Books

Lily of the Valley

Join me in welcoming Faith Blum as she releases her newest novel, Lily of the Valley. There are two giveaway opportunities and lots of fun interviews and excerpts.

About the Book

Howdy, Teacher! You don’t know me, but my kids talk bout you a lot. I been lookin fer a wife and mother fer a few years and was wonderin iffen we cood meet and get to no each other a bit. I’ll come after skool to git yer answer. Grover Miller

Unruly schoolchildren, three suitors, and too many things to do. When Ruth Brookings rejects one of the suitors, he refuses to accept no for an answer.

To make matters worse, when she prays for guidance, she’s answered with a challenge instead: To encourage her friend to find a wife—whether he wants one or not.

Will she lose her friend just when she needs a friend the most? Will she be able to weather the storms she’s about to face?

Purchase on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B016VAJ7EW

Character Interview

Here’s an interview with Micah:

What one word best describes you?

Hm. That’s a tough question. You like to start things out hard, don’t you? I would say protective describes me best. I’m a sheriff and a father, so it comes naturally to protect people.

Is there a piece of advice that you have received that has really stuck with you? If so, what was it?

Always do what God is telling you to do. I’m not good at that, especially when what God is telling me isn’t what I want to do.

What do you do to unwind and relax?

Spending time with my son, Jeremiah. I don’t get a lot of time with him, so any time I can spend with him is usually relaxing.

If you could apologize to someone in your past, who would it be?

My wife. I wish I could have been there more with her. If I had known I would only have her for six years, I would have tried to spend more time with her.

What is something people would be surprised to know about you?

Before I came West, I had a job that made a lot of money. Here in the West, to tell people that I have a lot of money would invite fortune hunters, especially since I’m a widower. So no one, except the banker, knows I have a good amount of money.

Excerpt

With the first few weeks of school over, Ruth expected the next week or more to be a trial. The children were now comfortable with her and could start testing her limits.

During the time when Ruth worked with the youngest students on their reading and the older students did their assigned math problems, Ruth heard a suspicious noise and looked toward the back of the room.

“Jeremiah Carson!” Ruth said sharply.

Jeremiah flinched and looked at Ruth. “Yes, Miss Brookings?”

“What do you have in your hand?”

“Nothin’.”

Ruth stood up, a stern look on her face. “Open it,” she demanded as she approached him. The eyes of all the students were on the two of them.

Jeremiah opened his hand and a large frog blinked at her. Ruth forced herself to hold her ground while the girls closest to Jeremiah screeched and moved away from the frog.

Ruth put her right hand on her hip and pointed toward the door with her other hand. “Get it outside right now. And get back in here as soon as it is.”

Jeremiah tried to keep the grin off his face. “Yes, Ma’am.”

The rest of the morning went as smoothly as it could after the rude interruption. During lunch, however, a scream from outside sent Ruth racing out the door.

One of the girls’ lunch pails was on the ground and a very unhappy frog hopped away from the pail. Ruth locked eyes with the laughing Jeremiah and she marched out to him. Jeremiah looked around trying to find a place to hide, but he was surrounded by his friends. Jeremiah tried to get their attention, but by the time he did, Ruth had gently moved John out of the way. She grabbed Jeremiah by the ear and pulled him out of his group of friends.

“What was that for?” Jeremiah asked when Ruth let go of his ear. He rubbed the ear and glared at her.

Ruth kept her stern gaze on Jeremiah’s face. “Did you put the frog outside when I told you to?”

Jeremiah swallowed hard. “No, Ma’am.”

“Why not?”

“I thought it would be more fun…”

“More fun?” Ruth interrupted. “More fun to scare a girl half to death and ruin her lunch?” She put her hands on her hips and closed her eyes. “Have you eaten your lunch yet, Jeremiah?” She looked into his face.

Jeremiah’s eyes grew wide. “No…”

Ruth looked around. “Go get your lunch and give it to Grace right now. And I will be watching you the entire time. When you give her the lunch, apologize to her and make it sincere. Then come with me to the schoolhouse and sit in the first row with a desk. When I’m ready, I’ll talk to you and figure out how else I should punish you.”

About the Author

Faith Blum started writing at an early age. She started even before she could read! She even thought she could write better than Dr. Seuss. (The picture doesn’t show it well, but there are scribblings on the page of Green Eggs and Ham). Now that she’s grown up a little more, she knows she will probably never reach the success of Dr. Seuss, but that doesn’t stop her from trying.
When she isn’t writing, Faith enjoys doing many right-brained activities such as reading, crafting, writing, playing piano, and playing games with her family. One of her dreams is to visit Castle City, Montana someday to see the ghost town she chose for her characters to live in. She currently lives on a hobby farm with her family in Wisconsin.

Free Book

Get Be Thou My Vision (Hymns of the West #2) free! Here is the link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NF3QV52

Giveaway

Faith has a Goodreads giveaway going on through November 30th! Be sure to check it out and enter to win one of two signed paperback copies of Lily of the Valley.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Lily of the Valley

by Faith Blum

Giveaway ends November 30, 2015.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter Giveaway

https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/widget/161619 In addition to the Goodreads giveaway, Faith is also giving away all four of her paperback novels to one lucky winner!