-
Grab and Share our Button!
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
.jpg)
-
-
-
-
amish love
Amish Love
What’s all the hubbub about Amish fiction? Major media outlets like Time and ABC Nightline are covering it, and authors like Cindy Woodsmall are making the New York Times bestseller list regularly. What makes these books so interesting?
Check out the recent ABC Nightline piece here (http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/story?id=7676659&page=1) about Cindy and her titles When the Heart Cries, When the Morning Comes, and When the Soul Mends. It’s an intriguing look at Amish culture and the time Cindy has spent with Amish friends.
And don’t forget that Cindy’s new book The Hope of Refuge hits store shelves August 11, and is available for preorder now.
rose house
This week, the
Christian Fiction Blog Alliance
is introducing
Rose House
WaterBrook Press (May 5, 2009)
by
Tina Ann Forkner
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Tina Ann Forkner writes contemporary fiction that challenges and inspires. She grew up in Oklahoma and graduated with honors from CSU Sacramento before settling in Wyoming. She lives with her husband, their three bright children and their dog and stays busy serving on the Laramie County Library Foundation Board of Directors. She is the author of Ruby Among Us, her debut novel, and Rose House, which recently released from Waterbrook Press/Random House.
ABOUT THE BOOK
A vivid story of a private grief, a secret painting, and one woman’s search for hope
Still mourning the loss of her family in a tragic accident, Lillian Diamon finds herself drawn back to the Rose House, a quiet cottage where four years earlier she had poured out her anguish among its fragrant blossoms.
She returns to the rolling hills and lush vineyards of the Sonoma Valley in search of something she can’t quite name. But then Lillian stumbles onto an unexpected discovery: displayed in the La Rosaleda Gallery is a painting that captures every detail of her most private moment of misery, from the sorrow etched across her face to the sandals on her feet.
What kind of artist would dare to intrude on such a personal scene, and how did he happen to witness Lillian’s pain? As the mystery surrounding the portrait becomes entangled with the accident that claimed the lives of her husband and children, Lillian is forced to rethink her assumptions about what really happened that day.
A captivating novel rich with detail, Rose House explores how the brushstrokes of pain can illuminate the true beauty of life.
If you would like to read an excerpt from Rose House, go HERE
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
When I first started reading Rose House, I was looking forward to enjoying the story, especially since I could tell there would be a few surprises, and a bit of mystery thrown in. But half way through the book, I was still waiting for the mystery to really take shape and go somewhere. I gave up. The story is good, but it was so slow in getting to the good stuff that I decided not to finish reading it. If you have more patience than I do, you may find this a nice summer read.
what’s new?
Well, it has been a while since I posted! Here’s what’s happening now:
Ordinarily I wouldn’t mention Ashley or Attison, but I’m going to make an exception here. Attison has been living with Ashley and Mike in Dallas for about 2 weeks now. Things seem to be going well for them. Parenting is always harder than you think it will be, and no one can really understand all the work involved in caring for an infant/toddler unless they’re in the same boat, so I think there has been a little bit of culture shock for Ashley and Mike. They’re handling it very well though, and Attison has adjusted well. Mike, Ashley and Attison will be moving back to Minnesota soon ~ hopefully just temporarily. The economy being what it is, Mike is having a hard time finding a job in his field, so they’re going to go up to Minnesota for a little while to stay with Mike’s parents. That way Mike can look for a job nation-wide without having to worry about paying rent or utilities.
Sunday was Mother’s Day. It was also Patrick’s 19th birthday!
Last Friday evening, Sawyer, Patrick and Ariel were leaving our house to go to a movie. As they headed out of our neighborhood, they spotted a puppy sitting by the side of the road. They stopped to see if the puppy had any tags or some way she could be returned to her owners. When Sawyer picked her up, he noticed that the puppy’s right paw was lame. Since she didn’t have a collar or any tags on, they decided to bring her home. Everyone took pictures of the puppy with their cell phones, then headed out to knock on all of the door in our neighborhood (about 50 houses). No one knew anything about her. Roger and Sawyer took her to the all-night vet to have her paw fixed ~ we couldn’t just leave the poor little thing in pain with her leg broken. The next day we put flyers up in the surrounding neighborhoods. No one has claimed her. So ~ guess what one of my Mother’s Day gifts was…..I got a puppy! LOL She really is cute. We’ve named her Chloe, and we’re guessing she’s about 10 weeks old. She’s mostly housetrained, which is nice (except for the occasional oops). She’s a little fireball ~ our best guesstimate is that she’s a chipuggle; chihuahua, pug and beagle mix.
Yesterday we closed out our homeschool co-op year with a pizza and cake party. It was chaos, but a lot of fun. I’m going to miss my Tuesday mornings with the other homeschooling moms next school year.
Sawyer had junior orientation at ASMSA, and will be moving into the dorms there in early August. He plans to find a job for the summer. Most of the money he makes at a summer job will go towards paying for his trip next July (2010) to France and the UK. The choir Sawyer sings with will be travelling to France to sing at the Normandy American Cemetery on the 4th of July (again, 2010), then they’ll travel all over in France and England. Knowing the kinds of trips the choir director and his team have put together before, I’m sure this one will be beyond amazing!
So, in summary: Atti’s with Ashley, Patrick turned 19, we have a new puppy, homeschool co-op is done for this school year, and Sawyer has 2 big events coming up.
Well then, what have I been up to? I have a secret, and a surprise coming up soon. I’m just not quite ready to make an announcement. It’s big for me, and fits in with my desire to be involved in ministry. That’s all I can say for right now!