The Barn Door Book Loft

Weekly Winners

2013-05-22T00:01:00.000-04:00

Welcome to the Bookshelf of the Barn Door Book Loft.

Before we announce our three winners we’d like to offer a special thanks to Ramona K. Cecil who offered her Historical Romance Heart's Heritage.

Thanks to Jennifer Johnson who offered her Inspirational Romance A Heart Healed.

And thanks to Alice J. Wisler for offering her Devotional Getting Out of Bed in the Morning

And now: We're pleased to announce we have some new winners this week!

Patty has won Ramona K. Cecil’s Historical Romance Heart's Heritage.

Erin S. has won Jennifer Johnson’s Inspirational Romance A Heart Healed.

And Karen K. has won Alice J. Wisler’s Devotional Getting Out of Bed in the Morning.

Congratulations Winners! Remember, it's your responsibility to contact me sharonalavy {at} gmail {dot} com) with your address so the author can send you a book.
Subscribing by email will ensure you don't miss the winners list.

Meet Texas Author Valerie Massey Goree

2013-05-21T00:02:00.000-04:00

Welcome to the Barn Door Book Loft, Valerie. Can you tell us, is there a story behind your book Deceive Me Once?

There are two events that inspired the plot. During a conversation with a friend from Puerto Rico, she stated how her mother-in-law was very unhappy that she was planning a Quinceañera—a coming-of-age party for her daughter. My daughter-in-law is from Mexico and at that time my granddaughter was only three years old. But I got to thinking. Will her mother plan a Quinceañera for her? I loved the idea!

We live out in the country. My dogs love to scamper in the brush and chase any animal, large or small, that dares to venture on our property. One day as I watched them from the back porch, I got to wondering. What if I found a person out there? What if …?

And there is a story behind the name of the main character. When my daughter was in second grade, she transferred to the school where I taught. I had playground duty the first day and noticed my daughter all by herself. My Instructional Assistant also had a daughter in second grade. I introduced the girls. Maricella and my daughter were best friends for many years.

What kind of books do you enjoy reading?

I love suspense, mystery, police procedurals. Recently I read the three book series by Catherine Leggitt, Payne & Misery, The Dunn Deal, and Parrish the Thought. You’ll love Christine Sterling, the amateur sleuth.

Which character in Deceive Me Once most interested you while you wrote?

Deceive Me Once is written in the first person, therefore I felt a strong attachment to Maricella. I was in her point of view for the whole story. She is a devoted wife and mother but struggles with issues from her past.

Let's have a little fun. What is the quirkiest thing you have ever done?

My husband and I went to Port Aransas and Padre Island for a short vacation. There were tattoo parlors everywhere. We joked that we should stop and each get a tattoo. Not likely to happen! But I decided to tease our kids. We’d already planned a family get-together the weekend after our trip, so I purchased a package of temporary tattoos.

My husband and I applied them to our upper arms. Before the meal, we asked everyone to gather around the table as we had something important to discuss. We were solemn, and admitted we’d done something we weren’t proud of while on vacation. Didn’t know what came over us.

Looks of horror, surprise, and bewilderment met us. Then Glenn and I raised our sleeves and showed off our tattoos. Our daughter’s mouth gaped. Our son snickered. Glenn and I couldn’t hold it in any longer and burst out laughing. That’s when they guessed our secret.

We've thought about pulling that same prank on our kids. Funny. What is your favorite season of the year?

Spring! When I grew up in Rhodesia, we had two seasons—summer and not quite summer. My first spring in Arkansas where I attended College was amazing. I’d get up early in the morning and go out with my camera and take photos of irises, daffodils, red bud trees. I’d never experienced such rebirth before.

What is a favorite memory from your childhood?

I recently had slides from my childhood digitalized. So many memories! We used to take an annual vacation to South Africa where we’d visit family, and spend every day on the beach. Sunburn. Ouch. I can still smell the salty air, and feel the rush of riding a wave into shore.

Has some place you have traveled inspired something in your writing?

Our son served in the US Marines for 11 years. For the last four years he was stationed in San Diego, California. We flew out whenever he was deployed to Iraq or when he came home. We also visited Los Angeles. Scenes from California feature in two of my novels.

What's your favorite meal with family and friends?

It seems everyone is so busy these days that our family only gets together on special occasions. Birthdays, Christmas, etc. But those times are precious. We have two children—both are married, and two grandchildren. My mother lives in a nursing home close by, and my mother-in-law lives in San Antonio. This is our family.

Recipe:

Babootie (South African meatloaf)

1 lb ground beef or turkey 1 small onion, chopped

2 eggs ¾ cup milk

1 slice bread ¼ cup raisins

1 tsp salt 1 tbs curry powder

1 clove garlic, minced

Heat oven to 350. Soak the bread in the milk. Mix meat, onion, raisins, curry powder, one beaten egg, salt and garlic. Squeeze the bread – save the milk. Add bread to the meat mixture. Spray a casserole dish with Pam. Place meat mixture in dish. Beat the other egg into the leftover milk. Pour over the meat. Bake for 30 - 35 minutes.

Are there spiritual themes you like to write about?

It seems all my novels have a similar thread – forgiveness. Forgiveness takes many forms. We need to forgive each other, ourselves, but more importantly, we need to seek forgiveness from God.

Where do you escape for some quiet time to reflect, pray, read, etc?

The back porch. No close neighbors, no cars, just nature.

Could you share a verse or Scripture passage with us that is special to you?

Psalm 121. Lift up your eyes. When I left Rhodesia as a shy 17 year-old on my way to America to attend college, the church gave me a farewell party. One of the elders read that psalm and it has held a special place in my heart ever since.

When is your next book due out and can you tell us about it?

My next book is with a publisher and I’m waiting for the word. Contract or rejection?

You're keeping us in suspense. Thanks for sharing with us today!

Connect with Valerie Massey Goree at:

Valerie's website

Facebook/ Valerie Massey Goree, Author

The third Thursday of each month on Catherine’s Leggitt's blog under the heading My Mother, My Child.

Valerie Massey Goree is giving away a copy of Deceive Me Once. To be entered in the giveaway, leave a comment along with your e-mail address. You can enter the book giveaway twice--once on each spotlight post for the author. Please note: The giveaway is for U.S. addresses only.

Deceive Me Once by Valerie Massey Goree

2013-05-20T00:02:00.000-04:00

Maricella McDonough, known simply as Chella to her family and friends, has been living a life of deception in Hanson Ridge, Texas, ever since the day of her Quinceañera in Eagle Pass. Riddled with guilt over the part she played in the death of her parents, her best friend Eva, and Eva’s parents, she stuffed it all down into the deepest recesses of her mind and moved on with her life.

Now, many miles away and more than 25 years later, it has all finally caught up with her. The body of a young woman is found on the edge of Chella’s property. As she investigates the mysterious death, she discovers the woman is connected with her hidden past. Will Chella’s dark secret be her undoing and ruin the life she has built with her husband and sons? Will they ever forgive her for lying to them all these years?

Excerpt

CHAPTER ONE

I scrubbed her blood off my hands and face. My tears mingled with the water escaping down the drain. The abrasion on my forehead still stung from the alcohol cleanse, and my stained clothes lay bundled in a heap on the bathroom floor.

Brutus pushed the door open and sniffed at my clothes. The stench of death clung to him. Without thinking, I grabbed the startled puppy and placed him in the tub. I used my shampoo to bathe the blood and odor away and rubbed his short, brown fur vigorously with an old towel.

After dressing, I plodded to the kitchen and closed the pet door leading outside, then paced the living room on wobbly legs. The sheriff had to drive only fifteen miles from Bandera, the county seat, to Hanson Ridge. What was taking him so long?

A booming car horn shattered the silence. Brutus barked and ran to the kitchen. I attached his leash and secured it to a cabinet handle, and opened the back door.

I traipsed toward the taupe patrol car. The sun glinted off the white caliche stones in the driveway. An officer climbed out of the car and straightened his brown trooper hat. He was probably close to my age, mid-forties, medium height, with solid arms and chest bulging under a khaki shirt, tucked into his brown slacks as if it had been glued down. His purposeful movements and demeanor inspired confidence.

A brief smile creased his bronze cheeks. “Afternoon, ma’am. I’m Chief Deputy Carlos Quintanilla.” His deep voice sounded more like he should be in broadcasting and not investigating this sad crime.

I extended my hand, but he removed his mirrored sunglasses, slipped them into his shirt pocket and rested his hands on his thick leather duty belt.

“I believe you found a body, Mrs. McDonough?”

His direct question and accusing gaze made me realize for the first time I might be considered a suspect.

I lowered my hand. “Yes . . . yes, sir. And a bag filled with money.”

His penetrating stare sent ripples swirling in my already queasy stomach.

“Where are they, ma’am?”

I stepped around his patrol car and headed down the driveway. “This way, Deputy.”

His long stride brought him beside me. “How’d you get that gash?”

I reached under the hair I’d pulled across my forehead and touched the scraped area. I must not have hidden it as well as I’d thought. “I fell on the driveway. On my way to the house to call your . . . you.”

He grunted.

Our footsteps crunched on the gravel and startled two vultures lingering on the dead branches of a Spanish oak. The skittish birds spiraled in circles above us.

He eyed them for a second, then focused on the brush ahead of us. “How’d you discover the body and the money?”

“Brutus, my puppy—”

“Puppy. Where’s he now? Not by the body, I hope?”

“No, no. He’s locked up in the house. The dispatcher told me to keep him away.”

“Good. Now, tell me what happened.”

I stopped and pointed back to the house. “I was weeding that flowerbed and Brutus brought me the corner of a hundred dollar bill. That got my attention, so I followed him. He keeps a stash of treasures on the lawn over there. I saw bits of money littering the area. Dirty, chewed bills. We think he must be part goat, because—”

“Mrs. McDonough, the body, the money?”

I cleared my throat. “Sorry, I talk when I’m nervous. My husband says—”

The deputy pushed back his hat and rubbed his forehead. “What happened next?”

“I followed the paper trail.” This time I pointed to the caliche. “See. Pieces of money.”

Quintanilla squatted and examined a scrap of paper. “This looks like part of a twenty.” He picked it up and stood. “Show me where you went next.”

We trekked along the driveway peppered with bits of money and veered off into the brush. This time my feet were protected by boots and my legs covered in jeans. My earlier wardrobe of sandals, T-shirt and skirt had proved no match for the rough terrain.

My husband had cleared a few of our nine acres in the Texas Hill Country northwest of San Antonio. The rest had been left raw. Quintanilla and I trudged through the un-cleared land south of the driveway. We stepped over rocks, clumps of dried grass and scraggy bushes. He reached an embankment before me and stopped.

I indicated the general direction and said, “We have to go up there.”

“Lead the way.”

I pulled myself up using the rough branches of the mountain cedar trees. Quintanilla followed. Even though I knew what to expect, the unpleasant odor of old boiled cabbage smothered me. I gagged and gasped for air in the stifling August humidity.

We pushed through the thicket of cedars and stepped into the small clearing. In the middle, half hidden by tall, dry grass, the zipper on the charcoal gray canvas glinted in the sunlight. Flies teemed over the bag.

The deputy stopped, surveyed the area and frowned. “Did you disturb anything, Mrs. McDonough?”

“Please call me Chella or Maricella.”

“I asked you a question, Mrs. McDonough.” He ignored my plea for less formality. His professional tone reminded me again of my precarious situation.

About The Author

American Christian Fiction Writers Genesis Award winner Valerie Massey Goree lives in the Texas Hill Country northwest of San Antonio with her husband of forty years, two dogs, and two cats. She grew up in Central Africa, in Rhodesia—now Zimbabwe. After receiving her Master’s degree in the USA, she and her Texan husband served as missionaries in Zimbabwe where their two children were born. When the family returned to Texas, Valerie worked in the public school system for 25 years. Now retired, she focuses on her writing career and spoiling her grandchildren.

Purchase Deceive Me Once at:

Parson Place Press

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

Michigan Author Linda Glaze Visits the Barn Door Book Loft

2013-05-19T00:01:00.000-04:00

Thanks for joining us here at the Barn Door Book Loft, Linda. We have a few questions for you. We’ll start off this one:

Is there a story behind your book With Eyes of Love?

Absolutely, my mom WAS in a storm as a child and they were taken in by the mayor’s family, but my character is considerably older when it happens to her. However, the wonderful friendship between Barbara (Bunny) and my aunt, (fictitiously my aunt) the mayor’s daughter, is the friendship that I wanted this story to reflect. My mom and my aunt were closer than even sisters could be, and I wanted the chance to show a friendship that deep.

Question: What started you on your writing journey?

A trip to Chicago 22 years ago and my oldest daughter whining because she finished her Mary Higgins Clark book that she had to read that weekend. So I said I could write her one on the way. Well, it was 60 pages of horrible writing, but she liked it, and I was hooked.

Question: What distracts you from writing the easiest?

Checking email to see if there are any offers on any of my clients’ works. That’s such a rush that I keep wanting another one to be waiting.

Question: What kind of books do you enjoy reading?

I LOVE suspense. That’s where my heart truly lies. Love Brandilynn Collins, Tim Downs, and especially Ted Dekker.

Question: Which character in your new release most interested you while you wrote? Why?

I think Barbara—Bunny. She has attitude. I was once told my characters are sometimes too sarcastic, but that’s real life. And sometimes a person is filled with attitude. The Lord might be trying to “fix” that, but it doesn’t mean that it isn’t there in the meantime.

Question: What is the quirkiest thing you have ever done?

Oh, my. The list is so long, how can I pick? Honestly, my life has been one quirky happening after another. Let’s just say, stepping out and saying, “Sure, I can do that.” when I don’t have a clue, but learn as I go. And in some very bizarre situations. Let’s leave it there.

Question: What is your strangest habit?

I find it hard to step on cracks to this day. I avoid them on my walks. Guess that ‘step on a crack’ thing as a kid stuck. Maybe that’s just my OCD side. Hehe.

Question: What makes you smile and/or laugh out loud?

Silly, ridiculous sophomoric humor. Yes, I laugh at quite bizarre things. And smiling can be at any—thing, any—time.

Question: What is your favorite season of the year?

Fall: leaves burning, apple everything, and warm days—cool nights.

Question: What do you like most about the area where you live and/or grew up?

I love where I started life out the best. Surrounded by fruit orchards, family, and small town wonderful!

Question: What is a favorite memory from your childhood?

After we moved away and I would go stay with my grandmother. She had this thick Coke bottle glasses that were scary, but she had a wonderful heart of love.

Question: Are there things you put off doing because you dread them?

Yes! Housework, but as long as the health dept. doesn’t shut us down, I’m good to go.

Question: What's your favorite meal with family and friends?

Probably chipotle chicken tucked into corn tortillas with plenty of avocado, tomatoes, cilantro, corn and onions, salsa, beans, cheddar cheese, and followed with giant wedge of Hershey’s chocolate fudge cake. (I don’t do the cake part very often, but I eat a lot of hot and sweet chicken.

Question: Are there spiritual themes you like to write about?

Redemption. I’m a Les Mis freak, so redemption is a common thread for me.

Share a verse or Scripture passage with us that is special to you.

With God all things are possible. I used to sign all my artwork, MATL. Me and the Lord, between us, we can do anything.

Question: Where do you escape for some quiet time to reflect, pray, read, etc?

My walks in the morning. I can do all but read; I save all my entertainment reading for the bathtub. Long soaks with plenty to read. Then you have my title, a well-read prune.

Question: When is your next book due out and can you tell us about it?

Always, Abby releases on May 1^st. It is the sequel to With Eyes of Love, and instead of Pearl Harbor, it takes us to Dachau at the opening and sets us up with a small orphan—Hank from the camps to come back with our hero, Will. The question is, will his fiancée be as excited about the small boy as Will is? Or is Abby, visiting her sister, Barbara, the one to slide into the role of ready-made Mom?

That’s it! Thank you bunches, Linda. Please come back and visit with us again!

You can find Linda's book here:

Amazon:

Harlequin:

Or have your local library order it in for you!

Linda Glaz is giving away a copy of With Eyes of Love. The giveaway is only available to U.S. addresses. To be entered in the book giveaway, leave a comment along with your email address. You may enter the book giveaway twice--once on each spotlight post.

Linda Glaz's Historical Romance With Eyes of Love

2013-05-18T00:01:00.000-04:00

Back Cover Blurb:

Barbara Richardson is living a charmed life. Perfect family, beautiful voice, wealthy fiancé. But when she realizes her soon-to-be husband only values her for her pretty face, her life is suddenly in turmoil. Then a handsome young man comes to her rescue when she’s stranded in a storm on Christmas Eve. And the world suddenly seem full of possibilities…

Unlike her former fiancé, Jackson Judge loves Barbara for everything she is, inside and out. But how could so lovely and talented a woman ever love a scarred monster like him? All he can see, shut away in his room, are his wounds from Pearl Harbor. Jackson finds himself questioning God’s plan, but Barbara knows real love looks deeper than beauty or scars. Eyes of love see straight to the heart.

Book Excerpt:

She looked up at him, grinning—breathless with the same self-assured grace he'd fallen in love with that first day when she had glared at him through the car window almost daring him to be fresh. That was a long time ago when he had something to offer a woman.

“Well, don't you have anything to say?”

Words filled his throat, but a lump stuck halfway, wouldn't budge. His family stared. Finally a croak pressed through dry lips, “Welcome, Barbara.” He shifted his face away as he had learned to do to keep people from seeing the worst of his scars, but her gentle hands reached up, too his face in her palms and turned him to look at her.

“Thank you. I had hoped to be welcomed by you. She giggled. “Now, I'm afraid all this hospitality has left me famished. I don't mean to be rude, Mrs. Judge—” she glanced her direction “—but I lollygagged so long this morning, I missed breakfast. I can't wait to taste that heavenly roast I've been smelling in the kitchen since we came home.” Her hands stayed on Jackson’s cheeks.

His mother tidied the edge of her apron and blushed, tears in her eyes. “Soup’s on. Let’s go, Will. Hurry along, all, we've got a starving waif in our midst.” Her plump hands pulled Barbara to her, away from Jackson.

Barbara glanced over her shoulder and winked in his direction. His mouth opened and closed. Wordless.

Author Bio:

Linda, married with three grown children and three grandchildren, is a complete triple-A personality. How else would she find time to write as well as be an agent for Hartline Literary Agency?

She loves any and every thing about the written word and loves when families pass stories along through the generations. She was blessed to have served in the Air Force during the Vietnam era at a time when it wasn't the politically correct thing for a woman to do.

After that, she taught self-defense and karate as well as soccer. Okay, so make it a quadruple-A personality.

Now, her greatest thrill, other than a contract of her own, is matching clients with publishing houses and hearing their voices when they get “THE CALL”. In other words, she wears so many hats, she should have been invited to “the” royal wedding.

You can find her on the web at her personal blog. And on the agency blog: From the Heart

She also has a facebook presence. Just type in Linda Glaz and you've got her whether you want her or not.

You can find Linda's book here:

Amazon:

Harlequin:

Or have your local library order it in for you!