Happy Summer!

News from down on the Farm

It's official. Summer's here. The calendar says so. But last week here in Kentucky the thermometer said so before the calendar did as we had a heat wave. Dry sunny days did let the farmers get their hay baled. So the cows will be happy next winter when the snow is flying. Back when the grandkids were younger they loved going out in the truck to feed the cows some windfall apples and they loved the challenge of running down the rows of rolled bales of hay. They are getting to the age now where they are thinking cars and driving. But we have some good cow feeding and hay running memories.

I've enjoyed hearing from readers who let me know they enjoyed going to Meadowland with my characters in When the Meadow Blooms. Some said that great line an author loves to hear. "I couldn't put it down." I love reading books like that and it makes me smile to know some of you think I wrote the same kind of story that kept you wanting to know what happened next. Readers have taken my two young characters, Calla and Sienna, to their hearts. I love that too. Sienna was a fun character to get to know and I was glad those crows decided to be her friends and help things work out in the story. Do you think Stanley and Josephine are good names for crows? Since the book came out for readers, several have shared stories of their experiences with crows. You can read a couple of them on my blog here.

I love hearing from readers and what they think about my books.

Giveaway Chance #1

I had fun taking part in a panel of historical fiction writers hosted by Cara Putman. We talked about why we write historical fiction, which books we might recommend to a reader who hadn't read any of our books (I said Angel Sister, but what would you say?), how we come up with ideas, and more. If you missed it live, that's no problem. It's out there on the net. Here's the YouTube link. You can also find it on this link on Cara's Facebook Book Talk page.

But wait! Don't forget about the book giveaway chance #1. Our publisher, Revell Books teamed up with Cara for a giveaway of the new releases of the authors pictured in the Book Talk ad. You can read about the books on Cara's website here, find out more about the giveaway and enter on the Rafflecopter form on Cara's site. But check it out soon. There's a deadline for entries.

Giveaway Chance #2 - A Free Audio Book

Some of you asked for my free download codes for the previous books I narrated for the audio. I appreciate the reviews you left about the books. Almost every review mentions my country Southern accent, and I'm going "Accent? What accent?" LOL

Here's what Sonja said after she listened to Murder at the Courthouse. " I found this book entertaining and enjoyed the fact that the author, herself, was the voice of the narrator. Loved the Kentucky accent! And she did a great job in the narration."

Martha listened to Love Comes Home. Here's what she said. "I loved hearing Ann Gabhart's voice in this audio book. I had not previously read the other novels in this series, but soon grew to love the Merritt family and the sisters whose husbands were returning from WWII."

I still have some free download codes for Murder at the Courthouse and for Love Comes Home. First come, first serve. So if you would like to listen to me read one of my stories with yes, that accent, just shoot me an email in answer to this newsletter saying which you might like or both. I can send the links in an email to you. I'm giving them away until they're gone.

You can find almost all my books on audio (most with professional narrators and those few with me narrating) on Audible, AudioBooks.com, Chirp, and other audio book sites.