Maryann Austin

A while ago I read a blog post by a younger lady who was lamenting the current state of the dating world.  Like many others, she had been through the ringer with “relationships.”  Who hasn’t been there?  I know I have been there a few times.  The stories are all similar:   Young, attractive, smart lady meets handsome young (or not so young) man.  She wants a meaningful relationship.  He tells her he wants the same.  And perhaps he does.  But it takes a while for her to realize that his idea of meaningful is different from hers. You get where I’m going with this?  Enough said. Here’s the thing that I have learned:  we ladies make up lists in our head.  They are lists of the qualities we would like in a partner.  Some of us have the list in our heart.  Others actually write it down on paper or type it up on the computer.  It becomes part of our life to-do list.   Find a good man with these qualities. My lis...

The Civil War, that most tragic and devastating engagement of brother against brother, came to its bloody conclusion in 1865. Yet, Maryann Austin's beautifully written tale places the reader squarely in the middle of it. The Cotton family, so strong and tightly woven, is subject to circumstances that resonate strongly today, a century and a half later. Family connections, stalwart and pervasive systems of belief and behavior, and the capricious nature of circumstance provide the underpinnings for a well written and intriguing story that keeps the reader engaged from beginning to end. There is so much sadness and loss, yet a shimmering thread of hope, even redemption, glistens in the darkness. Once you pick this book up and read the preface, you will not want to put it down; it is a story to remember. http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/654751095

Many thanks to the 1100 people who entered!  The five winners are Kristen Bellows, Toni Holland, Jacek Slay, Loni Rifenburgh, and Shannon Rose.  Congratulations!  The books will be in the mail shortly. If you enjoy the story, kindly write a review.  Many thanks!

If you are in the Winchester area in August, please come to my book signing at the Winchester Book Gallery.

Well, here it is!  The long-awaited second novel!  I breathe a sigh of relief and hope that you enjoy this story.  It is the tale of Della Cotton.  She lives in Boone, North Carolina when war erupts in our young country.  Zebediah, her older brother, has designs on joining the Confederate Army.  The bossy girl tries to dissuade him, sure that he will die.   Meantime, a boy from town has designs on Della.  Zebediah watches his sister and her lover in the woods. He doesn't like what he sees, and he ends up dead on the forest floor.  Devastated, Della makes a snap decision and disappears.  Her army-bound ex-lover is long gone, and she is on his trail. The story is a chronicle of Della's journey through the Shenandoah Valley in 1863.  In her quest for revenge, she discovers more injustices.  She experiences the taste of killing.  Yet, there is redemption and, finally, love in an unlikely place. Enjoy when you read it! ...

       From a wooded area north of town, a man watched as Della dragged a body through the field.  She had pictured herself throwing him over her shoulder, but reality would not allow it.  Though thin, indeed bony with the starvation of the war, he was too heavy for her.  For she, too, was malnourished and weaker than she had been when she first left Boone.  But she was sure, in healthier times, she could have easily carried him. The sound of gunfire can travel long distances.  But it grew fainter and fainter still while Della took John’s broken body southward through the valley.  She fought discouragement.  But the exhaustion was harder to overcome.  Seeking to lighten her load, she laid down her pack and her rifle.  Surely there would be some soldier who would put it to good use.  And she looked forward to the moment when she could discard every last thing that had made her a soldier. When she was far enough f...

Some people have turned expectations into a dirty word.  I remember my first husband telling me that he did not want to get me a birthday gift because I expected it.   Absurd  I thought.  But I tried the concept anyway.  And I still got nothing.  To avoid the pain of never receiving, I learned to abandon my expectations all together.  Before I knew it, I came to expect nothing.  And my life still sucked.  After a few years of existing this way, I had a revelation.  Things had become so bad.  There was a lot of praying going on.  God, give me a man I can follow.  God, give me a man who sees me as a blessing, and not a curse.   I learned to come boldly and expectantly for my needs and desires.  And one day, it happened.  Just like that.  My request was fulfilled.  Would it never have happened had I not expected it?  I don’t know.  What I do know is that it did not happen until ...