HOME AWAY FROM HOME - Penny Frost McGinnis - One Free Book

Bio: If Penny Frost McGinnis could live in a lighthouse or on an island, she would. Instead, she and her husband are content to live in southwest Ohio and visit Lake Erie every chance they get. She adores her family and dog, indulges in dark chocolate, enjoys fiber arts, and baseball. She pens romance with a dash of mystery and the promise of hope. Her life's goal is to encourage and uplift through her writing. Visit her blog at Hope for Today's Heart, where she brings God's hope to people's lives through the written word.

Welcome to my blog, Penny. Why do you write the kind of books you do? I write the stories I do because I want to bring hope to readers. Through contemporary romance, I can offer a picture of what love and respect look like between couples. With the secondary characters, I try to paint a portrait of support and encouragement. Several years ago, I got a nudge from God to write for women and share positive stories that reflect real life.

Besides when you came to know the Lord, what is the happiest day in your life? I can think of a few. The day I married Tim and the days I gave birth to my girls were all beautiful days filled with joy.

How has being published changed your life? By being published, I have realized a dream I carried for many years. With readers reading my books I feel more responsible to pen my best writing and continue to write words of hope. I’m also a lot busier than I expected to be.

What are you reading right now? I love cozy mysteries, and Jackie Layton’s books are some of my favorites. I’m reading her latest installment in the Low Country Dog Walker series, A Killer Unleashed. If you haven’t read her books, I recommend them.

What is your current work in progress? I’m preparing to write a novella for a Christmas collection that will feature characters from The Abbott Island series.

What would be your dream vacation? For years my dream vacation was a trip to Maine, which my husband and I took in 2018. I’d love to go there again. If I traveled out of the country, I’d love see Scotland.

How do you choose your settings for each book? The island in my Abbott Island series is inspired by Kelley’s Island, Ohio, in Lake Erie. My husband and I love to visit the island any chance we get. One time when we were there, I realized what a wonderful place it would be to use as a setting in the novels. I’ve enjoyed exploring both in person and online.

If you could spend an evening with one person who is currently alive, who would it be and why? It’s hard to choose just one person. If not someone in my family, I’d like to spend an evening with my forever friends from Bible college. We’ve been friends for over forty years.

What are your hobbies, besides writing and reading? I enjoy fiber arts, baseball, and hanging out with my husband, family, and our dog, Rosie.

What is your most difficult writing obstacle, and how do you overcome it? Beginning a story is hard for me. I have the ideas, the characters, and the setting in my head, but sometimes I’m not ready to write it. I have to schedule myself a day to sit down and get started. Once I get the first few pages typed, I’m ready to roll.

What advice would you give to a beginning author? I wrote for twenty-five years before I published a full-length novel. At times, I was discouraged, but I always believed God had a plan for my writing. I prayed and kept writing and learning. I attended conferences and workshops and kept writing. Stay the course, continue to learn, read a lot and keep writing.

Tell us about the featured book. Home Away From Home is book #2 in the Abbott Island series. Marigold and Johnny are fifty-something and unsure if they should pursue romance so late in life. Of course, there is some mystery and the promise of hope.

Will Marigold and Johnny embrace love late in life?

When Marigold Hayes turned fourteen, her mother died, and her father went missing. For forty years, she has searched for her dad and lived a quiet life on Abbott Island, until she met Johnny. As her love for Johnny grows, her sorrow from the relentless search for her father breaks her heart. She begs God to help her move forward with her life before she has no love left to give. Then three mysterious strangers show up who could change her life.

Johnny Papadakis moved to Abbott Island ten years ago. His ex-wife had pushed him away and discouraged him from having a relationship with their daughter. After years of hard work, his restaurant flourishes, so does his relationship with Marigold. As he seeks Marigold's hand in marriage, his daughter shows up on his doorstep, looking for a place to call home.

Can Marigold and Johnny settle the past and move toward the promise of a blessed future?

Please give us the first page of the book.

Marigold Hayes jabbed a spade in the soil. A flat of geraniums waved their scarlet heads as she lowered her fifty-four-year-old body onto a grassy spot. The joints in her knees popped and cracked, another reminder her fifty-fifth birthday loomed over her. Five years to sixty, but she had never lost hope of finding her father.

Forty-years had passed since the accident, and the occasional nightmare still haunted her. Newspaper clippings, library research, yet not one morsel about her father. Mom had died, a fact Marigold learned the morning after the accident, and Dad vanished. Not a trace of his being existed after the crews towed the car from the wooded ravine.

She plunged the small shovel into the loamy soil she had worked for the last twenty years. Without fail, she planted annuals and nurtured the perennials plotted in the memorial garden she had created to honor her parents. Blooms of red geraniums and multi-colored zinnias would burst with radiance all summer. White daisies, the flowers Dad had gifted Mom with on anniversaries and birthdays, created a happy backdrop. Along the edge of the corner garden, she tucked in bright yellow marigolds, her namesake.

As she spoke her annual prayer, her heart pleaded and sought God’s help to find her dad. After a murmured, “Amen” soared to heaven, she tipped a geranium from its plastic container, loosened the bound roots, and plugged the plant into the earth. From a plastic jug, she sprinkled water into the hole, then scooped dirt in, and patted it around the stem. Soon, three red-headed flowers stood side by side. From the zinnia seed packet, she sprinkled the beginnings of a rainbow of color. Her steady work soon filled the flower bed with the promise of summer blossoms and her soul with restored hope. With an old tattered dish towel, Marigold wiped the soil from her hands, then she rose from the ground and dusted dirt off her knees. She fingered a red bloom, and a pungent but pleasant fragrance filled the air.

Hands loaded with containers, gardening tools, and the water jug, Marigold trekked to the house.

Feet pounded on the nearby pavement, as Johnny Papadakis jogged from the street into her yard. His tall, slim, well-muscled form raised her pulse, even as she stilled. At fifty-eight, he kept himself in shape. She tipped her chin up. “Hey, there.”

“Hi, Mari.” He stopped a few feet away, bent, and placed his hands on his thighs. After a few deep breaths, he raised to his full six-foot-three height. His brown eyes sparkled in the sun as he adjusted his baseball cap. Hands on his hips, he turned to the garden in the corner of her yard. “Working on your parents’ flower bed?”

She moved to the porch and deposited her armload. “I finished a few minutes ago. You know, I wonder every year whether to continue. Dad would be eighty-three by now and may not be alive.” The memories of her dad and mom had faded with time, except for a few. Whenever she found a worm in the garden, the squiggly creature between her fingers transported her to a happier time.

One autumn day, they had fished in Lake Erie right here on Abbott Island. She'd mustered the bravery, as only a child could, to bait her own hook. Mom had packed potato salad, apples, and a yellow cake with chocolate icing and Dad grilled the fish they caught over a campfire, even the small one she had snagged. A full moon shone and a cool breeze waved as she had cuddled between them in her safe place. Forty years had passed since she'd hugged her dad. Where had he gone?

Johnny rested his hand on her shoulder. “Giving up depends on whether the flowers bring you hope or make you sad.” Without hesitation, he drew her into a hug.

Her head rested against his sweaty shirt, but she didn't care. This man who walked into her life ten years ago empathized. Uncertain she deserved such a wonderful guy in her life, she stowed her emotions deep in her heart. Maybe fear, perhaps set in her ways, or not sure how to respond to his affections, she valued his friendship and company without a deeper commitment.

He patted her back, then let go and reached for the jug and tools she had left on the floor. “Where do these go? I'm happy to put them away for you.”

She grasped the jug’s handle. “I appreciate your help, but I can do it.”

Her tall, handsome friend didn't budge. She released her hold and shook her head. “Thank you. They go in the shed out back.”

With the gardening supplies firm in his arms, he trailed her to the backyard. “Your she shed, of course.” A deep laugh escaped his chest.

Hand on her hip, she turned to him. “Do my paint choices make it a she shed? You know I love color, and chartreuse and periwinkle brightened the yard. Did you see my pink and red tulips when they bloomed and how they created a painting on the front? Besides, I love my little she shed.”

She swung open the door to the building and the earthy odor of potting soil drifted to her nose. On the inside, an antique writing desk sat in the corner, covered with gardening books and journals. A shovel, rake, and several baskets lined the space behind the desk. A pale-pink wall held life jackets, kayak paddles, and other lake life paraphernalia. “Set them on the floor by the desk, and I'll put them away later. I want to spray out the buckets.” 

How can readers find you on the Internet?

My blog: https://www.pennyfrostmcginnis.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PennyFrostMcGinnisAuthor

Twitter: https://twitter.com/PennyFMcGinnis

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pennyfrostmcginnisauthor/

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/penny-frost-mcginnis

Thank you, Penny, for sharing this book with us.

Readers, here’s a link to the book.

https://www.amazon.com/Home-Away-Abbott-Island-Book-ebook/dp/B0BWKF8CFQ/ref=sr_1_6?crid=1ZDI80OMJP2R0&keywords=HOME+AWAY+FROM+HOME&qid=1683128421&s=books&sprefix=home+away+from+home%2Cstripbooks%2C110&sr=1-6 

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