JOINING FORCES By Kathleen Lawless @kathleenlawless

MAP was an expression I hadn’t heard until recently.  It stands for Multi Author Project, and once I grasped the concept I was intrigued.  The organizer comes up with a series idea, sets up a release schedule, and invites other authors who write in that genre to join in and pick a date.  Each author comes up with her own characters; their names, their backstory, their baggage, their HEA, within the loose confines of the series.  In this case, a mail-order bride gets off the train with a baby under the age of two that the hero/groom is not expecting.  
Mail Order Bride!  Secret Baby!  Say no more!    

Writing is very solitary, so it’s wonderful to be part of things with other authors like getting together for a launch party.  Widows, Brides, and Secret Babies launched in March to much fanfare and lots of orange flags on Amazon.  You can check the titles out here.  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B084WYL1QX

This sweet historical series’ popularity shows no sign of waning as I get ready to launch Mail Order Olivia on June 25^th. 

Here’s a teaser from my second-chance, mail-order bride, secret baby book.

          Robert Fulsom paced the train platform in Yuma, practicing what he would say to his mail-order bride when she arrived.  Sorry for dragging her across the country didn’t seem adequate.  He had to make sure she realized it had nothing to do with her—it was him.  He simply wasn’t ready to take on a wife.

          He glanced again at the telegram in his hand.  Olive Brown.  He had no idea what she looked like, but even her name sounded drab, poor thing.  He’d heard many of these mail-order brides were either homely or plump, forced to marry a stranger sight-unseen because they had no suitors back east.  He had to tactfully ensure she didn’t think he was rejecting her because of her appearance. 

          In the cramped train seat, Olivia cradled her sleeping daughter to her chest, grateful for the respite after more than a week of trying to keep Chloe entertained, when all the little bundle of energy wanted to do was crawl around and try to walk.  At thirteen months, Olivia expected Chloe would be taking her first step any day. 

          She deliberately hadn’t used her real name in her telegram to Robert.    At first, she’d been overjoyed to learn he wasn’t dead as she’d been led to believe.  Then doubt set in.  Why had he not returned for her as promised?  And why was his ad for a bride tucked into a coat pocket of her deceased husband?  

MAIL ORDER OLIVIA is available for pre-order.  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B086JFJ6YC        

As always, I have a couple of free Sweet Western Historicals for my VIP Readers on my email list.  Get yours here. http://eepurl.com/bV0sb1