Month: January 2009

Spend the Weekend With Elaine Levine

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rachelandthehiredgunThis weekend we have special guest Miss Elaine Levine and we’d like you all to help us give her a big ol’ Junction welcome!

Miss Elaine is a talented writer who shares a love for western romance, our most favorite subject and that’s no joke. She’ll be talking about the things that make her feel at home in the West. She’ll also tell you about her book and you won’t even have to twist her arm!

The dear lady has come toting prizes too. All you have to do is leave a comment and you’ll be in the drawing. Who knows, you might even win!

So come and sit a spell with us. You won’t be sorry, I guarantee!

Story Ideas ~ Imagination Mining and Lightening Strikes

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Every writer’s process is different for developing stories. Personally, I can’t just sit down and write a story.  I have to see it, hear it…the characters have to talk to me, compel me to want to learn more about them, to care about them.  In November I began to embark on writing a new western series…well…almost.  I began to think about writing a new series. This is the first time I have finished a book and didn’t have another already in the works. I was starting with a blank page and this vague idea to write a BookGrowseries based on the founding and development of a western boomtown. But where, who, and what historical element could I tap into? Too many options can be a mind-boggling thing!  I went on a research book-buying spree and poured over books about pioneer doctors, pioneer teachers, mail-order brides, western madams, desperados, railroads and ranchers–in a sense I was mining for characters, sparks of inspiration to help me form a community. I read countless intriguing tales, and yet, nothing really called to me, no voices or faces of new characters formed in my mind. I’m not one to take notes (I’d only lose them), either something takes hold in my mind or it doesn’t. I needed a series title, character names. For me, these are cornerstones I use to build a visual foundation and a connection to my story.

It wasn’t until I’d gone to Borders to find a World War II book for one of my boys that I happened across GREAT MAPS OF THE CIVIL WAR—not just a map book, but one with a pocket on each page containing a map of a major battle, and on the pages were accounts and information about the cartographers who drew those maps. I had never realized what a huge part these map makers played in the war or the danger they faced. Cartographers on both sides risked their lives to survey battle grounds where opposing troops patrolled and capturing the others maps was a prized advantage. I was mesmerized for days and began to see an image of a hero, a scarred and callous Civil War veteran and skilled cartographer who’s life now has no direction (much like my writing at this point!).  One tidbit of information that had stuck out in my mind from earlier readings about post Civil War was the movement of the railroad and their campaigns to lay routes into the mining territories of Colorado, Wyoming and Montana. Since I’ve already written a series in Wyoming, minerthe other two states were at the top of my list for possible locations. This newly forming hero was the perfect candidate for a railroad surveyor team to travel  into the western frontier for possible railroad routes. 

 

I still had no heroine, no set location, no burning drive to lead this team in one direction or another. All through November and December as I shopped and worked on my house I chipped away at the hardpan of my brain, trying to find the vein of my story.  As of last week I was still waffling between Colorado and Montana…did the heroine meet up with the men on the trail or was she already in a mining community–was she a widow, a virgin, a spitfire with a grudge against the railroad? What was the significance of their first encounter? Nothing would stand out and sing to me. I needed a bolt of lightening!! Just one strong jolt to charge this story and bring my characters to life!

 

This past Monday my boys went back to school and as I drove home in the blessed silence, I heard it, this soft whisper in my mind…Copper Canyon.  I don’t know lighteningwhere those particular words came from—perhaps the copper faucets I’ve been trying to decide on for the new kitchen (still haven’t moved home), but this moment was the lightening strike I’d been waiting for, the charge of inspiration to breath life into these characters who’d been bumping around in my mind, waiting to be grounded. I got home and Googled Copper and Montana. Wouldn’t you know, Montana had the world’s largest copper mine, first discovered in the early 1870’s–the major vein wasn’t tapped into until the 1890’s–the early claims were just enough to start small booms–Eureka!!!!!

 

After two months of mining and chiseling out vague impressions of character story arcs my Copper Canyon Series has life!  In the past few days I’ve been fleshing out the characters and storyline which has been unfolding in my mind with bold color. This is a picture I sent to my editor with the suggestion for the series title…the working series title, which could change–as they usually do 😉 

 

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This is where I’ll be for the next few months, and the months after that as I dig into the second book in the series–which is already coming along nicely–strange how a single spark can make such a huge difference.

 

Here’s wishing lots of lightening strikes for all y’all!  Anyone else’s new year starting off with a bang?  I hit a bit of a bump on Tuesday when I got a speeding ticket after dropping off my boys *ggg* My resolution was to find balance in ’09, so I guess that balanced out my excitement from Monday–I guess I need balance and Cruise Control  😉

 

My upcoming June Anthology STETSONS, SPRING AND WEDDING RINGS, with authors Jillian Hart and Judith Stacy, is already up for Pre-order on Amazon! 

Letter Writing: The Lost Art

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letterI’ll bet you didn’t know that the second week of January is Universal Letter Writing Week.  Sadly, letter writing is a lost art.  When I was young I had two pen pals, one in Japan and the other in Missouri.  I often exchanged letters with my cousins.  I still remember the excitement of seeing those envelopes with the postmarks and opening the stationary to recognize familiar handwriting.

How many of you have letters tucked away for safekeeping?  Love notes from your husband or the letters your grandfather or father wrote to your grandmother or mother during the war?  Letters your child penned when she was just learning to write cursive?  I have letters my grandmother wrote to me during the last years of her life, and I treasure them.

 

Who will have one of your letters to cherish?  Do you think you could take time between now and next week to write a letter or two?

Here are some ideas:

 

– Write a letter to your son (or daughter), letting him know what wonderful memories you have of him growing up.

 

– Write a letter to your grandchild and tell him how you felt the first time you saw him or held him in your arms.  Tell him how proud you are of his accomplishments in school or band or on the soccer field. 

 

letters2– Write a letter of appreciation to your chiropractor or other doctor, thanking him for a better quality of life.  Also send one to the person who recommended the doctor to you.

 

– Write a letter to a friend who has done something special for you or who always makes you feel special and appreciated.

 

– Write a letter to an author whose books have given you many hours of reading pleasure.  (I can’t stress enough how dear these letters are!)

 

– Write a letter to your child’s teacher, letting her know how much you appreciate her thoughtfulness and concern for your child.

 

letter3– If you have a living parent, write a letter, reminiscing about a time when that person made you feel loved or took the time to teach you how to do something.

 

A friendly or personal letter normally has five parts.

 

First is the HEADING, if you want to include your address or if you have printed stationary.  Don’t worry about a heading this week, since the point is to write with your own hand and not have it look like a business letter or an email!  Do include the date at the top, so the recipient can look at it years from now without having to wonder.

 

Your GREETING, which is something like, Dear Mom, Hi Kelly, or My Sweet Daughter will end with a comma.  Skip a line.

 

The BODY of your letter is the main text, which you will divide into indented paragraphs.  Our purpose is to get our message across, not to be perfect or impress anyone, so keep your words natural and heartfelt.  Skip a line or two after the body before you sign your name,

 

The COMPLIMENTARY CLOSE comes next.  For a teacher or doctor, you can use In appreciation, or With warm regards.  For a family member or close friend you’ll want to say All my love, simply Love, or perhaps Thinking of you.  Follow it with a comma.  Skip three spaces before your signature.

 

letters4Your SIGNATURE is your first or first and last name, depending of course on your relationship to the recipient.

 

If you think of something you want to add once you’ve finished, skip a line and add a postscript.  Begin it with P.S. and end it with your initials.

 

For inspiration, here are a few quotes from the letters of  Jane Austin:

“I do not want people to be very agreeable, as it saves me the trouble of liking them a great deal.”     — letter of December 24, 1798

 [To her sister Cassandra, on the birth of a son to one of their sisters-in-law:]
“I give you joy of our new nephew, and hope if he ever comes to be hanged it will not be till we are too old to care about it.”      — letter of April 25, 1811

[On another of their nephews, then about three years old:]
“I shall think with tenderness and delight on his beautiful and smiling countenance and interesting manner, until a few years have turned him into an ungovernable, ungracious fellow.”     — letter of October 27 1798

“Next week [I] shall begin my operations on my hat, on which you know my principal hopes of happiness depend.”      — letter of October 27 1798

“I could no more write a [historical] romance than an epic poem. I could not sit seriously down to write a serious romance under any other motive than to save my life; and if it were indispensable for me to keep it up and never relax into laughing at myself or other people, I am sure I should be hung before I had finished the first chapter.”     — letter of April 1st 1816

“I have read [Byron’s] The Corsair, mended my petticoat, and have nothing else to do.”     — letter of March 5, 1814

letter5[On the appearance of a second printing of Sense and Sensibility:]
“Since I wrote last, my 2nd edit. has stared me in the face. […] I cannot help hoping that many will feel themselves obliged to buy it. I shall not mind imagining it a disagreeable duty to them, so as they do it.”     — letter of November 6th 1813

“You know how interesting the purchase of a sponge-cake is to me.”     — letter of June 15, 1808

[On buying a “sprig” for her sister’s hat:] “I cannot help thinking that it is more natural to have flowers grow out of the head than fruit. What do you think on that subject?”     — letter of June 11 1799

“I learnt from Mrs. Tickars’s young lady, to my high amusement, that the stays [corsets] now are not made to force the bosom up at all; that was a very unbecoming, unnatural fashion.”      — letter of September 15 1813

“You deserve a longer letter than this; but it is my unhappy fate seldom to treat people so well as they deserve.”     — letter December 24 1798

“I shall not tell you anything more of Wm. Digweed’s china, as your silence on the subject makes you unworthy of it.”     — letter of December 27, 1808

“I will not say that your mulberry-trees are dead, but I am afraid they are not alive.”      — letter of May 31 1811

“Expect a most agreeable letter, for not being overburdened with subject (having nothing at all to say), I shall have no check to my genius from beginning to end.”      — letter of January 21 1801

cheryl_stjohn_logo.jpgNow, your letter certainly doesn’t have to compare to those of Jane Austin!  On the contrary. Your friend or doctor would wonder what had come over you.

Do you have someone in mind who deserves a note of thanks or appreciation?  Do you think you can pull yourself into the mood in time to mail your letter for Universal Letter Writing Week in a few days?  Someone will be glad you did.

Welcome Elaine Levine on Saturday

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rachelandthehiredgunHello Darlings,

My, my, my! Miss Elaine Levine will be arriving on the stage for her Saturday get-together here in Wildflower Junction. The Fillies hope you all turn out in droves for this dear lady.

Miss Elaine will talk about the things that make her feel at home in the West. An interesting subject.  Ah’m sure you have oodles in common with her. She’ll also share tidbits about this and that. Who knows where the conversation will lead!

And she’ll be giving away some prizes too. Come by and leave a comment and you’ll get your name  in a drawing. We’ll have a rip-roaring good time. You don’t want to miss it.

So saddle up your horse and ride on over, you hear!

Charles Dickens and the American West

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On the heels of the holiday season, writing about Charles Dickens seems appropriate, since he is a man who epitomizes Christmas with his well-known story, THE CHRISTMAS CAROL. 

He made his first visit to the United States in 1842 when he was barely 30 years old.  Bringing his wife and her maid and some very staunch opinions–not all of them flattering–of how Americans lived their lives, he soon immersed himself in a tightly-scheduled reading and lecture tour.   He was already famous throughout the world for OLIVER TWIST and THE PICKWICK PAPERS, though his novella A CHRISTMAS CAROL wouldn’t be published until the next year.

His work reflected his own oppressive childhood and vividly described England’s povery and injustices.  It’s little wonder that he despised slavery, a practice that flourished in America at the time, and used his influence at the pulpit and his avid audiences to denounce human bondage.

He also expostulated on how Americans pirated his books (and other European writers, too) by paying nothing to the authors, calling it a ‘monstrous injustice’.  Hmmm.  Something we authors struggle with even today.

Still, his audiences idolized him, and the press treated him like royalty.  President John Tyler invited him to a reception at the White House and was rewarded with 2,000 Dickens’ fans who hovered on his every move, “like hounds, horses and riders in pursuit of a fox.”  One newspaper likened it  to “throwing corn to hungry chickens.”

His tour took in major cities like New York, Boston, Philadelphia and Richmond, but eventually, the enthusiastic audiences began to wane.  As did the author’s impression of America when he left the Atlantic seaboard and took a stagecoach from Kentucky to Illinois, then a riverboat across the steamboatMississippi to St. Louis.

He described St. Louis as “a dismal swamp upon which half-built houses rot away,” stunted trees, unwholesome vegetation, where there are “no bird songs, no pleasant scents,” and only “the changeless glare of the hot, unwinking sky.” 

His criticism didn’t stop there.   He went on to describe those who lived along the Mississippi banks as “wretched wanderers, destined to “droop and die”, and lay their bones in the “ugly sepulcher of the hateful Mississippi, a slimy monster hideous to behold . . . running liquid mud six miles an hour.”

Well.  He certainly didn’t mince words, did he?

After returning home, he wrote of his experiences in depressing detail and prospered by them, and it was another 25 years later before he came back to twainthe United States for his second visit.

By then, he was in poor health and did not travel west, preferring to stay along the Atlantic coast.  Mark Twain took the time to attend one of his readings and described his performance as “rather monotonous . . . there is no heart, no feeling in it–it is glittering frostwork.”

Even so, Dickens scheduled 76 readings in five months and took home a $100,000 fortune.  Not too shabby.

Have you ever gone somewhere, only to leave disappointed?  Or mad?

Now that Christmas is over, was the experience happy?  All you hoped and planned for it to be?

What was the worst Christmas gift you’ve ever received?

I’ll start  by telling about a trip that ended up being a real dud.  Several years ago, Doug and I went to Cape Cod for our 30th wedding anniversary.  Both of us timed our trip verrry carefully to coincide with the fall foliage.  Everyone we talked to said the colors should be gorgeous, and I was so excited.  I’d never seen the Atlantic or travelled so far east.

We drove down from Boston, but all we saw was green.  And gray clouds.  And lots of rain.  TONS of rain.  We stayed in Hyannis of Kennedy fame, and that part of it was neat.  But our trips to the beach were cold and windy, and I have a picture of me on the National Beach hanging onto an umbrella with both hands because the wind and rain were blowing so hard.

sigh . . . we never saw a single colored leaf.  The locals explained it was because there’d been so much rain.  We stayed 4 days and never once saw the sun.  To make the trip even more miserable, our flight out of Boston was delayed until the next day, and we were forced to spend the night at the airport.  On horrible, creaking cots a few of the staff mustered up for us.

Honestly, Cape Cod is a wonderful place.  Just our luck we experienced the worst of it.

Share with us your stories!

What Our Contest Winners Have To Say …

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hoedown2019
 
I received the box today and OH MY STARS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Thank you thank you thank you.  My husband was like WOW — from the fan to the gift certificate (which I will use) to all the wonderful autograph books. It was like the box was never ending.  The book pin, book mark and cowboy boot key chain were are so cute.  Also I love the bookflats and bookmarks.
 
When you said Grand Prize Winner I felt like I just won the lottery!!!! What a way to start 2009!!!  Y
 
Love to all my favorite authors,
Danielle
 
I just want to let you know that the books and DVD arrived today.  I can’t find enough words to thank all of the Fillies.  I truly appreciate your generosity!  Now I have to figure out which book to read first. 🙂
Thank you again,
Susan

BE SURE TO CHECK BACK FOR OUR NEW CONTEST COMING SOON!

Wind Me Up And Turn Me Loose

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linda-sig.jpgSometimes I feel like I’m one of those windup dolls. In fact, just pretty often. I’m not one of those people who wake up raring to get at the world. Takes me a while to get going. I have a routine though and if I don’t follow it, I’m disjointed the rest of the day.

When I crawl out of bed, I stumble into the shower to wash the sleep out of my eyes and give me the jolt I need. A shower always helps to set the day to rights.

coffeeThen, it’s coffee time. A fresh, piping hot cup of coffee finishes the job the shower started at getting me going. The good old cup of java. Nothing fancy. The smell of ground coffee makes my taste buds sit up and take notice. I love my coffee and it doesn’t have to be Starbucks either although I do splurge on a cup from there occasionally. It’s a special treat.

But I also need my newspaper while I sip on my coffee.

newspapersI have to find out what’s happening and catch up on the news. I need to know the things that are taking place around me. And I don’t want to read it online. That seems really weird to me. No, I need the newspaper in my hand and be able to smell the ink. I read it all from start to finish, ending with working my puzzles. I do the Word Jumble first where you have to sort out the jumble of letters to form words that make sense. After that, I move to the crossword. I’ve even recently started working the Sudoku puzzle. And sometimes I do the Word Find. It depends on how much time I have to kill. Of course, if I’m in a hurry for some reason, I might skip the puzzles altogether. But I always read the newspaper articles. I want to be informed I guess.

crosswordOnce I get the newspaper out of the way, I eat breakfast and then move to the computer.

I might start writing first or I might check email before I get into writing. After an hour or two of working on my story in progress (it depends on how deep I get into it; if I get deeply into it and the words flow, I keep typing away) I go to Petticoats and Pistols to read the post for the day and leave a comment.

That’s my routine for mornings.

Like I said, if something happens to disrupt my ritual, my day gets off to a rocky start. I think we’re all creatures of habit. We draw comfort in having a set schedule. We want to have our day lined up like so many dominos and knock them down one by one. That gives us a sense of accomplishment, no matter how the day ends.

The holidays really got my routine out of whack. Nothing like a houseful of company to get off kilter. But that’s behind me now and I’m relishing my old routine that fits like a pair of comfortable jeans.

How about you? Do you have a set routine that you follow every day? If so, I’d love to hear about it. Or even if you don’t.

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The Greatest Gift

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pat2.jpgMy mother received one of the best Christmas presents ever, and I wanted to share it with you.She’s 98, soon to be 99 (yes, I have very good genes) and she currently lives in an excellent nursing home (at least as good as one can be). She can still read.   Although she has some short term memory loss her mind is still good.  It’s the body that’s failing. The knees are gone (both), and she cannot stand on her own, not even for a second. Her hearing is really bad. She has difficult turning over in bed because of lack of strength in her legs and in her right arm.She hates being so helpless but reading gives her an escape. We joined the Doubleday Big Print Club and Readers Digest Big Print program, so she usually has plenty of reading material.

So what to give her for Christmas?

My family came up with the electronic photo frame. I researched portable frames and bought one. Others installed family photos –some dating back to 1916 — which was no small task. Mom marveled at the way the photos continued to flip, but it didn’t compare to the last gift.

My niece bought a DVD player. Fine, I thought, as Mom unwrapped it. She can’t really keep up with movies – the speech is usually too fast for her earing aids to follow – but I thought she should be able to enjoy musicals. But then my nephew produced a DVD, a “conversation” with Mom and Dad he filmed ten years ago in my parent’s living room. He and his wife asked questions, then let Mom and Dad reminisce. The topics ranged from Dad’s childhood years in Arizona to Mother’s in Minnesota and North Dakota. They talked about meeting each other, their marriage, trips they’d taken and their families, past and present. The conversation lasted about three hours.

Dad died about five years ago. He was 93 (I said I had great genes), and Mom misses him greatly. Their’s was a great love story and seventy-year marriage. She has missed him greatly. They were seldom apart during their marriage.

Mom had never seen the DVD. Neither had I. We played it, and she sat in her wheelchair with the first real smile I had seen in years. It was as if she was back there, sitting in her comfortable chair and Dad in his, chatting. She loved every second of it, and wanted to see it again. I imagine she will watch it a lot in the coming weeks and months.

It was a gift to me as well. He returned for a few hours. He and his comforting presence, his smile, his wit and his stories of his childhood and romance with my mom.

Something so simple. Something that cost nothing but a few hours of time. But it was priceless to her. It brought Dad back into her life and rekindled wonderful memories. My great nieces and nephews were equally as enraptured as they watched Dad talk about his experiences in Arizona in 1913, particularly when, at two, he played with a rattlesnake.

I wanted to mention it here because some of you might have aging parents you might like to “interview” on video. Or maybe you and your family would like to record yourself and pass on bits and pieces about family history and funny stores and adventures that might otherwise be forgotten.

Most of us here are history addicts, but in our busy lives we don’t often think that a century from now, our descendants will be as hungry to know about us as we are about our ancestors. What better gift can we give our children and grandchildren and great grandchildren than a piece of us and a glimpse of our particular time in history.

We prize our technology and can’t – at least I can’t –even imagine what a hundred years will bring. I remember the old black and white Philco television set that gave me Roy Rogers, and I wonder what miracles await our succeeding generations. It’s nice to think that they will also have a personal piece of the past.

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To greet 2009, I’m passing on some terrific quotes for the new year. They all have great meaning to me, and I hope they do to you. Add some of your own.

“If You obey all the rules, you miss all the fun.” – Katherine Hepburn

“The best and most beautiful things in this world cannot be seen or even heard, but must be felt with the heart.” – Helen Keller

“A true friend stands by your side in the storm and reminds you that there are sweet and sunny days to come.” – Kathryn T. Shaw

“Life is not measured by the number of breaths you take, but by the number of moments that take your breath away.” – Author Unknown

“Two roads diverged in a yellow wood and I, I took the one less traveled by and that has made all the difference.” – Robert Frost

“Give thanks for unknown blessings already on their way.” ” – Native American Saying.

“Do not wish to be anything but what you are, and try to be that perfectly.” – Zen Saying

“Ah, how good it feels: the hand of an old friend.” – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

 

Linda Ford’s Winner

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hats-in-the-airWoo-Hoo!

We’ve thrown all the hats up in the air and picked a winner of Linda Ford’s A Path to Her Heart.

It’s………..

Martha E.

Congratulations, Martha! We’re thrilled for you.

Please contact me at lindabroday@live.com and give me your mailing address so I can forward it to Linda Ford. She’ll get  the book in the mail to you.

Thanks to everyone who stopped by to leave a comment. It was a great weekend and you helped make it so.

Come back tomorrow for Pat Potter’s regular blog and I’ll see you on Tuesday.

Take care now!

Finding the Story–with Linda Ford

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I am fascinated to hear how authors get the idea for a particular story. I can never quite remember how it all started. Usually the seminal idea is a little flash or a scene, one that often doesn’t make it into the book but gives me a feel for the story. For instance I wrote a book Unchained Hearts (Heartsong Presents #268)  (Also available in the recollection Alberta Brides)  that began in my mind as a dream where I saw this scarred, withdrawn man hiding in a cave with a pretty young woman. She is trying to console him as he sits huddled in the opening of the cave looking out at something that fills them with trepidation. So I had to figure out this story and write it.

It’s one of the few I can remember WHY I started writing it.

Except for my Jan. Love Inspired Historical release. I had a contract for 3 books set in the Depression Era. I had only written one (The Road to Love). I came up with the second, The Journey Home. But I was near the end of the second story and still had no idea for the third when Emma walked on to the final pages of The Journey Home as Charlotte’s new friend and bridesmaid. This is what it says in my book, “Emma had joined the hospital staff during the summer, and she and Charlotte soon became fast friends. Emma, practical to the core, seldom bothered to dress up. She usually kept her thick blond hair in a tight bun, as suited a nurse, she insisted when Charlotte tried to talk her into letting I hang loose. But Emma had allowed Charlotte to have her way for the wedding and her hair hung in shimmering waves halfway down her back.”

So I had my heroine. Now I needed a hero and into my computer leapt Boothe Wallace, a widower who is running from his life back east. Not for his own sake but because of his little son, Jessie. I immediately knew why because both my husband and myself have relatives who were born in the Depression and taken by friends because of economic circumstances. In both cases, the parents were powerless to prevent it as the courts considered such things as how many children the biological family had as opposed to the family wanting to adopt the child. As well, they considered the fact that the adoptive family was better off financially. This happened far too often and left permanent scars in the child and the family who lost their child. But it seemed a natural fit for my story.

I needed something to happen to Boothe’s wife that would make him resent the medical profession. About that time I was visiting my daughter and son-in-law (who is a doctor) and we talked about medical mistakes in the 30s. While I was visiting, he received a medical journal that mentioned the history of quinine—guess what? The drug was used widely in the 30’s and caused death in certain cases. (I love synchronicity.)

I needed one last element—something that made Emma irresolutely committed to being a nurse to the exclusion of marriage. I again drew from my own experiences and the guilt one feels when things go badly wrong and one feels they are responsible for that bad event. I don’t want to give any more details from my book on this matter because it is a secret that isn’t revealed in the story until close to the end.

Doing research was also fun. Of course I had done extensive research on the drought and how it affected residents of the Great Plains but now I had to research medical things. One books was Yes, Father, Pioneer Nursing in Alberta written by Alvine Cyr Gahagan.  I don’t remember where I found the copy I originally read but enjoyed it so much I wanted my own. I searched for it on Alibris and found a copy at a nearby city so didn’t have to pay postage. And it’s signed by the author. How cool is that? The book is full of personal details and specific details about nursing in that era. Some of the things she shares emphasizes the difficulties of the era. She mentions that a grateful mother had crocheted a bit of lace around a little hanky as a gift. The material used was a bleached salt bag. She talks about dressing a lye burn. Lye was used freely in making soap and bleaching the wide unfinished floorboards. Lye burns and scalds were too frequent as boiling water was used widely on washday or when rags were dyed for making braided rugs.

Dust Bowl Diary by Ann Marie Low was another excellent book.  The author mentions in an early entry that she went to the first talking movie then at the end of the book mentions a movie in Technicolor. She worked part time in a library for twenty-five cents an hour and considered herself fortunate. Under a 1931 entry she says ‘The heat deaths in the country total 1,231. I mean humans. Lord only knows how many animals have died.’ Her description of the conditions is heartbreaking.

I found a children’s book that was excellent. It is part of the series Dear America and called Survival in the Storm, The Dust Bowl Diary of Grace Edwards.

Her descriptions of how they made things from flour sacks and working as a volunteer in the hospital where people were dying from or recovering from dust pneumonia were so good.

My story was fun to write because so much of it seemed to fall into my lap—a gift.

The book is due out Jan. 09, The Path to Her Heart.

Everyone who comments will be entered into a drawing for a copy of this book.

 

 

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