Laurie L.C. Lewis's Blog: Bloggin' It Up Here

I've been writing up a storm, and keeping up with the weekly newsletter, but I've failed at keeping the blog going, so here's a little repentance post to keep everyone posted on what's new over here.

First of all, life has been a bit crazy. Much like this pic I took at an intersection in downtown Salt Lake, we've had some unexpected detours, diversions, crashes, and U-turns. The move to Utah during the Pandemic has been sweet and delightful--smaller yard, easier house to maintain, more family within minutes, and beautiful mountain and lake vistas.

But once the Pandemic eased, and life normalized, the hectic old pace returned with lots of new opportunities, twists and upsets. I had three books queued up in various stages of production. Cross Country Christmas, book one of The Silver Buckle Brides Series launched in October of 2021, Revenge Never Rests, (sequel to Secrets Never Die), was accepted by Covenant to be published in October of 2022, and I was shopping The Letter Carrier around to agents and publishers while I worked on the next SBB book. SWEET! Life was rosy!

Then our beautiful daughter found out that her transplanted kidney was dying and she had to go on dialysis. That was not unexpected, but it still knocked us all back a few steps. My sweet hubby took sick at the same time, and we've collectively been loving and nursing each other back to health.

The Letter Carrier received an offer but the deal and the timeframe for getting it on the market didn't feel right to me. Meanwhile, Michelle Naget, the courageous lady whose life inspired the book, was getting weak and not expected to live much longer. I wanted to get this book into her hands while she was still alive. I did get an early ARC to her, but the race was on to get the book published.

My critique buddy, Beth Bentley, an extraordinary author, publisher, and the amazing editor of my indie books, urged me to just go ahead and publish it myself, on my own timetable. I had reservations about the first cover Sheri McGathy and I created, so while I sent the manuscript back to Beth for a final edit, Sheri and I worked on this new, exquisite cover.

And then the world changed.

The Russian invasion into Ukraine seemed like a chapter pulled from WWII, and The Letter Carrier. I've always loved this book, and consider it to be the most important book I've ever written, but now it felt even more so. Between the infighting in America, and our loss of lives in the Afghanistan retreat, I felt America needed to read Michelle's story of courage and sacrifice, and to remember how quickly freedom is lost, and the aching cost to reclaim it once it's squandered.

So we're set for a July 20 launch with a public cover reveal in June. I'll have a pre-order link up soon. I hope every family in every freedom-loving nation reads Michelle's story. As it says in the book:

"My name is Michelle Naget Rogers. I came here today to tell you a story. My story. A story I tell because I don’t want it to ever be your story.”

The book is being proofed and then formatted one last time before I set it to pre-order. In the meantime, family life carried on.

Amanda and her family bravely adjusted to the changes home dialysis brings, and she invited us to head to St. George to watch her son's baseball tournament. We actually had two cute grandsons on that team so it was a blast to head to southern Utah and see Zion's National Park where this fun pic was taken.

But, while we were enjoying the scenic vistas, someone was breaking into our house. They literally carried our safe out along with most of my jewelry. I didn't have blingy diamonds, but I did have a few heirloom pieces set aside for the girls. The losses hurt, but coming into your house and finding your personal things strewn across the floor sliced into our security and peace. Everyone says I should use that experience in a new book. Maybe. . . .

We're turning our home into a fortress now, but we feel safe again, and we're moving on. That's what's happening here. I hope all is well and safe and sweet where you are, but each day, the news reminds us to be more aware citizens who are more devoted to the cause of freedom and peace. And more generous to the victims of aggression. Have a great day!

Laurie

If you'd like to join my Willowsport Crew and get on the review team and/or the Scream Team to spread the word about The Letter Carrier, please send me a note at laurielclewismail@gmail.com, and please use the heading "Sign Me Up."

Please also consider joining my VIP Readers Club to get in on all the launch fun and giveaways! https://www.laurielclewis.com/newsletter

It's been a busy few months, but we have lots of news. "Cross-Country Christmas," the first volume in the SILVER BUCKLE BRIDES Series is live.

Here's the first ad meme.

A vet/rancher torn by war and love. A mistrustful woman in need of hope. The wreck that brings them together. The blizzard that gives them time.

“What does the stillness bring to your mind?”He settled back into his quilt. “Ghosts.”The sorrow in his voice cut CC. She tried to lighten the mood. “Of Christmases past, present, or future?”“All of the above.”

https://www.amazon.com/Cross-Country.../dp/B096J1XNM3

In addition to the launch of "Cross-Country Christmas" there are other projects in various stages of publication.

The sequel to my political suspense novel, "Secrets Never Die," is in the hands of the publisher and going through evaluations. I'll know in about three months if it will get picked up for publication. It's working title is "Revenge Never Rests."

My WWII novel based on the life of a French survivor of the occupation of France is in the editor's hands now. We plan to have that one launch in February of 2022.

I'm currently pounding out the next volume in The Silver Buckle Brides Series. It picks up the story of Reese Brockbank's brother Reese, who takes refuge on Laramee Stone's Colorado ranch when his intended's marriage talk gives him cold feet. It's a love triangle with a touch of Cyrano de Bergerac thrown in for fun.

Help spread the word about "Cross-Country Christmas" and enter to win a free copy! Share the news about it's release and earn entries into this contest. Here's the link! https://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/f2bdac0f187/?

Thanks for your support!

This was a busy week. We finished the final edits for "Cross-Country Christmas" and sent it off to the printer. Plus, the ARCs arrived at the publisher's office, and two other books are in progress for 2022.

With all these launches in the queue, we're accepting requests for active, experienced reviewers for my Review Crew, and active book bloggers for my Scream Team. If that's you, welcome aboard!

Click the link https://www.facebook.com/The-Willowsp... and sign on, or send an email to laurielclewis@laurielclewis.com.

Thanks for listening. I'm looking forward to chatting soon!

June 14, 2021

Forgive me. I've been terrible about staying in touch. How are you? I hope life is sweet and peaceful, and that things are normalizing wherever you are.

As for me, well . . . I've upset the fruit basket, as they say. I moved from Maryland to Utah, someone hijacked my blog, I ruptured my Achilles, had surgery, and all while we shared this little seventeen-month adventure called a Pandemic.

The blog hijacking will be addressed later, but all the other stuff has given me lots of time to write, and I've got three new books in various stages of development.

I hope you saw the beautiful cover for my October Christmas release with Covenant. "Cross-Country Christmas" is a clean second-chance romance with strong family themes that will warm hearts this holiday. I'm signing up reviewers, and book bloggers to join my social media crew to shout out about the book during it's release. If you're a book reviewer on Book Bub, Amazon, or Goodreads, and you'd be interested in reviewing this book or any of the others mentioned below, please join my Willowsport Review Crew and I'll be in touch. https://www.facebook.com/The-Willowsport-CREW-141588969753305/

If you're also a book-blogger, book-tweeter, or book-Instagrammer, who enjoys sharing great books with your followers and friends, please consider joining my Scream Team. https://www.facebook.com/groups/2424625744429757. Thanks so much!

For those of you who've asked about a sequel to "Secrets Never Die," the answer is "yes!" I was so stressed about not equaling the suspense and twists in book one that I shied away from a sequel, but I'm happy to say that I think the sequel is going to please readers very, very much.

I'd also like to tell you about my WWII novel, "The Letter Carrier." This has been a four-year love-project. It's based on the real-life experiences of a survivor of the Occupation of France. I hope it will touch tender threads of patriotism in all of us, and remind us of how fragile freedom is. Beta readers' reviews were outstanding. I'm so excited to get this book out. I'm looking at a January 2022 release, so I can dedicate the time I need to launch "Cross-Country Christmas."

Other exciting things are happening. I was invited to join an international panel on religious refugees sponsored by The Amar Foundation, to discuss ways to not only help displaced people survive, but ways to lift them and help them rebuild their social and religious cultures. Tom and I planned to travel to London this month so I could attend that discussion live, but the UK still has many travel restrictions in place so we're now relegated to watching it on ZOOM. I'm completely humbled and unsure what I'll bring to the discussion, but I've had my eyes opened to the trauma of refugee life as talked with my friend, Michelle, whose story forms the basis of "The Letter Carrier." It will, at the very least, be an amazing humanitarian experience.

As for the blog debacle. I'm surrendering the old blog and using this space instead. I also have a VIP Readers' Club and weekly newsletter where I post contests and book deals. I hope you pop over here for updates and news, and join the VIP club to get in on the deals.

Thanks so much for listening. Chat soon!

Laurie

JULY 1, 2019

I can identify the time and place when most of my books were born. SECRETS NEVER DIE was born in my swimming pool one summer night two years ago. I was enjoying a night swim . . . a night float, really. My head was resting on a ladder rung. As I floated in the calm water, staring up at the stars, I imagined that if a person stumbled upon the scene and found me so still, skimming the surface, they'd likely think I had drowned.

I thought, "What an intriguing scenario!" It led to question after question.

Aside from crazy me, who else would lie in the dark water, so still, just staring up at the night sky? And why? What emotion or need would bring them out here alone? What would they be thinking about? Or whom? And who might find them? What would their reaction be to stumbling over such a scene?

By the time I left the pool that night, the pool scene was outlined, and I knew the lonely, reclusive, brilliant, misanthrope, Tallie Brown. The rest of the story grew from questions about who would be most upended by stumbling upon a seemingly dead woman floating in the dark water, and Jackson James was born.

Moments and places have inspired several of my books. I hope you'll check out SECRETS NEVER DIE. Now you have inside info on that pool scene. Laurie

I'm gearing up for the "AWAKENING AVERY" launch on July 24th by offering a Rafflecopter giveaway! https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07F246SJT  I'm offering participants 14 prizes, including an ALEX and ANI bracelet, free books, and a KINDLE FIRE 7! http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/f2bdac0f30/ …? Enter up to seven ways! The giveaway runs through August 24!


Copyright 2009 Laurie LC Lewis, (To obtain permission to copy or reprint any portion of this post, please contact the author at lclewis2007@gmail.com)

"AWAKENING AVERY" Launches July 24th. Here's a brief  excerpt.  Pre-order your copy for $0.99.
When Gabriel returned to the lobby of the building, Mrs. Thompson was nowhere in sight. One box was missing but one still remained. He told himself it had been only a few minutes since they parted, but he strolled outside anyway to look for her, anxious to settle the details and be done with the arrangements. 

He scanned the parking garage with no luck, but on the way back he saw the woman huddled on the asphalt by a large, green recycling bin, rubbing her shin and crying. This time he overruled the selfish inner voice that told him not to get involved and hurried to where she was crumpled. 
Avery heard his approach and lifted her head. As she saw him, she seemed to shrink farther inside herself and sob that much louder.
“I’m fine, I’m fine.” She raised a hand to symbolically push him away as she leaned across the crushed cardboard box she had carried there.
“What happened?” he asked as he knelt beside her, touching the tear in the leg of her pants and then glancing at his hand. “You’re bleeding.”
Avery Thompson drew her hand across her eyes, smearing her mascara. “I haven’t always been this way,” she said with flailing hands as she struggled to a stand and wiped her runny nose on her sleeve. “I’m a successful professional woman, an author, well respected in my genre. The truth is, Mr. Carson, my husband died recently, just a few months ago, and I’m still a little shaken by it all, you know?”
Gabriel admired her emerging pluck, and from the look on her face, her show of fortitude had surprised her as well. “I do understand, Mrs. Thompson. What can I do to help?”
Avery bit her lip and sniffed loudly before grabbing hold of the bin for support to stand. “I was trying to toss this box in, but I was too short to lift the lid. I climbed on top of the box to reach the lid, and it collapsed under me. I must have scraped my leg against the metal bar.”
“How long has it been since you’ve had a tetanus shot?” He pointed to the protruding bar the garbage trucks hooked on to for dumping. “That’s a pretty dirty piece of metal.”
Avery tensed, looking thoughtful. “I’m current.” She slumped against the dumpster, and the pitiful voice returned again. “This shouldn’t have happened, you know.”
“It could have happened to anyone.”
“No.” She groaned the word more than spoke it. Her body shuddered for a moment and then her heartbroken eyes met Gabriel’s. “I don’t just mean the fall. I mean all of it. I’m not supposed to be here in the first place. Taking out the garbage was always his job, but even if it weren’t, I am certainly not supposed to be here, anguishing over the chore of tossing the memories out of my condo, because my husband is not supposed to be dead. Do you understand?”
Gabriel offered her a hand to raise her from her resting place against the dumpster. “Yes, I do. Better than you could know.” He stared into her eyes, trying to summon the brave portion of her to the forefront again. “I know what it’s like to have to decide what to do with the clothes they didn’t like in the first place or bottles of cologne that make you cry when you smell them and cry when their scent fades from the house. And then there are the trivial dilemmas like deciding what to do with the tins of buttons they collected off every article of clothing before it was tossed out, and what to do with the cards you sent them.” His eyes seemed weary and older somehow. “Oh, yes, Mrs. Thompson, I most certainly know.”
Copyright 2009 Laurie LC Lewis, (To obtain permission to copy or reprint any portion of this post, please contact the author at lclewis2007@gmail.com)

The weather's already steamy.  
Relax and refresh with 41 FREE reads that are sweet, cool, and clean.
Click here for details.
Copyright 2009 Laurie LC Lewis, (To obtain permission to copy or reprint any portion of this post, please contact the author at lclewis2007@gmail.com)

If you're in search of a fun summer reading program with a stellar book and author list, look no further.Each July, The LDS BOOK GEEK assembles a deep roster of authors and their clean read novels.  This is a fun summer reading adventure sponsored by the LDS BOOK GEEK. It starts July 1, so hurry and register!You earn points by reading clean read books by LDS authors. There are drawings, and prizes. Enjoy some of your favorite authors' free or discounted books, and meet some new authors along the way.
http://www.newldsfiction.com/summer-book-trek/sbt-prizes/
Copyright 2009 Laurie LC Lewis, (To obtain permission to copy or reprint any portion of this post, please contact the author at lclewis2007@gmail.com)

Christian author Traci Wooden-Carlisle has placed "MY BEAUTY FOR YOUR ASHES" on sale for FREE today only--JUNE 28th. Download a copy. Here's the Amazon link.

Copyright 2009 Laurie LC Lewis, (To obtain permission to copy or reprint any portion of this post, please contact the author at lclewis2007@gmail.com)