Northern Hearts (Heroes of the Tundra Book 2) is my Christmas novella set in the real-life town of Churchill, Manitoba, Canada. It’s called the Polar Bear Capitol of the World. I set my entire series there, and my husband and I flew up in 2019 so that I could do proper research on the town and its polar bear research facilities.

I set this story during the Christmas in between Northern Deception (Book 1) and Northern Protector (Book 3). The inspiration for the story came to me out of the blue—I love it when my brain and creativity strikes like that—because I was thinking about family situations and secrets.

I had the vision of a rich young woman with every advantage she could have in her life, but still yearning for more. And her family held a long, dark secret in the past. She’s about to find out about a family member she had never known existed before, and how that person had been following her life from afar.

The hero is the opposite. He’s grown up without a proper family in the foster care system and the unknown family member of the heroine has been a stand-in mother figure for him. When the hero and heroine meet and are forced to work together for thirty days to meet the legal requirements of the family member’s will, they have to examine what their relationships mean to them and learn to work together.

Being a romance, they will fall in love, but I include some real-life festivities that take place in Churchill, and some traditions that I wish I’d done myself over the years. I believe that family traditions keep memories alive and serve the purpose of keeping families intact, especially when children are young and growing up. Once they’re grown up, some traditions need to change to facilitate the changes in the family make-up, for example, adult children marrying and the “family” enlarging.

Like the Sabbath being made for man, not man for the Sabbath, as Jesus taught us, I think that family traditions like every person being present at Christmas dinner when that may not be feasible, need to be looked at in the light of love and common sense. Christmas dinners may need to be done rotationally. Traditions may need to grow and change as the years go by.

That doesn’t mean that our Christmas excitement and celebrations of our one true King shouldn’t take place or be enjoyed. They just may look different from year to year, and that’s all right. The true meaning of Christmas is that Jesus is the Light of the World and our Saviour. I wish you all a blessed Christmas!

Here is a quick excerpt from Chapter 1 of NORTHERN HEARTS:

Wild and dangerous and the town has nothing of significance…

With that ringing in her ears, she grabbed her soft-sided hot pink suitcase and hauled it upright beside her. The clock read 9:45 a.m., so she was right on time. Her ride should be here any minute. Gazing around the tiny, one-room airport, she noticed a twelve-foot-high polar bear skin hung spread out in a wooden display case. The sheer height and width of it gave her pause.

“It’s nothing but snow, ice, and polar bears,” her dad had said. She rolled her luggage over to the huge case and checked out the five-inch claws on the paws of the polar bear skin. Its teeth were three inches, at least, bared permanently in a snarl. The entire fur from side to side had to be four feet wide.

She drew in a breath to calm her nerves and turned to read the huge blue and white sign on the wall.

“Welcome to Churchill, Manitoba–Polar Bear Country,” it read.

“NEVER–

Go beyond a polar bear alert warning sign

Approach or feed a bear for any reason

Walk at night after 10 p.m.

“Always be alert and aware of your surroundings,” said a deep voice from behind her left shoulder.

Adrenaline rippled through her veins. Kali gasped and jumped. “Excuse me?”

“Sorry.” The man who’d spoken loomed over her. His fur-lined green parka hood, which he shoved back out of the way, framed his brown hair and beard scruff. His brown, almost black, eyes didn’t look the least bit sorry. His thick, longish hair poked up in an unruly fashion and curled around his ears. He grinned, showing white, even teeth she couldn’t help but stare at for a second. Handsome. Unbelievably handsome.

“Sorry, that’s the next line on the sign—you are reading the sign, aren’t you?”

“Yes, I mean, I was… I just…” Kali stopped. Get a hold of yourself! You’re babbling.

“The most important thing to remember is that bears can be in town at any time of day or night,” he quoted from the sign. “I’m assuming you’re Miss Kali McIntyre?”

She drew herself up to her entire 5’ 1” height. “You can drop the Miss. And yes, I’m Kali McIntyre.” If this guy was her ride, she’d just hit the lottery.

He drew off his enormous fur-trimmed gauntlet and thrust his right-hand forwards to shake her hand. “Excellent. I’m Jake Miller, from The Great Northern Lodge.”

©Laurie Wood 2019

If you visit my website at https://www.lauriewoodauthor.com and sign up for my newsletter, you’ll receive a gift. Thank you for being with me today.

You can buy Northern Hearts here: https://amzn.to/33CFJeE

Northern Redemption (Heroes of the Tundra Book 4) will come out in 2023.

The post Christmas Blog Tour – Hello from Churchill Manitoba Canada appeared first on Laurie Wood Author.

Happy Christmas in July! Welcome to the seventh blog in this Christmas in July Reader Giveaway, which runs July 12-23, 2021. At the bottom of each author’s blog post, you will find the secret words. Write them all down and provide the provide the entire answer on this Google form. See below for a list with links of all participating authors!

Note: You must grab all the secret words from every author in the Christmas in July Reader Giveaway to be eligible to win a $400 Amazon gift card. At the end of this blog post is a link to the next blog, and so on, to the final blog post (20 in all). At each blog stop, the author will also give away copy or copies of their featured Christmas book.

My publisher came to me with the idea of doing a special Christmas novella for my Heroes of the Tundra series, because Book 1, Northern Deception, ends in November, with an epilogue at the end of the winter in March. They thought putting a story within my tundra world at Christmas time would be a great idea and I agreed with them, even though I’d never tried to write a Christmas story before – never mind a novella!

I was already writing Book 2, Northern Protector, which is set in the following summer right after Northern Deception. It was a challenge to switch horses and think about Christmas and what that might look like in Churchill, Manitoba, which is a real town. I decided to make it as similar to a Hallmark story as I could, with a simple but interesting timed mystery, and a budding romance. I knew that the town of Churchill does an annual Santa Claus event at their Town Centre so that every child in town receives at least once present for Christmas, so I used that as my ending and wrote backwards.

It was fun to come up with my own twist on Christmas traditions, as I made my hero and heroine complete opposites: Jake Miller is an older chef who’s used to running the business and settled into his career and life in the northern wilderness. Kali McIntyre has dreams of opening her own dessert bar in the big city, and is a firecracker with visions of how to completely re-do everything that’s been “working” for The Great Northern Lodge up until her arrival. I don’t want to give away too much of the story, but I had a ton of fun coming up with her wacky methods of changing Christmas traditions that had stood the test of time in the north.

Here’s the back cover blurb:

Wealthy socialite Kali McIntyre dreams of opening her own dessert bar, Sassy Sweets, in downtown Winnipeg—until her father crushes that dream when he cuts her off financially. He’s determined to get her to use her law degree to join the family’s high-powered law firm. She’s determined to do anything but that. And when an unknown-to-her aunt dies in Churchill, Manitoba, leaving her an unbelievable inheritance, Kali’s on the next flight up north to make her dreams a reality. Chef Jake Miller has lived in Churchill for the past ten years, working hard to keep The Great Northern Lodge afloat through some tough times. But then his business partner dies unexpectedly, without telling him that she’d changed her will or that she had a niece who is set to inherit everything. Now, Jake and Kali have thirty days to work together and decide—who will stay and who will go—before Christmas rolls around. Secrets, attempted murder, and a new menu all add up to a Christmas unlike any other.

For your chance to win 3 E-book copies of NORTHERN HEARTS, please leave your family’s favourite Christmas tradition in the comments. Is it something baked? Something decorative? A family activity?

(I’m giving away E-books because I value all of my national and international readers!)

Now, it’s time to for the secret words: the guilty 

Save the secret words, and when you reach the final blog, enter all the secret words on this form for a chance to win a $400 Amazon gift cards!

Thank you so much for visiting! The next author on the tour is Carol Stratton and her Christmas book “The Littlest Bell Ringer” – a middle grade novel . You can find it at this link. Remember, this Christmas in July Reader Giveaway will end on July 23 at 8 PM EST!

Here’s a list of all participating authors with their links, just in case something goes wonky. Enjoy!

1. Sarah Hamakerhttps://sarahhamakerfiction.com/2021/07/10/christmas-in-july-reader-giveaway-dangerous-christmas-memories/
2. Jill Kemererhttps://jillkemerer.com/christmas-in-july-reader-giveaway/
3. Dennis Baileyhttps://dennisbaileyfiction.com/2021/07/08/christmas-in-july-reader-giveaway/
4. Peggy Sue Wellshttps://singlemomcircle.com/christmas-in-july-reader-giveaway/
5. Terri Weldonhttps://terriweldon.com/blog/
6. Jennifer Chastain https://jenniferchastain.com/2021/07/11/christmas-in-july-reader-giveaway/
7. Laurie Wood’s secret words: the guilty, (her blog isn’t working right now)
8. Carol Strattonhttps://www.carolgstratton.com/christmas-in-july-reader-giveaway/
9. Terri Reedhttp://www.terrireed.com/2021/07/christmas-in-july-reader-giveaway.html
10. Anne Greenhttp://anneswritingupdates.blogspot.com/
11. Pam Greenhttps://pamgreenwrites.com/2021/07/11/christmas-in-july-reader-giveaway/
12. Izzy Jameshttps://enotsilent.wordpress.com/2021/07/11/christmas-in-july-reader-giveaway/
13. Nancy J. Farrierhttps://nancyjfarrier.com/christmas-in-july-reader-giveaway/
14. Dana Mentinkhttps://dmentink.wordpress.com/2021/07/10/christmas-in-july-reader-giveaway/
15. Hallee Bridgemanhttps://www.halleebridgeman.com/christmas-in-july
16. Susan Lyttekhttps://sajlyttek.com/blog/1526-Christmas-in-July-Reader-Giveaway?sel=1-0
17. Zoe McCarthyhttps://zoemmccarthy.com/activities/christmas-in-july-reader-give-away
18. Sherry Kylehttps://www.sherrykyle.com/forever-yours-this-christmas-christmas-in-july-reader-giveaway/

The post CHRISTMAS IN JULY READER GIVEAWAY: NORTHERN HEARTS (Heroes of the Tundra Novella) appeared first on Laurie Wood Author.

Welcome back to the Blog Allison! Tell us a little bit about yourself for those who didn’t meet you the first time around: 

I’ve lived in a lot of different places, but country roads and hills are my favorite. And preferably those hills would be covered in snow. I’m a fall and winter girl all the way. My best friend during the summer is the AC. When I’m not writing suspense, I’m reading or walking my dog, Sal

Now, can you describe your story in 5 sentences or less? 

Lizzy Bennet loves life as a lawyer in the city. And not just because of the miles it puts between her and her ex. However, when she’s attacked on the street just hours after learning her identity was stolen, she tries to call home for help and ends up with the last person she expects: the very same high school boyfriend who broke her heart. He says he’s there to help, but she’s not so sure, and now, all the endless questions and regrets are clouding her judgment and preventing her from seeing the dangerous saboteur closing in.

I love the sounds of that premise! What was the catalyst for your interest in writing?

Writing has kind of jumped all over the timeline for me. I started crafting stories because of the movies I was watching as a kid though. I was a know-it-all movie buff/critic before I was 12 years old. Watching movies like Star Wars and The Princess Bride made me want to create worlds and stories of my own. That I would want to read.

Do you have a day job? If so, how do you find time in your day to write?

I work part-time for my church. It’s awesome and not just because it keeps me from falling victim to my reclusive nature lol. Being part of such a giving organization is so rewarding and it is so encouraging to see real people of faith just being real. Finding time to write is hard whether you have a day job or not. There’s always something demanding your attention. You just have to fight for it. And start to think of sleep as optional. Kidding but not really.

 What led you to publish with Anaiah Press?

When I finished Glazed Suspicion, I wanted to find a Christian publisher with a reputation of integrity and faith. Anaiah flashed on my radar pretty quickly.

Are you a night owl or morning person?

Mostly, I feel like neither. I love my sleep. But I am more likely to pull an all-nighter to work rather than try and fail to get up early.
​
Were there any surprises that came up as you wrote your story?

Pretty much everything is a surprise for me. I’m not much of a planner or outliner. So, I usually don’t even know what’s going to happen in the next sentence.

Who was your favorite character to create?

I love Lizzy. She’s feisty and brave but struggles like the rest of us too. It’s fun to be in her head.

Who was the first person you allowed to read your completed book?

My husband doesn’t usually read my published stuff until it’s in print, but I let him read the books I’m too scared to show to anyone else. The ones that are the ‘maybe somedays.’ The ones I’m nervous about.

I love your cover for SPRINKLED WITH SABOTAGE. Here’s a short excerpt from it:

“Thank you for the information but I think I’ll be going now.”

Detective Young dropped her arms and braced herself against the table. “Excuse me?”

Lizzy slid a business card across the table. “Any other questions you have can go to my lawyer.”

The detective flicked the card away. “I can hold you here.”

Finally, Lizzy let herself roll her eyes. “You’ll be holding a statue because I promise you won’t get another word. And if you drag my lawyer in here, he won’t have any comment either. I’ve given you nothing and you’ve just laid out your whole case. Get some evidence that isn’t circumstantial and then arrest me for whatever it is you think I’m involved in. Until then, I’m going home.”

The door flew open and someone burst into the room. The detective smacked a hand on the table. “Get out of here. I’m in the middle of an interrogation.”

Lizzy grinned at her. “Actually, you were just finishing one—” She glanced at the intruder and her mouth dropped open. Agent Lucas Sterling—one of the last people she expected to see here—was looking right at her.

“What are you doing here?” A flash of panic coursed through her. If the FBI was coming to take her, things could be a lot worse than she thought.

He shrugged. “Your boyfriend called me.”

Release Date: 10/27/20

Amazon / Goodreads

Summary:

She trusts him with her life. But what about her heart?

Lizzy Bennet loves life as a lawyer in the city. And not just because of the miles it puts between her and her ex. However, when she’s attacked on the street just hours after learning her identity was stolen, she tries to call home for help and ends up with the last person she expects: the very same high school boyfriend who broke her heart. He says he’s there to help, but she’s not so sure, and now, all the endless questions and regrets are clouding her judgment and preventing her from seeing the dangerous saboteur closing in.

Small-town auto mechanic, Koby Knightly, is looking forward to seeing a car show in the city. But when an unexpected call from his old girlfriend disconnects suddenly, he rushes to her apartment only to find her limping and bleeding. Throwing his plans out the window, Koby makes it his mission to protect her and discover the identity of the person trying to frame her. Will he also be able to figure out what went wrong between them back in high school or will a killer get to her first?

Sounds like the perfect Fall read! You can buy Allison’s book online at Amazon.com, and you can find her at the links below:

Amazon https://amzn.to/3gCIjm7

Twitter https://bit.ly/3kk9fJQ 

Facebook www.facebook.com/allisonnicolepearl/

Instagram https://bit.ly/2PthCoh

Goodreads https://bit.ly/2Pt29V6

About Allison Pearl:

Allison Pearl is a small-town girl who’s lived just about everywhere. She loves books, tea, chocolate, and watching old movies with her husband and black lab, Sal. To keep in touch and get updates on new releases follow her Facebook page ‘Books by Pearl’ or follow her on Twitter at @AllisonPearl5 and Instagram at @allisonnicolepearl

Do you prefer cozy mysteries over more robust mysteries where there’s more emphasis on the crime than the characters? Do you prefer to read books in a series, like Allison’s Love and Danger in St Claire series? 

The post Author Interview with Allison Pearl appeared first on Laurie Wood Author.

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