In the Swing of Spring

Posted on May 7, 2016 by Gail

My baby kale’s peeking through the soil, and volunteer squash plants have emerged around the compost pile. The trees have leafed out, a sure sign that Spring isn’t just flirting with us anymore.

And inside, I’ve experienced the fruits of my labor: the first box of In Times Like These arrived yesterday, on our thirty-eighth anniversary. This young World War II farm wife’s story has been long in the writing, and holding the finished creation brings undeniable satisfaction.

Beside me on the wall hangs Emily Dickinson’s HOPE, which fits in with this season. It’s great to witness new birth all around us with our backyard cardinals, a multitude of robins, and flowers budding. We’ve even had our first butterfly visit.

I’ve always liked the way Proverbs puts it: “…the desire accomplished is sweet to the soul.” Sigh….winter is gone for good. Welcome back, Spring, and welcome to the world, Addie!

I’ll keep you updated on our flowers, and for more information on In Times LIke These, see the previous post, MY BOOKS, or go here: http://amzn.to/1VFEoYh

Maybe We Aren’t in Charge…

Posted on April 30, 2016 by Gail

Another wonderful photo from my husband’s collection – see this mama cardinal’s bright red beak through the peephole? This image speaks to recent events in our lives. (See the previous blog’s great pictures.)

She seems as patient and determined as can be, awaiting her hatchlings’ births.

The next shot shows her from above, in our cold Northern Iowa rain. At first, he thought the white dots were actual specks on her back. But they’re raindrops a-sparkle.

Rain or shine, cold or bitter, nasty winter wind, she’s faithful, with no idea when these chicks will burst forth from their shells.

After a wild night last night, I can relate! My first women’s fiction historical novel in a series of three was scheduled to release on June 6, D-Day. I thought the date fitting, since the theme is one woman’s personal growth and victory over fear in the violent backdrop of World War II.

Well, what do I know? The book seems to have a life of its own, because last night it went live, regardless of our posted schedule. I’ve almost gotten over the shock, but still wonder why, since I had readers/reviewers lined up to post on release day–I was doing everything RIGHT to make this book release a success. (Just like my heroine, Addie does everything possible to please her controlling husband.)

Which takes us back to our title–maybe I’m not in charge. Maybe God pried my tight little fingers away from this story and has things in mind for it I’d never have dreamed of. Whatever the case, Addie is now out there in the world–sometimes cold and cruel.

Dear readers, I hope you love her! Here’s the book blurb:

Pearl Harbor attacked! The United States is at war.

But Addie fights her own battles on the Iowa home front. Her controlling husband Harold vents his rage on her when his father’s stoke prevents him from joining the military. He degrades Addie, ridicules her productive victory garden, and even labels her childlessness as God’s punishment.

When he manipulates his way into a military unit bound for Normandy, Addie learns that her best friend Kate’s pilot husband has died on a mission, leaving her stranded in London in desperate straits.

Will Addie be able to help Kate, and find courage to trust God with her future?

Here’s the Amazon.com purchase link: http://amzn.to/1VFEoYh

Hunkering Down

Posted on April 26, 2016 by Gail

I just have to share my husband’s remarkable photos of a female cardinal warming her eggs. We’re having cool weather again today, and she knows she needs to hang out on her nest.

The pictures we have of the eggs – certainly not robin’s egg blue, but larger and speckled- bring questions to mind.

Does the number of speckles mean anything? Are some eggs more inclined to hold females, others males? With all these close-ups, I’m realizing this female’s beautiful, though not as striking as her spouse.

The foliage under the mama’s well-positioned nest is burgeoning. Will we get to witness her feed her babies? I hope so, but her husband flashes by often, and it quite territorial. His calls override the robins in the area, and all others.

Seems to me this little homemaker feels secure next to our tall fence, in an obscure corner of the courtyard that is our back yard.

Confident that all will work out just fine. Content to do her tedious work, knowing that the outcome will satisfy.

I can’t help but compare her attitude to mine as I nurture a new women’s fiction novel to its release into the world. Will it be a cold, cruel world, or a warm, accepting one? Will readers embrace Addie, my World War II heroine, as she struggles with her husband’s anger?

I think this little birdie would say, “You’ve done your research. You’ve bided your time. You’ve re-re-re-re-re-re-re-edited, considered criticism, made changes, taken classes, and secured a professional edit, and now, it’s time.

Our mama cardinal’s steady black eye, her devotion to her babies, and her patience all remind me that daring to bloom holds not simply promise, but challenge. So many have encouraged me along the way. Thanks, Machelle, Jane, Holly, Carolyn, Ann, Julia, Wendi, Bonnie, Diane and Lee, for cheering me on to this point.
And thanks Lance, for working hard to give me the luxury of writing full-time. Readers, Addie’s on her way!

A NEW Author!

Posted on April 15, 2016 by Gail

Kathryn Moore, an author with Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas, celebrates her first fiction release with a look at what motivated her to write. CAN WRITERS REALLY AFFECT THE REAL WORLD?

Thanks Kathryn, for sharing with us today.

Please leave a comment to encourage this new author on her journey.

Why I Write

Can one woman’s voice have an impact on our culture?

A few years ago, with two children entering their teens, my husband and I voiced a frustration with the rarity of family appropriate movies. Our children were too old for Disney and Pixar and they definitely weren’t ready—in our minds anyway—for PG-rated films. Sadly, we simply stopped going to the movies.

Later that same year, my mother-in-law, a prolific reader like me whom I absolutely adore, recommended a book to me. I read it and, while it was a good story, the writing was downright horrible. It made me think, Heck, I could write better than that. And the more I thought about it, the more I talked myself into it. People around me—at work, at home, on several boards I’ve served on—often asked me to handle the correspondence or proofread what they’d written. Obviously others thought I had a way with words.

I’m the kind of person who lights my own little candle instead of cursing the darkness and my personal mission statement is to live a life that’s pleasing to God, along with those I love. So, being compelled to use my gifts to write a story with cultural impact seemed like a God thing.

When I sat down to decide what to write, I kept two things in mind. It had to be a story my whole family would enjoy and it had to be something that would make a great movie.

I decided on a love story because every box office hit contains a great romance, but I wanted it to be one my husband would enjoy. So when my brother described an interesting film he’d watched called Gas Hole, an eye-opening documentary that alleged a massive cover up by oil companies, it sounded like the makings of an intriguing story and one with a definite modern-day interest, given the volatility of gas prices. According to the documentary, “Big Oil” has been suppressing innovations in fuel efficiencies for years, even going so far as to murder at least one very bright young inventor who had the idea for an engine that ran on vapor.

Like many men, my husband is into cars. Coupled with my above-average-for-a-woman knowledge of engines, mechanics and chemistry in general, I came up with the idea of a young woman who, like me, grew up working on cars with her father. My husband and son love NASCAR too so I thought that would provide an exciting backdrop as well as tie in nicely with the idea of fuel efficiency.

And finally, above all, I wanted it to be wholesome and family friendly, with a meaningful message for young people. So my heroine is a young woman of faith who’s made a commitment to God to save her virtue for marriage. She wears a purity ring and the story explores how difficult it can be for a young woman to retain those ideals in our modern culture.

My agent sent a proposal and an advance reader copy of Angel Beneath My Wings to a Hollywood screenwriter/producer last month. The book came out February 29th. So wish me luck or say a prayer and if you’d like to add your flame to my little candle. I hope you read my story and help spread the fire.

Purchase link: http://www.amazon.com/Christian-Womens-Fiction-Beneath-Inspirational/dp/1938499670

K.S. Moore_Headshot

Check out Kathryn’s website: KathrynSueMoore.com

Ill-fitting, or fit for our work?

Posted on April 9, 2016 by Gail

Every summer, I take some of my plants outdoors. In early March, I noticed something else growing out of one of those pots, a totally “other” plant. But something told me to let it grow, and it’s since flourished in the sunshine of our south dining room windows. Kind of hard to pull up a specimen that wants to grow so badly.

Yes, it’s an oak tree in a jade world.

But it doesn’t belong, right? Well, years ago, I felt like I didn’t, either. Since I’m kind of a gregarious personality type, it really didn’t bother me too much, but every once in a while, I’d sense that outsider feeling. Since we’ve moved quite a few times, I usually attributed the situation to being new.

Then I read The Cloister Walk by Kathleen Norris. It’s one of those books I’ve read more than once, but the first time through, this author encouraged me SO much by helping me understand myself better. I don’t have the exact quote, but it went something like, “As writers, our job is to record/report what we see. That means we often stand outside an event, a circumstance, or a place and look in. Then we report on what we see.”

Wow – a puzzle piece slipped into place. Today I met a bunch of Iowa writers at the Ankeny Book Fair. Spending time with them heartened me, as our far-north locale doesn’t produce tons of writer-types. And we are a type!

So I’d like to say thank you to Joy King, who planned the fair and also to the many writers there who encouraged me today. Hope to see you again somewhere in Iowa!

Spring’s Surprises

Posted on March 22, 2016 by Gail

I was about to upload some pictures of buds leafing out, but then this weather map appeared in an e-mail.

Snow Image

Fortuitous that our county lies right under the P in POSSIBLE, don’t you think? Since I’ve been forging into new areas in my writing, this thought fits: who knows what’s possible unless we give an idea the old one-two?

So I’m co-writing a cozy mystery with an author friend. We’re having great fun. And in the past two weeks, a WWII novella has taken shape right in the hometown of one of my other heroines. It’s a sweet romance–the kind that blossomed so profusely in the wild, crazy days of that era, and will release this summer.

So, storm or no storm, I’m plunging ahead. Hope this finds you doing the same with your passions and dreams. As they say, SEIZE THE DAY!

The Flower Bud and the Sow

Posted on March 6, 2016 by Gail

Yes, the sow. The mama swine. The big fat pig, as we farm kids used to call her. The pigs, especially, made a big todo of grunting others aside to gobble down feed from the trough, with the sow in the lead.

Until recent years, nobody kept a “pet pig,” and back then, only the tiniest, pinkest piglets were thought cute. But things have changed. Now, people have a pet everything. The other day, a television show highlighted a woman with a pet iguana that she petted with her fingers.

Anyway, back to the sow. Galway Kinnell, a bright light in the world of poetry, passed from this world in 2014, and his poem fits the heroines of my novels, Heroines Who Dare to Bloom. As anyone who’s ever struggled with self-confidence knows, blooming requires a good self-concept: you believe you’re worthy because you’re a human being, created to be the best you can be. But some people require time to develop this belief.

Please read the entire short poem, Saint Francis and the Sow HERE: http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/171395

I’d like to print it in its entirety, but am careful with copyright issues. Here’s the beginning, and I hope you take a few moments to read the rest.

The bud
stands for all things,
even for those things that don’t flower,
for everything flowers, from within, of self-blessing;
though sometimes it is necessary
to reteach a thing its loveliness . . .

Kinnell goes on to describe a sow feeding her litter. LIke I said, please read the poem in its entirety to appreciate the context.

It struck me this morning that my literary characters have much in common with this poet’s flower, or the sow he describes as lovely. Somebody outside my heroines must see their beauty, and through touch and words, reteach them their worth.

That’s the beauty of story. As in real life, people and circumstances see in us what we cannot. They believe in us, and eventually we borrow their faith. Once day, we look into the mirror and acknowledge our beauty. All this takes time, and that’s what a novel gives us–time to consider how strength develops, the avenues it opens, and the power of friendship in this proceess.

Someone told me recently she enjoyed Dottie and Al’s mutual progress in believing they’re worthy of good things, worthy of second chances. Lately, I’ve been spending lots of time with another WWII heroine named Addie. She’s coming into her own a little more each day, coming to believe she has a voice she can employ on her own behalf.

The next step, of course, is using her voice to cheerlead others, and I think she’s almost there! I’ll let you know of her appearance during the next few months.

Posted on February 29, 2016 by Gail

Spring in the Arizona mountains comes six to eight weeks ahead of spring in the midwest. It’s hard to argue with getting to experience this wonderful, bright season twice. The elk gathered in our yard this morning, waiting for our wonderful World War II veteran neighbor to come out. He offers them grain and a couple of them have essentially become his pets.

Down the road, forsythia bushes burst into wild yellow blossoms.

Apple blossoms blend with decorative cherry-like flowers. Against a crystal blue sky and towering pines, these trees warm the heart after winter’s cold. (Granted, not as cold as winters north of Missouri, but this year’s storms dumped heavy snows here.)We shared pictures of that incredible beauty a month ago.

I clicked my camera over and over, hoping to get the perfect shot. (My husband would have!)

Underfoot, fuzzy spring-green mullien peeks through rocky soil. I just learned last week that mullien helps ear and respiratory health. A new friend here offers a wealth of information on various herbs.

All of this puts me in mind of time’s passage . . . spring, summer, winter, and fall. Infancy, childhood, youth, adulthood. Time keeps moving on until we begin counting decades rather than years.

This month, I’m working on a non-fiction manuscript I began writing back in 2010, my first extended time in Arizona’s beautiful high desert country. The main word in my “cartoon bubble” right now seems to be gratitude. I’m so grateful for sight, for health, for this quiet place. A lovely concept, gratitude. I liken a thankful attitude to gentleness enveloping my spirit and brightening my outlook on life.

Still Not Too Late

Posted on February 19, 2016 by Gail

Sometimes we surprise ourselves. For example, it’s been a few years since I trekked down, down, down to view the amazing Tonto Natural Bridge, about three miles from Pine, AZ. But on Wednesday, a new reader friend invited me to hike the trail.

And we did it, the two of us, with a limp here and a pant there. Definitely worth it, and the next day wasn’t all that bad. Just a few twinges in my leg muscles–nothing to compare with the joy of seeing such incredible natural beauty.

I titled this Not Too Late Yet instead of Never Too Late, because some day, it will be too late for this kind of adventure. Better keep at it while I can.

Everyday experiences and thoughts often take me to Dottie and Al, the main characters of my first published novel. They’re mid-life folks, not expecting much in the way of excitement to show up in their simple rural lives.

But something DOES show up, and it’s pretty exhilarating. New doorways open as they face the future. They surprise themselves, and that can only be a good thing.

Finding One’s Tribe

Posted on February 9, 2016 by Gail

Winter can be daunting. The cold, unproductive seasons of our lives can be, too. Perhaps these wild Iowa turkeys find comfort in facing the blizzardy February weather together.

My husband shot these photos near Osage, Iowa, during weeks of below-zero temperatures. He focused in on one bird in the next picture, and this fellow looks awfully lonely.

Last weekend, my husband also held the annual confirmation retreat–the weather cooperated this time. Take a look at these kids out sledding–nothing like racing down a freezing hill…together.

The beauty of it is, cold or no cold, life’s brighter with companionship. I see this in my writing world, too–we can get so involved with our characters, they seem more real than the REAL FOLKS, and discovering new friends online or meeting them in person makes a world of difference.

During this Valentine’s week, I’d love to hear how making a new acquaintance or a deepening friendship has brightened your day/week/year.