Thursday, September 5, 2013

New Book, Rocking Chairs and Country Quilts: The North Country Welcomes You!



I've never spent crazy money on a hand-made quilt.




I've wanted to, several times. But each time I stop myself, knowing there are hungry people on the planet, knowing there are other places for money to do more good, knowing my pretty blankets from J. C. Penney and Donna's Quilts are fine!

I pass this house every time I head to D.C. or Baltimore or North Carolina... And the selection of hanging quilts varies with the season, the day, the month, the year. It's a North Country sight, for sure.
But there's a temptation in that imagery of an oak rocker drawn up against the fire, a quilt folded, just so, a trusty dog sleeping on the hearth plate... or close enough to catch the heat and stay comfy cozy on a winter's night.


That's a North Country image.

I live in the north, a snow belt of upstate New York where the term "Lake Effect" means S-N-O-W and the falls are splendid in color, the sun slants just so through golding trees and the change of seasons is marked with a definition you find in very few places. I love it here. I set books in this northern region because folks love regional settings, they love to feel immersed in the changes of the year as they follow or inspire changes in life. It's a God-thing, a human-thing, a let's-hibernate-through-February thing with a good book!

That works for me!  (big grin attached!!!!)



Sometime last spring, I talked about a book on Seekerville, a book that won an amazing number of unpublished awards, a book that was looked at by several houses and made it to the end-zone (football) third base (baseball) and rimmed the basket (basketball) with several major publishers but never got the final nod...

Well. Here it is. The book that inspired the North Country series, the book that helped make me a Seeker, the book that made people cry, and cheer and re-examine their priorities:


I love this story. I love Anne's journey. Eight years ago, folks had a hard time talking about predatory coaches and small-town scandals. Eight years ago, people hushed things up and sometimes refused to see what was right before their eyes.

Skewed priorities will do that to a person.

Then Penn State burst into the headlines, Syracuse University followed shortly thereafter, and all of a sudden the blinders were removed. We had no choice but to see, to cringe, to believe.

Not every seemingly nice person has our children's best interests at heart.

This book was inspired by something my son Seth said while a freshman at St. Lawrence University, a gorgeous school tucked into the cold depths of the St. Lawrence River Valley... "I keep meeting people who care way too much about their sports."

That single sentence spawned a stream of what-ifs, a seed that sprouted to a beautiful story of reclaiming one's heart... and one's soul... and one's home-town... by facing our fears.

I've just locked and loaded Running on Empty HERE ON AMAZON... 

I hope folks love it. I hope they see the God-virtue in a story of second chances and poor choices. I hope they see how easy it is for evil to recognize vulnerability and stalk it.

Mostly? I hope people fall in love with Anne's story, and with Joe McIntyre, the hero of Running on Empty, a man who sees through a glass dimly and runs to get the Windex... because a mirror should never stay dim or foggy. Not when God allows us the chance to polish at will!

I should be talking food, I should be sharing something delicious and autumnal, but today I'm sharing food for the soul in the form of a book that grabs the reader's heart and won't let go...

A book that says when life shuts a door, God will always open a window. Because he's God.


Anne Kellwyn has a secret. It's cost her everything to keep it, including her marriage. Now she may have to pay an even higher price to reveal the truth, but is she too late? Back home to care for her dying mother, Anne is faced with the past she ran from and a future she can't have, a future that includes Joe McIntyre and the happily ever after she'd dreamed of years ago.

Chief of Police Joe McIntyre takes his position seriously. A lead-by-example Christian, he's put to the test when his ex-wife appears with another man's child after eight years of silence. Anger and pride challenge his small-town-hero existence, driving him out of his comfort zone. Faced with choices he made eight years before, can he tackle the present to ease Anne's future so she's no longer "Running on Empty"?

31 comments:

  1. When I was in America I bought some quilting materials and also took some calico which people I met signed. My neighbour/friend is going to make a memory quilt out of it. Most is American things in the red white and blue plus a bear print, couldn't find a squirrel one. But they are my colours so it will look good.
    I have looked at some of the quilts and they are just so pretty.
    Will look your book up.

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    1. Oh on colder weather we had a warm start to spring hottest in along time they say. in the city got up to 90 we got to around 80ish. today dropped back a bit and rained. It was a mild winter burnt so much less wood this year and haven't had a fire for about 9 days which is unusual for this time of year but its saving wood so I wont run out.
      So looking forward to the warmer weather.

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    2. Jenny, we had a cool, wet summer, different for us, but I loved the cooler weather. I'm not a hot/heat/humid girl, I'm a brat when I'm hot and overtired... winter I can handle because I can always throw another log on the fire. But if summer gets too hot, no one wants to be around me.

      I only wish I was kidding!

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  2. Oh wow. I got chills just reading about this book! Can't wait to read it! I hear Lake Effect snow and I am jealous. We don't get as much snow as we used to here in VA, but I'm hoping for a better(?) chance this season lol. We keep power and all that, but have a bunch of snow to go out and play in, or stay in by the fire with a blanket and hot chocolate and a great book, like this one!

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    1. Sally, I hope you love it. I love it, I always have, and several editors loved it but the idea of actually talking about sexual predators back then was a big risk. I understand that, and I think this book is filled with hope and healing and happiness... but I understood their reticence. The nice thing about independently publishing Running on Empty?

      No one takes a risk but me. And I'm okay with that, I hate to let others down. This way, it's me and the book shelves of the world! So we'll see!!!

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    2. Editors may not like it, but it is something that is happening and is relevant. I think it would help get the word out and show that there is hope, healing, and happiness when something happens. I'll read it and review it!

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  3. Woot!! Launch day! Congratulations.

    I bought two handmade quilts. Best investment ever.

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    1. Tina, I bet I'll break down someday too. Just because I love the artistry. But I'm still in catch-up mode from raising the "fam" so it will be a little while yet.

      And I love quilting, love making things, but when writing came in the door the sewing stuff began gathering dust.

      :)

      You and I are both testimony to that!

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  4. I have quilts I've bought including a turtle quilt and quilts I've been given. But the best antique quilt I've acquired was from a flea market up in Maryland.

    It was a nine patch with a green, brown and gold border. Not popular colors but I love nine patch and the price was right. When we got home, my sister,the quilter in the family started going over it with a fine tooth comb. She went "oh, my!"

    I thought there was something wrong. Nope. She found where the quilter had signed her name, "Sarah. Age 11. 1881" Yep, 1881.

    If the dealer had spotted it, it's price would have been astronomical.

    Happy release day. I've downloaded it and will read ASAP.

    Peace, Julie

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    1. Now I know which book, LOL! (I had just e-mailed Julie about something else...)

      OH, that's a find, Julie! And I've bought quilts and given them to others, they're a magnificent gift. AND... I have a handmade double wedding ring quilt top that was given to my mother. Now I need a quilter to hire to back it and quilt it.

      Tried looking last winter with no luck. If anyone knows a quilter, I've got a lovely job for them!

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    2. Julie that's an awesome quilt! I also love 9 patches (an 4 patches!) just love quilts LOL!
      Susanna

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  5. Whooooohoooooo! I love this so much!!! Gooooo, Ruthy books! And quilts... I'm all about the old quilts. Maybe I'll post some pics next Wednesday. Hoooray!!!

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  6. Whooooohoooooo! I love this so much!!! Gooooo, Ruthy books! And quilts... I'm all about the old quilts. Maybe I'll post some pics next Wednesday. Hoooray!!!

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    1. Oh, do that! I love sweet books and old quilts and oak rockers and fires....

      And cookies.

      I can get fat on cookies. And donuts.

      Dave brought donuts today. I COULD NOT RESIST.

      I'm ridiculous.

      But it is a release day, right??????

      (Justifying, justifying!)

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  7. I can't believe I didnt think to put my swap blocks in that layout - and we did the same little heart blocks but with dark black backgrounds and brights for the hearts! mine are all stuck together like the quilt that inspired the swap...and now most are sewn in long rows and no way I'm taking them apart...sigh...

    just got the book!
    Susanna

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    1. Oh, Susanna, thank you! I hope you love it!!!!! That just makes me smile!

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    2. I'm still reading the love inspired..would've finished but work kept interrupting me then I fell asleep when I got home...
      Susanna

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    3. Work is that necessity that keeps us in books and quilts!!!! :) I hear you, my friend, and it's not going anyplace. I'm tickled you bought it. Thank you!!!!

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  8. I love quilts! I love rocking chairs! And I love, love, LOVE Ruthy books! Ooo, I must trot over to Amazon right now and get this. Can't wait.

    No cool weather in Texas, though. Forecasted high for today? 100. 103 last Friday for our first football game. Mom was melting. COME ON WINTER!

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    1. Mindy, I would love to be Texan and wear those cool Western clothes, I would have SO MUCH FUN!!!!

      But I can't do that summer stuff there. I'm a snot HERE.... how much worse of a person could I possibly become?????

      Perish the thought!

      Although the thought of the Superbowl in New York City (well, the Meadowlands across the bridge in New Jersey, but still... same thing, right???) in February just makes me scratch my head.

      Going to NYC is great. But an outdoor venue for hours in unpredictable February?

      I'm praying already, for a great day, great game, and nothing wicked in the way of cold or storm.

      Who comes up with these ideas?

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    2. Ruthy, you don't have to live in Texas to wear western clothes. We have them up north, too ;)

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    3. I'm sorely tempted. We have a nice Western Wear place not far from me, the Circle B I think it is.... but Jan.... would I look SILLY???? I love going into the cool Western shop in Lyons, Nebraska when I visit (Read: ANNOY) Mary Connealy, but no one up here wears Western. I think I'd look like an aging WANNABE.... Whaddya think????? Ridiculous?

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    4. That's what keeps me from buying cowboy boots.

      I mean, when a real cowboy (or girl) wears the boots, it looks right. They fit.

      On me, I'm afraid I'd look like a kid in a Halloween costume.

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  9. I've already bought my copy - I always buy Ruthy books without a second thought. :)

    I used to be a quilter. (Big sigh) I'm so glad I did so much quilting in high school and college, because once I got married and started raising children, quilting went way down on the list of priorities.

    And then my quilting frame was destroyed in a move.

    And then I sold my first book.

    Will I ever get back to quilting? Maybe. Someday.

    But right now I'm having too much fun!


    OH! And I'm SO JEALOUS of your fall-like temperatures! We're just as far north as you are, but the last two weeks have been brutal with the weather. Hot (mid-90's). So hot, they've had to have more early-release days than full days since school started! Where is my September weather?

    Oh, that's right. Upstate New York. Sheesh.

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    1. Jan, I saw that weather streak in the middle of the country and cringed for youse. Ouch. We're definitely in fall trending, the jet stream is dipping our way, shoving the Gulf stream further south.... I was staining the last of the moldings for the new room outside tonight and I got COLD.... :) It felt so good!!!!! Bring on the lined hoodies! I'm ready!

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  10. Brrr -- it's positively freezing here and I'm loving it! Curled up in a quilt with a dog at my feet and a newly downloaded Ruthy book on my laptop. Even started reading it before I finished Dangerous Passage by Lisa Harris. Had to pry myself away so I can finish my whodunit, but I loved my sneak peek!!!

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    1. Kav, you will have to tell me what you think!!!! I will admit to loving this story because it's heart and soul stuff, but I also understood why pub boards and editors and agents hesitated.... I'm pretty sure I caused the downfall of two fiction lines who were going head to head over this book and then both went KAPUT...

      And this book was on both editor's desks as they tried to get it through the pub boards.

      But I truly believed in it, and doing it this way, no one will get mad at an editor or an agent or a publishing house.... The readers will love it or hate it and I haven't risked anyone else's livelihood, and I'm glad of that!

      But for me?

      I love this story. :) I totally hope you do too!!!

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  11. Yay, Ruthy!! I'm so glad you have the book up now! So glad the story is getting to have a life of its own now.

    Hey, I need to update the book cover slide show at the top of the page!!

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    1. Hey, Missy Tippens!!!! This book was CALLING FROM THE HARD DRIVE, saying "what about me???? When's MY TURN???? HUH?????"

      So I had to do it.

      :)

      And I'd love to see this on the slide show!!!!! SUHWEEEEET!

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  12. Busy day and look what I missed!!!!

    So exciting. I loved the last Indie one. Looking forward to this one. Now I just have to find some free time to read.

    Yeah. Not likely. School just opened.

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    1. Mary, that's so true. But there will be time to breathe in your future! I promise.

      And God has blessed those children with a wonderful teacher like you! That's huge in any book.

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