Spring ~ Newness of Life

 Spring

Ah, what a relief it is to see new life bursting forth from the black and white scenes of winter.

Flowers showering meadows with colors of blue and pink, red, and yellow.

Trees that stretched out bare limbs just weeks ago, now are clothed in fresh green leaves ready to capture the sunlight and allow growth.

Life!   It is wonderful and full of wonder.

Take time today to notice one outstanding flower or scene that pleases your eye and makes your heart sing.

Then Praise the Lord of Life who promises us Life Everlasting.

Those Rascally Stories and Their Characters

I love writing stories.

The entire process is a thrill. Yes, the edits can get tedious, but wow! I just can't imagine doing anything else.

I am a seat-of-the-pants writer. Usually, there will be a nugget, a starting place from where the stories begin, but after that, well let's just say I enjoy the ride and see where the characters will take me.

And those characters! Well, they are characters. In Liberty Belle, the spinster Aunt Flora, wrote herself into the story. Initially, I was going to have her in the first couple of chapters and that was all.

Then, Flora throws me this line - Nobody notices me, but I notice everything.

I sat back and stared at the screen. Flora had just written herself into the story, and she needed to be there.

My newest book,( available for preorder now and releases on April 30th), Redeeming Lilly, is proving to be different if not a tad difficult. She is going against the grain of everything I have been taught about the typical romance story.

I'd tell you more but don't want to ruin the surprise.  : )

Did I say that stories have a mind of their own? And they have their own timing, too. After Lilly, I'm writing the Lady and the Scamp. Now that story was not even on my radar, but as I worked on Redeeming Lilly, Lady and the Scamp cut in line in and said they were next.

And you should see the line of stories and characters awaiting their turn. Whew! I better stop here and get back to the story.

Have a blessed day!

HE IS RISEN!

All of Creation shouts and proclaims the risen Lord.

Redeeming Lilly is available as a Preorder

Redeeming Lilly click for PreOrder    0.99

Publish date is April 30, 2015



Lilly kept her eyes forward, her chin up, and her heart encased in stone as the 'good' sheriff led her to the train station.

She'd been run out of more saloons and towns than she had fingers to count. Didn't matter. She'd find another town. Another saloon. Another chance.

She glanced at the shining sun and hoped the next town would be different.

Bounty is FREE March 25-29

BOUNTY    FREE

Ready for an adventure?

Cat Cahill loves her Wyoming ranch, home, AND her freedom.

Her mother wants her to marry an easterner and move to Boston.

Luke dreams of going west until his dying mother gives him letters to take to his outlaw brothers.

Frederick Broyles wants to take over the town of Bounty, the surrounding ranches, and Cat.

A story of sacrifice in the face of evil and love's eternal power.

Through the Mist

Ah, pictures like this just beg for a story to be told. 

It doesn't take much to ignite my imagination. I can see this as a story about a runaway.

Maybe a runaway slave in 1860. Or it could be a ten-year-old girl on an adventure in 2015.

Mystery. Intrigue. They are limitless if  you turn your imagination loose. 

So, what do you see? A white stallion running out of the fog? A German tank in WWII.  Maybe, a dragon forced from it's lair by troubling trolls and hungry for a meal.

Look deep. Look inside yourself. Unlock your imagination and let it fly.

Have fun  : )

Lilly is Almost Finished

The story is playing out, and I'm on the home stretch to The End.

Redeeming Lilly is a story full of twists as characters are confronted with their pasts ... and futures.

I think you're going to enjoy this one.   : )

She should be finished next week and tidied up for her Amazon publishing date before Easter.


This year ~ my theme for the Series ~Mail Order Brides of Hickory Stick ~ is The Classics.

The first book was The Lone Stranger  of course named after The Lone Ranger.

Next will be Redeeming Lilly - named after Francine Rivers classic romantic tale ~ Redeeming Love. (This is the 20th anniversary of her book)

After Lilly, the next one will be ~ Lady and the Scamp ~ of course after Disney's Lady and the Tramp. 

Bride and Prejudice comes next.  And finally  Gone with the Twins. 


To finish out the Hickory Stick year of 2015 ~ I plan a Hickory Stick Christmas with all your favorite characters.

Always writing with the reader in mind. My hope is to Entertain and Encourage readers as they Enjoy the story.

Have a blessed week!