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Kindle Nation Daily Bargain Book Alert: Kathleen Shoop’s THE LAST LETTER is our eBook of the Day at just $2.99, With 4 Stars on 92 Reviews, and Here’s a Free Sample!

 

Here’s the set-up for Kathleen Shoop’s The Last Letter, just $2.99 on Kindle:

2011 IPPY Gold Medal–Regional Fiction, Midwest,
2011 Indie Excellence Finalist Award for Historical Fiction and Regional Fiction,
2011 International Book Awards Finalist for Historical Fiction and Best New Fiction)

Katherine wouldn’t have believed it if she hadn’t found the letter…

Katherine Arthur’s mother arrives on her doorstep, dying, forcing her to relive a past she wanted to forget. When Katherine was young, the Arthur family had been affluent city dwellers until shame sent them running for the prairie, into the unknown. Taking her family, including young Katherine, to live off the land was the last thing Jeanie Arthur had wanted, but she would do her best to make a go of it. For Jeanie’s husband Frank it had been a world of opportunity. Dreaming, lazy Frank. But, it was a society of uncertainty—a domain of natural disasters, temptation, hatred, even death.

Ten-year-old Katherine had loved her mother fiercely, put her trust in her completely, but when there was no other choice, and Jeanie resorted to extreme measures on the prairie to save her family, she tore Katherine’s world apart. Now, seventeen years later, and far from the homestead, Katherine has found the truth – she has discovered the last letter. After years of anger, can Katherine find it in her heart to understand why her mother made the decisions that changed them all? Can she forgive and finally begin to heal before it’s too late?

From the reviewers:

I really loved this book. It was “Little House on The Prairie” meets reality! I learned a lot about prairie life that I had never contemplated. The characters were so well created.  – L. Smith

Kathleen Shoop makes the lives of the pioneer women come alive. The dirt and disease and hard work that is a part of daily life are outlined in a way that is uncommon, transporting the reader to that time and place. She also recreates the interdependency between neighboring families and how strong those friendships were. This book is recommended for historical fiction readers, as well as readers interested in family dynamics.  –  Sandra Kirkland

Kathleen Shoop combines a wonderful story with compelling characters and very talented writing. I found myself stopping regularly to appreciate her art and to re-read passages that were so easy to absorb and enjoy, yet were profoundly descriptive and insightful.   I first bought The Last Letter on Kindle, then had to have a hard copy. It deserves to be spontaneously picked up and savored.  She truly is a gifted writer.  –  Mike Lee

This is a very eye-opening book as to how people actually lived on the prairies of the United States when territories were first being settled. When this family moved into their “Home” the former resident left a sign for them that read, “Welcome to Hell”. They should have turned and ran all the way back home, but they chose to stay out of stubbornness, pride, and wishful thinking.  This was a great book. It’s definitely not “LIttle House on the Prairie” with happy endings at the end of every episode, but I’m glad I read it and highly recommend it.  –  Michelle Wegner

 


Thank you for reading about me here and for purchasing my novel! I’m married with two children. I’ve been seriously writing for almost a decade although I dabbled much earlier than that! I’ve had short stories published in four Chicken Soup for the Soul books, am a regular contributor to a local magazine, Pittsburgh Parent, and have had essays in local newspapers as well.

I have a PhD in Reading Education and currently work as a Language Arts Coach at a school in Pittsburgh. I work with teachers and their students in grades k-8 and am lucky to learn something new from them every time I walk through their doors.

My first novel, The Last Letter (2011 IPPY Gold Medal–Regional Fiction, Midwest, 2011 Indie Excellence Finalist Award for Historical Fiction and Regional Fiction, 2011 International Book Awards Finalist for Historical Fiction and Best New Fiction), was a fascinating trip through history, punctuated with fictional characters and events. The idea for the story grew from my great-great grandmother’s letters (see My Dear Frank for the complete set of letters!) written during the year of her engagement to Frank Arthur. The beautiful letters are the inspiration for the novel, the seed from which The Last Letter’s characters and their voices grew.

I’ve also written women’s fiction (COMING SOON!) and have written another historical fiction novel (COMING A LITTLE LATER!) set in 1948 in a town not far from Oakmont, PA.

I’m considering revisiting my characters and setting of The Last Letter for a future book, but I hope readers will enjoy the fact I write about varied eras and places and that they will love each book for it’s unique setting and time.

And here, in the comfort of your own browser, is your free sample of THE LAST LETTER by Kathleen Shoop:


Kindle Nation Daily Bargain Book Alert: Kathleen Shoop’s THE LAST LETTER is our eBook of the Day at just $2.99, With 4.0 Stars on 90 Reviews, and Here’s a Free Sample!

 

Here’s the set-up for Kathleen Shoop’s The Last Letter, just $2.99 on Kindle:

2011 IPPY Gold Medal–Regional Fiction, Midwest,
2011 Indie Excellence Finalist Award for Historical Fiction and Regional Fiction,
2011 International Book Awards Finalist for Historical Fiction and Best New Fiction)

Katherine wouldn’t have believed it if she hadn’t found the letter…

Katherine Arthur’s mother arrives on her doorstep, dying, forcing her to relive a past she wanted to forget. When Katherine was young, the Arthur family had been affluent city dwellers until shame sent them running for the prairie, into the unknown. Taking her family, including young Katherine, to live off the land was the last thing Jeanie Arthur had wanted, but she would do her best to make a go of it. For Jeanie’s husband Frank it had been a world of opportunity. Dreaming, lazy Frank. But, it was a society of uncertainty—a domain of natural disasters, temptation, hatred, even death.

Ten-year-old Katherine had loved her mother fiercely, put her trust in her completely, but when there was no other choice, and Jeanie resorted to extreme measures on the prairie to save her family, she tore Katherine’s world apart. Now, seventeen years later, and far from the homestead, Katherine has found the truth – she has discovered the last letter. After years of anger, can Katherine find it in her heart to understand why her mother made the decisions that changed them all? Can she forgive and finally begin to heal before it’s too late?

From the reviewers:

I really loved this book. It was “Little House on The Prairie” meets reality! I learned a lot about prairie life that I had never contemplated. The characters were so well created.  – L. Smith

Kathleen Shoop makes the lives of the pioneer women come alive. The dirt and disease and hard work that is a part of daily life are outlined in a way that is uncommon, transporting the reader to that time and place. She also recreates the interdependency between neighboring families and how strong those friendships were. This book is recommended for historical fiction readers, as well as readers interested in family dynamics.  –  Sandra Kirkland

Kathleen Shoop combines a wonderful story with compelling characters and very talented writing. I found myself stopping regularly to appreciate her art and to re-read passages that were so easy to absorb and enjoy, yet were profoundly descriptive and insightful.   I first bought The Last Letter on Kindle, then had to have a hard copy. It deserves to be spontaneously picked up and savored.  She truly is a gifted writer.  –  Mike Lee

This is a very eye-opening book as to how people actually lived on the prairies of the United States when territories were first being settled. When this family moved into their “Home” the former resident left a sign for them that read, “Welcome to Hell”. They should have turned and ran all the way back home, but they chose to stay out of stubbornness, pride, and wishful thinking.  This was a great book. It’s definitely not “LIttle House on the Prairie” with happy endings at the end of every episode, but I’m glad I read it and highly recommend it.  –  Michelle Wegner

 


Thank you for reading about me here and for purchasing my novel! I’m married with two children. I’ve been seriously writing for almost a decade although I dabbled much earlier than that! I’ve had short stories published in four Chicken Soup for the Soul books, am a regular contributor to a local magazine, Pittsburgh Parent, and have had essays in local newspapers as well.

I have a PhD in Reading Education and currently work as a Language Arts Coach at a school in Pittsburgh. I work with teachers and their students in grades k-8 and am lucky to learn something new from them every time I walk through their doors.

My first novel, The Last Letter (2011 IPPY Gold Medal–Regional Fiction, Midwest, 2011 Indie Excellence Finalist Award for Historical Fiction and Regional Fiction, 2011 International Book Awards Finalist for Historical Fiction and Best New Fiction), was a fascinating trip through history, punctuated with fictional characters and events. The idea for the story grew from my great-great grandmother’s letters (see My Dear Frank for the complete set of letters!) written during the year of her engagement to Frank Arthur. The beautiful letters are the inspiration for the novel, the seed from which The Last Letter’s characters and their voices grew.

I’ve also written women’s fiction (COMING SOON!) and have written another historical fiction novel (COMING A LITTLE LATER!) set in 1948 in a town not far from Oakmont, PA.

I’m considering revisiting my characters and setting of The Last Letter for a future book, but I hope readers will enjoy the fact I write about varied eras and places and that they will love each book for it’s unique setting and time.

And here, in the comfort of your own browser, is your free sample of THE LAST LETTER by Kathleen Shoop:


Kindle Nation Bargain Book Alert: Download it now and you’ll be all set to curl up this weekend with Kathleen Shoop’s bestseller The Last Letter – Over 60 rave reviews and just 99 cents on Kindle!

Here’s the set-up for Kathleen Shoop’s The Last Letter, just 99 cents on Kindle:
 
Katherine wouldn’t have believed it if she hadn’t found the letter…


Katherine Arthur’s mother arrives on her doorstep, dying, forcing her to relive a past she wanted to forget. 

When Katherine was young, the Arthur family had been affluent city dwellers until shame sent them running for the prairie, into the unknown. Taking her family, including young Katherine, to live off the land was the last thing Jeanie Arthur had wanted.  But she would do her best to make a go of it. For Jeanie’s husband Frank, it had been a world of opportunity. Dreaming, lazy Frank. But, it was a society of uncertainty—a domain of natural disasters, temptation, hatred, even death.

Ten-year-old Katherine had loved her mother fiercely, put her trust in her completely, but when there was no other choice, and Jeanie resorted to extreme measures on the prairie to save her family, she tore Katherine’s world apart.

Now, seventeen years later, and far from the homestead, Katherine has found the truth:  she has discovered the last letter. After years of anger, can Katherine find it in her heart to understand why her mother made the decisions that changed them all? Can she forgive and finally begin to heal before it’s too late?
 

Kathleen Shoop, PhD, is a language arts coach in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Last Letter is her debut novel. 

She is published in four Chicken Soup for the Soul books and regularly places articles and essays in local magazines and newspapers. Kathleen is also married and the mother of two children. 

And here, in the comfort of your own browser, is your free sample:

 


(This is a sponsored post.)

Kindle Nation Daily Bargain Book Alert: Kathleen Shoop’s THE LAST LETTER is our eBook of the Day at just 99 Cents with 4.1 Stars on 78 Reviews!

Here’s the set-up for Kathleen Shoop’s The Last Letter, just 99 Cents on Kindle:
2011 IPPY Gold Medal–Regional Fiction, Midwest,
2011 Indie Excellence Finalist Award for Historical Fiction and Regional Fiction,
2011 International Book Awards Finalist for Historical Fiction and Best New Fiction)

Katherine wouldn’t have believed it if she hadn’t found the letter…

Katherine Arthur’s mother arrives on her doorstep, dying, forcing her to relive a past she wanted to forget. When Katherine was young, the Arthur family had been affluent city dwellers until shame sent them running for the prairie, into the unknown. Taking her family, including young Katherine, to live off the land was the last thing Jeanie Arthur had wanted, but she would do her best to make a go of it. For Jeanie’s husband Frank it had been a world of opportunity. Dreaming, lazy Frank. But, it was a society of uncertainty—a domain of natural disasters, temptation, hatred, even death.
Ten-year-old Katherine had loved her mother fiercely, put her trust in her completely, but when there was no other choice, and Jeanie resorted to extreme measures on the prairie to save her family, she tore Katherine’s world apart. Now, seventeen years later, and far from the homestead, Katherine has found the truth – she has discovered the last letter. After years of anger, can Katherine find it in her heart to understand why her mother made the decisions that changed them all? Can she forgive and finally begin to heal before it’s too late?
From the reviewers:
How fascinating!! Inspired by letters written by her great grandmother, Kathleen Shoop has crafted a fictional family tale of secrecy, deceit and torn relations against a stunningly accurate account of life on the prairie before and after the tragic “School Children’s Blizzard” of 1888. — Curt Coulter
It is a gripping story you are sure to love. – lkm
This is the first book in a long time that captured my attention so much that I was up reading late into the night. The characters come alive on the pages and you feel that you know each one personally. — Marcia Lehman
Thank you for reading about me here and for purchasing my novel! I’m married with two children. I’ve been seriously writing for almost a decade although I dabbled much earlier than that! I’ve had short stories published in four Chicken Soup for the Soul books, am a regular contributor to a local magazine, Pittsburgh Parent, and have had essays in local newspapers as well.
I have a PhD in Reading Education and currently work as a Language Arts Coach at a school in Pittsburgh. I work with teachers and their students in grades k-8 and am lucky to learn something new from them every time I walk through their doors.
My first novel, The Last Letter (2011 IPPY Gold Medal–Regional Fiction, Midwest, 2011 Indie Excellence Finalist Award for Historical Fiction and Regional Fiction, 2011 International Book Awards Finalist for Historical Fiction and Best New Fiction), was a fascinating trip through history, punctuated with fictional characters and events. The idea for the story grew from my great-great grandmother’s letters (see My Dear Frank for the complete set of letters!) written during the year of her engagement to Frank Arthur. The beautiful letters are the inspiration for the novel, the seed from which The Last Letter’s characters and their voices grew.
I’ve also written women’s fiction (COMING SOON!) and have written another historical fiction novel (COMING A LITTLE LATER!) set in 1948 in a town not far from Oakmont, PA.
I’m considering revisiting my characters and setting of The Last Letter for a future book, but I hope readers will enjoy the fact I write about varied eras and places and that they will love each book for it’s unique setting and time.


Bargain Book Alert! MY DEAR FRANK: The Letters That Inspired the Kindle Bestseller THE LAST LETTER — Novelist Kathie Shoop shares how she came to write the novel for every daughter who thinks she knows her mother’s story…. (Both Books Available Now for Just 99 Cents Each!)

Guest Post:

By Kathleen Shoop

 

What’s in a letter? Sometimes a letter answers a lingering question, a query that picks its way through your memory, haunting, hurting, never letting up.

 

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by Kathleen Shoop
4.3 stars – 55 Reviews
Lending: Enabled
For Katherine Arthur, the last letter she discovers is the one that finally reveals the truth.

Precious Letters

Imagine a set of love letters:  Hopeful, loving, sweet, intelligent, full of dreamy illusions of marriage and raising a family on the prairie…

Imagine a set of family letters: Dreary, practical, informative, full of disappointment and failure.

The Last Letter was born…

It was from reading two such sets of love and family letters that the novel, The Last Letter, grew. How was it possible that the enthusiastic people who wrote the love letters could have been reduced to penning joyless correspondence in just a few decades? How was it that their children could have misunderstood their mother’s actions for so many years, only realizing her sacrifices when she was dying?

The plot takes shape…

Planning the plot involved thinking about how families function—how parents mold family “truths” in ways they think will do the least harm. Yet, many times such actions inflict great turmoil that takes years to resolve.

Next, I attempted to bring the treacherous world of 19th century homesteading (including events like the 1888 Children’s Blizzard) to bear on the already struggling characters. Suddenly I had a book that was not a true story at all, but was inspired by what we all know to be true: the environment can be completely uncontrollable and mothers want the best for their children. They’ll do nearly anything for them, even if their choices seem wrong to others.

In order to crack open the inner workings of the misinformation that kicks off the novel, the story is told with two plotlines—one in 1905 and the other in 1887—one driving the other. The bulk of the book takes place in 1887/88 showing how the family fell apart while the 1905 plotline shows the rebirth of the mother/daughter relationship.

The Last Letter…the novel for readers who love historical fiction or a good mother/daughter tale of redemption and love. 

by Jeanie Arthur
Lending: Enabled

This Post Sponsored by Kathleen Shoop – Visit Her Website at http://kshoop.com/

Kindle Nation Bargain Book Alert! Don’t miss our eBook of the Day, Kathleen Shoop’s The Last Letter – – 4.5 Stars on 45 out of 51 Rave Reviews and just 99 cents on Kindle!

Here’s the set-up for Kathleen Shoop’s The Last Letter, just 99 cents on Kindle: 

Katherine wouldn’t have believed it if she hadn’t found the letter…


Katherine Arthur’s mother arrives on her doorstep, dying, forcing her to relive a past she wanted to forget.

When Katherine was young, the Arthur family had been affluent city dwellers until shame sent them running for the prairie, into the unknown. Taking her family, including young Katherine, to live off the land was the last thing Jeanie Arthur had wanted.  But she would do her best to make a go of it. For Jeanie’s husband Frank, it had been a world of opportunity. Dreaming, lazy Frank. But, it was a society of uncertainty—a domain of natural disasters, temptation, hatred, even death.

Ten-year-old Katherine had loved her mother fiercely, put her trust in her completely, but when there was no other choice, and Jeanie resorted to extreme measures on the prairie to save her family, she tore Katherine’s world apart.

Now, seventeen years later, and far from the homestead, Katherine has found the truth:  she has discovered the last letter. After years of anger, can Katherine find it in her heart to understand why her mother made the decisions that changed them all? Can she forgive and finally begin to heal before it’s too late?

Kathleen Shoop, PhD, is a language arts coach in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Last Letter is her debut novel.

She is published in four Chicken Soup for the Soul books and regularly places articles and essays in local magazines and newspapers. Kathleen is also married and the mother of two children.

And here, in the comfort of your own browser, is your free sample:


Free Kindle Nation Shorts — July 8, 2011: An Excerpt from THE LAST LETTER, a novel by IPPY Gold Medal Winner Kathleen Shoop

Congratulations to author Kathleen Shoop, whose novel THE LAST LETTER is featured this weekend as a Free Kindle Nation Short. Not only has the novel received a dazzling 4.8-star rating from 34 reviewers on Amazon, but it has also been honored as a 2011 IPPY AWARD GOLD MEDAL WINNER in Fiction. And now, just to prove that the cream rises to the top when the greatest readers in the world — yes, that’s you and me — are in the mix, we find that THE LAST LETTER has risen to #16 on the Kindle Store Movers & Shakers list as of this morning!

If you haven’t already seen this weekend’s free 11,000-word excerpt from THE LAST LETTER, here’s a link. Don’t miss it!