Love Inspired Historicals discussion

We'll be starting the May Q&A on Monday May 6th.

This month all four LIH authors were able to participate - yay! On Monday, reader favorite Linda Ford will be here to tell us about the third book in her Cowboys of Eden Valley series The Cowboy's Convenient Proposal. On Tuesday, Laurie Kingery will introduce her Brides of Simpson Creek series with Hill Country Cattleman. Christine Johnson will drop by on Wednesday to chat about her book in the multiauthor Orphan Train series - The Marriage Barter. Last but not least, on Thursday we'll get to meet a debut author with LIH - Jan Drexler who will tell us about her exciting first sale of her Amish romance The Prodigal Son Returns.

So get your questions ready and we'll see you on Monday!

thanks for the reminder Deb, looks like some good books and authors...

Thanks, Deb! Can't believe it's another month already!

I know, Valri - they go by so quickly. When the weather starts to warm up, I find they fly even faster!

They do look great, don't they Paula?

See you tomorrow!

I am looking forward to hearing from all these authors.

Linda~ Can you tell us a little about your Cowboys of Eden Valley Series? It's rodeo week here and I find myself reaching for books with cowboys as the hero!!

To start off our Q&A week, Linda Ford will be here to chat about The Cowboy's Convenient Proposal.

Linda really knows how to grab her readers hard and fast. I dare you to read this excerpt http://amzn.com/B00B0A7002 and not be drawn into this story hard!

Linda, for readers who might not be familiar with your Cowboys of Eden Valley series, can you tell us how this one is connected to the others? Also will this finish out the series or are there other Eden Valley books planned?

Except for Linda Ford who was too busy (I believe her!) to guest on my blog, all of these lovely ladies will be or have been on my blog (Jan in April) and will be giving away books. I'll keep you posted on who's on first. :-)

Good morning Ladies, I like reading about cowboys Linda and this one sounds like he needs some TLC, a feisty redhead is just what he needs though they are both unsure...I like the way your book starts are beginnings something that is hard to do or easy for you? I like the way you add in here and early on how they both are leary to trust.

I had a little trouble signing in but here I am. :-)
The Eden Valley series started in my head a couple of years before it grew into actual existence. First, a little background as to why I love writing westerns. I grew up in a rural part of Alberta though I lived in town. The boys I went to school with rode horses and often participated in rodeos. The man I married loves western movies so I spent many, many, many hours watching westerns. (I tend to fall asleep when the horses start riding across the plains. lol) Add to that the beauty of SW Alberta and I was hooked on wanting to write a series set there. The research alone was wonderful. So I came up with the idea of a ranch that was a sanctuary for anyone needing it.

The Cowboy's Convenient Proposal is book #3. There will be 3 more coming out in Jan. Mar and May of 2014. All the stories take place on the ranch or nearby and involve characters from the ranch though I have 'imported' new ones as well.

In this book, the hero is one of the cowboys we meet in book one and see again in book two.

Paula, you ask about the opening. Sometimes I can think of the perfect opening. Book #5 in the series starts with one word. Stampede! It was my editor who suggested that and I think it works very well. Then there are times I rework the opening several times until both myself and the editor are happy with it. It's often difficul to know exactly when to start the story but thank you for saying you like the opening in this book.

Lyn mentioned how busy I was. Sorry I missed appearing on your blog, Lyn. The reason I've been busy is my household has been crazy (plus I'm trying to get 6 books written). My daughter and her 3 little ones moved in with us for a year. But praise the Lord she and her husband have gotten back together and bought a house in the town near us. The past few weeks have been hectic in helping them find a house and then the MOVE. I watched the little ones and they were so out of sorts because of all the change. (I discovered I'm too old for this.) Plus my live-in client who has no legs and is a paraplegic has developed pressure sores from sitting so is limited to bed. It's hard on us both. But hey. Spring has finally arrived and the sun is bright and it's a lovely day

Linda, I just love your books, as you know! I've read them all - well, that I know of at least! I'm sure there are books you've written that I'm not aware of! You write such great characters that are so real! This is a wonderful series - once again! We've chatted about my desperate search for book #2 in the series but I'm glad I found it! Now, here's book #3! Yay! I can't believe how much you do besides write!

Valri, I love your faithful support and find it so encouraging. Thank you for your generous compliments. I think the ultimate joy for an author is that readers are satisfied with the story. You know, the stories on the page are never quite as good as they were in my imagination!

You could have fooled me, girl! I think your stories are amazing! I've never been to Western Canada (just Montreal and Toronto!) but I feel like I have with your books! I am determined to visit now! You'd think with my living in Oregon that I would do that - it's not that far! Especially when I lived in Montana for 4 years but we just never got there! Well, it's still on my bucket list!

A buclet list! Love it. If you visit Alberta you will have to go to the Bar U ranch--an historical ranch. It's beautiful and they have people in period costume to explain things. Well the period costumes are really jeans, cowboy boot and cowboy hats so not all that different than today. Then there is Banff. One of my favorite spots in the whole world. Just talking about it makes me want to get in a vehicle and go. It is 2 hours away but the drive is beautiful too. There's nothing like driving parallel to the snow-draped mountains.

I've heard about Banff all my life! My best friend went there a couple times with her family - I grew up in Southern Calif. I used to ski a lot in my college days (so many years ago!) and Banff was my dream location! I couldn't ski now if my life depended on it! Knee replacement, bad back...etc.! but I would love the scenery! Like I said....bucket list..... if my kids would ever get out of college & grad school and they'd ever stop needing "emergency" money to move maybe I could start this bucket list!

The bank of Mom. Let's not go there. lol.

I can imagine you know all about that, Linda, with your large family! Thankfully, we say "no" a lot but there are those emergencies that seem to have popped up a lot in the last couple years that we can't ignore!

I love the start of your book! I will have to keep my eyes out for it.

Hi Laura,
I hope you pick it up and enjoy it.

I haven't read very many westerns, but yours sounds really good, Linda. I am happy that things are working out for your daughter.

Thanks,Barbara.

Great to hear that there will be more Eden Valley books coming, Linda! Sounds like you've really had your hands full lately. I hope things work out for your daughter and her family and that your client is able to be sitting up again soon.

Linda, I certainly hope that things slow down a little for you.... You deserve it!

Thanks, Valri. They have started to slow down.
Yes, Deborah, it would be so nice if he could sit up especially now that the weather is nice.

Good morning, everyone! Our featured author today is Laurie Kingery , who has been writing for Harlequin for many years, first with Harlequin Historical as Laurie Grant and in the past several years for LIH. Laurie's May book Hill Country Cattleman is part of her Brides of Simpson Creek series and is a real fish-out-of-water story! A scandal-plagued aristocrat is sent from England to a ranch in Texas. There she meets rugged trail boss Raleigh Masterson.

Laurie, I LOVE your hero's name! The minute I read it, I thought, "Oh, yes!" Did the name come to you immediately when you thought of the character, or did you have to do a little work to come up with just the right name for him? In general how important is it for you to get the 'right' name for your characters? Can you tell us a bit about Raleigh?

im late chiming in. I am in chattanooga and will be looking out for these books while I am in the states. (to tired to think straight right now blame it on jetlag!)

Laurie, I love the Brides of Simpson Creek books! I'm actually currently reading Hill Country Cattleman. And Violet is so funny.

Hello Laurie, I have not read this series but like the idea of a aritocat and a cowboy meeting and most likely sparks flying...what made you put two unlikely characters together?

Hello Laurie! Hello Jenny! I was just thinking of you and wondering if you got to the States ok! Welcome to America!

Hope the jet lag eases soon AusJenny. Have a wonderful trip!

Laurie, I love your Brides of Simpson Creek series. I ordered the second and third books from Amazon just so I'd have to complete set in paper!
Can't wait to get your next installment, although it wasn't at Walmart last Saturday but I've noticed they wait until the second week of the month to put then newest ones on the stands.

Deborah, everyone, thanks for the welcome! Sorry I am so late in the day responding, but I worked last night at the ER, then had to go to a routine checkup...:/ But yes, the names of my characters has to be absolutely right. I'm glad you like "Raleigh"--I wanted something like "Rowdy (Yates)" who was one of the main characters on the old TV western "Rawhide." (A very young Clint Eastwood!) My Raleigh wasn't supposed to look like Rowdy/Clint, though. :)

Ausjenny wrote: "im late chiming in. I am in chattanooga and will be looking out for these books while I am in the states. (to tired to think straight right now blame it on jetlag!)"

Ausjenny, you've had quite a trip, haven't you? I'd love to be seeing it with you to see your impressions.
Blessings, Laurie

Dawn wrote: "Laurie, I love the Brides of Simpson Creek books! I'm actually currently reading Hill Country Cattleman. And Violet is so funny."

Dawn, thank you so much! I'm thrilled you're enjoying the series. I must confess I liked the way Violet came out on the page. :)

Valri wrote: "Hello Laurie! Hello Jenny! I was just thinking of you and wondering if you got to the States ok! Welcome to America!"

Hi Valri! Thanks for coming today. :)

Paula-O wrote: "Hello Laurie, I have not read this series but like the idea of a aritocat and a cowboy meeting and most likely sparks flying...what made you put two unlikely characters together?"

Hi Paula-O--Good question. I think opposites attract. What could be more opposite than a noblewoman and a cowboy? And I like "fish out of water" stories--Violet was definitely "out of her element" in Texas, and so was Raleigh, in dealing with an aristocrat.

I have to admit that I have every book in the Bride of Simpson's Creek series however they are on my TBR shelf so I haven't read them yet. I really need to move them to the top so I can catch up on all the fun. It's always fun to have a hero and heroine that are complete opposites!! I look forward to meeting all the characters of Simpson Creek!

Laura, I do that too--buy up a series though I may not get to read it for awhile. Who has time to read all the great books out there when they're new. I hope you'll enjoy mine whenever you get to them! :)

Welcome to Wednesday! Today's author is Christine Johnson and her May book The Marriage Barter is part of the multi-author Orphan Train series!

If you thought Laurie's British aristocrat in Texas was a fish out of water, what about a bounty hunter wrangling a group of stranded orphans? This is such a great premise for a marriage of convenience story - the heroine is a widow who desperately wants to adopt a child from the orphan train, but without a husband, she can't. Enter our bounty hunter, Wyatt Reed, who is persuaded to become Charlotte's groom-for-hire just long enough for her to adopt little Sasha.

Christine, was this your first time taking part in a continuity series with other authors? Did you, Allie and Linda have much contact about the series or did you mostly each do your own thing? Do you know if there are any more books planned in the Orphan Train series?

Hi Christine I love this type of series. I will look out for it at wallmart. What gave you the idea for the book?

Hi Deborah, I'm excited to be here. Thank you for organizing these chats! Let me take your questions in order.

Yes, this is my first time taking part in a continuity series. Participation is by editor invitation. Since I'd featured an orphan train in a previous book (The Matrimony Plan), I had that research background already.

Allie, Linda and I talked to each other a lot throughout the writing process. We had to make sure our stories worked together. Every detail of the characters and location had to match. That meant sharing everything and doing a lot of brainstorming together.

As far as I know, the Orphan Train series will only have the three books. Allie Pleiter's Family Lessons, The Marriage Barter, and Linda Ford's The Baby Compromise in June.

Hi Ausjenny! I'm glad you were able to stop by during your busy schedule.

In a continuity series, the editors present the core storylines of the three books. Thus I knew I had a marriage of convenience story with a bounty hunter/tracker and a widow. The authors then flesh out the characters, the setting, and all the details of the plot that will bring the storylines to life.

I think series books are fantastic! I enjoy them a lot! Your book sounds so interesting, Christine!

Hello Christine, this really sounds like a great story, like to read about the orphan train kids, How does a bounty hunter come to be around a train with kids, you really do have an unlikely pair in this story, I am hoping that love finally comes to the pair also when there is a cute kid in the middle...

Hi Valri! I agree. Series books are lots of fun. I don't like the wait, if there's a long time in between, but these are just a month apart. Does anyone else like series books to come out close together? What's the longest period of time you had to wait for the next book?

Paula-O, in the actual book, the hero, Wyatt Reed, considers himself a tracker. He looks for lost and missing people. Granted that's usually fugitives..., but tracker does have a nicer ring to it than bounty hunter.

In the first book, Family Lessons, the orphans get delayed in Evans Grove. Communication not being what it is today, the folks expecting them at the next stop get anxious and hire a tracker to find the children and bring them to their town. Wyatt takes the job, figuring it'll be easy money. Ha! You know how those easy jobs turn out. Kind of like when I bought two new pictures for my bedroom and ended up redoing the entire room. Anyway, Wyatt soon gets in deeper than he expected. As for the people who hired him? They're not quite as above-board and squeaky clean as they let on.

sounds interesting Christine, I am ready to read more about Wyatt , you are right tracker does sound better then bounty hunter...

It's so much fun to see you here, Christine!

And I've been waiting for this book to come out...and waiting for our Walmart to put the LIH books on the shelf!

This book has a very different setting from your others - did you have fun doing the research? What was your favorite part?