My guest today is my good friend author Janet Tronstad, creator of the Dry Creek series for Love Inspired. Janet has a lot to say about her grandmother. Here’s Janet:

“What I know about strong women I learned from my grandmother.

She lived ninety-one years before dying ten years ago. She wasn’t the fuzzy kind

of grandmother who baked cookies and kissed boo-boo’s (although I used to wish she was).

Instead, she was the kind of grandmother who was invited into the Cowgirl Hall of Fame

because she had worked a large cattle ranch, for decades by herself after my grandfather died.

She knew how to dig in and never let go.

I never realized how much she influenced my writing until my sister said to me one day,

“You know Mrs. Hargrove?”

I nodded. Of course, I knew her, I thought. She has been a pivotal character in my long-
standing Dry Creek series with Love Inspired and I had invented her.

“I just realized she’s grandma,” my sister said.

I was shocked. She was right. I hadn’t invented Mrs. Hargrove at all. She even wore the

same kind of housedresses that my grandmother did (gingham cotton with a zipper down the

front). And orthopedic shoes and gray hair a little mussed.

To purchase, click here. White Christmas in Dry Creek (Return to Dry Creek)

My Chokecherry Grandma

While Mrs. Hargrove didn’t run a ranch, she still had the same toughness that my

grandmother did. She didn’t tolerate much nonsense. She was a faithful woman who believed

in God. She’d empty her pantry if a neighbor was in trouble. I once compared the Montana

chokecherry to Mrs. Hargrove and it is equally fitting as a tribute to my grandmother. The

chokecherry isn’t sweet, but it has a rich strong flavor that makes a syrup fit for a king’s

pancakes.

You’ll see a little bit of Mrs. Hargrove in my latest, A White Christmas in Dry Creek, but

if you want to read her own story, it is available on ebook in A Dry Creek Courtship.
To purchase, click here. A Dry Creek Courtship“–Janet

 Thanks, Janet. I love that old photo too. Both your grandparents have very “detemined” chins. 🙂 QUESTION: Do you like Montana stories?  Have you ever compared someone you know to a fruit, vegetable, animals, etc? If so, share!–Lyn