Wreader Fun

I skipped church today. I hadn't wanted to esp'ly since it was a special service with 4 members of our small church being baptized - and I report everything for the 'newsfromthepews' blog - but I told my dh that I'd made a commitment here and then the pastor picked the 31st for the service. He mainly picked today b/c he wanted it done before cold weather set in since we do it outside. So, dh took the boys along with the camcorder, my digital camera and my voice recorder so at least I'll still be able to do the church blog when this weekend's over. But do you know what? My boys finally decided to take the plunge - yes, they got baptized without me being there. Mind, it's all on video tape. I know it's not the same, but...actually, I was 7 mos pregnant with my youngest when I got baptized so I guess I was there with him when he first took the plunge. or I guess, he was actually with me. LOL And then it ended up cold and raining most of the day. Temp a...

One of my deadlines this month was to enter LI author Cheryl Wyatt's Aug Prompt contest. I've entered every month this year and didn't want to skip. Esp'ly since I'd already started it. So I worked on it until I'd honed it down to 310 words. But it was still 10 words over. With the deadline a day away, I set it aside. I opened OUTLAW but shortly hit a wall. Usually, I write the POV from the H & h only, but this time I started considering a 3rd. In the wip, the h is kidnapped but leaves clues for her Pa to follow. So, when I hit the wall, I decided to switch to her Pa's POV. It worked. I added 4 scenes to add anticipation where the reader would now know that her freedom was possible but just out of reach. By the time my 3rd POV caught up to my 'wall', the story flowed once more. Interruptions in my day included: - an hr phone call from my dd in BC whom hasn't called in ages - a neighbor and his wife dropping by to pick up our oats from the bin...

I agreed to participate in the Book In A Weekend during this long Labour Day weekend because I'd been putting off completing a book that I really needed to finish. This was the perfect weekend to do it and Dee over on the eharlequin.com board was posting a forum for anyone anyone else who wanted to join in. Now for my progress - When Dee said BIAW starts at midnight - I freaked! I'd been scrambling all week and still had 2 contest entries to get out. So, I worked on them and sent them out - that's 2 entries Charley's Saint and Marry Me, Ma'am? in the Golden Pen contest (deadline Sept 1st) Phew. Around 2 pm, I started my Outlaw wip. But you know, I hadn't worked on it for months. I couldn't remember what my heroine even looked like! thank goodness for character sketches. So, I had to do a lot of flipping between docs to get back into it. At 3:45, the school bus dropped off my boys and I quickly packed up my laptop and moved out to the RV - our old Class C ...

Yippee!!! Love Inspired author, Cheryl Wyatt, runs a contest on her blog every month. When I first saw Cheryl’s July word list and prompt lines, I knew the theme was a crime scene. But, I don’t write suspense. As usual, I copied the prompt list to a word doc and filed it way. And, as usual, every few days, I’d open the doc and look at the list. Slowly, the words merged into a crime story. But...I write tender romances filled with faith and forgiveness. I don’t write horrendous, frightening, gory stories. Cheryl’s prompt contest, though, is a challenge. I thrive on challenge. For 2 weeks I thought about Cheryl’s list. Slowly, during the last week of July, I started writing the most horrendous, frightening, gory story my imaginative mind could dream up. For 5 days I worked on it, tweaking it, until I’d wrung every word I could out of the 500 word limit. Finally I submitted it, assured that no one else but Cheryl would see it, because with her contests, you email your entry for her eyes o...

Lone Star Courtship (Texas Treasurers #4) by Mae Nunn Love Inspired # 445 May 08 This book made me cry. Casey Hardy has 4 older sisters and an older brother, and since she was a young girl, she's been itching to take over the reins of the family business. This is her chance and nothing will stand in her way - or so she thinks until she runs up against Barrett Westbrook, a lawyer from ‘across the pond' who needs to do an assessment on her for his client. Barrett Westby Westbrook IV has never been to Texas but he knows he won't like it. The minute he steps off the plane on Texas soil, he wants to turn around and fly back to the cool climate of England. But he has a job to do. He goes looking for Guy Hardy only to find he's recently married and moved away. Barrett now has to do the assessment on Guy's sister, Casey, who seems to be a workaholic loose cannon in the corporate world. Things were looking up and he should be able to catch his plane back with time to spare. ...

A Place Called Home by Janet Lee Barton Heartsong Presents Audiobook on CD Beth is telephone operator in 1898 in Roswell, New Mexico. She's also ward to 2 young children that belonged to her fiancé but then he up and died on her. Now, she has to try to convince Jeb, her fiancé's brother, that the children will do best left with her. It shouldn't be too hard though, because Jeb has a reputation of having wanderlust with no penchant for settling down. Jeb doesn't think he's ready to settle down to family life, either. He wants to sell his brother's farm, but it's in such a state of disrepair, he decides to fix it up first. During the months Jeb is working on the farm, he gets to know his niece and nephew, and starts thinking of how he can take them with him. But the children have become attached to Beth who wants to raise the children herself. And, what would be the best for the 2 children? How would their needs best be served? Heat level: Affectionate (kiss...

Mountain Sanctuary by Lenora Worth Love Inspired 437 - Mar 08 I loved the opening of this book but it went against the grain. I've been working on improving my writing skills and one of the things I've learned is that you should always start with the heroines point of view (POV) and that you she should be in a pro-active vice re-active position. Well, with over 30 books to her credit, Lenora started this book with the hero's POV and he finds the heroine, Stella sitting there, bawling her eyes out. She's definitely re-acting to her circumstances. This proves that with writing, you have to follow your own instinct and not always rely on a pre-determined formula. So why was the heroine in this situation? Stella hadn't planned on being a single mother with an ailing father and a bed and breakfast to take care of, but that's where she ended up. The morning Adam walked into her life, she couldn't even bake a decent batch of muffins and it seemed like the last stra...

Legacy of Secrets by Sara Mitchell – Love Inspired Historical #5 – Apr 08 This suspense book is set in 1889 Virginia. What does a wealthy young woman do when she finds herself penniless and alone in the world? Neala Shaw applies for residency in a special school for women who’ve ‘lost all family connections’. The school is located in the Blue Ridge Mountains and is a run by a wealthy woman on her family estate. Neala enjoys the freedom of exploring the huge estate until one day when someone takes a shot at her. Grayson Faulkner, detective and bounty hunter, is the nephew of the lady who owns the school Neala attends. In fact, he’s in the forest when she’s first shot at and she thinks he’s the one doing the shooting. When a near-fatal accident injures her friend, Neala wonders if she was supposed to be the recipient. Guessing someone might be after her for some reason and not willing to risk hurting her friends to find out for sure, Neala leaves the school. She finds refuge at a resort ...

Seaside Cinderella by Anna Schmidt Love Inspired Historical #12 - Jul 08 I liked this book. Lucie McNeil is an Irish immigrant. Although she's a paid companion, housekeeper and servant, she speaks her mind when she has an opinion. At first, this is hard for her employer's rich son to accept. Gabriel Hunter's a fair man but believes servants should do their job without an opinion. Not only does Lucie speak her mind, she's somehow slipped into his family like a long lost daughter - in fact, his parents have even spoken of adopting her. Yet despite his worry about Lucie's motives, he's drawn to her. On the verge of becoming engaged to another woman, Gabriel wishes he had a choice. Lucie has a secret, though. For all the good intentions Gabriel seems to have, she knows he was the irresponsible owner of a garment factory that allowed women to die due to an unsafe work area. Why doesn't Lucie want to admit that she recognizes Gabriel as the owner? Against all reas...

Last night we were in the sold-out Mosaic Stadium in downtown Regina to watch our Grey Cup champion Saskatchewan Roughriders play the Calgary Stampeders. The last time we went to a game, my 13 yr old son was a toddler, and my 10 yr old wasn’t even a twinkle in his father’s eye... The tickets were a gift from hubby’s work and the seats were fantastic. We sat on the 30 yard line with only one section below us - maybe 2-3 dozen rows? My little guy was worried that the players would look like ants on the field but when he saw the turf and the players warming up, he said, “This is awesome!” I didn't take this photo, but this is how close we were to the action. So yes, we had great seats. I’d brought a book to read while waiting for the game to start but I just couldn’t get into it. It wasn’t the noise so much as the excitement around us. The Riders were 5 and 0 for the season, with 10 straight wins if you include last season, and expectations were running high that this game would also...

High Country Bride (The McKaslin Clan) by Jillian Hart Love Inspired Historical #11 - Jul 08 I loved this book. I'm adding it to my 2008 Top 10 list. Jillian Hart is a true story teller - I think I've read most of her books and have been deeply touched by each of them. In High Country Bride, I could feel the empathy flowing between the protags as they try to live the life God has given them. When Joanna Nelson was widowed a year ago, she moved onto her father's farm. The arrangement benefited them both - until he died. Her half-brother comes to help her, or so she thinks, but once the funeral is over, he rides off after informing her he's sold the farm and she has until sunset to vacate the property. Joanna is alone in the world with 2 little kids to care for. A team of horses and a wagon filled with their belongings has just become their home. Aiden McKaslin is a widower. He efficiently runs his ranch but the darkness of his wife and unborn child's deaths shadow hi...

Here’s what I’ve been busy doing in July: Contests entered: Indiana Golden Opportunity: Marry Me, Ma’am? – Contemporary Series An Outlaw for the Lady – Historical FTHRW Golden Gateway: Charley’s Saint – Long Contemporary An Outlaw for the Lady – Historical Cheryl Wyatt Prompt Contest for July : Patriotic Passion – using 10 crime scene words. If you’d like to check out the words for Cheryl’s August prompt contest, click here: http://scrollsquirrel.blogspot.com eharlequin Writer’s Challenge: Kid in a Gravel Pit – Tied 1st We’ve started another challenge with the theme – 25th Wedding Anniversary – how did they meet? The date to post your 1000 word entry is Aug 7-8th. For more infor, click here http://community.eharlequin.com/forums/write-stuff/writers-challenge-4?page=3 If you’re not a member of the eharl community, it’s a simple matter to register and then you’re on your way. This is an effective way to find out if you are a writer or just a wannabe. Remember, if you can’t put y...