Belle's Two Cents

Hi, Belle here. Last, as usual. I hate being the youngest. Dori and Lucy never listen to me, even if I'm only a few minutes younger and not like years younger than they are.

We are on summer vacation right now and every week Aunt Hope takes us to the library. Dori complains that it's boring there and Lucy just wants to check out DVDs. They are so lame. I love going to the library. This year the summer reading theme is "Catch the Reading Bug." I don't like bugs, but I do like books. Maybe someday I'll be a librarian like Aunt Hope. Or maybe I'll write the books that are in the library.

Lucy says she wants to be a nurse when she grows up. She thinks working in a hospital would be exciting. Dori just says she wants to be rich. Talk about lame.

Still sometimes it is good to have Dori and Lucy around. I always have someone to play with, even if we have to play what Dori wants. And if someone is bothering my at school, like that bully Mindy Anderson, Dori always makes them quit. I guess it would have been scary to be all alone when Mom got sick, too.

Maybe it's not so bad being a triplet. Sometimes.

Belle

Hi,
I'm Lucy. If you read my sister Dori's post before mine, you know that we and our other sister Belle are living with my Uncle Joseph's family while my mom is away.

Don't tell Dori I said so, but I think we are really lucky. It's bad that our mom is sick and had to go away. It's good that we have Uncle Joseph and Aunt Hope to take care of us. In fact, Uncle Joseph and Aunt Hope have even had arguments over who should get to keep us.

This is really amazing because Dori, who always has to be the boss, is very good at getting us into trouble. Her ideas sound good to start with, but somehow they don't end up that way. Like the time we hid on Aunt Hope and she got scared. We made her cry, which is bad.

Aunt Hope is getting married to a man named Oliver. We weren't sure we'd like him at first because he told us a lie. But he also takes us with him and Aunt Hope for ice cream and I love ice cream, so I guess he's all right. Oliver is our gym teacher at school and we have to call him Mr. Laurence there. He'll be Uncle Oliver after he and Aunt Hope get married. Aunt Hope says we can be flower girls at her wedding.

Dori says she'll get to go down the aisle first because she's the oldest. I don't see what that's got to do with anything. Just because she was born first, it doesn't mean she can go first at everything our entire lives! I asked her if she'd ever heard of taking turns and she said that didn't count for triplets.

Oh well. At least I'll get to wear a pretty dress and carry a basket full of rose petals or something like that. Aunt Hope says we can get our hair and nails done, too. I will feel just like a princess, I think.

That's all I have to say.

Dori

Terrible Trio Blogging this Week

Hi,
This is Dori. You may have read a little about me and my sisters in "Enduring Hope." We're triplets named Dori, Lucy and Belle. Our mom has been sick so we live with our Uncle Joseph for now. Ms. Russell asked us each to write a little bit about Orchard Hill since Ms. Applebaum is on vacation, visiting her sister in Michigan.

Ms. Russell is helping me with the spelling and stuff like that. I'm not so good at that, but we're only going into second grade this fall, so give me a break. Belle thinks she should get to write first because she is good at that stuff, but I'm the oldest so I always get to go first. I keep telling her that's the law, but she doesn't believe me.

So, what do I think of Orchard Hill? It's a dumb place to live. I hate it here and I want my mother back. But it is sort of nice at Uncle Joseph's. There's always someone around if we need them. And no one ever forgets to buy food or toilet paper or stuff like that. And we really like being with Abby. She's our older cousin. She knows all this cool stuff, like how to drive. She'll be getting her license soon. She doesn't know anything about make up though, because Uncle Joseph won't let her wear any. Sometimes Uncle Joseph is a real party pooper.

He has rules about everything. He says what time we go to bed and how much TV we can watch and how many vegetables we have to eat before we can have desert. He is a tyrant. I learned that word in school last year. It means he's really bossy and makes you do everything he wants you to. He even makes us go to church - every single Sunday.

Then there are the boys. They are Abby's brothers, Noah and Peter. Noah is old, like almost eighteen. He doesn't pay much attention to us. Sometimes Peter will play with us, but mostly he says he's too old, even though he's only fourteen. That's old, but not that old.

So that's my family, except for Aunt Hope, but Lucy wants to write about her, so I guess that's about it for me. Thanks for reading (Uncle Joseph told me I had to say that.)

Dori

Accepting Charity on sale August 20th

Kara Lynn has just given me the news that Sarah and David's story will be released from The Wild Rose Press on August 20. I know what you're thinking. If Sarah is the heroine, then who's Charity? Charity is David's niece, who he had unexpectedly become guardian of. David isn't sure if he's ready to be a parent, and Charity has a disability that adds an extra challange. She has - let me see if I can remember what Sarah told me - Developmental Verbal Dyspraxia. This condition makes it difficult for Charity to speak, although she's smart as a whip and understands everything that's going on around her.

I asked Kara Lynn what she knew about the condition. Here's her reply. "I used to work as an aide in an early childhood class. That's a special ed class for three and four year olds. There was a little girl in my class who had the same challange as Charity. She was very sweet and shy, but not being able to talk much is a real problem, even for a three year old. During the summer school session, when we did not have our regular bus drivers, they forgot to drop her off at her house, not once but THREE TIMES! How frightening for her. She was small, so they couldn't see her head above the seats, and she couldn't answer when they called out to see if she was there. Being shy, she was also afraid to draw attention to herself once they passed her house. She was not discovered until after all the other children had been dropped off and by then her mother was frantic, no doubt. But she was a delightful child and very much like Charity in the story. I'm sure she has a bright future."

That about sums it up. Come back soon, and I'm sure Kara will let me post an excerpt from "Accepting Charity."

Cora Applebaum

Keeping Faith is on the Palm store's Bestseller List!

Well, I don't understand a lot about these newfangled palm pilots and such. To me PDA stands for Pretty Darn Aggravating. But Kara tells me this is good news. "Keeping Faith" is listed as a bestseller at the Palm bookstore. To celebrate, she's asked me to post an excerpt. So here it is -

Andrew has heard a rumor that Faith is quitting her job because she’s having trouble with a man at work and he confronts her about it.

…Andrew moved closer to Faith. His voice was low, but charged with an emotion Faith couldn’t identify. “I don’t know why you’re acting like this Faith, but I’m going to find out. I can’t stand the thought of anyone hurting you.”

She tried to back away, but he caught her hands and held her there. “You don’t know anything about it,” she repeated.

“That’s because you won’t tell me.” He pulled her even closer, and Faith’s heart started to beat faster. “You’re important to me, Faith. I need you.”

She allowed her body to lean into his, and he let go of her hands to put his arms around her. They stood like that for a moment. Faith was sure Andrew was going to kiss her. He lowered his head and said. “You’re the best secretary I’ve ever had.”

Anger flared in Faith. She shoved Andrew away from her. “Go home! Nothing happened that you can solve. It’s my problem and I’ll handle it.”

“By running away?”

“I’m not running away. I’m starting over.”

They glared at each other for a few heated moments. “Fine,” he said. “I’ll leave.” At the door, he turned and added “But I will find out, Faith. You can count on that.”


I'll have some more info on upcoming Orchard Hill stories next week.

Cora Applebaum

And the Winner is...

Kara Lynn wanted to tell you who the winner of the drawing for the free download of "Enduring Hope" is herself. This entry is from her. I'm taking a well deserved break after a busy week here. I wonder where that cat has gotten to? I may have to go look for her. - Cora

Thank you everyone who took the time to stop by this week. I am overwhelmed by the response. So I’ve decided to give away two copies of “Enduring Hope” rather than one. I had my daughter draw the names. There is nothing like a teenager for complete indifference…I mean objectivity.

And the winners are…..Sarita Leone and Rose Ross Zediker. Congratulations! I'll be contacting you soon.

If you didn’t win, please don’t be disheartened. There are four Orchard Hill stories yet to come. I’ll leave you with a sneak peek at “Accepting Charity” OHR #6. This is the only story that doesn’t refer to the heroine in the title. Keep that in mind in case I ever decide to run an Orchard Hill trivia contest.


David Daniels has been left with custody of his three year old niece on the death of his sister. Misty Green introduces him to Sarah Rogers, a speech therapist at the Orchard Hill Elementary School. Sarah helps David understand the condition that Charity is challenged with – Verbal Developmental Dyspraxia. Her disability makes speech difficult and at times impossible.

Although he loves his niece very much, David doesn’t think he’ll make a good parent because he travels a lot for his job. But when another relative, who is definitely not a fit guardian, makes a bid to adopt Charity he will do anything to prevent it – including entering into a fake engagement with Sarah. But the more time he spends with Sarah, the more he realizes that she’s just what he and Charity both need.

And now for the excerpt:

Sarah reached for the door handle, but before she opened it, David spoke again. “One more thing.”

“What?”

“What about physical stuff.”

“What do you mean?”

“You know, engaged people hold hands and hug and…”

“And kiss.” Sarah groaned. “How did everything get so out of control?”

David knew he was treading on dangerous ground, but he couldn’t seem to stop himself. “Maybe we should practice?”

“Practice?”

“Yeah. I think we should try a practice kiss, so the first time we have to kiss in public, it won’t be so awkward.”

“Why would we have to kiss in public?”

“Because that’s what people who are in love do, Sarah. I’m not saying we have to put on an exhibition, but we should at least kiss each other hello and good-bye.”

Sarah looked doubtful. “I suppose.”

“So I think we should practice.”

“When?”

“How about right here, right now.”

“Are you serious?”

“Totally. Trust me, this is the best thing to do. We’ll just get it over with and then the next time won’t be so awkward.”

Sarah considered. “Maybe you’re right.”

“I know I am.” He reached across the seat and took Sarah in his arms.

She giggled nervously. “This is ridiculous.”

“Usually I get to kiss a girl before she laughs at me.”

“I’m not laughing at you. Just the situation.”

“Enough talk. How about some action?” he teased.

David’s only intention had been to steal a simple kiss, but the moment his lips touched hers, he knew nothing would ever be simple between them. Instead of letting go, he pulled her even closer. She felt perfect in his arms.

The world faded away, and he was aware of nothing but Sarah. He felt her heart beating against his chest, her form filling his arms, her lips moving against his. The word ‘home’ drifted into his mind.

From what seemed like a long way away, there was a sharp knocking sound. Suddenly Sarah shoved him away. Confused by the abrupt shift back to reality, David blinked and the world swam back into focus. Sarah’s friend Hope was knocking at the window.
“Come on, you two,” she shouted. “You’ll have plenty of time for that later. I’m starving. Let’s go eat.”

Sarah opened the door a crack and said. “We’ll be right there.”

“No way,” Hope insisted. “If we leave, you’ll just go back to what you were doing.”

Oliver stepped in and pulled Hope away. “We’ll be inside,” he called back.

Sarah turned back to David and speared him with a sizzling glare. “Got any more bright ideas?”



You can find more information on Orchard Hill on my website - karalynnrussell.googplepages.com.

Thanks for reading,
Kara Lynn Russell

An Interview with Cindy K. Green

Today I'm talking with Cindy K. Green, author of Meeting Mr. Right Online, recently released from By Grace Publishing.

Cindy, what else have you written?

Actually, I have a long list of titles. By the end of 2008, I’ll have ten releases to my name. With the Wild Rose Press, I’ve written a couple Inspirationals: my full-length novel, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Your Wedding; a short story, Relationship Rescue; and a short Historical novella, Dilemma of the Heart. At The Wild Rose Press, you can also find my romantic suspense NovelTea Series. Book #1 (A Night of NovelTea) is available now and Book #2 (NovelTea Next Door) releases July 30th. From By Grace Publishing, I have several sweet, Inspirational, and even sensual books available including my newest release, Meeting Mr. Right Online, a sweet chicklit novella.


Do you think there are any similarities between your writing and Ms. Russell's?

Yes, I definitely do. In fact, at one time, we both named a character Grace Ryan (which became the heroine in Kara’s Saving Gracie). I’ve been very fortunate to have met Ms. Russell both as a colleague and a friend. We share similar tastes in reading and writing and in that way are able to help and encourage each other. It’s important to have a critique partner who ‘get’s’ you and ‘get’s’ your writing. I’ve been blessed in having that in Kara Russell.



You and Kara are sometimes critique partners. Have you read any of "Enduring Hope," the next Orchard Hill story to be released? And if so, what did you think about it? I only ask because I want to make sure Ms. Russell got the details right.

I have read some of Enduring Hope and look forward to reading the completed version. Hope and Oliver are a fun pair. They seem like complete opposites, but in time you find they do have more in common than originally thought. Ms. Russell always brings something new and fun to each story. I’m always amazed at how varied she is at bringing to life a new couple for us to follow.


Do you have any favorite characters from Orchard Hill?

Gracie and Riley from the first book will always be a favorite. But I can’t wait for everyone to meet David, Sarah and Charity in Accepting Charity which comes out in August. Great story with fun twists.



What are you working on now?

I’m working on a new Inspirational called Romancing Miss Abbot. This book is a romantic comedy as well as Inspirational. Let’s just say that the hero and heroine in this story have a colliding first meeting which ends in him getting a bloody nose. I’m also polishing up a high fantasy romance called The Princess and the Outlaw. And I hope to finish my full-length historical, Redemption of the Heart which is the sequel to Dilemma of the Heart.


Who do you think will win the matchmaker's challenge, Pansy or Misty?

Oooh that's hard to say. They are both doing very well in this contest. It may end up with inconclusive results. ;) aka: a tie!

You can visit Cindy on the web at cindykgreen.com to find out more about her and her wonderful books. And watch for the short story "The Thing About Temping" to appear soon in the Free Reads section of The Wild Rose Press.