Christians Read

In case you missed the big 25 author scavenger hunt last week, I thought I’d post my funny story from that even here for your enjoyment.

Making gardenia perfume, OR: Sometimes the best laid plans don’t work!

   In the picture on the left, little Louise (me) is standing in front of a gardenia bush out of season. (It was square dance season.) On the right, my brother is reading under a gardenia bush in full bloom.

When I was in first grade, we had eighteen gardenia bushes growing outside our family home near Theodore, Alabama. Since then, the fragrance of the blossoms has been a favorite of mine, so much so that I often create heroines whose perfume of choice is gardenia. Eleven years ago, my husband and I moved to a home that had a well-rooted gardenia bush that blossoms prolifically every April and May. What a treat this is to me each year!

In my brand new release, Cowboy Lawman’s Christmas Reunion (October 2017 LIH), my heroine grew up making her own perfume from gardenias that grew outside her home in 1870s and 80s New Orleans. I decided to give it a try myself. I found a recipe online (https://www.leaf.tv/articles/how-to-make-gardenia-perfume) and carefully followed directions. All pictures are my property and subject to copyright laws.

Gathering ingredients and tools. Mashing blossoms. Adding odorless alcohol and spring water.

Let sit 48 hours. Strain through cheese cloth. Test the fragrance.

Well, phooey! The finished product didn’t smell pleasant at all, but rather just like musty leaves. I had tried 80 proof alcohol that first time, so after picking more blossoms and repeating the process, I used 100 proof alcohol (the recipe suggests vodka). Neither worked. By then all of my gardenia blossoms were gone for the year. My attempt to make perfume just as a lady of the 1880s might have done just didn’t work out. What secrets did she have that I wasn’t privy to?

In the meantime, I tried using gardenia scented essential oils mixed with unscented alcohol. Bingo! It worked, giving off a lovely fragrance. This small amount should last me until next spring. In the meantime, I may continue to research this and try again next year when our bush blooms again. After all, I want to make perfume the old-fashioned way. Why? Just for fun!

Here’s the story of my perfume lady and her beau:

Sheriff Justice Gareau can make outlaws quake in their boots…yet coming face-to-face with Evangeline Benoit once again takes away all his composure. She broke their engagement, and his heart, to marry a wealthy older man. Despite his reluctance, Justice can’t avoid the widowed single mother of two when they’re collaborating on a Christmas village for the town’s children.
The loving boy Evangeline once knew has become an unyielding lawman. Forced to flee New Orleans over false allegations, Evie doubts Justice will take her side when the past follows her to Colorado. Especially when he and her troublesome son butt heads. But perhaps the spirit of Christmas will soften his heart and give them a second chance at love.

Copyright © 2017 by Harlequin Enterprises Limited

Cover art and cover copy text used by arrangement with Harlequin Enterprises.

® and ™ Limited or its affiliated companies, used under license.

It always amazes me how God works in our lives to fulfil our dreams. It may not happen the way we plan for it to, but I’ve discovered in my life, that His plan is always the best for me.

Today, I’d like to share with you how God worked in my life to make my dream of becoming a published author a reality. It was the journey of a lifetime, and through each step along the way, I now see God’s guiding hand.

I was about eight years old when I read my first Nancy Drew mystery and knew that I wanted to create stories just like that when I grew up.

Fast forward six more years, I discovered Phyllis Whitney and Victoria Holt and became hooked on the romantic suspense genre.

And so, ready to write my first book, I sat down at my brother’s old typewriter, (yes, I’m dating myself), and began to put the story that was in my head down on paper. At that time, I had no idea that I was about to embark on the adventure of a lifetime.

Sadly that first story was never finished. Life took precedence over my writing career for a very long time. Yet, throughout all those years, I still continued to write whenever I had the chance, keeping my dream of becoming a published author alive when it seemed nothing more than an impossible desire.

In the beginning, I had no idea all the intricate steps involved in creating a suspense story, but I wrote, I read about my craft, and I found a great network of seasoned authors who willingly shared their knowledge.

For a while, I tried writing other genres, before I came back to my first love, inspirational romantic suspense. A very wise author once told me, write what you enjoy reading and then perfect it. In other words, if you don’t read contemporary romance, then don’t try to write about it.

For me, years of struggling to keep the dream alive would come down to five minutes in the spotlight.

In 2012, I entered the Speed Dating Contest that editor Emily Rodmell was hosting. I remember reading about the contest on the Harlequin website and going back and forth on whether or not to enter. You see, I’d entered contests before without much luck. In the end, I did enter and was one of the lucky ones who got an appointment to chat with Emily.

On the day of the pitch, I was on vacation in Colorado. At our cabin, internet service is nonexistent. It would have been so easy to say, oh well, better luck next time, but I think God was nudging me not to give up.

And so, my husband and I drove into the small town of Pagosa Springs where I did the entire chat on my laptop in the parking lot outside of the Ace Hardware Store. My fingers were actually shaking so much I was convinced that I’d typed nothing but gibberish.

Emily was kind enough to request a synopsis. I promptly sent the synopsis out to her. Then she requested the first three chapters, followed by the full manuscript. With each request, I tried not to get my hopes up. As I said, I’d been here before.

Yet in December 2012, Emily called to tell me I’d sold my first book to Love Inspired Suspense. To this day, I can’t tell you what she said to me other than that she wanted to buy FORGOTTEN PAST for Love Inspired Suspense. It was a surreal moment. One that still hasn’t fully sunken in. I write for Love Inspired Suspense! It’s a great feeling to have your dream become a reality and even greater to hold your own book in your hands.

Framed For Murder Blurb:

LOST MEMORIES

Faith McKenzie was the only survivor of a brutal home invasion. Viciously attacked and left for dead, Faith can’t remember anything about that night—including the identity of the killer. All she knows is that he’s stalking her from every place she flees and has tracked her to a small Maine island. Her neighbor, private investigator and security specialist JT Wyatt, rescues her twice. Now JT is insisting on the whole story—a story that Faith can’t remember. Desperate to feel safe, Faith puts her trust in the handsome P.I. Yet a killer is dead set on ensuring that Faith’s memory never returns.

Since that first call, I’ve sold five more books to Love Inspired Suspense. So I would tell anyone who has a dream that seems impossible at the moment, don’t give up. Because with God, all things are possible.

Framed For Murder – Available now

Blurb:

FALSELY ACCUSED 

Framed for helping her partner smuggle guns—and then murdering him—CIA agent Liz Ramirez must find the evidence that will prove her innocence…before she’s caught or killed. So when her squad’s leader attempts to bring her in for questioning, she knows her future depends on convincing Aaron Foster to go rogue and help her. On the run from the rest of her team and the gun dealers who are convinced she knows the location of their missing weapons, Liz risks losing the proof that would clear her name. But will eluding her pursuers—and trying not to fall for the handsome commander—prove to be fatal?

All the best…

Mary Alford

www.maryalford.net

Researching the Everglades Was Fun!

By Margaret Daley

A couple of weeks ago I went to Florida for the NINC conference in St. Petersburg. It’s a great writer’s conference. A friend and I decided to do some research while we were in Florida. We stayed overnight in Naples before the conference and spent the next day in the Everglades. We weren’t sure we would get to see much because of the Hurricane Irma a few weeks before. The Everglades National Park was partially open, but Big Cypress National Preserve was still closed due to the hurricane. Thankfully we found a place that had recently opened back up for business, and we were able to take a tour of the Everglades off Highway 41, which cuts across the lower part of Florida and goes to Miami.

I learned so much from our guides into the swamp. What not to eat and what I can eat. For a writer that’s great information to have for a romantic suspense book. I saw a lot of down trees, but also how the Everglades was bouncing back. The high waters were starting to recede and the animals that fled to higher ground were returning. I got to see an alligator in the wils and tons of beautiful flowers and birds. I thought being outside a lot I would have problems with my allergies, but I didn’t. I believe one of the reasons why was the air plants that littered the Everglades. Some were destroyed in the hurricane, but there were still many in the remaining trees to purify the air. It was a perfect day. I held a three-year-old alligator and talked to a man who handles alligators. Again, wonderful research for a book! But the best part of the trip was traveling into the Everglades on a dirt road. My friend and I didn’t see another human being for almost two hours. The road was narrow (one car only), and the swamp came up on both sides. There was no cell reception, so we tried not to think about what would happen to us if we broke down, but a lady at the Everglades tour company told me about the scenic road. She was right. It was great!