boys and books

One of the best things in the world is to be a boy; it requires no experience, but needs some practice to be a good one.
-Charles Dudley Warner

This rainy morning I have one boy with a sore throat and another boy with a headache - and a big wedding to attend tomorrow night. Since becoming a mother, I'm always amazed at a kid's timing:) Of course I never mind if they get sick and have to miss school or a music lesson or sports - but a wedding is something else entirely! Must be that 7-layer cake... Since they are rarely sick I'll count my blessings (and try to find a way to attend that wedding)! Besides, it can't really be serious because Wyatt just said, "Mom, I think I'd feel better if you made me some hasbrowns, three eggs, and some toast."

I've just printed out a hard copy of book 2, Red River Daughter, in preparation for this next edit. I'm not sure why you catch so many more mistakes when you are holding actual pages as opposed to working off a laptop, etc. My brother has one of those Kindle devices where you can download books and read them on that little machine. I guess these are really catching on but I wonder if there's any substitute for holding a real book in your hands? I even love the smell of a new book! And I am absolutely wild about bookmarks. I found one yesterday with an old-style globe on it that says "A good book is a wonderful journey."

My publisher does the cleverest thing - before a book is released they send the author bookmarks and postcards to mail out. So check your mailboxes - you might be hearing from me. Happy Thursday.

rewriting

We do not write as we want to but as we can. -Somerset Maugham

I wonder if any writer is every satisfied with the way they write? Since writing consists of so much rewriting, it seems we spend a lot of time being dissatisfied and reaching for the better word. Ernest Hemingway said that "all first drafts are trash." Encouraging, huh? But I've found it to be true. I never dreamed how many times I'd have to rework paragraphs and chapters till they were just right, only to read them the next day and rework them again. I think all good writers must be perfectionists.

I am officially inching past page 82 of book 3 and smiling as I go! The best part of writing is the creating - not the editing. Nothing beats the bliss of having a scene in your head and having it unfold faster than you can write it down. Sometimes you're the director and move those characters around but most often they have a life of their own and will say and do things that delight you. I don't understand the process at all - I'm just a happy participant:)

It's good to be home tonight writing in my chair by the woodstove. Wish I could stay there the rest of the week! I'll have a wedding and church supper to post about soon ... and maybe a book cover too!

count your distractions ... er, blessings!

I sometimes wonder what it would be like to write without children and all the other people in my life. To sit down and write and not be interrupted! What a gift! But as I get older I see these things not as distractions but as blessings that enrich life and my work.

I can't tell you what fun Paul and I had barreling down to Sequim Prairie Grange again for the fiddler's jam on Saturday. Heaven must be full of fiddles and banjos. The oldest fiddler was 92 and has been playing since childhood, never had a lesson, can't read a note, and is right out of HEE HAW. One lady there was 102! And there were three long-haired fiddling teens that gave us goosebumps they were so good! Randy and Wyatt stayed home to make cider all day but they're going to join us next time. If you haven't figured out how much I love the violin/fiddle, you must be new to this blog. I came home ready to write after all that fun which goes to show that all writing and no play makes Laura a very dull girl.

Back to distractions ... In Red River Daughter I had the best time writing about children. And I felt I could do so with some authority since I have two. But I kept them small in this book - babies, actually. And I loved them dearly by book's end. And I'm still missing them. I tried to sneak a baby or two into The Scrivener's Daughter but it's not going to work with this one. Paper babies are so much easier than real ones! No colic even!

A friend recently asked me how I come up with characters - do I create them based on the people I know or do I just dream them up? I really just dream them up. And I see myself in every character I write, even the bad.

As we head into a busy week full of fiddling, writing, a wedding, and church supper, I hope you have a few distractions - I mean blessings of your own:)

your creative best

I read an interesting article about the author Nicholas Sparks this week and thought I'd share some of it here. He's written 14 bestsellers in 14 years and sort of stumbled into writing by accident. I think he exists to keep those of us who've felt called to write from birth humble! I've read a couple of his books in the past (The Notebook is the one I remember) but I don't read a lot of contemporary novels so don't know much about him.

He's an avid exerciser, church attender, and writes 5-6 hours a day. His goal is 2,000 words a day. I do the first three but counting words is too much like counting calories to me and I could never do it. However, lots of writers set a daily word count goal and it works well.

It's so interesting to read about other writers and how they do what they do, how they got started, how many times they were rejected, etc. But I've noticed that it can be a trap as well - a comparison trap. I think this is something we all struggle with throughout our lives.

A good friend of mine runs an adult family home with several ladies in their 90's. She loves these ladies and they love living with her in her beautifully remodeled home with a huge patio, waterfall, and those big koi fish swimming around. When she first started taking ladies in, she was tempted to look around and see what others were doing and how they were doing it. She'd been well trained in this area so felt the Lord was telling her to keep her eyes on Him, not them. She even declined joining any groups or organizations in her specialty area. This might be okay for some but Kathy felt this was a firm no. She is simply doing what He's called her to do and not trying to run someone else's race.

I've noticed that as I become better acquainted with the publishing world (and it's a very different world than simply me and my imagination!) I am tempted to look around also. Perusing other writer's websites and blogs can be kind of fun but I've noticed they create unrest in my spirit. That's the simplest way to describe it. Other writers might be fine doing this - from all the blog-hopping going on it does seem I am in the minority. Perhaps I'm uncomfortable because this is all new to me and I'm a private person (yes, this blog still stretches me past all comfort but maybe it serves a purpose, if only for further writing practice). I really think He's telling me to keep my eyes on Him and off others. Maybe He's telling you to do the same in the particular race you're running.

Make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given and then sink yourself into that. Don't be impressed with yourself! Don't compare yourself with others. Each of you must take responsibility for doing the creative best you can with your own life.
Galatians 6:4-5 The Message Bible

...Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith ...
Hebrews 12:2

fiddlin' again

Red River Gorge National Park

Yesterday we met Paul's new violin/fiddle teacher - wow! She lives in a 100 year old farmhouse about an hour east of us and has a studio/recording studio in one of the outbuildings. The walls are lined with instruments from all over, most of which I can't name. Paul really liked her treasure chest full of treats. He picked out a blow-pop at lesson's end. Remember those suckers with bubble gum inside? For me, if it's not chocolate, forget it! Anyway, Ms. Mary as we call her, was trained by one of the singing nuns in the Sound of Music! She's played violin since age 9 but also sings, fiddles, plays piano, coaches drama, and performs with the local symphony and chamber orchestra, etc. She said the kids who are winning all the fiddling contests right now were trained in classical violin. Our goal isn't to win any contests but just play respectably. We have a lot to learn.

Last night we started the Alpha Course at church and it is great! First a wonderful dinner and then the study. Quite a few church members came and then ten new folks. One recovering meth addict who attends our church brought five gnarly-looking, tattoo-sporting friends. I was so impressed! What a testimony he has. I was ashamed I only brought myself.

With all this going on, who has time to write, right? I'm awaiting a book on Kentucky's Red River from Amazon to help me in this next edit of book 2 - Red River Daughter. Being meticulous in researching a book is critical because there will always be a reader out there who knows more about the subject than you do and who will be happy to point out anything inconsistent. I suppose you earn the criticism if you don't get it right though writers do make mistakes:)

I am missing this second book very much and wish I could go back and write it all again. Still stuck on page 82 of book 3, The Scrivener's Daughter, but am researching in the interim. Another writer I know of says she never feels at home with a new book until she climbs past page 100. Then she feels she really knows her characters and where they are headed. Every writer is different. Anyway, enough writing here! Happy Thursday.

praise

It's so easy to be negative in today's world yet we are told to think on things that are true, lovely, good, and more. Randy is a bit of a pessamist by nature and I tend to be somewhat melancholy but we're discovering that praise works! And I know it pleases Him because He's told us to do it. Anyway, on this very stormy Washington morning, here are some praises I just can't keep to myself:

1. Paul's new fiddle scholarship!
2. The Alpha study starting at our church tomorrow night.
3. My brother, Chris, for finding just the right pictures to go with these posts:)
4. My publisher for telling me yesterday that the cover for my book The Frontiersman's Daughter is expected any day! Yes, I know I've been dangling this cover business like a carrot on this blog but it is coming!
5. Praise Him that while I may be stuck on page 82 of book 3 He is not!
6. I just wrote the final chapter of book 2 and have put it away to get some distance from it until the next self-edit. This story takes place in 18th-century Kentucky in the Red River Gorge area - a really wild and scenic place with all that sandstone and those natural arches. Since I must say goodbye to The Preacher's Daughter I'm renaming it "Red River Daughter" which will probably not be the actual title but it works for now.
7. Last, I'm thankful for you blog readers, mostly family and friends, but there are some readers cropping up in Port Townsend and Oregon and other places unknown to me and I'm pleased and intrigued you would take the time to read this - humbling, actually. Thank you! Things should get more interesting the closer we come to publication day.
8. Praise that this blog will burn up one day but His word lasts forever!

Celebrate God all day, every day, I mean, revel in Him! Don't fret or worry. Instead of worry, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good will come and settle you down. It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.
Summing it up, friends, I'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious - the best, not the worst, the beautiful, not the ugly, things to praise, not things to curse. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into His most excellent harmonies.Philippians 4:4-9, The Message Bible

harlaxton manor ... grantham castle

This morning in Sunday school we were talking about desert times and what you do when you come to a season of spiritual dryness or nothingness, where God seems far off. One sojourner said you look back and see all the ways He has met your needs in the past. This really is a great anecdote for desert times. Sometimes when you're walking in a fog of boredom or pain or unmet expectations you can't see Him at work. Hindsight is 20/20 truly! Look for His hand - it is everywhere!

Now that I've come to a spot in book 3 where my characters won't budge past page 82, I have a little more time to remember the ways He's delighted me. Thinking of past green pastures and still waters is good for the soul. Maybe because it reminds you He'll bring them about again:)

I attended a small private school in Ohio called Denison during college. Ohio is such a beautiful place - all that farmland and Amish influence. But at the time I couldn't see it. Being a Kentucky girl I had a decided prejudice against those people over the river. Silly, I know. Denison is a great school if you're really smart or well-to-do. I was neither. I transferred to the University of Kentucky and did a stint at Berea College studying Kentucky authors the next year. And then, I transferred back to Denison!! I was the only student in the school's history to do this!

Did my time in college get better? No. I still studied 8-10 hours a day, never had a date, and spent my free time eating brownie fudge delights in downtown Granville at a little cafe. I had a preacher's daughter from Pennsylvania for a roommate (Heather, are you reading this?) and she was a gift to me then and now. She was also as miserable as I was (only Heather was lots smarter).

This was not what college life was all about! I wanted to play and be popular and study when I felt like it. But now I see it was just where He wanted me to be. Being at Denison was a lesson in sheer endurance. And I think it was a lesson I needed to learn early if I was to keep writing. I remember having a meltdown at the start of my junior year. I was tired and wanted to quit. I wanted to transfer to Western Kentucky University (my mom's alma mater) and marry a farmer.

This is where THE BIG GREEN PASTURE APPEARED. I got to quit the desert my junior year and fly to England and live in a castle. Yep. I still can't believe it either. How does a Kentucky girl get to live in a castle? Granted, my room was on the third floor in the servant's quarters and I got deathly ill on a tainted pastry only hours after setting foot on British soil. But it got lots better!

My room had a wonderful windowseat that overlooked stone lions and a fountain. I got to wander through this castle at all hours - all those shadowed halls and secret passageways and the grand cedar staircase with the incredible mural of Father Time and the heavens on the ceiling high above. I could go on and on. It was His gift to me. It is still my favorite memory. Only He could have done that.

And then I went back to the desert - I mean Denison! And I actually graduated 2 years later. No, it didn't get any better. But my time at Grantham Castle (aka Harlaxton Manor) kept me going. I thought then, and now, that I'd like to write a book about a castle. Maybe I will.

into the light

Pouring rain here today but hope it's sunny wherever you are - in the very center of your soul, at least! I've been thinking about something my Sunday school teacher once said - that our lives are all Mercy and Grace. His Mercy and Grace. We wouldn't even breathe without it. He enables us to do even that. Anything beyond breathing is a huge bonus.

We even get to serve Him! And that is a privilege. He even gifts us to do so. I always wonder how people can take any credit for the things they do well when it's all about His Mercy and Grace. Like writing. He's gifted me to write (though I'd rather have played the fiddle!) but I can no more take credit for writing than having green eyes and blonde hair. It's just what happened and is as natural as breathing.

Growing up I kept my writing a secret to all but my parents and brother. Pretty hard to disguise that loud typewriter pecking for hours on end even behind a bedroom door:) I think they thought it was just a hobby, an escape. It was more the latter. I can't tell you all the places I've been with paper and pen! I have to confess that when I married Randy at the ripe old age of 33 he didn't know I came with an ounce of writing baggage. Like Dr. Dobson says, dating is a time of concealment. I just never talked to anyone about it and I never knew anybody else who liked to write - or admitted to it anyway.

So here I am out of the dark and into the light, so to speak. And I wonder what all the fuss is about!? I still don't talk about it but things have a way of leaking. I have two God-given prayer partners here and one is equipped with a wonderful sound system:) It didn't take long before people started sharing her joy (and mine) when this writing dream was realized and I signed that contract.

Still, I squirm when folks ask me about it. Yes, I'm thrilled but I'm still at the stage when I think I'll wake up and find it is all just a dream. I get tickled at people's reactions to someone with a book about to come out (well, in my case, according to the counter in the right margin, 300 more days). But you're the gal down the road who cans beets and lives in that little grey house with the green shutters and drives that old red Jeep and has those two boys with flat-tops, etc. At least this is what they seem to be thinking. One lady asked me my qualifications for writing. I almost laughed! And I didn't answer right away!

What are my qualifications anyway? Not a one. It's all back to His Mercy and Grace.

God has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace ...
2 Timothy 1:9

paradise

I have very little of Mr. Blake's company; he is always in Paradise.
-Mrs. William Blake

Poor Mrs. Blake! If we could poll other witer's spouses (and ex's!) I wonder if they might say the same. Mr. Frantz included!


There are books of which the backs and covers are by far the best parts.
-Dickens

Only Dickens could get away with this. Every book he wrote was a masterpiece! My favorite was A Christmas Carol.


Read the best books first, or you may not have a chance to read them at all.
-Thoreau

I personally believe heaven will be full of books - all bestsellers - and we'll have infinite time to enjoy them:)

october 1

This morning in western Washington it's foggy though I don't hear the fog horn on the water. My stack of books by my big green chair is growing! Yesterday the boys and I came home from being away at school all day and an Amazon box was on the front porch - the latest book from my publisher called "Longings of the Heart" by Bonnie Leon. The cover is very well done which makes me excited to see my own once it's finished.

Bonnie has a neat blog and lives in Oregon. I like her devotional style posts. She's had some hard things happen to her which she is very transparent about. I've already read several chapters of her book, set in Australia, and I like it very much. I've never met Bonnie but I'd like to! Her blog address is at the bottom of this page if you want to take a look.

October will be a fun month for us with cider-making, a wedding, and an interesting Bible study starting at our church next Wednesday. Reminds me of the old Baptist traditon of Wednesday night suppers which I loved way back then at Calvary Baptist in Lexington, Kentucky. We'll meet for supper at our little church at 6 pm and then start something called the "Alpha Course." We hope lots of new folks will come.

On the scribbling front, I am ready to write that last chapter of book 2. I started this book on a trip to Kentucky last fall after finishing The Frontiersman's Daughter. I blame this book on Randy! I was flying home to see my granny for the last time and Randy told me to be sure to take a notebook to get my mind off the sadness of the trip. I sat in the airport and on all those planes for hours and it seemed like 5 minutes. Reading or writing a good book will do that for you. Hallelujah!

But I hate ending a book. To prolong it I am writing this last chapter out on real paper as slowly as I can - none of that laptop business. There's nothing on earth like writing a book out on your lap. I learned on an old Royal typewriter and didn't have a laptop till this year so prefer the old fashioned scribe-type method any old day - and I've never lost a file this way either!

This is the day which the Lord has made; Let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Psalm 118:24