snowed in

Where are my snowshoes? This morning it's about 19 degrees and we have half a foot of snow. The wind is roaring (gusting to 60 mph) but it's just beautiful outside, so long as you're inside by the fire. Snow is so much better than rain. I'm praying the power holds as I'm still working on these galleys. Our house smells like Christmas trees, thanks to the two firs inside. I heard of a lady in Georgia who has a tree in every room (even the bathroom?) which sounds wonderful and time-consuming (bet she doesn't write books). It's a good day for chili and Christmas cookies.

If the power goes out, I'll have to brave the roads and drive the 30 minutes to town to keep working. I've threatened to check into a hotel:) Must be the thought of room service that lures me. Randy went into the ditch after church yesterday so would be better to stay home.

Strangely enough, up until this weekend, I counted 14 blue hydrangeas blooming on my garden bush and Paul went up and picked 3 daisies for me in our wildflower patch. Now with the wind and snow all the apple trees and everything else have been stripped bare.

I've been reading about the Kentucky winter of 1777-1778. The old-timers referred to it as "the year of the terrible sevens." Turkeys and other game just froze in their tracks. I think this was the same winter George Washington was with his half-starved, barefoot troops at Valley Forge. We have such ease now.

Hope you're curled up with a good book! I want to read John Adams as soon as I can get my hands on it. My Amazon account grows and grows. Happy reading:)

old joe clark

Sometimes you just have to do something besides write. We (even Randy and Wyatt) spent the day with the old time fiddlers and got a good dose of Old Joe Clark and a bunch of other tunes and felt like new. And Paul was offerred his first fidding gig at age 9! But he's going to have to wait awhile to pursue that sort of venue as he's still playing by ear and not reading music though we wave plenty of flashcards around to achieve that effect.

The other day I was feeling a bit overwhelmed with all the finger placements on the violin and how agile, not to mention downright quick, you have to be to master it. Sometimes I just don't get it (that's why he's taking lessons, not me). Paul looked at me kind of funny and said, "But Mom, think of how fast you type. Violin is like typing real fast." Well, I'd never thought of it quite that way but I did feel better after his little insight. If I could make a "D" in typing in high school and now peck respectably 30 years later, I guess he can figure out all the finger placements eventually.

Back to the galleys. Grrrrrrr. The creating of a book is one thing, a final edit is another.

I inherited a painting and a violin which turned out to be a Rembrandt and a Stradivarius. Unfortunately, Rembrandt made lousy violins and Stradivarius was a terrible painter. -Tommy Cooper

snow coming

Winter is coming to Washington and we're expecting snow by Friday. But I've hardly noticed with my head in the galleys. My grandpappy was a printer for the Kentucky newspaper, The Berea Citizen, in the old print shop by the college. We used to go down and watch him at work sometimes and I liked the smell of all that ink and the sound of the old-time machines whirring. He'd bring reams of plain paper home so my cousins and I could write stories and draw pictures. Sadly, he passed away in 1979. My mom remembers that the old print shop worked with very different galleys back then.

So far I've found 2 typos and am reworking all the words that don't have the right ryhthm. The track changes program on Microsoft Word is really a huge help. Frankly, my computer still scares me and I'd rather have the galleys in hard copy but don't know how you'd make all those changes with a simple pen/pencil.

An editor friend of mine once told me to enjoy the learning process. I'm learning several interesting things:

1. Every editor will see your manuscript differently and suggest different things, like it or not.
2. You, the author, will never be completely happy with the finished manuscript because in your mind, or at least mine, your book is never really finished and could always be better.
3. Not everyone will like your book.
4. You do need to eat and sleep.
5. If Providence has called you to write, don't sweat the small stuff.
6. Honor your deadlines.
7. Be thankful.
8. Work as hard as you can, then stop.
9. Typos will always exist.
10. Don't waste time blogging when you could be writing.

I set a can of chili in front of Randy last night for supper. When he looked baffled I proceeded to open it and warm it up. Luckily the boys had eaten at Arbys. Anyway, my deadline is December 30th. Guess what I'll be doing for the holidays? Enjoy yours!

galleys

The galleys for The Frontiersman's Daughter came in this morning which means my December just got a little more interesting. In my pre-publishing days, the thought of galleys sounded sort of glamorous to me. Now that I'm sitting on the other side of the desk, so to speak, they simply mean more work:) But I'm not complaining. Galleys are simply the "typeset manuscript that has not yet been designed in pages."

I haven't seen TFD in several months as it's made the rounds of several editorial departments back in Michigan. Last week I was thinking, "Hmmm. I really don't want those galleys right now as I'm so involved in this third book." But over the weekend I started missing Lael and wondered just what they'd done with her since we last met. Now I know. These editors work very hard, by the way, and suggest some interesting things! This is almost my last chance to make any changes to the book before it enters the final stages of production.

So now I have to step into Lael's shoes again and see things from her perspective which means setting other things aside, even homeschooling, (can you hear the boys in the background cheering?!) and try to polish those pages to a glossy finish.

So now instead of writing about galleys, I'd better start working on them. Prayers appreciated!

festive broccoli salad

I've finally finished writing that love scene in book 3 I was telling you about and now my thoughts keep returning to ... broccoli salad! I'm getting ready to jump up and make this amazing salad for the 2nd time in four days. It's that good. And pretty healthy too if you close your eyes and ignore that little bit of mayonnaise and all that bacon:) Here 'tis:

Broccoli Bacon Salad

2 broccoli crowns (I use some of the stem too)
1/2 carrot, grated
1/4 red onion, diced small
1/2 to 3/4 cup Mayo or Miracle Whip
1-3 tbs apple cider vinegar
1-3 tbs sugar (or Splenda)
8 strips crisply fried bacon, crumbled
1/2 to 2/3 cup craisins

Cut the broccoli into bite-sized pieces. Place into serving bowl. Add carrot and onion. Start cooking bacon. For the dressing, mix to blend mayo, vinegar, and sugar together, adjusting the amount of vinegar and sugar to your liking. Stir dressing into broccoli, onion, and carrot. Saran wrap bowl and keep in fridge while you wait for the bacon to cool on a paper towel. Right before serving, add crumbled bacon and crasiins to the broccoli and stir evenly.

If you don't like it, send me your bowl and I'll eat it all for you!

a hands-on Jesus

I just heard a sweet story on the radio - bittersweet, actually - and thought I'd relate it here as it is fact, not fiction. Just recently a real newborn baby was found lying in the manger of a nativity scene in Germany. Just the baby, no mother or father near. No shepherds or sheep or other animals, either. But certainly angels and maybe even a star or two. I wonder what He thought when the mother left her baby there? It comforts me to know He understood her reasons, even if she didn't. And He'd already set things in motion for the baby to be found and the mother to be located and now a church has stepped in to help them both. Not every story has a happy ending, I know.

I would have loved to have found that baby lying there as I love babies and might not have gone to the authorities, just taken him home! Likewise, I want a hands-on Jesus, not a cold ceramic one or a plastic one like the baby in the manger at our church nativity yesterday.

We didn't always have a hands-on Jesus. When I think of God in the Old Testament, the word that comes to mind is holy, not hands-on. In fact, some of those men of old who touched the ark of the covenant to keep it from falling died on the spot. But then Jesus was born and bridged that terrible chasm. There's nothing more hands-on than a baby. Even as an adult Jesus stayed accessible, touching and healing and being with the crowds. I've heard that Jewish culture is very hands-on so I think He must have been a hugger, too. He loved people. Loves them still. He even told Thomas to touch his nail-scarred hands and side to prove He was who He was.

So they came in a hurry and found their way to to Mary and Joseph, and the baby as He lay in the manger. Luke 2:16

He's no longer in the manger but the call to "hurry" still stands. Hurry or you just might miss Him!

make that two trees, please

We've now come home from that Christmas tree festival I was telling you about and I feel like I need to go to go to bed for a week! All that pre-holiday bliss is sort of wearing sometimes. It was hard prying myself out of my chair this morning to get there as I was writing a very important scene, a love scene, and that, frankly, takes precedent over nearly everything. It's a wonderful way to begin a Saturday morning:)

There were so many beautiful trees at the festival today - the most interesting was an origami tree with those little paper creations hanging all over. I was just in a dither as I couldn't make up my mind between a gingerbread tree with red lights and a rustic tree with green and bronze ornaments (not tacky) with white lights. The trees weren't bidding high this year for some reason, so in a moment of insanity, I threw frugality to the wind and bid on two. And got both!

So now I have one tree in the dining area and one in the living room. It does my heart good as the proceeds go to missions. And my house looks a whole lot better too. Now back to that love scene.

a little christmas magic

Looks like snow here and it's COLD. I'm loving all the holiday lights and unique gifts to buy. Yesterday I had one of those joy breaks at a farmer's market down in Sequim. This little store, called "Sunny Farms," has a big woodstove when you walk in, live trees and plants everywhere, Kentucky-type baskets hanging from the ceiling, and lots of fruits and vegetables, etc. To my delight I found a little sack of whole nutmegs and an old-timey nutmeg grater just like the one Lael uses in The Frontiersman's Daughter. I only saw one and knew it was meant just for me:)

I'm headed down to church soon to help set-up for the annual Christmas Tree Festival. It's my favorite holiday event and I have to wait a whole year every year to do it again. Just picture walking into a little wooden church, circa 1940, and seeing twelve live, twinkling, fully decorated Christmas trees - and you can take home any one you like. Each tree has a different theme. Last year the boys and I did one with birds, mainly Kentucky cardinals, and had birdhouses, birdfeeders, and bird type ornaments on this tall fir tree. The year before we did a Kentucky Christmas tree. Each is auctioned off and the proceeds go to missions. Every tree is unique and beautiful and a reflection of its decorator.

This year I was asked to do a Kentucky basket. When I flew home in August I stocked up on some unique things at the Artisan Center in Berea and found a neat handwoven basket at a flea market outside of town. Just as there are 12 trees to be auctioned, there are 12 baskets auctioned also and the bidding is lots of fun. The boys and I hope to bid on a tree this year for the first time ever. Then it's delivered to your house Saturday night - fun!

I envy all you folks with your houses already decorated and those trees up! I remember my grandpappy saying that a good Kentucky Christmas when he was a boy was finding some nuts and an orange in his sock. I wonder if they celebrate Christmas in heaven? Hope so. I'll be back to tell you if we got that tree and how many ornaments fell off between the church and our house:)

blonde moments

Today we rushed to school where Paul was in a play and Wyatt and his writing group were reading stories they'd written aloud to parents, watched the kids eat way, way too many Christmas cookies and punch, filled up at the gas station for - GLORY BE! - one dollar and eighty-four cents a gallon (down from a record $4.63 or better), stopped at Wal-Mart and Starbucks, and finally made it to Copies Plus.

I wanted to have color copies made of two particular pages in that book catalog I was telling you about so my folks could have a look. I came to the electronic age late, remember, so was just amazed today when those color copies shot out looking just like the catalog itself! Anyway, I came back out to the parking lot and was so enamoured with the colored copies that I wandered through the parking lot with my head in the catalog and tried to get into the wrong car - TWICE! Luckily both were locked. Finally I looked up to see my boys laughing hysterically from inside our red Jeep several parking spaces away. Randy calls these "blonde moments."

Anyway, I'm just an addled author with a long to-do list and not a lot of it getting done except for all that writing. Up to 200 pages now on The Scrivener's Daughter but please don't clap too loudly as this is the first draft only which means I'm one step away from the trash can. I'm anxious to get back to book 2 and edit it again. And those galleys are coming up for book 1 soon. And I'm having the time of my life!

I delight to do your will, O my God; Your Law is within my heart. Psalm 40:8

summer in december

This morning the boys jumped out of bed and remembered it was December 1 so rushed to the LEGO advent calendar to pry open door #1. Out sprang a little LEGO man holding a gigantic turkey leg. The boys were delighted. It made me hungry. Only now I'm having visions of honeybaked hams:)

The sun is actually shining here today and I just went to the mailbox and found that long-anticipated Baker Books summer 2009 catalog!! So I'm enjoying a little bit of summer on this first day of December. The Frontiersman's Daughter was given a generous two page spread with an excerpt from chapter 1 and some very kind words. And there is my face in a little bio box to the right staring back at me. Mercy! It must really be happening.

Each of us is given gifts to use in His service. God is so creative! I think one of the best, if not the best gift, is being a mom. Children are a gift. Raising them is a gift. There's another author in the catalog that writes great books and has nine children whom she homeschools! Try doing that without some heavenly spark!

Anyway, feeling very thankful today for kids, husbands, sunshine, book catalogs, coffee, advent calendars, Legos, and kind words.

For I will not presume to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me. Romans 15:18