What Are We Writing? By Margaret Daley

What Are We Writing
By Margaret Daley

Author - Donna Gartshore

Title - The Doctor's Forever Family

Hero and Heroine- Franklin Pentland and Jane (Spaulding) Pentland 

Line - LIH 

Paragraph - For an instant Jane experienced the oddest feeling. It was like the curtain of years and regrets had dropped away and she could see her mother as a young girl, her eyes filled with dreams for her future. 

Due date - May 31 (for agent query)

Words - 1K

Research/interesting fact - The backdrop for this story is the Tuberculosis Sanitorium

(Fort San) the year it was first established in Fort Qu'Appelle, Sask, Canada. My maternal grandfather served on its board. 

Author: Terri Reed
Title: Book 1 Military K-9 Unit
Hero and Heroine: Master Sgt. Westley James and Sgt. Felicity Monroe
Line: Love Inspired Suspense
One paragraph from the page you are currently on: True to his word, she found Westley waiting for her. She wanted to tell him about her conversation with the OSI agent about the case her father was working on and the fact that maybe she wasn’t going crazy.  But Ian’s words reverberated through her head. We don’t know who to trust. 
Word count goal today: 1500
Something cool learned recently from research: Oh, my word. There is so much to learn when writing a military book. My head is stuffed with information. Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, TX has been training sentry dogs since 1958.  Today, more than 1,000 dogs are trained at any given time by a staff of 125 from all branches of military service. The complex training techniques are designed to utilize the dogs’ natural gifts for focus and aggression to their advantage. German Shepherds and Labradors can detect weapons, bombs, gases and drugs more accurately than any available military equipment.

Author:  Mary Alford

Title: Gavin Dalton's Story

Hero and Heroine: Gavin and Jamie

Line:  In the coal rich Appalachian Mountains of Kentucky, the truth behind a decade’s old murder is about rise to the surface.    

One paragraph from the page you are currently on:  After his grandmother’s funeral, Gavin is ready to leave town and entomb the past forever when he comes face to face with the one person he thought he’d never see again. Jamie Hendricks, the daughter of his father’s killer. Once high school sweethearts, everything fractured the day Jamie’s father supposedly killed Gavin’s. 

Due date:  Not set yet.

Word count goal today: 1,000 words.

Something cool learned recently from research: Learning about the coal mining industry in Kentucky. 

Author:  Leigh Bale

Title:  Amish Book #1

Hero and Heroine:  Jakob Fisher and Abby Miller

Line:  Love Inspired

One paragraph from the page you are currently on:  Abigail Miller sat primly on the edge of a tall-backed chair and stared at Jakob Fisher.  He paced the length of the spacious living room in his home, his blue chambray shirt stretched taut across his overly broad shoulders and muscular arms.  Having just arrived from working in the fields, his plain trousers and black boots had dust on them.  His dark hair was slightly damp and curled against the nape of his neck, confirming the April weather was unseasonably warm.  His straw hat sat on a table where he'd carelessly tossed it twenty minutes earlier.  His long fingers were clenched around the letters Abby had given him, his high forehead furrowed as he scowled at his mother.

Due date:  August 15, 2017

Word count goal today:  5 pages

Something cool learned recently from research:  The Amish love celery and use it in numerous food dishes.  Because there is so much work to be done in preparation of the Fall harvests, they tend to marry between the months of November and December, but now that farming is on the wane and they have generators for keeping food cold (they do not use electricity ever!!!), the "wedding season" is now allowing for marriages in May, June, September and October.  Because the Amish don't tend to advertise an upcoming marriage or make a big deal about it, one way to know if a couple is planning to wed is to notice how much celery their families grow that summer.  A normal family will grow around 100 stalks of celery.  For a wedding, the family may increase that to 400 stalks!  They *really* love their celery.  :)

Author: Merrillee Whren

Title: Puppy Love (Working Title)

Hero and Heroine: Scott Graham and Amelia Dunford

Line:  A novella in an indie anthology

One paragraph from the page you are currently on:  

As Amelia walked away, anxiety trudged beside her. She feared what Jenna might say to Scott. Judging from her friend’s expression, Amelia worried that Jenna was in full matchmaking mode.

Due date: May 1 to my editor; July 1 for the complete 

Word count goal today:  1,000 words

Author: Angel Moore

Title: Bartering for a Bride

Hero and Heroine: Benjamin Sellers and Amelia Owens

Line: Angel Moore Books - or if you're looking for genre, it's Christian historical romance

One paragraph from the page you are currently on: “I hope so.” He lifted her hand and turned it over in his. “In less than a week’s time you’ll have calluses from all the hard work. I hope you don’t come to regret your decision to tie your lives to mine.”

Due Date: April 30th

Word count goal today: 3k

Something cool learned recently in research: I can't pin this down to just one thing. I love to research the origin of words and phrases, so I learn something new every day. I'm often surprised by how long some words have been used.