Review of First Crush by Ashley Ludwig

This book is fantastic. It kept me engaged and guessing through much of the book. A couple things I figured out fairly early, but I didn't know how events were going to unfold. I very much liked Nick, and I loved Natalie's strength of character. She might have saved herself some trauma by listening to Nick and Dalton a little more often, but honestly, I rather think I might have done the same thing in ignoring them.

The characters were all well drawn and fully realized. None of the main characters were hollow caricatures, and even the secondary characters felt real. I was fully invested in Nick and Natalie's relationship, and the success of their venture. I loved Corie, and Nick's mother.

The romance built realistically enough that I'd call it a love story rather than a romance - except that it really did move quite fast. If I had one quibble with the story, it would be that the flow of time was a little confusing to me. There would be mention of days passing, and the work on the property progressing at super speeds, and then come to find out only a couple days had passed when with the amount of stuff going on it felt like it had been weeks. Probably distracting enough to knock off half a star.

I liked getting inside the bad guy's head - it really kept the suspense up for me. Early on, I thought I had worked out who the Slayer really was, and I thought that it would be quite the feat to pull off, but turned out I was wrong. LOL 

As for content, there is mention of faith, but it did not feel in any way preachy. This is a clean read - one that doesn't stand out as clean, in that I wasn't thinking, "oh look, she replaced this dirty word with a cleaner one." It read smooth and there was no loss of interest for all that there is no sex or swearing. There is a bit of violence that mostly happens off screen, though we're given details of some of the fairly graphic results. I'd probably call it PG17, due solely to the two or three instances of violence. 

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Review of Casting the First Stone by Lisa Lawmaster Hess

I won this is in a Facebook giveaway, and while it is not something I would necessarily choose to read, I thoroughly enjoyed Casting the First Stone.

It's a bit uncomfortable in the beginning, because the reader is a fly on the wall during a custody mediation that doesn't go well, and those kinds of confrontations always distress me. But the story is so compelling and well written that I was hooked. Usually I like lots of action and suspense in my reads, but despite this being "tame" by my "usual" standards, I was held in suspense wondering how it was all going to work out. 

The characters were well drawn and believable, and the conflict so well depicted, I felt fully invested in seeing things work out for these two disparate women, and for Charli, the "prize" they all were fighting for.  I found Angel to be sweet and brave, and Marita to be charming. Charli was perfect as the tween just starting to stretch her wings of rebellion. I though Jim was a jerk, and I hoped fervently that he would figure things out without hurting those around him too much.

Finally, I'm not a big fan of being preached at in books, and while the theme of church and faith was strong, it was deftly handled so that I never once felt like this was a lecture disguised as a novel. Very well done.

If you enjoy a clean, character driven read with just the right amount of angst and interpersonal struggle, you'll enjoy Casting the First Stone.

Review of Fear is Louder than Words by Linda S. Glaz

This was certainly a fast paced read. I'm not sure what all to say about it that won't result in spoilers, but I'll give it a shot.

There are three almost completely distinct storylines running through this book, the only element really tying them together is Rochelle. So the reader is watching Rochelle dealing with the terror her attacker has generated in her, while she is fighting her attraction to the man who saved her, and we're watching Kyle as he progresses and escalates his hatred for Rochelle - for unknown reasons until nearly the end - and then there is Maggie and Erik and the PhD clinic.

The threads are woven together well, and kept me interested and guessing what was going to happen next. I'm happy to say there were a few things I didn't see coming, but after the fact I thought, "well of course..." Which means they were set up well, but not made out to be blatantly obvious gimmies. 

The main characters were for the most part complex and very well developed. I could totally picture Kyle as played by Giovanni Ribisi, particularly the character Gio played in The Postman. I couldn't find a good picture of that character, but this one is close. 

I worried for a little bit that his reasoning for hating Rochelle so much wouldn't be sound, but it was totally compelling. Yes, he creeped me out, but I appreciated having his perspective in the book.

I loved Ed. He felt quite human and had his flaws, so he wasn't "too good to be true" but he was very much a stand up guy and someone to love having on your side in a pinch. He might have been a bit too much of a super-hero toward the end, for reasons I can't say without dropping a spoiler, but that is dramatic license and I'd lump most of it under "things you can do when fueled by adrenaline" and call it good. The only thing that bugged me about Ed was the way his falling in love with Rochelle was portrayed. It just seemed a bit weak. Perhaps because the "I don't know why I'm attracted to her" card has been played out so often in books. I do think it's a real thing - often people don't know what draws them toward others, but he didn't seem to know what it was about her for much of the book, and I guess I like a hero to know his own heart a little better, and be able to pinpoint what it is a little sooner.

Rochelle. Rochelle, Rochelle, Rochelle. I don't know what to say about her. On the one hand, she was strong. Strong in her beliefs, strong in her will to fight against her fear, strong in her faith and convictions. The fact that she spent much of the book afraid didn't detract from her strength to me. It takes a lot of strength to continue living life despite that kind of fear. 

But there was a lot of things I didn't "get" about her. I did several eye-rolls at her when she fled over misperceptions of Ed and Alicia. It's understandable and a common element in romance stories - common and overdone. It is a pet peeve of mine when people run away instead of confronting a situation more than once. I get that we can't all be strong enough to stand there and hash a thing out in the moment every time one comes up, but for me, I much prefer to see that kind of growth sooner rather than later. The more times a character runs rather than faces a confrontation, the less I like them as my heroine. It has become a weakness I despise. A personal bugaboo of mine. Does that make this book terrible? No, but I think it accounted for half of that missing star. 

The whole thing with Danny perplexed me. I didn't know where he fit into her timeline, how long they were together, (I'm sure it was listed, but I didn't get a feel for what that time meant to her other than "he treated her horribly" which didn't give me the sense of why she stayed with him, or why he did a particular thing that I don't want to spoil.) It felt like a plot element that had been forced into the story, and it didn't really fit.

The rest of the star loss comes from the secondary characters, who were a bit like cardboard cutouts to me. Again, treading lighting to avoid spoilers, there was the drunk, scorned wife, the over the top doctor with secrets to hide, the wanton woman - two of them, actually - and the best friend with the seemingly perfect life. I didn't feel connection with any of them most of the time, and it just left me wanting to see them more clearly, for how they affect the main characters.

The final element I want to address is the presence of religion: faith and conviction. I'm not someone who likes being preached at, and this book definitely did not push me off with overt "bible-thumping" or a holier-than-thou-attitude. Believe me, I wouldn't have finished if I'd felt put upon. No, the threads of Rochelle's faith and how she lived it, and her dreams for a life steeped in it, were very present but not overwhelming. The way her faith affected her relationship with Ed was touching and one especially beautiful moment even got a tear in the corner of my eye. So in short regarding the religious aspect, I think people who like a strong element of faith in the books they read won't be disappointed, but neither will the casual reader be turned off by it.

Overall, I recommend this as a clean read that retains plenty of suspense and excitement. The rating would be PG-13 - with an added caveat for violence. Any survivor of sexual violence and (mild spoiler) those who have lost babies may be triggered by scenes in this book. 

I purchased an e-copy of this book, and then won the paperback in a contest. I will be sharing the paperback with my mom, because I think she would enjoy it. 

Review of Heavy Weather by Normandie Fischer

Wow, this was a great book. I wouldn't classify it as a romance, per se, because we don't really get to see the romance building between Annie Mac and Clay. They do fall in love, but that is not the focus of the book. It is so much more than a romance. The core group of friends rally behind Annie Mac and help her and her children recover from an abusive father/ex-husband's brutal attack, and we get to spy in on the affects one family's drama has on a small town community.

So much happens and I don't want to let any spoilers slip, so I won't do a recap. But I loved reading as Hannah and Matt's story unfolded. I loved catching up with Tadie and Will, Rita and Martin, and meeting Clay. What a standup guy! I loved watching his transformation from a man content with his solo life to his becoming a family man. (I totally got him as a 'leave me alone with my solo existence' person, since I am very much that way. He was very well drawn.)

Annie Mac gets her own paragraph. She felt very real to me. How does a woman end up in an abusive relationship? And once there, how does she have the courage to leave? Annie Mac has made more than one mistake in her life, and my how she has paid for it. Yet she worked to pull herself up out of a horrible situation, and continued to fight against all odds to improve her life and the lives of her children. She is the picture of a strong woman who doesn't let life beat her down, even when a key person in her life has. Her story is a tough one, and may trigger survivors of abuse, but she is inspiring to watch as she grows and learns to heal and live again. 

And as with other Normandie Fischer books I've read, she does a fantastic job bringing the children to life. I fell in love with Katie, and the little man, Ty, melted my heart with his determination to help his mama. I'm a grouchy old woman when it comes to kids - I can take 'em or leave 'em, generally. (Excepting my own grandkids - and I married into them, I have none of my own.) That these youngsters found their way into my heart says a lot for how masterfully they were portrayed. And revisiting Jilly from Becalmed was an added bonus, as she was another young character I very much loved.

I will say that this story is brutally honest. It pulls no punches and for me, personally, I felt deeply and profoundly as the characters moved through tragedy and triumph, and everything in between. In life, I'm not much of a crier. I will confess good fiction has the ability to make me cry faster than real life - and this certainly qualifies as good fiction. I cried more than once, both happy tears and tears of sadness and outrage. 

Oh, and let me not forget how much I appreciated getting in the head of the bad guy. Roy was a real piece of work, and had we not been privy to the workings of his mind, I think the story would have been more bewildering and not nearly as tense. Getting in his head was not pretty, but I think it was necessary to build tension and really understand the depth of danger Annie Mac and those who were helping her were in.

Very well done story. If you haven't yet read it, you won't be sorry.
Content Rating: PG-13 for scenes of abuse and dramatic (though not overtly graphic) violence - but language and romantic content are "clean" and flinch free.

Strong Women and Likable Characters

I was thinking about the fictionalized strong woman, recently. I consider myself to be a fan and supporter of strong women and humbly count myself among their number. I even have a Facebook group dedicated to strong women, so strong women—real and fictional—are near and dear to my heart.


The other day I was watching the movie Leap Year, and didn’t find the lead female to be particularly likable. I thought she was determined and spirited, but did I like her? Having seen it before, I knew by the end she'd be likable. Same with several Meg Ryan characters, notably Kate in Kate & Leopold, or Kate in French Kiss. And even Kristen Bell in When in Rome, Katherine Heigl in The Ugly Truth, or any number of Rom-Coms. Which right there is saying a lot. These strong women characters are so often portrayed in the romantic COMEDIES! (Okay, maybe I just notice it the most in Rom-Coms, when viewers are expected to root for the couple to end up together.)

I was wondering if I'd be able to tell when the gal in Leap Year became likable. What happened in the movie that made her relatable to me as a viewer? I think it was when she was running to make the train, in the rain, and fell down the hill and got covered in mud. This bedraggled woman showed me her humanity. She was torn down to the worst physical representation of a strong woman, and she broke down, but she still pulled herself together and moved forward. That made the respect I felt for her blossom into full-blown admiration, and from there I grew to like her.

Isn’t that what we do as strong women? It isn’t that we’re never down, never afraid, never broken. It’s that we get back up and move forward, often by ourselves, and make whatever has happened work for us. 

I just realized that a common factor in the movies I mentioned is that the women don’t have that bevy of girlfriends they can turn to for help and encouragement. These women are on their own, by their own design, and they deal with life on their own. They fall in love in spite of the men, and they don’t let the fact of that love get in the way of being strong. We like them by the end, and feel like they deserve the love of the man. But is it because of their strength, or their humanity and flaws?

This brings me to another question. Why does the strong woman have to be likable? How many times have you said, “Now there’s a woman I love to hate”? I’ve said that about plenty of male characters, and the actors who portray them. But women? At the moment, I can’t think of many. Mags Bennett in Justified. Cruella DeVille in 101 Dalmatians. I know I run into it more in novels. I like to think I’ve written a couple strong women villains, myself. (Angelisa in Last Second Chance, and Tawnia in the Bonnie Isles Trilogy.) But they're villains, not anti-heroes. Why aren't we expected to like strong women characters in movies and on TV?

I think we’ve been trained for it as a society. This great article by Caroline Siede on BoingBoing.net talks about this training as it relates to female politicians, specifically Hillary Clinton, and I won’t try to say it better than she does, or again, but I strongly recommend reading the article—whether you care about the politics of it or not.

I also challenge you to watch movies and read books while keeping your eyes on the female characters, and try to identify specific characteristics—not just physical traits. If she’s “strong,” what makes her strong? Do you like her? If not, why not? If she’s “weak,” how do you feel about her? Do you like her, or just feel sorry for her? Consciously look for the plot device that's designed to help you come around to liking her. See if you can recognize the manipulation. (Yes, the art of a good storyteller is in manipulation, so I guess I'm asking you to look at the "man behind the curtain.")

I would love it if you came back and engaged in a discussion with me about the likability of strong women. Do you see a disparity in how we look at men vs. women? Should we "get over" the bias against strong women?

In the meantime, I’m going to continue creating strong women characters, and challenge myself not to force them to be likable.

(Full disclosure: Most of the links in this post are Amazon affiliate links, and any purchases you make after clicking through on them will net me a tiny kickback.)

Review of Becalmed, by Normandie Fischer

Oh my. This one had me glued to the tablet to finish. 5 Stars, easy.

I have read so much indie work that has great story, but not always the best execution. There are notable exceptions, and Becalmed by Normandie Fischer is one of those.

This story is simple but beautiful, the characters are well-rounded and believable - Jilly especially was adorable - the setting gorgeous, and the sailing scenes made me want to get back out there. The description of riding out the hurricane made me feel like I was right there. (I'd never considered that being in a boarded up house when the lights go out would mean not knowing whether it was day or night outside.) All in all, the "world" was built so well it easily transported me into the story. The final 50 pages or so I totally shirked my schedule of things to do in order to finish.

The editing was superb. I didn't make any notes, which almost never happens with me. So either there were no errors, or I was too caught up in the story to mark them. Either way, well done!

My only quibbles that keep this from being a full 5 stars is the bad guy. I guess I didn't quite buy Alex's motivation? Something about him didn't sit right with me. I mean, I get it that he is going through a divorce, but why does he decide he wants Tadie? I didn't gather that information from the narrative. Why become stalker-ish on her? And why would he ever think that what he ended up doing was a good way to win her back? (Trying not to give a spoiler, here. I didn't quite believe the escalation. The other quibble I had with the end action was Tadie's response to it. I'm pretty sure if that happened to me, I'd either be way more angry, or way more freaked out. Especially in her circumstance. Not sure I could joke about it quite as quickly as she does. But maybe she's a stronger woman than I. And it is a minor quibble, really - all things considered.

The final quibble would be a spoiler if I spelled it out, so if you don't like vague spoilers, don't read this paragraph. I did think things moved rather quickly in the romance at the end, considering how much time they spent apart. Then again, they're in their 30s, they should know their hearts by now, right?

If you like a well written, sweet love story (I'd give it a PG-17 rating, for the end action) the you will be more than happy with Becalmed.

Review of Beau - Remington Ranch #4, by SJ McCoy

Well, I wrote a wonderful review, and then didn't save it before letting my phone screen dim. Lost it. So let me try to reconstruct the brilliance of what I said. (What? There's no proof it wasn't brilliant!)

I love redemption stories, and while Beau's story is not a conventional redemption story, I loved it all the same. Beau is the black sheep of the Remington family. Typical man fashion, he has never really analyzed why until his brothers started settling down with their soul mates, and he started to reconnect with them, all the while wondering why he'd drifted away in the first place. I love it that he was able to do the soul-searching needed to mend the fences.

I saw by the end of Carter's book that little Miss Ruby was going to be Beau's cross to bear, so to speak, and I am right there with him with him when it comes to kids - I felt his discomfort as if it was my own. I do love how he came to grips with how to "deal" with the little "monster" for the sake of her fantastic mother.

Corinne is, I think, one of my favorites of the Remington Ranch crew. She is grounded, honest, and self-sacrificing for her kid - while still allowing herself to acknowledge how much she wishes she could just be selfish for a while. She always puts Ruby first, and she is raising a strong woman who is going to be a handful her whole life - but just like her daughter, knowing Corinne and appreciating who she fully is, will make for the most rewarding of relationships.

Ruby was so well drawn that I could totally picture her in every scene she was in - she really stole the show in a way that even an old childless codger like me could adore. (Hey, I can deal with the kiddies, as long as I don't have to be around them more than an hour or so.)

I was rather surprised that there was no mention of birth control once the sex started happening, so I wonder if there won't be another kid in Beau's future sooner rather than later.

I do believe that Beau is my favorite Remington brother - in part because I could relate so well to him, and I totally admire the kind of growth he had to initiate to take his story to completion. Yes, this is definitely by favorite Remington Ranch novel.

It is important to note that these books are not what you'd call heavy reads. They are light, fluffy, and sweet. I don't read SJ McCoy for angst or suspense or action - although one recurring a$$hat took a surprising turn that I'm sure we'll see more about in Chance's books - no, I read her because it is a great escape from just those things. The characters grow emotionally, so I wouldn't say there's zero drama, but they aren't facing much in the way of outside obstacles. They each have to face their inner demons in order to reach their happy place of connection with their chosen beloved. In this way, Beau is another sweet and steamy read knocked out of the park by SJ McCoy!

Gaming the System

I recently learned something that has me disillusioned, so I’m going to rant about it a bit. Did you know some people will do anything for a buck? I always figured that was true, but I hadn’t realized that it could extend to books, and just how rampant the problem is.

I’ve been the target of scams. Phishing emails from the “prince in Nigeria”, people phoning to get my information, and oh Lord, the people on Craigslist offering to buy my $70k semi-truck and trailer sight unseen, via PayPal. I’ll admit I’ve fallen for some scams, but in general I’m too cheap and suspicious to fall for the big ones.

The number of ways people can game the system is just mind-boggling. How do crooks think these scams up? If only they were this industrious at working for the light instead of the dark side...

The game I recently learned about affects me as a writer, and those of you reading this post—as presumably you are someone who enjoys reading—a LOT, if you’re taking the time to read my humble little blog.

As a reader, have you noticed how hard it is to find good books on Amazon? They’re there, but how many books have you found that, despite good rankings and ratings, you wonder why you just wasted your time and money trying to wade through it? How many of you are enrolled in Amazon Prime and get your reading fix by way of Kindle Unlimited?

Well, here’s what I think I know about Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited product, thanks to many others who have shared what they have learned. Kindle Unlimited is great, in theory, for bibliophiles who have a voracious appetite and read dozens of books every month. What’s not to love about the ability to borrow as many books as you like for “free” without even having to leave the house to go to the library? It’s awesome! And the writers even get paid every time you borrow a book, so you’re supporting your habit, right? Sort of.

Here’s the thing. People started realizing, hey I can ‘write a book’ and get paid, too. They started writing any old thing that came to mind. They didn’t bother to have it professionally edited. They whipped up a cheap cover using some open source software, came up with a catchy blurb, and put it out there, uploading it with overall a minimal investment of time and money. 

And KU readers borrowed it, because hey, why not, it’s not costing me anything but time. And the newly hatched ‘author’ gets paid. Woot! That was easy. I’m going to do it again! They don't improve their craft; if anything, they get worse. And soon there are thousands of goofy stories about tater tots coming to life and turning virile Russian men gay. (This is a real offering on Amazon!)

Why is this a problem? There’s no harm, since KU members aren’t paying for it. It’s funny! Part of me agrees with that. Why not have a laugh? Legally there’s nothing “wrong” with it.

But it is problematic for people who don’t want to waste time (and money, if you happen to get suckered into buying it, even if it is “only 99¢”) wading through the junk to find the gems. And now that Kindle came up with the idea to pay writers by number of pages read, I understand there are more and more ways to game the system. (See this article by Selena Kitt, or this article from Germany for examples.)

I got caught out by someone who asked me to review their book, which WOW! came with more than 20 “bonus books” bringing the page count up to nearly 800 pages. There was a quick-link to the title story in the front, so it looks like the reader has read the whole book, when in reality they just skipped to the end. The title story read like a twelve-year-old wrote it. It was a real waste of my time, which is more valuable to me than the 99¢ I spent on the damn thing.

This is highly problematic for the writers who are genuinely trying to write good products, who are laying out money for editors and cover designers, and struggling to be seen by readers who appreciate quality fiction.

I’ve been a writer all my life. I’ve studied the art, taken classes and dedicated myself to learning the craft of writing a good story. I have put out four professional quality full length novels, and two novellas. And yet I can’t find my audience—or perhaps more accurately, my audience can’t find me.

I have resisted putting my books on Kindle Unlimited out of principle—not because of this issue, but because Amazon’s monopoly of the market bugs me and because in order to be in KU, you cannot have your book available on any other market. Amazon has become a monster-sized entity with, in my opinion, a very real potential of killing the love of reading in future generations by drowning them in bad fiction.

Self-publishing has been a mixed blessing from the start. It has opened up the dream of publishing to many aspiring writers like myself who, for whatever reason, were unable or unwilling to break into the big publishing houses. By the same token, it has opened up publishing to everyone who thinks they can write a book. And in my opinion, just because you can put words in a document and upload it, it doesn’t mean you should. That mixed blessing is not even accounting for the spammers who are just gaming the system. 

I’m happy for the opportunity to share my work. But I’m equally bummed about the spammers who are making it so challenging to be found.

Unfortunately, I’m afraid every fix KDP comes up with is likely to be circumvented in short order. Short of killing the KU program altogether, hiring enough readers to police all uploaded books, or developing a smart, discerning AI to scan every upload, I don’t see the problem going away. None of those solutions are going to happen any time soon. So I’m just going to sigh and go on writing the next book—because that’s not just what I do, it’s who I am—and hope for my big break.

I don’t expect authors or readers to drop out of KU to make a point with me. Lord knows I’m probably shooting myself in the foot (or head) by staying out of KU, but ask anyone who knows me: I’ll play chicken with a runaway train if I think I have a principle to stand on.

I’m not asking anyone else to die on this hill with me, but I hope folks will care enough to at least not be taken in by the scammers, and maybe be motivated to let Amazon know that our time is valuable too, and we don’t appreciate wasting it on scams.

To that end, I’d better go back through this post and shave it down, so I’m sure I didn’t just waste YOUR valuable time. Thanks for reading. 

(Bonus: if you want to support some 'genuine' authors who are struggling to be seen in this bent marketplace, click here to find links to their books on Amazon.)

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New Facebook group = What makes a Strong Woman?

I had something of an epiphany while I was at my sister’s house, after the Writer’s Conference. At the conference, I learned that I need to interact with people in my genre more, but I didn’t want it to be just about me, you know? I was trying to figure out how to encourage more interactions with people who, like me, enjoy a good suspenseful read with a strong female lead. Then it hit me: I could start a Facebook group for and about Strong Women in Suspense. 

It’s off to a pretty good start. We’re already up above 25 members (which was my 3 month goal) and having some lively discussions about what makes a strong woman, in life and in fiction. We’ve shared some inspiring stories of current and historical strong women. We’ve shared inspirational memes and held each other up to the light.

We’ve even shared a blog post from a man who is suggesting tips for dating strong women. After all, the group shouldn’t just be limited to women. There are men out there who encourage, support, and inspire strong women, and it was never my intention to be a hen party of women bashing men. (So by all means, if you know a man who wouldn’t be threatened by this group and would, in fact, contribute, invite him!)

I like to write my female characters as strong women. Maybe they won’t always start out as strong women, but by the end of their story arc, they will be. My stories may even have more strong women than weak, or I like the word undeveloped better. 

In my latest novel, I had two beta readers (out of four) say the teenage girls didn’t react realistically to the situation they were in. Part of me rebelled. How was the story supposed to move forward if all they did was scream and huddle together? Then I realized I was having a knee-jerk reaction to the perceived suggestion that my females were too strong, and I took a step back to look at it objectively.

I knew my girls were strong, especially the heroine, so what the beta readers were really telling me was that I hadn’t convinced them by showing why and how they could be so strong. Which led me to consider the kinds of things that make us strong.

First and foremost, education. In my book, Kylie is the daughter of a veterinarian, and her (single) mother brought her along when she’d go to special trainings, like disaster preparedness. In a small town where there isn’t a big hospital and most of the emergency crews are volunteer, it made sense to me that a vet, who has a base of medical training anyway, would want to be ready in the event of a tornado or a wreck on the highway. Janie isn’t the sort to just let Kylie sit in the car and wait. She was exposed to these clinics, and learned alongside her mother how to handle a crisis.

Second, I think, would be a loving and supportive family. Kylie’s dad only recently came back on the scene, but her mother was always there for her, as were her grandparents. She always had someone to look up to and receive love from. They encouraged her to be her own person, and even let her make her mistakes, but they were always there to love her.

This third element isn’t something every woman has access to, but Kylie grew up around animals that were larger than her. She learned to respect that size, but also not to let her fear of it control her. She gained confidence through the knowledge that she could work with a creature who outweighed her by hundreds of pounds, and bend it to her will. She learned that to give in to fear was to get trampled, hurt, thrown, and broken, and she learned to control her fear—not to say she never felt it, she just never let it control her.

I guess that could break down to learning about fear in general. I had a friend once who told me there are two kinds of people in the world. Those who are afraid and shut down, and those who are afraid and do it anyway. She and I were in the latter category, and so is Kylie.

What do you think makes women—or anyone—strong? What experiences have made you strong?

Review of Carter, by SJ McCoy (Remington Ranch #3)

This latest installment of the Remington Ranch series continues the trend of feel-good romances from SJ McCoy. Carter and Summer's romance is both hopeful and bittersweet, with a perfect happy ending. I could see what needed to happen to solve the lover's dilemma, but the way it happened was a bit of a surprise. If anything, though, I contemplated knocking off half a star for the few and--hmmm--rather lackluster sex scenes. They were, to me, far less steamy than the other books. I didn't mind so much--I know I may be in the minority, but I get tired of sex scenes. So maybe it was me more than the writing.

I have to say, though, I think I know what's going to happen in Beau's story. Or at least, WHO is going to happen to Beau. Should be fun. I predict seeing much more of a precocious little child named Ruth. 

On This Christmas Eve...

Okay, Christmas music on, coffee at hand, blanket tucked in place...and....

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! – 2015 edition

This was another year of transitions for us—some we’re still in the process of, so not all have definitive conclusions to share with you.

Last November (2014) saw the arrival of ‘Little Luke’ Owen Dunigan, and we’ve been adjusting to being grandparents to both him and his older brother Mario. It has been a blessing to watch Luke, Lupe, Mario and Little Luke grow as a family, and we made a few extra trips to Salem to visit when we were home. We are proud of Caleb, who is now working as a Music Director at a church in Michigan. After working at a resort near Jackson, WY, Jeremy is currently in truck driving school down in Riverside, CA, joining Luke to be another trucker in the family. Luke drives for SWIFT, and Jeremy will drive for CRST.

Most of our home-time has been spent getting the exterior of the house sorted out. The house has been painted—possibly the first time since it went up in 2001. We got a LOT done toward finishing the back yard, smoothing out what we tore up last year—or was that the year before? We now have 9 raised beds, so we’ll get to have a garden next year! (More on that in a moment.) We’ve put up another poly-shed, and have taken down most of the decrepit wooden shed. By the end of next year we hope to have a greenhouse up. It’s shaping up...and that’s enough said about the house.

Speaking of home time, that is part of the biggest transition of all. In July, our house sitter went on an extended vacation, so I came home to hold down the fort, and I’ve been home ever since. It was earlier than planned, but I’ve transitioned to writing and editing full time. I anticipate being able to put out twice as many books in 2016. (I’ll have another novel in the Boys of Syracuse, Kansas, series released come February!)

When Collin came home in October, Christopher moved out and we shook up the interior of the house. We moved our bedroom into the spare room, and I now have a “Writing Cave” (Collin calls it a Diva Den) in the master suite. I’m sitting in it now, enjoying the comfort and the view out the window. It’s a place to escape any hubbub in the rest of the house, because...

The end of an era is nigh? Collin came home to stay at Thanksgiving, and is trying out driving log trucks for Ireland Trucking. Our long term plan has been for us to be home together, and it looks like we’re putting that in motion. Collin is looking forward to spending quality home time with me, getting to see the kids and grandkids more often, and having time to do more around the house. So far, he enjoys the challenge of driving in the woods, but he’s not yet sure if it is ‘the job’ he wants to do until retirement. He’s reserving the option of doing something different.

Chances are good, though, that the Ball & Chain will officially shut down come the first of the year. It’s been a great 8.5 year run, with plenty of ups and downs, but the industry has been changing, and we just figure it’s time to move away from being owner operators and closer to our long term goals.

We are looking forward to a new year filled with family, home time, love, and all the peace and happiness we can find. We wish the same for all of you.

Much love, Kristi & Collin 

Broken down in Utah (again)

Not saying I'd rather be elsewhere, but the people at Larry's Towing in Provo Utah are very nice. If we have to break down in this part of the country, this is a much better solution than Mountain West Volvo.

So, what happened? you wonder. We had just gotten loaded in Spanish Fork and were heading up Highway 189 when we heard a clang like a spring breaking, and then a rattle that slowed down as we did. We got safely pulled over and looked for the problem. Turns out the cap came off a u-joint. We didn't lose the driveline entirely, but we were stuck.

The folks at Larry's Towing came and brought us back to Provo last night, and have it apart. There is no damage, we just need a new u-joint. It is taking a little longer than anticipated, but we hope to be on the road soon.

Larry's crew are upfront and thorough, so we are more than willing to take the time to fix it right now, rather than having the same problem down the road because they didn't notice a small part that was ready to fail.