Thursday, January 31, 2013

Awesome Author Denise Moncrief!

Click on over to the Awesome Authors tab and meet Denise Moncrief, a fellow 5 Prince author!



Come on over and learn about her and her new release, Crisis of Identity!
 
 
 

Geneaology, The Tudors, William Wallace, and the Stomach Bug

I bid you good morrow, oh gracious blog followers!

 Okay, maybe I should lay off the medieval movies for awhile. But seriously, is it just me or was the Tudors series completely addicting??  I can't seem to get my head out of the 1500's after watching it and have even began working on a Regency romance ... something I thought I'd never do!  And Braveheart ... oh don't get me started. That is one of my all time FaVoRiTe movies!

Check out William Wallace's sword ... this sucker is massive!!  From tip to handle, it is 5 feet 6 ... one inch shorter than me! AND weights six pounds. OUCH.



So to keep myself occupied while the Sydney Stomach Bug swept through our house, kicking butt and taking names, I began a family tree on ancestry.com.  Ohhhhhh boy. I found some of the most INTERESTING STUFF.



First off, I was able to get all the way back to 510 AD on my dad's side. Along the way, I ran into two Revolutionary War soldiers, one of which had come over to the colonies after rising up against the Crown as a young man in the Jacobite Uprisings in 1745/1746 and was subsequently sold into white slavery. Then he fought and won independence with the other colonists in 1776... how awesome is that!!

Moving on down the line, I discovered a drummer from the War of 1812 and persons serving on both sides during the Civil War! One Confederate was taken as a POW to a prison in Delaware where he was kept until the end of the war, after which he swore allegiance to the United States and was released. WOWZA! Sound a little bit like what happened in A Heart on Hold?

 
 
 
Moving on ....
 
So apparently some of the earliest Mennonites were related to my daddy-o came over from Switzerland by way of Germany in the 1600's and settled in Pennsylvania and Ohio before spreading to West Virginia and Indiana! I will get some pictures up later of some of these people!
 
 
 
Most of the immigrants didn't come until the 1600's, making them some of the earliest Americans. Which is totally awesome! When they did come, they came from mostly Germany and England.
 

 

 




More to come on what happened across the pond later!  For now, I think it is time to do some updating on the other pages on this blog!!!

Toodle pip!










Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Author Keri Neal!!! Click over to my author page to check her out!

Hey guys! Click on over to my author's page and check out author Keri Neal! Her novel, TORN, released today and she is throwing an awesome giveaway party in its honor! 

Click on over and check it out!!!

 
 
 
 
 

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Romance Author Vonnie Davis!

Come on over to my Awesome Authors page and meet romance author Vonnie Davis!

 
and learn about her new release
 
 

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Calling all readers!! Check out this awesome giveaway!!!


The contest is now over, but stay tuned!!  We like to have contests :) Also, check out my author page at facebook.com/sarabarnardbooks where I run a contest a month, usually for a gift card!


)))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))





15 authors are giving away all sorts of goodies HERE!!! (Or by clicking the picture below!)

Books, music, gift cards oh my!!





 
 (A copy of A Heart on Hold, penned by yours truly is up for grabs, too!)
 
 
 
War. Devotion. Deceit. Death. How long can a heart hold on before it breaks?
Find out in A Heart on Hold, book 1 of An Everlasting Heart series from 5 Prince Publishing!
 
 
 
Book 2, A HEART BROKEN, is available now!
How much grief can a heart bear before being tested to the ultimate limit?
 


Books-a-Fire Giveaway:

Get ready to load your Kindle with great books and music by awesome authors and musicians in the Books-a-Fire Giveaway!

You have the opportunity to win a $100 Amazon Gift Card and a bundle of books/music. 

The group will also give away $25 Amazon Gift Cards and bundles of books/music from January 15 to January 30.

Go to the website www.booksafire.com to enter the contest for free. Here are the details:

There is NO PURCHASE NECESSARY to enter the contest to win.

You may enter once at the Books-a-Fire website and enter again at each author's/musician’s website listed. 

Links to sponsoring websites are included with each picture on the list. That gives everyone multiple free chances to win!

The contest starts at 12:01 AM EST January 15th and ends at 12:01 AM Eastern Time Zone on January 30.

The grand prize winner will be notified by e-mail and we will post the results on the Books-a-Fire website. Five additional $25 gift cards and a bundle of books/music by sponsors will also be awarded during the contest.

Although buying a book/music does not increase your chances of winning, we encourage you to browse the works of the sponsors and buy the ones you like. 

Visit their websites to see more. Choose from a variety of genres, sure to please everyone on your list. What are you waiting for? Head on over to www.booksafire.com and kindle your reading fires!


Click the picture below to go back to the main entry page!!!

 
 
 
 
Thanks for visiting!
 

Monday, January 14, 2013

Book Reviews

I just had to take a moment and post a few of the reviews that are coming in for both books in An Everlasting Heart series (so far) and Chunky Sugars!

Wait, what?  Hold the horses and slap a cactus! There are no reviews for Chunky Sugars yet??  Well poo.

Moving on....



 
5-Star Review out of Texas! (amazon)

If you liked A Heart on Hold, you will love A Heart Broken. Charlotte is such a strong character that one cannot help but cheer her on during every heart-breaking setback. I won't give any spoilers, but I will say that the historical details and action packed scenes really help bring this timeless love story to life. I'm already counting the days until Book Three is released!




Book 1, A Heart on Hold.

5 Stars out of Texas. (amazon)

I was given an early copy of this book and I fell in love with it. Nonstop historical action--set during the Civil War--plus enough romance to melt your heart. Charlotte is such a feisty heroine. She will do whatever it takes to bring her Sanderson home. What a great movie this would make. I can't wait for book two!


5 Stars out of Texas (amazon)

I ordered this book on Monday, it arrived on Wednesday! I couldn't put the book down after reading just the first few pages. Sorry dishes and laundry, it'll have to wait until I'm finished with my book. Captivating scenery, feels like I'm alive in the story just watching each event unfold.

5 Stars out of Texas (amazon)

From the very beginning of this book it was like I stepped into a time machine and was taken back to a very different and wonderful time period. I felt like I knew these characters personally and couldn't wait to find out what was happening next. This book held my attention from start to finish, which is something very hard to do. I highly recommend this well written book. I can't wait to see what's next from Sara Barnard!

5 Stars from anonym. (BnN)

This book is beautifully written. The amazing quality & imagination from the author kept me guessing until the end. The couples are innocently in love while dealing with struggles from their era: racism, wartime, cultural differences, as well as values. I'm looking forward to Book 2!!

5 Stars from Australia (Goodreads)

Before I read this book I did my research and every review/rating I saw was very positive giving five stars and glowing reviews. Ms Bernard deserves all the praise she is receiving for this wonderful book. I started reading A Heart to Hold last night. I forced myself to stop reading at 1.45 am after my husband grumbled about me still reading. At 6 am I continued reading and now a few hours later I am finished...I wish the story had continued I feel lost now it has finished!

A Heart on Hold is a well written love story with believable characters you cannot help but fall in love with. The storyline captures the reader's attention from start to finish leaving them with the sense they have just accompanied the characters on their long arduous journey. I highly recommend this book and congratulate Sara Barnard for writing this exceptionally good novel. I am thrilled to read Charlotte and Sanderson's story will continue.


Growl, I owe you one, Monday.

Here is how our morning has played out thus far.

ME: Good morning Monday, you beautiful, albeit chilly, day you!

MONDAY: Slap, kick, punch, whirlybird, spit

ME: *sob, whimper, sob*

I hope yours is faring better! It is back to school and back to work here and of course, everything is falling apart! Well, not everything. We have our health (mostly), our sanity (somewhat), and our wallets (but we don't know where they are).

There's a few new days posted about over on the Drill Sergeant tab and another installment of The Bank Robber's Lament is coming soon!

I have two new releases this month that are already out:






CHUNKY SUGARS, my children's book -- beautifully illustrated by Joshua Stolte -- which released on New Year's day! Written for Sun 3 and dedicated to chunky babies everywhere! Find out what happens when Mommy gets all of her little baby's sugars!! (The age old Mom-inspired question!)



A HEART BROKEN - in ebook format. Releases in print on the 22nd of January. In this book, the second of the Everlasting Heart series, Charlotte is forced to find out how much grief can a heart bear before being tested to the ultimate limit.

The War is over, Sanderson is home, and life is good … until the Army comes knocking. They have charged Sanderson with the murder and is sentenced to “hang by the neck until dead” – unless he can track down and kill the notorious outlaw William Quantrill with the help of SGT Jerry Thomas, who still may be in love with Charlotte. While Sanderson is on his blood mission, Charlotte is left to endure a complicated pregnancy with the help of Minerva and battle a rash of hydrophobia that threatens the countryside, Cotton, Achilles, and Sanderson.

Friday, January 11, 2013

Ear Infection

So the other day, we were at the ER for what I feared was the flu in Sun 1. Once there, we were assured that no, it is a raging ear infection that is to blame. Good enough for me!

Home we come with amoxicillin, a note for school the next day, and analgesics in tow.

A side note on Sun 1.  He loves school. He loves his teacher. He loves his friends. He loves being there in the middle of everything.

Well, the following morning, he is up and dressed before I even managed to stumble to the Keurig. He assures me he is well enough for school and proceeds to put on his backpack, feed his dogs, and sit down by the garage door to wait. In other words, I am not getting out of the house without him and he would be getting off at the school stop!

So I drug him up with Motrin and a note for the all-too-awesome school secretary who said she would give him another dose of Tylenol in four hours.

All was well right up till the end of school. That baby sun came home from school feeling beyond puny, took a shower, and went straight to bed. Well, he agreed to stay home today (Friday) until he remembered it was Library Day for his class.

On a hunch, I flipped open my Amish Cookbook and found a recipe for ear infection treatment!!  So I combined the olive oil and fresh garlic, let it steep for a few hours, strained out the garlic, and warmed up a few drops and put it in Sun 1's affected ear.

THIS MORNING SUN 1 WAS A NEW CHILD. NO FEVER. NO PAIN IN THE EAR. NO NOTHING, HE WAS JUST RARING TO GO.

Thank you, Amish ear salve treatment.  IT DID THE TRICK!

Thursday, January 10, 2013

Second part of the western and new releases!


Part two of The Bank Robber's Lament is up over there under its very own tab!  Also, check out Doug Simpson's newest release, SOUL RESCUE, over at www.5princebooks.com/buy.htm! I'll post some more on that in a bit! Time to take some diapers up to Sun 2!

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Europe


I just figured out how to check my page views! I found something totally cool. The second largest group of viewers of this site is none other than the glorious country of Poland! Thanks for popping by!! Here in the United States, we like to talk about the weather just about as much as we like to talk about anything else. So please, leave a comment if you like and tell us what the weather is like where YOU live!

In a close third came blog-hoppers Germany, followed by the United Kingdom then Ireland! Welcome, y'all!! 

Well, this little gem of a find just made my night! I think I will listen to my Braveheart soundtrack tonight :-)

Day One, Week Zero of Basic Combat Training




Basic Combat Training, day one of week zero, starts today and already things are happening. Click on over to the Drill Sergeant's tab at the top to check it out!

Teeth and Stuff

We had a surprise visitor last night!  My oldest "sun" lost his first tooth yesterday evening. That sucker didn't want to be lost, it hung out for two weeks before finally coming out! Anywho, he was so excited as he looked at it in the plastic Ziploc baggie (tooth fairies prefer those, you know) that I thought he would never go to sleep! I actually heard the tooth fairy buzz the house a few times!

Once he was finally asleep, I heard the tooth fairy in there, searching like mad under his pillow for the baggie, but to no avail. Mr. Tooth Fairy found the baggie in the bathroom ... "Sun 1" had taken the tiny tooth out and placed it under his pillow, old fashioned style.

After much searching, Mr. and Mrs. Tooth Fairy were able to, not only get "Sun 2" back to sleep, but see that a bunch of change was scattered beneath his pillow.  Yay!

This morning, my early riser was 75 cents richer!!




Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Happy Birthday, Elvis!

Music. The voice that has the ability to speak across generations. Isn't is strange to think ... a man who rose to fame half a century ago still touches so many through his music, and even movies, today. I never got to personally watch Elvis on TV, in concert, or even hear him live on the radio. My parents did. They were fans and still are. As a matter of fact, Dad would always let me pick out an Elvis movie to watch with my friends when I hosted slumber parties as a little girl. Without fail, I would pick Tickle Me. Some of my earliest memories of The King are the aforementioned movie, a handful of his songs, and mostly other singers singing about him. Tricia Yearwood (Wrong Side of Memphis), ZZ Top (Viva Las Vegas), and Alannah Myles (Black Velvet), just to name a few.

Some Elvis memories are more tender than others. Take my husband, for example. He served in Afghanistan with a guy who was quite possibly The King's biggest fan in the Army. This soldier's name: SGT Michael K. Ingram.

We came to the unit late having arrived in August, with a new baby in tow.  Two weeks after he in processed, my husband received expedited orders to Afghanistan. You see, the unit, which had deployed in June, and had already sustained heavy losses. So off my husband went to the desert. He and SGT Ingram wasted no time in becoming, what they call in the Army, Battle Buddies. Two peas in a camouflaged pod.

Michael LOVED Elvis and because of this love, everyone within hearing distance was fortunate enough to listen to any given Elvis hit before a mission. After a mission. Before bunking down for the night. And oh boy, did he sing along!

Check out the link above and you'll see that my husband's sweet friend was killed in action over there in the sands of the Middle East. I remember how Ingram would save the webcam for my husband once he finished talking to his loved ones so that my husband could have some face time with me. In this family, at least between my husband and myself, Elvis memories and Ingram memories are interwoven ... thus making them even more special. I wish I had gotten to meet him in person. It would have been an absolute honor.

Care to share some of your Elvis memories? We'd love to hear 'em!

Monday, January 7, 2013

The newness of it all ... so simple it's complicated

Okay guys, I am in the process of expanding this blog, so bear with me as I make every newbie mistake in the e-book.

Wanna check out my western novella I'm publishing here in installments? Part one is already up, just click on the READ A WESTERN HERE tab at the top!

Wanna ride along with me as my family and I endure this last Drill Sergeant cycle? Click on over to the Drill Sergeant tab! First day of Basic is Wednesday, so get ready! :-)

A Heart Broken (An Everlasting Heart #2)

Coming January 11th, 2013 from 5 Prince Publishing! Check out my goodreads.com giveaway for book 1 in this series, A HEART ON HOLD!


The war is over, Sanderson is home, and life is good ... until the Army comes knocking. They've charged Sanderson with murder and in order to clear his name, he's been ordered to, with the help of Jerry Thomas, track down the notorious outlaw William "Bloody Bill" Quantrill -- or face the hangman's noose. Meanwhile, Charlotte is left in Minerva's hands to endure a complicated pregnancy and battle a rash of hydrophobee that threatens not only the Arkansas countryside, but Cotton and Sanderson, too.

 

Debut Children's Book Released!

Have any of you mommies out there wondered what would happen if you did in fact get ALL of your chunky little baby's sugars? 

As the mother of four, I FINALLY succeeded in getting ALL those sugars and just had to write about it!

Come find out what happen in CHUNKY SUGARS, now available from 5 Prince Publishing! Written by Sara Barnard and illustrated by Joshua Stolte!

Click here to order your copy for you and your little chunky baby today! (Or enter the free giveaway I'm hosting for this book on goodreads.com ...)




Good Reads Giveaways! Oh yeah, there's three!!!



Goodreads Book Giveaway

A Heart on Hold by Sara Barnard

A Heart on Hold

by Sara Barnard

Giveaway ends January 31, 2013.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.
Enter to win



Goodreads Book Giveaway

Chunky Sugars by Sara Barnard

Chunky Sugars

by Sara Barnard

Giveaway ends January 31, 2013.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.
Enter to win



Goodreads Book Giveaway

The ABC's of Oklahoma Plants by Sara Barnard

The ABC's of Oklahoma Plants

by Sara Barnard

Giveaway ends January 31, 2013.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.
Enter to win

Sunday, January 6, 2013

New Year's Greeting

Hey from Oklahoma!  Here we are on the cusp of 2013 and the hubby is about to start his final cycle as a drill sergeant. In commemoration of this event, I am going to post daily updates here of the crazy goings on in Basic Training!

January has been an eventful month so far. I am deep in the development of book 3 in An Everlasting Heart series, A HEART AT HOME, and having a ball. That is the best thing about being a writer who loves history ... having a time machine right in front of you -- called pencil/paper or in my case, MS Word 10! Book 2, A HEART BROKEN, releases on the 11th from 5 Prince Publishing and my debut children's book, CHUNKY SUGARS (written for the chunkiest of my 'suns') released on New Year's Day!  Check it out if you get the chance or enter the giveaway at Sara's Goodreads.com Page

So I have done a bad bad thing.  I am under a tight deadline with the An Everlasting Heart series, yet I have written out a whole other project that I just HAD to get out to you. So just for fun and for fellow historical/western lovers, I am going to publish it here (and on my goodreads.com blog) a little at a time ON ONE CONDITION.  You readers HAVE to comment and tell me what you think along the way :-)

The title is A BANKROBBER'S LAMENT ... let's get started!