Meet Ann

Hi, glad you could stop by to get to know me better. I'm a country girl, born and raised on a farm in the Outer Bluegrass region of Kentucky. I know you're thinking horse farm, but no, not out my way. Mostly cows on the farms around here. My grandfather did have a big old workhorse when I was a little girl. My family grew tobacco and corn. We had a few milk cows, some hogs and sheep, but mostly beef cattle. I grew up working on the farm and enjoying the woods and animals. My roots grow deep in the land, and I now live on a farm just a mile away from the farmhouse where I was born and raised.

I started writing when I was ten and have been writing ever since. My first published writing (personal experience pieces, youth stories, and poems) was in church periodicals such as HomeLife. My first novel, A Forbidden Yearning, was published by Warner Books in 1978 and was a historical romance about the settling of Kentucky. Since then I've published several novels for adults and young adults. All but my latest books, Orchard of Hope, and Angels at the Crossroads, and Summer of Joy are out of print now, but some of the other titles are still floating around out there in used bookstores or in Internet sites.

I'm married to Darrell Gabhart. We got married when we were both very young, but we defied the odds and are still married all these years later. Maybe because we went to church together and were committed to the Christian life. Darrell is a retired Records Manager, part time farmer, and bass singer for The Patriot Quartet, a Southern Gospel Quartet. They have some great projects out now and are traveling all over to share the gospel through their songs. They've sung in Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Michigan, West Virginia, Louisiana, Florida (and other states I've probably forgotten) and of course, Kentucky. So check out their sound and their schedule on their website at www.patriotquartet.com and maybe they'll be singing at a place near you.

We have three children, Johnson, Tarasa, and Daniel who are all grown and married (to Leah, Gary, and Carrie) and they've given us six wonderful grandchildren, Sarah, Austin, Fiona, Ashley, Katie, and Jillian whom I spoil every chance I get. I tell everybody I'm my grandbabies' wind-up grandma toy. Of course now days I guess I should say push-button. Does anybody wind up anything except maybe a committee meeting at church anymore?

I've been going to the same small country church since I was seventeen and I used my memories of how it used to be in The Scent of Lilacs. I love small churches where everybody is like a big family and all ages interact with one another. My church was established in 1812 and I like thinking about all the people who have served the Lord there. The church has never had a big congregation while I've been a member, ranging anywhere from 20 to 80, but over the nearly 200 years of the church's existence, a lot of people have passed through the doors, made decisions for Christ, lived and loved and prayed. It makes me think of Hebrews and that great crowd of witnesses.

I like walking in the fields and woods, finding wildflowers and spotting birds and wildlife while trying to keep in shape. I'm crazy about dogs, but only have one dog right now - a big chocolate lab somebody gave me so that he would have a place to run. His official name is Coffee W. Crutcher, but we just call him Dub, short for W. I do have a couple of neighbor dogs that come over to visit now and again. One's a Heinz 57 mix whose people named her Baby. We thought she was going to grow big, but she hasn't done much growing yet. The other visiting dog is a huge Saint Bernard, so I call her Big Baby.