A Scene from The Seeker

The Seeker, my Shaker book set during the first two years of the Civil War, is on special e-book sale this week for $1.99 or less on most e-book sites. It's fun having reduced price books to give readers a chance to try one of my stories. Of course, there is always the library too for those who prefer a physical, feel the pages type of book.

Which do you prefer? I like the paper book, but I've read some books on my Nook. It's not bad. Very convenient to carry several books with you. Even a hundred or more. Very easy to download books too. Maybe too easy. But at least that to be read shelf doesn't take up much room.  

So to celebrate the special sale, how about a scene from The Seeker tonight? I enjoyed getting to know my characters in this story. I liked Adam, the artist/illustrator. It was interesting finding out how reporters and illustrators followed the troops to record the battles in drawings. Photography was in its infant stage and while there are photos from the Civil War era, taking those pictures was not an easy process. It took a whole wagon load of equipment and the subjects of the photos had to sit perfectly still for fifteen or twenty minutes while their image was captured. And now we jerk out our phones and snap pictures right and left. Even videos that end up on the news or YouTube. I posted a video on Facebook today that had already been shared a zillion times, give or take a few. 

This is a scene from The Seeker after the first battle that Adam sees, the Battle of Bull Run where the Confederates won the day and the Union soldiers retreated in disarray.

   Long after Adam returned to his hotel room, the questions with no answers whirled in his head. He tried to push them aside so he could concentrate on getting his sketches ready before Sam Johnson's man knocked on his door at first light. He didn't have to have answers, only illustrations. But as he flipped through his sketches, the sounds of exploding shells and men dying echoed in his ears, and he wanted to rip the drawings into a thousand pieces. He shoved aside the scenes of death and pulled a writing tablet toward him.
   
Dear Charlotte,
     You won't mind if I don't call you Sister Charlotte, will you? Thinking of you as a Shaker sister will take some time. It appears that how that came to be will remain a puzzle at least for now. Tell me of your life there. It has to be very different from that of a Southern belle, but as I told you at Grayson, even then you were not like most young ladies I have had the pleasure of meeting in drawing rooms across the South.
   I realize you have probably not had time to receive my earlier letter, but this night as I sit in the capital city surrounded by a wounded army, I seem to need to put pen to paper again to you. To tell you of the first real battle of the war at a stream called Bull Run near the town of Manassas in Virginia. The Rebels won the day. It appears the Confederates aren't as ready to be beaten as the Union generals had hoped. I have a sketchbook full of the most horrible scenes of war. My pens seemed to be dripping blood on the paper. I will send you a couple of sketches, but you can see more in Harper's if the Shakers read such. And it sounded as if they might if they saw their stairways on those pages.
   Here in Washington, the generals will meet and the soldiers will be given new guns to replace those left behind on the field of battle. The armies will meet again and I must be there to draw more pictures. It is what I do.
   It is good you are in a place where peace can bloom undisturbed like roses in a garden. Tell me of your garden and I will let my hand trace the flowers you see and hope that once the battle smoke clears there will still be flowers to pick in our own personal gardens. 

Yours, Adam

   He folded a picture of the army lining up for battle and then one of the carriages of onlookers, wagons, and soldiers all vying for a place on the road north as they retreated. Last he picked up a small book where he sometimes jotted bits of scenes to keep the sights fresh in his mind. He drew the bench under the dogwood tree beside Grayson's veranda. The one where he was sitting when he first saw Charlotte. She would know. 

Thanks for reading and if you're interested in grabbing The Seeker, here are some links. 
Amazon
Christianbook.com 
Barnes & Noble
Kobo
Always be sure to double check the price before you download to make sure the sale price is still in effect.  

Drifting in Time

My mom is one of the sweetest women anybody could ever want to know. She's had a hard week with maybe a heart attack or stroke and a couple of falls that have left her bruised all over. The worst of it is how confused she's been about how old she is, where she lives and who we are.

~~

We spent two days at the hospital that seemed more like two weeks to her. She was ready to hire a taxi to get home. The only problem was that she didn't know where home was. She had gone back in time and was ready to go back to the home where she grew up. She kept telling me, when we finally did get released from the hospital and were on the way home, that I wasn't going the right way. She didn't argue with me, but I could tell she thought we were going to end up in a desert somewhere. But she was polite to this strange woman taking her on all the wrong roads. She's better today. Knows I'm her daughter again. That makes us both feel better. I understand about dementia. We dealt with that problem with my mother-in-law. But it's still heart-breaking to see my capable, take charge mama who has always taken care of everybody else having trouble thinking.

~~

And so I decided yesterday she was drifting in time. Skipping back through the years of her life and stopping here and there. She picked the young years to latch on to. And why not? If you're going to wander through the years of your life, why not pick the good years? The years where you felt strong and able and enjoyed living. So if you are drifting along at thirty-five, there's no way you can think about having children years older than that. It's no wonder she wondered who the heck we were. She knew she had three daughters and what our names were, but her daughters were young. Not way older than she was herself. No way that could be. So maybe her thinking was reasonable and we were the unreasonable ones to keep trying to convince her of the impossible.

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You know that's what I do when I start a book. I drift around in time with my characters and I pick their best, most interesting years. Maybe not the years they enjoyed most, but the ones where the most happened. Like in The Seeker with the Civil War tearing the country apart or in The Believer with Elizabeth's father dying. I have to start my story in the moment of time in my characters' lives that is most dramatic.

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The Seeker is on a blog tour right now. I've been getting alerts of this or that review. It's mostly fun reading what people think about your story. Mostly. Of course this one reviewer said one of my books, and I honestly don't remember which Shaker book but I think it was The Outsider. Anyway the reviewer said my book made her want to - and I quote - "wash windows." I'm sure that was so she could look out on the beautiful world that had been made more beautiful by my enchanting story. Or she needed more light so that she could read every word. Twice. Or reading about the Shakers' desire for cleanliness inspired her to join in their war against dirt. I have to be honest. I've never read a book that made me want to wash windows. The afternoon sun shining through them makes me think about washing windows sometimes, but then the sun goes down.

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Thanks for reading. Hope if you're drifting along with some characters, none of them are making you want to wash windows.

Celebrating Twins and a Hometown Book Launch

Whew! Whoever said twins were no more work than one couldn't have been talking about toddlers. We had the boys here at the house for a few days last week and believe me, I got my exercise without worrying about setting aside time for a walk. There wasn't any setting aside time for anything except chasing boys. Especially when we went outside to see the dogs. They liked heading off to do independent adventure seeking then with one boy going one way and the other boy going the opposite direction. As they hightailed it for the field or the garden or the far reaches of Africa perhaps, they'd sometimes look back at me and grin while they kept trucking until grandma grabbed one of them up and then ran to cut short the other's journey and make them come back to the yard.

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But aren't they cute? And you will notice that I'm still smiling. Hair is only half combed and if you could see the floor in the picture, you'd wonder how we could walk for the toys scattered everywhere. What is it about kids that dumping toys you've just picked up is the most fun of anything they can do? For sure there were lots of hugs and kisses to go around.

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But Sunday morning I packed them up and took them back to Mom and Dad. Then I had to rush home to get to my hometown book launch for The Seeker at the local library. I've been doing this every time I have a new release for the last five or six books now and it's always one of the most enjoyable events I do. Friends from church and neighbors and people from town who've known me since I was a kid growing up here come out and we talk books. They listen to me talk mostly, but then it's great to hear what they have to say. We laughed a lot yesterday. They thought it was funny when I told them how I'd left things at the house with the trashcan in the shower stall and the toilet paper up on the windowsill and cereal scattered to the four corners of the kitchen. They were a good bunch and I always feel so honored that people will take time out of their busy schedules to come listen to me tell them about my books. They were a good looking group, but I forgot to give somebody my camera to take pictures while I was talking so you'll just have to take my word for it. There were also several people there from our Central Kentucky writers group and I really appreciate their support.

~~

I had thought about making brownies and lemonade, but I was being too optimistic on how much time I'd have to cook, etc. while the twins were here. Way too optimistic. Darrell had to go to town to get food. :-) But I did take Dove chocolates that have those inspirational messages on the inside of the wrappers. I read one that seemed to fit the day. "The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate."

~~

It was fun celebrating a new book with my hometown friends. Hope you have good things to celebrate this week.

Words to Tickle an Author's Ears

What do you say to the author of a book you've just read? Well, if you like the book or even love the book, you might go to the writer's website (most writers have one these days) or find their page on Facebook and send them a message telling them how glad you were to read their book. Those messages are always fun for a writer to get. Or if you really want to share your excitement over a good story, you can post reviews in a blue zillion places on the internet. You can do that if you don't like the story too, but that's not nearly as much fun for the author. Us poor authors are needy when it comes to good words about our stories and wanting lots of stars on those reviews.

~~~

It's hard for me not to click on all those stars for other writers if I'm reviewing a book because I know how hard that writer probably worked on the story and what hopes he or she had that everybody was going to love it. Some of us spend months, even years, digging the story out of our heads and then another year usually passes with edits, etc. from the publishers and finally the book will be out there in the hands of readers. We want you to read it. We want you to like it. We want you to more than like it. We want you to love it. Of course we know everybody in the whole world is not going to read our book and love it. Hey, if everybody in the whole world did read my book, I might be as rich as Bill Gates and not care if you liked it or not. Well, that's probably not true. I'd probably still want you to like it. Er, love it.

~~~

So we're not talking about those books you don't like. We're talking about those books you do like. Maybe books where you actually know the author and will be telling him or her face to face what you thought of the book. I'm a hometown girl and a lot of the people around here have known me forever. So I'm always meeting people in churches or in the grocery store who know I'm a writer. They usually say something like "I love your books." Or "Are you still writing?" Or "When's the new book coming out?" Or (and no writer likes to hear this one) "I don't have time to read." But the best comments I get are the ones that tell me what they liked about the story or how they enjoyed the characters or that they sat up until the wee hours reading to find out what happened next. Or they cried over the sad parts and smiled during the happy parts. And were glad they took my book home to read.

~~~

And now that's where I am with my new book, The Seeker, finding its way into readers' hands. I'm sitting back waiting for what people will have to say. My sisters. My kids. My friends. And hoping I'll hear some words that will tickle my ears. And see stars on Amazon or Christianbook.com or Barnes and Noble. I admit it. I'm needy. But I did like Adam and Charlotte and the story they had to tell and so it's only natural I want my reading friends to like the story, too.

~~~

To celebrate the new book, I'm having a couple of book launches. The first one at Corinth Parable Bookstore in Frankfort, KY on Friday, July 2 at 7 p.m. and the second one at my hometown library, Anderson Co. Public Library in Lawrenceburg KY on Sunday, July 11 at 2 p.m. We always have fun talking books at these book launches. Before that I'm taking part in the Harrodsburg Book Festival this Saturday. If you're in the area any of these times, stop by and say hello. And if you've read one of my books, go ahead and say something nice. If nothing else you can say you liked the covers.

~~~

Edna of Ohio was the winner on an autographed copy of The Seeker this week. You might be the winner next week if you've thrown your name in the hat by sending me a message or commenting here. Edna and Charmaine, your books are in the mail.

Too Many Words

The letters on the keypads of my keyboard are disappearing. You think that means I've typed too many words? Look at it! The n and m are completely gone. The l is going, and the e is half gone. And the e key is worse than disappearing. It's collapsing. Still works, thank goodness. Can you imagine trying to write anything in English without an e key? I tried to hook up a new, well actually an old keyboard to the computer today. I could see all the letters on the keypads but unfortunately my computer chose to ignore that keyboard. So maybe it's time to go keyboard shopping. Before the e stops working altogether. And me needing to edit Shaker 4 before Mr. Deadline breaks down the door and lets me know time's up.

~~~

I'm having troubles with more than the keyboard. The internet keeps freezing up. Or actually "not responding." Do you think the Lord gave us computers because He wanted us to learn patience? Or how to handle irritation and overcome frustration? Or learn to write without using the letter e? That would take some creative thinking. In this paragraph alone there are 34 e's. If I didn't skip over a few when I did my count.

~~~

I'm not frustrated over my book, The Seeker, landing in people's mailboxes this week and pushing their way out onto the store shelves. We decided to stay with the July 2 book launch at Corinth Parable Bookstores even though people are already picking up the book. The store may offer hotdogs to bring people in. Free food is always an enticement. Plus I'll be talking about how I wore out a keyboard writing about Shakers. Some of you might want to hear that while you're chowing down. We usually have a fun question and answer time after I talk a little about writing. That's always my favorite part of any talk. I like trying to come up with answers. Maybe that's why I like writing. The challenge of coming up with answers about what my characters are going to do next.

~~~

Questions, anyone?

~~~

P.S. Don't forget to send me a message to throw your name in the hat for a free autographed copy of The Seeker if you haven't done so. Two winners so far - Charmaine and Shirley. If you've already entered, you don't have to enter again to be in the drawings. The names stay in until I've done all the promised drawings. Check out my website for details.

My First Christian Writers Conference

Here I am with Virginia Smith, writer and great keynote speaker at the Kentucky Christian Writers Conference. Ginny did a great job of firing up all us writers at the conference with her three speeches on The Road to Publication. She told us about her bumpy road as a writer when she went for years without selling any of her writing and collected 143 rejections. She kept all of them in a file. I've collected my share, probably more than that, but I certainly saw no need to keep them all or count them. The ones I wanted to count were the ones that said yes. I threw those "we're sorry" letters away. Or most of them. I probably still have a few scattered in among the pages of my writing journal. I did keep a running record of my submissions and the responses. You can believe I put stars beside the ones that sent checks for those first short pieces I sold back when I was learning to write. That was before I tackled a novel. The checks were very small but the knowing that somebody was willing to pay anything at all to publish my words was encouragement worth thousands.

~~~

This is the only picture I got. I was too busy talking to people and listening to people and running from the bookstore to my classroom and back for picture taking. And making friends. I did a lot of that. Everybody was so nice to a first-timer like me. Somehow I've missed out on writers' conferences prior to this. Most Christian writers attend conferences, but that was something I didn't even know they had until after I'd published my first Christian novel, The Scent of Lilacs back in 2005 and met a few other Christian writers at book fairs. Those writers were always surprised to hear I had never been to a conference. Well, now I won't have to surprise them. I have a Christian writers' conference under my belt.

~~~

I taught three classes and people actually came to hear what I had to say about making characters come to life and about revising. I was sure people would avoid that last class about revising because that's not something most writers like to do. But they came and they listened and I hope went home with some idea of how to polish their writing to make it better. And I hope they were encouraged. That's what I wanted to do. Encourage the people I met. I told the lady who is going to be one of the coordinators of the conference next year that I didn't think there was anything better than being an encourager - a role she had felt comfortable in for years as a pastor's wife. And now she was going to be an encourager of Christian writers.

~~~

My book is hitting the stores and people's mailboxes. So much fun. And the winner of the second week's drawing for a free autographed copy of The Seeker is Shirley Garwood. Congrats, Shirley! I'll be getting in touch to find out your mailing address. It's not too late for you to join the fun by e-mailing me or leaving a comment here on One Writer's Journal. That's how you can add your name to the pot for the rest of the drawings. I'm still planning to give away five or six more books.

~~~

Enjoy your week and take a few minutes to read a good book. I've heard that Gabhart woman has a new one out. ;-)

From My Hand to Yours

From my hand to yours - I have my first winner in my giveaway. Charmaine, you're the winner on an autographed copy of The Seeker!! Thanks for commenting here on my blog and entering my giveaway. I'll be e-mailing you to get a mailing address. Somebody else will win next week and the next and the next. So keep sending in those entries and you might win a copy too.

~~

A new book is so much fun. And a little nerve racking too, because you're never sure how readers are going to respond. Will they like the story? You sit on pins and needles and wait for the official reviews. That is, the ones in magazines and at on-line book review sites. And the unofficial reviews. Those are the ones from friends and family. You want everybody to love your book. But that doesn't always happen. Once on my last Hollyhill books, I got a terrible review from a reviewer who had loved my first Hollyhill books. But then other reviewers liked the book she hated. So you never know. But I'm not wanting to think about unhappy reviews. I want to think about all the readers loving my new story. And I think people will enjoy the Civil War setting and my two main characters, Charlotte and Adam. That's the thing, most of the time. If readers like your characters, then the story works.

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Of course sometimes readers are supposed to hate your characters. Last night I got a reinforcement of that when a reader came up to me and said she was scared to death while she was reading The Believer. I couldn't figure out what in the story would have scared her, but then she said, "When that Colton showed up, I just had to close the book and do something else for a while." Now while that's not usually what a writer wants to hear - close the book - in this case it wasn't all bad. It meant I had made my bad guy real to her. Of course, I think I'd still rather hear "I couldn't put it down." That's always music to a writer's ear. A lot better than the one where people tell you, "Oh, I used to love to read, but I don't have time to read anymore." That one's sad for me and for them. Reading is so much fun!!

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I've only seen a couple of reviews so far for The Seeker. Both favorable. Four stars for Romantic Times Book Reviews where they call the book "an amazing read." Amazing as in good, I'm hoping. And then the Booklist review says "Gabhart's absorbing coming-of-age Christian historical novel deftly juxtaposes Adam's and Charlottee's internal faith journeys against a backdrop of unusual settings." I'm not sure who is coming of age in the story, but the review is still nice. So now I'm sitting back and waiting for your reviews. For those of you who read my book to let me know what you think. Well, the sitting back part's not true. Actually I'm frantically working to finish Shaker book 4. Mr. Deadline is stomping my way. And I'll be teaching at the Kentucky Christian Writers Conference Friday and Saturday about coming up with great characters and revising to make your story better. So I need to figure out how to talk about doing those things. And it's summer with a million other things going on. You know what I mean. You're there too, I'm sure.

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And don't forget, it's not too late to pitch your name in the hat if you want to get in on my book giveaways. Just leave a comment or send me an e-mail from my website. It's always great to hear from readers and friends.

A New Book in Hand

It's fun when the doorbell rings and it's the Fed Ex driver bringing a new book. Especially when it's your new book or I suppose in this case - my new book! The Seeker is all printed and ready to go. This was an early rush "so I could see it first" copy but the others will soon be on the way to me and to stores. At least that's what I'm hoping. So if you want to be in the drawings I'm doing all through the month of June e-mail me from my website, http://www.annhgabhart.com/ or leave a comment here. You know something like "Yeah sure, I'd like to win a free book." I even pay the postage. That's because I enjoy hearing from reading and writing friends and I enjoy sharing my books.

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It looks good. They always look good when I see all my words printed out and bound up in a neat book. A lot of people are saying the book as we know it is going to disappear and I'm no teller of the future, but I do know I like holding a book in my hands and turning real pages. You may feel different. A lot of people really enjoy their e-book reading devices and I might like them too for certain books and for researching on the fly, but there's still something about settling down with a real book. And a nice tall glass of iced tea. And oh what the heck, let's eat a little chocolate too. Then we can let our imaginations take off for who knows where. Maybe a little town in the middle of Kentucky. Maybe a world no one's ever heard of before. Maybe a Shaker Village back during the Civil War. That last one sounds interesting. ;o)

~~~

Thanks for reading. Now I've got to get back to work searching for those elusive two words "The End" on my next Shaker book. I'm thinking about the titles The Blessed or The Given. Of course I realize you have no idea what the story is about except that it does return to my Shaker village of Harmony Hill. So what do you think about those titles? Would they catch your interest?

Happy Mother's Day!!

~~One thing all of us have in common is that we have a mother. Father too but it's not Father's Day so we're not talking about him today. Here's a picture of my mom and my youngest granddaughter. Nothing like a baby to bring joy out in a mama, grandmama or great grandmama. It is such a blessing to be part of a family that can enjoy the interaction of several generations.

~~I've been posting Mother's Day sayings on Facebook this week. The one I found that I liked best was by Jill Churchill. "There's no way to be a perfect mother, and a million ways to be a good one." None of us are perfect. But most all of us work hard to be good moms. Love can cover a multitude of mistakes. I made some with my kids that I still regret, but life moved on. The kids survived my imperfect mothering and thrived under my mother love.

~~But thinking about moms got me to wondering about the mothers in my novels. And you know, I haven't written about many good moms. Anyway not that were still breathing when the story is happening. In my Hollyhill books, Jocie's mother deserted her when Jocie was five. That isn't one of the million ways to be a good mom for sure. Adrienne comes into the story more in the Summer of Joy and I hope I made her real. She was very real to me and a very important part of the story in the first two books even though she only appeared in those stories in Jocie's and David's memory. In the third book, I tell some of the story from Adrienne's viewpoint and I think the scene in the doctor's office where she's getting a diagnosis of breast cancer is one of the better scenes I've ever written. Nobody else has ever told me that, so that might just be a writer's delusion. I also had Leigh's mother in that book - another mother with some issues. In fact reading those books, nobody would know what a great mother I have. Nothing of the mothers in those books came from personal experience with my own mother.

~~Gabrielle's mother in The Outsider wouldn't win any mother of the year awards either and after they join the Shakers, Gabrielle and her mother have a Shaker sister relationship. In The Believer, Elizabeth has a good mother, but she dies before the story starts. In The Seeker (in stores soon!!) Charlotte's mother died when Charlotte was fifteen. I'm beginning to note a trend here. But I'm saved from being too predictable by Angel Sister due out in January 2011 where Nadine is a wonderful mother. My kind of mom. And breathing all through the story. That's a good thing for that story. In my next book I'm going to have a fantastic mother character who lives to be 102. ;-)

~~I sent out newsletters. A lot of them bounced back at me. I loaded them up with too much info and pictures, I guess. Someday I'll learn this stuff - maybe. I'll try to resend tomorrow. Anyway I am doing giveaways in June and the first week of July for autographed copies of The Seeker when it comes out. If you want to enter in the fun, just make a comment here or send me an e-mail from my website, http://www.annhgabhart.com/. I'll be doing a drawing every week in June and then the first week in July doing two drawings with one just for those of you who haven't yet won one of my books. Then I'll include something from the Shaker village gift shop in one of those drawings. Not sure what yet, but something Shaker related.

~~Hope you had a great Mother's Day with lots of good times and that you were able to tell your mom you loved her. But if she's no longer with you, I hope you have many good memories that make you smile and remember the million ways she was a good mom.

Necessary but Troublesome

~~These wildflowers aren't troublesome. Necessary for the spirit and for the bees. These are Dutchman's britches, my mom's favorite wildflower. For my favorites, I think the trilliums are hard to beat and of course the Jack in the Pulpit is fun to find in the woods. If you look really closely at this picture you can see the little spider that's spinning a web onto the middle flower. I didn't even notice that until I loaded the picture on the computer. Last fall I took my camera out and tried to find a spiderweb for a post I did on how a story line is like a spiderweb with all the interconnections and couldn't find a good web anywhere. And now here this little spider was spinning right in front of my eyes and I didn't even notice him. Or maybe her.

~~But no, the troublesome but necessary thing is my computer. It had a major glitch last night and today. Spent an hour talking to this one troubleshooting guy. He couldn't fix it. Had me punching this key and that key and going into Safe Mode and to the C:/ prompt. I don't know why something called Safe Mode makes me so nervous, but I'm sure my computer will never be safe again when I go into that program. My son would be laughing at me now if he saw that. He's a computer techie. Anyway I finally called the right guy and he had it all working in five minutes. Just goes to show you got to know what's wrong. The first guy didn't and the second guy did. Shame I didn't call the right guy first. But the best thing is I can read my e-mails again. And there was more work on there, but good news too that if I can come up with a nice blurb for my new book, The Seeker, it might get some nice pub. That's the necessary part of the computer and internet. You've got to have it these days. So you put up with the troublesome parts. And if you're like me, wish you knew more about why it gets in trouble.

~~Another necessary but troublesome thing is my titling questionnaire about my book in progress. The one I should be writing more words for right now to meet that looming deadline. Can you believe they actually want me to tell them a title when I have no idea? I mean just because it's only a couple of months until I'm supposed to have it finished. This one is my fourth Shaker book and the others have all been The something. The Outsider. The Believer. The Seeker. But I have run out of ideas to go with The. At least anything that fits with this story. I'm hoping the perfect title will pop in my head before I finish the questionnaire.

~~Then there's that place where they ask you to come up with a couple of snappy sentences to say what your book's about. Two sentences to describe a 100,000 word plus book! If I was good at snappy sentences I'd be writing ad copy. Oh. I guess that's what I'm needing to do. Write some copy that will help the publishers sell my many more words. As you can probably tell, I'm not crazy about filling these things out. I don't know if any author is, but - and here's the not only necessary part but the very welcome part of this troublesome task - but it means I have a new book coming out in the future. And that's not troublesome at all. That's exciting! So I'll keep brainstorming on that title and strain my brain to come up with those snappy sentences.

~~Hope all your necessary tasks are no trouble at all for you this week. And maybe even fun.

Computer Blues

~~When you have the computer blues sometimes you need to hunt a reason to smile.

• At least my pencil never crashes. -Author Unknown
• The problem with troubleshooting is that trouble shoots back. - Author Unknown
• Never let a computer know you're in a hurry. - Author Unknown
• User, n. The word computer professionals use when they mean "idiot." - Dave Barry
• To err is human, but to really foul things up requires a computer. -Farmer's Almanac, 1978

~~You might be able to guess I'm having a few computer problems. I got somebody to work on it. It got worse. Before only a couple of things weren't working. Now four or five more things aren't working. Makes me a little leery about trying to fix it again. I don't know which is worse - the virus or the cure. At this rate I'll soon be using that pencil.

~~Pencils or perhaps quills dipped in ink used to be the instrument of choice for a writer. But it would be hard to go back to that time now. The same as it would be hard to go back to drawing all the illustrations for the newspapers the way they were doing in the mid 1800's. In mybook, The Seeker, due out in July, one of my characters is an illustrator for the newspapers and he follows the Union Army recording the battle scenes. Photography was in its infancy and Mathew Brady did take pictures during the Civil War. It took a wagonload of equipment and the subjects of the photos had to stand very still to have their images captured. My artist character was happy with his sketchbook and pens and pencils, but if he had lived in modern times he would have had to find a new occupation. We depend on photos now to show us the news.

~~Cameras have certainly progressed until now we have these digital cameras you can carry in your shirt pocket or that are part of your phone. You can point and shoot and then look at the picture right now and simply hit the trashcan symbol if you don't like your smile. The word processor is the same kind of advancement on the early typewriter, with similar delete options that can make you smile or lose your mind. According to whether you intended to delete or not or whether the crash of your operating system happened at an inopportune time. You know, just after you'd finally figured out the perfect words to put in your character's mouth. Perfect words that get eaten by a computer never find their way back into your head.

~~Guess I'll try to reboot the computer now and see what happens next. I've got all my words saved and maybe the dreaded blue screen won't attack. Hope all your computers are humming and singing and showing the right pictures when you click your mouse. Here's a final quote to encourage the writer in us all. "Computers have lots of memory but no imagination." Thank goodness.

Love Letters

~~Did you ever write any love letters? Or get a love letter? Do you like to read other people's letters? My daughter has been reading the love letters her mother and father-in-law wrote each other while they were dating. She says they were so in love.

~~When my husband and I were dating, he was off at college and I was still in high school. We wrote letters back and forth all the time. My daughter won't be able to read our letters because those letters got lost over the years, but now I sort of wish they hadn't. Reading back through them would have taken me back to when I was a different person. That's what reading old letters can do. Take you back. Show what was then.

~~I have used letters in my books. Some actual letters like the ones Jerry wrote his mother in my nonfiction book, Angels at the Crossroads. Those letters were invaluable to me as I tried to get inside Jerry's head to know what he was going through during his hard times in prison so that I could write his story. And the letters I include in the book just as they were written by Jerry help the reader see how Jerry changed from a mixed up kid to a Christian man ready to accept responsibility for what he'd done and start living a better life even while he was still in prison.

~~When I was writing my upcoming book, Angel Sister, that will be published in 2011, I read a book of letters a soldier wrote home to his wife from World War I that helped me write about my character's memory of being in that war. And in my Shaker book, The Seeker, that will be released in July, I have a whole chapter of nothing but letters between the two main characters. Not exactly love letters since one of the characters is living in a Shaker village and love letters would definitely be a rule breaker for a Shaker, but the hints of love are there for the discerning reader.

~~I love letters. I love writing letters and getting letters. I probably have every letter I ever received from a reader. Guess that lets you know the mailbags weren't too full coming to my door. But I can' t say that I have all my readers' e-mails. I've had too many computer crashes that chewed up the e-mails and took them off to the computer graveyard. And while e-mails might have replaced the everyday letter and perhaps even love letters, you have to think that it's unlikely any bundles of those e-mails will be found in the attics of the future just waiting to take us back into another life. Then again, perhaps our attics will be electronic and the bundles of e-mails even more accessible to the reader who wants a glimpse of the past.

~~But there's something special about taking pen in hand and writing "I love you." Or "I loved your book." Or "I'm proud of you." Or "Roses are red. Violets are blue. Angels in heaven know I love you." Or "thank you for reading." I do, you know - thank you for reading.

~~P.S. You've still got time to get in the drawing for my book giveaway the end of the month. Just send me an e-mail from my website or leave a comment. Thank all of you who have already entered. It's always so much fun hearing from you.

~~P.P.S. I'll be at a book club in London, KY Friday. I love book clubs. I'll have to send them a letter telling them so.

A Snowy Day Down on the Farm

~The weather people talked about snow for days and it finally showed up down here on the farm. We got about four inches - a light dusting compared to what they got west and south of us. But plenty for me. I like a little snow every winter, but I'm always ready to see it go, too. This morning it was so cold when I went out that the snow squeaked and crunched underfoot and blew up little mini-puffs of snow in my wake. A good kind of walking snow. Tonight would be a good night to take a snow walk since the moon is almost full and is reflecting off the snow making a glistening light almost as bright as day out there. But it is very chilly.

~I took my camera out on Saturday afternoon and took this picture of the hay bales and cedars. It made me think of the title of the book Snow Falling on Cedars. That's a very evocative title for a book, but one that I doubt I would have ever had the nerve to suggest to a publisher. But then again, maybe I would. I did The Scent of Lilacs. I did Wish Come True and Bridge to Courage for a couple of my young adult books. Not exactly the same feel as the snow falling title, but I think interesting titles. And all fit the story. I read Snow Falling on Cedars, but it's been a while and I can't remember if the title was central to the story or not.

~I enjoy thinking about titles and wondering where the authors might have come up with them. With my Shaker books, the publishers suggested I use a The Something theme and we came up with The Outsider for the first one. The Believer fits the second story perfectly and The Seeker is right for Charlotte and Adam's story. I have absolutely no idea what The Something the next book is going to be. But then I often write the book before I come up with a title. I guess I keep hoping my subconscious will nudge a great title up into my conscious mind and I'll go bingo and know it's the perfect title. Of course, right now I'm just hoping my subconscious will push a good story up into my conscious mind. I like my new characters, but they seem to be very secretive about their stories. I need them to start whispering some of those secrets into my ear. Or they can just run them straight through my fingers if they want to.

~I'm about rested up from my grandbaby sitting, but my desk is still looking like a disaster area. Plus I can't seem to locate the book I was reading before I headed to WV. No, it's not under all the paperwork on my desk. I've already checked that out. It takes talent to lose a book in your own house, but that seems to be what I've done. I gave up on finding it. Now I'm just waiting to discover it in whatever interesting spot I last laid it down. Either that or the reading gremlins carried it away. Do you have gremlins at your house? You know those mysterious beings that run off with paperclips and scissors and all your inkpens when you most need to write something down.

~Some of you have already entered my February book drawing for two of my books and The Frontiersman's Daughter by Laura Frantz, but for those of you who haven't, you still have time. I won't be doing the drawing until the end of the month. If you want to throw your name in the hat, just send me a message from my website or leave a comment here. I appreciate each and every one of you. Thanks for being reading friends.

Happy Thanksgiving!

--Here's one of my precious reasons for thanksgiving. I've got almost as many little grandbaby blessings to count as I do fingers. Nine beautiful blessings.

--I knew I wanted to get married and have children when I was fourteen. I remember thinking about what I wanted to do in life one morning on the school bus and of course, I knew I wanted to write. No, I think I knew I would write. Whether successfully remained to be seen, but I knew I would write. But I was also very sure I wanted a family. I wanted to have children and then when those children married, I hoped for grandchildren.

-And boy, were my hopes realized! I know a lot of grandmothers and grandfathers and most all of them consider those precious grandkids a good enough reason to accept adding a few years on and seeing those gray hairs and feeling those aches and pains. Especially after a bout of grandbaby sitting. You've heard the saying you're only as old as you feel. Well, while the grandkids are there, us grandmoms feel young enough to run and chase and play, but when they go home then the years start tapping us on the shoulder and reminding us we're not twenty something anymore.

--All the kids are supposed to be here on Friday for our round of Thanksgiving. They haven't all been here at the same time since last Christmas. That's the problem with being spread out over several states. So I'll be cooking and getting ready tomorrow while most people are sitting down to enjoy what they've been cooking and getting ready today. I have done a few things. The turkey is thawing in the fridge. I wrote out my menu. I went to the grocery - again.

--Let me give you some advice. Don't go to the grocery on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. Trust me, everybody else and his Uncle Joe and Aunt Sally are already there and they're not leaving much room for you. Or me. Luckily we didn't have any major shopping cart jams in the cake mix aisle. At least not while I was there. I did knock over a pretty display stack of boxes of chocolate covered cherries. I think they were trying to jump in my cart to come home with me. But I managed to stack them up like a two year old playing with blocks and make my escape. At least it wasn't bottles of turkey gravy. Now all I've got to do is turn those groceries into the traditional Thanksgiving dishes. I'm happy with some old timey dressing and cranberry sauce. Along with a piece of pecan pie or maybe cherry pie. And rolls. You got to have rolls. And sweet potatoes. And corn pudding. And .... Oh well, you get the idea. Maybe I should lock the scales in a closet somewhere and throw away the key until after Christmas.

--Christmas - I'm trying not to panic when I hear that word. Christmas is a season to be enjoyed. It's a time to rejoice and see friends. So what if there are a zillion things to do to get ready and so what if a certain somebody has to be ready the week before Christmas. But I don't like to do Christmas - not even Christmas-got-to-get-everything-done panic until after Thanksgiving. Give me a couple of days. Then we'll see what can be accomplished in panic mode.

--One bit of writing news. I got the Baker Books summer catalogue today. The Seeker was featured on a two page spread and on the back cover. Hope it looks good enough that bookstore people will want to put it on their shelves. And readers will want to take it home. That is one thing I love to do at Christmas. I love shopping for books for everybody on my list. I could spend all my shopping time in bookstores and be very happy.

--Hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving with blessings smiling at you from all around the table. Enjoy.

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.

Celebrating The Believer

I celebrated my new book, The Believer, with friends at my local library Saturday. A new book is a good reason for a writer to celebrate because for most of us it doesn't happen all that often. Some writers put out two or three books a year, but many of us writers feel fortunate to see one new book hit the bookstore shelves in a year's time. Generally speaking, publishing a book is not a fast process. If the topic is particularly timely, a book might be rushed through the process to get it on the market to catch the height of the public's interest. But most fiction books take a year and sometimes longer to reach the market. That's a long time to a writer who is so anxious for the story to be out there for people to read.

I've said this before but a book is not really complete until a reader picks it up and starts reading the writer's words so the story can spring to life in his or her imagination. Readers are always asking me what happened to this or that character. Were they happy? Did life treat them well after the story ended? Won't I write more about them so they'll be able to read what happened after the final scene in whatever book they read?

I'm always pleased to hear that my characters came to life for them and that they worry about them and want them to be happy even after they lay the book down. I feel the same way. About characters in other writers' books as well as those who people my own stories. I get very attached to my characters. I missed Jocie and her family and friends for months after I wrote Summer of Joy and knew the publishers weren't interested in more Hollyhill books. I would try to think about my new characters and Jocie and Wes would pop up in my thoughts chatting away, laughing over some new Jupiter story. I had to keep pushing them back until I finally got to know my new people well enough that they were coming to life in my head.

And so when you finally have brought those characters to life in your head and you've got their story down in words and some editor somewhere has said yes and you've gone through all the hoops of getting a manuscript turned into a real book with a title and cover and back cover blurb and chapter headings, etc. and it starts showing up on bookstore shelves, then it for sure is time to celebrate. That's what I did yesterday with my reading friends and family in my hometown as I shared with them how I came to write this new Shaker book. We talked about using history in fiction and I shared with them some of my New Year's journal entries across the years that revealed some of the ups and downs in my writing career.

Last New Year's I put those same journal entries here on my blog in hopes that some of my blogging friends might be encouraged as they chased after their goals and dreams when they read how often I've faced discouragement while chasing after my dream of writing books that find their way into readers' hands. I've published nineteen books, but there would be many more out there if everything I'd written was on a bookshelf somewhere. But perseverance trumps discouragement. And once that perseverance has helped you accomplish your goals, then it's celebration time.

Thanks to everyone who came and those of you who had already read my books or have plans to. I dedicated this book to my sisters and my sisters-in-law and four of them were there to celebrate with me. That meant a lot to me. Next summer I hope to have another celebration when The Seeker is published. Meanwhile I'll keep celebrating readers bringing my characters' story in The Believer to life as they read my words.

Oh, yes, one more thing. I'm doing a new book giveaway. Another copy of my new book, The Believer along with a choice of one of my other books. Since this is so soon after the other giveaway, those of you who won in July and August won't be eligible to win this time. So if you aren't already a winner this summer, send me an e-mail or comment here on my blog and I'll put you in the drawing that I'll do on my birthday in September. Might as well have some fun while I'm getting older.

Thanks for being a reading friend. And a special thanks to my blog followers. I appreciate you all.

The News of the Day - Publishing, Editing and Reviews

Hi, guys. Wednesday rolls around quickly for somebody like me who's always a couple days behind on chores - both writing and household. Never enough days in the week to do all I want to do. Of course that might be because number one I'm not as organized as I should be and number two because I want to be at my desk writing or at least pretending to be writing all the time. Except of course when the grandbabies come to visit.

I want to be writing, but sometimes - like now - when I'm between books, I do a million other things that make me think I'm working, that almost satisfy that itch to be writing, but don't do a thing to get a new story started on my computer screen. You know, stuff like blogging or Facebook or sending out cards about The Believer or editing already written novels. I suppose the editing is not really writing time wasted. Editing is a necessary part of the process of getting that book ready to go out and find readers. That's what I've been doing this week. I got my editor's suggestions of ways to improve my upcoming book, The Seeker. I agreed with most of them and so I'm trying to do a few tweaks here and there to improve the story.

Since I had to race to find The End before my deadline in July, I didn't rework this book as much as I usually do. So I'm sure I'll see lots of places I can improve my writing. I don't want any of my scenes to be so rough that they might bump readers right out of the story and make them realize they're reading and not really living that story as they'd thought they were before they hit the pothole I'd left in my writing.

A lot of people are really surprised when they find out it usually takes at least a year after a publishing company gets a writer's finished novel before it actually makes it out onto a bookstore shelf. They think once it's written that the process is almost over, but really it's just getting started at the publisher's end. First your editor gives advice on improving the story. Other people are working on a cover that will catch readers' eyes. The marketing people are working on a plan to pitch this particular book to the most likely readers. Some of that's going on right now for The Seeker - a whole year before the book will be released. Later a copy editor will be going over the manuscript with a fine tooth comb to check for all the little hard to read or plain wrong things the writer missed. Here's where you hope you have a sharp-eyed editor who won't let your mess-ups such as changing a character's name mid-book get by. I've done that, but so far I've always caught it myself. That's why I keep a list of every character I name in a book no matter how minor the character might be so I can go back and see if it was Roy or Ray in that earlier scene. But eventually with a lot of people's help and input the book does get published - a couple of years or more after the author fired up her computer and began filling up page one with words.

And that's where I am with The Believer. Published. Hearing about people spotting it in stores. Beginning to get feedback from readers. Seeing reviews. I wish I could be like one writer I heard speak and not read reviews - ever. But I can't. My problem and I think it's a problem most writers - most people - share is that one or two negative words can sort of spoil the whole review even if the majority of the comments are favorable. That's like when somebody is talking to you and telling you what a great job you may have done on something and then they throw in that "but." That's when you groan because you know they're about to lower the boom and tell you something you don't want to hear. You end up forgetting all the good words before that but.

Of course constructive criticism can help us all if we're open to it, but I don't think of reviews as constructive criticism. They are simply somebody's opinions. And it's better for me as a writer not to get too excited about great reviews or too down about not so great reviews. The same book can get both according to the mood of the reader and what the reader likes in a story. I wrote the best story I could at the time. I liked it. I liked my characters, Elizabeth and Ethan, and the readers I'm hearing from say they like them too. And now I have to make my new story the best I can.

So have a great rest of the week. I'll be in Frankfort Saturday 10 till 2 or maybe 4 at the Paul Sawyier Library for a Book Fair. If you're in the area, come by to see me. And then I'm looking forward to a visit from my agent and editor. I'm going to show them how far out in the boonies I live. They'll think they've come to the end of nowhere when they get here. Oh yeah, and my blog tour is next week. I'll tell you more about it Sunday.

Off into the Sunset - Finally

The End. Finis. Th-th-that's all, folks. Over and done. That's all she wrote, dear John. Enough's enough. Cut, print. That's a take. Finished. Complete. Ended. Riding off into the sunset. The fat lady's singing because it's over. The credit's are running. Close the book on that one. And so we have come to the end of the story.

Guess you've figured out I finally got my characters to ride off into the sunset so I could write those two magic words for my book, The Seeker. The End. I'd been looking for them for about two weeks now. And I finally found them. So I'm doing my happy dance or would be if I hadn't caught a cold from one of my grandbabies when they were here last weekend. But loving on them was worth a few sneezes.

And cold or no cold, I found the end of my story. Even better, I've read through it and it read okay. A few minor problems here and there, but nothing major. It was the story I wanted to tell and the thread stayed true all the way through. Now after a bit more spit and polish I'll have to sit back and see what my editor thinks and then if she likes it, then I'll have to wait a lot longer to see what my readers think. I liked the romance in it. And the historical part came through better than I thought it was going to.

So I'm excited this week. I'm even going to meet my deadline instead of having to beg for mercy. At least I think I am. Maybe I shouldn't get too carried away. I haven't actually printed off the book yet and sent it to anybody yet. Something could happen to delay me, but I'm hoping not. And you can believe I'm saying some thank you prayers because that ride off into the sunset had been hard to find. Actually there wasn't a sun or a ride, but there was an end.

I'm also getting excited about The Believer being out there for readers in about six weeks now. I usually have a book launch at Corinth Christian Bookstore in Frankfort, but this year they're doing something extra special for me. They're sponsoring a Brunch for me at Shaker Village in Mercer County on Saturday, July 25th at 10 a.m. They will be selling tickets at their store for $15.00 which will cover the traditional Shaker breakfast. Listening to me talk will be absolutely free. What a deal! ;-) Space is limited so if you're interested, you need to call Corinth. I'll put the info on how to contact them for tickets on my web page schedule in the next few days. I really appreciate, Steve and Bonnie and Mickey for all their support. They have a great store, one of those places you can go in and you just know you're going to have a good, peaceful shopping experience where everything is beautiful and even better can be used to spread the good news of the Lord.

Hope all of your have a lot of reasons to do your happy dances this week. Talk to you Sunday.

The Dancing Room

Another Sunday. Another day to enjoy life. I had a lot of life to enjoy around here on Saturday with both sets of grandbabies (nine of them, but sometimes it seems like a dozen or more) here to give the new room a test run. Since I don't have any new furniture and only an entertainment center and side table and rocking chair out there, there was plenty of room for the grandkids to play. I sort of like the wide open spaces and they liked playing on that new hardwood floor. It looks great. And it looked even better with circles of grandkids playing with each other on it. Katie, my three and a half year old granddaughter, told me she wanted to go out and play in the "dancing room."

Maybe that's what Darrell and I should do tonight to celebrate his birthday. Dance in our new "dancing" room. Only trouble is neither one of us is much of a dancer. Even as a teenager when the twist and such dances were all the craze, I never had the nerve to actually try doing any of them anywhere except in the privacy of my own room. Too self-conscious at the time. Too awkward now. So we'll probably just celebrate without fanfare by thinking about how cute all our grandkids are while enjoying the peace and quiet now that they've gone home. I used to always make him a pecan pie, but now he's continually on some kind of diet. So it's not fair to cook something to tempt him off it. Guess I can wash some celery sticks for him. Or make him something sugar-free. Won't be good, but I could make it.

Anyway with my WV son and his family here Thursday to leave the twin boys and go on to Kings Island on Friday and my close-by son and his family coming over on Saturday to help celebrate Dad's birthday early, I ran out of writing time to find those elusive two words. I told everybody I was just going to say they (my characters) rode off into the sunset and lived happily ever after. The reader won't know how they got up on those horses to ride off or even when the sun started going down, but the story will be finished. Then my younger son said he hated books where it seemed like the writer did just that. Just ended without letting the reader in on what happened. But then he also said he hated just as much the writer who wrote an extra fifty pages after the characters should have ridden off into the sunset. I really don't want to be guilty of either thing. I want to nail the ending. Make it perfect.

Some of you know Darrell is in a gospel quartet, The Patriot Quartet, and you know it's that ending on a Southern Gospel song that really packs an emotional punch for the listeners. If a group can nail the ending, then the audience will sit up and notice. So I'm thinking the ending of a book is some the same. It has to be done right. It has to be emotionally satisfying. It has to come at the right time and make the reader nod and say, yes, that's what happened. And that's what I'm trying to do. What I've been trying to do for at least a week. Get to that perfect ending and nail it.

I think I've nailed a few endings in my stories in the past. I liked the way Summer of Joy ended with Wes and Jocie talking since their relationship had been such a fun part of all the Hollyhill books. The Outsider had a very dramatic ending. The Believer has an emotional ending that I hope will be satisfying to readers. And that's what I'm trying to find with this new book, The Seeker. The right ending. Tomorrow for sure. Even if I have to stay up all night. And then I'll have to do some fast editing. Gee, how did May and June zoom by so fast? Don't you think we need to put some speed limits on these summer days?

Hope all your days are speeding by with happiness in every mile. Talk to you Wednesday.

Searching for the Elusive Ending

Still not quite there. Still haven't quite found those two important words to every writer. Maybe to any person with a job to do or a task to complete. The End. I need to be able to say I ended some housecleaning chores. But right now all I can say is it will have to wait until July. You know I think I should take July off, because there is no way I can ever get everything done I have said I am going to do in July. Now I've got two rooms and woodwork to paint. But right, you got it. Not until July. Then you think it will be too hot to paint? My daughter, sweet child that she is, says she could come home and help me, but she's busy redoing her own house. They have one of those beautiful old houses that you can really get deep into remodeling. They've done a lot of it already and it looks great. My new room looks great too, but the other rooms cry out for paint. Right. July.

Anyway I stayed home from Bible study to try to find those elusive two words and so I'm getting ready to go do some more hunting for the right words in my head to get there. And to inspire me and maybe you, I looked up some "end" quotes. They weren't exactly what I had in mind, but I love this first one from Oscar Wilde. It's talking about romance, I'm sure, but you know, I think it fits writers. When that story that has you totally in its grip ends, the weak writer might cry every time he or she gets that turn down. Ah, but the efficient one will find a new story to take off with, and the wise writer will already be thinking up that new idea before she writes "The End."

When a love comes to an end, weaklings cry, efficient ones instantly find another love, and the wise already have one in reserve. ... Oscar Wilde

And I just love almost any bit of wisdom Mark Twain comes up with. He has such a tongue-in-cheek way of thinking. Plus his quotes alway have that germ of truth that really gets his point across.

Man was made at the end of the week's work, when God was tired. ...Mark Twain

Here's another good one for writers. We need to have the thread of our story from the beginning to the end. I'm not one of those writers who knows the ending at the beginning, but I do hope that my endings fit my beginnings.

If you want to know the end, look at the beginning. ...African Proverb

And here's another great quote a writer can take to heart. Write the books you love. Enjoy the writing journey. Finish your moments and live your hours in your stories and in your life.

To finish the moment, to find the journey's end in every step of the road, to live the greatest number of good hours, is wisdom. ...Ralph Waldo Emerson

How about this one? What do you think about it? Does this just fit for an artist? One thing sure just because I write the end doesn't mean I'm finished with this story. I need about two months to go back over it and make it better. But right now I'll settle for two weeks to at least begin to polish the story.

To finish a work? To finish a picture? What nonsense! To finish it means to be through with it, to kill it, to rid it of its soul, to give it its final blow, the coup de grace for the painter as well as for the picture. ...Pablo Picasso

There's a review of The Believer in Publisher's Weekly. Not great, but not bad. They liked most of my characters while disdaining my bad guy. But you won't have any doubt he's the bad guy if you decide to read the book. I'm looking forward to the book being out. And as soon as I find those two little necessary words I'm searching for in this new book, I'll do a newsletter (You can sign up for the newsletter from my website, http://annhgabhart.com/) and let you in on some chances to win an autographed copy of The Believer. The title of the new book that will be out in 2010 is The Seeker.

2010! Wow! That sounds futuristic. Guess it is. At least in the future.

Hope you all have a wonderful week. I'm supposed to babysit the twin baby boys on Friday. That'll keep me moving. They're crawling all over now.