Congratulations to Angela for winning Debbie Kaufman’s A Doctor’s Mission, to Glenda for winning Victoria Burks’ A Legacy of Love and to Judy and Susan for winning Margaret Daley’s His Holiday Family.
This week I’m hosting Marta Perry with Katie’s Way, Susan Meissner with A Sound Among the Trees, and Pamela S. Meyers with Thyme for Love. If you want to enter the drawings for the books, please leave a comment on one of the post during the week with your email address. I will not enter you without an email address (my way to contact you if you win). If you don’t want to leave an email address, another way you can enter is to email me at margaretdaley@gmail.com. The drawings end Sunday (December 4th) evening.
Bio of Marta Perry:
I realized I wanted to be a writer at age eight, when I read my first Nancy Drew novel, The Secret of the Old Clock. Most little girl reach the end of that book wanting to be Nancy. I wanted to be the person who created the story!
The dream lay hidden for years while I became a teacher, married, had children…all the usual things. But eventually it re-surfaced, and I began to write, beginning with short children’s stories for Sunday school take-home papers. It seemed a long time until that first acceptance, but eventually I began to sell. After some three hundred published short stories, I finally found the courage to work on the novel I’d always wanted to write.
Thirty-some published novels later, I still feel the same excitement every time I begin a new book–a mix of not believing I can do it combined with an overwhelming urge to see the story on the page.
A lifetime spent in rural Pennsylvania and my own Pennsylvania Dutch roots eventually led me to the books I’m writing now about the Amish. The Pleasant Valley Amish series from Berkley Books are longer, more complex emotional stories with Amish main characters, while my forthcoming HQN suspense novels are more adventure-filled books set in Pennsylvania Dutch country. I’m also writing a Love Inspired series, The Bodine Family, set on the South Carolina coast where we have a second home.
When I’m not writing, I’m busy with church activities, traveling, and spending time with my three children and six beautiful grandchildren.
Blurb for Katie’s Way:
A quilt shop brings Amish and Englisch together, and trouble follows…
After a thwarted romance, Katie Miller moves to Pleasant Valley and opens a quilt shop. Soon Amish and Englisch turn the store into a lively spot…to the consternation of Caleb Brand, who crafts furniture next door. Then Katie’s sister joins her, to escape rumors of her wild rumspringa, giving Katie responsibility for a restless teenager. Worse, her efforts to bring more people to Main Street arouse resistance. When vandalism threatens Katie’s shop, she turns to Caleb. But will Caleb’s past prevent him from embracing a future with Katie?
Bio for Susan Meissner:
Award-winning writer Susan Meissner is a multi-published author, speaker and workshop leader with a background in community journalism. Her novels include The Shape of Mercy, named by Publishers Weekly as one of the Best Books of 2008. She is a pastor’s wife and a mother of four. When she’s not writing, Susan directs the Small Groups and Connection Ministries program at her San Diego church.
Blurb for A Sound Among the Trees:
A house shrouded in time.
A line of women with a heritage of loss.
As a young bride, Susannah Page was rumored to be a Civil War spy for the North, a traitor to her Virginian roots. Her great-granddaughter Adelaide, the current matriarch of Holly Oak, doesn’t believe that Susannah’s ghost haunts the antebellum mansion looking for a pardon, but rather the house itself bears a grudge toward its tragic past.
When Marielle Bishop marries into the family and is transplanted from the arid west to her husband’s home, it isn’t long before she is led to believe that the house she just settled into brings misfortune to the women who live there.
With Adelaide’s richly peppered superstitions and deep family roots at stake, Marielle must sort out the truth about Susannah Page and Holly Oak— and make peace with the sacrifices she has made for love.
Bio for Pamela S. Meyers:
Raised in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, Pamela has published articles in Today’s Christian Woman, Christian Computing Magazine, Victory in Grace Magazine, Ancestry Magazine, Christian Fiction Blog Alliance Ezine, and the ACFW Ezine, Afictionado. Her true story, Like Son, Like Father, appeared in His Forever (Adams Media). She has served as a sign language interpreter for her church, and currently is involved in her church’s outreach to the Japanese community and is a leader of a women’s Bible study group. She now resides in Illinois.
Blurb for Thyme for Love:
April Love has always dreamed of being a chef. But she didn’t expect a former fiancé or murder to be part of the recipe for her new job. When April Love signs on to be an in-house chef at an old lakeshore mansion in Canoga Lake, Wisconsin, she comes face to face with her long-lost love, the drop-dead gorgeous Marc Thorne. It doesn’t take long for their old magnetism to recharge, but how can she trust the guy who left her nearly at the altar eight years earlier? Her gut tells her something happened to Marc in between-something he’s reluctant to reveal. When April’s boss is murdered, Marc is accused of the crime. Unless April can find out who really killed Ramón Galvez, her chances for love will end up at the county jail. But someone else is just as determined she not solve the mystery…and will go to any length to stop her. “A romantic mystery full of twists, turns, fancy cooking, a hunky hero, and a heroine who doesn’t take no for answer.”-Cynthia Hickey, author of the Summer Meadows Mysteries and Unraveling Love. “Great food and a murder are all the rage today for haute cuisine. I’m looking forward to more adventures!”-Bonnie S. Calhoun, Publisher of Christian Fiction Online Magazine, author of Cooking the Books. “Fresh, clever, witty, and real. That rare romance that leaps to 3-D life and keeps you enraptured-and guessing.”-Tammy Barley, award-winning author of The Sierra Chronicles, Executive Editor of WorldTalk international Christian books and Destination: Earth magazine. “A compelling romance with unique characters that will live on in your hearts long after you turn the last page.”-Ane Mulligan, Sr. Editor, Novel Rocket; http://www.novelrocket.com. Bonus feature: Recipe for Chicken George.
