Five Little Indians

      These are my babies!  Jonathan, Samuel, Rachael and Joshua (in the back) Elsa, front and center!  Pretty cute, huh? 


They're so cool and sophisticated now, but imagine me, fifteen years or so ago, trying to navigate a parking lot with these guys in tow- and a grocery cart... oh yeah, it was something...


Now they're so big and I'd give anything to do it all over again!


So... little or big... tell them you love them.
They fly away so quickly. 

Courting Miss Amsel by Kim Vogel Sawyer

This week, theChristian Fiction Blog Allianceis introducingCourting Miss AmselBethany House (January 1, 2011)byKim Vogel Sawyer






ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Kim Vogel Sawyer is the author of fifteen novels, including several CBA and ECPA bestsellers. Her books have won the ACFW Book of the Year Award, the Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence, and the Inspirational Readers Choice Award. Kim is active in her church, where she leads women's fellowship and participates in both voice and bell choirs. In her spare time, she enjoys drama, quilting, and calligraphy. Kim and her husband, Don, reside in central Kansas, and have three daughters and six grandchildren.






ABOUT THE BOOK

Edythe Amsel is delighted with her first teaching assignment: a one-room schoolhouse in Walnut Hill, Nebraska. Independent, headstrong, and a strong believer in a well-rounded education, Edythe is ready to open the world to the students in this tiny community. But is Walnut Hill ready for her?




Joel Townsend is thrilled to learn the town council hired a female teacher to replace the ruthless man who terrorized his nephews for the past two years. Having raised the boys on his own since their parents' untimely deaths, Joel believes they will benefit from a woman's influence. But he sure didn't bargain on a woman like Miss Amsel.



Within the first week, she has the entire town up in arms over her outlandish teaching methods, which include collecting leaves, catching bugs, making snow angels, and stringing ropes in strange patterns all over the schoolyard. Joel can't help but notice that she's also mighty pretty with her rosy lips, fashionable clothes, and fancy way of speaking.



When Edythe decides to take her pupils to hear Miss Susan Anthony speak on the women's suffrage amendment, the town's outcry reaches new heights. Even Joel isn't sure he can support her newfangled ideas any longer. And if he can't trust her to know how to teach the boys, how can he trust her with his heart?



If you would like to read the first chapter of Courting Miss Amsel, go HERE.

The Girl in the Gatehouse by Julie Klassen

The Girl in the Gatehouse is set in the Regency period, which is the era of Jane Austen.  The story echoes plots and themes that Jane Austen used in her published works.  I caught wind of everything from Pride and Prejudice, to Northanger Abbey to Mansfield Park whose character, Maria Bertram, Julie informs us, was the inspiration for Mariah, her heroine.

Jane Austen's work has been described as "brushstrokes on ivory" light layers of color and innuendo on the pure substance of ivory, representing perhaps, the social structure and manners of the time.  Julie Klassen's characters may echo Jane's, almost as if she laid a transparency of Austen's books over a bright light, but then she turns on a switch to make them come to life in a new and original way.  Julie creates characters with depth, style and meaning all their own.

I loved the plot twists and surprises nestled into this gem of a book.  Ms. Klassen began each chapter with a cool quote,  giving a snippet of insight into the period and wisdom of the day.

Calling all Janites to read The Girl in the Gatehouse.

Tea and discussion to follow!!

This week, the  Christian Fiction Blog Alliance  is introducing  The Girl in the Gatehouse  Bethany House (January 1, 2011)  by  Julie Klassen  


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:  

Julie says: My background is in advertising and marketing, but I am blessed with a dream job—working as an editor of Christian fiction. I have been writing since childhood, but Lady of Milkweed Manor was my first novel. It was a finalist for a Christy Award and won second place in the Inspirational Reader's Choice Awards. My second novel, The Apothecary's Daughter, was a finalist in the ACFW Book of the Year awards. I am currently writing one novel a year.

I graduated from the University of Illinois and enjoy travel, research, BBC period dramas, long hikes, short naps, and coffee with friends.

My husband and I have two sons and live near St. Paul, Minnesota.



ABOUT THE BOOK

Miss Mariah Aubrey, banished after a scandal, hides herself away in a long-abandoned gatehouse on the far edge of a distant relative's estate. There, she supports herself and her loyal servant the only way she knows how--by writing novels in secret.

Captain Matthew Bryant, returning to England successful and wealthy after the Napoleonic wars, leases an impressive estate from a cash-poor nobleman, determined to show the society beauty who once rejected him what a colossal mistake she made.

When he discovers an old gatehouse on the property, he is immediately intrigued by its striking young inhabitant and sets out to uncover her identity, and her past. But the more he learns about her, the more he realizes he must distance himself. Falling in love with an outcast would ruin his well-laid plans. The old gatehouse holds secrets of its own. Can Mariah and Captain Bryant uncover them before the cunning heir to the estate buries them forever?

If you would like to read the first chapter of The Girl in the Gatehouse, go HERE

Happy New Year!

Now that the hols are officially over and done.  What next?  There are so many things I would love to try. Painting.  Writing. Crocheting.  I promised my sister a scarf... for Christmas!!!  The problem is, I can use every creative endeavor as a procrastination device.  For example, if I have a book review due, suddenly I simply must take the dog for a walk.  Or clean. Or crochet. Or watch the remaining Falalala Lifetime movies in my recorded uverse area (to make room for more recordings).

A friend suggested that I write things down, so that I have a visual of what I would like to accomplish.  It can be simple, like cleaning out the sink, or more ambitious- write four pages- not going to happen but I can dream...

Okay, Pearl, let's go for a walk...

Merry Christmas!

http://vimeo.com/17408486May your days be Merry and Bright!

Emily of Deep Valley by Maude Hart Lovelace

"When you read a book as a child it becomes a part of your identity that no other reading in your life does."- From "You've Got Mail" by Nora Ephron

Well, somehow in my childhood reading, Maude Hart Lovelace's books failed to appear.  I used to worry that there were books out there that I wouldn't discover before I died (I was a bit morbid as a child).  But now, I am happy to say, that Harper Perrenial Modern Classics is re-releasing the Deep Valley books just for me. Or those like me whose town library was a bit short on the must- reads for young ladies. And of course the generations of young readers to come who will delight in Maude's loveable characters and heart felt stories.

Emily of Deep Valley is Maude Hart Lovelace's first young adult stand-alone novel.

It follows the Betsy-Tacy novels which take place in the same town of Deep Valley, Minnesota.  The books are based on the author's child-hood experiences and  friends in Mankato, Minnesota.

There is a lovely forward by Mitali Perkins which sets the mood of the story and end notes afterward which give readers who are hungry for more some more tid-bits to ponder as you plan which book by this wonderful author to read next.

Christmas is coming and I highly recommend anything by Maude Hart Lovelace as gifts for those special women in your life.

Other fans include: Anna Quindlen, Meg Cabot, Nora Ephron, Bette Middler and Laura Lippman.

Read on for info on Mitali Perkins' forward and a brief summary of "Emily".
Happy reading!

This week, the  Christian Fiction Blog Alliance  is introducing  Emily of Deep Valley  Harper Perennial Modern Classics; Reprint edition (October 12, 2010)  by  Mitali Perkins  



ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

A word from Mitali: Who In The World Is Mitali Perkins?


That's a good question. I've been trying to figure it out myself, spending most of my life crossing borders.

I was born Mitali Bose in Kolkata (Calcutta), India, and always tried to live up to my name—which means “friendly” in the Bangla language. I had to! Because my family moved so much, it was the only way I could make new friends.

By the time I was 11, I'd lived in Ghana, Cameroon, London, New York and Mexico before settling in California just in time for middle school. Yep, I was the new kid again, in seventh grade, the year everybody barely makes it through.

My biggest lifeline during those early years was story. Books were my rock, my stability, my safe place as I navigated the border between California suburbia and the Bengali culture of my traditional home.

After studying political science at Stanford and public policy at U.C. Berkeley, I taught in middle school, high school and college. When I began to write fiction, my protagonists were often—not surprisingly—strong female characters trying to bridge different cultures.

Mitali Perkins is the author of several books for young people, including SECRET KEEPER (Random House), MONSOON SUMMER (Random House), RICKSHAW GIRL (Charlesbridge), and the FIRST DAUGHTER books (Dutton).

ABOUT THE BOOK  

Often cited as Maud Hart Lovelace’s (of Betsy-Tacy fame) best novel, Emily of Deep Valley is now back in print, with a new foreword by acclaimed young adult author Mitali Perkins and new archival material about the characters’ real lives.


Emily Webster, an orphan living with her grandfather, is not like the other girls her age in Deep Valley, Minnesota. The gulf between Emily and her classmates widens even more when they graduate from Deep Valley High School in 1912. Emily longs to go off to college with everyone else, but she can’t leave her grandfather. Emily resigns herself to facing a “lost winter,” but soon decides to stop feeling sorry for herself. And with a new program of study, a growing interest in the Syrian community, and a handsome new teacher at the high school to fill her days, Emily gains more than she ever dreamed...

In addition to her beloved Betsy-Tacy books, Maud Hart Lovelace wrote three more stories set in the fictional town of Deep Valley: Winona’s Pony Cart, Carney’s House Party and Emily of Deep Valley. Longtime fans and new readers alike will be delighted to find the Deep Valley books available again for the first time in many years.

If you would like to browse inside Emily of Deep Valley, go HERE.

Divine Appointments by Charlene Baumbich

This week, the  Christian Fiction Blog Alliance  is introducing  Divine Appointments  WaterBrook Press; Reprint edition (September 21, 2010)  by  Charlene Baumbich  


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Charlene Ann Baumbich is the author of the previous three books in the Partonville series. A popular speaker, journalist, and author, for several years she has lectured to women’s groups and retreats. Baumbich is also an award-winning journalist whose work has appeared in the Chicago Tribune, Today’s Christian Woman, and numerous other publications. She is the author of six nonfiction books of humor and inspiration.


Charlene says: For over two decades of writing and speaking, my passionate pursuit to entertain and rejuvenate using humor (I love to laugh-especially at myself), uncommon wisdom, and passionate insights has been affirmed through countless calls, letters, and evaluation sheets. A reader recently e-mailed, "There is so much depression and sadness in this world. I applaud you for reminding all of us to treasure the moments in our lives, and for encouraging us to find joy in the little things. What you do helps so many to rise above the heaviness of life and live, and laugh, and face another day, so thanks!!!!" That is exactly why I keep doing what I do.

I am a firm believer in the power of story (short or book-length, funny or insightful, real or fiction, on stage or page) to accomplish my purpose, which is to remind you: Don't Miss Your Life! Whether you're tuning into me live or in print, fasten your seatbelt. I promise you a wild, fun, provocative, heart-warming ride.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Josie Brooks, at the age of 47, thought she was leading an enviable single life. A successful consultant, she calls her own shots, goes where the money is, and never needs to compromise. But her precisely managed world begins to falter during a Chicago contract when an economic downturn, a bleeding heart boss, and the loyalty and kindness between endangered employees ding her coat of armor.

Throw in hot flashes, a dose of loneliness, a peculiar longing for intimacy, an
unquenchable thirst—not to mention a mysterious snow globe with a serene landscape, complete with a flowing river and lush greenery that seems to be beckoning her in—and Josie’s buttoned-up life is on the verge of coming completely undone.

Maybe her solitary existence isn’t as fulfilling as she has convinced herself to believe. It will take a few new friends, a mystical encounter, and an unexpected journey to set Josie on her own path to “right-sizing” and making the life changes that really matter. Filled with laugh-out loud moments and a gentle dash of inspiration, Divine Appointments is another heartwarming charmer from a master storyteller.

If you would like to read the first chapter of Divine Appointments, go HERE.