Dogwood Plantation, part of my James River Romances series, which released as an e-book and paperback in the fall, 2020, will soon be available through Audible.com! Evelyne LaBelle with Carpe Librum Designs did the beautiful covers. Aletha Duncan is the narrator for the audiobook.
If Amazon does like they did with The Fruitcake Challenge, if you've purchased the ebook they may end up giving you a discounted rate for the audio version. Watch for an upcoming sale on the Dogwood Plantation ebook when the audiobook releases!
4.4 Stars on Amazon and Goodreads!
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Releasing early May!!! Butterfly Cottage
My first contemporary novel--and first Women's Fiction (with romantic elements)!
I am SO excited about this novel. I started writing it in the summer of 2018. I'd stopped writing for a while and then God convicted me to tell a story that would honor my mother's last wishes before she died. This is a multi-generational story!
This cover was also designed by the uber talented Evelyne LaBelle at Carpe Librum Designs! It's my first cover of this type, since I've only had historical romance titles published (over 20!) in the past!
One liner: Life-changing journeys begin when three generations of women unexpectedly spend a summer at the family’s small town lake cottage.JUNE! Re-release of Expanded Novella!
Love's Escape originally released in The Captive Brides Collection from Barbour, which is now out of print. That means that the authors, myself included, have their rights back and can re-release their novellas.
Love's Escape by Carrie Fancett Pagels - Virginia, 1850
The Moonlight School
Narrated by Pilar Witherspoon
I have just started listening to this audiobook, which I purchased through Audible.com, but I am really enjoying it! Much of family is from Eastern Kentucky, and I grew up hearing stories of what it was like to live there. We've visited once and I would like to return.
Thoughts so far: Cora is quite eccentric and she really does put poor Lucy into some dangerous situations. Mountain people as not always quite welcoming to strangers, especially if they are moonshiners. I have a couple of family members who were.
I've really enjoyed reading about logging in that area during that time because my great-grandfather would go up to Northern Michigan to log up there. So I thought Kentucky had been pretty well logged out by then in that area. My grandfather ended up being born in Traverse City, Michigan, even though he was from Kentucky (which explained why we couldn't find a birth record for him in Kentucky!) That was in 1906, before the start of this novel.
Lucy is a really sympathetic heroine. I'm dying to find out what happened to her little sister. Also interested in hearing more about the illiteracy. My mother and her siblings attended school in Kentucky and my grandfather was able to read and write. This story makes me wonder about the previous generations. What a blessing that educators did reach out to help adults attain literacy!
Haunted by her sister's mysterious disappearance, Lucy Wilson arrives in Rowan County, Kentucky, in the spring of 1911 to work for Cora Wilson Stewart, superintendent of education. When Cora sends Lucy into the hills to act as scribe for the mountain people, she is repelled by the primitive conditions and intellectual poverty she encounters. Few adults can read and write.
Born in those hills, Cora knows the plague of illiteracy. So does Brother Wyatt, a singing schoolmaster who travels through the hills. Involving Lucy and Wyatt, Cora hatches a plan to open the schoolhouses to adults on moonlit nights. The best way to combat poverty, she believes, is to eliminate illiteracy. But will the people come?
As Lucy emerges from a life in the shadows, she finds purpose; or maybe purpose finds her. With purpose comes answers to her questions, and something else she hadn't expected: love.
Inspired by the true events of the Moonlight Schools, this stand-alone novel from best-selling author Suzanne Woods Fisher brings to life the story that shocked the nation into taking adult literacy seriously. You'll finish the last moment of this enthralling story with deep gratitude for the gift of reading.
Giveaway: Leave a comment for a chance to win a copy. The Moonlight School comes in paperback and also ebook versions, too.
Roots of Wood and Stone, Sedgwick County Chronicles, by Amanda Wen (Kregel, 2021), ISBN: 9780825446689.
From Amanda's publicist:
Roots of Wood and Stone is a warm, delightfully written split-time novel that will resonate with readers looking for stories that reveal the beauty of God’s plan for our lives, and how our actions ripple for generations.
Sloane Kelley was abandoned at birth, and while she wants more than anything to learn where she came from, her family roots remain a mystery. As curator of the Sedgwick County Museum of History, Sloane has dedicated her life to making sure others can connect with their history. When a donor drops off a dusty old satchel, she doesn’t expect much from the common artifact; after all, the museum has a few on display and more in storage. However, she finds real treasure inside: a nineteenth-century diary. Now, she’s on the hunt to see if there’s more where it came from.
Garrett Anderson just wanted to clean out his grandmother’s historic but tumbledown farmhouse before selling it to fund her medical care. He’s always been the responsible one, and with her advancing Alzheimer’s, he can’t afford to be sentimental about the family home. But his carefully ordered plan runs up against two formidable obstacles after he takes a few things to the local museum: Sloane, who’s fallen in love with both the diaries and the old house, and his own heart, which is drawn to Sloane. Selling the house that holds so much history will disappoint both Sloane and his sister, Lauren, who is doing her best to care for their grandmother, but Garrett finds himself in an impossible situation.
A century and a half earlier, motherless Annabelle Collins embarks with her aunt and uncle on the adventure of a lifetime: settling the prairies of Sedgwick County, Kansas. The diaries she left behind paint a portrait of life, loss, and love—and a God who faithfully carried her through it all. Paging through the diaries together takes Sloane and Garrett on a journey they never could have planned, which will change them in ways they never imagined.
And Sloane may just find her roots in a place she never would have expected.
Roots of Wood and Stone is set in the area of Kansas Wen has lived in most of her life. In fact, the story is inspired by aspects of her own family history. “One of my favorite things about split time is watching the contemporary characters dig into the past,” Wen explains. “My mother is a genealogist who’s been tracing our family history since before I was born, and her passion for uncovering our family’s stories has been an important backdrop my entire life. Her research has given me an appreciation for those who came before and a desire to pass along this appreciation to my own kids.” As an homage to her mother and all the rest of her ancestors, Wen named many of the people and places in the book after family. Parts of their stories are even woven into the historical portion of the book.
Wen not only offers readers two plotlines filled with plenty of history and romance wrapped into one story, she mixes in a healthy dose of humor and strong faith elements as well. “All my characters have deep needs that they try to fill through other means (achievement, research, hard work, planning, etc.), but throughout the story they learn that only God can fill those needs,” Wen shares. “He has a beautiful plan, one that goes far beyond anything we could ever ask or imagine, and he takes all our broken pieces and loose ends and weaves those trials into a tapestry more beautiful than we could possibly imagine. He is always there, faithfully guiding our steps, even—or perhaps especially—when we’re not aware of it. I hope my readers will trust him, his individual love and care for each of us, and his perfect plan just a little bit more after they close this book.”
Wen is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) and regularly contributes author interviews for their Fiction Finder feature. She also frequently interviews authors for her blog and is a contributor to the God Is Love blog. Her debut novel, Roots of Wood and Stone, releases from Kregel Publications on February 2, 2021.
In addition to her writing, Wen is an accomplished professional cellist and pianist who frequently performs with orchestras, chamber groups, and her church’s worship team. She serves as a choral accompanist as well. A lifelong denizen of the flatlands, Wen lives in Kansas with her patient, loving, and hilarious husband, their three adorable Wenlets, and a snuggly Siamese cat.
To find Amanda Wen’s blog and short stories, visit www.amandawen.com. Readers can also follower her on Facebook (@AuthorAmandaWen), Twitter (@AuthorAmandaWen), and Instagram (@authoramandawen).
This is the audiobook cover version for my upcoming Audible release of Dogwood Plantation. Right now I'm listening to the narration from Aletha Duncan. Since this is a 95,000 word novel, the audiobook is fairly long. I've been battling migraines, so I'm a little behind. Once I've made my corrections. then my narrator can make corrections and we can submit to ACX. That could take about a month more to get the title up for sale on Audible. So the estimate at this time is for mid-March.
I also have a narrator for The Steeplechase! My narrator, Vicki, is getting ready to work on this novella, which is the first current story in the Love Along the James River series. This book was a Holt Medallion finalist (what a thrill!!!). Estimated release date is April, 2021.
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My other three audiobooks are all available through Audible.com (click here). The Steeplechase will be released in broader venues--more information to follow when it releases this Spring!
GIVEAWAY: One of my audiobooks, including the upcoming releases, to one of my commenters!
