And the Question Is...

"Any man who knows all the answers most likely misunderstood the questions."

That's a quote that has a lot of truth. Nobody has all the answers, but writers can get asked some interesting stuff. I promised I'd report on the questions the students at Western Hills High asked me last Friday. I spoke to three different classes - a couple of advanced placement classes and one Senior/Junior English class. The first class had maybe eight kids. They didn't have many questions. I think I probably should have been asking them questions.

The second class was the one the teacher had warned me would be "energetic." And then the teacher was absent with a substitute. Talk about nervous. Me, not the kids. But the kids were great. Energetic for sure, but I was in there for their block period which was an hour and a half almost and between me and the kids we managed to fill up the time. I did my "yeah, I'm a writer and this is how that came about" speech. And then I read some out of my writing journal to show how long it takes from initial idea to published book. Not sure how that went over, but they listened. Then we did my "create a character" exercise. Groups always have fun with that, but this bunch got a little noisy. Thank goodness we were way down the hall from the principal's office. They all had their own ideas of who the character should be and they tried to shout down the other ideas. It was fun.

The third class was a bigger advanced placement class and we were back to the quieter environment and polite listeners. Of course their regular teacher was there listening too and the class time was shorter so we had to rush up the writing exercise of creating a character.

But I promised I would let you know about their questions. Nobody asked a real stumper. Thank goodness. So I knew most of the answers - or maybe I just misunderstood the questions, you think? So here we go with a few of their questions.

"Do you get to pick your covers?" Everybody is always interested in how the covers are designed. That's one of those misunderstood questions if I have the answer. I told them the publishers usually come up with the covers and sometimes ask the writer's input. Even when they don't expect you to give any input. My favorite cover? Definitely The Outsider because the model for Gabrielle is the perfect Gabrielle. Then I liked my young adult novel, For Sheila, from several years ago because of the big old dog.

"Do you know any really famous writers?" I'm always a disappointment on this one. They want me to have chatted with J.K. Rowling or Stephen King. I haven't. I know some writers, but none whose names I could drop to get the kids excited.

"What is your favorite book that you've written?" A hard question to answer. Like saying which is your favorite child when you have a dozen or maybe nineteen kids. They're all my favorites. The Scent of Lilacs because it got me back into the published ranks after several years out. Discovery at Coyote Point because the setting is based on one of my favorite places on the farm. The Gifting because writing it got me through a hard time while my dad was in the last stages of cancer. The one I'm working on because it's new. I can think of reasons to decide each book might be a favorite.

"Which book that you've written made you the proudest?" I didn't have an answer for that one. Maybe I should have told the kids I'm proud every time I finish a book. But then pride goeth before a fall, so maybe I'll just say I'm excited every time I finish a book.

"Can you make a living writing?" Another impossible question to give a general answer. Some writers make a great living writing. Most writers shouldn't give up their day jobs. I've had years I did okay and other years I worked for peanuts. More peanut years than making a living years, but there was never any question of not writing. I am compelled to write.

So no real zany questions. I expected a few zingers, but the kids were kind. How about you? What questions would you have asked if you'd been there? Or if you were listening to any writer talk about writing?

Book Fair Smiles

--Smile! That's what all us writers did a lot of on Saturday at the Kentucky Book Fair. That's because there are always a lot of reading friends and other writers to smile back at us. Here I am with my tablemate and fellow historical Christian novel writer, Jan Watson. Jan is very popular with her readers. They all love her and her characters. She didn't start writing until she retired from nursing and now she has four published books with more on the way. Her new novel is Sweetwater Run. I'm actually reading it now and enjoying the story. After yesterday, I'm sure a lot of other people are reading her story today too after getting her to sign a copy for them.

--I also got to meet Laura Frantz and Gin Petty and Jim Tomlinson. There there were a few stolen minutes to talk with Virginia Smith and Allie Pleiter and Karen Angelucci and Melissa Burton, to mention a few. It's fun to compare notes with other writers. But there wasn't much time for visiting between authors. We were all too busy smiling at our reading friends.

--A lot of those reading friends came by my table and were kind enough to say they had read my books. Some of them took another of my books home with them and some new reading friends decided to give my books a try. I hope to see them back next year to say they were glad they did. Actually one teenager did come by the table to let me know that she was glad she'd given one of my books a try last year. I remembered her. She told me last year she wanted to be an editor. You get a lot of aspiring writers coming to talk to you at a Book Fair, but not that many aspiring editors. So I remembered her.

--I remembered a lot of other faces too, but I am afflicted with mental blocks on names when people ask me to sign a book. Even when I've known them all my life - maybe especially when I've known them all my life. I think it's all those made up character names up there in my head shoving all the real names aside. At least that sounds like a good excuse. So if you're one of the people I had to ask your name when I should have known it, I hope you'll forgive me for giving you a look like a deer in the headlights. I did know you. I just got your name mixed up with one of my character's names. I sometimes forget their names, too. That's why I keep a running character list of whatever I'm working on. Oh dear! I bought a book once on improving my memory. Maybe it's time I read it.

--I did have a good time signing books and talking on the fiction panel. Darrell sat at my book table while I was gone to do the panel talk and had fun filling in for me. I wish I'd had time to walk around and see everybody else's books, but the day was busy and before I knew it the day was gone.

--A few young people from Western Hills High School came by to say hello. I had the opportunity to go to their school Friday morning and talk to three of their English classes. That was fun and on my Face Book page I promised to do a blog on some of their questions. So stay tuned next week for that.

--Thanks again if you came by to see me at the Fair and thanks to all of you who not only read my books but also my newsletter and my blog. It's great to have reading friends.

The Beauty of Nature

"Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts." --Rachel Carson

What a great time of the year to feast on the beauty of the world around us! I'm enjoying the sunshine and the crisp autumn air. It makes for some great walking weather. And I like bringing some of the beauty of nature home with me. In the spring and summer I pick a few wildflower blooms - if the plants are plentiful - to put in a vase on my desk. In the fall, I like bringing home a colorful leaf or two to brighten up my office. I like taking nature pictures and I'm thankful for a digital camera that lets me snap to my heart's content without having to think about wasting film.

But sometimes the very best way to bring home the beauty is in your memory. When I first started walking in the woods as a young teen, I remember stopping and taking mental pictures of different trees or creeks or beautiful places so that I would always have them in my memory bank. I'd read a story about a man who was a prisoner of war and had kept his sanity by building a house in his mind, imagining each board and each nail as he put the house together. When he got home, he built that house. Now it may seem a stretch from that to taking mental pictures of a beautiful oak tree flaming in the sun, but I was an impressionable youngster with an imagination that sometimes took me down dreary lanes of what ifs. I planned to store up my beauty images in case I someday found myself deprived of the opportunity to view beauty.

Thank goodness those dreary what ifs haven't happened. I've lived a blessed life, but I still have those images of beauty in my memory bank and I've added lots more. And not just nature shots, but personal images as well. The first sight of my babies. The first time I saw my husband to be. My daughter singing in a Junior Miss contest. My son receiving a scholarship. My other son telling me he was engaged. So many images of the joy of life and some of the sadness too with the nature ones intermingled to keep me grounded.

I like using nature in my books. In my first published book I used the fleeting shadow of a bird passing over the character to hint at trouble coming. In my Hollyhill books, I had locust blooms and lilacs, a tornado and a snowstorm that were important to the story lines. In The Outsider the weather was a major obstacle to the men fighting in the War of 1812. I didn't make that weather up. It was in the history accounts, but my characters had to deal with the heat and then the bitter cold and snow. In The Believer I have Hannah who loves the woods. At the book club I visited last week, some of the readers said that Hannah was one of their favorite characters. So maybe all those mental images I've been snapping of this or that nature scene are coming in handy after all. A writer has to use what she's given along with what she can imagine.

The Kentucky Book Fair is this Saturday. Come by and see me if you're there. I'm in the back row sitting at the same table as Jan Watson. We both love talking to readers. Of course those 200 other writers do, too. So if you come, plan to spend a couple of hours enjoying books. I'll be on a panel called "Fiction Writers Unite!" with Jan and Karen Robards and Mary Ann Taylor-Hall at 12:30 p.m. That should be fun. Last but not least, keep me in your thoughts and prayers on Friday morning as I'm going to be talking to three classes of high school kids. I'm looking forward to their questions. That's always my favorite part of any talk I do about writing. I'll try to remember their most interesting questions to share with you next week.

--Hope you have plenty of beauty in your lives this week.

A Photo Shoot Adventure

--This is the view from the deck around the cabin we stayed in last week with Darrell's siblings and spouses. There's just something about looking out at beautiful mountains or any beautiful scenery that renews the spirits. That's one of the reasons I like to walk every day. So I can be out there and see what's going on in nature. And that's also why I like having windows around my desk. I like seeing the trees and knowing the weather and watching the deer sneak up to get a mouthful of rose bush. Although I have to say I wish they wouldn't eat my rose bushes. You'd think with all these dogs around here - mine and the neighbors - that one of those dogs could chase off a deer or two. I think they must be wimps. Or maybe they're too lazy to get up and bark. Or could be the dogs and deer are all big buddies.

--Anyway after we had fun in the mountains, we traveled back to Blackey, Kentucky where I enjoyed talking books with the ladies of the Blackey Library Book Club on Thursday night. I posted a picture of some of the book ladies on my Facebook Fan page. You can go check it out if you want. On the way we made a wrong turn onto Interstate 40. That's the road that's closed across the North Carolina border because of a rock slide. We thought our exit was before the road was blocked but we'd gotten mixed up and should have gotten on the road going the other direction. But it was worth it to get on that big four-lane highway that is usually buzzing with cars and trucks and see no other car in sight in either lane. It felt weird. Very weird.

--Then Saturday I was at the Fleming County Library Book Fair. I was fortunate enough to share a table with Paul Prather who has published a book of his newspaper columns. He's been sharing his life and thoughts with us in the Lexington Herald for some time and it was great getting to not only meet him but talk to him as well. I also got to talk to Jan Watson, another great writer friend. Both of them and about a hundred more authors will be at the Kentucky Book Fair in Frankfort this Saturday. I'll be taking part in a panel "Fiction Writers Unite!" with Jan Watson, Karen Robards, and Mary Taylor-Hall at 12:30 that day. That should be fun. If you come to the book fair, be sure to hunt me up to say hi.

--I did something different today. I got somebody to come out and take photos of me. Usually I'm the one behind the camera. I'm not as good in front of it. Jennifer Duvall (Portraits by Jenn Duvall) was kind enough and game enough to come out to the farm and ride with me in the old farm truck back in the field to one of my favorite nature places, Panther Rock. But she was wondering what she had gotten herself into when we pulled into the field and cows stampeded toward our truck. Darrell has been feeding the cows grain and so whenever they hear the truck they all come running to be first in line for the good stuff. They surrounded us and I had to very carefully ease the truck through the herd. Once we got through the milling cows, I stepped on the gas to try to stay ahead of the herd and make it through the gate without any cows making an escape. Jenn probably thought she was home free then since we were in the hayfield with the cows left behind, but my dogs, Oscar and Dub, didn't want to be left behind. They had to come along on the photo shoot. I had to keep throwing sticks for Oscar to fetch so that he wouldn't be sitting in front of me in every picture. What with all the animal interaction and the slippery leaf-covered muddy paths, Jenn may think twice before she agrees to photograph me - or anyone - on location again if it involves old farm trucks, cows and dogs that like to lick. Actually she was a real sport although she did keep saying that if stuff like this kept happening to her, she was going to start a blog of photo shooting adventures. So I thought I'd beat her to it.

--Hope you have some adventures that make you smile this week.

The Seeker's New Cover Art

Hi everybody.

I just got back from a jaunt to the mountains where we had a good time visiting with Darrell's family. We've all been married so long that we all feel like sisters and brothers now. I've even heard some of the growing up stories about when this or that happened so many times that I feel like I can almost remember it myself - the swimming in the river with the water snakes - the nights coon hunting in the woods with their father - the way their sister kept them all in line - how that sister always wanted a little sister and got four little brothers - how two of the brothers managed to have a fight every day. Family memories that they tell over and over and always laugh. That's the good part. The laughing now about their shared family memories.

--So we had a great time with a lot of laughing as we got to get out in the woods and admire the beautiful fall colors on the trees in the Smokies. And then when I got home I found out Revell had posted the cover for my next Shaker book, The Seeker, on their website. What do you think?

--It's always exciting to see a new cover and I'm hoping Charlotte's story will be one that will appeal to readers. Of course the release date isn't until July 2010. Several months down the road, but as fast as time goes by that will be here before we know it.

--Since we're talking about how time flies - we are, aren't we? - then I have to say my view out the window turned winter while I was gone. When I left there were still leaves on the trees in the yard. Now the leaves are a bright yellow carpet on the ground. I'm hoping this wind that's kicking up today will lift them all over the fence out into the field where they can happily lay there and slowly rot to add to the nutrients in the soil. That way I won't have to rake them up and carry them off the yard.

--I had a great time with the bookclub in Blackey, Kentucky on the way home. I'll post their picture next blog. The new cover had to take precedence today. Let me know how you like it and that way you'll be entered into my new giveaway for your choice of one of my autographed books (Orchard of Hope, Summer of Joy, Angels at the Crossroads, The Outsider or The Believer) along with Less Than Dead by Tim Downs.

--I'll be at the Fleming County Public Library, Flemingsburg, KY tomorrow (Saturday) from 10 to 2 for a book fest. Come on out to see me if you live in the area. Me and about twenty other writers would love to talk to you about our books.

--Until Sunday, keep on laughing. It's good for the face muscles and the heart muscles too.

Live in the Sunshine

--Live in the sunshine - that's a phrase out of a song the Patriot Quartet sang last night at their homecoming that so caught my imagination I put it on my Facebook page and now I'm putting it here. What great advice! Live in the sunshine of hope and joy and leave behind the shadows of doubts and fear.

--Today was a great day to think about living in the sunshine. I love being out in the woods on a beautiful day in October. The picture is one I took when I went on my long walk down the creek last week. Today we went tree sightseeing in the car - my mom and my sister and me. We looped around through the countryside and came back up the road where Dad owned a lot of farmland when I was young. We remembered wheat in this field and tobacco in that field and strawberries in another. The strawberries, by far, were the best memory. But the countryside has changed a lot since my sister and I were kids riding the school bus around that road every day fall, winter and spring. We kept wondering if that was where so and so's house used to be and was this or that house there back then and where exactly on the cliffside was that spring that ran with such cool clear water to fill up our water jugs. Things we thought we'd never forget are foggy shadows on the edge of remembrance.

--So many years ago. And yet even then I knew I wanted to write stories down. I wanted to string words together and pile page upon page until the story was told. I could never have imagined how many books I might write. I might not even be able to imagine that now. I'm hoping several more in the years ahead.

--Writing isn't easy. You sometimes hope it will be or imagine it will be or want it to be, but many days the words have to be coaxed out of the black ooze of the mind where stories hide. Or tugged out laboriously one at a time. And yet no matter how difficult the task sometimes is, that's what I want to do. What I have always wanted to do. Write.

--I'm in the beginning stages of my new story now. I'm getting acquainted with my characters. Wondering where they went to school or church. What their parents and siblings were like. What work they did or do. And on and on. So much to learn about these new people I've just met and want to know. So it's good to take long walks with them and listen to what they have to tell me about themselves. October is a good month for that.

--These next few weeks are busy. We're going to be taking a few days to enjoy visiting with family in the mountains. Then I have several book events coming up. The Kentucky Book Fair is just a couple of weeks away on Saturday, November 7. That's always a fun day when so many writers and readers show up to celebrate reading. I enjoy talking to the reading friends I've made there over the years. I'll be doing a panel on "Fiction Writers Unite!" at 12:30 that day with Karen Robards, Jan Watson and Mary Ann Taylor-Hall with Jim Tomlinson moderating. That should be fun. It's always interesting to hear how other writers come up with their stories. So if you're in the area come on down to the Frankfort Civic Center and meet a hundred plus writers who would love to sign one of their books for you. An autographed book makes a unique and special Christmas present. I'm looking forward to doing some Christmas shopping myself and to meeting some writers in person that up until now I've only met via internet like Laura Frantz whose book about Kentucky, A Frontiersman's Daughter, has gotten great reviews and is sure to be a reader favorite at the fair.

--Hope you have an absolutely wonderful last week of October and live in the sunshine.

Singing, Walking, and Writing

--Here's the Patriot Quartet singing at Goshen's Homecoming. That's our church and that's Darrell on the right with the patriotic tie. If you like Southern Gospel you would probably like their sound and their new song "An American Christian" that's getting some play on gospel stations around the country right now. They're going to have their Homecoming singing on Friday and Saturday night at Sand Spring Church. So if you're in the area, come on out and hear them. For more info or to hear how they sound, you can check out their website, http://www.patriotquartet.com/. They're planning to make a DVD. Guess they'll be in the movies - sort of.

--That's something I never thought I wanted to be. In the movies. I'm one of those people who try to hide behind a tree if somebody points a camera toward me. I'd much rather be the one pointing the camera at the other people and making them groan because I'm taking their pictures. Of course grandkids are a grandmother's favorite subject. Some of my grandkids beg to have their pictures taken and others of them are ready to hide behind that tree with me.

--My new dog, Oscar, doesn't hide. He's quite the ham. He actually seems to pose at times and wait for me to take the picture. The dogs and I went on a long walk today. It was a perfect October day here and sometimes you have to seize the opportunity when it presents itself. So I stole a couple of hours from my writing time and went out into the woods to enjoy. Actually it wasn't totally wasted writing/creating time. My characters are coming to life inside my head. I'm figuring out what they look like and what they think about and what they talk about and what they're doing and why. But I'm not going to know that all at once.

--But I don't have to know everything yet. I just have to know them well enough to start the journey. I'm reading a book about writing, bird by bird by Anne Lamott, and in it she quotes E.L. Doctorow as saying that "writing a novel is like driving a car at night. You can see only as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way." So I'm anxious to turn my headlights on and start driving. Yet at the same time, I'm timid about turning the key and pressing on the gas pedal. Will the story be there again? It has been so many times before, but how can I be sure it will be this time? I guess I can't be sure. I can only rely on the truth that the stories have come in the past and then click on those headlights and start the journey one more time.

--I posted some new photos on my Facebook page and also in my website gallery, if you're interested. The Facebook pictures are the grandkids and the website pictures are a mixture. And don't forget to send me an e-mail if you want to have a chance to win an autographed copy of one of my books and a hardback copy of Less Than Dead by Tim Downs. I'll be drawing for the winner around Thanksgiving.

--Till next time, remember - always laugh when you can...it's cheap medicine.