What I miss today more than anything else – I don’t go to church as much anymore – but that old-time religion, that old singing, that old praying which I love so much. That is the great strength of my being, of my writing.~ Ernest Gaines I got to eat breakfast with writer friends Lonnie and Roberta Simpson …
Life is Better with a Dog Named Oscar
Dogs have a way of finding the people who need them, filling an emptiness we don’t even know we have. ~Thorn Jones Some of you have been asking about how my dog, Oscar, is doing. About a month ago, one of the men working on a room remodel here at the house ran over Oscar. He was parked beside the …
Taxes and the Jack Benny Hour
April 15, 1964 Jocie Brooke here reporting from Hollyhill, Kentucky. Today’s tax deadline day. Daddy had to get his tax forms filled out and in the mail before the end of the day. In time for the postmaster to stamp it sent. He figured and refigured and added up numbers all day. I overheard him telling Wes that he didn’t see how …
Christmas in April, New Book Covers, and Pet Words
Happy Monday morning! I’m late with this post because I was out of town yesterday. So to make up for it, let’s be early and talk about Christmas. I got the galleys on my Shaker Christmas book last week. So I’m going to have to invite the snow and chill winter winds into my imagination for a few days as …
Spring Blooming All Over
It’s spring fever. That is what the name of it is. And when you’ve got it, you want – oh, you don’t quite know what it is you do want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so! ~Mark Twain Spring was late in coming this year, but it came in a hurry this week with …
Space News – Gemini 1 Launched Today
April 8, 1964 Jocie Brooke here reporting from her front yard a couple of miles outside Hollyhill. Out here this far from town, you can see the stars pretty good. That’s what I’m doing tonight. Outside looking up at the stars. The moon is going into its dark phase so it isn’t making any light to hide the stars. Hasn’t …
Mystery Pictures and Writing Puzzles
Have you ever seen those close up, really close up, pictures of familiar objects and had no idea what you were looking at? I’m giving you a less challenging mystery picture tonight. Do you know what it is? Let me know what you guess. Or it could be you know what it is at first sight. Sometimes writing is like that. …
The Winners but the Biggest Winner – Me
Tonight I’ve finally got the winners of my Scent of Lilacs Celebration Giveaway. It wasn’t easy, let me tell you. I pick the winners by random numbers. Each e-mail I get goes into a special folder and the sender gets numbered according to when I receive the e-mail. Well, imagine my extreme distress this a.m. when I click on that …
The Price of Jelly Eggs in Hollyhill
March 30, 1964 Jocie Brooke reporting. Yesterday was Easter here in Hollyhill, Kentucky. We did something new here in Hollyhill on Saturday. The local businesses decided to sponsor a kids’ Easter egg hunt at the Fairgrounds. Wouldn’t you know they’d wait until I wasn’t a little kid anymore before they got around to doing something like this? So instead of …
Sunshine, Traditions, and Easter
Family ties are cherished things, forged in childhood days, by love of parents, deep and true, and sweet familiar ways.– Terri Burritt Easter Sunday – a day to celebrate with our church families and a day to gather with our extended families. Thinking about Easter gatherings seems to fit right in with my Grandmother theme the last few weeks. Did …






