Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Today's Special - - Virginia Smith

We're pleased to welcome inspirational author Virginia Smith today!  Virginia is the author of more than twenty inspirational novels, an illustrated children's book and many more articles and short stories.  She's also an inspirational speaker as well as a Certified Lay Speaker for the United Methodist Church.  When she's not busy speaking or writing, she enjoys physical adventures such as snow skiing, scuba diving and motorcycle riding.  You can find more information about Virginia and her books at her website.  Please join us in giving Virginia a warm Romance Dish welcome!  






Thanks, PJ and Andrea, for letting me blog on The Romance Dish today. It’s my first visit, and the menu looks scrumptious!

The road to ‘happily ever after’ is never straight. Sometimes it takes unexpected twists and turns, and you’d better watch out for potholes. As women who are searching for love, that’s not good news. But as readers, it’s the unexpected side trips that we enjoy most of all.

Some girls are lucky enough to grow up next door to Mr. All-American Right, marry him without ever looking at another man (or him looking at another girl), and live in wedded bliss for the rest of their lives. That certainly didn’t happen to me. My next-door neighbors growing up had no kids. Instead, they had a bulldog named Chopper, and he drooled. When I started dating, I went through a series of Mr. Wrongs, and trust me, I stumbled into quite a few potholes along the way. Finally, after a progression of disasters, roadblocks, and detours, I rounded a corner and there he was. My Mr. Right turned up in the last place I thought I’d find him – in an office at work, with his face hidden behind a computer screen.

In A Plain and Simple Heart, which I co-authored with the fabulous Lori Copeland, our heroine Rebecca Switzer finds herself on a similarly rocky road. The setting is Kansas in 1885. Rebecca is Amish, seventeen, and in love with a cowboy she met four years before. She decides to use her rumspringa to strike out on her own across Kansas in search for her true love, her Mr. Right. The first twist in her road comes when she meets up with a group of temperance demonstrators and is swept into the fervor of their cause. Then a roadblock lands her in front of a judge, with her main accuser being the town’s handsome sheriff. From there, matters get quickly, and hilariously, out of hand. She’s stuck in a chug hole up to her Amish prayer cap, her cowboy is nowhere to be found, and she’s beginning to wonder whether the road she’s on leads to ‘happily ever after’ or ‘wild west disaster.’

What about you? If you’ve found your Mr. Right, was he at the end of a smooth road, or a rocky one? And if you haven’t found him yet, what are the road conditions on your journey?

One randomly chosen person leaving a comment on today's blog will receive a copy of A Plain & Simple Heart.  

26 comments:

  1. I do not have a great deal of knowledge of the Amish, but I have heard of "rumspringa." Having a young woman going on her rumspringa in search of her true love is a unique story line for me.
    This sounds like a lovely book, Virginia and PJ.

    My road to true love was really much rougher on my husband of 34 years that it was for me. I like to say that he chased me for five years before I caught him!

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  2. A PLAIN AND SIMPLE HEART looks fabulous.

    Plenty of Mr Wrongs came my way I can tell you.

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  3. I adore Amish novels and it sounds as though you have added some clever humor to "A Plain and Simple Heart" which has certainly drawn me to want to read it.

    I've been married for 45 years to a wonderful man. I knew right away that he was the guy for me but I think he fought losing his freedom somewhat. However, he finally proposed without stammering *grins* and we have been very happy together.

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  4. A Plain and Simple Heart looks wonderful. I found my soulmate many years ago. Rough times throughout and still but we are strong and have strength that is necessary to combat anything.

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    1. Good for you, Traveler! yes, rough times are part of the journey, I think.

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  5. This Amish novel sounds compelling and special. Finding your beshert is a wonderful experience. I was fortunate since he is one in a million.

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    1. Thanks, Petite! We like to think this is a special story.

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    2. Your beshert. I love that term, petite, It also means that you are his beshert!

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  6. Hi Virginia! Welcome! Love the sound of your book. I just reviewed a book by Lori Copeland (loved it!) which makes me excited to give this collaboration a try. I've often wondered; how does co-authoring work?

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    1. PJ, author partnerships work different ways, depending on how individual authors like to work. With Lori and me, we get together at the beginning of a book project and spend a weekend plotting and planning the story. Then I go back home and write the first draft. When I'm finished, I send the manuscript to Lori, who edits and puts her personal touches on the story before we turn it in to our editor. The process works for us!

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    2. Sounds like fun! I'm looking forward to reading it!

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  7. My mom LOVES Amish stories and has read every Beverly Lewis & Cindy Woodsmall she could get her hands on. I think she would love this one too. The story sounds fun and different with the heroine getting into trouble.

    Haven't found my Mr. Right yet, and the road to romance has a lot of bumps for me.

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    1. Kirsten, I love Beverly and Cindy too! Hang in there on that bumpy road.

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  8. Hello Virginia,

    I met my Mr right when he moved in next door many years ago. Very convenient that was. I could see him enter and leave his house from the side window & often went out to check the mailbox round that time. We got talking and the rest is history.

    I am fascinated by the Amish. Their simple way of life, values and faith are things I love to read about. But sadly many Amish romances (I read) have similar storylines. Your book however intrigues me, the rumspringa has not featured in the books I have and I believe it will make an entertaining part of your story. I’m interested to see how the handsome sheriff fits in. Will she leave the Amish or will he join her... would love to find out! So please count me in, Thanks :D

    Best, Silvia

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    1. Silvia, you really did marry the boy next door! Good for you!

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  9. I would love to find Mr. Right at either a smooth or rocky road. I have a feeling it's going to be a rocky road but that just means we'll appreciate each other more and learn from any mistakes. A rocky road can lead to a smooth road all the same :)

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  10. Hello and welcome, Virginia! We're happy to have you with us today. Congrats on the release of A PLAIN & SIMPLE HEART! It sounds wonderful. :)

    I met my Mr. Right where we worked...or as he puts it, he "met his honey where he made his money". He was at the end of a road with a few potholes. LOL. We've been married over 14 years and I love him more every day. :)

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    1. "Met his honey where he made his money." I love it! That's what happened to me, too.

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  11. I traveled interesting roads on the way but reached my destination when I met my late husband. I knew the first time I met him that he was going to be important in my life - unfortunately for the guy I was dating at the time, who happened to be the one who introduced us. ;-)

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  12. hi virginia!

    mr. right.. i thought i've found him, but turned out he's not.. so i'm continuing my journey, and it's still on a long empty road.

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  13. When I wasn't looking (that's the trick), Mr. Right came along. He had heard that my boyfriend and I broke up, and he started pursuing me then. Our first date was the Saturday of Labor Day weekend of 1980 (cue the Twilight Zone music here), he bought my ring in Oct/80, he proposed on Christmas Day/80, and we wed in July/81 (when his plant shut down for two weeks).
    I'd say we found each other at the end of a smooth road that has remained smooth for most of our 31 years together. Thankfully, we smoothed out those bumps and now things are better than ever.

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