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Merrillee Whren is the winner of the 2003 Golden Heart Award presented by Romance Writers of American. She is married to her own personal hero, her husband of forty-plus years, and has two grown daughters. Connect with her on her Facebook page.

Too Close for Comfort by Pat Simmons

This past weekend, my husband, two sisters-in-law and niece headed to Branson for a family reunion, a four-hour scenic ride from St. Louis. Of course, drivers have to make a pit stop at Redmon Candy Factory in Phillipsburg, Missouri, next to the World’s Largest Gift Shop. If you like sweets, then you will be a kid in a candy store, literally.

Branson is Vegas of the Midwest with its shows, shopping, Silver Dollar City (great activities for children), and Ride the Ducks boat excursions—a popular tourist attraction.

More than twenty years ago, my husband and I took the excursion with our then small children during a summer vacation. The ride is a Branson “must do,” and the Simmons did it. It was an amazing experience to be in this big armor vehicle driving on land one moment, then heading into the water the next, as if it were going for a swim. It really was a “Wow” thrill.

Last week, the Duck ride became a horrific wow.  Watching the video of the doomed excursion, I couldn’t help but think what if that accident had happened while my family of four had been riding inside? Thank the Lord, we will able to walk away and say it was fun. Unfortunately, after last week’s accident, many families won’t share those same sentiments, including Tia Coleman who lost nine family members—her baby, husband, in-laws, and others.

While our reunion was celebrating family, others were mourning their loss. Here we are gathered around the fountain at our hotel, lighting candles to remember our loved ones who are gone.

Let us continue to pray for the healing, comfort, and good memories for the survivors and families of the Ride the Duck tragedy. 

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Pat Simmons has penned more than thirty-five titles. She is a self-proclaimed genealogy sleuth who is passionate about researching her ancestors, then casting them in starring roles in her novels. She is a three-time recipient of the Romance Slam Jam Emma Rodgers Award for Best Inspirational Romance. Pat describes the evidence of the gift of the Holy Ghost as a life-altering experience. She has been a featured speaker and workshop presenter at various venues across the country. Pat has converted her sofa-strapped sports fanatical husband into an amateur travel agent, untrained bodyguard, GPS-guided chauffeur, and administrative assistant who is constantly on probation. They have a son and a daughter. Pat holds a B.S. in mass communications from Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts. Visit her at www.patsimmons.net.

June Fun by Pat Simmons

Last month, I shared my excitement about attending my high school class reunion for the first time. I had a blast!! Did I say I had fun?

It was a group reunion for recent graduates of 2012, who were celebrating their first five year reunion, all the way back to 1972, and I fit right in there. Of course, the 2012 graduates had the most attendees, but Class of ’77 had the most fun.

It's amazing what people remember about you from high school. For example, former Student Council President Mary Winkelmann (In the blue dress), remembered I showed her how to dance the hustle during our lunch periods. The hustle? Wow, I couldn't remember the dance moves, so I have to rely on YouTube. Do you know how many versions there are??

Besides enjoying tasty hot hors d'oeuvres, the music videos that highlighted 40 years brought back memories. --loved it, but the photo booth was the best. The props are always fun, so I grabbed the phone, considering I stayed on it enough during high school. 

A few days later, I celebrated another wedding anniversary with Kerry. I found it interesting that I could still fit the dress I wore four years earlier. 

Here are Kerry and me at dinner. What's amusing about this picture is the coordinated yawns in the background. What an amusing photo bomb.

Oh, by the way, my husband wasn’t intimidated being around a bunch of women at the reunion. J

I hope you're enjoying your some too. Believe it or not, I've been writing like crazy. I'll share those new releases with you next month.

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Pat Simmons has celebrated ten years as a published author with more than thirty titles. She is a self-proclaimed genealogy sleuth who is passionate about researching her ancestors and then casting them in starring roles in her novels.

She is a three-time recipient of the Romance Slam Jam Emma Rodgers Award for Best Inspirational Romance. Pat describes the evidence of the gift of the Holy Ghost as an amazing, unforgettable, life-altering experience.

Pat holds a B.S. in mass communications from Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts. She has worked in various media positions for more than twenty years. Currently, she oversees the media publicity for the annual RT Booklovers Conventions.

She has been a featured speaker and workshop presenter at various venues across the country and converted her sofa-strapped sports fanatic husband into an amateur travel agent, untrained bodyguard, GPS-guided chauffeur.

Readers may learn more about Pat and her books by connecting with her on social media, www.patsimmons.net, or by contacting her at authorpatsimmons@gmail.

Family Ties

As most of us celebrate Thanksgiving with family and friends today, imagine the relatives we have yet to meet. Who are they? What’s their name? Where do they live?

It’s no secret I enjoy genealogy, and I incorporate discoveries as plots in my Guilty/Jamieson Legacy series. I’ve uncovered identities, scandals and even connected with black and white descendants. One particular day, my family research took a surprising turn.

One of my kinfolks was sitting at the desk next to me. The revelation came when she mentioned Sikeston, Missouri, a small city a few hours from St. Louis.

I said, “I have cousins there,” and gave Annada my maiden name.

She had Coles in her family too.  I started calling off names, but when I mentioned elderly cousin Earl from Mobile, Alabama, the connection was made.

Annada got on the phone and called cousin “Goat,” someone I had never heard of.

When I went home that night, I pulled up the family tree chart and was able to connect the dots. The names she mentioned were descendants of one of my grandfather’s many siblings.

Amazing. For years, I’ve tracked down kinfolks for my genealogy research by visiting different cities, making strange phone calls, and pouring over censuses and other documents from the 1800s.

It’s still mind boggling that a short term job assignment in my home town brought me face-to-face to an unknown cousin.

A similar situation happened to another cousin in Chicago. Birda had worked with a woman for years. When her coworker died, and she attended the funeral, Birda was in for a shocker. The deceased was actually a cousin. Imagine passing by a person every day and not knowing you’re related. Eerie.

When we told our supervisor about the discovery, she said, “Keep it down, I’m not supposed to have relatives working in the same department.”

That cracked both of us up. After all, we hadn’t been kin until a day earlier.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone from some of my cousins after church service this morning.

Pat is the multi-published author of more than thirty Christian titles, and is a three-time recipient of the Emma Rodgers Award for Best Inspirational Romance. She has been a featured speaker and workshop presenter at various venues across the country.

As a self-proclaimed genealogy sleuth, Pat is passionate about researching her ancestors and then casting them in starring roles in her novels. She describes the evidence of the gift of the Holy Ghost as an amazing, unforgettable, life-altering experience. God is the Author who advances the stories she writes.

Pat currently oversees the media publicity for the annual RT Booklovers Conventions. She has a B.S. in mass communications from Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts.

Pat converted her sofa-strapped, sports fanatic husband into an amateur travel agent, untrained bodyguard, GPS-guided chauffeur, and administrative assistant who is constantly on probation. They have a son and a daughter. 

Her newest release is Love Led By the Spirit. Minister Rossi Tolliver is ready to settle down. Besides the outward attraction, he desires a woman who is sweet, humble, and loves church folks. Sounds simple enough on paper, but when he gets off his knees, praying for that special someone to come into his life, God opens his eyes to the woman who has been there all along. There’s a slight problem. Jesetta “Jet” Hutchens lives by her own set of rules. Love is the farthest thing from her mind. But Rossi, the man and the minister, is hard to resist. Is Jet ready to allow the Holy Spirit to lead her to love?

Read more about Pat and her books by visiting www.patsimmons.net or on social media.