~~We had a beautiful day here in Kentucky country today. The sun was shining; the mercury was rising in the thermometers; the flowers were blooming; fishing worms were getting drowned; and sweaters were getting shucked. Spring is here and so now it must be time for a good case of Spring Fever. ~~Do you have it? What is it? A …
The Beauty of Nature
“Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts.” –Rachel Carson What a great time of the year to feast on the beauty of the world around us! I’m enjoying the sunshine and the crisp autumn air. It makes for some great walking weather. And I like bringing some …
Celebrating at Shaker Village
— One of the nice things about getting older – and there are some nice things – is that if you want to celebrate a week after your actual birthday that’s just as much fun as celebrating on the actual day. My sister and I have birthdays a week apart. A few years apart originally, but now we often celebrate …
Families – Real and Imagined
– You remember last summer when I kept you up to date on these two guys’ impending arrival. Well, here’s Matt (left) and John at about 11 months old. Aren’t they cute? – I’m so excited about finally figuring out how to post pictures that I’m wanting to share. I’ve already been sharing over on Facebook. How many of you …
A Book Lover’s Lunch
I went to lunch with some book lovers today. My favorite kind of people to be around. Maybe because I’m a book lover too. My love affair with books started as soon as I learned to read and found some books that said something besides, “Look, Jill, look.” Or “Run, Jack, run.” Or maybe it was Jan and Jack in …
Celebrating The Believer
I celebrated my new book, The Believer, with friends at my local library Saturday. A new book is a good reason for a writer to celebrate because for most of us it doesn’t happen all that often. Some writers put out two or three books a year, but many of us writers feel fortunate to see one new book hit …
Modern Blog Tours and Old Shaker Buildings
It’s been an interesting week so far for me with my new book, The Believer, making a blog tour. That’s where lots of bloggers agree to read and then post reviews of a new book. Most of the reviewers have been kind. While one or two haven’t embraced the Shaker background, others have been fascinated and have enjoyed learning about …
Sunday Down on the Farm with Friends
It’s been a busy Sunday. My editor and agent came to visit me and we must be kindred spirits because we talked non-stop all day long. I’ve been looking forward to their visit for several weeks. I even cleaned up my desk! Now that was really something. I should do it more often because I really don’t like working at …
A Weekend on the Singing Trail
Just got home from a weekend with Darrell and the guys as they went to California – California, Kentucky that is. I had no idea there was a California, Kentucky until Darrell started singing with the Patriot Quartet. That’s where the lead singer grew up. It’s up in Northern Kentucky close to Alexandria. Actually we were at Beech Grove and …
Celebrating Release Day
My new book, The Believer, was officially released by the publishers for sale yesterday. Actually it was already out in stores, or so I’ve been told. I haven’t personally seen it on any store shelves yet, but then the only shelves I’ve been seeing are the ones where I’ve been setting my newly canned jars of green beans. Trust me. …



