Thursday, July 31, 2014

Hot Off the E-Presses!

DISTANT FIRE, which you probably know by now is Book 2 of THE JOYFUL NOISE SERIES, is available NOW!

Get your copy at Amazon

Get your copy at Smashwords

Linda Cuthbertson doesn't pay much attention when she hears the news that her church has just hired a new music director. That is, until she comes face to face--again--with Drew Lingerfelt. Years, miles and life itself have come between Linda and the man she has always thought of as her first love. Having married and divorced the father of her child, she's made a life for herself with only her daughter, her work, and her faith in God.

But now Drew is back...and so are her feelings for him. He also realizes that he has never totally forgotten about Linda. Has The Lord brought him to the town of Hathaway solely for the purpose of using his musical talent at True Vine Gospel...or is God giving them a second chance to find happiness in each other's arms?

The second book of JOYFUL NOISE, the Christian romance series by the author of THE LARKSPUR VALLEY SERIES.



Tuesday, July 29, 2014

July 2014 in Pictures


Summer has been awesome! A visit to Pennsylvania for a family gathering, where we saw son Joey and Lake Erie...a visit from good friends, Andy and Carol, who came up from Florida...a Phil Wickham concert...driving through Kings Mountain and sharing appetizers and a bluegrass band with friends at Rodi's. Great month!

 

Sunday, July 27, 2014

July Updates

Quickie check-in with updates, though the main one is that I'm about halfway done with editing and polishing my upcoming release, DISTANT FIRE, which is Book 2 of THE JOYFUL NOISE SERIES. Very possibly won't be releasing Book 3, FOR THE LOVE OF SUMMER, until September. That will conclude this Christian romance novel series, and then I'll be working on another Christian mainstream, very different than my previous books, and probably a period piece.

Don't forget: In case you haven't read Book 1 of the series yet, UNCONDITIONAL is a perma-free book. Get yours now!

That's the writing/books update.

On the personal front, I've become quite the baker! Thanks to Pinterest, I *finally* found a sourdough starter that I liked and didn't mess up, and here it is. Plus, I lucked out and found a wonderful sourdough bread recipe, and you'll find that here. That was a hit with my family, especially my granddaughter, Aubrey, who wanted some to take home with her.

An interesting note: I had no eggs available when I made the bread recipe and substituted 1/2 cup of unsweetened applesauce. My husband, Bill, didn't know that and was pleasantly surprised, saying it had just a hint of sweetness. Just FYI, in case you want to skip the egg when making this one! It was easy and the dough was less sticky than some I've seen, easy to work with, though you do need about 3 to 4 hours for rising/baking.

While we're on the subject, want something light, healthy, summery and a great side dish for lunch or dinner? Here's a fabulous tomato & cucumber salad! And again, I made a change to it by replacing the feta with about 1/4 cup (but you can certainly use more or less) of grated Asiago cheese.

One more note: Thanks to K9Instinct, I also did some baking for Piper and Lassie. With no coconut flour on hand, I made it with all-purpose flour, the type I always have on hand. The girls LOVED it. Note: Thanks to a friend of mine, Mary, for the tip to freeze half the recipe, since these are fresh and made without preservatives, so you can take them down when you need them for your furbabies.

So there are my July 2014 updates for books-on-the-way...and yummy things to whip up in your kitchen.

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

My New Venture

Greetings from my little corner of the world!

Well, this is just one of those ventures that I've wanted to take for a while now and just recently stepped out on faith and bought some materials. It was either this or learn how to play the violin. Since you can stay home and string a bracelet in your PJs, that passion won out--yay! But seriously, in the past I've made jewelry for myself, though I've also flirted with the idea of designing and selling handmade bracelets, necklaces, and maybe even earrings.

So here are a couple of my first attempts. Above is a stretchy beaded bracelet (I love the tiny blue glass bead accents) and, to the right, a very Bohemian pendant on a simple leather cord necklace. Don't know how far I'll go with this, but it's amazing how adventurous you can be at this age. LOL!

I happened to find this quote on a calendar which gave me encouragement, and which I also shared in a text with our kids. You might want to have it on hand when going for your own new ventures. It's a keeper.

"Every accomplishment begins with the decision to try." -- Author Unknown