"Senior" thought

My challenge for you today:  How do we love our seniors?

My mom still lives at home at 88, albeit with my younger brother and family moving in with her this past year--at her request.  She still travels, thus this fun picture of my hubby with her, last Summer. 

My first novel, Unfinished Legacy, was written from the viewpoint of an older woman contemplating her legacy, in the midst of her daughter's disapproval of her activities.  I know that families have their difficulties. Hopefully they can find a way to love each other, anyway.  So it struck me as odd, when a friend said something that made me think:  "It's sad how our society warehouses our seniors."

My mom, some of my girlie grands and me!

I thought about that word-- warehouse-- in regard to beloved seniors.  It was an especially poignant thought since, about 10 years back, I worked as a co-manager of a large retirement complex.  To be honest, I did see many seniors who rarely received a visit from family.  They were seemingly left in our charge to 'entertain', feed and care for, although it was an independent living apartment building, not a care facility.  It was a tough job, loving our seniors but seeing so many end-of-life stories that fit into the "warehouse" scenario.  Is that what we do with our parents?  Do we stick them in a slot and forget them?

Just thought it was worth contemplating today.

More Book Cover Designs

I buy many books, mostly these days, online.  I only get to look at a thumbnail of the cover, and read the summary of the book, to influence me to buy the book.  I do, also, look at the book's rating.  But if I am looking for a specific genre, I am not as influenced by the rating as I am the summary.

Since I am doing research for my own novel's cover, I have been looking at many, many book covers to see how they are set up.  I've been thinking about and analyzing what drew me to read each book.  Some of these I purchased because I frequently read the author's works, i.e. Beverly Lewis.  I like anything that she writes for it's subject matter.  All of her works have basically the same cover, an Amish person (or two), her name in large letters and the title.

A personal acquaintance of mine, Bodie Thoene, has written several books.  We lived in the same small burg where our children went to school together, and our families attended the small community church. Anyway, her cover has vignette groups of people in period dress, with her name in even bolder letters than Ms. Lewis' books. Obviously I bought this book because I know Bodie, but the vignettes are gripping as they depict place, turmoil, intrigue, love and passion.

The third book (above) is inviting as it shows a silhouette walking on a lonely night street.  I bought this book, not for the cover but for the intriguing concept of the title and the summary of the story.


Two other books in my library have pictures of the setting, one a split picture of a wagon train and two women with the title between.  The second, a New Orleans street scene in between the title and the author name. 

   
While Together in One Place rightly depicts what the story is about, Under the Cajun Moon, does not.  Ms. Clark's book, beginning with scenes in the city, actually takes you on a mysterious who-done-it treasure hunt romp around Louisiana.  Don't get me wrong,  I liked the book and have enjoyed several of her other titles but from a strictly visual (cover) perspective, I like Together in One Place's cover better.  

These are just my opinions, but all part of my own research for a cover design of my own.

Which one would you choose strictly because of the cover?

Book Covers

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

I have read many opinions lately about the process of choosing a book cover.  Authors talking among themselves about what constitutes an acceptable cover, preferred fonts, and designs that will help readers choose to buy and read the contents.  They usually suggest that you have a specialist design the cover of your book.  I can understand that sentiment, especially if the author is wanting a full favorable exposure for the work.

I even see authors post several draft covers--'works in progress' of their cover-- and ask for advice from others as to which one to pick.  I, myself, have commented on these posts. 

But I must admit that I am skeptical of having someone else design a cover for my work.  My husband designed his own cover, some years ago, but then, he is a designer.  Not in the literary field, but a designer no less.  He used his own photo as the background for the title, subtitle and author name for the first edition cover of his non-fiction work.  When it was later printed by a publisher, the cover was changed.

Except the fact that the type is too small on the first edition book, I like it much better.  It has a "look-into-it" feel, rather than the "deciphering the old" look of the new cover.   Just my opinion.

I realize that fiction covers are a 'different type of animal' than non-fiction covers.  So, as to my own fiction cover, I have just started thinking about it.  I have looked at dozens of covers but an image in my head has not formed yet.  I may choose to use a designer . . . so . . . Wish me luck!

Tharps Log

Thursday throwback taste of my life:

Writing some segments for our family foundations/legacy book today.  My Facebook feed prompted my writing when a cousin posted a picture of a fallen tree. Rains are pelting California and Oregon right now and the amount of water was just too much for the old tree with shallow roots.  It was a huge Sequoia tree in Calavaras County that was a tourist attraction.  It had a cut out in the bottom of the living tree, that you could drive a car thru! I'm sure my mom still has a picture, somewhere, of us when we visited there. I was there, with my family as a youngster, but what it reminded me of was another fallen tree in Sequoia National Park. 

I have an old photo taken in July 1959 of that tree--called Tharpes Log--with my mom and my aunt sitting on a log fence in front of the "residence" made of another huge Sequoia tree.  The photo is quite old, and you will need to look closely to see the constructed portion with a rock fireplace behind my mom.  It's butted up to the base of the fallen tree.  I have been in that summer grazing land shelter and found it fascinating!  It reminded me of all the happy hours we spent as a family, camping in the summer, and exploring the National Parks.  For the rest of the story, you will have to wait for the book to be finished!  

Thanks for visiting today!      

Author Pseudonyms

Just some of my thoughts today--

Thinking about the use of a pseudonym for my writing.  I know some say that it is better to use just one identity, rather than confuse readers.  I know an author who used a name for her early books, which were successful.  Then when she had a change of life philosophy, and started writing spiritually themed fiction, she used another name.  Most readers love both venues, and don't realize that it is the same author.  I have also heard, more than once, about an author's gender being a deterrent to their work, so they chose a pseudonym of a different gender to release their work under.  This obviously makes it difficult for personal appearances at book signings!  

Some might wonder about the pseudonym I use for some of my crafting.  The double word name, Abigail Jayne, that I have used since 2009, spurs my creativity.  It is my way of allowing myself be more creative by 'coloring outside of the lines'.

It also spurs me to be more than I think that I am.  It keeps me in remembrance of two people whom I admire.   I  love the story of Abigail from the Bible.  She was an extremely brave and wise woman, performing incredibly, especially for the time in which she lived. You can read the story for yourself, and watch this woman perform well outside of her cultural norm.  Inspiring to me!

The second name, Jayne, is representative of another woman that I admire, a contemporary one.  This woman is a writer that has not published anything yet.  She has had stories, even whole books, in her head from childhood and will eventually get them in print.  She inspires the writer in me to keep on keeping-on and get it done!  

So, as to using a pseudonym, I really don't know if it will translate over from my crafting to my writing.  I like the idea, but  . . . we will see.

New Year doin's

After a long hiatus, which I will not apologize for as I don't want to go into a litany of excuses; I'm starting up my blogging again--it's just that life happens.

It's the first week of the new 2017 year, so what have I planned?  No resolutions for me. I have revamped my blog header to reflect a more concise summary of what you can expect to find in this blog.  And of course, I am busy with research for my second novel, more about that in a later post.  Any actual writing at this point is a joint project with my husband.  We are collaborating on a small volume for our family, chronicling our separate and joint lives.  It's more in the legacy theme, that runs through most of my life lately, considering my first novel's title is Unfinished Legacy, and my second is Unknown Legacy.  (I've written about it in a previous post here.)

In case you don't know me, I believe that what is important for an individual life is not the just the moments that make it up, but the entirety of life as it pertains to purpose and legacy.  The journey is what we will leave when the moments are forgotten.    I guess you could say I believe in story.

Well, so much for today's post, I need to get on with transferring some files from my broken computer to my new computer.  See ya later!

Writing goals . . . ?

As you can see, I have not done well, with my goal of writing for forty days.  Life happens.  The end of summer and beginning of Autumn is always a busy time for me in regard to crafting.  And it shoved my writing to the background!!

Anyway, I will be back to writing after the holidays in January. In the meantime, here are a few pictures of our recent adventures.

Trip to Silver Falls

Trip to the Diamond Peak area of Oregon

Rogue River, Oregon portion

Update

Day18--

Not doing the greatest at this writing for forty days thing.

Took a mini beach vacation in the middle of this week, (some pictures below).  Today is Saturday and I will write more on my novel, and tomorrow is Mother's Day, probably no writing on that day when one has ten kids!  Probably will be going out to breakfast, lunch and dinner and taking phone calls the rest of the day!  Whew!

Anyway, I just wanted you to know that I am still trying to keep up with this 40 days of writing. catch me later at the first of next week for more writing.

And have a happy Mother's Day!

R & R

We're off on an adventure today.  Rented a cabin at Fort Steven's State Park near Astoria Oregon for some R & R.  Ahhh, so peaceful and quiet here (until hubby's car alarm went off accidentally :)  Sitting here enjoying the view from the kitchen table over a cup of tea.

 A little difficult to get my mobile to post pics, so I'll share more when I get home.

Determination

Day 13 - - -

Well, I missed posting on Saturday and Sunday, but I did write on other projects, so I feel I am doing well with this writing for 40 days determination. (See first post here.)

It's harder than one might think to follow thru with 40 days of anything.  It involves will power! And as I said before staying focused on the final destination--this one being a habit of writing daily.

  So for today's submission, here is a little poem about our new month of May.

May, traditionally a month of flowers

brought from the April showers. 

Spring brought us May Day poles 

and garden Easter egg rolls. 

All beautiful symbols of peace

But our symbols have been fleeced--

by people who protest in streets--

too bad they don't choose peace.

Legacy

Day 10--

Thinking about my writing today . . . my book series on Legacy.   Legacy means:  anything handed down from an ancestor.   I know we don't often think of ourselves as anyone's ancestor, but the truth is, we will be an ancestor to someone, even if we have no kids.  We are probably someone's aunt, (or uncle) and so will be an ancestor.

Headstone in the Alden Cemetery - Caddo Co. Oklahoma

What will successive generations look back on? What do they want to see in their heritage?   Will they find you in their history and wonder who you were?  Everyone wants to be remembered, don't they?  And not be just a name on a tombstone?  Isn't that why (albeit, subconsciously) so many of us want to be famous?  We want to think that our lives matter for something, or to someone.

Legacy is the basic premise of my book series.  Series titles at this point, are Unknown Legacy: The Severed Branch, and Unfinished Legacy: Abby's Story.  Both books deal with what we want to leave behind.  One book, in progress, follows several generations to a current legacy being lived out, and the other, finished but not published, a personal legacy of the value of one life.  Hoping you will want to read both of them.

I am today, toying with the third title but it is not set in stone yet. (pardon the pun!)  Obviously, not started yet, just in the conception stage.

Well, better get back to it!  Unknown Legacy is calling for a finish!

Staying Focused on the Destination

Day 9 - - - 

Yesterday I spent some time writing on my second novel, reacquainting myself with the characters and rethinking my plot and how I am getting to where I want to go with it.  (That's what  happens when you get in a funk and let things go for a while! You have to re-think! Refresh!)

I re-read the prologue, and the first two chapters.  I added some details and today I will re-read it to see if it is captivating enough for my readers.  As I write, it occurs to me that I know where the plot is going, but my reader doesn't.  He/she must want to keep reading; I must captivate him with words.  I know you who write already know this, so, who am I  telling, anyway?!  This post is just a little reminder to stay focused and stay in process!

Hope you are able to stick-with-it!

BTW, for those of you who were wondering, my second novel, will be called The Severed Branch.  It is the second in my Legacy series.     

Cheery Color

I need a bit of cheering up today, due to some sad news.  Usually flowers do the trick!  These are on my patio.  I love any combination of purple and yellow, although these pansies are sort of magenta.  Anyway, these

perky pansies are a bright 'hello' anytime I need them.  Today, they have inspired me to a new project. What do you think of the combination for some pretty fabric coasters or a patchwork throw pillow for Spring?

I am also working on an adjustment to my granddaughter's prom dress.  It's a deep shade of purple with sparkles.  They look a little yellowish in the photo, although they are clear and silverish.  Maybe she will get a corsage that has a bit of yellow in it?  Ya think?

Doesn't color and combinations of color, or just plain flowers,  make your day better?

It does mine!

P.S. Besides cheering me up, this post is for the BBA challenge for April. See other posts here. 

Quandary

Day 7--

Yes, I know, I missed two days!  I said I was going to post everyday for 40 days.  I missed Sunday--was traveling a bit, not being in front of the computer (a day of rest from the routine).  Then, Monday, I just let the day slip by!  So now it's Tuesday and I find myself in a quandary.

quandary dictionary definition: a state of perplexity, a situation in which you are confused about what to do.

What do you do when you can't make a decision? I am reminded from an earlier post of a tip I gave to my readers about making decisions:

(Little known fact:  "If not 'yes' then it is automatically a 'no', or,  Failure to make a decision is a 'No' decision.  'Yes' takes action and is most times hard, where 'No' can stay in the status quo.)

So to take my own advice, I cannot stay in this quandary of indecision.  If I choose to stay in my 'status quo' situation, I don't decide to move ahead.  I must put crippling fear (fear of what others might think) behind me, and move my feet toward the future.  I can do it!   My only quandary now is, how do I explain where I want to go?  It's kind of like this picture.  Going from dry land in the foreground to the mountain top (and might I say, that I have never been to) that is obscured by vapor and clouds.  How do you explain where you have never been?  Especially if you cannot see clearly thru the diffusing haze suspended in front of the destination?  

I have a meeting tonight, and I have to make this decision.  I must drive on thru the confusion, NO more quandary!

Kicking Back

Spending a little time today just kicking back.  Working in the yard; planted some snapdragons, and weeded the bed between rain showers.  I'm catching up on blogs that I like and trying to comment.  I love to let my friends know that I was there, not just peeping in the shadows.  And I am doing a little maintenance to my online shops.  Should be reading a book, but don't have one I am interested in right now.  I let my library book expire.  Shucks!  Will make dinner for my grand boys a little later.
What is your Saturday looking like?

Green?

Ever woken up hearing plink! plink! splash, drip drip drip, coming from the nearby window.  Such a soothing sound. So quiet in your darkened room, snuggled under the coverlet.  You lie there and listen . . . drip, slash, plink, plink, drip. It begins to have a rhythm . . .  (three short plinks) . . . plink, plink, plink . . .  (lower pitched) slash . . . (two shorts) . . . plink, plink, (and a plonk)  . . . drip.  It's been awhile since you've heard rain, such a comforting sound in a dry season.

In the early morning, you go to the window and look out, looking down on the garden plot.   More splash, drip drip drip.  This is a promising sound, saying:  "Come on!  Here we go!" . . .  it promises things like "Go! Be green!"  The promise of a future --"Go! Be fruitful".  You hear it calmly rolling in waves of hopefulness.  And whether it is a fruitful garden that you want, or it is a fruitful future life, the question today is: Do you believe that things are going to change and get "green"? Wondering what that "greenness" will look like?  Visualizing a new beginning today . . .

Can you see it?

Others and Myself

Day Two:  Thoughts about people

I had a discussion with my brother about the nature of humans. I have thought on this subject and have taken it a bit further in discussion with others.  We are made up of intellect, emotion and will to form personality.

These three should be balanced to make a well rounded, functioning personality.

Some people are not balanced.  There are jokes about those who have "a big head" thinking that they know everything.  And some of those, that are all about intellectualism, are not emotionally able to handle differing opinions than what they have learned with their intellect, trying always to reason their way out of a differing opinion.  Data is important to them, and data only.  BTW, IQ measures this mental capacity.

Some people have no emotional capacity.  (There is a whole study on emotional capacity called EQ.)  Some have been hurt so badly that they protect themselves and refuse to feel.  And might I say, some others have only an infantile capacity to have empathy for others. What they think funny, or even right is the only correct answer--others must feel like they do!  It makes no difference to them how others might feel; it  may seem to others that they are cruel.  I wonder if they have no capacity to put themselves in the shoes of another.

In regard to the will, some people are not able to make the yes or no decisions of the will that determine their future.  (Little known fact:  "If not 'yes' then it is automatically a 'no', or,  Failure to make a decision is a 'No' decision.  'Yes' takes action and is most times hard, where 'No' can stay in the status quo.)

Why am I bringing this up, because I am thinking about it.  Where am I in each part of my personality?  Do I spend an inordinate amount of time honing my intellect with education and ignore my emotional reactions to others?  Am I pleased with where I find myself?  Do I need to make a few changes? Exercise my will? Where am I headed?  For that matter,

Where are you headed?

Late 'Lenten Season'

Day One: Purpose of 40 days and nights

Writer's block has to end!  I have written a little bit on my second novel, since my last blog post back on February 1st!  (Not ready to share about that yet).  Now, in an effort to really end my block, I am setting aside a block of time (literally) just for listening to the spirit of inspiration and doing some writing for the next 40 days- sort of like a season of Lent.  I know, the Lenten season and Easter is over!  "It's late April, of goodness sakes! You missed it! You're really missing it, since Lent is a season of fasting not inspiration!" says the religious person.

But I am a spiritual person.  Yes, the Lenten season, religiously, has been a season of penitence and fasting to remember the suffering of Christ. But I said my 40 days was going to be "sort of like" the Lenten season. Not all 40 day seasons are for subtraction; some, in the Bible were for proving and adding. Christ spent 40 days in the wilderness to be tested.  I need to be tested to see if I can write consistently everyday for 40 days!  I'm proving myself!  [2 Tim 2:15]

Also, Elijah spent 40 days and nights in the wilderness resting!  He was exhausted from his confrontations with the King, Queen and the people of Israel.  He spent 40 days and nights on vacation (traveling to mountain of God--Mt. Horeb) and resting from his usual life.  I will be resting and 'vacationing' from my usual routine that keeps me so busy that I don't write!  [Isa 28:12, Mark 6:31]

This blog is about sabbatical events,  various sabbaticals that I take from my usual routine. (I seem to not be able to function without some "time outs"! :)  Besides, this is how this blog was started; it started when I took a sabbatical back in March of 2014.  So, come along with me on the newest of my Sabbatical ventures as I rest, vacation and get inspired to write! It may only be a few words of inspiration, to write about later, but I will write a post everyday--a diary of my 2016 Sabbatical.  Enjoy the journey with me!

Writer's block or embroidery 'block'?

Well, it seems that my focus is on embroidery!  I just can't seem to sit down and write.  I am thinking about it, processing my plot line in my head, but haven't made a decision, so just can't sit at the computer and write!  So what do I do with myself?  I've been working on embroidery to keep my hands busy.  I finished this hoop yesterday.

(I was introduced to Portulaca, commonly known as moss rose, when I lived in Missouri.  I had never known it before then; it's a favorite there.)

This hoop had been in my UFO bin (unfinished objects) for over a year!  I think it turned out nicely, but I would prefer to have my novel turn out nicely, instead! 

Rain . . . the rainy season . . . .

The rainy season is here, and I am still having mixed emotions about my winter purpose much like this photograph of rain drops on my windshield.

I want to write, I need to write.  I have two book projects in the works, but several creative projects are hanging on, almost screaming at me to be finished.  Then there are special projects for clients that need to be completed.   And I am at a place in my life where I am dealing with changing health issues and need to be diligent with exercise and eating habits, so they scream for attention.  Ever been there?

I bet you have.  It will take some introspection and some priority to sort it out.  Introspection, to sort thru all the fuzziness, and decision to chose my priority.  Priority cannot be chosen if the mind is befuddled, cluttered and fuzzy!  So it is time to wipe away the fuzzies and proceed . . . .

Proceed to clarity of purpose . . . . and a clear view.

It's a matter of focus . . . . and precision.

How's your focus?