Throwback Thursday: Happy Birthday, Charles A. Lindbergh!

Happy 102nd Birthday, Charles A. Lindbergh!

Please join me at my group blog, Coffee Cups & Camisoles where I share why February 4th will always stay with me.

You can find that blog post here.

What Does it Mean to Have a Savior?

 

Today I'm blogging on my group blog, Coffee Cups & Camisoles. I'd love for you to join our conversation.

You can find that blog post here.

~ Gabrielle

2015: A Year of Firsts

What a year! 2015 will go down in (my) history as the year dreams came true. It was a year of many first-time experiences in my writing career.

In March, I joined Coffee Cups & Camisoles, a group blog with fellow historical authors Jaime Jo Wright, Anne Love, and Erica Vetsch.

In May, my first published story, Four Brides and a Bachelor in The Most Eligible Bachelor Collection released, and I happened to be with a group of Minnesota authors on release day! It was so much fun to celebrate with Erica Vetsch, Michelle Griep, Julie Klassen, and many other lovely ladies.

Erica and I are both in The Most Eligible Collection!

That's author Julie Klassen buying my book! :)

I also had my first book signing event in May!

Over the summer, I wrote my first story for Love Inspired Historical (an imprint of Harlequin Books) in their Blurb2Book Contest. I was one of seven people contracted during the contest and I signed my first contract with them. My story, A Mother in the Making, releases in September 2016.

In July, I became a "multi-published" author, when my second story released with Barbour. My novella, A Groom for Josette, released in The Convenient Bride Collection.

The moment my second book arrived on my doorstep!

In 2015, I wrote three complete novels. One has been contracted and the other two are sitting on editors desks under consideration. It was the first time I have written more than one novel over the course of a year.

On the home front, this was the year I took my daughters on their first airplane ride. We went to Washington, D.C. in May and saw so many wonderful things. In September, my twin boys went off to Kindergarten, and for the first time in eleven years, I didn't have preschoolers in my home. My oldest daughter had her tonsils removed and then a couple months later she got braces, my second daughter started homeschooling, and my husband took the girls on their first hunting trip.

My beautiful family!

2015 has been an exceptional year. I thank God that all of us are healthy and happy, and we've made some incredible memories. In 2016 we look forward to many more adventures to come.

Thank you so much for coming on this journey with me. In 2012, I started this blog as a way to document my journey to publication and it's been such a blessing to see my dream come true. My prayer is that my journey would encourage you to take one of your own. If God has placed a dream on your heart, go after it! You never know what blessings He has in store.

Your Turn: What are the highlights of your year? What are your hopes and dreams for 2016?

Kindred is…as Kindred is...With Anne Love

“Kindred spirits are not so scarce as I used to think. It's splendid to find out there are so many of them in the world.” ~ L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables 

 

Today I'm thrilled to invite my writing friend and kindred spirit, Anne Love, to the blog! Anne is one of those people I instantly loved. We immediately knew we had much in common, and when we started to talk it was as if we had known each other for years.

 

I'm also excited to announce I have joined Anne, Jaime Wright, and Erica Vetsch on the Coffee Cups & Camisoles Blog as a weekly contributor (you can see my introduction post here). The blog is focused on history, romance, and community--three things I adore. I hope you'll join me there on Thursdays, and be sure to stop by on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays to get to know my blogging buddies, too. :)

 

Without further ado, here's Anne.

 

Anne and me at the 2013 ACFW
Genre Dinner Night

The fun of growing older isn’t sagging shapes, getting wrinkles , or being told you need glasses, and then bifocals eventually.

Nope.

Each decade brings more and more opportunity to discover that life is full of kindred spirits. You just have to find them. You have to look for them. And the fun thing about finding kindred spirits is not only the bond of friendship, but learning about yourself in the process.

Kindred spirits aren’t just dopplegangers who show you a reflection of yourself. They aren’t just a mini-me. But they do “get you” in a special way that no one else quite can, and it’s mutual.

The word kindred can mean:  allied, similar, suitable, fitted, family, folks, tribe, clan, or “of the same blood.”

When you meet a kindred, though you may never have met before, you just “know” each other easily.

So it is with writers. Especially historical writers.

I first met Gabe at ACFW (American Christian Fiction Writers) Conference in Indianapolis, 2013. A whole group of writers who had connected in cyberspace met in the lobby as a group for the first time and went out for dinner. I was sitting across from Gabe and we struck up a fun conversation about history. I was hooked. I knew of all the wonderful new friends, Gabe was the one I’d love to have more time to chat with later.

Turns out we exchanged some writing and helped each other with some critiques in the following months. Since then, we’ve met again in 2014 in St. Louis, and shared phone calls and private messages.

Meeting literally hundreds of other Christian writers over the last seven years has truly been better than pen pals on steroids for me. Gabe and I are both in love with history and storytelling. We love it that we’ll never bore each other talking about historical events, museums, or fiction. So, this week at the blog I share with historical romance writers, Jaime Wright and Erica Vetsch, we are beyond thrilled to add Gabe as a weekly contributor at www.coffeecupsandcamisoles.blogspot.com.

Because Jaime, Erica, Gabe, and I are a tribe. We are a clan. We are of “the same blood.” We love history, all things vintage, Jesus, romance, and coffee. If you love those things too, we welcome you to stop by the blog and find your fit with us as we lift a cup of dark brewed coffee at our cyber café!

Me and Anne at the 2014 ACFW
Gala Awards Dinner

...Writer of Love Notes...

 Anne Love writes full length Christian Historical Romance novels from rural settings of the 19th century. She works full-time in Northern Indiana as a Family Nurse Practitioner, and balances out her life as a wife and mother with writing, blogging, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Goodreads and of course strong black coffee. She is a member of ACFW, has participated in Scribes critique groups and has attended ACFW conferences where she met her fellow bloggers and dearest critique partners ever. Her roots and faith are Mennonite, but neither she nor her heroines wear bonnets. In her spare time she enjoys reading, gardening, music, science, worship, and historical research. She is represented by Sarah Freese of WordServe Literary.

 

You can email her at loveae1967 at live dot com
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Read old blogs at Love Notes
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YOUR TURN: Who are your kindred spirits? Have you ever met someone you've connected with immediately? Do you believe in friendship at first sight? :)