LaVerne St. George - Writing in the Spirit

Writing in the Spirit is Moving!

2020-11-09T10:17:00.000-05:00

I've been blogging here on Blogger for over 7 years, and it was a good place to get started and talk with all of you about writing and my life as an author. But I've been looking for a new blog home for some time. This year, 2020, the year of my retirement from consulting, COVID lockdown, expanding my writing career, and a redesigned website, I'm ready to move my blog to a new "nest."

All the posts I've written will remain here for an indefinite period, so feel free to explore, but to see the latest and to continue to follow my journey, fly on over to my website for more...

Writing in the Spirit

Thank you all for your continued support, and I'm looking forward to seeing you all there!

LaVerne

Agents of the Literary Kind, Part 3: When Should I Look for an Agent?

2020-05-30T10:00:00.015-04:00

In our previous posts in this series, we learned what an agent is and what this advocate can do for you, and we determined that you do need an agent for your current writing project. The next question is:

When should you start looking for this important business partner?

Short Answer: When you have a completed manuscript

Longer Answer: You're ready when you have completed the following three items:

A completed manuscript ready for submission to a publisher. This means...

You have edited your manuscript at least twice
Your manuscript is formatted in standard style: Courier 12 font (Times New Roman will do , too), double-spaced. The agent may ask for something else, but having a standard copy allows you to quickly make changes as needed.
The manuscript has gone through an outside review, and you've incorporated the comments. This outside review may include any or all of the following:

Reading by a critique group, preferably writers who know your genre and have given you feedback;
Entering a writing contest in your genre where judges give feedback;
Reading by at least three fellow authors who have given you feedback;
Editing by a professional editor and/or proofreader whom you've hired to provide feedback.

The more eyes the better,

the more editing the better,

the more rewrites the better.

But Wait! There's More!

Your reading market(s) identified

You've read extensively in the book market(s)
You can describe how your book fits into the market(s)

Yes, of course you've written a unique work, but your book must match a readership, so you can pick the RIGHT agent, and the agent can submit it to the RIGHT publishers. Agent also have their own reading and selling preferences, experience, and contacts. When you begin your search in earnest, matching your work to the agent's preference will be critical.

Your marketing pieces written for submission

During the submission process, different agents will ask for different marketing pieces, depending on the agent and their agency's preferences and the preferences of the editors with whom they deal. I'll be blogging on these important tools in the future. For now, if you don't know how to craft these vital marketing pieces, start looking on the Internet for blogs and articles; there is plenty of help out there. In order of importance, your marketing pieces are:

5- to 7-page Synopsis
Query Letter
150- to 200-word Back Cover Copy
3-line Elevator Speech/Pitch
One-line Pitch/Log Line

Do you have your edited and formatted manuscript completed, the book market(s) identified, and your marketing tools written? You do?

You're ready to search for your agent!

Agents of the Literary Kind, Part 1: What is an Agent?

Agents of the Literary Kind, Part 2: Do I need an Agent?

AAR Reviews: Return of Devotion

2020-05-14T14:12:00.001-04:00

This review is now posted on the All About Romance (AAR) website. Remember AAR is both a resource for book reviews across all the sub-genres of romance and a place to find offers, deals and previews of books soon to be released. Enjoy!

A RETURN OF DEVOTION

by Kristie Ann Hunter

I read A Defense of Honor, the first book of the Haven Manor series, liked it very much, and immediately bought the second installment. I found A Return of Devotion a very different experience, one I struggled with as a reader. Whereas A Defense of Honor has a steady pace driven by the action plot woven with the romance, A Return of Devotion spends a little too much time in the character’s minds and too little time on the romance. This book can stand alone but reading the first will provide the necessary backstory for Haven Manor, its mission, and show the heroine in her element.

William and Daphne are intensely aware of each other, but that awareness serves to bring out Christian themes or the characters’ internal struggles more than increasing romantic tension between them. As a reader, after the first twenty-five pages, I had to reset my expectations into the author’s rhythm of characters focused on the external plot and not on each other, at least romantically. Once I did, I became engaged with these two people, both facing long-held assumptions about their class and their lives and growing into their best selves. However, I sorely missed the more consistent interplay and emotional spark commonly evident in the romance genre.

Fans of Ms. Hunter and readers looking for engaging Christian fiction will certainly enjoy A Return of Devotion with its interesting characters and important moral messages. However, if you’re in the mood for a story focused on the growing love between two people, this book may not be the right choice for you.

Find the Buy Links and Full Review at All About Romance.

AAR Reviews: Midnight on the River Grey

2020-01-29T08:00:00.000-05:00

Midnight on the River Grey

by Abigail Wilson

I enjoy a good romantic suspense story, and when this title appeared with its hint of classic Gothic romance from a well-known Christian publisher, I was intrigued. Although Midnight on the River Grey is classed by online retailers as a Christian mystery, the book is a sweet romantic mystery with no obvious spiritual or moral themes.

After the death of her mother, Rebecca Hunter moves to London to live with her Aunt Josephine. The ladies have little income, but it is Rebecca’s hope that she can convince the Court of Chancery to grant her a new guardian. Once she has accomplished that, she and her aunt will be able to access the money meant for her dowry and set up their own establishment.

Mr. Lewis Browning of Greybourne Hall is Rebecca’s current guardian. In a convoluted twist of fate. her elder brother Jacob had been working for him but was killed in a fall off a bridge on the Browning estate. The death was officially ruled an accident but there are hints that Lewis Browning was somehow involved, and Rebecca is convinced that means her beloved brother was murdered. She arrived at this conclusion in no small part because of letters from her “silly, prattling” cousin Ellen whom she believes “had flushed out the details surrounding Jacob’s death.” The family’s entailed inheritance passed to Lewis, a distant cousin, giving him ample motive for the crime.

If you like a light mystery story with a little spookiness and a sweet romance, you might find it a good read, but those looking for something with more substance will need to look elsewhere.

Buy Links and the full review HERE!

I'm a Victim of Sloppy Driving

2019-08-01T09:00:00.000-04:00

Back in March I got rear-ended by a sloppy driver.

Thank Heavens, the bumper on my sedan did its job, and I was not hurt.

The other driver's car did not fare as well with a crumpled bumper and grate, and the hood popped open and bent. I have no idea whether the man was injured or not since he took off before we could exchange information. The way he buzzed out, I'd say he was at least conscious.

I have decent insurance, so after the expected conversations with witnesses, the police, the insurance company, the repair shop and the general hassles, my car was repaired. Lots of good happening after that first jolt.

This man's sloppy driving du jour? Taking his eyes off the road while the wheels were moving. Witnesses say he was looking down, hit me, and looked up in shock. Oops! Or something much more colorful.

Sloppy driving seems to abound these days here in the North Carolina Triangle. It irritates me, because it seems that sloppiness comes from simple inattention or no acknowledgement that there are other people on the road. Or perhaps more often, if other drivers are acknowledged, they're just in the way of me getting to where I want to be! [My mind-reading. Admittedly not my best skill.]

So here are my examples of Sloppy Driving that I see every day. All of these have a danger factor attached. Note: Rear-ended!

Taking eyes off the road any time your wheels are in motion. (As mentioned)
Phone in one hand to read mail (or text or talk or fill in the blank.)
Always driving at least 15 to 20 mph over the posted speed limit.
Driving without headlights or running lights during a pouring rainstorm.
Begin a move to another lane and block one or two lanes of traffic for a couple of signal light cycles in the process.
Never using a turn signal, using a turn signal after the move has been completed.
Tailgating - yes, I can see the color of your eyes.
Drifting. Slowly, so slowly into my lane. Includes straddling the center lane line for several seconds.

Any of this sound familiar? Where do you live and what seems to be a popular example of Sloppy Driving there? Is there a hashtag for this (#SloppyDriving)? If not we need one.

Have a wonderful day... and watch out for Sloppy Driving!

Exquisite Timing Leads To A Clinical Trial

2019-05-11T09:52:00.000-04:00

Back in February (Pre-Diabetes Wake-up!), I shared with you my doctor's warning about controlling my glucose levels and my weight. She referred me to a nutritionist, and because of the pre-diabetes, I was placed in a class for others like me -- on the edge of an unsettling diagnosis.

In the class, I learned a lot about pre-diabetes and the ways our bodies may or may not process sugars and carbohydrates as well as they used to. I also got a food plan, personalized for me.

I started. I followed the plan. I was losing weight. My blood glucose levels were slowly dropping. But I found that I was generally more tired and not feeling quite right.

Here Comes EXQUISITE TIMING. One of my favorite miracles of life.

You've experienced it. I know you have. It's when a chance occurrence drops into life at just the right moment to make a difference, to avoid calamity. Like...

It's been raining all day, but just in time for a wedding ceremony, the sun pours through the stained glass windows bathing the couple in light.

I'm trying to decide if my mother should have a special brain operation to drain the rising fluid in her tissues, and on my flight to Kansas City, a neurosurgeon who does this kind of operation every day "just happens" to sit next to me and offer advice when I need it most.

My car dies on a busy highway and a "repo man" with a tow truck appears from the nearby gas station and says, "I'm not the tow service you're calling, but I can get you out of the road and safely into that gas station. Hop in!"

There's even a race horse named Exquisite Timing. Don't know if the horse lived up to its name, but I'm sure the owners hoped that it would.

Fred Campbell, in his book Religious Integrity for Everyone: Functional Theology for Secular Society, describes Exquisite Timing as that experience we all have when events and lives and nature all converge in one point in time to create some extraordinary, inexplicable outcome.

Theist that I am, I call these "God Moments".

So here I am with pre-diabetes and a food plan that doesn't quite work and on the last day of my class, the instructors hand out a flyer for a clinical trial for adults with pre-diabetes run by a Duke University nutrition group. Sounds perfect. Is perfect.

I call. I'm accepted into the trial, into the experimental group. And off I go into 16 weeks of a new journey in this healthy living change I'm trying to make.

EXQUISITE TIMING.

I'll let you know how the trial went next week.

Blessings on your day... and keep an eye out for exquisite timing!

Agents of the Literary Kind, Part 2: Do I Need An Agent?

2019-05-09T12:00:00.000-04:00

Do I need an agent?

For writers just wading into the Tides of Publishing, this is a popular question and an important one.

The quick answer... Depends.

Before you ask "Do I need an agent?", the questions to ponder first are "Do I want to publish traditionally with a big name publisher? Would I rather work with a traditional small, independent press? Or do I want to strike out on my own and self-publish? Or a little of all three?"

From TheRoadLessWritten.com

The Vote for Traditional, Larger Publishing Houses

These publishing houses have familiar names and publish hundreds of books a year. In the romance genre, these are publishers like Harlequin, Berkley, Kensington, and Revell. As an author, you work with a house editor who helps you polish your manuscript into final publication form. Then the production, marketing and sales departments take over to design a cover, write cover copy, decide how many copies to print and whether to publish electronically, create a marketing campaign, and distribute your book to book stores, both brick-and-mortar and online. Go traditional if:

You write slowly. In the industry, this means completing one salable manuscript every one to two years. (We'll talk about "fast" later.)
You want to write and let someone else take care of the business aspects of publishing: cover design, ad copy, inventory, distribution, sales, and marketing. You just want to see the advance check and the royalties.
You're content to let go of all control over your literary "baby" once you've finished the editorial work.
You're not willing to pay out the money to create your own business team; you're more than happy for the publisher to take all the financial risk.
The project you're writing is really suited to a larger publisher. It has a broad appeal, and you'd like book to have some real push behind it in the marketplace.
You have self-published a few books, but feel you don't have enough name recognition to increase sales without a lot of effort.

If many of these describe you, then traditional publishing with a large house may be the right choice for you. And if so, the answer to the agent question is YES, definitely. There is only one large, traditional publisher (Harlequin, and only in their Series lines) who will often open up for un-agented submissions. For everyone else in the Romance world, you will need an agent.

The Vote for Traditional, Small/Independent Publishing Houses

These publishing houses may have less familiar names and publish a smaller number of books each year. Some of these publishers produce eBooks only. You'll still work with a house editor. But the business side of the house may be much smaller, and you might be asked to write back cover copy and do much of the marketing yourself or in concert with the publishers' other authors. Distribution may consist of only online retailers, and you may be responsible for placing books in brick-and-mortar stores. The publisher may pay royalties only and no advance. Go traditional small press if:

You still want an editor to help polish your book and shepherd it through production and other services the house might offer. You'd be happy to jump in to do more marketing and help with distribution.
You'd like to have some say in the cover design and other business decisions, even if you don't do all the work.
You want to have something published fairly quickly, and many smaller houses can get books into the marketplace in under six months.
You're still learning the ropes of publishing, and you see a small publisher as a learning opportunity as well as a business one.
You don't need an advance; you'll be happy with any royalties that come your way.

The answer to the agent question is probably NO. Many of these smaller houses do not require an agent for submissions. Before submitting, do check with the publisher you're considering.

The Vote for Self-Publishing (read, You Become a Publishing House)

The wonderful news is that we authors now have opportunities to publish our own work. Mind you, Kindle Direct Publishing at Amazon, IngramSpark, Lulu, Barnes and Noble Press and other online companies who help you self-publish do NOT publish. They produce your book (either in print or digital format), and they provide retail distribution. All of the other parts of creating a book: editing, cover design, interior text design, writing the back cover copy, marketing, advertising, inventory, and any distribution channels you want to add (like brick-and-mortar stores in most cases) are your responsibility -- in time, effort and money. To self-publish and be financially successful (you will need to define what "financially successful" means to you), the following are probably true:

You write quickly. In the industry, this means completing at least two salable manuscripts every year.
You want to write, take care of business, and have control over the entire book creation process from idea to marketing.
There will be no advance check. In fact, you will either do the work yourself or invest money to create your own business team; find and hire an editor, proofreader, cover and interior text designer; and coordinate a marketing campaign and advertising.
You've made a study of what's hot in your genre, and your story is a good fit for those readers. You're writing the type of story that has high appeal -- and you know just how you'll market to your target audience.
You want to learn as much as you can about your craft and as much about the publishing industry as you can. The whole package feels like the right fit for you.

Need an agent to self-publish? NO, definitely not.

Now you have something to ponder before you decide whether to get an agent. These decisions are not easy, but your choices are about your life and how you want to live it, so don't rush the pondering. You'll thank yourself later.

So, what did I decide? Next month, I'll talk about my choices to become a blended (hybrid) author.

Related Post: Agents of the Literary Kind, Part 1: What Is An Agent?

Spring Poetry Is For the Birds

2019-04-15T06:00:00.000-04:00

I wrote this poem a while back for my church literary journal. It's not great poetry, but it's fun, and always puts me in a spring mood. Enjoy!

Feeder Birds

The Wren chirps loudly in the Carolina morn,

Waking everyone up to a day reborn.

No alarm clock can match him for punctuality.

Flitter, Twitter

Sing a Song

Singing lifts our spirits until all sadness is gone.

The Juncos arrive, dressed in their best

With slate gray jackets and snow white vests,

Eating “four on the floor” and making no fuss.

Flitter, Twitter

Pick and Peck

Respectful good manners are always welcome in a guest.

Mourning Doves seem none too bright,

With their doleful eyes and languid flight,

They can sit still for hours like gray balls of fluff.

Flitter, Twitter

Coo, coo-Coo

Steadfast life partners. Where you see one, there will be two.

Bold Blue Jay dives onto the deck

Like a kamikaze with no thought to his neck,

The other diners scatter in a whoosh and disappear.

Flitter, Twitter

Awk! Awk!

The bully in the crowd is never hard to spot.

A flash of red says Mr. Cardinal is HERE.

His Mrs. blends with the foliage, but is always near.

He stands guard duty, watchful and attentive.

Flitter, Twitter

Watch and wait

A quiet meal is the reward after patience’s price is paid.

The sprightly Chickadee sports a cap of black,

Hangs on the wire tube swinging forward and back.

Swooping in, flying out, playing snatch-and-grab.

Flitter, Twitter

Chick-a-dee-dee

Oh, that we all approached life with such unspoiled glee.

Mini-vacation: Connect the Dots Gets a Makeover

2019-03-20T10:58:00.000-04:00

One of my favorite mini-breaks is to work a dot-to-dot puzzle. As a kid, these puzzles were known as "connect the dots." Now the dots are numbered to 1000, and the resulting pictures are works of art. These dot-to-dots are especially good for those of us who work with words all day. So much easier to switch off the brain with a bit of creative counting. Given my fascination with sea turtles, I was drawn to the book Relaxing Dot-to-Dot: Under the Sea. Right now I'm working on a puzzle called simply "Shell." I use a pen and a favorite author's bookmark (this time from Katherine Ashe) to connect the dots. I don't trust myself to draw lines freehand.

For other dot-to-dot books check out the selection at either

Barnes & Noble

or Books-a-Million.

Simply search for "dot to dot." Both book sellers offer quite a collection.

Draw lines, connect the dots, create a picture, color the picture! Relax!!

Do you use any puzzle books to relax?

I'd love to hear from you.

Agents of the Literary Kind, Part 1: What is an Agent?

2019-02-19T07:30:00.000-05:00

What is an Agent?

When I worked as a reference librarian, a question like this deserved at least three questions from me to make sure I understood what the person in front of me needed to know. I might respond with:

"Is that an agent like a 007 spy or a travel guide or an IRS worker?" OR
"There are a lot of different agents. Tell me a little more about what you're thinking."

Response: "I'm writing a book, and I want to know if I need an agent."

Me (in Librarian mode, already switching mental gears to Literary Agent) : "And is the book non-fiction or fiction?"

Response: "Fiction."

Me (my patron seems a bit shy, so one more question will do it.): "Is it genre fiction, like mystery or romance, or something more general?

Response: "See, it's a Western, but there's an alien invasion..."

And finally the flood gates open, and I've got a solid idea of what resources will best help. As we're walking to the correct shelf in the library or while I'm doing a search in the online resources, the writer continues to share the story enthusiastically, sharing information along the way.

What is a Literary Agent?

A gatekeeper who matches authors and books to editors at publishing houses. This means building strong professional relationships and networking with people throughout the publishing industry.
A specialist in an area of book publishing - non-fiction, children's books, genre fiction (like mystery, fantasy, romance, etc.), literary prose, memoirs. Name it, and there are agents who specialize in that type of book.
A solid editor and critique giver to help the writer produce a manuscript with the best chance of selling in the marketplace.
An author's business partner who is paid on commission to sell the author's work. The author and agent are literal partners - the author provides a product to sell and the agent sells it.
A cheerleader, a soother, a pusher or a hands-off kind of person. Whatever the author needs to produce quality writing on a regular basis, keeping both agent and author in the money.
A career and strategy guide. Together, the agent and author create a business and writing plan so the author can create the best writing life for success and the agent can promote and sell the work on a schedule that fits the author's rhythm and style.
A savvy contract negotiator, dealing with all the pesky details of a publishing contract, who knows about copyrights and licensing rights, senses when and how to push for that 3-book deal, and always balances the author's long- and short-term goals.

I'm in awe. I certainly wouldn't want the job, but I know that I do need an agent.

Why? See Part 2 of this series on Agents of the Literary Kind.

Have a great day!

Exclamation Point - EXPLAINED!

2019-02-15T11:30:00.000-05:00

You may not think this straight and soldier-like exclamation mark needs explanation. I certainly didn't.

WRONG.

I just finished watching a 15-minute piece from the Netflix docuseries called EXPLAINED. Episode 10 of Season 1 is titled simply "!". There's some history, some humor, and the story of the attempt to merge this little baby with other punctuation marks.

Just the kind of program a writer can watch and always justify by tossing off the line...

"I was doing research, you see."

Enjoy!

PS. You've got to watch Episode 11 Cricket, too. Seriously.

Sugar-Free Chocolate Report for Valentine's (and any other!) Day

2019-02-13T08:00:00.001-05:00

Being pre-diabetic means looking for new versions of my favorites sweets. Chocolate is an important part of life, so it's vital to find good-tasting alternatives to lots of added sugar. And it's good to remember with all bagged or boxed chocolates bought at a grocery or pharmacies, check the "best by" date for freshness.

Here are my faves! [Note: There are some affiliate links on this blog.]

RUSSELL STOVER CHOCOLATES makes very tasty sugar-free chocolate. You can find it in most of the large-chain grocery stores and pharmacies, so this is my go-to chocolate that I know can be found quickly. For the very freshest chocolate, try their online store. I've got two great links here to check out.

Russell Stover Daily Deals! Check out the site for a new deal every day!

Sugar Free Chocolates and candies from America's Favorite Candy Store

If you've been following this blog, you've read about the Million Dollar Chocolate created by American Heritage Chocolate, a brainchild of the Mars family of M&M's fame. ETHEL M CHOCOLATES comes from that same family, but this is their hand-crafted chocolate line, named after the matriarch of the family, Ethel Mars. I visited the chocolate factory and store in Henderson, Nevada, and the lovely botanical cactus garden there. We bought a lot of chocolate, needless to say.

Shop Holiday Deals at Ethyl M Chocolates!

My favorites are the chocolate-covered almonds. Here's a link.

$12 Sugar Free Milk Chocolate Dipped Almonds!

ASHER'S CHOCOLATES
This company hails from Souderton, Pennsylvania, and I discovered their product on a trip to the local Southern Season specialty food store. In the store, there's a whole candy case dedicated to ASHER'S CHOCOLATES, half of it sugar-free. I love their pecan caramel patties, but truly you can not go wrong with any selection. If you want to order online, here's a link!

Asher's Chocolates, Sugar-free Selection

I hope you'll try some of these sugar-free mouthfuls of joy and let me know what you think. If you have any other sugar-free favorites, please share. I'd love to hear about them.

Have a wonderful day!

Pre-Diabetes - More than a Simple Phrase

2019-02-07T11:37:00.001-05:00

From my mother's side of the family, I carry a risk of Type 2 diabetes. Since all of my aunts and uncles developed the condition, the risk is strong. Over the past three years, my fasting glucose (sugar) levels and HbA1c numbers have been slowly rising. They rose out of the normal range and into the "Pre-diabetes" range.

I knew these numbers were trouble. I knew I needed a change in diet and exercise.

Diet-and-exercise. This phrase has such a familiar rhythm now, doesn't it? Diet-and-exercise, diet-and-exercise. We hear it from our doctors and nurses, on television, in ads. The words run together, and the reality blurs. So I settled my weight in the obesity range and kept it there, leveled off my activity, and drifted.

In October 2018, the drifting screeched to a halt. The HbA1c number (which measures the average of your blood sugar over the past 3 months) reached the bottom of the DIABETES range. Gasp!! Wake up time. One thing I do NOT want do is tell any insurance company that I have a diabetes diagnosis. My nurse practitioner gives the ultimatum. Four months. Count 'em. Four. The HbA1c needs to be back down in the pre-diabetes range in four months... or else.

To manage this, she suggests Carbohydrate Counting so I'll lower my carbohydrate intake from starch, sugars, fruits, and milk, and a nutrition class. I'm on board. The nutrition class is also a wake up.

Here comes the point.

I'd been strolling along in the pre-diabetes range for three years. YEARS. The nutritionist explained that during that time, my body has been floating in excess sugar, not a whole lot, mind you, but enough that at the cellular level, and especially at the nerves, damage is already beginning, causing my body to age faster.

Oh no. Aging faster. This is not what I want to hear. Clearly I needed to hear it.

And you might need to hear it, too. If your doctor or nurse tells you that your blood glucose or HbA1c is in the pre-diabetes range, don't shrug and wait for the diabetes diagnosis. Ask for help, see a nutritionist, figure out a better food plan, move more, start monitoring your fasting glucose levels. Get motivated. Now. Your nerves, your cells, and your body will all thank you for it!

For more information, see:
Hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) Test for Diabetes [WedMD]

Living Healthy [WebMD]

Eating Patterns and Meal Planning [American Diabetes Association]

Get busy spending your time being healthy, or get busy spending your time managing a disease. Your choice.

I'll let you know how my choices are going. Have a great day!

Love As Strong As Death

2019-02-03T15:49:00.001-05:00

Set me as a seal upon your heart,
as a seal upon your arm.
For love is strong as death,
passion fierce as the grave.
Its flashes are flashes of fire,
a raging flame.
Many waters cannot quench love,
neither can floods drown it.
If one offered for love
all the wealth of one's house,
it would be utterly scorned.
~Song of Solomon 8:6-7

"When we love someone deeply, we create a bond, a life together, a spiritual life in which our anxiety about ourselves is eased by our attachment to another. We cannot know whether this new life carries on into another dimension after death, but we can know that it sustains us in living and the loss of that courage to live is the death we fear most."
~From A WIND SWEPT OVER THE WATERS by John Nichols. "For Love is Strong As Death", pg 74.

Love deeply and love well, my friends!

Three Things About Me - January 2019

2019-01-26T10:00:00.000-05:00

Number One.

I don't do video conferences. I made it a rule when I was working for a client in the UK and I would roll out of bed for a 6 AM meeting.

However, I may change my policy now that I am working toward being a full-time author. Many of my author friends insist on video. Maybe I need classier pajamas. Hm-m. Wonder what's on sale at Stein Mart? (I drop in the store a couple times a month just to look.)

Number Two.

I HATE Starbucks coffee. Way too strong, bitter, dark. Yes, I know that's the point.

However, I am a huge fan of Kauai Coffee from Hawaii. Rich, smooth, goes splendidly with chocolate. I signed up for the monthly, one pound delivery and it arrives at my door like clockwork.

Number Three.

I'm a product of my generation and love old TV Westerns: Sky King, Bonanza, Lancer, The Big Valley, Have Gun. Will Travel., The Lone Ranger.

However, my all-time favorite (currently evening binge-watching) is The Rifleman with Chuck Connors. A single father bringing up his son on a ranch in New Mexico Territory in the early 1880's. In each 30 minute episode, you get good storytelling, moral lessons, solid acting. Lucas McCain does tend to shoot at least one person in every episode (he IS the Rifleman!), but I'm willing to overlook it since he always regrets it and he always has a strong reason.

Lucas McCain and his son Mark

AAR Reviews: Love Held Captive

2018-08-06T15:57:00.001-04:00

Love Held Captive

Shelley Shepard Gray

During the past year I’ve enjoyed reading and reviewing Ms. Gray’s contemporary Amish romances. So when I learned her next novel would be set in both a different time period and culture, I looked forward to trying it. Love Held Captive is part of an historical trilogy following the lives of four Confederate soldiers who served time together at an officers’ POW camp on Johnson’s Island, Ohio. After the war all four return to their home state of Texas to rebuild their lives and discover love in the process. I had not read either of the two previous books and did not miss them. Love Held Captive stands very nicely on its own.

The book intertwines the lives of two honorable friends, two women struggling to survive, and one villain. The friends, Devin Monroe and Ethan Kelly, both Confederate officers, spent many months in a POW camp and succeeded in creating a tolerable situation for those incarcerated with them. When Colonel Daniel Bushnell arrived, the other prisoners soon recognized Bushnell’s basic meanness and Devin and Ethan often stepped in to stop his bullying. Little did they know that protecting people from Bushnell would become an important pattern in their lives.

Julianne Van Fleet and Lizbeth Barclay were both affected by Bushnell's cruelty during the war, and Devin and Ethan are attracted to the women who now live outside society’s norms. Ms. Gray weaves these four strong characters into parallel romantic story lines. Each man must face his own prejudice, family concerns, and the evil of Bushnell before the couples find a happy ending.

Read the full review HERE!

New Release! for Christmas in July

2018-07-19T11:41:00.002-04:00

For several weeks in the United States, one of the top news stories has been the HEAT.

Not political heat (which is a long-term story) ,...

and not tempers (though hot tempers flare in this weather)...

but HEAT of the Mother Nature kind.

Everyone is searching for relief -- in air-conditioning, in front of fans, in movie theaters, in swimming pools, and in cool shelters. Cold temperatures and the Spirit of Christmas seem a long way off.

I felt a deep need for snowy days, holiday lights and brighter times. Christmas was never meant to appear for just a few weeks at the end of the year, but to live in our hearts every day.

This year, I decided to create a tangible reminder of holiday wonder by launching RESTORE MY HEART, the third book in the Pittsburgh Connections series, on July 10th. Read the book description below:

Click on Cover to buy now from Barnes and Noble!

Christmas miracles don't happen.

Sally Myers's alcoholic mother never celebrated the holidays. Her father and all the men who followed abandoned her, leaving her broken-hearted before she knew what whole-hearted felt like. From this rocky start, Sally has built a successful professional life. Still, she guards her heart against romance and love.

Now she has to work with appealing newcomer Jeff Campbell, a traveling restoration craftsman, just the wrong type of guy for her. In the hours of striving together to meet holiday deadlines, Jeff reveals himself to be both attentive and trustworthy. Maybe he could be the right man for her after all.

Longing to believe in the miracle of Jeff's love, Sally drops her guard. When he leaves for his next project, her biggest fear is that he'll never come back.

~~~

Let this sweet contemporary story open your heart to the romance of the holidays. This third installment of the Pittsburgh Connections series delivers a deeply-felt story of real people falling in love.

Catch the holiday spirit with Sally and Jeff! Buy RESTORE MY HEART from your favorite e-retailer today! (Head to my website Now for more information.)

And have the coolest Christmas in July ever!

Carousel Found, Carousel Lost

2018-07-10T13:59:00.001-04:00

Where do I get my ideas? From my life.

Previously in this blog, I described how my novelette CAROUSEL MAGIC came into being from my experience and a sprinkle of magic. Rocky Rapids Amusement Park, the setting for both CAROUSEL MAGIC and my novella RESTORE MY HEART, is based on the amusement park that gave me so much joy as a child: Cascade Park in New Castle, PA. As I wrote both books, I often wondered what happened to the park's carousel, and if it had been created by one of the masters, like Gustav Dentzel. The librarian in me took firm charge, and off I went on the hunt.

My mother often shared stories about the glory days of Cascade Park.The park had opened in 1897 and boasted a merry-go-round as well as several other rides, set among the forested hills outside the city and along the gorge formed by the waters of Big Run. In 1908, the Harmony Short Line, a new interurban streetcar running from Pittsburgh to New Castle, opened a station just east of the park. Streetcars brought people from all over western Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio to the site, another of the so-called “Trolley Parks,” the turn-of-the-century precursor to the modern amusement park.

In 1922, history sources document that Cascade Park replaced its original carousel (origins unknown) with a "new" one, one it purchased from Idora Park in nearby Youngstown, OH. I then found this intriguing quote in a roller coaster fan's blog:

This [the carousel pavilion at Cascade Park] once housed a Philadelphia Toboggan Company carousel, PTC #61, that previously resided at another lost Rust Belt park, Youngstown, Ohio's Idora Park. It currently operates at Brooklyn Bridge Park in Brooklyn, New York. (Coaster Talk No BS Zone)

I was ecstatic. The carousel that I remember, that I rode, was a vintage carousel, and not only that, the carousel had been given new life when it had been purchased in 1984, restored and re-assembled in New York with its new name "Jane's Carousel".

My carousel was found!

Last month I met with Todd Goings of Carousels and Carvings for dinner in Burlington, NC where he had been working on the vintage Dentzel machine. Todd has been my go-to research source for all things related to carousel restoration. It just so happened that he knew the family who had purchased PTC #61, and he shared that the carousel now in New York was purchased from Idora Park, not from Cascade Park. So PTC #61 could not be my carousel.

No! Say it isn't so!

I wanted to cry out, but we were at dinner, so I kept my dismay to a lower "No, really?"

Yes, really.

Back to the hunt.

More internet searching, more comparison of records, more reading. What I've learned is the following:

The origin of Cascade Park's first carousel is unknown to me so far, but it operated in the park from 1897 to 1922.
I do know that in 1898, in the first season of Idora Park's operation "An electric merry‑go‑round with wooden animals carved by Gustav Dentzel of Philadelphia was a major attraction."
In 1922, Idora Park purchased a new, magnificent carousel, PTC #61. Idora sold the Dentzel carousel to Cascade Park.
1923 Season at Cascade Park. "A large, circular pavilion, built by James B. McLendon of the New Castle Lumber Company, was also erected to house a new carousel [the Dentzel] acquired from Idora Park."
The Dentzel carousel ran in Cascade Park from 1922 to 1953 when "The carousel was rebuilt as the old wooden horses were replaced with aluminum ones."

By the 1980's, vandalism, storm and flood damage, and lack of resources persuaded civic leaders to change the focus of the park from amusement rides to more nature-focused activities. The photo below shows the soon-to-be-abandoned aluminum carousel (c1983). It is likely, notes a Lawrence County historian, that the metal horses were scrapped.

My carousel was lost.

My carousel, it seems, was the one with aluminum horses, without a doubt created by skilled metal workers and engineers, but not carved by the master craftsmen of a former era. And it did not regain new life in another park to continue to give joy, but was discarded, scrapped. I'm sad. It brings tears to my eyes.

But then I look at the picture of the child holding on, ready to choose a horse, ready to travel into fantasy.

I was that child. I made that journey into fantasy. I found joy in the journey.

My carousel had fulfilled its purpose.

***

For more reading:

Cascade Park of Years Past - New Castle PA Lawrence County Memoirs. Accessed June 27, 2018

The photo above is taken from this excellent history of the park.

Jane's Carousel, An Old Ride, Gets New Life by the Brooklyn Bridge. by Meghan Barr. The Huffington Post. 2011 Accessed June 25, 2018

The Carousel News and Trader, v. 23, No. 1, January 2007.
This magazine issue carries several articles about Jane's Carousel, its restoration and the history of Idora Park. Accessed June 24, 2018

COVER REVEAL! Restore My Heart - Pittsburgh Connections Book 3

2018-06-15T15:55:00.005-04:00

One of the most exciting moments for me as a writer is when I see the final cover of my book. For this third book in my Pittsburgh Connections series, today is the BIG DAY, when I get to announce the new book and share my cover with all my readers and fans! So welcome to the big reveal!

I'm celebrating Christmas in July this year with RESTORE MY HEART - A Christmas Connection! As the summer heats up here in North Carolina, I'm looking forward to bringing you this cool holiday love story.

ENJOY!

Restore My Heart

A Christmas Connection

Pittsburgh Connections, Book 3
will be released on July 10, 2018 (available for pre-order now)

~~~

Cover Reveal

Christmas miracles don't happen.

Sally Myers's drunken mother never celebrated the holidays. Her father and all the men who followed abandoned her, leaving her broken-hearted before she knew what whole-hearted felt like. From this rocky start, Sally has built a successful professional life. Still, she guards her heart against romance and love.

Now she has to work with appealing newcomer Jeff Campbell, a traveling restoration craftsman, just the wrong type of guy for her. In the hours of striving together to meet holiday deadlines, Jeff reveals himself to be both attentive and trustworthy. Maybe he could be the right man for her after all.

Longing to believe in the miracle of Jeff's love, Sally drops her guard. When he leaves for his next project, her biggest fear is that he'll never come back.

Ebook Available now for pre-order at Amazon.com!

Visit my website to keep up with my available books, and come on back to my blog, Writing in the Spirit, for more updates on RESTORE MY HEART!

AAR Reviews: The Two of Us

2018-03-26T16:53:00.000-04:00

THE TWO OF US

By Victoria Byline

I’ve been a Victoria Bylin fan since first reading her historical inspirationals, and several of her books sit on my Keeper shelf. So I was pleased to have the opportunity to review one of her contemporary novels, and a pleasure it was. The Two of Us is multi-layered, written from the heart, and subtle in its impact.

Mia Robinson, a Denver nurse practitioner reeling from the pain of a second broken engagement, decides to apply for a position with Mission Medical, an international aid organization. Her plan is to work overseas for a few years and then consider her next direction. During a pause in the interview process, Mia’s younger half-sister Lucy calls to announce that she is pregnant and she and the father are marrying in Las Vegas. As Mia has acted as a mother to Lucy for years, Mia flies to Vegas hoping to talk some sense into the mother-to-be.

Jake Tanner had a promising career in the Denver Police Department, and after the bombing that left him partially deaf and killed his partner, Connie, he has become a mentor and father figure for Sam, Connie’s son. Now Sam has asked Jake to serve as best man at his wedding in Las Vegas, and Jake is thrilled to be there.

Overall, each character sounds different and how each approaches a situation is matched to personality. Ms. Bylin uses her ability to show faith with a subtle touch. For example, Sam’s faith is never mentioned until he explains to Mia that he believes his marriage will work because he and Lucy will put God at the center of their relationship and life together. The characters express their faith when it is most appropriate, in the way that I see and hear my friends express theirs.

Read the full review HERE!

Fruitful Meditations on a Dreary Morning

2018-02-07T11:57:00.000-05:00

I caught a cold this week. It's the sore throat, headache, sneezing kind. Annoying, tiring. To add to the general misery, rain has been falling for two days, so no bright Carolina sun to improve my health or my mood. The cold also means I haven't gotten to the grocery store for basics, and since Hubby has been at a retreat for a couple of days, this morning the refrigerator looks very empty. Breakfast? A bit of a challenge.

All that's left in the fruit bin is an apple.

One. All by its little lonesome in the drawer.

We have a freezer-top-fridge-bottom, so I seem to be looking down at the apple from the top of a steep hill.

I'm not in the mood for an apple. I want an orange. Something with some Vitamin C. Head cold here. I might have the apple for lunch, but not for breakfast. Not today.

Aha! I remember a bag of frozen strawberries in the freezer door. I keep the strawberries for smoothies. I reach for the bag, then hesitate.

Frozen strawberries will never be fresh ones. This is a fact.

Still... I grab the bag and read the instructions. "Thaw for 25 minutes at room temperature. Best eaten when ice crystals remain in the fruit." Makes sense. Frozen strawberries with no ice crystals are smoothie- or sundae-worthy. Eating alone? Not so much worthiness. I turn back to the bag. "Grown in Peru."

Huh. We get out-of-season fresh strawberries from California, frozen ones from Peru. Whoever thinks we're living without global connections has not read a food label lately.

I start with the strawberries in a small bowl but quickly realize the berries will thaw unevenly. So I dump the berries on a plate and spread them out gently with a fork so each berry has its own thawing spot. "Thaw for 25 minutes..." Not a good instruction for strawberries. On a plate. Thawing.

Eating frozen strawberries takes some patience. With the tines of the fork, I gently tap the ice crust covering each berry until the crust lies on the plate, the knobby impressions from the berry dissolving as the ice melts. I'm thinking about the Peruvians picking strawberries, and all the people involved in the packaging, shipping, stocking and grocery check-outs. I'm grateful they are part of this strawberry chain.

I have to judge the thaw-rate of each berry and pick which one to eat next. The one just at the right point -- just enough ice crystals remaining for firm-ish texture, yet soft-enough to release that sweet, strawberry flavor. My attention is focused on my task. I'm present with my strawberries and my watchful-waiting.

When I choose my berry, it makes all the difference in the world to have a small dish of maple syrup on hand for dipping. I send an arrow-prayer up for my grandmother who taught me a thing or two about maple syrup.

Frozen strawberries will never be fresh ones. But breakfast just became a chance for a mindfulness meditation and a sweet treat. Seems like a good deal to me.

Have a wonderful day!

AAR Reviews: Her Secret

2017-11-18T11:40:00.001-05:00

Here's another book review I published with All About Romance (AAR). Remember AAR is not only your resource for book reviews across all the sub-genres of romance, but also offers deals and previews of books soon to be released. Enjoy!

HER SECRET

By Shelley Shepard Gray

I’ve not read anything by Shelley Shepard Gray before, but Her Secret, the first novel in her new series, illustrates why she’s a popular Christian writer. Her style is smooth and readable,

her characters are easy to know, and her stories center on realistic daily life. This is an engaging Amish woman-in-jeopardy story where the suspense element is prominent, and the romance, Amish environment, and spiritual messages are woven around a hovering threat.

The Hilty family has a near perfect life in the Amish community of Berlin, Ohio, and Hannah, the eldest daughter, works at a tourist diner. She admits that she had made some foolish mistakes during her rumspringa — encouraging the Englisher Trent being the worst one — but that is over now, and she has pledged herself to her community. When Trent doesn't give up, her parents make a difficult and unpopular decision to avoid the determined stalker by moving the family to the rural Amish community at Munfordville, Kentucky, to begin a new life in safety.

Over time Hannah stops being a recluse in Kentucky and meets Amish farmer, Isaac Troyer. As affection and love blossom between Isaac and Hannah, signs appear that Trent has followed Hannah yet again. It is in the Kentucky community that all the Hiltys learn the importance of reaching out to others when trouble touches them and to accept support when offered.

Read the full review HERE!

Movie Hop - Focus on Bill Paxton

2017-07-12T16:00:00.000-04:00

March Madness is long gone, but baseball season is in full swing.

What if you're not a basketball fan or your team got knocked out early? What if baseball bores you to tears? (Hey, don't look at me. I like the game.)

Perfect time for a MOVIE HOP! I'm all set to honor Bill Paxton who died unexpectedly this past February. I'm a big Paxton fan. He often played a supporting role but worked consistently in Hollywood and was know as an all around good guy. So hats off to Bill!

Remember: a Movie Hop is like TV series binge watching - one day, three great movies.

Bill Harding in Storm Whisperer mode!

TWISTER (1996)

Nominated for 2 Oscars.

In this romantic tornado adventure, Bill plays the lead for the first time in his career. His character is Bill "The Extreme" Harding, a storm-whispering scientist who can feel when a bank of storms is about to drop a violent tornado. Bill left storm chasing for TV meterology after his marriage with his wife Jo breaks up. They meet again during the storm season when Bill tracks Jo down in the field to get her signature on divorce papers. And the storms begin, both literally and figuratively. His leading lady is Helen Hunt who plays Jo, a scientist driven to learn all she can about storms after her father is killed by a twister when she is 8. The cast includes Cary Elwes, Jami Gertz and an early performance by Philip Seymour Hoffman. The story goes that director Jan de Bont asked Bill if he would be intimidated by things being thrown at him. Bill said he was OK with most things -- I'll bet he didn't expect he'd be dodging scythes, tractors or barn doors! This is a Keeper movie for me, and I watch it regularly. Scientists, tornadoes and romance. What's not to love?

APOLLO 13 (1995)

9 Oscar nominations, 2 Wins.

"Houston, we have a problem."
If you've ever heard this tag line, now you know from whence it came. This is the terse notification from the captain of the Apollo 13 flight to the moon to mission control that the spacecraft has just experienced an explosion. Based on real events, Bill Paxton plays the role of Lunar Module Pilot Fred W. Haise, Jr., one of three crewmen who are forced to fly around the moon without landing in order to reach Earth safely. For the actors, the challenges are close quarters, zero-G, and portraying professionalism battling fear, The movie is a serious drama, and Bill is perfection. Again, the science and engineering guys bring their best to solving an array of problems. My favorite line: "This mission will show us at our best." True words for the mission and the movie. Another Keeper for me.

ALIENS (1986)

7 Oscar nominations, 2 Wins.

Bill plays Private Hudson, a marine off into space (again!) to save humanity, the world, the universe from the aliens. As several reviewers have mentioned, this may not be Paxton's best film, but it's got aliens and Bill got some of the best movie lines. Ever. Or maybe it was just the way he said them. Enjoy the mayhem!

There you have it. The Bill Paxton Movie Hop. We sure are going to miss you, Bill!

AAR Reviews: The One True Love of Alice-Ann

2017-06-21T16:35:00.002-04:00

All About Romance (AAR) not only provides book reviews across all the sub-genres of romance, but also offers deals and previews of books soon to be released. Here's another review I recently published with them.

Happy Reading!

The One True Love of Alice-Ann

By Eva Marie Everson

Given the steady-paced, un-romance-like beginning, I was prepared to place The One True Love of Alice-Ann in the general Inspirational Fiction category. After the first chapters, however, the romantic pace picks up and provides a lovely story of how a young girl learns to distinguish between affectionate friendship and mature and lasting love.

It’s Alice-Ann Branch’s sixteenth birthday in rural Bynum, Georgia. She’s excited about her birthday party because she plans to tell Boyd MacKay—“Mack” to his friends and older than her by four years—that she loves him and will be devoted to him forever. A brief radio announcement changes her life, for not only is this her birthday, it is also Sunday, December 7, 1941, the day Japan attacks Pearl Harbor.

Read the full review HERE!

Snuggle in with Sweet Romance - Comfort Food for Cool Days

2017-04-20T18:19:00.000-04:00

Welcome to Snuggle in with Sweet Romance!

The Giveaway Hop has finished, but I'm so glad you've stopped by!

Don't you just love autumn? It's the season of cooler days, colored leaves, fireplaces, and hot drinks. It's autumn right now in the southern hemisphere and since the authors of the sweet romance anthology AUTUMN'S KISS hale from both hemispheres, it's time to celebrate. Being book lovers, we threw a Giveaway party for all our readers to thank you for your support and introduce you to AUTUMN'S KISS. Along with prizes, each of us offered a recipe of our favorite cool-weather comfort food. Mine is pumpkin pie!

LaVerne’s Pumpkin Pie

A low-fat recipe sure to please your guests! Works best with fresh pumpkin.

Makes two 9” pies

Use one pie pumpkin, cubed, or 9 cups of cubed pumpkin (cubes are about 3-4” square)

Steam or bake pumpkin until soft, cool, peel and mash. If pumpkin is wet (dripping), strain off water before using.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

2 - 9” Keebler, ready-to-bake, reduced fat graham cracker crusts

Can also use graham cracker crumbs (see package for amount) plus ¼ C egg beaters and 1T light margarine.

2 – 2 ½ C fresh, mashed pumpkin (1-2 cans of pumpkin)

1 C sugar

½ t. salt

1 ½ t. cinnamon

½ t. nutmeg

½ t. ginger

1 12 oz. can evaporated skim milk

½ t allspice

½ t ground cloves (for smoother pie, leave out or use ¼ t. )

1 egg

2 Egg Beaters

Mix all ingredients until smooth. Pour into crusts and bake 15 minutes at 450 degrees, then reduce heat and bake 45 min. at 325 degrees (until knife comes out clean). Cool in pans on wire racks for at least an hour. Store covered in refrigerator.

What's your favorite cool-weather comfort food?

LaVerne St. George - Writing in the Spirit

Writing in the Spirit is Moving!

Agents of the Literary Kind, Part 3: When Should I Look for an Agent?

AAR Reviews: Return of Devotion

A RETURN OF DEVOTION

AAR Reviews: Midnight on the River Grey

Midnight on the River Grey

I'm a Victim of Sloppy Driving

Exquisite Timing Leads To A Clinical Trial

Agents of the Literary Kind, Part 2: Do I Need An Agent?

Do I need an agent?

The Vote for Traditional, Larger Publishing Houses

The Vote for Traditional, Small/Independent Publishing Houses

The Vote for Self-Publishing (read, You Become a Publishing House)

Spring Poetry Is For the Birds

Feeder Birds

Mini-vacation: Connect the Dots Gets a Makeover

Draw lines, connect the dots, create a picture, color the picture! Relax!!

Do you use any puzzle books to relax?

I'd love to hear from you.

Agents of the Literary Kind, Part 1: What is an Agent?

What is a Literary Agent?

Exclamation Point - EXPLAINED!

Sugar-Free Chocolate Report for Valentine's (and any other!) Day

Pre-Diabetes - More than a Simple Phrase

Here comes the point.

Love As Strong As Death

Three Things About Me - January 2019

Number One.

Number Two.

Number Three.

AAR Reviews: Love Held Captive

Love Held Captive

Shelley Shepard Gray

Read the full review HERE!

New Release! for Christmas in July

Carousel Found, Carousel Lost

COVER REVEAL! Restore My Heart - Pittsburgh Connections Book 3

A Christmas Connection

Pittsburgh Connections, Book 3 will be released on July 10, 2018 (available for pre-order now)

AAR Reviews: The Two of Us

THE TWO OF US

By Victoria Byline

Read the full review HERE!

Fruitful Meditations on a Dreary Morning

AAR Reviews: Her Secret

HER SECRET

By Shelley Shepard Gray

Read the full review HERE!

Movie Hop - Focus on Bill Paxton

TWISTER (1996)

Nominated for 2 Oscars.

APOLLO 13 (1995)

9 Oscar nominations, 2 Wins.

ALIENS (1986)

7 Oscar nominations, 2 Wins.

AAR Reviews: The One True Love of Alice-Ann

The One True Love of Alice-Ann

By Eva Marie Everson

Read the full review HERE!

Snuggle in with Sweet Romance - Comfort Food for Cool Days

LaVerne’s Pumpkin Pie

Pittsburgh Connections, Book 3
will be released on July 10, 2018 (available for pre-order now)