Clayton McCarrick-Hero in Periwinkle in the Park

Bouquet of Brides releases this month. Today we look at the hero in my story, “Periwinkle in the Park.”

Clayton McCarrick, rancher and hunter, is about to become a victim at the hands of the government—again. He’s determined to keep them from taking his land. At the end of a rifle, if necessary.

When talk of a national park threatens Clay’s livelihood, he works to persuade one of the major lobbyists, an attractive nature guide, to sway her vote. Surely, if she could see how the potential Rocky Mountain National Park would affect those living within the proposed borders, she would work to stop such a travesty.

Clay is a rugged cowboy but a wound in his past is what fuels his tough exterior. The lovely nature guide helps to open his heart and strolls in as easily as if she were hiking through an alpine meadow. Clay may have been bracing for a fight, but he wins a different battle thanks to Periwinkle Winfield.

#BouquetOfBrides

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Kathleen E. Kovach is a Christian romance author published traditionally through Barbour Publishing, Inc. as well as indie. Having grown up in Colorado, Rocky Mountain National Park was her playground. She lives in northeast Colorado with her husband of over four decades and is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers. An award-winning author, she presents spiritual truths with a giggle, proving herself as one of God's peculiar people. Please visit her at www.kathleenekovach.com.

NICK ANDREWS: Wounded, Prickly, & Gallant

“Holly & Ivy,” my #HistoricalRomance novella in A #BouquetOfBrides takes place in 1890, in Washington State. It’s about a young woman who accompanies her impetuous younger sister on her trip across the country to be a Christmas mail-order bride and is helped by a gallant stranger.

Nick Andrews is a successful cattle rancher who is jaded by the idea of love and finding a faithful wife. His own mother had cheated on his father, his foreman’s wife left him for an easier life in a city, and Nick caught his fiancée kissing another man. He has yet to meet a trustworthy woman and has been turned off from ever finding love.

But then Nick meets Holly Harrison and her sister on the train heading west. He thinks that women traveling by themselves is unwise and, even more imprudent, is to agree to be some man’s wife without ever having met him. He puts on a gruff exterior to help these ladies see reason.

Nick feels compelled to see the pair of women safely to their destination, which will give him time to talk the girl out of her silly notions. As well as give him time to spend with the captivating Holly Harrison. Could she be the one woman in a million he could risk trusting with his heart?

Find Nick’s story in “Holly & Ivy” in A BOUQUET OF BRIDES Collection. #BouquetOfBrides

In celebration of the release of “Holly & Ivy”, I’m giving away (US only) a print copy of A BOUQUET OF BRIDES Collection. To enter, subscribe to my newsletter and receive a free short story. I’ll be drawing for the book at the end of January.

Follow my blog at Mary’s Blog.

#ChristianRomance #HistoricalRomance #Romance

MARY DAVIS is an award-winning novelist of over two dozen titles in both historical and contemporary themes. She has four more titles releasing in 2018; Courting Her Amish Heart in March 2018, The Widow’s Plight in July 2018, Courting Her Secret Heart (Working Title) September 2018, & “Zola’s Cross-Country Adventure” in MISSAdventure Brides Collection in December 2018. She is a member of ACFW and active in critique groups.

Mary lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband of over thirty-three years and two cats. She has three adult children and one incredibly adorable grandchild. Find her online at:

MaryDavisBooks.com

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A BOUQUET OF BRIDES

I'm so excited! I received my copies of my newest book, A BOUQUET OF BRIDES. A collection of novellas by various authors. My story is called HOLLY & IVY. I love this collection!

#BouquetOfBrides

I will be starting a blog series next week featuring each of the heroes in these stories.

I will be on the other authors' blogs with posts about my heroine, setting, inspiration, and more.

MARY DAVIS is an award-winning novelist of over two dozen titles in both historical and contemporary themes. She has four more titles releasing in 2018; Courting Her Amish Heart in March 2018, The Widow’s Plight in July 2018, Courting Her Secret Heart (Working Title) September 2018, & “Zola’s Cross-Country Adventure” in MISSAdventure Brides Collection in December 2018. She is a member of ACFW and active in critique groups.

Mary lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband of over thirty-three years and two cats. She has three adult children and one incredibly adorable grandchild. Find her online at:

MaryDavisBooks.com

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Tuesday Tidbits: Cleaning Hacks

When I get on YouTube, it is a black hole for me. I jump from one video to another and spend hours. I try to not get on very often because I know my weakness.

But...

I did find a couple of great cleaning hacks videos.

15 Amazing Life Hacks For Cleaning Everyone Should Know

23 Most Unusual Cleaning Hacks That Work

I hope you find some useful new cleaning ideas.

Tuesday Tidbits: The Gilded Age

Ah, the Gilded Age

That wonderful time of prosperity in the United States that was . . . When exactly? Why was it called  the "Gilded Age"? And what made it the "Gilded Age"?

I had thought that the Gilded Age was from around 1900 up to the Stock Market Crash of 1929, encompassing the glitter Roaring Twenties. Boy was I wrong.


The Gilded Age was the late 19th century, from the end of the Civil War to about 1900.

Why this term "Gilded Age"? In 1873, Mark Twain coined this term in his book The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today.

Gilded Age refers to the glittering surface of the time, but there was greed and corruption underneath that surface.

What made this the Gilded Age was the rapid economic growth, technology, government, and social change. Previously, Americans didn't want to behave or to be viewed as being anything like Europe. But with the advent of "new money" people being snubbed by "old money" people, some of the customs, behaviors, and view began to be adopted. At the same time, industry boomed creating some of this new money, and along with money and progress came corruption.

So that's the Gilded Age in a nut shell.

Award-winning novelist MARY DAVIS has over two dozen titles in both historical and contemporary themes. She is a member of ACFW and active in two critique groups. Mary lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband of over thirty years and two cats. She has three adult children and on grandchild.

Tuesday Tidbits: Editing

People often think that once an author types "The End" that their work is done. But it's not.

From the first word typed to the last, an author has learned so much more about their characters than what they knew when they began. This is generally true for both writers who plot everything out before they start and those who just sit down and write. It takes time to get to know the many aspects of your characters just as it takes time to get to know a friend. Intellectually knowing your characters ahead of time is different than seeing them in action and interacting with the other characters.

I just turned in the final draft of a novella and am now starting the final-ish revision of a novel that is due next week.

So what does it look like when I go through this final edit? I print off a copy of my manuscript and sit down with a colored pen in hand and a notebook to take notes as I go. I'll note people's eye and hair color to make sure I haven't accidentally changed those over time. I'll note places I need to mention something later in the book that got dropped or something that needs to be mentioned earlier in the book to set it up for later. I note secondary characters' name to make sure they are the same throughout and spelled the same. I note little things I want to add at another point in the story but don't want to hunt it down so I can keep reading.

I will read through this print copy several times depending on how much time I have. I like to read for one specific thing each time I read through it. One time, I might focus on dialogue, another the setting, another wardrobe, another flow, etc.

When I've put all my changes and correction into the computer copy, I read through it again for typos. Then off it goes to the publisher and my author's work is done. Not.

The content edits come back from the editor that I have to go through and fix stuff throughout the manuscript and make revisions to make the story more readable. After that there is the line edit stage and the galley proofing stage.

So from beginning to end, I probably read each page 8-20 times.

Whew!

Award-winning novelist MARY DAVIS has over two dozen titles in both historical and contemporary themes. She is a member of ACFW and active in two critique groups. Mary lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband of over thirty years and two cats. She has three adult children and on grandchild.

Tuesday Tidbits: KODAK

It's funny how we can get something in our heads we think is true but isn't.

For as long as I can remember, I always thought that the Kodak Eastman company was a merger or two different men coming together to form this company. Nope.

In 1887, George Eastman created a box camera that was so easy to use that anyone could take their own pictures. He named this first camera KODAK. He wanted something made up, that you wouldn't find in the dictionary, so that the name wouldn't be associated with anything else but his camera.




The first KODAK camera was "so simple anyone could use it." It had a string to pull to cock the shutter, a button to release the shutter and snap the picture, and key winder to advance the film inside one frame. The camera came with a roll of paper film to take 100 pictures. When the film was all used, the whole camera was sent to the KODAK factory where the film was developed, pictures printed, the camera reloaded with film to be sent back with the pictures. The advertising that went with the camera was "You press the button, we do the rest."



Award-winning novelist MARY DAVIS has over two dozen titles in both historical and contemporary themes. She is a member of ACFW and active in two critique groups. Mary lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband of over thirty years and two cats. She has three adult children and on grandchild.

Debt

By Darlene Franklin

For my Pony Express date-in-history, I chose April 3, 1986, the date the U.S. National debt hit $2 trillion dollars. $2 trillion doesn’t look all that bad. Let me spell that out with zeroes: $2,000,000,000,000.00.

In 2017, we’re used to the national debt climbing. We can go to a website like http://www.usdebtclock.org/ to find out what the national debit is at this second (over $19 trillion). However, the debt rose and fell during most of the 20^th century. The 1980s were a period of growing debt, due to tax cuts and military spending.

            The debt reached a low point in 1974, under Richard Nixon, but has increased steadily since then (except until Presidents Carter and Clinton.) The 2007-08 financial crisis led to the exponential growth in recent years.

I chose the unpleasant topic of debt because my heroine’s father ran away from a gambling debt—and kept running. He keeps hoping that the next game will enable him to return home with honor. The Gambler’s Daughter, in The Pony Express Romance Collection, chronicles the end of that battle and the start of a new one—I won’t tell you more, to avoid giving away the story.