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The Preacher’s Wife by Cheryl St John Love Inspired Historical June 09 Cheryl St John has written a great book for her first Love Inspired novel. After writing many Harlequin Historicals which have a higher level of sensuality, the author still conveyed the emotions and conflict necessary to an entertaining book. She picked her characters and their traits well and I really enjoyed reading this book. Badgered by her late husband’s mother, Josie Randolph makes the weekly trek to his graveyard although she longs to put the past behind and start a new life. Josie is a nurturer. With inherited wealth, she doesn’t need a job to maintain her lifestyle so she volunteers at the parsonage, keeping house and taking care of the injured pastor. A widower, the lonely pastor proposes to Josie. A marriage based on friendship seems to be what they both need. Yet, Josie hesitates. Enroute his new post, Samuel Hart has just faced an unbearable hardship. He lost his wife and his daughters lost their moth...

Yes, for the first time ever, I'm at 3 places at once! Yay! First, it's my regular day to post at http://www.prairiechickswriteromance.blogspot.com/ . We're discussing genres, sub-genres and even chick/hen lit too and want to know what's the current situation with it. If you know, please respond either here or there. The questions I'm asking there are: Have I listed them all? Is the genre of your work in progress (wip) or manuscript (ms) listed here? Do you believe you can change genres half way through and add in the missing element without starting from the beginning? Second, I have a post online at http://cherylstjohn.blogspot.com/2009/06/anita-mae-draper-on-idb-datamaster.html . So, if you have a few mins, (yeah, right, eh) maybe meander over there for a look-see. Thanks. Have a great day!

It’s already June the 2nd! Do you realize in 3 wks the days are going to start getting shorter again? Yikes! Writing-wise: May has been a month of decisions. I wanted to register for the American Christian Fiction Writers conference to be held in Sept in Denver this year. Before I could do that, I needed to choose the workshops I wanted to attend. I also needed to pick the editors and agents I wanted to pitch my manuscript to but I need something new to show them. Alternately, I could pitch my old stuff to new editors but I’d rather pitch to those who’ve asked me to show them something else. So, I’m back to working on Translucent Trust , the suspense I started during Book in a Week this past January. And, to make sure I get it right, I’ve signed up at http://rosescoloredglasses.com/ for an online Plotting Bootcamp course. Yes, I’ll get to my homework as soon as I post this to my blog. I spent the last few days of May at a writing retreat where I worked on revisions to Marry Me, Ma’am ...

This is starting to be a refrain, but I'm still waiting for results of the Touched by Love Contest. Yes, they were supposed to have been posted by the 16th, but this isn't a perfect world, eh. By the time I get the results, it's going to be so anti-climatic - especially if I'm not a finalist. But I still have lots to do while I wait. I must: - write Thursday's Prairie Chick blog post - work on MMM revisions - write a blog post for Cheryl St John :) - critique chapter 10 for my CP I think I'm missing something... How's your memory... do you know that a banana a day will help your memory?...

I had such positive response to my 'fog photos' and the other scenic ones I've posted that I'm thinking of using one day a week as a Photo Day and just posting some pics of what's happening here around the farm. I noticed that Cheryl St John does the same thing over on her blog at http://cherylstjohn.blogspot.com/ and I don't want to look like I'm copying her, but I don't know exactly where the idea came from either. And, I am visiting her blog quite often. Cheryl is a fantastic photographer and some of her pics simply amaze me with her talent. If you go look at hers, don't think you'll find the same calibre here, but at least my pics will give everyone an idea if I'm snowed under or flooded over, you know? What do you think? Would you mind looking at pics while I write in the background?

I’m eager to start 2009 but have one more thing to do before I part with the old year and that’s to let you know all the blessings I received in December. I made a conscious decision not to do any writing in Dec other than blog posts so that I could devote more time to my family. During the year, I tend to ignore their needs for my own especially when my head’s wrapped around a plot and I need to get it down before it’s gone. Once I’m pubbed I won’t have the luxury due to deadlines but I didn’t have that added stress this year. I did manage to enter a few contests and things and I was blessed to win some books and things: On Dec 11, http://www.eharlequin.com/ hosted their annual open house. It was a wild day of surfing the boards and visiting with over 100 authors. I won a couple of their fantastic prize giveaways: A trio of Shelley Galloway’s Harlequin American books plus a $10 Starbucks gift card. A 3 book pak by Dana Mentick including Love Inspired Suspense and Barbour Publishing ...

I am so honoured to have my Christmas tree and 50 yr old stocking (yikes!) featured on Cheryl St. John's blog today at http://cherylstjohn.blogspot.com/ One of my favourite historical and contemporary authors, Cheryl has 35 Harlequin and Silhoutte books published so far. She can often be found at www.petticoatsandpistols.com otherwise known as the Wildflower Junction. You can check the most recent topic for both these blogs on my list at right. I just love Christmas. Don't you? -

The Magic of Christmas - Harlequin Historical Western Anthology 2008 My Rating: Great! - 4 ½ stars (a keeper) Fantastic Christmas stories. I loved them. This book has 3 emotional Christmas novellas, all of which appropriately involve infants. Of the 3 authors, 2 of them - Cheryl St. John and Victoria Bylin - are favourites of mine. I will buy books from these 2 women on sight without even reading the back cover. And, their novellas in this book have reinforced my opinion of their writing. The first novella, however was written by Carolyn Davidson. a new author to me. I have to say I wonder what the editors were thinking when they put her novella first in this anthology. Why? Because I expected something Christmassy with love and forgiveness - especially after looking at the gorgeous cover with a young couple holding a baby. But, the first novella starts with disease, death and was depressing to me. I actually wondered why I was reading it. But, I was sent the book to review and like I ...