What in the World is That?

New Mystery Photo

Great Guesses

You all are the most fun! Love the guesses and I have to admit that I'm glad I did finally trick a few of you with my mystery picture. I still think it sort of looks like a fish head and NOBODY guessed anything near that. But somebody did guess a caterpillar under snow. That has to be the most creative guess so far although the yellow snow the result of a polar bear passing by was certainly very interesting!! Or at least, entertaining. 

We actually had snow Saturday here. I happened to be out of state visiting my daughter in a state to the south and missed it, but wow, the photos I saw on Facebook were gorgeous. Still, I didn't see any of polar bears in our area. LOL. Thank goodness!!

There were also guesses of Angel Food or lemon sponge cake and one of you simply guessed a lemon. I can see all those guesses. I liked the one where you suggested the pineapple was floating in a bowl of punch for a baby boy shower. A baby boy because of the blue, I'm sure. 

The Rest of the Picture

As you can see from the "rest of the picture" posted here, many of you were right when you guessed pineapple. That was a nice plate of fruit I got at Bistro Restaurant inside JosephBeth Bookstore last week. I had one of those doctor appointments where they order you to skip breakfast. So, I mostly went in to get a cup of tea for a bit of a caffeine fix at the Bistro, To my distress, they were out of black tea. So I settled for fruit. I need to carry tea bags in my purse the way my agent does. She orders a cup of hot water and then brings out a sleeve of tea bags. I would have been happy with one plain old Lipton bag. What some of you thought looked like "snow" in the picture is actually sugar I sprinkled on the fruit. A little sugar always makes things better. :) And a cup of black tea! Of course, just getting to go to the bookstore is a treat. 

On to the Next Challenge

So now on to the next challenge. Know what the picture up top is? If the first guesser gets this one, I may throw in the towel and give up on ever tricking you all!! My daughter and son-in-law kept suggesting I take a picture of this or that to make into a mystery photo while I was visiting them this weekend. I did not take this one in SC. That's the only hint I'm giving you. You don't need hints. You always guess right!

But right or wrong, a guess or even a "what in the world is that" gets you another entry into my drawing for one of my books and a grab bag book by a different author. Remember, if you are overseas, you can only win an e-book. You have to be 18 to enter. Feel free, however, to enlist the help of your kids in the guessing fun to figure out the photos. Please leave your e-mail or a way I can contact you just in case you are one of the three lucky winners.  

And thanks for guessing and joining in the fun. One more mystery picture on Wednesday and I'll draw for the winners on February 1st. Each guess on a different picture gets you an additional entry.

Book Spotters

It's shopping season. People buy like mad this time of the year. We don't want to be Scrooges. Or at least most of us don't. I get to feeling a little Scroogy after I go shopping. I know that doesn't make a lot of sense, but since when does the way we feel have to make sense? No, I guess I get to feeling I shouldn't have bought this or I should have bought that. Or I should have put more money in the red kettle for those who might not have enough when I've been so blessed. I've always been able to buy Christmas gifts for my children and now also my grandkids.

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I've already told you that my favorite place to shop is a bookstore and my favorite gift to buy is a book. A favorite gift to get too even though it makes for a problem of not enough reading time and too many great books in my "to read" pile. Not a bad problem to have. Reading is the other side of writing and important to an author's knowledge base - both the conscious and the subconscious. Words bury themselves in your head while you're reading and then pop up like toast out of a toaster sometimes when you need that perfect word. Of course sometimes that perfect word is so buried you have to pry it out with a mental pick axe. But the words might not be there at all if you never read them. If you never saw how another writer used them. If you never rejoiced in a fine turn of phrase.

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One of the fun things about bookstore shopping for an author is not only buying books to read or as gifts, but checking to see if you might find YOUR book on the shelf. There's just something about seeing your book with your name on it on a shelf waiting for a reader to come along and pick it up and maybe carry it home. Of course bookstore shopping to spot your books can also be very discouraging if your books are nowhere to be seen while every other author in the whole wide world is there on the shelf in front of you. There may be authors who don't check for their own book if they go bookstore shopping, but I don't happen to know any of them. Maybe if you get famous enough, you just assume your book is there without having to look. I can't imagine Stephen King looking for his book, er, books, but I'm thinking he might have with that first book. I certainly did with my very first book many years ago, Unfortunately, since I didn't have a blockbuster first novel like King, I was disappointed a lot.

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Now I don't go bookstore hopping just to search out my book, but if I'm in a bookstore, I do look. And I have friends who like to tell me when they spot one of my books somewhere. If it's not in Kentucky, some of them sound sort of surprised. Like how in the world could that happen?Then I have readers who also do some book spotting for me. I appreciate that. That's what the picture is. Some book spotting at Sam's Club.

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If you've ever looked to see if one of my books is on the bookstore shelf where you shop, thank you. That makes you a book spotter and a friend.

Back from the Smokies

Got home from our trip to the Smokies with the Gabhart side of the family - the brothers and sisters. We had a beautiful cabin up on the side of a mountain and a great time talking and catching up on all our family news. When Darrell's mom died a few years ago, we decided to make a special effort to keep our family close. We didn't want to neglect getting together until the only time we were seeing one another was at Christmas or even worse, a funeral home. That sounds like an awful thing to write, but it's sometimes too true that we don't take time to visit with those we love and have grown up with and those who share our personal history until we gather for a family funeral.

So this week we all took time out of our busy schedules and spent a few days together, playing cards and enjoying some great meals and even better talk. We always tell stories about what happened in the past and even when we've heard them a dozen times, we keep laughing. And it's good to remember Darrell's mom and dad who have passed on and his grandparents, too. His granddad on his mother's side of the family was part Cherokee and also a natural storyteller. He passed some of that talent down to Darrell and his brothers.

The weather in the mountains was chilly but the sun was shining and we had great views of the trees. We went over to Cades Cove and saw lots of wildlife including three bears and a coyote. We also saw lots of traffic, but I suppose that's to be expected this time of the year when everybody is wanting to see some fall colors.

On the way home we stopped at a few book stores where I talked with the clerks and store managers. Debbie at the Family Christian Bookstore in Seiverville was very welcoming and let me sign copies of The Outsider for her customers. Maybe next time I'm down that way we can work out a booksigning date. It's a great store with books and more books. I finally had to just close my eyes and leave before I loaded the van down. I love buying books. Then we stopped at the Sonshine Bookstore in Corbin. They didn't have my book, but when I introduced myself, the guy at the counter, Dwayne, was actually ordering new fiction books out of the Baker Books catalogue. What a coincidence! There was my book listed right in front of him. So he ordered some copies of The Outsider, Summer of Joy,and Orchard of Hope.

No wise sayings tonight. I think we stayed up playing Canasta and Rook too late every night for me to think of anything wise. Except to say hope you enjoy your family as much as I enjoy mine. They may all be family by marriage, but they are definitely family.

Talk to you this weekend. I'll let you know who won my website book give-away. And tell you about where I'll be having my next booksignings in South Carolina.