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Goodbye, Sweet Reba
“Dogs die. But dogs live, too. Right up until they die, they live. They live brave, beautiful lives. They protect their families. And love us. And make our lives a little brighter. And they don’t...
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What’s Not to Love about a Book Club?
Books are something social – a writer speaking to a reader – so I think making the reading of a book the center of a social event, the meeting of a book club, is a brilliant idea. ~Yann Martel Are you...
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1st Sunday Devotional – Cows Know
Spring means grass growing and flowers blooming as winter backs away to await its turn in December. Many say spring is their favorite season of the year because of the way our natural world shakes off...
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Tree of Life Shaker Art History
Every Wednesday on my Facebook author page, I do a Shaker Wednesday where I share a little Shaker history from some of the resource books I used when I was writing my Shaker novels. Earlier I had...
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Happy Mother’s Day Week
Happy Mother’s Day to all of you. I’m a day late but then lately I seem to be at least a day late on most everything. The weekend was busy with a visit to the garden center to buy some new plants. Now...
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Locust Winter Will Give Way to An Appalachian Summer
In Kentucky we usually have several cold snaps before spring finally comes to stay. So we call them winters. Redbud winter. Dogwood winter. Locust winter. Blackberry winter. The names come from...
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“Do You Have a Favorite Book?”
When I give a book talk, I like the question and answer part the best. One of the questions I’m often asked is “What is your favorite book?” I always tell whoever asked what a hard question that is...
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Special Delivery – One Kitten
Wikimedia Creative Commons I’m working hard to try to finish my new book. It’s been a struggle on some of the writing days. It’s not that I haven’t had time for writing what with the shelter in place...
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Everything You Never Knew You Wanted to Know about Spittlebugs
Have you ever seen a spot like this on one of your plants or maybe in your yard where it looks as though somebody spit on your plant and it stuck? I spotted this bit of spittle on a plant while I was...
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A First Line Invites You into a Story
Writers write stories they want readers to read. This is certainly true for this writer. I sometimes say that a book takes two to truly come to life. The writer who spills the story out onto the...
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Sunday Devotional – Nature’s Resiliency
In ecology, resilience is defined as the capacity of an ecosystem to respond to a disturbance by resisting damage and recovering quickly. Here in Kentucky this year, we had a beautiful early spring in...
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Every Story Must Have an Ending
“A sunset is nothing more and nothing less than the backside of a sunrise.” ~Craig D. Lounsbrough What a neat thought about sunsets and so true. When the sun is setting for me, it’s rising for someone...
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Hanging Clothes Out to Dry
I’m still working hard to trim my new novel down to size and so I’m sharing some smiles tonight. This was a pass-around on social media a few years ago that I happened to save. I’ve hung out many...
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Birthday Blessings and Fun
Eventually you reach a point when you stop lying about your age and start bragging about it. Will Rogers My husband’s birthday is today. He’s clocked a few years and hopes to add on more. Not too...
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Counting Down Until Release Day
Only ten days until release day for my new mountain story, An Appalachian Summer. A new book being out for readers is always an exciting time. Seems many of my books have had a summer release date....
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My Dad’s Cross Country Adventure
“Dads are most ordinary men turned by love into heroes, adventurers, storytellers and singers of song.” ~Unknown Happy Father’s Day to all of you – those who are dads and those of us who have dads....
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The Best Dad Ever
June 1965 Jocie Brooke here reporting from Hollyhill. It’s been a while since I’ve had time to do any extra reporting. Oh, I’ve still been helping Dad with stories in the paper. Nothing too exciting....
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Puppy Fun – Then and Now
“Whoever said you can’t buy happiness forgot little puppies.” – Gene Hill “A dog may be man’s best friend, but a child’s best friend is a puppy.” – Unknown “Happiness is a warm...
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A Giveaway to Celebrate Release Week for An Appalachian Summer
Some couriers on their way to Wendover perhaps. :Photo Courtesy of Frontier Nursing University Archives. Tuesday is release day for An Appalachian Summer. Already books have gone out to some reviewers...
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A Mystery Photo Along with a Reading Challenge
Mystery Photo 1 What a week so far! An Appalachian Summer officially released yesterday, June 30th. As I said in my last post, it is always, always fun having a new book out for readers. Then it can be...
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