I Was Wondering…

why no one answered my question from last month: “Have you ever met a challenge that you or those around you didn’t think you could conquer?” I think it was overlooked since it appeared at the end of the newsletter instead of right after the comments from the previous month.

So I’m just going to talk this month about my greatest challenge. Can you guess what it was? Well, I think that it was writing my first book. I started this when my daughter was 13 months old and I was driving past the school where are used to teach and the voice in my head said, “It’s time for you to start your first novel.” And I thought okaaaaayyy. I had always wanted to be an author and I had done some poetry writing and nonfiction writing in my teens and early 20s. But now I was ready and I listened to that voice. I tackled my first full length manuscript. I had two children: my daughter, and a son three years old. And at the same time, my husband was working a full-time job and going to college two nights a week an hour drive both ways. What was I thinking????

But I started right away—How you ask? I love history and that had been my major in my education. And I had an idea for a book! I bought a clipboard and a long legal pad and I literally followed my children around and wrote a sentence whenever they paused. I also let them watch Sesame Street and Mr. Rogers morning and afternoon and could sit and write during those minutes. How long did my handwritten manuscript take to finish? Three years. But I did finish it. Which of my novels do you think it was? Well, there’s no way for you to know since it wasn’t the first novel that I had published!

The answer to which book this was is…

Journey to Victory

Book One in The American Journey Series

“Enemies by war, bound by love—one woman’s courage can change history.”
An inspirational Revolutionary War romance of faith, forgiveness, and enduring love.

Fans of Laura Frantz, Tamera Alexander, and Jocelyn Green will love this inspiring tale of courage and forbidden love set during the American Revolution by USA Today Bestselling Author Lyn Cote. A sweeping historical romance of faith, redemption, and a woman’s fight for dignity in a changing world.

How does the daughter of a French courtesan become a friend of Martha Washington—and the beloved of a man sworn to fight against her cause?

In the early 1700s, Christiane is destined to continue her mother’s glittering legacy at the French court. Yet she longs to be cherished as a wife, not admired as an ornament. After her mother’s death, she escapes France with her renegade father, exchanging silks and chandeliers for the stark beauty of the Canadian wilderness.

When frontier violence threatens all she holds dear, Christiane journeys southward—and into the heart of a revolution. Her courage and compassion draw her into the circles of the new nation’s founders, including Martha Washington herself.

But one man from her past can never be forgotten. Captain John Eastham once protected her on the frontier. Now war has made them enemies. Torn between divided loyalties and an unyielding love, Christiane must summon a faith strong enough to bridge old worlds and new—and discover whether peace can heal what war has broken.

One woman’s courage. One man’s honor. One nation’s birth.
One family’s saga, a young nation’s story~

Click here to purchase.

So please don’t leave me wondering why no one replied to last month’s question this month!

 “Have you ever met a challenge that you or those around you didn’t think you could conquer?”

Surely all of us have had a challenge to overcome. Again please share here.—Happy Autumn! Lyn