WeWriWa - March 22 - Missi Wanderin' in the Woods

Welcome back! Thanks for stopping by for this week's snippet from my newest work:

Missi Wanderin' in the Woods

Last week, our heroine's husband made a big, drunken deal out of his leaving his 

family . . . again. 

Let's see what happens next.

The  first time my husband freaked out and called us quits was at our duty station in Italy when I was five months pregnant with our first child together. Drunk, he'd torn apart our luggage in an attempt to find the passports, belonging to my two young children and myself, so he could put us on "the first plane back to the States". Luckily, I'd hidden them well. Angered at his inability to find them, he swore through slurred words to pay child support for “that one,” as he called our unborn son, thrusting a finger at my slightly swollen belly. 

 He had been back from his 15-month tour in Afghanistan for a whopping six months before he "broke", an amazing feat considering most of his fellow airborne infantrymen he'd served with had broken long before; like the ever-smiling family man who attempted to strangle his pregnant wife in her sleep or the quiet soldier who had eaten Thanksgiving dinner with us before returning to the Army post and slashing his arms bloody and climbing into a tub filled with steaming water. 

When the liquor wore off, he begged forgiveness and swore to get help from Mental Health, in the off chance he did have the so-called PTSD affliction, as long as I would accompany him . . . and give him another chance. Not having it in my genes to be the Army wife who walked out on her sick husband, I agreed and sat proudly by his side as we waited for the psychiatrist to come in. 

The door creaked open revealing not the white-haired Viet Nam vet with all the answers like in the movies, but instead a short, unsmiling Middle Eastern woman sporting glasses . . . and a Muslim hijab.

Thank you for stopping by this week! Be sure to stop by next Sunday morning for another snippet from 

Missi Wanderin' in the Woods

Missi Wanderin' in the Woods is my forthcoming memoir and perhaps the hardest story I've written to date. This is the story of one woman's reliance on her eclectic wilderness background to face epic struggles, from war-ravaged marriages to life-threatening baby deliveries to a teaching career to cancer, that just may shatter her life -- if she lets them.

Click here for more awesome Weekend Writing Warriors.

Book One of my
Everlasting Heart series,
written when
my husband was on his final
deployment to Afghanistan.
This saga continues through
a four-book series!

Rebekah's Quilt is
my debut Amish fiction
work.
Just .99 cents
this month!
Look for more from these
characters coming soon
in a new series!

Head on over to my website to check out more of  my titles featuring strong female heroines, like my debut novel and book one of the Everlasting Heart series A Heart on Hold, where Charlotte Adamsland must journey north through the war-ravaged United States in search of her husband Confederate Captain Sanderson Redding . . . or his remains, or my first ever Amish novella, Rebekah's Quilt, where timid Rebekah must face a heartbreaking truth that no other Amish girl in Gasthof Village could ever understand and one that just may cost her a future with her handsome beau, Joseph Graber. 

(Rebekah's Quilt is just .99 cents this month!)

Visit Sara Barnard Books today!

WeWriWa - March 15 - Missi Wanderin' in the Woods

Welcome Weekend Writing Warriors and Guests! 

Enjoy this eight-sentence excerpt from my newest work: 

Missi Wanderin' in the Woods. 

***

I slid my white gold wedding ring, the one we’d picked out together after only two weeks of dating, off my finger and sucked in a breath, trying not to let the hurricane of familiar emotions drown me yet again. 

Across the house, my husband of five years threw everything that was outright his into various bags and suitcases, taking care to fling the pictures of us and our life together onto the ground. Like trash.

“There’s no going back,” he bellowed as he stormed into the kitchen where we'd sought refuge, his words slurred by the drink, “this is for real. We're finished!”

Up until then, I had been futilely attempting to shield his leaving from our two youngest children, sugar sweet and ever-grinning boys aged two and four, but as he carried on, the baby began picking up random toys and shoes. “Don’t yell at Mama,” he shouted, his own little words garbled by the speech impediment that afflicts three quarters of my children, before hurling what he could grab at his daddy, who up until then had been the center of his protected little universe. 

My oldest babies, ten and eight, retreated to the dark corners of the kitchen to watch this all-too-familiar scene, always brought on by combat anniversaries and alcohol, play out yet again.

***

Thank you for stopping by and checking out these eight sentences from my forthcoming memoir, Missi Wanderin' in the Woods, the story of one woman's reliance on her eclectic wilderness background to face front-country struggles ranging from a war-ravaged marriage to cancer.

Need a cheap read? Rebekah's Quilt is on sale for just 99 cents this month!

Sara Barnard's Author Website

Check out more excerpts from other amazing 

Weekend Writing Warriors 

here!

See you next Sunday for more from 

Missi Wanderin' in the Woods!

Spring Break, Cancer Stuff, and A Book Sale

Thanks for stopping by at this, the tail end of Spring Break (or beginning of Spring Break, depending on where you are). Around here, we kept it interesting as a family of six (and sometimes seven) usually do.

I started off the break a few days early, getting a sub for my 6th grade classroom the Wednesday prior so I could have a couple of procedures done in the O.R. Pretty heavy stuff, but now I'll be the better for it and there was no indication that any cancer had crept anywhere else in my bod. Yay! However, I did have an issue waking up from anesthesia . . . suppose I just needed a bit of extra sleep :-) 

The Saturday after surgery, the family packed me into the car and we sojourned across the Lone Star State to my every-three-month checkup in Houston at MD Anderson. We tried to make it a mini-vacation, with stops in San Antonio and Galveston (despite the rain and fog) to dip our toes in the ocean. We found lots of dead jellyfish and some awesome seashells to bring home. 

At the appointment, it was determined all is well and I'm not due back for another three months -- double yay! No more surgery slated in my future (thankfully) and my oncologist maintains that everything cancerous was most likely removed in the first surgery (way back a year ago!) and the spots he was concerned with are posing no immediate threat. Works for me! 

On a lighter note, I just learned that my Amish romance novel, Rebekah's Quilt, is on sale this month for just .99 cents! I hope you'll pick up your copy today!

Come back Sunday and check out a sneak peak from my newest work, Missi Wanderin' in the Woods! 

The Saga of Indian Em'ly : The Apache and the Pale Face Soldiers (Book 1)

New release alert! My debut middle grade reader, book 1 of 4, titled The Saga of Indian Em'ly: The Apache and the Pale Face Soldiers has been released from Painted Pony Books.

More great news, it went bestseller just today! Yay! What a wonderful way to commemorate the historical significance of the real Indian Em'ly . . . the "squaw killed by mistake" outside Fort Davis, Texas in the late 1800's.

Here is the back matter: 

Wind That Knocks Down Lodges loves his Apache mother Shining Waters, his grandfather Chief Strawberry Moon, his baby sister Cactus Flower and the wildness of the desert canyonland they call home. He has even developed a rough-hewn trust for Cactus Flower’s father, the pale face soldier from the fort that their mother loves. In one night of gross misunderstanding and novice mistakes, Knocks Down and Cactus Flower’s innocent young world is broken and shaken before they find themselves locked in the soldier fort with the pale faces and their mother’s lifeless body. With no one to lean on but each other and the fragile balance between the Apache and the soldiers irreparably upset, Knocks Down and Cactus Flower must make their way as children of The People in the pale face world – pale faces who have now become the enemy.

Only .99 cents in kindle format!  Grab yours today! And stay tuned for The Saga of Indian Em'ly: On the Colorado Trail (book 2) coming in September 2014!

www.sarabarnardbooks.com

Prairie Rose Publications

Hello everyone!

Well my name is Sara Barnard and I have been writing for publication since my husband's last deployment to Afghanistan in 2009-2010. During that time, I relied on my BA in history and wrote my debut novel -- A Heart on Hold.

Top 3 Finalist for the 2012 Best of American Historical Fiction RONE award
Bestseller

I began this book in Texas, wrote on it through our PCS to Fort Carson, Colorado, and finally finished it when we arrived at our last duty station in Fort Sill, OK. Now, he is out of the military we live back in Odessa, Texas with our four beautiful, smart, silly children ... with our slew of rescue animals. As we navigated the Army lifestyle, we adopted two dogs from the pound in Italy, one from a high-kill shelter in Texas, then another adopted us this Christmas here in Odessa. Our cat, Belle, we adopted from a military family who was tired of her in Colorado and Tom, a stray Oklahoma tomcat, adopted us at Fort Sill.

Contender for the 2013 Best of American Historical Fiction RONE award

As we were acquiring all of our animals and babies, A Heart on Hold turned into book 1 of An Everlasting Heart series from 5 Prince Publishing. Since then, A Heart Broken and A Heart at Home (books 2 and 3) have been published and book 4, A Heart Forever Wild, will release April 2.

Reader's Choice Medalist

In addition to writing historical military romance books, I have an Amish Romance available, too. Rebekah's Quilt was "born" in November 2013.

Bestseller
Contender for Best of 2013 Inspirational Fiction RONE award

Reader's Choice Medalist

I also write for children. Two of my children books are published through 5 Prince Kids -- Chunky Sugars and Little Spoon. Chunky Sugars was written at a stoplight for my youngest, and chunkiest, son, Lil' Bit. Little Spoon was written for my oldest son, Logan, who wants to be a chef and an Indian when he grows up.

Reader's Choice Medalist

Bestseller
#1 Nature Book for Kids
Reader's Choice Medalist

#1 Wolf Book for Kids
Bestseller
Reader's Choice Medalist

Back before I was a wife and a mommy and an author, I volunteered my summers with the Park Service and Forest Service through the Student Conservation Association. In doing this, I was privileged enough to live in some of the most beautiful places in the country ... I cut trail through northern New Mexico; counted bats, tracked mountain lions, and relocated rattlesnakes in Carlsbad, New Mexico; and learned to fly small planes in Eagle River, Alaska. A wonderful way to combine a love of the outdoors with parenthood, at least for me, is to write about it. So I began writing a nonfiction series of books for children, designed to get them out from in front of the TV and discovering nature. So, after I partnered with Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center for the photos and my ABC's of America's Plants books were born. (My love of wolves inspired my Big Bad Wolf book.)

Bestseller
#1 Plant and Flower Book for Kids
Reader's Choice Medalist

Some of my forthcoming works include: 

Rebekah's Dress (Rebekah's Saga, #2) from 5 Prince Publishing

The Calling (Christian Western) from Prairie Rose Publications, April 1

Desperado from 5 Prince Publishing

The ABC's of Arkansas Plants

The ABC's of Really Cool Dinosaurs

 

I am working toward my Masters of Arts in Medieval European History and am 12 hours in. I also work as an editor for 5 Prince Publishing. It's nice to meet you!! 

WeWriWa - Amish Romance, Rebekah's Quilt

Hello everyone and happy Sunday! Come journey back to the Amish community of Gasthof Village, Indiana Territory, 1888 in this installment of Rebekah's Quilt. 

            

The thunder was so loud when it ripped with a booming crack outside her window that Rebekah jumped, landing in a heap on the floor. Her waist-length blonde mane twisted in her fall and clung to her face like Peter’s bandana had clung to his neck.

With her heart pounding in her chest, Rebekah’s sleepy eyes flew open wide to view the world with adrenaline-charged vision.

“Help!”

            

The flashes of lightening were so bright that Rebekah was forced to cover her eyes with her arms. Even then, she could feel the brief heat from the striking bolts on her skin.

           

“Somebody, please!”

            

The rain hammered violently on her windows, demanding to be let in -or else.

I hope you enjoyed this excerpt! Get your copy of Rebekah's Quilt here, or check out more historical adventure romances by Sara Barnard here. 

To continue on with the other awesome authors of WeWriWa, go here! 

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving one and all -- and the day after! Around here, we have lots to be thankful for, and it can all seem lost in the wants and the don't haves from time to time.

How can we instill in our children that happiness isn't in the material things when our daily life is bombarded with the obvious happiness the "newest thing" is sure to bring?

With four little ones, this is something I grapple with on a daily basis.

Age old lessons such as "the gift is in the giving" seem to be long lost to the advertising world -- a heartbreaking realization, but one I work daily to overcome so my children will learn the TRUE meaning of what it means to be thankful and blessed.

Good health, a loving family, a beautiful Christmas tree decked with memories, a houseful of loving rescue pets, hope for tomorrow and plans for the future ... and that's just in the living room! Just a few things money can't buy but we'd be lost without.

What are you thankful for today? How do you instill the importance of the priceless things in your children?