My author journey began gradually with my love of stories, but the day I remember walking into our local library was the day I became a writer. I recall the musty, dusty, lemon oil smell, the creaking floors, and the shelves of books all calling my name. A few moments in my life I’ve seen as magical; that one qualified. Little did I know then that I would be a librarian someday, much less an author.
I have been enjoying the living color of the wildflowers blooming in a strip that my husband, Ken, planted alongside the tall grass at the base of the hill on the north side of our home. We look each day for new blooms as we go slowly along the strip on our golf cart with little Miss Ruby (our mini Yorkie) standing at the ready to chase any wildlife that makes itself known. An array of colors from pastels to deep fuchsia and red brighten the hillside with the cheery faces of flowers.
Life is precious; love is enough and the most we can ask for. In this aspect, I can be content, despite my health or how many books I sell or don’t sell, that agent I wish I had, or any number of things. I’ve lived a good life, been loved and have loved, past and present. I have been and am blessed.
What is success? It’s a question that I’ve struggled with off and on. My creativity has circled through my life in a number of ways. Several times I pursued avenues of enterprise with both roads fizzling out at some point. I let that bother me. It hinted at failure to me, but now I recognize outside forces played a primary role in disrupting my plans.
I thought I’d share some vintage romance books dear to my heart. These are all by Essie Summers, a favorite author of my mom’s. Summers sold over 19 million copies of her books in 105 countries. The copyright for No Orchids By Request, which is my favorite, reads 1965–back when Harlequin Romance books were fairly innocent in content.
I can hardly believe only one week remains until Silver Moon releases! It’s my hope that between the pages of my WWI historical novel readers will not only be entertained but encouraged with the idea that hope prevails, even during the hardest of times.
I enjoy working bits of history into my books. I have not felt the call to write about actual people as the base for my historical fiction books but rather time periods and events. I can’t justify playing with the incidents and emotions of a person’s life, though they are in the past. Although, I enjoy reading that type of historical fiction.
I love telling stories. Working as a children’s librarian for many years gave me the opportunity to not only read stories but tell them. However, oral storytelling and writing novels are more dissimilar than you may think.
We can seek and make unlikely friends and associations when our spirit needs them. Perhaps in this time, of being more distant with friends and family, you have done the same.
Happy Memorial Day! You may have bought a crepe paper poppy or seen them during this time of the year. I hadn’t really understood why veterans used the poppy as a symbol of remembrance until I started to research WWI for my upcoming book, Silver Moon.