Mistletoe Mayhem…and Border Collies!

Roxanne Rustand Posted on by

Guest Jill Elizabeth Nelson writes…
Back when we lived on a farm, we had a succession of dogs, but one in particular stands out in my mind. Ginger was a Border Collie mix with mottled fur, most of which was the color of her name. She was friendly and easy-going, and you had a friend for life if you petted her, but she possessed a surprisingly fierce protective streak when it came to our four children. If anything or anyone threatened them, it had to get past her first. She even bit one of the kids’ adult cousins when he was rough-housing innocently with the little girls in the front yard! Of course, it was hard to scold her for the misdeed when she only did it thinking to protect them.

I’ll never forget the winter’s day when my older daughter, maybe 7 or 8 years old at the time, came inside to sing Ginger’s praises for saving her from certain injury. The snow was deep that year, creating tall drifts of white that invited children to slide down them on their snowsuit-clad hind ends, dig forts beneath them, or play atop them. Evidently, my two daughters were playing on one such hill, when the older one lost her footing and began to topple toward a thick row of bushes. The bare frozen branches were sharp-pointed weapons that would have delivered vicious scratches or even poked out an eye! But Ginger leaped forward, grabbed my girl’s jacket in her teeth and pulled her upright. Needless to say, Ginger was our four-footed, tail-wagging hero of the day.

Ginger lived to a ripe old age. She got feeble enough that our kids’s uncle used to give her rides in his pick-up between the various sites of our family farm. But he didn’t put her in the pick-up box. She rode in the passenger seat! It was quite entertaining to see them coming up the driveway, a human head showing behind the wheel and a canine head poking above the dash on the passenger side where she perched primly like a dignified matron.

These are fond memories of a beloved pet, and I’m glad to share them.
Jill Elizabeth Nelson
~~Endless Adventure, Timeless Truth~~
http://www.jillelizabethnelson.com

Jill has a new book out this month–Seasons of Danger, with Hannah Alexander.  Here’s  the information on Jill’s story (if you look  further down the blog, you’ll find the information on the story by Hannah Alexander.)  Isn’t this a beautiful cover?

Seasons of Danger
Mistletoe Mayhem by Jill Elizabeth Nelson
Love Inspired Suspense
December 2011

Holiday cheer turns chilling in Abbottsville, Tennessee, as danger infects humans and animals. Local vet Kelly Granger knows health inspector Matt Bennett is chasing the wrong target, and will face any danger to show him the truth. Even if working with Matt means risking her life…and her heart.

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Huskies, horses, goats…and Deep Cover!

Roxanne Rustand Posted on by

Hello everyone, Sandra Orchard here.

When Roxanne invited me to visit and share a story about one of our animals, I couldn’t decide on just one—animal or story!   I live in rural Ontario with a menagerie of animals. My blog readers have heard many stories about Bella, my hubcap-eating husky who, like a Houdini, can mysteriously escape from her crate without unlocking the door.

 

She likes people to think she’s a perfect angel, but don’t be fooled by the wings and stardust. We’ve lost count of how many shoes and collars she’s chewed through, not to mention plastic flowerpots.   We have no idea where she keeps finding those!Yes, she causes us no end of anxiety. One day my daughter saw her standing on the far side of the hayfield at the edge of the woods. She called and called her to come, and naturally, got pretty frustrated when the dog just stood its ground and stared.

But what happened next chilled my daughter to the bone.   Bella loped happily up to her… from behind.   Did I mention Bella looks like a coyote?    Yup, my dear daughter was trying to coax one of the local coyotes to come home to us. Thank goodness, the animal didn’t oblige!   Is it any wonder we’ve earned a bit of an eccentric reputation around the neighborhood? It’s not every family who gives their chickens wheelbarrow rides.  Or who walk their horse and goat along with the dog.   Or who give the neighborhood cats pony rides.

But perhaps one has to be a tad eccentric to spend hours a day writing novels.   My debut Love Inspired Suspense, Deep Cover, released this past September. It’s the first novel in my series Undercover Cops: Fighting for justice puts their lives—and hearts—on the line.

For Fun: I recently added some novel “Extras” to my website—things like deleted scenes, bloopers, character interviews, even the first chapter for anyone who hasn’t read the book. I hope you’ll stop by and check them out. at:  www.SandraOrchard.com.    For those who enjoy cooking, there are also a couple of free recipe books, and a bonus Christmas story for my newsletter subscribers. (There’s still time to subscribe!)

BTW If you’d like to read that husky hubcap story, click here:   http://sandraorchard.blogspot.com/2011/08/were-talking-character.html >    
And here is  the blurb about my latest book!

Maintaining his cover cost undercover cop Rick Gray the woman he loved. Sweet Ginny Bryson never really knew Rick. He never gave her the chance. Not then, and not now, when he’s back with a new alias to gather evidence against Ginny’s uncle. The man’s crimes led to Rick’s partner’s death, and Rick wants justice to be served. But his investigation is stirring up trouble, and Ginny is smack-dab in the middle. Someone wants Ginny to pay the price for what her uncle has done. But how can Rick protect her without blowing his cover, jeopardizing his assignment…and risking both their lives?

http://www.sandraorchard.com/

In addition to E copies, Deep Cover is still available from ChristianBookDistributors.com and your favorite online retailers.

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Shih-Tzus, a wonderful new book, and Janet Barton!

Roxanne Rustand Posted on by

Janet Barton writes….

Generational living is an adventure in and of itself, but add a Shih-Tzu to the mix of four adults and two grandchildren, and it can be a ton of fun.  When our granddaughters had to give up their cat, it was hard on them—and hard on us to see them missing their beloved pet. So the natural thing seemed to be to try a puppy. We’d had a Shih-Tzu once before and enjoyed her, so we decided to look for another one.

Our youngest granddaughter picked Bella out immediately—possibly because she came right to her. At 1.9 pounds she was quite cute and she immediately stole a place in everyone’s heart. But what was so surprising is that our oldest granddaughter—who loved cats and was sure she’d never love a dog the same way—fell totally in love with Bella. How could she not?  Bella’s tail starts to wag as soon as she hears her voice.  She plays all kinds of games with them—they like to pretend they are hurt and let her try to revive them.

At a year and a half, she’s now up to about 14 pounds and she thinks we’re her pets. Of course she tries to protect us with her life—and would if she were just brave enough.  She tries really hard to protect us from the big dog she’s never actually seen, the one who lives behind the tall fence in our back yard.

I don’t think I’ve ever laughed more than when I looked out the kitchen window one night to see her giving her little bark at the back fence. But the big dog answered back with one not quite so little and Bella turned tail and headed back to the house fast as her short legs would carry her, looking over her shoulder to make sure she wasn’t being followed. Cutest thing ever was to see her running back through her doggie door.

But she’s getting braver. When we had an earthquake recently, she seemed out of sorts most of the evening. She’d give a low growl and pace from the front door to the back. Then came the rolling thunderous sound of earth moving, the house shook—everything shook—and we realized she was trying to tell us something was going to happen.  Then quiet and stillness came—and Bella ran out her door to the middle of the yard and barked up a storm.  Not sure who or what she thought she was telling the world, but she said it loud and clear.   Bella has brought a lot of laughter and fun to our household and we don’t quite know what we did before she moved in.

And here’s some information on Janet’s latest new book!

Charity had always prided herself on her ability to make decisions. But that was before she met Luke Johnson, a reporter she’s falling in love with but can’t find it in herself to trust. As sunset begins to fall on the first Sooner capital, will Luke and Charity find hope to unite them to face a new day?

Note: Sooner Sunset is the last book in the Oklahoma Sooner Series, at present it is only available from Barbour at: http://www.barbourbooks.com/product/Sooner-Sunset,9105.aspx?Tab=Books&sj=782

www.janetleebarton.com

www.janetleebarton.com/blog

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Hannah Alexander

Roxanne Rustand Posted on by
A wonderful new story from award winning author Hannah Alexander

Silent Night, Deadly Night,
novella by Hannah Alexander
included in the Season of Danger anthology
Love Inspired Suspense
December 2011

After the murder of Tess Vance’s fiance, Tess leaves her career as a musical talent agent and retreats home to her brother’s rescue mission for the homeless in Corpus Christi, Texas. She finds solace helping others, and peace with ex-cop Sean Torrance, who has also endured great pain over the past year. Just as they begin to think life will settle for them, and their friendship will deepen into something more lasting, Tess finds herself the subject of a stalking, and the stalker hurts her by hurting and killing those she loves, including the homeless.
All of Sean’s protective instincts rise to the top when the woman he has grown to love finds herself in danger once again. He’ll do whatever it takes to protect her and the others he works with at the mission. As the owner and manager of one of the top radio stations in the region, he finds a way to stop the attacks, but it will mean betraying her trust. Can their relationship withstand the conflict?
Hannah Alexander website www.hannahalexander.com
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Duty to Protect….and cookies!

Roxanne Rustand Posted on by

Howdy!

Early forecasts for the Upper Midwest indicated that we were going to have an unusually cold and snowy winter,   though so far we’re still having lovely forty degree days (far nicer than thirty below!) and have had just a single whisper of snowflakes one day.  I can still water the horses using the outside water tank, and even the barn cats’ water bowl hasn’t been freezing overnight, which makes life a lot easier!  But even though the weather is still lovely, I’ve got our Christmas decorations up and now need to start baking. How about you–are you set for the holidays?  Page down, for one of our family’s favorite recipes for this time of year!

DUTY TO PROTECT,  my December release, wraps up a very busy year.   My 2011 releases include:
April:     Murder at Granite Falls        (Love Inspired Suspense)
June:    Second Chance Dad            (Love Inspired)
July:     Home at Blackberry Hill        (Harlequin Heartwarming)
October:      A Home In Hill Country  (Harlequin Heartwarming)
November:  A Loner’s Thanksgiving Wish  (Love Inspired)
December:  Duty To Protect              (Love Inspired Suspense)

DUTY TO PROTECT is  a Love Inspired Suspense set during a very snowy winter in the ranching country of Colorado and Montana.  Brrrrrr!  I’m glad it was Emma and not me,  trapped in a frigid horse trailer crossing Nebraska!   It’s now available in bookstores everywhere, as well as at www.harlequin.com, www.christianbook.com,  www.barnesandnoble.com,  and Amazon.

Here’s the blurb…

She needed a safe haven…

After nearly a lifetime in witness protection, Emma White depends on the anonymity of her false identity. But when her mother dies under suspicious circumstances, her father is shot and Emma is framed for murder, all of her security is gone.  There’s nothing left to do but run.

Montana cop-turned-rancher Jake Kincaid is an unlikely defender.  Why would an ex-cop believe an accused killer?  Though he is determined to find the truth, he is an honorable man who makes Emma feel safe.  With his drive to protect her, she knows staying on his ranch endangers him both and she needs to leave–yet now that he has captured her heart, she’s not sure she can walk away.

 

DUTY TO PROTECT 1/2   RT Bookclub Magazine Rating (4.5 stars )   and MURDER AT GRANITE FALLS  (April)  are both  Nominees for Best Steeple Hill Love Inspired Suspense of 2011 by RT Bookclub Magazine.

RT’s review of Duty To Protect:

After testifying against a powerful drug cartel, Emma White and her family were placed in the witness protection program. Over the past few years, both of her parents have been targeted and killed. Emma appears to be next. Fearful for her life, Emma stows away in Jake Kincaid’s truck. After hearing her story, Jake vows to keep her safe. Emma does not want to place his family in danger, but she may have no other option. A riveting page-turner with the promise that forgiving others and turning one’s worries over to God will help in making a new start. Reviewed By: Leslie McKee

I hope you’ll track down a copy, and that you’ll enjoy reading it!

***********

I’d like to share the best recipe I’ve ever found for cut-out cookies, one especially great for when you’re baking with small kids.  As much as you work with it, reforming the odd bits and pieces into a ball and rolling it out again, it still stays nice to work with.   I’ve used this since the early 1980’s.  Once, while reaching for the nutmeg, I knocked a container of chili powder into the bowl, the lid came off and the entire container emptied over the cookie dough.  I removed what I could, then added ample cocoa powder to cover the taste–and everyone still loved them.  Now, this is one very forgiving recipe!  🙂

Super Easy Roll-out Cookies    –The Rustands

1 cup shortening           1 ½  tsp cream of tartar
1 ½ cups sugar              1 tsp soda
2 eggs                           ½ tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla                  4 cups flour
2 Tbsp milk
optional: 1 tsp cinnamon  and/or  1 tsp nutmeg
You can drop these on a  cookie sheet and flatten with a fork, or use for cut-out cookies.  We like to double the recipe, and roll them out  quite thin.  350 degrees, 8-10 minutes.  My favorites are the ones liberally decorated with cinnamon red hots candy!
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Margaret Daley’s His Holiday Family

Roxanne Rustand Posted on by

Margaret says….

When I decided to write a series about a town that goes through a hurricane, I wanted to give tribute to all the people who have gone through a disaster and rebuilt their lives. This series was written for the heroes and heroines who help others in a time of disaster.

Blurb for His Holiday Family by Margaret Daley:
When Hurricane Naomi tears through a small Mississippi town, a daring rescue unites two heroes. Nurse Kathleen Hart is a single mom racked by guilt over her husband’s death. Firefighter Gideon O’Brien—orphaned as a young boy—has lost too many people he cared for. To rise above the storm’s devastation, Gideon helps Kathleen and her sons rebuild their home. As Christmas approaches, they discover that even the strongest of storms can’t destroy a romance built on the foundation of faith.

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Tucker’s Photo Shoot!

Roxanne Rustand Posted on by

How many of you love taking pictures?  I’ve loved photography since I was a little girl, playing in my dad’s darkroom, developing my own photos and watching the magic wrought by cropping and dodging as pictures materialized on the plain photo paper.  I miss the sharp smell of the chemicals, and the magic that took place!  Dad was an avid photographer–extensive still and 16mm film while he was in the CIC during WWII, then a broad range of photography  throughout the rest of his life.  He passed away twelve years ago, but oh, how he would have loved toying with the advanced digital cameras we have today! 

Well, getting back to the theme of this blog, yesterday was Tucker’s big day. 🙂  Tucker Pine Bar is my big sorrel  AQHA gelding, and I’ve got him up for sale on Craig’s List as of last night.

Back during the film age,  I might have grudgingly shot a roll of 36 exposures at the most, and thought that was over the top.  Yesterday, I shot over 150!  What a fun day–outside in the warm, bright sunshine in Mid-November (unusual for the  Midwest this time of year), spending time with the horses.

The photos were shot with a Canon f/4L IS  70-200mm lens on a 7D.  In the first photo, shot at 200mm, it makes it look like the neighbor’s house is much closer to our pasture than it really is.  I wish the blog would support  18 MP photos, but to be loaded here I had to reduce them by 75%. 

At any rate, I thought I would share some photos of Tucker.

 

 

Do you enjoy taking photos? Do you a favorite camera, or some memorable photo-taking experiences you’d like to share?

(Note: if you are reading this on Facebook or on Goodreads, this post originated from the All Creatures Great and Small Blog, at www.roxannerustand.com.  Come on over and say howdy!

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CHRISTMAS GIFTS

Roxanne Rustand Posted on by
CHRISTMAS GIFTS
including Small Town Christmas
Love Inspired Duet – November 2011
Mini-Matchmakers And An Old Fashion Christmas

When the new second grade teacher, Amy Carroll, meets the precocious twin sisters, she knows she has her hands full, but when she learns they live on the street where she is staying with her grandmother and they have a single father who is handsome and needs help, Amy’s hands are beyond full. But Amy’s from Chicago and falling in love with a small town man is not part of her plan. Can God waylay Amy’s desire to return to the big city? Can Mike Russett open his heart to love?
“Martin’s story contains strong characters and touching scenes” – Romantic Times

Multi-award-winning novelist, Gail Gaymer Martin writes Christian fiction for Love Inspired and Barbour Publishing, where she was honored by Heartsong readers as their Favorite Author of 2008. Gail has forty-nine contracted novels with over three million books in print. She is the author of Writers Digest’s Writing the Christian Romance. Gail is a co-founder of American Christian Fiction Writers, a keynote speaker at churches, libraries and civic organizations  and presents workshops at conference across the US. She was recently named one of the four best novelists in the Detroit area by CBS local news. This duet novel also includes Brenda Minton’s Her Christmas Cowboy, and is available in all stores where books are sold.  To Purchase online click link:
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I have a new book out now!

Roxanne Rustand Posted on by

I have a book out in the stores right now–November, 2011–and since I often feature new books by other authors, I figure I’d better let you know about mine!  It’s a Love Inspired, and its part of the Rocky Mountain Heirs series.  I hope you’ll check it out!

RT Bookclub Magazine Rating
THE LONER’S THANKSGIVING WISH (4) by Roxanne Rustand: To satisfy the conditions of her grandfather’s will, Mei Clayton has returned to the hometown and family that never seemed to accept her. Both sides of her family are at odds and Jack McCord, Mei’s high school crush, is linked to the wrong side. He may be able to get on her mother’s good side when he offers to track down Mei’s missing brother. Someone seems determined to run Mei out of town. Can a Thanksgiving meal mend the rift in her family? At times, many feel that, due to their differences, they do not belong. Rustand reminds us that God always has a plan, even if it is not obvious to us.

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RT Magazine Reviewer’s Choice Awards–2011

Roxanne Rustand Posted on by

I hadn’t even looked at the list of nominees  on the RT Bookclub Magazine website until this morning–and then was surprised and delighted to see that both MURDER AT GRANITE FALLS (4/2011)  and DUTY TO PROTECT  (12/2011)  are nominated for Best Love Inspired Suspense of 2011.  What happy news!

I could sure use it, today.  Yesterday, I found my favorite barn cat, a pretty little calico, dead in the horse trailer, and my heart just broke.  And we’ve had our vet out twice recently, to assess our 35-year-old AQHA palomino gelding, Smokey.  Despite six scoops of grain a day (the other, younger ones receive a half-scoop and are still too fat!) he is emaciated–just skin and bones.  Even with his winter coat, he has almost no insulation, and the vet feels he is very likely to go down from hypothermia over the winter, even if we keep blankets on him.  The choice?  Risk him suffering, unable to get up, and having to put him down in the bitter cold of winter, or avoid that potential suffering and take care of him now.  He’s had a very long, wonderful life with big pastures and the best of care, the  past ten years in complete retirement. But what a sad and awful decision to make.  What would you do?   🙁

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