I’m thrilled to announce one of my books will be part of The Apron Strings Book Series. Joann, Book Five in the series, is set to release in May of 2024. You are invited to join the Apron Strings Facebook Readers Group for behind the scenes sneak peeks, updates, and fun posts. Click here to join.
What’s on the Blog
One of my favorite places to be is in a book. They are food for the mind and soul. I love sharing about my favorite reads and books both new and old. Here on the blog you’ll find recommendations, reviews, author spotlights and interviews, along with updates about my writing.
About My Novel Writing
I tend to write about people who are facing tough times. I’ve written about grief, eating disorders, abandonment, and other difficult issues. There isn’t always a romantic element, but when there is the romances are sweet. Endings aren’t sugar coated, but I always strive to leave my readers with a sense of hope. No graphic language, sex, or violence, just plenty of heart tugging emotion and laughing. My fiction has a slight to rich southern flavor, depending on the book.
My upcoming release, Joann, is book five in the Apron Strings book series. The series is connected by one cookbook, Mrs. Canfield’s Cookery Book. As it changes hands, each character’s story is a new novel, one for each decade from 1920 to 2020.
Joann had possession of Mrs. Canfield’s Cookery Book, and tried out a few of the recipes, (you’ll have to read the book to find out how that went!) but she would have used a cake mix now and again. I thought I’d share a recipe using a cake mix and a few other ingredients to make an easy pound cake.
A pound cake recipe using a cake mix, blueberries, eggs, butter, cream cheese.
You will need
1 stick (1/2 cup) of butter, softened at room temperature (May use oil instead.)
8 oz cream cheese, softened at room temperature
a white or yellow cake mix
2 cups blueberries
cooking spray and flour for pans
optional: 1 tsp vanilla
Preheat oven to 325. Spray two loaf pans with cooking spray and lightly flour. You can use a bundt pan instead, if you like.
Soften butter and cream cheese and room temperature. Once soft, bream together at low speed. Add vanilla and mix well. Add eggs to the mixture and blend well. Mix in dry cake mix and stir until lumps are gone. Fold in blueberries. Batter will be thick.
Spoon batter into pans.
Bake in preheated (325 degrees) oven for 40-45 minutes or until inserted toothpick comes out clean. Cool for ten minutes before turning out onto a wire rack an let cool completely.
This blueberry pound cake is a huge hit with my family.
Let me know if you try out this recipe!
One cookbook connects them all… Joann ~ Book Five in a string of heartfelt inspirational stories, featuring different women throughout the decades from 1920 to 2020.
Twenty-four-year-old Joann Kincaid’s life ambition is to one day run the family’s general store in Pecan Grove, Louisiana. It’s 1965 and the times may be a-changing, but Joann’s father is stubbornly hanging on to old-fashioned views about what he wants for his daughter. She’s just as determined to prove she’s a capable businesswoman.
In the past, she entertained romantic dreams alongside her vision for the store but discarded those notions when her high school sweetheart, Nathan, left for college. Now he’s back to reestablish his family’s farm—and a relationship with Joann. She still loves him but isn’t sure she can trust him.
As the conflict in Vietnam escalates, there’s a real possibility Nathan could be drafted. Should Joann pursue her lifelong dream to continue her family’s legacy? Or give Nathan a chance to prove he’ll be her true and committed love before it’s too late for them?
Available May 15th for kindle, in paperback, and on KU at Amazon. Preorder available now.
My book in the Apron Strings Series, Joann, takes place in a small town mercantile similar to the Jonesville General Store, also known as T. C. Lindsey and Co. My story originally took place in Texas, but since some of my key characters spend quite a bit of time in Shreveport and near Barksdale AF Base, I decided to scoot it over the state line. Easier in fiction than real life! However, I used the layout of T. C. Lindsey as a template for my fictional store. Seemed a good reason to go and visit this little bit of history.
The store today is a mix of items to buy and historical items.
Lots of jelly, seasoning mixes, and snacks, along with hoop cheese cut to order.
Lots of books, including, gift, cookbooks, and history books.
Scattered throughout are different gift items, T-shirts, overalls, and handmade items.
Upstairs, even more to look at!
This is the upstairs area. In my story, I had the characters clear it out for a small wedding reception.
The research team sat for a spell, studying on checker moves. (In my story the checker table is downstairs near the front. Here it is upstairs where an inventory of shoes line the shelves.)
From the upstairs, you can look out and see some of the downstairs. There’s more room in here than you would expect!
A telephone like the one my character would have used. The store has many unique items. Tucked away in a corner is the old post office.
My story doesn’t have the post office in the store, although I thought about it. In my story, the fictional town I described would have likely had it’s own post office by 1965.
I’m so glad I had help from my “research team” taking photos and video. There was so much packed into this store! You could get lost for days exploring here.
I brought home a T-shirt and some jelly. I hope to visit again soon, this time more for shopping than research. (The research team agreed the jelly is good. It tastes like nonspecific berries and is great on toast, bagels, and biscuits.)
Watch a video from Texas Country Reporter to learn more about the store.
Tell me about the last time you visited an old time store or an out-of-the-way store in the comments!
Told with sensitivity and compassion, Emma’s Hero gives the reader a glimpse into the life of one mother and child facing a devastating prognosis. Emma finds out how strong she can truly be. As fragile as the infant Theo’s life is, his existence makes a huge impact, touching the lives of paramedic Ben, and teenager Mason, changing their lives forever.
In the early days of caring for her medically complicated newborn, Emma Reynolds faces additional challenges in the form of grief for her father, unwelcome reminders of the past, and a wicked snowstorm. When each challenge presents itself, Emma adapts and grows in her faith, understanding, and acceptance of God’s ways. Interspersed throughout the novel, the characters of Ben and Mason each have fully developed story lines as well. Emma’s Hero is a multi-layered book with heart.
Readers of inspirational fiction will find much to think about and ponder while reading this novel.
V. Romas Burton is the author of two fantasy series, Heartmaker and The Legacy Chapters. Her latest release, Justified, is book two in The Legacy Chapters. I asked her to share a little bit about her experiences writing a series.
DJS: Writing one novel can be daunting, and I imagine a series can only be more so! What pros and cons about planning a series did you learn as you went through the process? VRB: There have been a lot of both pros and cons along the way….click here to read more over at Almost an Author.
Vivienne Rivard is a successful lacemaker in Paris, with clients among the aristocracy. Until the French revolution forces her to flee for her life. She manages to escape to America where through tragic circumstances, becomes the fill-in caretaker for young Henry, who she suspects may be Louis Charles, the young king.
This was a captivating story. I loved all of the history. I would say it’s more American history than French history. It had plenty of intrigue, danger, complicated interpersonal relationships with numerous characters. I had no idea there had been a town named Asylum where people from the upper classes of French society came to be safe from the revolutionaries.
A bit of a love triangle. Vivienne had a complicated parentage, resulting in some complicated relationship issues she had to deal with. She suffered tragedy, betrayal, and loss, but also found love and support in places she didn’t expect. Lots of human interest and intrigue plus romance.
The subject matter piqued my curiosity and made me want to search for more books about the people who lived through the French revolution.
An entertaining read about a historical time period I should read more about.
Drop your recommendations for fiction set during the French Revolution below, please!
I met Carrie Walker several years ago, and we became writing friends. I’m so excited for Carrie’s debut novel, Emma’s Hero, to make its way into the world and into reader’s hands.
About the Book
After a year of loss and bad choices distance Emma Reynolds from her lifelong beliefs, she finds herself pregnant and alone at a twenty-week ultrasound, hearing the words “incompatible with life.” When her son, Theo, survives birth, she fights to give him the best care possible. As each day passes, Emma’s love for Theo grows-along with her fear of losing him. She can’t understand why God allows her son to suffer.
Seventeen-year-old blogger, Mason Hughes, feels lonely and worthless after his father left their family years ago. When he ignores his mother’s push to “contribute to society,” she volunteers him to help Emma each week. Wishing he’d applied for any other job, Mason has no choice but to grocery shop and practice his rusty social skills with a mother and son he doesn’t know.
Paramedic Ben Sullivan has earned himself the title of “most eligible” bachelor among his friends as they continually set him up on blind dates. While he’d love to avoid the uncomfortable events, his heart can’t help but seek the one thing missing in his life-a marriage like his parents have. If only he could find the woman himself.
As Theo’s tiny life connects them to each other, their loneliness breaks under the love of community, and they will never be the same.
DJS: Emma’s Hero has a great deal of heart. Tell us a little bit about why you felt compelled to write this story.
CW: I’ve always believed every life has a purpose, so I shouldn’t be surprised the first story compelling me to write a novel would center around that idea. My husband and I served as high school youth ministers for ten years, and one of the young women who went through our ministry later gave birth to a baby with the same condition as Theo, the infant in Emma’s Hero. When I visited the young woman and her baby daughter in the hospital, I imagined every life her daughter had touched, and the seeds for Emma’s Hero were planted.
DJS: What was the most surprising thing you learned about yourself as you went through the process of writing Emma’s Hero?
CW: That I really liked writing! Writing book was always one of those “oh I’ll write a book someday” type things, and I’d always had teachers tell me to write growing up, but I never had a seed of a story. When the idea for Emma’s Hero finally took root, I decided it was time. As I went through the process, I realized I had stumbled across something that I loved doing.
DJS: Just from the topic, it’s easy to see that this one can be a real tear jerker. And there are so many layers! Just the idea of the story tugs at my heart. What parts of Emma’s story always make you cry?
CW: There are some scenes where Emma fears for Theo’s life. As a mom, those always get to me, but another scene that provokes a different sort of tears is near the end of the book, the first time Mason starts to see things in his life differently. DJS: Heart touching moments for sure!
DJS: The writing journey is a long learning process. Often, after we finally reach the finish line of a project, we look back and think we could have done things a different way. If you could rewind and go back to before you started writing Emma’s hero, what would you do differently?
CW: I’d let myself torture the characters sooner. I would’ve avoided so many rewrites. Tension makes for page turning and torture makes for tension. DJS: Hahaha! Spoken like a true novelist.
DJS: What do you want readers to take away from Emma’s story? CW: I hope readers are left thinking about the far-reaching effect of each human life, reflecting on the many graces that come from helping others. Also, if they are in a place like Emma and Mason where they feel alone, they come to realize it won’t always be that way. DJS: What a beautiful message.
Bonus fun question, just because I know Carrie loves to read. (We are always talking books.)
DJS: Does your love for books run in the family?
CW: For the most part, yes. My two youngest daughters are book worms. We recently took part in a Bingo for Books at their school, and the pile they brought home might last a week 🙂
Two of my older daughters read right along with me. One reads so fast I can’t let her start a book before me or she’ll spoil the story! They also help me brainstorm my novels (including reading early chapters and naming characters). My boys aren’t as in love with reading, however my oldest son is currently reading a Charles Martin book and I just got an all-caps text mid-day at school about a plot twist (perhaps he’s hooked?).
DJS: It’s wonderful when we can pass along the love of reading to our children.Thanks so much for visiting with me, Carrie!
Emma’s Hero is available for pre-order on Amazon here. The book releases April 5th.
Carrie Walker is an award-winning author who lives in Michigan with her husband and seven children. As an avid reader, she pens what she loves to read, stories that bring hope to a hurting world. Besides writing, Carrie enjoys time with family, board games, and counting the days ’til Christmas.
I found this bit of writing from several years ago in my files and it wrecked me, but in the best way, reminding me about the love God has for His children. If you’re having a tough time lately (and who isn’t?) I hope these words encourage you.
Listen to a reading of the blog post. Scroll all the way to the bottom of the post for the rest of the song lyrics.
Close to bedtime, I prayed with my teen daughter. I asked God to bless her and thanked Him for her. Then I stopped talking and gave room for the presence of the Holy Spirit.
When the word came, it was fresh, though the phrases falling from my lips were as constant and familiar to her as breath.
With both hands I cupped her face and looked deep into her eyes. I held her there for a heartbeat.
I spoke.
You are His Beloved.
There are things we know to be true with our whole being, but over time clarity fades and becomes dim. Then, like the view through a recently cleaned pane of glass on a sunny, blue-sky day, all of a sudden we become more deeply aware of what we knew all along.
There are words, and then there are Words.
Truth rushes in and we are newly amazed.
You are His Beloved.
All day, every day, feedback and half-truths poke and prod, insidious whispers, or shouts, about how we fall short. It’s a constant assault.
It’s not a thing only the young struggle against.
Understanding we are less-than, we recognize our lack. Faced with this reality, we strive to escape our faulty standing, forgetting the larger truth of who we are. Who He says we are.
You are worth everything He paid for you.
The messed up, less than, never-to-be-perfect mess you are. Even now, when you have failed, failed, failed. And even then, before you knew Him, you were worth everything He paid.
You still are.
Now and then, forever.
You are His Beloved.
My arm around her, I began to sing.
I am His and He is mine, A forever love, outlasting time. Jesus loves me, He’s my destiny, Jesus loves me, He is my destiny.
I stopped and asked her, “Do you remember this song?”
It’s her baptism song. The song I wrote after she made her public profession of faith as a tiny little thing in white Battenberg lace, barefoot, running down the aisle.
She said, “Yes, I remember.” She leaned against me, still my baby girl, but full of grown-up hurts, full of a grown-up need to come back to the security of who she is and who she belongs to.
We sang the song together, she and I, because it is my song, too.
You are His Beloved.
It is the song of all who choose to sing.
(c) Donna Jo Stone
When sharing, please share with attribution and in entirety.
I Am His (She Believes)
Little girl singin’ songs about Jesus’ love, how He came down to earth from heaven above and she believes, she believes. ‘Cause she knows that He died to take away her sin she trusts in His love and she gives, she gives her heart to Him. She sings I am His and He is mine, a forever love outlasting time, Jesus loves me, He’s my destiny, Jesus loves me, He is my destiny.
Young woman confused can’t seem to find her way, doesn’t know what to do, doesn’t know what to say, and so she prays, Lord help me. I know whatever life brings I’m still in Your hands, she trusts in his love and she yields, to the Father’s plan. She sings I am His and He is mine, a forever love out lasting time, now I see, this was meant to be, Jesus loves me, He knows my destiny.
Time goes by but one thing always stays the same, through every trial every joy Jesus remains, a faithful Friend, eternally. Someday soon she’ll see Him face to face. ‘Cause she trusts in His love, she’s received by His grace. She sings I am His and He is mine, a forever love out lasting time. Because I’m redeemed, this is my destiny.
I am His and He is mine, a forever love out lasting time. Jesus loves me, He is my destiny.
Little girl singin’ songs about Jesus’ love, and she believes. She believes.
Tabitha Caplinger is the author of The Chronicle of the Three Trilogy, The Wolf Queen and, most recently, The Wayward. I talked with her recently about her writing and about how authors can approach writing stories with Christian themes.
DJS: Writing novels can be a daunting task, and it can be hard to stay motivated. What inspires you to write for the young adult age group?
I’m also a writer and a reader of inspirational fiction. (Although I read general market fiction and well and read widely.)
I found this nonfiction book utterly fascinating and liked hearing about the history, the first precursors to novels, how the different influences of societal ideas, religious ideas, and literature have all impacted each other. The first chapter may be a little slow for some readers, but it picked up after that, and because I found the subject interesting it kept me listening. I got the audiobook and felt the narration was well done.
As like many people in the Christian community, I’ve been examining my faith traditions, and books of this sort are helpful when trying to understand how we got to where we are today. I have always enjoyed reading history and trying to puzzle out how different events shaped society.
I would describe this book as somewhat scholarly but accessible. If you like history or are curious about how today’s attitudes and beliefs systems came into being, or if you are interested in learning about and exploring the culture’s effect on literature and vice versa, you might enjoy this book.
I was particularly fascinated by the origin of the novel as story, how the form was influenced, and how the current structure and format of today’s novels came into being.
Nellie: Apron Strings Series, Book Two ~ A 1930s Vintage Romance releases today.
Join Amy’s live event on Facebook here: Meet Nellie
Book Blurb: Finances are tight for the O’Dwyer family who live on a mountain outside of Scranton, Pennsylvania in 1931. Life gets even harder when their beloved Dadaí must cease work as a coal miner to become a patient at the West Mountain Sanitarium.
Nellie is her preferred name, but family and friends have heard Mam shout “Fenella Aileen O’Dwyer!” all too often with the countless predicaments she got herself into throughout childhood. So, it’s not altogether surprising when Nellie impulsively accepts a job as an assistant cook at the Clarinda House in a case of mistaken identity — though she’s the last person her family would ask to prepare a meal.
Fortunately, along with determination, a talent for acting, and the gift of blarney, Nellie has Mrs. Canfield’s Cookery Book, a treasure she discovered at a Red Cross drought relief sale. As her reluctant admiration for her employer grows, Nellie wishes she could be the truthful woman of faith that Mr. Mason Peale esteems. If she confesses all, will she lose her job along with the friendships she’s formed at Clarinda House?
My Thoughts: I hadn’t heard about Clarinda House before and was fascinated by the historical details. Good-hearted Nelly is a character I would love to meet in real life. She’s funny, kind, and generous, but doesn’t always make the best choices. She can be a little distractible and gets herself into uncomfortable situations. She’s a character I can relate to and sympathize with.
The mystery of the brooch she found in chapter one caught my interest, and I really wanted to know what happened to it. There’s a little romance going on that also kept me reading. There’s a bit of family conflict, which I’m always interested in, and I’m always game for sister stories. Even with many story people populating Nellie’s slice of 1931 Scranton, the story was never confusing.
Heroine with a habit of stumbling into trouble Mystery Historical Bit of Romance For Readers of Inspy Fiction Splashes of humor
Donna Jo Stone 