Letting Nature Renew You

by Jill Kemerer

Last week I had a craving to sit and stare at one of the Great Lakes. Ideally, I'd sit on Lake Michigan all day--or for an entire week!--but Lake Erie is within an hour from us. My husband agreed to take a Sunday afternoon drive to check out a nature preserve along Lake Erie. I packed a cooler and a few camping chairs, and we were on our way.

About 90 seconds into the trip, I said, "Let me just check the hours of the park." It's a good thing I did, because it was already 3:00pm and the park was closing at 4:00pm! Our GPS clearly showed a fifty minute drive.

On to Plan B...

We're blessed with many gorgeous parks in our area, and many of them have pretty views of the Maumee River or small, inland lakes. We decided to stay local and went to a heavily wooded Metropark. Once there, we strolled to the pretty lake where families fished and picnicked.

I took this picture last year, but this is the little lake we visited.

It's been an extremely busy month for me, so I was happy to just sit on a bench and let the shimmers on the water whisper all my stress away. After lazing about, we decided to walk along a trail we hadn't tried in the past. I'm usually up for a power walk, but neither my husband nor I had much energy, so we took it slow.

The two-mile path cut through diverse environments. One minute we were in a patch of towering pines, the next we were in a meadow with bluebirds and butterflies. We even saw three deer on our walk. Beautiful!

I took this picture a few years ago, and I still love the message!

I still want to explore the nature preserve we originally intended on visiting, but the local park revived our energy, renewing us for another hectic week. What a blessing!

Do you have pretty parks nearby where you can explore? What about nature renews you?

Have a wonderful day!

Jill Kemerer writes Christian romance novels with love, humor and faith for Harlequin Love Inspired. Jill loves coffee, M&Ms, fluffy animals, magazines and her hilarious family. Visit her website, jillkemerer.com, and connect with Jill on Facebook, Twitter and sign up for her Newsletter.

HER SMALL-TOWN ROMANCE is available in paperback or ebook from online retailers like AMAZON now.

Finding Her Way Home 

Cozy Lake Endwell, Michigan, seems the perfect place for Jade Emerson's new T-shirt shop—and perhaps a fresh start. After a lifetime of letdowns, she is finally ready to face the future on her own. So when local wilderness guide Bryan Sheffield offers to help Jade overcome a past trauma, she warns him they will remain strictly business. But soon, with the help of Bryan's big, complicated family and a boisterous St. Bernard named Teeny, Jade's frozen heart begins to thaw. Now Jade wonders if she can return the favor, bringing a little happiness to a man who has long kept his own sorrow under wraps…

The Nanny's Little Matchmakers Personality Inspiration

Hi Everyone! Danica Favorite here, and since I have a new book out, I thought I'd talk a little about the inspiration behind my book, The Nanny's Little Matchmakers. Actually, I want to go a little deeper and talk about the motivation behind my inspiration.

Recently, I realized that the stories I write (and why)are rooted deep in who I am as a person. My friend Christa is very into understanding personalities and personality types. We were at knitting group, and she asked if I knew what personality I was, so I told her. I'm an INFJ. As soon as I said it, Christa got excited and said, "I know why you keep writing about THOSE characters." I knew exactly what she meant. I tend not to write about the easy characters. In every book, I ask myself why I had to go the hard route, and write about the hard character in the hard situation. (And yes, I am RIGHT THERE in the current book I'm writing.)

Apparently, the INFJ is the advocate, and we like to believe in the possibility of redemption for everyone, and that it's possible for everyone to get their happy ending. So what do I do? I find the people who are the least likely to get a happy ending and I give them one.

 Why? Because it's who I am at my very core. I absolutely love digging deep into who people are and helping them be the best they can be. I see things in the world that I don't like, and I do my best to make them better. What you see in my characters are people with complex problems, deep flaws, and a lot of room for growth. But I write them because I truly believe that they, that we, can overcome all of those things. There is a piece of true humanity in each character I write, and I see the redemption as being something real for each of us.

Of course, I didn't have this realization prior to writing Polly and Mitch's story. But as I look back, I see that deep motivation in how I chose each character and why. I needed a character who would make Polly stretch and grow, challenging her preconceived notions, yet was willing to love her for who she was. Mitch needed someone different. He needed someone who could make him feel safe, and show him that it was okay to open his heart. And I wanted them to find, despite all of the reasons they might be hard for someone else to love, a perfect match. While thinking up stories for Polly, I found and discarded dozens of heroes. They simply weren't right, and I think part of that difficulty wasn't just about Polly, but about my need to right some of the wrongs I'd seen Polly experience in previous books. It wasn't enough to give her a husband, but I wanted to heal her as well.

 It's fascinating to see how something as simple as an author's personality shapes the books they write and why. I had no idea just how big of an impact it made, but as I thought about my stories, and how my personality interacted with them, I realized that it's a huge part of my process, even if I hadn't been aware of it.

What about you? Do you know your personality type? How does it impact things you do? If you don't know or don't remember, here's a simple test: https://www.16personalities.com/free-personality-test  

I'm giving away a copy of The Nanny's Little Matchmakers to a specific personality (that I've preselected), so be sure to share yours!  

About The Nanny's Little Matchmakers:
A Wife for Their Papa Polly MacDonald intends to tame Mitch Taylor's five mischievous children, even though every other nanny has fled. She needs this job—and Mitch's brood sorely needs affection. Perhaps their widowed papa does, too. But when the children begin scheming to make her their new mother, Polly must resist. She's seen too many bad marriages to want one of her own. Mitch has come to Leadville, Colorado, to escape a scandal, not find a wife. After the disaster of his first marriage, he's sure he isn't husband material. Though Polly's tender care is working wonders with his children, Mitch knows he should keep his feelings to himself. But can two wary hearts deny the dearest wish of five eager matchmakers?

About Danica: A self-professed crazy chicken lady, Danica Favorite loves the adventure of living a creative life. She and her family recently moved in to their dream home in the mountains above Denver, Colorado. Danica loves to explore the depths of human nature and follow people on the journey to happily ever after. Though the journey is often bumpy, those bumps are what refine imperfect characters as they live the life God created them for. Oops, that just spoiled the ending of all of Danica’s stories. Then again, getting there is all the fun.

You can connect with Danica at the following places:
Website: http://www.danicafavorite.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/danicafavorite
 Instagram: https://instagram.com/danicafavorite/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DanicaFavoriteAuthor

Seeing the Light by Christine Johnson

Lighthouses that is. These structures hold a special place in my heart. I grew up on the shores of Lake Michigan and would look for the light of the offshore lighthouse when it came on after dark. There’s something comforting about that reliable light warning ships and boats away from danger as well as guiding them to safe harbor.

During my sailing days when I was much younger, a lighthouse was a fixed point by which I could measure progress. Each one passed was a milestone. Others indicated where safe harbor could be found.

So when this Labor Day weekend our bicycle ride ended up at a lighthouse, I was overjoyed! We didn’t realize the bike path ended there, so it was a double treat. It was also a lighthouse that I had not visited yet. This one is located on the shores of Lake Huron. 

Forty Mile Point Lighthouse was built in 1896 and, to my delight, still has the foghorn building, bunkhouse, and oil house onsite. The lighthouse is now a museum and open to the public.

Note the foghorns above the door

Lighthouses are often a symbol of the Lord’s guidance and one symbol that I treasure. When life’s storms hit, we need that Light to guide us to safety. His Truth held me above the waves during recent battles with depression and anxiety. I would have been lost and broken apart on the rocks without His presence and guidance. 

I love to include lighthouses in my stories, so I'm thrilled that the real-life location for my Boom Town Brides series had a lighthouse. Actually, it had more than one over time. The first lighthouse collapsed when the sand eroded. The second lighthouse was built farther from the water atop a dune and is the one that existed at the time of my stories. See this article for a picture of it. 

http://www.lakeeffectliving.com/Feb11/Lighthouses-Saugatuck.html

I mention the lighthouse throughout the series, but look for it to play a larger role in the third and fourth books of the series. Book 3 is currently slated to be released in June of 2017.

Have you ever visited a lighthouse? Which is your favorite?

Christine Johnson

Mail Order Mommy (Nov. 2016)

Honor Redeemed  (Revell, July 2016)

Mail Order Mix-Up (April 2016)

http://christineelizabethjohnson.com

National Read a Book Day!

Linda Goodnight here. Bookworms of America, you'll be delighted as I was to know that today, September 6 is National Read a Book Day! Which means, you really, really must give yourself permission to take a break, grab a book, and read!

What am I reading on this momentous "holiday"? Mermaid Moon by Colleen Coble, a book I picked up at the American Christian Fiction Writers’ Conference. The story is set along the Maine coast where I vacationed this past spring so I couldn’t resist moving it to the top of my TBR pile. It’s a mystery suspense reunion story, and personally, I love it when old flames cross paths again and the spark reignites.

Speaking of old flames, my newest book, Lone Star Dar, releases September 20. (See how I snuck that in to the conversation?) You’ll find a lopsided old flame story but a lot more in this one. And did I mention a very hunky but damaged hero who can be a bit on the-er-gruff side, a trouble making neighbor kid, a smart heroine with a secret, and a pile of cuddly kittens? This book was such fun for me to write. I hope you love it!

 

What's on your reading list today?

 Order here

What if God's Will is Not My Will?

Hello, Jolene Navarro here. Si Dios quiere. Google translate cannot always be trusted. If you hear a native Spanish speaker say Si Dios quiere they are telling you they trust God in everything, the good and the bad. To have faith that God is always good, even in the middle of a storm.  It means to completely trust in God’s will. If you plugged it into the internet you might get – Yes, God he wants. LOL! I think there is a great deal lost in translation.

In my September release The Soldier’s Surprise Family, the heroine Anjelica Ortega-Garza has been raised to live this way and for the most part she does. But as we know believing something and living something are two different things.

As I write this my husband and I are driving to San Marcos Texas, delivering things forgotten as our four children transition to living on their own. For the first time in twenty-five years we are the only people living in our house.

I did try to raise them with natural consequences – I didn’t run to the school to deliver homework or lunches left behind. It was supposed to teach them not to forget the stuff they needed. I’m here to tell you it didn’t seem to work. Maybe it did and they would be even worse than they are now. They did manage to remember most of their belongings. I'm sad with all four leaving at once, but Si Dios quiere.

What does this have to do with Si Dios quiere? Life is full of changes some are big and will crumble the foundation you are standing on, while others are small and  sneak up on you. But through it all we have to know how to live in God’s will.

Life consistently changes, it always has and always will, all the while staying the same.  Sometimes Si Dio quiere can tear your gut out.  When you get a call that you mother has been taken to the hospital with what looks like a stroke you start praying, you pray for her to be healed and fine. But sometimes prayers are not answered the way you want.  My grandmother held my hand as she prayed for God’s will and to align the desire of our hearts with God.

What if God’s will is not my will?

This is the truest meaning of faith. To look around and know that God has you and you will grieve but you can’t get lost in the changes of life. You have to trust in God so that you can live fully and find the purpose he has for you, a purpose only you can achieve.

In The Soldier’s Surprise Family, Garret Kincaid has returned from war and a divorce mentally scared and doesn’t trust anyone, especial God.

When he discovers he has a son he didn’t know about, a son that has his own PTSD issues he knows he has to accept help. Falling in love with his landlady, Anjelica wasn’t part of the plan. Yet even Garrett can’t deny that love has begun building a family right around him. He learns  to trust God’s will.

Expert from The Solider's Surprise Family:

Anjelica kept her gaze on Garrett’s face as he started at the top photo of the boy. Not able to resist, she peeked over his arm and saw a serious little boy with Garrett’s green-gray eyes starting back at them.

Garrett pressed his hand over his eyes.

Moving back, she wanted to give him space to collect himself. A broken heart was nothing new to her, but to watch such a controlled man fight to hold it together made her want to wrap him in her arms.

He handed her the photo, paper-clipped to an information sheet. “I don’t know how to do this, being a father.”

“We can make it work.” She blurted out. Thinking of what happened to those two small children, she knew they needed a home full of love and good memories. Tears burned her eyes. “We have to make this right for them. We have to bring them to a real home.”

He looked at her. “We?”

The Soldier's Surprise Family by Jolene Navarro

I loved writing Garrett and Anjelica's story of healing and faith. Si Dios quiere.  Thank you for letting me share my thoughts, pictures and my latest story.  

The Secret Portal at ACFW—Lenora Worth

A lot of writers, editors, agents and industry people congregated at the Omni Hotel and Resort in downtown Nashville last week for the annual American Christian Fiction Writers conference. It was great to see so many friends and get such wonderful hugs, but our MC Brandilyn Collins warned us about the “normals” out there. We needed to remember they might not get some of our conversations.

Writers are used to “normals.” I call them civilians. They are the non-writers who can’t understand why we grill people we’ve just met with all sorts of pointed questions. Especially if one of those people has a profession that we find fascinating.

So we knew to behave and try not to discuss interesting plot twists in the elevator or in the bathroom. And we couldn’t get too giddy or scream too very loud if we got a nice contract on the next book.

I was fine with all of that. But Brandilyn also mentioned the strange elevators at the Omni. We had one wing that had floors One through Thirteen. My husband and I were on the thirteenth floor. Okay, I was also fine with that. But then it got weird. The other set of elevators went from One to Four and then skipped a few floors and went on up way too high for me. Brandilyn called it the Alternate Universe and asked for stories about it. What went on in this strange gap where the elevator didn’t stop? Was it a secret portal? An empty space? A place of horrors beyond imagination? I had a story but I was always too tired at night to sit down and write it.

But I know what that AU was all about. It’s the Author’s Universe. It’s the land where Alice goes down the rabbit hole and the Hobbit Frodo finds that ring. It’s where Romeo meets Juliet and Scarlett first sees Rhett Butler. It’s the place where happy endings collide with chilling suspense stories.

It’s the place of alliterations and allegories and action and adventure. It’s the place where irony meets reality and reality turns into a fantasy. This place is a place of lost dreams and broken faith, a place of hope and redemption and restoration and reformation. It’s a place where, as Ted Dekker suggested, we write to find ourselves. Or we write to lose ourselves. It’s the place where transformation meets meditation and where “methanoia” (a kind of rendering that Ted also mentioned) meets method and structure and plot and a transformation takes place right before our eyes. It’s the place where we do find ourselves in every word we write and we do lose ourselves in deep point-of-view and hard-to-write plots.

It’s the place where our imaginations go to find the truth, where our minds go to find the perfect plot and the perfect pitch. It’s a magical, enlightening, encouraging, and entertaining place. It’s a world where writers go to learn craft and tell their tales. It’s a well and it’s a mountain. It’s a train and it’s a plane. It’s a deep ocean and a sunny meadow.

It is the stuff of dreams.

Or at least, that’s how I see it. While we were there, learning and praying and meeting and greeting and seeing and being seen, our imaginations went straight to that Alternate Universe and made it our Authors’ Universe.

And I loved every minute of it. If you were there, what do you think about the AU? Did you fall down the rabbit hole or find that all-important ring? Or did you go all sci-fi and get beamed up? I hope that you found something great at ACFW. And I hope you came away with your imagination intact and your heart ready for all of the possibilities!

Here are a few more pictures from my adventures!

         

        

                                                       

      

     

And look for what my imagination created, out in October:

September Means Autumn!

by Jill Kemerer

Happy September 1! In my mind, September 1st kicks off autumn. I live in northern Ohio where Labor Day is the unofficial end of summer. Once September hits, anticipation swells inside me. The trees begin to turn colors, the temps drop, and I get the sense of a new start. Probably sounds weird thinking the final months of the year as a new start, but I've always felt autumn is a season of beginnings.

New school year, new television shows, new projects...lots of new! Ahh...autumn!

I took this picture at a local park a few years ago!

Depending on the year, we like to hike in local parks or head to a nearby apple orchard to pick a bushel of fruit. The bees go crazy in the fall, so you do have to be careful. You don't want to get stung! And apple orchards tend to mean freshly made donuts. If you've never had a donut made on the spot then tossed in a paper bag with cinnamon sugar, you need to remedy that. Pronto. I still fantasize about a fresh batch from fourteen years ago! They were the best donuts I'd ever had.

Same park, different location within it. I love the covered bridge aspect!

Another perk of fall? My husband and I love watching football. We're more into the college teams, but I'm also an avid Detroit Lions fan (I get mad at them a lot, but I still root for them!). I'm really excited because my hubby surprised me with tickets to see a game at Ford Field. I've never been there before. It will be fun!

But before the NFL games begin, we'll be watching our beloved Michigan Wolverines. Only two more days until kickoff, not that I'm counting or anything. This game will be watched in our living room, surrounded by game-day food. Hot wings, homemade blue cheese dressing, nacho dip and brownies. Bring on the yum!

What do you love about autumn?

***

Jill Kemerer writes Christian romance novels with love, humor and faith for Harlequin Love Inspired. Jill loves coffee, M&Ms, fluffy animals, magazines and her hilarious family. Visit her website, jillkemerer.com, and connect with Jill on Facebook, Twitter and sign up for her Newsletter.

Finding Her Way Home 

Cozy Lake Endwell, Michigan, seems the perfect place for Jade Emerson's new T-shirt shop—and perhaps a fresh start. After a lifetime of letdowns, she is finally ready to face the future on her own. So when local wilderness guide Bryan Sheffield offers to help Jade overcome a past trauma, she warns him they will remain strictly business. But soon, with the help of Bryan's big, complicated family and a boisterous St. Bernard named Teeny, Jade's frozen heart begins to thaw. Now Jade wonders if she can return the favor, bringing a little happiness to a man who has long kept his own sorrow under wraps…

Jill's April 2016 release, Her Small-Town Romance, is available in paperback and digital form through online retailers now. Click HERE for links to most retailers!

American Christian Fiction Writers Conference 2016

Last week many of your favorite Love Inspired authors attended the American Christian Fiction Writers Conference in Nashville, Tennessee. I thought you might like to see some pictures from the conference.

Gathering with friends soon after arriving at the beautiful
Omni. L to R: Patti Jo Moore, Darlene Buchholz, Janet
Dean, Debby Giusti, Ruth Logan Herne and Mary Connealy.

L to R: Rhonda Starnes, LI author Laurel Blount, Tanya
Agler and LI author Dana Lynn attend the Spotlight
Session on Love Inspired Books!

Love Inspired authors Ruth Logan Herne and Mindy Obenhaus
chat with Love Inspired Senior Editor Melissa Endlich

A few of us took time to visit The Hermitage, Andrew Jackson's home.

Debby with Love Inspired Marketing coordinator
Victoria Ramsen.

The Love Inspired Authors gather for a picture
with Executive Editor Tina James and Senior Editor Melissa Endlich.

Hanging out after the workshops were over.
Patti Jo Moore brought Georgia peaches to share!

Another evening gathering! So fun! Lots of "book" talk!

Natalie Monk dresses in costume for the Genre Dinner.
Doesn't she look beautiful!

Getting together with other writers is always delightful. Invariably, I come home refreshed and ready to write.

At the Awards Ceremony with LI author and
Abingdon Editor Ramona Richards.

The Awards Ceremony on SAT night is so festive, but we all
have to leave Nashville the next morning, and saying goodbye
is always hard! 

For those of you who attend writing conferences and reader events, what do you like best about gathering with writers and readers?

Wishing you abundant blessings,
Debby Giusti
www.DebbyGiusti.com 
www.seekerville.blogspot.com

PLAIN TRUTH
By Debby Giusti
AMISH COUNTRY SECRETS
When widowed doctor Ella Jacobsen is attacked and left for dead in her childrens’ clinic, the peace she’s found in Georgia’s Amish country is shattered. Someone is after something in her clinic and wants her out of the way...but what are they looking for? Ella knows only that her life is in the hands of army special agent Zach Swain. Zach can’t resist the vulnerable but headstrong Ella, who stares down danger to care for the people she loves. With one look, the loner soldier goes from investigator to protector. To save Ella, he must uncover the secrets that swirl around the idyllic community. And he needs to do it fast, because Ella is running out of time. Order HERE!

STRANDED
by Debby Giusti
Reissued in a two-in-one with Emma Miller’s MIRIAM’S HEART
Order HERE!

Love for K-9 dogs

Terri Reed here hoping your day is fabulous!
The last installment of the Love Inspired Suspense Rookie K-9 Unit continuity is ready for you!

This was such a fun series to work on!  

You can click HERE to see all the books in the series! You'll want to start with book 1 because the overarching mystery starts in my book Protect and Serve.

Do you have dog? Love dogs? Love a particular breed? Post a picture of your favorite and I'll send pick a two random winners to send a copy of Protect and Serve.

Allie Pleiter on "Book People"

Ah, the joy of book people.

I’ve been in Nashville Tennessee this week attending the American Christian Fiction Writers conference, which means I’ve spent the last two days around book people.

I love book people.  I am a book person, and nothing makes me happier than to sit around and talk books with other book people.  Sure, I’m a writer, but I go all fan-girl on the author of my latest literary crave just like every other reader.  I suspect I made a fool of myself gushing to Kristy Cambron over The Ringmaster’s Wife, a splendid book that’s been my audiobook companion on the long drive to Nashville. 

My DestiKNITions blog sends me on yarn- and not-so-yarn-related adventures when I travel, and Nashville was no different.  Which is how Lenora Worth, Lynette Eason, and I found ourselves making a quick little excursion yesterday morning to a donut shop and a bookstore.  When we all walked into the bookstore, we all instinctively stopped, inhaled that marvelous scent that all bookstores have, and smiled.  Home.  Books.  Our kind.

It’s fun to watch Lynette win an award.  I love to teach The Chunky Method and help writers discover their productivity.  It’s great to get a chance to promote my latest Love Inspired novel and my new indie series.  All these things are good.

But spending three days in the company of book people and books?   That’s the best of all.

What about you?  Where do you meet your fellow book people?

Blast From The Past – Guess the author

It's that time when we glimpse into the past of one of our Craftie Ladies.

So, the first reader to correctly guess this month's author will receive a print copy (US only please) of her latest release.

Ready? Here we go…

I met my husband when he was home on leave from the USMC. He was from the town where I lived and came into the family restaurant where I was working. I *knew* at that moment I was going to marry him.

We dated for 18 months long distance--he was stationed in VA, and I was in PA going to college.

When he received orders to SC, it made the distance between us even greater. Tired of being apart, we eloped in 1989, planning to have a church wedding the next spring.

Well, that didn't happen. On our 25th anniversary, we renewed our vows in our church. I may not have had the wedding I had hoped, but I ended up marrying the man of my dreams, and we're going strong 27 years later.

 

The second photo is of our 25th anniversary vow renewal with our two sons, Scott and Mitchell.

Do you know who this is?  Well, here's one more hint. This author writes for Love Inspired.

Leave your guess in the comments to be entered in the contest. And be sure to look for more clues in the comment section throughout the day.

 

Good luck!

 

Mary Alford

 

 

 

 

National Kiss and Make Up Day

August 25th is National Kiss and Make Up Day!

Have you been putting off reconciling with a loved one? There's no better day than today, National Kiss and Make Up Day, to reach out and make the first move. Believe me, I know how frightening and difficult that can be. I was estranged from my sister for many years. I was scared to death to reach out to her and start a dialogue between us, but now we are the closest of friends and enjoy a very special relationship. Not only that, but it took a load off my heart, a burden I'd been carrying around for a long time.

Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled to your brother, and then come back and offer your gift.  ~~Matthew 5:23&24

Today is also National Banana Split day, so you and your loved one can share a nice dessert together after you've kissed and made up. Because God is good that way.

In The Doctor's Secret Son, part of the 2 for 1 Classic reissue of my first two Serendipity novels, Delia comes back to Serendipity to reconcile with her old boyfriend Zach. And she has a surprise in store for him--a son he didn't even know he had! Phoebe's Groom & The Doctor's Secret Son is on the shelf now or available from Harlequin.