Linda LaRoque's Musings

Cupid Party at Romancing The West!

2012-02-02T11:25:00.001-06:00

Mark your calendars! Romancing The West Cupid Party Feb 6-12. Enter to win a KINDLE! and FREE EBOOKS!

Here's the lineup.

Feb 6: Heather Hiestand

Feb 7: Jacquie Rogers

Feb 8: Beth Trissel

Feb 9: Ginger Simpson

Feb 10: Karen M Nutt

Feb 11: Linda LaRoque

Feb 12: Chicken Dinner announces winners

I hope to see you there! Happy Reading and Writing!

Linda
http://www.lindalaroque.com/

Winner of P. L. Parker's Will o' the Wisp

2012-01-27T11:53:00.000-06:00

The winner is Christine Warner. Congratulations, Christine! P. L. will be contacting you soon. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you'll come again.

Linda
http://www.lindalaroque.com/

P. L. Parker has a New Release!

2012-01-24T20:02:00.003-06:00

If you've not read P.L.'s work, you should. You'll love it, especially if you like paranormal with fantasy and loads of history added. My favorites are Fiona and Riley's Journey, but with Will o' the Wisps she's stepping into the sci-fi genre.I look forward to reading it. Leave her a comment to be entered in a drawing for an ecopy of Will o' the Wisp. Please join me in welcoming P. L. Parker.

I’ve always loved science fiction! The SciFi channel is my favorite channel on TV. My novel Riley’s Journey and the sequel, Into the Savage Dawn, are time travel but in many ways also science fiction. A time portal created by a scientist was the mode of transportation into the past. I am currently working on a third in that series. Recently, I contracted with New Concepts Publishing for my latest novel, The Chalice, another science fiction romance.

My short story, Will o’ the Wisp, was my first conscious step into the realm of science fiction.

Will o’ the Wisp by P. L. Parker

Blurb:

Stalked across the vast reaches of the universe, Tannis, the last fecund female of the clan Light Bringers, takes refuge on Earth, veiling herself within the dying form of a human female. Her energy forces are flagging and to rejuvenate, she must seek the healing properties of the sun’s rays, but by doing so, she risks discovery by the hunter. Time is short and Kadin—the most feared assassin of all—draws near!

Excerpt:

The hunt had led him to this place. A primitive planet on the outskirts of a distant galaxy. He’d arrived ahead of the pack, confident his subtle pointers would lead the others in the wrong direction. Convinced he’d caught up with Tannis at last, he’d come upon her at the moment she’d entered the host body, seeking to mask her presence. Such was the act of desperation, born of her inexperience and misguided information. Her energies pulsed bright and compelling, far too tangible to hide in the husk of the former occupant.

His lips curved in a self-deprecating smile. He could heal the female body with a simple touch. The shell’s hold on life was tenuous but if Tannis flew, the hunt would commence again. He grew tired of the hunt, tired of the unending frustrations. Now he wanted closure, craved an ending. But until he caught her, it was not to be.

He glanced down. A single human male also watched the vehicle’s progress. When the transport disappeared from his line of sight, the human turned, starting up an overgrown pathway into a wooded area. Kadin touched on the human’s mind, taking in information at light speed.

Excerpt 2

“Hold her down while I sedate her.”
“No!” Tannis screamed out. “If I sleep, he’ll find me!”
“No one is going to hurt you,” the woman soothed. “We just want you to calm down.”
“You don’t understand! I can’t sleep,” she cried. “If I do, he’ll destroy me.”
“No one’s going to destroy you,” Laura said as she reattached the tubes. “We won’t let them,” she glanced at the other two. “Will we?”
They shook their heads. “Not on our watch,” one replied.
“But…but you won’t even know he’s here until it’s too late.”
A hand squeezed her shoulder. “You’re in ICU. No one gets in here without us knowing about it.”
“You can’t know…,” she moaned as more drugs entered the body’s system. “He won’t rest until I’m eliminated.”

Buy link: http://www.amazon.com/Will-o-the-Wisp-ebook/dp/B0060M0QU6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1326557858&sr=8-1

About me:

Offbeat is a perfect word when describing me. For many years, I taught, performed, as well as choreographed, dance. I am a dreamer and an avid reader of fiction, a sometimes gardener and an inept crafter. I love to travel, always returning to my beautiful Idaho where I reside with my husband, Jack, my children and extended family, Jared, Travis, Zachary and Tannis, two huge cats and a toy poodle. I am a member of Romance Writers of America and the local chapter, Coeur d’Bois.

Website: http://www.plparker.com/

Blog site: http://www.plparker.blogspot.com/

Thanks for being my guest today, P. L. Readers, leave P. L. a comment to be entered in her drawing.

Happy Reading and Writing!

Linda
http://www.lindalaroque.com/

Linda LaRoque's Amazing Author Event

2012-01-19T05:00:00.001-06:00

Thirteen days of blog posts for you to visit. Perhaps you'll meet someone new, find new reads, and better yet, win a book. Follow along each day and leave a comment. Read the blurb and excerpt carefully. On the last day, January 24th, submit your answers on Ginger Simpson's blog. If you need to refer back to the first day, January 12th, go to Caroline Clemmons blog.

A Marshal of Her Own is the second story in this series set in Prairie, Texas. It is available at The Wild Rose Press and Amazon.com.

Blurb:

Despite rumors of “strange doings” at a cabin in Fredericksburg, investigative reporter Dessa Wade books the cottage from which lawyer, Charity Dawson, disappeared in 2008. Dessa is intent on solving the mystery. Instead, she is caught in the mystery that surrounds the cabin and finds herself in 1890 in a shootout between the Faraday Gang and a US Marshal.

Marshal Cole Jeffers doesn’t believe Miss Wade is a time traveler. He admits she’s innocent of being an outlaw, but thinks she knows more about the gang than she’s telling. When she’s kidnapped by Zeke Faraday, Cole is determined to rescue her. He’s longed for a woman of his own, and Dessa Wade just might be the one—if she’ll commit to the past.

Excerpt:

Dessa resisted the urge to scream again. She bit her bottom lip as a reminder to stay silent and not draw attention to herself. Her heart thundered in her chest, threatening to jump from her body. This couldn’t be happening. God, please tell me I’m dreaming. Wake me up. Please...please... Just in case God wasn’t listening, she was getting out of Dodge.

On her hands and knees she crawled toward the safety of the trees and the shadows. Afraid to look up, she continued forward as fast as her limbs would take her. Rocks and debris scratched her hands and gouged into her kneecaps, but she didn’t care.

She bumped into something and shifted to the left but whatever was in her way moved with her. Uh, oh. Dread inched up her spine. She stiffened. She might be caught, but she darn well wouldn’t go peacefully. After all, she was a victim here. Tilting her head up slightly, she eyed a pair of well-worn boots. As her eyes moved upward she noted faded denims, sculpted muscled thighs and...oh my...just below his gun belt. She blushed and pushed herself up to sit on her haunches, putting a little distance between them.

From that angle, she got a full view of the man. His wool coat bore a silver star. She gave a sigh of relief, then a gasp. He was a lawman, a darn good-looking one, at that. Focus Dessa. She’d been saved. “Thank goodness. I’m so glad you’re here.”

Her smile vanished at the expression on his face. Steel blue eyes assessed her beneath the black felt hat. Rugged planes displayed a scowl that didn’t bode well for her, nor did the shotgun held loosely in his right hand.

A Law of Her Own is book one in this series. It is available at TheWild Rose Press and Amazon.com.

The third book in the series, A Love of His Own, will be available May 16, 2012.

For this event, I'll be giving away a copy of A Law of Her Own. To be entered, answer the questions on Ginger Simpson's blog on January 24th.

Continue following this blog event tomorrow on Jacquie Roger's Romancing the West.

Good luck with the drawings and Happy Reading and Writing!

Linda

http://www.lindalaroque.com/

Amazing Author's Event

2012-01-15T22:47:00.001-06:00

Starting Jan. 12, thirteen AMAZING AUTHORS will host a blog tour. Visit each author's blog and read through their post carefully. At the end of the tour there will be a test - but instead earning an A or, gasp, an F, you can earn PRIZES: amazing stories by these AMAZING AUTHORS, as well as some other cool giveaways. Thanks Anna Katherine Lanier for this catchy intro and Ginger Simpson for organizing this event.

Here's the AMAZING AUTHORS lineup:

Jan. 12. Caroline Clemmons - http://carolineclemmons.blogspot.com/

Jan. 13. Beth Trissel - http://bethrissel.wordpress.com/

Jan. 14. Roseanne Dowell - http://roseannedowellauthor.blogspot.com/

Jan. 15. Cathie Dunn - http://cathiedunn.blogspot.com/

Jan. 16. Maggie Toussaint - http://mudpiesandmagnolias.blogspot.com/

Jan. 17. Patsy Parker - http://plparker.blogspot.com/

Jan. 18. SG Rogers - http://childofyden.wordpress.com/

Jan. 19. Linda LaRogue - http://lindalarogueauthor.blogspot.com/

Jan. 20 Jacquie Rogers - http://romancingthewest.blogspot.com/2012/01/jacquies-amazing-authors-event.html

Jan. 21. Karen Nutt - http://kmnbooks.blogspot.com/

Jan. 22. Anna Kathryn Lanier - http://annakathrynlanier.blogspot.com/

Jan. 23. Barbara Edwards - http://barbaraedwardscomments.wordpress.com/

Jan. 24. Ginger Simpson - http://mizging.blogspot.com/

I know I'm late in posting this. Sorry about that but you can go back and post late.

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Reading and Writing!

Linda
http://www.lindalaroque.com/

Visit with Liz Flaherty

2012-01-12T19:52:00.001-06:00

Linda, thank you so much for having me here today.

I never think that much about technology. I’m in my 60s, so I’ve lived more of my life without a computer and a cell phone and a Kindle than I have with them. I sew, I cook, I walk, I’m active. Unlike some people my age, I like learning electronic ins and outs, though I’m not good at them. I love my I-phone with its pretty purple case and my Kindle that weighs a lot less than a suitcase full of books, but I’m not dependent on them.

At least, not exactly. The following is what I wrote yesterday.

Here I sit without benefit of a keyboard or a screen. Even my phone is unavailable. I can’t check email, read blogs, or Google myself. I can’t open a file and write.

Goodness knows, I need to do that! In these days of promoting myself and my new book, ONE MORE SUMMER nonstop and ad nauseum, I’ve written no fiction. I haven’t gotten closer to my protagonists. Haven’t laughed or cried or said, “Let’s wait just a damn minute here” when they’ve led down an unexpected (and sometimes unwanted) garden path.

But, no, here I sit…. It’s beautiful outside, warm and sunny. I hope I will have time to walk later on this most un-Indiana-like January day. The grass is even green below the window I’m seated next to, the sky a strong, bright blue that belongs in mid-March—maybe even April. I would write about this, wax poetic about the spring-like beauty of the day. If I had my computer. Or, for that matter, anybody’s computer.

But I don’t. I’m at school, halfway through the first three-hour session of the only class I’m taking in the second semester. The instructor gave us a break, even though there are no vending machines or coffeepots or break areas on this satellite campus. Therefore I have time to sit here with a dozen or so barely post-adolescents who are busily texting and wish I’d brought my cell phone to class. I’ll write all this out in longhand and type it on my laptop when I get home. And I wouldn’t think much about this, except for one thing.

The course I’m taking is a computer class.

How about you? Have you had a wakeup call that let you realize how electronically-dependent you’ve become. Or did you realize that you’re stronger willed than I am and would be perfectly happy going back to pen, pad, and—oh, Lord—typewriter?

ONE MORE SUMMER is the book of my heart and I hope you like it, too. Thanks for coming by.

http://ebooks.carinapress.com/19C28077-E8B2-400A-ACBF-FAE0579EE2F0/10/134/en/Default.htm

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/one-more-summer-liz-flaherty/1107412429

http://www.amazon.com/One-More-Summer-ebook/dp/B006BE6HAG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1324908781&sr=8-1

I’d love to have you visit my website http://lizflaherty.com or http://wordwranglers.blogspot.com/ where I hang out with some of my best writer friends.

Blurb:

Grace has taken care of her widowed father her entire adult life and the ornery old goat has finally died. She has no job, no skills and very little money, and has heard her father's prediction that no decent man would ever want her so often she accepts it as fact.

But she does have a big old house on Lawyers Row in Peacock, Tennessee. She opens a rooming house and quickly gathers a motley crew of tenants - Promise, Grace's best friend since kindergarten, who's fighting cancer; Maxie, an aging soap opera actress who hasn't lost her flair for the dramatic; Jonah, a sweet gullible old man with a crush on Maxie.

And Dillon, Grace's brother's best friend, who stood her up on the night of her senior prom and has regretted it ever since. Dillon rents Grace's guest house for the summer and hopes to make up for lost time and past hurts - but first, he'll have to convince Grace that she's worth loving...

Excerpt

It was no use.

Grace had taken her lengthy bath in the claw foot tub, shaved her legs and nicked her ankle right on the bone where it hurt most, and put on her chenille robe. She’d poured a tumbler full of the expensive wine Steven had brought a case of and sat on the couch with the book she’d gotten at the library when she’d read to the kids earlier in the week. Louisa May slept on the couch back, twitching her tail occasionally and smacking Grace in the face with it. Rosamunde dozed contentedly in the baseball cap Dillon had left on the lamp table. The window behind the couch was open, affording Grace a cooling breeze scented by the rain that had fallen that evening.

She’d already gotten up once and closed the pocket doors between the living room and the dining room. But she could still hear it.

Laughing. There were Jonah’s guffaw, Maxie’s theatrical trill, and the husky whoop that was always such a surprise coming from Promise’s soprano throat. Now and then another laugh slipped in, quieter than Jonah’s but no less gleeful. Dillon was there too. They sat on the screened porch, a good forty feet from where Grace sat with her feet up, and still she could hear them.

They were playing Monopoly. Grace hadn’t played that since the day before her mother died. She remembered that last game, the board balanced on a bed tray across Debbie Elliot’s legs in the room that smelled of Cashmere Bouquet talcum powder and sickness and medicine. Faith had sat on one side of her mother, Promise on the other, and Grace at the bed’s end.

“Sit on my feet a little, baby,” Debbie had said. “You keep them so nice and warm.”

Grace had won the game, and the next day—when Debbie was dead and life for the rest of the Elliots had irrevocably changed—she had hated herself for buying Boardwalk and Park Place and forcing her mother into bankruptcy.

“I made her die,” she’d told Steven.

“Her heart made her die,” he’d responded, but Grace hadn’t really believed him until he became a cardiac surgeon.

Sometimes, she still wondered. If Debbie had napped in the evening as she often did, would that hour of rest have made the difference? If Grace hadn’t sat on her mother’s feet with her eighty-five pounds of almost-twelve-year-old exuberance, would the final heart attack not have happened?

But she refused to think about those things now, nor would she consider the game of Monopoly with an inward shudder of dread. She thought instead of the laughter that was dancing along her nerve endings, and wondered if anyone else was using the little iron as their token for moving around the board. The iron had always been her favorite. She liked the way it felt between her fingers.

If she just got off her couch and wandered toward the porch like she was bored with her own company—which she was—would anyone make a big deal out of it? If Promise or the others acted surprised by her presence, Dillon Campbell would think she’d joined them just because he was there. Which was nonsense.

Of course it was.

She remembered how Dillon’s hand had felt when he pulled her to her feet the night before. She’d avoided unnecessary touch all her adult life, and one squeeze of Dillon Campbell’s fingers had her wondering if that hadn’t been a mistake.

More nonsense.

She tried again to devote full attention to the book, but finally gave up and laid it aside. She sat in the harsh light from the reading lamp and sipped her high dollar wine and listened to the laughter of the others. Isolation and loneliness wrapped around her, not new feelings by any means, but somehow deeper and darker tonight.

Maybe this time, as Promise often accused, she was excluding herself and the loneliness was of her own making. Maybe if she stepped onto the back porch, no one would make a fuss and no one would make her feel as though she didn’t belong. It was, after all, her porch.

Carrying her glass, she whispered open the pocket doors and strode barefoot through the deserted dining room and the kitchen with its ever-present light over the sink. After a moment’s hesitation, she pushed open the door to the porch.

“Replacement power. Just in time.” Promise’s smile was wide and brilliant. Welcome to the human race. Grace heard the words she didn’t say. “Now that I’ve been trounced, Grace can take my place while I make popcorn. No one’s using your iron, so have at it.”

Grace sat in the chair Promise vacated, taking the little metal iron from the Monopoly box. It still felt nice between her fingers.

“I’m the banker,” Jonah informed her, passing money around the table. “Since I’m better at losing money than anyone else, I was unanimously elected.”

“I don’t even know why I play.” Maxie sighed, fluffing her blond hair with heavily be-ringed fingers. “I seem to spend all my time in jail. Unless Dillon rescues me with his ‘get out of jail free’ cards,” she added with a flutter of eyelashes.

“I’m just a soft touch for a pretty lady.” Dillon smiled at her, his eyes glinting silver in the dim, yellow light on the porch.

Grace’s heart hammered against her ribs.

Geezy Pete, Grace, grow up.

Thank you for being here today, Liz, and sharing One More Summer with us. Ah, those books of the heart, they're keepers and yours sounds like one I'd enjoy.

Readers, I hope you'll leave Liz a comment or question.

Happy Reading and Writing!
Linda
http://www.lindalaroque.com/

Mary Marvella--Expiration Dates on Books or Food

2012-01-09T12:05:00.000-06:00

Hey, Linda! So clad you invited me to blog for you. I loved your visit with the Pink Fuzzies.

Expiration dates on books or food.

Do you clean your refrigerator often or after you find food that has been around so long you don't remember when you served it? I admit I don't purge food more than a week old, as some folks say they do. I do sometimes check for food that doesn't look familiar anymore. That I do toss. Sometimes I find colorful growth inside containers. With no kids in my house I have no need for science projects and I don't enjoy identifying kinds of mold, so those go.

I know folks who toss food on the sell-by date. What a waste.

About those manuscripts you wrote years ago. You know, the ones you had rejected time after time by editors and agents. Got any you didn't have the nerve to submit because your critique partners didn't love them or contest judges scored them closer to freezing temperature than summer heat? Maybe there were some between-the-lines comments that translated to "Don't quit your day job."

Do manuscripts have expiration or sell-by dates? I don't think so. Brush the dust bunnies off one of your old manuscripts and read it again. If reading them reminds you why you loved the characters or the story, clean it up and replace the rotary phones in the story with cool gadgets.

You take those manuscript folks said were ugly and that you dressed funny and spiff 'em up. Get new glasses or better hairstyles for those characters you love and toss 'em back into the pool. This time they might swim, even if you have to slip a toe into the dark side of the publishing pool, Indie publishing. For that matter you could just jump in and swim.

I have self-published 2 novellas and 2 novels since May of 2011. I still have manuscripts I don't believe will sell to publishers. No, I haven't sold a lot of copies, or even given away thousands of copies of the free novella, but some folks have bought copies and said good things. As long as they languished on my computer, no one could read them.

Haunting Refrain is a paranormal romance with ghost facilitators and reincarnation. At one point I was told there were too many elements. For today's paranormal market the book doesn't have enough elements, No vampires, superpowers or demons. Bummer! But wait! There might be readers who still like this type of story.

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/65206
http://bit.ly/u7LIhK Barnes & Noble
http://amzn.to/mZqdaV

Excerpt:

William has tried not to become sexually involved with Sarah. He doesn't do long term sexual relationships. He has loved Sarah since forever. She has been his friend and he didn't want to screw up their friendship. (Pun intended.)

William smiled as he drifted into consciousness. He smelled Sarah’s fragrance on his pillow. He listened for her breathing. “Sarah?” Nothing. Sweeping his arm around he felt for her. Where was she? In his bathroom? No he didn’t hear water running.

His alarm shrilled. Hadn’t he just fallen asleep? Was Sarah in his kitchen? He could surprise her by slipping his arms around her and ...

Rational thought burst that vision. She’d be back at her house. After all, she had parents who would expect her to sleep in her own bed, more’s the pity. He’d enjoyed having her share his big bed. Well, after last night things had changed.

It had to be at least ten o’clock. He’d planned to sleep late, then head for the school library to continue his research.

He rose and punched the snooze button, then plopped back in bed. Stretching, he remembered something had bothered him when he and Sarah had made love.

Oh, yes. Now he remembered. In all the years he and Sarah had been together, he had seen her in all kinds of bathing suits. None could have revealed the birthmark under her breast, yet he had known it was there. How?

There had been something so familiar about her responses to his loving. Maybe her responses had just been like those of his recent erotic fantasies of her. Yeah, that could explain it.

He’d made love to other women before. Each had been different, but last night had made him understand why he hadn’t stayed with any of them. The psychologist in him had thought the term “love-making” was a euphemism for having sex, especially with someone he respected and cared about.

Now he knew better.

Last night had been the first time he had really made love. It hadn’t been about something he wanted to do. It had been about something he desperately needed to do. It had been about sharing his heart, his soul. Sarah was his heart. She was his soul. He needed to tell her.

The snooze shrilled again. Energized, he turned the alarm off and showered. For the first time he could remember he sang in the shower. Maybe he was capable of loving and being loved. He nearly cut himself shaving around his insistent smile.

MMARVELLAB@aol.com

MaryMarvella.com
http://www.pinkfuzzyslipperwriters.blogspot.com/
http://ebooks99cents.wordpress.com/
http://bookloversbuffet.com/
Mary Marvella Barfield on Facebook and Mary Marvella, Author on Facebook

PLEASE COMMENT IF YOU WANT A CHANCE TO WIN A FREE DOWNLOAD OF HAUNTING REFRAIN.

Review for A Law of Her Own

2012-01-07T11:58:00.002-06:00

Woohoo, another review for A Law of Her Own. Please take a look.

Review: "After reading A Marshal of Her Own, I couldn't wait to get my hands on book 1 in the series. I was fortunate enough to win it in a contest. Yay!

I absolutely adored Charity and Turner. Charity is such a strong, independent and very likeable character. She took charge and saved Turner from hanging for a crime he didn't commit.

There were laugh out loud moments, murder and action. We do learn early on who the real killer is so there wasn't any suspense involved. My only complaint is that it was too short. More!!

Just like with A Marshal of Her Own, the ending on this story choked me up as well. I cannot wait until A Love of His Own is released in 2012."

By Sarah L. at Romancing the Book.

To read the full review go to Romacing the Book.

Buy Links for A Law of Her Own.
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
The Wild Rose Press

Happy Reading and Writing!

Linda
http://www.lindalaroque.com/

Who won the Rhinestone Frog Pin?

2012-01-02T17:30:00.000-06:00

Margie T. is the winner of my Born in Ice contest and receives this rhinestone frog pin. Congratulations, Margie! Send me your snail mail address and I'll get it in the mail to you.

Happy Reading and Writing!

Linda
http://www.lindalaroque.com/

Forensic Workshop: Bare Bones with Kerri Nelson

2011-12-31T20:49:00.001-06:00

Bare Bones: Forensics Basics for Writers

Permission to forward granted and encouraged.

Sponsored by: Heart of Texas Chapter of RWA

Date: January 16-27

Cost: $20.00 for non-chapter members, $15.00 chapter members.

Send payment via paypal by clicking http://bit.ly/A8VClO

After payment you will receive an invitation to join hotrwabarebones yahoo loop.

Course Description:

Want to add a little chemistry to your writing? This course will take you
through the all the forensics basics that you'll need to know to ramp up the
suspense in your novel.

Lessons Include:

Who's Who (Forensics Professionals & Experts)

Going Ballistic (Firearms & Bullets)

The Fine Print (Fingerprints & Handwriting Analysis)

Let's Get Natural (Insects, Nature, & Trace Evidence)

The Talking Dead (Autopsies & DNA)

Make science fun as we delve into these topics and more during this 2 week crash
course in all things forensic-ally fun!

Instructor Bio:

Kerri Nelson discovered her love of writing at an early age and soon became a
columnist for her local newspaper winning the Outstanding Young Journalist of
the Year Award for her efforts. After a fifteen year career in the legal field,
Kerri fulfilled her lifelong dream of publication and is now an award winning
multi-published author of nearly every genre under the sun (and moon) and also
writes young adult fiction under the penname K.G. Summers.

A true southern belle, she comes complete with a dashing, stately gentleman and
three adorable children for whom she often bakes many homemade treats. Kerri is
an active member of Sisters in Crime and Romance Writers of America as well as
numerous chapters including Futuristic Fantasy & Paranormal Writers and the Kiss
of Death Chapter for mystery/suspense authors. She owns and operates The Book
Boost (an affordable author promotion company) and offers personal online
tutoring & mentoring for authors through her Tutor Me Write service.

Read more about Kerri's books at her website: www.kerrinelson.com

Follow her on Twitter here: www.twitter.com/kerribookwriter

Visit her industry blog here: www.thebookboost.blogspot.com

Great Reviews for A Marshal of Her Own

2011-12-29T12:19:00.000-06:00

I'm thrilled with these reviews. Please take a look.

Romancing the Book

Review by Sarah L.: "This is the first story I have read of Ms. LaRoque's and it will not be the last. This was a very sweet, short romance which is the 2nd book in the series. As usual, I always wonder when I'm reading books out of order if I'm missing anything. Even though Charity is a supporting character in this story and I want to read her story, it did not detract in any way by not having read her story first."

To read the full review, go to http://www.romancing-the-book.com/2011/12/review-marshal-of-her-own-by-linda.html

The Romance Reviews

Review by Katie Cody: "They don't make men like they used. Luckily for Dessa, she has a chance at one of the Wild West's hunkiest marshals. Now all she has to do is stay alive."

The full review can be found at http://www.theromancereviews.com/viewbooksreview.php?bookid=4371

Buy Links for A Marshal of Her Own:
The Wild Rose Press
Amazon
Barnes & Noble

Happy Reading and Writing!

Linda
http://www.lindalaroque.com/

Guess Who'll be Reading on a New Kindle this Christmas?

2011-12-17T10:53:00.000-06:00

Here sits the sack of entries I've carefully added names to for almost a month. This morning I stirred the names up real good and called on my husband one more time. (He's been picking ebook winners for me.) He stuck his hand in the sack, stirred again, and pulled out the name....Debra Jupe.

Congratulations, Debra. Send me your snail mail address and I'll order your Kindle and get them to put it in the mail to you.

Thank you all for participating in my blog tour and helping me celebrate the release of A Marshal of Her Own and Born in Ice. If you haven't bought your copies, I hope you'll do so soon or put them on your Christmas wish list.

Happy Reading and Writing!

Linda
http://www.lindalaroque.com/

Quess Who'll be Wearing This Typewriter Pin?

2011-12-16T13:49:00.001-06:00

P. L. Parker's name was drawn from the hat this morning. Congratulations P. L., you're the winner of this beautiful vintage rhinestone typewriter pin. It's symbolic of the typewriter Dessa received in A Marshal of Her Own.

Thanks to all who entered. There is still time to enter the Born in Ice contest for a rhinestone frog pin. Sign up for my newsletter by using the form to the right. If you're already receiving my newsletter, send an email to linda@lindalaroque.com with Born in Ice in the subject line.

Happy Reading and Writing!

Linda
http://www.lindalaroque.com/

Blog Hop Continues with A Little Confusion

2011-12-13T14:10:00.001-06:00

Or maybe I should say alot of confusion. I must apologize. Toward the end of the tour, there was a conflict on dates, I thought I had it straight and omitted the wrong person from the tour. I do apologize. My only defense is illness in the family--my cousins husband has been diagnosed with brain and lung cancer which is melanoma. They are constantly in my thoughts and I've made two trips to the Fort Worth area. Plus, I will have been on 25 blogs in 23 days and am a bit dizzy.

Anyway, I'm posting the final days of the tour again. I know it's a busy and crazy time of year and time is limited, but please stop by if you can.

Dec. 12 – Liz Flaherty - http://wordwranglers.blogspot.com/

Dec. 13 - Joanne Renaud - http://www.joannerenaud.com/wordpress/

Dec. 14 – J.D. Revezzo - http://harshadpassion.wordpress.com/

Dec. 15 – Rachel Ferasek - http://www.rachelfirasek.com/ - Christmas Wish 3 books I’d like to have and blurb, etc.

Drawing for the Kindle will be December 16, 2011.

Thanks! Happy Reading and Writing!

Linda
http://www.lindalaroque.com/

Blog Hop - Kindle Give-a-Way Continues

2011-12-11T20:50:00.002-06:00

Installment #8 of Born in Ice on Lisa's World of Books Monday Dec. 12th. Just two more installments after this one. Drawing for the Kindle will be December 16th. Hopefully it will arrive in the selectees mailbox before Christmas.

To see those who received ebooks, scroll down to the original blog hop posting.

Thanks for Reading and Writing!

Linda
http://www.lindalaroque.com/

Katherine Grey's Holiday Traditions

2011-12-09T22:15:00.001-06:00

I'm pleased to have Katherine Grey on my blog today. She's sharing her favorite holiday traditions and a recipe. I hope you'll leave a comment and share some of your special traditions.

Holiday Traditions

Everyone I know has at least one holiday tradition they look forward to every year from Black Friday shopping to family gatherings to attending that one special holiday party every year.

I have two traditions I look forward to. One is to watch Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer. I’m well past the age of believing in Santa Claus and flying reindeer, but it’s just not Christmas if I don’t watch Rudolph. Every year, the night it’s on, I get in bed, prop up my pillows, and snuggle under my big fluffy comforter and watch the cartoon while my cat curls up at my feet. Of course, there’s always a cup of hot chocolate involved too.

The most important tradition though is making Christmas cookies with my mom. She started teaching me to cook when I was four years old. Every December we would make cut out cookies in various holiday shapes. She would mix the dough on a Friday evening and put it in the refrigerator over night. My brothers and sisters and I would take turns peering into the refrigerator at the bowl of dough and asking when it would be ready for baking.

Finally, Saturday afternoon would come and she’d pronounce it ready. She would roll it out and place the cutters on the dough. Each one of my siblings and I would get a turn to push the cutters down into the dough. My mom would peel away the excess, put the cut out pieces onto a baking sheet and into the oven. We’d repeat the process over and over until every scrap of dough had been formed into a cookie.

Rows and rows of angels, reindeer, snowmen, Christmas trees, holly leaves, tree ornaments, and Santa Claus cookies would fill one end of the table to cool then be packed away until the next day, the most important day of all – the day we would frost them.

My mom would make the frosting and allow each one of us to stir drops of food coloring into bowls of white icing. We’d have a rainbow of colors and little bottles of colored sugar to decorate the cookies with. We’d spend the afternoon decorating the cookies, making sure the Santa cookies were frosted red and white to represent his suit, the snowmen white with a strip of yellow around his neck and down his stomach to represent his scarf. Christmas trees had brown frosting for the trunk and green frosting for the leaves and a dot of yellow at the top for the star just to describe a few. When we were finished, my mom would lay them on wax paper to set. We would ooh and ah over them like they were the most magnificent cookies ever made.

My brothers and sisters are all married with children now and building their own holiday traditions but for two days every December my siblings and I gather together and make Christmas cut out cookies with my mom. It’s a tradition I hope we’re able to continue for many years to come.

My mom asked that I not share our special cut out cookie recipe but here’s one that’s just as special.

Oatmeal Cookies

1 cup all purpose flour

½ cup granulated sugar

½ cup packed brown sugar

½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

½ cup Crisco shortening

1 egg

¼ teaspoon vanilla

¾ cup quick-cooking rolled oats

*½ cup chopped walnuts

A small dish of granulated sugar

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a mixing bowl, stir together the first 6 ingredients (the flour through the salt). Add the Crisco, egg and vanilla. Beat well. Stir in the oats and nuts. Form into small balls. Dip the tops of the balls in the additional dish of granulated sugar. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 10 to 12 minutes.

Makes 3 ½ dozen cookies

*I sometimes substitute the walnuts for craisins.

Below is the blurb for Katherine’s debut novel, Impetuous.

Mateo de Montayas, an impoverished Spanish count, comes to England to recover a stolen family heirloom and to satisfy his hunger for revenge against the man who destroyed his family. Arriving in London, he learns his hated enemy died three years before but has left behind a daughter. What better way to retrieve the heirloom and exact revenge than to use her to his advantage?

Teresa Darlington will do anything to keep scandal away from her frail mother and prove her father wasn't a thief, even risk her reputation in a race to find the missing heirloom before the Count does. But she didn't count on falling in love with the man determined to ruin her family. Can she find the heirloom before he does and protect her family, or will her heart lead her in a different direction?

You can purchase a copy at any of the following links:

The Wild Rose Press:
http://www.thewildrosepress.com/index.php?main_page=index&manufacturers_id=905

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Impetuous-ebook/dp/B005J7K52M/ref=ntt_at_ep_edition_2_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2

Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/impetuous-katherine-grey/1105052736?ean=2940013040984&itm=4&usri=impetuous#CustomerReviews

You can learn more about Katherine on her blog and Facebook page.

Blog: http://katherinegreyblogspot.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Katherine-Grey/265375626827267?sk=wall

Thank you for joining us today, Katherine. I can't believe your mom wouldn't let you share the cut-out cookie recipe :-( but I love oatmeal cookies.

Readers, please leave a comment for Katherine.

Happy Reading and Writing!

Linda
http://www.lindalaroque.com/

Ebook Recepients for My Blog Tour

2011-12-07T23:04:00.001-06:00

Scroll down to http://lindalaroqueauthor.blogspot.com/2011/11/blog-tour-24-blogs-win-kindle.html and take a look. As the ebooks are given away I'm listing the winners here.

Tomorrow is installment #5 of Born in Ice on Nikki Duncan's blog at http://nikkiduncan.com/blog/. I hope you're following along.

Linda

Christmas with W. Lynn Chantale

2011-12-06T14:52:00.001-06:00

Welcome W. Lynn Chantale as she shares her family Christmas traditions and her Christmas release. Thank you, Lynn for being here today.

Can you sense the excitement in the air? Here, in Michigan it’s a little colder and we’re gearing up for a harsh winter. At least that’s what the weather man says. No snow yet, but there’s something else. Christmas!

Christmas, for me, is snow and family. I love spending time with my loved ones. A couple of our traditions is to open gifts at home, then travel to my Dad’s for breakfast. Driving to Dad’s is a little more treacherous in the winter months as we live an hour and fifteen minutes away, but we make the trip, faithfully.

We’ve done this for at least eighteen years. My parents are divorced and remarried. All of us kids are now grown with children of our own. So on Christmas Day we’re cooking for at least 35 people, I may have missed a niece or two. As I’m usually the first to arrive I takeover help in the kitchen. The menu is simple. Pancakes, French toast, bacon, scrambled eggs, sausage, and caramel pecan sticky buns, or just sticky buns for the few who are allergic to nuts.

In all the time I’ve been away from my hometown we’ve only missed 1 Christmas. My hubby promised me that would never happen again. So even though Christmas falls on a Sunday this year, we’ll make our way up the highway to see Dad and the rest of the rest of the family.

I’d give you my sticky bun recipe, but my sister would kill me. So here’s my biscuit and gravy recipe that my family loves.

2c. flour
1/2 (1 stick) cold unsalted butter
3 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar
3/4c milk

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Grease bottom only of biscuit pan. Combine dry ingredients. Stir. Add butter. Using a fork mix in butter until mixture resembles small peas. Add milk. Dough can be rolled onto a floured board and cut using a biscuit cutter. Me, I’m lazy and take a forkful of dough and shape into rounds. Place biscuits in pan with sides touching. Bake for 15-20 minutes. Enjoy.

Sausage Gravy

1/4 to 1/2lb of Bob Evans Sausage or your favorite.brand
1/4 c flour
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp salt
2c milk

In a 2 qt saucepan brown sausage. Drain and reserve 2TBLS of oil. Sprinkle dry ingredients over sausage. Gradually stir in milk. Stir until thickens. Boil about one minute. Serve alone or over hot biscuits.

Excerpt: Mistletoe Mambo in Christmas Treats #1 Anthology Santa’s Naught List

Blurb: Only one man dances to the music of Madeline’s heart.

She was aware of the crowd parting to accommodate their slow foxtrot, but she kept her focus on Max. Her knees wobbled so badly, if she ignored the intensity of his gaze she might stumble. He held her closer than necessary. Each glide of his hips brought his erection against her thigh. Surprised, she held her breath. Was it possible the attraction wasn’t one-sided, after all?

As if sensing her thoughts, he winged a brow. When his hand drifted lower on her hip, her heart thudded harder. Maybe he was flirting with her and merely used their dance as an excuse to hold her. Or perhaps this was wishful thinking on her part. Dancing wasn’t unusual at the Christmas party, but somehow dancing with him, knowing how she felt made the experience more exhilarating. Each brush of his pelvis sent an answering tremor through her body. She wanted more than three or four minutes in his arms. For a brief second, she rested her head on his shoulder. He tapped her right arm and she rotated into a spin. She completed two turns before he clasped her hand and drew her against the heat of his body once again.

She became lost in the depths of his eyes, glimpsing a longing she never noticed before as they circled the dance floor. The strength of his arm clasped her waist. The sure grip of his hand tightened on hers and the smooth texture of his trousers met her skin when he dipped her over his leg. Every nerve ending crackled at the sensual slide of his hard, powerful thigh beneath her bare back. He pressed his lips to the hollow of her throat and she forgot to breathe.

He stood her upright and glided them around the well-worn linoleum. Amazement must have shown on her face because he smirked. She followed his lead, too unsettled to do anything else. Did his little kiss mean he was interested, or was that just part of the dance? One more twirl around the floor, and then his steps slowed. Swaying in time to the music, he held her in his arms.

All too soon the song ended and they were forced to bow when thunderous applause cascaded through the room. Madeline pressed her hands to her cheeks while she struggled to catch her breath. She cast a sidelong glance at Max, his hand resting in the small of her back.

“I love dancing with you,” he whispered, leading her to the edge of the dance floor. “The scent of your perfume, the slide of your skin against mine, and when I lift you in my arms all I can think about is the way you would taste.” He squeezed her bottom.

Thank you for sharing with us today, Lynn. We too love biscuits and gravy. What a beautiful cover for your Christmas release. Best of luck with sales.

Please leave Lynn a comment.

Join me (Linda) today as my blog tour continues on Dawn Alexander's blog.

Thanks for Reading and Writing!

Linda
http://www.lindalaroque.com/

Meet Jill James, Romance Author

2011-12-01T19:52:00.001-06:00

Hello readers. Meet Jill James, author of The Second Chance Series. Today she's sharing her newest release Divorce Interrupted. Welcome, Jill! I'm thrilled to have you on my blog today and thank you for having me on your blog. I enjoyed reading your blurb and excerpt. It sounds like a story filled with emotion.

Blurb:

Newly-divorced Todd and Lisa Miller are stranded at their mountain cabin. There to divide a lifetime of memories, they soon are in danger from more than the anger between them. A vicious storm forces them to rely on each other to survive.

Can they trust the one person they lost belief in? Or are their hearts in danger from more than floods and frigid weather?

Excerpt:

The wind crashed against the bay window in the front of the cabin. Lisa Miller jumped up and knocked over her chair. Her shaking hand flew to her chest. Her heartbeat pounded. “That one sounded like it went through the window.”

She peered around the doorway to the living room. She sighed in relief. The glass was still in one piece, although a large pine bough sat on the front porch. The wet needles stood out in bas-relief against the graying sky.

This had been a bad idea, she berated herself. She could’ve waited for the storm of the century to pass before she came up to the lake. Even with her husband, Todd, coming next week, she could’ve waited. A sob caught in her throat like a burr. Todd, her newly, the ink hardly dry on the divorce decree, ex-husband.

She righted the chair and fell into it. How had it come to this? She’d been in love with Todd for as long as she could remember. He’d been her first boyfriend, her first lover, and she’d been sure, her last.

Throwing her head back, Lisa stared at the ceiling. Finding no comfort in the familiar cedar logs, she brought her head down and gazed into space. Her sight unfocused, the kitchen viewed through a haze of tears she refused to shed.

Twenty years. Gone in an instant. Her abrupt decision to take her boss up on his umpteenth attempt at flirting. A nano-second to throw it all away. For what turned out to be mediocre sex at best. Todd had ruined her for any other man. He loved her with his heart and soul, and she’d trampled it for half the allotted time in a tawdry motel with hourly rates and smelly, overused sheets.

Jill is giving away an ecopy of Divorce Interrupted in either Kindle, Nook, or PDF format to one lucky commenter. Good luck!

Jill’s Links

Website: http://www.jilljameswrites.com/
Blog: http://www.jilljameswrites.com/blog
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Jill.James-author
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/jill_james
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/jill_james

Divorce Interrupted Buy Links

Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/3c3fvng
BN.com: http://tinyurl.com/3o864py
Smashwords: http://tinyurl.com/3pbwmkm

Please leave Jill a comment. Thank you for being here today Jill and best of luck with Divorce Interrupted.

Happy Reading and Writing!

Linda
http://www.lindalaroque.com/

Blog Tour - 24 blogs - Win a Kindle

2011-11-21T23:04:00.024-06:00

Blog Tour Dates and Links

An ebook will be given away each day. Leave a comment to be entered in the Kindle drawing. Leave one on every blog to increases your chances to win. Good luck!

A Marshal of Her Own release date Nov. 23, 2011

Nov. 23 – Vonnie Davis – http://www.vintagevonnie.blogspot.com/ – Interview questions. ebook winner Shelley Munro

Nov. 24 – Nancy Jardine – http://www.nancyjardine.blogspot.com/ – Invention of Fountain Pen. ebook winner Na

Nov. 25 – Linda Kage - http://www.lindakage.com/index.html - Research on 19th Century undergarments. ebook winner Susan P. Owens

Nov. 26 – W. Lynn Chantall (Character Interview) http://wlynnchantale-decadentdecisions.blogspot.com// - Character Interview. ebook winner Lynn Marshall

Nov. 27 – Sandra K. Marshall - http://www.sandramarshallblog.blogspot.com/ - Interview questions. ebook winner Marybelle

Nov. 28 – Celia Yeary (research on calico) - http://celiayeary.blogspot.com/ - A Little History of Feed Sacks. ebook winner - Mackenzie Crowne

Nov. 29 – P.L. Parker - http://www.plparker.blogspot.com/ - Condoms in the Old West and the Comstock Law of 1873. ebook winner Susan

Nov. 30 – Nikki Barrett - http://www.stormgoddessbookreviews.blogspot.com/ - The Hoosier. ebook winner Christine Warner

Dec. 1 – Val Pearson - http://www.booksthatleaveyoubreathless.blogspot.com/ - Women of Controversy. ebook winner Tami

AND

Liz Crowe - http://www.brewingpassion.com/ - Interview ebook winner Tracey D.

Dec. 2 – Jill James - http://www.jilljameswrites.com/ - Courting in the Old West. ebook winner Sarah L

Dec. 3 – Jeanne Guzman - http://romanceinflight.blogspot.com/ - Singer Sewing Machines. ebook winner Jerrie Alexander

Born in Ice release date December 4, 2011 (Daily installments of the Prologue and Chapter One of Born in Ice.)

Dec. 4 – Greta van der Rol - http://gretavanderrol.net/ ebook winner Victoria Roder

Dec. 5 – Linda Kage - http://www.lindakage.com/index.html ebook winner Carol Kilgore

Dec. 6 – Dawn Alexander - http://www.chasingsomeday.blogspot.com/   ebook winner Na

Dec. 7 – Jennifer Wilck - http://jenniferwilck.com/blog/ Fried Oreos ebook winner Quilt Lady

Dec. 8 – Nikki Duncan - http://nikkiduncan.com/blog/ ebook winner Rita Bay

Dec. 9 – Jennifer Jakes (A Marshal of Her Own) - http://www.authorjenniferjakes.blogspot.com/ Cooking in the Victorian Kitchen. ebook winner - Na

Dec. 10 – Allison Knight - http://www.allisonknight.blogspot.com/   ebook winner J.A. Garland

Dec. 11 – Holly Hunt - http://rhythempoets.wordpress.com/ Katheryn Ann Merkle

Dec. 12 – Lisa - http://www.lisasworldofbooks.net/   ebook winner Sarah L.
AND
Dec. 12 – Liz Flaherty - http://wordwranglers.blogspot.com/ ebook winner Kenzie Michaels

Dec. 13 - Joanne Renaud - http://www.joannerenaud.com/wordpress/   ebook winner CC Kaufman

Dec. 14 – J.D. Revezzo - http://harshadpassion.wordpress.com/ ebook winner Katheryn Ann Merkel

Dec. 15 – Rachel Ferasek - http://www.rachelfirasek.com/ - Christmas Wish 3 books I’d like to have and blurb, etc.

Drawing for the Kindle will be December 18, 2011.

I hope you will follow along. Happy Reading and Writing!

Linda

Contest for Born in Ice and Blog Tour

2011-11-20T22:22:00.001-06:00

To celebrate Born in ice, my futuristic romantic suspense, I'm having a drawing for this rhinestone frog pin. If you read the story, you'll understand why I picked this for the prize.

To enter, sign up for my newsletter by emailing me at linda@lindalaroque.com with Born in Ice in the subject line. A winner will be drawn on December 31, 2012.

Check back tomorrow, Monday, Nov. 21, 2011, for details on my Blog Tour to celebrate two releases--A Marshal of Her Own and Born in Ice.

I'll be blogging on 23 authors' blogs. Each day I'll give away an ebook. To be eligible, leave a comment. If you visit each blog on the tour and leave a comment, your name will be entered 23 times in the Grand Prize drawing for a Kindle.

I hope you'll join me for the entire tour. You could be the winner of a Kindle!

Happy Reading and Writing!

Linda
http://www.lindalaroque.com/

Time Travel Romances, in the 1990s and Today

2011-11-18T22:11:00.006-06:00

It's hard to believe the time travel romance genre has been around for over 20 years-- and I only first read Jude Deveraux's 1989 classic "A Knight in Shining Armor" this summer, which makes me several decades behind most other people. However, I fell in love with it, because it tackles so many issues that most time travel romances are too afraid to take on. Like for example, the quality of life issue the heroine faces in the past-- and what happens when she tragically mucks up the timeline with her meddling? It's an inventive tour de force that IMO hasn't been equalled.

My problem with a lot of time travel romances in the '90s, post "A Knight in Shining Armor," is how sugary and contrived many of them seemed to be. Judith O'Brien was a prolific and popular time travel romance author 15 years ago-- I'm quite fond of her YA time travel novel "Timeless Love" from 2002, but I'm not as crazy about the adult time travel romances she was writing earlier. Many of her earlier novels are inoffensively cute (like "Once Upon a Rose") but some of them are so romanticized that they left a bad taste in my mouth.

For example, "Ashton's Bride," where the heroine goes back to the Civil War era south, was particularly hard to read, especially since the Yankee heroine learns her lesson about why it's wrong to hate the Confederacy, and she ends up staying the 1860s, which is such a depressing prospect to me that I find it difficult to be happy for this character. I'm not comfortable viewing the Confederacy through such rose-colored glasses, and while I was reading "Bride," I kept thinking of Ta-nahesi Coates' provocative and fascinating piece in the Atlantic. Whether you agree with Coates or not, I think it's safe to say that, boyfriend or not, most modern-day women would prefer not to spend the rest of their lives in Reconstruction-era Tennessee. Probably the best time travel story I've ever read that involved the 19th century American south is Octavia Butler's "Kindred." It's not a romance in the genre sense-- but it is a love story, one which takes an uncompromising look at history, slavery, and race.

Many other time travel romances written in the '90s were pretty much fluff pieces, and while there's nothing wrong with that, sometimes I like to read time travel romances that aren't afraid to take on the darker aspects of history. Because of the proliferation of e-presses, I think the genre has opened up to edgier stories: I'm thinking mainly of Linda LaRoque's A Way Back, where the heroine time travels back to the early years of the Great Depression; she helps save the life of a banker who is financially ruined and on the verge of suicide. Another notable example is Carrie Lofty's Sundial, where the hero, a 1980s boy stranded in 1950s Italy, turns to selling heroin to survive.

Both of these stories, unlike many time travel romances that came out in the '90s, involve time travel to more recent decades in the 20th century.This is probably just a personal preference, due to my abiding love for such shows as "Quantum Leap," "Life on Mars" and "Journeyman," but I vastly prefer using modern history-- as opposed to the heroine going back to some more remote time period, like Charlemagne's France, or Renaissance Scotland. When I read some book where the heroine goes back to, say, the middle ages, I mainly think of how unlikely it is for her to even survive. How can she even communicate? Given the rampant infectious diseases common back then (like the sweating sickness), wouldn't it be likely for her to get sick and die? I know… wondering about disease and immunity isn't terribly romantic, but I think about these things. (One of the few medieval time travels I like is the "Doomsday Book" by Connie Willis. It's a superb story, though it's sci-fi, not romance; but it is believable and well-researched, though the main character, Kivrin, goes through hell. The Black Death ain't fun, that's for sure!)

I prefer 20th century time travel stories because I feel the hero or heroine has a much better chance of not dying. In LaRoque's "A Way Back," I wasn't surprised when Amber prospers in the 1930s, and decides to stay; and as for Lofty's "Sundial," Mark (the displaced 1980s guy) manages to survive, but it's incredibly difficult for him. In both stories, there are mentions of other people who've time traveled, and who haven't been as lucky-- I like how there's these chilling notes of how dangerous time travel is. As appealing as the idea of time travel is, there's something horrific to it, that I don't think should be forgotten. It's not all unicorns and rainbows. Think of such time travel movies like "Back to the Future II," George Pal's "The Time Machine" or most notably, Ray Bradbury's classic short story "The Sound of Thunder"-- time travel can be scary stuff.

One reason "Sundial" made such an impression on me is the romance between the modern-day, new millennium heroine, and 1980s Mark. When I first saw the story on Fictionwise, I was amazed that an author would use such a recent time period-- it reminded me, back in the mid '90s, when there would be discussions about time travel romances on various message boards, how people would react when I said I wanted to read about 1970s time travel. "But that was so recent! I remember it, and it was horrible!" was the usual response. And then I would say: "Yeah, but I could see the Sex Pistols and the Clash live when they were young! Plus I wouldn't have to worry about disease, or finding the right clothes, and I'd be okay if I went out by myself. As time travel goes, it would be relatively low stress. And a story where a girl goes back to the '70s would be fun, because-- not only would there be sex, drugs and rock and roll-- she could meet her relatives when they were young, like in 'Back to the Future.'"

At the time, I felt as if my suggestions fell on deaf ears, but I think a tiny seed of an idea was implanted in my mind. When I saw "Sundial" it reminded me of what I'd been saying about '70s time travel way back in '96: and I always wondered what it would be like to have an 1980s themed time travel romance. It took me a few years to get around to writing it, but I finally did at the end of last year: I called it A Question of Time (after the Depeche Mode song) and I was thrilled when it was accepted by Champagne Books over the summer. It's coming out in November 2012-- and if you're interested, you can see a more complete story of how this story came to be on my blog.

I think it is quite possibly the first 1980s time travel romance ever written-- and it's got New Wave bands, teen boutiques, nouvelle cuisine, ginormous glasses and boxy cars aplenty. But it's not all synthpop, leopard-print polyester, and pink neon; in honor of Carrie Lofty and Linda LaRoque, it takes on a few darker themes too. And sometimes I wonder what my younger self would say, if I could time travel back to 1996 and tell me what would happen.

Time travel back to the '90s? Hmmm, I wonder….

Joanne Renaud, who earned a BFA in illustration from Art Center College of Design, has been writing, drawing and painting as long as she can remember. She went to college in a variety of places, including Northern Ireland and Southern California, and enjoys history, comics, children’s books, and cheesy fantasy movies from the ’80s. She currently works as both an author and a freelance illustrator in the Atlanta area. Her novel "A Question of Time" is due for release from Champagne Books in November 2012, and her illustration clients include Simon & Schuster, Random House, Houghton Mifflin, Macmillan-McGraw Hill, Harcourt Inc., Compass Media, and GOS Multimedia. Thanks for being here today, Joanne. Good luck with your upcoming time travel release A Question of Time. Readers, click on the link above and read the blurb for her upcoming novel. Also, browse Joanne's beautiful website and artwork, connect with her on her blog , Twitter, deviantArt site and view her portfolio site.

Please leave Joanne a comment or a question and thanks for stopping by.
Linda

A Marshal of Her Own Release Contest

2011-11-08T21:28:00.000-06:00

A Marshal of Her Own, a short time travel set in 1890s Prairie, Texas will be released in ebook format only by The Wild Rose Press on November 23, 2011.

Blurb:

Despite rumors of “strange doings” at a cabin in Fredericksburg, investigative reporter Dessa Wade books the cottage from which lawyer, Charity Dawson, disappeared in 2008. Dessa is intent on solving the mystery. Instead, she is caught in the mystery that surrounds the cabin and finds herself in 1890 in a shootout between the Faraday Gang and a US Marshal.

Marshal Cole Jeffers doesn’t believe Miss Wade is a time traveler. He admits she’s innocent of being an outlaw, but thinks she knows more about the gang than she’s telling. When she’s kidnapped by Zeke Faraday, Cole is determined to rescue her. He’s longed for a woman of his own, and Dessa Wade just might be the one—if she’ll commit to the past.

A Marshal of Her Own is a sequel to A Law of Her Own available at the Wild Rose Press, Amazon.com, B&N.com and other online book seller.

Blurb of A Law of Her Own:

She won’t let an innocent man hang

When Charity Dawson resigns her father’s corporate law firm to pursue a career as a trial lawyer, she gets more of a change than she wanted. She finds herself transported to 1888 Texas in the middle of a murder trial.

Turner Reardon is on trial for killing his mistress. He’s given up all hope when an oddly dressed young woman disrupts his trial, claiming she can prove his innocence. Her testimony is brilliant, but his optimism is short lived when she also claims she’s a lawyer.

Charity doesn’t know how she arrived in Prairie, and no one believes she actually went to law school. Her evidence is tossed out and Turner is sentenced to hang. She has only one chance to save an innocent man’s life and find the real killer.

The third story in this series, A Love of His Own is awaiting a release date.

To celebrate the release of A Marshal of Her Own, I'm having a contest. The prize is a vintage rhinestone typewriter pin similar to the typewriter given to Dessa Wade in this story. It is approximately 1 3/8 by 1 3/8 inches.

To enter, sign up for my monthly using the form to the right or send an email to linda@lindalaroque.com with newsletter in the subject line. If you're already receiving my newsletter, send an email with A Marshal of Her Own Contest in the subject line.

A winner will be drawn on December 31, 2011.

I hope you'll enter, and if you haven't read the first book, I think you'll enjoy it.

Stay tuned as Born in Ice will be out in early December and I'll be announcing a contest for it also.

Thanks for Reading and Writing.
Linda
http://www.lindalaroque.com/

Last Leg of Route 66

2011-11-05T14:06:00.001-05:00

In November of 2007 our tour of Route 66 began. We drove to Amarillo, TX and made it all the way to Winslow, AZ. Smoke from grass fires filled the air and we decided to head home. Then in June 2010 we drove from the outskirts of Chicago to Oklahoma City. The kennel called and said our little dog Molly had had a seizure so we decided to head for home. One day we'll have to drive the short stip from Oklahoma City to Amarillo. On this trip, we started in Winslow, AZ, but let me back up a little.

I'm in the process of writing a romantic suspense set in New Mexico along the old road. A ghost is involved in the story as are some antique directional Zuni fetishes. If you're not familiar with Zuni fetishes, they are beautiful pieces of art. Google them and read up. I have four fetishes, three I purchased while in New Mexico on trip one, one I purchased in South Dakota, and I added two more to my collection on this trip--a raven and a porcupine. Both are significant to my story as is the white bear I bought in South Dakota.

So, we made a detour on our way to Winslow and spent the night in Zuni at the Inn of Halona. It's a lovely B&B right in the heart of Zuni land. Part of the structure has been there since the eighteen hundreds. Their breakfast is one of the best I've seen at an inn and the servings are generous. Try the blue cornmeal pancakes.

While in Winslow, we stayed at the historic La Posada Hotel, once a Harvey House. It is a beautiful place, filled with exhibits of days gone by. Amtrack still drops lodgers there and the dining room is well-know for its delicious cuisine.

The picture to the left depicts the entrace to the courtyard at La Posada. It has several gardens and iron artwork.

To the right is a few exhibits depicting the hotel in its early history. If you're interested, click on this link and read up about it's early construction, the Harvey girls, and its restoration.

The neat things and places we saw are too many to list, though I'll soon blog about Oatman, Clark Gable, and Carole Lombard as well as the small mining town of Calico, California.

I'd love to say we drove Route 66 all the way through LA, but we didn't have the time. Our resource said it would take all day, so we took the shortest route we could to the Santa Monica Pier. We were excited to reach the end of our journey and spent some time on the pier gazing out at the ocean and breathing in the salt air. We did learn that the actual route didn't end at the pier but somewhere downtown. In the 1950s, when the movies The Story of Will Rogers and The Grapes of Wrath came out and imortalized the road, the end was moved to the pier.

Back in the car, we drove up Highway 101, connected with scenic Highway 1 to San Simeon. I'll blog about the sights there on another day.

Thank you for stopping by and driving the old mother road with me. Happy Reading and Writing!

Linda

New Floor and Road Trip

2011-10-23T14:25:00.001-05:00

It's been a hectic two months for us. Our air conditioner overflow drain spilled water out onto our laminate wood flooring and ruined the floor in our entry hall and den. Fortunately insurance agreed to pay for the damaged area. We had a near white Pergo on our floors I loved, hubby not so much, and it could not be matched so we had to pick out something new. What a chore. There are so many styles and brands out there. Hubby wanted a dark wood but when we realized it would show dust even more than the lighter colors we decided on something lighter--Shaw's Tennessee hickory. It's beautiful. Our carpet in the bedrooms needed replacing so we put the laminate throughout the house. We did keep tile in the baths, kitchen and laundry.

The installers came on Monday, moved all furniture from our house except for our bedroom. They had to undercut all the door facings and fireplace so the laminate would flow nicely. Dust was everywhere and still is. I may never get the house fully clean. Fortunately for Larry, he has his shop outback and spent most of his time out there. I closed myself up in the bedroom with earplugs, our dog Molly by my side to keep her out of their way. On Wednesday they were through using the loud saw and dismantled our bedroom so I set up a make-shift office in the dining area.
You can see that Molly's bed is beside my chair. She didn't know what to think of the entire situation.

Thursday they moved our recliners back in so that we would have a place to sit comfortably and we were able to relax and watch a little tv. Before it was either sit in camp chairs or on the patio. Friday morning they brought in the remainder of our furniture and then our part of the cleanup began. Below are a couple of pictures.

Each day we get a little more dust out of here. I need to vacuum every wall, closet contents, books on wall shelves, etc. then hopefully as much won't show up on the floors and elsewhere. But, I guess that will have to wait until after our trip. We're afraid if we put off our trip, we won't go, and we need a vacation.

So, we head out Monday the 24th for the last leg of Route 66--Winslow, AZ to LA. Before we reach Arizona, we'll be spending a night at the Inn at Halona, a B&B on the Zuni Reservation in New Mexico. Several of my books, Flames on the Sky and my work in progress, A Stolen Chance, use Zuni animal fetishes in them and I've always wanted to visit the pueblo. I've purchased fetishes significant to the stories. Of course, I could always add another one.

When we reach the wharf in LA we plan to drive up Route 1, visit the Hearst Castle, Carmel, Monterrey, and San Francisco. We'd like to tour Alcatraz. We have cousins near San Francisco so will visit them and show us a few sites before we head home.

Stay tuned for updates and pictures of the places we visit.

Thanks for stopping by. Happy Reading and Writing!

Linda

A Cover for Born in Ice

2011-09-07T12:01:00.000-05:00

I'm thrilled to share the cover for my upcoming release with Champagne Books, Born in Ice, a futuristic romantic suspense. Here's a little about the story.

Pulled from an icy grave…into a world of doubt and danger.

Frozen in ice for seventy-five years, Zana Forrester suffers the agony of rebirth to learn her son is dead, and her daughter's whereabouts is unknown. The year is 2155. A man's soothing voice and gray eyes haunt her drug induced dreams. When she recovers, she meets their owner and finds her heart in danger. But, a relationship isn’t a consideration; she must find her daughter.

Brock Callahan is drawn to the beautiful woman taken aboard his salvage ship. He's determined she'll be his wife and a mother to his young daughter, but he vows not to love her. All the women he’s loved died. While Zana searches for her daughter, Brock must protect Zana from the evil that threatens.

Born in Ice will be released December 5, 2011.

Thanks for reading!

Linda
http://www.lindalaroque.com/

The Writer's Vineyards 4th Anniversary Contest

2011-08-29T19:56:00.001-05:00

TheWritersvineyard.com is celebrating their fourth anniversary with a mega contest of one book per week for X weeks. Starting Sept 1, each weekly contest is announced Monday morning at TWV and the winner selected the following Friday. There are two ways to win:

• Each Monday an author will announce their mystery question to win a paperback. Simply go to their website and search for the answer hidden in their excerpts and submit your answer to that authors email. The winner will be randomly drew from correct answers and announced the following Monday (first name and state) along with the next contest.

• Every other Monday a contest will be run for an E copy of that weeks author by drawing at random from our list of subscribers. The winner will be announced the next Monday along with the authors email and the winner is responsible for contacting the author.

• That’s a lot of happy winners. The following rules apply:

 For paperbacks, CD, and goodie bag prizes; only USA and Canada residents can play because of postage

 Winners of E copies can be from anywhere.

 To be fair to all, you can only win one book.

So, check The Writers Vineyard everyday and leave a comment to win.

Thanks for Reading!

Linda
http://www.lindalaroque.com/

Pitch Like a Pro Workshop with Kerri Nelson

2011-08-24T09:11:00.000-05:00

**Permission to Forward Granted and Encouraged**

Presented by Heart of Texas Romance Writers of America

Pitch Like a Pro for Writers (includes Editor pitch session)

Instructor: Kerri Nelson

Time: September 5-30, 2011

Cost: $25.00 to be paid via Paypal. Copy and paste the link below in your browser.

http://bit.ly/qLrLH9

(Please add your email address to your comments on paypal.)

Want to practice your pitch for an upcoming pitch session to an agent or editor? Need help refining your pitch to include in a query letter? Well, practice makes perfect!

Sign on for this handy pitch practice workshop, taught by multi-published romantic suspense author, Kerri Nelson. ***This is also the last time Kerri Nelson will offer this class.***

*During class you’ll get to practice your pitch (up to 4 drafts with suggested revisions) AND at the end of class you’ll have the opportunity to pitch before a real acquiring EDITOR from a major publisher!* Deb Werksman from Sourcebooks will be doing the private pitch reviews for this group.

Over the past five years, Kerri has pitched more than thirty different books in every imaginable genre (from erotica to young adult) to multiple agents and editors with a tremendous success rate for follow-up requests for both partial and full manuscripts. She has sold sixteen novels and novellas in the last two years after perfecting her pitch process!

In this intensive interactive course, Kerri offers up the secrets to nailing your pitch, how to score a home run with editors, and how not to stop short of getting the results you want!

Finally get the contract you’ve been waiting for!

Students from prior classes have sold 3 book deals to Sourcebooks, been offered representation by agents, and many other successes after perfecting their pitch with Kerri.

Instructor Bio:

Kerri Nelson has always been passionate about reading books but when she wrote her first poem in the second grade, she discovered her love of writing. At the age of sixteen, she became a columnist for her local newspaper as the high school correspondent for the weekly "Panther Tales" column. She won the Outstanding Young Journalist of the Year Award for her efforts.

After an education and career in the legal field, Kerri began to pen romantic suspense novels with a legal or law enforcement theme. She currently lives in the sunny south with her romance inspiring husband and her adorable children. When she’s not reading or writing, you’ll find her baking homemade goodies for her family. Kerri is an active member of Romance Writers of America, Celtic Hearts Romance Writers, and Futuristic Fantasy & Paranormal Romance Writers.

In addition, Kerri has been contracted to publish sixteen books in multiple genres. She continues to pitch both live and online to agents and editors on a monthly basis and has received requests for nearly one hundred percent of her pitches! Check out her website at: www.kerrinelson.com

We hope you will join us!

Linda
http://www.lindalaroque.com/

Hill Country Book Fair in Georgetown, Texas

2011-08-21T22:55:00.001-05:00

Saturday, August 20, 2011, I particpated in a book fair in Georgetown, Texas, at the San Gabriel Community Center. Authors from Texas and Oklahoma gathered with books and displays to attract visitor's interest. Organizers had activities for children, young muscians, and art displays. It was a fun day. Here are a few pictures.

To the left in this photo is my Champage Books writing buddy Ciara Gold. She writes historicals, fantasy, and time travels.

To the right is Thomas Nelson author,

Golden Keyes Parsons. She writes

inspirational historicals and her

historical time travel about Waco,

A Watch in Time, is being featured

in Waco Today.

Jami Bevens, art director for Flair Magazine also attended and had
copies of their beautiful magazine.

This is my good high school girl friend, Donna Arnold. I was thrilled to see a familiar face and so pleased she came to offer her support. Thanks, Donna!

Their will be another Hill County Book Fair February 11, 2012. I'm hoping to attend it also. I hope to see you there!

Happy Reading and Writing!

Linda

It's Nearly August and the Temperature is Rising

2011-07-30T14:10:00.001-05:00

What a summer. It's always pretty hot in Texas, but this year has been particularly warm and August is usually the hottest month. Temperature rise August arrived back in June. Right now we're marching up to nearly 30 days in triple digit temperatures and the forecast for this coming Thursday is 108. Here in Central Texas the humidity is higher than in areas of West Texas, but not as bad as at the coast. I know other areas of our country are suffering with high temperatures and they have a higher humidity level. No wonder so many people are having heat strokes. It's best to stay indoors and enjoy the air conditioning.

I worry for the people who don't have ac, especially for those with children and the elderly. And, please, please, please, do not leave your children in the car for one minute, even with the windows down some. Don't forget your pets. If they stay outdoors, be sure to have a big sturdy container of water for them in a shady area and possibly and pool to cool off in.

We have a sprinkler system and our yard usually looks pretty green throughout the summer months. Now have dead patches. My Rose of Sharon looks sad. My native hibiscus hasn't come up in three years. I guess it's dead. We're not watering as much due to the shortage of water and no rain. Each afternoon clouds come up and we think it might shower, but they blow over. Molly goes out and suns for a few minutes and then wants back in. She keeps me hopping. She also rolls around in it and brings dead grass in all over the floor and carpet. Oh well, she loves us!

Back in 1981or82, Larry and I traveled to Toronto for an Optimist International Conference. When we flew out of DFW Airport, it was 115 degrees. We arrived to temperatures in the low 80s. Our bus driver was sweating and said the temperatures were usually warm. A day later we were shopping for a jacket for Larry as he was cold. We thoroughly enjoyed our visit to the cooler clime.

I know it's not uncommon for the world to go through periods of extreme climates as we are now. Texas experienced a 7 year drought in the 1950s. Our situation is already worse than it was then and will continue to worsen if we don't get rain. The Edwards Aquifer is dangerously low. It makes you wonder if there is something to the global warming theory. Personally, I think it's a valid theory and we're seriously damaging our planet. It's easy for me to complain when I can't offer a solution. I'm not a scientist, but am a consumer and could change some of my habits. Any suggestions out there or what would help?

My upcoming release, Born in Ice, showcases a world living with the effects of global warming. Though it is based on some research and my imagination, it makes one wonder if future generations will experience similar changes.

Let's all pray for rain and a relief for all the heat and dryness. While we're at it, don't forget those areas that are flooded and have lost so much due to unusual downpours. What a shame we can share.

Thanks for Reading and Writing!

Linda

I Have a Question for Bloggers and Readers

2011-07-11T15:11:00.000-05:00

On Saturday I attended my local Heart of Texas RWA meeting. While at lunch, we discussed blogging and how important it was for the person blogging to respond to their reader's comments. Until recently, I've always tried to do this, but then I got to wondering, how many people actually check to see if I responded and do they really care if I do or not.

So, let me hear from you. What are your thoughts on this topic?

Thanks for Reading and Writing!

Linda

Ebook Drawing Winner for June

2011-07-05T21:09:00.001-05:00

P.L. Parker is my ebook winner for the month of June. Congratulations P.L. Take a look at my website and make a selection. I'll send the pdf right over.

Thanks to all who left a comment this month.

Happy Reading and Writing!

Linda

My RWA Experience - 2005 Reno

2011-06-16T17:33:00.002-05:00

Since the time for the RWA National Conference is near, I thought I'd share my hectic experience while at the conference in Reno. Go ahead. Laugh all you want. I can laugh too, now!

~~~~~~~

When I stepped into the tub/shower, my feet slipped from under me. It’s amazing what goes through your mind when airborne, especially when you’re over the hill. Oh, Lord, I’m a goner. Will the EMT’s have to lift me naked from the tub? What if I break something?

As my right hip hit the porcelain, the back of my head bounced off the tile wall. My conference buddies pounded on the bathroom door. “Are you all right?”

“I think so. Give me a minute.” I pushed up, didn’t feel any severe pain. “Yeah, I’m fine.” Other than considerable bruising, I was, but should’ve known then this trip was hexed. Evidently spending the night in Austin before our flight had been a bad idea.

Weary travelers. We'd registered and visited the "Goodie Room."

The following morning, we boarded our Reno bound plane to attend the National RWA conference. Once there, we piled into the back seat of a cab, where we were thrown from one side to the other on the tight curves, but within minutes were at the hotel, registering, getting freebie bags, and eyeballing the slot machines.

The workshops were wonderful. If you’ve been to an RWA conference, you know you get oodles of free books. The year before, I came home with over a hundred.

In our free time we played the slots. Did you know that while gambling, drinks are free? I didn’t, but learn fast. I won two-hundred dollars, lost it all, and ended up twenty dollars in the hole. Not bad for a four day stay.

The morning we left, books packed in every pocket, carry on bag, suitcase – anywhere we could stash them, we left the room. Way overloaded – I had a large wheeled wardrobe, my foldable cart on wheels, a big book bag, and my purse – I decided to put my driver’s license in my pocket so I wouldn’t have trouble locating it while in line at the airport.

After checkout, I collected our key cards and dropped them in the key box on our way out. Huffing and puffing with overloaded bags, we entered the airport to join the long line at check-in. When I reached in my pocket for my driver’s license, it wasn’t there. Sheer panic! I searched the floor all the way to the entrance. Could it have fallen out in the cab? Then it hit me. I’d dropped it in the room key box at the hotel.

How would I get on the plane? Would I miss the flight? When I got to the counter, I explained my situation.

The clerk asked. “Do you have another picture ID and a credit card in your name?”

Credit card, easy, but a picture ID…? Eureka! I whipped out my Sam’s card.

I was handed a boarding pass. “Be prepared to go through extra security.”

“No problem. As long as I get on that plane, I’m happy.” Of course, I didn’t have a clue what extra security meant.

I do now. Ever heard the expression, “Spread ‘um?”

In conclusion, if you're going to New York for the conference, be careful when stepping into the bathtub and don't put your drivers license with the room keys.

Have a great conference. I wish I could be there.

Happy Reading and Writing!

Linda

May's Ebook Winner

2011-06-08T18:47:00.001-05:00

Cheryl Pierson is this month's Ebook winner. Congratulations, Cheryl! Take a look at my books on my website and email me which one you'd like to have.

Thanks to all who entered by leaving comments.

Happy Reading and Writing!

Linda

Cover for A Marshal of Her Own

2011-06-03T22:43:00.000-05:00

Today I received this beautiful cover for my upcoming The Wild Rose Press release, A Marshal of Her Own. It was designed by the talented Kimberlee Mendoza. Thank you, Kimberlee!

A time travel set in 1890s Prairie, Texas, this story picks up where A Law of Her Own ended.

Here is a blurb.

Despite rumors of “strange doings” at a cabin in Fredericksburg, investigative reporter Dessa Wade books the cottage from which lawyer, Charity Dawson, disappeared in 2008. Dessa is intent on solving the mystery. Instead, she is caught in the mystery that surrounds the cabin and finds herself in 1890 in a shootout between the Faraday Gang and a US Marshal.

Marshal Cole Jeffers doesn’t believe Miss Wade is a time traveler. He admits she’s innocent of being an outlaw, but thinks she knows more about the gang than she’s telling. When she’s kidnapped by Zeke Faraday, Cole is determined to rescue her. He’s longed for a woman of his own, and Dessa Wade just might be the one—if she’ll commit to the past.

I'll post the release date as soon as I have it. At present I'm working on a third story set in Prairie, Texas.

I've not forgotten May's Ebook drawing. I hope to let my grandson draw a name this weekend.

Happy Reading and Writing!

Linda
http://www.lindalaroque.com/

Book Signing and Workshop in Columbus, Texas

2011-05-30T10:17:00.002-05:00

On May 14th I presented a mini-workshop titled "Anyone Can Write a Romance, Right?" to a small group at the Nesbitt Library in Columbus, Texas. Afterwards I signed books. I had a wonderful time. Not only did I get to visit with my good friend from high school, Sally Shepherd Rogers, but I met some wonderful people.

The Nesbitt Library has a beautiful antique doll collection. If you're in the area, stop in and walk through their exhibit.

Columbus is on the Colorado River and is home to the second largest oak tree in Texas. It is located directly across from the post office. Large oak trees are everywhere--in yards and in the middle of the streets. Here are a few pictures we took.

Nesbitt Library

If you look closely you can see the tree in the road.

Two trees in this street.

Columbus has a beautiful old Opera House. When the structure was built, it housed a bank below and the opera house upstairs. It's been restored to it's original character and severs as a Dinner Theater today. Below are offices.

Below is a picture that hangs in one of the local motels. It is by Ken Turner, a local Columbus artist. Look at it closely. Leave a comment and tell me what is unusual about this piece of art.

Leave a comment to be entered into my monthly Ebook drawing.

Happy Reading and Writing!

Linda

http://www.lindalaroque.com/

Song writer Andy Wilkinson is my Guest Today

2011-05-21T16:49:00.001-05:00

Andy at the evening singing at the Retreat

In early April, I attended the Texas Mountain Trail Writer's Retreat in Alpine, Texas. There were several wonderful speakers--Texas Poet Laureate Larry Thomas, Family Folklorist Beverly Six, and Songwriter Andy Wilkinson. All of the presenters were wonderful. I now even believe, if I can find time, I'd like to try my hand at writing a few poems and possibly dabble with writing some family folklore stories.

I doubt I'll try my hand at songwriting, but being a lover of research and the American West, I thoroughly enjoyed Andy Wilkinson's historical facts on his descendant the famous Texas cattle rancher Charlie Goodnight. It was doubly interesting to me because Charles Goodnight is mentioned in my upcoming release, A Marshall of Her Own, a time travel romance set in the fictitious Texas Panhandle town of Prairie.

Andy's album, "Charlie Goodnight: his life in poetry and song," is a tribute to his relative, however in the introduction in the album, Andy states that he didn't write about his relative because of their personal relationship. "I write about Charlie Goodnight, instead, because his life is the perfect metaphor for the people and land I most love...I do not wish to tell Charlie Goodnight's history, although I've been faithful to the facts. Rather, it is my hope to tell the truth that lies beyond these facts."

Cynthia Ann and her daugher
Prairie Flower.

He does an excellent job of doing just that in his song about Cynthia Ann Parker. Andy shared with us how he discovered a reporter's interview of Cynthia Ann after her return from captivity in 1834. She'd lived with the Comanches for twenty-four years, married, and born three children. They became her family and for the remainder of her life, she longed to rejoin them. The reporter asked Cynthia what she disliked about living among the whites. She said their houses, because they were cold in the winter and hot in the summer. In a teepee, the sides are rolled up in the summer to let the air flow through and in the winter, the sides are rolled down to keep the heat from the fire inside. She also didn't like white women's clothes. I think all women can relate to her dislike of the garmets women wore in that time period.

Andy's song, "White Women's Clothes," will touch your heart. He sang it for us at the workshop and I think few in the room weren't touched by Cynthia Ann's life. I know I had goosebumps. Many believe she died of a broken heart. Her young daughter died of pneumonia and after her return to the whites, she never saw her sons again. Her son, Quanah Parker, was the last Comanche Chief.

Andy has given me permission to post his song.

White Women's Clothes (Copyright, 1994)

In the moon you call December,
On the river you call the Pease,
It was cold, and I remember
We had just packed-up to leave,
When a mounted line of soldiers,
A-sparkle in the sun,
Rode down upon our warriors
And shot them one-by-one.

And the ponies of our women,
They were loaded down and slow
With our lodge-poles and equipment
And the meat of our buffalo.
So the cowards of your cavalry,
When all the fight was o'er,
Killed the women and their babies,
'Cept for me and Prairie Flow'r.

CHORUS:
          The white man's liberation
          Took me from my home
          For the prison of his houses
          And his white women's clothes.

You could see my hair was flaxen,
You could see my eyes were blue,
See my skin was white and ashen
Or you would've shot me, too.
But you could not see the baby
That I cradled in my robes,
A small, red-skinned Comanche,
The color of my soul.

CHORUS:
          The white man's liberation
          Took me from my home
          For the prison of his houses
          And his white women's clothes.

Dressed-up for your amusement
In your used and second-hands,
You parade me through your settlements
And you call me Cynthia Ann.
In these walls, I'm suffocating
Where the wind never blows,
While my heart is strangulating
In these white women's clothes.

CHORUS:

           The white man's liberation
           Took me from my home
           For the prison of his houses
           And his white women's clothes.

Andy Wilkinson's bio:

A poet, song writer, singer, and playwright whose particular interest is the history and peoples of the Great Plains, Andy Wilkinson has recorded eight albums of original music and has written seven plays: “Charlie Goodnight’s Last Night,” a one-man show performed by Mr. Barry Corbin; the musical drama “My Cowboy’s Gift;” “The Soul of the West” (written with Red Steagall); "A Way In the West," a one-woman show performed by Ms. Trudy Fair; and commission pieces “The Fires of Camp” (an historical musical for the City of Lubbock); “The Drovers” (for Texas Frontier Trails, Mineral Wells, TX), and “The Lost Letter” (McKinney, TX). His work has received several awards, including the Texas Historical Foundation’s John Ben Shepperd Jr. Craftsmanship Award, and three National Western Heritage “Wrangler” Awards, two for original music and one for poetry. He is Artist in Residence at the Southwest Collection at Texas Tech University, where he is also visiting assistant professor in the School of Music and in the Honors College. In addition to his writing and teaching, he tours extensively in the US and abroad.

Thank you, Andy, for allowing me to post your song.

Readers, I hope you'll leave a comment for Andy or ask him a question. Remember, each time you comment on my blog you'll be entered into my monthly Ebook drawing. Visit Andy Wilkinson to see other albums he has available. To purchase "White Women's Clothes" or other albums, click on this link.

Happy Reading and Writing!

Linda
http://www.lindalaroque.com/

Guest Allison Knight

2011-05-11T20:17:00.000-05:00

Years ago, my little sister and I played opera. So what on earth does that have to do with being a writer? Why, I was into pretend. Of course, I was always the heroine. As I grew, I read. One of my greatest joys was sneaking off to a private corner where I could read. Once a week, we'd go to the public library and during those years I read every Cherry Ames Nurse books. Okay, so right away you can tell I went for romantic stories.

It was about then I began to write, at first poetry. In the eighth grade, one of the local organizations offered a scholarship award, a whole fifty dollars, based on the best essay. I abandoned poetry and turn to writing essays. I won the scholarship and I knew then I would be a writer. The question - what would I write - never entered my mind. I would be a writer. I do have to smile though, remembering my college English professor. Nothing about my writing ability pleased her. In fact, if I remember correctly, she begrudgingly gave me a "C-" for a final class grade.

After college, I began to teach, and met the love of my life, married and began our family. I discovered the romance genre. I found I loved the feel good, happy endings you always got with romances. One day I began a book which became the genesis for my passion to write historical romances. The book was well written - I thought. But I found problems with the book. The heroine's eyes changed color twice. A mother-in-law who played a small part disappeared, never to be heard from again. An important character suddenly appeared out of nowhere, and I remember thinking at the time, where did he come from. I sat in our bedroom, my reading corner and stared at that book. I just knew I could do a better job.

I dragged out the typewriter and announced I was going to write a book. My children thought it was hilarious and my daughter told me, "Oh, yea, Mom. When cows fly."

My husband didn't crack a smile, bless his heart. He built a place in the basement of our home so I had a special place to write. When I started having trouble planning the action, he suggested I plot the story out using a time line. He even supplied the paper. When I sold my first books I came home from school to find a stuffed toy cow, adorned with a set of wings flying around the family room attached to our ceiling fan. It seemed "Cows could fly." I dedicated that first book to my children, telling them to look up.

I've learned a lot over the years but I do believe if I hadn't read so much and didn't love books, I would never have tried to write. And I found you can never learn too much. If you don't continue to grow, to develop, to improve, you can not succeed. Looking at each of my seventeen books I can truthfully say, I have learned, I have grown, I have improved. Am I finished developing, learning? Nope, not a chance. There's still a lot more to learn.

Thank you for being my guest today. I have to say, the cover for Roses for my Lady is beautiful.

Here's a blurb:
Intense, scholarly, big sister Meredith Ward is happy to see her little sister off to a country party until she discovers a Valentine card outlining plans for an elopement between her sister and the brother of an aristocrat. She leaves her cottage to halt their plans only to run into trouble herself.

Baron Gavin Sinclair learns late one evening about his brother's plans to wed a most undesirable young woman. His attempt to stop that union puts Meredith in his arms. Thinking she is the bride-to-be, he holds her hostage never realizing it will be his heart he loses.

Allison's bio:

Award winning author, Allison Knight claims she's married to the world's greatest husband because he's her greatest supporter and works with her on all her projects. The mother of four children, Allison retired from teaching to baby six grandkids and now, since they've grown, three cats. She has published seventeen romances and because she loves to share her knowledge blogs often. She also loves to talk about the growing digital market.

Thank you for being with us today, Allison. Visit Allison on her website and blog.

Readers, please leave Allison a comment to be entered in my monthly Ebook drawing.

April's Ebook Winner

2011-05-05T20:58:00.000-05:00

April's ebook winner is Peg. Congratulations, Peg! Go to my website and take a look at my books. Email me your choice and I'll shoot it right over to you.

Thank you all for your comments.

Linda
http://www.lindalaroque.com/

Two New Contracts

2011-05-02T19:07:00.000-05:00

I'm pleased to announce two new contracts. Champagne Books will publish my futuristic romance, Born in Ice, in December 2011.

Here is a blurb for Born in Ice.

Pulled from an icy grave…into a world of doubt and danger.

Frozen in ice for seventy-five years, Zana Forrester suffers the agony of rebirth to learn her son is dead, and her daughter's whereabouts is unknown. The year is 2155. A man's soothing voice and gray eyes haunt her drug induced dreams. When she recovers, she meets their owner and finds her heart in danger. But, a relationship isn’t a consideration; she must find her daughter.

Brock Callahan is drawn to the beautiful woman taken aboard his salvage ship. He's determined she'll be his wife and a mother to his young daughter, but he vows not to love her. All the women he’s loved die. While
Zana searches for her daughter, Brock must protect Zana from the evil that threatens.

A Marshal of Her Own doesn't have a release date yet but will be published by The Wild Rose Press. It is the second story in the Prairie Texas Series. The first story is A Law of Her Own.

Here is a blurb for A Marshal of Her Own.

Despite rumors of “strange doings” at a cabin in Fredericksburg, investigative reporter Dessa Wade books the cottage from which lawyer, Charity Dawson, disappeared in 2008. Dessa is intent on solving the mystery. Instead, she is caught in the mystery that surrounds the cabin and finds herself in 1890 in a shootout between the Faraday Gang and a US Marshal.

Marshal Cole Jeffers doesn’t believe Miss Wade is a time traveler. He admits she’s innocent of being an outlaw, but thinks she knows more about the gang than she’s telling. When she’s kidnapped by Zeke Faraday, Cole is determined to rescue her. He’s longed for a woman of his own, and Dessa Wade just might be the one—if she’ll commit to the past.

I so enjoyed sharing my news.

Thank you for reading and Writing!

Linda
http://www.lindalaroque.com/,

The movie Giant and Hotel Paisano

2011-04-16T13:43:00.002-05:00

Larry and I traveled to Marfa, Texas before going to the writer's retreat last weekend. We'd visited the Hotel Paisano several times to take pictures and walk through the shops and the Giant movie memorabilia room. During the making of Giant, stars and crew stayed in the hotel and today guests can stay in the Rock Hudson and Elizabeth Taylor suites. James Dean's room is one of the basic rooms, but all accommodations have been restored to maintain their historical integrity. Hudson and Taylor soon moved to rented houses in the small town. It's interesting to read accounts of people driving miles to see the movie set and try to glimpse the stars. Google the making of Giant and read some of the stories.

Here are a few pictures of the movie memorabilia.

I've always wanted to stay in the hotel and this trip talked Larry into it. We thought about one of the suites but settled on a room on the mezzanine where the rooms have small patios with an outdoor fireplace. Nights are beautiful in west Texas and we envisioned a fire and a glass of the Enchanted Rock red wine we picked up in Fredericksburg. Below are a few pictures of our room.

Pictured to each side is the side entrance to the hotel, an interior view of the side hallway and shops. Below is the patio entrance where diners can enjoy their evening meal, have drinks and visit with friends, or merely enjoy the fresh air while reading and pictures of the lobby.

Take a look at the beautiful floor tiles. Though the hotel has air conditioning, it's designed so that breezes rush through keeping the entry area cool. Notice below the indoor pool where the stars swam. Some rooms overlook the pool with small lanais.

And here is the Palace Theatre where the cast watched movies and screened film clips from the movie. Each evening a plane took off from the small airport to deliver film for processing to a studio in California. It returned the following morning with the processed film ready for viewing. The theatre is no longer open but is the home of an artist.

Can you imagine a book written to take place during this exciting event? Maybe the story of an extra? I can.

I hope you enjoyed my visit to Hotel Paisano. There are a number of vintage pictures on the web just ready for your viewing and stories galore. Please leave a comment to be entered in my monthly ebook drawing.

Happy Reading and Writing!

Linda

http://www.lindalaroque.com/

The Winner of Michael Murphy's autographed book is....

2011-04-13T17:53:00.000-05:00

Deborah Margean Anderson. Congratulations, Deborah. Email your snail mail address to linda@lindalaroque.com and I'll get it to Michael.

Thank you all who visited yesterday and especially those who left Michael a comment.

It was great having you here, Michael, to share your newest release Scorpion Bay. Best of luck with sales and with your future works.

Happy Reading and Writing, folks!

Linda

Guest author Michael Murphy

2011-04-11T23:31:00.004-05:00

I'm pleased to have Michael Murphy on my blog today. I've known Michael for several years and enjoy his works. Today he's talking about his newest release, Scorpion Bay. Take a look. It sounds like an awesome read.

Bio:

Award winning novelist Michael Murphy and his wife make their home in Arizona with their two cats, four dogs and five chickens. He enjoys writing mystery and suspense novels with twists
and turns and splashes of humor.

Scorpion Bay is his seventh novel.

Here's the story behind Scorpion Bay.

When I came up with the story for Scorpion Bay, I knew I wanted to write a mystery/suspense novel involving a Phoenix newscaster. Like my others there would be a mix of humor and offbeat characters along with the danger and suspense. I had everything except a title.

Placing a novel in a real life setting requires accuracy in the details. Since several scenes take place at a marina at Lake Pleasant, I visited the lake so I could accurately convey how the characters would interact with the setting. At the visitors center, I learned all about the lake from a helpful employee. As I was getting ready to leave, he mentioned they were building a new marina at Scorpion Bay.

Had I heard him right? Yup Scorpion Bay. Sounded like a great place for an Arizona lake marina and more importantly, it sounded like the title of a mystery/suspense novel. That's how I came to write Scorpion Bay.

Blurb:

When a car bomb kills the prosecuting attorney and a key witness against a powerful bioengineering industrialist, the blast shatters the life of the attorney’s husband, popular Phoenix television investigative reporter, Parker Knight. After authorities hit a dead end, Parker risks his career and his life to seek his own revenge. Riding a high tech motorcycle and wearing a black disguise, the crusading newsman inadvertently becomes a media created superhero jeopardizing his quest for justice.

You can view the book trailer at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXNPdVVh3ck

Scorpion Bay is available in Kindle.

Paperback is available at Second Wind Publishing.

To learn more about Michael, visit his website.

Connect with Michael on Facebook and Twitter.

Today Michael will be giving away an autographed copy of his first novel Try and Catch the Wind to one lucky commenter. So, leave Michael a comment. You'll also be entered into my monthly ebook drawing.

Thank you for joining us today, Michael and best of luck with sales. I'll be buying a copy of soon.

Happy Reading and Writing!
Linda

Spring is Bustin' Out All Over

2011-04-02T23:43:00.002-05:00

Over at The Long and the Short of It. Check out the prizes and visit each day in April to read the blog posts by guest. Click here for the LASR Guest Blog Posts to read the guests posts each day in April.

I'll be blogging on April 16th. My post is titled Texas Blooms in the Spring. I hope you'll join me.

Thanks for reading and writing!

Linda
http://www.lindalaroque.com/

Sally's Missive

2011-03-27T23:41:00.004-05:00

Sally Shepherd Rogers is a friend from my school days. I won't say how many years ago we attended the University Junior and then University Senior High School. Let me just say, in our earlier years Alice Lon , a performer on the Lawrence Welk Show, petticoats were in style. Sally and I reconnected in 2009 when our high school had a reunion.

Sally shared an article she writes for her church newletter. I'd like to share it with you and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Sally's Missive

Whatcha doin‘?” my daughter-in-law asked when she noticed my 14-year-old grandson gazing fixedly at his brand-new baby brother.

“I’m observing him,” the young genius replied. (I’m not being facetious here, he actually is certifiably brilliant.)

“And so,” his mother questioned, “what are the results of your observations so far?”

“Well. . .he breathes, he changes colors, and he exhibits a wide variety of facial expressions.”

My grandson can be forgiven for attempting to use the scientific method to explain a new human -- or even a used one for that matter. After all, throughout our history, we’ve applied much worse and more damaging methods of defining ourselves and our young, often to the detriment of our entire race. I remember a statement I heard years ago, made by a television character who each week dealt with the most sordid of fictional crimes.

When another character asked how he could stand to even look upon those who so horribly victimized others, the ersatz detective answered: “I try to remember that each one of them was once an infant, someone’s child. Then, I look for that child in every criminal.”

That insight has stayed with me throughout the years, although I’ve not always successfully implemented it. I will keep trying, though, and with God‘s help, I‘ll get there.

Of course, there’s the ongoing, never-ending contention between “experts” as to whether infants are molded by environment or genetics. I’m pretty sure we’ll never know the answer to that.

In my experience as a two-time mom and six-time grandmother, however, I’ve concluded babies are neutral. They are inarguably born innocent, yet they’re neither good nor evil. They’re a blank slate upon which others write until the child grows old enough to write for himself. But even then, what’s been previously written will affect the adult that little one becomes.

At our recent diocesan council, a young man stood before the 400 assembled clergy and delegates and, while choking back tears, told of being sexually abused as a child. I was awed by his courage -- that’s not an easy tale to tell. The man had suffered, and it was obvious he suffered still from what had been done to him.

Children are vulnerable and defenseless. Only the most cowardly, only the lowest of the low would seek to harm one of them. My anger at those perpetrators is intense and, I must admit, vengeful.

But then, with God’s help I can perhaps remember this -- that even the worst of us were ourselves once infants, and our own slates were written upon by others, whether for good or for ill.

I must bear in mind that victim and victimizer alike once lay helpless in a crib, where each breathed, changed colors, and exhibited a wide variety of facial expressions.

I must remember that even the most immoral of us were once innocents.

And with God’s help, I will.

Thank you readers for stopping by. Please leave Sally a comment. Happy Reading and Writing!

Linda
http://www.lindalaroque.com/

A Way Back is out in Paperback

2011-03-16T10:15:00.000-05:00

I'm thrilled to announce that my time travel set in the 1930s oil fields of Texas is now out in paperback.

Here is a short blurb.

In the 1930s oil fields of Texas, a woman from the future finds new purpose as she helps a banker rebuild his financial empire.

Wellman Hathaway, owner and CEO of Hathaway Bank in New York struggles to pay his depositors half their losses. A woman claiming to be from the future appears in his office and involves him in a scheme that forces them into marriage. With Amber's knowledge of the financial history of the 1930s, they travel to the oil fields of Texas to recoup Wellman's funds.

Two people from different centuries are thrown together to survive a difficult time. Will they find more than A Way Back to prosperity?

Excerpt:

Do it her mind screamed. In one swift move she locked her arms around his waist, pulled, and dropped to the floor. She cringed at the loud crack when his head hit the window sash as he fell back landing on top of her.

They both remained still for a moment. The air knocked out of her, she managed to gasp out, “Could you move? You’re squashing me.”

He rolled and her head bounced on the floor as she changed positions from trying to rise to flat on her back. Long arms held hers above her head and muscled legs kept her body from moving. Striking gray eyes pierced hers, examining every inch of her. Her face flushed at the intrusion and she struggled to get him off. He applied more pressure and she stilled.

A lock of blonde hair fell over his forehead, a patrician nose flared in anger, as his square jaw tightened. He ground out, “Who the hell are you and why’d you try to knock my head off?”

Click on this link to buy your copy of A Way Back.

Thank you for reading and writing!

Linda

http://www.lindalaroque.com/

April Writers' Retreat in Alpine

2011-03-08T18:21:00.000-06:00

Poets, Western Writers, and Folklorist Meet in the Mountains

Poets, western historians, and writers wanting to collect and record folk stories about their local area or their family will be impressed with the professional lineup at the 20th annual Texas Mountain Trail Writers' Western Round-Up in Alpine, April 8, 9, 10.

Larry Thomas, 2008 Poet Laureate of Texas, will be a headliner and is offering an unprecedented treat, a free critique of one poem to each registered participant. In addition Andy Wilkinson, western historian, poet, playwright, and songwriter will join the team, and it will be rounded off by Dr. Beverly Six, a Sul Ross State University professor who will teach the collecting, recording, and writing of folklore.

The retreat is held at a church encampment in the mountains west of Alpine. Cost for the weekend, with speakers and five meals included is $135 before March 15 and $150 after. Inexpensive rustic lodging can be had at the encampment, or there are many motels in Alpine. The weekend is fun and informative. For the Retreat Overview or information, email Reba Cross Seals rcrossseals@wildblue.net or Jackie Siglin bakedalaska1@bigbend.net or visit our website at http://www.texasmountaintrailwriters.org/

I love to attend this retreat. The folks are fun, the food wonderful, and the mountain air so refreshing. If you'd like to see some pictures, go to the photo album on my website.

Thanks for reading and writing!

Linda

Would you like a copy of Recipe for Romance, an Excerpt Cookbook?

2011-03-01T22:17:00.000-06:00

When you become a follower of my blog I try to send you a copy of the excerpt cookbook, Recipe for Romance, a number of authors put together several years ago. However, sometimes I can't get blogger to send the email. So, if you'd like a copy and haven't received one, email me at linda@lindalaroque.com and put Recipe for Romance in the subject line. I'll shoot one over to you.

Thanks!

Linda
http://www.lindalaroque.com/

Male Bashing

2011-02-21T12:24:00.001-06:00

Male bashing is on the rise, especially on television. My husband is the first person who brought it to my attention. He expressed indignation at some of the commercials on television and the way they portrayed men. Then, someone mentioned it on Facebook with the idea of how the supposedly funny commercials would affect the self esteem of young boys as they grew into manhood. Do we want them to think the world looks at them as a laughing stock?

No! What has caused the rise of said commercials? Possibly the increase of women in the workplace as they travel up the career ladder and gain equal footing with men. This is good. I'm proud of and for women. I'm one myself. The status was hard earned and well deserved. But, does their success lessen the role men play in the workplace, home, and the world?

Of course not. Women wanted equality and got it. Some women no longer want to be treated like women, don't believe men should open doors for them, etc. Personally, I like being able to provide for myself if necessary, but enjoy the perks of being a woman. And by golly, when a man opens the door for me, I say, "Thank you."

I don't want our young boys to see men portrayed on television and elsewhere as boobs. I want them to see strong men who're not afraid to change a baby's diaper but still able to defend the world if necessary, and strike romance in their love's heart. The type of men we romance authors want our heroes to be.

I think the majority of women today want to be on equal status with men, be partners in a relationship, each contributing with their strengths and their spouse/partner supporting their weaknesses. It'd be nice to see commercials depicting this view.

Of course, this is my opinion and you may feel differently. I'd love to hear your thoughts, and please, share some examples of those commercials guilty of male bashing.

Thanks for reading and writing!

Linda
http://www.lindalaroque.com/

Winner of A Way Back Contest

2011-02-01T23:05:00.000-06:00

Just a few minutes ago my husband drew a name from the entries. The winner of this beautiful rhinestone airplane pin, similar to the one worn by the heroine in A Way Back, is Kat Hall. Congratulations, Kat. Send me your snail mail address at linda@lindalaroque.com and I'll put your pin in the mail.

Thanks to all who entered. If you've not picked up a copy of A Way Back, they are available at Champagne Books, Omnilit, and Amazon.

Linda
http://www.lindalaroque.com/

Reviews for A Way Back and Flames on the Sky

2011-01-17T11:42:00.000-06:00

First, let me say, it's been a hectic couple of months and I've been lax in posting regularly. I promise to do better. Second, if you've not signed up for my monthly newsletter, I hope you'll do so. You can use the form on this page or email me at linda@lindalaroque.com with NEWSLETTER in the subject line and I'll put you on the list. If you'd also like to enter my A WAY BACK contest for the rhinestone pin, put NEWSLETTER/A WAY BACK CONTEST in the subject line. Third, don't forget to leave a comment for my monthly ebook drawing.

I'm thrilled with the reviews A WAY BACK has received and all so shortly after its release. To read the entire review, click on the link.

You Gotta Read Reviews by Val - You Need to Read

"Having read some of Ms. LaRoque's work before, I knew I would be in for a treat. Each book is like a breath of fresh air and another opportunity to get lost in another world. I'm not a fan of history but this book made learning about the 1930's so much fun. It's evident that Ms. LaRoque has done her homework on A Way Back and because of that, I was totally immersed in the time period. Ms. LaRoque paid excellent attention to detail and her writing style is polished and easy to follow. Whether it be the engaging plot line, compelling characters or talented author, I highly recommend you read this book."

The Romance Studio by Theresa B. - 5 Hearts

"I liked how the author blended the modern and the old. Amber was a modern woman who took no man's gruff and knew her way around the business world. Wellman was straight-laced, a typical slightly stuffy 1930's man. Even though Amber had different ideas about women in the work place, Wellman made little objection to her ideas. To me, this made him a more forward thinking man and a great person for Amber to hook up with. The author did a very good job on the finer details of the story, adding interesting tidbits. There was mention in the story of a time traveler before Amber made a appearance, it would of been nice to have them meet or to tell what happened to him. But I guess that's another story."

Long and Short Reviews by Camillia - 4 Books

"Ms. LaRoque’s descriptions of settings and emotional stress of that time are amazing and attention keeping. Even though A Way Back is short, the characters come to life as she tells of Alva’s swollen feet and legs, of Samuelson’s fury, and of the odor of unwashed bodies that labor under horrible conditions. She assails the reader’s senses with the smell, feel, sight, and sound of an oil well blowing. Of course, the Wall Street bankers’ condescension when Amber takes control of the bank is not to be missed—so many “unladylike” words come to mind to describe them.

How Amber and Wellman cope with a situation forced upon them in a disastrous economic time creates sad, funny, and emotional charged events as they each reach for a happy-ever-after that looks impossible. While A Way Back is an incredible revelation of the tremendous changes that have taken place in less than a century, it is most of all a beguiling love story about two caring people."

It was great to get another review for my fall 2009 release FLAMES ON THE SKY

You Gotta Read Reviews by Val - You Gotta Read

"The characters throughout this book are very well developed and Ms. LaRoque brings vivid life to the Chocoan Anasazi heritage . I am not a history buff. It's hard for me to grasp how people lived in the past, but when I can read a romance novel and learn something, I fall in love with history. Ms. LaRoque lays the foundation for life as it was back then. She leads the reader into the customs of the time and how different that time period is from ours now. I find time travel fascinating and Linda LaRoque makes it more than just a learning experience, she also makes it fun. Flames on the Sky was an action packed read that kept getting more interesting the more I read. I never knew which turn the story would take and was very pleased with the ending. I highly recommend Flames on the Sky for anyone who loves romantic suspense laced with some history and time travel. This was a full bodied novel that you don't want to miss."

Now I must get back to the grindstone. I'm in the middle of a time travel set in the Texas Panhandle in 1889. It's a followup to A LAW OF HER OWN. The working title is SEEKER OF TRUTH. An investigative reporter returns to the cabin near Fredericksburg to learn what happened to Charity Dawson. I'm also working on a romantic suspense set along old Route 66 in New Mexico.

Thanks for stopping by. Happy Reading and Writing!

Linda
http://www.lindalaroque.com/

A Way Back is now out!

2011-01-03T12:24:00.000-06:00

To get your copy go to Champagne Books/. I hope you enjoy this story as much I loved writing it.

Sign up for my newsletter either by using the form to the right or by emailing me at linda@lindalaroque.com with A Way Back Contest/Newsletter in the subject line to be entered in the drawing. Prize is a rhinestone airplane pin similar to the one Wellman Hathaway gave to Amber Mathis as a momento of her barnstorming experience. Sorry, I could afford diamonds!

Thanks for reading and writing!

Linda

http://www.lindalaroque.com/

Contest for A WAY BACK

2010-12-16T15:18:00.001-06:00

In celebration of my January Champagne Books release, A WAY BACK, I'll be giving away this rhinestone airplane pin on January 31, 2011. In the story, the hero, Wellman Hathaway gives a diamond airplane pin to the heroine, Amber Mathis, as a memento to ride in a barn stormer. To enter, leave a comment here AND sign up to receive my monthly newsletter. If you're already signed up for my newsletter, send an email with AWAY BACK CONTEST in the subject line to linda@lindalaroque.com/

Here is a blurb for this time travel set in the 1930s oil fields of Texas.

In the 1930s oil fields of Texas, a woman from the future finds new purpose as she helps a banker rebuild his financial empire.

Amber Mathis, a Wall Street investment banker, returns to her office after burying her mother. Distraught, tired of the rat race, she's determined to make a career change. In the elevator she falls and rises to find herself in a vintage lift. The date is February 25, 1930, and a man stands on the window ledge in her office ready to jump.

Wellman Hathaway, owner and CEO of Hathaway Bank in New York struggles to pay his depositors half their losses. A woman claiming to be from 2011 appears in his office and involves him in a scheme that forces them into marriage. With Amber's knowledge of the financial history of the 1930s, they travel to the oil fields of Texas to recoup Wellman's funds.

Two people from different centuries are thrown together to survive a difficult time. Will they find more than A Way Back to prosperity?

I loved writing this story. Peeking back into past history is such fun--to me anyway. I hope you'll enter my contest.

Happy Reading and Writing!

Linda
http://www.lindalaroque.com/

Ebook Winner for November 2010

2010-12-01T21:34:00.000-06:00

Congratulations to Rosemary Gemmell. Rosemary, you're my ebook winner for November. You can wait until January for A Way Back or go to my website and select one of my other stories. Email me your choice at linda@lindalaroque.com/

Happy Reading and Writing all!

Linda

A Way Back - Upcoming Release from Champagne Books

2010-11-26T12:33:00.000-06:00

Gee, it's been awhile since I've posted on my blog. I do have a good excuse, though. I had a bone fusion on my right thumb November 8th and the surgery slowed my writing considerbly. I have to hit the space bar with my pointer finger. Unfortunately, when I aim for the m or n, I often hit the space bar and have to back up. Hopefully the pins will come out on December 15th. and I won't have to wear the brace any longer.

Today I'd like to share the cover and a blurb for my novella time travel romance, A Way Back, coming out with Champagne Books in January. I'm thrilled with the cover. Trisha FitzGerald is the artist. Thank you, Trisha!

In the 1930s oil fields of Texas, a woman from the future finds new purpose as she helps a banker rebuild his financial empire.

Amber Mathis, a Wall Street investment banker, returns to her office after burying her mother. Distraught, tired of the rat race, she's determined to make a career change. In the elevator she falls and rises to find herself in a vintage lift. The date is February 25, 1930, and a man stands on the window ledge ready to jump.

Wellman Hathaway, owner and CEO of Hathaway Bank in New York struggles to pay his depositors half their losses. A woman claiming to be from 2010 appears in his office and involves him in a scheme that forces them into marriage. With Amber's knowledge of the financial history of the 1930s, they travel to the oil fields of Texas to recoup Wellman's funds.

Two people from different centuries are thrown together to survive a difficult time. Will they find more than A Way Back to prosperity?

A Way Back will be out in ebook format sometime in early January 2011. I hope you will buy a copy and enjoy reading it as much as I loved writing it.

Leave a comment today to be entered in my monthly ebook drawing. This is my only post this month so your chances of winning are great.

Happy reading and writing.

Linda
http://www.lindalaroque/

Ebook Winner for October

2010-11-04T19:17:00.000-05:00

My ebook winner for October is Jannine Gallant. Jannine, email which book you'd like to receive and I'll send it right over.

Thanks all for your comments. Keep them coming.

Happy Reading and Writing!

Linda
http://www.lindalaroque.com/

Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse MemorialOn

2010-10-26T22:43:00.003-05:00

On our second day in Hill City, in the Black Hills of South Dakota, we drove the the scenic Needles Highway in Custer State Park.. We couldn't have visited at a more perfect time. The foilage was beautiful.

The tunnel will accomodate one car at a time.

Construction began on Mount Rushmore in 1927 and was complete in October of 1941. The sculptures were indended to be carved from the waist up but the project ran out of money. The heads of the four presidents are sixty feet high.

Don't forget to take a jacket. I forgot mine but fortunately had a sweatshirt. At the viewing area the wind was cold. Allow at least a half a day to see everything at Mount Rushmore.

This picture of Washington's profile was taken after we left the Memorial on our way to the Crazy Horse Memorial.

Crazy Horse Memorial was commissionby by Lakota Chief Henry Standing Bear. Construction began in 1948. All that is complete is the head which stands eighty-seven feet tall. If finished, the Crazy Horse Monument will be the world's largest sculpture. To help with size perspective, the tunnel shown in the rock is approximately eight stories high.

Allow a full day to tour Crazy Horse Memorial and see the museum and many exhibits. Be sure to see the historical documentary. A bus will take you down to where the blasting takes place an bring you back.

The Black Hills are beautiful. It's easy to close your eyes and imagine going back in time to the days before roads and modern structures dotted the land. I can see hundreds of buffalo grazing on the grasslands and Lakota warriors riding to the hunt.

How about you?

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Reading and Writing.
Linda
http://www.lindalaroque.com/

Linda and Sam Brown - Operating a B&B

2010-10-22T10:01:00.000-05:00

I know, I'm supposed to have Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse Memorial today but since we visited Mountains to Prairies B&B I thought you'd like to meet Linda and Sam Brown, owners of the B&B, before I move on.

I asked Linda what it's like to run a B&B. Linda is also a writer and you'll love the way she describes their adventure.

What is it like to run a B&B? Without giving it a great deal of thought, I might say that it is much like dancing. Sam and I are partners in this ongoing dance, and when the harmonious music is heard by both of us, the dance is heavenly! However, occasionally one of us may step on the other's toes, or someone may bump into us...and so we take the necessary time - and steps - to readjust to the rhythm. Periodically, the music changes to a different tempo, which can be a bit jarring even when expected, and so again we readjust. More happiness, excitement, variety and adventure are added to the dance when younger dance students (granddaughters) join us. And so it goes—The broad and colorful spectrum of music moving us 'this way and that way' creates a fluid niche in time devoid of boredom. The dance hall fills up seasonally with visiting dancers, who add to the meaning and purpose of our dance, and who generally orchestrate the movements. In short...running a B&B is more like dancing than running.

Linda's Recipe for Wild Raspberry Jam

In summer of 2004, before life became quite so busy, Smiling Bear (a.k.a. Linda Brown, Innkeeper) submitted a fresh specimen of his Wild Raspberry Jam at the Central States Fair in Rapid City to be judged with other preserved goods. Much to his surprise, the humble jar of woodsy jam won a blue ribbon, and Best of Class . . . and, could this be? Best of Show! Smiling Bear had already jotted down the recipe, so he decided to take it to the fair and display it with the jam. Here it is...

Wild Raspberry Jam in 15 Easy Steps

1) First, you must show the raspberries where you are.
In fairy tales, they will smile and eagerly jump into your bucket.
By the way, you are in the woods somewhere.
2) Over your shoulder and on your knees:
a) Glance over your shoulder frequently while picking.
b) Pray you will not be pounced upon by a mountain lion.
3) While on your knees, lift branches and pick the big ones.
4) The big berries, not the big spiders.
5) And do not pick the bees either. Run from territorial bees. Come back later.
Two weeks later, or whenever the horsemint is gone.
6) While you are waiting, pick over yonder . . . but listen for rattlesnakes.
7) Keep the stinging nettle from your face.
Brush it away with a free hand.
On second thought, just step on it.
And on the thistles, too.
It is ok . . . Your shoes are tough . . . They have tripped you, right?
8) It is also ok, while confined to the bushes, to let your mind wander
and think grandiose things . . . Just do not hold your breath.
You need your breath for the next step.
9) Do deep knee bends for at least 1-3/4 hours for each batch of jam.
10) While on your knees again, thank God for no berry-munching bears out there.
(. . . with one exception, of course, yours truly.)
11) While on your feet, if something bites your ankle and you jump,
you did the right thing. You took your big foot off the house of those poor ants.
12) Pick like there is no tomorrow, because it might hail and take the crop.
Or worse, someone else might get them!
13) Pick some more, like crazy, because crazy is feeling familiar now,
and it is easy to do familiar things.
After three weeks of picking, though, you might get delirious and have thoughts.
. . . Like, What am I doing, I can get bigger ones at the store, already frozen!
Next, when another berry falls and misses your bucket cuz this is no fairy tale,
you will begin thinking of who you can call to come and get some of these berries.
In fact, you will probably be thinking out loud by then.
14) At that point, it is time to gel. So, gel out and enjoy the pleasant breeze.
Refocus on the perfectly scented scenery.
Watch the deer, the turkeys, birds and squirrels.
15) If the squirrel scolds you . . . move your berry bowl from under his tree.
And when the elk coughs . . .
That is it . . . the tongue-in-cheek recipe for Best of Show Wild Raspberry Jam.

The rest is history. For Smiling Bear, there is no place on earth closer to God than in a wild raspberry patch.

Thank you for sharing with us today. Readers, I hope you'll leave a comment for Linda and let us know if you use her recipe.

Thanks for Reading and Writing!

Linda
http://www.lindalaroque.com/

Mountains to Prairies B&B, Hill City, South Dakota

2010-10-19T20:47:00.001-05:00

In Hill City, South Dakota, our home away from home was the Mountains to Prairies B&B. We spent three nights there enjoying the accommodations, our hosts and their other guests. Located a block from town, walking to restaurants, shopping, and activities like the 1880s train is easy.

Below are our hosts Linda and Sam Brown. Linda cooked delicious breakfast, a different dish every day with homemade breads, breakfast casseroles, pancakes, fresh fruit, juice, and coffee or tea. Sam served us while sharing sight seeing information about the area.

After breakfast we sat around with the other guests and visited. Linda and Sam joined us. We had such a fun relaxing time we were late leaving every morning.

We met wonderful folks from Massachusetts. From left to right, my husband Larry, Sam (host), Peter and Patricia (newlyweds on their honeymoon), Linda (host), Marie, and Nancy. As you can see, the dining room is filled with antiques as was each of our rooms. Larry and I stayed in the Prairie Homestead room.

Linda will be guest blogging one day soon and sharing her prize winning currant jam recipe with us. She and Sam scour the countryside for berries for her jams and jellies.

I hope you'll join us when she visits.

Larry and I've been to a number of B&Bs. We love the ones where we meet interesting people. What about you? Do you enjoy staying at B&Bs?

My next post will be on Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse Memorial and Deadwood.

Thanks for Reading and Writing!

Linda
http://www.lindalaroque.com/

Day two of South Dakota - Badlands and Hill City Wineries

2010-10-17T23:04:00.005-05:00

Friday morning we drove through the Badlands National Park. The landscape changes from grassland to sharply eroded spires and buttes rich with fossils of a variety of extinct animals. It's easy to see how the area got it's name.

It's easy to see how the area got it's name. In our early history, if a person got lost, they'd never find their way out of the rough territory. Today with air search, heat seeking sensors and cell phones rescue would be easier.

While driving through we saw Prairie Dog Town and some buffalo. We found out later that if we'd continued on the dirt road we'd have seen a herd of buffalo and not just the five we took pictures of. The prairie dog I photographed let me get close. It was so curious, it scurried toward me, then changed it's mind. In another area of Prairie Dog Town, we saw a badger digging in after a meal. Dirt flew everywhere. Strangest thing--a coyote stood ten feet away watching the action. After a while it moved a little farther away and lay down to wait. Unfortunately, my pictures didn't come out where we could identify anything.

From the Badlands we drove to Hill City where we toured two wineries--Stone Faces Winery, Valiant Vineyards second winery and Prairie Berry Winery. Both had free wine tastings with delicious offerings, and we came home with five bottles.

My next post will be about Mountain to Prairies B&B where we stayed in Hill City. Thank you for stopping by and please leave a comment. I enjoy reading your comments.

Happy Reading and Writing!

Linda
http://www.lindalaroque.com/

Day 1 in South Dakota - Wall Drug in Wall, SD

2010-10-14T21:43:00.003-05:00

In 1931, a young pharmacist, Ted Hustead, and his wife, Dorothy, purchased a drug store in Wall, South Dakota. They gave themselves five years to build their business into a success. By 1936, the pharmacy wasn't the success Ted desired. Though he filled a few prescriptions, he spent much of his time swatting flies and looking out the door at the shade-less street.

One hot day in July Dorothy tried to nap with her two children but the loud jalopies on Route 16A kept her awake. An idea on how to bring people into the store popped into her head. All those people driving across the prairie were thirsty. They'd put up signs along the road advertising free ice water. On the day Ted put the signs out, people were already arriving before he returned to the store.

While getting their free ice water, some customers bought ice cream cones, sodas, and other items. From that day on, Wall Drug had plenty of customers each day. The following summer it was necessary to hire eight girls to help out. Now the drug store draws up to 20,000 customers on a good summer day.

My husband and I ate lunch in the cafe attached to the drug store. Larry had their buffalo burger which he said was delicious. I wasn't brave enough and opted for a regular hamburger. After lunch we browsed the many gift shops. That evening we came back for pie with homemade ice cream and a cup of their 5 cent coffee.

Thanks to JL Wilson for telling me about Wall Drug. Otherwise, we'd have missed it. If you're ever in the area, it's worth your time to stop.

My next post will be will be about Mount Rushmore and the Crazy Horse Memorial.

Thanks for reading and writing!

Linda
http://www.lindalaroque.com/

September's Winner of my Ebook Drawing

2010-10-03T21:24:00.001-05:00

Congratulations to Angelica and Zi for being the winner of my monthly ebook drawing. Take a look at my website, guys and let me know which is your choice. I'll send it right over.

Thanks and Happy Reading and Writing!

Linda
http://www.lindalaroque.com/

A 4 1/2 Shoe Review for My Heart Will Find Yours

2010-09-19T19:21:00.000-05:00

I'm pleased to share this review My Heart Will Find Yours from Final Cut Editing.

My Heart Will Find Yours by Linda LaRogue

A carefree, fun-loving, young lady named Texana Keith befriends a special lady named Pearl , aka Pearlina Dyson. These 2 ladies hold a very special bond; one Pearl is acutely aware of; one Texana will soon discover and appreciate.

Pearl is an elderly widow holding an unbelievable secret to her life. Understanding that the time has come; the time to make a unique, almost outlandish, request of her beloved Texana. A request she has been preparing for, for a long time.

Pearl sits Texana down, providing memorabilia and trinkets to accompany the story of her existence in this century. Once finished with her tale, she asks a special favor of Texana. All Texana must do is take a few items Pearl provides her and get on a train, the rest will happen on its own.

Texanna, thinking her elderly friend has completely lost her mind, finally agrees to this ludicrous trip to pacify her fragile friend. All the while thinking she could make a shopping trip out of the whole thing. Never could Texana fathom what would happen next. Her life would never be the same. Waking up half naked, in Waco Texas , in 1876 was almost more than she could handle, until she realized this was only the beginning...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This time travel romance is a mind blowing journey jam-packed with action, adventure, and every emotion within. The witty, independent Texana makes you laugh and cry while the delicious Royce Dyson has you falling in love with him without even trying; a genuine, sexy, gentlemen that one finds only in the old movies.

My Heart Will Find Yours is an emotional and heavenly train ride you don't want to miss boarding.

LaRoque works her magic, never ceasing to amaze with her glorious stories and exceptional writing skills. She makes her readers "believe." Her attention to detail, well crafted descriptions, and obvious research makes this, as well as every other, story of hers comes to life on the pages. I just couldn't put this story down.

I've been a fan of Linda LaRoque from the first book of hers I ever read and will continue to be for a very long time. Please see my other reviews of this truly talented author and check out the rest of her books. She never disappoints!

4.5 Shoes

You can purchase a copy at the link below.
http://www.thewildrosepress.com/my-heart-will-find-yours-p-1225.html
or at
http://www.amazon.com/

Thanks for Reading and Writing!

Linda
http://www.lindalaroque.com/

Ebook winner for August

2010-09-17T10:22:00.002-05:00

I seem to get later every month. Hopefully with winter my life will slow down and I'll stay on schedule. My ebook winner for August is Maeve. Congratulations Maeve. Go to my website and pick the book you'd like to receive a copy of. Email me at linda@lindalaroque.com and I'll get it right to you.

Happy Reading and Writing everyone!

Linda
http://www.lindalaroque.com/

Pulpwood Queens Girlfriend Weekend 2011

2010-09-07T22:28:00.003-05:00

What could possibly be more fun than reading a great book this summer (well, maybe not more fun, but a totally different kind of fun)?

Celebrating 2011 with national bestselling author, Lisa Wingate, in beautiful, historic, antique-filled Jefferson, Texas for the fun-filled reader event of the year, the Pulpwood Queens Girlfriend Weekend 2011 book extravaganza! If you've never been to the Pulpwood Queens annual tiara-wearing, book sharing event, or even if you have, you'd be in for a treat! Head Pulpwood Queen Kathy Patrick hosts a weekend filled with books, authors, beautiful bed and breakfast hotels, antiques, a costume ball, and more fun with books than you can imagine. Kathy has over 50 authors on the slate, including Lisa Wingate. This year, the Keynote speakers are Fannie Flagg, Rick Bragg, and Pat Conroy!

The best thing about this girlfriend getaway is that the winner and companion can do as much or as little as they like. Girlfriend Weekend offers two days of amazing events, and the town of Jefferson features everything from museums and antique shopping, to quilts, history tours, and carriage rides!

The prize package does not include travel. The winner be responsible for travel for herself/himself and guest (that's right, this package is for TWO). If you're the lucky winner, you'll get:

***TWO fully-paid admission armbands for Girlfriend Weekend 2011 (one for you and one for your best girlfriend, or your favorite Timber Guy). This includes admission to Saturday night's big-hair extravaganza, the "Great Big Ball of Hair" where you can come as you are, or arrive dressed as your favorite book character and compete in the costume contest. Who knows? You might become "Miss Hairball Queen 2011!"

***TWO nights in a room fit for a queen, amid the opulence and grace of the 1920s at the beautiful Delta Street Inn bed and breakfast in historic Jefferson, Texas. (double occupancy)

***Your very own "Insta-Queen Kit" featuring a gorgeous tiara and a smaller porta-tiara for more casual occasions (or one to keep and one to share with your best girlfriend), free autographed Lisa Wingate books, your scepter, a copy of Kathy Patrick's Tiara Wearing Book Sharing Guide to Life, your very own Pulpwood Queens T-shirt, and everything else you need to crown yourself and read like a Pulpwood Queen!

More details and entry form are available at http://www.lisawingate.com/. This is a great opportunity for readers or writers, so don't forget to spread the word to your book clubs, co-workers, family members, and girlfriends -- after all, if one of your friends wins, you can come along as the guest!

I'm getting my entry form in soon. East Texas is beautiful and I love antiquing. Now, my hair is too short for it to be BIG. I'd have to find a wig.

Happy Reading and Writing!

Linda
http://www.lindalaroque.com/

To Blog or Not to Blog

2010-08-19T18:57:00.002-05:00

Is it really worthwhile? Many of us have asked ourselves this question. And depending on the person, answers will vary. Some feel it involves too much time and effort that could be better spend on their next story. Others feel a blog keeps them connected with their readers, authors, and others out there in cyberspace.

I've often wondered--of what benefit to me is it to have fellow authors read my blog. The answer is simple. Authors are readers too. They have readers on their blogs that may drop by yours on occasion. Also, those writer friends may ask you to guest on their site and vise versa which may bring you new readers.

When I started my blog, Linda LaRoque's Musings, it was difficult deciding what to blog about. Interestingly enough, I get more hits on recipes, vacations, posts about my dog (this week I told about her run-in with a copperhead snake), and short stories I've written. Readers also like to hear about new releases and promotional events. An occasional post with writing tips can also be a big hit.

Blogging doesn't have to be hard. Your posts don't have to be long or on a schedule. Write about what interests you which in turn proves to your readers you're an interesting individual. Respond to your reader's comments. They may never check back, but then again, they might.

Offer an incentive for them to keep coming back. I give away an ebook every month.

I've just started putting out a monthly newletter. Will it take the place of my blog? I don't think so. Though the newsletter will have some of what I've blogged about, it serves a different purpose. Many would rather read something once a month that comes directly to their mailbox rather than go to your site each time you blog.

Remember, each time you blog, each time you comment on a blog, google makes note and that's a hit for you. Google your name and see how many times your name comes up? Is it 10, 100, 1000, 10,000? The higher the number, the better you're doing on getting your name out there.

What are your thoughts about blogging?

Happy Reading and Writing folks!

Linda
http://www.lindalaroque.com/

Our dog Molly and a Copperhead

2010-08-16T11:25:00.001-05:00

Our little dog Molly thinks she's Queen of the block. Anything or anyone who ventures close to our fence line, the hackles rise on her back and the intruder is blasted with her ferocious bark. I doubt she'd hurt anyone though, as the man that reads the electric meter comes right in and she lopes along beside him as he comes and goes.

My husband has a wood shop in the back yard. Molly loves to hunt and has been known to go under the shed after a mouse. And has caught one or two. Ugh! On August 5th our son came over and cut down alot of vines that clung to the fence. We usually let them stay on the ground as it's muddy back there and Molly tracks it in the house. We hoped the cuttings would form a carpet over the mud. On the 6th my husband heard Molly yelp and saw her run from behind the shop and lay down on the grass. He didn't think anything of it.

An hour later I called her in. She wasn't her usual chipper self, and her face looked like a chipmonks. I thought she had her mouth full of something. When I realized she was swollen, we loaded her in the car and drove to the Vet. She showed us where the fang marks were on her nose and believed it was a copperhead as a rattler wouldn't have made Molly much sicker. Several dogs have died this summer due to rattler bites. She gave Molly two shots and kept her all afternoon to make sure she didn't get worse. We came home with two bottles of pills.

There is a rattlesnack anti-venom your animal can be given, something we may consider even though we don't live in a brushy area. We live on a corner in a small housing development but there is a big field across the road. I think we will have to clean that brush out and make sure the copperheads don't have a place to hide.

Here are a few pictures of Molly taken at the Vet's Office.

Leave me a comment with your pet stories.

Happy Reading and Writing!

Linda

http://www.lindalaroque.com/

Ebook Winner for July

2010-08-07T11:49:00.002-05:00

Linda Kage is the winner of an ebook of her choice for July. Let me know which one you want, Linda and I'll send it right over.

Thanks for all who left a comment last month. This contest repeats every month.

Happy Reading and Writing!

Linda
http://www.lindalaroque.com/

Win a Nook - The Long and Short Of It 3rd Anniversary Party

2010-07-31T13:44:00.002-05:00

The Long and the Short of It is celebrating its third anniversary in style -- by giving away THREE Nook eBook Readers that come with $50 BN.com gift certificates AND are already pre-loaded with dozens of romance and juvenile fiction eBooks.

We're having a scavenger hunt that runs from August 2 - August 29 and culminates in a two day chat that final weekend in our Yahoo groups, during which we'll be announcing the winners. More details to come -- check back soon!

Earn an extra entry AND participate in a fun two-day chat! Join the groups below:

Whipped Cream Reviews Yahoo Group (erotic romance)

Long and Short Reviews Yahoo Group (non-erotic romance)

Aurora Reviews Yahoo Group (young adult and middle grade fiction)

For full details, go to http://www.longandshortreviews.com/promo.htm
Check back daily for updates.

I've donated a copy of Investment of the Heart that will be loaded on to one of the Nooks. I hope you'll join me on August 29, 2010 on Long and Short Reviews Yahoo Group (non-erotic romance) at 12:00 (noon) Eastern Standard Time. I hope to see you there.

Linda

When the Words Won't Come

2010-07-26T20:02:00.001-05:00

I'm sure we've all experience writer's block, that time when the words won't come and we sit at the computer fiddling with the keys or tapping a pencil on a note pad. This issue has been a real problem for me lately. Looking back to the times I was most prolific, I realize a change of scenery was the key to spuring my muse. Now I carry a notepad and when I have to wait at the doctor's office, or anywhere else, I write. When I get home, I transfer my notes to my manuscript.

While on vacation, sitting in the back seat of the car, watching the scenery from the windows, I rapidly filled the pages of my tablet. I think the next time the words won't come, I'll have my husband take me for a drive. He can groove on the scenery and I can write.

What about you? What spurs your muse?

Thanks for reading and writing!

Linda
http://www.lindalaroque.com/

Book Signing in Bastrop

2010-07-16T16:42:00.003-05:00

Fleeta Cunningham, my fellow cruise friend and The Wild Rose Press author invited me to join several local authors for the Bastrop Public Library's book signing. When I looked on the looked on the library's website it listed the event as Author Buffet. I wondered if they were serving a meal so call the library to ask. Their answer was, "No, you authors are the buffet."

Here we all are. From left to right - Diana Castilleja, Fleeta Cunningham, Tiffany Green and her father and fellow author James Schubert, Linda LaRoque, and Deidra Holly.

Each author was given the opportunity to speak. You know how we authors like to talk about our books and writing.

Thank you to the Friends of the Library at Bastrop Public Library for putting this event together.

Don't forget to leave a comment to be entered in my monthly ebook drawing.

Happy Reading and Writing!

Linda

http://www.lindalaroque.com/

Ebook Winner for June 2010

2010-07-09T17:06:00.000-05:00

Rhobin is my ebook winner for June 2010. Congratulations, Rhobin. Take a look at my releases on my website and using the email there, let me know which book you'd like to receive. I'll send it right over.

Thanks to all of you who left a comment. Keep them coming. Each comment puts your name in the drawing.

Happy Reading and Writing!

Linda
http://www.lindalaroque.com/

Flames on the Sky voted Most Artistic Trailer for June

2010-07-07T12:09:00.002-05:00

I'm pleased to announce my book trailer for Flames on the Sky received The NEW Covey Trailer Awards most artistic trailer for the month of June 2010. Please click on the link above and take a look at my trailer or go to the videos page on my website at www.lindalaroque.com/. I'd love to hear what you think.

Happy Reading and Writing!

Linda
http://www.lindalaroque.com/

Homemade Peach Ice cream

2010-06-29T22:37:00.004-05:00

Who could resist this advertisement? Not me!

My cousins and I discovered Clifton Orchard's peach stand about ten miles out of Canton, Texas, on our way home from Virginia a couple of weeks ago. Never one to pass up homemade icecream we stopped for a cup. Yummy!

My husband and I stopped again today on our way home from our tour of the east end of Route 66. We had a wonderful time and I'll blog about our trip later in the week.

Look at these beautiful peaches. In the picture above you can see the orchard in the background and below the large ice cream freezers. They have four freezers and an electric pulley type device is used to turn the crank. Thank goodness. I can't imagine having to turn them by hand.

If you're in the area during peach season, stop at Clifton's Orchard, State Hwy 19, Fruitvale, Texas. You won't be disappointed.

Homemade Ice Cream Recipe

4 eggs well beaten
1 C sugar
1 T flour
1/4 t. salt
2 C milk
1/2 pt. whipping cream

Mix eggs, sugar, and flour. Add milk and cook over moderate heat until thickened slightly, stirring constantly. Remove from head and add last 4 ingredients. Add peaches or other fruit if desired. Pour into a 1 gallon freezer and add milk until it is 3/4 full. Freeze.

Thanks for stopping by today. Leave a comment and tell us your favorite flavor of ice cream.

Happy Reading and Writing!

Linda
http://www.lindalaroque.com/

Gizzard Cove, Tennessee - Finding our Roots!

2010-06-16T19:47:00.005-05:00

Some of my cousins and I have always wanted to discover our roots by visiting our grandmother's birthplace in Gizzard Cove, Tennessee also called The Gizzard. Martha Comfort Pyburn Riley was born in the late 1880s. In this picture she's 18 years old. Her mother died when Martha was 16. Not long after her father remarried. His new wife forced Martha and her brothers to move out of the family home. She moved to Texas to live with relatives where she met and married John Riley.

We knew the log cabin where she'd been born was still standing and occupied by another family. Fortunately, we'd contacted cousins in the area, whom we'd never met, and they showed us around. The house is now stuccoed.

Our great-grandmother was a Anderson so we visited the Anderson Cemetery to look for her grave. It was overgrown and we got into bull nettle and were miserable for a few hours. We also had to watch for rattlesnakes.

I'm so glad we made the trip and can share our experience with other family members. How about you? Have you searched out your roots? Leave a comment and share your experiences with us.

Thanks for Reading and Writing!

Linda
http://www.lindalaroque.com/

Ebook Winner for May

2010-06-03T22:41:00.000-05:00

Congratulations to LuAnn. She is the ebook winner for May. LuAnn, take a look at my website and choose the ebook you'd like. Email me and I'll send it on.

Thanks to all who left comments.

Happy Reading and Writing!

Linda
http://www.lindalaroque.com/

Truth or Lies - The Winner

2010-05-31T06:16:00.002-05:00

The winner and only person to get #3 as my lie is Ron Berry. Congratulations, Ron. I have your email address and will send your Amazon gift certificate on Wednesday. My husband and I met my last year of college and have been together now for 42 years.

In the picture to the left you can see part of my chartreuse Russell Wright collection. I also have a lime green laptop, mouse, and netbook. It's hard to tell from this picture but the sofa also has greens. It's interesting that so many of you picked #6 as the lie. It must have been the pink shirt I'm wearing in my picture.

Thanks to all of you who participated. You will be entered in my monthly ebook drawing to be held tonight. I won't be able to announce the winner until Wednesday.

Happy Reading and Writing!

Linda
http://www.lindalaroque.com/

Truth or Lie?

2010-05-26T11:24:00.001-05:00

Thank you Linda Kage for this illustrious award.

My instructions were to give you 5 truths and 1 lie about myself, or 5 lies and 1 truth. I've opted for truth.

To make this interesting, I'm having a contest. The prize is a $20.00 gift certificate to Amazon.com.

To enter, become a follower of my blog and leave a comment identifying my one lie about myself. Correct entries will be entered in a drawing. The cutoff time is Sunday, May 30th at midnight. The winner will be announced on Monday.

Here we go.

1. I twirled a baton throughout high school and part of college.
2. I've performed during halftime at pro-football games.
3. My husband and I were high school sweethearts.
4. My home is furnished with a combination of the old and new.
5. Painting with oils was my favorite hobby during the 1970s.
6. I love chartreuse (lime green) and have a chartreuse Russel Wright collection.

I now get to bestow this illustious award on seven lucky bloggers. Here we go.
1. Autumn Shelley
2. Judith Leger
3. Ciara Gold
4. Laura Hogg
5. Dawn's Reading Nook
6. Linda Rettstatt
7. Paty Jager

Enjoy the game! Happy Reading and Writing!

Linda
http://www.lindalaroque.com/

A Horse Tale - My Experience

2010-05-20T10:01:00.003-05:00

Though aprehensive about riding, I did ride while at the Silver Spur Ranch in Bandera. This is me atop Texas. A nice, gentle horse, he had to be prodded to keep up while along the trail as he liked to stop and smell the roses. Actually, he liked to nibble anything growing.

The trail took us over rocky ground where the horse had to maneuver steps up and down, through thick foilage, and paths overlooking deep drop offs. Texas has a varied landscape and it was interesting to see the terrain change from rocks, scrub brush, and mesquites to pines and sandy dirt all within a mile or so.

My horseback riding experience is limited. My grandfather had a farm and I must have ridden his horse because he let me and a girlfriend ride double one day. A big mistake. We rode in the dirt road and when a car approached us we panicked. My friend must have kicked the horse in the flanks because he started bucking and she flew through the air backwards and landed in the soft dirt of the ditch. I'd been yanked loosed by then and fell into the dirt road. When the horse ran home riderless my dad came for us in the car minutes later. My shoulder was dislocated and required surgery to put it back in place. I didn't get on a horse again for many years.

Close to forty years later, while teaching school in Fort Stockton, my students raised money for a day at the Prude Ranch in Fort Davis. Of course, horseback riding was one of the days activities. I decided if I was ever to get back on a horse, it had to be then. The experience went well though I did fall while dismounting. I'm just a clutz.

I've learned riding, even when you're sore, helps to work the soreness out of muscles. The next time I go to a dude ranch, I'll ride everyday we're there.

I hope you enjoyed my horse tale. Leave a comment and share your riding experiences.

Thanks for Reading and Writing!

Linda
http://www.lindalaroque.com/

Weekend at a Dude Ranch

2010-05-09T18:43:00.004-05:00

A writing retreat is always fun, but hold it on a dude ranch and you'll have a blast.

The weekend of April 29th through May 2nd some of The Wild Rose Press authors and family members met at the Silver Spur Ranch in Bandera, Texas. Five of our local Heart of Texas chapter of RWA members, including myself, attended. We had our own cabin. Five women with one bathroom but we managed. Below is Belinda Bass and Debra Hanes in front of the Sundance Kid cabin.

Here's our cabin from the back. The wildflowers were beautiful.

Our meetings and meals were held in the lodge.

A relaxed schedule allowed for horseback riding, swimming, private writing time, workshops, or just time to visit or nap. Saturday morning those not riding participated in a hay ride to a cowboy breakfast. We stopped to feed the longhorns on the way. I'm the rider on the back far side with the big straw hat.

After breakfast, Kevin Fitzpatrick, champion roper, entertained us with roping tricks and his bullwhip.

I wish I had pictures of us riding horses but it took all my concentration to stay on the horse. Though I'm a Texas girl, I'm not a horse woman. Riding was great fun. It took about thirty minutes for me to be able to walk on steady legs and several days to work the soreness out.

We had the chance to visit with the cowboys and ask a variety of questions about ranching and horses. Many of the participants attended a local rodeo in Bandera on Friday night and others visited the local gun club to test a variety of weapons.

The weekend was a great experience. Now to get busy writing.

My novel When the Ocotillo Bloom is set on a dude ranch, for problem children and teens, in the Big Bend country of Texas. You can read chapter one on my website. Click on the chapter reads page and enjoy!

Have you ever visited a dude ranch? Of so, tell me where and how you liked it. Your comment will add your name to my monthly ebook drawing.

Thanks for stopping by. Happy Reading and Writing!

Linda
http://www.lindalaroque.com/

Ebook Winner for April

2010-05-05T21:32:00.000-05:00

Laura Hogg is my ebook winner for the month of April. Congratulations, Laura! Visit my website and decide which ebook you'd like to have. Email me your choice and I'll send it right over.

Keep those comments coming.

Happy Reading and Writing!

Linda
http://www.lindalaroque.com/

Upcoming Novella - A Way Back

2010-04-26T11:52:00.002-05:00

As promised here is the tag line and a blurb for A Way Back. I look forward to the edits on this book and making a book trailer.

In the 1930s oil fields of Texas, a woman from the future finds new purpose as she helps a banker rebuild his financial empire.

Amber Mathis, a Wall Street investment banker, returns to her office after burying her mother. Distraught, tired of the rat race, she's determined to make a career change. In the elevator she falls and rises to find herself in a vintage lift. The date is February 25, 1930, and a man stands on the window ledge ready to jump.

Wellman Hathaway, owner and CEO of Hathaway Bank in New York struggles to pay his depositors half their losses. A woman claiming to be from 2009 appears in his office and involves him in a scheme that forces them into marriage. With Amber's knowledge of the financial history of the 1930s, they travel to the oil fields of Texas to recoup Wellman's funds.

Two people from different centuries are thrown together to survive a difficult time. Will they find more than A Way Back to prosperity?

For research, my husband and I visited the East Texas Oil Museum in Kilgore. Here is a picture of the replicated city street during the 1930s. Notice the mud.

This novella will be published by Champagne Books in January 2011.

Thank you for visiting my blog and reading this post. Be sure to leave a comment to be entered in my monthly ebook drawing.

Happy Reading and Writing!

Linda
http://www.lindalaroque.com/

A New Contract!

2010-04-19T18:05:00.003-05:00

I'm thrilled to announce my time travel novella, A Way Back, set in the oil fields of Texas in the 1930s, has been contracted with Champagne Books. It is scheduled for release in January 2011. I'll post a blurb soon and the cover as soon as possible.

Thanks for reading!

Linda
http://www.lindalaroque.com/

The First Female Flight Attendants

2010-04-08T14:30:00.001-05:00

In May of 1930, Ellen Church, a registered nurse, convinced Steven Stimpson, manager of Boeing's office in San Francisco, that women could serve in the role of steward or flight attendant and that nurses were best able to care for ailing passengers. The first female flight attendants passed out sandwiches, water, and chewing gum. They also sold tickets, carried luggage, checked for gasoline leaks, and cleaned up after passengers. (See picture above.) It wasn't until 1933 that American Airlines followed suit and 1944 for Pan American.

The nurses earned $125.00 a month and worked alone--only one attendant per plane.

The rules to be an airline attendant were rigid. Due to small cabin size, they couldn't be over five feet, four inches and weigh no more than 118 pounds. They had to be between 20 and 26 years old and single. It wasn't until well into the 1960s that attendants were allowed to be married.

The information and picture for this post came from the U.S. Centennial of Flight Commission.

Thanks for Reading!

Linda
http://www.lindalaroque.com/

March's Ebook Winner

2010-04-02T22:43:00.001-05:00

Victoria Roder is the winner of my monthly ebook drawing. Congratulations, Victoria. Take a look at my books on my website and email me to let me know which one you'd like. I'll send it to you right away.

For those of you who are new to my blog, each time you leave a comment your name is entered into my monthly drawing.

Keep your comments coming, folks!

Linda
http://www.lindalaroque.com/

Research on Early Commercial Air Flights

2010-03-28T20:08:00.002-05:00

While writing a time travel where the heroine travels back to the early 1930s it became necessary for me to gather data about early commercial air flights.

The plane above, the Ford 3 AT Trimotor nicknamed the "Tin Goose" because of it's corrugated metal skin, is one plane used in the early 1930s for commercial flights. In 1928 Boeing introduced its Model 80 and Ford the 5AT. The Ford could carry 13 passengers, 17 if modified. Think about this, these planes were not air conditioned with little heating so it was hot in the summer and cold in the winter. Add the smell of hot oil and metal, leather seats, and disinfectant used to clean up after sick passengers. The only way to escape the smell was to open a window. What an experience--flying that high with air blowing in your face. Add to the mix air turbulence of lower altitudes (6000 feet) and you had an excellent recipe for air sickness. Though the Boeing 80 made flying more comfortable by adding forced-air ventilation and hot and cold running water, it was still impossible, even at 14,000 feet, to escape turbulence.

Early on, airlines realized they needed a means of keeping passengers comfortable and happy so they'd return again. In the late 1920s young men usually teenagers or men of small stature, were hired as stewards, cabin boys, flight companions, etc. to load luggage, reassure nervous passengers, and help travelers get around in the cramped space. The first airline to do so was Stout Airlines which later became part of United Air Lines. Pan American Airways, because of their flights over water, required first aid and extensive seamanship training for its trainees for stewards.

My heroine from the future considers flying to Reno but decides she'd rather take the train. Air travel in the 1930s didn't sound like something she wanted to try. Her barn storming experience was enough air excitement for her.

I hope you'll join me next week when I'll share when the first women airline attendants were introduced.

The information for this post came from http://www.centennialofflight.gov/essay/Commercial_Aviation/passenger_xperience/Tran2.htm

Thanks for reading,

Linda
http://www.lindalaroque.com/

Oops! I Forgot to Give Away an Ebook for February

2010-03-19T22:57:00.001-05:00

Hello all,

Please forgive my lapse of memory in not awarding an ebook for the month of February. My only excuse is it's been a hectic couple of months.

The winner for the ebook of their choice for the month of February is Julie Eberhart Painter. Julie, check out my books on my website and email your choice. I'll send it right over.

Thank you all for your comments.

Linda
http://www.lindalaroque.com/

Book Signing in Georgetown

2010-03-19T22:42:00.003-05:00

On March 6, 2009 I signed copies of my Champagne Books Contemporary Western Romances - Forever Faithful, Investment of the Heart, and When the Ocotillo Bloom at the Hill Country Book Store in Georgetown, Texas.

One of my University High School classmates, Phyllis Reed Rizo, joined me at the signing. It was a delight to see a familiar face.

Thank you Margarite and staff for having me.

Happy Reading and Writing!

Linda
http://www.lindalaroque.com/

Biscuit Recipes - Gourmet Gallery Book Signing/Biscuit Demonstration

2010-02-23T12:33:00.016-06:00

Here are the biscuit recipes I promised.

Basic Southern Biscuits

Stir together in a bowl
2 C. all-purpose flour
3 t. baking powder
1 t. salt

Cut into flour mixture
1/4 C. shortening
Mixture should be crumbly.

Stir in with fork - 3/4 C. milk

Stir just until mixture holds together and forms into a ball. Turn mixture onto a lightly floured cloth covered board. Roll ball of dough around 3 to 4 times. Knead quickly by gently folding, pressing, and turning 20 times to smooth up the dough.

With lilghtly floured cloth-covered rolling pin, roll out dough to 1/2 inch thickness.

Use round cutter to cut out biscuits. Dip cutter into flour before cutting each biscuit.

Use a spatula to place biscuits on ungreased baking sheet. For crusty sides, place biscuits about 1 inch a part; for soft sides, place biscuits close together in an ungreased round layer pan.

Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown.

Makes sixteen 1 & 3/4 inch biscuits.

Recipe from Betty Crocker's New Boys and Girls Cookbook, Golden Press, 1972.

Cheddar, Bacon, and Fresh Chive Biscuits

6 thick-cut bacon slices
3 3/4 cups bread flour
1 1/2 T. baking powder
1 1/2 t. baking soda
1 1/4 t. salt
1/2 C (1stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes, plus melted butter for brushing
2 1/2 cups (packed) coarsely grated sharp cheddar cheese (about 12 ounces)
1/3 C. chopped fresh chives
1 3/4 cups chilled buttermilk
Honey (optional)

Position oven rack just above center of oven. Preheat 425 degrees. Line heavy large baking sheet with parchment paper. Cook bacon in heavy large skillet over medium heat until crisp and brown. Drain, then chop coarsely.

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in processor; blend 5 seconds. Add butter cubes. Blend until coarse meal forms, about 30 seconds. Transfer flour mixture to large bowl. Add cheddar cheese, fresh chives, and chopped backon; toss to blend. Gradually add buttermilk, stirring to moisten evenly (batter will feel sticky).

Using lightly floured hands, drop generous 1/2 cup batter for each biscuit onto prepared baking sheet, spacing batter mounds about 2 inches apart.

Bake until golden and tester inserted into center comes out clean, 18 to 20 minutes. Brush biscuits lightly with melted butter. Let cool 10 minutes.

Recipe by the Bon Appetit Test Kitchen.

Cream Biscuits

2 C. all-purpose flour, plus extra for the counter
2 t. sugar
2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
1 1/2 C. heavy cream

Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 450 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt together in a large bowl. Stir in the cream with a wooden spoon until the dough forms, about 30 seconds. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured counter and gather into a ball. Knead the dough briefly until smooth, about 30 seconds.

Pat the dough into a 3/4-inch-thick circle. Cut the biscuits into rounds using a 2 1/2 inch biscuit cutter or 8 wedges using a knive. Place the biscuits on the parchment-lined baking sheet. (The baking sheet can be wrapped in plastic wrap and refrigereated for up to 2 hours.) Bake until golden brown, about 15 minutes.

Recipe by the Bon Apetite Test Kitchen

I hope you enjoy the recipes. Don't forget to leave a comment to be entered in my monthly ebook drawing.

Happy Eating!

Linda