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For those of you who’ve read New Parish and have expressed that I should hurry up with getting Return to New Parish ready and out to you… I have a couple of suggestions for you to read till I can get Return to New Parish ready.

When Calls the Heart: Canadian West

https://www.amazon.com/When-Calls-Heart-Canadian-West/dp/076421229X/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1533226155&sr=8-1&dpID=51uHyk%252BgZzL&preST=_SY344_BO1,204,203,200_QL70_&dpSrc=detail

I love Janette Oke’s writing. You can’t go wrong with any of her books. There are actually six books in this series. You’ll find them clean (without bad language and other stuff), well written, and full of the sweet romance I fuse into New Parish. Janette Oke’s books also have an eastern girl who goes west, back in the early days of the Canadian Mounties – not too different from the southern girl who goes west in New Parish…

Sackett’s Land

If you’re up for a bit of high adventure I’d recommend Sackett’s Land by Louis L’Amour

https://www.amazon.com/Sacketts-Land-Louis-LAmour-Collection/dp/0553062123/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1533257719&sr=8-1&dpID=51txj%252Bi8N-L&preST=_SY344_BO1,204,203,200_QL70_&dpSrc=detail

Louis L’Amour is one of my all time favorite writers. In my opinion this is his very best book. In it he tells the thrilling tale of the first Sackett who came to America. It has some swashbuckling adventures, romance, and living free in the way we can only dream of today.

But don’t worry I am busy getting Return to New Parish ready. I’ll give updates as things progress… Also watch out for some very exciting news on Brigham Tea Magazine! The western experience in all its flavors will be in there and available soon…

If you haven’t already gotten your copy of New Parish you can get it here:

https://www.amazon.com/New-Parish-Julie-Worthington/dp/1732224005/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1533258389&sr=1-2&keywords=new+parish

A sweat romantic comedy with sassy southern girls, cowboys, and a unique polygamous twist!

 

 

Circle of Life…

Have you ever watched a dog chasing its tail? It’s hilarious, until the dog actually catches its tail… then, if we’re honest with ourselves, it’s even funnier. The dog will look around in shock wondering who it was that bite him. I can’t help myself every time I see this happen I laugh, not that I don’t have the greatest sympathies for the animal, but we humans do the same thing. We run around in circles and when we finally reach our goal we look around to see who smacked us with it. We simply want what we want, and think getting what we want will make us happy. Sometimes we have to chase our tails many times to get to what we want… each time the trail ends with, at least, a bit of disappointment.

It’s only when we decide to do something different that we are finally able to achieve something different. In my book New Parish, Sarah spent her early twenties chasing here tail, dating guys that were all disappointments. Then she decided to do something different and got a very different outcome…

First couple of pages from New Parish:

“Chapter 1

Bad Date

            Sarah slammed the door to her apartment as she entered, then slowly let out a growl, she’d held the anger, embarrassment, and hurt in until she got home. She took a deep breath to calm herself. “Men!” she whisper shouted so her neighbors wouldn’t hear her aggravation. 

            The evening had been another dating disaster. Sarah always thought, or hoped with each new guy that there might be potential for the future, but each time she’d been completely disappointed. This evening she’d been out with an absolutely handsome guy, who was very sweet. She’d known him for only a few weeks. They’d met when he’d started volunteering at the same children’s center, where Sarah had been volunteering for several years – since she’d moved to Atlanta. When she saw him working and interacting with the kids there, he seemed very nice and obviously loved kids – that was a win-win, to Sarah. So, when he’d asked her out she’d immediately agreed, with a big smile, and great expectations. He wasn’t like the last guy she’d gone out with, all macho and Neanderthal, she’d sworn off that type of man forever. This guy was very nice, and she was naturally very excited to get to know him better.

            They met at the restaurant he’d suggested, and things were going really well. The ambience of the restaurant, the conversation, the food – everything that evening was just about perfect, perfect, until a well coiffed young man came to their table and started shouting at her date for cheating on him… The very loud accusations included information that Sarah really didn’t want to know about the guy that she’d wanted to think of as being nice, and exciting, and having potential. The man shouting at her date revealed that he and her date had made commitments, and he took those commitments very seriously. Things went downhill from there. Her date tried to explain to his “friend” that he wasn’t really cheating on him because Sarah, as he pointed out, was a girl. That didn’t float for either his friend or Sarah. Instead of staying in her seat and waiting for the drama to unfold even further, Sarah stood, and gracefully left the restaurant detaching herself from the episode…  she never looked back. The embarrassment of that date would live with her for a very long time.

“How am I supposed to know which guys to go out with and which ones to not go out with?” she groaned within herself.

            She pulled her long brown hair back into a ponytail and looked at herself in the mirror as she pulled on her pajamas. She scanned her bangs hanging over her forehead while some of the layered strands fell loosely around her face. The events of the evening were flashing through her mind like an old movie, as she thought to herself, “I’m not ugly… why can’t I find a good man? I have curves in all the right places, with ample endowments.” This had been a source of a pride with her as a girl and more especially as she got a little older. Sarah thought it was fun how boys would stutter and stammer at times if she wore a low cut blouse. Her five foot seven, somewhat athletic frame carried her very well, she thought, as she scanned for flaws. She looked at her face to check out what others would see when they looked at her. She had always thought her nose was a bit small but it looked okay, her brown eyes were a little big but they were okay too. “What’s wrong with me?” she asked aloud in frustration. 

            Sarah’s mind went to something her new friend Mary had said when they were working together at the children’s center. Mary had mentioned her home, a place called New Parish in Arizona. Sarah had known her for a few months. Mary was only going to be there for a while longer, just until she finished her degree in early childhood development with the work study program she was involved in at the children’s center.

Sarah thought about the day she’d been complaining about the poor dating prospects and her dream of being a mom floating away from her, when Mary revealed to her that in the community she came from, the people did plural marriages. So, any girl could get a good man and not have to worry about missing out on being a mom. Mary’s descriptions of her home made it sound like a little piece of heaven, where people lived happy lives, and found their happily ever afters.

Sarah sighed, thinking of the small rural community Mary had described, “Maybe…””

New Parish Available Now!!!

https://www.amazon.com/New-Parish-Julie-Worthington/dp/1732224005/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1530921759&sr=8-1&keywords=new+parish+by+julie+worthington

Life’s Journey

Life’s journey takes us to many places… some are happy places that we completely enjoy, while others are places we’d rather not have gone to. On life’s journey, even when it’s those rather not places, we learn things that make each of us a better person, a stronger person, and a wiser person. Sometimes we find out that what we thought was, wasn’t. We discover new truths that change how we see things, and what we want.

In Sarah’s journey to New Parish she had a moment when what she thought was, wasn’t… she was sure Max was a self centered jerk, but life’s journey took her to a place that definitely gave her a very different perspective.  

Excerpt from New Parish:

 “Sarah stepped carefully into the barn watching out for what she had heard Uncle Alex refer to as horse apples – she smiled a little thinking of his wording. He’d used it in a very negative way toward Albert, “Why am I thinking of that?” she thought to herself then sidestepped some of those apples and smiled again. She suddenly realized she heard crying and looked up from the floor, watching to see what was going on.

            Max emerged from Princess’ stall and put his arms around Leah, “She’s just in some pain baby,” he said, with the most kindness and gentleness Sarah had ever heard in anyone’s voice.

            “Dad,” Leah said through sobs, “Is she going to be okay?”

            “I’m going to do my very best to help her,” Max reassured her, then he hugged her close and whispered something in her ear that Sarah couldn’t hear.

            Sarah remembered the conversation at the dinner table about Princess and how much Leah wanted to be with the mare when she gave birth. Her thoughts lingered over that conversation and that night.

            She walked a little closer – Max and Leah returned inside the stall, she could see Leah kneel down at Princess’ head and begin stroking her gently as the horse repeatedly gave labored grunts. Sarah could see tears escaping Leah’s eyes, and her heart felt like it would break for the little girl she had only met a couple of nights ago.

            “Dad!” Johnny shouted.

            “It’s okay, just talk to her real gentle like and rub her back,” Max spoke gently to his son from somewhere inside the stall.

            Sarah inched around further into the barn so she could get a better look. The grunting of the mare was almost rhythmic now. Sarah could see that not just Alex, Johnny, and Leah were in there with Max and the mare, there was also Joseph, Jake, and Sam. Alex was back near Max who was removing wet blankets and replacing them with dry ones. The floor of the stall had a very thick layer of straw which the mare was laying on, they were using the blankets to absorb the wet and keep the area clean and dry for the foal.

            Princess gave a loud whinny and jerked, Max spoke to her, “Easy girl, easy, it’s gonna be okay.” He stroked her haunches and began to sing to her.

            Sarah saw him nod to his boys and they began to sing with him, Sarah knew the song, it was the one he’d sang on the hay ride. She watched him stroke the mare and listened to his smooth voice, it was the most calming thing she’d ever experienced in her life. The mare returned to her rhythmic grunting and Sarah saw two small hooves emerging from her.

            Sarah had to make herself stop biting her bottom lip, she didn’t know she was doing it until it became quite painful. Her mind was totally captured by what was happening in that stall. She saw Max take hold of the little hooves when the mare tensed up, he pulled as she pushed. Sarah’s eyes went to Leah, the tears were still streaming down her face but she was singing along with her brothers and stroking the mare lovingly. Sarah could see the beads of sweat forming on Max’s forehead, his dark curly hair was disheveled, but he looked as though he were as calm as a summer’s morning.

            “How could he be?” Sarah thought to herself. “He had proven yesterday that he was a hot head, easily stressed, frustrated, and angered. How could he be this calm and gentle today?” After what she had seen yesterday this didn’t fit. Then what Mary said after the park altercation started returning to her thoughts:

“I know you don’t understand but we just don’t date or anything like it here, Albert knows that, but he’s been sort of taking advantage of you because you’re new here. Dad and Uncle Alex and some of the other church leaders have talked to Albert and told him to stop, when he continued. Max went to talk with him and told him to just back off until you’d decided. But he wouldn’t stop, I guess it got on Max’s last nerve…”

            Sarah’s thoughts were returned to the stall when the mare gave another loud whinney. She could see the contraction happening and once again the mare pushed and Max pulled. The little hooves had grown into little blonde legs. Sarah watched breathless as the process was repeated over and over, Princess pushed, Max pulled, the kids sang to her and stroked her gently. She saw Max patiently help the mare and encourage his children, her brain started to piece together the events that had happened since she first met this cowboy. His words started to enter her mind, she could hear his voice talking to her just as if he were standing next to her.

The time when she and Mary had listened in on a conversation between him and Brother Michael came to her mind first:

“Oh, dear,” Max had said when Brother Michael had first told him about the match…“I’m afraid she doesn’t like me too much…This could be a real problem…” then near the end of that conversation she remembered him saying, “Yes, I’m willing to do what it takes and to love her. I’ll do all I can to make this work out.”

Then when they were on the Ridge the other day his words reached the depths of her soul:

“I know you’re struggling with everything that’s happening. I want you to know that whatever you decide to do, I’ll do what I can to help and make things work out for you.”

Next she heard what he said when he walked her to her car after dinner the other night:

“I hope you’ll think about what the church leaders have suggested and pray about this… I know you think you might not be happy married to me, but I promise you I’ll do everything in my power to make sure you are.”

            The memories of Brother Michael teasing her about being attracted to Max came next, she inadvertently put her hand to her face remembering she had blushed. Then her mind went to the night Brother Michael had asked her to pray about the name the church leaders had received before he would tell her who it was. She remembered the complete peace she’d felt…

            Another loud whinney jarred her from her thoughts and memories, she looked to see the head of the foal emerging from the mare, more labored breathing, more singing, more pushing, more pulling and the foal finally slid out. Princess looked as though she completely collapsed, Leah wept openly as she stroked the mare’s head. Max was working quickly to wipe down the foal then handed it off to Alex and Johnny to finish the cleanup. Max moved over the abdomen of the mare massaging and pushing and the rest of the stuff that needed to be expelled emerged from her. He used the blankets to soak up the stuff and cleaned the area, he was in the process of putting the blankets in a large basin when Sam shouted, “She’s not breathing!”

            Sarah jumped, everything had been very quiet for the last little while and the shout had pierced the barn like a lightening strike.

            Max went to the head of the mare and knelt down putting his face very near her nose, “She’s breathing,” he sighed. “She’s just plain worn out,” he explained to his children. He stroked her gently, “She worked hard, now she’ll need to rest. Why don’t you boys go in and tell your moms that that little fella’s here?”

            Sarah saw them begin to smile, they ran out of the stall, waved hi to her, then ran on to the house. Leah stayed near Princess, still stroking her gently as Alex and Johnny gently played with the baby. Max stood and came to the door of the stall where there was a bucket of water and some hand sanitizing soap, he bent over the bucket quickly washing his hands and arms.

Sarah realized that he didn’t know she was there, she also realized that the reason she was there no longer existed, that was a strange feeling. She thought, “Maybe I can just sneak out so he won’t see me,” but at that moment, he turned to get a towel to dry his hands, and their eyes met, he looked somewhat like he’d seen a ghost.

            “Oh,” he said quietly. “Do we need to talk?”

            “No,” Sarah replied. “Excuse me, I need to go talk to Brother Michael.””

Get your copy of New Parish on Amazon –

https://www.amazon.com/New-Parish-Julie-Worthington/dp/1732224005/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1531585256&sr=8-1&keywords=new+parish+by+julie+worthington&dpID=51rk7fFJ-LL&preST=_SY291_BO1,204,203,200_QL40_&dpSrc=srch

 

New Parish!!!!

New Parish –

It’s a fun story about a feisty southern girl that goes out west to find a new way of living in a small community on the Arizona strip. It’s got loads of real life, comedic situations, and some strong emotion. A romantic comedy that’s clean, with no bad language or other stuff.

Get your copy here –

https://www.amazon.com/New-Parish-Julie-Worthington/dp/1732224005/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1531160447&sr=8-1&keywords=new+parish+by+julie+worthington

New Parish!!!

Do you want to know what happens when a feisty southern girl meets a true west cowboy? I’ll give you a hint, there’s cows, hot chocolate, and red punch involved… along with anger, embarrassment, and –

Excerpt From New Parish:

            “Brother Michael smiled and said, “Max I’d like to introduce you to, Sarah, from Georgia.”

            Max pulled on the reins of his horse and stopped a few feet away, he smiled and drawled, “Howdy, ma’am.”

            Sarah was completely captivated by this cowboy, she thought his smile was the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen, his deep blue eyes sparkled – she felt like her head was filled with something sweet and gooey which was slowing her thought processes down. Her brain was stuck on, “Oh my gosh, he’s so gorgeous…”

            Before she could reply to the cowboy’s greeting she heard someone shout, “NO!” ”

If you want to know what happens next get your copy of New Parish on Amazon – https://www.amazon.com/New-Parish-Julie-Worthington/dp/1732224005/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1530632057&sr=8-1&keywords=new+parish+by+julie+worthington

 

Southern Girls…

Southern girls have a uniqueness all their own. They have a soft side that is sweet… they are usually polite, and well mannered – kind, supportive, loyal, and helpful. But there’s more to them than just the sweet southern belle – They are also usually determined and will admit to a fair amount of stubbornness. They are also usually very passionate and have a good idea of what they want in life. When they face challenges that get in the way of what they want, that’s when the stubbornness and passion turn on in full force. In my book New Parish, Sarah and her sisters can be sweet southern belles but when things get challenging they show the other side of the southern girl. Their stubbornness and passion comes to the surface and others get a full on idea of what southern girls are.

When a southern girl meets a real west cowboy, who is everything she ever wanted and everything she can’t stand, things get very heated, sometimes loud, and usually in a very funny way.

I can’t wait to share their story with you!

New Parish Coming very soon!!!!!

Excerpt from New Parish:

“The next day after breakfast Sarah and Mary decided to get out and explore some of the community and enjoy the snow that had fallen. Several of Mary’s little brothers and sisters tagged along with them. They were all bundled up in coats, scarves, gloves, and boots. Sarah laughed at herself and the rest of the gang, they were definitely prepared. Sarah had already decided that the community was quite beautiful but now with a blanket of snow, it seemed like a picture postcard of a Christmas village from long ago. There was even a wooden wagon with red painted wheels going down the road, pulled by two large, chocolate brown horses – it was all very picturesque.

            They walked along the freshly shoveled sidewalks happily talking and planning on building a small snowman in the park. When from behind her Sarah heard the sound of a horse trotting, she turned to look and saw the man she never wanted to see again, on his horse. She quickly looked around to see if any cows were running around, then said to Mary, “Let’s walk faster, that cowboy is back, and you know what happened the last time he was near.”

            Mary laughed, “You know it wasn’t really his fault, right?”

            “It was his cows,” Sarah replied avoiding the fact that she just deep down seriously didn’t want to like him, or his smile, or his beautiful eyes, or his anything.

            “Yeah but they broke the fence and got out,” Mary tried to excuse the cowboy.

            “Wasn’t it his fence that wasn’t strong enough to hold his cows?” asked Sarah.

            “Yes, but, really that stuff happens,” Mary tried to soothe.

            Sarah looked at her firmly and said, “Red punch and hot chocolate all over my brand new outfit.”      

            “Sorry, that was really bad,” Mary agreed.

            The sounds from the horse got much closer as Max touched it’s sides to encourage it to speed up, he pulled the reins to stop where Sarah and Mary were on the sidewalk, “Howdy Mary, Ma’am,” he said in a very friendly cowboy drawl.

            Sarah looked away and didn’t speak, Mary smiled and said, “Hi Max, what are you up to today?”

            “Just rounding up a few strays,” he smiled back at her.

            That threw Sarah into an angry frenzy, “What sort of cowboy can’t keep his cows where they’re supposed to be?!?” She looked around frantically wondering from which direction she’d be attacked. “Maybe you should get a different job!”

            “Oh, no Ma’am,” Max tried to explain his previous comment, “I’m not rounding up cows. The cows are all safely in the pasture, don’t worry. I’m looking for some of my kids that are supposed to be home doing chores their mothers told them to do.”

            Sarah didn’t reply to his explanation, she wanted to put as much distance between him and her as possible, “Let’s go,” she said to Mary.

            Mary shrugged to Max and said, “Okay,” to Sarah.

            “Wait, Ma’am,” Max’s horse suddenly stepped in front of Sarah’s group. “I think we got off on the wrong foot, let me make it up to you.”

            Sarah with as much control as she could muster looked him in the eye and said, “Move your horse. Now!”

            “Look, Ma’am…” Max started.

            “Stop calling me ma’am!” Sarah shouted, “Move your horse and leave me alone! You paramecium brained, macho sh…”

            Sarah didn’t get to finish her verbal assault on Max because Mary put her hand over Sarah’s mouth and sweetly said, “Children are present.”

             “Ah!” shouted Sarah, “Okay, fine.”

            Max took this cue and tipping his hat to her, said, “Ma’am,” and rode away.

            Mary raised her eyebrows and asked, “Are you okay?”

            “I’m fine as long as he isn’t around, rounding up anything,” Sarah said with anger still in her voice.”

Letter to a Friend

Dear Friend,

I’d like to tell you about my new book, New Parish. It’s a literary fiction, romantic comedy, about a young southern woman, Sarah, who feels like life is passing her by – well the life she wants to have.

Sarah is of course full of southern sass, spunk, and moxie, which comes out often throughout the story. Her independent nature has her living in the big city of Atlanta, working in her dream job, and doing volunteer work at a children’s center. She has almost everything she wants, she’s near enough to go visit her family whenever she wants – in Savannah, she loves kids and gets to play with them on a regular basis – at the children’s center, her dream job is as a graphic artist for a large publishing company – working on children’s books, lets her work from home. What she doesn’t have is a wonderful husband, and awesome children of her own… this becomes more and more of a bother to her as she gets into her later 20’s.

She’s dated, a lot! But hasn’t been able to find a decent guy to spend her life with… yet. She gave up on a knight in shining armor riding in on a white horse to rescue her long ago. She just wants someone nice, genuine, and not afraid to commit to a long term relationship.

Any who… her new friend Mary tells her about an option she hadn’t thought of before. Sarah goes from wondering if this new option is something she could really consider to wondering about her sanity for even thinking about it.

Hope you like my book… hope to hear from you soon…

Julie

P.S. Only about 3 more weeks till the book will be available!

 

Excerpt from New Parish:
From Chapter 5 – The Storm

            “Stepping out onto the sidewalk made her feel alive and in control, she was a kid again going out to have fun, she loved feeling this excitement. The burdens she’d been carrying were slowly abating and she was finding a calm happy place inside.

            She chose a table near the front of the very familiar restaurant and ordered the crab cake sandwich, which was what she always ordered there and quickly inhaled it. Being near the ocean always made her hungry. From her table she could see the beach and ocean beyond, something inside her longed to be there and feel the sand beneath her feet, so she didn’t linger at the restaurant.

            Before stepping from the pavement to the sand she removed her shoes so that she could enjoy every second of the experience. Tying the strings of her canvas sneakers together she hung them over the strap to her backpack which she slung over one shoulder. Her oversized blue denim shirt was perfect for this time and place. There were a few white puffy clouds in the sky of brilliant blue, the sun was shining down warming her face with its touch. The light cool breeze from the ocean fanned her long white boho skirt that hung down around her ankles. She took a deep breath and stepped out onto the sand to begin her journey toward the decision that would affect the rest of her life.

            Sarah had the beach mostly to herself, she could see a few sage gentlemen standing iconically on the pier fishing, but other than that she was alone with her thoughts and her decision.

            The white sand made a slight scrunching sound beneath her feet and she couldn’t resist digging her toes in it as she walked. The waves gently embracing the shore carried her thoughts to a place where there was no ocean – New Parish…

            Sarah sighed, “Living there would be so different, just the climate with its dry arid environment would be a challenge,” she thought. “I had to use loads more lotion when I was out there for just a few days. I could get used to that, and invest in tons of lip balm.” She pondered over the mountains and mesas of the surrounding areas of New Parish. She stopped her walk and stared out at the ocean waves in the far distance, some were creating little white caps. “It would be so far away from my family,” she thought. “I’m not one of those girls that needs to be near their mom, but living in Atlanta is near enough to go home any time I want.” Sarah sighed again, the “girl talk” session from her last night in New Parish came into her thoughts, “What if I get into a mess like some of those girls?” She walked on down the beach with her thoughts, feeling very heavy and worrisome now.”