Day 175

Monday, March 7, 2011. . .

            THE WRITING. . .Ack Monday mornings. Spent waaay too much time telling and then reworking paragraphs into showing. The ‘telling’ tells me what’s going on, that’s the upside, but the true feeling of the characters comes through only after I get in touch with their hearts and ‘show.’ This is what I crave as a reader. Happy with results and progress.

            Evening, caught up with Facebook’s author page, announced new drawing. Blessings on Tyndale’s marketing woman who gave me ideas such as this one. I offer Desert Gift copies now, the un-proofed copies that go out to reviewers, etc., to those who would like to read it, write a review, and post it online.

            THE DETAILS. . .Roasted a chicken. =)

Days 173 - 174

Saturday – Sunday, March 5 – 6, 2011. . .

            THE WRITING. . . I stewed a bit over the unfinished business – Facebook author page, emails from readers, emails from friends. Time for time off.

            THE DETAILS. . .I tended to plants and then I prepared dinner; friends (two other couples) came over to eat the dinner and brought lovely appetizers and desserts.  =) Nice time of laughter and learning new things about others. (So much history to cover when you’ve reached my age.)

            I looked at my plate of food and realized anew how much My Guy does for me. I enjoy having friends over and feeding them, but I could not begin to do it without his help and support. He vacuums and scrubs floors. He went to the grocery store for the potatoes and rolls. He got the English peas at the farmers market. He grilled the meat. I guess I set the table.  Ha, ha, ha.

            Sunday I received two wonderful gifts: a birthday blessing (on the first Sunday of every month, birthday people get a special prayer said for them) and a beautiful Pashmina shawl from Israel just because this woman likes me and her husband went there.  =)  Do I feel loved or what?

            Recipe:

            Pork Tenderloin Surprise

            Slice pork tenderloin into pieces 1 ½ inches thick.

            Layer on each piece a slice of onion, a slice of green pepper.

            Set each piece on 2 pieces of bacon, criss-crossed. Then wrap the bacon over the meat; secure with toothpicks.

            Grill indirectly for 50 minutes.

            Near end of grilling time, top each with a slice of cheddar cheese.

            

Day 172

Friday, March 4, 2011. . .

            THE WRITING. . .Woke up with the story going full speed in my head. I love this part of the story journey. There is an urgency to be with them, to see what’s happening in their lives now that the Dark Cave has been entered. Good solid hours of writing.

            THE DETAILS. . .I know it my mind needs a break.  So I went with my husband for his late afternoon business meeting at the airport (to catch an associate before departure).  After that we stay in the downtown area and have dinner with brother-and-sis-in-law, yummy tostados and chimichangas and catch-up conversation. My mind touched base with reality.  =)

Day 171

Thursday, March 3, 2011. . .

            THE WRITING. . .Yummy, yummy, yummy. Lots of meat today, words to chew on and savor. Many surprises as well.

            Most days I change seating positions, go from desk chair to rocker, because my hips tells me to or the sun chases me from the desk (I’m anti-shutting the blinds). Today I didn’t budge. I missed lunch. Nice.

            THE DETAILS. . .Unwound by walking to the new and improved Library and roaming through it. All new paint and carpet, new arrangements, some walls down, restrooms (nuts, I forgot to check out the new plumbing), the staircase moved, a nice young adult section separate from the children’s, a huge large-print book section. Such a cheery place.

            I felt bad about the carpet on the stairs, though. It’s beautiful, a solid navy blue. Yep, shows every teensy tiny piece of lint and dirt and thread. It’s the kind that could drive you nuts in a house; you’d wear out the vacuum and eventually give up caring about conspicuous dirt.

            It reminded me of when a new library was opened in my hometown many years ago and the lighting was not conducive to reading. Go figure.

            Home Group…sweet time. 

Day 170

Wednesday, March 2, 2011. . .

            THE WRITING. . .Perking along, writing a humdinger of a turning point scene, and it hits me: THIS CAN’T HAPPEN YET. There is a flow, a rhythm, to the release of information and I had jumped outside of it.

            The upside is I know how to fix it!  =)  No problem to insert a scene before this one, to tweak others. In the early days this would have thrown me for a major loop.

THE DETAILS. . .The new and improved, remodeled LIBRARY opened today! Yay! My Guy and I walked down to check it out, but not until 4:55 p.m. and they closed at 5. We did get to step inside. It’s so bright and welcoming. Can’t wait to explore it.

Day 169

Tuesday, March 1, 2011. . .

            THE WRITING. . .Writing a nonprofessional person’s version about legal matters comes easily. Huh? I guess it’s the osmotic influence on me from all those books (John Grisham's, John Lescroart's, etc., etc., To Kill a Mockingbird, etc., etc.) and movies and TV shows (from Perry Mason to Fairly Legal) about lawyers. It’s also the mental puzzle aspect that intrigues me and is fun to engage in.

            And also it’s due to mucho help from AR. Thank you again!!

            I mailed copies of the Valley Oaks series as a donation for an auction, a fundraiser a school. Someone I do not know from Horseheads, New York, asked if I’d be interested.

            THE DETAILS. . .Yay, it is MARCH, the month in which SPRING officially arrives. I ran errands.

            Many birthdays in March, so I shopped for all the cards at once: Sis, Sis-in-Law, out-of-town Friends (plural), and Son-in-Law. I was excited; this was my first opportunity to buy a HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SON-IN-LAW card! =)  Big disappointment, however. Those cards either made derogatory references to his wife (the Daughter) or spoke of how wonderful his in-laws are (that would be me and My Guy).

            Bummer. This requires another trip to a card display.

Day 168

Monday, February 28, 2011. . .

            THE WRITING. . .One of those “sit back and let the characters do the talking” writing days. I could not have predicted this exchange between the Protagonist and her husband. It was uncomfortable for the three of us.  =) Ew, ick.

            My Guy ordered a used copy of my second book, Surrender of the Heart published in 1999 by Crossway Books. It has long been out of print but of course copies are out there. 

This one arrived from Wisconsin. It’s the hardback library edition (printed by Five Star Christian Fiction Series in 2000) (my copy was lost in the fire) with a very simple and pretty cover. According to the stickers on it, this one had at one time been on the shelf of the Angie W. Cox Public Library in Pardeeville, Wisconsin.

Isn’t that fun? Bless those librarians who stock my books on their shelves.  ;)  Bless those patrons who ask for them.

Surrender of the Heart was one of three finalists for the (then, second annual) Christy Award, a group that seems to have a low profile.

On the back cover is a review that I do not remember at all, from the Library Journal: “. . .a fast-paced, well-written story that boasts realistic, often funny dialog, some excellent description, and an appealing, upbeat picture of a sincere Christian congregation.”

Well! I like that a lot. (Pat, pat myself on the back.) It reminds me of what can happen in my stories. Thanks be to God.  =)

THE DETAILS. . .A bike ride.