It Takes All Types

March 2, 2023 Jaycee Weaver39 Comments

One of my favorite things about reading is that fictional characters are every bit as individual as people in real life. When they’re written well, anyway. It’s fascinating to me that in a world of tropes, we may find similarities but never the same story, same heroine, same hero. It takes all types of authors to write these characters, but it takes all types of characters to keep readers devouring those books, am I right?!

In college, I was tied between career options. Much like Brynn, the heroine of my debut novel, I began pursuing a teaching degree but then freaked out and switched programs halfway through. Unlike her, I couldn’t decide what else to study, so I went to the career center and they signed me up for a little testing to help me pinpoint my strengths and potential careers. One of those tests was the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI).

I was fascinated by what I read about the different personality types and how creepily accurate the description for my type was (ENFP at the time, though now I get ESFP as often as I get ENFP, and both are freakishly accurate). If you have absolutely no clue what I’m jabbering on about, you can learn more at 16personalities.com.

Essentially, there are 16 basic personality types, 32 if you look at the subtypes Assertive vs Turbulent. Understanding personality types as an author helps me to gain insight into what makes my character tick. It’s funny, though, because I do very little character research before I begin writing. Some authors complete entire character worksheets, brainstorming everything from their favorite color, book, or movie to giving them a birthday. Some do full personality profiles with their MBTI, Enneagram, birth order, and even love languages. Which I think is really awesome, but—and maybe it’s my ADHD brain wiring—I simply can’t sit and focus long enough to do. I wait until my characters start talking to me at random times throughout the day as I’m going about my regular business. It can be a bit disconcerting at times, but I’ve learned to just roll with it and keep the Notes app handy on my phone. But it’s still fun to type them after the fact just to see if the results fit!

Some people don’t buy in to personality types or tests, and I totally respect that opinion. But an increasing number of employers and even churches are using tests like these to help people figure out how they work best and with whom.

My daughters, husband, and even mom have taken the MBTI recently for different reasons, so it’s been a frequent topic of conversation around here. Reading the various descriptions got me thinking about people I know, which of course got me thinking about my characters. So I went and asked a few of my author friends if they type their characters, and I found some surprising and fun responses.

Some of you long-term IR blog readers may remember Valerie Comer’s post from late 2021, in which she revealed the personality types of her Urban Farm Fresh heroines. It takes some serious wizardry to manage covering that many different personality types in one book series! LOL!

Liwen Y. Ho sent me the types of her hero and heroine from Love at Second Sight, one of the books in the Fab Forties rom-com series (which I LOVE and you should totally read if you haven’t yet). Movie star hero Brad is and ESFP-A, which totally explains why I related to him so well. He’s a total people person, and the way he makes Cassie feel good about herself is the best. Ironically, Cassie is an ISFJ-A, a defender who cares for people as well as Brad does only from an introverted perspective. My husband is an ISFJ-T, so it cracked me up to discover a fictional pairing that matched me and my husband so well!

Have you read Teresa Tysinger’s Laurel Cover series? You absolutely should!! She writes the most beautiful word pictures. Suddenly Forever‘s Cora and Luke are the same same as my hubby and me too! Remember how I said I’m and ENFP as often as ESFP (maybe more)? Well, here we have photojournalist Luke, a fellow ENFP-A, and Cora, an ISFJ-T. Cora is an inward processor, especially after a traumatic loss, but she’s quick to empathize and care for others who also ache. Luke is creative, curious, adaptive, and intuitive, which makes seeing and meeting Cora’s needs a natural part of who he is. The highest value we ENFP-As have is authenticity, and I can say from firsthand experience Teresa NAILED this with Luke.

Toni Shiloh shared three characters from different books! I haven’t yet read her newest release, Winning His Trust, but after learning we have ANOTHER ISFJ-T—this time in Declan, the male lead like my awesome hubby—you can bet I’m looking forward to reading this one. Introverted Declan doesn’t need a lot of friends, but ISFJ-T men are steady, dependable heroes who love deeply in practical ways, even if it takes a while to get them to open up.

One of my favorite Toni Shiloh heroines is Holiday Brown from The Trouble With Love in the Faith and Fortune series. You may be expecting Holiday to be another Entertainer ESFP, but she’s not! She’s an ESTJ-A who judges people quickly because life has taught her not to trust those around her, yet she can’t stop wondering why people behave the way they do.

My absolute FAVORITE heroine of all Toni’s books is Iris Blakely from To Win a Prince. I totally get Iris since she’s an ESFP. Except she’s a Turbulent who wears her heart on her sleeve and never met a person that could make her shy. She’s often the life of the party but completely down to earth.

I just typed Gina Hernandez (Bennett), my most frequently recurring character. She pops up in nearly half of my books somewhere. Her romance is told in Whatever Comes Our Way, and I’m laughing SO HARD right now. Why? Because we have another ISFJ-T, my friends. LOL! I know. Too funny. But it makes sense, knowing she’s a protective mama bear defender who will do anything for those in her circle. Her hero, Jaydon Bennett, is an ESFJ-A, which actually fits pretty well since Consuls are caring, community-minded, social people ready to help others. He’s highly observant and reads people easily.

I also typed Caleb March from What Makes a Home. He’s one of my unsung heroes, to be honest, but he’s a lot like my engineer husband in some ways. Except Caleb is even more rigid, which makes sense now that I know he’s and ISTJ-T. When my hubby first did the test, I thought for sure this would be his type. It’s nice to see that after more than two decades together, I don’t know everything about him! LOL! Caleb is a computer engineer, so being a Logistician personality type is spot on. The test results say, “Logisticians are practical and fact-minded individuals, whose reliability cannot be doubted.” 100% accurate!

The one that does surprise me, however, is USAF Tech Sgt Dyson from Whatever Happens Next. He’s a reader favorite, but ironically got the same result as Caleb! But where Caleb is a Turbulent, Dyson is absolutely Assertive. ISTJ-As are highly observant, down-to-earth types who live in the moment while planning for the future. Dyson rarely talks, but he’s constantly thinking and processing what he observes. He feels deeply, but is also a fierce protector and steady comforter.

Now that you’ve been introduced to a number of characters and their personality types, what do you think? Have you ever taken the MBTI or the shorter, free version on 16personalities.com? I’d love to read your type in the comments and if you’ve found anything in common with some of the personalities I’ve mentioned in today’s post!

If you don’t want to take the test for yourself, or are interested in reading more on the various personality types, check out this rundown here: https://www.16personalities.com/personality-types.

Until next time,

Sister Stories

September 29, 2022 Jaycee Weaver12 Comments

The sister relationship is one of the most complicated. From best friends to mortal enemies, every set of sisters has a different dynamic and relationship, and that’s true not only from family to family but sister to sister within the same family.

With three daughters and a sister of my own, it’s definitely a relationship I have a lot of experience with. I’ve had a lot of conversations with mom friends who grew up with sisters or raised multiple daughters, and the best word to describe each sister relationship is, perhaps, complicated.

A sister is both your mirror and your opposite. – Elizabeth Fishel

Family dynamics fascinate me, especially birth order studies. I love exploring the commonalities and differences. But there’s just something extra intriguing about sisters, which is why I wrote a trio of them in my Sinclair Sisters trilogy.

A sister is a little bit of childhood that can never be lost. – Marion C. Garretty

While each book focuses primarily on the heroine finding romance, I did something a little different in this series. In each book, each chapter contains a peek into their pasts as well as their unfolding present day story. Often there’s an interaction between the hero and heroine that plays into their present day romance, but equally as often there’s another relationship played a role in pushing her forward toward resolving a conflict with the hero: her sister.

It’s funny, because I never set out to make these ROMANCES into a sister trilogy. From the beginning of This and Every Christmas, Clari talked about her sisters. They were united in their parents’ obsessive affection for all things Christmas, and slowly I began to understand how vital the relationship between the three girls was to them. Clari was a natural teacher and mother figure to Lucy (and her other students) in large part because an oldest sister grows up playing those roles by default.

As I wrote this book during the pandemic quarantine of 2020, my three daughters were stuck with each other 24/7 with no way to distance except for their bedroom doors. I began to realize how important the sister relationship was to each of them (my girls AND the fictional Sinclair girls). They fought like crazy but became incredibly close. They developed inside jokes. Shared experiences. They will forevermore have stories that only the three of them know and understand. Even now that we’ve moved on to a more normal life as teenagers, they still have secret conversations, sister sleepovers, push each other’s buttons, and fiercely defend when an outsider treats one of them poorly.

We didn’t want to admit it then, but we were friends. – Shannon Celebi

In writing Charlie—aka CJ—Sinclair’s book Now and Forever Christmas in 2021, the sister relationship played an even larger role in helping CJ’s romance with Tobin unfold. In the past scenes, youngest sister Cindy proves the perfect listener when CJ needs one, providing insight she didn’t expect from someone three years younger. In the present, CJ found refuge and healing in her older sister’s home. She’s the bridge between her oldest and youngest sister, equally close to both but in very different ways.

You’re not my best friend. You’re my sister, and that’s more. – Jenny Han

Cindy’s story has been the most difficult to write because I watch my youngest trying to find her own place with two older sisters who are polar opposites and understanding Cindy probably felt the same way. While the Sinclair sisters bonded over their mutual teenage embarrassment, they grew apart over the years as distance and life experience separated them. Cindy chose to stay in Florida after college. She loves her independent life, but of course, she still misses her family. Still longs for their former closeness. A part of her would love to live nearby and watch her nieces and nephews grow up. But she also needs her space and to live life on her own terms. It’s been fun to explore the way she sees that sister dynamic through a third lens I haven’t yet explored.

So distant yet so close. So different yet so similar. That’s why I love my sister. – Maxime Lagacé

Cindy’s story, Not Another Christmas, comes out next month in the 2022 Christmas Lights Collection, Destination Christmas. I’m excited to share it with you October 18th! If you haven’t already read them in the 2020 and 2021 Christmas Lights Collections, the first two Sinclair Sisters books are available now on Amazon.

The greatest gift our parents ever gave us was each other. – Unknown

I know Tara Grace Ericson and Marion Ueckermann have contemporary romance series following sisters, but I would LOVE it if you’d share any other CONTEMPORARY Christian/Inspirational romance series or books where the sister relationship plays a significant role. Or if you’ve read Clari and CJ’s stories, tell me if you thought the sister dynamic rang true for you! OR, share with us some of your own sister stories! I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.

Until next time,

Story Inspiration

In Love vs. I Love (is there a difference?)

March 15, 2022 Jaycee Weaver53 Comments

Do you have certain phrases that a character says that immediately get your hackles up? For me, it often happens when a romance has been building up so beautifully and the characters have overcome so much and then finally comes the declaration I’ve been waiting for.

Only one of them says, “I’m in love with you” instead of “I love you.”

Every single time I feel let down. And don’t get me started when one says, “I’m in love with you,” and the other goes, “you love me?” Um, NO, that is not what they said.

These phrases mean completely different things. And when the distinction isn’t made in Christian fiction, the disappointment is especially keen. Why?

Well, let’s compare the two.

In love is only the beginning. It’s the butterflies and warm fuzzies and spark that can lead to lasting love, but in love is barely a sprouted seed in a wet paper towel.

I love you goes beyond the chemistry. It says I see you, I choose you. It holds the promise of that sprout growing roots below the soil and unfurling into something beautiful above it.

When I’m reading inspirational or Christian romance, I want my characters to fall in love. Absolutely. Maybe they realize they’re in love and that drives them to later prove the depth of their love. But the true climactic moment needs to be more than that. I want to see how they’ve developed those 1 Corinthians 13 qualities before choosing forever—in other words, is it patient, kind, humble, truthful, and willing to put the other person first?

Being in love is wonderful. But knowing someone loves you—all of you, even the parts you’re afraid to let them see when you’re in love—is glorious. And that’s what makes a truly climactic declaration in any romance. With that kind of love, their happy ending is only the beginning.

Have you given much consideration to the difference between the two phrases in your own reading? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments!

And real quick before I head out, I wanted to make sure you heard the exciting news! I’ve got a fun, lighthearted novella coming out soon as part of The 80s Rom-Com Club next month! If you love romantic comedies (especially movies from the 1980s!), you’ll love this set. You can pre-order it here.

Until next time, be blessed!

Story Inspiration

Bad Girls in CCR

January 12, 2022 Jaycee Weaver30 Comments

There’s a lot of talk about bad boys in romance, even in Christian romance. Women love to read about bad boys and rebels, especially ones that turn good. But what about bad girls?

From a Christian fiction author’s standpoint, bad girls are both tricky and a joy to write for many of the same reasons. It can be difficult to create a character readers will connect with and feel compassion and even affinity toward when she’s walked a road our readers might perceive negatively.

As readers we want to see ourselves in the story, don’t we?

For a woman out there in the real world who has been redeemed, these characters are a blessing. This reader feels seen and immediately recognizes herself in the heroine. I will concede that sometimes that “bad” girl’s path may hit a little too close to home and said reader may prefer to DNF the book. Like I said, it’s tricky!

Then you have the reader of lesser-blemished past, and that’s where things can get even trickier.

Let’s say a book opens with our heroine fresh out of a stranger’s bed after a night of hedonistic choices (i.e. Jobie from my novel What Makes a Home). Right off the bat, we’ve got a lot of readers who will flip the cover to make sure they’ve got the right genre or outright DNF. I’ve even read reviews left by readers who only made it to page four then reviewed it glorifies sin then questioning the author’s salvation (none on my books, but still not ok).

You may be like me, saying, “what? They didn’t even give the author a chance to redeem her!” And yet, this still happens. Now do you understand why I say tricky?

But it’s a risk we’ll often take because redemption matters. Understanding just how far our Shepherd is willing to go for one lost sheep matters. Even in fiction.

So how do authors like me write a likable heroine with a “bad girl” past with whom readers will connect, especially if her story starts out more colorfully than more conservative readers may prefer to read or if they don’t want to read about her past at all? And how do we create a realistic portrayal of the side characters in her life, both the loving and the not-so-loving ones without offending readers?

The answer is mindfully and with a lot of prayer. LOL! Sorry, I don’t have a wittier or more insightful answer. I don’t have a magical one-size-fits-all answer because what one reader considers likable is unlikable to another, and that’s true even with the sweetest, most innocent of heroines.

What I do have, however, is a nice list of books from some of our InspyRomance authors featuring “bad girls” if you’re interested in reading their stories.

And in the comments, I’d love to hear your perspective on reading about “bad girls,” specifically in CCR and inspirational fiction. What makes you choose a book with a “bad girl” heroine or put it back on the shelf? What keeps you turning pages and cheering her on?

Here’s that list I promised you:

Jobie in What Makes a Home from yours truly—a free-living artist whose past catches up to her as God brings her home.

Haven in Aspen Crossroads by Janine Rosche—her small town has more than its fair share of small-minded folk, but Haven knows firsthand the value of a second chance, so she’ll do anything to give newcomers a chance at theirs.

Dixie in Valerie Comer’s Dancing at Daybreak—thought she found love with her third child’s father until he found Jesus, now everything’s changed and she’s determined not to.

Mindy in Regaining Mercy from Carolyn Miller—the girl from the “wrong side of the tracks” endures plenty of judgment from her island townsfolk, but will she trust in a love that sees more than who she was?

Deb Kastner’s Angelica in And Cowboy Makes Three—she left him at the altar, and now she’s back, unwed with a baby in tow, willing to withstand the gossip to honor her grandmother’s memory.

Jade in Valerie M. Bodden’s Not Until Us—any girl in town would make a better pastor’s wife than Jade, whose bad-girl past is no secret, but will they listen to gossip or their Father’s voice?

Elizabeth Maddrey has at least three “bad girl” heroines, but my favorite is Lydia in Wisdom to Know. She’s a rebellious pastor’s daughter on a self-destructive path with a best friend who knows she’s the One… but is there a sin love can’t cover? Don’t miss Sara in A Tidbit of Trust or Serena from Cookies & Candlelight!

I’m sure there are more, so let’s stick with contemporary Christian romance titles if you make suggestions in the comments! Thanks for hanging out with me today!

Research · Story Inspiration

How authors use Pinterest & why readers love it too!

July 5, 2021 Jaycee Weaver30 Comments

I always say I’m a reader first, author second. It’s true! And as a reader, I love anything that connects me to books, especially social media. I know not everyone loves social media (there are times I certainly don’t!), but the one feed you have most control over what you see is Pinterest!

If you’ve never used it before, Pinterest is essentially that part of your desk where you’ve tucked all those articles you clipped from magazines over the years, plus all of your cookbooks, recipe clippings, notes and lists, pics of haircuts to show your stylist, the home decor and craft pamphlets you snagged at Hobby Lobby that you might get around to someday, plus the whole of the internet all rolled into one site. Only it’s VIRTUAL so you can organize it the way you see fit and no one will judge your clutter or care if you saved an entire stash of cat memes. LOL!

I’ve been pinning since Pinterest came online (2010). Long before I became an author, I was a stay at home mom with three small kids, and the internet was booming with amazing ideas for keeping them busy, recipe blogs, crafts I wanted to try, home decor ideas, and more. Pinterest kept my interests organized without overwhelming me. By then, I was also a professional crafter with an Etsy shop, and I could pin pics of my work/listings, showcase what I could do for custom orders, etc. Naturally, when I became an author, I put it to work for me there as well.

I’ve recently discovered even more ways to use it as both an author and a reader, but I also asked around to find out what other authors AND readers have to say about using this handy tool!

Many authors (myself included) use it for:

Keeping all of their inspiration and research for a particular book organized
Saving those wonderful reviews and interviews from book bloggers for a boost on the self-doubting days
Storing links to websites we’ve found helpful, classes we want to take, and other learning resources
Stashing things we might want to use for future books into secret boards
Sharing a behind-the-scenes look into our writing with our beloved readers
Pinning all the other things everyone else does from recipes to workouts to haircuts and more, allowing our readers to know who we are as humans and not just as writers of kissing books

Here’s a short list of ideas from other readers polled from the Avid Readers of Christian Fiction group on Facebook:

Boards for organizing their TBR virtually—read vs to-read
Pinning blogger reviews to read later when deciding on a book in the TBR pile
Sub-categorizing boards by author and then pinning all that author’s books
Saving bookish products/ideas as a virtual wish list
Pinning reading memes to laugh at later (these are my people!)
Enjoying some safe, light stalking of their favorite authors
Following other readers and authors to find new books, then building that TBR into infinity

What do you think about Pinterest? Have you used it for any of the things I mentioned? Do you have any new ways not yet noted? I would LOVE to hear from you in the comments! You can also follow me at https://www.pinterest.com/weaversgrrrl/. And if you keep scrolling, I’m including a handy dandy list from several of our Inspy Romance authors who pin! I also have to give a shout out to one of my favorite authors to follow on Pinterest, Becky Wade. She and Katie Ganshert get into some hilarious who-did-it-best Pinterest wars with their crafting skills!

Now for those IR author profiles (not everyone sent me theirs, so you can check our AUTHORS tab for more):

You can find me and all of my craziness at https://pinterest.com/weaversgrrrl

Valerie Comer: pinterest.com/valeriecomer/

Toni Shiloh: Pinterest.com/tonishiloh

Amy Anguish: pinterest.com/msguish/

Jan Thompson: http://janthompson.com/pinterest

Milla Holt: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/millaholtauthor

Janine Rosche: Pinterest.com/janinerosche

Teresa Tysinger: pinterest.com/teresatysinger/

Janet W. Ferguson: pinterest.com/janetwferguson/

Valerie M. Bodden: pinterest.com/valbodden/

Narelle Atkins: pinterest.com.au/narelleatkins/

Liwen Y. Ho: pinterest.com/authorliwenho

Until next time, happy pinning! Be blessed!

Escape into a Story · Giveaway · Story Inspiration

Sharing local holiday traditions in fiction + giveaway

December 10, 2019 Jaycee Weaver30 Comments

Culture is fascinating, isn’t it? I think a big part of what I love about reading is how we can travel anywhere in the world just by picking up a book. And at each stop in our travels, we learn something new and interesting about the culture, the people, or traditions of a place.

I especially love reading Christmas stories. It’s so fun to explore world traditions while also reading about new love or friends discovering new feelings. Some days it’s nice to be immersed in a stereotypical small-town white Christmas story with the vintage red truck and a flannel-wearing hero and his neatly trimmed beard while our big-city heroine rethinks her executive boyfriend and decides to stay and help save the local food pantry. But other days, nothing will do but an escape to some unexplored-but-real locale. An adventure with an unconventional hero and heroine someplace we’ve never been.

Being a lifelong reader and virtual world traveler is probably why I enjoy describing local traditions in my own books so much. As much as I love discovering new places, I treasure my role as virtual tour-guide to my beloved home, Albuquerque, New Mexico. New Mexico is a culturally rich environment with a ton of traditions all year through, especially at Christmas.

So far, I’ve written three Christmas novellas, one standalone and two as part of collections. In each, it’s been my pleasure to share such special holiday events as the Old Town stroll and the River of Lights. The Christmas table is often filled with authentic New Mexican dishes such as enchiladas, posole, tamales, and biscochitos. There’s a Twinkle Light parade and a tumbleweed snowman that stands tall by the freeway every year. Other cities have their own special traditions and tourist lures, but none as dear to my heart as the lighting of luminarias on Christmas Eve.

Statewide through the month of December, horizontal surfaces everywhere are covered in lanterns made from plain paper bags filled with sand and a single candle. Rooftops, the tops of walls, along sidewalks, all over. Then on Christmas Eve, the candles are lit and a vigil begins. I could wax poetic on the magic and wonder of our luminaria tours for another five hundred words or more. Instead, I’ll leave you with a few pictures and an invitation to come visit New Mexico in my Christmas stories, where you can visualize the wonder and beauty I see and enjoy with my family every year.

And if you live or have visited somewhere enchanting for the holidays, I’d love to read about it in the comments below! Even if the visit happened literarily, tell me about it! I’ll draw two names from the comments randomly for a copy of Love, Laughter, and Luminarias.

Be blessed wherever you spend this holiday season. May the Lord bless you and keep you, and may your own traditions increase the hope and joy of the season for you and the ones you love!

Romance Tropes · Story Inspiration

Food in Romantic Fiction

August 16, 2019 Jaycee Weaver44 Comments

Ah, food. One of my favorite subjects. If you follow me on Pinterest, you’ll get a taste for just how much I love food in all its forms. Cooking, baking, eating, sharing, and even reading about it.

It’s our fuel for life. We fuel our bodies, our spirits, and our relationships over food.

Today, I’d love to explore how food is used in fiction–specifically, in the romances we here at Inspy Romance love so much! Many authors use food to bring characters together much like in real life, whether it’s a crucial plot element, a catalyst, a meet cute, or something else.

I like to feature food in my books nearly as much as I enjoy making it. Often, it’ll be an integral part of the relationships or plot. In Whatever Comes Our Way, Gina holds fond memories of cooking with her grandmother. Her relationship with Jaydon blooms and grows over every meal they share (and there are several!). She reaches out to a pair of at-risk youth over a casual lunch of burgers and fries, and dessert opens the door to learn more about their family dynamic. In Adrift (which happens to be FREE!), there’s a particularly fun s’mores scene I think readers might be inspired by. And in my most recent release, What Makes a Home, free spririted Jobie pushes rigid Caleb out of his comfort zone with international foods, and eventually forges a friendship with her roommate, Jenna, over pizza and ice cream.

And I’m not alone in loving to write good food into romantic fiction–several of our Inspy authors’ books involve kitchen professionals.

In Toni Shiloh’s Maple Run series, maple recipes abound, as does the chemistry! The Maple Pit’s chef Dwight needs help from Nina to revamp the restaurant and bring in customers. There is no Maple Run without The Pit, and the deliciousness all starts in Buying Love. Trust me on this, once you start the series you’re going to want to eat up the rest back to back!

I recently picked up Elizabeth Maddrey’s A Splash of Substance through Kindle Unlimited and am loving it so far. Paige wants to impact the world through her organic, locally grown/sourced catering company. The principle of “living gently” that forms the basis of her business brings handsome Jackson into her life and will leave an impact on readers, too.

In Taking a Chance on Mr. Wrong by Liwen Y. Ho, it’s a culture clash of comedic proportions when Ben meets Melanie’s family for the first time over a home-cooked meal of Chinese food. He tries to impress her very old-fashioned mom by complementing her cooking in Cantonese. His misspoken words lead to a rather rocky start to a fantastic story. And in my favorite of her Spark Brothers books, Colin and Candy could melt the ice cream in his shop with their delicious tension.

Call You Home, the last novel in Jan Thompson’s Savannah Sweethearts series, is the story of two talented chefs with an old feud that they’ll have to resolve in and out of the kitchen if they want to be in the will of God for their lives.

Sometimes it’s not the professionals, but amateurs, foodies, and kind neighbors who take the cake.

Julie Arduini created a small mountain village in Entrusted that remains tight knit because of meals at Jack Frosty’s, attending church pot lucks, or being a recipient of matriarch Sara Bivins’ banana bread. Julie reportedly hosted a local book club in which members brought in all the foods mentioned in the book. That sounds like a recipe for fun to me.

Autumn MacArthur’s new release Imperfectly Proverbs 31 is getting shuffled to the top of my TBR pile. The plot hinges on the undomestic geeky heroine having to learn to bake a pie to convince the investigative journalist hero she really isn’t faking being a good homemaker. It sounds adorable, doesn’t it?

The heroine of Valerie Comer’s Sprouts of Love oversees a community garden that supplies fresh vegetables to the food bank run by the hero. And Shannon Taylor Vannatter created a tasty meet cute at the beginning of Reuniting with the Cowboy. Her heroine takes her new neighbor a 4-layer delight, only to discover the man at the door is her first love.

So if you’re hungry for a tempting tale, here are a handful of treats for you to devour. I hope you’ll give a few of them a try and let us know how you enjoyed them! Be sure to leave a comment below telling us your favorite food-in-fiction title (and why you love it), and then check the Back-2-School Bash to enter our AMAZING GIVEAWAY this month!

Real Life · Story Inspiration

The Summit

July 19, 2019 Jaycee Weaver18 Comments

Well, I turned forty last weekend. I’m surprisingly okay with that number. I mean, it took a little bit of processing and a whole lot of emotional taking of stock (oh my gosh, <insert life event> happened how long ago?!), but more than anything, I feel like I’m standing on this great mountaintop and I’m looking across a nice, wide summit at this amazing gift called life.

And it’s good.

Earlier this month, I hiked the Domingo Baca/TWA Canyon trail in the Sandia Mountains. My husband did it about twenty years ago and always told stories about it. Mostly about how tough it was, but worth it. We’ve waited and waited until the kids were old enough to make it without complaining too much or needing to be carried, and finally, this was the year!

If you’ve ever read any of my books, you’ll know how much I love my mountains. They call to me. So we answered, the five of us, with our backpacks, lunches, and water. We ventured out into an overcast day with a chance of thunderstorms. Not exactly optimal weather, but we prayed it would hold out until we were finished. It mostly did.

And I just have to interject here that it was pretty much the equivalent of climbing UP the stairs in our two-story house repeatedly for five straight hours, stopping to rest, eat, sip, and shutterbug, and then climbing down those stairs for two more. Yes, the incline was pretty much the same. No, I’m not exaggerating. Much.

Wreckage litters the long, narrow canyon.

But for about an hour in between the going up and coming down, we explored the wreckage of a Martin 404 airplane, once TWA flight 260, that crashed up there in 1955. Being up there in the middle of it was sobering and adventure-inspiring at the same time. To walk among tragedy and see how nature has taken it over was absolutely incredible. (And of course, now hubby and I have a book about it on request with the library!)

I came home with my family that evening ravenous and uplifted in a way I haven’t been in years. Connected with my people, connected with nature, connected with God. And we were drained and sore, but we did it! Over seven miles in a day. I’m sure you can imagine.

When it was all said and done, it was exactly what I didn’t even know I needed to reset my perspective. There’s something incredibly wonderful about experiencing the wild world with those we love. And adding to that the thrill of a successful adventure? Happy sigh. Like that wonderful feeling you get after reading a whole series back-to-back and it ends just perfectly.

That night when we came home, I was reading (as always haha). The story was going a little slower than I had patience for, so I read faster to compensate. It got me thinking about how we voracious readers enjoy a story’s climb. The build up of anticipation, the long looks between hero and heroine, the tension and conflict that grow as everything rushes toward the peak and then resolves. But as I recalled standing on the giant rocks, looking down at the world below and seeing how far we’d climbed, it reminded me to not only slow down and fully experience the climb, but also to enjoy the summit a while.

To savor the best part of the story, both in the books I’m reading and in real life.

Plus, you totally know this adventure is going into a book. *wink wink*

Getting to Know You · Story Inspiration

You did what, now?

April 18, 2019 Jaycee Weaver43 Comments

That’s what I ask myself all the time. My poor hubby might also ask me this…a lot. Yeah, I’m kind of impulsive and impetuous (and impertinent and all kinds of other im-words).

This time, though, it was a really good thing!

When they sent me the invitation to become a part of InspyRomance, I have to admit I did a pretty goofy happy dance around my office. (Craft room, whatever.) Thankfully, nobody was home or my kids would surely have laughed at me (they’re all tweens and teens, so I’m a constant source of their laughter and eye-rolling). I prayed and knew it was the right thing to do! My gut said to leap, so I did.

I won’t bore you with my bio since you can find it here or here. Or better yet, in the back of my books. Haha! Instead, I’d rather tell you about what I write and where I write about.

See, I’m a crazy avid reader, mostly contemporary romance. Of course, I enjoy a good historical a few times a year and plenty of romantic suspense, too. But it’s CCR that I’m truly a fan of so naturally, it’s also what I write. And since I live in the Land of Enchantment, it only makes sense to set my books here.

Albuquerque, New Mexico is a quirky little city. We have great food (especially if you like it a little spicy and heavy on the cheese). There are tons of great restaurants, wineries, and microbreweries. And the farm-to-table movement is thriving.

The area is rich with culture and tradition and hosts hundreds of festivals every year. Some of my favorites are the Expo New Mexico State Fair, the Albuquerque Folk Festival, Southwest Chocolate and Coffee Festival, and of course, the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. There are hiking and biking trails galore, too. Plus if you like sports, we have a great baseball team and a brand-new professional soccer team! How could I write about anywhere else?! Think of all the great dates I can come up with. LOL!

The Everyday Love Series is definitely heavy on the Burque love. It’s evident in every book I write, how much I love this place. And on that note, I’m happy to announce that TODAY is the release day for the third book in the series, What Makes a Home! Every book can be read standalone, so feel free to jump in wherever. I absolutely love these characters and I hope you will, too. I’ve recently revisited the first two books in the series and made some improvements in their formatting and the flow. What Could Be was my first book, and therefore probably the roughest to read, but the story still holds a significant place in my heart. (It’s also my loudest love song to my hometown.)

I look forward to getting to know you here at InspyRomance, and elsewhere if you’re on social media (I’m everywhere). Be sure to comment for your entry into Inspy’s regular drawing! And since you’re here, I’m happy to announce to you FIRST that my eBook novella Adrift is now permanently FREE on all retailers. I hope you’ll check it out!

Also, if you’re on Facebook, be sure to stop by Inspy’s Christian Romance Reader Gathering group. I’m excited to do a takeover on April 24th from 7-9 Eastern. I hope you’ll join me for some fun! I’ll be sharing a bit about my latest book as well as hosting a GIVEAWAY!