When Love Blooms

16 01, 2023

The Fitzpatrick Series is finished so why am I sad?

By |2023-01-08T12:10:00-06:00January 16th, 2023|A Writer's Life, Book Release Announcement|0 Comments

Judythe Morgan Fitzpatrick seriesWhen Love Comes Home, the last of the Fitzpatrick Family Series, released in December 2022. I should be excited and anxious to plunge into a new manuscript, only I’m not.

I do have a sense of relief along with exhaustion considering the amount of energy and focus it took to “birth” Sammy and Tiffany’s story.

But there’s also this lonely feeling that keeps creeping in. I found comfort in knowing I had a Fitzpatrick sibling romance to work on every morning and dream about at night.

I miss the arguments where the siblings tried to persuade me to change my outline. I must admit, sometimes what they came up with was better and more interesting than what I’d planned.

After sharing my feelings with writer friends, I’ve discovered I’m not alone. Sluggishness, a lack of motivation, and energy are common when a writer finishes a book. When an author finishes a series that has taken years to complete the feelings are stronger.

It will subside they assure me. Time for me to move on and do the next thing they advise, reminding me all the Fitzpatrick siblings – Andy and Darcy, Becca and Ethan, Sarah and Nick, Josh and Mara, Faith and Blake, Sammy and Tiffany – have found their soulmate.

And that’s true.

So I’ve started a new manuscript. The new characters and I are doing that first 50- or 60-page dance of discovery. Soon they’ll begin to talk to me, and argue, then I’m sure I’ll be able to bid Sammy and Tiffany and the others farewell.

Want to meet the Fitzpatrick Family? Click the links below. Each novel can be read as a standalone story.

When Love Blooms

When Love Returns

When Love Endures

When Love Trusts

When Love Wins

When Love Comes Home

If you have an Amazon Kindle Unlimited subscription, you can read all the books for FREE.

24 08, 2015

From contest entry to book series

By |2015-08-22T15:20:48-05:00August 24th, 2015|Book Release Announcement|0 Comments

AMAZ cover for WLRI’m skipping my regular Make Me Think Monday blog for some important book release news. The second book in the Fitzpatrick Family Series is now available.

The Fitzpatrick family came to life from an entry in a contest sponsored by The White Rose Press back in 2009. I didn’t win that contest. However, in the process of revising my entry, now titled When Love Blooms, for publication last year, the hero’s seven brothers and sisters kept chattering in my head wanting their stories told. Eight preacher kids, each with a sweet romance story of his or her own to share and more story ideas were born.

Read the full account of how my contest entry became a book series here.

When Love Returns tells of Becca Fitzpatrick’s journey to happily ever after. Here’s the back cover copy:

Becca Fitzpatrick fell in love with Ethan Wells at age five. At eight, he proposed. At seventeen, he disappeared and broke her heart. Twelve years later, he returns with a new name – Ethan LaMotte – and a new life in Paris. He claims he’s never stopped loving her.

Once upon a time, Becca believed him. Not anymore. Now family, friends, and adoring students fill her life. Plus, she has an opportunity for the job of her dreams in her small Texas hometown.

Although their lives and work are an ocean apart, Ethan won’t lose Becca another time. But, will she risk her heart again and accept this new Ethan’s proposal?

Get your copy of When Love Returns from any of these bookstores:

AMAZON US

AMAZON UK

NOOK

iBooks

KOBO

I hope you have as much fun reading Becca and Ethan’s story as I did creating it.

17 08, 2015

Five Back-to-School Tips for a Good School Year

By |2015-08-17T14:38:20-05:00August 17th, 2015|Make Me Think Monday|0 Comments

School bells will soon be ringing. In some places, the bells already signal the beginning of the new school year.

Everywhere parents and kids are hoping for a really good year. I’m offering some tips today from fictional teachers that will make that happen.

In my latest sweet romance series, The Fitzpatrick Family where each of eight preacher kids has his or her own romance story, books one and two are about school teachers.

WLB_cover_2015_100x150Andy Fitzpatrick of When Love Blooms is a special education teacher working with at-risk high school students.

WLR_cover_100x150Becca Fitzpatrick of When Love Returns is a middle school teacher with aspirations to be the school principal. No spoilers here. You’ll have to read the book.

Brother and sister put their heads together and came up with these five tips to help make this school year an all-round success.

• Before that first day, take a virtual tour of the school with your child and/or visit the school’s website. You’ll find a wealth of information to speed the process and avoid awkward first-day moments.

• Plan a “bus stop breakfast” for your elementary age child on the first day of school. Nothing fancy, simple is best. Becca thinks it’s a great way to start any school day.

• Take your pre-teen or teen to the local mall and splurge on a new outfit. Andy reminds us that wearing what’s trendy is especially important at this age.

• No matter what their age, encourage your child to reach out and introduce themselves. They’ll make new friends so much faster. On the flip side, remind your child to reach out to any new kids.

• At the end of the first day, be sure to ask how the day went or meet the bus then share an after-school snack.

The Fitzpatrick teachers wish all the students, teachers, and staffs a safe and productive new school year. And, so do I.

12 01, 2015

What’s ahead? What was behind?

By |2015-01-12T06:00:55-06:00January 12th, 2015|Holidays, Make Me Think Monday|0 Comments

January is the time for making resolutions for the New Year. Resolutions  never works for me. Too vague.New Year's Resolutions, list of items

If you read this blog regularly, you know I’m big on measurable goal setting and AARs.

However, if you are one of those who does make resolutions and need some hints and tips, check out this blog.

No resolutions for me this year, but I have done my yearly ARR– after action review – and posted my 2015 goals to my accountability group.

I was pleasantly surprised during my review to discover 2014 was a good goal year.

finishedAll the work on our house was completed. Landscaping changed the mountains of dirt from the remodel and addition to flower gardens and lovely walks. We ended the year with the hammers and saws stopped and the workers are all gone.

Goal success.

I managed two releases Claiming Annie’s Heart and When Love Blooms.    You can find both at all major on line book retailers for your e-readers or paperback.

2014 books

Unfortunately, my writing goal was to release three books.     Goal failure.

Yep! That’s the thing about goals. Sometimes we’re spot on. Sometimes we do all we can and fall short. Trouble is without goals we lack focus and too frequently flounder aimlessly.

We need to set goals then analyze why we fail AND why we succeed.

Not hard for me to know why my third book didn’t materialize. Last November I fell while playing Pickleball and broke my right wrist. Typing became, and still is, slow and sometimes painful.

I’m not beating myself up too much over the goal bust since what happened was a circumstance beyond my control. Well, mostly.

There are those who have aptly pointed out, trying to be athletic at this stage in my life maybe be a foolish goal and suggest I might want to eliminate such activity in the future instead of risking more injuries. I’ve taken the suggestion under consideration.

We’re twelve days into 2015. It’s cold, rainy, freezing in Texas. Colorado is sunny, bright, and snowless. Not the norm.Seems to me this is going to be a crazy year based on the start of things.

I’ve set my goals for the New Year and I’m going full speed ahead. What about you?

Let’s check back together this time next year and seem how we’ve done on our resolutions and goals.

30 06, 2014

BREAKING NEWS – New Book Release!

By |2014-06-30T06:00:44-05:00June 30th, 2014|Make Me Think Monday|0 Comments

??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

I’m interrupting our regular Make Me Think Monday blog for some personal news. I promise I’m not turning View from the Front Porch into a promo blog–it’s just I’m so excited about my new inspirational series debuting today.

When Love Blooms is now available for purchase for your Kindle. Nook and paperback versions will soon be ready too.

JP1600.2400After a hit-and-run accident leaves her mother confined to a special care facility, Darcy Clark abandons her dream of an art career. Instead, she focuses on helping her father run the struggling family landscape business. She has no time or interest in romance.

When at-risk students from her old high school become her labor force on a city park project, their teacher Andy Fitzpatrick shows up to help and keep an eye on his kids. The chemistry between Darcy and Andy is instant.

Darcy dares to daydream about the possibility of a happily-ever-after until a dark secret connecting Andy to her mother’s accident comes to light. But will the secret kill their attraction before romance can blossom?

If you’ve been around church long then you know the term PK (preacher’s kid), When Love Blooms is the first in the Fitzpatrick family series of novellas about the siblings of Pastor Colin Fitzpatrick and his wife Patricia, who live in a small town in central Texas.

The idea for this new series came from my many years of service in church ministry.

The fact I also happen to be the wife of a PK and the mother of a PhD theologian/preacher means I’ve got lots of good stuff planned for the other seven siblings of the Fitzpatrick family.

I hope you’ll enjoy reading When Love Blooms as much as I loved writing about Andy and Darcy’s love story.

Click here to get your Kindle copy.

 

 

 

2 06, 2014

Expecting an Exciting Summer

By |2014-06-02T06:00:54-05:00June 2nd, 2014|Make Me Think Monday|4 Comments

daffodilThis little guy popped out of the ground last week, bringing hope that spring and summer will arrive.

It’s about time.

Snowstorms in May were a major shock though our visiting grandchildren thought it was wonderful!

???????????????????????????????

My sister and her daughter from Texas decided to pack their long johns when they came to see us over Memorial weekend after the grandkids left.

Unfortunately, they needed the extra layer. It was cold and rainy the whole weekend.

That didn’t stop my hiking niece and husband from climbing up to 10,000 feet on Sentinel Peak.

hike

Summer folk are returning to town. It’s amazing to watch the RV parks filling and summer homes coming to life.

Last week the exterior painting of our house was finally been completed. ???????????????????????????????Soon, the mountains of dirt from the excavating for the garage addition will become tiered landscaping. Now that will be a much-welcomed sight.

The summer will bring family and friends escaping the heat where they live. Another thing I can wait to have happen. Nothing’s more fun than sitting on the porch visiting.

And, most exciting, I have a book releasing in June.

JM_WLB1_small

Details on official release date coming soon…

We’re off to a tremendous start for the season. So how’s your summer shaping up?

Go to Top