NEW RELEASE! A Bouquet of Brides

I am pleased to announce the release of my latest book, A Bouquet of Brides, published by Barbour Publishing, Inc. Seven authors make up this collection of novellas, all of which are personal friends--a first for me. Not only that, but two are my writing mentors, two are favorite roomies during writing conferences, one I co-authored a book with, four are critique buddies, two have been in other collections with me, and two are new friends. So, yeah, I take this book very personally. lol

The premise is:  Seven American women named for various flowers struggle to bloom where God has planted them. Yes, you heard that right. All of the women were named after flowers. Come meet Holly, Periwinkle, Dilly (for the Daffodile,) Rose, Tansy, "Cactus" Lil, and Yarrow as they challenge the men in their lives.

My story is "Periwinkle in the Park". Set in 1910, Peri Winfield is a hiking guide helping to commission a national park, and runs into conflict with a mountain man determined to keep the government off his land. It takes place five years before Rocky Mountain National Park is established. Peri is a naturalist who lives and breathes what she believes, and she's convinced the mountains she loves should be protected. She works with the government to set aside acreage for the future national park. Rancher Clayton McCarrick is deadset against the park, knowing it would curtail his hunting guide business. Peri and Clay butt heads, even as they begin to respect and admire each other.

I will be posting here throughout the month, highlighting all seven heroines from the book. The other six authors will be doing the same with other aspects of each story. Following is the schedule set up for my story. Check back (or watch for it on my Facebook page) for links.

• Dec 29 - HERO - Mary Davis's blog
• Jan 4 - HEROINE - I'll be posting more about Periwinkle here on this blog.
• Jan 9 - SETTING - Donna Schlachter's blog
• Jan 14 - HISTORY - Pegg Thomas's blog
• Jan 16 - TAKE AWAY VALUE - Paula Moldenhauer's blog
• Jan 16 - THE INSPIRATION - Suzanne Norquist's blog
• TBD - VILLIAN
• Jan 30 - I'M GIVING AWAY A BOOK! Comment on any of the above blog articles (including this one) for a chance to win an autographed (by me) copy of A Bouquet of Brides.* Come back on any of those dates for multiple entries.

As I mentioned, I'm hosting the HEROINES of each story. Here's the tentative schedule for those:

• Jan 4 - Periwinkle Winfield, "Peri in the Park" (Mine!)
• Jan 9 - Holly Harrison, "Holly and Ivy" by Mary Davis
• Jan 11 - Rose Miller,  "A Song for Rose" by Suzanne Norquist
• Jan 16 - Yarrow Fenn, "In Sheep's Clothing" by Pegg Thomas
• Jan 18 - "Cactus" Lil Duncan, "A Prickly Affair" by Donna Schlachter
• Jan 23 - Dilly Douglas, "At Home With Daffodils" by Paula Moldenhauer
• Jan 25 - Tansy Terrell, "Beauty in a Tansy?" by Donita K. Paul 

Again, check back here or watch on Facebook to find out when these go live.

To order A Bouquet of Brides from Amazon, go here.

*US, APO, and FPO only