Blog Layout

Recipe for Disaster -- Heroine Spotlight and New Release

Donna Schlachter • Mar 03, 2023

This is the first of two Spotlights I'm doing in preparation for the release of the first in a brand new series.


In deciding the plot for this, the first book in a brand new series with multiple authors, I felt my heroine’s name was very important. In most other books, I figure out who she is first, then decide on a name that fits. In this case, I opted to find the scripture verse first.

I ended up using the one that talks about hope deferred—and realized that was my character. Deferred. Put on a shelf. Not really needed.


As the oldest of four sisters, Hope is the only one not married. She still lives in the family home, alone. Her faith has carried her through the struggles of the Civil War, but now she’s simply worn out. Then along comes a wounded soldier and three orphaned children. Suddenly she’s needed again.


The premise of the Recipe Box series is that each author will tell the story of one family and a recipe box that gets handed down through the years. In my case, Hope purchases her recipe box. In fact, written recipes didn’t become common until another hundred years or so. Recipes, as we know them now, didn’t exist. Instead, they might be jotted on the back of another piece of paper, like an old envelope, and tucked into a flour container. Instructions started with the first step: cream a handful of butter with a cup of sugar”, for example. Uniform measures didn’t come about until Fannie Farmer and her famous cookbook of the late 1890s was published.


Hope faces a serious dilemma in this book: how to nurse the soldier back to health without lying to him. He has amnesia, and the doctor said not to tell him the truth, because the shock could send him into a mental breakdown. This man thinks he is in Georgia with his wife and children, when in fact he’s in Pennsylvania with Hope and the three orphans.


The book releases March 7th, but the ebook is available for pre-order here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BMGFKVKN

You can check out the Series here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BMM1CTLJ

 

 

About Recipe for Disaster:

A spinster sister, left behind by her four younger sisters, feels unwanted and unneeded. But when three orphans and a wounded soldier turn up on her doorstep, her life takes on new meaning.


A man in search of his family—has he found them at last? But something isn’t quite right.


Can God weave these five lives into something beautiful for His glory, or will half-truths and missing memories create a recipe for disaster?

 

About Donna:

A hybrid author, Donna writes squeaky clean historical and contemporary suspense. She has been published more than 60 times in books; is a member of several writers groups; facilitates a critique group; teaches writing classes; ghostwrites; edits; and judges in writing contests. She loves history and research, traveling extensively for both, and is an avid oil painter. Donna also coaches writers who struggle to produce the first draft of their next book. You can check that out at www.DonnaSchlachter.com/Tapestry

 

Connecting Online:

www.DonnaSchlachter.com Stay connected so you learn about new releases, preorders, and presales, as well as check out featured authors, book reviews, and a little corner of peace. Plus: Receive 2 free ebooks simply for signing up for our free newsletter!

www.DonnaSchlachter.com/blog

Facebook: www.Facebook.com/DonnaschlachterAuthor

Twitter: www.Twitter.com/DonnaSchlachter

Books: Amazon: http://amzn.to/2ci5Xqq

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/donna-schlachter

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&query=donna+schlachter 

Share by: