Reading

Fun and Successful Author Event

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Thursday evening, October 2, 2025, I participated in an Author Reception at my friend, Becky’s, beautiful artisan shop, Pebbles & Lace. This is me at the table I shared with my friend and fellow author, C.S. Wachter, ready to start greeting readers.

Here are some of the wonderful authors who participated. The cute little dog is the character in her mommy’s books, and she even co-signs the books her mommy sells. Her name is Charlamay. We had such a great turnout that I didn’t have enough time to meet and talk to all of the authors. I think I spoke to the majority of shoppers, though.

I have known this dear young lady since she was a young child. It was such a blessing to have her, her mom, and several of her siblings come out. I enjoyed seeing them. It was a blessing to have this young lady so excited and happy to purchase my book! She said she had waited a whole year to get it, and she had. She saw me just a month or two before I published it. She was the first to purchase my book at this event.

The young lady in the blue dress standing next to me came out for this event to promote her Literary Magazine the evening before its release! I was very intrigued because there aren’t very many literary magazines around anymore, since so many things are on the internet. Her magazine is called “The Drowsy Dragon”. It’s a small magazine of short stories by this young lady and a few other people. I was excited to purchase one and take it along home to read.

This author reception was definitely the most fun and most successful event I have attended as an author so far. Thank you to all of you who came out to support us authors! And thank you, Becky, for hosting this wonderful event!

I wish all of the author attendees blessings, and I hope to see you all again.

What Happened to My 25 Classics in 2025 Book Challenge?

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In January 2025, I joined a “25 Classics in 2025” reading challenge with every intention of successfully completing the challenge.

Sadly, I finished reading Silas Marner by George Eliot on Friday night and decided I was done with this challenge. Here’s why:

  1. I only found two of these books enjoyable: Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm and The Blue Castle because these two books had interesting characters that I liked and cared enough about to want to read through to the end of the book. Their plots were also clear and understandable, without a lot of extra unnecessary things cluttering the story.
  2. Two of these books were, what I would call “mediocre”: A Tale of Two Cities and Silas Marner. I liked and cared about several characters, in A Tale of Two Cities, enough to keep reading because I wanted to see what would happen to them. The problems I had with Silas Marner were that Silas Marner doesn’t really become a main character in the story until about two thirds of the way through the book. The first two-thirds of the book are mostly about two brothers, and not brothers of Silas Marner. In the last third of the story, Silas Marner finally becomes a main character and, eventually, the author shows how the decisions and actions of the characters, in the first two thirds of the book, had an effect on Silas Marner’s life and how his life changed, but the reader has to get through two thirds of the book before they engage enough with Silas Marner to actually care about him.
  3. The other four books were very difficult to push through, either because their main characters were unlikable or because there just wasn’t enough to hold my interest.

Does this mean I will never read another Classic or that I don’t believe that there are any Classics that have value? Absolutely not. I believe Classics are very valuable and have lessons we can learn. In the past I have read classics I absolutely love and reread: A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, and Les Miserables by Victor Hugo.

I believe the problem lies in how the books are written. Every good book grabs the reader’s attention at the beginning and holds their attention until the end. A good book has characters the reader cares about and is willing to take their journey with them. I believe it’s more difficult to find Classics that do this, but they do exist, and not only are the good ones worth finding and reading, but they all have important lessons we can learn. At least all the ones I love and reread do.

So, though I have decided to drop out of the “25 Classics in 2025” reading challenge, I intend to continue reading Classics. My plan, from here on out, is to read 3 or 4 Classics each year, in between reading books that are on my neverending TBR pile. I have also decided to not feel guilty, if I decide not to finish a Classic that I’m not really enjoying.

I completed all the books above because I was trying to reach a goal. I have decided that I don’t have enough time to read, and, therefore, I will dedicate my reading time to books I truly enjoy.

How about you? Do you read Classics? Which ones have you really enjoyed?

A Lady’s Guide to Marvels and Misadventure by Angela Bell

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A Lady’s Guide to Marvels and Misadventure is the debut novel of Angela Bell, and what a debut it is!

I couldn’t wait to get my hands on this book, and once I did, I couldn’t wait to read it. While reading it, I found it increasingly difficult to put down. Unfortunately, I only have 2-3 hours each evening to spend reading. However, this past Sunday, I spent about 5 hours reading this book because I enjoyed it so much!

I have to say that Angela Bell is an outstanding author. This book is incredibly well written and is very unique. The characters grab your heart from the start. The troubles they face and the adventures they have keep you turning pages. A couple of the characters are quite quirky, which adds some unexpected twists and extra fun to the story. There are even some animal characters that have very interesting personalities and behaviors that add to the uniqueness and adventure. This novel includes adventure, history, steampunk, characters who face struggles that we can relate to, danger, suspense, and a sweet romance. Who could ask for more?

It’s also quite apparent that Ms. Bell not only enjoys using metaphors, but is a master at using metaphors. Her metaphors paint pictures in the reader’s mind and add to the fun of reading this book.

A Lady’s Guide to Marvels and Misadventure is also a story about faith, and as I read, I found a need to grab a journal and write down my favorite wise and inspirational quotes from the book:

“What-ifs are not acquainted with what-is, and they spread horrid falsehoods about what-will-be, so why bother entertaining them? I’d sooner invite hope into my home — for even when her predictions miss the mark, she makes for pleasant company and eats far less food.”

“Oh Clara Marie. The Lord never promised that life would be safe. But He did promise to be with us always. Whatever the harrowing journey life may bring, rest assured, you shall never be left to face it alone.”

“Romance and adventure are the idealistic scribblings of Austen and Dumas. Like Elizabeth Bennet and Athos, they are not real. Nor do they exist off the page. To believe otherwise is to suffer disillusionment and heartbreak.”

Elizabeth Bennet’s happily-ever-after might be a work of fiction, but love is real enough. Sometimes it takes idealistic scribblings to remind us of that truth when the whole of our very real, very dark world makes it feel like a lie.”

“You are A maker. Not THE Maker.” Miss Stanton gave his hand a firm squeeze. “Just as Grand would never expect a clock to fix its own windings, God would never expect us to mend our own hearts.”

“Lift your face to the heavens, granddaughter mine! Recall the joyous wonder of dwelling and dreaming beneath a canopy of stars, embracing the peace found in total dependence on Him who spoke their radiance into being. That is my wish for you. That is my prayer.”

“Not all people are treated as palaces, admired by travelers and protected by armed guard. Some of us are treated as a cobbled road, trod upon and soon forgotten. That’s just the way of things.”

“Love is much like a flower, child. You can’t guarantee it’ll grow or endure a bitter winter to bloom again. All you can do is plant what you’re given, tend it faithfully, and rely on the God who cares for the lillies of the field as much as He cares for our hearts.”

A Lady’s Guide to Marvels and Misadventure has definitely won a spot on my Top Ten Favorite Books of All Time and I will never forget characters, Theodore, Clara, Mrs. S, Grand, and even Mr. Forrester, as well as Fred, Phileas, Honorine, and Todd.

I will be eagerly awaiting what Angela Bell has for her readers next.

Thursday’s Thoughts, Questions, & Comments About Writing — Marketing

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Photo by Sergiu Vălenaș on Unsplash

In today’s world, whether you publish through a publisher or you self-publish, you will still need to do your own marketing. Now that my first book has been published, I am trying to figure out what marketing strategies work best.

So, what have I done so far?

  1. I have set up an author’s page on Amazon and Goodreads.
  2. I do my best to post here on my blog five days a week, but because I also take my aging mother to medical appointments and have responsibilites in my own household, I don’t always accomplish this goal.
  3. I have a personal page and a professional page on Facebook. If you don’t follow me, please do: my Facebook professional page and my Personal Facebook page. I try to post something on these pages at least once a day, and I try to read and respond to friends’ posts, and to the group posts on the groups I’m a part of. Facebook also has ways to promote posts and I think they have ads available too, but I haven’t tried any of that. I’m just trying to get to know people and connect with readers.
  4. Amazon also has ads, but I haven’t done any of these yet either. There is a cost for ads no matter what website or social media page you’re on. I’ve heard some of the ads are reasonable and worth it, but I’m not ready to try that yet.
  5. I also answer two questions a week on Goodreads and am trying to connect with readers on there as well. Goodreads has some suggestions for authors to do to engage with readers, and they have some marketing tools and suggestions as well. Again, I have not done any of these yet or looked into them in detail.
  6. I’ve been told “word of mouth” is still very effective in selling books, and in the beginning, I have seen that working. I sold a decent amount of books because of that. However, my sales have slowed down, so I need to start looking into and trying some other things. It’s all a process of learning and trial and error.

I have not found much on Barnes & Noble’s website in the way of promoting books, and, honestly, I don’t know if many people buy books from their website. My books been on their website for several weeks now and hasn’t made a single sale. I know Amazon is the place many people go to, not just for books, but for lots of other things. I see their vans all over my town and neighborhood almost on a daily basis, and definitely on a daily basis from October through January.

So, what about you other authors who visit here? What have you done and found effective in selling your books? Please leave a comment in the comments section. I love when we writers/authors can help each other. That’s why I share the posts I share here.

White Chocolate Moments by Lori Wick

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White Chocolate Moments by [Wick, Lori]

This is the third Lori Wick book I have now read, and of the three, I have to say this is my least favorite. That doesn’t mean that I didn’t enjoy it, but I did struggle with some of it.

Arcineh Bryant is the main character and in the first couple of chapters, some of the things that happen are written so quickly and with little detail that it jolted me a bit. Arcineh’s grandfather is a main character in the book as well, and his character frustrated me quite a bit. He seemed to contradict himself quite a bit.

However, as I reached the final third of the book, I began to understand some of the characters better, and cared for them more. I would say the last third of the book was the best part.

Lori writes complex characters. However, I sometimes think they are too odd and it takes a while to understand why they are the way they are.

I will continue to read books by Lori Wick, but my favorite so far, remains Sophie’s Heart. Those characters never seemed odd to me. They seemed realistic based on their circumstances, and I know different people react differently to their circumstances. I guess I just don’t know anyone who reacted to circumstances the way some of the characters in her other books did, which made them seem odd to me.

If you’ve read any of the three Lori Wick books I posted about between my post last Monday and today’s post, did you find any of the characters odd? If so, in what way?

Double Book Review

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When I was talking books with a friend, she mentioned some of her favorites are written by Lori Wick, and when I said I’d never read any of Lori Wick’s books, my friend said, “Oh, you have to.” Then she loaned her copy of Pretense by Lori Wick to me.

It didn’t take me long to get hooked on the story. It follows the life of a family of a military husband, his stay-at-home wife, and their two daughters who are about eight and ten years old at the beginning of the book.

As the two daughters, Mackenzie and Delancey, grow, they have to face many changes and challenges. Throughout these changes and challenges, they rely heavily on each other. Like anyone else, they make some bad choices that have lasting effects upon them and cause them to struggle with trusting people.

Lori Wick did a great job of creating characters that I cared about, sympathized with, and cheered for. Sometimes I also was frustrated with them and found one of them a bit odd. The story definitely kept me turning pages and I enjoyed it quite a bit.

 

Sophie's Heart by [Wick, Lori]

As soon as I returned Pretense to my friend, she handed me Sophie’s Heart by Lori Wick, and I have to say that I LOVE this book!

In this book, Lori Wick created such endearing characters that I fell in love with them immediately. I couldn’t stop reading because I NEEDED to know what was going to happen to these characters.

This story made me laugh and it made me cry, and those are always the books that capture my heart.

My friend loaned one more Lori Wick book to me recently, at the suggestion of her daughter, as it’s one of her favorites, and you can read about that one here on my blog next Monday. So my friend has made me a Lori Wick fan, but at this point, I can honestly say that, so far, Sophie’s Heart is my favorite Lori Wick book. We’ll see if that changes as I read more of her stories.

Have you ever read any books by Lori Wick? If so, which one is your favorite?

Do We Have a Responsibility in Regard to Our Entertainment?

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Entertainment surrounds us — social media, movies, music, books, DVDs. It invades our sight, our hearing, our minds, and our hearts. Therefore, don’t we have a responsibility to be careful about what entertainment we allow to invade us?

The book of Proverbs in the Bible is a book of wisdom and in that book it says, “Pay attention to what I say; listen closely to my words. Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart; for they are life to those who find them and health to a man’s whole body. Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life. Put away perversity from your mouth; keep corrupt talk far from your lips. Let your eyes look straight ahead, fix your gaze directly before you. Make level paths for your feet and take only ways that are firm. Do not swerve to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil.”  (Proverbs 4:20-27)

Also, in the book of Philippians we read, “Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable — if anything is excellent or praiseworthy — think about such things.” (Philippians 4:8)

Therefore, it is my understanding that we are responsible for whatever we fill our senses, our minds and our hearts with.

So, why am I talking about this? Because of a brief conversation I had with some friends recently. These friends are also believers, and we were talking about writing and one mentioned the writings of Diana Gabaldon, especially her “Outlander” series, to which I commented, “that’s garbage”. Two of my friends responded with, “No, it’s not. Her writing is fantastic.”

Now, I will admit that I have not actually read any of Diana Gabaldon’s works. So maybe she is a very skilled writer. However, I do know that her Outlander series has a lot of explicit sex in it, and a lot of it is rape, which she romanticizes.

In my opinion, that is wrong, and it certainly isn’t something I want to read and invade my mind and heart with.

Whenever I’ve made these comments about Ms. Gabaldon’s writing, I’ve heard the same thing from both Christian and non-Christian women who read these books, “That was the way it was in that place and time period.”

To which I must say, “I’m sure that NOT EVERY male/female relationship in that place and time period involved rape, just as I’m sure that EVERY woman who has ever been raped has experienced a violent, invasive, traumatic event and would not find it in the least bit romantic. Therefore, I find it irresponsible that a writer would have women romanticizing and fantasizing about their rapist(s) and the act of rape.

I find it disappointing and disheartening that Christian women are reading such things and finding them great entertainment. I refuse to read that type of so-called entertainment.

I am also very careful with what I write because I do not want to be responsible for leading someone down a crooked path. I don’t write preachy stories or stories that will have a strictly “Christian” label, but I do write with the same responsibility with which I read, and though my characters face temptation and sometimes yield to it just as any human, they will also grow and learn and find redemption.

 

 

Reading and Writing

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Reading and Writing are my two most favorite things to do. I spend as much time as I possibly can doing these two activities, which as long as we have child(ren) still living in our home, is not as much as I would like, but the fact that I have lots of friends who love to read and write as much as I do is a huge plus. It allows me to share with other like-minded people, which is great, because even my husband doesn’t really understand my artist/writing ways.   🙂

Reading and writing go hand-in-hand. To be a good writer, it is imperative to do a lot of reading, and not just books on the writing craft. Actually, sometimes you can learn more about writing from reading a fiction or nonfiction book than from some of the books on writing.

I’ve been told that I must spend a lot of time reading the type of books that I want to write because that’s extremely helpful. However, I love so many different genres that I read from a wide spectrum, which I think is also extremely helpful in many ways.

Since reading and writing are solitary activities, it’s important to be purposeful about getting out and spending some time with people. After all, that’s one place a lot of story ideas come from. Also, to just spend time with other reader/writer people helps to feed our creativity and helps us to be encouraged because, let’s face it, writing is hard work!

If you visit my blog regularly, then you’ve probably seen many of my Monday posts that are reviews of books I have read, so you know that I read a wide variety of genres and stuff that’s been published recently as well as many years ago.

What about you? What do you like to read?

Top Ten Tuesday

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Today’s theme for Top Ten Tuesday, as suggested by The Broke and the Bookish, is Top Ten Books to Read if your Book Club likes _______. (Fill in the blank to be anything you want: YA books, non-fiction, a particular genre, etc.)

I have chosen Top Ten Books to Read if Your Book Club Likes Suspense/Horror. (None of these are full of blood and gore because I don’t read those types of books, but I do love to be kept on the edge of my seat.)

  1. The Watchers by Dean Koontz
  2. The Hunted by Mike Dellosso
  3. Scream by Mike Dellosso
  4. Nick of Time by Tim Downs
  5. Misery by Stephen King (this one does contain some human torture, but it’s not too                                                     graphic)
  6. Any of the Odd Thomas books by Dean Koontz
  7. On the Street Where You Live by Mary Higgins Clark
  8. Indivisible by Kristen Heitzmann
  9. Last Light (The Restoration Series) by Terri Blackstock
  10. The Negotiator (The O’Malley Series) by Dee Henderson

Book Series Review

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Yes, today I am doing a review on a book series. It is an old series, but a good one. Years ago I read a couple of the books in the series and saw a movie that was based on one of the books, so this year I decided I wanted to read the entire series and see all of the movies based on the series. I recently finished reading the books but have not yet watched the movies.

The series is the  “Love Comes Softly” series by Janette Oke. There are eight books in the series. However, Janette Oke’s “A Prairie Legacy” series continues the stories of the characters from the “Love Comes Softly” series, and “A Prairie Legacy” has four books. Therefore, altogether there are twelve books.

I enjoyed each of the books, but my favorites are the original “Love Comes Softly” series. You see, Janette Oke didn’t plan to write a series when she wrote the first book “Love Comes Softly”. However, it sold so well and readers wanted more about the characters in the book, so Ms. Oke’s publisher encouraged her to create a series.

When she finished “Love Finds a Home”, the eighth book in the series, she decided she was finished and moved on to other books. However, again, readers asked her to continue the series. The characters from the “Love Comes Softly” series are truly realistic, and readers come to love and care about them quickly and easily from the very beginning. So, Ms. Oke wrote “A Prairie Legacy” series a few years after the original.

As I read the series, I could tell that some time had passed from Ms. Oke’s writing the “Love Comes Softly” series to writing “A Prairie Legacy” series. I found it harder to love the characters at first, and because Ms. Oke wrote the stories as time had progressed, as indeed it would have in real life, the issues the characters dealt with were more modern, which just seemed like a big jump to me, but in the reality of time, wasn’t. Ms. Oke is a wonderful writer who went on to write and cowrite many more wonderful stories.

Of course, Clark and Marty are my absolute favorites of this series and I love how Ms. Oke wrote so well of their aging throughout the series, but decided to end the series before their deaths. I’m sure I’m not the only reader/fan who is thankful for that.

Then there was Missie, Clark’s daughter to his first wife who had passed away. When she grew up and married and they decided to move far from Clark and Marty, they all had to adjust to the separation.

Missie had married a young man named Willie, and all through the book, “Love’s Long Journey”, he constantly shows his love and caring for her in such tender, touching ways. There is a dialog in the book that I just have to share because it melted my heart and convinced me that Missie had definitely married the right man:

Willie: . . . “I love ya. I’ve loved ya ever since ya were a little schoolgirl.”

Missie: “And you showed it by dunking my hair ribbons in an inkwell.”

Willie: “An carvin’ our initialls–”

Missie: “And putting a grasshopper in my lunch pail.”

Willie: “An’ tellin’ young Todd Culver thet I’d knock out his teeth iffen he didn’t leave my                   girl alone. An’ closin’ yer classroom window when it got stuck. An’ prayin’ fer ya                   every single day–that iffen God willed, ya’d learn to love me.”

Missie: “You did that?”

Willie: “I did.”

So, yes, “Love’s Long Journey” was another of my favorites in the series. Also, the last three books of the original eight. In “”Love’s Unfolding Dream”, Belinda meets a young man whose family has fallen on rough times. She finds the young man attractive and intriguing. Later in the book, they have a conversation that makes me feel in my heart that they are destined to be together. However, they both want to pursue other things, as they are still young. In the seventh book of the original eight, “Love Takes Wing”, Belinda has two or three young men interested in her, and I was afraid Ms. Oke was going to have Belinda end up with a different man. I felt tortured all through “Love Takes Wing”, and I don’t want to spoil anything for anyone, so you’ll have to read the series if you want to find know all of Belinda’s story and whether or not she ended up with that original boy from her childhood or someone else, and then you will know if I enjoyed the final book of the original eight, “Love Finds a Home”.

I concluded the reading of these two intertwined series by Janette Oke by reading “Janette Oke: A Heart for the Prairie” written by Ms. Oke’s daughter, Laurel Oke Logan. It is Ms. Oke’s life story and explains how she eventually became the wonderful writer that she still is today.

“Love Comes Softly” was published in July 1979 and was Janette Oke’s first book, and her most recent book “Where Hope Prevails” from the “Return to the Canadian West” series was released just last month.