Haven’t posted in a while, lots of stuff required my attention. Family, farm, politics, community work have filled this past year. And writing, just not here.

So what’s happened?

Family seems to be doing well.

Farming is always a worry. The harvest was delayed for a variety of reasons, but we did get it in before the snow flew(not always the case).

Politics…that should be enough said, but the refrain of “We the people” echoes throughout our history. We should not forget that this government is ours, not the other way around. We need to be involved, there is no one else to blame or praise.

But I have been writing. The second Edie Swift book, Darkness Endured, is out. The third Edie Swift book, untitled as of now, is in revisions–hope to have it out later this year.

Hope everyone has a safe, enjoyable summer ahead.

I received an IPPY(Independent Publisher Award) this week, a bronze in the Great Lakes Fiction Category. I went to a book festival, talked with an award winner last year, decided to enter the contest. It was just before the deadline. I won an award. Yeah!

I wanted to tell someone, stepped out my front door, but the barn cats were unimpressed–they were expecting food. Told the birds at the bird feeder, they wanted me to go away so they could eat. The Sandhill cranes kept picking their way across the fields. The sun was shining. That was a wonderful way to congratulate me. Nothing like living in the country to bring you back to reality.

Now it is on to getting the second Edie Swift book ready for publication and begin the next one.

During my research for a future book I came across Bruce Catton’s Waiting for the Morning Train. This is his memoir of growing up in Michigan as the lumber industry was in sharp decline.

The people of Benzonia, Michigan struggled to keep their town from disappearing. To give their youth the education needed for a different future. They created, and supported, a college until it went under, then recreated it as a boarding high school.

Catton tells of idyllic times sledding and ice skating during winter, during summer swimming at a local lake. High school plays, concerts, religious revival meetings are also detailed.

His high school years ended shortly before the U.S. entry into World War I.

Catton’s premise is that these years we live between two eras. The one we grow up, and the very advanced technological world we live in as an adult. One is so far removed from the other, that we have a limited capacity to understand it, let alone live in it.

As with all memoirs, there are shared pieces of wisdom that he learned along the way: “Proud that we have escaped from age-old superstition, we have condemned ourselves to live in a world of our own creation, a world which we fondly believe has no mysteries. We are made helpless by our own omnipotence.”

Bruce Catton is a wonderful writer, best known for his U.S. Civil War series, but this book is worth your time. It is a little gem.

Have you seen it? About an hour before dawn in the eastern sky there is a gentle arc of stars and planets. It is worth getting up early to see.  I was going to an early morning exercise class on October 2 when I saw it, I was captivated by it. I’ve looked for it each morning since then, but due to foggy or cloudy skies in my part of Wisconsin I’ve only seen it once since then–maybe tomorrow I will see it.

October Sky

I’ve searched the Internet to find a picture of the morning display, this one comes closest to it.

It was a successful book launch, people came, and they bought books-what more can an author want.  Most of all it was great talking with the people who came, thank-you!

What a week! I’ve been gearing up for the release of my first book, Enemy within, but that was trumped by the birth of another grandbaby. How wonderful!

My hours were filled with assisting in the care of this family. But that is what grandparents do, fill in for parents as needed. And to give hugs, laps to sit on, new adventures, reading books, watching movies, walks, gazing at clouds, stars, and a million other things that little ones can think of.

So… Enemy Within’s release day went unmentioned in favor of doting on my grandchildren, but I hope you forgive the lapse and look at the book yourself at:

https://www.amazon.com

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/b/nook-book/N-8qa

https://www.smashwords.com