MY HEART WEEPS

Welcome Pamela S. Thibodeaux to

Book Treasure Tuesday!

 Introduction 

I am a mother, grandmother, and author of “Inspirational with an Edge!”™ women’s/romantic fiction and creative nonfiction. 

Sneak Peek

 MY HEART WEEPS is two years old! Birthed (published) on August 18th, 2020, and eight years in the making, this book was released on the 11th anniversary of my husband’s death. 

Genre: Inspirational Women’s Fiction // Heat Level: Subtle 

When life takes everything, your world stops. Can a retreat heal the broken lives of two wounded souls?  Melena Rhyker’s world shattered the day her husband died. Lost without the man of her dreams, she digs deep to find a path out of her sorrow. Discovering an artistic retreat, she vows to find a reason to carry on and focus her life in a new direction. Can she heal her own heart, and find her new beginning?

Garrett Saunders knows pain. He’s spent most of his life hiding from his past. Regrets and lies haunt him, but he longs to leave them behind and embrace his true self. Will Melena’s efforts to rebuild her life in the face of such grief encourage him to exorcise his own demons of guilt and shame?  Will two hurting people find peace, wholeness and perhaps love in the heart of Texas?

 Excerpt

  She took Jon’s picture off the table, caressed the beloved image. She’d talked to him every day the last thirty years of her life and had no qualms about talking to him now. Far sight better than talking to herself.

Maybe.

She swallowed convulsively and stroked his face, his smile, his eyes. “I dreamed of you again. You were so alive and healthy. Radiant. Oh, God…” The words trembled on a sob. “How I wish it were so.”

She longed to touch him; to trace his moustache, run her fingers through his hair...press her lips to his. Her arms ached to hold him close. Why is it he appeared so full of life when she’d watched him die? Day after day, she’d watched the strong, beautiful man wither away into a mere shell, and in one moment, with one final gasp of breath, his life was over.

“I visit you daily, yet everything seems so surreal. Like I’m walking through a dream.” She shoved the picture back onto the table, bit her lip and nearly choked on the hard knot of anger in her throat. “No, not a dream. Dreams are wonderful, full of hope and magic. This is a nightmare.”

 Get Pamela Thibodeaux’s second chance women’s fiction novel today and see how love and faith conquers all.

My Heart Weeps is available in eBook, Print and Audio

♥ Amazon     ♥ Other Online Retailers

 Research Tidbits

 Not a whole lot. I did research the setting (Utopia, TX) but being familiar with the Texas Hill Country, writing descriptions was easy. The story is of one woman’s journey through grief into new life and parallels my own. 

Interview Questions 

What was your first published work and when was it published?

   Tempered Hearts, book 1 in my series, was published in 2000. 

If you had to choose one person to have dinner with, who would it be? And why? 

Nora Roberts! She is my all-time-favorite author and I’d just love to sit and have a conversation about her life outside of writing. 

Do you recall how your interest in writing originated? 

Unfortunately, yes, LOL! While pregnant with my daughter who is now 39 I got tired of reading too many disappointing romances and thought I could do better. A bit arrogant because writing and writing well are two different things. However, that’s what got me started penning stories in 5-subject notebooks which I did for YEARS. After which came a word processor, then computer and as they say, the rest is History.

 Social Media /Contact

 Readers can find out more about Pamela and her books by visiting her website and connecting with Pamela on any/all of the social media sites listed below. ALSO if readers sign up to receive Pamela’s newsletter, they’ll have access to a FREE short story.

 ♥ Email     ♥ Website     ♥ Blog     ♥ Facebook     ♥ Twitter

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♥ Amazon AuthorPage     ♥ BookBub     ♥ Newsletter

Thank you for spending time with Pamela and me today! Check your email next time on Book Treasure Tuesday! 

Hugs~

Maxine

 

Welcome Heidi Gray McGill

DIAL P FOR PERFECT

Welcome Heidi Gray McGill to

Book Treasure Tuesday!

Introduction

My husband of 30+ years and I live in South Carolina just below Charlotte. Besides writing Christian fiction with relatable characters in life-changing stories, I relish time with family and friends. I fill my non-writing time with scrapbooking, playing games, traveling, and building bridges with my two grandsons. Somehow, those masterpieces must fall with a loud crash, usually involving a monster truck.
     That’s what is in my bio…but there is more.
     Most readers do not know that I am legally blind and have only 5% of my vision remaining. My diagnosis of Retinitis Pigmentosa in 2001 was devastating. There is no cure, and there is no surgery. But that does not mean there is no hope. I still have value.
     Those who do not know me well often don’t realize I have low vision or zero vision in a dark room. We humans are amazingly adaptable, and I do a pretty good job covering up my disability. My friends have learned to watch out for me and alert me to potential pitfalls, some better than others, which is always good for a laugh. I use a cane when I’m navigating alone.
     I use Word for my writing, but I have a ¼” mouse with a ½” tail, making it easier for me to find the pointer on my screen. I work in brief spurts so my eyes don’t get overly tired. I read best on my phone since it requires little left-to-right eye movement. I prefer a black screen and white text when reading but love the option of audiobooks. I rarely read a paperback, even large print.

 Sneak Peek

Dial P for Perfect was released on September 7, 2022. This fun, curvy-girl novella will keep you in stitches and tug at your heartstrings. It is a sweet Christian contemporary romance and part of the “You Are on the Air” series as book 11. 

Genre: Christian Contemporary Romance with a good dose of humor
Heat Level: Sweet/Clean/Wholesome 

Being a curvy girl can be a curse…  Unless you find someone who values the person you are underneath.  Snarky is one way to describe Ginger’s response to life, love, and loss—as in weight loss. She needs to whip up a little creativity, self-forgiveness, and reality.       Reggie is one cup nerd, two cups out-of-style, and a dollop of comfortable. Add in a dash of corny, and you’ve got a heap of fun even though Ginger can’t count their time

together as dates. Stir in her best friend Scott, whom Ginger's liked since University, and you have all the makings of a recipe for confusion and potential heartbreak.           Enjoy some belly laughs with Ginger as she navigates dating life. Walk beside her, figuratively—since that’s too much like exercise—as she determines her path in life. Will she accept herself as she is, or will changing to achieve perceived perfection challenge Ginger to dig deep into how God sees her?  We see our flaws, but our heavenly Father sees His intricate,  thoughtfully designed creation.

 Excerpt

     His eyes scan my body like an airport security wand, just skimming the surface. Wide eyes finally meet mine.
     “You, you’re…”
     “Fat?”
     Silence creeps like the red moving up his neck.
     “No. I mean…” he stutters.
     “Chunky?” I watch color spread over ears with their own zip code.      “Oh, so you think I’m beautiful? Thank you.” I paste on a smile as I watch his eyes follow my fingers which trace a circle around my full face.

     “No. I mean, yes.”
     His Adam’s apple bobs like a swollen cherry. You know, those dark, crisp ones where the pit stains your fingers when you touch it? I love those.
     “You, well, you just aren’t what I expected from your voice.”
     And…there it is. You’d think after countless blind dates, I’d be used to this reaction. Actually, most dates start in much the same way as they end. If I’m honest, men, primarily immature boys, hear my voice on a local radio station and conjure up all sorts of images, none of which are remotely close to my curvy figure. While some appreciate a little padding, I’ve got enough real estate up top and behind to name my own town. 

Dial P for Perfect is available in eBook

♥ Books2Read

 Research Tidbits

My research for Dial P for Perfect came from deep within. I’ve always considered myself on the heavier side of the scale. Being measured for a costume for Brigadoon as a High School Junior was traumatic. The moms that volunteered that day smiled at me with their pearly whites and a “Bless your heart” on their lips. They may not have said the words, but I heard them in my mind. I felt “less than,” or bigger than, as the case may be.
     Identifying with Ginger in Dial P for Perfect was easy for me, and I felt her pains and triumphs, her fears, and her confusion. No matter what size you are, I think we can all relate since there is a bit of Ginger in each of us. It is natural for us to struggle to see our beauty.
     Writing this story reminded me that God does not look at our outward appearance. 

Interview Questions 

What was your first published work and when was it published? 

I published my debut novel in November 2020. It was an act of faith and obedience. God blessed those efforts, and my “Discerning God’s Best” series now has a prequel and three novels. You can read about the series by *clicking here*.
     For years, I happily served as a Beta reader. I realized I enjoyed the process of thinking through the details of whatever book I was engrossed in. I’d read to see if the characters were compelling, sympathetic, or someone for whom I rooted. I envisioned the characters to see if they felt real and were three-dimensional, with distinct voices, flaws, and virtues.
     I wondered—can I do this? Can I write the way I like to read?
     When Covid-19 hit, my schedule became free to focus on writing because the English as a Second Language program I was directing closed. I dusted off the cover and reintroduced myself to my old friends, and Desire of My Heart was born. 

Is there anyone who really mentored or inspired you to keep writing until you were finally published? 

That is a tough question. No single author has influenced or inspired my writing more than another. But I crave connection with others and soak up all I can when I have the opportunity. Sitting in a room with women just like me—those struggling with balance, naysayers, and life in general—these are the authors I want to learn from. It isn’t a specific question I would ask these writers, but a connection I would seek. Relationships are crucial to surviving in this industry. 

How does your family feel about having a writer in the family? Do they read your books? 

I am blessed to have a supportive family. My husband helps guard my writing time, and my mother-in-law and my siblings are my biggest promoters.
     It is fun doing full-time ministry with my family. Ministry and purpose are important to me, and every author should know their purpose for writing before they begin. For me, it sounds like this: Writing is my ministry, and it’s how I share Christ with those who may never pick up a Bible or step foot inside a church. I also write to encourage those in the Faith to live abundant lives—full of all God desires for us. Writing is also how I work through my heart’s questions and embrace God’s best for me.
     Charles H. Spurgeon, in All of Grace, says it best. “Begin as you mean to go on, and go on as you began, and let the Lord be all in all to you.” 

Social Media / Contact

Heidi loves connection! She is active on social media but gets real in her newsletter. Individuals who *sign up* to receive Heidi's monthly email are gifted the prequel to her Christian historical series as a thank you. 

♥ Website     ♥ Facebook     ♥ Instagram
♥ Goodreads    ♥ All Author    
♥ Amazon Author Page     ♥ BookBub 

 

Thank you for spending time with Heidi and me today! Check your email next time on Book Treasure Tuesday! 

Hugs~ 

Maxine

 

CORA LEE’S WAGER

Welcome Kara O’Neal to Book Treasure Tuesday!

 Introduction

 My name is Kara O’Neal, and I live in Texas with my sweet family. I am the Special Education Campus Specialist for a middle school, and I’ve worked there for 25 years. I enjoy singing, reading, and scrapbooking, and I love to travel. I have two children in college – yikes – and my youngest is a sophomore in high school. (I guess I’m showing my age. Ha!) I love to listen to Texas Country music, which is not played on the radio, and my favorite artists are Roger Creager, Turnpike Troubadors, Charley Crockett, Flatland Calvary, Kaitlin Butts, Curtis Grimes, Drew Kennedy, and a whole host of others. My favorite foods are – in this order – brisket, cheeseburgers, tacos, Bluebell ice cream, and chips and salsa. If we ever meet, I will ask you a ton of questions about your likes and dislikes, because I love to learn as much as can about the simple things. 

I just released CORA LEE’S WAGER, which is book 3 in my GAMBLERS & GUNSLINGERS series. I was quite excited for this one because in this story, the heroine is the gambler. Cora Lee makes her home in Hell’s Half Acre in Fort Worth, Texas. She’s a professional gambler and is known as the “Angel of the Acre”. It was a lot of fun to write her.

Sneak Peek

OLIVIA’S TREASURE will be book 4 in my GAMBLERS & GUNSLINGERS series, and it should release in October of 2022

 GENRE: Western Historical Romance // HEAT LEVEL: Warm 

The Angel of Hell’s Half Acre makes the biggest wager of her life with the man who abandoned her. She can’t lose.  Cora Lee Walsh. The Angel of the Acre—Hell’s Half Acre—never intended to be a professional gambler. But her wealthy grandmother hadn’t wanted her, and, at fifteen, she was abandoned by the Tucker family who’d taken her in as their ward. She had no other choice than to make vice her life. Now, the eldest son of the Tucker family is on her doorstep, asking for an audience.

When Cora and Graham meet again, they both fight old feelings. And Graham finds himself across the betting table from her, making a wager he can’t afford to lose.      But more threatens the pair, and Cora finds herself needing Graham. Can she trust him? The young man who’d abandoned her? Or will she find herself a victim…again?

 Excerpt

Cora let out a sigh, sank deeper into the rocker, opened her book and just enjoyed the morning. A half-hour had passed when she felt a presence to her right. She turned her head, and her breath flew up into her throat.

Graham!

He stood on the dirt lane that went by the side of her home, his hands in his pockets, a guarded expression on his face. Their past stretched between them.

In a second, every morning she’d ever spent with him flashed before her eyes. They’d both loved the dawn. Those quiet hours before the world started. And they’d shared them together in his father’s library or on the porch just beyond the French doors.

And he must’ve decided to take a chance and see if she still woke with the sunrise.

She managed to drag in a breath but couldn’t move. She needed to get inside, hide herself from the pain he caused her. But her feet wouldn’t listen.

With a tight jaw, he took a few steps, and now he was in her yard, but still on the fringes.

He didn’t want to get close to her, either.

Well…

He’d sent her away, hadn’t he? She shouldn’t be surprised he didn’t want to see her. 

Available at Amazon 

Research Tidbits

I had to research Houston society, which was quite interesting. While they had some money, they were still as rough and tumble as Texans usually are. And, of course, I had to learn everything I could about Hell’s Half Acre, which was quite a dangerous place. Many cities had an area of town named similarly, but Fort Worth’s was the bloodiest.

 Interview Questions

•  Who is your perfect hero? And why?

Any hero who is calm, steady, intelligent, righteous, and confident. So that means Mr. Darcy, Gilbert Blythe, Captain Steve Rogers, and pretty much ANY hero I write. Sometimes they make mischief, but they are almost always, gentlemen. 

• When did you first decide to submit your work? Please, tell us what or who encouraged you to take this big step. 

I was in college, and I had just finished reading a book that had an ending I didn’t like. Since books are like friends to me and the characters are real people, I went around the house perturbed and telling my sisters and brother all about it. Well, one of my sisters ordered, “Make up your own ending, Kara.” That shut me up. I did what she said and from there, other stories developed. I love answering the question, “What if…?” Now, I didn’t submit my first book until 2008, which was about ten years later. I got married and had children and couldn’t concentrate on writing until my kids were older. It’s quite surprising that I started writing. I never thought I would do this. It’s been one of the greatest pleasures of my life. 

• Is there anyone who really mentored or inspired you to keep writing until you were finally published? 

I have a very dear friend. Her name is Jean. She read my very first book before anyone else did. And it was her encouragement, her honest critique, that made me believe I hadn’t wasted my time. She made me believe that even if I failed, I was failing at the right thing.

 Social Media / Contact Information

Readers can contact Kara through her email! Which she welcomes gladly! Kara also has a newsletter and is also on Facebook and Twitter.

 ♥ Email     ♥ Blog/Website     ♥ Facebook     ♥ Twitter

 

 Thank you for spending time with Kara and me today! Check your email next time on Book Treasure Tuesday!

Hugs~
Maxine

Available in eBook and Print ~~ Coming Soon to AudioBook

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