Three good things toward finding happiness

I won't apologize.
 It seems I'm always saying I'm sorry and really, how often I post doesn't need to be yet one more thing I tell myself I've failed at.
     So instead I'm going to tell you that I've been watching the PBS series called The Emotional Life and found it fascinating and yes, hopeful especially as Jerry and I think about our future, the sort of "what's next" on this ranch or in our lives as he turns 80 this year and we're no longer farming.
      One suggestion in the PBS section on finding happiness was to list three good things that happened yesterday and then see if one can identify what brought about those three good things, the circumstances.  It's a way of gratitude and a part of my prayer life that  I've skipped over of late (which could explain why I haven't been feeling so happy of late either, you think?).
   So here's my three good things from yesterday:
1) I walked on the treadmill for two miles. What led up to that was getting up and doing it; watching the PBS series while I walked which made the time go quickly and getting a good night's sleep the night before (and copying the series rather than staying up late to watch it.
 2)Work went well on my book, I hit 16,000 words!  What led up to that was just doing it, sitting in front of the computer, allowing myself to enter and live the story. It was staying focused, taking a lunch break that included a shower and connecting with Jerry and Matt then returning to work and not paying attention to emails until later in the day.
3) I got the bed made up and the guest room picked up.  What led up to that was knowing our friend is coming to visit and bringing her dog that is a brother to our cavalier King Charles Spaniel. Jerry has finished the door heads and drawers in that room after all these years so the room for the first time looks completed.  I could appreciate his efforts (I did help hang the doors in there :) and that the room looks inviting which is a nice thing to offer a friend when she visits.  I also liked telling Caesar about his brother coming to stay and petting his little body.
   I think it's possible three good things could snowball into many more if I just pay attention and isn't that part of what makes up happiness, paying attention, being grateful for what is.
   I hope you take the time to find your three best things from yesterday and to remember to thank God for the pleasure.  Jane
      

Christmas Past; memories of my grandmother

Jessie Gaebele, right an left

  These are photos of my grandmother.  The one on the left isn't one we used in the sequel to A Flickering Light called An Absence so Great.  It's one I wanted to save for moments like this.  I suspect it might have been her "traveling dress"  after she married.  She looks pretty happy in this photo.  The photo of her in the lovely white dress was used in A Flickering Light (which was named to Library Journal's Best Books of 2009, a lovely honor for my grandmother.  She's a little older in the traveling dress photo, had owned her own studio at this point.  She'd walked through fire, too and been strengthened by the process.

  I'm just thinking of her as I prepare to write my annual Christmas letter, something I didn't do last year because I had atypical pneumonia.

  this year, I'm feeling fine and I'm ready to send Christmas greetings your way.  It seemed appropriate to do that with some pictures of my grandmother where I spent nearly every Christmas during my growing up years, at her big house in Minneapolis.  I miss her.  But that's what the holidays can do for us, remind us to remember.

  May all your memories of Christmas past nourish and transform.

Sites and Stories; a nice recognition

Kathleen Ernst, a writer friend and quilter, too, has posted an interview with me on her blog www.sitesandstories.wordpress.com She lives in Wisconsin and writes fabulous young adult and children's books that have won awards but more, touched the lives of young readers in powerful ways. She brings history alive for kids which isn't easy to do. Check out the interview.

As for my own writing life: today I'm working on finding a map of a railroad route in 1896 and trying not to get distracted from all the interesting historical pieces there are on the web. And I finished my final edits for An Absence so Great. Here's another photo of my grandmother, one we are not using in the sequel to A Flickering Light. That book, btw, was named to Library Journal's Best Books of 2009. Hurrah!

As part of ranch life, we're applying for an easement to put our irrigation pump lines into the river next year. We've been doing it for 25 years (we have water rights) but because the river we live on has been designated a "navigable river" , with the state owning the beds and banks to the high water mark, all owners along the river are now "using" public property when we have irrigation lines going into the river. So an easement (and a fee) is necessary. It's an indication of how things change. I actually think it's good that Oregon has this policy that people can't own the access to such rivers or the ocean beaches so we are all able to walk along the shore lines and appreciate the glorious creation we are blessed to live close to.

What we do hope is that with the increased public land (and our property went from 160 acres to 134 acres with that pen stroke) that there'll also be increased policing as people have a habit sometimes of leaving trash, camping where they aren't supposed to, having camp fires they neglect or just not paying attention to the beauty they drive so far to see and then leave evidence of their disregard behind. So it's the little details of every day life that I'm dealing with today.

Tomorrow it's off to the "valley" what we refer to as the population corridor of Oregon. I'll be making a presentation in Forest Grove home of Pacific University for a PEO fundraiser (they provide scholarships to women returning to school). On Sunday afternoon it's the Audubon wild Arts Festival at Montgomery Park in Portland. Come see artists and craftsmen and me! Signing books along with lots of other authors. Happy traveling if you are! Warmly, Jane

Emma's replica quilt

This past month we gave away the replica of Emma Giesy's quilt (from the Change and Cherish Series) to a woman from the Northwest. Ramona Hugulet of Portland, OR was the lucky recipient. Her name was drawn by the publisher from several thousand entires from around the world. The Aurora colony quilters stitched the work on it! Pendelton Woolen Mills (100 years old this year!) donated the wool. In the photo, I'm on the left, Ramona is in the middle and Kathy Monaghan is on the right. Kathy is the project manager for Pendleton Woollen Mills. Emma's original quilt is on the right too; and the replica of Emma's Running Squares quilt, hangs to the left. The Aurora colony celebrated their 36th annual quilt show and the presentation of Emma's quilt was a part of that event.

We aren't certain when Emma's quilt was made. The plaid is found in quilts at both Bethel, Missouri and at Aurora so it may have been begun before Emma came west in 1853 as the only female scout with nine men sent to find a new site for their colony. The Auorora Colony, 20 miles south of Portland, OR, survived in the west for 20 years, the only utopian society to be successful for that long west of the Mississippi River.

If you're intrigued about utopian societies...my Change and Cherish series might satisfy some of your interest. Even better is Dr. Jim Kopp's new book Eden within Eden which features the more than 300 utopian groups attracted to Oregon over the past 200 years. Great reading!Jane

cousins on the book tour

We've just been on a book tour in Minnesota. What a grand time! Not only did I have a stint on KARE 11 (where I met Bethany Frankl in the green room...a NY Times bestselling author of the Healthy Skinny diet and in the cast of The Real Housewives of New York and I didn't know who she was!) and was interviewed by Euan Kerr of Minnesota Public Broadcasting which aired during Morning Edition (regionally)hour. http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2009/06/16/kirkpatrick/ We had terrific coverage by the St. Paul Pioneer Press (Mary Ann Grossmann wrote the article), but I also got to see relatives. On the left in this photo is my aunt Corinne Kronen, the only child left of my grandmother about whom I've written in A Flickering Light. She and her husband drove us around and even hit a deer in the process! They're all right, thank goodness.

That's me in pink and next to me are the daughter's of my aunt Fern, Corinne's oldest sister. Fern was the writer and an artist...though Corinne is an artist as well. Next to me is Katy Anderson from Stillwater, MN and her sister Lynne Thomas from Minneapolis. I hadn't seen either of them for over 30 years. They joined me at the Barnes and Noble bookstore in Roseville, MN. That evening, we also connected with a relative of Winnie's (from the book) who saw the Press article, and realized the book was about her grandmother, too. Everyone had lost touch with Fran so we were pleased to meet her, her daughter and to make sure we didn't lose her again by getting her address!

From Minneapolis we headed to Winona, MN where we filled the Historical society and I told stories and showed pictures and talked about the passion of the book (passion for profession) and desire (the desire to do the right thing) and love (a word that the German poet rilke describes when two solitudes come together to border, protect and salute). We spent time with descendants of Mrs. Bauer (from the book) and with my brother and his wife and got to see my nephews, too and a few other cousins. Roots run deep in the Midwest and I am grateful for a supportive family as I tell this story.

Now I'm home, meeting some new deadlines, heading for book events and working on revisions for An Absence so Great, the sequel. Two books will mark this Portrait of a Heart series. I hope you'll look for it next April.

I also hope you'll visit Bo's blog www.bodaciousbothedog.blogspot.com where you can get a front row seat to what the dog thinks about this writing life.

Oh, and one more thing: consider calling in to OPB's think out loud program on July 2, 9-10 Pacific when I'm the guest author being interviewed. The number to call is 888-665-5865. You can also leave an email before during and after the show that encourages people to, well, think out loud. www.opb.org/thinkoutloud/northwestpassges. And in July, I'll be in Wisconsin. Please check my website schedule for details!

Happy writing or reading. Warmly, Jane

Bo's Blog, Texas Travel and Minnesota, here we come!

This is summer on the homestead. what you can't see are the roses blooming profusely along the deer fence. But you can see the garden troughs, recycled from the cows we no longer have. They're the metal tanks to the left of the house. I'm looking forward to spending more time on the deck this year, just listening to the river and the birds.

I'm back from a book tour in Texas. Great fun and met many new fans and some faithful ones as well. One even drove 150 miles to attend a signing and two others drove nearly the same distance to share a lunch. The new independent store in Plano, TX called Legacy Books hosted my first signing there with wonderful participants who heard me talk about A Flickering Light.

Texans have big hearts and staying with writer friend Irene Sandell (River of the Arms of God and In a Fevered Land) made the time go quickly. I spoke at the Writer's Garret in Dallas and at the Heritage Village in Old City Park where the Aurora presentation was well-received. Seems there was a utopian community called La Reunion in the Dallas area about the same time as Aurora's origin. Small and connecting world.

By the way, Cindy (her nickname) Sandell has a signing this Saturday at Barnes and Noble in Plano, TX from 2a;oo-5:00. Stop by and say hi.

I'm back now, working on what I call my Oprah book. The working title is "Oprah Doesn't Know My Name" and it's about a writer seeking fame in all the wrong places. It's a departure from my historical novels but never fear, the sequel to A Flickering LIght will be out next April and it's been named: An Absence so Great.

Finally, Bo has begun a blog! It's at www.bodaciousbothedog.blogspot.com. I hope you'll visit now and again to get his side of the homestead story.

Happy writing for you out there and for those in Minnesota, we're coming soon! Please check my schedule at the website www.jkbooks.com. Thanks! Jane

Writing about Writing

Christian book Distributors has an interview with me on their site as well as a feature about writing, my advice to aspiring fiction writers. I hope you'll stop by there and say hi.

Writers Corner:
http://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/cms_content?page=2022914&sp=72136

Fiction Homepage:
http://www.christianbook.com/fiction

My Interview:

http://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/cms_content?page=265453&event=67484

I'm also having some website issues so please bear with me...those words of encouragement will be posted soon, I promise. Meanwhile, these words might bring you nurture as well. Warmly, Jane