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Newsletter – November 2025

Nov28

I’ve been taught all my life to give thanks in even the worst circumstances. Easier said than done. It’s hard to feel thankful when something bad happens, and yet, when I look back at some of the most difficult times in my life, I can see how I learned and grew as a person during those difficulties. Frequently, good came out of the bad.

Sometimes, we think our lives are supposed to go a certain way. We think we know what’s best for us. I moved to Nashville, TN, thinking I would be a singer for the rest of my life. I found the music industry to be a bit vicious, and I even had a good friend who worked directly in the industry who told me that she hoped I didn’t get a recording contract. She feared that the industry would change me, and she told me that I was too nice to get caught up in the ugliness of it.

I never did get that recording contract, but I understand why. It wasn’t meant to be, and God had other plans for me! My husband will tell you that I moved to Tennessee for him. We’ve been married almost thirty years now, and I’m thankful for him every day! So, yes, he was definitely part of the plan.

As for my creativity and need to express it, I found I had an ability I never dreamed of… until I dreamed about it. Most of you have heard my story, but if you haven’t, in 2010 I had a dream where I was told I was supposed to write a novel based at a time of civil unrest. In that dream, I wrote the novel, and when I woke, I remembered everything: the plot, the characters, and the location. Thanks to the encouragement of my coworkers at the time, I sat down and actually wrote the story. That ‘dream’ story is now a 7-book series, “The Southern Secrets Saga.”

Since then, I’ve written like a manic fool! I found a passion I never knew existed, and I no longer mourn over the music career that didn’t happen. I love what I do, and I love my sweet husband. I’ll never be sorry that I moved to Tennessee.

This past month has been a whirlwind of in-person events. I met lots of new people and introduced them to my books. If you’re one of those people, and this is the first time you’ve read my newsletter, welcome aboard!

I remember when people first started reading my books, and how excited I was to share my stories. That excitement has never died! I decided to put up a map of the U.S. and ‘pin’ the cities where I know I have readers. If you’re one of my readers, and you don’t see your city pinned on this map, please post the name of your city and state in the comments. I’d love to add you! Currently I have readers in half of the states, and I’d love to reach all 50. It’s been fun to learn where my readers reside.

While you’re posting your city and state, I’d also love to know which of my books is your favorite. Maybe even what (or who) you’d like to read more about.

Next month, I have only one in-person event on December 13th. It’s the Return of the Misfits Craft Show in Manchester, TN. https://www.facebook.com/events/ada-wright-center/return-of-the-misfits-crafts-show/1018595263274207/

I’ll be with author, J.L. Lawrence, along with many other craft vendors. If you’re looking for some unique Christmas gifts, this is a great opportunity to find that special something!

Aside from that, I’ll be busy preparing for Christmas and time with friends and family. Of course, I’ll also be writing and editing! I’m thankful to have an indoor job as the weather gets colder.

There’s so much to be thankful for! I pray that you’re enjoying this holiday season and able to do the things you love with the people who matter the most to you.

God bless you all!

Jeanne

Newsletter – July 2025

Jul30

Hello, friends!

Hot, hot, hot!

I recently posted on Facebook about how hot it is, and how I enjoy spending my days indoors, writing. I had many comments from all over the U.S. where people remarked about the high temps in their areas, too. Of course, it is summer, but this year feels exceptionally hot. We’re all suffering together!

I am so grateful for air conditioning. I can’t imagine life without it, although I know many people in the world don’t have this luxury. We keep our thermostat set a bit high to help compensate for the energy being so widely used in this extreme weather, but without AC at all, it would be unbearable.

A swimming pool would be nice right about now–or a clear-running stream close to the house that I could dip my toes into. (Snake-free, of course!) Or what about this lovely fountain! This photo is from my visit to Mobile, AL, where my Southern Secrets Saga is set.

Since I don’t have any of those options, I’ll settle for sitting in my cool office, happily typing away this newsletter. Soon, I’ll be back to working on my newest book.

Ardent Adelia is creeping closer and closer to being done. Woo-hoo! Part of my storyline was inspired by an experience I had the first time I spent the night with a friend that I’d known nearly all my life. I was around twelve years old, and I considered her my best friend at the time. What I discovered on that overnighter was that she was different from what I expected. Going to school together put us in a familiar atmosphere, whereas her homelife introduced me to someone who felt like a stranger. No one in her family was at all mean, my friend just didn’t seem like the same person. I was so uncomfortable at her house, that I got sick to my stomach and called my mom because I wanted to go home. And I did.

Something very similar happens to my characters in Ardent Adelia. Of course, there’s a whole lot more to the plotline, but you’ll have to wait a little longer to find out what it is.

It has been a while since I shared the cover design for this book, so here it is again! Stay tuned to future newsletters for a release date. In the meantime, be sure to follow me on Facebook and Instagram: jeannehardtauthor

I hope you’re finding ways to stay cool, and maybe being inside will give you the opportunity to read a book or two! I appreciate your readership and will do my best to keep bringing you engaging stories.

With Love,

Jeanne

I’m Puzzled

Apr29

I LOVE putting together jigsaw puzzles. If you’ve followed my blog for a while, then you already know this. You could say that I’m addicted to them. I find that putting pieces in place relaxes my mind and gives me a feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment. Plus, I think they help keep my brain sharp.

I’ve been gifted quite a few puzzles (thank you, Julie–my sister, and several other friends), and I’ve purchased many more. Some puzzles I buy new, however, I love finding them at antique malls, yard sales, and Goodwill. Of course, when I purchase an already opened box, I resign myself to the fact that pieces may be missing. Or better still, will likely be missing! Whenever I get down to the last few pieces in the box, I wonder…will I have them all?

Whenever I put that last piece in place, I do a little happy dance. Not literally, but internally. Lots of joy!

Recently, I came across something I’ve never had happen before. While putting this lovely puzzle together, I kept grabbing a piece out of the box that I swore I could place. The area that had similar colors and design was nearly completed. However, I couldn’t find a spot for the piece, so I’d toss it back in with the other pieces, assuming I’d eventually find where it went.

I finished the puzzle, and that one piece remained. How could that be? I stared at the lonely thing. This particular puzzle had come from Goodwill, so on one hand, I was thankful that all the pieces were there, but where did the extra piece come from? My first assumption was that whoever donated it had inadvertently tossed in a piece that belonged in another puzzle box. But the piece had the design, shape, and texture of that completed puzzle.

I showed the puzzling piece to my husband and even indicated the area of the completed picture where I thought the piece should have fit. He agreed with me. He then pushed it to the exact part of the picture that it seemed to belong. Low and behold, it was a duplicate piece! Is it possible that when it was manufactured, a piece belonging in another box jumped ship and joined my box? Did someone out there purchase a puzzle that ended up missing this piece? Hmm…

So, yes, I’m puzzled. I’m thrilled that I have all the pieces to my puzzle, but I feel badly for whoever was shorted. I’ve had that happen before when I finished a newly purchased puzzle, but in those cases, I accepted that my dog likely got hold of a stray piece and ate it. It can happen! I’ve found half-eaten ones in his dog bed, and that has made me more careful when working my puzzles.

Oddly, I didn’t have the heart to discard my extra piece. When I took the puzzle apart, I kept both identical pieces. I imagine that the next time I put this puzzle together, I’ll smile at my ‘extra’ piece and remember just how puzzled I was about its existence.

Has this ever happened to you?

Morgan on the Rim – Featured Author!

Oct26

I was thrilled to be invited as one of the featured authors at the Civil War Reenactment scheduled for this coming weekend in Ridgetop, Tennessee!

Most of my books are set either right before the war, during the war, or after the war at the time of Reconstruction. When I first started writing, agents, other authors, and publishers cautioned me against choosing this time period to set my stories. However, if you’ve followed my blog, you know that a dream inspired my first series, and from then on, I’ve felt compelled to write about the struggles this nation went through during that difficult time. I believe wholeheartedly that although this was a sad time for our country, it’s crucial that what happened isn’t forgotten. Hopefully, by remembering these events, we can learn from them and prevent them from happening again. If you’re in the area this weekend, come by and experience something you’ll not soon forget!

Here are the books I’ll be featuring!

The Smoky Mountain Secrets Saga. Book one, “Whispers from the Cove,” takes place at the end of the Civil War in Cades Cove, Tennessee. You’ll learn about the struggles of the poor farming families as they try to cope with soldiers from both sides coming into their cove and helping themselves to whatever they please. The families are affected by the war in more than one way, and it forever changes their lives. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06ZYYY5WK
A Confederate soldier returns to his Atlanta home to find it burned to the ground and his family gone. Distraught, he hops a train, thinking he’s going west, but wakes up in a hospital bed in Boston, Massachusetts. He fearfully pretends to be mute, so those caring for him won’t know he’s from the South. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00PB84TTO
Follow five families in the Southern Secrets Saga as they learn to cope with life in Mobile, Alabama after the war. This seven-book series spans two generations. This series is my dream-inspired work and definitely the steamiest of all my books! This is by no means a ‘typical’ romance series. It takes many surprising turns. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0139LASFS
The River Romance series begins prior to the Civil War, and a good portion of the stories take place on steamboats on the Mississippi River. Each book is a stand-alone and comes to a conclusion. Yet, the series continues the stories of characters you’ll meet along the way. In book three, “Forgotten,” young Billy goes to fight for the Union Army. He’s fallen in love with a mixed-race slave who works for his family, and he’s determined to fight for her freedom. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ZYCQIP0

For more detailed information about all of these books, be sure to check out my book tab!

The Love of Cotton Candy

May3

Isn’t it amazing how a simple smell or taste can take you back to your childhood? Of course, some of those reminders might be bad, like the flavor of nasty-tasting medicine, or the odor that lingered when you accidentally stepped in a pile of doggy doo while out trick-or-treating. Yep, that happened to me!

However, I want to talk about a good memory!

When I was a child, my parents would take me to one of those home-town carnivals that came through town every year around the Fourth of July. The carnival was part of a community festival called Frontier Days. In addition to the carnival rides and games, there was also a parade. I’ve seen photos of me and my siblings dressed up as pioneers in a make-shift covered wagon. I was very young then, but it was memorable enough that I recall thinking we were pretty awesome.

Now, back to the whole smell and taste thing. The simple thought of that particular event immediately sparks memories of an assortment of smells: Popcorn, the sawdust spread on the ground beneath some of the stomach-churning rides, mud from the rain that always seemed to dampen the celebration every year, beer, and cotton candy.

Cotton candy.

My first memory of popping some of that fluffy confection into my mouth comes from one of those Frontier Day’s celebrations. I clearly remember my aunt, Judy, telling me the proper way to eat cotton candy. She said that in order to avoid getting completely sticky, you needed to pull off a small amount and literally pop it into your mouth, doing all you could to avoid touching your fingers to your lips and getting them wet. Putting your mouth directly on the spool of fluff was a no-no. Especially if you planned to share your treat!

I didn’t do such a good job instructing my grandson.

The photo is a little blurry, but you get the idea! I tried to teach him to ‘pop,’ but he dove right in!

Now that I’m older, I like getting sticky even less, but I still love cotton candy. Recently, I discovered a new kind of ice cream that has rocked my world! Kroger brand has cotton candy flavored ice cream called Mermaid Sparkle. It’s to die for. Best of all, you can eat it with a spoon and you won’t get sticky.

Sure, there are many foods I enjoy, but I can’t think of any others that produce so many wonderful memories. Our lives are a patchwork of memories, and I feel it’s important to cherish all of them. I’ve learned a lot from my past. Not only how to properly eat cotton candy, but after my other experience, I know to watch where I walk on Halloween.

Life is a journey, and I want to thank you for sharing these memories with me!

God bless!

Who is Vern Harpole?

Feb10

It was a fun and exciting new experience to write a fiction book based on an actual person. I was blessed to have a good friend who gave me the freedom to expand her grandfather’s story and ‘fill in the blanks’ so to speak in areas of his life that the family is unsure of exact details.

In “His Heart’s Long Journey,” you’ll travel with Vern as he seeks out answers to his past and also strives to move forward with his love interest, Margaret Jordan. Margaret is a strong-willed woman with her own troubled past, and the last thing she wants is the attention of a man.

When my friend, Ann, told me her family’s heart-wrenching story, I was compelled to write it. It was hard for me to believe that someone could experience all that Vern went through in his young life. As I wrote, I felt I really knew him. He became alive to me, and I hope that when you read this series, you’ll feel the same.

I also became fond of schnecken while writing this story. The trade of being a baker was passed on to Vern from the family who took him in at a very young age. Mr. Hinze was a German baker who taught Vern all he knew. Schnecken is a German sweet roll, similar to a cinnamon roll. I found a wonderful recipe online while researching German pastries. You can find it on the food.com website.

This is an actual photo of Vern in his baker’s garb. I didn’t see this photo until after I wrote the series, but I was surprised to find how much he looked the way I’d imagined him.

If you haven’t read “His Heart’s Long Journey,” I hope you will. It’s so much fun to travel in the footsteps of the past and share in the lives of others. Book one, “Forsaken by Love,” can be found here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B082QWKM56

Free Download!

Nov6

I’m happy to say that today thru Tuesday, November 10th, you can download “Forsaken by Love” for FREE from Amazon! I hope you’ll enjoy Vern’s journey. The book is based on a true story that one of my friends graciously shared with me. When she told it, I knew I had to write it! I’m thrilled she allowed me to tell it.

The Joys of Moving

Dec13

And you thought I’d be posting Day 1 of the 12 Days of Christmas!

Well…not only did I fool you, but I fooled myself. Leave it to me to be a day off and several brain cells short. If you’re confused, blame me. I can’t seem to keep track of the days of the week. I had it in my head that today was the kick-off for the event, but today is the day I was supposed to make the announcement that I made yesterday. (Insert rose-colored cheeks)

And why am I so frazzled? Imagine having to move three times in less than six months. It does something to the brain. I can honestly say that I’ll be able to list “professional packer” as one of my outstanding abilities on my next job application. My hope is that I’ll be able to stay in the same place for a little while longer than the last one. No, I’m not running from something or someone–that only happens in my books–I’m keeping up with my husband who was transferred with his job. The good thing for me is that I can write anywhere.

So please come back again tomorrow for Day 1 of the 12 Days of Christmas. The author I’ll be introducing is a very good friend of mine and I’m excited that she’s #1 on my list! AND the theme for tomorrow is “Dessert Recipe.” I’ll have a good one for you.

orlando26

Updating My Websites!

Oct23

With another new book about to be released, I’m updating all of my websites so that I can share my news with the world.

Stay tuned for a cover reveal soon!

WRITE ON!!!

Give Away for “Marked”

Jul20

My debut novel, “Marked,” is available on Amazon!

And now, you have a chance to win a free copy! Until July 31st, you can register to win a paperback copy of “Marked” through a Goodreads promotion. I’m excited to be able to share this story.

Good luck!