Chippewa Valley Book Festival

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     Well, my Author's Group known as "The Devious Minds," held an event at The Local Store last evening and the audience was pretty thin. I posted press releases in four newspapers, all the community venues I could think of and hung up 15 posters. Tina from Vol. One and I scheduled the group to showcase their books and read a short blurb from them during Chippewa Valley Book Festival Week thinking people would be coming out for this opportunity for authors to get our names and books out there. Michael Perry was scheduled to be on deck at the University. Who can compete against that?

My Authors Group

I belong to a great authors group and we are very supportive of each other.  So I decided to list them all for you here. Perhaps you have even read some of their work as I have and if you haven't, I strongly recommend that you do.  Here they are:

Marjorie Swift Doering with 'Dear Crossing' and 'Shadow Tag'

Donna White Glaser with A Letty Whittaker 12 Step Mystery Series of ‘The Enemy We Know’ #1; ‘The One We Love’ #2; and ‘The Secrets We Keep’ #3-5 (currently working on The Blood We Spill)

Darren Kirby with ‘Coordinates for Murder’ and is working on a sequel.

Marla Madison with ‘She’s Not There’ and ‘Relative Malice’ (working on untitled)

Katie Mettner with ‘Sugar’s Dance’ and ‘Sugar’s Song (currently working on Sugar’s Night)

Debra A. Patrow with ‘Acres of Bitterness’ (currently working on Bittersweet Reunions)

Dave Tindell with ‘The White Vixen’

Glowing Reviews

Sometimes we need to read a glowing review over again.  I got the most awesome, wonderful, super creative review from fellow author G.F. Smith.  I cannot believe he wrote all of the great things about my story lines, my plots, the twists & turns, the characters, etc.  I am feeling very good right now about what I created through Acres of Bitterness!  It takes a long time to put a book together and to hear these good words makes it all the more worthwhile!!   Thank you, thank you, thank you. 

Anyone wanting to read it, check out my book on Amazon.com and scroll down to the reviews please.

"The Devious Minds" Seven Mystery Writers Gather

"The Devious Minds" are seven local mystery writers and we are gathering together for an event at The Local Store.  It is located at Volume One at 205 N. Dewey St. in Eau Claire, WI.  It will be held on October 17, 2013 from 6:30pm to 7:30pm.  Authors will be showcasing their books and reading a passage for the audience. There will be time for questions, meeting,  and the will be happy to sign their books for you.

Hayward Fall Festival

I went to the Hayward Fall Festival yesterday with two fellow authors, Marla Madison and Dave Tindell.  We had a wonderful time showcasing our books and meeting people.  We each had an awesome sales days!!  Lots of people interested in Marla's two books; "She's Not There" and "Relative Malice," and Dave's book "The White Vixen."  And of course, my book; 'Acres of Bitterness."  We will definitely be going back to that street fair again next year!

I just typed a long submission to this blog on my tablet on Monday and it is gone.  I did not get a chance to finish it that day. So I went in today to finish it and did so.  When I hit the publish key it told me my session was timed out, try again.  Gone, absolutely gone.

I wrote about my fabulous summer with my grandchildren and there is absolutely no way to remember all that I had written. Great, just great.

I did alot of fun things with them this summer. We did the beach, the circus, Paul Bunyan camp. Ryan only did a couple activites and was able to come stay one time, but we trimmed some trees, which is his favorite things to do here and pulled down some dead branches.  He is disappointed that my compute is so old, because he can't play his fast paced video games on it.  So, he's stuck with watching You-Tube and the TV.
But it turns out for the Madison and Guyton that their favorite things were the woods and sewing.  We walked in the woods one day to go blackberry picking and ended up on a long adventure instead. They pretended their were animals chasing us in the woods etc.  Then they picked some tiny ears of corn to cook over a pretend fire on a stump. But then we brought them home and we tried roasting them on a campfire. Probably would have tasted OK except for the pine needles they put in the pot!!  Then Guyton and I went up in the woods near the house the next day and made a little camping area. We cleared an area of debris and put logs down to sit on and made a firering with rocks. Then we put the sticks in teepee fashion, but I told him we couldn't have a real fire in the woods.  So, at almost seven he gets an awesome idea. He said, 'lets put two Y sticks on each side of the fire and hang a stick between the two.  Then we will tie a flashlight onto it and it will shine on the sticks and we can pretend its a real fire." Now that's a bright child!!

Madison did crafts classes this summer and came home with awesome ideas. She made necklaces from potholder loops and braided yarn and beads together for more necklaces and bracelets. She made pincushions and playdough and candy recipes.  Then she got the idea for patchwork pillows, what a great project, she made a couple for her Mom and Guyton made one for his brand new little brother Beckham, and a little quilt too. I am so happy with all of this because I have been crafting and sewing since I was a little girl.  I had a treddle sewing maching of my own and made doll dresses representing different countries and displayed the dolls in my bedroom.  I made my first pair of bell bottoms when I was 11 and in the 7th grade for the 4-H Fair and earned a blue ribbon for them. She told her Mom she wished she was into sewing, so I hope she will love it as much as I do.  YAY!!!

The Unforgettable "Cancer" Call

 You are never prepared for the phone call that comes at 9:30 p.m. from your Dr. and you never forget the words he speaks. " You  have breast cancer," he tells you. That moment changes things forever.

 People are even more important and precious to you than they were before.   I hang onto my grandkids a  little tighter these days, you never know when that could all taken from you in the beat of a heart.

I have made a full recovery but all are not so lucky and I will try to live life to make those proud who cannot live a life of any kind. But god bless all of you for your brave fights for your lives to live another day to see your family.