Saturday, May 15, 2021

Mid-Month Madness Party!

Welcome to the Mid-Month Madness Party! 

We really appreciate you coming by! We will be giving away books so be sure to pay attention about how to enter. 

To enter for a chance to win, you MUST leave a comment WITH your EMAIL and you MUST ask one or more of the authors a question you’d like to know about them, their writing, or their books. 
 
We are looking forward to getting to know you better and hope you’ll get to know us better, too! 
 
Be sure to drop by the Facebook Party for a chance to mingle with the authors, and nab even more great giveaways! 

The party is TODAY, Saturday, May 15, from 1:00 – 3:30 PM (Eastern Time)





DESTINY OF HEART 
By Catherine Ulrich Brakefield 

In Destiny of Heart, Collina battles insurmountable odds to rescue Shushan.

Franklin lost what money couldn’t buy. Is it too late to make right his failings?

Ruby McConnell Meir leaves for the prairies of Colorado hoping the climate might cure her husband’s illness. Confusion and uncertainty hover around her skirts like the dust storms, rattlesnakes, and droughts, consuming her energy and weakening her faith. Will her husband live—or die? 
 
The Roaring Twenties dive like a wounded eagle into the Great Depression, placing the McConnells in a battle for survival. 





THE LOVE COWARD 
By Naomi Musch 

Burke has returned from war safe and whole, but he crushes Tulla Johanson's dreams of sharing her life on the farm the day he walks out of the church and over her heart, choosing baseball over her. Thank heaven for friends like Joan, Walter, and now Burke’s would-be best man Van. Van offers help on the farm where she needs it most, but he keeps his heart locked up. Then old pal Walt uncovers feelings of his own, and now Burke wants another chance. Her life and longings turn on end, yet Tulla might be the biggest coward of all. 




STRAIGHT FOR THE HEART
By Vickie McDonough 

When the mail-order bride his grandmother secretly ordered for him doesn’t arrive, Quinn McFarland is relieved. But the only way to keep her from ordering another one is to find his own wife—and fast. When the sheriff suggests Quinn marry the gal in his jail, he balks. But marriage to Sarah could solve Quinn’s need for a wife and fix Sarah’s problems too. But dare he marry an outlaw? Maybe the idea is just crazy enough to work.





THE ANONYMOUS BRIDE 
By Vickie McDonough 

Luke Davis tells his cousins he’d get married if the right woman ever came along, never imagining the mayhem such a remark would make. For a month later, three mail-order brides arrive, courtesy of his well-meaning, scheming cousins. How will he decide which one is right for him? Widowed boardinghouse owner Rachel Hamilton still loves Luke but never worked up the courage to tell him. Now that three brides have shown up vying for his hand, Rachel is totally unnerved. What will she do if Luke marries someone else? Will he ever realize that sometimes love is right in front of you? 





MATCHING POINTS 
By Nancy J. Farrier 

Fresh out of prison, Asia Jessup wishes she could change her past and maybe her future. As she searches for family, her devastating secret might destroy her last hope of connection. Ian Kittridge has his own thriving restaurant, and is a respected business owner. Thanks to a teenage Asia’s empathy one summer he’d been pulled back from the brink of ruining his life and ending up like his father—a murderer. As Asia’s secrets quake the family she hoped to find, can she and Ian find their way through the storm, to a peaceful resolution, and look toward a brighter future? 




GOLD RUSH BRIDE HANNAH 
By Linda Shenton Matchett 

Hannah Lauman’s husband has been murdered, but rather than grief, she feels...relief. She decides to remain in Georgia to work their gold claim, but a series of incidents makes it clear someone wants her gone...dead or alive. Is a chance at being a woman of means and independence worth risking her life? 
 
Jess Vogel never breaks a promise, so when he receives a letter from a former platoon mate about being in danger, he drops everything to help his old friend. Unfortunately, he arrives just in time for the funeral. Can he convince the man’s widow he’s there for her protection not for her money? 







 
Catherine Ulrich Brakefield is an award-winning author of the inspirational historical romances Wilted Dandelions and Destiny of Heart. Her popular Destiny series includes: Swept into Destiny, Destiny’s Whirlwind, Destiny of Heart, and Waltz with Destiny. She has written Images of America; The Lapeer Area, and Images of America: Eastern Lapeer County. Her short stories have been published in Guidepost Books, Baker Books, Revell, CrossRiver Media, and Bethany House Publishers. She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW), President of the Great Lakes Chapter (ACFW GLC). Catherine lives with her husband of 45 years, has two adult children, and four grandchildren. See https://www.CatherineUlrichBrakefield.com for more information about her books. 



Naomi Musch is a multi-published author whose great love is historical fiction. Her novel Mist O’er the Voyageur was a 2019 Selah Awards finalist and two-time Book of the Year finalist. The sequel, Song for the Hunter, will release in early 2022, as will Not for Love, her novella in Barbour’s Lumberjacks and Ladies collection. She’s at home in the Northwoods with her husband Jeff near their adult children and ever-expanding passel of grandchildren. Visit her website and find her newsletter at 
https://www.naomimusch.com/




Vickie McDonough is the CBA, EPCA, and Amazon best-selling author of 50 books and novellas. Vickie grew up wanting to marry a rancher, but instead, she married a computer geek who is scared of horses. She now lives out her dreams penning romance stories about ranchers, cowboys, lawmen, and other living in the Old West. Vickie’s books have won numerous awards including the Booksellers Best, OWFI Best Fiction Novel Award, and the Inspirational Readers’ Choice award. When she’s not writing, Vickie enjoys reading, making cards, gardening, and traveling. 



Nancy J. Farrier is a best-selling, award-winning author of historical and contemporary Christian fiction. She grew up in the mid-west, moved to the Southwest to be close to the mountains and never looked back. She loves the people, plants, and animals found in the desert. She loves the sunshine, and most days she enjoys the heat. Nancy enjoys early morning hikes, spending time with her family, reading, and going to church. 



Linda Shenton Matchett writes about ordinary people who did extraordinary things in days gone by. She is a volunteer docent and archivist for the Wright Museum of WWII and is currently working with the museum curator to create her first exhibit entitled “Shaped by Conflict.” Linda is a native of Baltimore, MD and was born a stone’s throw from Fort McHenry. She has lived in historical places all her life and is now located in central New Hampshire where her favorite activities include exploring historic sites and immersing herself in the imaginary worlds created by other authors.

27 comments:

  1. Congratulations to all of you on your new book babies! They all sound interesting. Vickie, was it just a coincidence that you have TWO books or did you write them at the same time?! And how on earth did you manage that if you did?!
    bcrug(at)twc(dot)com

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    1. Thanks for stopping in, Connie! We appreciate it!

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  2. When all of you were little, did you ever dream of being writers? What did you think you might be when you grew up?
    mauback55 at gmail dot com

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    1. He Melanie! Thanks for stopping by. My parents gave me a notepad and pencils when I was in elementary school, and I've been writing ever since. After reading A Tree Grows in Brooklyn as a teenager, I knew I wanted to be a writer when I grew up, but college pushed aside the dream as I pursued more "realistic" job preparation.

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    2. Melanie Backus, I loved to read and often rewrote the ending to a book I read if I wasn't satisfied with how the author finished it. But, I never felt I could accomplish becoming a real author--because I wasn't good enough. That just go to shows you that with Jesus in the pilot seat, anything is possible!

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    3. Terrific question, Melanie. I gave up on ballet dancer and architect after 2nd grade, and by 4th grade was totally convinced I wanted to write stories. In high school, I focused every elective on writing, and I spent some time pursuing journalism. I married young and started a family, so from then on studied the craft of fiction, waiting many long years to finally get a book published.

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    4. I made up stories all the time as far back as I remember. I didn't think I would be a writer because I thought you had to be really smart to be a writer and I didn't see myself that way. God had other plans, and He gave me the opportunity to be a writer. I am so thankful.

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  3. My question is to all the authors: Great covers! Who does your covers and how do they pick the people to portray? moma3homeschool(AT)gmail(DOT)com

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    1. My publisher, CrossRiver Media Group all mine. I really like the Destiny of Heart lady that they picked!

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    2. My cover was done by a cover artist through the original publisher. That said, some of my other covers, while professionally done by cover artists through their prospective publishers, had elements I provided via my daughter who is a photographer. She also modeled on the cover of one of my novels not pictured in the post (The Brightest Hope). My son is on the cover of a Smitten compilation also not pictured (The Highlanders). I wish I had the time to learn how to do covers. I only mess with them for some of my short stories I send out in my newsletter.

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    3. Hi Michelle, I have a cover designer who works with me to find the right image for the book covers. I let him know what the story is about and some important components of the story. He comes up with images for me to approve and he does an amazing job.

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  4. Hi Michelle! Thanks for stopping by! I used several different cover designers (because that is SO not my gift). I give the designer a basic description of my main character (age, hair and eye color) as well as the expression I'd like her to have (smiling, saucy, pensive, etc.), and they come up with several choices.

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  5. Congratulations on all these wonderful books! I love the covers and am wondering if any of you design your own covers? I wouldn’t be able to do anything like that! bettimace at gmail dot com

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    1. Hi Betti! Great question. I'm terrible at visual art, so I let the professionals handle the covers! I'm been blessed to work with three fantastic artists.

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    2. I play around with covers on a design site, but I'm not proficient enough to do them for my novels. I'll keep hiring great cover artists or be content with the ones my publishers choose. They're always very good about asking what I'd like to see, so I get to give my input.

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    3. Hi Betti, I always want to design my own covers, but that type of art is not my strength. So far, I haven't been able to learn to do a cover. Maybe some day.

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  6. Congratulations to all you amazing authors for your new released. By writing historical stories was history a favorite class throughout your school years?
    marilynridgway78[at]gmail[dot]com

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    1. I've given talks on this very topic. No! I didn't like history in school. It was fed as a series of names and dates, treaties and wars, and I couldn't make sense of them in the vastness of time. Then I discovered historical fiction, and from that moment on I realized I LOVED history. It only needed context--or rather, I needed to see lives lived out in the context of history. After age 20, I couldn't get enough history.

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    2. Hi Marilyn, I used to get in trouble in history class because I would stand up my big history book like I was studying, but I would have a reading book open instead. I always got caught. Probably because I was so immersed in my story I didn't see the teacher coming to check. lol I was very surprised to find that I enjoy history. Not the dry dates, and memorization, but the actual people and what happened to them.

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  7. Hi Marilyn!! Thanks for your kind words. Unfortunately, my history classes tended to be lots of memorization of dates, locations, and who was on which side of some war, so I wasn't crazy about the subject through high school. Then I took several electives in college and fell in love with the subject because the professors were so dynamic.

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  8. Congratulations ladies on your releases! Do you have any research trips planned as soon as travel is open?

    psalm103and138atgmaildotcom

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    1. Hi Caryl, I don't have any book research trips planned, but my family is planning a trip to San Francisco in July. I have several places I want to check out for research for blog posts. That is always fun.

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    2. Not really, but I do want to head over to Madeline Island (the Lake Superior Apostle Islands) where my next novel is set, but just for a visit. The research is concluded, as the book is in it's final publishing stages.

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  9. Hi Caryl! Family visit first then England.

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  10. Hello ladies, congratulations to all of you! Catherine, I did a high school term paper on Al Capone & the Roaring 20s, and my fascination continues with this era. Was there a special reason that you chose this time period?
    Connie
    cps1950(at)gmail(dot)com

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    1. Thanks for stopping in, Connie! I'm with you. I love the history of the '20s too.I'm intrigued by Catherine's story.

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    2. Connie, it was due to my grandmother's stories about the Roaring 20's era and Great Depression. She really made that era spring to life, hence, the reason I wrote Destiny of Heart, as well as the complete Destiny Series.

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