Slipping Into Christmas Mode

 Good morning, all! Ruthy here, and it's been a crazy couple of months around the farm, around life, around everything but in the middle of all that have been one book completed, one book half done, a new kitchen, a really cute teenager on hand to help with this, that and the other thing, a blood donation, two puppies (now at their new homes) and a lovely winter of track-and-field events, basketball games and grandkids.

So once I finished my mystery, I dove right back into a Christmas story coming out late September. This story, "Rekindling Christmas in Wishing Bridge" is a beautiful tale of a returning hero... he thinks he's a prodigal.

He's anything but.

He's a man anyone would be proud to call son, brother, husband, father, etc. but it doesn't matter that others see Luke that way.

He doesn't see himself that way and that makes all the difference.

I'm delighted to be back in this book, I love working on it, but I must admit that working and keeping my head on straight between puppies, A Certain Farmer and the massive kitchen remodel (all of which meant folks kept interrupting me... for good reason... but still... interrupting me.) tested me! EEK!

But I've emerged unscathed (pretty much) and ready to tackle a heartfelt Christmas story with spring birds finally singing outside my window. Yay, Spring!!!

So to get my head into Christmas mode I play some sweet Christmas hymns... I look at pictures of the Journey to Bethlehem that Mandy, Beth and I took in Walnut Creek, Ohio, an amazing experience that inspired me doing a similar thing in this Wishing Bridge book... and I think of that baby, that child, born to the poor.

It's a beautiful thing and it's just enough to get me in the mindset I need to have to do this story justice.

Part of being able to write a story that grabs the heart and soothes the soul is being able to make it seem organic to the setting, the time, the people, places, things, moods, emotions... and that's just how I'm feeling with this story.

Of course, if we're doing the job right, we should be feeling that way with every story, right???

Oh mylanta... and I'm behind in my mailing, so my goal is to get prizes in the mail this week and keep working on this story so that I can sail into farm season with both feet firmly planted on the ground, ready to tend pumpkins and mums... and kiss cute little faces! 

No book covers I can share yet, but I have a BEEYOOOTIFUL story coming out from Guideposts in three months, then Wishing Bridge, then Guideposts again, so I'm hoping we'll have some fun reading times together very soon. 

As for today?

I'm playing "Breath of Heaven" and loving it! 

Inspirational bestselling author Ruth Logan Herne has over seventy published novels and novellas and is so grateful to God for this amazing opportunity to let her talents shine and her words soothe. She's got a whole lot of kids and grandkids, some dogs, cats, miniature donkeys and lots of bugs on her popular pumpkin farm in Western New York. You can friend Ruthy on Facebook, email her at loganherne@gmail.com or visit her website ruthloganherne.com. She'd love to hear from you! 

Holiday Time & Holiday Stories: A Must Have!

Holiday stories and holidays have always been a favorite pairing of mine, since childhood.

I was raised on re-runs of "Miracle on 34th Street" and "It's a Wonderful Life" and "Holiday Inn and "White Christmas" from the time I was old enough to love, love, love romance...

Nothing has changed.

This Two-in-One is on shelves at Walmarts and Krogers and all kinds of cool places right now for $4.99. Or you can find it here at CHRISTIANBOOK.COM.

 There weren't as many holiday/Christmas/Thanksgiving stories in books then. At least not that I saw, so when I was on my road to publication one of my goals was to put out some form of Christmas story every year, not just because I love Christmas stories, but because READERS LOVE THEM.

And, as evidenced by the high sales across all venues for holiday-themed-everything, it's a solid idea for authors.

If there was a holiday themed anthology, count me in!

If a series needed a holiday story, I was on it!

If I had a spare two or three weeks, I was writing a Christmas story. Not because of the sales. Not directly. But because of reader satisfaction, and my goal is to help women see a bright future for themselves no matter what the past has wrought...

And to leave readers feeling better than they did when they opened to page one, and what better time for us to feel like absolute overcomers than Christmas?

These aren't lofty goals. They're simply good goals, because people love a feel-good holiday story as evidenced by the huge increase in streaming service stations offering lots and lots of Christmas movies! Hallmark... Hallmark Movies and Mysteries... UpTV... Lifetime Channel....

And so many more.

I am proud to write feel-good stories, and especially delighted to feature this fun anthology I did with Mary Connealy and Margaret Brownley. These three wonderful novellas were released under kind of a veil of obscurity three years ago, but we regained rights to them this year, and released them LAST WEEK!

Yes, you can BUY CHRISTMAS AT STAR INN RIGHT HERE.

:)

You're welcome. My goal was to make that easy for you!

And we are so happy to have done this, I can't tell you. No one wants to see their work lingering in a dusty cabinet, right? So being able to re-package these stories, get them out there is a thrill.

Today I'm giving away copies of this wonderful anthology and copies of this 2-in-1 from Love Inspired! One paperback copy and one e-copy of "Christmas at Star Inn" and one paperback copy of my 2-in-1 with Jill Hart... Feel free to let me know in the comments which one you'd prefer.

Mary, Margaret and I are proud of this endeavor... we love it because we were able to dovetail three great stories around one great premise, an inn, run by a slightly eccentric woman named "Angel Rafferty" and how the accidents of time and place might not be so accidental, after all. And isn't that just the way life often is?

Leave me a comment below, telling me what you love or don't love about the holidays... and we'll hug you, so don't be embarrassed!!!!... and that will get you entered in the drawing.

And, as always, wishing you God's sweetest blessings for strength in times of trial, triumph over adversity and warmth when the cold winds blow.

Multi-published inspirational author Ruth Logan Herne loves writing stories of faith, hope and love and she's not above adding a dash of snark to the mix with a measure of humor because where have we gone when we fail to see the humor in life? Friend her on facebook, follow her on Twitter (although it's really an awful forum, isn't it?) and you can stop by her website ruthloganherne.com or email Ruthy at loganherne@gmail.com. She loves chatting with folks and talking romance... and/or chocolate!

Merry Christmas! (Yeah, I'm going there!)

It's Christmas in November Seekervillagers!!!

Today I'm giving away an ebook copy of a very 

FUN!!!

SPECIAL 

Novella collection called

Christmas at Star Inn

By Margaret Brownley, Ruth Logan Herne and Mary Connealy

The three novellas were published a while back but separately.

Now we've gathered them together in one volume.

All three love stories.

All three Christmas stories.

All three set in a beautiful old Victorian Mansion. 

A bed and breakfast called

Star Inn

Fun and special because it's a novella collection with RUTHY!!! And, as always when I'm working with Ruthy....I made her do all the work.
Truth is, I published a novella back in September and I did something … ahem … hinky to KDP so I am...grounded? for a year from putting a book up for pre-order.
I know what I did. I put it up for pre-order and then I decided to change the release date by ONE DAY!
Apparently that exploded something and I was labeled a troublemaker (that was only a matter of time!) and I was grounded like a curfew-challenged teenager!

But that was okay because I have no plans to indy-publish anything in the forseeable future...which could mean...as in this case...ONE MONTH.

So Ruthy, who has been, as always, perfectly behaved, (show off) had to put it up.

Margaret let her do it, too, so it wasn't ONLY ME dumping the work on Ruthy. Besides she seems to love it!

Anyway, the lesson for today is, think carefully before you put your indy-pubbed Amazon Kindle book up for pre-order. You could get slapped down like a mosquito in a bug zapper.

I'll add here that they distinctly WARNED me.
As in...IF YOU CLICK PRE-ORDER THEN COME BACK AND CHANGE THE DATE OF PUBLISHING YOU ARE GROUNDED FOR ONE YEAR.
Or words to that affect.
But I didn't exactly believe those rules applied to me for some reason.
They did.

Leave a comment about when you start getting ready for Christmas. When you like to read Christmas novels. When you get annoyed at Christmas coming too early!
One lucky commenter will win an ebook copy of

Christmas at Star Inn

A little bit about Christmas at Star Inn.

In classic "Hallmark" style, these great authors give readers a real holiday treat with three novellas set at the beautiful Star Inn, an iconic B&B tucked at the base of Mount Hood in Oregon. 

"Do You Hear What I Hear?" by Margaret Brownley

Can a tree-hugging activist and lumbermill owner find love?

Two bad things happened to Sally Cartwright that week. Three if she counted the pink slip received at the Home and Family magazine’s annual Christmas party. But nothing was worse than plowing into a snowbank and being stuck in a town she swore never to see again. A town she once called home. Now she must spend the long cold night in the car or follow the bright shining star through the woods to the old Star Inn. She chooses the inn and that’s where her troubles really begin…
Lumbermill owner, Rick Rennick is in no mood for Christmas cheer. Having recently buried his father, he’s still trying to sort out the financial mess left behind. Unless Rick comes up with a miracle, the mill run by the family for generations is about to shut down for good. That would put a lot of men out of work and impact the future of the town.
If things aren’t bad enough he’s now stuck at the old Star Inn waiting for the road back to his cabin to reopen. His luck takes another turn for the worse when he suddenly comes face to face with the past he’d sooner forget. For unless he’s seeing things the only woman he’s ever loved is standing in front of the inn’s blazing fire trying to get warm. How is it possible that one chance meeting could stir up so many old memories?
Both Rick and Sally regret what happened between them, but his family lumberyard clashes with her tree-hugging ways and neither are willing to try again. It will take the storm of the century, one stage-struck young boy, a certain meddling “angel”—and even a cranky cat—to convince them that in matters of the heart, the second time around is sometimes best.

"Silent Night, Star-lit Night" by Ruth Logan Herne

Jed Taylor knows how to cowboy up on horseback and in their busy farm & feed store, but when he heard Mia O’Loughlin was planning a trip north the week before Christmas, pregnant and alone, he can't let her make the long trek alone. More Grinch than grace, he flies to the coast, determined to help.
It wasn’t supposed to be like this...
E.R. nurse and Red Cross emergency responder Mia O’Loughlin was strong, but losing her deployed husband the week before she realized they were expecting their first child knocked her off-kilter. With Christmas and her due date approaching, all she can see is getting back home to Kittitas County for the birth of her child… their child… and seeing her failing Grandpa Joe one last time. Determined to do it on her own, she reluctantly allows Jed to accompany her, mostly because the gruff cowboy showed up and won’t take no for an answer.
But when a blizzard grinds their progress to a stop in Northern Oregon, the light from an old inn beckons them into the sweet town of Heywood where old truths open the way to new beginnings for both of them.

And in "Room at the Inn for Christmas" by Mary Connealy

Welcome to Heywood, Oregon where a lonely woman comes home to find healing, hope and love under the bright light of the town’s old Star Inn this Christmas season.

Amanda Star is a high-powered executive in the multi-national Halston hotel chain…then she inherits the Star Inn, her childhood home, from her father. With no time to be away from her job, she impatiently rushes home to list the beautiful old bed and breakfast for sale. Now that she’s here she’s swamped with sweet memories and keen regret.

As Amanda struggles against the lure of home, she also is reunited with an old classmate: Anthony Carter, a handyman with a guarded heart. Can he help Amanda realize the Star Inn is worth saving…and can he do it in time for Christmas?