AMELIA'S JOURNEY - Martha Rogers - Free Book

Amelia's Journey

“Martha Rogers masterfully portrays characters in the early twentieth century. They’re firmly attached to the way of life they’ve always known, yet reaching toward the changes brought about by increasing technology and transitioning ideology.” —Lena Nelson Dooley, Author of Wild West Christmas, Wild Prairie Roses, and Love Finds You in Golden, New Mexico

For Ben Haynes it is love at first sight, but can a Boston socialite find true happiness with a cowboy from Kansas? 

Once childhood friends, Ben Haynes is taken with Amelia Carlyle when he runs into her at her sister’s wedding. Although he will be returning to Kansas and life on his father’s ranch, Ben calls on Amelia several times, and they find they have more in common than they first realized. As he leaves for Kansas, they promise to write.

Back in Kansas, Ben begins to save money toward a home for Amelia even though he has not made his intentions known. He’s relying on God to make a way. Meanwhile, Amelia is presented to society and has several young men vying for her attention.

Although Ben has captured Amelia’s heart, her parents make every effort to discourage the relationship, even forbidding Amelia to correspond with him. Amelia tells Ben that she will wait for him as long as it takes, but will the love and loss they experience along the way bring them closer or drive them apart forever?

Martha Rogers is the author of Becoming Lucy; Morning for Dove; Finding Becky; Caroline’s Choice; Not on the Menu, a part of a novella collection with DiAnn Mills, Janice Thompson, and Kathleen Y’Barbo; and River Walk Christmas, a novella collection with Beth Goddard, Lynette Sowell, and Kathleen Y’Barbo. A former schoolteacher and English instructor, she has a master’s degree in education and lives with her husband in Houston, Texas.

As an author, I know it takes a lot of people to birth each book. Who were the people involved in the birthing of this book, and what were their contributions?

Strangely enough, CBD contacted my publisher and asked if it was possible to have a prequel. Many readers wanted to know more about Ben and Mellie, so their story was born.

If you teach or speak. What’s coming up on your calendar?

Right now I have no speaking engagements until August for the Texas Christian Writers Conference. I do have a book signing at the Hill Country Book Festival February 11 in Georgetown, Texas.

If you had to completely start over in another place, where would you move, and why?

Probably to a smaller town or back to Arkansas because my husband has always wanted to move back to the country.

If you could only tell aspiring novelists one thing, what would it be?

Be patient and wait on God’s timing. Running ahead of Him will only mess things up big time.

You’ve been asked to be in charge of a celebrity cruise. Who would you ask to take part, and why?

I have a friend who is a great Christian comedian. She’s an evangelical Jew who has a hilarious testimony. She’s getting ready for a gig on a cruise this month.

Tell us about the featured book.

Amelia’s Journey tells the story of Ben and Amelia Haynes, Lucy’s aunt and uncle. They left Boston society and lived in Kansas on a ranch before moving to Oklahoma during the land rush. How they finally convinced Amelia’s parents to let her move away makes for a good story.

Please give us the first page of the book.

Saturday, August 21, 1875                                     Chapter 1

Amelia Carlyle’s face ached from the smile pasted on it for the last three-quarters of an hour. Would this ceremony never end? She balanced first on one foot and then the other to relieve the pain caused by the white satin pumps Amanda had insisted Amelia must wear.

Amanda’s face did glow with the radiance of the love she had for Charles Scott Bishop, the man who became her husband today.  If that love ever happened to Amelia, and she decided to marry, it’d be a small and simple wedding without all this pomp and circumstance.

At last, the minister pronounced them husband and wife and Charles leaned forward to kiss his bride.  Amelia’s thoughts went immediately to the buffet to be served at the reception. Mother and Father and spared no expense for their oldest daughter’s wedding, and Amelia anticipated the spread of lobster, roast beef, croissants, and wedding cake.

Amanda and Charles made their way back up the aisle, and Amelia dreaded walking even that short distance in her shoes, but she put on another smile and made it to the front steps of the church where carriages awaited to take them to the hotel for the reception.

At the hotel, guests mingled and greeted the bride and groom, but Amelia found the closest table and sat down to slip off her shoes. Her white-stocking clad toes wiggled in great relief to be free of their bindings. She turned her back to the room to hide her most unseemly behavior, but comfort won over decorum. She lifted her skirts to run her fingers along the arch of one foot, which relaxed in contentment. Of course if anyone asked her to dance later, she may not be able to squeeze her feet back into the pumps, but she had seen no one with whom she cared to dance anyway.

“Excuse me, Miss Carlyle?”

That’s a good hook, Martha. Where can we find you on the Internet?

www.marthawrogers.net

Martha, thank you for dropping by my blog again. I know my readers won't want to miss this book.

Readers, here are links to the book. By using one when you order, you help support this blog.

Amelia's Journey: A prequel to the Winds Across the Prairie series - paperback
Amelia's Journey: A prequel to the Winds Across the Prairie series - Kindle


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