Shaker “Spirit Drawings”

Ann H GabhartAnn's Posts, One Writer's Journal 7 Comments

Every Wednesday on my Facebook author page, I do a Shaker Wednesday where I share a little Shaker history from some of the resource books I used when I was writing my Shaker novels. Earlier I had posted a picture of my latest Shaker book, The Refuge, alongside a picture I have of the Shaker Tree of Life. This picture …

Shaker Sayings for Shaker Stories

Ann H GabhartAnn's Posts, One Writer's Journal 38 Comments

The Outsider was my first book set in my fictional Shaker village of Harmony Hill. The setting is clearly modeled on the Pleasant Hill Shaker Village in nearby Mercer County here in Kentucky. This first book came out in 2008 and was a finalist for the ECPA (Evangelical Christian Publishers Association) fiction book of the year. That was exciting for …

A Dandelion Dance

Ann H GabhartAnn's Posts, One Writer's Journal 36 Comments

“Dandelions are just friendly little weeds who only want to be loved like flowers.” ― Heather Babcock I like dandelions. I know that’s not the popular stance with people warring to get rid of dandelions in their yards. Good thing I don’t have any neighboring yards because I let dandelions grow where they wish. In the spring they are sunspots …

Never Say Never

Ann H GabhartAnn's Posts, One Writer's Journal 10 Comments

“…a fast paced story of love, redemption, faith, triumphs…a heartrending story…an outstanding story involving the Shakers and their beliefs. A must read.” – Review of The Blessed by April Renn, My Book Addiction Reviews My Shaker book, The Blessed, is on special e-book sale this month. Christianbook.com has it for 79 cents. It’s 99 cents most other e-book sites like Amazon. You can find more …

Creating My Character Lacey in The Blessed

Ann H GabhartAnn's Posts, One Writer's Journal Leave a Comment

My Shaker book, The Blessed, is on e-book sale at 99 cents or less for a limited time. When the less than a dollar price disappears, the e-book will still be available for a reduced price for a week or so. So if you e-read and have ever considered giving one of my Shaker books a try, you might consider …

Time for a Spring Contest – Name the Flower

Ann H GabhartAnn's Posts, One Writer's Journal 29 Comments

Spring is Here Hey, did you notice? It’s SPRING! The calendar says so. Now if some of us can get Mother Nature to go along with the calendar, we’ll be happy. Here things are beginning to look and sound like spring. The spring peepers are in full voice at night and in the morning, the birds are singing their spring …

Birthday Stories and Flowers

Ann H GabhartAnn's Posts, One Writer's Journal

Birthdays can be like flowers, lovely and bright, different even as they come on the same day year after year. The birthday stories some of you have been sending me are the same. Some of you have birthdays where not much fuss is made, maybe cake and ice cream. Others of you have had parties and special vacations and surprises. …

Looking Back at Writing Trails in 2011

Ann H GabhartAnn's Posts, One Writer's Journal

A new year is a great time to look back. To take stock. To see where you’ve been and if the roads you chose took you to an expected destination or kept you wandering around in confusion for a while. So that’s what I’m doing tonight – looking back at the writing roads I went down.  Some good things happened …

Counting Butterflies and Editing Galleys

Ann H GabhartAnn's Posts, One Writer's Journal

The butterfly counts not months, but moments, and has time enough. … Rabindranath Tagore We’ve had a beautiful summer here in Kentucky – the first one in several years where we had enough rain to keep the fields green into August. I took a walk this week through our hayfield before my husband mowed it and counted butterflies. Well, not …