Kinetic Wind Sculptures

I'm getting excited about my upcoming book, A Gift Horse, part of the 12 Days of Heartwarming Christmas series by twelve different Heartwarming authors.

In this story, Luke Mueller had been a designer of kinetic wind scupltures that generate electricity, and had started a company along with his fiance and his best friend. Only when all was said and done, the best friend and fiance ended up married to each other and in charge of the company, and Luke was out. That's when he moved to Christmas Town and started a whole new life.

I'm fascinated withe the concept of wind sculptures, they way they're everchanging, according to how the wind blows. I'd love to have a sculpture like this at my house. 

Would you?

*****

A Gift Horse comes out October 9th, and we'll be celebrating the release with a Facebook Party with lots of giveaways. If you love Christmas, you'll want to become part of the Christmas Town Group on Facebook. 

You can preorder from these online store:

Amazon   Barnes & Noble    Kobo   iBooks   Google

Happy National Booklover's Day!

Today, August 9th, is National Booklover's Day, so I decided to take a photo of my bookshelf. Right. Like I have one bookshelf. I decided to show you my pretty shelf, the one with some of my favorite hardbacks.

But that's not really representative. My bookshelves are not neat and tidy and arranged in decending order of size. Here's one of the three main bookshelves in the downstairs hall. Once upon a time, the mysteries were in alphabetical order by author, but then I ran out of room and had to stack others in front and, well, you know. 

Plus, there's the bedside bookshelf, which is just a random mess.

And the cookbook shelves.

And random piles of books, like these I brought home from the RWA Conference.

Plus the one thousand four hundred and seven books in my kindle library.

Not to mention the garden books in the sunroom and the writing guides, and the how-to books in the basement, and some hand-me-down books in boxes, oh, and the travel guides, and photo albums, and the books under the bed, and my husband's books...

Hmm, maybe I'd better stop there before someone reports me. But you know what they say:

I just hope they're right. Anyway, 

Happy National Booklover's Day to you! 

And if you missed it, don't despair. Everyday is booklover's day as far as I'm concerned.

Wood Spirits

Alaskan Hideaway, the third book in the Northern Lights series, had a working title of "Against the Grain" which refers to the hero's hobby of woodcarving. When I was writing the book, I did some research on carving and became fascinated with the faces carved into branches called wood spirits. You can find pictures of wood spirits in the Alaskan Hideaway Pinterest board.

***

When Mac Macleod was ten, his grandfather gave him a pocket knife and taught him to whittle.

Mac was a writer by profession, but whenever he needed to work through something, like figuring out how to fix a plot hole or make a difficult parenting decision, he would pull out his grandpa's knife and whittle. He always considered his carving the woodworking version of doodling, but Ursula (our heroine) believes the wood spirits he carves are art.

Now Mac is grieving his daughter's death, and he finds the wood spirits he carves are a way of working through his emotions. Often, the pain he feels finds its way into the wood spirit's face. But as he heals, the wood spirits he creates reflect that too. And, just as his grandfather taught him, he teaches Ursula's goddaughter, Rory, to whittle.

Do you have a hobby like Mac's that helps you relax and think?

*****

He traveled 3,800 miles to be alone

…but is it what he really wants? 

Relocating to Alaska after a family tragedy seemed an ideal way for author R.D. “Mac” Macleod to grieve in peace. But solitude feels overrated when Mac’s around B&B owner Ursula Anderson and her orphaned goddaughter, Rory, who’s already bonding with his dog. Worse, he’s imagining a future with Ursula and Rory. Is it time to finally forgive himself?

Amazon   iBooks   Barnes & Noble   Google   Kobo   Harlequin

Alaskan Hideaway Book Tour

Reviews, excerpts, and two great prizes. Don't miss out!

Tour Schedule

July 9th:

Launch

Paulette's Papers

Hearts & Scribbles

Thoughts of a Blonde

It's All About the Romance

Andi's Book Reviews

underneath the covers

July 10th:

The Power of Words

Katie's Clean Book Collection

Rockin' Book Reviews

Book by Book

July 11th:

Among the Reads

Reading Is My SuperPower

Stacking My Book Shelves!

July 12th:

Janice's Book Reviews

Becky on Books

Britt Reads Fiction

Kimber Li

July 13th:

Teatime and Books

Inside The Mind of an Avid Reader

SilverWoodSketches

July 14th:

Grand Finale

A big thank you to all the book bloggers who work so hard to share their love of reading!

Alaska Hideaway Launch Day

It's here! 

Alaska Hideaway is up for sale at online bookstores, or if you don't shop online, Barnes and Noble will special order it for you. You can find buy links and a sample on the Northern Lights Series Tab on this website.

And here's a little reminder from the book, to take a moment to enjoy the small miracles all around you. 

Cover Perspectives

I was thrilled when I saw the North American cover for my newest book, Alaskan Hideaway, coming out in July. I thought the landscape was amazing and illustrated one of the scenes perfectly, when Ursula and Mac share a kiss under the northern lights. 

So I was surprised to see the UK and Australian covers didn't go with the northern  lights theme. Instead, they emphasize the relationship between Mac, a man who has lost his daughter, and Rory, a little girl who has lost her parents. I have to admit, I love these covers too. I just wish Blossom the dog could have been included.

What do you think? Do you prefer scenery or people on your covers? Which is your favorite of these three?

Home to Alaska

Springtime in Anchorage

The days are long, and the Chugach mountains are beautiful.

The geese are back.

The May Day trees are blooming, and the whole city smells like flowers.

It's good to be home.