ELIZABETH BOYLE'S LATEST REGENCY AND A SPECIAL OFFER!

Six Impossible Things

by Elizabeth Boyle

GENRE: Historical Romance

Elizabeth will be awarding a digital copy of SIX IMPOSSIBLE THINGS to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour.

***There is also a sweepstakes organized by the publisher.  https://a.pgtb.me/jlKjJc

SIX IMPOSSIBLE THINGS Blurb:

Lord Rimswell is a man of honor and absolutes. If he says something is impossible, it is. Yet his life of right and wrong is turned upside down when he finds himself in a compromising situation with the most unyielding, yet maddeningly beautiful, woman in London. If only he had not given in to the irresistible temptation to kiss her. Now he must marry her.

Miss Roselie Stratton is the very definition of impossible-headstrong, outspoken and carrying a reticule of secrets that could ruin more than her reputation. Kissing Brody is hardly the most ruinous thing Roselie has ever done as a secret agent for the Home Office…nor will she let a marriage of convenience stop her from continuing her work. Little does Roselie realize that she has underestimated Brody's resolve to keep her safe-for he has hopelessly fallen in love with her and is determined to do the impossible by stealing her heart in return.

SIX IMPOSSIBLE THINGS Excerpt:

Then came the last fellow. And to Roselie’s credit, she kept from groaning out loud.

For the last arrival was none other than Bradwell Garrick, the seventeeth Baron Rimswell.

Her other nemesis. And not because he was a traitor. No far from it. If there was anyone in London who could unmask her, it was her old childhood friend, Brody.

What the devil was he doing here?

Not that he didn’t belong. Elevated to his brother’s title two years earlier, he was considered quite the eligible parti. Worse, he’d grown into a handsome devil. Dark hair that gave him the look of a poet, while his reputation for being a bruiser at Gentleman Jim’s and his penchant for hard riding could all be seen in the lean lines of his tall, athletic build.

All around them, there were more than a few feminine sighs as he entered the room.

Including the one that Roselie managed to keep tightly bound inside her heart. That he sent this racing desire through her every time she saw him, every time they had to be in the same room, was exactly why she avoided him.

Nor could she do much more than cross her fingers as he made his usual sweeping search of the room, his gaze pausing on her for that slightly too-long second, offering her the slightest of nods—a poor homage to how close they had been growing up.

As his gaze continued on, she did sigh.

Which, of course, Mariah noticed. “Might be time to tell him.”

Roselie shook her head, her reply rushing out. “No.” For Brody wasn’t just a handsome, eligible parti, he was also an agent for the Home Office, although that was not well known.

Elizabeth Boyle, Author

ELIZABETH BOYLE has always loved romance and now lives it every day by writing adventurous and passionate stories that readers from all around the world have described as “page-turners.” Since her first book was published, she’s seen her romances become New York Times and USA Today bestsellers and win the RWA RITA Award and the Romantic Times Reviewer’s Choice awards. She resides in Seattle with her family, her garden, and always growing collection of yarn. Readers can visit her on the Web at www.elizabethboyle.com.

http://www.facebook.com/AuthorElizabethBoyle

http://twitter.com/ElizBoyle

http://pinterest.com/elizbo/

Buy Links:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Six-Impossible-Things-Rhymes-Love/dp/0062283987

BN: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/six-impossible-things-elizabeth-boyle/1124232422

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GIVEAWAY

Elizabeth will be awarding a digital copy of SIX IMPOSSIBLE THINGS to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour.

***There is also a sweepstakes organized by the publisher.  https://a.pgtb.me/jlKjJc

a Rafflecopter giveaway

RACHEL IS BOOK FIVE IN THE BRIDE BRIGADE SERIES--PLUS CHRISTMAS IS COMING!

I’m excited to announce that the fifth book in my Bride Brigade series, RACHEL, was released last week. To show how pleased I am, I'll give away a copy of RACHEL to one person who comments today. 

This series has been a lot of fun to write and readers tell me they enjoy the books. Tarnation, Texas is a small town with no young single women and many suitable bachelors who wish to wed. A young widow travels East to recruit seven young women candidates for marriage who will live in her home until each chooses the man for her. So far, Josephine, Angeline, Cassandra, and Ophelia have wed. Now it’s Rachel’s turn to find her true love.

Here’s the blurb for RACHEL:

A shameful past…

Rachel Ross’s secret haunts her. She joins other women leaving Virginia for Texas, object matrimony. Vowing never to trust again, she is rebuilding her life. She likes the dusty little town of Tarnation and is attracted to Zane Evans. Her past has made her extremely cautious, but she allows him to court her.

Zane Evans is a former Pinkerton agent who wants to forget all he saw in that profession and in the war and create a good life in Tarnation, Texas. He has carefully planned his future. When he meets Rachel, he is instantly attracted but is puzzled by her reluctance to reveal anything personal.

One event reveals her past in a spectacular way. Will Zane forgive her silence?

Here’s an excerpt from RACHEL:

Mama glanced from Hannah to Rachel. “I’ve fixed you a place in my sewing room. Your clothes and things are already there.”

Not even allowed to return to her former room? Scooping up her valise, she turned and fled to the sewing room. “Fine. At least I’ll have privacy.”

Patrick followed and caught up with her before she closed the door. “Dahlia and I’ve been scouring our brains since I learned of our parents’ plan. I may have a solution.” He handed her a folded newspaper page with one advertisement circled. “What do you think?”

Rachel read the item:

“Young women of good character desiring to go west for the purpose of marriage may apply for an interview between ten and four o’clock in the afternoon from April 5^th to 10^th at the Grand Hotel, Richmond, care of Mrs. Lydia Harrison.”

“Good character? This Mrs. Lydia Harrison might not agree I qualify.” She reread the item as she mulled over the implications. Texas was hundreds and hundreds of miles from Richmond.

“Regardless, I’ll go see Mrs. Harrison at ten tomorrow.” She hugged Patrick. “I knew I could count on you, dear brother.”

“You’ll have to thank Dahlia for that advertisement. It wasn’t in the parts of the paper I read.”

All her plans for the future had changed. Instead of welcome from her family, she was ostracized by all but her brother. In her head, she saw the wisdom of her father’s edict. In her heart, she was far too crushed for reason. She wouldn’t remain a second longer than necessary to find a solution.

Patrick leaned a shoulder against the door jamb. “I’ll take off work again to go with you and be certain this woman isn’t a con artist soliciting young women for objectionable purposes.”

Rachel was able to force a smile though her heart had frozen solid. “No, Patrick, thank you for coming for me and for being the same fine man I remember, but I should do this alone. The ad says ‘for the purpose of marriage’ and I’ll be sure of the details before I commit—if she even chooses me.”

“At least let me give you a few dollars to pay cab fare there and back and enough to buy lunch if you’re out then.” He opened his wallet and removed several bills, which he pressed into her hand.

She gazed at the amount. “Ten dollars? Patrick, this is too much.”

He backed away as he held his hands palm facing her. “You don’t know what expenses you’ll have. I’ll worry enough without thinking you have no resources.”

She dropped the cash into her purse. “Thank you. You’re the dearest brother who ever lived.”

His cheeky grin cheered her. “I must modestly agree with you.”

RACHEL buy link https://amzn.com/B01LZP40HG

Now I'm writing Christmas novellas.

MISTLETOE MISTAKE is my story in the box set WILD WESTERN WOMEN -- MISTLETOE, MONTANA that will be released November 1. The authors included are Kirsten Osbourne, Merry Farmer, Sylvia McDaniel, and me. Callie Hutton had to drop out due to contractual obligations. The cover designer is Erin Dameron Hill.

ANGEL FOR CHRISTMAS is a contemporary romance that will be released as soon as I can finish it and get it edited. The cover designer is Skhye Moncrief. I think she did a fabulous job, don't you agree?

Don't for get to leave a comment if you want to be entered in the giveaway!

COLORADO IN SUMMER AND WINTER

First, Mary Preston won the giveaway posted on Friday's blog. Congratulations, Mary. 

Don’t miss the giveaway at the end of this post.

One of my favorite trips is one through the Southwest several years ago. Hero had a new car, a Mitsubishi sedan, on which we put a gazillion miles traveling here and there. Maybe that’s an exaggeration but we went a LOT of places in that car before it eventually spluttered its last gasp.

Anyway, on this trip, we went over Wolfe Pass, Colorado in a rainstorm. Hero had his hands full driving but I was able to enjoy the incredible beauty of the landscape. The entire state is gorgeous—something even a dyed-in-the-wool Texan like me can admit.

Silverton, Colorado

We also visited Silverton, Colorado on July 4^th and were surprised the temperature was 32 degrees F with patches of snow still on the ground. Fortunately, we had brought very light jackets, but we were cold. Bright sunshine saved us and we enjoyed touring the town.

I had no idea then that I would write a book set in Colorado. At the time, all of my books were set in Texas except for one fluke novella set in Georgia. That changed when gracious and excellent author Cynthia Woolf invited me to participate in a project she had conjured called THE SURPRISE BRIDES. I loved the idea and so did Callie Hutton and Sylvia McDaniel.

Instead of seven brothers as in the old movie musical “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers”, we would write four brides for four brothers. We wanted nothing to do with kidnapping, so the mother of these four brothers writes away for mail-order brides. Scheming Mama Fraser poses as each of her sons when she writes these letters and arranges for all four brides to arrive on the same train.

We decided a snowstorm rather than an avalanche should isolate them on Fraser's Circle F Ranch five miles from Angel Springs. A different avalanche plays a part in my story. Certainly we didn’t want to wait all winter to have the brides married. So, one of the brothers is a minister and can marry them—including himself and his bride.

This was the most difficult project with which I have ever been involved. For weeks emails flew back and forth among us to insure each of us included key elements without compromising the others’ books or offering four versions of the same story. The result is, I believe, four great western historical romances that will engage fans of that genre.

The books are JAMIE, CALEB, GIDEON, and ETHAN. The series is THE SURPRISE BRIDES. They are stand alone books and you don’t need to read any one of them to follow the others.  Due to the progression of events in the books’ content, if you plan to read all four I would suggest reading JAMIE first then ETHAN followed by GIDEON and ending with CALEB.

If you haven’t already done so, I hope you’ll give THE SURPRISE BRIDES: JAMIE a chance to entertain you and that you’ll also purchase the other three brothers’ stories. The books are priced low at only $2.99 each.  Here are the buy links at Amazon, but the books are available at Apple, Nook, and Kobo.

THE SURPRISE BRIDES buy links:

Caroline Clemmons, JAMIE http://amzn.com/B015272I3W

Cynthia Woolf, GIDEON  http://amzn.com/B015JLMQBU

Callie Hutton, CALEB  http://amzn.to/1KvP4id.

Sylvia McDaniel, ETHAN http://amzn.com/B015PG1FOI

**I’m giving away a free e-copy of THE SURPRISE BRIDES: JAMIE to one person who leaves a comment today. If you already have a copy of that book, you can choose another from my books on Amazon.

WHAT INSPIRES YOU?

What inspires you? Tell me in a comment to be in a drawing for a free e-book. 

Research is a large part of a writer’s world, especially when he or she writes historical novels, and often provides ideas for other novels. I love research and have trouble keeping on task. One of the fun parts of research is the day trip.

Years ago, my husband and I took a trip to Palo Pinto County, Texas for a driving tour and that’s when I fell in love with the area. To be truthful, I already loved driving through the hills and valleys. This tour, however, convinced me this was an area in which I would set many books. So far, I have two series set here—The Men of Stone Mountain and Bride Brigade—and a time travel, OUT OF THE BLUE.

Palo Pinto Mountains in distance from the valley

To most people, these would be considered hills, but geologically, they are mountains. Don’t ask me why, I’m just a writer. There are many picturesque areas and I enjoy driving through at any time of year. Now, however, is a prime time for the leaves are changing and it’s easy to see why the Native Americans dubbed them “painted posts”.

Although many live oaks dot the forests, most are smaller scrub oaks which turn colors and lose their leaves. Live oaks lose leaves, but they’re replaced and always have dark green leaves year around, hence the name. Also in the area are cedars and they provided fence posts material as well as small logs for cabins. Add in the cottonwoods, pin oak, red oak, hackberry, bois d'arc, elm, and don't forget the late-comer mesquite that plagues ranchers. 

In Palo Pinto County are many hot water springs, the most famous of which is the crazy water well in Mineral Wells. According to accounts, a family with a mentally disturbed wife moved to the area and the husband dug a well. While drinking that water, the woman was cured. It should be called sane water, but that doesn’t have the ring to it that crazy water does.

To this day, Crazy Water Crystals are available for sale. Frankly, I believe these are useful as little more than laxatives now due to the water's mineral content. The county's largest town was named Mineral Wells for a reason. The original well went through a lithium deposit and that provided relief to the woman’s condition. I doubt the FDA would allow over the counter lithium sales.

One of my favorite ranches is the Belding-Gibson Ranch, which has a spring that never dries up and was a favorite Native American campground. This is a beautiful ranch that has been continuously run by the Belding family and descendants since 1859. The original cedar log cabin dating to 1854 has been incorporated into the ranch home, as has the smokehouse and the dog trot and second cabin. This place is so dear to my heart.

Belding-Gibson Ranch Home includes preserved parts of
original cabins and smokehouse.

I enjoy this entire county, although I’m glad I live in a Fort Worth suburb with all the shopping and medical conveniences I prefer. While visiting Palo Pinto, I can visualize life as it was in the last half of the nineteenth century. A drive there sets my imagination’s cog wheels turning and generating new ideas faster than I can write them. The drive also makes me smile and dwell in my happy place.

Do you have special areas that inspire you? I’ll give away a copy of my first Bride Brigade romance, JOSEPHINE, to one person who comments today.

AUTHOR CYNTHIA WOOLF INTERVIEW

Readers, today we welcome author Cynthia Woolf for an interview. She will share information about herself and her books. And big news: Comment for a chance to win an eBook copy of "Tame a Wild Bride" at each stop of Cynthia's tour!

Caroline: Please tell readers something about yourself, Cynthia.

Cynthia: I grew up in the mountains west of Denver, CO.  I have three brothers, two older (much older) and one younger.  Because my older brothers were so much older than me, eight and twelve years older, my mother always said she raised two families.  I was considered a definite bookworm.  My mother was a librarian and we always had new books in the house.  I loved it because I would get the book before anyone else.  I’m married and have no children.

Author Cynthia Woolf

Caroline: Who are your favorite authors and favorite genres?

Cynthia: My favorite genre is historical romance.  I like all time periods with regency probably my favorite.  Two of my favorite authors are Johanna Lindsey and Julie Garwood.

Caroline: Julie Garwood is one of my favorite authors, also. What’s your favorite way to relax and recharge? Hobbies?

Cynthia: I like to garden and we like to go fishing.  Unfortunately, we haven’t been fishing in years now, but we still think about going.  Now if we could just find the time. 

Caroline: I know what you mean about time! How long have you been writing?

Cynthia: I started writing when I was ten.  I wrote a story, a romance of course, about a little boy that I liked at the time.  I still remember his name, David Williams, but nothing else about the story.

Caroline: Where do you prefer to write? Do you need quiet, music, solitude? PC or laptop?

Cynthia: I can write anywhere because my first draft is in long hand.  I prefer quiet and when I use a computer I prefer my PC.

Caroline: I also prefer my PC, but I’m glad I have a laptop for times when I need it. Are you a plotter or a panzer?

Cynthia: I’m a definite pantser.  I feel like when I plot the book it’s already written so what is the point.  Of course, that leads to another problem that is more prevalent among pantsers, the sagging middle.  I always know the beginning and end of the book but never have any idea about how to get there.  LOL  It usually works itself out when I’m writing.

Caroline: Do you set daily writing goals?

Cynthia: I don’t set daily goals.  I write full time and I just make sure that I write something every day.  I can’t fix a blank page.

Caroline: What do you hope your writing brings to readers?

Cynthia: I just hope that readers enjoy my stories.

Caroline: What long-term plans do you have for your career?

Cynthia: I intend to keep writing as long as I have stories to tell.

Caroline: Me, too. Would you like to tell us what you’re working on now?

Cynthia: I’m working on the third book in my Swords of Gregara series.  This one is called HONORA.

Caroline: Every reader seems to love series. What advice would you give to unpublished authors?

Cynthia: Write, write and write some more.  Get a good critique group.  Get a professional cover and get a professional editor.

Caroline: A fun fact readers wouldn’t know about you.

Cynthia: I collect purses.

Caroline: Something about you that would surprise or shock readers.

Cynthia: I can’t think of a thing.  I’m really a pretty laid back person.

Caroline: You touched on this but I always ask: Is your book a series? If so, how long? Family saga, other?

Cynthia: My book, TAME A WILD BRIDE is part of a series.  The Tame series consists of three books and a short story.  The books are TAME A WILD HEART, TAME A WILD WIND, and TAME A WILD BRIDE.  The short story is TAME A SUMMER HEART and is included in the WG2E anthology SUMMER FLING.

Caroline: Tell us something you learned researching your book that surprised/interested you.

Cynthia: When researching thoroughbreds for TAME A WILD WIND, I was surprised to learn that horses give birth on the ground.  For some reason I thought they did it while standing like a giraffe does.  Also, it’s very unusual for a horse to give birth to twins and triplets are unheard of.

Caroline: Interesting tidbits. Can you give readers a blurb about your book?

Cynthia: Here is the blurb.
Rosie Stanton climbed on a west-bound train to answer his ad for a wife and mother, everything she wants to be.  But Tom Harris lied.  He doesn't want a wife, merely a mother for his two abandoned children and a cook and cleaner for his ranch.  Betrayed once, he's vowed never to let another woman into his heart.  Sexy Rosie upsets all his plans and threatens to invade his scarred heart.  How will he maintain his vow to keep his hands off her as she charms his children, his cow hands, his life?

Caroline: I love the cover. How about an excerpt?

Cynthia:
Rosemary Stanton stood patiently on the train platform, sweat rolling down her back and between her ample breasts.  Waiting.  Sweating because it was an unusually hot day in late April.  Waiting for her husband.  A husband she wouldn’t recognize if he were standing right next to her.

She’d been desperate when she answered the advertisement for a mail order bride.  Wanted: Single woman to cook, clean, and care for children on a cattle ranch in southwestern Colorado.  Will marry upon arrival. Well, she was twenty-six with no prospects.  Her brother just got married and his new wife, Beatrice, didn’t want Rosie around.  She could answer the advertisement or become a governess.  Help someone else’s children grow up into adults.  Live in someone else’s house.  For the rest of her life, she’d have nothing she could call her own.

Rosie wanted a home.  Her own home.  She wanted a husband and children.  All the things she’d never have if she stayed in Philadelphia.  When she’d seen the ad in the morning paper, she’d nearly shouted with glee.  However, she managed to restrain herself until she retired to her room before she giggled with delight as she pressed her back against the door.  The advertisement was tailor-made for her needs.  It got her away from Beatrice and got her her own home all in one fell swoop.

Her brother, Robert, though was not happy with the idea of his baby sister traveling across the country to marry a stranger.  He grudgingly agreed to give her her dowry to take with her.  Five thousand dollars.  She’d take the draft to the bank as soon as she arrived in Creede, Colorado, and married Mr. Thomas Harris.  Cattle rancher.  It was her “in case it doesn’t work out” money.  Though she supposed it would belong to her husband once she married.  Perhaps she just wouldn’t tell him about it.

Her conscience spoke up.  That’s no way to start a marriage.  With lies and secrets. Oh, all right.  She’d tell him and have him take her to the bank.  But not until after she’d taken his measure.  She could tell by how he treated his animals what kind of man he was.  A man who was cruel to his horses would also be cruel to his wife. If he was a cruel man, she would leave and she sure as heck wouldn’t tell him about her money.

Even the substantial size of her dowry couldn’t seem to provide marriage prospects for Rosie back in Philadelphia.  She wasn’t pretty in the conventional sense.  She thought her face with its big brown eyes and full lips was pleasing enough, but men apparently hadn’t.  Her one beau told her that her eyes were the color of warm brandy.  That was before he left her to marry another more suitable woman.  More suitable, hah!  Richer was more like it.

He’d had expensive tastes and had married a rabbit-faced girl, heir to a substantial fortune to which he’d have access.  Well, good luck and good riddance.

She hoped her new husband wouldn’t be as snootish as Paul had been.  As a cattle rancher she didn’t know what to expect but the idea of a more earthy, less frivoless man appealed to her.

Rosie did have one extraordinary feature.  Her hair.  Waist length, wavy and a clear, golden blonde.  Right now, standing on the train platform in Creede it was bound up in a loose bun on top of her head under her hat.  It, like the rest of her, was covered in white dirt and nasty grayish soot from the train.  Her suit would never be the same again.

She’d discovered on the second day of her trip, she could minimize the grime by sitting in the front of the car with the window closed.  But sooner or later the heat and mugginess of the car would force her to open the window.  The air came rushing in, cooling her, but bringing with it the dirt and ash from the train’s boilers and whatever the wind picked up along the way.

On the long trip, she’d told herself again and again she’d made the right decision.  She was right to make the difficult trip.  This was her life and she had to take her future into her own hands.

“Excuse me.  Miss Stanton?”

Rosie shaded her eyes from the late afternoon sun and looked up at a tall man with dark hair.  His hat was pulled low, hiding his eyes.  He had a strong jaw covered with a shadow of whiskers.

“Yes.  I’m Rosemary Stanton.”

He took off his hat and held out his hand.  “I’m Tom Harris.”

Rosie took his hand.  It engulfed hers with a shock of warmth.  Her pale skin stood in stark contrast to his tanned one.  Calluses rubbed against her soft palm though the touch was not unpleasant.  She looked from their clasped hands up into the bluest eyes she’d ever seen.

“Pleased to meet you, Mr. Harris.”

“Tom.  Call me, Tom.”

“And I’m Rosie.”

“Where are your trunks, Rosie?”

“Oh, I don’t have any trunks.  I only brought what I thought I would need out here.”

He picked up the two valises at her feet.  “Doesn’t seem like much for an Eastern woman.  I’m glad to see you’re practical.”

Rosie felt the heat in her cheeks and knew she blushed at his praise, undeserving as it was.  “Well, I didn’t think you’d have any balls.”

He cocked an eyebrow.

Caroline: I love that excerpt. Where can readers find your books?

Cynthia:
Amazon:  http://tinyurl.com/cauchyv  
Barnes & Noble:  http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/tame-a-wild-bride-cynthia-woolf/1112304403?ean=2940014997355
Smashwords:  https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/209469

Caroline: How can readers learn more about you?)

Cynthia: Readers can find me on my website www.cynthiawoolf.com
On my blog:  www.cynthiawoolf.com/blog
On Facebook: www.facebook.com/CynthiaWoolf
On Twitter: @CynthiaWoolf

Caroline: Is there anything else you’d like readers to know about you?

Cynthia: Like all authors, I’m so grateful for my readers.  I thank you all for reading my books.

I echo that sentiment. Thanks to Cynthia Woolf for sharing with us today.

Thanks to readers for stopping by!

OBSERVING AUTISM AWARENESS

Several of my friends have children or grandchildren who are autistic. One member of my extended family is severely autistic. Since this blog is about books, I want to discuss books helpful in understanding autism. List the subject on Amazon, and you’ll bring up numerous books. There's even a movie I'll mention later.

According to my cousin, the most helpful book she’s read to help her unlock her brother’s severe autism is by Temple Grandin, who is herself autistic. Nowa  high-funtioning autistic, Dr. Grandin has learned to speak in public and actually look at the audience--an amazing accomplishment! My cousin said this book was most helpful because it discusses HOW IT FEELS TO BE autistic and how the autistic individual sees and responds to the world as opposed to so-called normal people. (My elderly Opal friend tells me the only normal is a setting on the clothes dryer.) My cousin expressed that the book was a key to helping her brother who, in addition to being severely autistic, has also been blind from birth. There are numerous titles about and by Dr. Grandin. The following and other books on and by Dr. Grandin may be found at

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_7?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=temple+grandin&sprefix=Temple+%2Cstripbooks%2C240

THINKING IN PICTURES: AND OTHER REPORTS FROM MY LIFE WITH AUTISM, by Temple Grandin, PhD was published 1996. This is her first book about autism, although she has published many papers on autism and also books and papers relating tolivestock handling in the beef industry.


The book above was expanded and updated in THINKING IN PICTURES: MY LIFE WITH AUTISM, by Temple Grandin was published in 2010.

This month, a biography of Ms Grandin was released, TEMPLE GRANDIN: HOW THE GIRL WHO LOVED COWS EMBRACED AUTISM AND CHANGED THE WORLD is by Sy Montgomery.

For you visual learners (a joke, people, lighten up), the 2010 movie "Temple Grandin" starred Clare Dane as Temple and was filmed in Austin, Texas. It received very good reviews.

If you, someone in your family, or a friend has a child with autism, please help yourself understand how the autistic view life by reading one of these books. Here’s a video from YouTube of Temple Grandin, PhD, speaking at the Distinguished Lecture Series of the Mind Institute in 2007. Response was so great, the lecture series had to be moved to the University of California auditorium.

Yes, this is a giveaway hop. Autism is such an important subject, that I saved the giveaway until last, so check the list of participants at http://iamareadernotawriter.blogspot.com To qualify for my giveaway, simply leave a comment. If you're a follower, that counts as a second entry, so please mention in your comment that you're a follower. Be certain to leave your email in your comment. My giveaway is winner's choice of a download of one of my books.

Thanks for stopping by!

HOW AUTHORS ADD POWER TO THEIR WRITING

The Lucky Leprechaun Hop is in its final days. Check out the over 200 blogs here: http://iamareadernotawriter.blogspot.com Kathy and her cosponsor Books Complete Me (Author Cindy Thomas' blog) each have a list of the participating blogs. Leave your email in your comment for a chance to win a copy of my sweet contemporary HOME, SWEET TEXAS HOME. A follow counts as a second entry but is not necessary. Now to my scheduled post:

                HOW AUTHORS ADD POWER TO THEIR WRITING


Are there authors you read simply for the beautifully expressive way they write? There are numerous authors I turn to for inspiration. One of the reasons for their impact is they use active verbs, unique metaphors, and nouns that paint word pictures. They never tell, never use clichés; instead, they show so well we drink in their pages.

Each writer knows to avoid weak words: felt, just, simply, etc. But avoiding those words is not enough, authors are forced to come up with dynamic ways to express our character’s thoughts and feelings so people will read and reread our books.

For instance, one might write: "The Gothic Revival house had been opulent at one time, but now displayed its age."

Sarah Addison Allen in THE GIRL WHO CHASED THE MOON wrote:

“The house looked nothing like the rest of the houses in the neighborhood.
It had probably been an opulent white at one time, but now it was gray, and its Gothic Revival pointed-arch windows were dusty and opaque. It was outrageously flaunting its age, spitting paint chips and old roofing shingles into the yard.”

One could write: "Dust motes danced in the dwindling sunlight."

Sarah Addison Allen wrote: “No lights were on, but the last sunlight of the day was coughing through the dining room windows, directly to her left.”

Can’t you picture the sunlight streaming in through a window like someone’s mouth coughing little particles of dust motes into the room? Not a pretty picture perhaps, but the allusion is perfect in the book.

Has stress ever left you disoriented or frozen? Here is Lori Wilde’s description of her heroine’s reaction in ALL OF ME:

“’Yes,’ Jillian said, but she could barely hear herself. She was a bright kite who’d broken loose from its tether, flying high into a cloudless blue sky. Up, up, and away, higher and higher, smaller and smaller. Soon she would disappear, a speck in the sky. What was happening to her?”

Another writer whose descriptions I love is Loretta Chase. Here are the descriptions of the hero and heroine from LORD PERFECT, one of my favorite of Ms Chase’s books:

The artist heroine, Bathsheba Wingate, watches the hero in the book’s opening. The setting is a London museum and the hero is Benedict Carsington, Viscount Rathbourne, heir to the Earl of Hargate.

"He leant against the window frame, offering those within the exhibition hall a fine rear view of a long, well-proportioned frame, expensively garbed. He seemed to have his arms folded and his attention upon the window, though the thick glass could show him no more than a blurred image of Picadilly.

It was clear in any case that the exhibition within—of the marvels Giovanni Belzoni had discovered in Egypt—had failed to hold his interest.

The woman surreptitiously studying him decided he would make the perfect model of the bored aristocrat

Supremely assured. Perfectly poised. Immaculately dressed. Tall. Dark.

He turned his head, presenting the expected patrician profile.

It wasn’t what she expected.

She couldn’t breathe."

The author immediately skips a space and opens in the hero’s POV. From the same book, but a few pages later, Loretta uses the hero’s POV to describe the heroine.

"She was the sort of woman who made accidents happen, simply by crossing the street.

She was the sort of woman who ought to be preceded by warning signs.

From a distance, she was breathtaking.

Now she stood within easy reach.

And now . . .

Once, in the course of a youthful prank, Benedict had fallen off a roof, and briefly lost consciousness.

Now, as he fell off something and into eyes like an indigo sea, he lost consciousness. The world went away, his brain went away, and only the vision remained, of pearly skin and ripe plum lips, of the fathomless sea in which he was drowning . . . and then a pink like a sunrise glowing upon finely sculpted cheekbones.

A blush. She was blushing.

His brain staggered back."

I don’t know about you, but I find those descriptions highly satisfying.

In my latest work, BRAZOS BRIDE: Men of Stone Mountain Book One, I struggled with making the three Stone brothers’ dialogue distinctive. They are similar in appearance and share a close bond. Naturally, their speech is similar. But each needed a distinctive speech pattern so the reader could recognize the speaker without dialogue tags. I include action or word tags, but the point is to make the dialogue so specific that a tag is not necessary. Since each is so similar, I don't believe I succeeded, but I love these brothers! Each is a terrific hero. I'm now at work on the second of the Men of Stone Mountain trilogy, HIGH STAKES BRIDE. Writing books that please me is a wonderful job. Aren't I lucky?

I hope you will read BRAZOS BRIDE and will find the dialogue (and the entire book) satisfies you. To assist you (aren’t I kind?) I've priced BRAZOS BRIDE at only 99 cents and here’s the buy link:
http://www.amazon.com/Brazos-Bride-Stone-Mountain-ebook/dp/B007HS10SY/ref=sr_1_14?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1332254739&sr=1-14

Please return on Friday when Regan Black will be my guest. I’ll also announce my winner of HOME, SWEET TEXAS HOME for the Lucky Leprechaun Giveaway Hop.

Thanks for stopping by!

CELEBRATE THE WEARIN' O' THE GREEN WITH A CHANCE FOR A BOOK!

Top ‘O The Mornin’ and Happy St. Patrick’s Day! If you're here on Friday, I'm a bit early, but the sentiment is sincere. Welcome to our Lucky Leprechaun Giveaway Hop from March 17th-22nd, sponsored by “I’m A Reader, Not A Writer,” "Books Complete Me," and “Author Cindy Thomas” and featuring giveaways by over two hundred bloggers. My giveaway is open worldwide and is a PDF. copy of HOME, SWEET TEXAS HOME to one person who leaves a comment. No hoops to leap through, no gazillion steps, just a comment. Easy, right? If you follow my blog or if you're already a follower and remind me, that will count as a second entry; but it's not necessary to do so to be entered the drawing.

As one who loves almost everything Irish, I love this time of year. Outside, our plants and lawn are greening. Birds are nesting. Spring is a time of renewal and hope. Our place isn't as green as Ireland, but things are pretty nice even here in North Central Texas.

March is Irish American
Heritage Month

Our skies are overcast, which sets the perfect mood for curling up with a book. At our house, we are voracious readers always poised to seize any chance to kick back and read. What should you read? You knew I’d have a suggestion, didn’t you?

Downtown Lubbock, Texas

HOME, SWEET TEXAS HOME is a sweet romance set near where I grew up in West Texas. When I was ten, my family moved from a rural area to Lubbock on the high plains. It’s nothing like Ireland, except many of the pioneers who settled there were of Irish or Scot-Irish descent.

Although my family weren’t among those who founded Lubbock or other towns nearby, my hodge-podge ancestry includes many Scot-Irish, and that gives me added reason to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. As if I need a reason!

Derek's Sister will
find him in book two

I love family-oriented books, and love the extended family in this one. HOME, SWEET TEXAS HOME is the first of a trilogy about the Corrigan family and their friends and neighbors. Reviews were very good, such as 5 Stars from The Romance Studio. The next book will feature Derek’s long lost sister who will be wooed by his best friend, Rusty McCullough. I’m already building the book in my mind and have an outline written down for the time I have a chance to work on that book.

Derek Corrigan is a true hero. The victim of an abusive father, Derek was adopted at age eight by Sam and Maggie Warren. The Warrens were wonderful parents who loved and encouraged Derek until he excelled at everything he did...with one exception. Women! Derek’s wonderful gift for business failed him with women. In HOME, SWEET TEXAS HOME, Derek is a widower with two small children who are his life’s focus. Meg is five and Warren is eight. Although Derek is involved in numerous investments, he considers himself a rancher. Remembering desperation all too well, he uses his wealth and time to give back to those in need, especially his neighbors. He designed and built a gorgeous Spanish-style house across the road from Sam Warren's Georgian-styled ranch home in which he’d grown up.

Courtney Madison is worthy of being called heroine. She is all about helping others and earning respect. Her policeman father died when she was eleven, only a year after her brother Jimmy was born. Courtney’s mom was ill-equipped to earn a living, and the family struggled. Then, when Courtney began junior high, her mom was diagnosed with myasthenia gravis and declined until she soon was unable to work. Courtney picked up the slack by working at an Baker's Books, independent Dallas bookstore, after school. When her mom died, Courtney became Jimmy’s guardian. As the book opens, Courtney is manager of the store, but a new chain store has opened nearby and tanked the independent store’s sales. In an attempt to hold on to his investment, Mr. Baker is coming out of retirement and Courtney and her assistant manager are out of a job. In addition, her formerly sweet brother has become surly and hangs out with a rough crowd. She’s buried under a mountain of hospital bills from her mom’s care, looking for a new job, and confronting her brother’s new attitude. Desperate and barely holding on to a fraying rope, she wonders how or if she can recover and retain Jimmy's guardianship.



Enter Sam Warren, Derek’s adopted dad--or at least Sam's Last Will and Testament. When Sam was hospitalized in Dallas across the room from their mom, he met Courtney and Jimmy. After Sam went home, he corresponded with Courtney. Poor Sam remembered Courtney with a sizable legacy.

Sam left Courtney
a pot of gold.

Did he ever! He left her an estate valued at well over two million dollars! The catch, as Derek explains to her, is that she has to move to West Texas and live on Sam’s farm for one year. Woo Hoo! Not a catch where she's concerned. Instead, she sees a chance to get Jimmy away from his new rough friends, pay off her mother’s medical bills, and maybe...just maybe...get herself a few new things. Rejoicing, she believes her inheritance in West Texas is the answer to all her prayers.

But Courtney learns that while money improves her life, it doesn’t guarantee happiness. You can bet this modern Cinderella encounters problems even a fairy godmother couldn’t imagine! Yes, I'm afraid I was mean to her and threw obstacles in her path. You'll thank me, though, because it makes her triumph even greater. In addition, Derek and Courtney each have secrets which haunt them and complicate their lives.

Available in Print or E-book

And here’s an excerpt from the opening of HOME, SWEET TEXAS HOME:


Courtney Madison rushed down the main aisle of Baker’s Books. Warmth enveloped her, a welcome change from the freezing Dallas weather outside. She was hurrying toward her office at the back of the store when a man stepped from the mystery section. Their collision knocked off his western hat and a stack of books from his hands.


“I’m so sorry.” She leaned over to retrieve his things.


“My fault. Let me help.” He bent and grabbed the Stetson.


Her head collided with his and her purse slid from her grasp. Pain radiated across her scalp. She’d be sure to have a bump tomorrow.


Both straightened and stepped back.


She stared at the books she’d knocked from his arms. “How could I have been so clumsy? You must be wondering what’s keeping the rest of the Three Stooges…” When she raised her head, her sentence trailed away.


Cobalt blue eyes met her gaze. He stood a good seven inches taller than she, which put him at about three inches over six feet. A deep tan with crinkled lines at the corner of each eye suggested a man at home in wind and weather. The white line of a scar on one cheek and a tiny crook in his nose added ruggedness to his otherwise breathtaking good looks. Close your mouth before you drool on him.


When she knelt again to retrieve the half dozen or so books he’d dropped, he bent to help, his large tanned hands making short work of the task. A unique scent teased her nostrils, a blend of subtle woodsy toiletries.


He leaned nearer, speaking low. “I thought tornado season started in March, not January.”


A smile spread across his face and created a twinkle in his gorgeous eyes. She knew he meant her, but after an upsetting meeting with her brother’s school counselor this afternoon, combined with her formerly sweet brother’s recent behavior changes, she felt as if she’d been sucked into the vortex of a tornado herself.


Her face heated in a blush. “Speaking in defense of this particular tornado—” she pointed to herself “—I was whirling along nicely until I hit your brick wall.” She pointed to his broad chest and smiled.


He swept up her purse and offered it to her as he rose. She recognized sparks of interest in his twinkling eyes.


“Thanks.” Courtney stood and slid the bag’s strap over her shoulder. Something about him tugged at her memory, but surely she’d recall meeting a man this attractive.


He shifted his reclaimed stack of mysteries and his hat while he gave her an appraising look. The twinkle in his eyes faded and his brows knit. “Are you Courtney Madison?”


Perplexed he knew her name, she nodded, but still couldn’t place him. “Have we met somewhere?”


When he held out his right hand, his smile was polite but cool. “I’m Derek Corrigan.”


“Of course, Sam Warren’s son. Sam showed me photos of you and your children.” She took his warm hand in hers, making her wish she’d worn gloves on her errand. “I was so sorry I couldn’t attend Sam’s funeral.”


Her throat closed and she fought the tears that gathered in her eyes at the mention of Sam’s name. Sighing, she patted their clasped right hands with her left. “And I’m so sorry you lost Sam. Even though you kept your birth name, I know he was your father in all the ways that count.”


“That he was.” His voice grew gravelly. “Appreciated your note and the flowers.”


She smiled up at him. “I’ve missed hearing from him. He was such a dear man.”


He eased his fingers from hers and looked around. “Is there somewhere we could speak in private?”


Embarrassed she’d held his hand for so long, Courtney also became aware that the only other customer in the store now inched closer, obviously eavesdropping. “Let’s go to my office, shall we?”

Here’s the trailer for HOME, SWEET TEXAS HOME:

The buy link for print or e-book copies of HOME, SWEET TEXAS HOME is www.thewildrosepress.com/caroline-clemmons-m-638.html or at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and other online stores.

Be sure to leave your email address with your comment if you want to be entered for the free copy of HOME, SWEET TEXAS HOME. To discover the other blogs on the Lucky Leprechaun Giveaway Hop, click here.

In keeping with St. Patrick's Day, I'm sending you a couple of Irish blessings:

These things I warmly wish for you-

Someone to love,
Some work to do,
A bit O' sun,
A bit O' cheer,
And a guardian angel always near.


May you always have these blessings--
A soft breeze when the summer comes
A warm fireside in winter
And always--the warm soft smile of a friend.

Thanks for stopping by!