Guest Post (and a Giveaway!): Mary Alford’s Martha McDougal & A Tour of Delaney Mountain

I’m happy to welcome Martha McDougal to the blog today! She’s here on loan from Mary Alford’s new book Grace and the Rancher to give us a tour of the town of Delaney Mountain.

Hi Martha!

Well, hi there. Welcome to Delaney Mountain. Glad you stopped by today. My name is Martha McDougal and I’ve been a lifelong resident of Delaney Mountain, a little town tucked in at the foot of Delaney Mountain where the nicest people in the world live.

Now, we’re not fancy, by any means. You won’t find any of those big city latte places, or designer clothing stores, but you can get a good cup of coffee over at Amy’s Diner. It’s just down from McDougal’s, my grocery store.

Things are slow at the store right now. I’ll have my good friend and assistant, Grace Bradford watch the place for a bit. She’s been a dream come true for me since she moved here a few years back. Grace is as sweet as she can be, but she’s had a difficult time, (I’ll tell you more about that later on). We’re so proud of her, though. Grace has her own story published in a book by….now, what was that author’s name, oh yes, Mary Alford.

“Grace, we’re leaving for a walk now. We’ll see you in a bit.”

“No problem, Martha. Have a good time,” Grace called out from the back of the store.

These wooden sidewalks have been here since I was a kid. I remember I used to love riding my bike over then because they make such a noise.

Next door to McDougal’s, is one of the newer businesses in town. Hilde Carpenter came to Delaney about six months ago and opened up Hilde’s Bakery, (the place used to be Raymond George’s law office until he retired a few years back and moved to Florida). Hilde’s a sweet young thing, but she’s just getting to know us here and I think she’s got a story of her own for sure. Ha! Maybe Mary Alford will write a story about Hilde next.

Why don’t we grab a quick cup of coffee at Amy’s and I’ll show you the rest of the town. There’s not that much, really, but every shop is useful to Delaney residents. We only have five hundred locals living here, but that’s okay. I wouldn’t trade this close knit community for any other place in the world.

Ah, I can see you like the coffee. Amy has her own special brew. She won’t tell anyone how she makes it, not even me and we’ve been friends for years. I guess a girl has to have some secrets.

How about we cross the street here. Oh, I see you admiring the view up on Delaney Mountain. I don’t blame you. Isn’t it pretty. In my opinion, this is as close to heaven as it gets here on earth.

Over there we have Jacob’s Hardware. Old Samuel Jacob sells just about anything you need hardware wise.

Oh, and right here is Missy Anderson’s Bookstore. God bless her. Missy’s arthritis is getting worse every year. She’s not sure how much longer she can keep the bookstore open. Missy told me the other day that she has a niece that lives in Texas who has shown some interest in coming to Delaney Mountain and helping her run the place. Something about a D-I-V-O-R-C-E, if you know what I mean. There’s a story there as well. Now, don’t look at me like that. If you stick around long, you’ll find out that in Delaney Mountain, everyone knows everyone’s business. It’s just part of living in a small town.

Just down the street is the Delaney Mountain Church. You can’t miss it. See, there’s the steeple.

And right there’s Doc Lovett’s office and over there is Henderson’s General store. You can find anything you want there. From shoes to hunting gear, Henderson’s got it all. You’ll have to stop by there before you leave town.

Well, now you’ve seen just about everything out little town of Delaney Mountain has to offer. As you can see, we’re just a simple place where everyone knows everyone and if you have a need, well, we’ll be there to help you out, because that’s what you do when you live in Delaney Mountain.

Now, I mentioned that Grace had that writer person put her story into a book, well, let me tell you a little about that. Where to being. Let me see, oh, Grace had barely been in Delaney Mountain a year when guess who comes back to town. Kyle Delaney. I see you caught the last name. That’s right, Kyle is part of the family that originally settled the town. At one time, the Delaney’s owned one of the biggest cattle ranches around. But the family has a bad history, (drinking). Kyle’s father all but destroyed the family legacy and tore his family to pieces. Uh, uh, uh. But Kyle, well, he seems to be a changed man. Not the same person who left here all those years ago. He’s sober and trying to rebuild the cattle business. I think he just might make it…oh my goodness, I’m giving the story away.

You should just buy the book and find out what happens.

It’s for sale here: Amazon, Barnes and Noble.

Oh and there’s more.

Here’s what I heard the author using to get people interested in the book. I understand it’s called a blurb or something like that, for goodness sake.

Grace Bradford is living a lie. To the world she has the perfect life: A promising country music career and a husband who adores her. But her husband isn’t the man everyone believes him to be. When a car accident widows her and ends her career, Grace escapes to Delaney Mountain. But moving to the remote town doesn’t wipe away the ugly secret of her marriage. Kyle Delaney never intended to return to Delaney Mountain, but he promises his dying father that he’ll turn their land into a working cattle ranch. He uproots his life in Austin, sells his flourishing business as a music agent, and returns to the Colorado town of his childhood. Can a runaway singer and a makeshift rancher, thrust together by circumstance and held together by the common thread of loss and a love of music, find hope and a happily-ever-after under the stars of Delaney Mountain?

Caught your interest, did it? Well, I guess that’s what Ms. Alford intended. Oh and by the way, she’s giving away an ebook copy of the story right here today, so that’s a good thing.

Anyway, that’s life in Delaney Mountain. A simple place, for people who are looking for a simpler life or a second chance at a new one. Whatever you’re looking for, everyone’s welcome here in Delaney Mountain.

Oh my goodness, would you look at the time. I’d better get back to the store. Looks like the rush hour shoppers have arrived, ha, ha, ha.

Okay, you have a nice day now, and be sure to stop back by Delaney Mountain again, because you never know what that author, Mary Alford is going to come up with next.

Mary Alford grew up in a small Texas town famous for, well not much of anything really. Being the baby of the family and quite a bit younger than her brothers and sister, Mary had plenty of time to entertain herself. Making up stories seem to come natural to her. As a pre-teen, Mary discovered Christian romance novels and knew instinctively that was what she wanted to do with her over-active imagination. She wrote her first novel as a teen, (it’s tucked away somewhere never to see the light of day), but never really pursued her writing career seriously until a few years later, when she wrote her first Christian romance and was hooked. Today, Mary still lives in Texas, and still writes about romance. In fact, she can’t think of anything else she’d rather do.

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Mary Alford is giving away an ebook of Grace and the Rancher to one of my readers! Enter via the Rafflecopter form below. Giveaway is subject to Reading Is My SuperPower’s giveaway policies.

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What about you? Where would you go first if you were visiting Delaney Mountain?