Tag Archives: Kensington author

From Scratch!

17 Thursday Sep 2020

Posted by in Uncategorized

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

, , ,

If you were to start your library from scratch, which books would you buy?

This is the dilemma I’m facing!

Fifteen years ago, my husband and I, fresh from our wedding, moved from Toronto, Ontario to Alberta with only the items that would fit the trunk of our car. It was an adventure, and I had to leave my library behind. Then we lived cheap, we used public libraries, and we had a child, so I put off rebuilding my library. I read and read, but I didn’t keep those books on my own shelves.

I also wrote and wrote, and with my own books coming out, I always had books on shelves–most of them my own! And we needed somewhere to keep them… They pile up! (I know, weird author problems… 😉 )

Excuses, excuses… but I’m now finally rebuilding my very own, personal library. It was time, and it’s rather exciting! But I have decided on a few guidelines:

  1. I will only buy books that I truly want to own and will read again (or that I’ve wanted to read for a long time.)
    No complete works of Shakespeare.
  2. I will only buy books that make me feel happy.
    I don’t want to surround myself with books that depress me, remind me of difficult times, or don’t add to my overall sense of happiness. Space is too precious for that. I want books that I loved, or that I have special memories attached to, or that suit a cozy reading mood when the weather is cold and the heat is cranked up.
  3. If I have the chance to own a leather-bound, or hardcover version of a book that I love, I am jumping on that!
    Price be darned.

So far, there are no leather-bound copies of books I love. But give me time. I’ll get there. 😉

What books would you buy if you were starting your library from scratch? Which books would be the highest on your personal shopping list?

And speaking of my own books coming out, don’t forget that I have a brand new Amish romance on the shelves!

****

A dollhouse bookshelf

10 Thursday Sep 2020

Posted by in Uncategorized

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

, , ,

Why, you ask?

I have no good reason for wanting a dollhouse bookshelf as badly as I did, except that I love dollhouses and simply don’t have the space for one. I considering doing a dollhouse single room, but again, I’d have to find a place to display it, and that’s not so easily done in our home.

BUT, that didn’t mean I couldn’t choose my favorite piece of dollhouse furniture–a bookshelf–and display it on my desk! So that is what I did.

I display it on my desk, in these little cubbies meant for either books or knickknacks. So why not a combination of both? I bought the tiny books separately at our local craft store. The top shelves of books are just block of books, but the bottom shelf has individual books with real pages! I just love details like that. And the drawer and cabinet doors all open and shut. I tucked some little surprises in the drawer, like a clipboard, and some pencils… not sure what I’ll put in the bottom cabinet yet!

I can’t tell you how much I love it! It makes me happy just looking at it! I might get creative and add to the room a little bit… a plush chair? A tiny desk? It’s already tempting me! But this is the sort of thing I do when I’m not writing. I obsess over tiny furniture. 😉

I think I can finally say I have a hobby!

***

JEB’S WIFE is in stores now!

Reasons to get dressed

03 Thursday Sep 2020

Posted by in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , ,

With our delightful pandemic, a lot of people are new to working from home. I’ve been doing this for over a decade now, so I feel like I might have a bit of wisdom for those who are new to this.

118050461_1007560519675534_7182857153708016220_n

Get dressed! (In new clothes… every single day.)

I’m a work-from-home author who not only gets dressed every morning, but who does her hair, puts on face cream/makeup, buys new clothes, and even wears perfume. It might sound nuts, but I have a few reasons.

  1. I feel like a successful person facing the day when I’m dressed and smelling/looking nice.
  2. It gives my brain the kick that it needs to get into work mode. At the kitchen table in my bathrobe: that’s home time. I can stare blearily at the wall or chit chat with my family, or just enjoy my tea. When I’m dressed and “presentable”: time for work!
  3. It really helps keep the blues away. Sitting in my bathrobe, looking at pictures online of women looking great makes me feel dowdy. But when I feel like I look nice, I don’t get that “oh, look at her… She looks great… I feel fat…” kind of mood.
  4. I like turning Mr. Johns’s head. There, I said it! I really do! I like having him come home from work carrying a bag of tools, and have him see me looking pretty. And when I go get a kiss, I like to smell like my favorite perfume. If I can’t be the prettiest girl in the room in my own kitchen, then when else can I do it?

So there you are–several excellent reasons to get dressed in the morning! You know, in case you needed them. 😉

****

On the shelves now! 

Do you have your copy yet?

Pub Weekly review

The next horizon

17 Monday Aug 2020

Posted by in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , ,

If you look at where you are right now, there was a time in your life when you dreamed of this…

But once you arrive, it’s not quite enough anymore, is it? You want more. What was once just the horizon, now has a horizon beyond it, and there is something inside the human heart that just can’t resist a horizon.

1280px-Sunset_at_ocean_in_san_francisco

But what happens when, all of your dreams fulfilled, you just can’t feel content? That seems to be the modern plague–ever wanting more, and never having enough. Ad campaigns take advantage of that, showing us more sparkling things that we never knew we wanted. We get caught up in it, and we think, “If I could just achieve this next thing, this next step, this next accomplishment, then I’ll be satisfied.”

I think that the Amish capture our imaginations so well because they are a group of people who have found the secret to stepping outside of that rushing cycle of getting more and more and more, and they have found contentment. We go and buy items from their shops, watch them as they go about their daily lives, read stories about their culture and their way of seeing things, and we wonder how we can get just a thimbleful of their contentment. Because when I consider buying an Amish-made quilt, that really is what I’m seeking, isn’t it?

Lancaster_County_Amish_02

As I rush forward toward my ambitions, I can sense that the answer to my own contentedness is in the opposite direction–slowing down, and in looking upward, in listening to the wind and pondering things that are bigger than me. Contentment isn’t found over there, beyond those hills; it’s found right here, right now. It’s found in declaring what I have enough and being grateful for every breath I take.

As for me, have I given up on the horizon? No, I must admit that I haven’t. The horizon is exciting! It gives me ideas, it keeps me dreaming. But I’m trying to focus less on the distant horizon, because I never seem to reach it, and exciting as it is, it can get frustrating. Instead, I’m shifting my gaze upward to the clouds and the stars and the One who made them.

I think that is where that thimbleful of contentment lies.

****

Hitting the shelves in September! 

Pre-order now! 

Pub Weekly review

 

No such thing as perfect

10 Monday Aug 2020

Posted by in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , ,

For the most part, I don’t tend to blog about writing advice, because I think it has all been said before by people who have said it better than I would. However, every once in a while, there is a little piece of advice that I haven’t seen covered, and I feel qualified to add in my two cents.

This is one of those times. 🙂

And here it is: Don’t aim for perfect. Aim for very good.

verygood

In my friendships with other writers, the biggest thing that seems to hold us all back from sending in a manuscript is that fear that we can somehow make it better. Maybe we can tweak it! Maybe we can add in a whole new character! What if we changed the point of view? What if we turned it into a mystery? We can get paralyzed when we sense that the story isn’t perfect.

But here’s the secret: no story is! Even if you add in that character, change the point of view, or turn it into a mystery. It won’t be perfect even then… just different.

But many stories are very, very good.

Even GREAT stories get edited. An editor will look at the work, be very pleased with it, and then suggest a whole heap of edits. That’s how publishing works. It’s a joint effort between the author and the editor to polish that story up to a shine.

So when you’ve got an idea, don’t worry about whether it’s absolutely perfect. Aim for “very good.” You and and editor will take it from there.

***

Hitting the shelves in September! 

Pre-order now! 

Pub Weekly review

New dishes!

06 Thursday Aug 2020

Posted by in Uncategorized

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

, , ,

I’ve been eyeing these Pioneer Woman dishes at Walmart for a while now, and I finally decided to pick them up. They’re just so cheery! And honestly, we were due for new dishes.

Our last set we’d bought when our son was tiny, and we have steadily broken them, dish by dish, over the years. I told myself I’d get something cute when I could trust that they’d survive us. LOL!

Well, I got some news a little while ago that is kind of connected to Ree Drummond, and since I’m such a fan of hers, I couldn’t stop myself from picking up the dishes at long last!

I’m not telling you my little nugget of news yet… In few weeks I will! But being such a fan of Ree Drummond’s, I just couldn’t hold myself back! 😉

dishes

 

I think they’re cute! 

 

dishes 2

 

So there you have it, my new dishes. I know that isn’t huge news, but it is the thing that’s making me happy at the moment. 🙂

I hope you’re all finding little things to make you smile these days. It’s all about the simple things, isn’t it?

***

Don’t forget–you can find my bestselling Amish romance at Harlequin’s Love Inspired as well as Kensington Books! And all of them are sold at Walmart, Target, and at booksellers everywhere. 

Facebook Post

 

Tin Man

27 Monday Jul 2020

Posted by in Uncategorized

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

, , , ,

I’m not a naturally bendy person. I never have been, and having a sedentary job doesn’t help. But I never did anything about it! I just sort of accepted that this was how my body was, and silently felt grateful that I was a grown woman now who didn’t have to do a PE class or anything if I didn’t want to.

But then an editor posted on Twitter about a stretching app she was using that was making her so much more flexible after a few weeks of using it, and I started to think… Being locked down, we were all finding ways to do things at home. Being an introvert, doing something new without an audience was ideal. The last thing I want to do is join a yoga class and try to twist myself into uncomfortable shapes with people watching.

116043311_3041465889224668_2531553832317880304_n

So I gave it a try.

I don’t always go through a full set of exercises. Sometimes, I just do a few that I find helpful. I’m a lot more flexible these days, and I’m finding that I’m able to do things without thinking that I could never do before. Every day I do some of the exercises behind a locked door. There is nothing less comfortable than having someone walk in on you mid-stretch! 

So the pandemic has had some silver linings–like trying this new app.

My attitude these days is this: We can’t control the fact that there is a global pandemic, but we do have control over what we do with this time! I want to come out the other end of this alive, to start with, but I also want to grow.

Maybe I’ll be more flexible. Maybe I’ll be a better cook. I’ll certainly have written more books. The time will pass, and when things get back to normal again (hopefully sooner than later!) I want to have made the most of this strange, uncertain, tumultuous time.

And I hope to be a little more bendy. 😉

***

Don’t forget–you can find my bestselling Amish romance at Harlequin’s Love Inspired as well as Kensington Books! And all of them are sold at Walmart, Target, and at booksellers everywhere. 

Facebook Post

 

 

Why I like being called “ma’am”

16 Thursday Jul 2020

Posted by in Uncategorized

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

, , , ,

I’m 41, so I think I’ve earned it!

I know that in the south, this is a common form of respect. And I love that! But here in the north (WAY north, like in Canada), this isn’t something we tend to practice. In fact, a lot of women hate being called “ma’am.” They feel like it makes them old. But I like it!

105402548_2935702046558543_768994505869336772_n

I’ve worked long and hard to get to this point in my life. I don’t want to be mistaken for a younger woman, either. I don’t want to be called “miss.” I’ve spent the last twenty years working my tail off to build the life that I dreamed of, to grow a career in writing against all the odds.

That’s twenty years of getting published, learning the trade, polishing my work, and getting better at writing books. That’s twenty years of owning the title author.

I’ve spent fifteen years married to the man of my dreams, working side by side with him to build the home and the marriage that we longed for.

I’ve spent the last twelve years raising our son, poring my heart and life blood into teaching him how to be kind, respectful, honest and hard working. That doesn’t come easily. I often say that when this child is a grown man, strong and successful, that I will deserve a medal that says I Raised a Good Man, and I will wear it everywhere, including the grocery store.

So don’t call me “miss” or try to pronounce my name. Just stick with “ma’am.” I’ve earned it, and it keeps the respect in a man’s voice. I’m a professional, a wife, and someone’s mother. I’m an author, and I’ve spent years working my tail off to earn the right to be referred to as “ma’am.” You won’t offend me. I’ll like you more for it. 😉

***

Don’t forget–you can find my bestselling Amish romance at Harlequin’s Love Inspired as well as Kensington Books! And all of them are sold at Walmart, Target, and at booksellers everywhere. 

Facebook Post

 

A long awaited shelf

25 Thursday Jun 2020

Posted by in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , ,

I’ve been wanting to get another bookshelf for the longest time. As an author who releases approximately six books a year, I have a lot boxes of books delivered to our home, and I don’t give away every single copy that I receive. I keep a few for later giveaways, or to give to friends, etc. So I end up with literally boxes of books piled up with nowhere to put them.

Well, this quarantine, Mr. Johns finally got sick of staring at book boxes, and we ordered another shelf from Wayfair. I was so thrilled! It’s very pretty, and it matches my desk so nicely.

shelf 1

Our son and I worked for a couple of hours putting it together, and then Mr. Johns came home from work with a his drill, and that sped up the process considerably.

I emptied out some boxes of books into the selves on the bottom, and I have more space still for when more boxes arrive. (My next release will be in September, so that’s coming up!) I stacked the books all two deep in the cupboard below, and there is still space in there, so I was so happy with how spacious it is!

shelf 2

And just so you can see how well it matches my desk, this is a quick picture of my desk where I work.

desk

Have you picked up my latest release? It might still be on the shelves still, and if it’s already gone, you can pick it up online anywhere books are sold.

***

On the shelves now! 

3.295427.512.9781335488183They need her help. She needs them…

An Amish bachelor. A motherless child.

Can she turn them into a real family?

Schoolteacher Patience Flaud longs for a family of her own—but knows it can never happen. At least she can help Amish bachelor Thomas Wiebe with his small Englisher daughter. As she settles the child into Amish life, Patience begins falling for the bewildered new father and his heartbroken little girl. But is love enough to make them a permanent family?

Harlequin

Barnes and Noble

 

 

Don’t hate me, but…

15 Monday Jun 2020

Posted by in Uncategorized

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

, , , , , ,

I’m kind of liking quarantine. Is that crazy? It might become crazy over time, but I’m such a home body that this really isn’t bothering me too much.

Like many people I worry about staying clear of the virus. I take precautions and do my best to be as responsible as possible. I wear my mask when I go out on essential errands, and use sanitizer on my hands.

And at home? I write books. I read books. I do basic yoga that is probably not very pretty to look at, but it keeps me limber.  I cook a lot… and I tend to my little balcony garden. I hang out with my son who is homeschooling until my husband comes home and we eat together.

100678764_10158029101895743_4523725719565500416_n

It’s rather peaceful, actually! I mean, I do have deadlines to meet and a living to make, but I can do all of that from right here in my home, and taking away any obligation to leave the home for anything but groceries or the post office, I’m gone from stressed out (stage one of quarantine?) to kind of mellow.

It makes me think of ladies back in the 1800s, taking their strolls through the garden, doing a little painting by some trees, and then reading in the sitting room. I used to wonder how they didn’t die of boredom, but I think I’m starting to understand what happens to you when you’re cooped up over a long period of time. You kind of give in to it!

I think an 1800s life of leisure would suit me, so long as I was allowed to write books, wasn’t squeezed into a corset, and didn’t have anyone patronizing me. Oh, and no balls! I couldn’t survive a hot, stuffy social obligation rife with airborne pathogens. (I would have been difficult to marry off, wouldn’t I? 😉 )

So maybe what I want is just a gorgeous country house with lots of beautifully kept land surrounding it, and to be left alone at it. Too much to ask? Probably.

**

On the shelves now! 

3.295427.512.9781335488183They need her help. She needs them…

An Amish bachelor. A motherless child.

Can she turn them into a real family?

Schoolteacher Patience Flaud longs for a family of her own—but knows it can never happen. At least she can help Amish bachelor Thomas Wiebe with his small Englisher daughter. As she settles the child into Amish life, Patience begins falling for the bewildered new father and his heartbroken little girl. But is love enough to make them a permanent family?

Harlequin

Barnes and Noble