Kate's Pride sounds like a great read.
I would hope I would stand tall but I think you never know how you react until you are in the situation

I noticed on amazon they list your illustrator -- is that just the covers, or inside, too?

Sam

Hi Renee, and welcome to Cigars!! Wow...this book sounds fabulous! I definitely know what I'm doing on my way home from work this afternoon; hitting my local B&N!

I think we all hope our family will be our safety net when life sweeps our feet out from under us. Thankfully, my family has always been there, through thick and thin.

In my freshman year of college, my roommate became pregnant. Her parents told her she couldn't come home for Christmas because she was a bad role model for her younger siblings, and they didn't want to have to explain her shame to the younger brother and sister. Can you imagine? They expected her to just stay on campus until the baby was born, then give it up for adoption and continue on with her life. They didn't want to know about it, didn't want to deal with it, and didn't want to support her in any way. And that was 1981, not 1867!!

She decided to dig in deep and stand tall. Thankfully, her boyfriend was also this amazing guy. He was a senior and lived off campus, and his family took her in with open arms. She delivered a healthy boy, they got married, she finished her degree, and they've been together now for 25 years. I just love happy endings!

Oh, my goodness...I have to get this book. I'm in a college history class right now and we just finished up the post-Civil War unit. I am loving this class--which is ironic because I hated it in high school ten years ago--and would absolutely love to read about your GG grandmother's, er, Kate's :), story and how life was for her then, especially in that situation!!

If I win the book, great, but I'll definitely be buying it if I don't!

Thanks for blogging here today, Renee!

I was with a man who walked out 6 days before our son was born. He took my car, cleaned out the bank account and took off. He wasn't ready for fatherhood.

Okay, deep breath, I could deal with this. I was a strong woman, right? I immediately called my mommy!

Well, see, I wasn't married to said man. And that really bothered her so she was sorrry, but due to her morals and her church she didn't think she could help me out.

Long story, short, she did come around. In fact, she arrived in time to take me to the hospital and was there when my son was born.

But in those 6 days I learnt that it was truly all up to me.

I had quit my job the day before his disappearance as I hadn't wanted to work with a baby. I called my boss and asked her when I could come back to work (having to swallow my pride and tell her what had happened) and she told me as soon as I was able.

She even told me I could bring the baby to work with me if I needed to.

I had an older woman friend who lived nearby and she offered me the spare bedroom at her place. She rented it to a guy but he offered to sleep on the pull out sofa so I could have some privacy. So I told my landlord I'd be out before the next month.

I contacted another friend, whom I knew had an old car that barely worked but I only had 11 miles to work. I made arrangements to trade her the car for some beautiful handthrown pottery I had that she coveted. The pottery was worth way more than the car so she bought the first tank of gas also.

I had all of this done before my mother showed up. When she came to my door I have to admit, I didn't even want to open it at first but I did and we fell into each other's arms and we worked it out.

But I know I'm a strong woman, even if I sometimes I don't act it.

ani

Hi Renee. Kate's Pride sounds great. I love books set in this era. I think it is great that you based the book on the life of one of your great grandmothers.

Renee, your book sounds wonderful, and I agree--I like to think that I'd react with strength and grace to such a tough situation, but I really don't know. (I've been known to crumple under much less strain!)

Ani, thanks for sharing your own story--you are pretty incredible! And I'm glad your mother stepped up and you were able to have some support from her in the end.

No matter my own reactions, I do love reading about strong heroines and how they rise to overcome their circumstances. Those are always wonderfully inspiring stories!

What a wonderful story Renee, and one I would look forward to reading. I'm one of those people that I am strong, I can bend, but stretch me so far and I break. But then, take a deep breathe, slowly put the pieces back together again. They may not be the same but I may be better, stronger, more flexible. If I were in Kate's shoes, I would take time to feel sorry for myself, but then I would start to plan and see how it all fits into the big picture of my life and make the most of it.

~~ Wendy

I'm going to have to put Kate's Pride on my WL! Sounds like a great, human story.

I agree, I think we all believe we will stand tall - and we all want to - but we never know until we get up in that situation. I've faced hardships and in some cases I've stood tall and in some, I've tucked tail and run.

This sounds like a hearwrenching story. I am not sure how I would handle being in a situation like Kate's. I am very close to my family and could not imagine being rejected like that. How awful! Sounds like Kate goes through alot of hardship in this story.

Kates Pride is my kind of read. I love reading Historicals, they are my favorite type of book to read. There doesn't seem to be that many historical writers out there these days.

I would like to think I would stand tall, but you never know until you are in that situation.
Am putting Kates Pride on my To Buy list.

This strikes a chord with me. I've had a couple situations in my life that were difficult, to say the least and found that you can only really count on yourself. Sometimes the people you think will pull you through, are the ones to bail first, unfortunately. The sad part is, when they are ready to act like nothing ever happened, you never forget the things that were said and done. This sure sounds like a great book and I'm glad she pulls herself up and moves on. That's just not easy to do sometimes.

I don't know what I'd do being in Kate's position.
Acutally my daughter has been in Kate's position (twice now) and it isn't as easy to give unconditional love as I would have hoped it to be.

I'd love to read Kate's Pride and hear her story.

The book sounds wonderful since I love historicals. I think more and more families are not there for each other - we're scattered to too many places. Back when your story happened though there's the problem of so much having to listen to tradition and people caring too much sometimes about what other people think. I think most people do stand tall though when necessary.

I would like to think I would stand tall. When we are in the midst of adversity it doesn't seem like we are strong. We just do what we must but looking back we can see how far we have come. My sister told me 13 years ago that I was the strongest woman she knew and I have never forgotten that and I still try to live up to the compliment.

Pam

Hey Ani, send me an email at renee@reneerussell.com with your snail mail address so I can send you your book.

To Everyone - I had a great time with all of y'all. Thanks so much for visiting and commenting on my guest blog. Hope to see all of you around Cigars in the future!

Renee

Renee Russell
www.reneerussell.com
KATE'S PRIDE - available at www.wings-press.com

Hey Ani, send me an email at renee@reneerussell.com with your snail mail address so I can send you your book.

To Everyone - I had a great time with all of y'all. Thanks so much for visiting and commenting on my guest blog. Hope to see all of you around Cigars in the future!

Renee

Renee Russell
www.reneerussell.com
KATE'S PRIDE - available at www.wings-press.com

Congrats Ani... the book looks great!