Tag: Tracie Peterson

Meet Melody from Tracie Peterson’s For a Choice Considered

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A Choice Considered by Tracie Peterson (The Heart of Cheyenne #2)

July 2, 2024; ISBN 9780764241086; Ebook ISBN 9781493446575

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Welcome to Novel PASTimes! We are pleased you stopped by today.

Tell us something about where you live.

My name is Melody Doyle, and I live in 1867 Cheyenne, Wyoming Territory, with my Irish father whom I call Da. Da is helping build the Transcontinental Railroad, and that’s what brought me here. It’s a happening kind of place, let me tell you. This is a railroad town set on the edge of a vast prairie in the Front Range area of the Rocky Mountains. It’s not very big yet, but there are plans for it to grow into a city to rival Denver and Chicago.

Is there anything special about your name? Why do you think you were given that name?

Having me put a song in my mother’s heart. She always loved music, but she died when I was ten, which was fifteen years ago. 

Do you have an occupation? What do you like or dislike about your work?

I do house cleaning and gardening for a woman who owns a boarding house for men. I like working for her. I’ve always enjoyed keeping busy, and these are the kind of skills I’m good at, since I’ve been practicing them since my Mama died fifteen years ago and I had to take care of our home.

Who are the special people in your life?

My da. He’s the best father in the world. He loves God and has incredible discernment when it comes to knowing if a person is bad or good. He’s an amazing man, and I love him so dearly.

What is your heart’s deepest desire?

It may sound silly, but I just want to get married and settle down. After growing up as an only child, I want to have a big family with lots of music and laughter in our house.

What are you most afraid of?

Losing the people I love. I lost my mother when I was just ten years old, and because of Da’s job with the railroad, I’ve always been afraid of losing him too. I think being alone in the world frightens me more than anything, which is why I want to settle down in Cheyenne. I have lots of really good friends here, and Da will be working close by as the railroad moves west. He can come visit me often. Hopefully when the railroad is finished, he’ll settle here too.

Do you have a cherished possession?

Not really. There are things I love, but they’re just things. I cherish people most of all.

What do you expect the future will hold for you?

Marriage and a family is my goal, and that’s Da’s goal for me. I want to settle down in Cheyenne and not move on down the road with the railroad, but Da says I can’t stay here unless I have a husband. And not only that, but he has to be someone Da can approve of. That won’t be easy, but I’m trusting God to deliver the right man.

What have you learned about yourself in the course of your story?

I’ve learned a lot of things, but maybe the most important is that I’m better as part of a team than on my own. Trusting God and putting myself in His hands is the first and best thing I can do. Trying to manage on my own often gets me in trouble. My relationship with my earthly father is also something that has been very special, and I’m blessed to have such a good father. My prayer is that I can find an equally good husband. After all, it’s not good for man to be alone—God said that, and I think He would say the same is true for women.

Is there anything else you’d like people to know about you?

My faith in God is what has gotten me through the roughest times, and God has never failed me. I know there will be ups and downs in life, but God is faithful and constant. He will never leave me to face anything by myself. So long as I walk close to Him, I know I will be all right. Also, cherish friendship. Friends are special gifts that I believe come from God. They help us along the way and often fill the role of being God with skin on in the sense of encouraging and uplifting us. Never underestimate the power of friendship. Especially in marriage. It’s good to be friends with the love of your life.

Thanks for allowing us to get know you a little better!

Tracie Peterson (TraciePeterson.com) is the bestselling author of
more than one hundred novels, both historical and contemporary,
with nearly six million copies sold. She has won the ACFW
Lifetime Achievement Award and the Romantic Times Career
Achievement Award. Her avid research resonates in her many
bestselling series. Tracie and her family make their home in
Montana.

Introducing Eleanor from With Each Tomorrow by Tracie Peterson and Kimberley Woodhouse

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Welcome to Novel PASTimes! We are pleased you stopped by today.

Thank you for having me! I’m looking forward to meeting your readers. 

Tell us something about where you live.

Well, I grew up in New York City, in a lovely little brownstone with my parents. But after my mother died when I was 14, my father decided he had the flexibility to travel for work. But now, he’s looking to settle down somewhere and seems to have chosen this little town in Montana called Kalispell. So far it seems all right, but I’m a bit unsure about putting down roots here.

Is there anything special about your name? Why do you think you were given that name?

Nothing too special. Although my mother liked to call me Ellie. My father will call me that from time to time, but I really don’t like anyone else calling me that. 

Do you have an occupation? What do you like or dislike about your work?

I have traveled with my father, Samuel Briggs, for years now. I write notes about his work and organize engagements. I’m also privileged to attend important meetings where he is able to influence donors, congressmen, even the President, about preserving the land of our glorious nation. 

Who are the special people in your life?

My mother was the dearest woman to me. My life turned upside down when I lost her. I love my father fiercely but it seems as if we are growing apart a bit. I don’t quite know how to deal with that. That’s it really. I’m an only child, so no siblings. 

What is your heart’s deepest desire?

That’s a bit of a personal question. One that I would have to think about for a minute. I think I would like peace the most right now. I didn’t realize how much the travel around the country, though oh-so-grand, has worn me plumb out. There is a restlessness in me that I can’t describe or pinpoint. So peace would be a great relief.

What are you most afraid of?

Death. And I hate talking about it. Because I watched my mother die the most agonizing death one could imagine. I’m often terrified thinking about my own fate. Though I haven’t met many who aren’t. Except my hosts, the Ashburys. They have an incredible confidence and the aforementioned peace. One of the items on my current to do list is to talk with Mrs. Ashbury about that.

Do you have a cherished possession?

I suppose it would be my journals. They hold thousands of notes about meetings with interesting and influential individuals around America. There are many fond memories tucked in those pages. Oh! And my bicycle. That wonderful contraption gives me a profound sense of freedom no matter where we travel. 

What do you expect the future will hold for you?

More travel I suppose. I’m not really sure. As I mentioned earlier, Father is talking about settling here in Kalispell. It seems to be a thriving community, even though there is a bunch of hullabaloo about the railroad right now. I’m sure if you asked my hostess, Mrs. Marvella Ashbury, she would say my future holds marriage. But I’m not ready for that yet. 

What have you learned about yourself in the course of your story?

I am learning that Jesus can actually be trusted. My mother was a woman of deep faith. She trusted the Lord with her whole heart. But when He didn’t hear my prayers to save her, I fell into a deep depression and spiral of unbelief. It was hard to see that about myself. I can be so very stubborn and hardheaded. But I’ve learned that I am capable of changing my mind, and that I don’t always have to be right. Nor am I! 

Is there anything else you’d like people to know about you?

I truly love our great country and would love to see the lands preserved better for future generations. But I also see the value of our farmers and ranchers who own vast swaths of land and use that to feed citizens. I would love to see better harmony between these two groups of people because I think both are important to the flourishing of our country. 

Thanks for allowing us to get know you a little better!

Thank you for your questions – I am delighted to share a bit of my story. And I hope my journey encourages and blesses someone else who has struggled with fear and grief and knows that Jesus wants to bring them out the other side into life.

With Each Tomorrow by Tracie Peterson & Kimberley Woodhouse (The Jewels of Kalispell #2)

May 21, 2024; ISBN 9780764238994; Ebook ISBN 9781493446537; $17.99; Paper

Eleanor Briggs travels to Kalispell, Montana, with her conservationist father to discuss the formation of Glacier National Park, and sparks fly when she meets Carter Brunswick, despite their differences. As the town fights to keep the railroad, the dangers Eleanor and Carter face will change the course of their lives.

Tracie Peterson (TraciePeterson.com) is the bestselling author of
more than one hundred novels, both historical and contemporary,
with nearly six million copies sold. She has won the ACFW
Lifetime Achievement Award and the Romantic Times Career
Achievement Award. Her avid research resonates in her many
bestselling series. Tracie and her family make their home in
Montana.

Kimberley Woodhouse (KimberleyWoodhouse.com) is an award-
winning, bestselling author of more than 40 fiction and nonfiction

books. Kim and her incredible husband of 30-plus years live in
Colorado, where they play golf together, spend time with their kids
and grandbaby, and research all the history around them.

Meet Marybeth Kruger Vogel from Tracie Peterson’s A Love Discovered

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Marybeth and Edward are compelled by their circumstances to marry as they trek west to the newly formed railroad town of Cheyenne. But life in Cheyenne is fraught with danger, and they find that they need each other more than ever. Despite the trials they face, will happiness await them in this arrangement of convenience?

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Tell us something about where you live. 

My name is Marybeth Kruger…well now it’s Vogel since I married. Up until a few months ago we lived in Independence, Indiana, but now we live in the middle of nowhere in a railroad town called Cheyenne.

Is there anything special about your name? Why do you think you were given that name?

I was given the name because my mother liked the sound of it. There wasn’t anything really special about it, but she always said I looked like a Marybeth.

Do you have an occupation? What do you like or dislike about your work?

My full-time job is to care for my little sister Carrie. My mother died when I was young, and my father remarried.  Carrie’s ma died in childbirth and made me promise to care for Carrie as if she were my own. Since then, I’ve done just that. I’m the only mama Carrie has ever known, and I love her dearly. When our pa died recently some folks figured to take Carrie away from me since I didn’t have a job to support our family. But Edward Vogel came to our rescue, and we agreed to a marriage of convenience.

Who are the special people in your life? 

So many of the special people in my life have died, but Edward and Carrie remain.  Edward is my husband of convenience. He needed a wife, and I needed a husband in order to keep from losing Carrie. We’ve loved and cared about each other as friends for many years since Edward was married to my best friend Janey. After she died, however, we just sort of looked out for each other.

What is your heart’s deepest desire? 

To have true love in my life and raise my little sister in a happy home.

What are you most afraid of?

Losing my sister and Edward never really loving me as a wife.

Do you have a cherished possession? 

Not really.  Things have never been all that important to me. My mama taught me early on that things are replaceable, but the people in your life are what really matter.

What do you expect the future will hold for you?  

I’m not sure.  This town called Cheyenne is a wild place with lots of low-life criminals. Danger is all around us and I fear that Edward may get killed in his deputy job. I’m praying God’s protection over him, of course, but in a town where it’s not even safe to walk the streets, I worry that someone will take his life and leave Carrie and me without his support and protection. I pray all the time that God will keep all of us safe.

What have you learned about yourself in the course of your story? 

I learned that God is truly faithful to watch over us and that love really matters. I thought I could live without love, but I was wrong.

Is there anything else you’d like people to know about you? 

I’m a woman of strong faith in God and that is what has seen me through so many bad times. Without God, I’d be all alone in this world, I’m sure.  His love for me has gotten me through all these bad times and I’m sure it will get me through bad times to come.

Thanks for allowing us to get know you a little better!

Tracie Peterson is the bestselling author of more than one hundred novels, both historical and contemporary, with more than six million copies sold. She has won the ACFW Lifetime Achievement Award and the Romantic Times Career Achievement Award. Her avid research resonates in her many bestselling series. Tracie and her family make their home in Montana.

Get Connected:
Tracie Peterson
www.traciepeterson.com

Meet Eleanor from Tracie Peterson’s Finding Us

~ Cindy Thomson ~ Leave a comment

Welcome to Novel PASTimes! We are pleased you stopped by today.

Tell us a little about yourself:

My name is Eleanor Bennett and I’m twenty-one years old.  It’s 1909 and I’ve done a very daring thing. I left my family home in Kansas to come to Seattle for the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition. It’s a world fair where millions of people are planning to attend. It’s so exciting and I decided to stick around for a while.

You came to see the exposition and stayed on.  What are you doing for a living?

I hired on with Fisher Photography. They put together a group of young ladies called Camera Girls and we’re going around the expo taking pictures of families and individuals to advertise the new Brownie Camera from Kodak.  We take a person or family photograph, and they can buy it for just ten cents. This gives them a nice souvenir of the expo, as well as a beautiful picture of themselves or their family. And if they decide to buy a camera and mention my name, I get a commission.

Where are you living while in Seattle?

I live with a young woman named Rosemary Connors.  She advertised for a roommate in the newspaper and I answered the call.  She says I’m very spirited which sometimes exhausts her, but that’s just my nature. I’m red-headed and I think red-headed people are more enthusiastic about life. Most people say I’m vivacious. I’m afraid Rosemary doesn’t always agree with the way I manage things.

What has been your favorite part of your work?

Meeting the people has been amazing, but…well you see I am passionate about botany. I really want to study it and so when I realized that the expo was actually taking place on the University of Washington’s campus, I thought I would check into classes they were offering on botany and explore the grounds. Seattle looks nothing like Salina, Kansas, let me tell you.  I was hoping to save up money and take a class or two at the college, but God allowed something much more wonderful to happen. I met Bill.

Who is Bill?

Bill is William Reed and he just so happens to be a botanist.  I was photographing some plants the day we met and Bill saved me.  I won’t go into how, but he was wonderful, and he promised to teach me about botany.  I’m so excited about learning, and about Bill.  I’m also going to help him get his manuscript re-typed and sent in to his publisher.  It’s a wonderful way to learn all about botany since the book is about plants in Alaska.

What was your life like before the exposition?

I lived in Kansas, as I mentioned.  My father has a photography studio so I was naturally drawn to being a Camera Girl. I know how to develop photographs and even work on cameras. My mother and father weren’t too excited when I decided to come to the exposition. They were even more upset when I told them I wanted to stick around for a while. Now, however, I think they understand.  They know I have good discernment and a strong faith in God.  I seek to know His will in everything I do, and it just feels right that I’m here now.

 What has been the best part of the exposition?

Besides being a Camera Girl and making so many great friends, oh and of course, meeting Bill, I have found myself in the middle of quite an intrigue.  I can’t say too much, or I’ll give the story away, but I love a good mystery and have found myself quite excited by the entire matter.

Is there anything else you’d like the reader to know about you?

I can’t really think of anything more.  I mean, I don’t want to spoil the story for the readers, and this is quite the adventure.  I’ve already mentioned Bill, and you might as well know that we both believe in love at first sight, but a whole lot of other people and circumstances seem determined to keep us apart. It gets to be a real mess at one point, but God teaches me a lot about trusting Him. I’m so glad He’s patient with me.

We will look forward to reading more about you, Eleanor Bennett in FINDING US by Tracie Peterson.Thanks for allowing us to get know you a little better!

Often called the “Queen of Historical Christian fiction”, Tracie Peterson is an ECPA, CBA and USA Today best-selling author of over 130 books, most of those historical novels.  Her work in historical fiction earned her the Life Time Achievement Award from American Christian Fiction Writers in 2011 and the Career Achievement Award in 2007 from Romantic Times, as well as multiple best book awards.  Throughout her career, Tracie has also worked as a managing editor of Heartsong Presents, Barbour Publishing, speaker of various events and teacher of writing workshops. She was a co-founding member of the American Christian Fiction Writer’s organization and has worked throughout her career to encourage new authors.  Tracie, a Kansas native, now makes her home in the mountains of Montana with her husband of over 40 years.

Meet Cassie Barton from Tracie Peterson’s Under the Starry Skies

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My name is Cassandra Barton, but people just call me Cassie.  I live in San Marcial, New Mexico which is on the Rio Grande River.  It’s a hub for the Santa Fe Railroad beings it’s about half way between Topeka and Los Angeles.  I work as a seamstress with the bulk of my work coming in from the railroad men.  I like this kind of work because I am my own boss and can do as much or as little work as I need to do. This turns out to be a very good thing because right off the bat, I break my wrist in a little accident and can’t sew for six weeks.

Brandon Dubarko makes sure I don’t suffer too much. He was a good friend and co-worker of my father’s. He works for the Santa Fe Railroad (just like my father). Brandon is soft-spoken and a deep thinker.  He’s got a world of sorrows to deal with, but he never talks about it. I’m not at all sure what’s weighing him down. I know he really misses my father…and so do I. 

My father died earlier this year when his train derailed. Brandon thinks there was foul play and that someone actually caused the derailment, but I’m not sure that’s the case.  Trains have accidents all the time and it doesn’t take much to derail a train. But, if someone did cause the derailment, then they murdered my father and his fireman.

My father and I were really close, especially after Mother died and my sister Melissa moved to Denver. My deepest desire is that Melissa and I can be close again. After she moved off and married, we aren’t nearly as close as we used to be.  Of course, now she’s a mother and that is bound to take up a lot of her time. 

My future, once my wrist mends, is questionable. A part of me wants to stick around San Marcial, but another part thinks about going to Denver to be closer to Melissa. Of course, at my age (32) I would like to think there was still a chance for romance, but I’m not sure that’s true. It would be a dream come true however, if someone decided I was worth loving.  There was one man…a long time ago.  We were in love and planned to marry, but then my mother died and I needed to care for Melissa.  I don’t know but that it might have been my only chance for love.

I’ve always felt I had to be strong for my family, but now that Mother and Father are dead and Melissa’s married, it’s just me and I’m not real sure what I’m going to do. I know that God has a plan for me, however.  I’ve put my trust in Him since I was little, and I’m not about to stop now. My relationship with the Lord is the thing I value most in life.  He will always see me through.

Award-winning novelist, Tracie Peterson, has been praised for
her captivating historical fiction novels. While each novel weaves
a different tale, Peterson packs her signature elements of history,
action, and romance into each work while also offering
underlying life lessons. In her newest novel, Under the Starry Skies,
Peterson crafts a story about facing your past and learning to
forgive others and yourself.

Meet Isabella Garcia from Tracie Peterson’s Beyond the Desert Sands

~ Cindy Thomson ~ Leave a comment

Welcome to Novel PASTimes! We are pleased you stopped by today.

Tell us something about where you live. 

I live in the high desert area of the San Mateo Mountains south of Albuquerque, when I’m not sharing a home with my great aunt in California. That’s where I really want to be more than any other place. I grew up in California before my father forced us to move to New Mexico.

Is there anything special about your name? Why do you think you were given that name?

My author tells me that my name was given as a reward to one of her faithful readers whose name is Isabella Garcia Bailey.

Do you have an occupation? What do you like or dislike about your work? 

Oh, dear no. I am the daughter of wealthy landowners. My family can be traced back to the old families of Spain, so I do not hold an occupation, but rather have learned to manage a rancho.

Who are the special people in your life? 

Until recently my Aunt Josephina (my father’s sister) was the focus of my life, along with Diego Morales whom I plan to marry. However, that irritating Aaron Bailey won’t seem to let well enough alone.  My mother and father are of course dear to me, but they do not understand my desires for life.

What is your heart’s deepest desire?  

To live in California on the family’s rancho and throw wonderful parties as we did in the old days. I want to step back in time to have what we once had.

What are you most afraid of?  

That my heart’s desire will never be available to me.

Do you have a cherished possession?  

 I once had a horse I cherished. However, I’ve learned over the years that things are temporal and the land is what remains. 

What do you expect the future will hold for you?  

I hope to be married to Diego Morales and have a family together in California.  But again, that pesky Aaron Bailey doesn’t think Diego is an honest man.  He thinks it’s his place to guard and protect me from Diego.  Foolish man.

What have you learned about yourself in the course of your story? 

That I’m quite opinionated and headstrong. I’m a woman of means and intelligence and I know that I can figure out all the answers if I’m given a chance. This makes some people believe me to be uncaring or harsh, but that isn’t the truth. I care very much about seeing the world set in a way that will make sense to me and bring happiness to those around me.

Is there anything else you’d like people to know about you? 

Well, I don’t know that I want people to know that I’m also a very broken woman—girl really. There has been a lot of pain in my life, and now as I learn the secrets that have taken me beyond the desert sands, I realize that more heart break is headed my way.  Aaron says that only God will get me through. My mother says the same.  I wish I knew for sure that was true. I suppose in time I will.

Thanks for allowing us to get know you a little better!

Twenty-five-year-old Isabella Garcia has spent the last seven years
living in opulence at her aunt’s California home. The last thing she
wants to do is celebrate Christmas with her parents in the small
silver-mining town of Silver Veil. Not only will she have to leave
her handsome beau, Diego Morales, but she has to travel with her
old rival, Aaron Bailey—a Santa Fe Railroad businessman who
considers her both childish and selfish.

When Isabella finally arrives in Silver Veil, she is surprised by how
much the town has grown in her absence. But she is also shocked to
see how much her father’s health has declined. When Diego shows
up unexpectedly with news of her aunt’s death, Isabella is faced
with some-life changing decisions. But trouble is brewing.
Isabella must determine who she can truly rely on as well as
reconcile who she’s become with who she’s meant to be—even if it
costs her everything.

Tracie Peterson is the award-winning author of over 100 novels, both historical and contemporary. Her avid research resonates in her many bestselling series. Tracie and her family make their home in
Montana. Visit traciepeterson.com to learn more.