Colonial American Christian Writers members Pamela Griffin, Jennifer Hudson Taylor, and Gina Welborn are teamed with Carol-award nominee Laurie Alice Eakes in this four novella collection published by Barbour in 2012.
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| Laurie Alice Eakes, Gina Welborn, and Nick at Colonial Williamsburg |
Member Gina Welborn has her DEBUT in this North Carolina based colonial collection.
Highland Crossings
Laurie Alice Eakes, Pamela Griffin, Jennifer Hudson
Taylor, and Gina Welborn
(Barbour, 2012)
Review
by Carrie Fancett Pagels
Highland
Crossing is a four-novella collection of Scottish immigrants, centered around
an heirloom brooch.
1739 - Healer of My Heart, By Pamela Griffin
To keep from being killed, Seona sneaks
aboard a ship sailing to America. A healer, on the crossing she saves Colin’s
brother. When they reach the colony of North Carolina, Colin brings her under
his wing, placing her in a home near his in an isolated settlement. I love this
novella and felt like Pamela took me right to the backwoods of colonial North
Carolina. Wonderful love story by a
fabulous story-teller!
1758 - Printed on My Heart, By Laurie Alice Eakes
The really fun part of reading this novella was that
I took Laurie Alice around Colonial Williamsburg, with Gina, last year when she
interviewed the printer there. Laurie Alice is blind but the reader would never
know that reading her work. This novella is yet another example of this
author’s ability to pack a shorter book (novella) with unbelievable details
without sacrificing the integrity of the story.
Laurie Alice has you loving poor Fiona and her hero Owain before you can
say “I do”!!!
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| Gina Welborn and Laurie Alice Eakes visit Colonial Williamsburg for research |
Seren Cardew
is a candy maker. Finley Sinclair, a new immigrant from Scotland, aspires to
become a broker. Except that he has no clients! These two were made for each
other! This is Gina
Welborn’s debut. Well done, Gina!
1815 - Heart’s Inheritance, By Jennifer Hudson Taylor
Jennifer
Hudson Taylor has two other Scottish trade length books under her belt and it
shows in her knowledge. She also lives in North Carolina, where the story is
set!
GIVEAWAYS: Copies of the book will be given away to three commenters this week. Leave your email address.
Carrie, you did such a great job putting this together for us. Yay!
ReplyDeleteYou did a great job writing your novella, Yay back!
DeleteLoved the photos as well!
DeleteSorry I'm late to the party. We are celebrating Gina this week at the Inkwell, and books and goodies are available "over in modern day Intropolis' as well.
http://www.inkwellinspirations.com,
thanks for visiting, Carrie, and for celebrating this great anthology!
This sounds like such a lovely read! Please put me in for the drawing. Congratulations, Ladies! And Nick is ADORABLE! He should be a character in one of your next books, Laurie Alice. ;-)
ReplyDeleteelainemariecooper(at)yahoo(dot)com
Nick is amazing, Elaine, so sweet and smart.
DeleteSounds great!! Thanks for the review.
ReplyDeleteks4readin@yahoo.com
I hope it helped you decide to get this book!
DeleteGina, you are so welcome. And I am SO excited for you with your debut book! Congratulations!
ReplyDeleteSounds awesome! angadair@nwcable.net
ReplyDeleteIt is, Angie. Here you have multi multi published PAMELA GRIFFIN, and Laurie Alice Eakes who recently was a Carol award nomineed, and Jennifer Hudson Taylor who is a Scottish expert and lives in NC combined with someone who has judged writing contests for year - Gina Welborn. Can't get much better than that!
DeleteOh my, Carrie, don't ask me how many years I've judged writing contests. Ten? Averaging 6 a year. Averaging 8 entries a contest. That's at least 480 entries I've read. At least. I judged 43 Genesis entries one year. Don't ask.
DeleteThanks, ladies, for stopping in and saying hi!
ReplyDeleteSo excited for you, Gina! Congratulations on your debut. Looking forward to reading your story with great expectation! HUZZAH!
ReplyDeleteFor some reason I can't remember, I was reading over Sugarplum yesterday and thought, "I actually wrote this." Not that I was blown away with my writing. LOL. Just a bit of awe that I wrote something engaging enough to be published.
DeleteI'm hoping other authors have felt that way and I'm not merely weird. (Carrie, shush.)
Nonweirdness is highly over-rated, Gina. I just had to say that, lol!
DeleteLOL. I did ask my kids if I had any quirks. The only thinng they could come up with was I "never" park inside the lines.
DeleteNot (mostly) true!
Yay!! Congrats, ladies! I'm so excited for you!
ReplyDeleteAnd Gina, you actually read it in its book form?? I've yet to pick mine up, afraid I'll find something that I wish I could change, LOL.
Well, Roseanna, I shall confess when I read it, I couldn't dampen the fear of seeing somethign I wish I could change. Fortunately the only thing was a few paragraphing shifts so that I didn't have a chapter end with only a couple lines on the last page. But then maybe the typesetter did that because chapters need to begin on the left side of the page. Hmm....
DeleteCongrats Ladies! I've only read one of these books, but they all sound SO good!! I'm going over to Facebook to let people know about this.
ReplyDeleteThanks, MaryLu!!!!
DeleteCongratulations! Can't wait to read these. All the stories are intriguing and unique. And Gina, I've had the same experience reading something that I wrote and thinking, "I wrote this?" It's so good to know when someone else shares an experience like that. I'll post this on Facebook tonight. May God bless your efforts.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Susan!
DeleteI'm commenting for a friend of mine, Debbie Mitchell, whose back went out and she can't get to her computer but she's really interested in winning a copy! She's a fan of mine and an avid reader. Here's her email: debsbunch5@jesusanswers.com
ReplyDeleteMaryLu, We will enter Debbie, okay! Thanks for coming by!
DeleteMaryLu, thanks for entering Debbie!
DeleteI'd get this book even if I didn't know you lady authoresses (ha!) because North Carolina is one of my favorite settings and Scots are some of my favorite characters. Can't wait to read these stories.
ReplyDeleteCongrats Gina on your debut!
Lori, I can snail mail you my gently used copy but I bet as a member of CACW one of the three other CACW authors might send you one!
DeleteLori, do let me know how you liked the stories!
DeleteCongratulations, I can't wait to read these books, please add me.
ReplyDeleteBlessings to all
Ingrid, We will enter you. You will LOVE these novellas!
DeleteIngrid, You were picked as a WINNER by random.org! CONGRATS!!! I hope we can find your email somewhere!
DeletePick me! Pick me! Please!!
ReplyDeleteLooks great (of course, I'm Scottish and so is my hubby).
Wow, you would really love this because it has all these generations of Scottish immigrants in it.
DeleteAbsolutely! Who can resist a Scottish hero? Yumm.
DeleteThanks, everyone! I'm so blessed to be apart of this novella. Hope u enjoy all the stories.
ReplyDeleteJennifer, Glad you could come up for air to stop by. I hope your writing is going well!
DeleteHow fun! I think I need some research, too!
ReplyDeleteANNETTE, I live near CW and love doing research, so having like-minded friends in town is always an excuse to go have fun, um, I mean go do stuff to research our writing, lol!
DeleteA couple of my Inky sisters are going to enjoy a mini-excursion to Colonial Williamsburg next month. Love that place!!!
DeleteOh wow! This collection of novellas sounds amazing! Congrats to all the ladies who contributed to it. I certainly would LOVE the chance to read it!
ReplyDeletemilknhoney92@yahoo.com
This is the best collection I have read since I can remember!
DeleteShould we note that Carrie doesn't have a faulty memory? I vote YES!
DeleteSO thrilled for these authors and readers!! Thanks so much for hosting them on CQ and celebrating a great book! Bless you all:)
ReplyDeleteLaura, I think you would really enjoy these novellas! So glad we are seeing more colonial era books coming out. When I first met you a few years back it was a lonely place in our subgenre!
DeleteI credit Glenn Beck for reminding Americans what types of men and women founded out country and the Christian principles. :-)
DeleteGina- a big congrats on your debut!
ReplyDeleteSorry I couldn't come over sooner. I'm one of those who makes a late entrance, I guess. lol And yes, I've done the same thing, Gina- but am one of those who usually always finds something I might have done better - (the perfectionist in me) - even though I usually go over a manuscript a minimum of 10 times from start to finish. Ah, well. ;-) I have yet to read Highland Crossings, since I'm on a book deadline due day after Valentine's Day. But I shall. :)
Thanks to everyone for your interest, and I know I've already thanked you Carrie, but I want to publicly do so for your sweet review! Thank you again. :D
PAMELA, I loved your story! I really felt I was right there in early colonial NC out in the woods. Neato! I need to reread your novella and see if I can analyze it for what you do to pull the reader right into storyworld!!!
DeleteDitto!!!
DeleteAw, thanks, Carrie. :)
ReplyDeleteI'm not really sure how to explain what I do...I just research like mad, and then as I write, I imagine myself there, as part of that time period, while seeing it through their eyes and with their actions...
That is what I do, too, and I sure hope and pray I am getting it on the page somewhere close to what you are doing lol! I think it has a little bit more to it than this, PAMELA, maybe from writing what - 50 books?
DeleteWould LOVE to win one!!! tammyredd@gmail.com
ReplyDeleteThanks, Tammy, for stopping by.
DeleteCongratulations Ladies!
ReplyDeleteI'm right in the middle of this book and enjoying the stories and characters thoroughly; nice idea for the Scots backgrounds and earlier colonial setting too--great research!
"Pick me, pick me"..she says with her hand waving furiously!!
ReplyDeletesmgerathy@gmail.com
STACIE, thanks for coming by! Yes, this is a book to get excited about!
DeleteAbsolutely. And I'm not just saying that because I'm one of the authors. ;-) I love all the stories.
DeleteI would love to win this. These are my kind of books. I love the historical ones. Oh, and I love your dog. ybutler@oppcatv.com
ReplyDeleteY, Nick is a working dog. He is very good, too!
DeleteGINA!!! I am BEYOND thrilled for you being part of this wonderful novella with such incredible authors!!! And, Carrie, GREAT review that has me chomping to read it even IF I didn't know the quality of each of the authors, including Gina, who's work I have read and LOVED!!
ReplyDeleteSUPER CONGRATS, ALL!!
Hugs,
Julie
JULIE, this is a great book! Thanks so much for coming by!
DeleteAwe, Julie. You are one of the sweetest gals I know. You're such a cheerleader for fellow writers.
DeleteFrom Laurie Alice who is having a hard time posting here:
ReplyDeleteYikes! I stopped by to congratulate my dear friend, Gina, on her debut, and it didn't seem to go through. So I'm coming up for air again to say we were thrilled to have her join us.
Pamela was, of course, in the first Scots novella collection several years ago. Highland Legacy. I know Tamela Murray, Gina and my's agent, was also in that one. So of course we wanted Pamela again. And Jennifer just knows North Carolina and the Scots. Gina's tone was a wonderful counter note.
I don't know how she reads her stuff in print form. I have never been able to do that with one of my books for fear I'll want to change something, or something I asked to be changed in the galleys didn't happen.
Nice to write about my ancestors, which is why I had a Welsh hero. A lot of Welsh moved to NC in the eighteenth century, too, and rarely get a mention anywhere. Blending the two seemed so much like the future of this country, where we all end up such a blend of nationalities to form something unique. Ironically, my Scots ancestors are from my northern side.
I think it's easy to read in print form when I keep in my mind that I can't make any changes. LOL. Plus, it's great being able to trust the editors at Barbour to do an excellent job on their end.
DeleteWhat a lovely cover, and the stories sound very appealing. Congrats on your debut, Gina!
ReplyDeleteJoan, don't miss this book!
DeleteI love the story concept and the fact that it's set in NC - where I'm from. I'd love to read it!
ReplyDeleterrgreene62(at)gmail.com
Am drawing soon on this and you will be entered. Will draw tonight or tomorrow morning!
DeleteCongratulations ladies. I love that the locale will be NC (I'm from Georgia) and love the stories already. I love this time in our history. I visited Williamsburg in 99' with my Mom and Sister and enjoyed every minute. We were able to see so much of our past. The cover tells a story by itself and is beautiful.
ReplyDeleteThanks for this opportunity to enter giveaway.
misskallie2000 at yahoo dot com
You will love this book. If you don't win, order it. The price is really reasonable!!!
DeleteMiss Kallie, You are one of the WINNERS that random.org picked!!! Congrats! You will love this book!
DeleteI had to read my email twice before I realized I had won. Thank you so much, can't wait to read. This is one book I can mark off my wish list.
DeleteCongrats to other winners
misskallie2000 at yahoo dot com
I haven't read many stories set during this time in my state of NC so I would love to read these!
ReplyDeleteWell that is great, Anne Payne, because you are one of the WINNERS that I am late announcing! Congratulations!
ReplyDeleteThat is so cool! Thank you, ladies!!!
ReplyDelete