Hi, Michele, Robin, & Maria. So glad to see your comments here. Good luck in the drawing.
Pamela, it's fun to share books with our family and then get to talk about the stories. I always have a great time talking books with my sisters.
Linda, so glad you have those good grandmother memories and so sorry you had a difficult home life. Hope your life is much better now.
Hi, Deborah & Birgit. I'm always glad to meet new reading friends. If I were you, I'd start with Angel Sister. :) Maybe you'll win a copy.
Hi, Joanne. Sometimes it's good to be doing the cooking for the soldiers instead of being on the front lines. I put my character in Angel Sister in the front trenches in France. Soldiers endure so much in wars. We should always remember and celebrate their willingness to stand up for freedom and country.
Welcome all of who read about my book and my post here in the newsletter.
Thanks for reading my post, Bina & Amber & Tabatha & Connie. So glad you think Angel Sister is a story you might like to read. And I do hope you will live the story with the characters while reading their adventures as I did while writing about them.
It's good that you are taking time to learn about your family history, Kathryn. If you like stories with history mixed with some romance you might like my Shaker books. The Shakers didn't believe in romance so it is sometimes hard to mix that romance into those stories. Not so hard with Angel Sister since I flash back to the WW I romance of the parents in the story. Victor was very romantic.
It seems a lot of us share parents who have memories of the Depression years, Joanne & Sharon & Lynn too. If your mother reads the book, I hope she will find it uplifting, Joanne.
Go right ahead and hijack my comments, Lynn. This is a good place to have a conversation and those memories of our families are priceless and as you say, important to history.
Alzheimer's is one of those hard illnesses none of us would choose if we had a choice, but we have to deal with what comes our way. My sympathy to both you, Lynn and to Peggy too. I hope you both have good memories of your precious mothers.
Holly & Joelle & Desiree, thanks for your comments and I hope you will enjoy Angel Sister if you get a chance to read my story. Good luck in the drawing.
Thanks, Debbi. The story has been a winner for me just because of how I loved my characters.
Aww, Leanna. How nice to hear that you like my books. I'm smiling now.
And Rosemary, it's great to know you're going to give my book a try. I hope you will enjoy Angel Sister and that it will add to your flood a good memories.
Diane, borrowing my mom's memories for the background of the story did draw me closer to her and Laura, I'm hoping setting the scene with my mom's stories did make the story better.
Mildred, what a great job - to be the "book lady." I hope the people you share my book with will be encouraged and enjoy my Merritt family's story. And that you will too!!
Jean, thank you so much for sharing a few of your mother's memories. My mom didn't have to ride any freight cars, but that sounds like it would add some excitement to a story. I hope you will find the right words to write your family's story. I wrote my mom's real memories down just for me. Then I made up my own story from the seed of her story. It didn't happen that way for her, but then I'm writing fiction. And I do hope you will keep reading!
Sandy, your father had a point. Back when I was a kid and somebody said this or that person was "lucky" not to have been hurt in an accident or whatever, my dad would disagree. He'd say if they were lucky they wouldn't have had the accident to begin with. So your dad wanting to throw out the "great" is certainly understandable. Easy times sound like the greater blessing.
Kai, what a treasure to get to hear your mother's stories. She must have some very dramatic ones. Sometimes those are the stories that people are least likely to tell just because the memories are so hard for them.
I am very glad Mom was able to hold my book in her hands and read it, Anna, even if the words don't hold in her mind. And, Mona, sometimes it's easier to think up a completely fictional situation than it is to try to incorporate real-life stories into your book. I had to separate myself from my mom's stories in order to finally get my Angel Sister story told.
I love libraries, Renee. That's where I found books that opened up all sorts of possibilities to me. Hope your readers in GA will enjoy my stories.
Thanks, Peggy for looking forward to my guest post! I'm glad the cover spoke to you. It makes me smile every time I look at it and I've looked at it a lot. :) Thanks also for sharing about your mother. Dementia robs our loved ones and robs us too.
Thanks, Joyce & Marguerite & Sandra for your interest in Angel Sister. Sandra, it sounds as if your father had some hard times. Life wasn't easy for many of our parents but they were an amazing generation of people, perhaps made stronger by their hard times.
I'm glad Mom got to see the story in book form too, Brenda. She knows it's fiction but enjoys the background being like her family knew.
It is a great book cover, Kathleen. If the cover designers had been able to lift my little Lorena out of the book and have her model for the cover, the girl wouldn't have been any more perfect. She looks just like I imagined Lorena!
You're right, Dawn. What better gift than knowing your family stories, but then I think that my own children don't know mine. They know the ones I've made up perhaps, but there are so many things to share.
Thanks for the good wishes, Cynthia and Nancy. And good luck in the drawing for the book. If you don't win this time, there will be other blog giveaways you can try. Just check on my website from time to time.
I'm with you, Pam, about Grapes of Wrath. A powerful story, but depressing. My mom's family never went hungry so they didn't face the same challenges and the story is more character oriented with issues that families might have to deal with in any era.
That's a great story, Renee. Some people might have never wanted to see those mustard sandwiches again, but perhaps your aunt remembered the love that went with them. Now I ate salad dressing sandwiches when I was a kid, but I don't know about mustard. The sugar part sounds good.
Thank you for your comments. I appreciate those of you who think you'd enjoy reading Angel Sister.
Memories of good times when we're growing up should make us smile, Darci, Mary & Dinda. My mom does a lot of smiling thinking back to her good days as a kid. I'm glad I could work that into the background of my book even though the story is completely fiction and not anything that happened to Mom. The time period made for many challenges for my fictional family, Karen, but that can add to a story.
Marjorie, my mom was born in 1920, so maybe she should get the blame. LOL.
And Ronald, what a encouraging comment to leave for me. That will make the work go better today for sure.
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