SHARING MY FAVORITES

Often my blog posts are about craft or the writing life, but today I thought it would be fun to chat about my favorite things. Oprah does not have dibs on favorites. I can’t afford to give the products like she does, but most of my favorite things are free.
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Prayer—It boggles my mind that I can talk to God whenever I want. If you’re a talker like I am, then you know good listeners are hard to find. God is an attentive listener. I listen to Him too. Once in a while, He speaks to my heart in no uncertain terms. What a privilege prayer is.
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Sunrises and sunsets—Our house faces east and west so except on overcast days, we’re gifted with gorgeous displays twice daily. My favorite sunrises and sunsets take place over water. Even the pond out back reflects the beauty. I’ve taken a slew of pictures of the rising and setting sun, but none seems to capture God’s awesome sky painting.

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Oceans, lakes, rivers—viewing large bodies of water fills me with this amazing peace. And awe. We spend some time near the gulf in the winter and take walks along the beach. I drink in the sight of the ever-moving surf like a parched camel. Minus the slurping, of course.

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Walks—I love nature and being outdoors. I usually walk with my husband. He’s on a mission and doesn’t like to stop or even slow down. This is exercise to him, but for me it’s exploration. A time to connect with him, nature, the dog down the street. LOL
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Combine these favorites—A stroll along the beach at sunset captures a little piece of heaven on earth. Unpubbed Island goes mainland.
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Love songs: I can’t imagine this world without music. My favorites are love songs. Rod Stewart’s classic love songs top the list. We enjoy dancing too. But we're no Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.

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Creating: Scarves and afghans with knitting needles and yarn, art with colored pencils and paper, greeting cards with rubber-stamps and card stock, fictional people with my imagination and the computer. I’ve noticed writers often create more than books. God wired us to create.

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Books: Books are near the top of my list of favorite things you can buy. And I hope you buy lots. LOL I love reading books. I love writing them. I love holding them. I love seeing them—coffee table books and a stack of paperbacks make a house feel cozy, lived in. Trust me our house looks very cozy. Having a book on bookstore shelves is a thrill! Seeing friends books on the shelf is great fun!
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Last month I announced in Seekerville the release of my mail-order bride story The Substitute Bride. Where has the month gone? Tomorrow The Substitute Bride will be removed from Wal-Mart and grocery store shelves. Hey, maybe they all sold. Yep, I live in LaLa Land, a nice place. Visit me any time. If you want a copy of The Substitute Bride and don’t win today, its still available online at eHarlequin and Amazon and can be found and ordered at Barnes & Noble, Borders, Books-A-Million bookstores.

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My Critique Partner, Shirley Jump—No way could I list my favorites without mentioning Shirley. We’ve been critiquing for 15 years. More than critique partners, we’re friends. I asked Shirley to name her favorite thing. I already knew her answer. Shoes! She wears all these fabulous five-inch heels. I marvel at how easily she moves around on those stilts. I look up to her. Literally. She’s already taller. Add another four inches and I’m getting a crick in my neck. Shirley’s women's fiction release from Harlequin Next, Around the Bend is in stores now. I love the cover of this fun mother/daughter road trip story. Look at the daughter’s shoes. So Shirley! Here’s a blurb:
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Thelma and Louise they're not. First of all, Hilary and Rosemary Delaney are not friends—worse, they're mother and daughter.

Hilary's a wayward thirty-something running from a marriage proposal, and Rosemary's her disapproving mother, a retired lawyer who can't drive and won't fly. So they're driving together across country.

In a cherry-red Mustang.

With a potbellied pig named Reginald, and a life-size cutout of Rosemary's late husband.

Should be a fun trip. As the miles tick by, Hilary ponders why the word "marriage" has her so terrified and finds she's got a lot to learn—about her mother, love and life in general.

Together, Hilary and Rosemary will discover what's around the bend…if they don't drive each other crazy, or drive off a cliff first.

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Shirley will give away a copy of The Other Wife from those leaving comments today.
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Seekers and Seeker friends—in case you don’t know how important you are to me, let me make it clear. I am so blessed to have all of you in my life. Early on, I wrote in a vacuum. Not the Hoover variety, but alone with no one to share the ups and downs of the writing life. So thanks to Shirley, my fourteen Seeker Sisters and our special followers who bless me daily.
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These favorites require an open wallet.

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DeBrand chocolates—a hometown favorite that’s delicious. I indulge in Hershey Kisses more frequently, but DeBrand’s is a treat, especially their truffles. Yummy.

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Vera Bradley bags—Vera Bradley originated in my hometown too. The owners started the business in a garage. Lots of imitators but Vera Bradley was first. They’re so well made they last for years. I’ve got garment bags, duffels, and cosmetic bags. Vera Bradley has an annual sale that draws thousands and golf and tennis events to raise funds for breast cancer research.

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Beauty products—I love make-up. Wear it. Spend money on it. Can’t do without it. With all the different skin types, I won’t go into brands. Besides we don’t have all day. LOL I’ll tout two products I love: Eyelash curler—opens up the eye and makes the lashes look longer. Get a no-stick variety that doesn’t pull out your lashes. Highlighter pen—reflects the light and makes lines around the mouth and between the brows seem to disappear. Tip—apply under eyebrow arch to lift your eyes, your entire face. I could be in denial and it’s not a river in Egypt. LOL
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Cleaning Products—I like anything that makes cleaning easier. I’m allergic and sensitive to fragrance so I want effective and odorless products. Mr. Clean Magic Eraser—this guy is my hero. Easy on the hands and like every great hero does what he promises. Swiffer dust mop: I dust the furniture with the Swiffer cloth then turn it over and attach it to the mop head and run it over our solid surface floors. It’s great at removing dust and hair but won’t pick up crumbs. Remove and toss in the trash. Couldn't be easier.

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I asked my husband to name his favorite thing. He said, "You." That man is hilarious. He was afraid this was a trick question. LOL Then he said, "Titleist Pro V1x golf balls." He claims they’re the only golf balls he's used that will stop on the green. These are expensive to smack around the course and lose so he asks for them for Christmas and birthdays. Vince and Mel, if you’re out there, please don’t hesitate to pop in and tell us your favorite guy things.

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I brought my breakfast favorites this morning—strong coffee, cheese blintzes with blueberry topping, apple fritters—crunchy on the outside, soft and sweet on the inside—and fresh fruit.

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Share your favorite thing/s for a chance to win an autographed copy of The Other Wife and The Substitute Bride. Two winners today! Notice the shoes!

Please remember to give your e-mail address in @ and dot form. Thanks!
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Blessings, Janet

www.janetdean.net

The Substitute Bride releases tomorrow!

Seekerville is the best place to celebrate! I had a blast partying on Unpubbed Island after recent Seeker sales! I’m sure Ruthy, Tina and Audra would agree that nothing in a writer’s career is more exciting than The Call.

But a very close, so close it’s not really second, is the release of a book. Today I’m celebrating that The Substitute Bride, Steeple Hill Love Inspired Historical, releases tomorrow. I have yet to see the book in stores, but sightings have been reported. I will go looking Tuesday, just to hold that hot-off-the-press book in my equally hot little hands, to see Janet Dean on the cover, even at the top of each page. Seeing the book on the shelves is one of the ups in all the ups and downs of this wild, wonderful, wacky business of publication.

The Substitute Bride was a fun story to write—with a mail-order bride, disgruntled groom and a small town filled with quirky characters. Here’s a peek:

They Struck a Bargain for Marriage

Fleeing an arranged marriage, debutante Elizabeth Manning exchanges places with a mail-order bride bound for New Harmony, Iowa. Life on the frontier can’t be worse than forced wedlock to pay her father’s gambling debts. But Ted Logan’s rustic lifestyle and rambunctious children prove to be more of a challenge than Elizabeth expects. She doesn’t know how to be a mother or a wife. She doesn’t even know how to tell Ted the truth about her past—especially as her feelings for him grow. Little does she know, Ted’s hiding secrets of his own. When their pasts collide, there’s more than one heart at stake.

Why was Ted disgruntled?

When he and Elizabeth are about to speak their vows, the bride suggests one teeny change—the name on the marriage license. A clear sign trouble lies ahead for this couple.

As a homemaker and mother, Elizabeth Manning is definitely a "fish out of water." Poor Ted. Yet no matter how inept she is, Elizabeth perseveres. She manages to find unique ways to handle the children and her new and very challenging life on the farm. I admire her spirit and fortitude—the same attributes that enabled women to survive the challenges of the West.

Ted is a dreamboat with a Call of his own. And a past he fears will raise its ugly head. Elizabeth is carrying a secret too. Life is never dull in New Harmony, Iowa.

In my quest for information to write this story a friend suggested I read Hearts West: True Stories of Mail-Order Brides on the Frontier. The book explained that throughout the 1870s, 1880s and 1890s a weekly newspaper, The Matrimonial News, printed in San Francisco, California and Kansas City, Missouri, facilitated matchmaking. Men and women seeking a mate placed advertisements, giving physical description, their financial situation and whom they sought.

Hearts West makes fascinating reading and I recommend it to anyone interested in mail-order bride stories. Author Chris Enss relates stories of men and women, who wed often sight unseen. My husband and I dated for 2½ years. After we married, it didn’t take long to discover we still had things to learn about one another. All good of course. LOL Can you imagine the surprises in store for couples who may have exchanged a few letters or a picture and often never met until the wedding day?

Why did these women leave behind everything and everyone they knew to take the amazing step of marrying a stranger? Some were motivated by the fear of spinster-hood. Others desperately needed life’s necessities and hoped marriage would give them a better life.

Arranged marriages may sound odd to us, but a high percentage of marriages are still arranged today, a norm for many cultures. Though I have no idea how many of these marriages occurred, the accounts of some in Hearts West prove these mail-order bride matches varied from wedded bliss to divorce. But for those that flourished, these wives not only made a home for their husbands and children—establishing families, but also founded institutions like churches, schools and libraries, which brought civilization to the frontier.

Elizabeth, my heroine in The Substitute Bride traveled only as far as Iowa but compared to her debutante life in Chicago, an Iowa farm was the frontier. Still she managed to add a touch of civilization of her own to the town of New Harmony.

To make up for going on and on about my release, I’ve brought Starbucks coffee and Earl Gray tea with all the fixings, along with pans of hot from the oven flaky, crunchy on the outside, soft in the middle biscuits with honey. I’m serving biscuits today in honor of Elizabeth, a woman who never gave up until she got those biscuits right, and in memory of Lois, my husband’s mother, whose cookbook with the biscuit recipe somehow surfaced in Ted’s kitchen.

Captain Jack even agreed to make personalized omelets today. Let him know what you want, but ask nicely. He’s a bit surly this morning.

While we’re munching biscuits, please share any stories of your ancestors who married for convenience. Or perhaps you have a funny wedding incident you could relate. Or just say hello for a chance to win a copy of The Substitute Bride.

Janet
http://www.janetdean.net/
http://www.janetdean.blogspot.com/

Giving--the Secret to Success

Only ten days until Christmas Eve! Giving is such a big part of the celebration of Jesus’ birth. Some would say too big. You may agree, especially if you’re like me and don’t have your shopping finished. LOL But Christmas began with a gift. The Gift. God gave His only Son. So it’s only natural that we show our love with gifts, both the wrapped kind and less tangible variety involving our talent and time.

The best part—giving isn’t just appropriate at Christmas. In fact I believe giving may be the secret to success.

As writers, we have our individual goals. How will we achieve them? What sacrifices will we make? What efforts to grow and learn will we take? What agonies will we overcome? Every single one!

Why?

We have something to give. The goal isn’t just getting. Getting that manuscript published, getting money and recognition, getting on the New York Bestseller list. Though we might be working our butts off to get there, let’s face it, we can’t control whether we get our goals.

But we can control giving. I'd like to suggest the following ways we can give that will make this world a better place and just might bring us success.

Giving ourselves to God. Putting Him first. Building a relationship with Him. Using our time and talent for Him.

Giving our undivided attention to others. Not pretending to listen while we plot or write, but living in the moment, sharing ourselves. Glynna talked about Living Intentionally in her November 25 Seekerville post. It's well worth a second read.

Giving to ourselves. Holing up to write is essential. After all books don't write themselves. But we need exercise, healthy food, rest, spiritual food, fun. Make time for you. If you don't re-charge your batteries, you won't have anything left to give.

Giving to others. Using our time and talent to help others along the way. We can help other writers by mentoring, judging contests, critiquing or something as simple as a word of encouragement.

Giving our innermost selves to our craft. Pouring our hearts onto the page is hard, but when we do, we will give our readers a story that lifts, heals, strengthens and entertains. A lofty goal, it’s worth every ounce of our blood, sweat and tears. Let’s not be stingy by holding back.

Giving ourselves a chance to succeed. Dream big. Set goals. And work hard to achieve them. Don't waste the talent God gave.

I believe Winston Churchill said, “We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.”

Sounds like give is spelled L-O-V-E

In keeping with the theme, I’m giving away a copy of my February release The Substitute Bride.
Fleeing an arranged marriage, debutante Elizabeth Manning exchanges places with a mail-order bride bound for New Harmony, Iowa. Life on the frontier can’t be worse than forced wedlock to pay her father’s gambling debts. But Ted Logan’s rustic lifestyle and rambunctious children prove to be more of a challenge than Elizabeth expects. She doesn’t know how to be a mother or a wife. She doesn’t even know how to tell Ted the truth about her past—especially as her feelings for him grow. Little does she know, Ted’s hiding secrets of his own, and when their pasts collide, there’s more than one heart at stake.

Leave a comment to enter the drawing. Perhaps you’d like to share how someone has helped you or some strategies prioritizing your life so you have time to give.

And speaking of giving, I can’t tell you what it means to me to come to Seekerville and find familiar faces, our dear friends and followers. Thank you for taking the time to come and to share your thoughts and yes, even your cyber goodies. You bless the Seekers each and every day!

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas!

Janet