Lori Copeland, me, and Virginia Smith “Let us always meet each other with a smile, for the smile is the beginning of love.” ~ Mother Teresa There was a lot of smiling going on yesterday at the Southern Kentucky Book Fest in Bowling Green, Kentucky as authors and readers gathered to celebrate books. That’s really what book fairs and festivals …
The Balancing Act of Writing
What happened to Wednesday? I was walking late this afternoon and I suddenly realized that uh, this is Thursday. That meant I had forgotten talking to folks here on One Writer’s Journal on Wednesday. Of course, the best thing about a journal is that there are no deadlines. You can write when you want, what you want, as much or …
The Heart of Hollyhill
Sweet aromas – do you have a favorite flower scent? We all know many roses smell delightful. And lilacs are heavenly. But what about locust tree blooms? In Kentucky in the spring we usually have several cold snaps before spring finally comes to stay. So we call them winters. Redbud winter. Dogwood winter. Locust winter. Blackberry winter. The names come from what’s …
A Novel Tea
“Come, let us have some tea and continue to talk about happy things.” ~Chaim Potok And what’s more fun to talk about while you’re drinking that cup of tea than books? That’s what I got to do today at a “Novel Tea.” I was excited when I got my first e-mail from Lisa Jones, the librarian in Grayson County, KY, saying …
Sunrise and Easter Blessings
Let the resurrection joy lift us from loneliness and weakness and despair to strength and beauty and happiness. ~Floyd W. Tomkins Churches all over the country celebrated Resurrection morning today. At our little country church, we began the morning with a Sunrise Service. Our pastor has been doing this for a number of years now and he always delivers a …
Finishing the Race
“ It’s supposed to be hard. If it wasn’t hard, everyone would do it. The hard…is what makes it great!” -Tom Hanks in A League of Their Own This was a good week for University of Kentucky basketball fans like me and my pastor, Br. Fred. We’re smiling here on Sunday – him with his Kentucky tie and me with …
Cousins Equal Fun
Cousins are different beautiful flowers in the same garden. ~Anonymous Here are a couple of the beautiful flowers in my garden of grandchildren – two little cousins who enjoyed an early Easter celebration at my house yesterday. We were sort of surprised by the early morning rain. The weather forecasters had said there might be a stray shower. It rained …
Titles, Titles, and More Titles
Inspiration can appear in many places when you’re brainstorming ideas for titles. The beautiful, fragrant lilac was my inspiration for the title of my first Hollyhill book. The Scent of Lilacs. Almost until it was ready to go into print production, I had the title The Smell of Lilacs. Then I was standing behind the old bus my husband’s quartet …
And the Question is…
“Any man who knows all the answers most likely misunderstood the questions.” I certainly can’t claim to know all the answers, so maybe that means I did understand the questions. But for sure, some questions are harder for me to answer than others. Right now I’m struggling with the answer to what is my writing style. Why do I need …
A Time and Season for All Things
To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven. – Ecclesiates 3:1 (KJV) It’s March 21, the second day of Spring by the calendar. Normally, this time of the year we’re having windy and chilly days here in Kentucky with frosts at night and five different kinds of weather in the daytime. We can …









