It’s release day — my first release of 2010 — and it’s a book of my heart.  Lessons of the Heart  is a western historical novella available today from The Wild Rose Press. It’s a book of my heart for many reasons, one of which is the setting, which was inspired by my childhood love for Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House books.

My heroine, Ruth, is a spinster schoolteacher, and my hero, Garth, is a homesteader/cowboy living in Dakota Territory. Most of my knowledge of this setting and time period is courtesy of Laura, her stories, and the many biographies and other information about her. I devoured everything I could find about her life and times when I was younger. I still enjoy re-reading the series to this day. To my dismay, neither of my sons ever took to the series.

Another of my favorite series from childhood is The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis. My older son found them boring (as if!) but my younger son enjoyed them. Of course, we all want to share the books we loved as children with our own children.  Remember the Beverly Cleary books?  Henry, Beezus, and Ramona?  Neither of my boys read them.  Or Judy Blume?  I guess you need to be a girl to enjoy those, lol. 

My boys have introduced me to some great new children’s authors, though.  Margaret Peterson Haddix, Neal Shusterman, and. of course. the inimitable J.K. Rowling.  Good literature is good literature, whether it’s written for children or adults.

What books were your favorite as a child? Do your children enjoy them today? What new children’s authors do you enjoy? Have they inspired your writing?

Spinster schoolteacher Ruth Blackburn has accepted her fate.  She’s not meant for love, especially not with ill-mannered—though excruciatingly handsome—Garth Mackenzie, the widowed father of one of her students.  She’ll just have to ignore the fact that he makes her skin heat.

Garth Mackenzie is used to loss. The Civil War cost him his best friend and his ability to sleep through the night, and illness stole his wife and son. To avoid the pain of losing his daughter, he keeps her at arm’s length, much to her teacher’s dismay.  Ruth Blackburn is independent and opinionated—just what Garth doesn’t need.  But her vibrant beauty and energy awaken feelings in him he thought long dead. 

Can he let go of his past and open up to new lessons of the heart?

My next post here at Mama Writers will be on February 17, which marks my first release in 2010.  But something important will happen between now and then — my older son, Eric, will turn seventeen on February 13.

Seventeen.

Only one more year of childhood for my baby.  Ha — I hear you all laughing.  My baby now stands 6′ 2″ tall and speaks in a low manly voice.  He has a thicker beard than his father.  He’s been a licensed driver for nearly a year.  And last week we went to a college night at his school.

A college night!

Yes, my baby will be leaving me.  In just a year and a few days, he will legally be a man.  Old enough to vote for the next President of the United States.  Old enough to die for his country.  Makes me shiver.  Have I prepared him for life?  For the challenges that lie ahead?

He’s only a baby, after all.  Still that sweet little boy I held in my arms and rocked to sleep.  Has it truly been seventeen years?  Where did the time go?

Many of you Mama Writers out there have small children at home.  Cherish each moment.  You won’t believe how fast they skate by.  Some of you have already been where I am going.  How did you handle it?  Do you ever stop worrying about that tiny baby who crept into your heart?

Much like letting go of our stories once they’ve been through edits, the best we can do is have faith in the job we’ve done and let our children fly.

But he’ll always be my baby.

My beloved editor at Ellora’s Cave, Sue-Ellen Gower, is leaving. Even though I’ve been working with her for less than a year, I’m heartbroken. Suz fished me out of the slush pile at EC and offered me a contract within two days of my submission! She was a gem to work with. She really got my voice, and she always had helpful advice when a plot issue wasn’t quite working.  Oh, she was picky, to be sure.  She made me better, and for that I will forever be grateful.

I know I’m not the first author to lose an editor she adores. In fact, I left editing myself at the end of 2009 and did the same thing to my own authors! Just desserts, right?

The fact is, I needed to leave editing behind and focus on my writing, and Suz needs to focus on other things right now, too. That’s part of life.

Still, it’s hard to let go. What if I don’t love my new editor as much as I loved Suz? What if she doesn’t “get me?” After all, Suz chose me. The new editor didn’t.

Have any of you lost an editor? How did you handle it?

Strange title for a Mama Writers post, huh?

Today is my seventh release day this year. It’s been a wild ride. My novella, The Cowboy and the Cougar, is part of the Cougar Club series at Aspen Mountain Press, and I thought it might be fun to escape the whole mama/writer subject area and tell you about where the term “cougar” originated.

In 1999, two Canadian women who fancied younger men founded a website called Cougardate.com.  The nephew of one of the women said the two ladies were like cougars in search of small defenseless animals.  Thus, “Cougars” were born! 

The term gained popularity in 2001 book when Valerie Gibson published a book called Cougar: A Guide for Older Women Dating Younger Men. Since then, movies, books, a tv show, and even a reality show have explored the subject of cougars and their “cubs.”

Of course I had to jump on the bandwagon and write a cougar story!  You can find The Cowboy and the Cougar today at Aspen Mountain Press.

A hot time with a gorgeous youngcowboy is just what the doctor ordered for forty-year-old Holly Taylor. But after a night of amazing passion, she leaves discreetly. Life has other plans for her at the moment.

After the best sex of his life, single father Jack Sherwood isn’t ready to give up his mystery woman. When he runs into her several months later, he’s relentless in his pursuit, and he doesn’t care a whit about their eleven year age difference.

Holly’s life has taken a new course since her first meeting with Jack, and she’s convinced she’s not what he and his adorable son need. Can her new friends at The Cougar Club persuade her to stop running? Or will she lose the best thing to ever happen to her?

This morning my husband said I appeared contemplative. He asked what was wrong. I said, “nothing.” He said simply, “you’re lying.”

Tomorrow we’ll celebrate our 20th anniversary. Small surprise that he knows me so well. I was lying. So I spilled it.

Some of you know that I freelance edit for a few small presses. About a month ago, I made the decision to leave those positions and concentrate fully on my writing. As of next month, I’ll have seven releases this year. Between my family obligations, editing my own stuff, promotion, and editing my authors’ stuff, my own writing got pushed to the back burner.

Definitely time for a change.

Family, of course, couldn’t go. It is my first and most important priority. And since writing has been my dream forever, writing and promo couldn’t go. That left editing.

My authors aren’t happy about it, and I feel like I’m letting them down. Don’t get me wrong — they’re all very understanding of my need and desire to focus on my writing. But as I make a change in my own life, I’m inadvertently making a change in theirs, too.

Such is the way of life. One change triggers another, and then another.

I know I made the right decision, but I regret some of its consequences.  There is always a price.

In two days, we’ll celebrate Thanksgiving. I’m thankful for the authors whose lives I was able to touch. I’m thankful my writing career is moving along at a nice pace. I’m thankful for the wonderful friends I’ve made through writing and editing. Most of all, I’m thankful for my wonderful family who have encouraged me and believed in me along the way.

What are you thankful for?  Have you made any changes lately?