2015 Whitney Lifetime Achievement Award

For moi?

My heart nearly exploded a week ago when I received a congratulatory email from Jaime Theler, the President of the 2015 Whitney Awards Committee. The Committee has seen fit to select me as recipient of the 2015 Lifetime Achievement Award. Here's a link to the announcement on the site today. They even included a slide with a nice quote from one of my novels!

I'm equal parts flabbergasted and thrilled.

Here's a link to the main site, in case you don't have an inkling what the Whitney Awards are all about. The Award Presentation is in May. I need something new to wear!

All I've managed to do today is reply to emails of congratulations and like comments on Facebook. Thank you, everyone!

Read an Ebook Week is Here!

I am participating in "Read an Ebook Week" again this year. Several of my books or stories are discounted at 25% off their regular prices, and a few are regularly FREE, and are included in this promotion.

Read an Ebook Week is an international celebration of ebooks in which thousands of authors, publishers and retailers feature free and discounted ebooks to help promote the joys of e-reading to the world's readers. Each year, authors who use Smashwords are the most active participants, and their store features the largest selection of participating titles.

This year's Read an Ebook Week runs March 6 - 12, 2016, from one minute past midnight on March 6 Pacific time, and expires 11:59pm on March 12.

Click here to go to my Profile Page at Smashwords.com, where you will find a list of my books and stories.

Use the coupon code RAE25 at checkout for the following discounted items:

The Zion Trail
Gone for a Soldier
The Man from Shenandoah
Ride to Raton
Trail of Storms
Spinster's Folly
Western Stories: Four Tales of the West

The following items are regularly FREE:

The Owen Family Saga Sampler
Thumps and Losers: Two Short Stories
Rapid Recipes for Writers . . . And Other Busy People

Remember, use coupon code RAE25 at checkout.

My friends, author Stephanie Neilan, writing as LeAnn Mathis, and author Joyce DiPastena, are also participating in the Smashwords Read an Ebook Week promotion. LeAnn's novel, Pele, is a clean ancient Hawaiian romance, and it's 50% off during Read an Ebook Week. Here's the link: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/616879 Use Coupon Code RAE50 for Stephanie/LeAnn's book. Joyce writes novels set in medieval times. She has three novels in this promotion, and all are 75% off! They are Illuminations of the Heart, Dangerous Favor, and The Lady and the Minstrel. Check them out from Joyce's Profile Page: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/JoyceDiPastena Use Coupon Code RAE75 for Joyce's books.

During this week, Smashwords.com will have a link to a special catalog of Read an Ebook Week participants on their home page, but get all the books you want from my list first, of course. https://www.smashwords.com/books/category/1/newest/1

Enjoy the savings!

Study Questions for Book 0

I know it's Sample Saturday, but I'm substituting something different for a sample today. Now that you've had a while to purchase and read my novels, I've got a couple of "Study Questions" to throw at you. Today's questions are for Book 0, Gone for a Soldier. If you're brave enough, please post your answers in the comments.
~~~

As you read the first chapter of Gone for a Soldier, did you guess correctly what was going on in Rulon's town? What did you think he would do about it? How do you think you would react if a crisis occurred that impacted your community?

Julia Owen makes Rulon a uniform for him to wear to war. Have you ever tried to keep a gift project a secret from someone else? What did you do to hide what you were doing? Did you successfully surprise the intended recipient?
~~~

I hope this exercise was interesting to you, because, well, I'm going to throw out more study questions in weeks to come. Have a great day!

Bay Area Book Festival Defends Author Solutions Sponsorship

I follow David Gaughran's excellent blog. I think all writers should do so, especially if you are an independently publishing author - or have such aspirations.

David gave us an enlightening message today:

Originally posted on David Gaughran:

I discovered yesterday that Author Solutions was sponsoring the inaugural Bay Area Book Festival – something at odds with the breathless verbiage on the event’s site:

A new kind of book fair… the largest, most innovative, and most inclusive… [we will] create the nation’s leading book festival.

The event doesn’t take place until June, so I thought it was a good time to try and stage an intervention.

Shame on @BayBookFest for accepting sponsorship from known scammers like Author Solutions. What the hell were you thinking? #Baybookfest
— David Gaughran (@DavidGaughran) March 19, 2015

After I sent that tweet I felt a little bad.

Maybe the organizers didn’t know the full history of Author Solutions. Maybe they weren’t aware of the specific scam that Author Solutions runs at events like this. Deciding to give them the benefit of the doubt, I emailed the Executive Director of the festival, Cherilyn Parsons.

View original 1,145 more words

Monday Musing - The Zion Trail

My mind is a busy place. Sometimes, however, it grinds to a halt, as though something has gotten caught in the gears. This usually happens when I'm stressing about something.

I think I'm trying to second-guess where I'm going with my current WIP. I've written historical romantic fiction for a general audience up to now, but this novel is different. It begins on a farm in Pennsylvania, where life changes for the Marshall family when two visitors introduce them to a new religion.

Yep, it's those awful Mormons, come around to gain converts to their cult.

Or so many general fiction readers will think.

I'm not trying to round up new readers who are uncomfortable with the concept, or unwilling to take this journey with Elijah Marshall. But will my current non-LDS fans accept this step in a new direction?

It's not so much a permanent change of direction. It's more like a temporary detour. It's a piece that has been hanging around, awaiting completion, for a very long time. Since I bought the perfect cover back in 2013, it's really time to finish up the novel and give it birth.

The top half of the cover

I pledge to write my usual character-rich prose, full of adventure and romantic tension. Whether it's a novel about Mormons or Buddhists or Catholics, it shouldn't matter. It's about people overcoming adversity and finding a satisfactory ending by the conclusion of the book.

If I can only find assurance that my readers will stick with me through this deviation from the Owenverse (Owen Family + Universe), I think I can unclog my mental gears and write with my usual hectic brain feeling the story.

What do you think? Will you stick, or will you wander? Will I be devastated or comforted? Let me know in a comment below.

Thank you.

Writer, Beware! Nook Press = Author Solutions

In the Indie Author world, until recently, there have been two accessible print-on-demand-technology print edition options: CreateSpace and Lightning Source. Last October, Barnes & Noble launched Nook Press, giving authors another printing option . . . or so it seemed. Nook Press also offered a selection of author services that included editing and cover design. "Yahoo," everyone thought. "Now I can get a good editing job AND a cover, without going on the hunt!"

Questions quickly arose about why the prices seemed, well, a bit high for the services. Luckily for Indie Authors everywhere, several people have been digging into the answers, and David Gaughran is one of the best watchdogs around. Here's his post today, which I highly recommend you read and digest.
 

Author Solutions, Bloomington, IN. Image from Wikimedia, by Vmenkov, CC BY-SA 3.0

Vigilance is always required in order to avoid getting ripped off. Thank you, David Gaughran!

Julie Coulter Bellon's Cover Reveal!

Today is Madcap Monday, and I am so excited to show you the cover for a new novella, Falling Slowly, by my friend, Julie Coulter Bellon! This is a companion novella to All Fall Down, and tells what happens to Claire and Rafe when they come home from Afghanistan.

To celebrate cover reveal day, Julie is offering you a giveaway! Since Claire and Rafe are dating and getting to know each other in this novella, she wants to know: what do you consider to be a romantic date? Is it a candlelight dinner? A hike? A bike ride? A movie? Star-gazing? A moonlit stroll? Tell us your ideas! Every one who comments with their idea of a romantic date will be entered to win an ebook copy of BOTH All Fall Down AND Falling Slowly.

Put your comments below, including your email address, so Julie can come by and get the information to enter you into the giveaway.

Okay, are you ready?

*drum roll*

Here it is!

Here is the back copy:

Rafe Kelly never thought he’d fall in love with Claire Michaels, the hostage negotiator sent to get him out of a life or death situation. Though it was easy to see from the beginning that Claire was good at her profession, Rafe quickly realized she was even better for him personally―and that they might have a future together.

When they get back from their mission in Afghanistan, however, Claire goes back to the Hostage Negotiation Team and Rafe is left to deal with the huge hole in his life after leaving the SEALs. Trying to balance an uncertain future with a new relationship is made even more complicated when a family crisis strikes. Will Rafe and Claire be able to turn to each other for strength or are they over before they've really begun?

Don't forget to leave your comment for a chance to win the giveaway of BOTH the novella, Falling Softly, AND the novel, All Fall Down.

DO include your email address, or Julie will have a real tough time getting a hold of you.

Find Julie on her blog: http://ldswritermom.blogspot.com
Follow her on Twitter @juliebellon

Sample Saturday - Dec 6, 2014

Welcome to Sample Saturday. This week's sample is from Trail of Storms, where Jessie Bingham gets an unwelcome proposal. (The print edition of this novel is on sale here for $10, personalized and autographed. Hurry. The offer is only good while supplies last!)
~~~

After a matter of weeks, the Bingham party made camp near a spot where the westward trails divided. The northern branch led to Utah and California and Oregon. The southern track was still renowned as the Santa Fe Trail, which connected to old Spanish trails that continued through New Mexico Territory all the way to California, following a wagon road pioneered by a party of Mormon volunteers during the War with Mexico in the ‘40s.

Jessie stood over an iron skillet, frying bacon. She looked up from her task when Ned stepped into the firelight.

“Good evening, Jessie,” he began.

“Hello, Ned.” She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “Ma’s not nearby, so I can call you that.”

Ned smiled and nodded. “You look very nice tonight,” he said. “Do you mind if I sit a spell?”

Jessie rolled her eyes in mild annoyance and said, “Suit yourself.” She turned the bacon with a fork.

“Thanks.” He found a box and lowered himself onto it. “Lovely night. Stars out and a full moon.”

“Uh-huh,” she said, laying down the fork and lifting the lid on a pot of beans. It needed stirring, so she picked up a wooden spoon and thrust it into the savory mixture.

Ned shuffled his feet

At the sound, Jessie looked up to see him gazing at George and Heppie, who were teasing each other near their wagon.

Ned cleared his throat, then spoke. “Married life seems to suit my brother and your sister.”

“They do seem over the moon.”

“Have you thought about getting married?”

Jessie cast her eyes down to her work. She hadn’t given the topic much thought since … since she’d been left behind when James went west. She bit her lip. It didn’t help. Her heart still hurt more. Slowly she looked up. Ned was sitting there, waiting for her to answer. She shrugged her shoulders. “Not for a long time.”

Ned bent over and fiddled with the top of his boot. “Do you know what double cousins are?”

Jessie frowned. What a strange question! “No.”

“That’s when two brothers marry two sisters, or a brother and sister marry a sister and brother. Their youngsters are double cousins.”

Jessie stirred the beans so vigorously that they sloshed over the rim of the pot.

“Jessie.” Ned paused, fiddling with the lacing on his boot. “I, that is, you, I mean …” His voice trailed off. “Oh, confound it,” he said, rising to his feet. “Will you marry me? We’ll run into a town sooner or later, and we can scare up a preacher or a mayor or a judge to say the words over us—”

“Mr. Heizer,” Jessie interrupted.

“Please, Jessie, hear me out. We’re good friends, that’s a fact, but I’ve got strong feelings for you. I thought of you a good deal during the months that I was lyin’ there in the hospital up north. When I got back to Mount Jackson and found out you were gone, it tore me up inside. I want to be with you now.”

Jessie turned and faced him. “Mr. Heizer, Ned, I—”

“If you don’t want to answer yet, I’ll understand.” He got to his feet, stepped forward, and took her hand. “Take all the time you need.”

Jessie looked at Ned’s hand holding hers. She looked into his eyes. She looked away. “Ned, we’re only friends. I’ve never thought of marrying you.”

Ned dropped her hand and shuffled his feet. “I think friendship is a good start for marriage.”

Jessie stared at him. “But what about love?”

“I’ve never loved anyone but you, Jessie.”

Jessie smiled wryly. “That’s on your side of the matter, Ned. Don’t I need to love you too?” Her smile slipped away as Ned jerked upright, his throat working as he swallowed several times. “Being in love matters to a girl.”

She turned to the bacon and poured the grease into the bean pot. She whacked at the crisp bacon. It shattered into pieces that she scooped into the pot. She looked up. Ned was staring at her, his face somber.

After a moment, he spoke. “Don’t misunderstand me, Jessie. Naturally I want you to love me, but I’m sure that will come in time. For now, consider takin’ a good, hard look at your feelings for me. See if they ain’t sufficient for marriage.”

Jessie laid down her spoon and moved to face Ned. She put her hand on his arm. “I been in love before,” she whispered. “I don’t feel the same about you.”

Ned looked down at the ground, then up again. Finally he spoke, his voice dark. “James Owen?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“Is he anywhere around?”

“No.”

“Then marry me.”

“I don't love you like that. You’re my friend.”

“It doesn’t matter to me what kind of love you bear me now.” Ned took her hand from his arm and brought it to his chest. His heart beat strong, hard. “I hope that will change in time. I care for you enough for both of us.” He nodded sharply, only once, then added, “You think about what I’ve said.”

Jessie lowered her eyes. Her heart thumped in her throat, matching the rhythm of Ned’s. Maybe I do love him, she thought. Maybe I should think about marrying him. Slowly she nodded. “I’ll give thought to your suggestion.” She looked up. Ned was watching her face. “It may take me some time to …” She swallowed, took her hand from Ned’s chest, then said in a gush of air, “To think it through.”

Ned’s eyes looked like the depths of a deep pool. He gazed at her for a long time, not moving, frozen in place. Then he nodded, again only one time. “I’ll wait.”

He strode off, his long legs barely limping, and Jessie wondered how hard it was for him to damp down his pride and give her the time she needed.
~~~

Thank you for visiting. I hope you enjoyed the sample. I appreciate your support of my work.

You may have noticed the new icon up at the left that I've added to this site. I'm now a member of the "Tip My Author" network. You can find out more information in the FAQs for Readers, or visit my profile here. I'm excited about the concept, which is designed to let you thank your favorite authors and show them your support. Learn more here.
~~~

Author Marsha Ward wrote the novella, Faith and the Foreman, in the best-selling Timeless Romance Anthology Old West Collection. She is the author of an acclaimed novel series featuring the Owen family. Book 4, Spinster's Folly, won the 2013 USA Best Book Award for Western Fiction, and recently was named Finalist in Western Fiction in the 2014 International Book Awards. A former journalist, Ward has published over 900 articles, columns, poems and short stories. She is the founder of American Night Writers Association, a.k.a. ANWA.

Facebook | Twitter | marshaward.com

Writer Wednesday ~ Joyce DiPastena's Book Tour

Joyce DiPastena has been my friend for many years. She's also an outstanding writer of Medieval Romances. I'm pleased to have a spot in her Book Tour this week, presenting her newest novel, Loving Lucianna. Don't miss the Rafflecopter for prize drawings at the bottom!

Synopsis:
Sir Balduin de Soler gave up long ago on love. He never had the means to support a wife until an unexpected advancement in his fifties allows him to reassess his future just as the lovely Lucianna enters his life.

Lucianna Fabio harbors a secret, painful memory from her past that has kept her unwed, as well. Now in her forties, she thought herself too old to marry until she meets Sir Balduin. Now suddenly their lonely autumn lives feel very much like spring again . . . until Lucianna’s brother appears without warning and threatens to revive the secret that will destroy Lucianna’s second chance at love.

Loving Lucianna is the first in Joyce's new “Hearts in Autumn” romance series, medieval romances revolving around heroes and heroines “in the autumn of their years.” Because you’re never too old to fall in love!”

Excerpt:
The heroine, Lucianna, was abandoned as a baby to a nunnery in medieval Venice. There she made friends with another young girl, named Elisabetta, who was sent there by her father to be educated. In this scene, the girls are 10 years old.

“How do you know your father’s name was Panfilo?” Elisabetta asked.

Lucianna shrugged.

“Why will you not tell me? I have kept no secrets from you.”

“It is not a secret,” Lucianna said quickly, stung by the hurt in Elisabetta’s voice. “It is only—special. I do not want it mocked.”

Elisabetta sat up, her dark eyes a-flash. “You think I would mock you?”

“Speak softer,” Lucianna hissed. She regretted that her words had aggrieved her friend.

She had grown to trust Elisabetta as she trusted her own heart. But— “It is not you I fear, it is Sister Maria Angela. If she came upon us and heard me, she would laugh, or perhaps she would scold and say I made it up and then she might call me devil child.

“That is what she did when she made me pick berries for the infirmary from the barberry bush and I called it an evil plant for pricking my fingers so badly that I could not stitch for a week.”

Elisabetta eyes widened in awe. “Is that not the one known as the Holy Thorn?”

Lucianna nodded with a sigh. “Because it was part of the crown of thorns borne by Our Lord upon the cross. But I was not thinking of that when it pricked me. Sister Maria Angela said I had spoken a blasphemy—”

“—and switched you,” Elisabetta finished before Lucianna could. Lucianna nodded again. Elisabetta pressed her lips together very tightly.

“I do not want her to say that my father’s name is wicked, too,” Lucianna said. “And so I must keep how I know to myself forever and ever.”

Buy Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iTunes/iBooks | Smashwords

Meet the Author:

Joyce DiPastena dreamed of green medieval forests while growing up in the dusty copper mining town of Kearny, Arizona. She filled her medieval hunger by reading the books of Thomas B. Costain (where she fell in love with King Henry II of England), and later by attending the University of Arizona where she graduated with a degree in history, specializing in the Middle Ages. The university was also where she completed her first full-length novel...set, of course, in medieval England. Later, her fascination with Henry II led her to expand her research horizons to the far reaches of his “Angevin Empire” in France, which became the setting of her first published novel, Loyalty’s Web (a 2007 Whitney Award Finalist).

When she’s not writing, Joyce loves to read, play the piano, and spend time with her sister and friends. A highlight of her year is attending the annual Arizona Renaissance Festival. She lives with her two cats, Clio and Glinka Rimsky-Korsokov, in Mesa, Arizona.

Find Joyce:
Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter
Lucianna (the heroine of “Loving Lucianna”) has her very own Pinterest board

I recommend Loving Lucianna very highly

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Sample Saturday - October 11, 2014

Welcome to Sample Saturday. This week's sample is from Gone for a Soldier, in which Ben Owen realizes he needs to change his thinking.
~~~ 

Ben — March 20, 1862

When Ben first read his mother’s letter exhorting him to attend church every time he had a chance and to curb in himself the carnal nature of mankind, he felt his ears burn and anger rise in his chest. Ma had no call to give him such advice. He wasn’t a little child sitting at her skirts, owing her his attention and paying heed to her words. He was a man now, a soldier with a man’s responsibilities for killing or being killed. He had precious little opportunity to attend prayer services when his time was spent on the battlefield or building roads over the muck and mud so wagons could bring provisions to the brigade. He was a man. With time on his hands this evening. With temptation in the form of perfumed and painted women calling to him from just beyond the camp.

He was on the point of casting Ma’s letter into the fire and joining the fellows who were brushing the mud off their coats with the prospect of an evening’s pleasure when his eye fell upon a word in Ma’s fine handwriting. Disease.

He scoffed, but with a sense of unease as he recalled her words. Ma was a forthright woman, but she did have a sense of delicacy and had never come right out before and mentioned in such searing detail the dangers of partaking of forbidden fruits.

He reread the portion where her warnings had become particularly pointed. “. . . many cases of syphilis in the Soldier’s Hospital . . . suffering . . . go mad . . . treatment almost worse than the disease.”

Was Ma helping in the hospital, exposed to the results of man’s corruptible nature?

He’d never heard the proper name for French sickness before, but Ma knew it, and had warned him against venturing into a path that might bring such a vile retribution upon him. A thought chased through his mind that curdled the contents of his stomach. Pa had gone to war. Had he—?

“Impossible,” he muttered. Pa would never sin against his wife. He was a man of honor.

Where did that leave him, Ben? Where was his honor if he was contemplating lifting the skirt of a camp follower for a moment of relief?

The feeling of sickness caught him so quickly that he almost lost his supper. He fought the nausea, swallowing over and over. His thoughts swirled in a dizzy array, but one swam to the top of the whirlwind. He’d made up his mind that when he got a chance, he would ask Ella Ruth to be his bride. Did he want to take home an evil sickness to pass to her?

Sweat drenched his brow and ran in rivulets down his cheeks. He took out his handkerchief and mopped at his face. What would Ella Ruth think if he came home to her bearing the burden of worldliness? He could not stomach the thought of tainting her in such a manner. If he sinned in this fashion, he would lose her forever.

The dampness of the handkerchief seemed to freeze his hand. Ma was right. He needed to get his appetites under control. He needed to go to church. He needed to get right with God. Above all, he needed to forestall any barrier between himself and Ella Ruth.
~~~

Thank you for visiting. I hope you are enjoying my Blog Book Tour!

Click the "My Books" tab at the top of the page for more information about my books and short stories, including the newest story, Happy Halloween. Purchase links are included. The "Special Collections" tab includes information and links to my novella, Faith and the Foreman, and a short story in the Owenverse, Bloodied Leather, which gives a glimpse into the future of the Owen Family. Don't forget to come back next Saturday for another sample of my writing.

Bestselling author Marsha Ward wrote the novella, Faith and the Foreman, in the Timeless Romance Anthology Old West Collection. She is the author of an acclaimed novel series featuring the Owen family. Book 4, Spinster's Folly, won the 2013 USA Best Book Award for Western Fiction, and recently was named Finalist in Western Fiction in the 2014 International Book Awards. A former journalist, Ward has published over 900 articles, columns, poems and short stories. She is the founder of American Night Writers Association, a.k.a. ANWA.

Facebook | Twitter | marshaward.com

The Book Tour Continues

Yes, it will go all week, ladies and gentlemen. Here's a marvelous graphic that my friend, *Karlene Wells Browning, created, because, well, she has the mad skillz to do so.

Thank you, Karlene!

---

* Is there any lengths to which my mind will go when it's crazy sleep-deprived? Apparently not. Big apologies to my friend Karlene. I think I got it right now.

Stand Against Plagiarism - Beloved: United! Box Set #3 now available

In July, my friend and fellow author Rachel Nunes learned that someone had stolen her Christian novel, added graphic sex to it, had it for sale as an ebook in the United Kingdom, and was planning to sell it in the United States.

You can read about the personal, professional and emotional turmoil this brought to Rachel and her family, and the resultant legal suit here and in subsequent posts.

People around the globe are aghast at the temerity of the plagiarist, who, it was learned recently, stole the personal and very traumatic recollections of a wounded veteran of a foreign war to use in another of her novels. Many people have banded together to help Rachel fund a lawsuit that, hopefully, will prevent this person from plagiarizing even more writers and authors.

This is going to be an expensive fight. Estimates of the costs begin at $30,000. While Rachel Ann Nunes, the author, has written many novels and is quite popular, the proceeds of her books have gone to help raise a family of seven children. She doesn't have deep pockets, so another writing friend helped her set up a Go Fund Me account here to help raise the necessary money for the suit in federal court. To date, about 20% has been raised. I urge you to click on the link and be as generous as you can to stand against plagiarism. Even five dollars helps, if enough people contribute! (Please spread the word.)

But Rachel wants to give readers another way to stand against plagiarism and get real value for their donations. With the help of willing friends in the writing community who have donated the use of their works, she has created a line of electronic book box sets containing (so far) novellas and full novels. These box sets will only be available for a limited time, so you need to hurry and purchase them soon.

The first, Unseen, contains six spectacular Speculative Novellas.  From futuristic science fiction to romantic fantasy, this set has something for everyone who loves an interesting tale. Authors include Teyla Branton, Andrea Pearson, Stephanie Fowers, Frank Morin, Debra Erfert, and Kathleen Marks.

A second and third box set were released this week. Number Two, Concealed, contains two full-length Mystery novels, one full-length Suspense, and a Bonus Mystery novella, by authors Rachel Branton, Liz Adair, Heather Justesen, and R. L. Tyler. Whether you love romance, mystery, or suspense, this set has something for you.

Number Three, Beloved, contains three Romance novels. Fall in Love with wonderful romances from three popular eras! This collection contains my full-length novel, Spinster's Folly, and novels from Joyce DiPastena and G. G. Vandagriff, as well:

Loyalty’s Web by Joyce DiPastena
Medieval Romance
Heléne de Laurant has not forgotten how the Earl of Gunthar destroyed her father’s castle during Henry II’s war with his sons. Apparently neither have her family and friends, for when someone tries to murder Gunthar, every sign points in their direction. Heléne realizes the only way to prove her loved ones’ innocence is by exposing the true assassin.

As Heléne and Gunthar spar over the identity of the traitor, fierce determination gives way to mutual attraction. Heléne must race against time, and dark secrets of the past, to unmask the would-be killer before the kingdom plunges back into war and takes the life of the man she has unexpectedly learned to love.

Miss Braithwaite’s Secret by G. G. Vandagriff
Regency Romance
When Miss Caroline Braithwaite, the “Incomparable,” leaves London in the middle of the Season, she confides her reason in no one, not even her closest friend. Her sizable court of gentlemen mourn, but no one can tempt her into Society again. Living reclusively in the country, she finally deigns to accept an invitation to her friend’s county house party. Then the Duke of Northcott arrives, fresh from a broken engagement, and none too happy to see her. Caro tries desperately to make her excuses and leave, but then her pride intervenes. Such behavior may reveal her fierce attraction toward him and the fact that it is he who has broken her heart. Deception is at hand in the form of another gentleman who is more than a little interested in her, and looks like he may not take no for an answer. This delicious romance that will carry you back to the Regency period in English history, where manners were dictated by strict rules of fashion. It is the Jane Austen era, populated by gentlemen and ladies of leisure. These books are best enjoyed with a box of chocolates, and are guaranteed to enliven any boredom (ennui) that you may be experiencing!

Spinster’s Folly (The Owen Family Saga) by Marsha Ward
Western Romance
Marie Owen yearns for a loving husband, but Colorado Territory is long on rough characters and short on fitting suitors, so a future of spinsterhood seems more likely than wedded bliss. Her best friend says cowboy Bill Henry is a likely candidate, but Marie knows her class-conscious father would not allow such a pairing. When she challenges her father to find her a suitable husband before she becomes a spinster, he arranges a match with a neighbor’s son. Then Marie discovers Tom Morgan would be an unloving, abusive mate and his mother holds a grudge against the Owen family. Marie’s mounting despair at the prospect of being trapped in such a dismal marriage drives her into the arms of a sweet-talking predator, landing her in unimaginable dangers. This fourth book in the Owen Family saga is infused with potent heart and intense grit.

Don't forget that your purchase of Unseen, Concealed, and Beloved will help Rachel Nunes stand against plagiarism! At the same time, you will be able to stock up on excellent reading pleasure for the Fall. Look for future box sets to come.

Madcap Monday - April 21, 2014

Anything goes on Madcap Monday, and this Monday is Announcement Time.

#1. Winner of the Holy Week (Semana Santa) Contest: Polly! 

Congratulations! Please send me an email to marshaward.az@gmail.com and specify which Owen Family novel you wish, and to whom I should inscribe it. Of course I'll need your mailing address, Polly, unless you choose to receive your book as an electronic version (which I will autograph through your request at https://www.authorgraph.com/authors/MarshaWard).

Edited to state: Polly has chosen to receive a print copy of Trail of Storms, which will be sent to her tomorrow. Enjoy!

#2. I've started a Street Team called The Owen Family Followers to help me publicize the existence of the Owen Family novels. If you read and love them, here's an opportunity for you to help me spread the word, and especially create buzz about the next novel coming out this summer, Gone for a Soldier. Join the Street Team. Participate in Weekly Adventures, and be entered in monthly Drawings for special rewards.

For each week's Adventure, you will be asked to do a special task, such as share a Facebook post, mention something on your blog, write or like a review, speak to a friend about one of my books, request that your library buy the Owen Family novels, or otherwise use your social media accounts to promote my novels about the Owen family and other characters. You’ll let me know of your participation by mentioning it in the comment stream of that week’s Adventure.

In exchange, I will put the names of Weekly Adventure participants into my ten gallon hat for monthly drawings for such special rewards as autographed books, ARCs, free e-books, naming rights to a character in a forthcoming book, and Amazon gift cards.

In addition, you will get the first look at scenes made up of blazing hot pixels from being so new, cover reveals before anyone else gets a look, deleted scenes, and other insider stuff.

How do you join in the fun? Send me an email to marshaward.az@gmail.com requesting to join the secret Facebook Group for the Owen Family Followers, give your email address, and I'll send you an email through the Facebook Group that allows you to join.

I'll see you there!

Holy Week (Semana Santa) Contest

In commemoration of the events that changed the world 2000-odd years ago, I'm holding a

HOLY WEEK CONTEST

which begins today (Palm Sunday) and ends at noon on Monday, April 21 (Easter Monday in Canada). The prize for the

HOLY WEEK CONTEST

is an autographed copy of one of my Owen Family Saga novels, The Man from Shenandoah, Ride to Raton, Trail of Storms, or Spinster's Folly.

If the winner is not from the United States, I will email him or her instructions for downloading a free copy of the novel of their choice as an e-book. They then can go to Authorgraph.com and put in a request for a digital autograph (or they can do it from the gadget over in the left sidebar).

Each person who follows the rules below and comments on this post with the desired information will have his or her name placed in my ten-gallon contest-drawing hat. The winner's name will be drawn from the hat on Easter Monday, April 21, at 12:30 p.m. Mountain Standard Time (because, you know, I live in Arizona).

Here are the Rules: 

1. Think about the novels you have read from the Owen Family Saga. 
2. Determine which is your favorite character.
3. Figure out why they are your favorite character.
4. Comment on this post and tell me who that character is and why he or she is your favorite.
5. Tell which book you want autographed and sent to you if you win.
6. Include your email address for winner notification.
7. You may only enter the HOLY WEEK CONTEST one time (but see the Bonus Rules below).

Bonus Rules:

• If you also include in your comment which book made you like this character best, I will put your name into the hat a second time.
• If you include a favorite passage from one of the novels that is no longer than three paragraphs long and is pertinent to why you like your favorite character, I will put your name into the hat a third time.

Remember: This contest starts today and runs through Monday, April 21. Each commenter may enter only one time, as you know, favorite is favorite, after all... even if your opinion of your favorite character will change next time you re-read one of the Owen Family Saga novels... or read the next one, Gone for a Soldier, coming later this summer.

Good luck to all of you!

I have the Monday Blues, and here's why

I got a phone call this morning telling me my primary care doctor has retired.

My first reaction? Abject terror.

I knew he was planning on making the move this year, after seriously thinking about it for the last two. I just hadn't expected it this month.

I have been going to this doctor for many of the years since 1982. The exception was a few years when my husband's job chose to go with a HMO and he wasn't in their system. As soon as I could, I went back. He is from a pioneer family in the community; his sister and I worked together in our church congregation. He and I went through medical contretemps ranging from various kids' ailments to thyroid issues to female problems to sleep apnea and beyond. You don't easily find the connection I've had with my doctor. He supported my writing ambitions, and bought every one of my books but the last, which I gifted him. I supported his musical composition and jewelry-making ambitions. We were sympático.

[Edited to add] This is NOT the doctor who misdiagnosed a condition and told me that I was going to die soon.

My terror stems from the thought of having to choose a new doctor, not to mention the minor inconvenience of reorganizing my schedule this week to make a 200-mile round trip to pick up my chart. It's going to be a stressful journey.

As I get online and check my medical provider's (hereafter MP) website to find a starting point in my doctor search, my terror turns to frustration.

It's a nightmare wading through my MP's website to find an actual list of doctors so I can stab a list and select someone into whose hands I must place my life and trust. Here's an account of my experience to this minute.

To even get to a list, first I must come up with a medical specialty, and second, SOME medical provider's name so the app will begin to work. If I had a name, I wouldn't NEED the list, right? To the phone book.

Once I get a listing to appear for the doctor I picked out of the phone book, to get a list of all doctors, I have to ask for a new search. Now I can ask for doctors in my zip code. A list appears, 10 entities to a web page, and it has useful information, BUT some of those listed have incorrect information (according to the local paper, one doctor has retired; I know for a fact another has moved to a different location, and that another specialty group--why was it on this list?--has closed its doors) or are corporate names (which are duplicated several times). I don't want a clinic listing, I want a doctor listing.

I decided to see if requesting an emailed pdf of the list would make things simpler.

Why, no. Surprised? Instead of an actual attached pdf, I get a link back to the website where I have to download the pdf list. Okay. Done. I find that the pdf list does not have the extensive information that the website offers. Inexplicably, it contains a handful of doctors not in this community and not in this zip code.

The other option I have for preserving information for a visual/tactile checklist is printing the list. Aha! I click the link. This gives all six pages of the actual website information. Peachy. I printed the list in black-and-white, which means the green arrows alongside vital info like "accepting new patients" doesn't show up. I have to go through the online list to find out if any of the arrows are red or another color indicating they are NOT accepting new patients.

Oh wait! That six-page printout only contains the information from one page of the six on the website that gives the 51 medical entities. I am not going to print 30 more pages! On this batch, I recognize two of the four actual doctors listed. Hmm, isn't Mountain View Family Medicine essentially the same place as Mountain View Family Medicine PLC? Why does it rate two listings?

Have I picked a doctor yet? No. Have I spent a couple of hours getting this far? Yes.

Do you understand why I am so frustrated? Once I do get that list, I still have to make a selection. What do I base it on? The doctor has to like authors and their books? It's like throwing a dart and hoping I will like the random choice. What if I'm wrong? Will Medicare let me change? If so, can I change more than once if the second doctor is a clunker?

I visited such a clunker once when I needed care locally. Based on an ad, I went to an unknown. The entire 15 minutes the doctor was in the room, he was silent. So was I, having given my information to the nurse. Doctor played with an electronic pad (the ad had boasted about the paperless office), then got up without a word and left the room. Certainly not a people person. Mystified, I sat there until the nurse returned with a prescription for a difficult-to-obtain and expensive medicine, which saved my life, once I got a hold of it (it took a week).

On the bright side, I WAS able to keep my very nice, caring, and supportive doctor until he retired. I opted to pay cash for office visits because he wasn't on my approved list of providers. I thought. Two years into my Medicare adventure, I was informed that, no, he WAS on the list.

Good grief.

Finding My Theme - Redux

Several years ago, I wrote about an occasion when I found my theme. I was asked, "What do you want to share with the world through your writing?" I formulated my response in this sentence:

"I write to help people find hope amidst their trials, to learn to overcome, not just to wallow in misery."

That became my writing theme or purpose. My works have continued to follow that theme because it is part of my values and view of life, but I recently realized that I have an additional purpose for writing, that of showing marriage as a viable, honorable, worth-while state.

So many people around me think about marriage as an option, a not-necessary part of life, even though they live with another person. They will say, "I don't need a piece of paper to make me feel good. I'm fine as I am."

Since I adhere to a set of beliefs that includes the teaching that sexual relations rightly belong in a marriage between a man and a woman, and only then, I feel an obligation to do my best to pass that belief along.

I also believe that marriage can and should endure beyond the I-can't-take-any-more-of-this stage of every-day life, and in fact, can last beyond the until-death-do-us-part vows made in most Christian wedding ceremonies. To achieve that end, I submit that marriage is a partnership that takes the work and commitment of both parties, along with love, affection, and admiration, to be sustained and enjoyed.

Since I'm basically a nice person, and quite shy, I don't go around preaching my beliefs to everyone who may follow a different life-style. No, I do it another way. I put it into my fiction, which I didn't always realize I was doing, because, you know, I just write according to who I am.

That is why I have two characters in my Owen Family Saga novels that are as firm as bedrock in espousing similar beliefs. Rod and Julia Owen are not going to entertain thoughts of a divorce when the going gets tough. They may hold different theories of child-rearing, or of entertainment, or the proper role of the master of the house, but they love and cherish each other with a fervor that keeps them together and facing the trials of life with a solid unity. They made their vows some 25 years ago, and they are not about to abandon them now. Instead, they work at their relationship, even though it be in a 19th century sort of way. Even with the burdens of frontier living making the exteriors a bit worn, they will always see each other with youthful eyes . . . and that's as it should be.

I hope you've enjoyed the journey with them thus far, and will continue to do so in my next novel of the series, Gone for a Soldier.

____________________

Marsha Ward is the award-winning author of the acclaimed novel series featuring the Owen family. Her latest book, Spinster's Folly, won the 2013 USA Best Book Award for Western Fiction. A former journalist, Ward has published over 900 articles, columns, poems and short stories. She is the founder of American Night Writers Association aka ANWA.

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