A Man in Uniform

We had a storm several days ago that left this beautiful double rainbow. We lost a couple trees in the storm. A large one fell across the driveway, which made for a morning of cutting wood. DH and I also had a ‘stick picking contest’ (as he called it) before he could get out the lawn mower to ‘suck up’ the yard full of leaves.

This past weekend we had the wedding reception ‘down here’. A friend of mine from Idaho was in town and joined the festivities. She hadn’t seen the boys in many years. It was a fun event, and the kids are very happy.


The next thing on the family agenda is the arrival of our newest granddaughter—which might be yet this week!

On the writing side…things have been slow with everything going on, but I’ve made some progress on a time travel as well as another story with a Texas Ranger hero. I keep jumping between the two manuscripts. I also interviewed the local Chief of Police for a short, short story about a ‘man in uniform’. I had been asked to write one, but the type of ‘man in uniform’ hadn’t come to me—until I was stopped by a very nice young officer who informed what the speed limit was. No, I didn’t get a citation, bless his heart, but I will remember the speed limit of that town next time I drive through it. (As a friend suggested, I’ll keep the pony to a trot.) As the officer was getting back in his car, I caught him in my side mirror, and thought….Hmmm…a man in uniform. A story was born, but since I write historicals, I needed some information. The local chief provided so much interesting information I’ve been pondering a second, longer story.

That’s all for now. I hope you’ve all had a fabulous July!

CataRomance Blog

Hey everyone,

I'm over at the CataRomance Blog talking about Harlequin, Mills and Boon's first western UNDONE, Wedding Night with the Ranger. Stop by and say hi if you have a chance!

Cheers,
Lauri

Pennies from Heaven

My father passed away three years ago in May, and with everything going on lately, my mind has been on him a lot. He would have loved the simplicity of our youngest son’s ‘up north wedding’ and thrilled with the aspect of the birth of our oldest son’s baby.

For years, I stopped at my mom and dad’s house every morning on my way to work. I still stop, every morning to say hi to my mom, and the past two weeks, each morning, either while getting out of my car, or back in as I’m leaving, I’ve discovered a penny. At first I didn’t think much about it, just dropped it in the change bucket in my car, or tucked it in my pocket, but by the second week, I started looking around, wondering if someone had dropped a handful or something. Nope, there was just the one. But the next morning, there was another one. I then realized, it was my dad. He would have insisted on contributing financially to all of the activities going on.

Prior to the wedding ceremony, several people drove the half mile past the church to the cemetery to visit dad’s grave, and my oldest said, when they got back in the car, his wife felt as if they’d just stopped by to pick grandpa up and bring him to the service. They turned the car on, and “You Are My Sunshine” was playing. One of my dad’s favorites. My son said he started laughing, and said, “He’s with us alright.”

I know he’s always with me, I sense him often, but these little coins are physical proof.
They are truly priceless little gifts from heaven. Tiny reminders to never overlook the small stuff.

Cover for Wild Cat Bride

Got the cover yesterday for the 5th Quinter Bride book. Love it. No release date, yet.

Life is still in the fast lane here. We have the baby shower this weekend. Next weekend, we have the wedding open house/reception for those who couldn’t travel up north, and the next week…well, we might have a new baby in the family! She’s due to arrive Aug. 4th, but doctor says an early arrival isn’t out of the running.

Oh, and I’ve been busy making raspberry jam.

Remember to laugh everyday…It’s the ultimate exercise.

June turns into July

Goodness the last two weeks flew by! Not only because of the wedding, 4th of July, and all the company, but because I was on vacation. There’s something about the word--vacation--that turns days into nights faster than normal. Here’s a picture of the entire family (minus my two step grandsons. They couldn’t make it to the wedding.)

My vacation was wonderful. Not only just the wedding and the holiday full of fireworks and family, but the days in between, I actually got some writing done! The first draft of Unclaimed Bride has been completed. Now, I’m ‘cutting and fluffing’ before I send the story off to my beta reader.

I was once again without internet for awhile, so didn’t realize Boot Hill Bride had been nominated for Book of the Week. Thanks Long and Short Reviews for your wonderful nomination!

I’ve been invited to participate in a blog tour the end of July/first of August with several other Wild Rose Press authors. It promises to be lots of fun.

And, Harlequin is updating their author pages on their website. They’ve sent a list of 25 questions for me to answer. Fun questions! I’ll let you know when they get everything updated.

I hope your 4th of July was a true celebration, and that your ‘vacation’ days were as wonderful as mine. Keep smiling. You never know who’s looking.