonies.  I have a neighbor who tends her roses, and there sure seems to be a lot of tending involved.  Don’t get me wrong, I deeply appreciate her roses.  They look and smell lovely.  They seem worth the work.  I’m just a gal who knows when a task is over her head.

My heroine Katrine from my current release THE LAWMAN’S OKLAHOMA SWEETHEART is a staunch optimist, and tries to grow roses in the Oklahoma soil.  It’s tiny details like that which bring my characters alive in my head and hopefully in the imagination of my readers.  Of course, that means the bad guy has to take Katrine’s roses away from her, but you’ll have to read the book to find out how, why, and how our hero restores that hope.

What’s your favorite flower?  Is there one that “launches the season” for you?

Hanging in there...

Missy Tippens, here. For many of us, the weather has been extremely cold. Here in Georgia, we've had a bit of really cold weather--in the 20's. So I've been amazed at some flowers that have hung in there in pots on my porch. They got planted really late.


 Late in the summer, my daughter found some little bulbs she'd bought for a fundraiser, and my husband decided to just toss them in the pots to see what happened. Well, they've been blooming since about November! And they've survived the frost, I guess because they're on the edge of the porch.



Those cute little flowers (I don't even know what kind they are) have taught me about persistence. I thought I'd share. :)

Spring in the Desert

This is Merrillee reporting in after a trip to Tucson, Arizona. The desert air is dry, and this Florida gal certainly noticed, as every part of my body was chapped. I was slathering on lotion and lip balm at every turn. This year has been an unusual weather year for many parts of the country. The desert has had more rain than usual, so the area although not green like Florida is greener than usual. I took a few photos of the some of the vegetation in the area. Many of the cacti were in bloom. Enjoy spring in the desert.











What unusual weather have you had this year?

The Power of Blogs

We live in a marvelous time. I'm amazed at the way we can communicate with each other these days. Anyone from the average person to someone who is famous throughout the world can have a blog. The Craftie Ladies have a blog, and we can talk about so many things. In the past few months, I've been introduced to a blog site called Caring Bridge. Their slogan is "Connecting family and friends when health matters most."

My first encounter with Caring Bridge came when a dear friend, with whom I had played tennis many times, went into the hospital for a routine heart procedure. The doctor had done this procedure hundreds of times, but this time something went wrong, and my friend had a stroke. She went into a coma. At this time one of her sons started to blog and give us updates on the Caring Bridge site. His daily updates were an inspiration to those who loved my friend. Many people prayed for her recovery, but the Lord saw fit to take her home. Now I know she is rejoicing and singing in heaven, because she loved to sing. Her witness for the Lord touched many, and even after she left us to be with the Lord, her testimony lived on. Her son shared the messages from the funeral services on Caring Bridge for those who were unable to attend the inspiring and uplifting service.

My most recent encounter with Caring Bridge came when my mother-in-law's good friend, who had gone north with his wife for the summer, fell while working in the yard. He had multiple internal injuries that resulted in pancreatitis and diabetes. He nearly lost his life. His wife began posting updates on Caring Bridge to which I subscribed so I could update my mother-in-law since she doesn't use a computer. Over the months this man's health improve little by little with some setbacks but ultimately better health. His health improved enough that he and his wife were able to travel back to Florida for a short visit. They arrived here this past Tuesday. I loved her statement in her last blog. "Spring waited for us."

Normally, by this time of year, the azalea blooms have come and gone as well as the Indian Hawthorne blooms. But this year because of an usually long and much colder winter than normal, the azaleas are in full bloom now. The photo below shows what the cold did to my oleander plants. If you look closely, you might see some green leaves right at the base of the plant (not the pesky dollar weed to the left) where it is coming back from the roots. Even in nature, God gives us a picture of the rebirth we have can in Jesus.



But the photo below shows the glorious array of azaleas in the part of my yard that looks out on the local golf course. Spring has finally come. God probably knew that my mother-in-law's friend would need to see this late spring.



Praise God for His wonderful creation!

Do you find blogs informative? How do you use them?

Hello, it's Lenora. Fall is finally here. The leaves are falling in my yard and the morning's are crisp and cool. I love spring and summer, but there is something magical about fall. Pumpkins and hay bales and turkeys roasting in the oven or being fried in a big pot. Stuffing, or dressing, as we call it in the south. Thanksgiving.
This is what fall means to me. One of the best things about fall is watching my Thanksgiving cactus bud and bloom. My mother gave me the first clipping for this plant when I got married almost 35 years ago. It has traveled with me each time we've moved. It took a while for my tiny clipping to produce blooms but when it did, I was delighted. My mother died when I was in my twenties, so each time my cactus blooms I think of her. Sometimes, it waits until Christmas to bloom. And a few times it decided to hold out until Easter. But I can always count on it to make me smile and feel better. My cactus loves filtered light and big windows. And the funny thing, each house we've lived in has had big windows in the living room so the plant had thrived in each of our homes. This plants also reminds me that no matter where I live, God is always there with me, shining through in the sun and in the changing seasons. My pretty cactus offers up a bit of God's beauty to enjoy, a bit of surprise and awe to teach me about life, and a bit of hope that each new season will bring new blessings. And each bloom reminds me of my mother's love for her children. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. I appreciate our many readers and I appreciate being able to write the kind of love stories that also surprise and bless me.

New Beginnings

Springtime is associated with with new beginnings. What paints a better picture than trees as they display their new leaves or flowers as their color and beauty spread across the landscape? Here's a photo I took from the deck of my friends' cabin in the north Georgia mountains last spring when I was doing research for my April book, HOMECOMING BLESSINGS. If only I had stopped and taken a photo of the Dogwood trees that were in full bloom when I passed through Atlanta on my way to the mountains.



The leaves were just starting to pop out on the trees on the hillsides above the lake when I took this picture. The signs of new beginnings were everywhere. The theme of HOMECOMING BLESSINGS is new beginnings for the hero, heroine and even her father. What better time is there to tackle something new than in the spring when we see so many signs of renewal?

Two scriptures come to mind as I think about new beginnings—one from the Old Testament and one from the New Testament.

One of my favorite scriptures is Isaiah 40:30-31.

³⁰ "Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
³¹ but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint."

The other scripture comes from Romans 12:2.

"Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world,
but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—
his good, pleasing and perfect will."

Life is reassuring when we know that God is there to guide us and renew our spirits and our minds and give us the strength to make that new beginning. Whatever it is.