Meet Author, Zina Abbott

ZINA ABBOTT

I have written two new adult time travel novels under my real name, Robyn Echols, but ZINA ABBOTT is the pen name I use for my adult Golden Oaks and my historical novels. I like writing about the West, especially women making their way in the West. A lot of western novels are about cowboys, but I guess I am drawn to a man in uniform. I have been fascinated by the history of the frontier forts and the men who serve there, including my hero in my featured novel, A Christmas Promise.
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Except for the first year of my life, I have lived in California. I have loved writing fiction since I was in junior high, but found my writing efforts set aside periodically by family and employment. I love family history and enjoy history from a genealogist's perspective by seeking out the details of everyday life in the past. When I’m not piecing together novel plots and characters, I enjoy piecing together quilt blocks. 

A CHRISTMAS PROMISE

A Christmas Promise blurb:

A sergeant from Fort Laramie plans to muster out of the Army after twenty years in order to go into ranching--and start a family. A new widow, grateful to have work as a housekeeper, struggles to provide Christmas gifts for her two children. An eleven year-old boy, still fiercely loyal to the dead father who neglected him while alive, struggles to learn how to grow to be a man. A younger sister is starved for the attention and affection only a father can give. This heartwarming tale of a bleak Christmas set in 1873 Wyoming tells of the gift of second chances and a promise for a brighter future.

Excerpt:

The three had no sooner settled in their chairs than they heard the sound of boots stomping on the back porch. A knocking on the outside door to the kitchen followed.

“That Saint Nicholas, Ma?” Arletta asked, her voice full of wonder. Samuel snickered in response. Annie glanced over to Samuel with a warning frown.

“Too early for him, Letta. Probably one of the hands a-needin’ something from Mr. Clayton. You two wait here while I see who it is.”

Annie picked up the oil lamp that had been sitting in the middle of the table. She heard the knock again before she could get to the door that separated the kitchen from the partially covered porch that served as a mud room and winter laundry room.

“Who’s there?” she called through the solid wood.

“It’s Sgt. Jenkins, ma’am.”

Annie almost dropped the oil lamp in surprise. She took a deep breath and yanked the door open. Before her, backlit by the almost full moon, stood a man bundled up against the cold. Even with the front of him being cast in shadow and with most of his face swathed in a knit muffler, she could see enough of his form and features to recognize the man who had been so much in her thoughts this evening.

Once over the initial surprise, a sparkle began to light her eyes that had nothing to do with the light from the lamp. She knew that if the truth were to be known, he had been in her thoughts during most evenings, not just this one.

Visit my A Christmas Promise Pinterest board to see some pictures that relate to this story.

I will be giving away one digital copy of A Christmas Promise chosen from among those who leave a comment at the end of this post.

Does your family have a tradition for opening presents at Christmastime? Do you open them Christmas Eve or Christmas morning?

Purchase links:

Amazon Kindle 

Barnes& Noble Nook

Smashwords