Autumn Blog Hop!

 

Do you have a favorite fall memory linked to a train? What do you imagine you would see if you were riding a train in the fall? Join the authors of Wild Child publishing and Freya’s Bower as we Take an Autumn Train Ride through our blogs.

Prizes will include

 

• Four $50 gift certificates (two for Wild Child and two for Freya’s Bower)
• An awesome swag package that includes:
  • Bookmarks
  • Books
  • Wild Child T-shirt and mug
  • Wild Child and Freya’s Bower bags
  • Four handmade, crochet coasters by Kit Wylde
  • An autographed copy of Rosemary and Rue by Seanan McGuire
  • A rare DVD copy of the Matheson/Furst classic “Up The Creek” (lovingly used)
  • One ebook copy of Nita Wick’s short story, The Dream (previously published as part of a Freya’s Bower anthology.)
  • Book trading cards
  • Signed Dangerous Waters poster
  • copy of “Battle for Blood: The Blood Feud”
  • the winner’s name as a character in Kissa Starling’s next sweet romance story.
  • A Yankee Candle
  • and more…

 

Thanks for stopping by my blog! Trains will always have a special place in my heart. More importantly, the sound of them takes me back. I grew up across the street from a grain elevator in the small farming community of Grinnell, Iowa. They weren’t picky about the time of day or night trains were scheduled to stop and fill their cars. Hearing a train slowing down, the screech of the brakes grinding against metal, even the blaring horn, didn’t even faze me as a child. As a matter of fact, when we moved away after I graduated, I missed the random noise. It seemed especially quiet in the Spring and Fall when the windows were open at night. I’d hear one in the distance and long for the days when I could hear the team calling to one another as they slowed down and carefully pulled their empty cars under the elevator. It was an unconventional lullaby of sorts. It’s amazing what a child can become accustomed to and subsequently miss when it’s gone. I now live in the country tucked away from the road, nestled in a grove of trees. Most sounds we hear are from nature, but on a clear night with the wind in just the right direction, the faint whistle from a distant train will waft through my window. Those are the nights I sleep best, the far off cadence lulling me into dreams. 

Is there a particular sight or sound that pulls you back to your childhood? 

~T. Sue VerSteeg

 

 

Please visit these sites for more chances to win, the more you visit the more chances you have to win. We have 46 participating authors. You can stop at as many or as little blogs as you wish. At each stop, you will find two chances to enter per blog to win some awesome prizes. If you visit all, that’s 92 chances to win! There will be five, lucky winners.

 

Take the Blog Train and Visit These Blogs for more chances to win

 

Marci Baun/Kit Wylde

Critters at the Keyboard

Teresa D’Amario

Judith Leger, Fantasy and Contemporary Romance Author

Highland Rogue Writing

The Fictional World of Jaime Samms

Follow Where the Path will Take You

The Wandering Mind of Lizzy P. Bellows

Where Love and Magic Meet

Kissa Starling

Marianna Heusler

Hell’s Ambrosia

C.M. Michaels

The Shadow Portal

The Blog Zone

Blog By iMagine

Ardyth DeBruyn Author Blog

Shadows of the Past

Dear Reader

Cassie Exline — Mystery and Romance

Sarcastic Rambling & Writing

That’s What I Think

Make Old Bones

Elements of Mystery

Molly Dean’s Blog

Kenzie’s Place

The Forbidden Blog

David Huffstetler

Cassandra Ulrich

Carol Marvell

Andrew Richardson

Nick Lloyd

Fiddleeebod — land of stories

Nita Wick’s Blog

Ruth G. Zavitsanos

Too Poor for Texas

Jenn Nixon

City of Thieves

Musings and Doodles

Husein

The Western Writer

Bike Cop Blog

The Character Depot

Allen Currier

Tracy Holohan

 

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To Nook & Beyond!

I’m so excited! I just checked with Barnes and Noble and Luck Be a Lady is live! Go forth and NOOK. 🙂 To celebrate our book branching out, I’m giving away two autographed copies (As in by me AND Gemma!) and a $20 Barnes and Noble gift card to three lucky commenters. Make sure I have an email address (It can be the one that no one else sees when you sign in to comment. Just make sure I can find you.) To each and every person reading this post, thank you so much for your support. This truly has been a dream come true. I’m leaving you with one of my favorite scenes. I had so much fun with Tate. 😉

Tessie is trying to come to terms with losing her father and Tate is helping…sort of. Enjoy!

 

I wavered between loving and loathing my father but jumped at the chance to make Tate smile for real by changing the subject.  “How about we toast to the fabulous individuals we are now despite our jacked-up childhoods.”  We raised our glasses, clinked them together, each enjoying a big sip.  Okay, so mine was more like a chug, but I’d earned it.

“Oh, fun fact!” Tate blurted.  “Did you know this very table was your dad’s favorite?  He came up here almost every evening for a cigar, a drink, and to enjoy the fabulous view.”

I turned just in time to watch the last deep orange glimmer of daylight fade behind the mountain.  Had my burger not showed up at the same moment, it might have prompted some deep connection with my past.  As it was, my stomach won out, and I practically dove into the plate.

Tate stared across the table as I devoured my burger, his eyes wide and a slight Elvis tic tugging at his upper lip. 

“What?” I asked between bites.

“Oh, just that I’ve never seen anyone as small as you put food away like that.  I mean, I’ve watched a show on television where piranhas dissected a whole cow.  I’m getting the same vibe here, sweetness.  I hope you don’t eat this way on a date.”

I put the remaining few bites back on my plate and swallowed what was left in my mouth.  I pondered retaliating with some of his more embarrassing moments that I’d witnessed once we had hit puberty.  The slumber parties where I’d woken to see his hair pre-product-enhanced, the breakups I’d helped him through with red snotty noses and lots of tissues, the time he thought a Speedo was a good bathing suit choice and I had to warn him that his junk was on the loose.  The options were nearly endless.  I opened my mouth to rehash the highlights, but his cheeks were already rosy.  He’d obviously just hiked the same memory lane.

“Touché.”  He raised his glass, tossed me a playful wink, and took a sip.  “You always have been more like family to me.  You know, I think we need a girl’s night before you leave.”

“Sure, why not?”  I finished my burger slowly, pondering what the week would hold for me as temporary owner of a casino.

 

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