Books

I spent my early childhood in a small town in Texas, and even though it's been many years since I lived there, I still have many wonderful memories. Sitting with my parents in a big swing hung from a Spanish live oak. Visiting the Alamo. Picking bluebonnets when my grandmother came to visit. Digging in the sand on Padre Island. I could write a whole book about those memories. Maybe one day I will.

When I started plotting Paper Roses, there was no question but that it would be set in Texas. The only question was which part. And that was a dilemma, for there are so many regions in Texas, each with its own appeal. Since my maternal grandparents were immigrants from Germany (although they settled in Michigan, not Texas), I was drawn to the Hill Country with its large German population. But when I read about Castroville, a town founded by Alsatians, I knew I'd found the seed for my story.

I've had the good fortune of living in both France and Germany, and that made me conscious of the historical enmity between the two countries and the way Alsace (and later Lorraine) was traded back and forth, depending on which country won the war. Thinking about the problems changing nationalities would have caused for the people who lived there started the famous author's game of 'what if.' The fictional town of Ladreville with all its unrest is the result.

I love interconnected stories, where characters from one book appear in the second. To me, reading the second and third books in a series is like returning to a good friend's home -- even more enjoyable the second time. And so I knew I couldn't stop with only Paper Roses. Instead, there will be three books in a series called Texas Dreams.

Background to Texas Dreams

Welcome to Ladreville, Texas, a small town in the Hill Country where Alsatian immigrants outnumber second generation Texans. In 1856, although the community is flourishing, there are still divisions between the French and German settlers, as well as a continued mistrust of the Texans whose ranches adjoin the town. An unsolved murder and a series of thefts and petty vandalism further divide Ladreville. It is against this background that three couples discover faith and love.

Paper Roses -- Coming in January 2009

Socialite Sarah Dobbs never thought she’d be a mail-order bride. But, then, she never thought she’d be destitute, shunned and her young sister’s only hope for a normal life. Drawn to Texas by the poetic letters she calls her paper roses, Sarah believes her secrets will be safe there. But the town is deeply divided and harbors its own secrets, including the identity of the person who murdered Sarah’s fiancé. There’s no one she can trust, not Clay Canfield, and certainly not God. He’s abandoned her.

Talented physician Clay Canfield has only one desire: to find the man who murdered his brother and exact vengeance. He’ll never marry again, especially not a woman burdened with a child. As for faith, that’s not for him, any more than it is for Sarah.

But God has plans for Sarah and Clay, plans that challenge everything they hold dear.