Book Clubbing with Morgantown Ladies

I had the pleasure of Skyping last night with the ladies of the Wisdom Seekers Book Club at Sabraton Baptist Church in Morgantown, WV who read my book The Inheritance (Women of Faith Fiction). We had a blast! Thank you, gals, for letting me join you! 

 

Kneeling: Jeannine Brand

1st row (L to R): Hazel Oldland, Judy Dalton, Dollie Barker, and Tye Kramer

2nd row (L to R): Jennifer Derrick, Melissa Forinash, Julie Snowdon, Phyllis Craig, Lil Bezjak, and Patty Frankenberry

Ryan Hanson (their wonderful media guy), and Judy Dalton

Judy shares that the saddle in the picture is her daughter's (Jennifer Derrick). The little chair was made by Judy's husband from horseshoes and West Virginia Black Walnut wood for their granddaughter. Both Judy's daughter and granddaughter are into barrel racing. "Jennifer has always enjoyed reading and horses," Judy says. "The Inheritance was the perfect fit for her."

And you gals were a perfect delight, Judy! Many thanks, again, for allowing me to join you!

If your book club is reading one of my books, I'd love to "join" you at your meeting too. Click for more information on Virtual Book Club Meetings!

Dinner Party Time

I love hosting dinner parties, and we held a fun one last night!

My dad, Doug, and his sweet wife Esta arrived yesterday afternoon for a belated Christmas celebration, and we gathered family and friends so they could meet Esta, and so she could meet them. And we had a blast!

Here are some glimpses from the evening. Oh! And I'll go ahead and confess...I took NO pics of the food. I'm fallin' down on the job, I know. Guess I was too busy getting it all together. We had lasagna with all the fixings. Delish!

I'm not great at creating centerpieces. I usually just run around grabbing stuff from other rooms in the house until I have something that I think works. At least somewhat.

My fun buddy Gayle, sweet daughter Kelsey, and wonderful SIL Denise

Me and Esta (she and Dad are sooo happy together, which is wonderful to see)

Love seeing Dad so happy again. What a blessing!

We laughed just a little bit. : )

Then opened presents, with Jack "helping"

Our kids (Kelsey and Kurt) along with Dad and Esta

Some of the guys were MIA during picture taking time due to a certain football game with Baylor playing, so we'll have to nab their pics next time. 

And now for a funny (but useful) app that Kelsey introduced me to this weekend. It's called RunPee (LOL)! Have you heard of it before? I hadn't. Here's the gist (as taken from iTunes):

"The RunPee.com app tells you the best time to run and pee during a movie without missing anything important. Besides that, it lets you know if there is anything extra after the end credits and even gives you a synopsis of the first 5 minutes of a movie in case you're running late. The built in timer helps you see how the peetimes are spaced in the movie and quickly get a reading on how long you have to wait until the next peetime. The best part is that the timer will vibrate your phone before each peetime. Now you can sit back, relax, and enjoy the movie."

ROFLOL. I got so tickled. But really, the app proved useful during War Horse this past weekend, and it's free! So head over to iTunes and grab it (so you'll know when to pee).

Now tell me, what's a favorite app of yours?

Tammy

Bottoms up!

Look at what arrived in the mail yesterday from a sweet, sweet friend! Oh my goodness!

I just love wine glasses (never mind that I'm not that crazy about wine, go figure) and drink from them all day long. Sweet Southern Iced Tea never tasted so good as it does in a fancy wine glass. I say every day is a celebration so break out the fancy stuff and enjoy!

Within five minutes, I had those pretty little puppies washed and was sipping from one at my desk. So thank you, thank you, thank you to my sweet but also sometimes wonderfully snarky and always cantankerously beautiful friend (and author) Judy Miller. 

Here's sweet Judy

She visited me earlier this year and we ran around Nashville touring antebellum mansions and eating our way through mounds of comfort food and Sweet CeCe's frozen yogurt and Loveless Cafe's biscuits and cobblers. This woman got me into some serious trouble that weekend, but what fun she is! And ever so sweet too. 

Thank you, Judy. Love you, friend. Your gift arrived at just the right time too. Not an hour before the mailman knocked on my door, I had heard the song Christmas in Dixie (Mom's favorite) and was missing Mom so much. And then this hug from heaven...and from you arrived. So timely. And so appreciated. As are you!

P.S. Want to see a few more pics from my Hilton Head Writing Getaway last week? 

History on your Wrist

To wear a charm bracelet really is like wearing history on your wrist. Since ancient times, people have carried talismans and all sorts of "lucky charms" to encourage good luck or else to ward off evil. While I don't believe in carrying an item for this reason, I do love charm bracelets simply for their charm, and for the memories they represent.

This is a charm bracelet that a group of dear friends in Colorado gave me before my family and I left Colorado for Tennessee in 2007. Each charm represents someone special to me and a special relationship that I treasure! Each charm also tells a story, and here are just a few of the stories "attached" to this bracelet... 

See the Queen of Hearts card to the left? Well...when Joe and I first moved to Colorado, we met Mark & Michelle Young (and we actually lived in their basement for the first month as our rental house was being made ready). Mark & Michell loved to ski. So, off to the Rockies we went! And after long days of skiing, we'd sit around the kitchen table in the cabin at Grand Lake or Winter Park––a fire crackling in the hearth and with Suzanne Ciani playing on the CD player in the background––and we'd play cards. Specifically…Hearts. We'd each take turns trying to "run em," and rarely would we succeed. But oh, what fun we had.

The heart is from a precious friend who loves hearts. Earrings, necklaces, whatever it is...it's gotta be a heart. And when I left Colorado, I left part of my heart with her, and (as she's said) I carried part of hers here with me.

See the back of the Queen of Hearts (on the right) where it says "Dork and Dorker?" Well, while Mark & Michelle and Joe & I were in Grand Lake on one of our trips, Michelle and I had decided to stay inside by the fire and read while the boys decided to bundle up and head out for a walk in the snow. But when she and I turned around to say goodbye to our hubbies, we discovered they looked a little...strange. They resembled two huge dough boys all bundled up in their sweatshirts, ski jackets, mufflers, ski gloves, and toboggans…pulled down low over their ears. You name it, honey, and they had it on. And they looked a little...well, dorky. The movie Dumb and Dumber had just come out so... You get the drift.  :) 

Another sweet friend gave me the book, which represents Faith Imprints, the book club we started at our church so many years ago. What precious times we spent discussing books, and characters, and plots, and faith.

See the drum? It has "Kurt" engraved on the back (in the next picture below), and it represents how our son played the drums in the praise band on Sunday mornings. The same praise band where Joe played guitar and Kelsey and I sang. It was a family affair.

The lion represents the Lion of Judah, of course, and the relationship we all share in Christ. The butterfly was for "new beginnings," which our family was about to experience as we moved to Nashville, where we are today.

And finally, above (and below) is the Jonah and the Whale charm, which represents all the ups and downs these precious sisters and I shared "day to day" for seventeen years of our lives on this earthly journey. And that we still share through emails and phone calls. How I love these women...

Every time I wear this bracelet, I think of each of them. And as I finger each charm, I picture their beautiful smiles, and I pray for them, and I thank God for how they shaped my life––and "charmed" me––for eternity.

Do you have a charm bracelet? One you've collected charms for through the years? Or one passed down to you from your mother or grandmother? I inherited my precious mom's charm bracelet when she passed on, and I treasure it so much. I'll share pics of that on another day. Now it's your turn to share.

Do you wear a history of something––or someone––on your wrist? I'd love to hear about it. And to my Texas friends, praying for you amidst the wildfires and wishing some of this Nashville rain your way!

Check out the FREE ebooks on Cbd.com.

If a picture paints a thousand words...

Remember that great old song by Bread? Well if you do then you're old. ;)

As I'm writing this, it's late on Monday night/Tuesday morning, and I've got another thirty pages or so of A Lasting Impression to edit and cut and tighten and slash and put back together and rearrange and stress eat over before heading to bed, so I'm going to share some quick pics from recent life and hop back to writing.

Know what these are? Heaven-in-a-box!

A sweet friend sent me DeBrands Truffles recently with a note tucked inside that said "Just cause you're loved." Isn't that sweet? It meant so much to me.

After taking some pictures of the edible works of art, I cut them up and have been savoring them a little bit at a time. In fact, I "hid" them in the "foil and saran wrap" drawer and forgot about them until I went to post these pictures and then I thought, "Hey! I still have some bites of those left!"

Who says growing older doesn't have it's upsides?

Another sweet treat…

Last Tuesday, dear friend and writer Brandilyn Collins was in town, so Gayle DeSalles (another great buddy who lives local) and I met her for dinner at Stoney River. Such fun and so delicious. We laughed and talked and shared. I left filled up and re-energized! Brandilyn has a new book out, Over the Edge, and I've already started reading it. It's fabulous. Great plot! But it is making me a little itchy. Read the first chapter and find out why.

Skip ahead to Saturday (and speaking of Brandilyn's book)… I noticed Jack had a knot on his throat (embedded tick? Ack!), so I asked Kels to take him into the vet. He was due for his vaccinations so the vet administered those and then Jack proceeded to have an adverse reaction to them and spent Saturday and Sunday lethargic with fever, not eating and hardly even moving. Bless him…

I took him back to the vet yesterday morning and after an injection of anti-inflammatory meds (and a trip afterward with me to Sweet CeCes, froyo will cure anything), he's feeling some better again. Still not 100%, but getting there. I sure do love that little guy. 

Lastly, Kelsey came over this weekend and made these heavenly Itty Bitty Cinnamon Roll Bites she saw on Picky Palate. Oh gracious, gals! They are delish! And so tiny. Hardly any calories.  

Here's the recipe, and be sure to browse the site. Picky Palate has some great recipes. Just please, no salivating on the screen.

Okay, 1866 is calling. Blessings on your Tuesday, friends!

P.S. The truffles are officially gone. Now if I could just figure out why I'm not losing any weight.

Secret Guests and Pure Protein

I blogged at Writes of Passage today about a visitor I had this weekend. Can you guess who it was from the picture to the right? Click over and see if you were right!

While you're there, you're going to see a picture of this Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Pie…

Never fear, Stacey Sanders Daniel provided us with the recipe. And it's delicious!!! I made it last night and gracious! I'm thinking of having it for breakfast too. 

I'm sure the low-fat peanut butter qualifies the pie as "pure protein" now. (Oh please, let me dream.) But truly, Stacey let me know that a slice of this is only 7 points on Weight Watchers. So come on over and join me.

Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Pie Recipe
Ingredients:
1/2 cup reduced-fat peanut butter
4 oz light cream cheese
4 oz fat-free cream cheese
12 oz fat-free sweetened condensed milk
2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 cup lite whipped topping, thawed if frozen
5 Tbsp mini chocolate chips, divided
6 oz pie crust

Directions:
In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat together peanut butter and both types of cream cheese until smooth. Gradually beat in milk and lemon juice; fold in whipped topping and 4 tablespoons of mini chocolate chips.
Spoon peanut butter mixture into prepared pie crust; sprinkle remaining 1 tablespoon of chocolate chips over top. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze until firm, at least 4 hours. Slice into 10 pieces and serve. Dig in!
Weight Watchers Points = 7 (WW Points)

And Stacey adds: Let me tell you how awesome this is! I will confess that I often just get the light cream cheese and use that instead of getting two different kinds and only using half of each. It still tastes awesome! 

Off to grab some protein, friends… Thank you, Stacey, for sharing your recipe.

So, what are YOU having for breakfast this morning? ; )

LifeWay Friends

Thanks to everyone who stopped by LifeWay on Saturday. We had a great time, and I had a blast visiting and chatting with you all.

I signed with authors and good friends Kaye Dacus and Nancy Rue (pictured here)

Me with Bonnie (I'm hugging her), and her sisters Venetia and Roz (I first met these lovely gals at a Fayetteville, TN signing a couple years back). Thanks, sweet sisters, for taking the time to reconnect again. I loved seeing you, and am certain our mothers are visiting in heaven.

Betty and Sherri, two dear lifelong friends from Atlanta who now live in Nashville.

Sweet friend Gayle DeSalles 

Friends Ruth and Esther (and to the back left, you can see Nancy Rue's motorcycle that she and her husband rode to the signing)

The adorable and oh-so-talented Rachel McRae (one of LifeWay's book buyers, and blogger extraordinaire. Check her blog out here.)

Rachel and author Nancy Rue (such fun gals!) 

Rachel, Nancy and Gayle

Me with LifeWay pals Donna and Kayleen

Thanks, LifeWay at CoolSprings in Franklin, TN for hosting us!

I posted today over at Writes of Passage. Come and join us.

And the 2010 Rita for Best Inspirational novel goes to...

Well, we won't actually know "who" until this Saturday evening in Orlando when the winner is announced at the Romance Writers of America conference. I'm honored to be listed with the other writers below, such talented and wonderful ladies. And if you haven't read their books yet, I highly encourage it! 

2010 RITA for Inspirational Romance Finalists 

(as taken from the RWA website)

The Inheritance by Tamera Alexander
Thomas Nelson, Inc., Women of Faith Fiction
Editors: Ami McConnell and Natalie Hanemann







A Lady Like Sarah by Margaret Brownley
Thomas Nelson, Inc.
Editor: Natalie Hanemann









The Gladiator by Carla Capshaw
Harlequin Enterprises, Steeple Hill Love Inspired Historical
Editor: Melissa Endlich








Entertaining Angels by Judy Duarte
Kensington Publishing Corp.
Editor: John Scognamiglio








An Eye for an Eye by Irene Hannon
Baker Publishing Group, Revell Books
Editor: Jennifer Leep








The Silent Governess by Julie Klassen
Bethany House Publishers
Editor: Karen Schurrer

Julie won a Christy this year for this book. Wonderful story!

Breach of Trust by Diann Mills
Tyndale House Publishers
Editor: Stephanie Boerne


Diann won a Christy for this book too. Again, another great story!




The Confidential Life of Eugenia Cooper by Kathleen Y'Barbo
Random House Publishing, WaterBrook Multnomah
Editor: Jessica Barnes

I'll post the winner next week. And just for fun, here's a peek back to 2007 when Mom went with me to the RWA conference in Dallas (when Revealed was up for a RITA). I was thrilled when Revealed won, but even more thrilled to have shared that experience with Mom. Precious memories...