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Interview with Author Emily Ann Putzke

3/31/2015

1 Comment

 

The Book...

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1861 - Sixteen year old Joe Roberts leads a mundane life as far as he’s concerned. His world spins in the same circle each day: working at his family’s store, taking his sisters on boyish escapades and bickering with his rogue of a cousin, Lucas. Joe can’t understand why his mother allows Lucas to live and work with them after all the pain he caused their family. When war is declared, Joe is quick to join up and become a soldier with the 11th Pennsylvania Volunteers, but war is nothing like he imagined. To make matters worse, he must endure having Lucas in the same regiment. Can Joe put the pain of the past behind him? Forgiveness is easier said than done.


The Author...

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Welcome to Heritage Literature, Emily! Tell us a little about yourself.


Thanks for hosting me, Lauren! I'm Emily Ann Putzke, the author of  It Took a War. I'm a 19 year old Christian, homeschool graduate, and history lover. Besides writing historical fiction I enjoy photography (especially photographing my nieces and nephews), spending time with family, polka dots, all things vintage, war movies, (weird, right?) reading, and coffee.


How did you get started into writing?


I’ve been interested in writing since I was about seven or eight. I’ve always loved creating stories and knew from a young age that I wanted to be an author. I was homeschooled, so that played a big part in my love of literature. I was surrounded by good books and allowed time to pursue my passion.


What inspired It Took a War?


A family trip to Gettysburg in 2012 inspired It Took a War. The battlefields and history there inspired me to learn more about the Civil War. I left there with story ideas brewing!


What is the question you get asked the most in regards to being an author?


I’m asked how long it took me to write It Took a War, and also how I got it published. I started It Took a War in 2012, then put it away for nearly two years. I pulled it out in January, 2014, re-wrote it and got it ready for publication. I self-published using Createspace, and I have my own publishing imprint called, The White Rose Press.


What advice do you have for aspiring writers?


If writing is your passion and God-given gift, pursue it with all your heart. Don’t hide your talents. Share them!


What type of marketing/advertising have you done that you felt was the most successful for you?


I organized a blog tour/giveaway which helped immensely in promoting my book. I was hosted on 10 blogs during the book’s release week. My giveaway consisted of a signed copy of my book, a Gettysburg mug, hot chocolate, an old fashioned journal, and peppermint sticks. To enter the giveaway, people were required to follow me on different social media sites for a certain amount of entries. I gained a larger following from both the blog posts and the giveaway.


Have you published any other books?


My friend, Emily Chapman, and I are in the process of publishing a book we wrote together. It’s title, Ain’t We Got Fun, is written in letter form between two sisters during the Great Depression. That will be released this summer.


Do you have any works in progress you'd like to share with us?


I’m currently writing a full length novel based on the true story of Hans and Sophie Scholl, a brother and sister who wrote and distributed anti-Nazi leaflets in Germany during WWII. It is titled, Resist, and I’m praying about pursuing traditional publishing with this one.


Where can people connect with you online?


I blog frequntly at www.authoremilyannputzke.com. I’m also on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest.


You can purchase my book in paperback, kindle, or audiobook on Amazon.


Thanks for being with us today, Emily!

My review of It Took a War:
I wasn't sure what to expect from this book. In my experience, a lot of war related books are filled with blood and violence. I was pleasantly surprised!
The focus was on the characters and their struggles, rather than on the war. The war was real enough that you knew it was there and felt the pain and the suffering, but it did not overpower the rest of the story and the lesson that the author skillfully wove in.
At the beginning of the book, I did not like Lucas at all! And there were times I wanted to reach into the book and give Joe and Coralie a good shaking! But the author did a great job of helping these two resolve their problems and the ending was spectacular!
There were times the story moved a bit too quickly for me to grasp exactly what was going on, but overall, Emily did a wonderful job and I really enjoyed this book.


See this review on Amazon
1 Comment

We have Twins!

3/30/2015

5 Comments

 
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I was over at my grandma's house visiting, when Seth came tearing on his four wheeler to announce that I had a baby in the barn. I thought he was joking. Mom had checked Sabriyah this morning and she showed no signs of being ready to birth, but he assured me he was serious!
So I hopped on the back of the four wheeler and I must admit, I let out a few yelps as we rounded curves. Yes, I was in a hurry but I did want to get there in one piece. I calmly, okay, maybe not very calmly, informed Seth of that fact!
One baby was on the ground and just seconds after I got there, she started pushing again. It was a good thing I was there for the second baby, because he was not presenting correctly and it took effort on both her and my parts to get him out.
But we did and both little boys are doing well! Sabriyah is a super good first time mom! I was hoping for a girl, but these little guys are cute too.
I chose Sioux Native American names for them as I couldn't find any Arabic names I liked, so they don't match their mom, but that's ok!
The one on the right in the above picture is Chaska, which means firstborn (appropriately!) in Sioux and the one on the left is Chayton, which means falcon.
We were hoping she would deliver today because Dad so kindly insisted I stay home so I wouldn't further injure my finger. He knew I planned on being there when Sabriyah kidded, so it was nice she went today and I don't have to skip another day of work!
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5 Comments

Writing/Reading Update + $.99 eBook

3/30/2015

1 Comment

 
TCCAS #2-Hidden Treasure and Wedding Bells has seen considerable progress in the last few weeks and I was very excited to receive the color cover illustrations as well as the pen and ink drawings for the interior from my illustrator, Debbie, in the mail last Thursday! It is now going through some last minute revisions and I hope to be able to submit it to the publisher within a week or so.
I am attending the homeschool INCH conference in Lansing, Michigan in mid May as a vendor and I am determined to have TCCAS #2 published in time for that if at all possible.
I have decided to take a break from writing for awhile to let my brain rest :) I want to concentrate on getting some books read that I simply have not had time for before this, or rereading some of my old favorites. It was been really nice to keep my laptop closed in the evenings and just read!
Just a few days after I had decided to take this break from writing, Rio was having a fit because I took his two adopted mama's, Smoke and Abby, away, both at the same time. When I got back, Rio was throwing himself into the metal gate so hard he was bending the latch. There was no way to get in without him getting out, so I caught him and locked him into our hay barn until I could get the girls put away.
Then I went to let him out, but as I was trying to unhook the chain, he slammed into it again...and my hand was caught between the pipe of the gate and the chain.
Ouch. My first finger took the brunt of the force and it swelled up really fast so I grabbed an icicle and headed for the house.
Yesterday it was still really swollen and it was spreading down into my hand. We thought it was broken, but my aunt, who used to do sports medicine for football players, says its just soft tissue damage and should heal on its own. It's pretty stiff, but I can just manage to type :) So I'll stick to reading until the swelling goes down some.
Now, here is a just released book from a friend of mine and it's on sale for one week only!
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Purchase Here
Rebekah Morris is to be our author of the month for May, but I wanted to do a quick post to let you all know about her latest book, Gift from the Storm, which just came out this past week.
I read it in two days and really enjoyed it. I had read excerpts from it on the author's blog, but it was nice to read the whole thing from start to finish. And I just love her cover!
There was enough suspense to keep me turning pages, but it was a nice, quiet read as well. Amy is a sweet character and her plight pulls at your heart strings.  Justin, Adam, Sara and the others were very amusing and I had some good laughs and some teary moments as well as Amy struggled to accept her new life. The ending is really good.
All together, a good book appropriate for all ages.
From now until Saturday, the eBook is on sale for $.99 so jump in there and get a copy!
1 Comment

Photo Friday

3/26/2015

6 Comments

 
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I noticed that some wild turkeys were 'courting' out in a neighbors field, so I dragged myself out of bed a little earlier than usual yesterday morning and headed out to see what kind of shots I could get.
Just as I was creeping up behind a bush, trying to figure out how to get closer without spooking them, a car went by and scared them. They started for the woods, so I ran out into the open field and managed to get about forty shots in before they were out of sight.
Because they were fleeing, I didn't get many front shots, but here are a few off the best.
I liked the top one and the second one....I have all my ducks, err, turkeys, in a row!

At the bottom of the post are two random pictures...don't let Mr. Possum scare you! He was wandering around in our backyard a few days ago :)
And sweet Ashwin :)
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6 Comments

Lotter Funny Farm Videos #4: Lauren and Smoke

3/25/2015

4 Comments

 
Levi and I started doing cattle sorting competitions in the fall, but it got so cold and we were extremely busy so we didn't go for several months. Smoke also wasn't acting like herself, so I didn't want to work her until I figured out what was wrong.
I never did figure out what was ailing her and she has snapped out of whatever it was and is as healthy as ever.
Neither Abby nor Lena are able to be ridden quite yet, so Levi is without a mount for the time being, but I was able to take Smoke last Wednesday and have some fun!
They were doing a new pen set up that was really tricky, the cattle were not cooperating and most of the teams were getting multiple DQ's.
On my last run, which is the last shot in this video, my team and I got one of two clean runs of the night!!!
This video is to show a little of what we do and how much fun it is for horse and rider :)
Here are a few pictures as well. The lighting in the sorting barn is not very good so they are slightly blurry. My favorite is the first one.
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4 Comments

DIY Candle Holder Project

3/23/2015

5 Comments

 
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In the survey, quite a few of you asked for DIY posts so I decided to start off with a simple, county décor piece that can also be elegant!
I love candles! I'm not usually fond of the normal floral scents that you find with the Yankee candles and such, but I love simple, fruity, natural scents. I also love creative candle holders.
I saw something similar to this on Pinterest the other day and since then have found a lot more ideas on how to use canning jars to decorate your home.
So, here's what I did with just three items to create centerpieces for our table.
My supplies:
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Two quart canning jars with rings, but no lids...
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Two candles...
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And coffee beans.
I placed the two candles in the jars and centered them, then poured the coffee beans in around them, evening them out with my finger. The smell was delicious even without the candles lit! I had to go get a cup of coffee after making these!
There are lots of ways to take this same idea and put your own creative twist on it. I thought about using pea stone instead of coffee beans, but I like the aroma.
If any of you use this same idea or added your own twist to it, I'd love to hear what you did! Or if you have other DIY projects you have done, I'd love to hear about those as well! You can send me a note here.
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5 Comments

Photo Friday

3/20/2015

5 Comments

 
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***Warning***
This post may induce hunger!!
For lack of a more interesting subject to shoot this week, I attempted to capture some of the delicious food we've eaten! I'm getting hungry just putting this post together!! My favorite would be the shortcake and strawberries at the top...both because of the flavor and the image quality!!! Next up would be the pancake batter being poured onto the griddle.
The last picture of a glass of lemonade reminds me of the warmer temperatures we can look forward to! While it hasn't been bitterly cold, it has been hovering around 30-35*. That is what our winter temps are usually like, so it feels like winter instead of spring, though it is much better than -20*!!
Any particular favorite that appeals to the eye or the tongue!?
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5 Comments

First Day of Spring and a Birthday!

3/20/2015

1 Comment

 
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I am very excited for the first day of spring! And I'm excited to wish my brother, Seth, a happy sixteenth birthday! He is eager to be at Secretary of State the minute they open to get his license!!
My "little" brother isn't so little anymore! He towers over me and most people think he is much older than he really is!
Lots of memories of when we were small...where did the time go.
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Book Review--The Fragrance of Geraniums

3/18/2015

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Purchase here
Last month Alicia Ruggieri joined us for an author interview. I posted my thoughts on her other two books, The Mystery of the Missing cufflinks and The House of Mercy, but I had not yet read The Fragrance of Geraniums. So here is my review!

When I started reading this book, I really didn't think it would be my type of story.
By the first chapter I was like, ok, this isn't as bad as I thought...
And by chapter two, I was hooked!
Really, really, loved this book!
Everything about this book was amazing! From the Biblical aspects, the drama, the suspense, the characters, the setting, the heartache....everything was above super.
The story moves at a perfect pace. I am a very fast reader and I get easily discouraged when a book moves slowly. I tend to be attracted to fast paced books, but I liked the middle road Alicia took here. It was fast enough that it didn't lose me, yet slow enough that I don't think other readers would have a hard time keeping up.
Definitely a five star book for me.
I can't say enough about this book, but now the bad news...she stopped too soon! I could have read about Grace and her fellow characters for two or three more books the same size and not get tired of them!
But, thankfully, Alicia is in the midst of writing a sequel! I am so excited!
Alicia handles some tough subjects in this book and because of some of the content, I recommended this to ages 15+.

See this review on Amazon
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Lotter Farm News

3/16/2015

10 Comments

 
It's been quite awhile since I wrote a farm update and a lot has happened! We've cared for a couple strays, dealt with horse injuries, bottled a baby and there's probably something I'm forgetting!
It's been staying around 20* at night and 35-40* during the day....a wonderful reprieve from the bitter cold. There is much less snow than is shown in these pictures and it is warm enough that the horses all have their blankets off...they are glad to be able to roll without the blankets!
For the horse updates, I could have used the pictures that made them look beautiful and perfect, but instead, I thought I'd show the silly side :)
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First up is Lena. She is our accident prone girl and about six weeks ago, Mom went out to chores to find Lena with a massive injury to her neck including a puncture that we thought went into her esophagus. The vet came out and thankfully the wound was not as serious as we at first thought, but he still had to put in a lot of stitches and she was left with a large open patch of skin.
Because of the bitter cold weather we've been having, the wound was getting frost bit so my aunt, Mary, came up to the farm and made Lena a fleece cover that wraps around her neck, then between her legs and over her back to keep dressings in place. You can see the fleece under the white blanket in Lena's photo. That has helped tremendously and the wound has shrunk quite a bit.
We never found what she injured herself on, but hopefully she'll stay out of trouble in the future!
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Ashwin usually doesn't look this grumpy! I have been finding that he can be very food aggressive, a sign that he was starved at some point because it doesn't match his personality. In this photo, another horse was trying to steal his hay pile.
He has been holding up very well in this cold. He is continuing to lost his vision and it is only a matter of time before he loses it completely. Blindness is common in Appaloosa's.
He has gotten a little bit spookier than he used to be, but he generally calms down if he hears our voices. He's still a super sweet boy and Rio is very attached to him.
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I was pretty worried about Smoke for awhile as she was not her usual self at all. She had no energy and tried to buck me off several times, very odd behavior for her. She doesn't handle winters very well, but she has been holding up this year. Her weight is good and her coat is shiny. She seems to have snapped out of whatever was ailing her and is doing well! We went for a ride the other day when it finally warmed up to about 15* and she was her old self!
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This pretty much says it all for ole' Bannie! He spends his days eating and sleeping. He will be turning 20 this spring! It's hard to believe we've been together for 3 1/2 years already. He's still boss of the barnyard, but I think he's starting to mellow out in his old age. He's my fluffy teddy bear and my favorite if I need a cuddle!
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Abby had a hoof abscess back in October and she is still trying to get over that. It re-abscessed once and then our farrier cleaned it out thoroughly and it hasn't been back, but since we had to cut away a lot of the underside of her hoof to prevent anymore infection, it hasn't hardened up completely and if she steps on something wrong, she will limp for a few days.
We are working on getting it back to normal and she should be able to ride just find this summer.
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Rio is getting so big! He is 11 months old and with as big as he already is, he's going to be massive!! He sometimes uses his size and weight to his advantage and his worst habit is rushing the gate when I'm trying to take a horse in or out. I'm working on breaking him of that, but it's slow going!
Though he looks grown, his mind is still very much a baby. He is getting much better at leading and responding to authority. He still likes to challenge me occasionally. Now we need to start working on getting him used to being handled and saddled. That is going to be interesting!
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My little goat, Sabriyah, just turned one year old a few days ago. She is nearly five months pregnant and her tentative due day is March 24th!
Somehow I always end up with destructive, chaos causing pets and Sabriyah is no exception!
I got Sabriyah when she was three days old. She had to be bottle fed every two hours and I felt like I was a mom! She lived in the house for the first six weeks of her life, wearing diapers!
I fed her, changed her diaper, soothed her to sleep and had to constantly keep her out of trouble. She took naps next to me on the couch as I worked on the computer.
She loves car rides as she was taken to work with me every day for six weeks.
She knows her name and still crawls in my lap and falls asleep whenever possible!
When we put her in the barn, she couldn't figure out what "those things" were. She thought she was a people!
Up until recently, she was too small to be kept in by the fence so whenever she heard us out in the yard, she would slip out and come visit. My grandpa denies it, but he loves her and told us more than once not to fix the fence because then she wouldn't be able to 'help' him fix equipment in the shop! I found her with streaks of grease down her back more than once, evidence that she was 'helping' him!
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This is Silas. His mother was a young ewe and didn't know how to care for him. We believe he was born premature, so even if his mother had been an experienced ewe, he probably wouldn't have made it.
So in the house he came, diapers and all! We warmed him up with bath and got some colostrum down him. We were wondering what to do with him, because he needed feedings every two-three hours and we weren't going to be home hardly at all.
Just as we were discussing what to do, we got a text from a friend saying she knew someone who wanted a bottle baby lamb and wondered if we would consider parting with Silas! The timing was perfect! They came and picked him up 36 hours after we first brought him home. He is now called Bob and has little children to love him.
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This little guy was just about dead by the time Mom got to him and it took half an hour of a hot bath and stimulation to bring him around. His ears were frost bit...not badly enough to fall off I don't think, but they were very swollen. It also looked like he had been stepped on as his leg was swollen too. His color patters are gorgeous!!
He pulled through and went to the same home as Silas(Bob) and is called Junior.

Two weeks ago I found a cold, starving kitten in our barn. He was super friendly, litter box trained and very happy to be a housecat. He looked to be about six months old. We named him Casey and he stayed in the house for a week or so, but we really didn't need two house cats and he didn't fit in well with the barn cats, so we gave him to a friend who was looking for a house cat.
Then, just over a week ago, a blind and deaf hound dog showed up in our barn. We put her in our kennel and called a neighbor who has dogs and he happened to know the owner. She was tattooed so that made her easy to identify. She was back with her family the same night we found her.

So that's what has been happening on the Lotter farm the past month or so! Anything that happens seems slightly more dramatic because of the extreme cold. -20* has become the normal temp around here! You know it's bad when we walk outside at +15* and go, "Wow, it's so warm"! While I love the cold, I am excited for the warm weather, mainly so I can start riding again!! I hope to be able to post some more Lotter Funny Farm Videos of horse related activities! There is a new piece of property I just got permission to explore with the horses, so I'm excited to see what I will find there!
10 Comments

Photo Friday...with a Twist

3/12/2015

13 Comments

 
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I haven't had the time to get any new pictures for this week, so I again went back to some old files in search of pictures I could throw together for a post :) 
I found some photos of Bannie that I took about two years ago. I had done some editing to make them look like drawings and I kind of like the effect!! I love the first picture, his eye really pops out at me.
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Mom gets the credit for the next three pictures :) One of my absolute favorite pictures of Bannie and I is the following photo. That day it was snowing so hard You litteraly could not see more than 10-15 feet in front of you. I was bound and determined to ride, so I did! Poor Ban! It was fun though. I was cold and we were both caked in snow by the time we finished, but it was worth it!
The last two photos were taken a year after I got Bannie. This August will mark four years since Ban entered the family and sometimes I really wonder what I did without him. Even though I don't ride him much anymore, he is still my favorite. He greets me with a kiss and a nuzzle and sometimes affectionately pulls on my collar. He understands me better than any horse I've ever had and I honestly cannot put our relationship into words.
He can be so frustrating one minute....and the next he melts my heart!
He'll be turning 20 in just a few weeks. He still loves the ladies :)
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13 Comments

Recipe: Drop Biscuits

3/11/2015

2 Comments

 
Several requests for more recipe posts came back through the survey...so here's one for the chefs!
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Mix 4 C. flour, 5 Tsp. baking powder, 1 Tsp. salt and 2 Tbl. white sugar.
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Chop up 1 C. butter or two sticks and cut into flour mixture to make course crumbs.
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Add 2 1/2 C. milk a little at a time, stirring after each addition.
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Stir until it is sticky.
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Drop by spoonful onto cookie sheets and bake for 12 minutes at 450*.
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The finished product! These biscuits were very tasty.
We made a meal by putting a biscuit in a bowl, covering it with rice, then browned hamburger and topping it with white sauce. It was really good!
If any of you cooks out there have recipes that you'd like to share, with or without pictures, you can contact me by using the form on the Contact page. If you have pictures you would like to include, send me a note and I will respond with my email address.
2 Comments

Writing Update

3/9/2015

9 Comments

 
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I am very excited to finally be finished with my part of the editing of book #2 of The Christian Cowgirl Adventure Series (TCCAS)! I sent it off to my friend, Alicia Willis, to be properly edited. It took me a lot longer to edit it than I originally thought it would, but I'm happy to be finished, at least for now.
I received the illustration roughs on Friday and I am excited to see the finished cover and illustrations. My goal is to have this book published by the last week of April, but we will see if that happens or not :)
Now that I have some free time while TCCAS #2 is being edited, I will work on getting Thunder written.
I've been reading a lot of blog posts and books on how to increase your productivity while writing and they have been really helping. Hopefully I'll be able to increase my writing speed and get this project done in time for a summer publication date!
I have started chapter four and I hit a dead end for awhile, but I think I'll be able to work through it.
Bannie is my inspiration for this story and the other day I looked through my files for some pictures of him I could use. I found some really nice ones that I think depict Thunder very well.
This is my favorite.
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Isn't he handsome? :) He will be on the front cover as well.
I recently started a new story about an abused girl who makes friends with a wild stallion. He is  her only comfort until a cowboy named Lucas come to her uncle's ranch. She feels he has something she doesn't and he is the only person who has ever been kind to her since she came to live with her uncle.
What do you think? Any ideas to add to the plot? Any ideas for Thunder?
As soon as I finish Thunder, or probably even before that, I will be working on completing the rough draft of TCCAS #3, The Stranger and the Lost Mine. So far, this project has taken me over two years, if I remember correctly.
That pretty much sums up my writing life at the moment. :)
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Photo Friday

3/6/2015

4 Comments

 
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Maple is hard to get pictures of because she never sits still! Usually her photo's turn out blurry, but I was finally able to get some good action shots of her. She loves balls and sticks and she could play catch for hours. No matter how exhausted she may be, if you through a stick, she'll go after it :)
We were having some fun in the snow together.
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This is a northern flicker woodpecker. They are elusive birds and very shy, hard to get pictures of!
This one didn't like me reaching for my camera, but he stayed put long enough for a few shots. They are very beautiful birds with a red heart on the back of their heads!!
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Interview with Author Faith Blum

3/4/2015

8 Comments

 
I am not sure exactly when or where I first heard of Faith, but I have been following her on google+ and her blog for some time.
I read her first book, A Mighty Fortress, sometime ago and really enjoyed it. Her second book, Be Thou My Vision, is waiting in my kindle for a quiet evening and I am eager to read her other books as they come out!
Faith has joined us for an interview today and at the bottom of this post you will see my review of this book.

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Joshua and Ruth Brookings are traveling by stagecoach to finally join their parents in Montana. Attacked by murderous outlaws, the teens barely escape with their lives and must survive in the barren Wyoming and Montana territories and escape the man who's hunting them.

Seven years ago, Jed Stuart ran away from home and joined Tom's gang. Jed is tired of the lawlessness and wants out. The only problem? He is the boss's right-hand man and will never be able to leave. And what's one more stagecoach robbery, anyway?

Can Joshua lean on God's strength to keep himself and his sister alive until they find a town? Will Jed be able to face his anger or will it consume him completely? All three are running--the hunter and hunted. What will happen when they meet?


Welcome to Heritage Literature, Faith! Tell us a little about yourself.

Thanks for having me, Lauren! I’m a 24 year old aspiring author and life with my family on a small hobby farm in Wisconsin. As I write this, I am looking out over a snowy cornfield with a tree-filled hill behind it. It’s a gorgeous backdrop to do my writing and editing in. I also work a part-time job at an accountant’s office entering data for the clients and doing whatever other odd jobs the boss has for me to do. I love writing, reading, crocheting, sewing, knitting, and playing games with my family.

How did you get started into writing?

School assignments. Then I started writing some stories on my own. It didn’t take Mom long to figure out that I loved to write, so my middle school and high school years had plenty of writing subjects to keep me busy. I think my favorite one was “Learn to Write the Novel Way”. I finished a novel in one year. It isn’t a very good one, but it shows promise and who knows, I may revive it someday and make it tons better. J

What inspired the Hymns of the West Series?

The first inspiration I got was a writing contest. The contest was for people younger than me and the story had to be less than 1,500 words I think. But, after seeing the contest and the picture you were supposed to base the picture on, I had an idea and went with it. That story ended up becoming A Mighty Fortress.

I originally didn’t plan on it becoming a series. But after finishing my book, one of my beta-readers asked what the second book was going to be about. I had no idea. But his question got my mind working and I came up with a rough idea. That idea is going to be book five in the series.

After that, other ideas kept on coming. I don’t even really know where they all came from, honestly. Right now, I have at least six novels planned and three companion novellas. In addition to those, I have one other possible novel idea and two more possible novella ideas.


What is the question you get asked the most in regards to being an author?

“Can you tell me your self-publishing story? I’m looking into getting published and would like to know the process.” After being asked this question, or a variation of it, two or three times in two weeks, I decided to start compiling information on a series of blog posts detailing some of my self-publishing story along with advice and ideas for writers who are considering self-publishing.

What advice do you have for aspiring writers?

Don’t stop writing. If you get stuck, skip ahead to another scene in your story. This worked great for me when I was trying to finish the rough draft of the fourth book in my series. Only I got stuck three different times before I finally figured out how to connect the first spot. It was kind of fun writing ahead in the story and it worked great!

What type of marketing/advertising have you done that you felt was the most successful for you?

I’m still trying to figure that one out. I think Kindle Countdown deals and/or free promos have been the most successful. I’m also part of a writer’s Facebook group that provides mutual support and promotions and twitter blasts. I’m still trying to figure out how to do this whole marketing thing.

What other books have you written?

Only two have been published, A Mighty Fortress and Be Thou My Vision. However, I did recently get Amazing Grace set up to be available for preorder and that book will be published (at least on Kindle) on April 26th!

Do you have any works in progress you'd like to share with us?

YES!  YES! YES! I am super excited about the three novellas I have written as companions to the Hymns of the West series. They will also have hymn titles and each one is slightly connected to Amazing Grace (Hymns of the West #3). One of the characters in AG is a mail order bride and the main character, Caleb writes to her, but also reads the advertisements for two other mail order brides. Two of the novellas, Pass ME Not and Redeemed are based on those two mail order brides. I Love Thee is based on the story of another man who writes to the same woman Caleb did.

Where can people connect with you online?

I am on all sorts of places. The places I am most active are Facebook, my blog, my website, and twitter. I am also on Goodreads, Pinterest and Google +.

Thanks for having me today. I had a lot of fun!

Thank you for being with us, Faith! I really enjoyed your advice to aspiring writers about not stopping writing just because you are stuck at one spot.

My review of A Mighty Fortress:
I really enjoy westerns but it is so hard to find good stories without immorality and extreme violence so I was pleased to find this book.
A Mighty Fortress was well written for the most part. The beginning was a bit hard to get through for me, but the story picked up near the middle of the book and the ending was very, very good. I am not an emotional person, but the ending really got to me.
I do not recommend this book to younger readers because there is a bit of violence and fatal gunfights. I felt Faith handled these situations well, she did not give too much detail, nor linger at the scene and there was closure with these instances at the end of book.
I recommend this book for ages 15+.

See this review on Amazon

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