salmon, anyone?

I never thought I'd be blogging such, but this week a man approached me with 20 pounds of fresh salmon in exchange for a book! What could I say but yes? I didn't tell him if he'd had halibut I'd have given him two books:) So now I have oodles of salmon in my freezer. Randy is thrilled. I officially have more fish than books! To complicate matters, my oldest son, Wyatt, is out on the ocean fishing today. I hope and pray the salmon aren't biting, at least around his boat:)

August is rolling by and I need to get out in our garden. Past years I was knee-deep in canning jars and green beans, beets, and all the rest, but now I'm immersed in book 3, tentatively titled, The Scrivener's Daughter. And no, don't think for a minute that title will get past the titling committee. They'll think of something better. I love the story and I hope my readers do, too. It's set in Kentucky at a fort along the Ohio river and the male lead is quite appealing. At least my female protagonist thinks so. But there are forces at work to keep them apart - Tory spies, Indians, and past heartbreaks, among other things.

Thank you so much to those readers who have left such great book reviews!! It's such a treat finding them on Amazon and Barnes & Noble and other sites! What a gift! Hearing what people liked about the book, or didn't, helps authors craft better novels. I certainly take every word written to heart.

On the home front, we're making a big leap from homeschooling to public school with our oldest son in a couple of weeks. Washington state schools start September 2nd, at least in our area. Wyatt is very excited to be in "real school" for the first time ever so will see what happens. I'm more nervous than he is! I'll continue to keep Paul homeschooled as he has a pretty tight fiddling schedule. It will be so quiet with just the 2 of us during the day.

Get ready for a girly-girl post as my evening wear for the Denver conference just arrived and I can't wait to show you:) Am waiting on the shoes then will take a pic. 33 days till conference time. I've never attended a writer's conference and promise to take my laptop and keep you posted!

Please stop back by here Saturday for another book giveaway. It's not too late to enter the drawing for a freshly printed copy of The Frontiersman's Daughter. Just leave a comment below and I'll post the winner this Saturday and then additional winners the next two Saturdays. Bless you all!