Never Say Never

How many of you have told yourself or others to "never say never?" That's an especially important thing to remember when you're talking about your kids as in my kid would NEVER do whatever wrong thing we're seeing some other kid do. Experienced parents don't let that my kid will never do words out in the open. But people who have yet to be blessed with children are often heard uttering those words. Such words generally come back to haunt whoever says them because you never know what kids will do in spite of every good parenting intention. 

But one thing I thought I was safe in saying was that I would never have a tattoo. Just not my thing. I don't even have my ears pierced. Couldn't see any reason to add extra holes to my head. :) And I'm the wrong generation to look fondly on tattoos, but there is that never say never. Today I got a few little black tattoos to mark where I will be getting radiation treatments in a few days as a precautionary treatment after my lumpectomy. No cute butterflies or initials or flowers. Just black dots. Even so, they are a tattoo that will be there forever. So that never I said became a guess I will. 

I did get good news today along with the tiny tattoo dots. No need for chemotherapy. Guess my hair is safe, but I was imagining it coming back in curly or maybe red. I know many of you have undergone chemo in your treatments and I know you've been strong and done what was necessary to fight your cancer. I appreciate all of you who have shared some of your experiences with cancer treatments. My little tattoos hardly compare to what many of you have gone through. While no cancer would have been the best, so far all my tests have come back as good as they could once that diagnosis was made. Caught early. No lymphs nodes involved, and now no chemo. Plus, the doctors and technicians have all been super. Thanks for all your prayers.

Now how about a couple of birthday stories? It's almost time for me to draw for the winners of my Birthday Celebration Giveaway. If you haven't thrown your name in my drawing hat, you have until September 30 to do so. Just leave a comment here with a way to contact you, either your e-mail or if you have "liked" my author Facebook page, I can contact you from there if I have your name. Three winners. One $50 gift card and a book. Two $25 gift cards and books. See complete details on my Events page on my website.

First Alla shares about being tired of NEVER having a birthday party, so she takes care of that by throwing one for herself. 

When I turned 50, I decided I was going to have a birthday party.  I had never had one, so I decided to throw myself one and started calling all my friends and family. My youngest daughter lived in Denver at the time, so she flew home to help me celebrate. When I picked her up at the airport we waited at the terminal for her luggage and much to my surprise I see this 60’s looking lime green luggage coming toward us. I said “Look at that cool bright luggage. Isn’t that awesome?” She said “Well, I am glad you like it since that is your birthday present.” I will never forget that as long as I live. She had put a collapsible bag inside with all her clothes, because that is the only way she could figure out to get it here. She had also brought her guitar and my youngest brother joined in “picking & grinning” with her at my party. That is the only actual party I have ever had in my life, but was so memorable, it will last a lifetime!!!!

And then Rebecca shares a special birthday story about a friend. 

I have a wonderful birthday story about a friend of mine and her husband. The husband had been on a kidney transplant list for over 5 years, while his quality of life slowly slipped away. He is a husband, father, brother, son and papa to his family. A few months ago they finally got THE CALL and his kidney was waiting for him. The amazing part is...my friend got the greatest birthday gift she could of ever asked for, because on her birthday, her husband received a kidney transplant. It has changed their lives and once again he is able to be active and live life to the fullest.

The gift of life. Thank you, Alla and Rebecca, for sharing your birthday stories with us. And thank all of you for your prayers and good thoughts. Such a lot of positive energy coming my way from you. You're the best. 

Be Alert for Some Good News

Here's part of the beautiful staircase at the Shaker village near me. The double staircases have a big part in my next Shaker book, The Seeker.

~~But first I got some good news about my last book, The Believer, this week. Actually it was old news, but I didn't know about it until now, so it was new news to me. The Believer was on the Library Journal Christian Fiction Bestseller list in February. The list I received included titles most in demand by libraries and bookstores nationwide from Baker & Taylor six months prior to the week ending February 13, 2010. I love libraries and I love people who love books. So whether it was old news or new news, it was definitely welcome news.

~~I do that Google Alert stuff, but all I mostly get are notices that I've put up a new post out here on this blog. Not exactly what I had in mind when I signed up for the alerts. Sometimes I get an alert about something that's been out there on the internet for weeks. Not the kind of alert you want to depend on to keep you off the train tracks when a train's coming. Alert! I used to go to a dentist who liked to tack things up to the ceiling so that when he lowered the chair until the only view you had was up, you could read whatever witty saying was up there while he worked on your teeth. One of the sayings was "Be alert. The world needs more lerts." So what do you think a lert is? That person who is first in line when they're handing our free ice cream cones? The dog who lets you know the UPS guy is bringing you a box of books? The cat who hears you get the can opener out of the drawer? The mom who knows when it gets too quiet she'd better be a lert? Or maybe a lert is a cute little furry creature with sticky feet who runs around on a dentist's ceiling when the patient has too much happy gas.

~~Oh, I know what that lert is - she's the writer who figures out what readers are going to be reading two years from now. That's about how long ahead I'd have to guess at the market. From the time I type Chapter 1 until The End and then the publisher takes those words and makes them into a book takes about two years. But I gave up trying to guess the market years ago. I'm about as good at that as I am at picking Derby winners.

~~The Derby is a big event in this area. A lot of Derby parties and fancy hats and celebrity watching. Not by me. No party, no hat, no celebrity watching. I do like to watch the race. The actual race takes about five minutes with the replay. On television. They say every Kentuckian should attend the Derby at least once in their liefetime, but that's not something I care about doing. Oh, if you were up there on Millionaires' Row and you didn't have to wear a hat, it might be okay. But I think I'd rather see the balloon race in the pre-Derby festivities. Or it might be fun to be on the Belle of Louisville when they do their Derby week competition. They used to race with the Cincinnati Delta Queen, but then the Queen got retro-fitted or something and the Belle didn't. So now the crews have tug of wars and other like contest before they steam off to pick up some special cargo. The Queen has a handicap and has to go a little farther to get her assigned cargo. I researched steamboats for a book I wrote about Louisville set during the 1850's, and now it looks as if that story is going to make it into print in the next few years. More good news for me!! I hope you'll think so too.

~~And I hope you have a great weekend. But if you're planning to be at the Derby, you'd better make that hat a rain hat and bring an umbrella. The weather forecast isn't favorable to the horses who don't like a sloppy track.

What a Week!

Hi, everybody. Hope you had a great week and are looking forward to an even better one. They say the weather here mid-week will be fantastic and with the 4th coming up, that's good news. Tuesday is my oldest granddaughter's birthday. She'll be 14. You know how old that makes me feel? Well, you don't want to know and neither do I. :)

Actually I was 14 when I met my husband at a football game. I hate to admit it, but I didn't go to football games to watch football back then. I was watching the guys on the sidelines. At any rate, Darrell and I met and the moon and the stars must have been lined up just right, because we're still together all these years later. And yes, I was way too young to be out looking for the right guy. Guess I was blessed to find that right guy first time around. And now my granddaughter is going to be 14, but thank goodness she's not in as big a hurry as I was to go out boy hunting. Fourteen seems really young to me now, but I felt plenty old then. The perspective changes with age.

I got to see all my kids and their families this week. Not all at the same time, but all in the same week which is a gift. I have one son in WV and one daughter in SC and one son closer to home right here in my hometown. We went to see the son & family in WV the first of the week. His wife's a little over 7 months along carrying twins and she's getting tired, but so far, so good. We're praying she'll be able to endure a few more weeks and deliver wonderfully healthy baby boys some time in August. But summertime is a hard time to be expecting.

Then my daughter came home for a visit the end of the week and we had a great time. We went to the Kentucky Horse Park along with my other son and family. One of his daughters, age 6, is horse crazy. She decided she might like to redecorate her bedroom like the tack room that was on display in the visitors center except she'd have to have a window to see the horse next to the tackroom. You can tell she hasn't been in a lot of barns.

So it wasn't a good week production wise writing. I've been trying to meet a self-set goal of so many pages a day, but you know, you've got to put in the days. Still I guess everybody needs a few days off now and again. Especially in the summertime.

And I got some great news. Revell is offering a contract for the book I wrote based loosely on some of my mom's memories of growing up during the depression. It'll be a while before it's out on the market, but the story is extra special to me because of how Mom shared her memories with me to help me know how things were back then. I'll be sure to let you know more about the story down the road. I titled it Angel Sister, but titles sometimes get changed.

Now the publication date for The Outsider is drawing closer and closer (along with my twin grandsons' birthday to be). I'm hoping to take part in a book celebration at the Paul Sawyier Library in Frankfort, KY on August 2 (again if the twins don't decide to make their appearance that weekend). And then I'll be having another booklaunch party at Corinth Bookstore in Frankfort. We haven't set that date yet, but we're considering when. It's hard to plan with those babies on the way. I'm the designated babysitter for their other children as well as naturally anxious to see my new grandbabies.

The folks at Corinth Bookstore in Franklin Square have been so kind to help get my Hollyhill books off the launching pad each time. It's great having such a nice store with so many great books and beautiful gift items and books and toys for kids. If you are in the area, check them out. For the owners, Bonnie and Steve, the store is a ministry and it shows. Of course I think books are the best gift ever. I love giving books and getting books.

And I did get some good news about a review of The Outsider. The Romantic Times Book Review Magazine chose my book as a Top Pick!! That's not just good news. That's great news! It's always such fun when reviewers like your book. Not so much if they're not as enthusiastic. I hope if you get the book, you will like it too and give it a good review to all your friends. There's still a week or two before my drawing for the early autographed copy if you want to put your name in the pot. Just click on my website and send me an e-mail.

And a special thanks to Laura Frantz, a fellow writer with a book coming out from Revell next year, for her comment last week. Her book is tentatively titled Dogwood Winter and is set in frontier Kentucky. Sounds fascinating. And can you believe it? Her book has a frontier doctor in it the same as The Outsider.

Check back again next week. Maybe I'll wax philosphical or something next week instead of being simply chatty. Hope you have a safe and happy 4th of July.

Great Writing News and Encouragement

I had a great week as a writer last week. I got offered a contract for a couple of new books. All I have to do is write them. I think this is where I need to start begging for your prayers. The first deadline is a bit sooner than I'd like. I have discovered I'm not the fastest writer on the block, but maybe this time with the deadline looming I can pull more words out of my reluctant brain a bit faster. It looks as if I'm going to have to keep my nose to the grindstone for a while.

You know, when you think about it, that is without a doubt a disturbing image. One's nose to the grindstone. Does that mean you should just pay attention to what you're doing or does that mean you need to sacrifice a bit of skin off your nose? That's what a grindstone does. Grinds away things. Sharpens knives and tools. Now that could possibly make sense for me. I need to sharpen my writing tools and my writing thinker upper. So maybe that's how the grindstone can help.

We're always spouting old sayings that we have no idea where they came from or how they got started. Some we can figure out. Like a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. Or snug as a bug in a rug. We might not want a bug in our rug, but we don't have any problem imaging said bug as snug. I think I just came up with a tongue twister. Try saying those last couple of sentences ten times fast. But back to the old sayings. Some are not so easily imagined by our current generation. Like the grindstone one. Most kids have never seen a grindstone. Ah, how quickly the years pile on and our language is ever growing and shifting and changing. New words pop into use and old words fade away. Sometimes that makes writing historical fiction difficult. You not only have to come up with the right idea, the right plot, the right characters, you also have to be sure not to use words that weren't around back then. Can you think up some modern words that shouldn't have been there that you might have caught in some of the books you were reading?

But I was sharing my good news of the week with you. I got the offer about the two new books. My book, The Outsider, due out in August is getting some early interest and has been picked for a main selection by Crossing Book Club as well as an alternate selection for several other book clubs. So that's great news. That means the book will be out there and available in a lot of different ways. The book I've already written that I titled Angel Sister got a good report from my editor, so that was encouraging. No publication date as yet. It will be a while, but I think it will eventually be out there for the rest of you guys to read. They were such a great bunch of characters. I always think I have a great bunch of characters. They're not all sweet and kind, but they are all mine. And some of them are fun and crazy weird.

And then my granddaughter in WV turned five. Is there anything more fun than have a fifth birthday and opening a pile of presents and blowing out candles and eating cake and ice cream? How many of you remember your fifth birthday? I don't remember that birthday specifically, but we had a wonderful aunt who always did our birthdays up special. She made our cakes and decorated them and I can remember standing out by the lane to our house and watching for her car on my special day. That's the best thing about birthdays. Feeling special. Feeling loved. If I could make a birthday wish now and blow out all my candles, that's what I would wish for everyone in the world. That they could feel special on their birthdays. Of course, no one will ever put that many candles on my cake again. It would set off the smoke detector if they tried and I'd have to take at least five tries to blow out that many candles. So maybe instead of a wish, I'll make it a prayer.

Since I'm talking about a special day, I'll tell you about a special celebration I just came from. A couple in our church are celebrating their seventy-fifth anniversary. Wow! Now that's something. He's 95 and she's almost 92. They still live in their own home and they still read through the Bible almost every year. They are beautiful people.

I had a good time at the Southern Kentucky Book Fest. Thanks to everyone who came by to talk to me and maybe buy my book. Thanks also to those of you who came to sit in and listen on our panel as we talked about how we used our Kentucky roots to help establish the setting and tone for our books. The next book fest, Bluegrass Festival of Books, is coming up in Lexington at Joseph-Beth's in May. Hope if you're in the area, you'll come by and say hi.

That's all for now. Check in with me again next week. And feel free to comment about your most fun birthday or anything at all. Ann