Residence of Her Heart -An Inspirational Romance This Christmas

Just in time for the upcoming holidays.

I’m excited to announce I have a new book coming out for the holidays!

I really think you’ll gonna love it.

Every summer we pack up our family and go camping.  9 times out of 10 we end up beside a lake where we enjoy, boating, fishing, and spending time together. Over the years, I’ve written little snippets of stories beside those lakes, and this story takes place over the holidays. What better time to fall in love and find a new home then Christmas….

RESIDENCE OF HER HEART will whisk you away to the lovely area of Irish Hills, Michigan where Violet Harding, a woman torn by the death of her fiance’ is being forced to find a new residence with the help of real estate agent Seth Jones.

Now that is the short of it.

Here is more of what the book is about:

Violet Harding had her life all planned out, starting with her wedding day, but after finding herself standing at the altar without a groom, she leaves her heart and her faith behind her. For the past two years, she’s been living in her dead fiance’s house, until that house is put up for sale and she is forced to move on.

Seth Jones has been able to keep himself sober for nearly four years, but his real estate agency hasn’t fared quite so well. With the Detroit housing market continuing to drop, he’s determined to get Violet’s house sold in-order-to keep his business afloat. 

Seth can fight his growing attraction to Violet all he wants, but Violet isn’t ready to move out of her house or on with her life.  She’s not sure she’s ready to open her heart to someone new and risk losing them all over again.  Can Seth show her the true residence of her heart and have the patience to allow their happily-ever-after to lead them to a place of their own?

Coming November 27!

Available on Kindle and Kindle Unlimited.

Available for Pre-Order. Only $1.99

ORDER YOUR COPY HERE

Thoughts from Atop a Tractor

This weekend I sat atop a tractor and looked down over the hill at the farm that has been my sanctuary whenever I’ve needed to come home. It’s always been that place that brings me peace, recharges my spirit, and prioritize the important things in life–like family.

Some people retreat to cabins in the woods, beaches, or luxury vacations. Not this girl. You can’t help following your heart, and mine always takes me back to the farm and to family.

When I sit atop the tractor and look out at the rest of the world, it’s a whole different view then one might think. There are fields swelling with new growth. The oats is almost ready to harvest, second crop hay is thirsting for more rain, and green corn stalks sway and rustle their budding ears in the wind.

There are no obscenities. From this view, things are raw and pure. Natural with respect. Fear has an entirely different meaning from here. Not as it would if I were sitting on my front porch in the city or trying to maneuver through uncertain sections of town.

Life is simpler from the farm. Harder without the conveniences many of us take advantage of and forget to respect. It’s what helps make us stronger. We’ve grown lazy and spoiled like the fat cat on the window seal. The motivation to provide for others, gain respect, and show love has withered and been replaced with self-serving greed.

We’ve lived on this same street in town for almost nine years. I can’t tell you anything about my neighbors. There are people right smack up beside me on both sides of my house and on the other side of the street who could care less I exist.

Here on the farm, the closest neighbor is a half-mile in any direction, but I know their names. They wave and I wave back.

There is nothing out of the ordinary about a girl driving a tractor, or sitting atop it deep in thought. Everyone has a thinking spot. Everyone has their place they go to find clarity. And I can’t think of a better place than atop a tractor looking out across the farm that brings one more clarity than right here.

Jobs and other factors in life can take us so far from each other. When there are so many things going wrong in the world or in your life, it’s always nice to find comfort in the people who love you and the home you know you can always return to.

Where do you go when you feel the need to escape and recharge your spirit?

Raising Boys to Become Men

There is something to be said about being raised on a dairy farm. It’s not the cheap shots you get as a kid or the poor jokes you learn to take in good humor. It’s the cultivating of standards and planting a way of living that focuses on learning to survive in a world that is increasingly lowering expectations of moral.

Not all of us are blessed with growing up on a farm, but neither are we intended to. If we were not all given different upbringings we couldn’t bring different gifts and perspectives to the world. But I also believe there are times and places to share and there are times when we are meant to keep things to ourselves.

I don’t know where I would be in this world without the guidance of my father. One of the biggest things we learn in life isn’t always spoken. I always ask my children, “If a friend dares you to do jump off a bridge and you know it will kill you, would you?” It’s an old cliche of are we supposed to do what others are doing just because they are doing it, even if you know it is wrong?

Last week Ann Voskamp wrote an eye-opening post about 20 things we’d better tell our sons right now about being a real man. It comes after the “20 minutes of Action” phrase in the Stanford rape case.

I don’t usually post things about politics or news– especially news that is a negative impact on our world. However, after reading the victim’s statement I wasn’t thinking of my girls as much as I was thinking of my son.

It made me overflow with gratitude for the people in my son’s life. Especially my son’s father and his grandfather (my own father). Yet, I often feel a pang when I think of my nephews who have followed in their grandfather’s footsteps on the farm and see the response and family committed men they have become. I see my younger nephew, following his father and his grandfather's footsteps now and know he, too, will someday grow up with the understanding of working hard to provide, putting family first, living within the rules and boundaries God has set forth for us. 

I look at my son, still growing and learning and seeking who he is going to be and as a mother, I wonder what kind of man, he will become.

Because let’s face it. We aren’t raising boys to become men like we used to. Not in this world. Not like they were a hundred years ago, or fifty, or even 10 years ago. There are so many of our sons jumping off of society bridges and getting drowned from the ways in which we know are right and true.

My son spends many summers visiting his grandfather, hanging with his cousins, and learning that some of us live by stricter values than others. Here in our home, he has his father to teach him about honor, respect, and responsibility.

And while many of our school districts try to incorporate things like respect and responsibility into our children’s everyday learning, it is not solely up to our public school system to teach our kids values–it’s ours. And as parents, we should be joining with schools and our community to raise and instill inside our future generations the types of values, ethics, and morals we want them to pass on to their sons.

There are no excuses. Boys don’t have to have a father in their lives to become men. Women have been bringing up boys since the beginning of time. They need role models and the footsteps of a few good men in their lives to follow.

Wouldn’t you agree?

#mondaymotivation Peanut Butter Eggs #DIY

We’re big on peanut butter eggs in this house. It’s a favored treat for not only the kiddos but my hubby, too.

This year, knowing how they are hidden to preserve them from someone else finding them and eating them, I decided to try and make my own.

A big thank you to Tina at Mommy’s Kitchen for her peanut butter egg recipe. I have to admit, at first I was a little weary of crushing graham crackers to make peanut butter eggs. Who would have thought it would be one of the ingredients, right?

Little Bug and I had a great time creating our stash of chocolate-covered peanut butter eggs. I grabbed an egg mold from our local craft store that made it easy to get our eggs shaped.

Don’t those look yummy?

Letters From Fifth Grade

It’s book fair week at my son’s school. Parents are invited to have lunch with their students and attend the book fair. Last fall, I missed the opportunity to participate due to my work schedule. This time, I made sure I was available. I had lunch, not only with my son but a group of fifth-graders. 

These kids were one of the highlights of my day, and I made them feel just as special as they did me. Because how often can you go home and say that you had lunch with an author. You got it. I wasn’t just a parent having lunch, I was an author with a group of fifth-graders gathered around me and we talked, we ate chips, and we laughed.

And… we went to the book fair.

If you’ve been following my Instagram, then you saw the stack of books I brought home. Half those books my son will have read by the end of next week. He thinks they are his birthday present, but I have a little surprise in mind for him next week. Shh… I’ll let you in on this surprise soon.

In the meantime, while I was at the school I was given an envelope.

Lunch with my son. Lunch with a bunch of fifth graders. School book fair. How could my day get any better?

What was inside this envelope blew me away.

These letters, all handwritten from the fifth-grade class I visited last month, made my day more than complete. I plan to make a special place for them near my writing nook and cherish them for years and years to come. Most of these letters went beyond the cordial thank yous one would expect when kids are told they need to write a letter. Many of these letters touched my heart, made me laugh, and invited to come back again.

I hope to return again soon to read the stories they’ve been working on and share their enthusiasm for their imaginative ideas. Who knows, perhaps one day one or several of these kiddos will blossom into amazing authors. Then it will be their books in my writing nook along with that first letter I held dear.

To those fifth graders:

Thank you again for your letters, kind words, and enthusiasm.

To all of you:

Thank you for taking this journey with me.

Stay tuned. I’ve got exciting news that I’ll be sharing in the next post.

Why You Should Include Reading on Your List of Things to do Together?

You know what they say, couples who read together, stay together.

And it’s true.

According to relationship experts, reading jolts your brain. And it has the power to bring couples closer together.

We grow closer to others by revealing and sharing new thoughts, ideas, and fantasies with each other. Hence, reading a book and then discussing it draws us closer to the one we love.

photo credit: Erin Kelly via Flickr CC

It never ceases to amaze me how we can bond over a book with our significant other. You don’t even have to like the same genre, but you can both enjoy some time together and separate interest.

But how is this making my relationship stronger, you’re wondering?

Years ago, during those first fresh newlywed years of marriage, my husband and I shared our interest in reading, and on many occasions, we would take turns reading aloud to each other. At times, you’d find two bookmarks in the same book. “His” and “Hers” where we both left off at different places in a story.

Even between jobs, laundry, and tending to babies, many hours were passed discussing the parts of the books we’d both read and hinting to each other and predicting what was to come next in the books we read.

And yes, after years of marriage there comes times where you may feel there is nothing left to discuss because you’ve already talked about it. Or you’ve become tired of talking about it. But a book, there’s always a new story to read and discover. Perhaps you read the same book and share the same interest in genre, but not have the same favorite authors. Or may you like different genres, but even so, you still ask and listen about what the other is reading.

It can freshen up your relationship. It helps release the stresses of a day’s work, family strains, and other worries we face for enough moments to remember we’re in this together. There is still adventure in our love life, evolving interests and new ideas and theories to talk about with the person we’re sharing life with. That’s what bonds us. Not only as couples, but as thrill-seekers, romantics, comedians, and mystery solvers.

When you get to that end of day period, and you just want to unwind, do it together. Read to each other, read side by side on your phones, nooks, or paperback books. There is something satisfying about curling up to a good book. Most likely, you’ll find it’s a whole lot cozier when you’ve got someone else curling up with you.

Image via Flickr CC by Joao Paulo de Vasconcelos

Don’t keep reading together exclusive to your nights. Grab a blanket and your partner and head to the nearest park. Pick a shady spot under a tree on a porch swing. Before you know it, you’ll look forward to spending more time together. You may even become inseparable, and I’m not implying from the book. (Disclaimer: books can also be hard to become inseparable from when you’re pulled into an irresistible story.)

You may find you are attracted to this new literary side you have discovered. It’s okay to get your ‘geek’ on together.

After all… couples who read together, stay together. Right?

I’ll be including printable HIS and HER Bookmarks in this month’s newsletter. Please be sure to sign up for my newsletter so you can receive them and other goodies I share throughout the year. 

What’s the last book you read together as a couple?

Teaching 5h Graders the Three Doorways of Fiction

This past week I received an invitation to hang out with a class of 5th graders.

I’ve always enjoyed going into my children’s schools and assisting with classroom projects and parties. This time, I wasn’t sure how it would go when I received an invitation to visit my son’s 5th-grade class, but not as a mom–as an author.

I have to say there are those moments in your life, as a parent, that you are so proud of your children. But, as I watched my son sit in the back of the classroom smiling, I have a feeling he was so much more proud of me at that moment then I have ever expected.

For that moment in time, I wasn’t his mom. I was a superhero.

And, I totally rocked in 5th grade.

We took an adventure through the three doorways of writing a fictional story.

The door of NO RETURN

The door of DOOM

The door of TOMORROW

We had an awesome 90 minutes together. Already, I have been invited to return and assist these kids with their fictional stories. I look forward to returning and reading their stories, but I also look forward to taking this adventure with other students and hope other schools will extend this invitation to me in the future.

Teachers, feel free to contact me and we’ll work out the details on my calendar.

Thanks to my incredible husband (who happens to also be a teacher — math teacher) he added a bit of “bling” to my presentation including some party music of which these 5th graders loved! I don’t know makes learning fiction better than a little music and a lot of fun!

Those 90 minutes went so fast. None of us wanted it to end, but a special THANK YOU to this 5th-grade class and their teacher for reminding me of the excitement and joys of being a writer.