Carol Moncado

In the manuscript that is.

This sweet gentleman showed up and swept my heroine off her feet – in the most unromantic but incredible sweet sense. He bowled her over with kindness and grace.

It’s a connection she desperately needed. She’s an orphan whose only remaining family has betrayed her in some of the worst ways imaginable. She has a few friends who are very far away geographically and know little of her “real” life.

She has the hero, of course, but that’s not the same as a grandfather. A Poppo [if a good friend of mine will let me borrow the name – and if she doesn’t, no hard feelings].

I love it when random characters appear and change the course of a novel – for the better.

Today was a work day – and election day so not a ton done. I did “accept” most of the changes to the other manuscript so I could send it to Laurie to “next” her way through the major edits. That feels like a big accomplishment. I also printed it out with two pages on a piece of paper, four front and back. May not seem like much, but I’d never done it before.

I’m subbing again tomorrow [today] as a general aide the same place I was last week. If it’s like last week, I’ll have at least some time where I can read through that manuscript aloud before sending it off into the yonder.

In fact, I’m off to start that now. I’m saving this post on my laptop but will come back to it after midnight on my phone and upload it from there.

Pretty clever, eh? 😉

Today’s count:
NaNoWriMo: 635
Total: 3683

It’ll get there.

Yep. The Mary Poppins post was now “yesterday.”

I have gotten some more done. Not much. Think I have the impetus for her decision now figured out.

As much as I enjoyed subbing for the music teacher today, I think I need a day off Wednesday to finish this other manuscript. I have a couple mostly small notes [a few sentences here and there should fix them but need to figure out WHERE] and then DONE.

So for the rest of today…

Other manuscript: 90747
New since earlier: 0
NaNoWriMo project: 3048
Today: 976

And now bedtime. Because I have to work tomorrow. :p

I’ve been posting around midnight rather than trying to remember during the day and forgetting.

Except I forgot at midnight last nigh… er, this morning ;).

I did get a call about 615 this morning to sub at my kiddos’ school. I was the music teacher. Because I know soooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much about music :D.

Seriously, though – I love my kids’ school. I purposely get there super early when I sub there because I *know* it’ll take me 10 minutes [or more!] to get to my classroom. Poked my head in the library and said hello to the librarian. I stopped and talked with the speech teacher and made an appointment to talk about the 6yo and talked about when we’re going to talk about the 8yo. Talked with the reading teacher – mostly about the 6yo [who is quite serious about wanting a “ticket” to her wedding next summer ;)].

Got to the locked classroom. Stuck my stuff with the art sub, went back to the reading teacher [who doesn’t have a master key], then found the nurse who does.

So it was more like 15 minutes.

Breakfast duty [which apparently I didn’t really have – I missed the “first quarter only” note on the schedule] and a big hug from the vice principal as she walked in from drop off line duty. Morning was “prep” time so I did edits on my laptop. I did LOTS of edits yesterday at Panera. I also wrote some on the NaNo project.

This afternoon, I had my favorite 1st grader [yes, I know – not supposed to play favorites – but I gave him half his DNA], kindergarten [the teacher LOVES that 1st grader too ;)], and second grade.

We watched Mary Poppins. Or rather I watched through the penguin dance three times. So now I’m watching it with two of my kids at home :D.

Other manuscript:90736
New: 2244
Official NaNo total: 2072
Today [or rather yesterday/Sunday]: 1657

Look for another post sometime after midnight.

Cleaning, laundry, cranky kids, and in-laws conspired to significantly curtail my writing time.

But the music playing in my house pretty much all day? Rich Mullins, The World As Best As I Remember It, vol. 1 and 2.

The Father of hearts
And the Maker of noses
The Giver of dreams
He’s the One I have chosen
And I will follow Him

The Maker of Noses, The World As Best As I Remember It, Vol. 2

Tonight, I did manage to eek out a bit. I think the “other” manuscript is less than 1K from completion. Plan tomorrow? Hours upon hours at Panera trying to get through the last of the additions [not much] and edits. Then a final read-through this week.

I did whip out a bit of the NaNo project to avoid my zero… 😀

Other manuscript total: 88492
Today: 1152
Official NaNo total: 415
Today: 313

And time for bed… 😀

It’s not the first day Rich Mullins inspired me*. It won’t be the last either.

But today, while IMing with the incomparable Laurie Tomlinson about our mutual love of all things Rich, I told her how some of his lyrics** had been speaking to me on a “fictional” level – that is, about the manuscript I’m trying desperately to finish.

Everybody used to tell me big boys don’t cry
But I’ve been around enough to know that was the lie
That held back the tears in the eyes of a thousand prodigal sons

(Growing Young, The World As Best as I Remember It, Vol. 2)

This! This encapsulates so much about my hero at the beginning of the manuscript. And this does, too:

If I stand, let me stand on the promise that You will pull me through
And if I can’t let me fall on the grace that first brought me to You

(Sometimes by Step, Winds of Heaven… Stuff of Earth)

My hero is a prodigal and when he has no where to turn, he turns back to the One who made him and becomes not just the prodigal, but the returning prodigal.

Sometimes I think of Abraham
How one star he saw had been lit for me

(Sometimes by Step, The World As Best as I Remember It, Vol. 2)

It’s such a simple concept and at the same time so incredibly profound. To think that when the God of all creation was hanging the stars, He had me in mind while placing one of them in a galaxy far away.

It’s awe-inspiring.

And a key to opening some thought about the eternal and the Creator in my heroine, to laying groundwork for things that happen later on.

My hero is the perfect age to be a Rich Mullins fan. In fact, the CD book thing he left in New York with his Rich Mullins collection in it looks to be a plot point of some significance.

I just hope that I did Rich justice in the scene. As a song writer, a story teller, a worshiper of Christ – he had no equal. Certainly not in me.

I spent too much of my writing time singing along with the Rich CDs recently transferred to my laptop***- and lyric sharing with Laurie. Tomorrow, hopefully, I can finish up the 1000 words or so this other manuscript needs. Maybe a couple hundred words on the new project. And editing all day Sunday so I can hit NaNo hard next week. [Er, and do a final????? read through before sending the other one out.]

Today’s counts:

Other manuscript total: 87340
Today: 1753
Official NaNoWriMo total: 103
Today: 103

Rockin’ ;).

Plus, lots of First Impressions stuff today as the entry phase of the contest wound down. And stray dogs. Had a Corgi for a bit today too :D.

*My retroactive first date with hubby was to a Rich concert. We met him once when we were first in like and he left the venue to go get Subway. Sadly, the shutter on the camera (remember those?!) didn’t open.

**I’ve been listening to loaner CDs of 20 The Countdown Magazine’s Tribute to Rich – you can stream it here.

***Hubs and sis were shooting things on the XBox 360 so earbuds were necessary!

National Novel Writing Month started almost 7 and a half hours ago.

I’ve not written a word.

This is weird. I always start at midnight…

Taking the kids to the dentist and taking my AlphaSmart with me. Debating between starting NaNo and trying to finish the last couple scenes in the other manuscript. Need to do both today. Editing extravaganza on Sunday will [hopefully!] finish up the other manuscript, but need to have that done first…

I’m also trying NaBloPoMo as well. That’s where you put up a new blog post every day. The last two years I’ve made it about three weeks before something happened and I flat forgot. 🙁 I’ll also be updating the word counters later.

So… word counts:

Old manuscript that needs finishing: 85677
NaNoWriMo: 0
Monthly total: 0

At least those last two numbers can only go up.

Seeing how successful her older sister’s “mail order marriage” has been and longing to strike out on her own, Greta Olsen answers an ad for a mail order bride in Central City, Colorado. But when she meets Jess Gifford, owner of a thriving mercantile, she begins to harbor doubts. He didn’t place the ad to begin with and his business in a busy mining town leaves him little time or energy for love. To compound her troubles, she was not the only bride to answer the ad! Will either bride strike the match she hopes for?

 

 

 

This second offering in the Blue Willow Brides series was different from the first. This is not one I HAD to review [somehow I missed the call for influencers] but I did influence for the first one and the third will post tomorrow.

One thing that bugs me [in general] is having two main couples with equal – or nearly equal – page time. I generally feel that I don’t get to know either couple as well as I’d like. That’s the case here.

I enjoyed getting to know both couples but would have loved it if they both had their own books or something. That would be difficult to do given the plot, but… Or just a longer book ;).

One thing that did bug me a bit was that Zach had ordered two brides for his brother with the intention that he would be able to pick the one he liked the most. I get that… sort of. In that you wouldn’t want to run the risk of some evil woman. [There is much hesitance when I say that, by the way.] But, he never thought it through. What was going to happen to the other bride? If he’d ordered them planning all along that he would marry one and his brother the other, that’d be different, but he didn’t. I’m not sure he ever thought about what the other bride would do in a very rural mining town. And he never really apologized either.

It was a fun quick, read and I enjoyed getting to know all four characters. I likely won’t read it again often, but I am glad I read it once :).

Overall rating: 8 out of 10 stars

It all started with an ad in a mail-order bride catalogue . . .

This charming bouquet of novellas introduces you to four Hitching Post Mail-Order Bride Catalogueprospects in the year 1870, all eager for second chances . . . and hungry for happiness. Year in, year out, they’ll learn that love often comes in unexpected packages.

“And then Came Spring” by Margaret Brownley

Mary-Jo has traveled halfway across the country to meet her match, arriving just in time for his funeral. Returning home seems like her only option until her would-be brother-in-law proposes a more daring idea.

“An Ever After Summer” by Debra Clopton

Ellie had no idea she’s not what Matthew ordered. And what’s wrong with being a “Bible thumper” anyway? She’s determined to show him she’s tougher than she looks—and just the girl he needs.

“Autumn’s Angel” by Robin Lee Hatcher

Luvena would be perfect for Clay if she didn’t come with kids. But kids are a deal breaker, especially in a rough-and-trouble mining town. ­ e trouble is, there’s no money to send them back . . .

“Winter Wedding Bells” by Mary Connealy

David’s convinced he’s not long for the world. He needs someone to mother his boys when he’s gone—nothing more. Can plucky Irish Megan convince him to work at living instead of dying?

The biggest problem I have with novella collections like this is the fact that they’re novella collections like this. :/ I LOVE thick books, longer than most publishers put out these days where I can get lost for DAYS in a fictional world. But that’s the problem with being a fast reader. Very few books last that long for me [though the “world” often sticks around longer than I actually spend reading].

I enjoy novellas like these, but I long for them to be full length novels giving more time for the reader [aka: me] to sink into the characters and ache with them, rejoice with them, and so on. So…

The novellas were fast paced and well-written – as one would expect from exceptional authors such as these. The characters are fun and original. The letter-writer and tampering was ingenious.

But in the end, there just wasn’t enough for me to love-LOVE them. I wanted MORE!!!! [Something I tend to be guilty of even after reading a Julie Lessman tome ;).]

I look forward to other, trade length novels by these authors, but these novellas are perfect for someone looking for a light, fun, quick read.

Overall rating: 8 out of 10 stars

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an ecopy in exchange for my honest review.

This is the first in MAIL-ORDER BRIDE WEEK!!!! Everyone loves a good mail-order bride story and I’ve got quite the line up for reviews set for the next seven days! [Uh… with Sunday off because it’s God’s day – and because I don’t have another one in my “already read and need to review” stack :D.]

Today: A Bride for Keeps by Melissa Jagears
Saturday: A Bride for All Seasons by Margaret Brownley, Debra Clopton, Mary Connealy, and Robin Lee Hatcher
Monday: Twice Promised by Maggie Brendan
Tuesday: Perfectly Matched by Maggie Brendan
Wednesday: The Anonymous Bride by Vickie McDonough
Thursday: Second Chance Brides by Vickie McDonough
Friday: Finally a Bride by Vickie McDonough

Although Everett Cline can hardly keep up with the demands of his homestead, he won’t humiliate himself by looking for a helpmate ever again–not after being jilted by three mail-order brides. When a well-meaning neighbor goes behind his back to bring yet another mail-order bride to town, he has good reason to doubt it will work, especially after getting a glimpse at the woman in question. She’s the prettiest woman he’s ever seen, and it’s just not possible she’s there to marry a simple homesteader like him.

Julia Lockwood has never been anything more than a pretty pawn for her father or a business acquisition for her former fiance. Having finally worked up the courage to leave her life in Massachusetts, she’s determined to find a place where people will value her for more than her looks. Having run out of all other options, Julia resorts to a mail-order marriage in far-away Kansas.

Everett is skeptical a cultured woman like Julia could be happy in a life on the plains, while Julia, deeply wounded by a past relationship, is skittish at the idea of marriage at all. When, despite their hesitations, they agree to a marriage in name only, neither one is prepared for the feelings that soon arise to complicate their arrangement. Can two people accustomed to keeping their distance let the barricades around their hearts down long enough to fall in love?

I’ve met Melissa several times and she is the BFF of a local friend so I’d heard a bit about this book before it even sold to Bethany House much less had the blurb up on Amazon. I love a good mail-order bride story and this had all of the earmarks of one [even if one part of the plot hit a bit too close to a manuscript I’ve written most of – but have no plans to pursue ;)].

Overall, I enjoyed A Bride for Keeps. It didn’t wow me like I wanted it to, but it was a perfectly lovely read. I liked both Everett and Julia and the rest of the town [except the ones I wasn’t supposed to ;)]. I rooted for the two of them to fall in love and eventually they did. I loved the way he took care of her when she needed it. How hard she tried to learn how to help him survive on a farm in the prairie when it was so far outside her realm of experience.

I look forward to Melissa’s next offering and hope to enjoy it as well.

Overall rating: 7.5 out of 10 stars

Thanks to the publisher for a copy in exchange for my honest review.

Charlotte Graham is at the center of the most famous kidnapping in Chicago history.

The task force of FBI and local cops found her two abductors, killed them, rescued her, but it took four very long years. The fact she was found less than three miles from her home, had been there the entire time, haunts them. She’s changed her identity, found a profession she loves, and rebuilt her life.

She’s never said a word–to the cops, to her doctors, to family–about those four years.

A family legacy has brought her back to Chicago where a reporter is writing a book about the kidnapping. The cops who worked the case are cooperating with him. Her options are limited: Hope the reporter doesn’t find the full truth, or break her silence about what happened. And her silence is what has protected her family for years.

Bryce Bishop doesn’t know her past, he only knows she has coins to sell from her grandfather’s estate–and that the FBI director for the Chicago office made the introduction. The more he gets to know Charlotte, the more interested he becomes, an interest encouraged by those closest to her. But nothing else is working in his favor–she’s decided she is single for life, she struggles with her faith, and she’s willing to forego a huge inheritance to keep her privacy. She’s not giving him much of an opening to work with.

Charlotte wants to trust him. She needs to tell him what happened. Because a crime cops thought was solved, has only opened another chapter…

I’m still making up my mind about the truths revealed in Dee’s last offering, Full Disclosure (my review). They’re not as prominent here though the people in that greyed out portion of my review are mentioned in passing a few times. The main secondary characters are Ann and Paul from that book.

I still tend to equate Dee with Romantic Suspense in my mind. I’m not quite sure why that is though there is an element of suspense it’s not the page turning, will they die a horrific death by the end of the chapter, type suspense. More mystery still I guess.

I did enjoy Unspoken. I read it in about a day or so – which is about right for me when I sit to read a book and don’t have a whole lot else on my plate. But… it doesn’t hold quite the same… something. Kind of like when you’ve been dreaming of Andy’s Frozen Custard for weeks and weeks and then you get it. It’s GOOD but you’ve built it up a bit TOO much in your mind [I’m not sure if that’s possible for Andy’s but you know what I’m talking about ;)].

I didn’t figure out who the missing guy from her kidnapping was in advance, but unless I missed something we weren’t given enough information to. I did call the twist connecting the two  cases [Charlotte’s kidnapping and the cold case Ann and Paul are looking at]. I don’t think it’s a spoiler to say they’re connected somehow because if they weren’t it’s a waste of ink on a plot line that doesn’t mean anything.

And Dee Henderson is way too good for that.

Will I jump at the chance to review her next one? Absolutely. Will I try to lower my expectations just a smidge? Probably. Not much but a bit.

Overall rating: 8.25 out of 10 stars

Thanks to the publisher for a copy in exchange for my honest review.