Christine Schimpf's Blog

The next release for this week is Dixie Jo Jarchow's This Worthy Heart. 
Celestina Morgan's dreams of happily-ever-after hit a major glitch when she suffers a small stroke. There's no permanent damage from the stroke, but her heart is broken when her boyfriend deserts her with a text message that says he hopes she gets well. He's terrified of illness and hospitals.

Cele's got a plan to win Jason back, and it's working until an adorable puppy shows up on her doorstep. Jason hates pets of any kind. It doesn't help that the handsome chaplain from the hospital keeps coming by to help out. He doesn't approve of Jason, and Cele struggles to ignore the truth.

Either way, to give Jason a chance to prove the chaplain wrong, the dog has to go! But the sweet little puppy has other ideas.

One of the books I'd like to introduce this week is Linda Widrick’s To Complicate Matters”.
Angelica Dunn, baker extraordinaire, is weary of living from one pie season to another. When she slips on the floor under a bucket of custard crème, a handsome stranger comes to her rescue. Instantly, she’s smitten. 
CIA agent, Thaddeus Wright, is drawn to the dimple-cheeked beauty. He adores Angelica’s spunk and the fact that she isn’t pushy like other women. But, how can he tell her he’s not the computer repairman that she assumes he is?  Complications arise when Angelica mistakenly leaves a message on Thadd’s home phone. To what lengths will she go to intercept the embarrassing evidence that’s certain to squelch all hope of a future with Mr. Wright?  A comedy of errors catapults Angelica into a battle between right and wrong when she ends up in the wrong place at the wrong time.   Will Angelica choose to do what’s right, even when things get complicated?
Linda hopes readers of “To Complicate Matters” will come to understand that God sees the big picture, and his grace is sufficient to carry us through.  He catches us when we fall and he sets us up on high even when we would not otherwise deserve it.  

This week brings two new releases the first: "Buttohholed" by Anital Klumpers.  Manderley Jessup is having enough trouble squeezing into last summer's dresses. Now her mother expects her to save the family honor? A film crew has invaded her Tennessee hometown to research a duel. And the duelists' descendants, still feuding after 200 years. Manderley, one of those descendants, is heartily sick of the rivalry and decides to do something about it. She approaches Abram Coventry, descended from the opposing duelist, with a marvelous plan. Abram would design buttons as a gift for Manderley's mother. But a button catastrophe threatens to make the original duel look like a kindergarten squabble. What can Manderley do with those dreadful buttons? Worse, what can she do about the hopeless crush she's developed on Abram? 
Anita hopes that people would start discussions that chew on the Word of God, encourage each other when we feel that the world is against us, family misunderstands us, “friends" spread false rumors. Encourage each other that we are in Christ, who gave up everything, including His reputation, for us. And now we are in Him and own His glorious reputation. So pursue truth, defend yourself if you can, guard and promote your reputation. But we can remind each other that we own something far, far greater in Christ! And naturally I hope they tell others they enjoyed it.  The second book for this week is "A Field of Forget-me-nots” by Rachael A. James.
When the patron of the Foundling School takes pity upon young orphan, Georgiana (Ana) Weston, Lady Dunston raises her as one of her own. However, years pass and Lady Dunston's health begins to fail. With the Longworth estate entailed away, Ana is faced with an uncertain future. Mr. Luke Renshaw still mourns the loss of his parents, and would rather travel the world than live in a place that reminds him of so much pain and loss. But responsibilities await, and when his only aunt becomes sick, he returns to Longworth. After all, it is where he will receive his inheritance. Luke and Ana used to play together as children, though many years have passed and much has changed. The prospect of marriage without love holds little hope for their romantic ideals, and yet it seems the most sensible solution for both parties.
Rachael has shared that she hopes readers will be encouraged by her heroine, Georgiana, who is inspired by the Woman of Noble Character from Proverbs 31.

Here we go with the next book for our debut week. Susan Karsten's "Charlotte's Dilemma"...   
She was part of a London scandal through no fault of her own. Now she's been banished to the countryside to live as a schoolteacher under a false name. How can she go on, so alone, living in a rustic cottage, bereft of family and friends? 
The interest and kindness of her school's handsome patron gives her life its only bright spot and even that is threatened as a new scandal breaks.    When asked what she hopes the reader will learn from her book, Susan responded, “The message is that even though the world may think ill of you, God knows your heart. And that is what sustains Charlotte, the heroine of my book, Charlotte's Dilemma.” Sounds like another opportunity to see the words in Scripture come alive in a wonderful story.

March is an exciting month for seven other authors and myself as our publisher releases two books each week. The books are based on Philippians 4:8. See if you can pick up on the threads of each underlying scripture element in the stories and share your comments here or on my Facebook page. The first book I’m sharing today was written by Kimberly M. Miller. Here’s what she hopes readers will walk away with after they read her book:  The message I hope readers take away is to look for the positive in everything. Think on what is 'excellent' and recognize God's hand in everything in your life.
Lucy in Love by Kimberly M. MillerThings are finally looking up for Lucy Leti. Her bakery is doing well, her friends are amazing, and her family is supportive. She’s even so close to being past the heartbreak of her broken engagement that she can taste it.But what’s missing is trust and love. And until her old friend Henry Lee comes back into her life after a ten year absence, Lucy is convinced she’ll never find either one.Henry is handsome, successful, and has been secretly in love with Lucy for years. But the musician isn’t the same man Lucy knew in high school—he’s lost weight and gained confidence. And in no time at all, he’s in love with Lucy all over again.And she could be in love with him too.But when the couple’s first date goes terribly wrong, they’ll both need a little perspective to see things clearly.

It was a great day today because I signed and mailed the contract back to the publisher for my fourth book, "A Perfect Fit". What an absolute privilege it is to write. I can't believe my life and how lucky I am to do this as my job. The ideas keep coming for books and my desk and office are becoming, well, catastrophic if you can imagine. I have notes upon notes upon notes. Body mannerisms to remember, dialogue to insert, senses to help embellish a scene. It just keeps coming!!
For those of you who enjoyed my last release, "A Christmas Kind of Perfect", you'll recognize one of the characters in "A Perfect Fit". I never intended to write two spinoff stories from the Christmas story, but I fell in love with the characters and decided it would be quite fun to pursue it. 
So, you're most likely curious about "A Perfect Fit". In a nutshell, it explores the painful process of letting go of a toxic relationship in order to fall in love with the boy next door. And, it will be one book of several in a collection written by other Christian authors. What a treat for readers.
Meanwhile, I'm roughly half-way through working on my fifth book, "A Perfect Ending". Do you remember Lila's literary agent, Andrea Lockhart? You're not going to believe who she meets. This one may have you laughing! 
Hang with me everyone because here we go . . . .
Until next time, let us enjoy the life we are blessed to live.

It was a great day today because I signed and mailed the contract back to the publisher for my fourth book... "A Perfect Fit". What an absolute privilege it is to write. I can't believe my life and how lucky I am to do this as my job. The ideas keep coming for books and my desk and office are becoming, well, catastrophic if you can imagine. I have notes upon notes upon notes. Body mannerisms to remember, dialogue to insert, senses to help embellish a scene. It just keeps coming!!
For those of you who enjoyed my last release, "A Christmas Kind of Perfect", you'll recognize one of the characters in "A Perfect Fit". I never intended to write two spinoff stories from the Christmas story, but I fell in love with the characters and decided it would be quite fun to pursue it. 
So, you're most likely curious about "A Perfect Fit". In a nutshell, it explores the painful process of letting go of a toxic relationship in order to fall in love with the boy next door. And, it will be one book of several in a collection written by other Christian authors. What a treat for readers.
Meanwhile, I'm roughly half-way through working on my fifth book, "A Perfect Ending". Do you remember Lila's literary agent, Andrea Lockhart? You're not going to believe who she meets. This one may have you laughing! 
Hang with me everyone because here we go . . . .
Until next time, let us enjoy the life we are blessed to live.

December 1st will be a special day for me because my Christmas romance in eBook format will be released to retailers including Amazon, Apple iStore, Barnes & Noble, Christian Book Distributors and Koorong. The soft cover will follow. This has been a long and patience-building journey since I signed the contract last September. We've been buffing and polishing, selecting the cover art - I hope you love it as much as I do - and preparing for the book's entry into this big world. Each week, I'll share an excerpt from the book on my facebook page to wet your whistles and hopefully draw you into the story. I think you'll love it - it's a story about regrets and forgiveness and finding that perfect love all over again. So, here we are three weeks before release day. Let's begin this journey together. Until next time, let us enjoy this life we are blessed to live.

I had the pleasure of entering my very first pie baking contest this July 4th holiday weekend. What a thrill that was. The judges lifted the entries to inspect the filling, they broke the pie crust to examine the interior, and allowed themselves plenty of time to come to a final decision.
My pie is the very first one in the picture- Sour Cream Apple - and although I didn't win first prize, a free cooking class with the chef at Zesti's in Hartland, I enjoyed the competition and tension the other bakers and I experienced when the judging began. We huddled together doing our best to decipher what the judges were saying. Too funny!
The well-deserved winner was a lemon meringue cheesecake pie. The winner said it took her all day to make it! I've never even heard of that pie, but hope to get that recipe.
Along with writing romance stories, I love baking pies - it's another creative outlet that brings a lot of joy to others. Whatever you do this holiday, I hope it brings happiness into your lives. Until next time, let us enjoy this life we are blessed to live.

It certainly was busy this last month attending two Author Events. One at West Allis Library and the other at New Berlin Public Library. I really enjoy these opportunities because we, as authors, have a chance to talk with the reading audience, find out what they enjoy reading, and present our books. It’s a win-win.