Spring Has Finally Sprung! by Tracey J Lyons

It has been a record breaking rainy and cold spring here in the part of upstate New York that I live in and no amount of social media cheer seemed to help me!  I would see all the pictures my friends from the southern part of the country were posting and try not to be green with envy. Where they had daffodils and lilacs, I had puddles where the flowers should be.

There were days when I thought we were going to be in this weather pattern of dark, dreary, dampness forever. And then one day the clouds lifted and don't you know the thermometer actually went above 55 degrees Fahrenheit.

I swear on that first sunny day walking outside was like stepping out of a dark cave.

This past weekend my husband and I worked double time to get caught up on our yard work. We built a brand new raised bed vegetable garden. We planted potatoes, tomatoes, Brussel sprouts, green beans, peas, and cucumbers, then we ran out of space! Out in the front of the house, under my guidance, my husband planted over one hundred summer flower bulbs.

Our youngest son gave me a beautiful rose bush for mother's day to add to our front yard flower garden.

If I learned one thing this long, wet spring, it's that the weather patterns like our lives, can be ever changing. You have to be patient, something that's really hard for me and remember that in order to appreciate the warm, sunny days, you have endure some rain along the way.

I hope your spring is filled with an abundance of sunshine!

I'd love to hear about your spring gardens!

Tracey

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A Love For Lizzie

Print June 18, 2019
Digital July 1, 2019

What A Difference a Day Makes

Pamela Tracy here...

I've titled this "What a Difference a Day Makes."
Really, it should be "What a Difference Thirteen Years Make."

I got the call from Love Inspired when I was pregnant with my son.

Age one month - foot not big enough to go inside Daddy's boot...
My first book for LI  Pursuit of Justice was being edited by Krista Stover

Age Two... I can wear Daddy's boots, but I trip a lot...
Pursuit of Justice  was up for the Rita and I was working on my third LI Suspense

Age 12, Dad's boots fit just fine and look, big enough to insist that the dog be included in the photo.
BTW, the dog refused to try on Dad's boots.
Oh, and Daddy is now Dad and the Lego posters in his room have been replaced with car posters
BTW, I've fifteen books with LI and  Heartwarming

Mom was too busy organizing to make sure to take a picture with the numbers 13 on the cake...
Ack, I have a book due... but Mike's B-day was a bit more important.
Okay, not a bit
I HAVE A TEENAGERS

Thirteen years ago, I got a phone call.  Since then, I've written for both the suspense and contemporary line.  Just like Mike, I've grown.  I'm a better plotter, and now that the family has a dog (whose idea was that!"), I put dogs in books more often LOL.

Like parenthood, writing is a wild ride.  

Pamela's next book is an October release
from Harlequin Heartwarming

Love Inspired Romance ~ New Lone Star Cowboy League: Boys Ranch Continity Series

Craftie Ladies Jessica Keller, Margaret Daley, Debra Kastner, and Allie Pleiter have a treat for you: Lone Star Cowboy League: Boys Ranch, a new Love Inspired Romance six-book continuity series. Jessica Keller, the author of the second book in the series is here to tell us about it.

The Long Star Cowboy League: Boys Ranch series centers around The Lone Star Cowboy League (LSCL), which is a service organization made up of cowboys and cattle ranchers. The organization spearheads efforts to help area ranchers, educate the community, preserve their history, and participate in ceremonial events. The Lone Star Cowboy League Boys Ranch is residential working ranch for troubled boys ages 6-17 in Haven, Texas. During the first book, The Rancher's Texas Match by Brenda Minton, we learn that the Boys Ranch has been left land and money in a will but there are conditions - the ranch has to throw a 70-year reunion, and all the original residents (4 boys) from 1947 must be present for the Boys Ranch to get the land and money. Each book follows someone who is involved in the ranch and each one moves the whole group one step forward toward locating all the original residents, but it's not without it's hiccups. There is a challenger to the will who will stop at nothing to take the land and money away from the Boys Ranch and a string of crime around the Boys Ranch has the town of Haven questioning if they should stay open.

The Ranger's Texas Proposal
Book 2 November
by Jessica Keller

A WIFE FOR THE RANGER
When Texas Ranger Heath Grayson agrees to investigate thefts at the boys ranch, he's also hoping to solve a decades-old murder case: his father's. Getting involved with pretty, pregnant widow and boys ranch volunteer Josie Markham is not on Heath's agenda. But the more time he spends with Josie, the harder it is to ignore their growing attraction. The somber ranger is convinced a wife and child are not in his future. But with a little help from the boys at the ranch, he may just realize a family is what he needs most of all.

The Cowboy's Texas Family 
Book 4 January 2017
by Margaret Daley

FROM COWBOY TO FATHER FIGURE
Rancher Nick McGarrett wants to help orphaned ten-year-old Corey Phillips, the brother of his late comrade. But he's not fit to be a father—not with his troubled past. Thankfully, the child finds a home at the Lone Star Cowboy League Boys Ranch, where Nick volunteers. When wealthy newcomer Darcy Hill discovers she's Corey's cousin, she hopes to eventually take him in. Nick and Darcy couldn't be more opposite—or more drawn to each other. But for Darcy, raising Corey in her hometown means leaving Texas…and Nick. It'll take a special little boy to show these two grown-ups that the key to forging a new future is being together.

The Doctor's Texas Baby 
Book 5  February 2017
by Debra Kastner

A SURPRISE DADDY
When Carolina Mason shows up in Haven, Texas, after a three-year absence, no one is more surprised than town veterinarian Wyatt Harrow. Especially when he sees Carolina's two-year-old son, Matty. Their son. How could she have kept his child a secret? Carolina doesn't deny the boy is his. She thought she was doing what was best for everyone when she left, but she realizes she was wrong. Though Wyatt is eager to make up for lost time with Matty, Carolina's not so sure that extends to her. Can these former sweethearts navigate their complicated past to make a family for their son?

The Rancher's Texas Twins  
Book 6  March 2017 by Allie Pleiter

DOUBLE TROUBLE
Rancher Gabe Everett will do whatever it takes to keep Avery Culpepper in Texas until the end of the month. Even if it means inviting the beautiful single mom and her mischievous twin girls to stay on his property. Avery holds the key to saving Haven's boys ranch, but Gabe won't let his interest go beyond business. He's not a family man, and Avery needs someone who will be there for her and her daughters. Yet as the girls overrun his orderly ranch with their tea parties and girlie cuteness, Gabe finds himself softening just a little. Could a family to love be exactly what this solitary rancher needs?  

Jessica, Margaret, Debra, and Allie are joined in the series by:

Book 1 October The Rancher's Texas Match Brenda Minton
Book 3 December The Nanny's Texas Christmas Lee Tobin McClain

Stories, Stories Everywhere

by Jean C. Gordon

Readers often ask, "Where do you get your story ideas? "My short answer is "Life." Maybe I should refine that to "Ordinary Life."

For instance the idea for my first published book, a sweet romance, came from the experience of another family that was adopting a Korean baby from the same agency we used to adopt our son. The Korean agency had a strict rule of allowing only married couples to adopt its children. Sadly, after a child was placed with a local family, the mother died before the adoption was finalized. Initially, the agency wanted to take the child back. I don't know what actually happened, but the resolution in my story is a happy one--naturally.

An article I read at work in The Wall Street Journal  planted the seed of my second book. It was about a financial planner who scammed older people. In my book, the hero's grandmother was scammed. My heroine works for the practice that scammed her. Of course, she knows nothing about it. But the hero doesn't know that.

Small-Town Sweethearts, my first Love Inspired Romance grew from a comment a family member made about how she liked their new church because it was more formal, and she could worship privately there. In contrast, I really like our church because of the fellowship the congregation shares. I started thinking about the value of Christian fellowship and how different people perceive it, and the story unfolded.

An incident my daughter experienced as a midwife inspired my latest Love Inspired, Small-Town Midwife. I thought, what if Autumn, my midwife heroine, no longer has the confidence to catch babies. Then, I brought in Dr. Jon Hanlon who exudes nothing but confidence in his technical app roach to delivering babies. How could a romance not develop?

Think about your life. How many story ideas do you see?