Love is in the Air by Marie Bast

As a romance writer, I’m always on the look-out for a good story, subject matter, theme, or setting to inspire me. Everywhere we go, my eyes and ears are always peeled for something to arouse my interest for my next novel. And summer is a great time to go on a vacation or a hike, take a walk through the park, go to the many festivals that are all around like our Rhubarb Festival or Hog Fest, maybe attend an outside art and craft show or visit a historical site to glean ideas.

Last weekend, we enjoyed a concert in the park. Besides a terrific 

band, we saw young couples sharing a blanket on the ground or 

sitting side-by-side in lawn chairs holding hands. Many had 

playful interactions with the band.

                                                              

     

Sometimes just the lying on the warm sand in the Bahamas, Mexico, or Myrtle Beach can inspire the creative juices. One year, we visited the dunes in Michigan. Went on a canoe ride on lake Michigan and enjoyed the sunsets.

My husband and I love to go on cruises. The picture at the right is 

a replica of a nineteenth century paddle-boat dinner cruise on

the Mississippi River.        

The picture at the right is the Brilliance of the Sea Gulf Cruise we took to Cozumel, Mexico, in 2016. A cruise lends itself to romance in exotic, romantic, and historical places the ships visit. We’ve gone on several Bahama cruises to enjoy the beautiful beaches and warm water.

The below pictures are of my grandson and his girlfriend who was crowned South Carolina's 2016 Rodeo Queen. Now who doesn’t love a good rodeo or fair in the summer. They also like to enjoy a relaxing horseback ride.

So what is your favorite place or thing to do in the summer? And if you’re a writer, do you have a special place or event that gets you inspired for that next story?

Marie Bast is a Publishers Weekly bestselling author of romance     

that whispers words of hope and healing through complex 

characters and twisting plots. She enjoys writing Amish, 

contemporary and historical stories. Marie's latest release, The Amish Baker, is a Publisher Weekly best seller. Her next novel, 

The Amish Marriage Bargain releases January 2020. Married for 

twenty-seven years, Marie and her husband have two grown sons 

and one daughter. When she’s not writing, she’s walking, golfing, 

gardening or spending time with her family.

The Amish Baker purchase links:

AMAZON         BarnesandNoble            BooksAMillion               Christianbook

Visit Marie's website or follower her on social media:

mariebastauthor.com        Facebook        Twitter        Pinterest        blogspot

Road Trip! by Tracey J Lyons

Well this month's post caught me off guard! Why? Because I'm on a road trip with my husband. A road trip that everyone who knows us wasn't too sure would happen. You see we are, finally, after being together for over 40 years, driving from upstate New York to Florida. Now, we know many, many people have done the I-95 corridor before us. And we also know that many, many family and friends think only one of us will be returning in my RAV 4. LOL!

So...the trek began four days ago.

Yes that is my all important tea mug that you see perched precariously on the dashboard. A souvenir from another  road trip to Bisbee, Arizona. 

The car was packed. Okay not to organized, but I know where everything is.

And off we went on our 1,371.4 miles (one way)!! Or 20 hours in the car with my husband! Wait what did I agree to??!! 

Honestly, so far it's been a great trip. My husband, TJ , and I have talked books, kids, grand-kids, parenting, grand-parenting, in-laws and out-laws. We've even managed to solve a few of the world's problems.  But more importantly we've stopped along the way to visit friends we haven't seen in over a decade and friends who moved away from us as few years ago. And... we've set aside our crazy lives to reconnect with each other. This is becoming one of our most memorable trips. Something we can check off of our bucket list. 

I'm glad we decided to take the plunge and do the drive. We've been plotting and planning our trip back. I know I'm stopping at Georgia Peach World, exit 58 off of I-95. 

Special thanks to B & K Weiss, and R & D Spano for hosting us along the way! 

Tell me, have you ever taken a long road trip? I'd love to hear where you went!! 

A Love For Lizzie 

Print June 18, 2019

digital July 1, 2019

TraceyJLyons.com 

Crossing one off the list

Do you have a bucket list, a list of things you want to do in your life? 

I recently crossed one thing off my bucket list: I took a trip from Oregon to Denver.  I rode Amtrak’s Coast Starlight down to Sacramento, and then went eastward on the California Zephyr over the Sierras and through the Rockies to Denver. It was like taking a trip through history.

The Sierra foothills, home of the original 49ers

 I went through Donner Pass, where the Chinese immigrants had to blast tunnels through solid granite to get the trains over the pass.  Past Donner lake, which looks far too innocent for its tragic past. 

Donner lake, just below Donner summit

 Past Reno, I started to get the feel of being back in the old West. There were mustangs running wild on the hills. Then the land flattened out into a level landscape of sagebrush and dust, I marveled at the old pioneers, traveling by wagon or trudging through on foot.

East of Reno... a whole lotta sagebrush

 I couldn’t face a 36-hour trip in coach, so I splurged on a bedroom. Falling to sleep on a train was surprisingly easy. I let the rhythm of the rails lull me to sleep as we traveled through Nevada.

Woke to a Utahn sunrise, and the feeling of traveling back in time to the Old West continued. 

Utahn sunrise

 Travel by train is ideal for a writer. I brought my laptop along, and when not gazing out the window, I worked on a scene where the hero and heroine went to a beautiful desert canyon. All I had to do was look out the window for inspiration.

I wrote a romantic scene looking at this romantic scenery

All this needs is a handsome cowboy

The train followed the Colorado river up into the Rockies.

And I do mean up. The route through the Rockies climbed to over eight thousand feet before winding down in slow, wide curves down to Denver.

I loved seeing wild places, far from any road. I had no idea of all the little hidden pockets of beauty the Lord has placed in the loneliest of places. 

White cranes lurking in the emerald-green reeds in a pond in Nevada

Pelicans hanging out on a riverbank high in the Rockies

It was humbling to realize the depth and intricacy of the beauty of the Lord’s works. 

He counts the number of the stars. 

He calls them all by their names.

Psalm 147:4

 Every hour gave me new vistas that I hadn’t imagined before. So many different scenes and settings, people living their lives amid this beautiful scenery. We’d be in the middle of nowhere and I would catch a glimpse of a homestead out in the middle of a clearing. 

It struck me how many different lives were going on all around, hidden from my sight, but not His. If the Lord knows each star by name, I have faith that He loves each person who lives in His creation. And He knows them all by name.


Evelyn M. Hill is a multi-published author who lives at the end of the Oregon Trail. Her debut book, His Forgotten Fiancée, was published by Love Inspired Historical. Her latest book, The English Lieutenant's Lady, deals with British spies in the Oregon Territory (based on actual events). 
When not being distracted by her cat, she writes inspirational romances set in Oregon. She loves to hear from readers. Please visit her website or sign up for her newsletter.

Showers of Inspiration

    

It's happened to me more times than I can count. I get up early, brew some coffee and settle down at my desk in my teensy writing office, ready to tackle the next scene in my story.

     I write. I delete. I write again.  I delete. I stare goggle-eyed at the annoying cursor flashing reproachfully on my screen.

     I mentally tot up how far behind I'm getting and how soon my kids are going to be up, signaling the official end of my writing time. I seriously consider scratching the whole idea of writing books. Maybe I'll take up knitting instead. Knitting is cozy, and you can do it while you watch television.

     I remember the last time I tried to knit.

     Okay. So maybe not knitting.

     I refocus on the computer screen. I don't like my characters anymore, especially that heroine who's stubbornly refusing to cooperate with me. In my beautiful, breezy outline, she came across as delightfully spunky. Now she's like that renegade wheel on the grocery cart I always end up with--the one that makes me veer off track and crash into pyramids of canned green beans.

     I want to clonk her on the head.

     I decide this book is a total wash. No matter that I'm on page one hundred and eleven. It's garbage. I'm just going to have to start over; that's all there is to it.

     I give up and go to take a shower.

     And then--when I am physically as far away from my computer as I can get and still be inside the house, when I have no pen, no paper, nothing except shampoo and soap--it comes to me.

     I know exactly how to write that scene.

     I wish I had a nickel for every time I have hopped dripping out of a half-completed shower in desperate search of a pencil to jot down the dialogue my spunky heroine can utter that will turn the scene from a disaster into exactly the plot device I need to move the story forward.

     Apparently, I'm not alone in this. Agatha Christie, who as a murder mystery writer did have the enviable advantage of being able to kill off annoying characters, once remarked, "The best time for planning a book is while you're doing the dishes."

     What about you? Is there a non-writing activity that tends to get your creative juices flowing when you're blocked? Since I'm in the middle of a particularly balky book right now, I'd love to hear about it! Leave a comment below--or connect with me on my blog, via email or on Facebook.

And don't forget to check out my newest release A Baby for the Minister, available now! 

Finding Your Niche by Marie Bast

Authors all want to get published, but it’s not always easy to find a publisher that’s the perfect fit for our writing. Especially when it’s our first book. I’m a new author with Love Inspired, and therefore, thought I’d share my experience on cracking the code to publication. For those of you who have been trying to capture the attention of an editor or publisher, here is my journey to my first book contract.              

Before

I joined writers’ organizations like RWA, ACFW, SCBWI, Word weavers, and two critique groups. The training and information from these professional organizations and writers were invaluable. Now, I’m going to enlist the aid of my son’s dog, Lola, who has graciously volunteered (after receiving several biscuits) to demonstrate show don’t tell for manuscript makeover. In the creative stage of writing, extraneous little creatures—over-used words, adverbs, prepositions, sentence starters and filler words had weaseled their way onto each page. They made my work-in-process (WIP) look bloated and shaggy—needing a cleanup.       

After

After scrubbing and trimming my manuscripts, they looked professional, sharp, and ready for presentation to editors and publishers. Besides publishing dozens of articles, short stories, devotionals, poetry and prayers, I contributed to four book compilations. Brimming with confidence, I wrote three adult books and five children’s books. Armed with proposals, I attended several writers' conferences. None of them caught a publisher's attention. Disappointed but I was still determined.      

 
Since I enjoyed reading Love Inspired books, I browsed their webpage and found that in February, they often held contests or offered submission opportunities. My first attempt at submission, failed, but I received constructive comments and advice. The next time I entered a contest, I made it through stage one, but rejected at stage two. Then at a writers’ conference, I attended a workshop given by Allie Pleiter. I learned a lot from Allie on how to further hone my work, and it gave me the push to submit to LI again. After submission, the whole process took around a year, but it ended in a contract.

 My advice, don’t give up. Attend writers’ conferences and workshops, find a publisher that you’d like to work with, then read their books and determine if this is the kind of niche or genre you’d like to write. Before you submit, make sure you have trimmed and polished your manuscript until the shaggy spots are gone.    

My first book, The Amish Baker releases March 2019. Have you ever had someone give you that crucial shove to try something one more time?  To get to know me better, visit my blog, follow me on Facebook, or Twitter.



 

 
 

 

I Can't Believe I'm here!

It's a dream come true being new to the Harlequin Publishing family and the Love Inspired line. So, I thought I'd do a top ten list of things you might want to know about me as a way of introducing myself to this fabulous group! So here goes....

10. I was born and raised in Columbia County, NY, an area in upstate New York, about 120 north of New York city.

9. I married my high school sweetheart 38 years ago...and that sounds like a really, really long time ago! LOL! And when we renewed our wedding vows our first time, (yes, we did it twice, and Elvis officiated in Vegas) my husband did a top ten list of why he loved me. Not a dry eye in the church!

8. I love to cook, but cleaning up the mess I make....not so much.

7. I always wanted to be an actress, but never got over my stage fright. My degree is in Theater Arts and I loved creating so much that I decided to write instead...and later in my life I realized I wanted to be a NASCAR driver. I'm still trying to figure out a way to make that happen.

6. I sold my first book on 9/9/99 at 1:30 pm. I was watching my favorite daytime soap, Days of Our Lives when Amy Garvey from Kensington Publishing called to make an offer for my novel, Adirondack Jewel which was published as Mountain Jewel.

5.  I love history and happy endings, which is probably why my first love as an author was to write historical romances.

A field in Clymer, NY the setting for A Love For Lizzie 

4. I love binge watching TV shows, like The Gilmore Girls, The Hart of Dixie, and When Calls The Heart.

3. I'm a country girl at heart.

2. I adore my family, which consists of our two married sons and five grandkids. Who knew having grandchildren could be so much fun?

1. My first Love Inspired book, A Love for Lizzie, (A New York state set Amish story) will be releasing in 2019.

Thank you so much for indulging me. I'm looking forward to getting to know all of you. In the comment section tell me one thing about yourself! There will be a drawing! One lucky winner (USA only) will be given an autographed print copy of A Changed Agent, Waterfall Press, book one, The Adirondack Pinkertons series.

I invite you to join me on Facebook 

visit my website 

Amazon author page 

Pinterest 

Researching the Amish -- Vannetta Chapman

Amish garden, Shipshewana, Indiana

One of the most frequent questions I’m asked is “How did you become interested in the Amish?” Since I’m new to Love Inspired, I thought it would be fun to share that story here.

My first agent was Mary Sue Seymour. I had written several books, and she’d pitched them to publishers. We always ended up in the top 3 books they were considering, and then they’d pass. I couldn’t figure out what was going on!

Finally Mary Sue wrote me an email and told me that I should write an Amish book. This was in 2009, and there were a lot of Amish books coming out--even more than now. She had publishers calling her asking for more Amish! I thought about it a few minutes and then told her “No.” I was so afraid to tell my agent no, but as I explained to her, we have no large Amish communities in Texas, only a very small one in Beeville and they don’t even have a store to visit. I’d never met an Amish person!

 

Amish school, Cashton, Wisconsin

Mary Sue wrote me back and said she understood. Then she wrote me another email, this one quite long, explaining that I could learn, research, visit, and then write that book. I prayed and fumed and worried and tossed and turned that night, and then finally I decided that if she was going to be my agent I should accept her advice--so I said “Yes!” That was the 9^th book I’d written, and the first book we sold. Abingdon Press bought it, and A Simple Amish Christmas released in 2010 and was a huge success.

Since then I’ve published 4 novellas and 16 Amish books (romances and mysteries), including my most recent with Love Inspired, A Widow’s Hope. My husband and I have visited a lot of Amish communities in the last 9 years--communities in Indiana, Ohio, Wisconsin, Colorado, Pennsylvania, and Oklahoma. I’ve met a lot of Amish folks, and I feel fortunate to count them as my friends. I’ve learned a lot, and I’m so glad that Mary Sue pushed me beyond my comfort zone.

What about you? Have you ever done something that scared you just a little and then changed your life in some way? I certainly never saw myself becoming an Amish author! (PS--I would love you to stop by my webpage and look around. You can do so here or follow me on Facebook here.)

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