What I'm Reading . . .

A friend at the Beth Moore Bible study recommended this book. I read the first chapter last night. Granted, it's not a lot to go on, but I liked what I read. Somewhere along the line, for all sorts of reasons, men have stopped being what God made them to be. Strong! Assertive! Passionate! Sounds like hero material to me : )

The book is timely reading. I'm working on a new story, which means I'm getting to know my characters. This particular book is a continuity. It's part of a series, so the editors have provided character sketches and some basic ideas. I understood the heroine immediately. The hero, not so much. I have to figure him out, but you know what? I've just had an idea. He's strong, assertive and passionate . . . definitely alpha. We'll see how the rest of the story develops. I'm at the very beginning, a place of mystery, discovery. I know what this guy looks like and what he does for a living, but that's not the best part of developing a character.

I want to know what scares him, what he loves. Who he loves and why. Who he hates. Who he admires. What bugs him. What makes him smile. Pet peeves. Fears. Deepest fears. Highest hopes. It's all waiting to be discovered.

Got the Books!

Break out the mistletoe! I know it's only September, but I got my author copies of The Magic of Christmas and want to celebrate. What an honor to be matched up with Cheryl St. John and Carolyn Davidson! I have a vivid memory of browsing the romance shelves at my local library and seeing Carolyn's books. Hers were among the first I read when I was researching the romance genre.

And Cheryl! I've loved everything she's written, but my favorite just might be Joe's Wife. Or maybe it's The Preacher's Daughter. No wait, it's Prairie Wife. Wait! Wait! It's The Tenderfoot Bride. I guess I love them all, including her contemporaries for SSE.

As you can tell, I think the world of Carolyn and Cheryl. Now, knowing them as I do, I know why I loved their books from the beginning. They're great writers and classy ladies. Write on!

Cars & Mice

I talked to my mom today. She told me that she'd given her car away. She's got some health issues (COPD), so she's not going to be speeding around the Santa Clarita Valley unless someone else is doing the driving. I'm happy for the young family that picked up a spiffy 1988 Buick Regal. I'm also tripping down memory lane . . .

I remember when my parents bought the car new. Because of where we lived, in a mountain community north of Bakersfield, they often loaned it to me when I made the long drive to the city on a hot day. My Blazer had 4-WD but no A/C. If you're going to Bakersfield in August, you need the A/C a lot more.

What I didn't need was the field mouse that rode along one day. I pulled into the Target parking lot, stopped the engine and watched dumb-founded as a little brown field mouse ran along the windshield. Another ran over the hood. A quick inspection of the door wells showed a nest way in the back.

It's a good thing those mice didn't make an appearance until I'd stopped! Or eat the electrical. No harm done. It's nice to know that after 20 years or so, the old car is still going strong.

I Loved This Book...

I'm an idiot for not reading Francine Rivers' Mark of the Lion trilogy sooner. I started the first one, A Voice in the Wind, on the flight from Dulles to LAX. It's a big meaty historical that turned fly-over country into Ancient Rome.

Why didn't I read it sooner? For one thing, I was crazy. For another, I don't usually go for books set in ancient times. If I'm flipping to a glossary to understand the action, I'm out of the story. I looked in the glossary for this book several times, but always with eager anticpation, a desire to know and understand.

An Echo in the Darkness, the second book, is sitting in the TBR pile. I want to put it on top, but I know what will happen. I'll say, "Just three chapters," but I won't be able to put it down. I'll read for hours and hours and not get any writing done, or else I'll feel rushed and skim when I want to savor every word.

I can hardly wait to read it, but I'm going to wait until I finish the current ms. Forget the deadline! Now I'm really motivated to get busy!

Travel & Writing

We had a wonderful family trip to Los Angeles. What could be better than meeting both my sons at LAX? By a stroke of luck, we ran into my husband at the rental car place. As you can tell, it was a crazy trip that involved business (for my husband) and family commitments, three flights and two rental cars. By God's grace, we ended up having Mexican food together on my birthday, at our favorite restaurant of all time. It's El Terasco, a hole in the wall in Manhattan Beach that's grown into several restaurants.

I love the trip to California, but I find it hard to get back into my usual routine. Well, I'm back now and I've been writing furiously on The Price of Honor (working title only). The story's zipping along. Right now, it's one of my favorites. The only downside is the title. As my husband said, it sounds like a war movie.

I'll have to work on that . . . I'm hoping my heroine's longing for pretty shoes will give me some new ideas.