Author: Betty Owens

Christian writer of historical fiction and general fiction.

March Madness in the Bluegrass

On By Betty OwensIn basketball, Kentucky, March Madness in the Bluegrass, rivalry, U of L

As soon as the sun warms the earth in the spring, I open my windows and it’s time to clean house. This year, I’m clearing out stuff. You know that stuff you keep hoarding because someone might need it? Well, it’s four years later, and no one needed it, so it’s headed for another life somewhere else.

What does that have to do with March Madness? Think about it. Madness. Spring cleaning. Definitely related. And while I’m marathon cleaning, hubby is marathon potato-ing. You see, basketball is practically a religion in Kentucky.

But don’t dare mention Kentucky and basketball in the same sentence if you’re in the vicinity of a red-clad Louisville native. Rivalry is alive and well in the state of Kentucky. It’s between the Red and the Blue. And this year, you have to admit the Blue is awesome. But families have been literally torn apart by this rivalry.
Me? I don’t have a choice. I live with a rabid Kentucky fan. But here’s a secret–I’m proud whether the winner is wearing red or blue–I’ve got friends and family on both sides. Shhh! Don’t tell on me.
Do I watch the game? When I have to. Truth is, I get so nervous, I have to leave the room and guess what I’m doing? Cleaning. But I’m peeking at the TV every few minutes, just to check the score.
So now you know the connection between March Madness and spring cleaning–for me, anyway.
Thanks for stopping by. I hope you’ll come back next week, when I welcome a very special guest. Many of you may already know Lynn Mosher. Who better to write an Easter/Resurrection post? If you’ve never read her awesome devotionals, you can check out her website here. It is most excellent.
First March winner of my book, Amelia’s Legacy is Jessica Weibel.
If you would like a chance to win a print copy of Amelia’s Legacy, let me know either by commenting on this post, or send me a message on Facebook. You can also use the “Email me” tab at the top of this page. Just mention the name of the book and you’ll be entered to win.
Coming in April: My next Authorview guest (3rd Tuesday of the month) is Cara Putnam. If you have ever attended an ACFW conference, you are familiar with that name. I hope you’ll pop back in around that time. Watch my Facebookauthor page for more information.

Siri Mitchell – Authorview

On By Betty OwensIn ACFW, Authorview, European, Interview, Iris Anthony, Like a Flower in Bloom, Siri Mitchell - Authorview
Siri Mitchell
Siri Mitchell, novelist, Christy Award finalist, and today, it is my pleasure to welcome her to Authorview. I suppose I am also hosting Iris Anthony, so that makes this a two-for-one! I hope you enjoy her (their) interview. Please feel free to leave comments and ask additional questions!
Author/Artist Name: Siri Mitchell
Pen name (if different from above): Iris Anthony
I am a…thinker
You would like me when I’m…writing the first drafts of my novels
You wouldn’t like me when I’m…writing the second drafts of my novels. Or the third or fourth or fifth.
What qualities I like to see in others: Kindness
Favorite way to spend an evening:  Watching a movie
Who I love to spend an evening with: My husband
Am reading (or want to read): The Natural History of the Flirt
If I had a hammer… I would tap in the loose nails on my deck. Wait. I have a hammer!
My favorite genre is: Historical
My work-in-progress: Is a historical set at West Point Military Academy in the 1850s.
My favorite food is: Anything with caramel
I’m a collector of: Very odd characters begging to be put into a story
My favorite happily-ever-after: The movie While You Were Sleeping
Betty – Great answers, Siri! I’m especially interested in the book you’re reading (or want to read)–The Natural History of the Flirt–what fun! And that would be considered research, right?

About Siri Mitchell:

Siri Mitchell has written over a dozen novels, three of which were named Christy Award finalists. A graduate of the University of Washington, she has worked in many levels of government and lived on three continents. She also writes European historicals under the pseudonym Iris Anthony. Learn more at www.sirimitchell.com and www.irisanthony.com
 

Like a Flower in Bloom

It’s all her uncle’s fault. For years Charlotte Withersby has been free to pursue her love of plants and flowers by assisting her botanist father. But now that she’s reached the old age of twenty-two, an intrusive uncle has convinced her father that Charlotte’s future–the only proper future for a woman–is to be a wife and mother, not a scholar.
Her father is so dependent on her assistance that Charlotte believes he’ll soon change his mind…and then Edward Trimble shows up. A long-time botany correspondent in the South Pacific, Trimble arrives ready to step in as assistant so that Charlotte can step out into proper society–a world that baffles her with its unwritten rules, inexplicable expectations, and confounding fashion.
Things aren’t perfectly smooth between Trimble and her father, so Charlotte hatches a last gasp plan. She’ll pretend such an interest in marriage that the thought of losing her will make her father welcome her back. Only things go quickly awry, and she realizes that the one man who recognizes her intelligence is also the person she’s most angry with: Edward Trimble, her supposed rival. Suddenly juggling more suitors than she knows what to do with, Charlotte is caught in a trap of her own making. Will she have no choice but to leave her beloved flowers behind?

Connect with Siri Mitchell:
Siri Mitchell on Facebook        Iris Anthony on Facebook
Siri Mitchell on Twitter            Iris Anthony on Twitter
          
Siri Mitchell on Pinterest         Iris Anthony on Pinterest

March Winds and the Mad Hatter

On By Betty OwensIn Amelia's Legacy - 1920s Era Historical Romance, birthday, birthday cake, March Winds and the Mad Hatter2 Comments

March is and always has been, my favorite month. It’s transitional. The weather (in the middle of the country where I am) tends toward unruly weirdness. One day it’s frozen solid–the next–it’s summertime! And the winds tend to be wild, but on schedule–every other day–Mad Hatter weather.

Bulbs send up shoots only to be stalled by frost, ice, and snow. Right now, we’re still reeling from a double-punch snowstorm that totally shut down two major interstates that transect our state.

Oh, and before you get too judgmental about those shutdowns, oh honored Northerners, be aware that this was a major storm with high winds and heavy precipitation concentrated in a short few hours, beginning with rain then ice and ending with a major dump of around 18″ of wet stuff. Jack-knifed semis caused most of the problems, by blocking the lanes so salt trucks and plows could not get through.

So back to March, my favorite month. Another reason it’s on my fav list–it’s my birthday month. This year, I received some really nice and very thoughtful gifts.

In my research on my work-in-progress, I learned that in some foreign countries, the birthday girl gives the gifts. Isn’t that a funny tradition? But a nice one, at times, especially if you have something to give. I do.

If you would like a copy of  Amelia’s Legacy, a 1920s era novel, please leave a comment on this post. Please follow the directions (or your comment may be disqualified).

Answer ONE of these three questions in the comments section below:

  1. What is the best birthday present you ever received?
  2. What is your favorite birthday cake (flavor)?
  3. What famous actress sang happy birthday to a president (JFK)?

You don’t have to repeat the question below, just type your answer to the question.
Yes, I threw in #3 for fun.

Click here for info about the book. 

Now, just in case you have trouble leaving a comment, you can also use the tab at the top of the blog and send me an email–it says “Email Me.”

Don’t forget Authorview–one week from today, Siri Mitchell will be here to answer my questions and tell us about her latest book.

Thanks for stopping by! I love having company.

You can also find me at my author page on Facebook and on Twitter, Google+ and Pinterest. Recently, I had a guest post on Southern Writers Magazine’s Suite T: Visually Crafting a Story.

Whitewashed . . . by Amy C. Blake

On By Betty OwensIn Amy C. Blake, Christian Fiction, devotional, fiction, Mantle Rock Publishing, suspense, Whitewashed2 Comments


Today it is my great privilege to welcome a guest to my blog. Amy C. Blake has the honor of being my very first critique partner in the writing craft–or rather–I am the one who is honored by that! We commiserated over Genesis entries and submissions to agents and publishers. We cried and ranted and sometimes came “that close” to giving up on this writing thing. But we hung in there and today, several years and many rejections later, we’re not only still here, but we’re both published writers.
Amy and I are no longer “official” critique partners, but we still help each other out occasionally, with a read-thru or a word of advice when needed. And, we help each other with marketing, because a writer can never have too much help with that.–Betty O.

Amy C. Blake–
To me, Easter is all about the intersection of truth and mercy. The truth is, as sinners, we deserve punishment for our sin, including eternity in Hell. The mercy is, as the only sinless Son of God, Jesus took the punishment for Christians and gave us His righteousness instead.
Truth: God is holy and punishes sin. Mercy: Jesus made a way for us to spend eternity with that holy God instead of getting the eternity we deserve.
In my new adult suspense novel, Whitewashed, Patience is a stickler for truth, so much so that when her childhood friend Devon started down the path of drug abuse, she screamed truth in his face and pushed him away. As a student at Verity College, Patience encounters Lily Rose–a young woman with a bad attitude and an abusive boyfriend–and Patience again spews cold, hard truth without considering how her words might do more harm than good.
Yet when Patience endures her darkest moments, trapped by a psychotic killer and on the verge of death, she begins to comprehend the verse her old friend Mabel, a woman caught in the throes of Alzheimer’s, repeated to her the night before: “In mercy and truth atonement is provided for iniquity; and by the fear of the LORD one departs from evil” (Proverbs 16:6, NKJV).
Patience begins to understand that truth and mercy go together to make the way for repentance. As Mabel’s elderly husband Moses says, “The truth shows you the sin you need to root out, while mercy helps you do the rooting.” Patience realizes speaking the truth to Devon and Lily Rose could never be enough without mercy to help them comprehend the truth.
Just as God is a God of truth who showed great mercy to His children through the death and resurrection of Jesus, so we ought to be people of truth who show mercy to those around us.  

Amy C. Blake is a pastor’s wife and homeschooling mother of four. She has a B.A. and an M.A. in English from Mississippi College. She contributed to Barbour’s Heavenly XOXO’s for Women, Book Lover’s Devotional, and Every Good and Perfect Gift. Amy wrote short stories and articles for Focus on the Family,Mature Years, Significant Living, Vista, Encounter, and other publications. She won awards at St. Davids Christian Writers Conference and West Branch Christian Writers Conference. The Trojan Horse Traitor quarterfinaled in the 2011 ABNA contest. Her juvenile fantasy novel The Trojan Horse Traitor, releases in November, 2015, and her new adult suspense novel, Whitewashed, released February 15.

Amy’s Website
Amy C. Blake Facebook author page 
Amy C. Blake Twitter page

Whitewashed

  by Amy Blake

Eighteen-year-old Patience McDonough has a plan. Despite her parents’ objections, she will attend Verity College in Hades, Mississippi, and live with her grandparents. She’ll complete her degree in record time and go on to become a doctor. But things at the college are strangely neglected, her class work is unexpectedly hard, Grand gets called out-of-town, and Poppa starts acting weird—so weird she suspects he has Alzheimer’s. On top of that, she has to work extra hours at her student job inputting financial data for the college—boring! But soon her job gets more interesting than she’d like: she finds that millions of dollars are unaccounted for and that something creepy is going on in the Big House basement. She discovers secrets tying her family into the dark beginnings of Verity, founded on a slave plantation, and she is forced to question the characters of people she has always trusted. Finally, confronted with a psychotic killer, Patience has to face facts—her plans are not necessarily God’s plans. Will the truth set her free?
Buy Links: 

Paperback copy on Amazon
Kindle edition on Amazon
Paperbackcopy on Mantle Rock Publishing


Winter’s Passing … I Hope

On By Betty OwensIn Amy C. Blake, Authorview, Black History Month, Katie Weiland, Presidents Day, Rachel Hauck - Authorview, Siri Mitchell - Authorview, snowmageddon, Valentine's Day, Winter's Passing I Hope2 Comments

In so many ways, February is a great month. Two of our most famous presidents were born in February. My grandmother was born in February. It’s Black History month. We celebrate Valentine’s Day.

For me, February is a month to endure on the way to Spring. This year, in my little section of the world, Winter hit us with a king-sized wallop in February. #Snowmageddon2015. We got somewhere near twelve inches, which may not seem much to some of you, but in the mid-south, it’s a lot.

Even the squirrels disappeared for several days. When they did come out, they either skittered over the surface of the snow or disappeared beneath.

Having nowhere to go, I stayed inside. About now, I really need to get out, but we have freezing rain. And more bad weather in the forecast. Ack!

I don’t want you to think I’m complaining–I love the snow. My favorite time is at night, when the world should be dark, but it’s not, because the light from the stars and moon reflect off the brilliant white snow. It’s gorgeous. Even though it’s twenty below out there.

Authorview is a great success this year. My first guest was Katie Weiland, author of Outlining Your Novel Workbook and Structuring Your Novel Workbook. You can read her interview here. February’s guest was Rachel Hauck, author of How to Catch a Prince (which releases today). You can read her interview here. How to Catch a Prince is available here.

Coming up in March: Amy C. Blake, author of newly released Whitewashed, will be my guest March 3rd. And my Authorview guest on March 17th is Siri Mitchell, author of Like a Flower in Bloom. 

Guests and guest posts aside, March is big month for me. It’s my birthday month, and I’m going to celebrate by giving away books. So you will want to stop back by in March! There will be several chances for you to win free books.

As always, thanks for stopping by. I appreciate all of you. Hope you’re staying warm and safe!

The Love Boat Bachelor

Romance is a joke.

After the love of Brent Teague’s life came back into his world only to marry someone else, Brent is through with women. He might be through with being a pastor, too.

Brent was so sure that God brought Mara Adkins home to him so they could marry and live happily ever after. Six months after her wedding to another man, that theory is obviously a dud. If Brent could be so wrong about that, who’s to say he’s not mistaken about God calling him to pastoral ministry?

Tired of watching Brent flounder for direction, Brent’s feisty older sister boots him out of Spartanburg and onto a cruise ship. Brent’s old college buddy manages the ship’s staff, and he’s thrilled to finagle Brent into the role of chaplain for the two-week cruise.

As the ship sets sail, Brent starts to relax. Maybe a cruise wasn’t such a bad idea after all. But there’s just one little thing no one told him. He’s not on any ordinary cruise. He’s on The Love Boat.

What’s a sworn bachelor to do on a Caribbean cruise full of romance and love? He’ll either have to jump ship or embrace the unforgettable romantic comedy headed his way.

Now Available – 99¢ on Kindle