This week we welcome Lauralee Bliss to Author Memories.
Lauralee Bliss has always liked to dream big dreams.
Part of that dream was writing, and after several years
of hard work, the dream of publishing was realized in
1997 with the publication of her first romance novel, Mountaintop, through Barbour Publishing. Since then, she's had over twenty books published in both historical and contemporary.
Lauralee is also an avid hiker, completing the entire length of the Appalachian Trail both north and south, one of only 24 women to have accomplished this feat. Lauralee makes her home with her family in Virginia in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Part of that dream was writing, and after several years
of hard work, the dream of publishing was realized in
1997 with the publication of her first romance novel, Mountaintop, through Barbour Publishing. Since then, she's had over twenty books published in both historical and contemporary.
Lauralee is also an avid hiker, completing the entire length of the Appalachian Trail both north and south, one of only 24 women to have accomplished this feat. Lauralee makes her home with her family in Virginia in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
True Heroines of Long Ago
by Lauralee Bliss
Back some forty years ago, the celebrated heroines were quite different than they are today. I remember my great delight in scanning the Christmas catalogs for toys I wanted as a child and came across this picture of great costumes for children. One of them is a nurse's uniform. Yes, these angels of mercy were adored back in my day. They were classified as true heroines. To me growing up, it was quite glamorous to bandage a wound, put a cloth on a fevered brow, comfort those in misery.
One Christmas I was given a doctor kit like the one shown here to use in my playtime. I adored it. It had everything from tiny plastic pill bottles to a play sphygmomanometer (to take a blood pressure), stethoscope, thermometer, and tiny box of band aids.
One Christmas I was given a doctor kit like the one shown here to use in my playtime. I adored it. It had everything from tiny plastic pill bottles to a play sphygmomanometer (to take a blood pressure), stethoscope, thermometer, and tiny box of band aids.
Sears 1975 Wishbook, Photo on Flikr by Wishbook
I recall one day when my sisters and I created a “doll hospital.” The dolls were our patents. We had a tray on wheels which we used as a stretcher. We wheeled the injured dolls into the laundry room which served as the examination room. I’d take out my pride and joy, the black doctor’s kit with the big red cross on it and proceed to take a blood pressure and put a tiny band-aid on a tiny plastic leg. Then I would wrap it in a strip of cotton torn from Mom’s old sheets. Eventually all this interest led to a Bachelor of Science degree in nursing and going on to practice for several years at a big teaching hospital.
Oh, those were the days and good ones when true heroines for little girls, like nurses and teachers, were admired and adored. I wish we could return to that kind of admiration these days. Recalling when firemen, policemen, doctors, nurses were heralded for their brave deeds.
Maybe that’s why I like writing historical novels. I like to examine the tried and true heroine of days gone by, when caring for the home and hearth were prized. I like to reflect on that period of time that made this country great. When women taught their children and maintained the strength and dignity of the home. In my newest release
"A Quaker Christmas" the heroine ultimately becomes a “nurse" of the heart for the wounded hero injured by a terrible crime committed to a beloved family member. In this we see that nursing the injured can take on other forms besides hands on care such as giving words of healing and comfort, providing shelter, showing mercy.
Much has changed since these simple times of long ago, but I was encouraged just
today in church when I learned of at least four women looking to make nursing their profession. While it may not be the heroine’s costume of choice in a toy catalog, the call to care for others and be a light in times of great need still beckons to the heart and soul. True heroines can be found and cherished even today.
Oh, those were the days and good ones when true heroines for little girls, like nurses and teachers, were admired and adored. I wish we could return to that kind of admiration these days. Recalling when firemen, policemen, doctors, nurses were heralded for their brave deeds.
Maybe that’s why I like writing historical novels. I like to examine the tried and true heroine of days gone by, when caring for the home and hearth were prized. I like to reflect on that period of time that made this country great. When women taught their children and maintained the strength and dignity of the home. In my newest release
"A Quaker Christmas" the heroine ultimately becomes a “nurse" of the heart for the wounded hero injured by a terrible crime committed to a beloved family member. In this we see that nursing the injured can take on other forms besides hands on care such as giving words of healing and comfort, providing shelter, showing mercy.
Much has changed since these simple times of long ago, but I was encouraged just
today in church when I learned of at least four women looking to make nursing their profession. While it may not be the heroine’s costume of choice in a toy catalog, the call to care for others and be a light in times of great need still beckons to the heart and soul. True heroines can be found and cherished even today.
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Leave a comment with a valid email address by midnight, Nov 20th
to be entered to win a copy of Lauralee's 2009 Christmas book,
Love Finds You in Bethlehem, NH.
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Leave a comment with a valid email address by midnight, Nov 20th
to be entered to win a copy of Lauralee's 2009 Christmas book,
Love Finds You in Bethlehem, NH.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lauralee's newest release is a Christmas novella, A Crossroad to Love in:
A Quaker Christmas, Barbour Books, Sep 2011
A Quaker Christmas back cover blurb:
Christmas is a simple matter among the Quakers of the historic Ohio River Valley, but can it be time to welcome love into four households?
A Crossroad to Love, a novella
by Lauralee Bliss:
The Hall family runs an inn that welcomes travelers like Silas Jones who challenge their beliefs and woo their daughter.
plus 3 more novellas in this anthology.
Christmas is a simple matter among the Quakers of the historic Ohio River Valley, but can it be time to welcome love into four households?
A Crossroad to Love, a novella
by Lauralee Bliss:
The Hall family runs an inn that welcomes travelers like Silas Jones who challenge their beliefs and woo their daughter.
plus 3 more novellas in this anthology.
You can find Lauralee online at these sites:
Website: http://www.lauraleebliss.com
Blog: http://www.blissfullifejourney.com
“Readers of Author Lauralee Bliss” on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Readers-of-Author-Lauralee-Bliss/170259122202
Follow Lauralee on Twitter – @lauraleebliss
Website: http://www.lauraleebliss.com
Blog: http://www.blissfullifejourney.com
“Readers of Author Lauralee Bliss” on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Readers-of-Author-Lauralee-Bliss/170259122202
Follow Lauralee on Twitter – @lauraleebliss
