Heartstrings - Historical Romance
Anna Katz has one goal in life: to convince the women at the St. Paul, MN Garment Factory to join the union and fight for the working rights they justly deserve. When she meets the tall, handsome Nils Bjørnsen, a fiddler from Voss, Norway, she asks him to join her at a union meeting.
Nils left the family farm-and bitter memories-to start a new life in America. He is charmed by the feisty, independent red head and soon discovers Anna's family left Russia in 1891 to escape persecution. The common bond they share as immigrants sets the basis for a budding friendship.
Anna, however, comes from a strict Jewish family, and her mother strenuously objects to her daughter's friendship with a non-Jew. Her father though, immediately takes a liking to Nils. He tells Anna to make her own decision, but advises that she choose someone of her own heritage and religion.
Anna convinces Nils to play his hardingfele fiddle at a union picnic. His music reaches out and soothes Anna's troubled mind, and she remembers her father’s words: a violinist must have a good heart; it takes something of a man's soul to make the instrument sing.
After the concert, Anna contemplates her mother's commands and her father's sage advice. Her heart, however, tells her that Nils is a good man and she decides to meet him secretly.
Her decision leads to life-changing consequences. Hired thugs break Nils' hand and beat him viciously until he faces death's door. Anna, in turn, learns a shattering family secret that sends her fleeing from her home.
Can their love survive the deception and pain to come? - Read an Excerpt
or Reviews
Ordering Info
Please email me at [email protected] for details. Price: $8.00 for paperback or $4.00 for MS Word CD + shipping. Tax included. I accept checks or paypal.
Nils left the family farm-and bitter memories-to start a new life in America. He is charmed by the feisty, independent red head and soon discovers Anna's family left Russia in 1891 to escape persecution. The common bond they share as immigrants sets the basis for a budding friendship.
Anna, however, comes from a strict Jewish family, and her mother strenuously objects to her daughter's friendship with a non-Jew. Her father though, immediately takes a liking to Nils. He tells Anna to make her own decision, but advises that she choose someone of her own heritage and religion.
Anna convinces Nils to play his hardingfele fiddle at a union picnic. His music reaches out and soothes Anna's troubled mind, and she remembers her father’s words: a violinist must have a good heart; it takes something of a man's soul to make the instrument sing.
After the concert, Anna contemplates her mother's commands and her father's sage advice. Her heart, however, tells her that Nils is a good man and she decides to meet him secretly.
Her decision leads to life-changing consequences. Hired thugs break Nils' hand and beat him viciously until he faces death's door. Anna, in turn, learns a shattering family secret that sends her fleeing from her home.
Can their love survive the deception and pain to come? - Read an Excerpt
or Reviews
Ordering Info
Please email me at [email protected] for details. Price: $8.00 for paperback or $4.00 for MS Word CD + shipping. Tax included. I accept checks or paypal.
Ball of Wax - a Sequel to Heartstrings
Kirsten Olsen's boss has just given her the chance of a lifetime - a free trip to Norway to recruit and sponsor Trond Skogheim, a former world champion skier turned recluse in the mountains of Voss, for a series of US cross country ski races. Kirsten is excited by the opportunity to connect with her ancestors by visiting the farm that once belonged to her great-grandfather Nils, who left Norway in the 1890s.
Trond Skogheim is arrogant and antisocial and it is only through a lot of persistence and a bit of down home Wisconsin charm, that Kirsten manages to break through his defenses and get him to agree to be sponsored. As Trond begins to emerge from his shell bit by bit, Kirsten discovers that he is a sweet but troubled man. They spend an idyllic week exploring Norway and later reconnect in Minnesota and Wisconsin for the Vasaloppet and the Birkebeiner races.
After Trond returns to Norway, Kirsten discovers that she is pregnant. She breaks the news to Trond who demands that she have an abortion and accuses her of blackmailing him. Shocked and angry, she vows to never contact him again. But just four years later, her son's life-threatening kidney failure forces her to reconsider, because Trond Skogheim is the last possibility of a matching kidney donor for the little boy.
Will Kirsten break her promise and contact the man whom she wants to forget? Will Trond acknowledge his past and save his son's life?
Read an Excerpt and Reviews from the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Contest.
Trond Skogheim is arrogant and antisocial and it is only through a lot of persistence and a bit of down home Wisconsin charm, that Kirsten manages to break through his defenses and get him to agree to be sponsored. As Trond begins to emerge from his shell bit by bit, Kirsten discovers that he is a sweet but troubled man. They spend an idyllic week exploring Norway and later reconnect in Minnesota and Wisconsin for the Vasaloppet and the Birkebeiner races.
After Trond returns to Norway, Kirsten discovers that she is pregnant. She breaks the news to Trond who demands that she have an abortion and accuses her of blackmailing him. Shocked and angry, she vows to never contact him again. But just four years later, her son's life-threatening kidney failure forces her to reconsider, because Trond Skogheim is the last possibility of a matching kidney donor for the little boy.
Will Kirsten break her promise and contact the man whom she wants to forget? Will Trond acknowledge his past and save his son's life?
Read an Excerpt and Reviews from the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Contest.
Timeless Tune and With Strings Attached - Two Short Stories
The night before the Hardanger Fiddle Association 2002 Concert, Karen Kjelland is woken up by a man playing the hardanger fiddle in her living room. Anders Johannsen claims to have participated in the 1912 fiddle competition in Stoughton, WI. Karen persuades him to play for the concert the next day. Is Anders crazy or is he the only person to participate in both events? A Timeless Tune has a little romance and a little science fiction. Email me if you want to read, A Timeless Tune an I can send you the file. It was originally published by Port Town Publishing - 14 Pieces of Gold Anthology.
Katie O'Connor fell asleep on the Chicago EL train and woke up in 1883 Dakota Territory about to get married to Vasily Kuznetsov, a man with whom her great-great-aunt corresponded, but never had the chance to marry. Did Katie travel in time to complete what her relative started? Email me if you want a copy of the story, With Strings Attached - I can send you the file. It was originally published by Port Town Publishing - 16 Pieces of Gold Anthology With Strings Attached is A Timeless Tune in reverse and yes, it contains violins and cats!
Katie O'Connor fell asleep on the Chicago EL train and woke up in 1883 Dakota Territory about to get married to Vasily Kuznetsov, a man with whom her great-great-aunt corresponded, but never had the chance to marry. Did Katie travel in time to complete what her relative started? Email me if you want a copy of the story, With Strings Attached - I can send you the file. It was originally published by Port Town Publishing - 16 Pieces of Gold Anthology With Strings Attached is A Timeless Tune in reverse and yes, it contains violins and cats!