On the Hunt for Bargains

Bargain - a thing bought or offered for sale more cheaply than is usual or expected.

Folks all along US 127 have been either offering or looking for bargains all week. The worlds longest yard sale goes from Alabama to Michigan with Kentucky right in the middle. Last week, scenes like the one above were scattered all along the road that runs through the county where I live. People set up booths full of everything but the kitchen sink and I imagine there were even a few of those sinks for sale here and there. Landowners with an accessible piece of property rented out spaces with an eye to this new cash crop and the hope that it wouldn't rain too much so that the bargain hunters' wouldn't get stuck in their fields. And the bargain hunters came. 

I'm not a yard sale person. Not even much of a bargain hunter. I shop when I have to - food, grandkids' birthdays and Christmas. I have been to yard sales a few times in years past. My daughter and I explored a few when she was first renting an apartment to see if she could find some cheap dishes, etc. I've even bought a few things I really like at yard sales, but I didn't dip my shopping toes into the 127 Yard Sale this year. My husband did. He likes bargain hunting much more than I do. Of course the bargains he's hunting are way different than the bargains I'd be hunting if I decided to join the shopping fray.
 
But there are other ways to find bargains besides on the 127 Yard Sale. Bargains pop up every day on the internet - especially if you are an e-book reader. Books show up free every day and sometimes are only free for a day so you have to grab them quick. Other times, they stay free for weeks, even months like my Hollyhill book, Scent of Lilacs. Still free on Amazon, Nook and Christianbook.com. 

But that's not the only bargain going on with my books right now. My story set in Louisville in 1855 that has more romance than some of my other books, Words Spoken True, has been at the reduced price of 99 cents at Amazon for a couple of weeks now. May end today. I don't know, but right now it's a bargain. 


And then there's the e-book version of Angels at the Crossroads, the only nonfiction book I've written, that stays at a bargain e-book price of around three bucks. That book is a friend's powerful life testimony of forgiveness and redemption that shows how the Lord never gives up on us no matter how we mess up. Instead he puts people in our paths to help us choose the right direction when we stand at those crossroads in life. 

You can even find bargains out there in print books. The internet has made bargain finding in books so much easier. Unfortunately, that has also made it hard for many brick and mortar stores to compete, but that's part of the free enterprise system. For months now, readers have had the opportunity to buy the print version of Small Town Girl at Christianbook.com for a low price. 


So the book bargains are out there. For my books and for many other writers' books too. The price per word of these bargains is almost too low to figure and free is free. Of course, they have to be words you want to read or the bargain isn't a bargain. But if you're a bargain hunter, you don't have to get out and fight the 127 traffic. You can just cruise around on the internet and find some book bargains and then settle down out on the swing or glider on your porch with a tall glass of sweet tea and enjoy some stories at a bargain price.

Countdown to Rosey Corner #3

Are you ready to go back to Rosey Corner and see what's going on with the Merritt sisters? I hope so because my new Rosey Corner book, Love Comes Home, will be releasing soon. (Available for pre-sale now on Amazon and other sites.) 

In fact, reviews are already popping up. The first one right off the bat was a nice one that had my editors sending me congrats. I told my family maybe I just wouldn't read any more. You know, sort of like stopping playing ball after you hit a homerun. A starred review in Publishers' Weekly is sort of like a writer's home run. Here is an excerpt: 

In a return to Rosey Corner, Ky., Gabhart revisits the inspiring beloved characters introduced in her historical Angel Sister and continued in Small Town Girl. ....This beautifully written story has a timely resonance, uplifting and filled with hope even as it addresses painful topics. Masterful storytelling blends with a written love story about sisters everywhere, resulting in a novel tailor made for book clubs that can be treasured and shared with all who appreciate the beauty of love and family and the value of struggle. 

Now that's nice. Like getting a hug from a reviewer. Then to top that off, the next day a review came in from RT Magazine. And of course, I did read it. Another hug.

“Gabhart gives readers a fantastic gift of another visit to Rosey Corner and the Merritt sisters, who are more like a real family than a family in a book. The author captures readers' attention and absorbs them into the concerns of a town that is seeing the return of its sons after WW II. You'll want to share the Rosey Corner series with friends and family, and this installment will leave your mouth watering for homemade brown sugar pie - and the recipe is included.”

And I do include the recipe for Jay's favorite pie at the end. That brown sugar pie made its first appearance in Angel Sister. 

Of course, the very best reviews are the ones I get from you, my reading friends. I always enjoy hearing what you think. 

I got my first copy of Love Comes Home Friday. The official release date is July 1. So that gives me a month to celebrate in lots of different ways. First off, just in case you haven't already visited Rosey Corner and you have an e-reader, the publisher is reducing the price to $1.99 or lower for the e-book versions of Angel Sister and Small Town Girl. The price won't last long, but if you want to check them out, here are some links:

Angel Sister - Christianbook.com

Small Town Girl - Christianbook.com

Angel Sister - Amazon

Small Town Girl - Amazon

Angel Sister - B&N Nook

Small Town Girl - B&N

For those you who want that paper book, Christianbook.com, has the paper copy of Small Town Girl for a super low price right now. Plus, you can still get that e-book version of Scent of Lilacs free at all the above internet sites too. Here's Amazon's link. 306 reader reviews and counting. Most of them reader hugs. :)

If you get my newsletter, keep an eye out for it. I'll have details of my Love Comes Home Giveaway Celebration. Still pondering about what kind of stories I might ask you to share with me. If you don't get the newsletter, you can sign up for it here. Or come on back here Wednesday for all the details and a special blog giveaway too. I'll do my best to think of something fun. 

Thanks for reading. 

Note: If you are leaving a comment to be entered in my giveaway, please leave a way to contact you. You can leave your e-mail as (name)at(emailserver)dot(etc) if you are concerned about leaving the e-mail address as it is normally written for mail. Without a way to contact you, I won't be able to reach you should you be the lucky winner. Thanks. 

That Winning Feeling - A Shaker Christmas is Here

When the delivery guys bring me a carton and I open it to see a new book spill out, I feel like a winner. So I'm giving away a copy of the just arrived Christmas at Harmony Hill to share that winning feeling. Keep reading to see how to enter your name in a drawing.

As a fiction writer, I spend day after day with my fingers on a keyboard and my mind in a world that doesn't even exist, putting words into the mouths of imaginary people. Sometimes I wonder if I'll ever get the story told.
But then that great day comes when the new book lands on my doorstep, all dressed up in its beautiful "meet the world" clothes. 

Yesterday I got to experience that fun day with my Shaker Christmas book, Christmas at Harmony Hill. The official release date is September 15, a birthday present for me, but it could be the book is going to sneak into stores a few days or weeks early. I personally am not going to admit to being a year older until the actual day, so the birthday is not coming early. Just the book. LOL. 

I've never written a Christmas novella before. I've had Christmas scenes in my books. One in Orchard of Hope, the second book in the Heart of Hollyhill series. That reissue will be out in another month. I love having books come out, but this year it's kept me hopping. I also wrote a Christmas scene in the Rosey Corner book I just finished. All kinds of interesting things can happen around a Christmas tree or in the case of the Shakers, in a Shaker village.  

The Shakers didn't do elaborate Christmas celebrating back in the 1800's. They generally had a worship service where they received imaginary gifts - thing like robes of love or baskets of blessings. But before Christmas they had a day sometimes called Sacrifice Day and other times called a Day of Atonement. On this day they were to seek out and ask forgiveness from any person they had wronged in the past year. They were also obligated to forgive and forget the wrongs done to them. I used that in my story as both of my characters, Sister Sophrena and Heather, had people in their lives they needed to forgive. 

I do hope readers will enjoy going back to Civil War times for my Christmas story. One of you can get an early copy to read since to celebrate these books showing up on my doorstep, I'm giving a copy to one of you who comments on this blog. I'll draw for a winner on Sunday. That will make two Sundays in a row I'm giving something away. Last week my mystery picture winner was Ann M. who said she wanted either Words Spoken True or Small Town Girl. I'm having trouble deciding which one to send her. Decisions. Decisions. Anyway, this week maybe you'll be the lucky winner. I won't have to decide which one to send you. You'll get Christmas at Harmony Hill. :) 

Just leave a comment. You can tell me if you've ever read a Christmas book. I'll be guessing that you haven't read a Christmas Shaker book - yet!

I'll also be giving away a book to someone who comes over to my guest post on Seekerville on Friday, August 23, and leaves a comment there. I'll be giving away Small Town Girl. That's a lively site with lots of comments, so I'm looking forward to talking to the readers there.

I always look forward to talking to you here. Thanks for reading.  

Mystery Picture Contest

Mystery picture 1

Mystery picture 2

Mystery picture 3

How about some fun with a few mystery photos? You guys are so good at this that I'm sure I won't be able to stump you, but we can still have fun. And to make it more interesting, I'll give the winner (drawn from all the entries) his or her choice of one of my books. (USA or Canada only for a print book and an e-book if an international entry wins. You must be 18 to enter.) You can enter by making a guess on the mystery pictures. Be sure to number your guesses. That will get you one entry. You'll get an additional entry for every right guess. And if you guess all three correctly you'll get a bonus entry. I'll draw for the winner next Sunday. So start guessing. But it's no fair reading everybody else's guesses before you make your own. Besides, they could be wrong! So no peeking at the other comments until you've sent in your comment with your guess. And be sure to leave a way for me to contact you in case you do win. If you'd rather send me a message instead of leaving your guesses here, here's my e-mail. annhgabhart(at)yahoo(dot)com. That's how you can include your address if you want to keep the robots from seeing it. 

I've been out on the net doing some guest posts and every time I responded to a comment, I had to prove I wasn't a robot. A couple of times, I wasn't so sure I wasn't. Some of those smashed up and crowded letters are hard to read. LOL. But I managed. I was at Mary Vee's Let's Talk this week talking about how I got started on my writing journey and the perseverance I needed to keep writing all these years. Thanks to all of you who went over to read my post and leave a comment. Guess you proved you weren't a robot either. 

Then I was interviewed by DJ Deb on her blog, Next Page. DJ Deb asked questions about some books I haven't talked about for a while like Angels at the Crossroads, so you might enjoy reading that interview. Just click on the link underlined above. On August 23rd, I'll be visiting Seekerville. That will be great fun because they have a lot of interaction with readers on their blog posts. You all know how I love to talk to anybody who will stand still long enough to listen or send me comments. LOL. I'll be in blog heaven.  On August 19, I'll be doing an interview on Juanita Nobles' blog. Leave a comment on that one for a chance to win a copy of Small Town Girl. You'll also have a chance to win Small Town Girl by commenting at Seekerville. 

So lots of giveaways up and coming. Very soon I'll be sending out a newsletter with a Christmas at Harmony Hill Celebration Giveaway. I've got to decide what to give away first! The book is available for pre-sale already and release day is just about a month away. Where has the summer gone? Also Angel Sister is still available at a reduced e-book price for a little longer.

But first let's see who wins the mystery picture giveaway. And remember, it won't be as much fun if you don't guess first and read everybody else's guesses second. Besides, you guys always figure out my mystery pictures without help. 

Thanks for reading. And may the best guesser win! 

Hometown Reading Friends

Do you like to talk about books? Well, then you should check with your local library or bookstore and see when an author is coming to town, because if those writers are like me, they'll be talking books. That's what I did today. When Scent of Lilacs first came out in 2005, I decided that since I had used my hometown the way it was during the Sixties as the setting, that I should celebrate that book getting published with a party for my hometown readers. To be honest, I was so happy that book was published after I'd had several rejection filled years, that I was ready to celebrate anywhere, any time. Scent of Lilacs was fun to celebrate with my hometown friends because so many of the setting details I included in the book, they knew all about since they were right here in Lawrenceburg in the Sixties the same as I was.

That first book party was such fun that I've been having one whenever a new book comes out ever since. I even had a repeat party for Scent of Lilacs. We got to talk hometowns again. Today, of course, I was celebrating Small Town Girl. It also borrows a lot of its background and setting from Anderson County. My mother grew up in Alton here in Anderson County, and I used her memories of coming of age during the Depression years as the jumping off place for my story, Angel Sister. In Small Town Girl, I head back to Rosey Corner - my name for Alton - and tell a new story as the ominous WW II clouds gather on America's horizon.

I never know how many people are going to show up for one of my book parties. I always worry that no one will and then I won't have anyone to give away those door prizes to. The prizes are never big, but they're fun. Today I gave away a journal with inspirational sayings on the cover, a really nice pen along with notecards, a lovely garden decorative stake that said "Hope," a decorative wall plaque about imagination, and of course, my book, Small Town Girl. As I told the ladies in attendance, I give away prizes that I like.

Some of these ladies have come to several of my book talks and I worry that they will tire of my talks. But so far they are continually supportive. You know what? That's how Hometown friends are in a small town. I'm making a guest appearance on the Bookclub Network this week and to enter for the chance to win a copy of Small Town Girl, you have to answer one of three questions. (You can go visit too and throw your name in the Bookclub hat for the chance to win one of the five books.) One of the questions I asked was what's good and what's not so good about living in a small town. Well, I found out the good part today. Friends who show up to listen to me talk about books. I already knew that, but it's fun to find out good things over and over.

And they all say I need to have another party in September or October after Christmas at Harmony Hill comes out. Here's the great cover Revell designed for it. I've probably already shared that with you, but to be honest I'm so tired tonight, I have no idea if I did or didn't. I'm at Mom's and she just woke up ready for morning. I convinced her it's the middle of the night and to lie back down. Not sure how long that will last, but I can hope for a few hours sleep. If not, I'm going to be sleepwalking tomorrow after only a few hours sleep last night. The grandkids were visiting and I never get them started to bed early enough. No, of course I don't spoil them. LOL. Then I had a few chores to get done and ... well, you know how it goes.

Thanks for reading. And I always love to hear your comments. Tell me about a time you enjoyed a book talk.

"Thinking of You" Flower Stories

Ten more days to throw your name in my giveaway hat if you haven't already done so. You might win two dozen roses, or if you are one of those people who "never win anything," you can tell me that and be in a drawing for a beautiful wind chime. I'm thinking about throwing MY name in that hat. Just kidding, but it wouldn't matter if I did because I'm one of those never win people. LOL. Also giving away copies of my books to the three prize winners along with some other Christian fiction books. See all the details on my website News & Event Page. Deadline for entering is midnight EST on July 13, 2013. Enter by sending me an e-mail or leave a comment here with a way to reach you should you win.

I took a little break from my flower stories to share my St. Louis trip with you, but I've got a few more great stories to share. These aren't particularly romantic - more the "I'm thinking of you and I want to do something to make you feel better" flowers. First let's see what Nancy has to tell us. 

"You asked for stories about unexpected flowers from the garden being shared. Just last week that happened to me. My sister-in-law came by my home while my husband and I were out celebrating our anniversary. She left a bouquet of hydrangeas from her garden along with a card and 2 pieces of homemade banana cake as a little 'thinking of you' token for our anniversary. And it made it all the more special because she just lost her husband of 37 years (my brother) after a brief (but devastating) bout with an inoperable brain tumor through which we all suffered together. This was her first venturing 'out and away' from home - so she told me later she found it empowering. So that bouquet meant so much to me in so many ways. Thanks for letting me share that little story - and I know my telling or wording of the story didn't do it justice."


I think you told it just fine, Nancy. Thanks for sharing with us and prayers coming out to you and your sister-in-law. 

Dawn tells of a time when her friends came through for her.

"One of my favorite bouquet stories is the year that my three friends all had boyfriends for Valentine’s Day and I didn’t and my friends sent me flowers!!!"

Dawn does go on to say she loves those dandelion bouquets from her 3 year old grandsons. Dandelion from kids ranked high in the best surprise bouquet memories. :)

Linda tells this story.

"I was once surprised by a beautiful bouquet of flowers by my husband's boss...my husband travels a lot for business and had to be out of town on my birthday. I was ok with it as we could celebrate anytime but his boss felt so bad so he sent me flowers!"

Now that's some boss! 

Theresa shares a story that might bring tears to your eyes. It did mine. 

"I was surprised by flowers on what would have been my 31^st wedding anniversary. My husband had died just three months earlier at the age of 56. My youngest son who was only 24 gave me a bouquet of flowers because he said Dad wasn’t here this year to continue the tradition which went back over 50 years with my in-laws. It was a flower for every year of marriage. He kept it up but he died at 34 just six days after the 10^th anniversary of his father’s death on the day which would have been my oldest son’s 46^th birthday. He died while in the Navy at age 19. It comforts me to know they’re together and I will see them again one day."

  
So sorry you've lost so much, Theresa, but it's clear that your memories are filled with loving moments. 

Last Misty shared a story that can make us smile. She was smiling all the way home that day. 

"One day I had a friend leave flowers all over my car while I was at work. When I got to my car that night I saw all these pretty blooms all over it!! I had been having a tough time and he thought this would cheer me up! And yes, it definitely did!! Still one of the sweetest things anyone has ever done for me!"

Being a practical girl, I asked Misty if she had to clean the flowers off her car before she could drive it. Inquiring minds want to know! :) Here's her answer. "Actually, I did have to clean off the flowers in order to drive home! But it was great!! I didn’t mind at all! I was actually laughing the whole time I was getting the flowers picked off." 

Hope you enjoyed these flower stories. I have a few more that will make a blog appearance before the end of the contest. If you have a flower story you'd like to share, I'd love to hear it. (Or read it.) 

Oh, and here's another chance to win a copy of Small Town Girl. Jay Tanner, the guy in the story who is a definite charmer, is trying to charm readers in an interview on Margaret Daley's blog. Leave a comment there to have a chance to win my book or one of the other books she's featuring this week. The character interviews are always fun. I've never done a guy character before, but Jay was a good one for the first. As I said, he's a charmer and he charmed me while I was writing his story.  

Hope you have a safe and happy 4th of July!