Birthday Month

June is birthday month in the Dobson house. Karly turned six (what happened to my baby?), and Kiki moved on to the big F-I-V-E. They celebrated with a few friends at the movie theatre and then out for pizza and Pinkie Pie Pony cake. Life just doesn't get any better than that. :)

Here are a few pix from June.

First Day at Summer Camp

Kiki's Big Day

Making Cookies while Karly's at Camp

Book Signing with Friend and Fellow "Love Finds You" Author
Miralee Ferrell

Birthday Party, Lots of Fun

Liberty Book Winners

A huge thank you to each of you who submitted your name to win a copy of Love Finds You in Liberty, Indiana! We drew the names last night, and the winners are:

Renee (steeler girl)
Bob E.
Linda (desert rose)
Torri
LuAnn (reading frenzy)

If you won a book, please email me your mailing address at comments(at)melaniedobson.com, and I'll send a copy right out. If you didn't win a book, I will be posting the links in the upcoming weeks of other bloggers who will be giving away copies of it as well.

Thanks again! Happy summer reading!!

"Love Finds You in Liberty, Indiana" Book Giveaway

I'm so excited to announce the release of my first historical novel, Love Finds You in Liberty, Indiana. This story has been brewing inside me for decades so it was an absolute delight and blessing to be able to write it.

The book is about a Quaker woman in Liberty who risks everything to hide runaway slaves on the Underground Railroad and a young newspaper editor who fights for these same runaways with his pen. During my trip to Liberty, I visited a number of old homes that were once stations along the Underground Railroad, and I loved learning the real-life stories about the courageous men and women who escaped slavery and/or fought for freedom.

On June 24th, I will be drawing five names to receive a free copy of this book. If you'd like to be included in this drawing, please leave a quick comment below. I will post the names of the winners on June 25th and mail the books off by the end of the month.

Thanks for celebrating with me!

Crescent Hill

Early this morning I sent in my manuscript for the second book I've written this year (a contemporary romantic suspense story called Crescent Hill). I haven't had much time to blog the past few months, but that's because I've been writing, writing, writing.

The same day Crescent Hill was due marked the official release date of my first historical romance novel (Love Finds You in Liberty, Indiana). I'm so excited about this book, and once my brain recovers from lack of sleep (let's hope it recovers soon... :), I'll be giving away several copies of this book on my blog.

A week or so ago, I also signed a new contract with Summerside Press who does the Love Finds You series. I will be writing three novels for them in the next two years. I've loved working with this publisher, and it is such an honor for me to be partnering with them for three more books. So I'll be traveling to the village towns of Homestead, Iowa and Harmony, Minnesota this summer and come the end of November, I will have finished Novel #3 for the year.

So, I haven't had much time to blog, but for those of you who keep checking in, thank you! I will post the give-away for the Liberty book this week and some summer pictures soon.

God bless!!

Dear People...

Today Karly told me that she wanted to send a special message to all the people who have lost their lives for our freedom. With her own money, she bought a Garfield balloon at the dollar store, and then wrote this note: "Dear People. Thank you for taking care of our 'worle'. Love, Karly." She added lots of hearts, rolled it up, and then we attached it to the balloon string. After praying for the families who'd lost loved ones fighting for our country, we released the balloon and watched it go up and away into the clear sky, off to the heavens. Karly was smiling from ear-to-ear, and I can only imagine that God may have smiled right back.

Flower Girls

The girls did awesome in my brother's wedding last weekend in Spokane. Kiki smiled so pretty, throwing petals all the way down the aisle exactly as she'd been told. She snuggled in with me during the ceremony and slept for an hour (it's hard work being a flower girl, BTW. you have to smile, smile, smile. :). Karly made it down the aisle without all that silly stuff like pretty petal throwing. With every step, she muttered, "Don't be nervous. Don't be nervous." And when she got to the end of the aisle, she stuck out her tongue and announced, "That was NOT fun!" Like I had lied to her when I told her how much fun it would be. Sigh...

The ceremony was beautiful, and Karly entertained herself by taking lots of pictures of Uncle David and her new Aunt Annalisa. The day after the wedding, we escaped to Coeur D'Alene, Idaho with Pop Pop and Aunt Christy for a little fun playtime before the drive home.