Monday, January 7, 2013

Today's Special -- Jodi Thomas






Today, we welcome back the wonderful Jodi Thomas! Jodi is the NY Times and USA Today bestselling author of 36 novels and 11 short story collections. In June 2011, WELCOME TO HARMONY, the first book in the Harmony series, won a RITA, the highest award for women’s fiction. Jodi currently serves as the Writer in Residence at West Texas A&M University in Canyon, Texas. Her latest, CHANCE OF A LIFETIME, is on shelves now and was reviewed here by the lovely Janga. Welcome, Jodi! 
 



 

As the holidays wind down and we cuddle into the cool nights, I’d love to take you along on a journey with me to a small town in Texas called Harmony. 

When I began CHANCE OF A LIFETIME, I started with Emily, a librarian. She’s kind and caring with a secret that keeps her fears compartmentalized in her mind. When a friend from her past asks a favor, she agrees not knowing how far into an adventure they’ll stumble while discovering each other and a secret of the town. 

Writing the story of Harmony in CHANCE OF A LIFETIME has been a pure joy for me. I grew up in a small town and understand how the people’s life stories blend together and how everyone bands together when trouble comes. So come along with me this cold night in January on an adventure that will make you smile and keep you reading long into the night.
 

Jodi Thomas
 

 

Dear readers, have you ever been on an adventure? Tell us about it and one lucky commenter will win a copy of Jodi’s CHANCE OF A LIFETIME. (U.S. addresses only, please.)

 

NY Times and USA Today bestselling author Jodi Thomas takes us back to Harmony, Texas, in CHANCE OF A LIFETIME. The fifth book in her popular Harmony series presents a story where big dreams are brewing—and anything and everything is possible…

Emily, the local librarian, has started a writing group, but as the group stumbles through both the fiction and reality of their lives, they’re learning much more than how to write. But Emily suddenly has other things on her mind when a friend from her past shows up in Hamony's library. Now she must deal with a secret she’s kept for fifteen years—a secret that changed her life and threatens to shatter her future.

Meanwhile, new lawyer Rick Matheson thinks he’s in charge of his world until accidents start happening all around him. Just when he realizes someone is trying to kill him, he meets a beautiful U.S. Marshal named Trace Adam. Now that the marshal has given him an even stronger reason to go on living, he must learn to take a chance on life to dream bigger—and love better—than he ever has before...

26 comments:

  1. I really can't say that I have had an adventure other than the adventure of just living from day to day. That can certainly be filled with challenges.

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    1. Sometimes, that can be a pretty big adventure, Dianna!

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    2. LOL! You're absolutely right, Dianna!

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  2. About 5 years after I was married my husband and I were able to take a month off of work. We headed out west and camped at several of our national parks: Yellowstone, Grand Tetons, Glacier and Olympic to name a few. We enjoyed the time together and loved seeing our scenic parks. This past summer we ventured to Arizona and Utah. We loved Zion and the Grand Canyon. We hope to be able to head out west again.

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    1. What a wonderful opportunity!

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    2. Awesome, Laurie! We've been to Yellowstone, the Grand Tetons, Zion, and the Grand Canyon, too! We had an absolute blast!!!

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  3. I can't say I have ever had an adventure either. Other than last year trying to get to Santa Barbara from NY due to a few late departures of flights.

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    1. I've been in a few of those late/cancelled flight situations. Believe me, they definitely qualify as adventures! :)

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    2. I'm with PJ. Being in an unfamiliar place definitely qualifies as an adventure, Pat!

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  4. I think everyone knows by now that I'm a big fan of the Harmony books. I loved Chance of a Lifetime and following the adventures of Emily, Tannon, Rick, Trace, and Beau.


    In the sense of risky or dangerous events, my adventures have been largely vicarious. Honestly, I prefer them that way. But in the older sense of marvelous or exciting, I've had great adventures. During thirty years in the classroom, life was always remarkable and often exciting.

    When the oldest grand, now thirteen, was three or so, she would announce at the beginning of each of her visits, "I'm here for a 'venture." In the sense she used the word, meaning that she anticipated a day that would bring forth something extraordinary, something wonderful, I hope I can face each day with that spirit.

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    1. When the oldest grand, now thirteen, was three or so, she would announce at the beginning of each of her visits, "I'm here for a 'venture

      What a lovely memory for both of you! It says a lot about the kind of person you are (which I already knew) that she would look forward to those visits with so much joy and enthusiasm.

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    2. That's so sweet, Janga! My brother and I used to say the same thing when we were children and used to visit my grandparents who lived in a very small town in the country. It was definitely an adventure for us!

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  5. I'm not into the dangerous or risky either but I have had some grand adventures in my life. When I was fourteen, I left my family to travel to a foreign country where I spent three months as an exchange student, living with a family I'd never even seen in photos at a time when air mail letters were the most expedient form of communication. I look at my 14-year-old granddaughter of the heart and marvel at the courage it must have taken for my parents to let me do that.

    In my present day life, being a part of The Romance Dish has been one adventure after another. And I have to say, I'm loving every one of them!

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    1. Wow, PJ! I don't think I could let my kids do that either! lol

      Yes, the Romance Dish certainly is an adventure and I'm blessed to do it with you!

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  6. Love the Harmony series. Can't wait to read this one. I like her older ones too.

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  7. Hi Jodi, love your books and I can't wait to read this one. When I was young we would get in the car and just drive. We would flip a coin to see which road to take and I would call that an adventure. We found a lot of little country towns that way. We call it drifting.

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  8. My biggest adventure was a long time ago while on vacation. We took a cruise and debarked in Haiti to see The Citadel. It took an hour by car on dirt roads and then we climbed the rest of the way by horse. I do not ride lol. Going up was fine but coming back down from the clouds became a problem. The guides had me switch horses, while they were laughing and talking in Spanish. Shortly after my horse fell!!! I could have gone over the mountainside but luckily the most that happened were some bruises and a cut in my armpit (ouch). And then of course I ended up having to get back on the same horse. I should have complained but never did. The Citadel was great!!

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  9. Thanks for the fun post! Congrats to Jodi on the newest release! Haven't had an adventure or vacation in too long to remember! I've turned into a workaholic in my 30's and I need to change that!

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  10. Well, life is an adventure...getting married and having kids certainly is, too!

    It's good to have Jodi with us today. I love "visiting" Harmony and can't wait to get back to it in Chance of a Lifetime.

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  11. Life is definately an adventure. Having kids is an everday adventure because you never know what is going to happen. I work front desk at a hotel and something is always happening crazy happening. I have one guest that is gorgeous that has stayed at the hotel and he is my go-to-sexy character to model after. And plus he is a very nice guy. Thanks for the giveaway.
    Christinebails at yahoo dot com

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  12. Bringing my son to college was definitely an adventure, especially after I saw the house he and his roommates rented.

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  13. Another Jodi Thomas fan -- my adventure was travelling in Alaska with my hubby, sister & her hubby and our mom... and if you've not been to Alaska... please plan a trip and go there!!!

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  14. It's been years since I've been on an adventurous trip. I've camped in the snow, sleeping in a tent. The boys built an igloo. It was cool. My feet were always cold. Luckily, I didn't get frostbites. I also went on a weekend back pack trip in the Sequoia National Forest.Slept under the stars. This was actually an enjoyable trip. Was glad the back pack got lighter as we ate the food.

    bluedawn95864 at gmail dot com

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  15. I've done a few adventurous things while on vacation - like driving on the "other side of the road" in Ireland & England; taking the wring turn in the west of England and ending up at the gates of a prison; trying to stop the car from rolling off a ledge when the brake didn't set; snorkling in Aruba & Hawaii was great fun. I try to push myself sometimes to be adventurous, even when it scares me.

    sallans d at yahoo dot com

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  16. Other than marriage and a family, which are lifetime adventures, I have been lucky enough to have a few. I was a Peace Corps volunteer in the Philippines for 3 years (1968-71). I traveled around the country and experienced as much as I could. It was a fantastic experience. When traveling home, I went to Indonesia and Bali. There I saw village ceremonies with people walking on hot coals, a teeth filing ceremony, and had a teen girl possessed by a demon in the courtyard adjacent to my room. I climbed an active volcano in both the Philippines (melted my sneakers) and Bali (had to duck spewing ash and hot cinders). I am now a Red Cross disaster volunteer and was in NY for 3 weeks with hurricane Sandy response. That is a whole different kind of adventure. I look at every opportunity and everything I do as an adventure. I am currently planning our summer vacation out West.Glacier National Park and the Calgary Stampede will be the main focus. If our 14 year old grandson joins us, it will be a whole different kind of adventure.

    I look forward to reading CHANCE OF A LIFETIME. I enjoy small town stories. Small towns do have a special atmosphere and do become characters in some stories themselves in a way.

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