What This Day Really Represents

Lest we forget

Note from Peg: I posted this a few years ago on Memorial Day weekend, but I thought it needed to be repeated. Take a few minutes, enlarge the images, and consider the cost.

The American Cemetery at Aisne-Marne, France: 2,289

 

 

 

 

 

The American Cemetery at Ardennes, Belgium: 5,329

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The American Cemetery at Brittany, France: 4,410

 

 

 

 

 

The American Cemetery at Brookwood, England: 468

 

 

 

 

 

The American Cemetery at Cambridge, England: 3,812

 

 

 

 

 

The American Cemetery at Epinal, France: 5,525

 

 

 

 

 

The American Cemetery at Flanders Field, Belgium: 368

 

 

 

 

 

The American Cemetery at Florence, Italy: 4,402

 

 

 

 

 

The American Cemetery at Henri-Chapelle, Belgium: 7,992

 

 

 

 

 

The American Cemetery at Lorraine, France: 10,489

 

 

 

 

 

The American Cemetery at  Luxembourg: 5,076

 

 

 

 

 

The American Cemetery at Mense-Argonne, France: 14,246

 

 

 

 

 

The American Cemetery at Netherlands: 8,301

 

 

 

 

The American Cemetery, Normandy, France: 9,387

 

 

 

 

 

The American Cemetery at Oise-Aisne, France: 6,012

 

 

 

 

 

The American Cemetery at Rhone, France: 861

 

 

 

 

 

The American Cemetery at Sicily, Italy: 7.861

 

 

 

 

 

The American Cemetery at Somne, France: 1,844

 

 

 

 

 

The American Cemetery at St. Mihiel, France: 4,153

 

 

 

 

 

The American Cemetery at Suresnes, France: 1,541

 

 

 

 

That’s a grand total of 104,336 American Soldiers buried in foreign soil—American’s who died defending foreign lands against those who would oppress and steal their freedom. These same brave members of our fighting forces gave their lives willingly, not only defending other peoples’ freedom, but OURS as well.

Another sobering thought: the above cemeteries represent only those lost in European wars. They do not reveal those lost in the Pacific War, Korea, Viet Nam, and the ongoing war against terror.

The tally mounts. Our young men and women continue to lay their lives on the line to defend freedom wherever it is threatened, or to fight for their right to obtain freedom.

Let us not forget! Today is Memorial Day. Take a few moments out of your back-yard BBQ or pool party and remember what this day is REALLY about.

“Twin Hearts,” by JoAnn Durgin. BookBites w/Giveaway

(Ooh, love the pose! Even if the rose isn’t purple. LOL Sorry. You’re on, JoAnn. Welcome!)

What do guppy lips, frog legs and a gazebo have to do with anything? Believe it or not, they’re all very significant components!

I’m excited to share with you about my newest release, Twin Hearts. It’s the third in my Lewis Legacy Series from Torn Veil Books, but it can stand alone. If you’ve read the first two books, however, you’ll know my Louisiana twins, Josh and Rebekah Grant. I don’t write “in the box” formula romance, and my novels are quite lengthy with intriguing characters and situations to keep you occupied for a good, long read! This new book is different in that it features the parallel and simultaneous love stories of the brother-sister twins. They are each other’s best friend and share a loving, teasing and protective relationship. Both are volunteers in a Christian organization called TeamWork Missions, led by my core characters in the series, Sam and Lexa (Clarke) Lewis from Awakening.

Josh is seeking redemption from past transgressions. My wayward sheep in Awakening, he’s now an up-and-coming attorney in Baton Rouge and travels to Houston to make his apologies to Sam, his close friend and former mentor. It’s more than four years later, and his last meeting with another TeamWork member still haunts him. When he also seeks her forgiveness, he gets the shock of his life! Josh isn’t looking for love, but finds it in a most unexpected and tender way. Rebekah is on a journey of self-discovery. She’s an elementary school teacher at a personal crossroads with two men vying for her heart: a dashing British aristocrat offering her the world and a quiet, faithful lumber man. In a fun plot twist, a plan is hatched: give the girl what she thinks she wants in order to help her see what she really needs. This book has love, humor, emotion, romance, realistic dialogue, relatable characters, drama, conflict—all the elements I hope readers know they can always expect from one of my books. All that and a happy ending, as well.

What I pray readers will take away from this book is this: Christians aren’t perfect, but we’re forgiven. It also doesn’t give us a “blank check” for bad behavior. We sometimes fall prey to the same temptations and sins as the rest of the world, but we need to be accountable. How we ultimately deal with the consequences of our sin can make a huge impact on others. My characters make mistakes—sometimes pretty big ones—and yet they pray, they seek to follow and honor the Lord, and when they stumble and fall, they pick themselves up and keep on going. Some have called my books modern fairy tales with a dash of realism.

My books can be found at major online book retailers, including Amazon and Barnes & Noble (in both print and ebook editions).

Brief Bio: Twin Hearts is JoAnn's third published novel in The Lewis Legacy Series from Torn Veil Books. The fourth installment in the series, Daydreams, releases in December 2012 as well as Meet Me Under the Mistletoe, a fun novella from White Rose Publishing. She is a full-time estate administration paralegal in Louisville, Kentucky, a member of the American Christian Fiction Writers and Louisville Christian Writers. JoAnn lives with her husband and three children in southern Indiana.

Blessings, JoAnn Durgin, Matthew 5:16

Thank you for allowing me to share a bit about Twin Hearts, Peg! I’m offering a signed copy to one of your readers who leaves a comment in answer to the following question.

Question: What types of stories would you most like to read in a romance anthology (multiple short stories)? For example, would you prefer something like young love growing through the years, second chance at love stories, etc. Or would you prefer stories where couples discover love in unexpected ways, places or shared interests? My publisher will be publishing an anthology later this year and we welcome all your suggestions!

Giveaway runs from today, May 25m 2012, through Saturday, June 2, 2012.

When leaving your comments, please be sure to answer JoAnn’s question and include your e-mail contact information, name and location. (i.e: me@mydomain.com, Peg Phifer, Nevada.) Need a minimum of ten (10) distinct comments to enable this giveaway.

Thank you, JoAnn, for sharing your book here on BookBites!

Following Doctor’s Orders

. . . is not as easy as I thought it would be . . .

So, I’m in  a walking “boot” now after learning I’ve been walking around on a broken foot for, oh, a month or better.

Today is day 12 of the 8-10 weeks I’m expected to be wearing the clumsy thing. Granted, it does allow me to walk without (much) pain, and that’s a good thing.

The bad thing? I try to do too much! Add to that a mate who somehow seems to think that, because I’m mobile I can doo the things I used to do. I can walk, therefore I can do anything.

NOT.

I have strict orders to stay off it as much as possible. Apparently that “much as possible” is open to interpretation, by both of us. Like yesterday I was rearranging my second desk for my netbook and wanted to feed the power supply through the hole at the back of the desk. It wasn’t a priority. It could have waited. It didn’t even need to be done. At all. But I proceeded.

Here’s the thing. The desk is heavy, loaded with a hutch and about 100 books. More or less immovable. And it’s snub up against the wall. The only way too get the cord through that hole was to dangle it down behind the hutch/bookcase and try to catch it with a hook to pull it through. Obviously I couldn’t do both.

So, I eye-balled the approximate alignment and had hubby do the cord dangling while I crawled under the desk with the hook. I probably don’t need to describe the rest. Use your imagination . . . but I did get it done. And I’m paying for it today.

How about you? Ever done anything so totally stupid, something you knew full well you had no business doing, or even trying to do, but went ahead anyway?

 

Can anyone relate?

A great Monday morning chuckle. yes? Saw this on Facebook.

Peg

“Mary’s Blessing,” by Lena Nelson Dooley: BookBites w/Giveaway

Questions I’ve Received About My McKenna’s Daughters Series

These stories are stories of my heart. They percolated in my brain and my heart for several years before I wrote them, so they are dear to me. I hope you like reading them as much as I enjoyed writing them.

Here are some questions that I’ve received from readers about this series.

Is the girl on the cover you when you were younger?

I wish. The graphics department did a marvelous job depicting the first two identical triplets on the cover. I feel sure they’ll do the same on book three that releases January 2013.

Were you adopted?

No, I was not.

Do you have someone who was adopted in your family?

No, but I’ve had friends who were adopted. And I’ve had a close relative who gave up a baby for adoption, so I know some of the heartaches involved.

How did you know what triplets who were separated would feel like?

I believe that when God gives me a story to tell, He also gives me discernment about how the characters feel. One thing I used from my own personal life was the feeling that some part of them was missing. I often felt that way while I grew up. I thought something was wrong with me. My mother died when I was seven years old. When I was about thirty years old, one of my aunts told me she lived with my mother and dad when I was born. Not too long after my mother came home from the hospital with me, they had to take her back. They removed a mass of hair, tissue, and bone, which the doctors believed was a twin that didn’t develop. So my twin was the part of me that was missing. I used that in the stories.

Are there any questions you wish you could ask me about the books?

Feel free to do that. I will come by and answer the comments.

• Mary’s Blessing
• Publisher: Realms (May 15, 2012)
• ISBN-10: 1616386177
• ISBN-13: 978-1616386177

Bio:

Lena Nelson Dooley is an award-winning author with more than 690,000 books in print. She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers—where she received the Mentor of the Year award in 2006, and three Carol Award silver pins—DFW Ready Writers, and Christian Authors Network. Her book Love Finds You in Golden New Mexico won the Will Rogers Medallion Award for excellence in western media for fiction. She lives in Hurst, Texas, with her husband of over 47 years.

• Website: www.lenanelsondooley.com
• Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/lenandooley/
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/lena.nelson.dooley
• Official Fan Page: www.facebook.com/pages/Lena-Nelson-Dooley/42960748768?ref=ts
• Twitter: @lenandooley
• Shoutlife: http://www.shoutlife.com/lenanelsondooley
• Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/333031.Lena_Nelson_Dooley

Back Cover Blurb:

When her mother dies, Mary Lenora must grow up quickly to take care of her brothers and sisters. Can love help her to shoulder the burden?

Mary Lenora Caine knows she is adopted. As she was growing up, her mother called her “God’s blessing.” But now that she’s gone, Mary no longer feels like any kind of blessing. Her father, in his grief, has cut himself off from the family, leaving the running of the home entirely in Mary’s hands.

As she nears her eighteenth birthday, Mary can’t see anything in her future but drudgery. Then her childhood friend Daniel begins to court her, promising her a life of riches and ease. But her fairy-tale dreams turn to dust when her family becomes too much for Daniel, and he abandons her in her time of deepest need.

Will Daniel come to grips with God’s plan for him? And if he does return, can Mary trust that this time he will really follow through?

We will do a giveaway. The winner can either choose a copy of Maggie’s Journey, the first book in the series, or Mary’s Blessing.

We must have ten different comments before a winner can be chosen. Leave contact information with your comment. Giveaway ends Saturday, May 26, 2012

Thank you, Lena, for being a guest here on BookBites. This series sounds like a great reading experience.