Guest bloggers Linda Evans Shepherd and Eva Marie Everson

Captain's Log, Stardate 07.16.2007

Today I have a guest blog post by Linda Evans Shepherd and Eva Marie Everson talking about their latest novel, The Potluck Club Takes the Cake!

Is the Potluck Club becoming the Bridesmaids Club?

When the six members of the Potluck Club meet once again, things are about to heat up. Wedding plans and romantic desires abound as the six friends continue to share food, friendship, prayer—and new adventures ranging from hilarious to dangerous! Shocking rumors, family secrets, and a mountain avalanche threaten the friends’ sense of security, their relationships, and even their lives. As Evangeline’s wedding day draws near, Lisa Leann’s matchmaking ways threaten to cause trouble in more than one relationship.

Will the Potluck Club be able to put their differences aside and help each other survive the storms of life and love?

And now, here’s Linda and Eva!

The Potluck Club Series; How Two Friends Came to Write About Six Friends

Linda Evans Shepherd & Eva Marie Everson

Eva Marie Everson explains how it all began:

I can easily bring to mind the day my good friend Linda Evans Shepherd called me and excitedly shared with me an idea she’d had. “Excitedly” might not be the best word for it. Euphoric…that’s a good word. She said she’d been reading a few novels—one in particular had struck her—based on the lives of friends and how they interact with one another. She said the only problem was, these books were not Christian-based. Christian women, she said, would have a deeper level to their relationships because they are Christ-centered.

She said she had an idea for a book…she had a title, even. “The Potluck Club,” she announced. Then she asked me a very important question: would I like to write it with her.

At first I said, “Let me think about it.” And then I thought about it. I thought about it for five whole minutes. And then I jumped at the opportunity.

Six months later, Linda and I sunned ourselves at the beach and began to flesh out our characters, six women who live in Summit View, CO. All members of The Potluck Club, which meets once a month for potluck and prayer…and sometimes a little gossip on the side.

A year later, we were nestled in her mountain cabin in Frisco, CO, sipping on hot coffee while simultaneously writing and laughing so hard our sides hurt. A year after that, the first book of the series was released and Linda and I were thrilled to know that fans were falling in love with our six gals from Summit View…as much as we had!

Linda Evans Shepherd explains the concept & important messages:

The Potluck Club series is the kinda thing that could happen if desperate housewives started a prayer club and began to love one another, instead of their next door neighbor’s husband. What a concept!

The Potluck formula works because Eva and I have created six likeable women who deal with real-life secrets as they work out their sometimes rocky road relationships. You’ll be stirred by their struggles and pain but you’ll laugh out loud as you start to relate. And that’s our secret, relatable humor that finds fun in the flaws of church ladies everywhere. Because face it, we all have secrets that need resolution and we all need a good chuckle or two. Add some prayer, perhaps my grandmother’s molasses cookies or Eva’s grandmother’s German chocolate cake (yes, the recipes are in the back of the books), and we’re good to go – at least through the end of the series which now includes; The Potluck Club, The Potluck Club Trouble’s Brewing, and the latest, The Potluck Club Takes the Cake.

Even so, Takes the Cake doesn’t closeout the characters who will all soon reappear in our all new series called The Potluck Caters. (beginning Summer 08)

So why the staying power of Potluck?

The other day a fellow writer asked me how it felt to write ‘fluff.’ As soon as she asked I knew she hadn’t read the series because we deal with some pretty serious situations. In fact, a few nights ago I got a phone call from a young woman who said, “We’ve been reading the Potluck Series at our church book club. I want to thank you for talking about the issues the characters are working through. It was reading about those issues that has opened the door to help us become real with one another. Just like the women of the Potluck, we now pray together and help each other through difficult times. This would never have happened if Potluck hadn’t first opened the door.”

Friendship is yet another reason why Potluck is on it’s third helping - because the series was birthed out of friendship to inspire friendship. Eva and I have been able to relate to one another through our own real life friendship as well as our fictional world of trouble. We’ve learned so much in the process, things we pass on to our readers. Our deepest, darkest chocolate secret is this; lives seasoned with prayer, love and forgiveness as well as a huge slice of chocolate cheesecake will stay BFF (best forever friends.)

Camy here: Thanks, guys!

Phoebe’s Muffatees knitting pattern

In Lady Wynwood’s Spies, volume 4: Betrayer , Phoebe wears a pair of lace muffatees, or gauntlets/arm-warmers that hide a rather deadly surprise. :) I actually got the idea of having her wear muffatees because I saw a lace manchette pattern in Miss Watts’ Ladies’ Knitting and Netting Book , published in 1840, page 20. However, after doing some research, I found that they were called muffatees in the Regency era, and the term manchette did not arise until a few years later. They were essentially arm-warmers worn under those long sleeves on day dresses, which were usually made of muslin too thin to be very warm. I decided to knit Phoebe’s muffatees using a Leaf Pattern originally suggested for a purse in Mrs. Gaugain’s book, The Lady’s Assistant, volume 1, 5th edition published in 1842, pages 234-237. I think there was an error and row 36 in the original pattern was duplicated erroneously, so I have adjusted the pattern. The original manchette pattern called for “fine” needles a

One-Skein Pyrenees Scarf knitting pattern

I got into using antique patterns when I was making the scarf my hero wears in my Regency romance, The Spinster’s Christmas . I wanted to do another pattern which I think was in use in the Regency period, the Pyrenees Knit Scarf on pages 36-38 of The Lady's Assistant for Executing Useful and Fancy Designs in Knitting, Netting, and Crochet Work, volume 1, by Jane Gaugain, published in 1840. She is thought to be the first person to use knitting abbreviations, at least in a published book, although they are not the same abbreviations used today (our modern abbreviations were standardized by Weldon’s Practical Needlework in 1906). Since the book is out of copyright, you can download a free PDF copy of the book at Archive.org. I found this to be a fascinating look at knitting around the time of Jane Austen’s later years. Although the book was published in 1840, many of the patterns were in use and passed down by word of mouth many years before that, so it’s possible these are

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! In honor of the holiday, I tinted my hibiscus Bible verse image green. :) The verse today was suggested by Laura Ann Grymes, Isaiah 41:10. I absolutely love this verse too, because even when my IBS is bad, it reminds me that God is in control and I feel strengthened and encouraged just from reading the verse.

Lady Wynwood's Spies 2 - cover character

For the cover of Lady Wynwood’s Spies, volume 2: Berserker , the cover model is supposed to be Mr. Septimus Ackett. The model’s name is Andrey, and here’s the original stock photo . I was looking for a model that encompassed his quiet personality, lean figure and dark looks, and I think Andrey in this pose matches him pretty well. It was a choice between Sep and Thorne for this cover, since they both have a lot happening to them in this book, but I eventually chose Sep since he kind of gets the short end of the stick. Poor guy! Also, I have a future book plotted where Thorne is more prominent, so I’ll probably have him (and Isabella too) on another cover eventually.

Lady Wynwood's Spies 4 vignette - Lady Stoude

This is a really random scene I wrote that occurs in Lady Wynwood’s Spies, volume 4: Betrayer right after chapter 23, after Keriah returns home and before Phoebe comes to pick her up later that night. The team has finished making all preparations for the trade for Michael at Vauxhall Gardens. *** “Oh! I have no wish to go to the ball tonight!” Lady Stoude stood in the open doorway to the drawing room of her husband’s townhouse, hands on hips, with a disgruntled expression that looked faintly like a drowned cat. Her husband, Jeremy, Lord Stoude, glanced up at her from where he was leaning against the mantle of the fireplace, drinking something amber-colored and peaty-smelling. He merely gave her a mild, inquiring look. “Why not, my dear?” “I have just heard from my maid, who heard from Mrs. Butterworth’s maid, who heard from Miss Farrimond’s maid, that Miss Farrimond will not attend the ball tonight, because an unfortunate accident with hair dye caused her to now sport a gia

ひとり寿司第３１章パート２

「ひとり寿司」をブログに連載します！ひとり寿司寿司シリーズの第一作キャミー・タング西島美幸訳スポーツ狂のレックス・坂井 —— いとこのマリコが数ヶ月後に結婚することにより、「いとこの中で一番年上の独身女性」という内輪の肩書を「勝ち取る」ことについては、あまり気にしていない。コントロールフリークの祖母を無視するのは容易だ —— しかし、祖母は最終通告を出した —— マリコの結婚式までにデート相手を見つけなければ、無慈悲な祖母は、レックスがコーチをしている女子バレーボールチームへの資金供給を切ると言う。ダグアウトにいる選手全員とデートに出かけるほど絶望的なわけではない。レックスは、バイブルスタディで読んだ「エペソの手紙」をもとに「最高の男性」の条件の厳しいリストを作った。バレーボールではいつも勝つ —— ゲームを有利に進めれば、必ず成功するはずだ。そのとき兄は、クリスチャンではなく、アスリートでもなく、一見何の魅力もないエイデンを彼女に引き合わせる。エイデンは、クリスチャンではないという理由で離れていったトリッシュという女の子から受けた痛手から立ち直ろうとしている。そして、レックスが（１）彼に全く興味がないこと、（２）クリスチャンであること、（３）トリッシュのいとこであることを知る。あの狂った家族とまた付き合うのはごめんだ。まして、偽善的なクリスチャンの女の子など、お断り。彼はマゾヒストじゃない。レックスは時間がなくなってきた。いくら頑張っても、いい人は現れない。それに、どこへ行ってもエイデンに遭遇する。あのリストはどんどん長くなっていくばかり —— 過去に掲載済みのストーリーのリンクはこちらです。 *** ＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊「ハーイ、お父さん——わっ！おしゃれ！」レックスは、ハワード叔父さんのアパートの入り口に立っている父を見た。「夕食に出かけるの？」父は赤くなった。「違う、違うよ。洗濯をしてるんだ」「そうか、じゃあ、入っていい？」「ああ……もちろんだ」買い物袋を持つ彼女が中に入れるよう、父は、一歩横にずれた。そして、重心を一方の足から他方の足に移した。「ハワード叔父さんはボウリングに行ってる」「うん、聞いた」買い物袋を床に下ろし、膝をさすった。ああ、痛か

What I’m writing in The Year of the Dog

This month, I have decided to focus more on my Christian Contemporary Romantic Suspense novel, Year of the Dog , so I’ve been spending more time working on it. It’s actually an old manuscript that I submitted to Zondervan but it was never bought, and I’m rewriting/revising it as a (second) prequel novel to my Warubozu Spa Chronicles series set in Hawaii. Here’s a little bit of what I just rewrote/edited. This morning, her mom was about to tackle the attic when Marisol put her foot down. “Mom, I have to go to work. I can’t spend the whole day helping you clean the house.” “You have plenty of time. What can you possibly do all day now that you quit your job?” “Oh, I dunno. Renovate my new facility?” “You’re only going to have dogs there. How much renovation do you really need?” “It would be nice if the roof didn’t leak and the windows opened and shut. Oh, and I kind of need a floor.” I guess Marisol’s relationship with her mother isn’t getting better anytime soon …

Photo inspiration for my main heroine, Phoebe

My first novel published in five years just released this past December, Lady Wynwood’s Spies 1: Archer , the first volume in a Christian Regency Romantic Adventure Serial Novel (yeah, I know, that’s quite a mouthful). Basically, it's like a really long novel divided into parts. Each volume has a story arc, but the overarching story continues in each volume and they're not stand-alone novels. It’s been outlined for 10 volumes, plus a side volume, and I already released two prequel novels. When I write, I like to have a visual idea of what my characters looks like. I also like to extrapolate the personality of the character from the photos I use, so I'm very careful about the model and their pose or the expression on their face. But lately I haven’t been using real photos, and instead using anime and manga characters. When I first started writing about my main heroine, Phoebe, the photos I used for reference for her personality and looks was this character, Ryu, who i

A List of my Free Blog Reads

Curious about what my writing is like? Here’s a list of all my free books and the free short stories, novellas, and novels that you can read here on my blog. I’ll update this post as I add more free reads. Christian Humorous Romantic Suspense: Year of the Dog (Warubozu Spa Chronicles series, Prequel novel) (Currently being posted monthly on my blog as a serial novel) Marisol Mutou, a professional dog trainer, finally has a chance to buy a facility for her business, but her world is upended when she must move in with her disapproving family, who have always made her feel inadequate. When she stumbles upon a three-year-old missing persons case, security expert Ashwin Keitou, whose car she accidentally rear-ended a few weeks earlier, is tasked with protecting her. However, danger begins to circle around them from people who want the past to remain there. Can they shed light on the secrets moving in the shadows? Christian Romantic Suspense: Necessary Proof (Sonoma series #4.1, n

No Cold Bums toilet seat cover

Captain's Log, Stardate 08.22.2008 I actually wrote out my pattern! I was getting a lot of hits on my infamous toilet seat cover , and I wanted to make a new one with “improvements,” so I paid attention and wrote things down as I made the new one. This was originally based off the Potty Mouth toilet cover , but I altered it to fit over the seat instead of the lid. Yarn: any worsted weight yarn, about 120 yards (this is a really tight number, I used exactly 118 yards. My suggestion is to make sure you have about 130 yards.) I suggest using acrylic yarn because you’re going to be washing this often. Needle: I used US 8, but you can use whatever needle size is recommended by the yarn you’re using. Gauge: Not that important. Mine was 4 sts/1 inch in garter stitch. 6 buttons (I used some leftover shell buttons I had in my stash) tapestry needle Crochet hook (optional) Cover: Using a provisional cast on, cast on 12 stitches. Work in garter st until liner measures

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