Yowza! All the Books, Day 10: Sandra Merville Hart

Sandra Merville Hart, A Musket in My Hands

Congratulations Deb Forbes, yesterday's Yowza! All the Books! #giveaway winner! You have won an autographed copy of Kelly Goshorn's novel, A Love Restored. Watch your email for official notification and instructions.

When I was in third grade, my teacher took us to the library every week. We could check out books, but I just stared at the shelves. How could I pick from so many books?

The librarian asked me what kind of books I liked. I didn’t know the answer. She suggested starting with biographies. These were about little boys and girls who grew up to do something important.

I took her advice and found I loved to read. What a treasure there was inside a library! I asked her where books came from.

She said, “People write them.”

“Wow,” I said. “I want to be a people who writes books.” And the dream never left me, even when it seemed impossible to pursue.

When I was still in elementary school, I began reading a mystery series with Trixie Belden by Julie Campbell. Trixie was around 14 and I was 11. She was great at solving mysteries and it got me interested in that genre. I still enjoy a great mystery or suspense novel.

In fact, this series inspired me to write my first book. While in sixth grade, I wrote The Mystery of the Missing Diamond Ring. A friend illustrated it and I dreamed the book would be published. My English teacher encouraged me to continue writing, but she had no time to read my book. She gave it to my homeroom teacher. He returned it to me. “I read it,” was his only comment.

I buried the book in my dresser drawer.

A few years later, I read and loved Little Women so much that my favorite author was probably Louisa May Alcott. I cried my heart out over poor Beth’s illness. To this day, I can’t read that part without crying. The writing is very well done.

My debut Civil War romance is A Stranger on My Land. It’s set on Lookout Mountain, Tennessee, following the Battle Above the Clouds. It was published in 2014.

About Sandra:

Award-winning and Amazon bestselling author Sandra Merville Hart loves to uncover little-known yet fascinating facts about our American history to include in her stories A Musket in My Hands, a Civil War romance where two sisters join the Confederate army with the men they love, is 2019 Serious Writer Medal Fiction Winner and a 2019 Selah Award Finalist.  A Rebel in My House, set during the historic Battle of Gettysburg, won the 2018 Silver Illumination Award and second place in 2018 Faith, Hope and Love Readers’ Choice Award. Her debut Civil War Romance, A Stranger On My Land, was IRCA Finalist 2015. Her novella, Surprised by Love in “From the Lake to the River” is set during the 1913 flood in Troy, Ohio. Trail’s End, in “Smitten Novella Collection: The Cowboys” releases on August 15, 2019.

About A Musket in My Hands

“Can I count on you in times of great need?”

Callie Jennings reels from her pa’s decision that she must marry his friend, a man older than him. Her heart belongs to her soldier hero, Zach Pearson, but Pa won’t change his mind. Callie has no place to hide. Then her sister, Louisa, proposes a shocking alternative.

Zach still hears his pa’s scornful word—quitter. He’s determined to make something of himself as a soldier. He’ll serve the Confederacy until they win the war. If they win the war.  

Callie and Louisa disguise themselves as soldiers and muster into the Confederate army in the fall of 1864. Times are tough and getting tougher for their Confederacy. For Callie, shooting anyone, especially former countrymen, is out of the question—until truth and love and honor come together on the battlefield.

Connect with Sandra:

Website: https://sandramervillehart.wordpress.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sandra.m.hart.7

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Sandra_M_Hart

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/sandramhart7/

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Sandra-Merville-Hart/e/B00OBSJ3PU/

Your turn!

Visit Sandra’s website to be able to answer the following question to be entered into today’s giveaway of A Musket in My Hands: Under what name did former slave Maria Lewis muster into the Union Army in 1863? (Hint: https://sandramervillehart.wordpress.com/)

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