Below you'll find a list of all posts that have been categorized as “One Writer’s Journal”
I met a writing friend for lunch at the Pleasant Hill Shaker Village near here last week. And as always I was drawn to the beautiful curving stairways in the Trustee’s House. I made those stairways a reason for Adam to go to the village in my book, The Seeker. It’s fun to use places in the real Shaker village …
My editor e-mailed me with some questions about the Shaker song, “Simple Gifts” this week and that got me to thinking about the song. “Tis the gift to be simple, tis the gift to be free” is probably the best known line of a Shaker hymn. Many people sing it incorrectly as “Tis a gift to be simple,” but that …
A writer needs time to gather a story. To let the glimmers spark out of that mysterious dark center where stories are sometimes born. But there are times when the glimmers sparkle but are as elusive as a sunbeam. You see it but you can’t really grab it. Sometimes the story glimmers tease you and entice you down the wrong …
A leaf covered wagon road through a woods can be a path of possibilities to a hiker. Who knows what might be around the bend? Deer or a hawk whistling a warning to the woods inhabitants below or a beautifully decked out maple tree. Perhaps there will be nothing but more of the same, but in this case the same …
Where do you feel happy? And if you found such a place, how often would you make every effort to go there? This would be a place where you would feel loved and worthy and safe and engaged in life. No boredom there. No hard testing. Except, of course, some of us are happiest when faced with challenges that we …
I love book fairs and festivals. They have two of my favorite things in life – people and books. Well, maybe I shouldn’t say people are things, but you get the idea. Book fairs are places where most everybody who is in the place has a love for books. That’s why they are there – unless, of course, they were …
Time to Begin Again. How to begin? How do you begin anything that must be done? A long journey – by taking the first step. An unpleasant chore – by grabbing the mop or hammer or paintbrush or whatever tool is necessary to get started. A novel – by discovering the character or event that will push you to the …
You can take the girl out of the country, but you can’t take the country out of the girl!!Okay, here I am trying on my fancy smancy dress before taking off for the ACFW Conference last week. My necklace is glittering. I’m practicing my smile – squinting a bit since my husband insisted I had to look into the sun. …
Wow! What a week! Writers, writers, and more writers all in one place. ~~ I did my very first writers conference in June last summer when I taught a couple of classes at the Kentucky Christian Writers Conference here in the state. And then last weekend I was off to my first national writers conference – the ACFW Conference. That’s …
Hi, everybody. No time for blogging this week with the National Quartet Convention and now I’m off to the ACFW Conference. Next week I’ll be back on schedule – I hope. I’ll tell you all about what’s been going on. Have a great week.