What does a water trough, an abandoned farmhouse and a 250-pound pig have in common?
I'll tell you today on Justin's Book Blog! Check it out here!
I'll tell you today on Justin's Book Blog! Check it out here!
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Hey, guys! I just wanted to let you know that now you can follow me on Amazon and get notified when I release a new book. All you have to do is go to my Amazon Author Page and click “Follow” under my profile photo! Thanks, and have a wonderful day! 
Dear Readers, Happy (almost) New Year! I just wanted to take a moment and thank you for this past year! This year has truly been full, thanks to you! I enjoyed hearing from and meeting so many of you in the past twelve months! Thank you for your kind words, your reviews, your encouragement and your enthusiasm for my stories. This year, you met Andrew, Logan and Jorgen in For All You Have Left, and you took their journey of love and second chances with them! Also this year, you took a chance on a small-town farm boy named River in By Way of Accident, and again, you ventured with him through the ups and downs in his life! And finally, some of you discovered Will's story in Butterfly Weeds and My Butterfly for the first time this year! Thank you! Thank you for taking the ride with them--for pulling for them, for cheering them on! And thank you for cheering me on! From the bottom of my heart, thank you! I, alone, cannot give my characters a life like you can give them. I might give them breath, but you give them a voice. You make them heard! Their story lives on through you! And for that, I am forever grateful! Thank you! Have a wonderful 2015! ♥ Laura  Happy Holidays! I wanted to thank you for all your support and kind words this year and to let you know how appreciative I am of you! So, for the first time ever, all four of my books are only $1.99 each in e-book for the holidays!  I'm so excited for this! I'll be in Pittsburgh, PA on Sept. 12, 2015, for the Black & Gold Author Event! So if you're in the area that day, I'd love to meet you. Tickets are now available! 
I just saw this and wanted to share it with you! Today and tomorrow, Amazon is having a deal on paperbacks. Get 25% off any paperback on Amazon when you enter the code, BOOKDEAL25, at checkout! Here's the info! Happy shopping! 
I had such a wonderful time meeting all of you at Holidays with the Belles Saturday! I was truly honored you took the time to stop by and visit me! And thank you to Erin and Katie from Southern Belle Book Blog and Leighton Riley for your amazing hosting skills! This coming Saturday (Dec.6), I, along with thirty other wonderful authors, will be in Dallas, Texas for Holidays with the Belles! I can't wait to meet you! Come say 'hi' and get Butterfly Weeds, My Butterfly, For All You Have Left or By Way of Accident signed! I'll also have book necklaces for only $10 or FREE with the purchase of two of my books! Also, pick up some cool, book swag and a fun, holiday cookie cutter on me! :) AND, the first two people to see me get a Butterfly Weeds vintage-cover tote bag! Hope to see you there! Just 6 more days! BLACK FRIDAY SALE: Now through Sunday, tickets are just $5!   Sometimes photos or events or certain people inspire my characters. And if you've read By Way of Accident, you've read about River's grandpa. In some ways, his grandpa reminds me of mine. So, this post today is a little story about the guy I called Grandpa and the man who helped to bring to life River Asher. GRANDPA My grandpa was a raccoon-trapping, frog-leg-eating, small-town Missouri farmer–the type who had worked in the fields since he was eight, served his country in World War II and was a member of the local Veterans of Foreign Wars most of his life. He was painfully quiet, but when he did find some words he felt worthy of sharing, you could sometimes catch him talking about his time in World War II. He was drafted near the end of the war in 1944. He had received a postponement of induction from the United States government that allowed him to finish his harvest before reporting to duty. And it was on a cool, sunny afternoon in December when he reported to boot camp at Camp Wolters, just four miles northeast of Mineral Wells, Texas. Upon arriving, he was shuffled into a line full of young men, mostly in their late teens and early twenties. He was twenty-one at the time. All the men were waiting to give their names and birth dates and other pieces of information to a man holding a wooden clipboard and a fountain pen at the front of the line. “Name and birth date,” the thin, blond-haired man said in a monotone, gruff voice as my grandpa reached the man’s fold-up chair. Grandpa stated his name and birth date and waited as the man scribbled it onto a little white card attached to the clipboard. “Nationality,” the man echoed back when he was done scribbling. Nationality? Grandpa said he stood there and thought about it for a moment. He was suddenly a little rattled. It had been generations ago, but his family had originally come to the United States from Germany. He even spoke the language. But not only had he never been asked that question before, he was also quite clear on whom the enemy was, and he was even more certain that his light brown hair and bright, blue eyes matched its description pretty closely. “I don’t know,” Grandpa eventually said. The words came out timidly as he shrugged his shoulders. He was an American. He prayed this man would see this. After all, this state they called Texas might as well have been a foreign country. It was by far the farthest my grandfather had ever traveled from his bed in rural Missouri. The man looked up from his clipboard for the first time. He eyed my grandpa up and down once, settled on his eyes and then silently returned his attention back to the clipboard. He then checked a couple boxes and handed the card to Grandpa. “Give this to the man in the next line,” the thin, blond-haired man said, gesturing him onward. Curious to know what the thin man had checked, Grandpa glanced down inconspicuously at the white card now in his tanned, callused farm hand. His eyes jumped over his name and birth date scribbled in the pen’s black ink, then quickly caught the word nationality and slowly read what was followed by a single black check mark: American Indian. Well, German American or American Indian, he was just Grandpa to my two sisters and me. He called the same place home his entire life. He wore overalls or coveralls...and on most days, an old, leather cap. And this is just one of the many memories he left us. Grandpa passed away a month before his 83rd birthday not too long ago. But today, he still inspires me. And I think you might even be able to see a little of him in River's grandpa too.
Love these By Way of Accident images made by Books to Breathe! And THANK YOU to all those who read, reviewed, shared, liked, tweeted and commented yesterday! You helped make the release day a great day! Thank you for your support! ♥ Also, for all those who picked up a copy of River and Brooke's story, I hope you enjoy! For those who haven't had a chance yet, you can find it here!
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Photo by Marc-Mayes
Laura Miller
I write about tin roofs, gravel roads, old trucks with holes in the floorboards and small-town summer nights. I grew up on a farm in a little Midwestern town. Now, I live in Kansas City, Mo., with my weatherman husband.
Laura Miller's contemporary romance novel, Butterfly Weeds, hit the Amazon Best-Seller's List and Top 100 in October 2012. The sequel to Butterfly Weeds, My Butterfly, released in June 2013, and For All You Have Left just made its debut in February 2014. Look for Laura's next novel, By Way of Accident, due out Fall 2014!
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