A Little Birdie Told Me Newsletter – Edition II

31 December 2016

Edition II

A Little Birdie Told Me

Hullo and WELCOME!  I’ve embarked on (yet another) new feature, my newsletter, to go along with my new web page and all my other regular blog features.  (I’m rather in the dark on some of (most of) the technical bits and pieces.  I’ve built computers and I’m aces on the user end.  But the middle ground techie stuff – HELP ME!)  Look for my newsletter quarterly, with seasonal tidbits, and event updates. NOTE: As of the writing of this, I am trying [in vain] to figure out how to set up a mailing list, so bear with me!!

 

The unsavory heritage series has come to an end

My debut novel, Tessa, set me on a journey three years ago I couldn’t have imagined! I couldn’t begin to tell you how many words I had written at the time, but once I got busy writing, it was just a matter of a few months til the story was done. With the help of a friend, I got her uploaded to Kindle, and added the print version later in the year (October 2014).

When peeps started asking if there was a sequel, I looked and realized I had, in fact, set up not only a sequel, but two more stories.

And for two years, I lived in the world of my unsavory heritage characters, 150 years, and seven generations. It is a bittersweet and fond farewell I bid to these women and their families.

They are available on my Amazon page,

http://www.amazon.com/Robin-E.-Mason/e/B00MR5IQ9S

Series Number Two Hath Begun

The southern town of Saisons lies at the crossroads between North and South, progressive and genteel antebellum life. Between East and West, between history and heritage, and new frontiers.

In a world where slavery is dying and women’s rights are rising, four young girls share a bond—and experience a tragedy.

Seasons is the telling of their stories, and Mercedes Renaldi’s story is first in The Long Shadows of Summer.

Mercedes Renaldi’s friend comes to her and she must now keep Simone’s secret. But Mercedes knows things, too, and she has to uncover the evidence before it falls into the wrong hands.

Coming in July. Leave a comment or email me at robinemason212@gmail.com for a sample chapter.

Stories by Design, the Web Page

IS NOW LIVE on a browser near you!   Please bear with me as I wade through all I want for my webpage—I spend most of my time with the blog and with my stories! You do love my stories, don’t you?

NaNoWriMo

It’s been a full month! Did you NaNo?  To be honest, I hadn’t thought much about it, til late October, and I realized I was on target. So I jumped in and I’m so glad I did!  I made it to the 50K mark with a few words to spare, not counting the 3K I already had written.

Coming in 2017

On the table for this year are not only Long Shadows, but Book Two as well, The Tilting Leaves of Autumn, in the new series. The series is one overall story, told by four main characters. Each has their own twist, their own dilemma. The saving grace for me is the research is all the same, the setting and characters are the same, with minor variations. Leaves releases in October.

Leave a comment with your email for a copy of the first chapter. If you don’t want your email public, send it to me privately at robinemason212@gmail.com.

I’ve gotten more organized with the blog, and will have a feature for each day of the week once I launch the recipe feature on Saturdays—not sure yet how soon that’ll be. I have yet to [be able to] attend ACFW conference—thus far I’ve attended only one (Weekend With the Writer, 2015) and loved it! This is The Year, and I’ll be in Grapevine, TX in September! My Jingle Bell Authors was a big hit, and I will be repeating it again in December. It is set for Wednesday the 13^th!

Got questions? Email me at robinemason212@gmail.com.

Friday Feature and First Friday Feature is taking a back seat, at least for a season. In its place, I’m excited to join with seven other bloggers to bring you First Line Fridays.

This Just In

I am opening my influencer team / street team / tribe for new members. We are Robin’s Little Flock, and “brain picking, question answering, beta reading, grammar editing, launch team… my writing support system…” I am putting together new guidelines and will have those ready by the end of January. Email me at robinemason212@gmail.com if you’re interested.

Family-wise, there’s a wedding in March—my nephew—another’n (also a nephew) later in the year—and a third (nephew #3) not far behind!! The blog focus for March will be weddings.

Christmas is behind us for another year, and tomorrow begins a new year. What plans and goals do you have for 2017? Notice I did not use the word ‘resolution?’ Goals are ongoing, perpetual, and ever-adapting. Methinks ‘resolution’ has gotten a bad rap! Ha!

Spiritual-wise, 2017 is wide open, Father has taught me much, and raised me out of so much darkness and torment. He has elevated me, and I’m free to walk in promises made long ago, and receive from His hand in ways I never before fathomed. Bring it, 2017, let’s DO this!!

And with that, here ends the Premier Edition (Take Two) of

Thank you for subscribing!

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A Little Birdie Told Me, #newsletter, Stories by Design, #NaNoWriMo2016, New Series, The Long Shadows of Summer, Coming in 2017, Friday Feature, First Line Fridays, Robin’s Little Flock

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BLOGWORDS – Friday 30 December 2016 – FIRST LINE FRIDAY – ONE ENCHANTED EVE by MELISSA TAGG

 

FIRST LINE FRIDAY – ONE ENCHANTED EVE by MELISSA TAGG

 

http://allthebookblognamesaretaken.blogspot.com/search/label/First%20Line%20Fridayhttp://bookwormmama14.blogspot.com/search/label/First%20Line%20Fridayshttp://englishmysteriesblog.blogspot.com/search/label/First%20Line%20Fridayshttp://www.faithfullybookish.com/tag/first-line-friday/http://frommipov.blogspot.com/search/label/First%20Line%20Fridayhttp://readingismysuperpower.org/category/first-line-fridays/http://www.singinglibrarianbooks.com/adults/category/first-line-fridays

 

 

THE BLURB:  

A delightful Christmas romance about finding the perfect recipe for love.

After years of mistakes and regret, Colin Renwycke finally has a plan: Hone his baking talent at the Denver Culinary Institute and embark on a new career as a pastry chef. If he’s lucky, he might even manage to earn back his family’s respect. But despite his skills in the kitchen, Colin’s a mess in the classroom and his ongoing disasters are proving too much for his prickly instructor. If he loses his spot at the school, he’s out of backup plans.

Culinary school instructor Rylan Jefferson has the chance to reclaim her dream of running her own bakery. But she only has until Christmas Eve to come up with the perfect recipe to impress an eccentric investor. She has no time for holiday parties or family plans . . . and especially not for the unruly student baker who couldn’t follow a recipe if his life depended on it.

But Colin has the one ingredient Rylan needs most—talent. Lots of it. And when he makes a proposal that just might solve both their problems, Rylan can’t say no—even if it does mean traveling all the way to Iowa. It just might be that the snow-covered plains and a charming small town full of postcard Christmas cheer are exactly what her hungry heart needs . . . along with a man who is much more than he seems.

 

THE FIRST LINE:  

If Rylan Jefferson was lucky, after tonight she’d never have to see Colin Renwycke again.

 

MY THOUGHTS:  

Love it. Hands down. Ms. Tagg has become my new favorite author—well, she’s in good company anyway. She had a skill with words that supersedes most I’v read, and she crafts a well-told story.

 

STARS:  

Five stars, definitely five stars.

 

#Blogwords, First Line Friday, #FLF, One Enchanted Eve, Melissa Tagg

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BLOGWORDS – WREADING WEDNESDAY – 28 December 2016 – FREEFALL by KRISTEN HEITZMANN

 

FREEFALL by KRISTEN HEITZMANN

 

When a young woman stumbles out of the Hanalei Mountains on the island of Kauai with no memory of who she is or how she got there, Cameron Pierce reluctantly agrees to investigate the mysterious circumstances surrounding her arrival. As pieces begin to fall into place, he suspects her injuries were no accident, but he’s far from convinced she’s an innocent victim. And there’s that nagging feeling he’s seen her somewhere before….
Now known as Jade, the woman begins to recall fragments of what led her to this place, and she realizes the danger isn’t over. Jade and the cynical Hawaiian investigator attempt to reconstruct the threads of her identity, but the stakes are far higher than either expected.

 

 

Kristen Heitzmann is the bestselling author of contemporary romantic suspense, psychological suspense, and historical novels, including Colorado Book Award finalist The Still of Night, Christy Award finalists Indivisible and The Tender Vine, and Christy Award winners Secrets and The Breath of Dawn that won both a Christy Award and Inspirational Readers Choice Award and was a finalist for a people’s choice award in the Netherlands. She is a fiction track and workshop teacher at writers conferences. An artist and musician, she’ll also be found hiking the Colorado Rocky Mountain trails near her home where she lives with her husband, pets, extended family, and wildlife.

 

 

https://www.amazon.com/Freefall-Kristen-Heitzmann-ebook/dp/B00AFWM1CS/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

 

Wreading Wednesday, Freefall, Kristen Heitzmann

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DOUBLE BOOK REVIEW – Tuesday 6 December 2016 – VIKINGS of the NEW WORLD SAGA by HEATHER DAY GILBERT

BOOK REVIEW – GOD’S DAUGHTER

Gudrid grew up following pagan ways. But when pagan ways took her mother from her, she dismissed Thor and wants nothing to do with him. As a child of eleven, what choice did she have?

As a woman of two and twenty, Gudrid is twice widowed and living in Straumsfjord with her third husband and their child. As a former daughter –in-law of Eirik the Red, Gudrid is a leader in the camp in the new land, and she bears that role with care and responsibility.

But Gudrid has memories that haunt her dreams. Memories of a would-be love that was cut short. Can she lay those ghosts that haunt her dream to rest? Can she accept the love of her husband? Will she lay aside the past hopes and dreams and embrace the man she is now wed to?

I purchased this book on Amazon. I offer my review of my own volition, The opinions expressed in my review are my own honest thoughts and reaction to this book.

BOOK REVIEW – GOD’S DAUGHTER

She always felt entitled to just as much as her brothers. But she was a girl. And she was forest child—the illegitimate daughter of Eirik the Red’s mistress.

Freydis lived up to the label of forest child. She was more at home in the trees than she was in the village or around people. And she bested her brothers at seeming everything.

Only Gudrid could talk to her—only Gudrid would talk to her. And with her Christian ways, it seemed only Gudrid loved her.

As Freydis strives to make her place in a man’s world, in a world of pagan beliefs and rituals, can she accept the love she seeks, the love she longs for? Will she relinquish her resentment of her half-brother, Leif Eiriksson, and receive the love Gudrid offers? The love of Christ?

Ms. Gilbert has brought to life the stories of these two women with such vivid telling. Based heavily on the Icelandic Sagas and written in first person point of view draws the reader in to an intimate telling of the first European women in North America. Ms. Gilbert’s depth of research and her heart for these stories make them come alive with vivid descriptions, vibrant settings, and authentic dialogue. I felt Gudrid’s conflict as she struggled to let go of unwanted love and embrace the enduring love of her husband.  And the depth that Freydis believed she wasn’t good enough and had to prove her worth, verily leaps from the page—especially for this reviewer. I reveled with both as they earned their victories.

Ms. Gilbert has told these tales both succinctly and yet thoroughly, and given a new appreciation for the lives and history of the Viking people.

I received a free copy of this book, but was under no obligation to read the book or to post a review. I offer my review of my own volition, The opinions expressed in my review are my own honest thoughts and reaction to this book.

 

 

HEATHER DAY GILBERT, a Grace Award winner and bestselling author, writes novels that capture life in all its messy, bittersweet, hope-filled glory. Born and raised in the West Virginia mountains, generational story-telling runs in her blood. Heather is a graduate of Bob Jones University, and she and her husband are raising their children in the same home in which Heather grew up.

Heather’s Viking historical novels, God’s Daughter and Forest Child, are Amazon Norse bestsellers. Heather has also authored the bestselling Murder in the Mountains mystery series, the Hemlock Creek Suspense series, and the Indie Publishing Handbook: Four Key Elements for the Self-Publisher.

http://heatherdaygilbert.com

https://www.facebook.com/heatherdaygilbert

https://twitter.com/heatherdgilbert

https://www.pinterest.com/heatherdgilbert/

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7232683.Heather_Day_Gilbert

 

 

God’s Daughter, Forest Child, Tuesday Reviewsday, Double Book Review, Heather Day Gilbert, Historical Fiction, New World Saga

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Better Than New Year’s Resolutions

Maybe it’s always this way, or perhaps I’m just more alert this year, but everywhere I look this Christmas, I see stress. Anxiety. Depression. Grieving. Hard stuff. People bustling abou…

Source: Better Than New Year’s Resolutions

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BLOGWORDS – Sunday 25 December 2016 – FRONT PORCH FELLOWSHIP – JESUS DAY

FRONT PORCH FELLOWSHIP – JESUS DAY

 

Luke Chapter Two – King James Version

¹ And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed.

² (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)

³ And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.

⁴ And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:)

⁵ To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.

⁶ And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.

⁷ And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.

⁸ And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

⁹ And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

¹⁰ And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

¹¹ For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

¹² And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

¹³ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

¹⁴ Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

¹⁵ And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.

¹⁶ And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.

¹⁷ And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.

¹⁸ And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.

¹⁹ But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.

²⁰ And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.

²¹ And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name was called Jesus, which was so named of the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

²² And when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were accomplished, they brought him to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord;

²³ (As it is written in the law of the Lord, Every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord;)

²⁴ And to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the Lord, A pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.

²⁵ And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him.

²⁶ And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.

²⁷ And he came by the Spirit into the temple: and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him after the custom of the law,

²⁸ Then took he him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said,

²⁹ Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word:

³⁰ For mine eyes have seen thy salvation,

³¹ Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people;

³² A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.

³³ And Joseph and his mother marvelled at those things which were spoken of him.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2hEBc61fWk

 

 

 

Christmas Morning, Love Came Down, Front Porch Fellowship, #FPF, Sunday Devotion, Jesus Day, Hallelujah, Baby in the Hay

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Merry Christmas

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BLOGWORDS – WREADING WEDNESDAY – 21 December 2016 – THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS

 

THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS

 

On Christmas Eve night, while his wife and children sleep, a father awakens to noises outside his house. Looking out the window, he sees Santa Claus (St. Nicholas) in an air-borne sleigh pulled by eight reindeer. After landing his sleigh on the roof, the saint enters the house through the chimney, carrying a sack of toys with him. The father watches Santa filling the children’s Christmas stockings hanging by the fire, and laughs to himself. They share a conspiratorial moment before the saint bounds up the chimney again. As he flies away, Santa wishes everyone a “Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night.”

 

Clement Clarke Moore was a professor of religion and the author of several scholarly works. What he is most remembered for, however, is his poem “An Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas,” later called “The Night Before Christmas,” and written as a Christmas gift for his six children.

 

https://www.amazon.com/Clement-Clarke-Moore/e/B000APP988/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1480909709&sr=1-2-ent

 

Wreading Wednesday, Twas the Night Before Christmas, Clement Clarke Moore, Saint Nicholas, Reindeer, Christmas Stockings

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BLOGWORDS – 15 December 2016 – COVER REVEAL – RECONCILIATION by AMY BROCK MCNEW

 

COVER REVEAL – RECONCILIATION by AMY BROCK MCNEW

 

 

Some ghosts from the past refuse to stay dead.

 

Finally. Finally everything is coming together for Liz Brantley. She’s marrying Ryland Vaughn, the man of her dreams. She’s embraced her calling and battles the minions of hell bent on her destruction. And she’s left her dark past far behind her. Or so she thought.

 

A secret she holds close, stuffed down deep, surfaces at the wrong time for everyone in Liz’s life, leaving a trail of devastation. Left reeling, Liz wonders if she made a mistake, putting her trust in God, her guardian Arie, and Ryland. And the demon Kade capitalizes on her shaken faith. With a vengeance.

 

Torn between her tortured past and the future she craves, Liz is desperate to defeat every demon that stands in her way. Before all hell breaks loose and swallows her whole.

 

Amy Brock McNew doesn’t just write speculative fiction, she lives and breathes it. Exploring the strange, the supernatural, and the wonderfully weird, Amy pours her guts onto the pages she writes, honestly and brutally revealing herself in the process. Nothing is off-limits. Her favorite question is “what if?” and she believes fiction can be truer than our sheltered and controlled realities. Visit AmyBrockMcNew.com to learn more about this intriguing author.

 

Website Preorder Link: http://bit.ly/2h0CoeY

Release Date: January 24, 2016

 

 

 

Website: http://amybrockmcnew.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AmyBrockMcNewAuthor

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AmyBrockMcNew

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/26955721-amy-mcnew

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/AmyBrockMcNew/

 

Blogwords, Cover Reveal, Reconcilation, Amy Brock McNew, Reluctant Warrior Chronicles, Rebirth

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Wednesday Wisdom – GIFT

“Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!” —2 Corinthians 9:15 (NIV) What’s the best gift you’ve ever received? No doubt you remember what the package looked like and ho…

Source: Wednesday Wisdom – GIFT

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