Five Books! Four Authors! Giveaways--Yeah!

 

Golly Gee, but I love to give away books!

And I’ve got two ebooks and three print books just chomping at the proverbial bit to land in someone’s hands.

Let’s start with author, Rose Zediker.  Wedding on the Rocks. This is Rose’s fourth book for Heartsong, though she’s written many others.

When she traded small-town life for the bright lights of Chicago, Jennifer Edwards yearned to discover a world beyond Faith, South Dakota. So when her father's illness calls her home to run their cattle ranch, she tells herself it's temporary. Then why is she even thinkingabout a future with archaeology professor Brett Lange—the boy she left behind—whose life's work is digging up the past?

Rose captures the heart of romance in Wedding on the Rocks.

Next is Davalynn Spencer and her novel, The Rancher’s Second Chance. This is Davalynn’s first novel with Heartsong, but not her first rodeo, so to speak. She’s actually been a clown when she filled in for her husband who keeps the bull from the rider. Not many folks can say that!  

Laura Bell is home for good. Twelve years ago she left her home behind—but she could never forget the boy next door. Now, hurting from a broken engagement and fed up with city life, Laura returns to her family's ranch. But her homecoming is bittersweet. Twelve years apart has changed Eli Hawthorne. Yet the bond they once shared has only deepened with time.

If you like a country setting with a handsome cowboy, Davalynn’s your writer. She knows the genre because she lives it! Let’s all experience a handsome cowboy and plenty of conflict in The Rancher’s Second Chance. 

How about plenty of laughter? Yup, you got it. Karla Akins, The Pastor’s Wife Wears Biker Boots…from Harbourlight, an imprint from Pelican Book Group, and she knows what she’s talking about. Pastor’s wife Karla Akins tells a tale full of tears and laughter. And she understand what it is to be a pastor’s wife and need a bike to occasionally vroooom off into the sunset and calm the tension.

Pastor's wife, Kirstie Donovan, lives life in a fishbowl, so when she hops on the back of a bright pink motorcycle, tongues start to wag at the conservative, century-old First Independent Christian Community Church of Eels Falls. Kirstie loves roaring down a road less traveled by most women over forty, but she's not just riding her bike for the fun of it. Kirstie has a ministry. However, certain church members have secrets to hide, and when God uses Kirstie's ministry to fill the pews with leather-clad, tattooed bikers, those secrets could be exposed...and some will stop at nothing to hide the truth.

If you love to laugh, love a good mystery, and love a few tears sprinkled in like a straight-laced baptism, then Biker Boots is for you!

Finally, I love to give away books, too!!! So I’m giving away two copies of my own books. First: The Substitute Bride.

Rancher Jared Callahan eagerly awaited the arrival of his mail-order bride. But instead of the kindhearted woman who wrote about escaping her constrained city life, the beauty who arrived in his remote frontier town couldn't remember anything. Not him, not their long-distance courtship, not even her own name. What is he going to do with this petite spitfire? 

Find out how his bride discovers her true identity in The Substitute Bride!

Then, because I can’t give away enough to make me happy, I’m going to give away my two ebooks from White Rose Publishing:

Polar Bear Plunge and the sequel Miss Fishly. Both to the same person.

Polar Bear Plunge:

Brice Taylor might not be on Aleni Callan's Christmas list, but she finds him under her tree anyway.Nurse Aleni Callan's anger toward God is fueled when Brice Taylor enters her life. Not only does Brice have no regard for his own life—as evidenced by the concussion and hypothermia he suffers after participating in the Polar Bear Plunge—he escaped the war in Afghanistan and lived to tell his story in a bestselling book, while her precious husband was killed.

Miss Fishfly:

Searching for love everywhere but in the right places, Christie Hayes is confounded when chocolate brown eyes wink at her at her best friend's wedding. A narrow miss of the bedpan, and she discovers old Mr. Hartway's grandson, Colton Keller, and brown eyes are one in the same.

So if you’d like a chance to win one or more of the books listed here, please drop a note by this Sunday at noon about why you’d love to read one. Be sure and leave your email addy!

Blessings to you all!

AND IF YOU DON'T WIN KARLA'S BOOK HERE, SHOOT OVER TO HER SITE WHERE SHE'S GIVING AWAY ALL KINDS OF GOODIES IN HONOR OF HER BOOK LAUNCH:
http://www.karlaakins.com/contest.html

I PROMISED!

I Promised!

At conference and in conversations with a few amazing people who wanted to get healthier, I promised to give out some of my fave recipes. I have included some of my daughter’s crockpot recipes as well. Enjoy, get happy, get healthy, and don’t forget to walk…ever day!!!

Jam your diet every day with as many super foods as possible. There are lists all over the internet. Easy to find, yummy to eat.

 JUST REMEMBER, ALL EATING HABITS SHOULD BE RUN PAST YOUR DOCTOR TO FIT YOUR BODY'S NEEDS. WHAT WORKS FOR ONE WON'T NECESSARILY WORK FOR EVERYONE.

GRAIN FREE/SUGAR FREE PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES

1 cup peanut butter

1 egg, beaten well

1 cup sweetner, if you eat sugar, go for it, but I use Stevia

1 t vanilla

½-1 cup chopped walnuts and pecans

You can also add a couple Ts of flax meal, I usually do, bumps up the health factor

Mix all VERY well, use heaping teaspoonfuls on cookie sheet, press slightly.

Bake 11 mins at 350’

Let cool on sheet 1 min. Slide on wax paper to cool. Put two to a plastic sandwich bag and then put all of these servings in a gal size bag and seal tight. Put in fridge so they’re ready to go when you’re ready for a snack or a take-along meal.

Great blast of protein to carry you through the day.

TEX-MEX CROCKPOT CHICKEN

6 chicken breasts, boned and skinned

1 jar of your favorite salsa

1 cut pepper, any color, red or orange are best

½ c chopped onion, optional

Crushed or chopped garlic

Juice of one lime

Half a bunch of cilantro

Put salsa in first, and then add the rest,

you can also add a can of black beans and or the corn from one fresh ear

Cook all day on low in crockpot.

Take out and break up the chicken, serve in corn tortillas, or on salad, or leave whole and eat with plenty of the yummy stuff spooned on top. Top with fresh cilantro and a little greek yogurt instead of sour cream. Also a few slices of avocado add a fresh taste, and avocadoes are a super food.

SUMMER CREAM CHEESE ICE CREAM

12 containers Sugarfree choc pudding

1 8oz pkg of cream cheese, softened

1 cup pnt btr

Stevia to taste, about 1/2c

1-2T vanilla

Mix all well and divide into 12 small containers.

Throw in the freezer and when anyone's having a treat,

pull one out (about 10 mins) and eat. Really yummy.

You can also mix this fresh and eat, but the frostiness

is really good. For individual gottta have it right now yummy:

1 container pudding

a small spoon pnt btr,

an oz of cream cheese and a few drops vanilla.

Mix and eat. Yummy pudding!

SUPER EVENING SNACK

Take an oz of lite, not fat free-yuck-cream cheese, add a few drops of vanilla, and mix in Stevia to taste. About two teaspoons. Slice an apple and dip it in the cream cheese. Tastes like a big, fat slice of apple cheesecake. Great quickly snack when you want sweets.

NO GRAIN FLOUR, NO SUGAR CARROT CAKE

7 eggs, beaten well

2 cups Stevia

1/2 c light olive oil

1T vanilla

2/3 c almond flour

2/3 c Flax meal

1t salt

2t baking soda

2t cinnamon

3c shredded carrots

1/2-1 cup chopped walnuts and pecan

1/2 c raisins

Mix all well and put in 9x13" pan at 350' for 30-40 minutes, or

into 24 aluminum (they release easier) muffin cups and bake 20 mins.

VERY YUMMY, if you really want that sweet burst, sift 1T powdered sugar over the top, but believe me, you don't need it. These are very rich. Let cool! And eat!

Miss Fishly released today!

I can't help it.

It doesn't EVER get old.

Miss Fishfly released today and I'm so excited!

Miss Fishfly is about my fictitious town of Anchor Bay.

And is the sequel to my other novella, Polar Bear Plunge.

Stop by as nurse, Christie Hayes and Cole Keller come to the

realization they are worthy of love.

Purchase Miss FishFly here.

An old man and God join forces to teach them a lesson about self-worth and love.

Dissecting Pitches on Hartline

Getting ready for Conference?

Tomorrow, we'll be discussing and dissecting pitches on Hartline's blog. Stop on over and let us have a look at what you have prepared in the 25-30 word max category.

http://hartlineliteraryagency.blogspot.com/

A "Weighty" Issue

Yes, I’ve blogged about Perseverance (because I believe in it so very much) but normally, I’m talking about writing. Today, I want to talk to anyone struggling with the issue of weight loss. Or, maybe it’s better to say, the struggle is actually with wanting to eat like a pig at a trough 24/7. Yup, that sums it up for me. I have a love/hate relationship with food. Mostly love...

But today, while I’m at the keyboard, I have a huge glass of icy water sitting next to me, and I’ve just finished the evening snack, some spicy hot homemade guac with sliced peppers to dip into it. ALL FOR ME! NOT SHARING A SINGLE BITE.

Let’s back up a bit. A year and half ago, actually a tad longer, but I digress, my husband had a massive stroke followed a month later by a milder one. Is there such a thing as a mild stroke? Sheesh. I don’t think so. At any rate, we won’t go there; he’s actually doing very well now, but for the first six months, we were both emotional messes. Me trying to deal, and him trying to find his way back to reality and life.

At the end of the first six months, he’d lost weight, common with strokes, I’d gained. I was now well over 200# and climbing. I had been preparing all of his and my favorites foods—comfort food in any and every form. If I hadn’t figured it out before, I now realized I was totally a stress eater. Well, no, I was actually the pig at the trough. If it contained sugar and flour, chances were very good, I was consuming it in massive quantities. And in this picture, I wasn't yet at my full figure.

Okay, fast forward a few months to my yearly checkup. Let’s not go into too many embarrassing details, but I’ll just say the blood work, blood pressure and you name it were all over the charts. Off the charts to be more exact. “Yes, continue on bp meds. Only double them,” the doc said.

DOUBLE THEM!?!?!?!?!?!?

Major bummer! And the tests even showed an increase in fasting sugar.  CAN’T BE, NO ONE IN MY FAMILY HAS SUGAR ISSUES.

Until now.

I’ve dabbled in karate my entire adult life, ran soccer games and taught it for 25 years, so always felt pretty decent about the extra 20# I carried, because underneath was a very fit and healthy woman. Always good tests, etc. Very healthy.

Until B-Day. Bad report day. And that did it! Pulled on my running shorts, Dear Lord in Heaven when did they shrink? Oh well, and running shoes and headed for the old high school track behind the house. I wheezed and puffed one lap. Had they lengthened the laps since I’d been there???

Went home, cleared out all the sugar, bought some Stevia and lots of fruits and veggies, plenty of lean meat, nuts and berries.

Now, here’s where the participant normally admits to failing miserably, but I took my own writing advice about perseverance, and refused to put sugar or grains into my mouth. Went back to the track each day. And by the end of the week, the   ¼ mile came easier, so I added another lap. End of the month, cranking out a full mile daily, but feeling lightheaded. What could be wrong? Checked the bp and it was VERY low??? Interesting. Talked to the cardio nurse daughter who said you’d better back off half a dose ‘til you talk to your doc. Later that week, she asked if it was better now and I told her it was. “So stay with half a dose.”

Now I’m cranking out a couple miles a day, sometimes more. Eating very healthy. Mind you, this was all about getting healthy, not particularly weight loss, but EUREKA    ! I’M DOWN TWELVE POUNDS AT THE END OF THE FIRST MONTH.       

Getting a tad lightheaded again, take the bp, whoa. 98/57. You got it. No more blood pressure medicine.

By the next doc visit three months later, I’m down 21#, no bp meds, and ALL OF MY BLOOD WORK IS LIKE A HEALTHY TEEN’S! OH YEAH, GIMME THE HAND SLAP, YIPPEE SKIPPEE.

Do I celebrate with hot fudge sundaes? No, because now I’m happy with the fruits and veggies, the occasional sweet and sour sauce on my chicken. I don’t crave the junk anymore. I have adapted all of my food so that I can enjoy EVERYTHING just converted to healthy.

DO I STILL STRESS EAT? Yes, occasionally, but I eat healthier versions of the killers I once ate. It’s been over a year now, and I’m sticking with it. I’ve lost over 35#. Gone from a tight size 20 to a size 12. My teen size was a 10, so I’m feeling pretty good about myself. I feel fit and happy and full of energy. I like myself again and am still pounding the track! Here, at Christmastime with my family just half a year after starting. Feeling good, healthy, and happy.

There’s no secret formula. Each person’s body is different. But we all know if we consume gigantic amounts of snacks and sugary foods, we’ll gain weight. If we aren’t active, we’ll gain weight. What’s the only answer?

PERSEVERANCE!

And if I can do it at 62 years old after battling weight all my life, then anyone can do it. I promise you, YOU CAN DO IT IF YOU DON’T GIVE UP!

PERSEVERANCE! Ten times over…not just for the writer!

Time for a Giveaway! Rustle up a Recipe!

In honor of the release of my new novel, I'd love to give away an advanced copy of The Substitute Bride to a western romance reader out there willing to do a review. (even if it's bad, just be honest).

Sooo...let's have a giveaway for the person who can come up with the best 1881 recipe. Post your recipe in comments along with your email addy. I won't hunt for it, so if you forget to put it in there, I'll go with recipe number two. I'll make the decision over the weekend, and will pick one on Sunday evening, then I'll send the book out.

There's also a novella coming out July 9th, Miss Fishfly, and I'd love to be able to send you an ebook copy of Miss Fishfly. Just put in the comments what your town (or local school) mascot is, and I'll pick the one that I think is as strange as our town's summer festival mascot--the fishfly.

Two chances to win. Either the novel, The Substitute Bride, or the novella, Miss Fishfly, which, by the way, is the sequel to Polar Bear Plunge.

Hope to hear from you! Blessings...

Discussing Pitches Again!

Slide on over to the Hartline Blog for the next three weeks. We are discussing pitches on Monday the 1st and Monday the 8th, then on the 15th, we'll offer some samples and take some as comments. Everyone feel free to comment and help each other make those 25-30 word max pitches that much stronger.