April 29, 2014 / Leslie

Guest Post and Giveaway: In The Garden by Beth Hoffman

I am thrilled to welcome Beth Hoffman today with a guest post. Beth is the author of the bestselling novel Looking for Me, which releases today, April 29th, in trade paperback.

In The Garden – with bestselling author Beth Hoffman

Not long ago I got the idea that the kitties should have a screened porch. I wanted them to have a place where they could enjoy warm days and go in an out as they pleased, which meant the porch would have to be securely attached to the house. I drew up a design, including a cupola, and waited for my husband to come home from work.

He’s a big-hearted guy who almost always indulges my ideas, which is saying a lot because they inevitably involve long hours of work. My husband is a structural engineer and a talented woodworker, and no matter how busy he is, somehow he finds the time to transform my sketches into reality.

With the measurements recorded and a detailed materials list, off he went to the lumber store. I had no idea how involved the building of the kitty porch would be, but my husband never complained. He even built a brick foundation for the porch that matches our historical home. Frankie (one of our rescues) is on the porch in this photo, but he’s solid black and nearly invisible except for his green eyes.

Below is the view of the garden from inside the porch, which is accessed through the laundry room. Our cats, Frankie and Oreo, enjoy warm breezes while watching the birds and squirrels. They’ll often sleep in a slant of sun for hours on end.

To insure wild critters couldn’t break in, there’s heavy-duty wire mesh behind the bug-proof screen. Oreo and Frankie love their porch, and my husband and I do too.

My thanks to Beth for stopping by Under My Apple Tree and giving us a peek at her lovely garden and patio. What a beautiful view for the animals and the people too.

About the Book

Teddi Overman loves her family and the simple life they share on their Kentucky farm, but when high school graduation nears and her mother pushes her towards secretarial school, Teddi knows it’s time to strike out on her own and pursue her dream of working with antiques. Gifted at refurbishing furniture and possessing an uncanny knack for uncovering the beauty and history in what other people discard, Teddi leaves Kentucky in the middle of the night and makes her way to Charleston, South Carolina. There, Teddi builds a new life for herself, and makes her dream come true in a small antiques shop frequented by a cast of quirky customers and friends. But each time Teddi, now thirty-six years old, leaves Charleston and visits the farm of her youth, she’s drawn to the mysterious beauty of Red River Gorge, where her brother went missing at the age of seventeen. Though everyone believes that her beloved brother is dead, Teddi never gives up hope of finding him. When circumstances lead her to clean out the old barn, Teddi makes a discovery that challenges her in ways she never could have imagined. And while trying to fit together the pieces of her family’s shattered past, Teddi unwittingly finds herself among the ruins.

About the Author

Beth Hoffman was the president and co-owner of an interior design studio before becoming a full-time writer. Looking For Me is her second novel. She lives with her husband and two cats in Kentucky.

Beth Hoffman’s Spring/Summer 2014 Tour:

NAPERVILLE, IL, Anderson’s Bookshop, May 1
WICHITA, KS, Watermark Books, May 6
KANSAS CITY, MO, Unity Temple (with Rainy Day Books), May 8
WOODSTOCK, GA, Foxtale Book Shoppe, May 13
FAIRHOPE, AL, Page & Palette, May 15
EVANSVILLE, IN, Vanderburgh Public Library, June 15

Giveaway

To celebrate the paperback release of Looking for Me, I have one copy to give away to a reader with a US mailing address. To enter, fill out the form below on or before midnight, May 10, 2014. One entry per person or address. I will draw a random winner who will be contacted by email and have 48 hours to respond.