Sunday Inspiration: Serenity
God, give us grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed, Courage to change the things which should be changed, and the wisdom to distinguish the one from the other. Reinhold Niebuhr There is such deep wisdom in this simple prayer. Participants in Alcoholics Anonymous have used these words for many years…
Read MoreRenovating a Novel and a House: How Much is Too Much?
Renovation is Not For Sissies: So what does a writer do when her home/workplace is filled with workmen and she has a book to write? In the beginning of May I left Florida believing I could settle into our 108 year old cottage in Chautauqua, New York. While there might be a few interruptions as…
Read MoreSunday Inspiration: Say YES!
This is going to sound crazy. Say yes to everything. Accept all offers. Go along with the plan. Support someone else’s dream. Say :yes”; “right”; “sure”; “I will”; “okay”; “of course”; “YES!” Cultivate all the ways you can imagine to express affirmation. When the answer to all questions is yes, you enter a new world,…
Read MoreWhat Do Readers Think? I Really Want to Know.
I’ve been hoping to have more renovation photos for you to enjoy (?) this week. The workmen are finishing up, so it’s a slow morning here in Chautauqua, New York. We only have a plumber, electrician, wallboard guy and flooring guy cutting tile. I can almost hear the birds sing. More photos will be up…
Read MoreSunday Inspiration: “This is my home…”
“This Is My Song” (words by Lloyd Stone, to the tune of Finlandia) This is my song, oh God of all the nations, a song of peace for lands afar and mine. This is my home, the country where my heart is; here are my hopes, my dreams, my holy shrine; but other hearts in…
Read MoreDo Authors Have Favorites? Lover’s Knot and the Shenandoah Album Series
So here’s what a novelist tells a reader who wants to know which of her own books is her favorite. “A book is like a baby. A mom loves all her children equally.” Right. . . I’m here to tell you it’s not true. I did not love all my children equally. Oh, sure, total…
Read MoreSunday Inspiration: “Adding to future life…”
Even I would like to believe when I die that I have given myself away like a tree that sows seed every spring and never counts the loss, because it is not loss, it is adding to future life. It is the tree’s way of being. Strongly rooted perhaps, but spilling out its treasure on…
Read MoreCrazy Cottage Capers–A Victorian Summer Cottage Grows Up
When you read this I’ll be in New York looking at the renovations to our summer cottage in person. But since there’s an excellent chance the Internet won’t be working–along with the kitchen and any number of other basics–I thought I’d blog ahead of time to let you see more photos of our work in…
Read MoreSunday Inspiration: A Prayer for Mothers
Mother’s Day Sunday Let us pray for: The mothers too tired to enter or too busy to care. This is for all the mothers who froze their buns off on metal bleachers at soccer games Friday night instead of watching from cars, so that when their kids asked, “Did you see my goal?” they could…
Read MoreBook Clubs: Asking Questions to Deepen Understanding
When I decided to offer fifteen copies of Iron Lace (along with a king cake and phone interview) to raise money for diabetes research, I made my decision with the full knowledge that Iron Lace is one of my most popular novels for book discussion groups. Later I went back to my own website to…
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