Welcome to May! One third of 2022 has flown by, and today is the first day of May and the dawning of a new month. Last week I travelled to Sydney, leaving Canberra before dawn and passing Lake George on the Federal Highway at sunrise (see photo above). We get excited in Canberra when Lake George actually has water in it! It’s an inland lake that dries up during El Nino droughts and refills during La Nina flooding rains. If you look closely at the photo on the right hand side, you can see the tops of the paddock fencing that crosses over the lake. Sheep and cattle graze in those paddocks when the lake is dry. The water is shallow, and scientists believe a shift in the fault line created the lake and separated it from nearby river systems. I plan to write a lot of words in May, now the weather is cooling in Australia and being outdoors is less appealing. Do you have plans for May? Are you looking forward to a northern hemisphere summer (or a southern hemisphere winter)?
Winners this Week
If you’re a winner, you should have received an email from the author in charge of the giveaway. If not, please email us at: prizes at inspyromance dot com.
Teresa Tysinger’s winner is Caitlyn Santi!
Congratulations!
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Reader Gathering
Did you know Inspy Romance hosts a Christian Romance Reader Gathering group on Facebook? Carolyn Miller is our host this week, so come on over… but don’t forget to answer the questions for admittance!
StoryChats @ InspyRomance
Story Chats releases an all-new episode every Friday. This week, Elizabeth, Valerie, and Narelle talked about Spring Themed CCR in Episode 69. You won’t want to miss it!
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Last Week on Inspy Romance
On Monday, Emily Conrad asked Is This For Real? How fact and fiction overlap in a novel
On Tuesday, Teresa Tysinger announced The 80s Rom-Com Club Release + #Giveaway
On Wednesday, Jaycee Weaver talked about the Edge of Seventeen
On Thursday, Tabitha Bouldin discussed Anniversaries in CCR
On Friday, Liwen Y. Ho talked about The 3 CCR Authors Who Have Impacted Me the Most + #giveaway
On Saturday, Laurie Larsen shared her inspiration for In an Inn by the Sea
Next Week on Inspy Romance
Monday: Merrillee Whren (Where Do I Live?)
Tuesday: Tara Grace Ericson
Wednesday: Heather Gray (To Be Seen)
Thursday: Carolyn Miller (Bad Boy Redemption Stories & Release Day & sale!)
Friday: Narelle Atkins (Book Recommendation – Skye by Heather Gray)
Saturday: Valerie M. Bodden (Author + Reader = Story Magic & #giveaway)
New Releases
May 2022
A Wide and Pleasant Place (Farm Fresh Market Romance 1) by Valerie Comer
Big Apple Atonement (Original Six Hockey Romance 5) by Carolyn Miller
From Shore to Shore (Independence Islands 23) by Tabitha Bouldin
Pray for Me (Vacation Sweethearts 5) by Jan Thompson
April 2022
Olive (Rainbow Falls 2) by Heather Gray
Songs of Home (River Falls 2) by Valerie M. Bodden
The 80s Rom-Com Club Collection by Teresa Tysinger, Jaycee Weaver, and others
A complete list of Inspy Romance books by our authors is always available on our BOOKS tab. Find our audiobooks and our thank-you gifts for newsletter subscribers there as well!
A fun loving Aussie girl at heart, Narelle Atkins was born and raised on the beautiful northern beaches in Sydney, Australia. She has settled in Canberra with her husband and children. A lifelong romance reader, she found the perfect genre to write when she discovered inspirational romance. Narelle's contemporary stories of faith and romance are set in Australia and international locations.
A lot of the country, inland especially, has received welcome rain lately.
Of course, too much rain, is catastrophic
I can’t believe tat muc of te year is gone already. Time does sure fly by at great speeds! I am looking forward to a NOrtern emispere summer. I ave one tentative road trip plan but tat is not for sure yet
ps my letter after g does not work sorry!
I need to do more tidying up of the garden and a few (ok around 100) bulbs still to plant. The neighbour cut down a tree for me which has helped and still another small one to go. (I have some nice new neighbours.)
This week we have a trading table so some cooking then will get ready for winter (get some wood up to the house and order some for the year).
Seems to be raining everywhere but the south east of South Australia. We have gotten a little around 13mm in April although the north has been flooding too.
Blessed Sunday Narelle. May is this German Oma’s month. Starts next Sunday with Mother’s Day and ends with my birthday. Also next weekend our Michigan community has its Blossom Time Festival and an hour north of us on Lake Michigan is Holland and they have their Tulip Festival with all kinds of Dutch traditions – street cleaning and Dutch dancing in the street and fields and fields of tulips. Reminds of my youth – a Mother’s Day tradition to visit the Holland Tulip fields or Dutch Village or the Wooden Shoe Factory. Spring in Michigan has been unseasonable cool and gloomy and wet. Yesterday middle son and granddaughter came to celebrate Mother’s Day early. Had all 4 grandkids and two sons together. Weather was balmy and sunny. We had lots of rain during the night. Happy May Day and best wishes.
What a beautiful picture! I, too, plan to write a lot of words in May. If the weather is especially tempting, we’ll also go on country walks and a visit or two to stately homes and parks. But, yes, words must be written this month!
Hi Mary, yes, the inland drought breaking rain is greening the countryside and very welcome. I hope and pray we’ve seen the last of the flooding rains in coastal NSW and SE Queensland this year. Thanks for commenting. 😊
Hi Jenny, I hope you’ll receive some decent rainfall to top up your water tank soon. It’s an amazing site when the inland sea fills up to your north in central Australia. Lake George looks like a puddle in comparison, lol.
Hi Sabrina, I hope you’ll be able to take your road trip and make the most of summer. No worries re. keyboard issues. Thanks for commenting. 😊
Hi Jenny, I hope you’ll get the bulbs planted soon. My coriander/cilantro plants are seeding, although my basil is still growing well. I’ll miss having some of my fresh herbs on hand over winter. Our frosty mornings will arrive too soon, and you’ll need that wood for the fire. Thanks for commenting. 😊
Hi Renate, Enjoy Oma month and time with your family and the tulip festivals. We have tulip festivals during spring in Canberra, and the Dutch waffles they make at one of our tulip farms are so good. I hope the sunshine makes an appearance soon to brighten your spring. Thanks for commenting. 😊
Hi Milla, Yes, the words are important! Country walks and stately home and park visits will provide the thinking time you need to write the words, lol. Enjoy the outdoors and your summer weather. 😊
We’re above average for rain so far this year, which means (hopefully!!) no wildfires near us!! We’re over 5inches ahead this year, which is great news! Our “dry season” wasn’t as dry as in the past, which at least means we’re a tad ahead of the game this year. Who knows what this hurricane season will bring, which “officially” starts June 1!
My nephew turns one on May 5th and I turn 24 on May 16th and I have a aunt and a few cousins who birthday is today
Good Morning, we are looking forward to this month especially because my brother should be getting out of the hospital soon, he has been in it for a little over a month now. Godwilling he will be able to go home soon. One of my sisters and I are planning to go see him. Our granddaughter will also be receiving her Sacrament of Confirmation the end of this month, so we will be seeing more family. Have a great Sunday and a great week.
We in South Africa have had good rainfall, sometimes with floods this summer too, and now we have a plague of locusts….. always something
fun line-up
I have plenty of water its just been dryer here than some places. We do get rain but not the flooding rains.
Happy May Day! I hope you have a marvelous week. Congratulations Caitlyn. Thank you for sharing. God bless you.
Such a beautiful picture Narelle! I can just imagine seeing the sheep grazing in the paddocks when they are dry, what a beautiful sight. When we go to the next town over to grocery shop, we pass right by a farm where they have sheep. And now, they have little lambs, so cute!! One mama had twins it looks like, and the other day it was trying to head butt his mama…lol!
I’m looking forward to Summer, though the weather here on the Oregon coast has been more like winter still. Lots of rain and a bit on the chilly side. I have no idea if we will even have spring-like weather any time soon, lol! We just don’t seem to enough warm weather even in the middle of summer…but I always hope :-)
Happy Sunday Inspy Romance!
Hi Trudy, I’m glad the rain has decreased the wildfire risk in your area, and I hope the hurricanes season will not cause major problems. We often have flooding issues in our river systems in northern Australia from the cyclones that cross the coast and move inland. Thanks for commenting. 😊
Hi Kendra, Yay for May birthdays, and happy birthday to you for the 16th! Have fun celebrating and thanks for commenting. 😊
Hi Alicia, I’m glad your brother will be home from hospital soon. It sounds you’ll have a lot of wonderful things happening in your family. Enjoy your family time and thanks for commenting. 😊
Love country photos
Hi Jeannette, A locust plague is not fun… We’ve had a mice plague this year as well as flooding in some parts of Australia. Thanks for commenting. 😊
Hi bn100, yes it is. 😊
Hi Debra, You’re very welcome. Enjoy your week and thanks for commenting. 😊
Hi Trixi, The lambs are adorable to watch in the fields. I hope some warmer and drier weather will head your way soon. Thanks for commenting. 😊
Hi Amy, me, too. Lake George is interesting because it changes with the seasons. Thanks for commenting. :)