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
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.
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.
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.