raining again

It's raining and feels like Washington state again instead of cold, snowy Minnesota or North Dakota. My Kentucky kin have a few inches of snow. But spring is coming! And soon we'll gain an extra hour or so of daylight by springing forward in time. And then comes Easter. Gardening. Another birthday. A couple of more deadlines. And then the release of TFD in only 5 more months.

My brother flew south on Friday and we really miss him. He took the boys to town before he left and bought them french fries and onion rings and sling shots. My Kentucky momma is still here for another week. It's been nonstop eating, socializing, fiddling, churching, and such. I feel like crawling into a cave and collapsing! All that fun is very wearing after a while, say a day or so. Try 11 days strong now! I feel very unwriter-like. Book 2 and 3 are still at the bottom of my basket.

I did do something very important this week by switching over from my archaic version of MicrosoftWord 2000 to a new one. Nice! Love that blue background. All those fancy icons and stuff make me feel very editorial though I don't have a clue what most of them do. Guess I'll have fun finding out. Would you believe the very day The Frontiersman's Daughter comes out, Red River Daughter is due? Only 159 more days! I need every one of them.

I truly love this second book. I'm not sure why it has such a hold on me. Perhaps it's the Red River setting. Or the challenge of so much research about the People of the South Wind. Some folks say it's not a good idea to talk about a book in the making so I won't. I've always been reluctant to do so anyway. A book needs to speak for itself.

So on this rainy day I hope you have a good book handy and are anxious to get your hands on mine:) Only 159 days. Hallelujah!

for lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth, the time of singing has come. -Song of Solomon 2:11-12

fun, fun, fun

Whew! Just when I think our lives are dull, we get a house full of company! It has been fun, fun, fun but half the fun will depart tomorrow - my brother leaves in the morning. But Momma we keep for another week. This is missions week at our church and Chris has been the guest missionary. He preached on Sunday and has spoken with youth groups this week and then finishes up by speaking at a banquet tonight. Needless to say, he won't be unveiling his tattoo for this conservative crowd! Although my boys loved it:) www.irwinsinspain.com

I never did get around to making those egg rolls but we've had plenty of northwest fare - crab cakes, salmon fettuccine, crab-stuffed mushrooms, prawns, calamari (ick!), grilled shrimp, clams, etc. So now that we're all sick of seafood we can fast! I don't think I'll eat for a week after today. I'm becoming quite fluffy. Taste and see that the Lord is good... Psalm 34:8

We are now teetering on the verge of wireless! A tech is coming to the house this afternoon (seeing is believing) to unchain us from dial-up. Stay tuned.

The preaching of the gospel awakens an intense resentment because it must reveal that I am unholy; but it also awakens an intense craving. - Oswald Chambers

the big surprise

My brother Chris and his family

Now that I'm done with all that photo foolishness, I can get back to my blog and my company. Needless to say, my writing is sitting at the bottom of the basket. I did meet that deadline for acknowledgements and such so it's nice to take some time off. The reason you haven't seen any blog pics posted lately other than the minuscule ones I barely managed to tack on, is because the big surprise sitting in my living room is my brother who is no more adept at dealing with dial-up internet than I am. So these posts definitely lack his colorful pictures.

I couldn't mention my brother's visit (via Indiana via Ecuador) because he was a surprise for my mom who flew in today. So after a reunion this morning, a big dinner of grilled shrimp and chicken and bread salad tonight, and the unveiling of his tattoo for dessert, we are tired! I wonder how many missionaries have tattoos? His extends from his shoulder to his elbow and is a lion and a lamb and cross. My mother just went to bed as she is still recovering (from jet lag and finding him here in my house and examining his rather large tattoo)!

Now that I'm cooking and cleaning and feeling leisurely again, it's a little like my life before books. No pressure or deadlines! Just doing whatever whenever. Lots to be said for that. But I find myself missing my writing. Especially that second book. Red River Daughter is my favorite, if a writer can have favorites.

It is wonderful to be in the same house with my brother again as we usually are not in the same country. And being with my Kentucky momma is an added blessing. So even a good book can wait. Happy Monday.

Gladie Cabin

Gladie Cabin,
originally uploaded by brewer40391.

Restored Kentucky Cabin, Circa 1900

Restored Kentucky Cabin, Circa 1900,
originally uploaded by Erica_Marshall.

Once Upon a Time ..
What was life like in the Red River Gorge about a hundred years ago?
Would you have enjoyed living here?

Log Cabin - Camp Petosega

Log Cabin - Camp Petosega,
originally uploaded by Odalaigh.

My dream house. I'm learning to post blog pics via dial-up. Only takes two hours and twenty minutes per photo...

busy days and being thankful

Yesterday I had one of those Saturdays where you just don't sit down. But it's good for me as I have days where I don't move far from my writing chair. After breakfast I took Wyatt to town for a nursing home sing. This always make me so thankful for present blessings and reminds me that I may be a resident myself one day. The way time is passing, and the harder it is for me to get out of my writing chair, it might be sooner than I think.

Next we went to basketball practice, then home to pick up Paul for a fiddling gig down in Sequim. He wasn't playing, just enjoying the music. Picked up some Valentine's cupcakes to share there and snuck in a Starbuck's coffee. After a couple of hours of fiddling, we started back home and picked up a Porky Pig Pizza (bbq style!) on the way for Randy. Once home I exchanged Paul for Wyatt and went to the Valentine's banquet at church. It was all fun, fun, fun! But if I had to do it very much it would not be fun, fun, fun:(

In fact, I had dreaded this Saturday. Being away from home wears me out. It reminds me of one of my favorite quotes from the writings of George Macdonald:

... You have a disagreeable duty to do at twelve o'clock. Do not blacken nine and ten and eleven, and all between, with the color of twelve. Do the work of each, and reap your reward in peace. So when the dreaded moment in the future becomes the present, you shall meet it walking in the light, and that light will overcome its darkness.

So if I broke the day down into pieces, my favorite hours were spent at the fiddling gig and the Valentine's banquet. Yet I had nearly blackened the entire day with dread beforehand. Shame on me! And at day's end I felt energized instead of tired. And very thankful I don't have another day like it for months and months.

I have a big surprise sitting in my living room which I will tell you about tomorrow:) I think it will amuse you as much as it amuses me.

nothing like an ocean

Isn't that a great title? I wish I could tell you I know the author of this upcoming book but the truth is I only know his wife, Gin Petty. But I'm sure I'd like Jim Tomlinson if I met him because he's a writer and so many fine things are being said about his work! He and Gin live in Berea and are avid supporters of all things Kentucky. I met Gin, who is an artist, last August when I went to a fiddling gig in old town Berea. She is a wonderful link to home.

Jim has an interesting history. I think he was born a writer but kind of stumbled into engineering by accident, holds several patents for the latter, and has finally gotten back to the business of writing and publishing. He has a very interesting online journal at http://www.jim-tomlinson.com/. The Courier-Journal recently printed an in-depth article about him in which he said something I agree with wholeheartedly, "You learn to write by writing. Reading and writing - I don't know any other way."

I especially like what his wife, Gin, had to say about him: "He's a collector, not of physical things but of intangible bits and snippets - a turn of phrase here, the lift of an eyebrow there, a woman's heel-to-toe rolling walk, a child's dance with a bee. Seeing him take those bits and pieces and reassemble them into stories was a pure delight."

Jim has won the coveted 2006 Iowa Short Fiction Award for his debut collection Things Kept, Things Left Behind. His new work, Nothing Like an Ocean, is being released currently by the University of Kentucky Press.

I've ordered mine from Amazon and know it will be fine reading. Now if I could get back to Kentucky and meet Jim, that would be even finer.

divine deadlines

It's been snowing here in western Washington just enough to remind us it's still winter and not spring. I received another deadline yesterday - this one the most pleasant to date! I have a few days to work on acknowledgements which is just a page or so in the front or back of a book where the writer expresses thanks to anyone and everyone who helped the book come about. Do readers ever take time to read acknowledgements, I wonder? My only fear is leaving someone out. One author I know had 3 full pages of acknowledgements for her book. I'm sure the people she acknowledged loved it:) And I'm sure she didn't forget anyone!

Mine will be short and sweet. I don't have a critique group, nor an agent for this first book. But I do have plenty of folks to thank. I decided years ago who to dedicate this book to but you'll just have to read it and find out!

My Kentucky company rolls in shortly and we are very excited. Of course company involves lots of food. I always bake my mom a cake - this time it will be orange cake. Last time it was lemon. And we have to stock up on lots of coffee. I'm going to make a big batch of egg rolls and Kung Pao Chicken for our first supper together. The boys like to help plan the menu ahead of time as eating is high on their list. Paul is polishing "Flop-eared Mule" for an after dinner performance and Wyatt is grooming his moustache. Grandma hasn't seen them in a year and a half!

Grandma has grits in her bag and who knows what else. She flies into Seattle from Lexington and then gets on one of those tiny planes and comes over the mountains and water to us as we're almost four hours west of Seattle. And you thought anything west of Seattle was ocean, I bet. Once upon a time I did, too.

Back to those acknowledgements! Happy Wednesday.

life in the woods

There is no wireless internet in the woods. Period. At least not at our house. So all you wireless users out there with high-speed connections - count your blessings! I guess I'm chained to dial-up a while longer. So will try to make the best of it:)

The weekend was full of fine things. Sunshine. A fixed dishwasher. A big pot of spaghetti. Sunday school and church. Paul practicing his fiddle tunes. Wyatt playing basketball. Two dry days of walking. An early Valentine with a chocolate heart pasted on the front. Buttermilk pancakes. A trip to town. A call from Kentucky. Who needs wireless!?

I am so intrigued by you readers out there, especially my Port Townsend person who keeps coming back. Port Townsend is a little waterside town just down the road from me about an hour or so east. The only person I know in PT is Wyatt's orthodontist and she doesn't have time to read this blog - and wouldn't want too! She doesn't even know I write. I'm always touched that anyone would take time to log on here. I'm sure I'll feel the same about those of you who read my books. Thank you. May my ramblings bless you in some mysterious way!

I had the thrill of parking book 2 - Red River Daughter - and picking up book 3 this weekend. I was wondering why I feel energized again. It's because I'm back to the creating. The editing just bores me to death. Necessary but stupor-inducing. Writing new material is so fresh and expansive! Like going from black and white to living color. This 3rd book takes place near the Falls of the Ohio around present-day Louisville. A frontier fort. It has me hooked and as soon as I finish here I'm going there.

Use what talents you possess - the woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best. -Henry Van Dyke