Home Again!

What a wonderful weekend! I made a quick trip to my husband's hometown, and mine for a short period of time, to visit family and participate in the local "Turtle Days" and All School reunion in Turtle Lake, North Dakota. This year they featured local authors, so I took my little box of "Sometimes God Whispers" and set up shop for part of a day.

Talk about a trip down memory lane! I saw people I hadn't seen in 60 years. Schoolmates, neighbors, old friends, and I made some new acquaintances. I was so blessed to have them all come, and even though I may not have had a chance for a long visit, I appreciated what I had.

Memories are such wonderful things as we age. It is lovely to reminisce about the old days. I won't say the "good" old days because in many ways they weren't that great. Time seems to have the same effect as polish on tarnished silver, it makes everything brighter and sometimes even beautiful.

And sometimes those memories become fodder for new projects in the next portion of life. Those winters I like to froze to death feeding wood to a pot-bellied stove have become experiences that entertain others in stories. All those baths in a washtub, or mountains of wood that I split..........they are all in there.

Some have asked how much research I did for my book and the truth is very little. I made sure that I didn't have any glitches with things such as making sure the hymns had been written at the time, checked on steam ship travel for immigrants, but most importantly I tried to keep out modern day language and clichés.

Many want to know how to write a book. I wish I could tell you. I would gladly share... but I can't. I don't have a plan or an outline. I don't even have a vivid imagination. But I am curious about everything. I am a sensory person. I have touch, taste, see, hear, smell things. In other words, experience life. But as for actually writing, I never know where my fingers will take me when I sit down at the keyboard. They quite literally take on a life of their own and walk me across the page. I can't teach that to anyone.

It's the same with people. Every character has to come from somewhere. Occasionally more than one person from my past comprises a character. And I am fortunate to have moved all over the west (38 times) so I have so many acquaintances to call on for that.

Many of you asked about a second book. The sequel to "Sometimes God Whispers" is going through its editing stage right now. I hope to have it available by around the first of October. The title isn't set in cement yet. Finding something that isn't already taken and that expresses the soul of the book is difficult. Inge's adventures will continue as she struggles with her faith and life in general. Ideas for a third are forming in my thoughts. But I won't know where that goes until I sit down and let God guide my fingers over the keys.

So those of you who live in the area, take a drive west of Washburn. You may find things that have a familiar feel to them. I did that very thing when I was there. Unfortunately, many things are not the same as I remember them, but the general landscape remains. I took pictures. You may find one of them on the cover for book two. One of my fonder memories is riding on the "Sioux" to cross the mighty Missouri in the summertime. The other alternative was a road on the ice marked by Christmas trees.

The Sioux now in dry dock.

All my thanks to all of you who drove a distance to come to the book signing. Loved seeing you and I genuinely appreciate your purchases in support of my little "hobby".