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JO HUDDLESTON'S

 A GOOD READ
Newsletter For Readers and Writers

October 2014  

In this issue...



 

   

Visit my blog 
 
Jo Huddleston

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Welcome and thank you for sharing your time with me. Those of you who signed up for my newsletter since last time, thank you for subscribing. 
 
This month's articles are listed in the block above this one. You can click on any of them and it will take you to that section of this newsletter.

You can take a look at earlier newsletters here.  
 
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Thanks to all who have been reading my Blog and thanks to those who leave a comment.
To visit my blog click the green box at the top of this introductory block. If you would like to receive notification in your email inbox of every blog post, please look on the blog in the left sidebar and click "Follow by Email." You can also follow the blog if you have a Google, Twitter, or Yahoo account by clicking "Join This Site." 

 

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I have a new blog titled Lifelines. Miriam-Webster dictionary defines lifelines as something which offers help or support. I hope my posts on Lifelines will offer you help and encouragement when I write about everyday happenings we all meet in one way or another.  
I welcome all comments whether you agree or disagree with me. We can agree to disagree and have sensible chats about a post's topic. I plan to post on Lifelines every Monday and I hope you'll visit me there. In the right sidebar on that blog you can sign up to follow the blog and never miss when a new post goes up.

Inspirational Insights formerly in this newsletter will appear on the new blog, Lifelines. You can now read my thoughts every week instead of every other month.

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Always remember: I value your presence here and the time you share with me.  

 

 

 

GuestGrabQuality Quote

 

"The virtue of a person is measured not by his

outstanding efforts, but by his everyday behavior." 

-Blaise Pascal, a French mathematician, physicist, inventor, writer, and Christian philosopher (1623-1662)

 

 

BookBuzzings Book Buzzings
Yours and Mine

 
All three novels in my Caney Creek Series are now out: That Summer, Beyond the Past, and Claiming Peace. They are available in print and eBook at Amazon. You can order signed copies from my website in the left sidebar. On my website click the Freebie tab at the top and read FREE the first chapter of That Summer, Book 1 of the Caney Creek Series. 

 

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I mentioned last time that I have started my next novel, another sweet Southern romance. The working title is Wait for Me and the novel is set in the West Virginia coal mining region in 1956.  I've just started to seek a publisher and one publisher has the first three chapters for consideration. Will keep you posted on the progress of Wait for Me.

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This month I highlight Driftwood Tides by Gina Holmes and Nowhere to Turn by Lynette Eason. Below is information about these books. (Disclaimer: I may not have read these recent releases yet; just letting you know about them.)

 

 

Title: Driftwood Tides

Author: Gina Holmes       

Genre: General/Contemporary   

Publisher: Tyndale House   

Release Date: May 2014  

Gina's website 

Book available at Amazon     

  

Together Holton and Libby form an unlikely bond as the two struggle to learn the identity of Libby's father and the truth about Adele, themselves, and each other.    

  

 

 

Title: Nowhere to Turn (Hidden Identity, Book #2) 

Author: Lynette Eason   

Genre: Romantic suspense    

Publisher:  Baker Publishing  

Release date: September 2014

Lynette's website  

Book available at Amazon   

  

As she and her son run for their lives, they have nowhere to turn, until she hires Adam Buchanan of Operation Refuge and goes into hiding. Unfortunately, she won't be able to hide for long.   

 

   

 

   

 

 

 

GuestGabAnchor
Guest Gab
Chapel Springs Revival  
by Ane Mulligan  


Our October newsletter guest is Ane Mulligan.

While a large, floppy straw hat is her favorite, Ane has worn many different ones: hairdresser, legislative affairs director (that's a fancy name for a lobbyist), drama director, playwright, humor columnist, and novelist. Her lifetime experience provides a plethora of fodder for her Southern-fried fiction (try saying that three times fast). She firmly believes coffee and chocolate are two of the four major food groups. President of the award-winning literary site, Novel Rocket, Ane resides in Suwanee, GA, with her artist husband, her chef son, and two dogs of Biblical proportion.

 

Welcome, Ane. What fun or unique things can you tell us about yourself?

I'm very involved in community theatre, and have just helped launch a new one in our town. Our first performance was in a parking garage, due to rain. LOL

 

I own two English mastiffs of Biblical proportion. The puppy (mastiffs still classified as puppies until they're 2 years old) is pushing 180 and 2" taller than our elder mastiff, who is 220 pounds. The vet says puppy Oliver Twist should reach 235.

 

When I was a lobbyist for Christian Coalition, I was on Ralph Reed and Pat Robertson's Dream Team. We had the privilege of working on the Contract with America with Newt Gingrich when he was Speaker of the House.

 

What do you enjoy doing when you're not writing?

You mean besides drink coffee and eat chocolate? I sit on several boards in our small town of Sugar Hill: Players Guild @ Sugar Hill is the new community theatre I started with the help of the mayor and the City; I sit on the Sugar Hill Business Alliance; we're starting a new Arts Commission and I've been asked to serve on the board; and finally I sit on the board for our local ACFW chapter. Whew, just typing it all wears me out. I'd rather be busy, though. I get lazy when I'm idle.

 

Please tell us about Chapel Springs Revival.

Chapel Springs Revival is a romp through miscommunication in marriage. It's also the story of friendships in a small town. I discovered so many quirky characters living in Chapel Springs. The short back cover blurb is:

 

With a friend like Claire, you need a gurney, a mop, and a guardian angel.

 

Everybody in the small town of Chapel Springs, Georgia, knows best friends Claire and Patsy. It's impossible not to, what with Claire's zany antics and Patsy's self-appointed mission to keep her friend out of trouble. And trouble abounds. Chapel Springs has grown dilapidated and the tourist trade has slackened. With their livelihoods threatened, they join forces to revitalize the town. No one could have guessed the real issue needing restoration is their marriages.

 

With their personal lives in as much disarray as the town, Claire and Patsy embark on a mission of mishaps and miscommunication, determined to restore warmth to Chapel Springs--and their lives. That is if they can convince their husbands and the town council, led by two curmudgeons who would prefer to see Chapel Springs left in the fifties and closed to traffic.

 

The main character, Claire, is such fun to write. The woman has no filter between her brain and her tongue, and she moves too fast and gets into one mess after another. But her heart is big and she's a loyal friend.

 

What takeaway value do you hope your readers receive after reading this book?

All marriages go through ups and downs, but looking to God is the best fix when they're down. He's faithful and a trustworthy keeper of our hopes and dreams.

 

Please tell our readers where they can get your book.

For both print and e-books, Amazon, Barnes & Noble Nook, and through LPC.

 

Please tell our readers where they can find you online.

You can find me on my Southern-fried Fiction website, Google+, Facebook, Goodreads, Twitter, and Pinterest.

 

Any parting comment?

Go after what you want with all your heart and trust God with the results. No matter what you do in life, you're never too old to start a new career, and never ever give up.

 

Ane, thank you for visiting with my readers and me. On October 25 I will draw a winner from among current subscribers to receive a copy of Chapel Springs Revival, which you so graciously offered. 

 

   
  

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What
What Am I Reading?
  
 
If you enjoy this newsletter pass it on to someone else who might also enjoy it: at the end of this email just click "Forward Email."

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To select winners in my book drawings from active subscribers of this newsletter I use Random.org. If you're a winner, the rules are simple: I'll email winners asking for their mailing address and get the book out to them. For print copies - U.S. mailing addresses only. (See Disclaimers for complete details.)

The winner from the last newsletter drawing for a copy of The Midwife's Legacy by Trish Perry is Maria. Congratulations!

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On October 25, I'll draw a winner from current subscribers for a copy of Chapel Springs Revival by Ane Mulligan. 

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I've recently read A Side of Faith (a Sandwich novella) by Krista Phillips, OWD Publishing, 2014, 121 pages. Available on Amazon. Rachael Carter disliked Cameron Foster the minute she saw him. He reminded Rachael of a past love she tried to forget and caused her to want to spit in his face. This book tells the story of a patient man trying to change a woman's opinion of him while the woman begins gradually to see that Cameron reminds her less and less of her ex-boyfriend. The characterizations are well done. This is the first book I've read in a long time that I didn't see the ending coming. The ending was a total surprise to me. Enough suspense to keep the reader turning pages. A good read.
 
 
 
 

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Chuckle
Clean Chuckle

 

A  Minneapolis couple decided to go to Florida to thaw out during a particularly icy winter. They planned to stay at the same hotel where they spent their honeymoon 20 years earlier.

Because of hectic schedules, it was difficult to coordinate their travel schedules. So, the husband left Minnesota and flew to Florida on Thursday, with his wife flying down the following day.

The husband checked into the hotel. There was a computer in his room, so he decided to send an email to his wife. However, he accidentally left out one letter in her email address, and without realizing his error, sent the e-mail.

Meanwhile, somewhere in Houston, a widow had just returned home from her husband's funeral. He was a Baptist minister who was called home to glory following a heart attack.

The widow decided to check her e-mail expecting messages from relatives and friends. After reading the first message, she screamed and fainted.

The widow's son rushed into the room, found his mother on the floor, and saw the computer screen which read:

 

To: My Loving Wife
Subject: I've Arrived
Date: March 21, 2012

I know you're surprised to hear from me. They have computers here now and you are allowed to send emails to your loved ones. I've just arrived and have been checked in.

I've seen that everything has been prepared for your arrival tomorrow. Looking forward to seeing you then! Hope your journey is as uneventful as mine was.

P. S.  Sure is freaking hot down here!!!

 

 

 

 

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� 2009-2014 Jo Huddleston. All rights reserved.  

 

 II
Inspirational Insight

Inspirational Insight that normally appears here in this newsletter is now on my new blog, Lifelines. You can read my thoughts weekly instead of every other month. My posts on Lifelines will sometimes be humorous, but always will be insightful. I plan to post on Lifelines every Monday and I hope you'll visit me there. In the right sidebar on that blog you can sign up to follow the blog and never miss when a new post goes up. 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

� 2009-2014 Jo Huddleston. All rights reserved.  

 

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