JUNE FIRST

• Why is that date so important?
  
  Because I promised myself I will start advertising my new book, BABIES IN THE BARGAIN.
  
  
  If you've ever watched ER, or Gray's Anatomy or Scrubs or Private Practice, you will love my medical romance. I am a big fan of Gray's Anatomy and never missed an episode.
  
  BABIES IN THE BARGAIN is a sweet and spicy medical romance that finaled or won many contests before publication: Launching A Star, The Beacon, Great Expectations;
  Golden Gateway; Gotcha; Enchanted Words; The Suzannah; Winter Rose; Linda Howard Award of Excellence.
  
  BABIES IN THE BARGAIN will be released on July 03, 2009 at The Wild Rose Press, both as an ebook and paperback. It will be available at Amazon.com and other distributors.
  
  I will try to post daily, but by now you should know me. I may often miss because of so many responsibilities toward people I love.
  
  At the end of my posts, I may ask an easy question you should answer or send you to look at something interesting. Are you game?
  
  Here is a list of my prizes, mostly books or exotic magnets to post on your fridge.
  
  Paranormal Romance:
  Lady of Light And Shadow by NY Bestselling author C.L. Wilson
  The Scorpion & the Seducer by Bonnie Vanak, specialist of Egyptian historical/paranormal
  Jacob by Jacquelyn Frank, The Nightwalkers series.
  The Magic Knot by American Contest/RT winner Helen Scott/Taylor, my wonderful critique partner
  
  Historical Romance:
  Tempted Tigress by Jade Lee, USA Today Bestselling author
  A Little Bit Wicked by NY Bestselling author Victoria Alexander
  The Naked Baron by Sally MacKenzie
  
  Adventure and Romance: Temptation Ridge by Robyn Carr
  
  A thriller: The Death Dealer by the incomparable Heather Graham from my local chapter FRW.
  
  HQ Supperromance A Not So Perfect Past by Golden Heart winner Beth Andrews
  
  Several medical romances by Margaret McDonagh, Carol Martinelli, Melanie Milburne, Lilian Darcy , Olivia Gates,...
  
  Copies of my own romantic suspense ebooks: To Love A Hero and French Peril
  
  Wow, if you like to read wonderful books, stop by my blog and play with us.

Improvement

My sister surprised us by coming to spend a week. Mom was so delighted to see her she stopped dozing. I explained to my sister how to prepare the pureed food, how to feed Mom every two hours small quantities. I was able to leave them together and not worry about Mom.

I spent a few hours on my computer answering emails and checking blogs. Then my husband insisted we go out to have a drink in a bar and eat dinner. It was good to stop worrying for a few hours while away. But tomorrow I am going to spend sometime with Mom, even if I don't have to. Every hour is precious time.

I am choosing some wonderful books to send as prizes for the lucky winners of my upcoming contests but I just realized I had no idea how to start a newsletter and how to have people sign up. I will have to look into it tomorrow.

Today was hard

Today was a long hard day. A social worker and a chaplain came to visit my mother, stayed half an hour each, while I was waiting for a nurse. She finally came in the late afternoon.

Did you ever had to watch the medications your doctor prescribed? Did you have to remind him that some may have a cumulative effect and one should be stopped when the other is ordered?

Mom's blood pressure went up from 80/40 yesterday to 92/70. A big progress. She dozed a lot but was quite assertive to tell me she didn't like the pureed food I gave her. Thanks to Everybody LovesRaymond and Seinfeld, she finally ate while I explained and commented the shows.

I managed to write 800 words on my laptop. I'll probably have to rewrite half of it tomorrow but it kept my mind busy. Writing is better than an anti-anxiety drug.

I will report tomorrow.

And on June first, we will start a contest to celebrate the release of my book BABIES IN THE BARGAIN on July 03, 2009 at The Wild Rose Press. I will tell you more tomorrow.

So stay tune,

Difficult Time

On March 16, 2009, I posted this note on my blog.

I was determined to post every day or every other day, but life has its way. My mother fell and broke two ribs. We spent Saturday night at the ER. She is in a lot of pain and I spend my days with her. No laptop, no Internet, no time to blog or email. Honestly even if I had the time, I am not in a mood to blog, except about assisted living, getting old, broken bones, hospital and other depressing things.Since that day, most of my posts were book promotion for my friends with posts with pictures from the RT convention and a couple of posts here and there on a good day. But frankly, there have been very few good days.

Two months later, things are getting worse.

My mother was still recovering from her fractured ribs when she fell on her head, cut her scalpel and bled so much my sister rushed her to ER where she received four staples on the back of the head. The next day I returned home and went straight to the hospital. Two long weeks of hospital and rehab before they discharged her. Unfortunately four days later, she tumbled down from her chair and hurt her shoulder, a tiny fracture that hurt like hell. All the time, she remained positive, telling every one, “it could have been worse”.

I had trouble holding my tears when I saw her in so much pain. The slightest move required tremendous effort and caused hurt. But she would smile and say, “I’m fine.”

Yet, there was more to come for her as she experienced a stroke last week and lost her speech for a moment. We rushed to ER again. They kept her for two days and ran a series of tests, including MRI. For the last two months she had been at the hospital every Friday.

Mom is back home but I was told that she won’t be able to walk again. The doctors have stopped all therapy. She’s confined to her recliner and wheelchair, and eats only soft and pureed food.

I spend my days with her, grind her food and feed her, call the aids or nurses when she needs them, and ensure she is comfortable. It has become my fulltime job but I have a hard time coping with suffering, especially that of a loved one. To keep my sanity I take my laptop with me and write while she naps. Amazingly my muse came back. The stories I write provide the escape I need. She dozes often, but between naps she asks me what happens next with my heroine and she gives me her opinion.

My medical romance, Prescription for Trust coming on Dec 04, 2009 is dedicated to my mother, a role model and wonderful example of courage.

Did you have to deal with the illness of a loved one? How did you cope? I can use advice.

THROUGH THE FIRE

Beth Trissel lives on a farm in the heart of the Shenandoah Valley with her husband, children and multiple animals. The beauty of the valley and uniqueness of rural life has led her to write a collection of atmospheric personal essays compiled into a work of nonfiction, in addition to several historical paranormal romances.

I had the pleasure of meeting, Beth Trissel, two years ago on the Pink Fuzzy Slippers blog and we finally “saw” each other last year at RWA in San Francisco.

Beth novels, Somewhere My Love, Daughter of the Wind and Enemy of the King were bestsellers n#1 at the Wild Rose Press.

Beth’s historical Through the Fire is coming to the Wild Rose Press in digital download and print Friday, May 22, 2009
http://thewildrosepress.com/.

Through the Fire was nominated for a Golden Heart Award in 2008 and won the 2008 Linda Howard Award for Excellence in Writing.

Fast-paced historical romance novel with a THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS flavor and a mystical weave, THROUGH THE FIRE has finaled in more contests than any other novel Beth has written.

Here is Beth telling us about her new book:

People often ask which of my novels is my favorite; a tough choice as I love each one best as I’m writing the story, but if I have to choose one, it’s THROUGH THE FIRE.

Rebecca is my favorite heroine. She’s angry and grieving at the start of the book and so was I following the tragic death of my youngest daughter’s best friend Garry to a drunk driver. Garry loved history and hearing about the colonial frontier. He would have loved this book, except for the mushy parts, of course. He was like that little boy in The Princess Bride.

Years ago while researching the Virginia colonial frontier, I came across a letter from Governor Dinwiddy to George Washington or Andrew Lewis, one of his other frontier officers, asking what happened to the reinforcements he sent out to an interior fort. That account coupled with a vivid dream inspired the opening of ‘Fire.

Blurb: At the height of the French and Indian War, a young English widow ventures into the colonial frontier in search of a fresh start. She never expects to find it in the arms of the half-Shawnee, half-French warrior who makes her his prisoner in the raging battle to possess a continent––or to be aided by a mysterious white wolf and a holy man.

*It might also be of interest to you to know that the holy man in this novel is based on a frontier priest who really lived.

Already out at Amazon, THROUGH THE FIRE will be available at other online booksellers in both digital download and print soon after its release.

Local bookstores can order it in. For more on my work please visit http://bethtrissel.blogspot.com/2009/05/www.bethtrissel.com

ENEMY OF THE KING by Beth Trissel

Beth Trissel is the author of two paranormal romances, SOMEWHERE MY LOVE and DAUGHTER OF THE WIND, and two historical romances, ENEMY OF THE KING and THROUGH THE FIRE

Beth Trissel lives on a farm in the heart of the Shenandoah Valley with her husband, children and multiple animals.

The beauty of the valley and uniqueness of rural life has led her to write a collection of atmospheric personal essays compiled into a work of nonfiction, in addition to several historical paranormal romances.

I had the pleasure of meeting, Beth Trissel, two years ago on the Pink Fuzzy Slippers blog and we finally “saw” each other last year at RWA in San Francisco. Beth’s historical THROUGH THE FIRE was nominated for a Golden Heart Award in 2008.

A year later her first book, SOMEWHERE MY LOVE, a paranormal romance published by the Wild Rose Press, won first place in the 2008 Preditors and Editors Readers Poll for Best Romance Novel and is still collecting good reviews.

Her third novel, DAUGHTER OF THE WIND, was released a week ago and welcomed with a standing ovation. Now, we are impatiently waiting for Beth’s historical romance, ENEMY OF THE KING, to be released tomorrow, on May 8th, by the Wild Rose Press.

Let’s welcome Beth Trissel and read the stories behind the story of

this historical romance, ENEMY OF THE KING.

Beth: My absorption with early America extends to the high drama of the Revolution and ancestors who fought and loved on both sides of that sweeping conflict. My research into the Southern face of the war was partly inspired by my great, great, great grandfather, Sam Houston, uncle of the famous Sam, who kept a journal of the Battle of Guilford Courthouse, North Carolina, 1781, used by historians today.

One illustrious tie to the past for me is my grandfather, seven greats back, Sir George Augustus Elliott. A British general and Governor of Gibraltar during the American Revolution, he was given the title Lord Heathfield, Baron of Gibraltar, in honor of his bravery in its defense during the attack by the Spanish and French. While Sir George was giving his all for king and country, his grandson was fighting under George Washington as a commissary officer. There must have been quite a rift in that family.

ENEMY OF THE KING, coming to the Wild Rose May 8th, grew out of my passionate interest in the American Revolution.

Mona: Here is a picture of the Hanging Moss Tree that is pictured on her book cover. Sorry for the interruption, Beth. Keep on, please.

Beth: Years ago as I was researching my early American Scots-Irish forebears I often came across references to a battle fought during the Revolution called King’s Mountain. The name alone drew me. I vowed to go back later and research it more in depth and uncovered fascinating fodder for the imagination. I learned about the gallant, ill-fated British Major Patrick Ferguson who lost his life and Loyalist army atop that Carolina Mountain called King’s back in the fall of 1780. Ferguson is buried there beneath a stone cairn, possibly along with his mistress who also fell that day. He had two, both called Virginia. But it’s believed one mistress made her escape on a horse by betraying his whereabouts to the advancing Patriots.

Speaking of which, I discovered the hardy, sometimes downright mean Overmountain men of Scots heritage didn’t take kindly to Ferguson’s warning that they desist from rebellion or he’d bring fire and sword upon them and hang all their leaders––all these enemies of the King!
‘Book title,’ I said to self. And Enemy of the King sounds much cooler than The Patriot. So I began what came to be my version of that famous movie, though I started my novel before it even came out. The Battle of King’s Mountain, a mega conflict that altered the course of a nation, plays a prominent role in this fast-paced historical romance.

The year is 1780, one of the bloodiest of the American Revolution. The entire Southern garrison has been captured and Lord Cornwallis is marching his forces deep into South Carolina. ‘Bloody Ban’ Lieutenant Major Banestre Tarleton and his infamous Legion are sweeping through the countryside. Revenge is the order of the day on both sides and rugged bands of militia are all that stand between crown forces and utter defeat.

ENEMY OF THE KING: HISTORICAL ROMANCE NOVEL
http://www.thewildrosepress.com/

Blurb: 1780, South Carolina: While Loyalist Meriwether Steele recovers from illness in the stately home of her beloved guardian, Jeremiah Jordan, she senses the haunting presence of his late wife. When she learns that Jeremiah is a Patriot spy and shoots Captain Vaughan, the British officer sent to arrest him, she is caught up on a wild ride into Carolina back country, pursued both by the impassioned captain and the vindictive ghost. Will she remain loyal to her king and Tory twin brother or risk a traitor’s death fighting for Jeremiah? If Captain Vaughan snatches her away, he won’t give her a choice.

• finalist, 2005 Jasmine Contest


• finalist, 2006 Emily Contest


• top five of fifty historical entries, 2006 Four Seasons Contest


• semi-finalist 2006 Molly Contest


• finalist, 2007 Golden Gateway Contest