Showing posts with label Return to Quail Crossings. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Return to Quail Crossings. Show all posts
Thursday, July 23, 2015
CIA Best Book of Fiction
Return to Quail Crossings has been chosen as the Christian Indie Authors Conference as their best book of fiction!!
Monday, July 13, 2015
Saturday, May 23, 2015
Return to Quail Crossings Tour is in the Books!!
I never know what to say when a book tour ends. It is always such a bittersweet moment. Sweet because not being on tour allows me to spend more time with my family, friends, and on my works in progress. Bitter because I truly love doing book signing and meeting my readers, both new and old.
I’d like to say a huge thank you to everyone who came out and supported me over the last nine months. I hope the books you bought have brought you as much joy, as I had while writing them.... To all the organizers and event planners, thanks for all the long hours, hard work, last minute questions, and giving me a place to share my writing with your people. To every fan that has taken a few moments to say, “I loved it!”, you have no idea how much that means to me. To my return readers, y’all keep me motivated. Your encouragement is a huge driving force to write even when my muse is off playing in the daisies.
This summer I will be spending some quality time with both my family and Missing Quail Crossings. I am working hard on this book for y’all and appreciate the reduced pace so I can meet my fall launch deadline. Book signings will resume at the end of July at the Christian Indie Authors Conference in Davenport, Iowa.
Thanks again for all your love and support,
Jennifer
Friday, April 17, 2015
Congrats Jennifer McMurrain
Congratulations to
Jennifer McMurrain!!
3rd Place Finalist at the North Texas Book Festival for her historical fiction novel, Return to Quail Crossings & 2nd Place in fiction at the FOL Bartlesville Creative Writing Contest!!
Friday, April 3, 2015
North Texas Book Awards
Return to Quail Crossings is a finalist in the North Texas Book Awards. Winners announced on April 10th!!
Thursday, March 12, 2015
CIAN Awards and Stillwater, OK
Congratulations to Jennifer McMurrain, whose book Return to Quail Crossings is a semi-finalist in the Christian Indie Authors Network Awards! You can meet Jennifer and pick up your copy of Return to Quail Crossings in Stillwater, OK this weekend!!
Saturday, March 7, 2015
Monday, February 16, 2015
Book Signing ~ Darrouzett, TX
We regret to announce Saturday's book signing at the Darrouzett Corner Café in Darrouzett, TX will be postponed due to a death of a family member. We will reschedule as soon as possible. Sorry for the inconvenience.
Tuesday, November 25, 2014
Return to Quail Crossings ~ Excerpt 1
Chapter
One
March
1940
Evalyn Brewer lurched forward as
the bus rolled to a stop. With a heavy sigh, she stood and stretched her arms overhead.
“We’ll be stopped for fifteen
minutes to use the facilities and get some food. Next stop is two hours away,”
the bus driver sang out.
“That man is far too happy,” she
mumbled under her breath, trying not to inhale the strong exhaust from the bus.
“I know. He was actually
whistlin’ earlier. Nobody likes to drive a bus that much,” came a scratchy
voice from behind her.
Evalyn turned to see a tall,
skinny man with a pointed nose, leaning on the bus seat behind her. She gave
him a polite nod, tucking a strand of dark blonde hair behind her ear, before
bending to gather her bundle and bag.
The man leaned over, his breath
hot on the back of her neck, and whispered. “How ‘bout you let me buy you
lunch? Then we can sit together for a while and get to know each other better.”
His tongue flicked her ear.
Evalyn bolted up and slapped the
man. “How dare you!”
The stranger grabbed his cheek
and looked around at the other passengers. “I was just offerin’ to buy the lady
lunch,” he explained. “Guess she ain’t hungry.”
He gave her an extra shove with
his shoulder as he exited the bus. Evalyn scanned the other passengers, knowing
her face was five shades of red, then turned back to her pack and hurried off
the bus.
Keeping her bundle securely on
the booth seat between the wall and herself, she ordered a bottle of milk and a
ham sandwich at the roadside cafe. She was thankful the sandwich came quickly
since her stomach was already growling at the smell of the chicken dinner
special being served all around her. Her taste buds balked at the dry sandwich,
wishing for chicken, but she reminded herself she had to watch what she spent,
since she still had dinner and breakfast to purchase before getting back to
Knollwood, Texas.
She had been hungry before. She
had survived it then, and she would survive it now. Her time off the bus was
almost over, but her backside still ached as she thought of the hours she had
left. Another urge told her she should use the facilities before their
departure.
The restrooms were at the back
of the café; the only entrance was from the outside. After taking care of her
needs, Evalyn hurried back toward the bus. Just as she rounded the corner a hand
grabbed her, pulling her back and slamming her against the wall of the café.
She pulled her bundle close as
the skinny man with the pointed nose stared down at her. “Think you can
embarrass me like that and get away with it?”
“Let me go or I’ll scream.” She
held the man’s gaze, fighting the urge to vomit at his stench of tobacco, dirt,
and bad hygiene.
“Oh, I’ll make you scream all right.”
He grabbed both shoulders and pushed her toward the men’s bathroom.
Wednesday, October 15, 2014
BOOK SIGNING ~ Perryton, TX
Signed paperback copy (in person) - $12.00 - find an event near you - http://www.jennifermcmu...rrain.com/p/events.html
Signed paperback copy (mail order) - $18.00 (includes s/h) - e-mail JenniferMcMurrain@gmail.com for details
Paperback copy - $12.95 - http://www.amazon.com/
Kindle eBook - $2.99 - http://www.amazon.com/
Smashwords eBook - $2.99 - https://www.smashwords.com/
Nook Press - $2.99 - http://www.barnesandnoble.com/
ePub - $2.99 - http://www.epubbud.com/
Monday, October 13, 2014
Return to Quail Crossings ~ Excerpt 3
Lou
Anne carefully placed the two hot peppers she had purchased at the Knollwood
Market the day before on a plate. The grocer had insured her they were the
hottest he had. She had never cared much for hot peppers, but she was desperate
to conceive and would do anything to help the process.
She
debated between taking little bites or just taking two large bites of each
pepper. Mrs. Pearl had said she only needed to eat one, but Lou Anne wanted to
increase her odds by eating two. She swiped up a pepper and took a huge bite, chewing
quickly and swallowing fast. She did the same with the second pepper.
“Well,
that wasn’t so bad,” Lou Anne said, but she quickly changed her mind as the
fire started in her throat and quickly raced up to her mouth and lips.
Lou
Anne started fanning her mouth, but it wasn’t helping. She bolted up, causing
her chair to fall over, and dashed to the icebox. She grabbed the milk and
drank directly out of the glass bottle. She dashed to the sink and poured it
over her lips.
“Thirsty?”
asked Bill.
Lou
Anne let out a groan. The man had horrible timing.
“I
was trying a new pepper from the market,” said Lou Anne. “I was thinking about
canning some peppers in with the stewed tomatoes this year.”
“Guess
you won’t be doing that.” Bill raised an eyebrow as Lou Anne wiped off her
mouth, lips still tingling from the heat.
“Guess
not,” she said, as the flames reignited in her mouth. She mentally begged for
Bill to leave.
“I
guess I’ll let you get back to your day.” Bill looked at the plate holding two
pepper stems and then back to his wife. He headed toward the back door. “You
might find a chunk of cheese will help.”
“I’m
fine,” yelled Lou Anne. As soon as she heard the back door slam, she raced back
to the icebox and grabbed the cheese.
Friday, October 10, 2014
Return to Quail Crossings ~ Excerpt 2
“Alice,
you can either stay here at Johnson’s Drug or come with me to the Knollwood
Market while Dad is speaking with Pastor Spaulding. What do you wanna do?”
asked Dovie.
“Ummm.”
Alice tilted her head. “I’d really like to buy Joy something, but I don’t know
what yet.”
Dovie
smiled as Alice looked at the shelves of jarred candy. “Guess you’ll be staying
here then, silly goose. I’ll be back in about half an hour, and we’ll see if
you’ve made up your mind by then. You know Joy is too little to eat candy,
right?”
“Yeah,”
said Alice, “but I thought I could give her a lick of mine. I’ve never been an
aunt before, so I just wanna make sure I do it right.”
“Alice,
I can already tell you’re gonna be the best kind of aunt to Joy the kind that
spoils her rotten. Dovie laughed. “Meet me at the market when you’re done.”
Alice
tried to decide what to spend her five cents on. She wondered what Joy would
like. There were the peppermint candies that she always got when she came to
Johnson’s Drug Store, but maybe Joy would enjoy the butterscotch candies more.
She briefly thought about getting a chocolate coin to share but shook the
thought away, realizing it would melt before they got home. Chocolate coins
were best eaten right after purchase. Alice opened the jar to the peppermint
sticks and inhaled deeply, letting the minty scent tickle her nose.
Unable
to choose, Alice put the lid back on the peppermint jar and again stared at the
rows of candy, begging one to answer her question on which to buy. Suddenly, a
hard bump pushed her hard into the shelf. She quickly caught herself before
swinging around to see who did it.
Alice
couldn’t help but gasp in shock as a black boy paused beside her. She hadn’t
seen a colored boy in Knollwood the entire time she had lived there. She had
seen many in the shelters and food kitchen her family had frequented back when
they were homeless during the Great Depression, but seeing one in her hometown
was like seeing an elephant away from the circus.
“I’m
sorry. I didn’t mean to,” the black boy said before hurrying out of the store.
Alice
shrugged and turned back to the candy. Accidents happened and he had said he
was sorry. All the colored people she had met before were nice enough, she was
sure this boy was no different.
Before
she could continue her candy debate, three more boys bumped into her as they
quickly left the store. None of them, however, stopped to apologize.
“How
rude,” she whispered before her eyes grew wide. Those three boys were sure in a
hurry, and she didn’t think it was a coincidence that they bumped her right
after the colored boy.
Her
candy quest forgotten, she followed the boys out of the store and watched as
they ran down the crowded Main Street as if looking for someone or something.
Alice searched the street but saw nothing alarming. As she turned to go back
inside, a flash of movement caught her eye. Across the street, between the meat
market and the post office, the black boy hugged the wall as if trying to
disappear.
Alice
glanced down the street again at the boys, who were now making their way back
towards Johnson’s. She waited until the boys went behind Annette’s Café before
spurting across the street to the black boy. She didn’t stop when she got to
him but grabbed his hand and pulled him along with her.
The
boy resisted.
Wednesday, October 1, 2014
Return to Quail Crossings
Release date - October 14, 2014
Join Jennifer for her launch party on Facebook Oct. 14th from 7 pm till 10 pm
Now available for pre-order!!
Join Jennifer for her launch party on Facebook Oct. 14th from 7 pm till 10 pm
Now available for pre-order!!
No
one expects Evalyn Brewer to return to Quail Crossings from California married
with a child, and that includes Evalyn. She had dreams of Hollywood stardom,
not dirty diapers and pigs. But when Robert Smith, a country boy from head to
toe, offers her and her daughter a chance at a normal life, reputation intact,
Evalyn can’t help but accept. Little does Robert know, Evalyn is keeping a huge
secret. While Evalyn’s family members deal with prejudice in 1940s Texas,
fertility, changes of the heart, and even a ghost come back from the dead,
Evalyn must fight for her family or lose everything she has grown to love.
Friday, August 15, 2014
Monday, January 6, 2014
Hello 2014!!
I love the smell of a new year in the morning. So full of
possibilities for the year to come. I know I should feel that way about every
day I get up, but truth be told, I don’t … but maybe I’ll start.
2013 will be hard to beat though. It was a great year for
me, I found out Quail Crossings made it to #1 on the Amazon Best Seller’s list
(just about fell out of my chair) in May and in December Winter Song made it to
#9 overall. I’m pleased as punch that people enjoy my books. That’s why I write
them.
2014 will be full of writing projects. My mini anthology,
Amore, will be out in February and a novella, The Looking Glass, will be out
early summer. I also intend to release Return to Quail Crossings, while working
on a young adult series, an anthology with my writer’s group, and another
project with a group of fabulous authors.
Aside from all my writing goals, I also have personal goals
I want to achieve. For as long as I can remember I’ve been staring up at Heart
Mountain every time we visited my Grandma in Wyoming. This year, I’m going to
hike to the summit of that mountain. No ifs, ands, or buts about it.
I hope each and every one of you have a very blessed and prosperous
2014!
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