Idaho
COVER REVEAL! The Highlanders
Cue the bagpipes! The Highlanders are coming! Four historical-romance novellas, four authors, four fetching Scotsmen aiming to win your heart. And, yes, one of them is mine. 🙂
My story, “The Violinist,” takes you to 1915 Idaho. Homesick lumberjack Callan MacTavish despairs of ever seeing his Scottish homeland again. With kindness and patience, music teacher Rose Marchmont reaches a part of Callan’s heart he’d long ago locked away. She sees beyond his rough exterior to the artistic heart beneath. He longs for more than he can offer her, but she doesn’t know about the secret trauma that keeps him from crossing the sea.
Coming this November–pre-order your copy today!
Announcing a new Roaring Twenties Short Story: Playing for Keeps
Sparklers, I’ve been busy! Not only am I in the middle of editorial revisions to the as-yet-untitled sequel to You’re the Cream in My Coffee, but I’ve written a new Roaring Twenties Short Story. This time the story stars Helen Corrigan, Marjorie’s younger sister, who travels aboard the Northern Pacific to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, to visit an old school chum. Idaho is nothing like Helen expected–and neither is Maisie. This is a sweet, tender short story of a spirited girl teetering on the brink of womanhood. If you enjoyed You’re the Cream in My Coffee, you’ll love “Playing for Keeps“–and so will your daughter and granddaughter, your kid sister and niece, and any other young (and older!) ladies you know.
And here’s more good news! For a limited time, subscribers to the Sparkling Vintage Life newsletter can read “Playing for Keeps” for free! To sign up, simply enter your e-mail in the “Subscribe” box to the right.
WinnerS of the Sparkling Vintage Mug-ging giveaway
Source: Greg Lamont
Edited to add: Okay, sometimes it pays to reread one’s own posts. I see that I had promised to pick TWO winners of a mug and a book! So there’s been a second random mugging! MINDY HOOVER is our second mug-gee. Congratulations, Mindy!
Somebody just got mugged! Marcia Whetsel of Careywood, Idaho, won the drawing for the mug and book. Congratulations, Marcia! And thanks, everyone, for participating. More giveaways will be coming up soon.
The book-launch party in Sandpoint, Idaho, last weekend went great. I didn’t count how many people came, but it seemed like quite a crowd. I’m sure the rainy weather helped. I thought I was going to run out of books and be embarrassed by my poor planning, but providentially they stretched to the end. Only two people graciously accepted an IOU for later delivery of their books, and they were very good friends. (Growing up, if we had dinner guests and looked to be running low on some coveted food item, the whispered code was “FHB”–family hold back–to assure there’d be plenty for the guests. I felt as if I’d whispered FHB to my sisters!) I had no idea so many people would want to buy my book. But I’m so glad they did! And another shipment arrives today, so it’s all good.
This coming weekend, I’ll be speaking at the Idaho Writers League annual conference in Coeur d’Alene, on writing for the inspirational fiction market. Please pray that my remarks are well received, helpful, and encouraging to aspiring authors.
I’m ready to stop talking about the book for a while, just as you’re no doubt ready to stop hearing about it. Look for some new posts on other vintage-related topics coming up soon!
A Sparkling Vintage Event: The Forties Frolic! Recap
This past weekend was the “Forties Frolic” fund-raiser for the Bonner County History Museum. It’s the main reason I’ve been so quiet on this blog recently, as it took up a lot of my writerly time and energy–but it was totally worth it!
The whole evening was a delight: live Big Band music, delicious food inspired by recipes from the era, vintage-wearing revelers, and World War II-era decorations in a historic building that actually was our local USO during the 1940s, serving the sailors stationed at nearby Farragut Naval Training Station, as well as servicemen and -women passing through Sandpoint on their way hither and yon.
Photo: Jill Murray
My contribution to the evening was to write, direct, and act in the “History Mystery” drama portion. Set up as a radio station “broadcasting live from the USO on radio station K. L. U. K., the fifty-watt blowtorch of North Idaho,” the drama featured a radio cast of eight, plus five “USO hostesses,” a Civil Defense director, a visiting movie star, and her long-suffering assistant. The evening alternated between music and dancing and the History Mystery. In the end, guests voted on which character they thought committed the crime (a stolen necklace) and one lucky winner won three cans of Spam and a bottle of wine. (There were much more appealing raffle prizes, too, donated by generous sponsors.)
North Bound,, featuring Kelly Dragoo (photo by Jill Murray)
Why am I telling you all this? Because I’m so proud of the actors, the cooks, the servers, the musicians, the sponsors, and everyone who put in 110% to make the event a success, including all the people who came out to support the museum. Because it’s always fun to think up fresh and creative ways to share the history of our region. And because it was the “perfect storm” of fabulousness for this history- and theater- and vintage-loving writer to combine all her favorite things into one tidy bundle. I couldn’t be more grateful for the opportunity.
And now back to our regularly-scheduled Sparkling Vintage Life!
