Switching it up today -- WEWRIWA 8/23/15 - The Orphanage

Hey everyone,

I thought we would switch things up today at this blog in honor of one of my new releases, The Journey Home, that finishes out my 4 book Indian Em'ly saga, which is at this very moment becoming an audio book, like all the rest of mine.

Journey with me back to the 1890's . . . where two Apache children have been kidnapped by the Army. Third in the series.

White as the snow that Pale Face Joe had pointed out on the tips of the Truchas Peaks, the walls surrounding Santa Fe were thick and blinding.

            “Where is Joe, Knocks Down?” Cactus’s arm hung in the sling I’d made her from one of Joe’s old shirts. The old pale face had done his best to make the trip to Santa Fe as enjoyable as he could. I had even smiled once or twice, mostly because Tom was never around. I had also quit dreaming about killing him, so I slept better at night.

            “They sent him to something called a Sanitarium this morning,” I answered. “His cough was too bad. He promised he would come for us when he was able.” Strange as it felt, I couldn’t deny that I was looking forward to seeing the old man again because unlike the others on the Army train, Joe cared for us and he wasn’t afraid to show it.

To get the first two books in the series in this awesome 5 book set,all for just 99 cents, click here.

To get your copy of THE ORPHANAGE, click here. 

Back to the weekend writing warriors

The Saga of Indian Em'ly: The Journey Home is here! And just .99 cents!

The fourth and final installment of the Indian Em'ly Saga is here . . . and just .99 cents! This is by far my favorite of the series, and I hope it will be yours too. Get yours here! 

BLURB

Twelve-year-old Knocks Down and his little sister, Cactus Flower, manage to escape the evil orphanage along with a new pale face friend, Kid McCoy. But once they escape, they are set upon by a gang of murdering claim jumpers who steal Cactus and leave Knocks Down for dead. 

Determined to find his little sister, Knocks Down gets to the nearest town where they’ve taken her, only to discover she has been sold as a slave! With Kid McCoy’s help, Knocks Down goes after her. Escaping once more, they encounter an old nemesis, a soldier from the nearby fort that was responsible for their mother’s death—and he’s set on seeing Knocks Down and Cactus Flower dead, as well. 

How can a boy defeat a battle-hardened soldier? Just when Knocks Down is about to give up, the biggest surprise of all changes everything on THE JOURNEY HOME…

EXCERPT

    The day passed quickly and in relative silence until Kid realized something. “Say Chief, where is it we’re headed, anyway?”
    I scanned the foreign horizon, an odd feeling suddenly gripping my backbone. “South,” I whispered, “back home, to the land of the Comanche.” Without thinking, I dropped to a crouch and let every sound fade away. Chirping birds, whistling wind, even the breath of Cactus and Kid. Every sound disappeared except the one that had pricked my ear and shot the rash of tingles in the first place. 
    “Something has happened nearby.” 
    Cactus slipped her hand into mine. “I hear it, too. Let’s go.”
    Kid scratched his head. “What’d I miss? I don’t hear nothin’.”

    By the time we arrived at what was left of the pale face camp, Kid heard it too. The dog’s whimpering had grown louder with each step, and more mournful. There hadn’t been but six people in camp, two of them children, and no survivors. The dog, a hulking black beast with pointed ears, low hips and a long tail, lay by the body of the girl. Whining, he licked her face and nuzzled her hands, as if trying to wake her from a deep sleep.

WeWriWa - 8/15/15 - A Heart on Hold - The War's A-Comin'.

Welcome back to this week's ten-sentence snippet from A HEART ON HOLD. Click here if you would like to be a part of my blog tour for my forthcoming Amish Western, Old Amarillo, September 4-11, courtesy of Loving the Book blog tours. I would be honored to be hosted by my WeWriWa friends! Find my launch party on the 3rd of September here!

Without further ado, let's see what's in store for Charlotte and Sanderson. 

“Of course we will. This war business has been too long in coming for anyone to put it off any longer, once the wrong people get their feelings hurt, they start trying to prove how right they are and before you know it, there’s a war going on.”

Charlotte considered his words. “What’ll happen?”

He held a branch back so Achilles could walk into the clearing where her house stood. “Well, a war’s a war. None of us are promised tomorrow. You know that as well as I.”

   Charlotte’s palms were sweaty against the saddle horn as unpleasant thoughts churned in her mind. He was right, her mother and baby sister hadn’t been promised any tomorrows. It was just luck that the sickness hadn’t wiped out the whole lot of Adamslands altogether. 

Thank you for popping by. Follow this link to get back to the other contributors for the weekly Weekend Writing Warriors blog hop where authors in all phases of publication post eight to ten sentences of the work of their choice and add their link so that readers may enjoy their work. Comments from others are what make this something we all look forward to each week, so feel free to let those fingers fly and tell how you feel about this and all of our snippets! 

WeWriWa - July 26, 2015 - Charlotte and Sanderson - A Heart on Hold

Welcome back to where we are working our way through Chapter One of A Heart on Hold, book one in the Everlasting Heart series. Last week, we left off with Sanderson and Charlotte reminiscing about the beginnings of their schoolyard romance and Sanderson had covered Charlotte's hand with his, taking her breath.

Charlotte focused on controlling her breathing. What is it about this man that makes my senses take leave and commence to operate on their own accord? “I sat under that tree a thousand times during your absence,” she whispered, careful not to move her fingers and shatter the tender moment. Please say that you didn’t share any experiences like this with any of those New York floozies. 

With his free hand, he gently guided her chin upward so that their eyes met. She felt every muscle in her body go flaccid as she waited for what would happen next. 

“Thank you for waiting for me.” His breath was warm on her face in contrast to the mountain chill that had begun to brush her cheeks. 

Thank you for stopping by to fall in love with Charlotte and Sanderson from the very beginning. 

To get back to the WeWriWa bloghop featuring other amazing authors, click here!

Be sure to stop by Prairie Rose Publications Fandango and celebrate Christmas in July where all 26 featured books are just .99 or 1.99 if it is a duet. Register for the Fandango here and be sure to look for my contribution - The Bank Robber's Lament! 

WeWriWa - A Heart on Hold (Just 99 cents this week!) - July 12, 2015

Welcome back to this weekend's edition of A Heart on Hold, where Charlotte was being reminded of all the reasons she had fallen in love with Sanderson, so many years before. A Heart on Hold is discounted to just .99 this week, so pick up your copy today! Without further ado, back to the meadow we go with Charlotte and Sanderson in pre-Civil War Arkansas.


Charlotte's mood cooled at the recollection of the bullfrogs. Life had been so easy back then. Back before Sanderson left, before her mother and baby sister succumbed to influenza. She immediately cut off her thought. 

Sanderson sat, grinning, awaiting her response. Pushing the bittersweet memories of her mother aside, she said, “You looked so crushed when I didn’t accept BobBob.” 

“I certainly didn’t expect you to go catch your own frog and challenge me to a long-jumping contest!” 

Charlotte exhaled onto her fingernails and buffed them against the lapel of her dress. “You left out the best part,” she reminded him. “I challenged you and then my frog won.”

To get back and sample more from other delectable Weekend Writing Warriors, click here.

My debut novel, A Heart on Hold, is on sale for just .99 this week! Get yours here!

Keep up to date with my upcoming releases at my website.

A Heart on Hold - WeWriWa - May 31, 2015

Welcome back as we continue on with the first chapter of A Heart on Hold, book one of my Everlasting Heart series. We are sitting beside the brook at dusk and Sanderson has just joined Charlotte as she sat on the green and white checked picnic blanket he brought for her as a gift from NYC.

With a cough, Sanderson shook his head. The fog that had enveloped them fizzled into the dusk. Tearing her gaze away from his chiseled profile, Charlotte cleared her throat. “Um, what was I saying?”

“Oh yes,” he started. “Perhaps I should have insisted you read Romeo and Juliet first. Apparently The Crusades aren’t the best choice in literary works, given the trouble our own country is in.” 

The giddy feeling subsided and was quickly replaced with disgust over the actions of those characters that filled the pages of The Crusades. “What I just flat don’t get is how those rich nobles, who were supposed to be so inherently smart to begin with−” Charlotte’s smile faded and she could feel herself flush over the absurdity of society’s leaders of yesteryear. The heated words flew off her tongue almost as quickly as they came into her head and she was powerless to stem their flow, despite her beau’s enchanting presence. 

Thanks for stopping by! To get back to the other fantastic writers who love to hear from you on the weekends via WeWriWa, click here! 

A Heart on Hold . . . but how long can a heart hold on until it breaks? WeWriWa - 5/24/15

Welcome back! Now where did we leave off with Charlotte and Sanderson . . . oh yes, he was quite distracted by his love Charlotte, wasn't he?

The slight brush of Sanderson's skin against Charlotte's caused her heart to quicken. She pulled her legs up onto the bank and crossed her damp ankles. Something had bloomed somewhere in the surrounding hills because when the breeze shifted, the air became thick with a clean, lemony scent. Sanderson’s voice dropped to a whisper as he spoke, “and to think, that shopkeeper tried for a week to convince me you would like the red better, but I wouldn’t hear of it . . . has to be green, I said. Green, to match her magnificent eyes.” Charlotte turned her head slightly. Sanderson’s face was there, mere inches from hers. Time ground to a halt and it felt as though she had dunked her head underwater and needed to come up for air. Could this be it, our first kiss? 


Thank you for stopping by!  Visit my other eight-sentence snippets by following the links below!
Sara's Amish Dreams where eight sentences from my forthcoming Amish fiction work, Old Amarillo, are shared each week. 
Back to my first blog, where you can experience post-deployment PTSD in its most raw form, eight sentences at a time in my forthcoming memoir, Missi Wanderin' in the Woods. 
Get back to the other eight-sentence offerings by awesome WeWriWa writers here!

WeWriWa - 5/17/15 - A Heart on Hold (An Everlasting Heart#1)

Welcome back! Here we go . . . back to the bank of a nameless river along the base of the Ouachita Mountains along about sundown just before the outbreak of the war between the states.

Her insides turned to mush and she felt as though she could live the rest of her life in this moment right here. A light bug buzzed her before landing on the picnic blanket. Charlotte gently shooed it off before trusting her voice. “Five years sure crept by,” she told the blanket. “I’m glad you’re back.” I was so worried that you would meet someone else. Someone prettier, someone good enough for you. Sanderson no longer appeared to be engaged in the conversation. “The shopkeeper managed to match the green in your eyes to the shade of green in this blanket perfectly,” he murmured, removing a lock of her almond colored hair from her eyelashes and tucking it behind her ear. 

Thanks for stopping by! To get your copy of A Heart on Hold or the entire Everlasting Heart series box set, check out this link. 

To get back to the other awesome WeWriWa writers, go here!

WeWriWa - 5/3/15 - A Heart on Hold

Welcome back to this week's eight sentences from my debut novel, A Heart on Hold. And guess what? All FOUR books are going to be available in one convenient set coming May 7th from 5 Prince Publishing! Watch for details on my author page!

 As he joined her on the blanket, she noticed that mischievous twinkle in his hazel eyes that she’d grown to love. His eyes looked more green than brown this evening, shining beautifully against the backdrop of his ruggedly handsome face. A sudden warmth flooded her veins, giving her a slight shiver. Resisting the urge to scoot closer to him, Charlotte drew in a shaky breath. “Reading helped pass the time while you were, well, gone.” Well, that sounded dumb. “You’ve always been good at it -- truth to right, I was always a bit jealous, what with you being the top reader in the class.” Charlotte felt heat creep into her cheeks since she had never taken compliments very well, and those coming from the perfect, full lips of Sanderson Redding made her especially self-conscious. 

Thank you for tuning in!!

You can find more information on my forthcoming box set for this series and all of the buy links for A Heart on Hold here! 

Get back to the other awesome Weekend Writing Warriors here!

A Heart on Hold (An Everlasting Heart #1) WeWriWa - 4/26/15

Welcome back to this week's eight sentence snippet from A Heart on Hold, my debut novel that released in 2012. I have such a special place in my heart for these characters that A Heart on Hold turned into a four-book series!

Last week, a voice from behind her interrupted Charlotte's twilight creek-side musings in pre-war 1860's Arkansas.


Charlotte smiled, not bothering to turn around or even open her eyes, because the melodic voice was of course that of Sanderson Redding, the man who had stolen her heart so many years before.

“You think I’m hiding, Sanderson?” Charlotte asked, the hint of a smile teasing the corners of her lips. “Well, you’re right. I am hiding.” Her voice lingered in the twilight as she pushed herself upright and turned to face him. “Because I think that war of any kind is a complete and total waste of time. And of life.”

His voice took an accusing tone. “You’ve been reading the books I lent you.”

Thank you for stopping by! To get back to the other amazing contributors of this weekly multi-genre bloghop we call affectionately call The Weekend Writing Warriors, click here!

Check out my other excerpts by following the links below!

Sara's Amish Dreams (Fiction)

Missi Wanderin' in the Woods (Non Fiction Memoir)

Thank you for spending part of your day with me, Charlotte, and Sanderson!

WeWriWa 4/19/15 - A Heart on Hold

Welcome to this Sunday's snippet, the very first eight sentences from my Civil War romance and debut novel, A Heart on Hold.  These are the words that turned me from a writer into an author. 

The thought of war was removed from Charlotte’s mind as she uncurled her legs from beneath her patched cotton dress and stretched them into the brook. She tilted her head back and closed her eyes as the icy water swirled over her bare feet. It felt good to have finally loosened the tight braid from her hair. She swayed back and forth, letting the wavy locks tickle her shoulders. Achilles, who had been grazing contentedly, whinnied at the light bugs that flickered about his muzzle. 

Charlotte’s fingers found the soft jade and eggshell tassels that ringed her picnic blanket and her mind began to wander. 

“It is coming you know,” a voice from behind her stated matter-of-factly. “None of us will be able to hide much longer.”

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Thank you for stopping by to see this week's edition of eight-sentence-Sunday with the Weekend Writing Warriors! To check out more snippets from all sorts of genres, click here!

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Come back next week to meet the owner of the mysterious voice and fall in love with the Scarlet and Rhett of Arkansas!

Happily Ever After . . .

Sigh. April 17th, always a bittersweet day, as it has been every anniversary since 2010. But before we get to all that, let's go back to the beginning . . .

Just weeks after joining a Rapid Deployment unit at Fort Carson, Colorado, my husband and I had a baby -- a sweet and chunky boy who made his debut a month early -- and six short weeks later took this photo. This was taken just hours before he deployed to Afghanistan. Again. My newborn and I drove home to Texas with the lawnmower tied to the hood of the Dodge Journey we'd bought in Italy and had shipped home as my husband began his trek halfway around the world to hell on earth. Don't Cry by Guns and Roses, a song I'd never heard before despite being a devout metal head, played several times on the way home and became my year-long anthem. (Don't mind the weird video, it's the words I love.) Haven't heard it much since, either.

More coming next Saturday on this misadventure . . .

Where it all began . . .

Where did it all begin? What made Sara Barnard actually take the plunge and begin the exciting and heartbreaking journey to becoming a published author?

A Heart on Hold (An Everlasting Heart #1) was actually born during a time of great adversity. My husband was on his second deployment to Afghanistan and I was home with two toddlers and a newborn . . . and very, very sad. It was a rough deployment to say the least and every time the phone rang, heartwrenching news was on the other end.

Always having been a lover of history and having gained enough foresight in my near-30 years, I knew what we were going through was timeless and had been experienced by couples the world over for centuries. So, I decided to take what we were both going through and toss it back into the Civil War times, where I could control the ending and make sure of a HEA. In doing this, A Heart on Hold was born, but not without  many trials, tribulations, twists, and turns.

Come back on Sunday for a snippet from A Heart on Hold!