About Me

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Welcome to Heartstrings.Thanks for stopping by. I am a mother, a grandmother, and an author of historical western romance and contemporary romantic fiction. Ethan's Heart, book one of The Blackwood Brothers' series won the 2017 Maggie Award for Excellence. Book two, Escorting Darby Bloom, features Blackwood brother Isaac and will be released in December 2017. Stay tuned for more books in this series. If contemporaries are more your thing, check out Carly's Rule and Dusty's Fate. They are both Amazon Best-Sellers.

Sunday, May 21, 2017


Back in the Day

Ever wonder how veggies were preserved for the winter back in the day? I did, so I asked my mammaw about this. She'd told me they used to dig a ditch, fill it with straw, then lay in their potatoes, carrots, and onions. To protect the veggies, more straw would be put on top before covering with dirt. The veggies would last through the winter. Who needed a store when you could dig up what you needed in the back yard?

For more exclusive material, giveaways, contests, and other goodies, visit me here: http://saltrun.pub/2ldvfHq and subscribe to my mailing list. You'll automatically get a big sample of my current release, ETHAN'S HEART, as well as a sample of my upcoming book, ESCORTING DARBY BLOOM.

Monday, May 15, 2017

Back in the Day

Have you ever heard of a gnat smoke? Back in the day, we loved sitting outside on a summer evening at my grandparents' house in West Virginia, but the bugs would eat us up. Mammaw would put an old rag in a coal bucket, then set the rag on fire. She let it burn for a few minutes. After she tamped it out, the smoke would keep the bugs away, which was why she called it a gnat smoke.

For more exclusive material, giveaways, contests, and other goodies, visit me here: http://saltrun.pub/2ldvfHq and subscribe to my mailing list. You'll automatically get a big sample of my current release, ETHAN'S HEART, as well as a sample of my upcoming book, ESCORTING DARBY BLOOM.


 

Friday, May 5, 2017

BACK IN THE DAY

Ever heard of leather britches? This isn’t the kind that hugs your curves. LOL Back in the day, people would use string and a large-eye needle to help preserve their green beans for the winter. One by one, they threaded the string through the middle of the green beans. When they had strung a length of about three feet, they tied off the ends and hung the beans in a dry place. My Mammaw hung hers from the rafters of her enclosed porch. When the green beans had dried, they would turn brown and leathery, hence the name, leather britches. When Mammaw was ready to cook a pot, she would take down a string full of beans, reconstitute them in water, and then cook them. My mom said they were delicious.
Do you have any historical fun facts tor a Back in the Day story to share? If you do, comment below.
And if you enjoyed this, visit me here: http://saltrunpub.com/vickie-king/ and subscribe to my mailing list for big samples of my current release, ETHAN’S HEART, as well as my upcoming book, ESCORTING DARBY BLOOM.