The National Cathedral

We’ve just returned from two weeks on the East Coast and all I can say is – wow!  In two weeks, we visited or drove through a total of nine states, spending most of our time in Vermont, Washington D.C, Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina.

We’ve faced 94-degree weather and thundershowers, long lines, heavy traffic, a chirping GPS, really good pizza, really cranky innkeepers (not ours, thankfully!), clam chowder, pomp, circumstance, and big giant robots.

And no, I’m not kidding about the big giant robots.

My favorite part?  Visiting the National Cathedral (above).  I took 174 photos there – and about 1,000 for the entire trip.

I think I’ll be sorting through photos for a while.

Also discovered this –

They know ice cream in North Carolina.

It’s the lovechild of the bowl and the waffle cone – the waffle bowl.  I love the idea.  Tricky to eat, but sometimes that’s the way conceptual art works.

The best news?  Simply Sara is done.  I know I said she was done before, at least I think I did.  But now she’s really done, going to print done, completed acknowledgements and final edits done.  I’m a little delighted.  And VERY excited thinking ahead to the next book – I’ll keep you posted on that!

So the big giant robots?  Well…I don’t have pictures.  They confiscated my camera at the BMW factory in Spartanburg, SC.  But they were big, and giant, and they threw sparks when they welded, and I won’t ever, ever forget them.

I did get this photo in the museum though –

A BMW airplane engine.

Thanks again for all of your entries for the Simpy Sara Baking Contest!  They were tons of fun to look through, and I absolutely love Rhonda’s winning recipe – I can’t wait for you to see how it works in the book!

That’s it for now – I think my sweet hubby’s woken up from his nap

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A: I write generation-next contemporary fiction. My books usually center on normal people learning to live, laugh, heal, and trying to understand the concept of God in a crazy world.

I’m married to a wonderful engineer who keeps me from losing my mind (when you write fiction, this is big). I have too many books. I love British humor, bright colors, German chocolate, crossword puzzles, lipstick, cupcakes, cherry blossoms, and notepads with magnets on the back.

Q: When did you first discover that you loved to write?

A: I don’t know that I ever had a particular moment of discovery–I’ve always written and told stories. My mom’s saved my earliest attempts. They were illustrated. Finding out that I was good at it–that was big. I was 14 or 15, and at my first writers’ conference. I showed my manuscript to author Bonnie Leon, who told me it was “publishable.” That put everything into a very different perspective. Writing wasn’t just that thing I did in my free time. It could be a career.

Q: What are some of your hobbies/interests?

A: I’m into a lot of things, but I think most writers are. I love making stuff–knitting, cooking, photography. I grew up in a very artsy family with a lot of music and a lot of art. While I grew up on strictly classical music (some jazz later on), I’ve really gotten into indie-pop in the last couple years. While researching for another book project years ago, I discovered a love for film. We also finally bought me a motorcycle helmet and jacket, so I’ve been riding with Danny lately. I do have my endorsement, so maybe soon I’ll start riding on my own again!

Q: What’s the best vacation you’ve ever taken? Or the dream vacation that you’d like to take?

A: Danny and I went to Banff after my brother’s wedding last year. It was amazing. I loved it. There were mountains enough to keep Danny happy, and there were hot showers (Okay, mostly. The water was kinda weird), good food, and cute shops enough to keep me happy.

My dream vacation is to take a month or two to tour Europe. The UK, France, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, and Greece–I want to see them, and I don’t want to be rushed! Maybe it will happen someday

Q: Tell us something funny or random about yourself that not everyone knows about you.

A: I really love llamas. They’re just funny looking. My husband and I honeymooned at Black Butte Ranch in Oregon, not far from Sisters. Well, Sisters has a bunch of llamas outside of a Best Western (I’m not sure what the story is on that). My sweet husband took me to see the llamas and stood back while I took pictures of them to my heart’s content. Link to the best shot: http://tinyurl.com/y9rkezu

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My uncle and cousin in North Carolina, reading the copies I sent for Christmas.

If you’d like a preview of Plain Jayne, click here.   The link will take you to the Harvest House site, where you can also find book group discussion questions.

Above, note my favorite picture of the book – I love their faces!  Believe me when I say the book really is funny.  And yes, those are dogs by my cousin (in case you were wondering).

Have a great day!

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I say “begun,” because different stores stock at different times.  It first showed up New Year’s Day at Wal-Mart; Borders says they’ll stock Friday (which is funny because most bookstores stock Tuesdays, but whatever.  I’m just the writer.)

It’s been fun hearing from people who have read the book.  So far, everyone’s enjoyed it, and anyone who hasn’t isn’t talking  But Publishers Weekly,  Booklist, and At Home with Christian Fiction have had kind things to say.

If you’re anywhere near the Portland area, mark your calendar for February 14th!  I’ll be at the Cedar Hills Crossing Powell’s at 2pm, signing books and chatting with readers.  Come join the party!

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When it comes to Thanksgiving, the Amish take a cue from the Pilgrims and fast.  The fasting begins after dinner the night before, and lasts until the big meal, usually served around noon.  The women prepare the meal during that time – no tasting allowed!  The fasting applies mainly to the baptized church members.  For children, the fasting is optional.

November is wedding season for the Amish, so sometimes Thanksgiving celebrations are rolled into wedding celebrations.  If there isn’t a wedding going on, families and friends will often gather to celebrate together.

Before eating, the Amish family gathers together in the morning for devotions and talks about what they’re thankful for.

A roasted turkey is often the centerpiece of the meal; rather than purchase frozen birds, many Amish raise their own or purchase them from neighbors.  They may also serve mashed potatoes, cooked vegetables, salads, breads, noodles, and pie.

After dinner, it’s not uncommon for the Amish to sing German hymns, taking time to give thanks to God through music. Remember that sung music is the one kind of music allowed by the Ordnung – there are no instruments in Amish homes or churches.

American Christmases are busy, and Amish Christmases can take just as much preparation.  Amish students will prepare recitations, a play, and songs to be performed on Christmas Eve.  Amish families may gather together to make their Christmas cards, to be given to friends and family.  Amish women will make cookies and candies.  Decorations, if any, are kept to a minimum.  There are no Christmas trees and no Santa Claus.  If there’s snow, though, Amish children may entertain themselves by making snowmen.

Celebrations vary among Amish groups – some spend Christmas day in a more somber celebration, saving festivities for the day after.  Others exchange gifts on Christmas Day, returning to work and school on the 26th.  Either way, Christmas is still an exercise in simplicity.  Children know to only expect one gift from their parents, and gifts are often homemade.

An Amish New Years Eve is marked with a church service, hymn-singing, and a pot-luck.

One tradition I discovered was Old Christmas, celebrated on January 6th, a date traditionally also known as Epiphany.  Businesses will close on this day, and families will celebrate with food an visiting, much like Christmas Day but without the gifts.

Oh – and it should go without saying that the Amish don’t do Halloween.

How do you and your family celebrate Christmas?  I have to say, the day is not coming when I hand-make each and every Christmas card.  We sent out postcards of a beautiful snow photo I took last year, but that’s as crafty as it’s going to get in this household.  I also enjoy a good cookie swap, as well as getting in the car, putting on Christmas music, and looking at Christmas lights.  Last Christmas was pretty stressful, not just because of the tree.  I’m looking forward to a do-over this year.  What are you looking forward to?

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When my editor and I discussed the idea of the putting the chapter in a few months ago, I kind of panicked. The thought of having the chapter done and ready in any time frame was too much to think of after working so hard to bring Jayne to completion.

But when it came up again a few weeks ago, I bravely promised to have it churned out in a few days. When I started working on it, though, I realized I had a problem – the first chapter of a book isn’t the sort of thing you want to rush through!

Not only do you have to set up the premise of the entire book, but you want to make it fun and interesting and preferably well-written. After an additional couple days (I have a gracious editor), I was very pleased with the results.

I have to admit that a part of me sees clever writing as an un-renewable resource. Whenever I start a new project, I fear that this is the one where I realize I’ve used all the good words, the best jokes, the vivid characters, and there’s nothing left…

…until I come up with a really good idea, followed by another idea, and oh, wasn’t that a funny line? And I’m back to normal. The best part is, writers like Anne Lamott feel the same way (I found her Bird By Bird to be very reassuring). We’re all a little odd, a little fearful. I suppose that’s what happens when your job is to write down the voices in your head.

In other, less philosophical news, I made really yummy scones yesterday. We’re surrounded by blackberry bushes in our neck of the Pacific Northwest woods, so this is the time of the year when you see people wandering around filling various containers with free berries.

My husband and I went blackberry picking last weekend. Danny’s the best person to pick with because he’s even taller than I am, has very long arms, and doesn’t like blackberries, so he’s not eating and picking at the same time. We gathered about 10 cups of berries.

After two batches of cobbler, I decided to get a little creative.   I used this recipe and altered it for my purposes. I omitted about 1/4 c. sugar and the raisins (blech!) and added the zest of 2 1/2 lemons (basically, the amount of lemons I had on hand), 1 c. blackberries. When they cooled, I gave them a thin coat of lemony icing, using fresh lemon juice and powdered sugar (no particular amounts here, just start with the sugar and add lemon juice until it’s where you want it).

I worried about the dough because you’re not supposed to over-handle it, but it was so loosey-goosey I kind of had to manhandle it into submission, and getting the blackberries in took some work. I worried I’d made them too tough, but they came out perfectly. One note – I froze my blackberries so they’d keep their shape when I worked with them. Realize you’ll have to bake scones longer if you insert frozen berries into them (I didn’t, and had to keep putting them back in the oven).

If you live in a part of the country that’s lousy with raspberries, they would certainly work well too. Blueberries would be fine, but blackberries and raspberries are a bit juicier for this sort of thing.

If you try the recipe, let me know what you think!

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Hopefully we’ll get it posted here soon…you really should see it, it looks great! I’m so excited for everyone to get a chance to read this book. I like to think that books are like babies (note: I don’t have babies yet, but I have many friends who do), and it seems like there’s a point where you just want to show everyone your beautiful baby. I pretty much feel that way about the book – and will even more so once it’s entirely edited!

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While I’m excited to have started the next book, a part of me is still exhausted from finishing Plain Jayne. Writing a book is hard work! I think too often people envision writing as a kind of thoughtful communion with the inner storyteller, a time when the writer gets to sit outside with his/her laptop and let the story unfold itself as spring breezes play at the ends of his/her hair. That’s all complete rubbish. First, laptop screens are invariably tricky to view outside. Second, spring breezes in this part of the world are often paired with outright downpour, and Third, very few stories unfold without a fight. They take immense amounts of thought, planning, and all-out work. If writers only wrote when they felt like it, we wouldn’t do it with the kind of regularity our editors might prefer. You know, to finish things on time.

The upside is that the beginning of a book is my favorite part. I’m already excited about some of the characters, and the fact that much of the book takes place in a bookstore. I love bookstores!

Exciting news – I’ll be teaching a class at the February Oregon Christian Writers’ Conference! If you’re a writer, or exploring the idea of being a writer, and live within reasonable driving distance of Salem, Oregon, it’s certainly worth the trip! I got to attend the Spring Conference here in Eugene a few weeks ago, and had a wonderful time. As registration approaches for the February conference, I’ll be sure to post a link. The class I’m teaching is about creating an ensemble cast for novels. I already have a Word document full of notes. The other happy thing is that Plain Jayne will have been released by then, so I will be bringing books to sell and sign.

If you’re a contented reader but not a writer, no worries, I’ll have other book events around that time.

Until then, happy reading!

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Next, I’ll be editing the manuscript.  I had a friend ask me why I was editing – isn’t that my editor’s job?  The answer is that a draft is just that.  I like to go through myself and get the book the way I want it before passing it on.  Even before I finished, there were several things I knew I needed to tweak before handing it in – it’s just part of the process.   My mom also checks for grammatical and continuity errors, so that a fresh pair of eyes (with an English degree) can point out things I would have missed.

In other news, we have an official title for the next book – Simply Sara!  

Looking forward to doing the research for Simply Sara. After researching Plain Jayne, I made the decision as a writer that I wanted to learn something new for every book.  For Plain Jayne, that meant learning to ride a motorcycle.  For Simply Sara, I want to learn to sew.  I tried last spring, with mixed results.  Mixed, largely because I tend to get ambitious when it comes to textiles.  When I knit, I can rip things out when they don’t work.  Sewing – it’s a bit more complicated.

So – for the rest of the month, I have a LOT of editing to do!  So far I’m on Chapter 4 of 38.  I thought I might try to get out of the house to edit today, but it’s Monday, and Monday means laundry.  Speaking of, I need to do a load of darks before getting back to the draft.  Will update more later!

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And I’m one of lucky ones, because the answer is yes.  Most writers need a day job to stay fed.  I am blessed to have a patron of the arts, which means I get to write full-time.  My hat goes off to anyone pulling double duty, because writing fiction can be very mentally taxing!

A lot of people ask if Plain Jayne is my first book; it’s not, but it is my first book to be released.  I wrote a novel about artists and musicians and hippies in Eugene.  While it’s not published, it did open doors for me to do Plain Jayne and its follow-up novel (of indeterminate title) for Harvest House.

Here are some other things people ask –

So, did you go to Pennsylvania to research the Amish?

No, because I had a $20 budget at the time.  But I have a journalism degree, which taught me (among other things) how to research.  I spent a month learning everything I could about the Amish.  I checked out a ton of books and films from the library.  For the first month, I panicked over getting every detail correct in the community I’d created.  That’s tricky, because there are a lot of different ways to be Amish, just as Christians have multiple denominations.  By the time I learned that there are 1,400 different ways to be Amish…I relaxed.

A couple months later, I did have the opportunity to visit an Amish store and an Amish woodshop in North Carolina.  You can read that trip here. 

Do you have a laptop you can take to coffee shops?

I do have a laptop, but I don’t do the coffee shop things very often.  I’m easily distracted, and it’s easier to stay home, where I know where all the power outlets are.  Some days I don’t leave the house at all.

Are you afraid to read other people’s books when you’re writing?

Not at all!  I read constantly, all sorts of fiction.  Reading other people’s words helps me to launch my own.  Not that I’m stealing passages or concepts, but sometimes I’ll read a word and think, “that’s a great word, I should use that,” or contrast how the character in the book is feeling/responding versus how my character is responding.  It can be a springboard, or just a nudge to remind me to do my own work.  Consider that journalists read magazines and newspapers, doctors read medical journals, and businessmen read the Wall Street Journal and Business Week.  Fiction writers get to read fiction.  I think we get the best end of the deal.

Do you work normal business hours?

Ha ha.  No.  I work 6-7 days a week, generally in the afternoons and evenings.  If I take more than two days off, it’s much harder to get going again.

Speaking of getting going, I need to get back to my chapter.  The very last chapter – which means I need to figure out how we’re going to celebrate!

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