Cold Weather Fun

This is Merrillee, and I'm wondering what you like to do for fun when the weather is cold. I live in Florida, so cold to me is anything below fifty-five degrees. Here is what my winter looks like. We have sand dunes instead of snowdrifts.



But I wasn't always a weather wimp. I lived in Montana and South Dakota when I was younger, so I know what cold is. I spent a few hours in Fargo, ND, one winter when it was fifty below zero without any wind chill. Now that is cold. I don't think there is anything fun about that kind of cold.

The setting for my latest book is Montana because I intend to write at least one book set in every state where I have lived. I remember Montana winters with lots and lots of snow. I walked to school dressed in so many clothes that I probably looked like the Michelin Man.

I made angels in the snow.




I built snowmen and ice skated until my feet felt like bricks.



I used these and other memories to depict winter fun for my hero's twin daughters.

My hero and heroine go snow skiing--something I never did until I was much older and not living in Montana.







Of course, Montana has some beautiful scenery, which is depicted well on the cover of my book, Montana Match, which is out this month.



So what do you like to do when the weather is cold, or do you prefer your weather warm?

The States We're Visiting in January

A Love Inspired Romance landed in Montana today, probably at a book store, grocery store, or box store near you. Hmmmm, what's not to love about Montana Match. Set in present day, Montana, Author Merrillee Whren has this to say:

Montana is the fourth largest state in the US, but it is the third least populated state. The state has seven American Indian reservations. I chose Montana for the setting of Montana Match because I lived there when I was a child, and my goal is to set at least one of my novels in every state where I have lived. I also have twin girls in the story who are part Crow Indian. One of my best friends in fourth grade was a girl named Rose who was a Crow Indian. She inspired the little girls in the story.

We have two Montana books bumping up against each other at the stores this month! Christine Johnson wanted to make sure we really understand Montana, so in her book All Roads Lead Home, she goes back in time to 1922. Here's her offering:

Since All Roads Lead Home is a road trip story, it covers states from Michigan to Montana. I chose to end the trip in northwest Montana because I love the way the Rocky Mountains rise out of the plains like a snow-dusted wall. Glacier National Park, which was founded in 1910, hugs the border with Canada and is part of the first International Peace Park with Waterton National Park in Alberta. At the time of All Roads Lead Home (1922), you could drive west to the park and drive north along the eastern edge, but much of the travel inside the park was on horseback. Backcountry chalets provided overnight accomodations along the trails. People especially loved to see the glaciers, for which the park is named, but those glaciers are rapidly melting away. In 1922, trains ran across the southern boundary of the park through Marias Pass, but a car could not drive across the park. The Going-to-the-Sun Road across the park was completed in 1933. I've driven it many times...always with white knuckles!

We wave goodbye to Montana and head clear across the U.S. (Really, we can go no farther) to New York. Jean C. Gordon's comtemporary romance Small Town Sweethearts is an eye opening for those of you who can only imagine Manhattan. Really, New York is so much more. Go ahead, Jean, tell us how much more:

For the many people who think New York State is New York City: Upstate NY, where Small-Town Sweethearts is set, is quite different from the Downstate New York City area. Upstate we have dairy farms, mountains, lakes, orchards, and lots of villages and hamlets with fewer than 5,000 people that aren’t near any major cities. Wyoming County in Western New York, where I grew up, is the number one diary county in the state and has about the same number of milk cows as people (40,000).

If you're still in the mood for states, you can drop down to Mississippe and read Terri Reed's January release. In Mississippi, there's a taste of suspense.