Holiday Novella: Time's Arrow

Author Clare Revell gives us a Christmas romance lost in time...

Touching a milestone, Joni Peterson is catapulted through time into a world both familiar and strange. Finding herself in Victorian England, she discovers love in the most unexpected place— at the feet of the man whose carriage knocked her down.

Purchase it here from Amazon kindle

Buy it here in multiple formats for the special holiday price of $1!

Holiday Novella: A Texas Christmas Mystery

Author Anne Greene brings us Christmas mystery and romance...

A lady Coastguardsman searches for a killer. An oil rig troubleshooter accused of murder races to clear his name. The murderer strives to silence them both. As Amber Meredith seeks to arrest Derrick Darbonne, sparks fly. She needs to solve her first case. But the handsome Cajun suspect makes her heart race and her toes tingle. Derrick has worked all his life for his high-paying, adventurous job. When his past threatens his future, will he endanger the woman he loves?

Purchase it here from Amazon kindle

Buy it here in multiple formats for the special holiday price of $1!

Holiday Novella: Savanna's Gift

A cozy Christmas romance from author Camille Eide...

Forced to return to the ski lodge where she once worked, Savanna Holt is reminded of one special Christmas and how ambition led her to make the worst mistake of her life: Leaving Luke Nelson.

Stunned to discover Luke never left, but worked his way up from lift operator to manager, Savanna sees the opportunity as a gift from God. She’s determined to win Luke back. But Luke wants no reminders of his past hurt, or a relationship with the woman who put ambition before love.

Can Savanna convince Luke she’s changed and her interest isn't because of his position? And when her dream job beckons, will she sacrifice her dream for a second chance at love?

Purchase it here from Amazon kindle

Buy it here in multiple formatsfor the special holiday price of $1!

Holiday Novella: Gold, Frankincense, and Murder

A holiday whodunnit from author Barbara Early...

High school geometry teacher, Donna Russell likes her life well-ordered and logical, even if it is a tad solitary at times. But when a charming co-worker at the local food bank disappears just before Christmas, Donna is left with more questions than solutions.

After the missing man's neighbor, muscle-bound EMT Sam Holton, volunteers as Donna's crime-fighting sidekick, sparks fly between them. Donna wonders if Sam can be trusted, or if he's trying to throw an unknown into her calculations—and her life.

And when police recover a body from the icy Niagara River, Donna is faced with the most frustrating equation of all: can murder plus mayhem ever equal romance?

Buy it here for the special holiday price of $1!

Beautiful Fall

Hope all of you are having a wonderful autumn season. We've enjoyed riding around and looking at all the pretty colors on the trees. Most of our first burst of color is over, but there are still quite a few green trees left out there, so hopefully, we'll get another pretty blast of reds, oranges, and yellows before it finishes!

Enjoy the cooler weather and all the fun that goes along with it--football games, campfire cookouts, hot chocolate, and holiday sweaters~and curling up by the fireplace or wood stove with a good book:)

When Did They Say That?

When writing historical novels, it's easy to let things slip into your writing that aren't era appropriate. I remember watching an episode of Paradise (a western), where a stuffed bear is referred to as a 'Teddy Bear'. Since teddy bears are named after President Theodore Roosevelt, no one would have called the toy by that name.

That scene has stuck in my mind for years and made me more aware of trying to get the language right in my stories. If you need help knowing if a word is appropriate, check out this site: Online Etymology Dictionary

Happy Writing!

Ghosts of Romances Past

Congratulations to my daughter, Laura Briggs. Today is the debut of her new release from White Rose, Ghosts of Romances Past. If you enjoy great inspirational romance with a little historical thrown in, you will enjoy this book! It is available at White Rose, as well as Amazon.

Historicals

If you enjoy reading historical novels and are just plain interested in history, check out the blog post over at Everything Writerly. I especially enjoyed the pictures of the kitchen. Can you imagine having to make meals in there? (And this stove would have been in a very 'modern' kitchen, at the time). Part of me is hopelessly romantic when it comes to pioneer life--the other half shrinks at the thought of doing without some modern conveniences. It was something to think about when I watched Frontier House on PBS several years ago.

Check This Out

Enjoy this great post by Mary DeMuth on Michael Hyatt's blog!

Writing Wednesday

The cover for my White Rose Christmas novella, Christmas in Coyote County, has arrived!! It was designed by White Rose Editor-in-Chief, Nicola Martinez. She did a fantastic job capturing the fun nature of the story. Thank you Nicola!!

Writing News

Earlier this year, White Rose Publishing put out a call for Christmas novellas for their 2011 holiday line-up. I submitted one at the end of April, and last week I received an email from White Rose Publishing~they have accepted my novella manuscript. I'm so excited and pleased to be part of the White Rose family! It will be published in eBook form along with the 23 others that they have lined up.

I also want to say congratulations to my daughter, Laura Briggs. White Rose accepted her Christmas novella, as well as another project she submitted.

Happy Writing!

Knowing Your Characters

You must know your characters--inside and out. That is one of the benefits that I am seeing in the Snowflake program that I recently purchased. The questions answered for each character is very in-depth. When you are finished with the page on the character, you know him or her as well as you know yourself--well, almost, LOL!

Of course, you don't have to use the Snowflake program to do this. An easy method is to make a detailed page of each of your main characters. In other words, write their history--even things that you won't include in your novel, such as a few fun events from their childhood--something only you will know about them that will shape their personality.

It's not necessary to do this for every character in your novel, but try it out on your hero and heroine and maybe two or three other characters in your novel.

This method may add a few extra days of time before you start your novel, but the better you know your characters, the more they will come alive for your readers. And pleasing your readers by making your story believable is your main goal.

Happy writing!

Snowflakes in Summer

Hello friends. I've decided to re-open this blog and talk more about writing than I have been doing this year. The title of this post, Snowflakes in Summer, refers to Randy Ingermanson's Snowflake method of writing novels. Have any of you tried it?

I recently purchased this program and will begin using it this week for a new writing project. Being a mostly seat-of-the-pants kind of writer, this will be new for me. I'm looking forward to giving it a try.

Combining Blogs

For now, I will be combining my writing blog with my regular blog. Please join me at Life in a Cordwood Cabin.