My Grandma (Elizabeth Babcock) is one of the woman who had a positive and long-lasting influence on my life. She left us many years ago, but her memory lives on in all of us whose lives she touched. My tribute to a great woman and a wonderful grandmother:
Photograph of Grandma Babcock and me circa 1954.
Are you following Sacred Touches blog? Natalie’s posts are always filled with wisdom from The Master and from many masters of literature as well. ENJOY! Bette A. Stevens
Who is the happiest of men? He who values the merits of others,
and in their pleasure takes joy, even as though t’were his own.
~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, German writer and Politician
One of my fellow bloggers commented today about the beauty in one of my posts and said she needed the joy. It was such a blessing to know that I had spread some joy in the life of another. So tonight I thought I would share some thoughts about joy. And since this week is A.A. Milne’s birthday I decided to use some illustrations from his book to help do that. Milne was the English author who brought so much joy not only to children but also to those of us fortunate enough to have read the Winnie the Pooh stories to our children.
Joy is not in things; it is in us. ~Richard Wagner, German composer
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Great tips for authors… I’m revising the draft of my first novel now. Thank you! ~ Bette A. Stevens
1) The opening sentence of a book/chapter/scene should be hooking and make the reader curious enough to read onward.
Like any man, I loved my wife, but these 3 a.m. suicidal thoughts were killing me.
2) The closing sentence of a chapter/scene should never let the reader slip in a bookmark. You need to make the reader want to keep going. Cliffhangers, uncertainty, new questions, they need to be built into that final sentence.
I worked best under pressure–they’d never know how much.
3) There is a power to 3 in using the same word, phrase or sentence structure. Don’t stop at twice, make sure it’s 3 times.
I didn’t want the end of me. Over a girl like her. Or a friend like him. Or a father like mine.
4) Write fresh. Find a new way to describe something. Your readers will thank you.
My jackrabbit pulse began to…
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Today’s historical romance feature is The Finishing of Lady Amelia (Book 3 in The Sisters of the Heart Series) by Scarlett Rains. Thanks so much for stopping by to learn more about Scarlett and her wonderful books. Join Scarlett’s Book Blast Tour & don’t forget to enter her fun and fantastic Valentine’s Day Giveaway. Happy reading! —Bette A. Stevens
The Finishing of Lady Amelia(Sisters of the Heart Series, Book 3.
Prequel to Betrayals of the Heart)
[Kindle Edition]
Publication Date: December 25, 2013
Scarlett Rains (Author)
Book Description
Lady Amelia Fitzailwyn knows everything about everything. She certainly does not require Finishing School. If John and Alex had not tattled on her, she would still be home! It was fine for them to chase every skirt in the Kingdom but she has one kiss …or two, and Uncle carts her off!
Day one of her banishment at Madame de Rigeur’s Young Ladies Finishing Academie is dismal. Her roommate is insular, Clarissa is cruel…and that spotty girl’s rash is probably contagious! Then, she meets Monsieur Pelfrie, the handsomest man she has ever seen, and Amelia decides it might just be possible to endure the two long years away .
Enjoy this delightful tale of mischief and mayhem as a sheltered young woman comes of age in Georgian England.
Jasmine (Goodreads)
It’s been awhile since I’ve read historical fiction. I always really like it when I read it. This made me want to read more of it. I really enjoyed this. It was a nice break from all the paranormal I’ve been reading lately. This has some really awesome characters with a hilarious storyline set in the 1780s. I think Amelia is the main character but I’m not sure. It flips through different peoples point of views. One thing I liked about Amelia is how she never gave up on love. She wasn’t going to let her friends change her mind. Another thing I liked was how she didn’t hold grudges against people. Even if they were mean she would give them another chance. Lydia had her snotty moments. She was really fun and somewhat nice most of the time. Anne was probably my favorite character. She was cute and sweet. I like Josie too. She seemed like the mature one of the group. Although I don’t agree with the no romance or marriage stuff. One of my favorite parts was the teachers. Those teachers were seriously hilarious.
This has a real contemporary feel. To me it was like historical contemporary fiction. The plot was basically the everyday life of the girls. I like the boarding school setting. I always enjoy books set in boarding schools. My absolute favorite part of the whole book was all the craziness the girls got into. They were always pulling pranks on each other and other girls. I’m gonna steal their ideas. They were seriously some of the best pranks ever. They were hilarious. It was also very realistic. I can totally see people in the 1780s doing some of this stuff. Overall I really enjoyed this. It was very fast paced and difficult to put down. Everything was very well done.
Scarlett Rains left the womb with pen in hand…which might explain why her mother carted her off to a children’s home at an early age. Not one to let such things distract her from nurturing her creative talent, she lived, learned, laughed and loved her way through what could have been a traumatic childhood.
That little bend in the road, and a battle with breast cancer, could not stop Scarlett from writing. The more emotionally evocative events of her life made her appreciate her shared humanity and the desperate need that most people have to laugh. Scarlett keeps those memories close when she writes. She draws on the personalities of the wonderful people she has been blessed to encounter when she develops her characters, always striving to make her readers laugh so that they may escape their worries for awhile.
Scarlett is a clinician by profession, though she is trying hard to deny that so as to continue writing. We wish her every success. Her books are enjoyed by readers around the world and we would hate to lose such a talented author.
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One concern parents have is how to inspire children to meet challenges with patience and persistence. That is the plot of this new book.
Award-winning picture book adventure AMAZING MATILDA teaches kids about friendship, patience and persistence. All the while, they’ll be learning about the monarch butterfly life cycle and the caterpillar’s dependence upon the milkweed plant for survival. You’ll find this gem of a tale for readers 6+ and about the author’s other books at http://www.Amazon.com/author/betteastevens
Today’s historical romance feature is Seduction of Bluestocking (second novel in the series) by Scarlett Rains. Tomorrow we’ll be featuring Book 3 in The Sisters of the Heart Series— so be sure to check back and to follow the tour to find out more about these wonderful novels and their fascinating author. If you haven’t joined the GIVEAWAY yet, you can ENTER at the end of this post. Happy reading. —Bette A. Stevens
(Sisters of the Heart Series, Book Two)
4.5 Rating (Goodreads)
[Kindle Edition]
Scarlett Rains (Author)
Publication Date: December 25, 2013
Jilted and heart-broken, Miss Rachel Steele leaves home to begin a new life as governess, mind made up never again to succumb to a man’s charm. Then William Seaton, old friend of her employer, disturbs her peace: meddling in matters outside his concern. “Good riddance to bad rubbish,” she says when he finally leaves. Soon thereafter, disaster strikes and Rachel accompanies her charge to the estate of her guardian, the Duke of Warwick: who from his letters sounds like a man well in his dotage. Rachel marches in to his study to persuade the doddering old coot to keep her on as governess. Words fail her when she finds that he is not at all old…definitely not doddering, but none other than the irritating, William Seaton!
William Seaton’s life is precisely as he would have it: mistresses all prettily lined up in a row, a cozy chair at Whites molded comfortably to fit his frame: fine port and cheroots a nod away…just perfect! He is anything but charmed to renew Miss Steele’s acquaintance, she is a nuisance he does not want or need, in fact, he’d prefer to hear nothing except farewell from her tightly-pressed lips. Knowing the annoying bluestocking will likely disrupt his well-ordered life, he agrees to retain her for the sake of his ward.
Hence begins a sizzling romantic campaign of Napoleonic proportions which draws the unwelcome attention of a villain from William’s past. Will Rachel and William realize their love for one another before he seeks revenge?
I am grateful for every instant of my life…good and bad. Each moment was a lesson that moved me in the direction intended for me and made me who I am. I breathe in and say, “Thank you, Lord”; I breathe out and say, “Please, guide and direct me.” And, here I am.
I will never forget the day I rang the radiation bell after my last radiation treatment. This inscription was on the card my treatment team gave me:
“Ring this bell, three times well to celebrate this day.
My course is run, my work is done and I’m on my way.”
If you have been diagnosed with cancer, may God bless you and give you the courage and strength for your battle. When you reach that point where you can accept the reality of your diagnosis, I say face it, take it in and know that you have the strength and courage to conquer it …in your way. You may be surprised at how profoundly you will change.
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Today’s historical romance feature is Promises of the Heart (first novel in the series) by Scarlett Rains. We’ll be featuring one of Scarlett’s GIVEAWAY BOOKS each day from January 18-20. But, don’t stop there. Be sure to follow the tour to find out more about these wonderful novels and their fascinating author. You can follow the tour and enter the GIVEAWAY right here. GOOD LUCK & HAPPY READING! —Bette A. Stevens
Promises of the Heart(Sisters of the Heart Series, Book One)
[Kindle Edition]
Scarlett Rains (Author)
Publication Date: December 25, 2013
Book Description
Fate Plays a Hand!
When Amelia Fitzailwyn, Duchess of Kensington, is orphaned at a very young age, she must leave home and travel to her new guardian’s estate . She embarks on the journey with her beloved governess, Rachel: wishing all the while that her Uncle William would somehow rescue her. To her delight, he does! Uncle William is her new guardian…and he has two sons! Amelia happily settles in to life at Havenwood Manor with her new family.
The Stage is Set!
What are the servants whispering about? Have they noticed all those heated looks between Uncle and Rachel? Amelia sees mysteries everywhere…and would solve them all if her cousins would leave her alone long enough to do her research! She wishes John, the eldest, would keep his nose out of her affairs and poke it back in his theme book, How to be the Most Boring Personage in the Realm. And Alex, the skirt chasing hypocrite, irritates her even more: going on-and-on about her one little rendezvous with Simon.
Time Will Tell!
When it turns out Uncle, is not really her uncle, Amelia begins to see the irksome boys in a new light. In fact, she plans to marry one of them! Will John stop straining his steely grey eyes reading and see her for the woman she is? Or will Alex stop pulling the curl out of her hair long enough to notice the sheen of it as it wraps around his finger? Solve the mystery, dear reader, as you enjoy this delightful tale of a young woman’s coming of age in Georgian England.
Amelia Fitzailwyn is a precocious and incorrigible imp. We meet Amelia when she’s 7 years old in Promises of the Heart by Scarlett Rains. This 18th century tale meanders through time and stories at the usual pace of these stories — slowly, artfully and colorfully! Amelia loves nature’s creatures and enjoys bringing them inside to the complete annoyance of most of the females surrounding her. (Yet, it makes for such funny moments when her little ‘friends’ are found…)
The tale unfolds bit by bit introducing rich characters that are vivid and noble. But in true form, Rains’ characters are also completely over the top! They feel life’s little slights so keenly that it makes them richly flamboyant. We first see this in Amelia’s parents who after years of marriage love each other desperately. Tragedy strikes and Amelia is left bereft of them and the story begins in earnest.
Shortly before the tragedy, Amelia’s parents acquire a governess, Rachel; a Baroness in her own right. We then begin our journey of finding out Rachel’s story and how it intertwines with Amelia’s. You see, everything revolves around Amelia! Amelia’s appointed ward has required that Amelia leave her home and travel across the country to his estate to live henceforth. With abandonment and trust issues now firmly in place, Amelia is terrified and Rachel is barely able to comfort her.
However, the long trip ends successfully and Amelia learns she is to live with a trusted friend of the family along with his young sons who become Amelia’s best friends.
There is so much more mystery and intrigue that happens in between these large events pointed out here but to tell them would ruin the surprise and enjoyment of this story. Promises of the Heart is the perfect story if you want to read about love, the elite and their machinations to enjoy life and get ahead in this much less technological time period.
Promises of the Heart is a lovely first book in the Heart series. Fans of historical fiction &/or historical romance would do well to read it.
Scarlett Rains was raised in an orphanage, survived that and breast cancer! She considers all of it a blessing, refuses to let anything stop her; insisting that life is what you make it! Scarlett is a person who will spout optimistic ‘truths’ with her last breath! She is a busy grandma juggling a hectic schedule to try to balance her family’s needs (including her insular cat’s hissy-fits and her demanding dog’s pathetic begging for belly rubs) and still manage a few minutes to write her stories. She often awakens from a sound sleep, jumps up, snatches a cup of coffee and hides in her office behind locked doors typing 18th century romance novels. Scarlett believes escaping her day-to-day responsibilities by living vicariously in the lives of the characters she creates keeps her out of trouble …and saves the cost of psychotherapy services. The author’s delightful Sisters of the Heart Series books are enjoyed by readers around the world. Scarlett loves receiving feedback and ideas from her readers.
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Don’t miss out on author Scarlett Rains’s Sisters of the Heart series GIVEAWAY. There are great giveaway prizes for bloggers and for readers!
I’ll be featuring Scarlett and the three books featured in this fantastic GIVEAWAY right here on my blog January 18-20 (one book each day). You’ll find out more about each novel and get to know author Scarlett Rains, too. Meanwhile, stop by Artemis Books to find out more about this fantastic Book Blast and Valentine’s Day Giveaway at http://artemisbooksblog.blogspot.com/2014/01/artemis-books-is-launching-sisters-of.html
Follow the Tour
Jan 13th
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Jan 21st-23rd
Jan 24th-26th
Jan 27th
Enter for chance to win fun prizes!
Thank you for your comment.
Here’s what one of Scarlett Rains’s readers has to say about the first book in the author’s Sisters of the Heart series:
PULLS YOU IN!
“Promises of the Heart is an eighteenth century tale of a young girl’s coming of age. The first thing I really liked about this book was the lovely graphics reflecting the time period in London, England. The reader is also pulled into the story at once with carefully crafted prose appealing to all five senses. For example: ‘watching the fluffy clouds lazily form shapes that quickly swirled into other shapes in the gentle breeze…a cacophony of sounds bombarded the weary coachman: the hue and cry of merchants and street people rose up above the clopping of the horses hooves in a relentlessly forlorn lament’. Scarlett Rains does a masterful job on style continuity throughout the entire novel. Somewhat like Charles Dickens, but more like the Victoria Holt novels I read profusely at one time in my life, ‘Promises of the Heart’ resonates with cleverly woven intrigue surrounded by authentic characters of the day. Historical novels should inform about the life and times of the era–‘Promises of the Heart’ did not disappoint! The segue to her second novel ‘Seduction of a Bluestocking’ was a perfect cliffhanger, enticing the reader to find out what happens next. Well done, Scarlett Rains! Five Stars!” ~ Nancy Jill Thames
Sheila Deeth: author of The Five-Minute Bible Story Series & self-proclaimed ‘Mongrel Christian Mathematician’
“Tell me a bedtime Bible story…”
Author Sheila Deeth has a whole series of bedtime Bible stories for us and she’s working on more!
GENESIS PEOPLE from her Five-Minute Bible Story Series is FREE on Amazon until January 14th; and, you won’t want to miss out on BETHLEHEM’S BABY. READERS: Here’s a sneak preview in Sheila’s own words from the interview—:
“With forty individual tales based on the first Christmas story, Bethlehem’s Baby brings the real world where Jesus was born to life, peopling it with characters children can relate to, and inviting readers to imagine themselves in the scene. “
Hi, Sheila. It’s great to have you with us today. I can’t wait to share what you’re doing to bring the stories of old to the latest generation.
Sheila’s stories draw readers and listeners right into the scenes.
That is exciting, Sheila. Tell us a little about you and about your life …
Well… I was meant to complete this interview before Christmas, and I completely forgot until January. I guess that tells you I’m fairly disorganized. But I try to read, write, and write some more, in between networking and doing the everyday stuff of shopping, cleaning, washing… I used to write computer programs. Then I got paid to break them. Then I lost my job and wrote books instead.
How about your family?
We have three sons, two of whom came home for Christmas, effectively distracting me and making my life even more disorganized than usual. Can I use the fact that they hijacked my computer to kill aliens as my excuse for failing to get back in touch with you? The third son is a doctor and had to work over Christmas, but we’ll see him soon, so we’re keeping the lights on and extending our Christmas celebration to the middle of January.
How long have you been writing and what type of writing do you normally do?
I learned to write, eventually, in elementary school, and I’ve been writing stories ever since. I tried my hand at novels before I lost my job, but never had time for such a concentrated relationship with my characters. When the job went away, I wrote to keep my spirits up—fiction being so much more fun to write than job applications. Some of the stories grew into novellas and novels. Others stayed short and simple because I wanted to tell them to children.
Can you give us a brief synopsis of your book?
Bethlehem’s Baby came out as an ebook just before Christmas, but it’s going to be released as a real, physical book soon! I’m seriously excited, and so looking forward to holding it in my hands. My Mum’s excited too—she’s visiting from England and hopes to take some copies back with her. But you asked for a synopsis. Sorry…
With forty individual tales based on the first Christmas story, Bethlehem’s Baby brings the real world where Jesus was born to life, peopling it with characters children can relate to, and inviting readers to imagine themselves in the scene. Meet the shepherd boy whose grandfather keeps complaining about the noise until angels sing. Meet the Babylonian research student who discovers the meaning of the star but never gets the credit. A girl on the road from Jerusalem to Egypt keeps asking, “Are we nearly there?” And a baby boy grows into a small child on the streets of Nazareth.
What prompted you to write…
I’ve always told stories, as long ago as I can remember. But I took forever to learn to read or write. Then, one day, the elementary school principal brought a reel to reel tape recorder into class. She said if I wouldn’t write my stories she’d have to tape them. I decided the pencil was considerably less scary (and smaller) than the microphone, and I’ve been writing ever since.
Do you have a favorite line from the book?
Hmm. That’s an interesting question. I think my favorite line from Bethlehem’s Baby is: “God didn’t hang the world on a wall when he’d finished. He didn’t leave the Bible on a bookshelf to look nice. And he didn’t sell his program to people who wanted to play humans on their computer.”
Who is your favorite character and why?
I’m rather fond of the wise research student because he likes to play with numbers, and I’m a mathematician.
What was the hardest part about writing your book?
I did quite a lot of research to learn what life would have been like in Israel when Jesus was born. That was probably the hardest part of writing the book, but it was also great fun.
Do you do anything besides write?
I cook, clean, wash… I used to walk the dog (I really miss her!)… And I read, a lot. I’m a very fast reader. Then I write book reviews, but I guess that’s writing again.
How can my readers get copies of your books?
Soon you’ll be able to get print copies from Amazon and other sites as well, but at the moment you’d have to get an eCopy, from:
Amazon kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EY172MA/
Barnes and Noble nook: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s?store=allproducts&keyword=Bethlehem%27s+Baby+by+Sheila+Deeth
Kobo: http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/bethlehem-s-baby
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/357261
What’s next for you, …?
Bethlehem’s Baby is the sixth book in the Five Minute Bible StoryTM Series. Nazareth Neighbors, the seventh book, was released at the end of December, by Cape Arago Press. And I’m working on Galilee’s Gift and Jerusalem Journey which should come out later this year. I’ve also signed contracts with Second Wind Publishing for three novels which are scheduled for 2014, so there’ll be lots of last-minute editing and rewriting taking place on my computer. It’s just as well the sons removed the computer aliens, I suppose.
Sheila Deeth’s Five-Minute Bible Stories… Click the photok to download your copy of GENESIS PEOPLE for FREE before January 14th! Take a look inside her other books too.
Sheila, it’s been wonderful having you here at 4writersandreaders today. I can hardly wait for your series to come out in paperback for my grandson. Meanwhile, I’m ordering copies of Bethlehem’s Baby and GENESIS PEOPLE for my kindle today. Thanks so much for stopping by and keep those great stories coming our way! ~ Bette A. Stevens at http://www.4writersandreaders.com
Come join us!
Bette A. Stevens, Maine Author 
Written
on 01/20/2014