Dear Friends, please join me in welcoming Bettie Boswell, whom I met virtually through the American Christian Fiction Writers' email loops.
Introduce yourself—name, where you’re from, and something people notice when they meet you. Hi, I'm Bettie Boswell from Northwest Ohio, not far from the Toledo area. I taught elementary general music and primary classrooms during my career as a teacher. I'm also a minister's wife. I try to smile at everyone I meet and hope they have a wonderful day. Often people see my friendly expression and think they know me. I've enjoyed many unusual conversations with strangers.
Tell us about your book—title and back cover blurb. Hoping for Treasure is the third book in a trilogy centered around Ginny Cline-Hallmark. In this third book she is a newlywed. A few months after Ginny and Scott's marriage begins, tragedy strikes when a miscarriage dashes their hopes of immediately starting a family. As Ginny seeks comfort by reading a manuscript about her great-grandparent's post-WWII romance ( previously hidden in an old desk,) she discovers secrets about her family, and the Woodson House's hidden history. The previous books in the trilogy are On Cue (Ginny's contemporary romance) and Free to Love-a prequel to On Cue (Ginny discovers a romance along the Underground Railroad as she researches and writes a musical that will be featured in On Cue.)
Share one thing that you found difficult or challenging about writing this book. Opening up about having a miscarriage and putting that experience into a character's story was both cleansing and heart wrenching. Many women have experienced this loss without sharing publically. Some carry on with life while others are devastated or carry feelings of guilt. I hope that those who've gone through this loss will find some hope by reading Hoping for Treasure.
OR share an excerpt... (look, readers, a bonus:)
Scott wrapped his arm around his wife's shoulders as he surfed through channels and settled on a newscast about the local weather. The scrolling ticker along the bottom of the screen confirmed Ginny's days off and his employer's decision to go digital for the next few days. After the weatherman announced the roads were hazardous and people who traveled them would face ticketing by law enforcement, Scott flipped the TV off and kissed Ginny's neck.
Carlos growled. Jezebel crawled across both of their laps.
"I think they want us to pay them some attention." Ginny snuggled into his side as she attempted to pet both beasts.
"I guess we have been pretty busy getting to know each other." Scott wiggled his eyebrows in his best attempt at playful flirting. "So what did you do with these animals hounding you all day?"
Carlos jumped into the pile and managed to push his rump between the couple while resting his head on Jezebel's back.
"I followed my husband's advice and read from my Grandmother Stuart's treasure box."
"Did you find out anything interesting or romantic?" He smooched her cheek. Carlos licked their faces, resulting in laughter all around. Leave it to Carlos to ruin the moment.
"It’s a mixed bag of mysteries so far. One of the treasures was another packet of poetry from Missy Hollings, the woman I researched for the musical."
"How did your relative come across those?"
Ask the blog reader a quirky question or two. I want to encourage comments and engagement. An example might be their best or worst Christmas memory. Share your answer and then look for theirs.
In all my books, Ginny has a quirky basset hound named Jezebel who gets in trouble from time to time. Like Jezebel, my real life hound once rolled in a berry patch and became covered in colorful spots.
If you have a pet what is the wackiest thing your pet has ever done?
If you don't have a pet, have you ever seen an animal at the zoo, or in your neighbor's yard, doing something that made you laugh?
Share your social media and buy links!
Buy link:
Sounds like an interesting series. I especially like that she is a minister’s wife, therefore hopefully a clean book
One of our cats, Fearless, was born a stray. As a kitten, he decided he liked us. He spent a lot of time at our house. He chased a full size raccoon and groundhog out of our backyard.
He would also sit on the front porch in the mornings. He would walk me to my car. He would jump in. My husband would need to get him out so I could go to work. He would also sit on the front porch in the evenings. He would run off the porch to great me. He would walk me to the house. There was no way we could let him continue to live outside.
Thank you so much for sharing. Go…
I feel like pets enrich our lives so much that it is hard to pick one story! But...our previous cat, Ashes, was sleeping under my bed when the carpet cleaners came into our bedroom. I leave windows open in lovely weather and rather than skirt around the noisy vacuum, the cat jumped through the screen of our two story window! Believe it or not, he was fine! This was also the cat who wandered by the lakeshore (and the lake sporting alligators) with no fear.
when my 17 year old Cat was just a kitten she loved to explore new places and one day she found a place she decided to go into down in our basement, the only problem was the whole she was exploring was so dog on skinny and there was no room for her to turn around so Dad had to rescue her once again and with all the rescues we had to do with I would have thought she used all of her 9 lives up when she was a kitten but she is 17 now and has grown a little bit wiser.
We had a Siamese cat who tried to eat corn on the cob. His teeth got stuck and the cob was jammed in his mouth. He freaked out and ricocheted around the house until we could catch him and free the cob from his mouth. Poor kitty lost his dignity, but it was hilarious.