Any Day Is a Great Day for Smiles

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

“A smile is happiness you’ll find right under your nose.” — Tom Wilson Have you ever seen a dog smile? You might say Frankie is smiling here, or it could just be a goofy look. You can decide. We did have a dog named Tate once that did smile. Whenever we would get home after being to church, town, school, …

Encouragement for Today and Tomorrow

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

“Correction does much, but encouragement does more.” Johann Wolfgang von Goethe A few years ago, I was blessed to go to a writer’s retreat in California. After the retreat was over, my husband I took the 27 Mile Drive along the coastline between Monterey and Carmel. Along the route we stopped to see this tree out on that rocky point. …

Storytellers Need Listeners

Ann H GabhartAnn's Posts, One Writer's Journal 12 Comments

“No story lives unless someone wants to listen.” ~J.K. Rowling Someone once called me a storyteller and I have ever since thought it was one of the nicest compliments I have ever received about my writing. I want to tell stories or at least write them down. But as the J.K. Rowling quote says, if nobody listens/reads then a story …

Birds and Nests

Ann H GabhartAnn's Posts, One Writer's Journal 5 Comments

Thank you all for sharing about your favorite birds after I wrote about birds in my stories. You had so many favorites, and I enjoyed reading about them. Cardinals and hummingbirds were mentioned often. Cardinals are so bright and cheerful and hummingbirds fun to watch as well as lovely. Woodpeckers showed up among your favorites several times and doves with …

Bluebirds, Crows, and Whippoorwills

Ann H GabhartAnn's Posts, One Writer's Journal 48 Comments

Birds chirping around you is a beautiful realization that life is incredibly good. Let this sound be a gentle break in your routine. ~Hiral Nagda I like birds. My mom liked birds. She loved feeding them and so do I. So I suppose it’s only natural that I enjoy putting a few birds in my stories. The three books pictured …

Preacher Rowlett and the Talking Donkey

Ann H GabhartAnn's Posts, One Writer's Journal 23 Comments

Do you remember Preacher Rowlett from my book, Along a Storied Trail? Before that book set in Appalachia with history of the packhorse librarians came out a few years ago, I let Preacher tell a Bible story here on One Writer’s Journal. Since I’ve been doing some features on some of my published books, I invited him back for a …

First Line Inspiration

Ann H GabhartAnn's Posts, One Writer's Journal 24 Comments

“An opening line should invite the reader to begin the story. It should say: Listen. Come in here. You want to know about this.” ~Stephen King One of the most important lines in a story is that very first one that you write. But as important as that is to grab the attention of a reader, a first line can …