The Columbine Bride by Davalynn Spencer

NATALIE:

Please welcome Davalynn Spencer as she shares about her new release, The Columbine Bride!

DAVALYNN:

After the success of last winter’s e-novella collection from Barbour, The 12 Brides of Christmas, editors asked the authors if we could come up with sequels for another collection, The 12 Brides of Summer.

Is Billy Graham a believer? Do horses eat hay?

Absolutely we could come up with sequels. And I had just the character I wanted to feature from my winter novella: Uncle Buck.

I was pretty excited about giving Buck his own story, and pretty excited to write about summertime in Colorado. Blue skies, columbines, forest-draped mountains, lightning storms.

Lightning storms?

That’s right. I love a good thunder storm, and in the summer on Colorado’s Front Range, evening thunder storms are as common as hummingbirds at the feeder.

But as much as I thrill to the echoing boom rolling across the upper Arkansas River valley, I know not everyone appreciates the sudden crashing and light-flickering.

In my summer novella, The Columbine Bride, Lucy Powell is one of those who is not a fan. In fact, she’s terrified of what lightning can do—or did—and has the capacity to do again. But I don’t want to get too far into that because I don’t want to spoil the story for you!

The picture below is a perfect example of what an approaching summer storm can look like. I took this shot a couple of years ago from our back yard about ten minutes before the deluge hit us.

Fast moving, fierce, drenching. And then it was gone. Hit and run. Over and done.

Sometimes life is like that, isn’t it. Usually we don’t get the chance to see the storm coming. It just hits, does it’s damage, and leaves. However, the one thing we can count on is the fact that Jesus is with us in life’s storms. Every. Single. Time.

I admit that writing about storms is a lot easier than living through them. But that’s part of my job and challenge as an author. I want my stories to encourage people to know that in their “real” worlds, they too can survive the storms.

Survival is all about knowing what to do—both physically and spiritually. Jesus gave us a heads up when he said, “In the world, ye shall have tribulation” (John 16:33). Notice that He didn’t say you might have tribulation, but that you shall.

But then He gave us the good news: we can have peace because He has overcome the world and all its trouble.

I’m glad I got to know the Lord before the storms hit because lately there have been some doozies. Confidence in His presence and knowing that I can trust Him have given me the peace I need.

Regarding lightning, the National Weather Service says Colorado is one of the top six states for lightning-related deaths. Here’s a great list of safety tips for lightning storms, regardless of which state you live in or are visiting: http://www.lightningsafety.noaa.gov/myths.shtml

And for a safe summer read with a “shocking” lightning element, try The Columbine Bride.

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Davalynn Spencer writes inspirational Western romance complete with rugged cowboys, their challenges, and their loves. She is the wife and mother of professional rodeo bullfighters, and worked several years as a rodeo journalist and crime-beat reporter, winning awards in both arenas. Her fiction has finaled for the 2015 Will Rogers Medallion and the 2014 Inspirational Reader's Choice Award, Selah, and Holt Medallion. Davalynn teaches writing at Pueblo Community College and makes her home on Colorado’s Front Range with her handsome cowboy and a Queensland heeler named Blue. Connect with Davalynn online at www.davalynnspencer.com and https://www.facebook.com/AuthorDavalynnSpencer

You can find this book for purchase online at the following websites:

Amazon

Barnes& Noble 

Christianbook.com