MY ENEMY, MY HEART - Laurie Alice Eakes - One Free Book

Bio: “Eakes has a charming way of making her novels come to life without being over the top,” writes Romantic times of  bestselling, award-winning author Laurie Alice Eakes. Since she lay in bed as a child telling herself stories, she has fulfilled her dream of becoming a published author, with more than two dozen books in print.

She has recently relocated to a cold climate because she is weird enough to like snow and icy lake water. When she isn’t basking in the glory of being cold, she likes to read, visit museums, and take long walks, preferably with her husband, though the cats make her feel guilty every time she leaves the house.        

Welcome back, Laurie Alice. Do you have a favorite genre to write? If so, what is it?

I love writing historical fiction, especially eighteenth and early nineteenth century America and Great Britain, but I truly enjoyed writing my contemporary novels.

If you didn’t live in the part of the country where you do, where would you live?

In Appalachia. I love those mountains.

What foreign country would you like to visit and why?

Scotland. I’ve been to Europe three times, but have yet to get to Scotland. I love their history. It is fascinating, sad, and a symbol of courage—or stubbornness. And I have a lot of Scots in my ancestry.

Describe what you think would be the most romantic vacation you could take.

I would love a little cottage on a beach. Just me and my sweetie alone with the sand and waves and wind. Going for long walks along the shore, close enough to a town for dining and entertainment like music or theater—live theater, but no true demands on our time.

Sounds wonderful. Where would you like to set a story that you haven’t done yet?

I haven’t yet set one in Scotland and would like to—contemporary or historical.

What is the main theme of this novel?

What is family and the importance of family.

Tell us about My Enemy, My Heart.

Deirdre is an American woman who has known little more than life aboard her father’s merchantman. Then the War of 1812 is declared, her father’s ship is captured, her father dies, and she enters into a marriage of convenience with an Englishman for her protection. But while she is welcomed into his family and begins to love them and her husband, her loyalty is split between them and her crew, what she has always considered family, who are in an English prison. She determines to free them, but in doing so, she betrays her husband and his family. 

Please give us the first page of the book.

From Chapter 1 of My Enemy, My Heart

“Nothing to worry about.” Her observation of the ship on the horizon complete, Deirdre MacKenzie shoved the spyglass into her waistband, swung into the rigging, and slid down a backstay to land on the deck with a barefooted thud. “It’s only a British merchantman, Captain, sir.”

Daniel MacKenzie gave her a faint smile, amused to have her call him Captain instead of Father, as she had done since she could talk. Despite the smile, his face remained pale, grayish due to the ill health that had plagued him since their rough passage around Cape Horn. “If it’s only a merchantman, we’re safe running up the Stars and Stripes.”

“Are you certain about that, sir?” the first mate, Ross Trenerry, asked from where he stood manning the Baltimore clipper’s wheel. “We haven’t been what one would call friends with the British lately.”

“Only their navy, Ross.” Father pressed one hand to his chest, and his breath rasped loudly enough to be heard above the whistle of wind in the rigging.

Deirdre bit her lip. She wanted to wrap her arm around her father’s too-thin frame and lead him below, suggest he lie on his bunk and let Ross or her make contact with the other merchant ship if the British came their way. He wouldn’t welcome the solicitude, though. She knew that all too well.

“British merchantmen aren’t impressing men from American merchants.” Deirdre spoke more to reassure herself than convince Ross or her father.

Ross shook shaggy, dark hair out of his face and snorted. “The British think they can do whatever they want. I think we’re better off hightailing it out of here.”

“You may be right.” Father sounded as though he’d been running a footrace. “I’d like a bit more wind . . . for that. Deirdre, nip up top again and get their heading. We’ll evade . . . them . . .”

How can readers find you on the Internet?

My web site has excerpts:

http://www.lauriealiceeakes.com

My author page on Facebook has tidbits about me and chances to win prizes or join my street team

http://www.facebook.com/AuthorLaurieAlice Eakes/

Or Twitter, where I tweet whatever strikes my fancy, from tidbits about my life, to interesting articles I read.

http://www.twitter.com/@LaurieAEakes/

Thank you, Laurie Alice, for sharing this new book with us. I just finished reading one of your books this morning. You know I love your writing. And I love the cover of this book.

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

My Enemy, My Heart - Christianbook.com
My Enemy, My Heart (The Ashford Chronicles) - Amazon paperback
My Enemy, My Heart (The Ashford Chronicles) - Kindle
My Enemy, My Heart - Audio

Leave a comment for a chance to win a free copy of the book. You must follow these instructions to be in the drawing. Please tell us where you live, at least the state or territory or country if outside North America. (Comments containing links may be subject to removal by blog owner.)

Void where prohibited; the odds of winning depend on the number of entrants. Entering the giveaway is considered a confirmation of eligibility on behalf of the enterer in accord with these rules and any pertaining local/federal/international laws.

The only notification you’ll receive is the winner post on this blog. So be sure to check back a week from Saturday to see if you won. You will have 4 weeks from the posting of the winners to claim your book.

If you’re reading this on Goodreads, Google+, Feedblitz, Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, or Amazon, please come to the blog to leave your comment if you want to be included in the drawing. Here’s a link:
Http://lenanelsondooley.blogspot.com

THE HONORABLE HEIR - Laurie Alice Eakes - One Free Book

Dear Readers, I’ve known Laurie Alice Eakes for decades. We were in a Heartsong Presents novel series together. Lisa Harris was the third author. They were set in Iowa after the Civil War. Later the three books were released as a collection Wild Prairie Roses. I have loved Laurie Alice’s novels since then.

Bio: “Eakes has a charming way of making her novels come to life without being over the top,” writes Romantic Times of  bestselling, award-winning author Laurie Alice Eakes. Since she lay in bed as a child telling herself stories, she has fulfilled her dream of becoming a published author, with more than two dozen books in print.

She has recently relocated to a cold climate because she is weird enough to like snow and icy lake water. When she isn’t basking in the glory of being cold, she likes to read, visit museums, and take long walks, preferably with her husband, though the cats make her feel guilty every time she leaves the house.

Welcome back, Laurie Alice. How did this book come about?

A couple of years ago, some ladies wanted to write a group series with Tuxedo Park, New York as the setting. The Tuxedo Club was an exclusive gated community built for the rich people of New York. It’s a pretty spectacular place, or was at the time. The father of Emily Post, the author of Etiquette, was the main architect on the project.

Tell us about the book’s cover and what makes it unique.

Waterfall creates some truly beautiful covers. This depicts my heroine as a woman between mourning for her husband and breaking back into society. She is headed for a ball in the lovely Tuxedo Park clubhouse.

Please explain and differentiate between what’s fact and fiction in the book.

What’s fact? The setting. The gated community, the clubhouse, the annual autumn ball, the December charity tea are all real places and events. The tennis club and skating on the lake, including the use of skating chairs, are also real. That Emily Post drove down to the train station every day to pick up her husband, who was usually not on the train, is from her biography. The person mentioned who doesn’t have a telephone was a real resident without a telephone. That people were beginning to call for invitations is real, and the way Thanksgiving was celebrated happened. Thanksgiving at this time was state by state and not yet a national holiday.

Fiction: The events of the story other than those mentioned above, are not true to my knowledge.

How much research did you have to do for this book?

I researched a great deal for this book, from reading all of Emily Post’s original version of Etiquette, to books on the houses of the Tuxedo Club, to a biography of Emily Post, who grew up and then resided in the Tuxedo Club well into her adulthood, to a book called To Marry an English Lord. Then I had to read up on the dress of the day, the Boer War, which effected the hero, and other details like that. I loved reading about ice skating at the turn of the century, including the skating chairs. Very weird contraptions.

What are some of the most interesting things you found about this subject that you weren’t able to use in the story?

Most of what I read couldn’t possibly make place in the story, of course, and I touched on as many things as I could to give an authentic flavor of the time and place and people.

What inspired and surprised you while you were writing the book?

I was surprised how interesting Etiquette was to read. One would think a book on manners would be boring, and it wasn’t in the least. Mrs. Post had a great sense of humor and sense of irony and a wonderful way with words. She wrote novels, which I didn’t know. One day I will read them.

What do you hope the reader takes away from the story?

The understanding that one can put the past behind and begin a new life. It may take work and changed behavior, and mistakes can be gotten over.

What is the next project you’re working on?

I have another book coming out in November, My Enemy, My Heart, a long historical with an American heroine trapped in England during the War of 1812, and I am working on the publisher’s edits on the second book in the series coming out next spring.

What do you do when you have to get away from the story for a while?

Read books in a wholly separate genre, go for walks, sometimes I even clean house.

Please give us the first page of the book.

November 1, 1900

“The young widow should wear deep crepe for a year and then lighter mourning for six months and second mourning for six months longer. There is nothing more utterly captivating than a sweet young face under a widow’s veil, and it is not to be wondered at that her own loneliness and need of sympathy, combined with all that is appealing to sympathy in a man, results in the healing of her heart. She should, however, never remain in mourning for her first husband after she has decided she can be consoled by a second.” Emily Price Post

She felt his gaze upon her from the instant she stepped into the clubhouse ballroom. That ballroom, all white pillars and blue velvet benches around the circular walls, fell silent the moment Catherine VanDorn, now Lady Bisterne, strolled through the white painted doors from the great hall, and a hundred pairs of eyes swiveled in her direction. Yet the intensity of one man’s bold stare drew her own past the gowns and jewels of the New York elite to meet the audacious dark eyes of a gentleman at the far side of the room.

Her heart skipped a beat. Her gold-shod feet stumbled. Skin-deep cold from the rainy November evening crept through to her bones, and for the first time that evening, she accepted that Mama was correct to tell her not to wear the mauve satin ball gown a mere thirteen months after her husband’s death. It was too bright, too frivolous, proclaiming, however falsely, that the debutante who had departed from Tuxedo Park in triumph on the arm of an English lord, a scandal in her wake, intended to seek a new husband.

How can readers find you on the Internet?

http://www.lauriealiceeakes.com Where you can find excerpts of my books.

http://www.twitter.com/@LaurieAEakes Where I keep people up-to-date on my life.

http://www.facebook.com/AuthorLaurieAliceEakes/ Where I have contests fairly regularly, call-outs for my street teams on books, give away books randomly, and just feed some news.

Thank you, Laurie Alice, for sharing this book with us. I'm eager for my copy to arrive so I can read the story.

Readers, Laurie Alice is in the middle of a move from Texas to a northern state, so she may not be able to comment very often on the blog, if at all. However, she will come and read the comments at some time in the future when she can. She will love to hear from you.

Comments conversation starter questions: Have you read any of Laurie Alice's previous books? Which one was your favorite?

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

The Honorable Heir - Paperback
The Honorable Heir - Kindle
The Honorable Heir - Audio

Leave a comment for a chance to win a free copy of the book. You must follow these instructions to be in the drawing. Please tell us where you live, at least the state or territory or country if outside North America. (Comments containing links may be subject to removal by blog owner.)

Void where prohibited; the odds of winning depend on the number of entrants. Entering the giveaway is considered a confirmation of eligibility on behalf of the enterer in accord with these rules and any pertaining local/federal/international laws.

The only notification you’ll receive is the winner post on this blog. So be sure to check back a week from Saturday to see if you won. You will have 4 weeks from the posting of the winners to claim your book.

If you’re reading this on Goodreads, Google+, Feedblitz, Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, or Amazon, please come to the blog to leave your comment if you want to be included in the drawing. Here’s a link:
Http://lenanelsondooley.blogspot.com

COLLISION OF THE HEART - Laurie Alice Eakes - One Free Book

Dear Readers, I’ve known Laurie Alice for a long time. Several years ago, she, Lisa Harris, and I wrote a three book series for Heartsong Presents that later was published in a single volume under the title Wild Prairie Roses, which is now out of print.

Welcome back, Laurie Alice. Since you’re being published regularly, what new avenues will your future books take?      

I think my books will take the same avenue of a blend of American and English-set historicals, as well as some contemporary romantic suspense. All that should change is a constant improvement in my storytelling ability.

What conferences will you be attending this year? Will you be a speaker at any of them?

I have attended two conferences this year—Romance Writers of America and The Beau Monde conference, both of which were in San Diego, California. I was a speaker at The Beau Monde conference.

If you were in charge of planning the panel discussion at a writing conference, what topic would the panel cover, and who would you ask to be on the panel, and why?    

The topic nearest and dearest to people’s hearts is what is the future of publishing in these ever-changing times where self-publishing is no longer looked down upon. People on the panel would likely include my agent, Natasha Kern, someone from Amazon Publishing, someone from Gilead Publishing—the new kids on the block—someone from one of the older publishers like Bethany for a Christian panel or Harper Collins for a secular one, and an author published in both traditional and self-publishing means and successful at both.

That should be very interesting. How important is it to you to be active in writing organizations?          

I think this is highly important. We need to connect with colleagues to keep up on trends in the industry, know what is going on with publishers, editors, and agents, and give and receive feedback on our work.

Where in the community or your church do you volunteer?     

Due to the fact that I am unable to drive and live in a city with terrible public transportation, I no longer volunteer my time in my community.

Who are the five people who have made the most impact on your life, and how?       

Other than my mother, father, and husband, finding others who have made the most impact is difficult to whittle down to just two more. The thing is, those people keep changing. The impact my life for a while and then circumstances change and the impact comes from another source. I might have to say Lee Tobin McClain, though, as she suggested I apply to the Writing Popular Fiction program at Seton Hill University, where I obtained my master’s degree. There I learned how to turn an idea into a novel publishers wanted to buy. So that leaves just one more we shall call Person at Large.

If you could write the inscription on your tombstone, what would it be?         

All that comes to mind are rather smart-alice words like: She has now joined the history she loved to study.

I like that. Tell us about the featured book.         

Collision of the Heart is a second chance at love story of two people who allow ambition and selfishness to interfere with the longings of their hearts for one another. The year is 1856 and Mia Roper is on her way back to Hillsdale, Michigan, to write an article about the women attending the second college in the country to allow women to gain an education alongside men, the same education. She left a year and a half earlier to take a job in journalism after obtaining her own degree. She thought Ayden would go with her, but he stayed behind to take a teaching position at the college. She hopes to avoid him on her visit, but the train on which she is arriving wrecks on the outskirts of town and launches her right back into Ayden’s life.

The train wreck is real. In 1856, two trains heading on opposite directions on the same track collided during a snowstorm outside Hillsdale, Michigan. Passengers were stranded in the town, and the townspeople came together to take care of them, providing food, shelter, and clothing.

This book was previous published by Love Inspired Heartsong, but I have rewritten it, adding several thousand words I had to cut for the Heartsong version, and re-edited by Amazon Publishing’s fabulous editorial team. And the cover is positively stunning.

This book is available in five formats: Kindle, Paperback, Audio CD, MP3CD, and audible.com download. The reader is Angela Dawe, who is also from Michigan and an experienced narrator.

I agree. I absolutely love the cover. Please share the first page with us.           

Hillsdale, Michigan

February 8, 1856

Near Midnight

In ten minutes, the westbound train would reach the town Euphemia Roper once vowed to never set foot in again.

Hillsdale, Michigan, was the town Euphemia—Mia to her friends—had called home longer than anywhere else in her twenty-six years and the town she had left with a broken heart. Only opportunity knocking too loudly to be ignored had drawn her back. For a week, she would research the story that would establish her as a professional lady of letters, while she avoided encounters with Ayden Benaiah Goswell.

She twisted in her train seat and rubbed frost from a patch of glass with her gloved fingers. The action accomplished little beyond making her hand damp through the knitted wool. The lights of Osseo had already dimmed beyond a veil of falling snow. The train gathered speed.

So did Euphemia’s heart.

Muscles twitching in her legs, Euphemia tucked her handbag under one arm and her writing portfolio under the other. Rustling pages, snapping locks, and a child asking if they were there yet rose like a wave before a high wind. Euphemia rose to get up the aisle and near the door before the train stopped so she could be one of the first passengers to disembark. Others preceded her, including a child barely old enough to walk. He paused to grasp the side of her seat.

“Are you lost?” Euphemia leaned toward the boy. Someone should be frantically searching for the little one.

Wow! This book sounds so interesting. Where can my readers find you on the Internet?

You can read excerpts from my books on my web site:

http://www.lauriealiceeakes.com

On my author page on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/AuthorLaurieAliceEakes/

On Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/@LaurieAEakes

And I have a Pinterest account, but am just building it.

You can also find all my books in all their versions on http://www.amazon.com

Thank you, Laurie Alice, for sharing this book with us. I know my readers are as eager to read it as I am.

Comment started questions: Have you read any of Laurie Alice's books. If so, which one is your favorite? Have you experienced a train wreck.

Readers leave a comment for a chance to win a free copy of the book. You must follow these instructions to be in the drawing. Please tell us where you live, at least the state or territory or country if outside North America. (Comments containing links may be subject to removal by blog owner.)

Void where prohibited; the odds of winning depend on the number of entrants. Entering the giveaway is considered a confirmation of eligibility on behalf of the enterer in accord with these rules and any pertaining local/federal/international laws.

The only notification you’ll receive is the winner post on this blog. So be sure to check back a week from Saturday to see if you won. You will have 4 weeks from the posting of the winners to claim your book.

If you’re reading this on Goodreads, Google+, Feedblitz, Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, or Amazon, please come to the blog to leave your comment if you want to be included in the drawing. Here’s a link:

Http://lenanelsondooley.blogspot.com

THE MOUNTAIN MIDWIFE - Laurie Alice Eakes - One Free Book

Laurie Alice Eakes has been a friend of mine for a number of years. We were part of a three-author team, who wrote a Heartsong series set in Iowa. She came up with the theme that tied the books together. They later released in one volume titled Wild Prairie Roses.  I’m always thrilled when we both are able to attend the same writer’s conference and get to connect again. And right now, she’s living in Texas, too, but not very close to me. I love her writing, especially her novels about midwives. They are so authentic.

© Marti Corn Photography.

Welcome back, Laurie Alice. 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?

A woman named Juliana Fehr helped me with inspiring the initial thought of writing this book when I was in grad school in 1998. She is the director of the nurse-midwifery program at Shenandoah University in Winchester, VA, and a midwife herself, who helped me with a history of medicine project on which I was working. My talk then and her book Diary of a Midwife inspired me. She helped me with more research for this book. Authors Kristi Ann Hunter and Becca Witham also gave me much input in plot ideas. And, of course, my agent Natasha Kern, and my editor, Becky Phillpot offered many suggestions. Those are the major players.

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

I have a speaking engagement/book launch on December 12 at the Bristol Public Library in Bristol, Virginia. I will also be speaking at the Booksamillion there, but the time is not set. I also have an interview on Saturday December 5 on WHCB Radio 91.5 FM at 3:30 p.m. That is out of Johnson City, Tennessee, but can also be streamed.

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

Probably somewhere in either the Midwest like Illinois or Michigan, or Virginia. I am one of those rare people who likes winter, and I miss the lakes of the Midwest.

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

Do not rush your craft and seek and accept constructive criticism. In other words, have a teachable heart and mindset. No one is perfect out of the gate.

You’ve been asked to be in charge of a celebrity cruise. Who would you ask to take part, and why? (AS in what program, singers, etc. [it doesn’t have to be writing related])

I would choose several people, underprivileged children, I think, or perhaps some older people, and have them on the cruise to be treated like celebrities.

Tell us about the featured book.

The Mountain Midwife:

For nearly two hundred years, women in Ashley Tolliver’s family have practiced the art of midwifery in their mountain community. Now she wants to take her skills a step further, but attending medical school means abandoning those women to whom she has dedicated her life, the mountains she loves, and the awakening of her heart. Ashley Tolliver has tended to the women of her small Appalachian community for years. As their midwife, she thinks she has seen it all. Until a young woman gives birth at Ashley’s home and is abducted just as Ashley tries to take the dangerously bleeding mother to the nearest hospital. Now Ashley is on a mission to find the woman and her newborn baby ... before it’s too late.

Please give us the first page of the book.

The doorbell rang sometime after midnight. The electronic tinkling of the telephone in the middle of the night meant a patient had gone into labor. But this was the double-toned chime of the doorbell in the darkness, and that meant trouble.

Heart pounding, Ashley Tolliver rolled out of her queen-size four-poster, dislodging several cats in the process, and snatched up the jeans and T-shirt ever ready on a chair beside her bed. By the time the bell chimed again, she was dressed and shoving her feet into a pair of ballet flats. The third ring found her halfway down the steps.

A shadow loomed behind the sheer curtain covering the front door’s glass at the foot of the steps. It was a hulking man’s silhouette against the porch light. No sign of a woman beside him.

Ashley paused on the bottom step. At the least she should have brought her cell phone with her despite the terrible reception inside the house there in the hills. The gun her brother insisted she own for protection on her lonely nighttime excursions to patients was, as usual, locked in the glove compartment of her Tahoe.

She turned to retrieve her cell.

Three rings of the bell in rapid succession conveyed a sense of urgency. She was being silly. No burglar was going to announce his arrival by ringing the doorbell so persistently. Emergencies brought men and their expectant wives, daughters, girlfriends, to her door.

You have me hooked, Laurie Alice. Where can we find you on the Internet?

You can find me in numerous places. My Web Site http://www.lauriealiceeakes.com has information about and excerpts from my books.

I am on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/@LaurieAEakes

On Facebook https://www.facebook.com/authorlauriealiceeakes/

I am working on a Pinterest board with midwifery resources, so keep an eye out for that in the next couple of weeks.

Thank you for sharing this new book with us. I know my readers are as eager as I am to read this new book.

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

The Mountain Midwife - Christianbook.com
The Mountain Midwife - Amazon
The Mountain Midwife - Kindle

Leave a comment for a chance to win a free copy of the book. You must follow these instructions to be in the drawing. Please tell us where you live, at least the state or territory. (Comments containing links may be subject to removal by blog owner.)

Void where prohibited; the odds of winning depend on the number of entrants. Entering the giveaway is considered a confirmation of eligibility on behalf of the enterer in accord with these rules and any pertaining local/federal/international laws.

The only notification you’ll receive is the winner post on this blog. So be sure to check back a week from Saturday to see if you won. You will have 4 weeks from the posting of the winners to claim your book.

If you’re reading this on Goodreads, Google+, Feedblitz, Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, or Amazon, please come to the blog to leave your comment if you want to be included in the drawing. Here’s a link:
Http://lenanelsondooley.blogspot.com

A RELUCTANT COURTSHIP - Laurie Alice Eakes - One Free Book (or Ebook if the Winner Lives Outside the Lower 48 States)

Welcome back, Laurie Alice. Why did you become an author?

Calling is the simplest answer. I thought about other careers and have held other jobs, and being an author was the primary goal in my life as far as careers go. No matter where I worked or in which career—high school teacher, HR administrator, office manager … everything led back to me becoming an author.

If you weren’t an author, what would be your dream job?

This probably won’t surprise anyone who has read my books, and I’d like to be a college history professor.

If you could have lived at another time in history, what would it be and why?

Probably the turn of the 20th century. It was far enough ago to still hold elegance, style, and old-fashioned values, yet late enough to have modern conveniences like electricity, hot water baths, and telephones. Doctors had even realized that wounds needed to be kept clean and surgery performed under sterile conditions. They had anesthesia. Antibiotics were a ways off, but medicine was getting modern.

What place in the United States have you not visited that you would like to?

The far northeast or the far northwest like East Port, Maine, or Puget Sound.

How about a foreign country you hope to visit?

I’ve been to numerous countries outside the U.S., including Iceland, and I’ve yet to get to Scotland, one of the primary countries I’ve always wanted to visit.

What lesson has the Lord taught you recently?

Stop worrying. He has everything under control.

Tell us about the featured book.

A Reluctant Courtship is the third book in the Daughters of Bainbridge series, a Regency Romance series. This one features the youngest sister, who has a little problem with falling in love with the exact wrong man. So now she fears that the man she is falling for might be guilty of the crime of which he is accused because … Well, she loves him. In other words, she has lost all the youthful innocence and surety that she holds the world in her hands with which the series began. She needs to work her way back to her faith and her belief in herself as a beloved child of God—and faces danger, heartache, and romantic fun along the way.

Please give us the first page of the book.

September 1813
Miss Honore Bainbridge was about to fall off a cliff. One minute she stood examining a fissure in the stratified rock, and the next, the crack turned into a gaping hole—ready, able, and apparently eager to swallow her whole. Her feet plunged off solid ground. Her pinwheeling arms grasped a spindly shrub struggling for life above the sea, and she clung to it with about as much hope of survival as the infant bush.

She did not scream. She had opened her mouth to do so, but her middle slammed into the rock, driving the breath from her lungs in an ignominious squeak.

And there she dangled with her arms around a sapling, her feet swinging two hundred feet over the sea, and a hawk circling above as though trying to decide if her feathered hat was some kind of new small bird.

“I am not your dinner,” she gasped out to the hawk.

More like supper for several schools of fish.

At least Papa would never know that his youngest daughter had culminated her disastrous penchant for falling in love unwisely by falling off a cliff.

 “I suppose this is one catastrophe you can't get me out of, Lord?” Through gasps for air from her constricted lungs, she managed the kind of cynical prayer that had become her usual way of communicating with God of late. “I suppose you can, but it looks like—“

The shrub began to loosen from its precarious hold on the thin soil.

What a wonderful hook. I can’t wait to read the next page. How can readers find you on the Internet?

My web site is: http://www.lauriealiceeakes.com

My Twitter handle is: @LaurieAEakes

Dear Readers, one of Laurie Alices's relatives had a heart attack this weekend. She may or may not be able to answer comments. When you do leave a comment on the blog for a chance to win a copy of the book, please leave a prayer for her family if you feel led to. I know how caring all of you are.

Readers, here are links to the book. By using one when you order, you help support this blog.
A Reluctant Courtship - Christianbook.com
A Reluctant Courtship (The Daughters of Bainbridge House) Amazon.com
Reluctant Courtship, A (The Daughters of Bainbridge House Book #3): A Novel - Kindle

Leave a comment for a chance to win a free copy of the book. Please tell us where you live, at least the state or territory. (Comments containing links may be subject to removal by blog owner.)

Void where prohibited; the odds of winning depend on the number of entrants. Entering the giveaway is considered a confirmation of eligibility on behalf of the enterer in accord with these rules and any pertaining local/federal/international laws.

The only notification you’ll receive is the winner post on this blog. So be sure to check back a week from Saturday to see if you won. You will have 4 weeks from the posting of the winners to claim your book.

If you’re reading this on Google +, Feedblitz, Facebook, Linkedin, or Amazon, please come to the blog to leave your comment if you want to be included in the drawing. Here’s a link.
Http://lenanelsondooley.blogspot.com

CHOICES OF THE HEART - Laurie Alice Eakes - One Free Book

Welcome, Laurie Alice. Tell us about your salvation experience.

My salvation experience is nothing dramatic. I was eleven-years-old and wearing a red twill cotton dress to church that Sunday morning. It was my favorite dress. We had a special guest speaker. I don’t remember what he said, and, though I’d been hearing the gospel in my church for a couple of years, something clicked in my head, and I answered the call to go to the altar and make a commitment to Christ. Sadly, about ten years later, I fell away for many years, and I never forgot that commitment, and the Lord drew me back to Him.

I think that most of us, who accepted the Lord as our Savior as a young child, had a falling away time. I did, too. But praise the Lord, He never falls away from us and He never lets us go. Now you’re planning a writing retreat where you can only have four other authors. Who would they be and why?

This is difficult to answer, since I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings out of all my writing buddies, and, in no particular order, I’ll have to say:

Gina Welborn because she’s good at nailing the heart of a story, and in all her chatter, gets one’s own brain power working.

Patty Smith Hall because she understands romance plots like nobody else I know.

Marylu Tyndall because she has this way of keeping me spiritually grounded.

Louise Gouge because… Well, she was the first published author to actually believe I had enough going in the writing thing that she thought I, of all people, could help her, of all people. Ha! And she’s just been my friend for going on a lot of years now.

My true retreat would have the rest of my writing prayer partners at it, too. They know who they are.

That question often opens my readers to even more authors that they haven’t read. Do you have a speaking ministry? If so, tell us about that.

Yes, I do have a speaking ministry. Although I do speak to writers organizations and to library groups about writing, my true ministry is discussing the true meaning of faith and other inspirational subjects to everywhere from women’s groups, to homeschool groups.

What is the most embarrassing thing that has happened to you and how did you handle it?

You know, I hate being embarrassed to a nearly pathological point, so work hard to avoid such situations. This possibly dates back to when I was in college and said something about the poor quality of a fellow students’ reading. I didn’t know she was standing right behind me.

What else could I do but apologize and tell her I am a twit and rude and remind myself to be careful what I say of others.

People are always telling me that they’d like to write a book someday. I’m sure they do to you, too. What would you tell someone who came up to you and said that?

Most people say they’d write a book if they had the time. I explain that writing is a commitment, and if they really want to write that book, they will make the time—give up a couple of favorite TV shows or their lunch hour, or get up earlier in the morning… The only way to get a book written is to sit in that chair and write it. I also tell them that if they are serious, they might want to join a writers organization to learn a few things about the craft and the business. Nowadays, with popping a book onto Amazon so relatively easy, people don’t realize that they still need to know the writing business to go anywhere.

Tell us about the featured book.

Choices of the Heart is the third book in The Midwives series, which began with Lady in the Mist, and then went on to Heart’s Safe Passage.

Esther Cherrett is the daughter of Tabitha and Dominick from Lady in the Mist. The year is 1842, and Esther, who has the feminine version of her fathers stunning looks, and her mother’s gift for helping the sick and distressed, has a tragic experience that sends her running for the hills—literally. She is determined to leave her family behind so the scandal will die down, and she can maybe forget one day. But she finds herself in the middle of a family feud in western Virginia, courted by two young men on either side of the conflict, and her past has caught up with her.

Please give us the first page of the book.

Seabourne, Virginia, April 1842

Esther Cherrett removed the sketchbook from her satchel and lifted it to the highest shelf in the armoire. She didn't need pictures of men whose form existed simply in her imagination's portrayals, in colored chalks—not where she was going. And drawings of her family would only make her sad. Make her feel guilty.

She didn't need the satchel either. Its packets of herbs, rolls of bandages, and canvas apron for protecting her dresses during a lying-in would be of as little use in her new position as were the drawings. She started to hoist it up to the shelf too, but her arms shook as though the black leather bag weighed a hundred pounds instead of ten, and she let it drop.

It landed on the blue floral rug with a thud. The latch sprang open and poked up like an accusing finger. You shouldn't be doing this, it seemed to say in the voice of Letty O'Tool, the eldest congregant in the church. You aren't answering to your calling.

Esther snapped the latch back into place, then popped it open again, retrieved the sketchbook from its shelf, and shoved it amongst the instruments of the profession she had determined to leave behind in Seabourne. Leave behind with the scorn and ridicule she’d faced over the past four months.

Sounds intriguing. How can readers find you on the Internet?

http://www.lauriealiceeakes.com

http://www.lauriealiceeakes.com/blog where I am running an awesome contest right now.

https://twitter.com/LaurieAEakes

http://www.facebook.com/laurie.eakes?ref=tn_tnmn

Thank you, Laurie Alice. I'm always anxious to read the final book in a series.

Readers, here are links to the book. By using one when you order, you help support this blog.
Choices of the Heart: A Novel (The Midwives) - paperback
Choices of the Heart (The Midwives Book #3): A Novel - Kindle


Leave a comment for a chance to win a free copy of the book. Please tell us where you live, at least the state or territory. (Comments containing links may be subject to removal by blog owner.)

Void where prohibited; the odds of winning depend on the number of entrants. Entering the giveaway is considered a confirmation of eligibility on behalf of the enterer in accord with these rules and any pertaining local/federal/international laws.

The only notification you’ll receive is the winner post on this blog. So be sure to check back a week from Saturday to see if you won. You will have 4 weeks from the posting of the winners to claim your book.

If you’re reading this on Feedblitz, Facebook, or Amazon, please come to the blog to leave your comment if you want to be included in the drawing. Here’s a link.
Http://lenanelsondooley.blogspot.com

HIGHLAND CROSSING - Laurie Alice Eakes, Pamela Griffin, Jennifer Hudson Taylor, Gina Welborn - Three Free Books (US Only)

I've really been looking forward to featuring this novella collection. Coming from these ladies, it will be very good. How did your story for the collection come about?

LAE: My agent, Tamela Murray of the Steve Laube Literary Agency, called to tell me that Becky Germany wanted a collection centered around Highlanders in America. Pamela Griffin was a natural person to ask because she was in another Scottish novella series and is such a beloved writer in the genre, Gina Welborn because she had done research into Scotland for another project and is just a fine writer, and Jennifer Hudson Taylor because she has her lovely Highland books out. We brainstormed for a couple of weeks, put together a collection of generational connected stories set in North Carolina during the colonial era, and—voila! Becky bought it.

PG: The theme was the Argyll Colony, the Scottish settlers there. From the years (eras) the four of us talked about including, I chose to write about the first shipload of settlers that sailed from Scotland to America, to live in a new land and find peace from oppression, (when the main part of town was no more than one building in the midst of a forest).

JHT – Since I’m contracted for a 3-book series to release in 2013 in which a Scottish family migrates to the Carolinas during the colonial period, I wrote the last novella with the final generation to keep from conflicting with my other series. Hearts Inheritance is set in 1815 in what is now Fayetteville, NC, my home state.

GW: Well, I think the we brainstormed contained very little me brainstormed because I was working on an editor request at the time. However, being able to trust Pamela, Laurie, and Jennifer to direct us to a great premise was easy because they’re all amazing writers. I admire their craft.

What are you reading right now?

LAE: I usually don’t say what I’m reading just in case it’s someone else’s favorite book and I end up not liking it. Mostly I read a mix of historical romance and contemporary romantic suspense or mysteries.

PG: Nothing in fiction. I'm on a February 15th book deadline, (unless the many times I go over my chapters for editing counts as reading - lol)- and won't have much time in reading for relaxation until that is sent in.

JHT – A Hope Undaunted by Julie Lessman

GW: Oh, I’ll happily share I’m reading Annapolis by Roseanna White, Summer of Promise by Amanda Cabot, and Beautiful Outlaw by John Eldredge. I just finished The Untold Story of the New Testament Church by Frank Viola, which totally gave me a new appreciation for Paul’s writing. Of course, one of my favorite novels of 2011 was Laurie’s A Necessary Deception. Laurie, should I share how you nicely insisted I re-read Patricia Veryan’s Golden Chronicles series during the summer of 2010? If you loved Laurie’s first regency, then I recommend reading Veryan’s series to see how an author can take a villain in book 1 and turn him into a hero by book 6.

What other books have you had published?

LAE: This novella collection will be my first novella. I also have Heart’s Safe Passage coming out in February 2012, which is my third book with Baker/Revell and my ninth book published.

PG: I've written for Heartsong Presents, Barbour, Tyndale House, and Summerside Press. All in romance, both historical and contemporary, set in the U.S. and in Europe. My most recent books are Love Finds You in Hope, Kansas (Summerside Press) and In Search of a Memory, In Search of a Dream, and In Search of Serenity (Heartsong Presents) which also is a 3 n' 1 with the title Connecticut Brides (Barbour).

JHT – Highland Blessings and Highland Sanctuary, both with Abingdon Press. I’m also part of another novella collection coming out in April 2012, Quakers of New Garden through Barbour Books.

GW: Later this year my second novella, All Ye Faithful, is part of the A Cascades Christmas anthology. Has anyone else notice how trendy flannel shirts are this winter? Either that or I have lumberjacks on my mind.

What is the hardest thing about writing a part of a novella collection?

LAE: Getting four creative minds going in the same general idea. We all have so many thoughts and ideas that pinning it down to the right ones is a bit of a challenge. It’s a fun challenge, though. Working with Gina and Pamela and Jennifer was a terrific experience. They are all so creative and talented and have such vast knowledge of history. Then the point comes where everything starts to click together, and it’s like creative fireworks—brilliantly fun.

GW: Amen, sister!

PG: When anyone in the group is hard to get in contact with on a regular basis (which thankfully wasn't the case with this group! :))

JHT – This was my first time working with a group of authors on a collaborative team other than a critique group, and it worked out very well. Once we started brainstorming, emails flew back and forth and ideas just starting falling into place. We are all from different parts of the country with varying backgrounds and experiences. I love how we were able to work so well together.

How did collaborating with this team impact you?

LAE: I was never sure I could work with a creative team, I’m such a lone wolf kind of writer, and I did and it worked, and I loved the energy of a team effort.

PG: In every novella team I write with, I always learn something helpful from the rest of the women, usually in relation to the setting or time period we are working with, etc., or other useful writer's tips and information. The other authors in this set were wonderful and easy to collab with.

JHT – It was nice to have other creative minds to bounce ideas around. Authors tend to work alone and that leaves me mulling ideas around in my head, wondering if I’m going in the right direction.

GW: Call me SpongeGina SquareWriter because I sat back and soaked up anything and everything Pamela, Laurie, and Jennifer could teach me.

How do you choose your characters’ names?

LAE: First I find a list of names appropriate to the time period and setting and nationality. From that list I pick names I like. In “Printed on My Heart”, my novella in Highland Crossings  the surname MacGill came from a list of ship passengers to North Carolina during the influx of Scottish immigrants in the mid eighteenth century. Her first name Fiona came from a list of Scottish names used at that time. The hero is Welsh, as many Welsh immigrated to North Carolina at that time, too, and, likewise, I picked appropriate names, though the surname was more difficult, as the Welsh were still shaky on using surnames.

PG: - For this story, I used a great reference book- "Names Through the Ages" by Teresa Norman. it is over 500 pages- extensive- and gives the names used for each century, country, name meanings, etc. I went to the section of names in Scotland 20-30 years prior to when my story begins. I chose Seona, because it means "God is gracious" (something she must learn):  I chose Murdag (Seona's cousin) because it means "Sea warrior" (she is strong in character, helping Seona escape by ship in my first scene.) Just 2 examples. Once I choose a name, I often write the characters to reflect something about the meaning, whether all through story, something they become at end, or just a simple behavior trait that signifies them.

JHT – Since I had the final story, I had to carry on the surnames of the previous generations in the other Highland Crossings novellas. For other surnames I used a genealogical reference on the Argyll Colony entitled, Carolina Scots. Then I went through my list of characters from my 15^th century Highland series and my upcoming MacGregor Quest series to make sure I wasn’t duplicating names. My names evolved from a process of elimination. Based on what was left, I liked Brynna for the heroine and Niall for the hero.

GW: I read a 1790 census of North Carolina and compiled a list of male and female names that stood out to me. Obviously since my heroine is the daughter of Laurie’s leads, her surname was chosen for me. Once I had a list of two choices for each of my leads, I bounced them off Laurie. One choice for my hero was . . . well, hmm, all I can think of is Wolverine which makes me think of Logan which makes me think of Hugh Jackman. And Logan, Hugh or Jackman weren’t on my list. Anyway, Laurie knew a guy who had my hero’s second name choice and he was a weasel so I went with Finley instead. As far as Seran’s name, we liked how it sounded with Cardew, not to mention it was different.

What did you want the reader to take away from your story?

LAE: Trusting that God has a perfect plan for our lives.

PG: Always, always, I want them to feel inspired, encouraged, refreshed, and closer to God, while also being thoroughly entertained and feeling it was well worth their time to read.  :)

JHT – I hope that Heart’s Inheritance reminds readers that our greatest treasure is the unconditional love of God and it is given as our true inheritance.

GW: Plus looking for God’s opportunities, and if we’re really submitting to Jesus as Lord of our lives, then that means we have to be willing to sacrifice our goals, wants, dreams because God may have something better for us. Often He does. Yet we still struggle with letting go of what we think is best, which takes us back to choosing to trust God. It’s a minute-by-minute action.

Are you a member of American Christian Fiction Writers? If so, why?

LAE: Yes, I am a member of ACFW, as I believe belonging to professional writing organizations is important to writers and ACFW is focused on Christian fiction. I also belong to other professional writers organizations.

GW: Ditto.

PG: No.

JHT – Yes, because it is valuable organization that helped me transition from secular fiction to Christian fiction and I’ve found many valuable friends and fellowship.

What is the best piece of advice you received as an author?

LAE: Sit in the chair and write.

PG: No matter what happens, keep your eyes on Jesus, and never quit.

JHT – Don’t ever give up and to remember that God’s timing isn’t necessarily my timing.

GW: Don’t forget you’re telling a story so sometimes you have to tell and not show.

Where can my readers find you on the Internet?

LAE: Mostly, I can be found at http://www.lauriealiceeakes.com From there, one can find my blog. I am also on Facebook. No Twitter account yet. After February when I’ve finished up a couple of major deadlines I’ll work on Twitter.

PG: http://www.pamela-griffin.com/

JHT – www.jenniferhudsontaylor.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/JenniferHudsonTaylor

Twitter: www.twitter.com/jt4novels

GW: My sixth-grade (middle child) son googled me over the Christmas break and said, “Mom, did you know your picture is on the internet?” Even though I explained about being a writer, he still thought being able to google me was creepy. Fans, not stalkers, can find me at www.inkwellinspirations.com, my team blog with eleven other inspirational writers. A link to my personal website can be found on Inkwell. On Facebook, I’m Gina Marie Welborn.


Thank you Laurie Alice, Pamela, Jennifer, and Gina. I know all my readers will love learning about all of you and your book.


Readers, here are links to the book. By using one when you order, you help support this blog.
Highland Crossings (Romancing America) - paperback
Highland Crossings - Kindle


Leave a comment for a chance to win a free copy of the book. Please tell us where you live, at least the state or territory. (Comments containing links may be subject to removal by blog owner.)

Void where prohibited; the odds of winning depend on the number of entrants. Entering the giveaway is considered a confirmation of eligibility on behalf of the enterer in accord with these rules and any pertaining local/federal/international laws.

The only notification you’ll receive is the winner post on this blog. So be sure to check back a week from Saturday to see if you won. You will have 4 weeks from the posting of the winners to claim your book.

If you’re reading this on Feedblitz, Facebook, or Amazon, please come to the blog to leave your comment if you want to be included in the drawing. Here’s a link.
Http://lenanelsondooley.blogspot.com

A NECESSARY DECEPTION - Laurie Alice Eakes - Free Book - Lady in the Mist

Welcome back to my blog, Laurie Alice. I love your new head shot. God has really been moving in your writing life. What do you see on the horizon?

If I’ve learned one important factor in this career, it’s not to look to the horizon, but to what is before me. As for my work, I have two books and two novellas in collections coming out next year, more books to write, and a few graduate credits to upgrade my MA in writing to an MFA in writing so I can teach.

Tell us a little about your family.

“Little” isn’t a word I can associate with my family. For the immediate group, it is, so far, just my husband and me. I also have several brothers and sisters, all of whom have children and a couple of those have children. We’re a bit scattered around the country from Virginia, to Michigan, to California. It’s a family with a lot of readers in it, especially my parents, so me being a writer is quite natural to everyone.

Has your writing changed your reading habits? If so, how?

Yes, I find myself rewriting books in my head, rephrasing things differently, and guessing what the next line will be. Because of that, I tend to stay away from books in my genre when I’m writing intensely so I don’t pick up another author’s voice by accident. Mostly I read an opposite genre like contemporary women’s fiction or a thriller. I also read more cozy mysteries than I used to.

What are you working on right now?

I have just finished a novella set in colonial America, and am researching my third midwife book, while editing my second Regency for Revell.

What outside interests do you have?

When I’m on deadline, I forget an outside exist. J Seriously, I love hiking and reading all kinds of stuff, visiting historic sites and watching movies, listening to music, especially live, and talking, especially with my husband.

How do you choose your settings for each book?

With a few exceptions, I choose the setting that fits the story rather than the other way around. The exception is my New Jersey books, since I needed to be state specific with those. But I came up with the concepts for my Regencies before I decided where the books would be set—in England, of course, but not all in the same place.

If you could spend an evening with one historical person, who would it be and why?

This question forever stumps me. I think and think and can never figure out who it might be. Probably a writer, but not Jane Austen. I think Miss Austen and I would not get along. Probably one of the Victorian poets. Despite preferring earlier history, I love the Victorian poets like Alfred Lord Tennyson and Matthew Arnold.

What is the one thing you wish you had known before you started writing novels?

I wish I’d understood about writing for the market. I took “Write what you know” and “Write from the heart” too seriously, then wondered why people said my writing was great and then turned me down. Duh. No one wanted what my heart knows; they want what makes their hearts sing. Once I figured that out, I started selling.

What new lessons is the Lord teaching you right now?

Faith and taking one day at a time. That’s the easy answer. I could write a year of blog posts on everything going on in my life and trying to figure out what God is telling me through it all. So far I’ve worked out that my faith is stronger than I thought.

What are the three best things you can tell other authors to do to be successful?

A: Pay attention to what readers say. Seek their input or join fan lists or read Amazon reviews by readers, not writers. As I told a friend recently, just because that is technically historically accurate doesn’t mean modern readers can accept it. We need to compromise a bit so as not to freak them out or turn them off.

B: Have a teachable heart.

C: Stay humble. This is about the Lord’s work, not yours.

Very good advice. Tell us about the featured book.

Here is the book jacket information. In addition, I want to share that this book represents the fulfillment of a dream. I wanted to write Regencies for the CBA, but got the response that the CBA wouldn’t buy one. I sold one in the ABA and won an award for it, but wasn’t satisfied

With the launch of this series as my eighth book and second book for Baker/Revell, I have to say that perseverance and being obedient to God’s calling holds numerous rewards. This is one of them.

A Necessary Deception

When young widow Lydia Gale helps a French prisoner obtain parole, she never dreams she will see him again. But just as the London Season gets under way, the man presents himself in her parlor. While she should be focused on getting her headstrong younger sister prepared for her entrée into Society, Lady Gale finds herself preoccupied with the mysterious Frenchman. Is he a spy or a suitor? Can she trust him? Or is she putting herself and her family in danger?

Discover a world of elegance and intrigue, balls and masquerades as Laurie Alice Eakes whisks you into the drawing rooms of London Society on this exciting quest to let the past stay in the past—and let love guide the future.

Please give us the first page of the book.

Dartmoor Prison

Devonshire, England

March 1812

Entrée into the prison proved easy for Lady Lydia Gale. As the stranger at her cottage door had assured her when he arrived at dawn to inform her of a certain Frenchman’s presence as an enemy “guest” of England, a few shillings exchanging hands had placed her in the guard house. She held a handkerchief sprinkled with the honey-citrus aroma of linden blossom oil beneath her nose against the prison stench, awaiting the arrival of Chef de Batallon Christophe Arnaud.

Her cousin and companion, Barbara Bainbridge, stood beside her, her lips set, her hands twisting in the folds of a cloak soaked with the rain that had begun the moment they reached the walls of Dartmoor Prison. “We’re going to contract a chill or worse.”

“We’ll be in Plymouth with hot tea and fires sooner than you think.” Lydia raised her other hand to finger the pearl and ruby bracelet that had scarcely left her wrist in the three years since Monsieur Arnaud’s messenger had appeared on her doorstep at dawn, carrying her husband’s last letter and gift that were somehow smuggled out of French-occupied Spain. Even with it resting between the edge of her kid glove and the sleeve of her pelisse, the bracelet’s coldness of metal and stones chilled her skin. “Since he’s a major in the French Army, helping him is simple.”

And her chance to be a good wife, even if she was now a widow.

“If it will cost us money, you know you don’t have any to spare.”

“I’ll manage something, if he needs money.”

That too she had worked out on the journey from her cottage in Tavistock to Dartmoor Prison. Barbara would object, but Lydia thought no price too high if it helped her to accomplish something, to succeed at fulfilling a promise—at last.

How can readers find you on the Internet?

You can find me at my Web Site www.lauriealiceeakes.com

Or my blog: www.lauriealiceeakes.blogspot.com

Or on Facebook. I’m the only Laurie Alice Eakes on FB.

Thank you, Laurie Alice, for the fun interview.

Readers, here's a link to the book. By using it when you order, you help support this blog.

Necessary Deception, A: A Novel (The Daughters of Bainbridge House)

Laurie Alice is giving away a free copy of Lady in the Mist on this interview, not the featured book.



Leave a comment for a chance to win a free copy of the book. Please tell us where you live, at least the state or territory. (Comments containing links may be subject to removal by blog owner.)

Void where prohibited; the odds of winning depend on the number of entrants. Entering the giveaway is considered a confirmation of eligibility on behalf of the enterer in accord with these rules and any pertaining local/federal/international laws.

The only notification you’ll receive is the winner post on this blog. So be sure to check back a week from Saturday to see if you won. You will have 4 weeks from the posting of the winners to claim your book.

If you’re reading this on Feedblitz, Facebook, or Amazon, please come to the blog to leave your comment if you want to be included in the drawing. Here’s a link.
Http://lenanelsondooley.blogspot.com