Amanda Linsmeier Releases Her Debut Novel Ditch Flowers

You may remember Amanda Linsmeier as the lovely runner up from the WOW! Flash Fiction Contest back in the Winter of 2013 (if you didn't catch her interview back then, click here). Amanda has some incredibly exciting news as her debut novel Ditch Flowers is hitting bookstore and library shelves! If you're on social media, you can follow Amanda on Facebook to hear more reviews and keep up with what's new. I however didn't need social media to keep up with this up and coming author...because we are neighbors and friends!! Truth is, she introduced me to my hubby and stood up in my wedding. How lucky am I?? That means I have had a copy of Ditch Flowers for weeks already. The rest of you will need to pop over to Amazon or your local bookstore and buy your own. Amanda has been traditionally published by Penner Publishing and I am so proud of her for following her dream!

Here is the official book summary: Trouble comes in threes, Grandma CeCe always said…
A baby. Just holding one sets Julia’s heart thumping. She’s wanted a child for so long. When she finally gets pregnant, she’s bursting to tell the world…until a checkup from the doctor confirms a miscarriage.
Julia’s world feels like it’s dissolving. This second tragedy following her father-in-law’s death, shakes her and her husband Greg. To support his mother, they uproot their lives and move to Greg’s childhood home. Under the bright Midwestern sky, Julia can feel a new world and new hope beginning.
But trouble comes in threes, and soon a boy shows up at Julia’s new daycare whose blue eyes and freckled face look eerily like Greg’s. Despite her love for her husband, Julia finds her thoughts haunted by the boy’s face, and she can’t shake the feeling that her husband has a secret.

And a bit about Amanda from her Amazon Author Page: Thanks for visiting my author page!

I am a writer of fiction- both short and long, poetry, and creative non-fiction. My debut novel Ditch Flowers will be released by Penner Publishing in September. You can find me on my website amandalinsmeier.com or on Facebook www.facebook.com/authoramandalinsmeier

I'm also on Twitter as @amandalinsmeier

I love to read, anything from romance to fantasy to women's fiction to YA. Shopping is a guilty pleasure of mine, as well as baking butter-laden desserts, and I have a long-standing dream about traveling to France. My family and I live in the Midwest and enjoy the country life. Lots of sunshine, trees, tractors, and cows in our location.

My next work-in-progress is a retelling of a classic fairytale, for kids. I hope to have it completed by the end of the summer. Until then, I continue to edit, to write, and to read work that inspires me to be a better writer.

-Amanda




I'm giving Ditch Flowers a 4.5 and since Amazon doesn't allow a 1/2 star, let's just round right up to 5 glorious stars (and this has nothing to do with my being mentioned in the acknowledgements...but thanks anyway Amanda)! Ditch Flowers is written so well it draws you right in. I felt my heart race as Julia confronted Megan and I was green with jealousy at the thought of Greg cheating. I can always tell how well a book is written by how kindred I feel to the characters. Each of Linsmeier's characters are written with just the right amount of depth and charm. Ditch Flowers touches on some hot topics such as adultery, lies, deception, miscarriage, infertility, but most of all love. Love we have for our own children, love we have for other people's children. You won't want to put this book down and if you're anything like me, you'll be hoping Amanda Linsmeier is already working on her next novel.

Crystal is a church musician, business owner, active journaler, babywearing mama, writer and blogger, Blog Tour Manager with WOW! Women on Writing, as well as a dairy farmer. She lives in Reedsville, Wisconsin with her husband, four young children (Carmen 8, Andre 7, Breccan 1, Delphine 6 months), two dogs, two rabbits, four little piggies, a handful of cats and kittens, and over 200 Holsteins.
You can find Crystal blogging and reviewing books and all sorts of other stuff at: http://bringonlemons.blogspot.com/