Meet and Greet is a regular feature on my blog. Be forewarned…Unlike the typical interview, these brief questions will get to the true heart of my guests…or at least the heart of what’s in their kitchen. Grab a latte (or other beverage of your choice), find a comfy chair, and prepare to make a new friend.
I’m excited to welcome Stacy Henrie here today! Stacy and I connected through blogging, and we seem to share much in common between writing and raising energy-filled children. 
I’m so thrilled to celebrate the release of her debut novel and hope you’ll check out the details at the end of this post. It sounds like a great read!
Stacy Henrie has always had an avid appetite for history, fiction and chocolate. While she had a goal to write and publish a book one day, she turned her attentions first to graduating with a bachelor’s degree in public relations. Not long after, she switched from writing press releases and newsletters to writing inspirational historical romances as a stay-at-home mom. Stacy loves reading, interior decorating, romantic movies, and most of all, laughing with her husband and three kids. She appreciates the chance to live out history through her characters, while enjoying all the modern conveniences of life in the 21st century.
You can connect with Stacy at her blog or at her website, where she provides links to Goodreads, Pinterest, and Facebook.
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Welcome, Stacy! Let’s get to the questions before our kiddos interrupt us.
What seven words best describe you?
Introvert, tidy, creative, compassionate, responsible, playful, bookworm
Either/Or Questions:
1) Road trip or Frequent flyer?
Road trip all the way! I like driving for long stretches, listening to music on my IPOD, and thinking up new story angles. I also love seeing the scenery details that you miss up in the air. Someday I want our family to do a cross-country, road trip – but only when my kids are older.
2) Take action or Take it as it comes?
Take action – but that’s usually in the form of overanalyzing things, which really isn’t action at all. :) So I’m working, and getting better, at taking it as it comes.
3) Homemade tacos or Pizza delivery?
Homemade tacos. We usually only get store-bought pizza when we’re in a real bind for dinner because my husband makes fabulous homemade pizza. The store stuff doesn’t taste quite as good anymore.
4) ESPN or CNN?
I’m not a sports-watching fan, so I’d say CNN. Though I don’t watch the news either. LOL. I check headlines online.
5) Shopaholic or Shop-a-phobic?
I do enjoy shopping, especially when it’s just me by myself, but I’m not a die-hard shopper. I love finding just what I want, but for a great deal.
6) Sleek and modern or Shabby chic?
Shabby chic, for sure! I like antiques and a cottage-type style.
7) Ice cream sandwich or Banana split?
I’d pick ice cream sandwich since I don’t like bananas with my ice cream. Kind of strange, I know. But if you take away the banana and add fudge or a brownie to that split, I’d be in heaven!
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I’m in total agreement, Stacy. I’ve never learned to like the banana split. And a hubby who makes homemade pizza? That’s awesome! Does he ever share his recipe? I loved your road trip answer, too. My family never flew anywhere, and I have lots of memories of riding in the car (squished in the middle of the back seat), being picked on by my big brother, playing the alphabet game and sign bingo, and finding shapes in the clouds. Good times.
Thanks so much for being here, Stacy!
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No one would ever imagine a fresh-faced young woman could be robbing stage bandits of their ill-gotten fortunes. But Jennie Jones is desperate to save her family’s ranch from foreclosure. And the risks seem worth it, until her upright new ranch hand offers a glimpse of how much is really at stake.
Former bounty hunter Caleb Johnson is ready for a new, clean start. With a woman like Jennie, he could build a future there in Utah territory. But only if his gentle faith can guide her in a choice between the land she’s fought so hard to save and a future by his side.
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Blog Readers: Let’s talk…What are some of your favorite road-trip memories? Any unique ways that you passed the time? How did your parents (or how do you as a parent) keep the kids entertained?
*Giveaway Details: Stacy has offered to give away a copy of Lady Outlaw! All you have to do is leave a comment. (For extra entries, you can Tweet or share this post on Facebook…I’ll add an extra entry for each. Just make sure to mention it in your comment.) Winner will be announced in next Monday’s post. Good luck!
**The winner of last week’s Arlene Pellicane giveaway is Lindsay Harrel! I’ll contact you this week with details.
My Father always used to sing or whistle in the car. He came from a musical family. We would sing along or just listen.
Mary – I remember listening to the Beach Boys – one of my dad’s favorites – on road trips. That’s back before CDs.
My dad is a master whistler too, Mary. And a master steering-wheel drummer.
What great memories!
There was the road trip to Wisconsin when my car overheated in construction and I had a meltdown. (Didn’t know where I was…what was wrong…or anyone to rescue me.) A really nice trucker pulled over and helped me. I think he might have been an angel!!
Bekah – I know about car rescuer angels.
My husband and I, before we were married, took a day trip up to Idaho to see some friends. We got a flat tire before we’d reached our destination. A farmer happened along on the frontage road by the highway and he had an air compressor in his truck. We were able to fix our tire and continue on.
Oh no, that’s my worst nightmare, Bekah! I’m so glad someone was able to help you!
My brother and I are many years apart. We fought constantly. To keep us entertain on a trip, mom would make us look out our own window. We then had to count how many cows that we see out our window. But If we came across a graveyard we had to start counting all over again. Whoever had the most “cows” at the end of trip won!
Amy – LOL! I love that you had to start over if you came across a graveyard. I enjoyed looking out the window on roadtrips as a kid and watching the scenery.
What a clever mother, Amy! I love it.
I’m shabby chic too and I love the words you used to describe yourself. I can relate!
~ Wendy
Wendy – I have a binder full of pages I’ve taken out of home decor magazines, and I don’t think there’s a modern-style one in the bunch.
Not too shabby, Wendy.
It’s great to meet Stacy! Thanks, Sarah, for the intro and fun interview.
We used to sing and play games on road trips, a tradition that continued with my three kids.
Karen – Looking back, I wonder how my parents did long trips from Utah to California and back without DVD players.
We listened to music and slept and stared out the window. I like the game idea!
I find myself carrying on road-trip traditions with my kids too, Karen.
One of my favorite road trip memories was riding on the “car bed” in the back of my parents car listening to music on my Walkman!!
Mandy – Sounds like a blast – riding on the car bed and listening to your Walkman!
Ah yes, Mandy, the days when seat belts weren’t required. We’d probably get arrested today if we let our kids ride in the places we used to.
Yay, fun interview! I already have Stacy’s book (and Stacy, I’m posting a review this week on Amazon and other sites!), so you can exclude me from the drawing.
Pretty much any road trip with my family is a blast. I will never forget when we were driving through tiny town in Wisconsin…and we saw a pig running down the street…and a butcher in a white apron chasing after it. No joke.
Thanks, Melissa! That is hilarious about the butcher chasing the pig! It’s those little details/memories that I love about road trips.
LOL, Melissa, Talk about a family memory! (or nightmare
)
a great posting…thanks for the chance to read this beautiful story…
Road Trips…we traveled every summer as a family…I remember noticing license plates from different states and writing them down…it was fun seeing how many we saw each day.
Ohhh, I love the license plate game, Karen! My favorite is always when I see one from Hawaii or Alaska.
Karen – That’s a great game. I’ll have to remember that one with my kids!
Great post and wonderful to meet Stacie! As for road trips, they seemed to always be torturous for me as my brother constantly picked on me and tormented me as well. Good times!
I can so relate, Jenny. My brother and I are close now, so I guess we can thank the road trips for that.
I’m sure my two sisters and I weren’t angels on family road trips – need to remember that when I travel with my kids.
Forgot to mention I shared on twitter.
Yay, I’m thrilled to have won that book! It looked really good.
We always drove to Oklahoma from Arizona to see my grandparents, and did the trip at least once a year. My mom would buy me a whole stack of books for the trip. I’d try to sneak a read before the trip and she’d always catch me.
But yeah, I would pretty much read the whole time. I’d get so upset when the sun would finally go down and I’d have nothing else to do.
I so wish I could read in the car, Lindsay! Unfortunately I get car sick, but I can just imagine how much faster the trip would go with a novel in my hand.
I’m so jealous, Lindsay! I can’t read in the car – at all – because I get motion sick. That would be a great way to make the hours go by!
I can’t wait for your book!
I don’t like bananas together with ice cream either.
Hooray for another non-banana-split fan, Loree!
I’m with Stacy….add a brownie and I’m there.
How funny that there are three of us who don’t like bananas in our splits! We should start a club.
Great interview! My family loved a good “carcation.” We usually drove to Colorado and went camping. My dad made us listen to a cassette tape of the Judds over and over again in our white and yellow van. I’ve had a place in my heart for Naomi and Wynona ever since.
LOL, Julie, The Judds sound way better than my dad’s choice of talk shows about cars.
That’s awesome! My dad is a big oldies fan, so I listened to it a lot growing up. I still love listening to that music.
We just put 7,000 miles on our van this summer, so I too love road trips! Great to meet you, Stacy!
So good to chat with you the other day, Sarah!
You’re awesome. 
7,000 miles, Melanie?! Wowsers. I’m impressed you survived.
WOW! That is a lot of driving, Melanie. And probably a lot of awesome memories and stories too.
Love the cover of this book (and I am tweeting about this post too) — and it’s got a great plot too.
Road trips — wow, so many memories. One that stands out: The AC breaking on our van when we had to drive from CO to FL after having a very fun vacation. So, we got up ve-ery early in the morning and drove while the kiddos were asleep (at least part of the time) and it was still cool. Then we stopped driving at 1 PM or so, found a hotel and let the kiddos play in the pool. Next day: Repeat. Until we made it home.
Yikes, Beth! Amazing the creature comforts we get spoiled with, isn’t it? Sounds like you made the best of it, though.
Beth – I think those crazy vacation moments make the best stories! My family and I still talk about funny things that happened on our vacations from years ago. What wasn’t always funny in the moment is hilarious when we talk about it now.
Love, love, love road trips. One of my favorite memories was driving through the Rockies in Colorado with my late husband. We stopped at a couple of antique stores, and the scenery was beyond gorgeous.
Susan – Antique shops and gorgeous scenery sound right up my alley! Though I don’t know that my kids would appreciate those two things as much as me.
my brother and I would build blanket forts in our station wagon…wow…those days were crazy.
Katrina – Forts in the station wagon? Now that sounds like fun road trips!
Thanks so much for hosting me, Sarah! I’ve had fun reading everyone’s comments about road trips. Makes me want to take one.
You’re welcome, Stacy! I think a road trip is in order soon.
Stacy’s book sounds like a winner! Please enter my name. We used to see if we could find license plates from all 50 states. Now when we’re with our grandkids, we play word guessing games. “I’m thinking of a word that begins with P.” “Is it pelican?” “Is it peanut butter?” “Is it punch?”
Fun game idea, Jeanette! My son loves to play the “Guess the animal where it lives game”. And yes, that’s exactly what he calls it.
I remember going to Colorado when my children were younger..we talked alot and listened to different music along the way. =)
I love how car trips can draw a family closer together, Melissa. I still have memories of looking through the sunroof with my siblings and finding different shapes in the clouds.
Thanks for stopping by, and have a wonderful weekend!