Wordy Wednesday: EASTER

Noun

~the most important and oldest festival of the Christian Church, celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ and held (in the Western Church) between March 21 and April 25, on the first Sunday after the first full moon following the northern spring equinox.

~the period in which Easter occurs, especially the weekend from Good Friday to Easter Monday.
~a feast that commemorates Christ's resurrection and is observed with variations of date due to different calendars on the first Sunday after the paschal full moon.

A festival.

A feast.

A celebration!

I like those. They are fitting for the most important event in history.

I never took the time to understand why Easter fell on a different day every year. I always kind of wished they’d pick a day and keep it consistent.

So, it has to do with an equinox and a full moon. I find things like this interesting. I usually just do what I’ve always done for things like this. Scratch my head like everyone else and ask, “When is Easter this year?”

Though now that I know how it’s determined when Easter is, I don’t pay that much attention to when there’s a full moon, so I’ll still probably scratch my head and ask, “When’s Easter this year?”

New Release:
COURTING HER AMISH HEART is a contemporary romance, the first in the Prodigal Daughters series.
A doctor or an Amish wife? She can choose to be only one…
Kathleen Yoder comes home after fourteen years in the Englisher world. Practicing medicine means sacrifice—no Amish man will want a doctor for a wife. Widowed Noah Lambright offers a cottage as her new clinic, seeing how much Kathleen’s skills can help their community. But as their friendship deepens, could love and family become more than a forbidden dream?
#ChristianRomance #HistoricalRomance #Romance

MARY DAVIS is a bestselling, award-winning novelist of over two dozen titles in both historical and contemporary themes. She has five titles releasing in 2018; "Holly & Ivy" in A Bouquet of Brides Collection in January 2018, Courting Her Amish Heart in March 2018, The Widow’s Plight in July 2018, Courting Her Secret Heart 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 Tidbit: EASTER

As a child, I hardly ever gave Easter much thought. It was a holiday of confectionary delights and colorful hard-boiled eggs. Though I loved coloring the eggs, I tended to only eat the candy. I was good with any holiday that involved sugar.

Being the youngest of four, I don’t remember ever truly believing in the Easter Bunny. I knew that we celebrated Easter because Jesus had risen to life after being dead for three days. AND that there was candy and pretty dresses. It wouldn’t be Easter without sweets and fancy clothes.

As I got older, became a Christian, and grew more mature, Easter came to have a deeper meaning, but still with sweets and finery. Easter was about Jesus dying for my sins and being raised back to life. Because of this, I (and everyone else) have the opportunity to accept Jesus Christ as my Savior. Go to church in a special Easter dress and come home and eat candy.

About twenty years ago, I became obsessed with Easter. Well, not so much Easter as what it really meant and what Christ had done for me. God loved me (a sinner) so much that He didn’t want me to be separated from Him. He wanted me (a sinner) to be with Him for Eternity. My sin kept me from being with God.

There was only one way for me to be with God. My sins had to be paid for. The only thing that could wipe out my sin debt was a perfect sacrifice. The only perfect sacrifice could be God Himself. So He came down and died a terrible death for me so I could live with Him. He died for everyone. His is the only sacrifice that could abolish everyone’s sins from all time. No other sacrifice could expunge even one small sin.

They say that, even if I (you or anyone) was the only person on earth, Jesus still would have died for my sins. The life of one perfect and pure for one sinful and defective. That’s powerful. But I take that one step further. If I were the only person one earth and Jesus died for me, then I would have been the one to arrest Him, mock Him, beat Him, drive the nails into His hands, and crucify Him. And yet, He still would have died for me. And what was His reply to this brutality?

Hanging on the cross, Jesus said, “Father, forgive them. They don't know what they're doing.” (Luke 23:34)

Forgive them.

My sins arrested Jesus.

“Father, forgive her.”

My sins mock Jesus.

“Father, forgive her.”

My sins beat Jesus.

“Father, forgive her.”

My sins drove the nails into Jesus’ hands and feet.

“Father, forgive her.”

My sins crucified Jesus.

“Father, forgive her.”

On the third day, Jesus rose again to life so I could be assured that there were no hard feelings and I was forgiven.

I still like pretty dresses and candy, but I don’t connect them so much with Easter anymore.

Thank You, Jesus, for loving me so much to make a way for me to live with You for Eternity.

New Release:
COURTING HER AMISH HEART is a contemporary romance, the first in the Prodigal Daughters series.
A doctor or an Amish wife? She can choose to be only one…Kathleen Yoder comes home after fourteen years in the Englisher world. Practicing medicine means sacrifice—no Amish man will want a doctor for a wife. Widowed Noah Lambright offers a cottage as her new clinic, seeing how much Kathleen’s skills can help their community. But as their friendship deepens, could love and family become more than a forbidden dream?
#ChristianRomance #HistoricalRomance #Romance

MARY DAVIS is a bestselling, award-winning novelist of over two dozen titles in both historical and contemporary themes. She has five titles releasing in 2018; "Holly & Ivy" in A Bouquet of Brides Collection in January 2018, Courting Her Amish Heart in March 2018, The Widow’s Plight in July 2018, Courting Her Secret Heart 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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Wordy Wednesday: PALATIAL

(Adjective) ~ resembling a palace in being spacious and splendid.

I love words like this. So much is conveyed in eight simple letters. It stirs up images of gold, marble, expensive wood moldings, fine silks, extravagant tapestries, china, silver, crystal, servants . . . The list goes on and on. All those things are wrapped up into one word. I don’t need to go into long, specific descriptions of what a character’s home looks like with a word like this.

And in the same way, HOVEL is another word that does a lot with so little and quite the opposite of PALATIAL.

HOVEL (noun) ~ a small, squalid, unpleasant, or simply constructed dwelling. Can’t you just picture it?

If I were to put one of the PALATIAL things in a HOVEL, it would seem radically out of place. I would want to know why a silver tea service, or a fine silk tablecloth, or a fancily-dressed servant were in a HOVEL. There would need to be some intriguing story behind it. Likewise, if a grimy, barefoot street urchin greeted me at the front door of a PALATIAL home, there’s a story there too. Hmm . . . I wonder what he’s doing there? Is it some sort of “wife-swap” thing with the servant in the HOVEL?

Could there be a PALATIAL HOVEL?

I wish there were more words like these that packed so much into so little.

What are some others that pack a lot into so little?

New Release:
COURTING HER AMISH HEART is a contemporary romance, the first in the Prodigal Daughters series.
A doctor or an Amish wife? She can choose to be only one…
Kathleen Yoder comes home after fourteen years in the Englisher world. Practicing medicine means sacrifice—no Amish man will want a doctor for a wife. Widowed Noah Lambright offers a cottage as her new clinic, seeing how much Kathleen’s skills can help their community. But as their friendship deepens, could love and family become more than a forbidden dream?
#ChristianRomance #HistoricalRomance #Romance

MARY DAVIS is a bestselling, award-winning novelist of over two dozen titles in both historical and contemporary themes. She has five titles releasing in 2018; "Holly & Ivy" in A Bouquet of Brides Collection in January 2018, Courting Her Amish Heart in March 2018, The Widow’s Plight in July 2018, Courting Her Secret Heart 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

Newsletter          Blog          FB          FB Readers Group          Pinterest          Amazon          GoodReads          FictionFinder          BookBub

Tuesday Tidbits: HERE COME THE DARK SHADOWS BRIDES

Growing up, I was the youngest of four. I had a sister three years older than me, one four years older, and a brother five years older. So when it came to what we watched on TV as kids, my vote was rarely ever counted.

Unlike nowadays, we couldn’t go off into separate rooms and watch whatever we wanted. Watching TV was a family event. One television with four channels (ABC, NBC, CBS, & PBS). And TV wasn’t 24/7. When the last show ended for the evening, there was a toned and symbol shown to signal that the entertainment was concluded for the night. With so much to choose from, was it any wonder that we fought over what to watch?  =0)

Being the youngest, I watched whatever my older siblings were watching after school, which often meant what our older brother wanted to watch. Which meant if I wanted to watch TV, I watched programs that were above my age. I did not want to be left out.

When I mentioned one of these shows, Here Come The Brides that came out in the late sixties, to a friend, she wondered how I could possibly remember it because I couldn’t have been old enough. True, I likely wouldn’t have chosen it if I was in control of the TV, but I wasn’t. So, I grew up loving Here Come The Brides. And I was old enough to appreciate that Bobby Sherman was a cutie.

My sisters, the neighbor girls, and I would march through the neighborhood, down the middle of the street arm in arm, singing the theme song at the top of our lungs. Somewhere in the second half of it, no one could quite remember all the words, so we started mumbling, hoping the person next to us could carry the song until we came to words we all knew again. Invariably, we would start laughing and start the whole thing over. Here’s a link to that theme song.

Another show that was over my age is one I should NOT have been allowed to watch . . . (Cue eerie music and say in a foreboding voice) Dark Shadows (Cue a woman’s scream). I’m not talking about the 2012 Johnny Depp movie, nor the 1990s remake. I’m talking about the 1960s super-creepy version. Super creepy to a little kid that is. That Barnabas Collins was scaaaaaaaaaaaaryyyyyyy. I watched the opening title to the sixties show on YouTube, and though it’s nothing special and shows nothing scary, the eerie music ingrained in my five-year-old brain still triggers that creepy feel from when I was young.

Where Here Come The Brides was benign and light (and had heartthrob Bobby Sherman), Dark Shadows was creepy and, well, dark. Hence the name. What else would you expect from a vampire show. Not exactly appropriate viewing material for a five-year-old. It even scared my sister who was four years older than me. Not sure about my other sister and brother. Probably not my brother. He didn’t scare easily.

I’m in the process of watching Here Come The Brides and am fully enjoying it. And, Bobby Sherman is still a cutie. At least the 1960s version. I don’t know what he looks like now and don’t want to. To me, he’ll be eternally the 1960s version.

New Release:
COURTING HER AMISH HEART is a contemporary romance, the first in the Prodigal Daughters series.
A doctor or an Amish wife? She can choose to be only one…
Kathleen Yoder comes home after fourteen years in the Englisher world. Practicing medicine means sacrifice—no Amish man will want a doctor for a wife. Widowed Noah Lambright offers a cottage as her new clinic, seeing how much Kathleen’s skills can help their community. But as their friendship deepens, could love and family become more than a forbidden dream?
#ChristianRomance #HistoricalRomance #Romance

MARY DAVIS is a bestselling, award-winning novelist of over two dozen titles in both historical and contemporary themes. She has five titles releasing in 2018; "Holly & Ivy" in A Bouquet of Brides Collection in January 2018, Courting Her Amish Heart in March 2018, The Widow’s Plight in July 2018, Courting Her Secret Heart 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

Newsletter          Blog          FB          FB Readers Group          Pinterest          Amazon          GoodReads          FictionFinder          BookBub

Wordy Wednesday: FLUMMADIDDLE

I was looking up another word in my English Through the Ages reference book and stumbled across FLUMADIDDLE. I knew it had to be a blog post.

FLUMMADIDDLE (spelling variations: FLUMADIDDLE, FLUMDIDDLE, FLUMMERDIDDLE, FLUMMYDIDDLE, FUMDIDDLE)

Noun

1) something foolish or worthless; nonsense, trash

2) bauble, frill

This is a fun word to see, read, and say. “FLUMMADIDDLE” It makes me smile every time I read it or say it. “FLUMMADIDDLE”

“FLUMMADIDDLE”

“FLUMMADIDDLE”

“FLUMMADIDDLE”

Perhaps an alteration of FLUMMERY. Well, that’s a fun word too.

FLUMMERY-noun

1) a- soft jellied or porridge made with flour or meal

b- any of several sweet desserts

2) mummery; mumbo jumbo

3) empty compliments; nonsense

MUMMERY? Haven’t heard of that one either. Hmm. Would that be a nunnery for mummies? Nope. Nothing to do with mummies. Or nuns.

MUMMERY-noun

1) a performance by mummers

2) a ridiculous, hypocritical, or pretentious ceremony or performance

MUMMER-noun

1) a performer in a pantomime

2) one who goes merrymaking in disguise during festivals

I always thought it would be fun to be a MUMMER at a Renaissance festival. Now, I know what I would have been called. I would have been a MUMMER performing MUMMERY spouting FLUMMERY, and all would have been FLUMMADIDDLE.

Four words for the price of one. I never know where a word or idea will lead. This has been a fun and surprising little road to travel down. Like an unexpected gift on an average day. Can’t wait to use one or more of these in something. I think I have a character in my second Quilting Circle series novel who could use this word. Hmm. Interesting. (rubbing my hands together) I must go scheme.

Me thinks, perhaps, that this post has had a bit of FLUMMADIDDLE, FLUMMERY, and MUMMERY from a MUMMER all wrapped up in one.

I hope you smiled. I know I did. =0)

FLUMMADIDDLE!

Latest Release:
COURTING HER AMISH HEART is a contemporary romance, the first in the Prodigal Daughters series.

A doctor or an Amish wife? She can choose to be only one…
Kathleen Yoder comes home after fourteen years in the Englisher world. Practicing medicine means sacrifice—no Amish man will want a doctor for a wife. Widowed Noah Lambright offers a cottage as her new clinic, seeing how much Kathleen’s skills can help their community. But as their friendship deepens, could love and family become more than a forbidden dream?
#ChristianRomance #HistoricalRomance #Romance

MARY DAVIS is a bestselling, award-winning novelist of over two dozen titles in both historical and contemporary themes. She has five titles releasing in 2018; "Holly & Ivy" in A Bouquet of Brides Collection in January 2018, Courting Her Amish Heart in March 2018, The Widow’s Plight in July 2018, Courting Her Secret Heart 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

Newsletter          Blog          FB          FB Readers Group          Pinterest          Amazon          GoodReads          FictionFinder          BookBub

Tuesday Tidbits: THE GREATEST SHOWMAN

I went to see THE GREATEST SHOWMAN on Sunday. I really enjoyed the movie.

The movie celebrates the birth of show business and depicts how P.T. Barnum started his famous circus. It tells of a visionary who rose from nothing to create a spectacle that became a worldwide sensation. It stars Hugh Jackman, Michelle Williams, and Zac Efron.


I liked how P.T. Barnum gave dignity to those who are different and who the rest of society looked down upon and brought them out of hiding. I don't know if this is how Barnum actually treated his workers, but I liked it being portrayed that way. When I watch a movie like this, I don't expect every aspect to be exactly historically accurate. In the end, this is entertainment. And sometimes, facts just aren't as entertaining.

Though I love musicals from back in their heyday, I'm generally leery of modern musicals. There is an art to them. Not every story should be a musical. Then if a story is turned into a musical because it lends itself well to one, doesn't mean it is done well.

I felt this story lent itself well to being a musical. After all, P.T. Barnum was a showman, and according to the title, The GREATEST Showman. They did a marvelous job of making this a musical. To tell this story without the theatrics of a musical would have made it less of a story. Barnum was promoting something that was over the top, so his story needed to be so as well.

I liked how various characters grew throughout the story. These people who had hidden in the shadows and afraid to show their faces gained confidence to be seen. 

I enjoyed this movie tremendously. I'm so glad I went to see it.

LATEST RELEASE:

COURTING HER AMISH HEART is a contemporary romance, the first in the Prodigal Daughters series.

A doctor or an Amish wife? She can choose to be only one…
Kathleen Yoder comes home after fourteen years in the Englisher world. Practicing medicine means sacrifice—no Amish man will want a doctor for a wife. Widowed Noah Lambright offers a cottage as her new clinic, seeing how much Kathleen’s skills can help their community. But as their friendship deepens, could love and family become more than a forbidden dream?
#ChristianRomance #HistoricalRomance #Romance

MARY DAVIS is a bestselling, award-winning novelist of over two dozen titles in both historical and contemporary themes. She has five titles releasing in 2018; "Holly & Ivy" in A Bouquet of Brides Collection in January 2018, Courting Her Amish Heart in March 2018, The Widow’s Plight in July 2018, Courting Her Secret Heart 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

Newsletter          Blog          FB          FB Readers Group          Pinterest          Amazon          GoodReads          FictionFinder          BookBub

ThrowBACKLIST Thursday: LAKESIDE

In honor of COURTING HER AMISH HEART, the first in my Prodigal Daughters series, releasing this month and in honor of the main character being named after my sister Kathleen, I thought it would be fun to interview her about one of my backlist titles.

ME: What did you think when your little sister first started writing books? 

KATHLEEN: I was surprised because I didn’t know you wanted to be a writer, but I wasn’t surprised at the dedication and hard work you put into becoming a published author. When you first started writing, you would send Mom, Deb and I rough drafts to read. Your writing got better with each one I read. I remember reading Cinda’s Surprise and thinking “This is good enough to be published!  It's as good as many published books I have read.”

ME: I was surprised too. I didn't know I wanted to be an author until I started writing in my twenties, and got published in my thirties. You, Mom, and Deb helped me tremendously to grow as a writer. I couldn't have done it without you.

What is one of your favorite books that I've written? 

KATHLEEN: When you first asked me this

question, the first book that came to my mind was LAKESIDE.

ME: I wrote LAKESIDE while waiting for edits to come back on my first book published, NEWLYWED GAMES. In LAKESIDE, Lorelei Hayes returns to a lakeside cottage carrying a secret that has stolen her joy and hope for the future. Garth Kessel has waited ten years for her, but will he want the woman she has become?

My inspiration for this came from my husband's family's lakeside cottage in northern Michigan. The lake really is called Starvation Lake. They had a floating dock a short ways from shore, and I looked out at it from the deck, and before I knew it, the kissing bandit rose up out of the water and kissed a girl on the dock. Well, I had to know more about that story and so wrote LAKESIDE. Several small antidotes in this story are taken from stories my husband told me that he and his family did at this cottage, like jumping off their deck into several feet of snow.

What made this story stand out to you?

KATHLEEN: The heroine has to overcome some very big issues to get her happily ever after. I remember crying during one scene near the end where Lorelei has to confront a person from her past. It really touched me. However, although the book covers some heavy subject matter, there was also some wonderful humor. For instance, the discussion at the beach party about the kissing bandit and the dialogue where Garth and Lorelei are telling each other things about themselves that the other person doesn’t know.

ME: What did you take away from this story? 

KATHLEEN: God is good and can give you a happily ever after even if you think it’s not possible. Also, forgiveness brings healing to both the forgiver and the forgiven.

ME: What is your favorite part of the story?

KATHLEEN: As mentioned above, the scene that made me cry. I don’t want to give away any spoilers so I’ll leave it at that.

ME: Which character would you like to see in a sequel.  Why that character?  What do you think it might be about? 

KATHLEEN: Well, Garth’s sister, Gretchen, would make an awesome heroine of her own story, but I’d really like to see a continuation of Garth and Lorelei’s story. I would like to see them with a houseful of foster or adopted children, perhaps ones that no one else wants.

ME: Let me tell you about Gretchen. She was supposed to be in exactly one scene as a walk-on then walk-off character. Every time I turned around, she kept showing up at her brother's place. I finally had to tell her that this wasn't her story and she needed to go away. She folded her arms and said, "Make me." After promising her, her own story, she relented and went off to her parents'. I came up with a whole series in my head for her, but I could never get that series off the ground and to sell. Maybe I'll come back to it one day. I do love Gretchen.

LAKESIDE was the first in a series of four stories set in Michigan and on Mackinac Island; LAKESIDE, THE ISLAND, THE GRAND HOTEL, and HERITAGE. Though I don't have any plans to continue Lorelei and Garth's story, they do make an appearance in book four, HERITAGE, that I think you'll be happy with.

Anything else you’d like to tell us about this story? 

KATHLEEN: The supporting characters are very well written. I especially liked Garth's family. The banter between Garth and his siblings was great and made me want to be part of his family!

I loved Garth's family too. When the time came to put three of the four stories in a collection called MICHIGAN WEDDINGS, the publisher wanted an epilogue with a wedding scene. As I wrote the scene, I cried all the way through it. I was so happy for Lorelei. Then when I went back to edit it, I cried some more. As a quick refresher, because it's been a long time since I thought about this story, I reread the epilogue. Guess what? I cried again.

Thanks, big sis, for a great interview!


Latest release: COURTING HER AMISH HEART is a contemporary romance, the first in the Prodigal Daughters series.
A doctor or an Amish wife? She can choose to be only one…
Kathleen Yoder comes home after fourteen years in the Englisher world. Practicing medicine means sacrifice—no Amish man will want a doctor for a wife. Widowed Noah Lambright offers a cottage as her new clinic, seeing how much Kathleen’s skills can help their community. But as their friendship deepens, could love and family become more than a forbidden dream?

#ChristianRomance #HistoricalRomance #Romance

MARY DAVIS is a bestselling, award-winning novelist of over two dozen titles in both historical and contemporary themes. She has five titles releasing in 2018; "Holly & Ivy" in A Bouquet of Brides Collection in January 2018, Courting Her Amish Heart in March 2018, The Widow’s Plight in July 2018, Courting Her Secret Heart 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

Newsletter          Blog          FB          FB Readers Group          Pinterest          Amazon          GoodReads          FictionFinder          BookBub