Shannon here: Hey y’all, it’s my turn. My newest Love Inspired release should be hitting a Walmart near you about now. But hurry. A Texas Bond will only be there for one month. If you miss it, you can find it online though. Or you can follow my blog tour (watch Facebook & Fiction Addiction Fix for links). You can also comment here or answer the question in any post dated Feb 19 – 23 to enter the drawing for a copy. Deadline: March 6th, 11:59 pm central time.
Back when my husband and I first got married, we did a bit of flea marketing. As our house filled to the brim, we
stopped. A few years ago, after a major remodel, my husband suggested we go flea marketing for decor. Our passion rekindled and we started visiting every flea market we saw. Before long, we were talking about opening a booth of our own. We finally did it and for about eight months, we had a booth. The venture allowed us both to tap into our creativity and create things together. We really had fun.
We repurposed items, painted furniture, built hall trees and coffee bars from old doors, and my husband made interesting light fixtures. We did pretty good there for a while, actually made some income regularly. But then the owners sold and the old clientele seemed to leave with the former owners. We changed flea markets, but never did as well. In the meantime, it became a job to keep our booth full.
We soon realized it was like having another full-time job. My husband doesn’t create on-demand very well. He has to be inspired. When a large item in a flea market booth sells, you can’t
wait for creativity to strike. We ended up shutting our booth down. But I miss it. We often dream of someday owning our own booth and I’m constantly trying to talk my husband into getting a new booth. Our house is pretty full to the brim again, but we still go flea marketing just for fun.
Our experiences inspired my latest release, A Texas Bond. In the book, my heroine, Stacia Keyes, runs a flea market out of her barn selling repurposed items from her dad’s salvage business. It was fun vicariously living through Stacia, owning my dream store.
About Shannon: Award winning author, Shannon Taylor Vannatter writes contemporary Christian cowboy romance and has over a dozen published titles. A romance reader since her teens, she hopes to entertain Christian women and plant seeds in the non-believer’s heart as she demonstrates that love doesn’t conquer all—Jesus does.
She gleans fodder for her fiction in rural Arkansas where she spent her teenage summers working the concession stand with her rodeo announcing dad and married a Texan who morphed into a pastor. In her spare time, she loves hanging out with her husband and son, flea marketing, and doing craft projects. Recently, Shannon joined Scrivenings Press as co-owner/acquisitions/content editor. Learn more & connect:
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About the book – A Texas Bond – Book 3: Texas Hill Country series:
Finding his family is only the beginning… He came to find the children… Will he stay to win her heart?
Learning he’s an uncle shocks Ross Lyles—but after years of handling his brother’s bombshells, at least this surprise is a blessing. A pair of five-year-old blessings Ross is determined to meet, if he can convince their aunt to give him a chance. Fiercely protective, Stacia Keyes is worried he’ll try to take the children…and lassoing her trust is harder than he ever imagined.
Available at Walmart from mid-Feb to mid-March. Or online:
A Texas Bond – ChristianBook A Texas Bond – Amazon
Question for Readers: Do you shop at flea markets, consignment stores, or yard sales? Tell me about some unique finds?
Come back Feb 23rd for part two with me!
I love going to flea markets, thrift stores, and second hand stores. I have a great Home Interiors picture and cast iron skillets that I got years ago at a store that’s no longer around.
Hey Linda, Almost all of my furniture and decor in my entire house came from flea markets or Facebook Marketplace. The only new furniture we own is the couch in our family room, my desk, our desk chairs, and a bookcase.
A lot of the things in my home were bought used. I don’t shop flea markets since I’m retired because of less income and no where to put anything else! I’m trying to downsize so my daughter doesn’t have so much work getting rid of my stuff someday!
We just look now, Joan. Our house is full too.
I love shopping at flea markets. The key is not to get too attached to your finds. Keep them for a bit, then have a yard sale or donate to a thrift shop so you can start over!
Yes Jenny. I went through a dozen sets of wing back chairs one year. I kept finding ones I liked better. But I sell bigger items I’m replacingon Facebook Marketplace and usually get my money back. My son in named me chairs that year.
I love this cover!!!
Yes I do! Home decor 🙂
Thanks Natalya. I love the cover too. I have a hard time buying new anymore because of new prices.
Congratulations on the new release! We did go years ago to a flea market near us. We bought suitcases there because they were cheaper than buying in a store and we’ve seen how airport baggage handlers handle the luggage. They don’t handle the suitcases carefully. So it wouldn’t be worth it to buy an expensive suitcase. Now we only go to the flea market if we have family visiting from out-of-town to take them there.
Thanks Diana. Good idea on the luggage. My husband and I want to go to one of those huge flea markets that’s outside and goes on for days.
I will rarely shop at thrift stores myself but I do enjoy stopping by them sometimes.
We’ve found really unique Christmas gifts at flea markets too, Abigail. One year we found a mixed media painting. It had strips of scroll looking paper woven through the painting with a poem or something about music written on them. My husband’s mom plays the piano and sings. We bought it for her and she loved it.
What a beautiful cover! I love to go to buy something secondhand. Due to Covid-19 all stores are closed, except for food stores. That’s a real pity.
Thank you, Mariléne. I’m curious where you live. In Arkansas, all the flea markets and secondhand stores are open and hopping.