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July 28th, 2010
 The dog days of summer are here, and I confess to a certain wistfulness at knowing that as I type this in my office at home, the annual Romance Writers of America conference is in full swing in Orlando, Florida. I’ll miss the excitement of going to the airport, the hugs of seeing old friends in all the subgenres of romance, the Wall of Noise that is the Literacy Signing (tonight), miss meeting with my wonderful agent Elaine English and wonderful editor Melissa Endlich, and the fabulous Harlequin party. Sounds like they’re going to do their best to keep the party crashers out of the latter this year, an improvement which has long been needed. For too long any wannabe with enough chutzpah has waltzed right in and availed themselves of free food and liquor, not caring that attendance to this fabulous party is a right to be earned by actually SELLING to Harlequin, Silhouette, Steeple Hill and all their various other imprints, not something to be seized. But I digress.
Yes, I’ll miss all of the above, but I made a choice not to go because I don’t have a book out currently, am not up for an award, and have already had a great vacation this in Wyoming and Montana–see a coupla blogs ago. I’m consoling myself by reminding myself what I will NOT miss–the expense, the stress of airplane travel (it’s just NOT fun any more), the lines, getting up before my body clock is ready, and the feeling that I should be home writing.
Because as soon as I’m done with this blog, I will be working on COURTING CARO. Maybe you’re one of these marvelous souls who can write at a conference, and I have tried in the past, and got a little done, but not much. Have a good time, y’all! While you’re partying, I’m going to try and forge ahead. Nah nah nah nah nah nah! <beg>
Blessings, Laurie
Tags: Elaine English, Harlequin party, Melissa Endlich, RWA conference, writing life
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July 21st, 2010
 THE OUTLAW’S LADY is a finalist in the short historical romance division of the Carol Awards! This is the annual writing contest for published authors in the American Christian Fiction Writers’ organization, and was formerly called the Book of the Year. The winner will be announced at the ACFW Conference in Indianapolis September 17-20. Congrats to all the other nominees, among which are several Steeple Hill friends and friends with other Christian publishers!
To say I’m over the moon about this doesn’t begin to cover it. I’ve always thought nominees who say “it’s an honor just to be nominated” were only being modest, but I finally understand that feeling. I really can’t imagine feeling any more jubilant if I won. Being a finalist means that some of my peers in writing Christian fiction thought that THE OUTLAW’S LADY was one of the best short historical romances of the year, and that means more than I can say.
I just sent my editor a proposal for the fourth book in my “Simpson Creek Brides” series today. This is Caroline Wallace’s story. She lost her fiance in the influenza epidemic, and then encounters his brother Jack, who hadn’t known of his brother’s death, but who was hoping the newlyweds would babysit his two daughters while he goes off to Montana, until he can send for them. Of course when he finds out that his brother died several months before, and that Caroline thinks he’s incredibly nervy to have thought he could dump two children without warning, and that his Montana plan is half-baked, the sparks fly!
I finally got my IPAD, and I LOOOOOOOVE it. There’s still things I’m figuring out or haven’t used yet, and it’ll never replace “My Precioussssss” on which I write this blog and my books, but it sure is nice to read my email and books and not be attached by a cord.
Blessings, Laurie
Tags: ACFW, IPAD, the Carol Awards, writing life
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June 30th, 2010
 Vacation was great, as my pictures will attest. Here’s just one sample from the Grand Tetons. The scenery was gorgeous, but boy, did I overestimate the temperatures and needed to have brought warmer clothes. I knew Yellowstone could have freak snowstorms in ANY month, but not that average temperatures were 50-60 degrees. So I had a perfect excuse to buy some longsleeved tops. There was still 3-4 inches of snow up along the continental divide–snow in June! We saw so many buffalo in Yellowstone we got quite jaded, and some elk, but where were the bears that are always pictured begging for food at the cars passing through? I can certainly say we got our money’s worth out of our Yellowstone pass, since you can’t get anywhere in that end of Wyoming easily without passing through there–and it also works in the Grand Tetons. We went on from there to Cody, and I can’t say enough about the Buffalo Bill Historical Center. It was so much more than about Buffalo Bill–it’s also a natural history museum, Western art and Indian museum, and has an AMAZING gun collection. I’m taking my husband’s word for that, since by that time my legs had given up and I sought comfort in a chair. Old Trail Town was worth the visit too, having the grave of the real Jeremiah Johnson, Indian Scout and mountain man, and the cabin of the Hole in the Wall Gang, as well as a reconstructed trapper’s cabin, a school, a saloon, and a general store. We went on to Jackson Hole from there, and shopped till we, or rather I, dropped, and drove through the Grand Tetons. Wish I was one of these hardy soles who could hike or bicycle through there and Yellowstone. But I’m a great car tourer!  I wish I had taken advantage of the opportunity to take a stagecoach ride around Jackson Hole. Even for the outrageous fee, it would have been great research for this historical writer.
I was pleased that all the hotels I picked were pretty good. The one in Cody looked like it hadn’t been remodelled since the 1960’s, being of the old trailer-court style, but at least it had free internet. The Elk Country Inn at Jackson Hole was my favorite stop, though the Comfort Inn and Suites back in Salt Lake City, our last stop before home, had the best breakfast.
Of the books I took, I only got to completely read NEVER LESS THAN A LADY, and it was well worth it. Kudos, Mary Jo Putney.
I’m home now, and back to the writing life. I did edits on THE DOCTOR TAKES A WIFE–which were very enjoyable, thanks to ace editor Elizabeth Mazer of Steeple Hill, and am now in the thick of my new proposal, COURTING CARO. I’ve ordered my IPAD at long last. I’ve got the case, I’ve got the IPAD FOR DUMMIES book, so NOW I WANT MY IPAD!
Blessings, Laurie
Tags: Buffalo Bill Historical Center, Cody, IPAD, Jeremiah Johnson, Mary Jo Putney, Old Trail Town, travel, writing life, Wyoming, Yellowstone
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June 4th, 2010
 One of my favorite parts of going on vacation is planning which books I’ll take with me. These are my picks for our upcoming vacation to Wyoming. First up is Mary Jo Putney’s latest Regency-era historical romance, NEVER LESS THAN A LADY, which the author, a longtime friend, sent to me because I answered some medical question for her in its plot. Thanks, Mary Jo! I know it’s going to make that flight to Phoenix and on to Salt Lake City go fast! Then there’s Tricia Goyer’s WWII inspirational novel from Moody Press, ARMS OF DELIVERANCE, which I’ve had for awhile. The only reason I haven’t read it before this has been the number of books I’ve been review-blogging and the need to read other Christian western romances since that’s what I write. And lastly, a book I bought at last year’s ACFW conference, LOVE FINDS YOU IN POETRY, TEXAS, by Janice Hanna, my first read of the Summerside Press “Love Finds You” series. Three books seems about the right number for a week’s vacation; most of my reading is done in the air since I also take a laptop to keep up with email. Maybe by next vacation I’ll have an IPAD–but I’ll still have to take along one print book, at least, since the airlines won’t let you use electronics till they reach cruising altitude.
What books are you reading on vacation this summer? Write and tell me!
Blessings, Laurie
Tags: arms of Deliverance, IPAD, Janice Hanna, Love Finds You in Poetry, Mary Jo Putney, Moody Press, Summerside Press, Texas, travel, Tricia Goyer
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June 3rd, 2010
 I just got my HP laptop back after it spent 6 days in exile with my computer technician. SIGH. Despite several attempts, he was unable to load the service pack Microsoft Vista has for it, and my computer still has all its crochets–locking up in Word, delayed appearance of what I’m typing in email sometimes, and so forth. A world-class problem? Hardly. There’s a lot worse things going on in the world–the oil disaster in the Gulf, for example. But I did hope he could fix its issues, and I would have this fast slick computer of my dreams. But at least it works, and at least it’s home, and he very generously did not charge me. I am going to try his suggestion of getting a cooling pad for it, as it really gets warm after a lot of use–so much so that even using a lap pad, when I get up from the couch after holding it, I’m cold. If I’d only known the fix wouldn’t work, I could have spent the last few days starting my new proposal for Steeple Hill.
Meanwhile, I’ve developed a serious case of IPAD lust–not so much for reading books, because I’ve got enough books in print to read to last the rest of my life, probably, and I’m always buying more, but because you can do email on it too. They make it look so cool in the ads, don’t they? But the price—-! That’s sure a lot more than my friendly little ASUS EE PC that I travel with. (The only thing I dislike about it is the hard push that’s required on the mouse to move to the next email). I won’t have time to go shop for this IPAD before our upcoming trip, but if I do decide do go through with it, hopefully I will have time to do so before ACFW in Indianapolis in September. It would be nice to have and bypass the outrageous charges fancy hotels tack on for in-room internet. We’ll see…
It’s time to close and do some cleaning so my dogsitter won’t be too shocked at my bad housekeeping. I don’t know any writers that are fanatical housekeepers, but still!
Blessings, Laurie, who knows the pansies picture has nothing to do with what I wrote about!
Tags: Hewlett Packard, HP, IPAD, laptops, writing life
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May 27th, 2010
 Today I’m reviewing A TAILOR-MADE BRIDE, by Karen Witemeyer, published by Bethany House.
Hannah Richards has come to Coventry, Texas to achieve her dream–to open up a dressmaker’s shop, having inherited the title of a building from a wealthy customer. But achieving her dream causes her to run afoul of liveryman J.T. Tucker, who’d planned to buy that building himself to benefit a widow. And there is another reason for J.T. to dislike Hannah–her taste for stylish clothes reminds him too much of his vain, self-centered mother.
But Hannah is nothing like her mother, and soon shows that by her acts of kindness and unlikely friendship. Much against his iron will, J.T. begins to fall in love with pretty Hannah, and she with him. The story of their courtship is engaging and charming, and the spiritual takeaway was that everyone has value and worth. I loved the heroine’s friendship with a grieving widower and his resultant transformation, as well as the heroine’s ahead-of-her-time interest in fitness.
I’ve become a fan, and I will be watching for future books by this great author. I highly recommend that you not miss this one!
This book was provided free for review by Bethany House.
Blessings, Laurie Kingery.
Tags: A TAILOR-MADE BRIDE, Christian fiction, Karen Witemeyer, western historical fiction
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May 27th, 2010
 It’s been a loooooong time since I’ve added anything but a book review to my blog. I feel like a diver that ’s coming up for air after a very lengthy submersion.
A couple of days ago I turned in my third book for Steeple Hill Love Inspired Historicals, a book that I had been referring to as THE WEDDING TREE, but the Powers That Be at my publisher have renamed it THE SHERIFF’S SWEETHEART. Sigh. This was out of a list of alternate titles I gave them, but I have to admit to you, my blog readers, that it’s not my favorite title. I was really invested in THE WEDDING TREE, since I’d been to San Saba County last April and visited the real “Wedding Oak,” but I understand what they’re doing at Steeple Hill–they’re trying to give the series titles a certain same rhythm based on the occupation of the hero. So the books in this series so far will be: MAIL ORDER COWBOY (Nov. ‘10), THE DOCTOR TAKES A WIFE (Jan.’11) and THE SHERIFF’S SWEETHEART (Apr.’11).
It’s been a long, hard sprint through a deadline I made short–I had a lot of the book done when it was contracted, so I figured it wouldn’t be hard to finish in the allotted time, but some early revisions and some medical problems definitely slowed me down during the middle writing. After a flareup of tendinitis, I spent many long hours and $$$ in the podiatrist’s office, treating the pain of aging nurse joints and getting fitted for orthotics. They’ve helped some, but a long night in the ER still has me reaching for the ibuprofen bottle. :/
Now we’re getting ready to take a much-deserved vacation in Wyoming to see Yellowstone, the Grand Tetons, Cody and Jackson Hole. I’ve sent off my computer with the techie to get some service, so hopefully it will stop locking up in Word and “sticking” on AOL, so that my typing doesn’t appear on the page until it suddenly appears in a rush. I felt like I was sending off my firstborn, seeing it go off in the techie’s arms…I’m getting ready to write the next book in the contract, another “Simpson Creek Brides” story, COURTING CARO. Oh, but they’ll change it from that, I’m sure. :/
Anyway, thanks for being patient about my absence. I hope to be blogging a lot more often now that I’m done with this deadline. I’ve missed it! I’d love comments–it gets lonely on here with the only comments being spam from online poker and drug companies….
Blessings, Laurie
Tags: ER nursing, podiatrists, Simpson Creek Brides, Steeple Hill Love Inspired historicals, Texas, THE SHERIFF'S SWEETHEART, writing life
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May 25th, 2010
 Today I’m reviewing THE LAST CHRISTIAN by David Gregory, a futuristic inspirational novel that was quite different from anything I’ve ever read before.
In 2088 the world has changed completely from the world we know today. Abigail Caldwell, the daughter of missionaries, emerges from the jungle of Papua New Guinea to find that the United States her dead parents had told her about has vastly changed. Almost everything is done via the Grid, which is what the internet has morphed into. No longer tied to computers, it can be instantly called up by the mind. People meet each other and spend most of their time in Virtual Reality. There are no rules, for Christianity has died. Now science has developed an artificial brain that far surpasses any human brain or computer. The only trouble as Abby sees it is that once the new “perfect” brain has been surgically installed, one loses God. It’s not seen as a problem to modern mankind, for they’ve decided a long time ago that there is no God, but Abby vows to bring Christianity back to America, and hopefully, the modern world.
The moment she begins to attempt restoring the spiritual dimension to humanity, those that are trying to make brain transplants universal are out to get her. Allied with historian Creighton Daniels, they become unwitting targets of powerful men. It will take courage and sacrifice, but Abby and Creighton are willing to take on the challenge.
This was a riveting novel from Waterbrook Press, and it has the potential to be a powerful movie. I hope it’s made into one someday. The option of a brain transplant is a powerfully seductive one offering all knowledge–much as the devil in the guise of a serpent once offered it to Eve in the garden of Eden. The moral choice then was as important as that offered to the world of THE LAST CHRISTIAN. I highly recommend this fascinating book. It can be ordered from Waterbrook at www.waterbrook.com/catalogue and was provided free for review to me.
Blessings, Laurie Kingery
Tags: Christian fiction, David Gregory, futuristic fiction, THE LAST CHRISTIAN, Waterbrook
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April 12th, 2010
 Today I am reviewing Vicki Hinze’s inspirational romantic suspense novel, FORGET ME NOT. This is a story about amnesia and intrigue. The heroine, who undergoes three name changes during the course of the story before she arrives at her real one, Kelly, is running, but she awakens not only not knowing who she is, but from whom she is running. She arrives at the Crossroads Crisis Center and causes shock to everyone there, for she is a dead ringer for hero Ben’s late wife, who was murdered along with their child. He suspects her motives, for he knows his wife is dead. Like Kelly, he is a Christian, but he’s left his faith because he is so bitter about her loss, and for awhile he is unable to relate to her as an innocent victim and as a woman he could love.
This is a convoluted story where nothing is as it seems. The viewpoints of the plotting antagonists are shown, and at times it’s hard to follow. But I found the heroine genuinely appealing, especially when her past as an abused orphan is portrayed, and when it’s shown that her next home, while she is well cared for, does not provide a warm father figure either. I felt the frustrations of amnesia, and the patchy way memory sometimes returns in cases of amnesia, were very accurately shown. And I very much appreciated that the hero did not find it easy to just drop his mourning for his dead wife and fall in love with the heroine, especially when further revelations arise that may make it impossible for them to ever have a relationship. This made it much more realistic than many books of its type. I also appreciated the gradualness of the hero’s return to faith.
Vicki Hinze is a well-known name in romantic suspense and I look forward to further inspirational suspense novels from this author.
This book was provided free for review by Waterbrook Multnomah. It can be ordered at http://waterbrookmultnomah.com/catalog.php?isbn=9781601422057
Blessings, Laurie
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March 15th, 2010
 Today I’m reviewing PLAIN PURSUIT, the second novel in the “Daughters of the Promise” series by Beth Wiseman. This is a wonderful story set in Pennsylvania Amish country in which the heroine, Carley Mayek, badly in need of a vacation to heal her aching soul, goes to visit her friend Lillian, who has married an Amish man and become Amish herself. She only plans to rest and recuperate and write a story on the Amish for her newspaper. But her visit becomes more than a visit to a simpler way of life in a peaceful setting.
Lillian’s husband Samuel’s family has experienced a rift after his brother Noah left his Amish life to become a doctor. He has been shunned by the Amish for that and for a book he had written which spoke too frankly of matters private to his family. When Lillians’s stepson David becomes critically ill, Carley meets the Dr. Noah and they are mutually attracted, but if Carley lets the attraction progress, she risks upsetting Samuel and his family. It becomes necessary for Noah to make a great personal sacrifice to save his nephew, but at first it seems the family will not allow it due to the shunning.
But even after the boy’s life is saved and a sort of peace and acceptance exists between Noah and the Amish, the hero and the heroine are not completely free to love, for Carley has a heartbreaking secret that may prevent Noah’s happiness if he marries her. It’s not until Carley tries to leave and the secret is confronted that this hero and heroine can enjoy their happily-ever-after.
This book deals honestly with the reality of Amish life and does not try to idealize it. The practice of shunning those who go against the Ordnung, the code of Amish rules, is one of the less pleasant of the realities, and one which the non-Amish including myself find hardest to accept. The Amish are steadfast Christians, yet this practice seems to go against grace. Yet I suppose if the Amish did not have this practice, their belief system and way of life would have become hopelessly compromised and watered-down.
I appreciated that in the end the family finds a way to come around and accept Noah, even if only unofficially. I would have liked to see the bishop come around too, but perhaps that would have been too idealistic. I also appreciated that God showed a way to solve Carley’s heartbreaking secret in such a marvelous way.
I’ve become a fan of Beth Wiseman in reading this book, and I hope to read many more. This book was provided for review by Booksneeze.com.
Blessings, Laurie Kingery
Tags: Amish, Beth Wiseman, Christian fiction, Thomas Nelson Publishers
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