March 2026

I've added several new newsletter followers from the Blind Date with a Book event I was a part of in February. I wanted to welcome all of you to my monthly newsletter. I hope you'll enjoy the freebies and the tidbits I share each month.

In this issue:

Book & Writing News
A Free Book Guide, a Free Book, and What I'm Reading
Best-laid Plans series order
Behind the Scenes Corner
Newsletter Sticker Pack Giveaway

Book & Writing News

A Whole New Plan is in the final stages of preparation. It's been fun going through it again and all the little details I included. We have a brand new Barnes and Noble near me and I'm excited to announce that they've agreed to host a launch party/book signing on Saturday May 30 from 2-4pm. I hope to have a flyer to share soon.

As I mentioned last month, I've written an 8-chapter Novelette for my subscribers about the "first" teacher who arrived in Washton but never made it to the schoolhouse. It's titled An Unplanned Marriage Proposal. I've sent it off to my editor and hope to have it ready for you by next month.

My March history-oriented blog post on the Heroes, Heroines, & History blog is titled The Historic Sacramento One-Room Schoolhouse, where I share pics of the schoolhouse (inside and out) that inspired the Best-laid Plans series.

The Bookworm Spring Edition - Free Book Guide

The Bookworm is an online reader's guide featuring wholesome Christian and Clean books from indie, small press, and traditional publishers. Over 100 books are featured in a variety of genres.

Download yours for free today

Free Book by Wendy Klopenstein

Get your FREE copy of A Surprise Harvest Bride

Patrick Eastland has two big reasons he’ll fight to keep his family’s apple orchard operating: his two young nephews, now in his custody. He needs help. Which is why he sent for a nanny. But it’s a mail-order bride who arrives on his doorstep instead.

Hope O’Neal immigrated from Ireland only to find her dreams crushed. She decides to become a mail-order bride and takes a chance for something better. But when she comes face to face with Patrick, she finds the agreement isn’t what she was promised. She only has the harvest season to convince him that they could be a real family…

Mail-Order Bride
Marriage of Convenience
Fish Out of Water
Ready Made Family

What I'm Reading This Quarter

I have a confession to make. It's middle of March and I've only read a handful of books so far (three of which were this past week while I was on a beach vacation with my sisters!). Before I became a published author, I would sometimes read 2 to 3 books a week!!! But alas, it's a balance (my focus word, remember). So I thought I would share what I've read so far this year.

It's kind of a mix, isn't it? I started the year with a Christmas story by Misty Beller (which I loved). I'm mostly historical, but I do enjoy romantic suspense sometimes. Susan May Warren's books are hard for me to put down, so I was waiting for vacation to dive into The Minnesota Kingstons, and I got through two of them so far. Heart of Redemption is set near where I was born/grew up and I loved the historic references that I didn't know before. And I couldn't wait to read the last book in Lacy William's Wagon Train series. I have loved all the books and this last one didn't disappoint. I'm just sad they are over. Then there's my writing partner books (His Amish Marriage Offer and Risky Business). Yes, I love reading the final edited books and enjoyed both!

Have you read any of these? Which ones?

Best-laid plans Series

I’ve had a few people ask me about the order of the books and I hope this will help.

This image shows the order of how my books have been released.

But, No Plan at All is a side story that came out of When Plans Go Awry (the girl who left Luke) and not one of the teachers. I really wanted to label it .5 but Amazon doesn’t allow you to do that. It is a prequel, set two years before the first book (in 1867).

Here’s the order based on the timeline:

Book .5 - No Plan at All (prequel, Sarah and Alex, 1867) (on Amazon it is book 3)

Free Novelette (coming soon) - An Unplanned Marriage Proposal (Tilly and Grant, 1868)

Book 1 - When Plans Go Awry (Olivia and Luke, 1869)

Book 2 - A Slight Change of Plans (Jenny and Ren, 1870)

Book 3 - A Whole New Plan (Lydia and Will, 1870) - preorder link coming soon.

Next up, are the next two teachers stories, as well as a Christmas Novella set right after When Plans Go Awry. More to come on all those later.

I hope this ordering helps!

Behind the Scenes Corner

I mentioned in last month's newsletter I would share some behind-the-scenes about the dog on the cover (and in the story).

Did you know President Lincoln had a dog named Fido? Apparently, it was one of the most popular names during this time. As I researched I learned the Pinkertons kept Lincoln alive before his inauguration. The fact that Lydia is a Pinkerton, well, I thought it would be a good connection to use the name Fido.

I wanted to include a dog in one of my stories. I envisioned a mutt that looked and acted similar that would challenge the status quo with Bert. Much like how Lydia disturbs Will's status quo.

You've all seen images of Ace before, so I played around with AI to adjust a picture of Ace to fit what a dog in that time period might look like (black labs weren't really a thing in 1870 California). Imagine how pleased I was to have my publisher be willing to add it to the book cover. Here's the original image I sent, along with the book cover.

As often happens within the crazy window of finalizing a cover, it wasn't until after did we realize it shows Ace's blue collar. I don't think they had blue collar's back then, but it's a nice nod to our dog. (I hope it doesn't disturb you to share this tidbit?)

Then I asked AI to create an image based on a scene from the first chapter in A Whole New Plan and I loved how it came out. As you can tell, Fido sort of gets into a little trouble on the Taylor Ranch.