Read it…loved it…going out to buy books 1 and 2 in this series!  Yes, I know that’s backwards. Remembered stands alone beautifully, so if you haven’t read books 1 and 2, like me, then you will still enjoy this beautiful story. It’s so good that I read all 381 pages in 2 days…and yes, I remembered to feed my family and homeschool my children.

 I’ve read a lot of historical romances, and contemporary romances for that matter.  However, I have never fallen in love right along side the characters. As Veronique Girard was falling in love with Jack Brennan, I also got that tingly feeling in my stomach when he came in the room. Tamera Alexander has created a story that transports you in time and the emotions are so genuine that you feel right along with the characters.

Tamera, if you are reading this, my husband thanks you. He is often greeted at the end of his work day by a tired, snarky wife who has had her last nerve trampled on my three kids and a new puppy. For the entire two days it took me to fly through your book, I had a huge grin on my face, and I fairly flew through my daily responsibilities. Ah, nothing motivates a mom like a good book. Forget dangling carrots!

Here’s a little more scoop on Tamera and Remembered:

Tamera Alexander is a bestselling novelist whose deeply drawn characters, thought provoking plots, and poignant prose resonate with readers. Alexander’s books have won multiple awards, including Romance Writers of America’s 2007 RITA® for Best Inspirational Romance, the 2007 Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence, 2007 Bookseller’s Best, and Library Journal’s Top Christian Fiction of 2006.

Her books have received acclaim from Library Journal, True West Magazine and Historical Novels Review, and Rekindled debuted on the CBA fiction bestseller list. She has a professional background in business management and conference coordination. A leader of women’s ministries for over twelve years, she is currently active in music ministry, facilitating small groups, and mentoring other women. A graduate of Harding University, Tamera lives with her husband and their two teenagers in Greeley, Colorado.

Her other two books in the Fountain Creek Chronicles are Rekindled (Book 1) and Revealed (Book 2)

To celebrate the release of Remembered, as well as the 3-volume boxed set of Fountain Creek Chronicles (Rekindled, Revealed, and Remembered), Tamera is currently giving away boxed sets in a contest on her website. Check out the contest at http://www.tameraalexander.com/ .

From a Distance, the first book in Tamera’s next historical series (Timber Ridge Reflections) releases in spring 2008.

Though loss is often marked

in a single 

moment,
letting go of someone you love  

can take a 

The threat of war–and a final request–send Véronique Girard from France to a distant and uninviting country. In the Colorado Territory, she searches for the man who has held her heart since childhood–her father. Pierre Girard left Paris for the Americas to seek his fortune in fur trading, vowing to send for his wife and daughter. But twenty-five years have passed and his vow remains unfulfilled. Sifting through shards of broken promises, Véronique embarks on a dangerous search for a man she scarcely remembers.

His grief finally healed, Jack Brennan is moving on with life. After years of guiding families west, he is now working as a freighter to the mining towns surrounding Willow Springs. What he doesn’t count on is an unexpected traveling companion on his trips up into the mountains, and how one woman’s search will cause havoc with his plans… and his life.

“Alexander again delivers a most amazing story. The characters are more than words on the page; they become real people. Though there are French words sprinkled throughout the story, they enhance the emotions rather than distract the reader.” –Romantic Times

“…a rich historical romance by possibly the best new writer in this subgenre.” –Library Journal

“Alexander has done it again with Remembered, third in the FOUNTAIN CREEK CHRONICLES. She’s fashioned characters that are as rich and deep as the mountains and valleys they explore throughout the pages, coloring the story as adeptly as the heroine does her canvas. I was drawn immediately into the ages-old heartaches of both of the main characters, understanding at once Veronique’s reticence to make a place for herself in the unknown wilds of America and Jack’s uncompromising love for this land that he’s cut a swath through time and again. They both have a series of mountains to overcome in the search for Veronique’s father, but I enjoyed watching their faith and appreciation grow with each turn of the page. And woven adeptly through it all is the encompassing truth of the Lord’s sovereignty—that sometimes He takes away, and sometimes He gives us what we need, not what we’re looking for.

Anyone’s who’s read the other Fountain Creek books won’t want to miss this one, but it easily stands alone. The characters will take you by the hand and lead you heart-first into their stories, and by the time they release you at the end, you’ll feel as though you’ve taken up residence just across the Creek from them, as surely as they have in your heart.” –Roseanna White, christianreviewofbooks.com

“Remembered, the third book in the FOUNTAIN CREEK CHRONICLES, takes us back to Willow Creek and revisits beloved characters from the previous two books in the series, Rekindled and Revealed. Tamera Alexander has the remarkable ability to create places, and characters who endear themselves to us, even those just briefly mentioned. If I had lived in the late 1800s, I would love to have met these people and would surely have been inspired by the way they lived out their faith.
Remembered is a delightful read, well-researched and well-written. I expect to see great things from this author in the future.” –Lindsey Freitas, bookloons.com

“Remembered is an absolutely wonderful continuation of the FOUNTAIN CREEK CHRONICLES.” –Amanda Schafer, armchairinterviews.com

Lyn Cote’s journey to becoming a published author was a long one – she started her first book when her daughter was 13 months old and her first novel was published when her daughter was about to enter high school. But Lyn was writing for a market that hadn’t taken shape yet – the inspirational fiction market.

In 1996, Lyn Cote’s first inspirational historical manuscript was a finalist in the Romance Writers of America’s Golden Heart Contest. This became her first historical novel, Whispers Of Love, in her BLESSED ASSURANCE series.

Most recently, Chloe, the first novel in Lyn’s “Women of Ivy Manor” historical series was a 2006 RWA Rita Award finalist for Best Inspirational, as well as a finalist for the Holt Medallion and the National REaders Choice Contest.

Lyn also writes contemporary romance and romantic suspense. She lives in the lovely northwoods of Wisconsin with her husband and three cats. Aside from writing, she also likes to knit, crochet, read, and do lunch with friends.

Now available for the first time in one edition–All three novels from Lyn Cote’s beloved Blessed Assurance series

In Whispers of Love, Civil War widow Jessie Wagstaff must fend for herself and her son. When a stranger, Lee Smith, befriends Jessie’s son, even though she recognizes nine-year-old Linc’s need for a father figure, she’s reluctant to let a new man into their life. When the Great Chicago Fire blazes, every heart is pushed to its limits.

In Lost In His Love, Jessie’s son Linc, a social activist and reporter, charms his way through the upper class of San Francisco to build much-needed support for his fight against child labor. His main target is Cecilia Jackson, a beautiful heiress who doesn’t recognize the crucial part she plays in this dangerous exploitation. As the secrets of her family’s dark past are exposed, Cecilia must revive her own wounded spirit and find the strength to lean on the never-failing love of Christ. But when the 1906 earthquake hits, everyone’s faith will be put to the test.

In Echoes of Mercy, Meg Wagstaff challenges the racial barriers of 1920s New Orleans in order to prove that her childhood friend did not commit murder. The stubborn lawyer prosecuting the case, Gabriel St. Clair, is an authentic Southern gentleman who makes the mistake of underestimating Meg, both her tenacity and her charm. Despite their many differences, sparks begin to fly. But when Meg discovers the truth, will Gabe be able to protect her from those who can’t afford to have justice prevail?

“A beautiful tale of love, forgiveness, and acceptance.”

~CBA Marketplace

This weekend we visited my in-laws. The highlight for my boys was riding up and down the long country driveway in the tractor with Grandpa. The last time we visited my in-laws they were preparing for their farm sale, which heralded their retirement. This time the farm looked slightly more sterile. Most of the equipment is gone, a few old buildings have been knocked down and buried, while others were sold and carried off. Caleb, however, didn’t notice those things. He noticed the missing cattle.

Later, as we were eating our supper, Caleb leaned over to me and whispered, “Did you know Grandpa sold his aminals?” I confirmed that I did know that piece of trivia. Then he added, “It’s because he’s really tired.” It only took a heart beat or two for me to catch on to the fact that Caleb heard “really tired” when Grandpa had actually said he was “retired.”  I love that.

I was thinking about the fact that we best understand things in the language that’s familiar to us. Caleb, who is trying not to nap anymore in the afternoons, but often collapses against his will, “gets” language related to being tired.  Retirement, on the other hand, is foreign to him.

God speaks to each of us in our own language too. I believe He speaks to my brother, Jim, who has Down Syndrome, in a different language than He addresses me. I know He speaks to my husband differently too. Sometimes I ask Him to show Himself to me in my every day circumstances…to help me see illustrations of Him as I wash dishes, homeschool my kids, or work on a new writing project. I’m delighted when He reveals Himself in my language.

“When He speaks, it’s in the language of our own personal lives,

through a verse or passage of Scripture that just seems

to leap up off the page with our name on it.”

~Anne Graham Lotz

“I will give you treasures hidden in the darkness–secret riches.

I will do this so you may know that I am the LORD,

the God of Israel, the on who calls you by  name.”

Isaiah 45:3

Victoria Christopher Murray always knew she would become an author, even as she was taking quite an unlikely path to that destination. A native of Queens, New York, Victoria first left New York to attend Hampton Institute in Virginia where she majored in Communication Disorders. After graduating from Hampton, Victoria attended New York University where she received her MBA.

Victoria spent ten years in Corporate America before she decided to test her entrepreneurial spirit. She opened a Financial Services Agency for Aegon, USA where she managed the number one division for nine consecutive years. However, Victoria never lost the dream to write and when the “bug” hit her again in 1997, she answered the call.

Victoria originally self published Temptation. “I wanted to write a book as entertaining and compelling as any of the books on the market, put God in the middle, and have the book still be a page-turner. I wasn’t writing to any particular genre – I didn’t even know Christian fiction existed. I just wanted to write about people I knew and characters I could relate to.”

In 2000, Time Warner published Temptation. Temptation made numerous best sellers list across the nation and remained on the Essence bestsellers list for nine consecutive months. In 2001, Temptation was nominated for an NAACP Image Award in Outstanding Literature.

Since Temptation, Victoria has written four other novels: JOY, Truth Be Told, Grown Folks Business, and A Sin and a Shame. All of her novels have continued to be Essence bestsellers; her last three each reaching #1. In addition, Victoria has received numerous awards including the Golden Pen Award for Best Inspirational Fiction and in 2006, she was awarded the Phyllis Wheatley Trailblazer Award for being the pioneer in African American Christian Fiction.

The Ex FilesA Novel About Four Women and Faith…
 

There are four ways a woman can handle heartbreak. She can fall apart, seek revenge, turn cold, or move on. The Ex Files is the story of these four women:

When Kendall Stewart finds her husband and her sister in bed together, she vows to never let anyone get that close again. But when she is faced with saving the life of the woman who destroyed hers, will she be able to forgive?

When an NBA superstar tells his mistress, Asia Ingrum, that he’s decided to honor his marriage vows, her shock quickly gives way to revenge…but her decision may come back to haunt their five-year-old daughter.

Every night Vanessa Martin wonders why her husband committed suicide. Even worse, she contemplates joining him in eternity. Will Vanessa be able to gather the strength to live again?

Sheridan Hart is finally finding her way after a lie destroyed her seventeen-year marriage. Her new love is ready to get married, but will she commit to this younger man or is her ex-husband taking up too much space in her heart?

When their pastor asks Kendall, Asia, Vanessa, and Sheridan to meet weekly for prayer, they can’t imagine they will have anything in common. But then a devastating tragedy strikes and these strangers are forced to reexamine their choices. Will they find true friendship, or will prayer — and their union — fail them?

This week we took our sweet little Teddy Bear puppy to the vet for her pre-op appointment. In October, Miss Gracie will be spayed. She is being very brave about it and the Tiede family is so proud of her. (That’s not the topic of this post, however. It’s just a little background information.)

 When we went to the vet only Caleb, my youngest son (5), wanted to tag along with mom and the pup. I secretly think he was only after the candy that our vet keeps on the counter. As soon as we arrived, he asked if it was up there (he was too short to see that high) and announced that he would be waiting for Gracie and me when we returned from the appointment. “I’m big now. I’ll wait here.” I’m sure those little wheels were spinning in his head while he plotted his strategy for getting the candy.

 It wasn’t long into the examination when the cute little receptionist (complete with a stud through her tongue) poked her head into our room and asked if Caleb could have a treat. Ah, ha! Clever boy.

Gracie and I made our way to the counter to pay and found the receptionist giggling. Apparently, Caleb had won over his sugar momma with stories. She learned that he had two older siblings at home. However, when she commented that he must be the “baby” he promptly informed her that he was NOT the baby, Gracie was the baby.  Then after a slight hesitation he said, “But I’m the cutest.”

Now, I would never say that one of my kids is cuter than another, but I will say that if there is one of my three who is most apt to be a comedian, it’s Caleb.

Tonight I’m delighted by the fact that God has a plan for each one of us. What plans He has for my children is a mystery to me and I’m okay with that. Will Caleb enterain others when he’s older? Perhaps. Will Kadi be a journalist as she aspires to be? Maybe. Will Ben conquer his speech issues to serve God in ministry? I don’t know. But I know Who does. I love that.

If you had asked me as a child or even as a young adult what I would be doing when I turned 40, never in a million years would I have guessed that I’d be speaking, writing, mothering, wife-ing (Tee-hee-hee.  Yes, I know that’s not a read word), homeschooling…

What I do know is that I have adopted a line from Erma Bombeck and I pray that my children adopt this attitude one day for themselves.

When I stand before God at the end of my life,

I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left,

and could say,

“I used everything You gave me.”

I don’t know if anyone is keeping track, but I have not been blogging in quite some time. I can blame it on our family vacation, a trip to Chicago for a family wedding, the start of the new homeschool year(with a kindergartener, second grader, and sixth grader). I might even try blaming it on the fact that I have officially kicked off the fall speaking schedule and been writing like a lunatic for the last month. But if no one is keeping tracking then surely you won’t care what my lame excuses are. Like everyone else, I have simply been busy. However, I’m back.

As the Tiede family strives to find our rhythm again this fall, I am setting a few goals. Yes, again. Here they are…and for the record, I’m making them up as I go. Give me a break here, I said it’s been busy. Have you seen the smoke billowing from my windows? Yep, it’s from my dayplanner.

Okay. Here it goes…

1. Blog twice a week. Once for CFBA and once for me. (Please don’t flog me with a wet noodle when I blow it. Notice I said ‘when’, not ‘if’.)

2. Get healthier. I’m up and moving every morning with Leslie Sansone, my sister in sweat. She looks great on my big screen TV. I’ve also given up eating M & M’s while I write my books and am on a serious diet with 5 servings of fruits and vegetables a day. Yes, it’s possible. I never would have thought so, but I’m doing it! I’m also chuggin’ 2 quarts of water a day. How that’s working out DEPENDS on who you ask. My kids will tell you I am missing a lot of school as I have to make a lot of trips to the loo.

3. Work with my friend Cyndy Salzmann to get my ministry organized. She’s the Queen of Clutter and I won an opportunity to have her come and help me get my ducks in a row. I can’t wait to get her scheduled. Check out her website!

4. Get four new talks written before Christmas. Gulp. Oh, my!

5. Enjoy my kids while they are still little. Okay, so Kadi is only two inches shorter than I am, but she still qualifies.

6. Thank my dear husband for being the BEST more often.

7. Give God the glory for whatever He chooses to do with my life.

It’s good to be back!

Hope Lyda has always wanted to write. Ever since she was a young tyke with a spiral notebook in hand, she had the urge to fill it. Sadly, Peggy Meets the Midgets did not cause Hope to be deemed a child prodigy, so she continued her path of education. She was grade-obsessed but also truly enjoyed sharing laughs with her circle of creative friends.

Hope attended the University of Oregon and graduated with a double major in Journalism: Advertising and Telecommunications and Film. With aspirations to write screenplays or teleplays, she of course ended up doing public relations for non-profits until she entered the publishing field in which she has worked for 10 years.
Her passions are quiet ones—she loves a good read, an afternoon of free thinking time, writing, journaling, road trips, travel, and pondering life from her back yard pergola. She loiters in bookstores frequently, though has never been arrested for such. Her big hope is to encourage others to embrace their dreams and understand their faith journeys through the practice of journaling and the art of creative living. She hopes to also inspire such things through the themes in her fiction including Hip to Be Square and Altar Call. (There are also visions of a nice Casita with a hammock in Mexico—but one thing at a time.)
When not living in her head, she resides with her husband, Marc, in the Pacific Northwest.

Libby Hawthorne makes exotic trip itineraries but never leaves Seattle. She’d like to attend church but winds up at a bookstore. She longs for love—but who has the time? Delayed happiness has been worth it, because she’s about to get her dream promotion…

Or not.

So now what?

When a corporate merger leaves her demoted and disillusioned, Libby realizes she needs to start living authentically…and soon. But just as she tries to uncover her purposed life, her cruel and unusual boss, Cecilia, demands that Libby hide Seattle’s most famous homegrown rock star in order to keep her new, bad job. For the first time in years, Libby doesn’t have a step by step plan to guide her. She must trust her faith and her heart. But what is she supposed to do with her growing admiration for Blaine Slater, a new VP from Chicago, or the surprising kindness of the rock star living incognito in her Seattle apartment? Through the humorous twist and turns, Libby uncovers a big life truth—the detours we are afraid of might just be the perfect path to happiness.

Camy Tang is a member of CFBA and is a loud Asian chick who writes loud Asian chick-lit. She grew up in Hawaii, but now lives in San Jose, California, with her engineer husband and rambunctious poi-dog. In a previous life she was a biologist researcher, but these days she is surgically attached to her computer, writing full-time. In her spare time, she is a staff worker for her church youth group, and she leads one of the worship teams for Sunday service.

Sushi for One? (Sushi Series, Book One is her first novel. Her second, Only Uni (Sushi Series, Book Two) comes out in February 2008!
To celebrate the launch of her debut novel, she’s got a huge contest going on. Camy is giving away baskets of Christian novels and an iPod Nano! Only her newsletter YahooGroup subscribers are eligible to enter, so join today.
For more information about the contest, visit her website.
Contest ends October 31, 2007!

Lex Sakai’s family, big, nosy, and marriage-minded, is ruled by a crafty grandmother. When her cousin Mariko gets married, Lex will become the OLDEST SINGLE COUSIN in the clan, a loathed position by all single female family members.

Lex has not dated for years.

Grandma homes in on this fact and demands, bribes, and threatens Lex to bring a boyfriend (not just a date) to her cousin’s wedding.

Lex does not want to date … not since that terrible incident a few years back … but, Grandma doesn’t give her that choice.

Lex’s options are slim because she has used her Bible study class on Ephesians to compile a huge list of traits for the PERFECT man (and the more she dates, the more she adds to the list).

The one man she keeps running into (and is completely attracted to) doesn’t seem to have a single quality on her list. It’s only when the always-in-control Lex loses control and lets God take over that all the pieces of this hilarious romance finally fall into place