INESCAPABLE, romantic suspense novel by Nancy Mehl

Author Nancy Mehl

Set Against the Backdrop of a Small Mennonite Town . . .

from the Road To Kingdom Series

Lizzie Engel is used to running away. At eighteen, she left her Mennonite hometown, her family, and her faith with plans never to return. Five years later, Lizzie finds she'll have to run again. False accusations at her job, a stalker, and a string of anonymous threatening letters have left her with no other options. This time, however, her escape is back to Kingdom, her hometown.

7 QUICK TIPS TO WRITE A WESTERN

Stephen Bly

by Stephen Bly

Copyright©2008

The man with the cowboy hat is holding a thesaurus and a dictionary and he tells his friend, "I've got all the words I need for my western. Now I've got to put them in the right order."

So, you want to be a writer? That's a noble goal, it's true. Jist like big time wrestlin', the urge comes over you, to pen that one immortal line before your life is through and find your name in micro-print in America's Who's Who.

So, you want to be a writer? Well, pardner, shake my hand. I hope your journey's short and swift to that published Promised Land, where reviews flow in from coast to coast with accolades so grand. And among them literary giants, you're asked to take your stand.

So, you want to be a writer? Well, it don't sound all that tough. I hope you find the contracts big and loaded down with fluff. And editors a beggin' you to send them some more stuff, while your banker's holdin' up his hands, cryin', "Hold it! That's enough!"

So, you want to be a writer? I know jist how you feel. It holds a certain status and a glamorous appeal. I've been there once or twice myself. That hunger's kind of real. 'Til one day you wake up and find, it ain't that big a deal.

(from "So, You Want To Be A Writer?" copyright©1997)

Here's seven quick tips that might help you kick that barrel down the trail. 

THE DOCTOR'S DEVOTION, a novel by Cheryl Wyatt

The Doctor's Devotion

Eagle Point Emergency Series: 

Saving lives—and losing their hearts—in a small Illinois town.

ABOUT THE BOOK:

When he fled Eagle Point years ago, former air force trauma surgeon Mitch Wellington left only broken dreams behind. Now he’s back with a new dream—opening a trauma center in the rural area and saving lives. He hopes to hire the quick-thinking nurse who impressed him during an emergency. But Lauren Bates lost her faith and doesn’t believe she deserves to help anyone. Mitch knows firsthand what loss feels like. And it’ll take all his devotion to show Lauren that sometimes the best medicine is a combination of faith, community—and love. 

FIRST CHAPTER EXCERPT LINK:

http://bit.ly/LzbYLP

THE COEN BROTHERS' TRUE GRIT

John Wayne's True Grit

by guest blogger Duane Spurlock

Spur and Lock Mercantile
http://spurandlock.blogspot.com/

During the Silent Era and Hollywood's Golden Age, when westerns were a regularly produced film genre, new films based on western novels and stories were commonplace. New western fiction appeared weekly on newsstands and on bookstore shelves, and Hollywood producers saw little need for remaking a western movie that already had been based on a prose work.

Therefore the number of western films that have had remakes is relatively low. Consider, then, the number of western remakes of movies already assigned classic status. A smaller number still, right?

Look at this in another manner – how many western films have been based on books whose remakes have been produced during the original author's lifetime?

Can you count 'em on one hand? I can, if I don't take time to gargle the Internet for further research (other than to double-check some dates) . . .

Bees In The Butterfly Garden, novel by Maureen Lang

Bees In The Butterfly Garden

A note from Maureen Lang:

I always say whatever book I'm working on is my favorite, but even though I'm on to a new project I readily admit having had special fun with Bees In The Butterfly Garden.

First, it's set in New York City's Gilded Age—a time easy to romanticize if you stick to those who gilded the era. Lots of wealth to be found amid a developing brand of American aristocracy . . . a world in which a thief's daughter never should have been invited.

That's right, my heroine Meg is the daughter of a thief. Only Meg never knew that her father has been a thief since she was a bit older than a toddler, after the death of her mother. He protected her from the truth by sending her to be raised at an exclusive New England school for girls. Living among the rich, trained to be a lady, Meg nonetheless missed the one thing she's never had in her life: a father's love. Little did she know he loved her in the only way he knew how, by shielding her from himself.

A DREAM OF HIS OWN, new novel by Gail Gaymer Martin

A Dream Of His Own

The Story:
The only thing philanthropist Quinn O'Neill wants is to forget the accident that took his wife and son. He doesn't expect a fender bender with a lovely stranger to change his life in a major way. Struggling single mom Ava Darnell and her teenage son have their own hardships.

What better way for him to lend a hand than through the Dreams Come True Foundation? But helping Ava means earning her trust…and having faith that dreams of healing and family just might become reality.

PRISON BREAK by Janet Chester Bly

When you want peace from the stress of life, if you can play your own instrument. . .or sing a power song. . .or create your own surround sound, that's a bonus.

I enjoy pleasurable memories of my mother playing "Moonlight Sonata" or one of many other classics she mostly played by ear on her antique upright piano.

Singer Pam Thum

Pam Thum told interviewer Camerin J. Courtney in Today's Christian Woman that she was raised by traveling evangelist parents. They produced dramas for the road.

"But moving around every month or so was really hard. We'd pull into a new town and I'd go up to the kids and say, 'Hi, my name's Pam. Want to be my best friend for four weeks?"

She'd find some pals, then cry when they left town.

"I was a happy, bubbly kid on the outside, but deep inside I was lonely. With friends constantly ripped from me, I became fearful of goodbyes."

She found peace in her music, in helping her fans not to feel so lonely through her songs.

Paul and Silas in prison

Charged with disturbing the peace, the magistrates ordered Paul and Silas to be stripped, beaten, flogged and tossed in jail (Acts 16). Talk about a very bad, no good day.

But instead of griping or cursing or wailing, Paul and Silas sang hymns. That got the ground to quake so hard, the prison rumbled, the doors flew open, and chains broke loose. Tossed like dirty, bloody mops into a moldy cellar, this pair praised God. Then, they refused to escape when they had a chance, on account of maybe saving some soul. In this case, the jailer's and all his household.

Their peace when they got an unfair shaft changed a whole family's eternal destiny.

How about trying to create music during your next torment that seems like a prison and see what happens? For you. For your circumstance. For those around you. You never know. You might walk out healed and free. And take some others with you.

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Find free downloads of articles by Janet Chester Bly, including "31 Ways To Win The Fight For Personal Peace" at http://www.BlyBooks.com 

 

Find out more about Pam Thum at http://www.PamThum.com 

Pam Thum CD, DVD & Devo Book

8 SIGNS OF HOT WESTERN TRENDS

Terry Burns

by Terry Burns

Copyright 2012

author & agent for Hartline Literary Agency

website: http://www.terryburns.net/index.htm

I'm in an invitation only online group with some of the most published western writers today. Most of them have published hundreds of books. I've always been amazed that they invited me in.

They have been discussing something that is very good news if the trend continues. They have been noticing that royalties have been trending higher than in recent years. Berkley, which has been a mainstay of the western book market even when some other publishers quit doing them or scaled back is bringing back some earlier series.

HAVE YOU EVER BEEN HORNSWOGGLED?

Stephen Bly  (1944-2011)

Copyright©1993,2010

The man who called me on the phone the other night sounded friendly…maybe too friendly. It was the old, “Hi, Stephen. How are you doin’? How’s everything in Idaho? How’s the weather treatin’ the ranchers? Well, I know you aren’t thinkin’ about the busy fall yet, but I ran across a deal and you came to mind. Have you got a minute to hear about a truly great bargain?”

I took a breath and jumped right in. “I am rather tied up. Let’s get right to it. What are you trying to sell me?”

“Oh, well,” he stammered, as though I threw him off script. “Can I call back at a more convenient time?”

“I’ll be busy then too,” I insisted.

Dino Power air compressor

He finally admitted he felt sure I’d want to purchase his air compressor. I asked about the price, the quality. Then, I discovered my long lost ‘friend’ worked for a telemarketing company. I explained that a) I had no use for an air compressor, and b) I never buy anything on the phone anyway. 

(As a side note: A week later, I noticed the same product at a warehouse store for $150 cheaper than the phone guy stated -- when you added up the installment payments he emphasized). He had the nerve to try to hornswoggle me. 

NEED SPIRITUAL SURROUND SOUND?

Janet Chester Bly at Oregon Beach

by Janet Chester Bly

Copyright 2008

When I need peace, I face the music. I pull out the CDs that pulsate with gentle wind, waves and seagull sounds, such as "Ocean Tides Interludes" by Steven Gruskin. I almost feel a crackling in my spine and spirit as my very sinews soothe.

Or I pluck up the full range of offerings by John Denver.

Or any Bill & Gloria Gaither recording will do.

Or I download a full orchestra without voices.

In that one way, I can call upon the healing benefits of peace any time I want. And so can you. What are your peace tunes?

If you were assaulted by noisy neighbors in a hotel room what songs would you play on your iPod or Walkman that would mask the intrusive clamor and help you fall asleep? What would bring quiet? Rest? Sweet relief? Once you've isolate your trove of tunes, record them back-to-back, so you can enjoy the best ones straight through for your peace break. I like to pull a couple here and there from each singer or group I enjoy.

Play them when pouring over your tax returns. Or dealing with your ex. Or trying to figure out a new computer. Or answering the phone for the umpteenth ring. Listen to them while doing housework or homework, commuting to your job, or raking leaves (pine needles in my neck of the woods). Orchestrate your own placid isle at the peak of your storms. The world in all its fury may remain, but the sharp points can be softened.

If you have means, hire your own live music. That's how King Saul tamed his inner beast. "Some of Saul's servants suggested a remedy. 'Let us find a good musician to play the harp for you whenever the tormenting spirit is bothering you. The harp music will quiet you, and you will soon be well again'" (1 Samuel 16:16 NIV).

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What's the music that washes peace over you every time you hear it?

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Get free article downloads, such as "31 Days To Win The Fight For Personal Peace," for yourself or your study group at the Bly Books website: http://www.BlyBooks.com