Cover reveal, book news and cake!

Hello, everybody! I have a new cover reveal and thought I'd share it here first! I'm so excited about this book because it was so much fun to write... which either means it will be a fatuous piece of junk, or a work of comic genius.  Only time will tell what readers will think!

Coming October 31st!

When this book is released, I'll be running a few giveaways for gift cards and a Kindle fire. Stay tuned!

But in looking forward, it also makes me nostalgic. I found this post from the Yankee Belle Cafe blog and my kids look SO TINY. Even the teens! I thought I'd share it in case anyone wants to make a fall pumpkin cake. :)

So, the post is a retrospective as a bloggy sort of Psalm 148. (It's okay if you don't have it memorized, you can read it here... and then come back!).  Psalm 148
I want to go for one last glorious run through my backyard.

Fresh raspberries. Heaven on earth.

 Squash and zucchini from my friend Barb's garden.

 Piles of cukes from my stepmother's garden. We ate so many cucumbers, I'm surprised we're not green.

 Blueberries from Lampson Blueberries, just twenty minutes from our house, up in the hills. We picked over 150 lbs and they didn't even make it to October. Let's see: 8 people, 3 months, that's approximately 6 pounds of blueberries a month per person in our house. Not very much! Next year, we'll pick more. I say that every year.

Pears from my dad's pear tree. (Like my kettle? Very Pioneer-y.)

Peaches from one of our two peach trees. There were so many that I had to figure out how to freeze them. Ruthy's peach pie is my next project!

Our seedless grapes have finally rebounded from the drought of 2001. Had a wonderful crop this year and about 50 lbs went to a woman who made them into raisins. She bakes panattone for Christmas and ships it all over the US.

Pounds and pounds of perfect plums from my dad's orchard. The tree was so overloaded it was breaking its own branches. We must have picked a hundred pounds. My neighbors started pulling their curtains when they saw us coming with our bags of free plums. You can only eat so many...

Oops, how did this sneak in here?? We're supposed to be praising God's bountiful goodness. But I suppose zucchini bread with walnuts and chocolate chips is worthy of a little praise. :)

We also had bags and bags of our neighbors' goodies because we live in the sort of place that if you're growing it, you better share. It's just good manners. So we've had sweet corn and heirloom tomatoes and apricots, too.

I'm continually in awe of the massive blessings that God showers on us, for no good reason.

He's just that way. And this was a little 'taste' of the way He blesses us out here in ORYGUN.

 (And that pic was taken by Jeff Horner who works at our little hometown paper, the Walla Walla Union Bulletin. The guy is brilliant. Who knows why he lives way out here in podunk east, but we're sure glad he does.)

But as winter closes in, I'll try to remember what Mother Teresa said. "Love is a fruit in season at all times, and within reach of every hand."

When the memories of fresh raspberries and pears have faded and I'm staring out my kitchen window at the frost on the dead lawn, I'll just reach out and snag a toddler... and give them some loving. (Like this little dude, watching his cookies bake. He stared at them for a long time before they were 'done'.)

Hey, here's a cute one... And he's holding walnuts. Bonus.

Better yet, I'll snag a tweener or two. Hey, she looks hug-able...

This one is scaring me a bit. Too many ninja movies?

Oh, wait. This one really needs a squeeze. Cranky, naked toddler out of the bath stole her apple slices and then sat his naked tushie on her lap. Check out her face. She's thinking how much her life stinks right now. Long-suffering tweeners. Gotta love 'em.

So, to ease the transition to Fall, we're going to do what we do best. Make a cake!

Oh wait, I'm not good at cake. But I still like to eat cake, so I'll make one anyway. I've picked up a few tips over here on Yankee Belle Cafe, so let's go try them out.

I saw Hershey's has a chocolate cake recipe that didn't look too hard. And it's rated BEGINNER. I'll take that as a good sign...

2 cups sugar
1-3/4 cupsall-purpose flour
3/4 cupHERSHEY'S Cocoa
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
· 2 eggs
· 1 cup milk · ( we were out but I used condensed, with some water. Am I just like a pioneer woman or what??)
    1/2 cup vegetable oil
   2 teaspoons vanilla extract
   1 cup boiling water

So, I mixed everything together (really, just like that except for the boiling water and the Hershey's powder, those I mixed separately and then added them) and let Edna do her magic. (Check out that gleaming chrome. Go, baby, go!!)

I think it was Mindy who said to dust the inside with cocoa powder instead of flour. MMMMMM.

And then Missy had a great tutorial on when a toothpick comes out clean it means done. Really clean, not sorta clean, with blobs. THEN she said to let it cool completely before trying to pry it out of the pan. (*lightbulb*)

SUCCESS!!!! And now I stuffed foil in there so the aliens wouldn't mess with its chocolate brain.

No, no, no. I have a plan. and it involves real pumpkin stem. So out I go to the porch...

And mix some frosting until it's just the right shade of.... salmon pink. Whatever. Use your imaginations.
At least the green was okay. And now for the decoration... Because you know I live in a zoo.

Uh-huh. Eat your hearts out, ladies. Multi-colored sprinkles dumped on by a 3 year old.

And check out that shirt. HE's ready for Fall! Even if I'm not.
Even if I'm dreading the six month trek through socks and shoes and jackets and coats and mittens and runny noses and being trapped in the house all day. 
Because it will pass, and we'll have some fun while we wait for spring to come around again.

(My friend Patty Jones' pumpkins, straight from the patch! She sold them on the cheap and donated all proceeds to the Humane Society. She rocks.)

 So, I raise my cake and say a prayer for friends near and far. Because LOVE is a fruit always in season, no matter how long this winter will last.

Until next time! Pop on over to my facebook page at Pride, Prejudice and Cheese Grits where I have all my new book news!

Finally, I'm BACK! Just an update and a taste of what is coming...

Hi everybody!

 Well, that was a nice little break. I went on vacation, wrote some words, cooked some food, wrote some more words, and I'm finally feeling human again!
Here are a few vacation pictures from the Oregon coast. Rocky, windy, sunny, and not particularly warm. :)

 Devil's Punchbowl.

A nice stretch of beach you really can't reach unless you jump off a cliff.

And although it's about 190F here, it's blueberry season and we've been picking until we just can't pink no more. Yesterday we picked 45 pounds! YES.... most go into the freezer so that in January we can make blueberry pie and pretend it's July.

Also, I caught a bad cold and since it's a Washington State LAW that a person can't go out in public with a cold, I had to stay home. By myself. And whine. *sniffle* But I'm much better now and am excited to announce a new project...

A boxed set with some other historical authors! This will be out mid-August. :) Stay tuned.

And saving the best for last..... AUTHOR COPIES OF Emma, Mr. Knightley, and Chili-Slaw Dogs!! Whoohoo! These will be a giveaway in a few days. Shhhh, this was a sneak peek!

And this is coming very, very soon! October is only a few months away. I feel like I've waited for this book for ages and ages.

So, that's the update for now! You can always hop over to Yankee Belle Café and see what I've been cooking. I'm on the weekend crew and I love company.

Check out this weekend's post, including the low(er) fat Mocha Mudslide Milkshakes!

 Until later, my friends!

 

BIG ANNOUNCEMENT! *and some itty bitty prizes*

Helloooooo, everybody! 
I'm so sorry I haven't been in here for a while. As per my last post, I've been... busy. Writing, learning, writing, revising, napping, writing, eating, writing. (Ok, that got old fast. Wow, nothing more depressing than seeing your life spelled out in gerunds.)

 Christmas happened and my own group of little lovelies were on hand to celebrate. This is our table topper. I wish I could have left it up all year, but it started to get a little dry by Jan 15th.

 Some mod podge and paper punch snowflakes and I finally escaped from the land of Pinterest fails.

 Of course, there were cookies. Lots of cookies.

As for writing, I've been immersed in another Austen Takes the South story.

Getting lost in history...

                                                    
Pausing to revel in Southern beauty and grandeur...
                                                
 And emerging to take a breath of Southern style...

(Oh, wait. Rupert Penry-Jones has come to pay us a visit!)
Can you guess which Austen story I'm working on now? Yes?

Well, before we go there, I need to tell you something very exciting. In October, Beth Adams of Howard Books contacted me, wanting to know if I was open to selling this self published series.

                                                 (This is me. A happy writer, pecking away at my keyboard and dropping books into Kindle land. Awwww....)


  As a contented little indie author, it certainly gave me pause. What would it mean to have a traditional house heading this project? What kind of changes would there be? Were there limits to my story lines now? It was a big decision and we talked it over thoroughly. I knew this series needed serious editorial help. I also have always known that self publishing on Kindle doesn't reach the majority of readers. Some authors have successfully sold print on demand books in large quantities, but my earnings in paper were modest. I also knew my paper books weren't as polished as they could be, but I wasn't sure how to make them better. I knew it could be done, but I just didn't have the knowledge, or the time to invest in learning how to make it happen.

  In the end, I realized that I wanted to partner with an editor who loved Austen and understood this series. After much thought and prayer, I felt sure that Beth and Howard Books would bring new life to my quirky little romances. I loved them and wanted the best for them... and I took a chance.

And has it been an amazing journey! In just a few months we've edited both Pride, Prejudice and Cheese Grits AND Emma, Mr. Knightley and Chili-Slaw Dogs. The second of the series had some holes in plot and character motivation that needed to be filled, and it was a blast to dive back into that story. Beth Adams has an amazing gift for seeing a story from several different directions. Her questions always set me thinking on ways to bring the characters into tighter focus. I loved the stories before, but I'm very proud of them now.

The new ebooks became available on Amazon on the 14th. So far, more than ten people have contacted me to say they love the new edition more than the original, saying the story truly shines now. I agree!

So, all of this is to announce that this series is now part of Simon and Schuster/ Howard Books! And to celebrate, we're going to have to give away prizes. Since Rupert Penry-Jones was not available as a rafflecopter prize, I've had to settle for Austen movies. I tried to buy several different editions because I KNOW there is that tiny disagreement between fans over the 1995 and the 2005 Pride and Prejudice movies. (I would tell you which one I love the most, but I don't want to start a food fight on my first day back on the blog.)
                                        
I WILL tell you that Persuasion is my next book in the series! Persuasion, Captain Wentworth and Cracklin' Cornbread has been a thrill and a half to write.

Here's a peek at the (brand new, of course, since I have my own copies) movies I'm giving away. There are four, so enter often! Tell your friends and family!
Or not. If you can keep the entries down, you might just win THEM ALL.

And the typewriter is not for sale. She's my lovely baby and comes with me to book signings. Also, she weighs approximately a hundred pounds and I would be poor if I tried to ship her anywhere.
The giveaway ends on the 27th. Good luck!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Again, A Cover Reveal! And Christina Rossetti and heroes and heroines and romance and...

Happy Tuesday!!

 

 

This? This is just for fun. It's a stock brownie picture that I leave on my hard drive because with all this blogging (hahahaha, I hardly ever blog) I need to throw out some culinary bling now and then.

 

 I know, it seems like every time I post, I reveal another cover, but I'm writing my brains out here. Now that I've figured that time writing= actual books, I'm committed to writing  on a firm schedule. Well, I mean committed in a "if there's nothing good on TV and everyone's asleep and I've read every stupid article on Yahoo news" sort of way.

 

So, without further ado (which always makes me think of Much Ado About Nothing, which has been made into a film by Joss Whedon!!!!) here's the new cover:

Oh, pretty! Now, we went around and around a few (hundred) times and this is what we got. I'm happy. I think the designer working for Kim Killion is currently on a 5150 hold but that has NOTHING TO DO WITH ME. (Kidding. She seemed very sane during our last e-mail exchange. Very relieved to be done with me, but sane.)

 Honestly, when I first saw this cover I thought, "she looks SO WHITE". I mean, ghostly white. Pale like the dead. And then I smiled. Because the heroine has been kept in an ivory tower for most of her young life, being pampered and spoiled and coddled. Then one day she discovers the ugly underbelly of her city, and everything changes. She changes. Her ideas of beauty and truth and wealth and honor, they all change. So, the more I look at this cover, the more it makes me smile. First impressions can be so wrong. At first glance, she's a rich white woman without a care but at heart, she's fighting a losing battle for Chinese laborers on the railroad, who were treated worse than cattle or dogs. It's not a pretty world she's thrown herself into, and it won't be pretty when she reveals her biggest secret.

The title? "It makes no sense" you say? Well, it comes from an old poem, just like the title of the first in the series (All The Blue of Heaven). 'A Royal Princess' by Christina Rosetti is about a (yes) princess who is lonely and afraid. You can read the entire thing here.

 It starts like this:

"I, a princess, king-descended, decked with jewels, gilded, drest,
Would rather be a peasant with her baby at her breast,
For all I shine so like the sun, and am purple like the west.

Two and two my guards behind, two and two before,
Two and two on either hand, they guard me evermore;
Me, poor dove, that must not coo—eagle that must not soar."

I love Rossetti's poetry. We know exactly what this girl is feeling. She's draped in velvet and jewels, but has no one. She has guards to protect her, but can't make a sound. She's a dove. Wait... she's an EAGLE.

Here's the thing about eagles: they do soar. But they are also fierce, powerful, intelligent. You don't want to cross a mother eagle protecting her nest, or any eagle in a controlled dive for prey. Christina Rossetti has given us a glimpse into the heart of our princess. She's a beauty, but she's smart and observant.

I love a powerful heroine. I love a woman who has all the cards stacked against her and still comes out swinging. There are fierce and powerful women everywhere, throughout all of history. But how do we make our heroine, the love interest in a romance (which this book is, of course!) also tender? Because our princess is seeking LOVE, too.

More from the poem:
"Alone by day, alone by night, alone days without end;
My father and my mother give me treasures, search and spend—
O my father! O my mother! have you ne'er a friend?"

When does it change? When does her loneliness turn her vision outward, to the suffering world around her? Well, in the poem, the princess observes her father's callous practices, ordering men around, sometimes to their deaths. She also overhears a conversation between servants, laughing over the famine that is killing the people of the kingdom.
More:

"My father counting up his strength sets down with equal pen
So many head of cattle, head of horses, head of men;
These for slaughter, these for breeding, with the how and when.

Some to work on roads, canals; some to man his ships;
Some to smart in mines beneath sharp overseers' whips;
Some to trap fur-beasts in lands where utmost winter nips.

Once it came into my heart, and whelmed me like a flood,
That these too are men and women, human flesh and blood;
Men with hearts and men with souls, though trodden down like mud."

 

Now she knows. Our pampered princess knows what's happening and who's causing it. What does she do? What CAN she do?

Remember, she's not just fierce and fast, but she's intelligent and observant. She comes up with a plan. At least, in MY story she does.
Christina Rossetti's princess doesn't really have a plan. The people are rioting:

'Sit and roast there with your meat, sit and bake there with your bread,
You who sat to see us starve,' one shrieking woman said:
'Sit on your throne and roast with your crown upon your head.'

Yikes. They're torching the castle. So what does she do? She walks out of the castle, holding all her jewels, hoping...

"With a ransom in my lap, a king's ransom in my hand,
I will go down to this people, will stand face to face, will stand
Where they curse king, queen, and princess of this cursed land.

They shall take all to buy them bread, take all I have to give;
I, if I perish, perish; they to-day shall eat and live;
I, if I perish, perish; that's the goal I half conceive:

Once to speak before the world, rend bare my heart and show
The lesson I have learned which is death, is life, to know.
I, if I perish, perish; in the name of God I go."

Hm. Now, I love the sentiment. I know she's going out there to help, to give up everything she has so that the starving people can eat. But she's walking into a rabid mob that's trying to burn her where she stands.

Smart? Maybe not.
And I do love a smart heroine. I would love it if our Rossetti princess could have come up with a better plan in the weeks between her realization and gathering up her jewels and sacrificing herself.  A 'goal I half conceive' is pretty much a half-baked plan. It could use some work. Some scheming. Some thought.
Part of the poem's power is that we're pretty sure she's just ended her life while trying to right some wrongs. But this book is a romance and I'd rather not write a death scene for my fierce, intelligent heroine. Someday I may write an ending like that, but not this time, not this book.

Sometimes even fierce, intelligent heroines must resort to a little subterfuge. Sometimes they must work behind the scenes. Sometimes they have to look sweet, dainty, pristine, and pampered on the outside, while battling murderers and bullies.

Now, Christina Rossetti's poem ended in the princess walking to her death, without ever finding someone to call her own, without ever finding a kindred spirit. But our heroine, Margaret, finds someone just like herself. She doesn't see it right away, because she's got her eye on the prize, where it should be. But that's the thing about walking the hard road, fighting for justice, doing the will of God: you end up right next to people just like yourself.

In the midst of battle you glance to the left or the right and you see... a friend. A person who is as passionate about fighting the bullies as you are, a person who has been working in their own way toward the exact same goal, for the exact same reason.

A heroine doesn't just happen. She's made. By her decisions, hopes, fears, prayers, and dreams. And a hero doesn't fall from the sky. He's right next to her, working for the same goal.

And then no matter what it looks like on the outside, whether you're dressed like kings and queens or ragged paupers, your heart is one. Which is the most important part of all.

So, thanks for wandering through the inspiration for the title. (That was just the TITLE, ha!) This book should be tidied and ready to go... oh, sometime soon. I'd like to say in the next few weeks but editing is a bear and we know editing can make or break a good book. So, I'll drop a line when it's out. In the meantime, you can always come visit over on my Virginia Carmichael facebook page.