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Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
Thursday, August 26th, 2010
 Today I’m reviewing BLIND HOPE, AN UNWANTED DOG AND THE WOMAN SHE RESCUED by Kim Meeder and Laurie Sacher, published by Multnomah.This is the story of a woman who came to work at Crystal Peaks Youth Ranch, a home for rescued horses and troubled children. Laurie Sacher had her own baggage when she arrived there, having trusted the wrong things and the wrong people in her past. But instinctively she knew Kim Meeder and the work of the ranch could heal her.
Laurie wanted to carry out the goals of rescuing animals in trouble, and one day she goes to see about rescuing both a horse and a dog who are being surrendered to the ranch. She had a mental picture of a cool dog whom she would be proud to be seen with, but Mia was nothing like her imagined image; instead she was stinky, underweight, homely, and has bad breath. But Laurie is determined to be true to her goals, though she’s disappointed in the dog. In a short time she realizes how much Mia needs her, and quickly, as the dog gains weight and gets cleaned up, she realizes Mia is actually beautiful.
Laurie is able to relate the dog’s progress to her own spiritual progress–how the Lord takes us when we are unlovely and afraid, and transforms us to being beautiful. He accepts us first, with all our faults. But the journey is not over–Mia becomes diabetic and soon loses the sight in both eyes. Now she is blind, and by trial and error, she has to learn to trust and obey her mistress, much as we learn to trust and obey the Lord, and stumble when we wander off on our own. Even though the dog’s health is failing, Laurie stands by her, just as the Lord never abandons us.
This book is written in a conversational style that is very readable. It can be finished in a sitting or two, but the truths within this book reverberate for a lifetime. I highly recommend this book, and the authors for writing it. As a Christian and a dog owner, it really touched my heart.
This book was provided by Waterbrook Multnomah for review.
Blessings, Laurie Kingery
Tags: BLIND HOPE, book reviews, Kim Meeder, Laurie Sacher, Multnomah, r
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Sunday, August 22nd, 2010
 There’s no need to pray for Sam Bish any more. Sam is a nine-year-old boy who went to Heaven Friday night at 7:07 pm after a long battle with osteosarcoma, a vicious disease that cost him his leg. But Sam is now running and playing with Jesus and the angels in Heaven, and all the family members who went before him, and all the children who die of cancer and all the other horrible diseases that still take them too young, even in this modern day. Sam feels fine, no longer ill, no longer in pain.
So no, there’s no reason any longer to pray for Sam. Maybe I should have blogged about it when there was. Would it have changed anything? Maybe not. Prayer sometimes does more for the pray-er than it does to change the outcome, for the Lord has His reasons for taking Sam Home to be with Him and they are reasons that we will probably never understand till we get to Heaven ourselves. I do know that thousands of lives were touched by Sam and his courageous fight, as outlined in the Caring Bridge website his parents made, many of whom never met Sam, as I never met him. Over HALF A MILLION, last time I looked. The people who’ve been on there have learned of his baptism and his testimony, and of his recent visit from Santa–yes, in August. I never met his parents or his siblings. My connection with Sam is through my daughter, whose daughter played with Sam’s sister. My daughter kept me informed about the state of Sam’s struggles, the triumphs and the bad times.
I cannot imagine the pain Sam’s parents and siblings must be going through, but as we are all fellow Christians, I know it’s not a pain without Hope. I cannot imagine the pain of those who do not have this Hope. For Sam’s family will see him again in Heaven, and I’ll meet him then too. I do not understand God’s purpose in taking Sam, but I know He has one. God’s will be done, and I know Sam’s life glorified Him. No, Sam doesn’t need our prayers now–but won’t you please lift his family up in prayer? If you care to, you can view his story at http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/sambish/journal
Blessings, Laurie
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Wednesday, August 11th, 2010
 I’m pleased to post this for fellow author Marcia James–
***PERMISSION TO FORWARD***
SELF-PROMOTION: Does the very term make you cringe? Do you suffer from “Not-Doing-Enough-Self-Promotion” guilt? Do you think self-promotion is something you’ll have time to learn AFTER getting The Call? Here’s THE online workshop for you:
August 15th – 28th — “SELF-PROMOTION PRIMER: Guilt-Free & Cost-Effective PR Options”
PR consultant/Berkley author Marcia James will present this two-week online workshop, with lectures from a slate of promotion-savvy guest lecturers. Participants will be given insider tips and the tools to pick the PR options right for them and their books. The lectures include:
Promoting Yourself Before “The Call” by Beth Morrow (Wild Rose Press)
Web Site Design by Karen McCullough (Cerridwen Press & Karen’s Web Works)
Online & Print Press Kits by Patricia Sargeant (Kensington/Berkley)
Book Videos by Michael Matthews (Michael Matthews Productions)
Co-Promotion by Dianne Castell (Kensington, Berkley & Harlequin/Silhouette)
Group Blogs by Donna MacMeans (Berkley)
Author Promotion Sites by DeNita Tuttle (AuthorIsland.com)
Print Advertising by Janice Maynard (NAL, Kensington & Silhouette)
Public Speaking by Karen Harper (MIRA, Penguin USA & NAL)
Networking/Power-Schmoozing by Susan Gee Heino (Berkley)
Social Media Sites by Kathy Kulig (Ellora’s Cave/Cerridwen Press)
Author Newsletters by Kay Stockham (Harlequin Superromance/Berkley)
Readers’ Loops by Carol Ann Erhardt (Wild Rose Press)
Podcasts by Melissa Alvarez w/a Ariana Dupre (Cerridwen Press)
Workshop participants will learn about author branding, create tag lines, and identify elements within their work that lend themselves to niche marketing. In addition to the guest-lectures, Marcia will discuss cross-promotion, print and trinket PR materials, author interviews, and more. And all participants will receive Marcia’s 300-page, detailed Promotion Options file.
The workshop is hosted by the Northeast Ohio chapter of Romance Writers of America (NEORWA). Cost is $15 for NEORWA members and $20 for non-members. (You don’t need to be a Romance Writers of America member to take the workshop.) See http://neorwa.com/index.php/Workshops/Workshops for registration.
Learn to love (okay, LIKE) self-promotion.  And banish the guilt of not doing enough PR. Join us online August 15th - 28th! See you there!
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Tuesday, August 10th, 2010
 Today I’m reviewing VANISHING ACT by fellow Steeple Hill author Liz Johnson. In the prologue, Nora Johnson sees her father brutally gunned down to keep him from testifying against a powerful man, but before he dies, he orders her to run. Obedient to his last wish, she flees to another location with a changed name and appearance, knowing her father’s killer is looking to silence her too–permanently.
FBI agent Nate Anderson is looking for Nora, too, to protect her. When he finds Nora in the town where she has gone into hiding, it takes him awhile to recognize her in the guise of ace auto mechanic Danielle, but her always-looking-over-her shoulder manner and the numerous threats to her safety clue him in. An FBI agent is not supposed to become emotionally involved with a witness, but he does. Nate is carrying emotional baggage that may doom the relationship, but it will take a deadly confrontation before he can save Nora/Danielle and learn to trust in the power of love.
Nate is probably more true to life than FBI agents are usually portrayed in that he is human, not a super hero who never makes a mistake. I liked him for that. In taking a job as a mechanic, the heroine too is atypical. Several red herrings keep the reader guessing where the threat to “Danielle’s” life is really coming from. If you like your suspense heroes human and for love to triumph in the end, this is the book for you.
This book was provided for review by author Liz Johnson.
Blessings, Laurie
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Saturday, August 7th, 2010
 Today it’s my pleasure to review THE VIGILANTE’S BRIDE by Yvonne Harris, a Christian western romance published by Bethany House.
Emily McCarthy is an orphan forced out into to the world and sent to be the mail-order bride of a powerful man in Montana. But she is kidnapped just before arriving at her destination by Luke Sullivan, a former vigilante who has gone back to serve at the New Hope orphanage where he grew up. He feels he cannot allow her to be wed to the evil, corrupt Bart Axel without knowing what a monster he is. She certainly doesn’t see his taking her as the rescue it is at first, but when she reaches New Hope and learns the truth about the man she was to marry, she slowly begins to realize how fortunate she has been that Luke came along when he did. Her realization does not immediately turn her feelings for Luke from enmity to tenderness, however. At first they get along like cats and dogs, but gradually, hostility turns to tenderness and love.
Luke’s snatching of his intended bride do nothing to endear him to Axel, of course, either, and the powerful man sets about trying to achieve revenge. When his claim to a portion of his own ranch is disputed by New Hope, he sets in motion a ruthless plan to achieve revenge and conquer New Hope, Luke Sullivan and Emily McCarthy, and the story builds to an inevitable showdown. Unlikely allies help to turn the tide, and Luke and Emily are finally free to achieve happiness.
A wonderful Christian message of redemption and second chances make this book a treasure. Interesting secondary characters–especially the Crow Indians–and the real flavor of the Old West, complete with gun battles but without glorifying violence, make this a keeper for the lover of western romance and certainly for this reader! Kudos, Yvonne Harris!
This book was provided for review by Bethany House
Blessings, Laurie Kingery
Tags: Bethany House, Christian fiction, THE VIGILANTE'S BRIDE, western romance, Yvonne Harris
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Wednesday, 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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Wednesday, 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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Wednesday, 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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Friday, 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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Thursday, 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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