Woohoo - One Step Closer

Second edit done!  Kay came over with her edits and they made such a difference in the book. Martha Street Market is evolving into a great last book of the Saginaw Series.  I cannot wait for my sister, Jane to get here next week so I can give her a printout for the last edit.  Then as soon as I get the cover art I will be able to publish on Amazon.

I know every single time - and this is the 12th time - that I publish a book, I realize how blessed I am with great editors. Mary Lynn, Kathy, Jane and Kay - these books get so much better after your read them and tell me where I need to explain more, change my commas, ask questions about parts you don't understand and even make sure I have named the right character in the right spot!

The artists I have chosen each time have been superior.  D.A. Clifford - my brother-in-law Dan was the first artist I asked to sketch a cover for my first book series and now he is finishing up with one more cover for the Saginaw Series.  Hope Sweigart a wonderful photographer helped choose her cover photos for the Holiday Series and Four Season Friends.  A Light Shines Forth was inspired by Mike Sonnenberg, the cover artist with his picture of the Tawas Light House. And the book, New Beginnings, was inspired by artwork by Clarence Lum - his painting Prada Girl made the words just tumble out of my heart when I saw it.

So excited...

#PoweredByIndie

Books I Published on Amazon

October is #PoweredByIndie month on Amazon.  Let me say, I would not be an author without Amazon Kindle books.  Amazon has given thousands of authors the opportunity to publish and sell books all on our own.  

I write my books to share with each other.  Mothers, daughters, sisters, friends, aunts,  even teachers with their students.  They are all about friendship, supporting one another, getting through difficult times, growing up, believing in ourselves, caring about others.  There are questions at the end of the book to facilitate discussion.  I don't care how many books I sell.  I have given many of them away.  I care that the message of the importance of being a good friend is shared by all who read my books.  

I will forever be greatful to Amazon for providing a place for my books.  I love writing.  

My first series - Saginaw Series

The books in the Saginaw Series follow the friends from the summer before Freshman year to the summer before Senior year. In Webber House meet Katy and Jen, best friends. In Bertie's Bakery Heaven Scent, it becomes a trio adding Colleen. In Andersen Pool add James and Adam. In Daniels Den follow the band "The Lifeguards" as they work their way to possible stardom. You will get to know the friends throughout their high school years as they blend the best of Saginaw old with Saginaw today.

My second series - Holiday Series

The books in the Holiday Series are a year in the life of Kyla, Olivia, Maddie and Sophie and all their friends. Difficult issues are faced this year in all four books. In book one, No Christmas for Olivia, it is time to learn the true meaning of Christmas. In book two, Easter Trip to Florida, the students go on a mission trip where they learn humility and the importance of sharing God's love. In book three, Independence Day, Internet bullying hurts two students. In book four, A Very Thankful Thanksgiving, new zero tolerance rules have an unexpected consequence.

My first stand alone book - Four Season Friends

Four Season Friends begins with moving day and all the stress and anxiety of seven people relocating to a new home in a new city.   Each of them quickly becomes friends with the family of eight next door and the fun begins.  A few of the children  are homeschooled while others attend St. Mary Cathedral, just three blocks away.  There are vacations, a first job away from home and even a wedding reception in a Montana barn in the middle of winter!  You will come to love the Castors and the Maxums, possibly even wishing you could live next door to them.

My second stand alone book - A Light Shines Forth

When Noah and Emma plan to scare their sisters at the Tawas Point State Park in Michigan neither of them understands that it will change their relationship. Meet the Emerson and Miller families where friendships are more like being part of an extended family. Follow Noah as he begins his service in the Air Force at basic training. Become part of a friendship that spans generations. Based in Saginaw, Michigan the families belong to St. Mary Cathedral where the siblings go to school. A book filled with friendship, romance and characters you will remember forever.

My most recent book - New Beginnings

New Beginnings is a story of a mother and her daughter, Aubrey and Annie, moving to Saginaw, Michigan from Texas. They are invited to live with a cousin and her daughter, Brianna and Riley. The story will follow where they have been and where they are headed after many "New Beginnings." As a matter of fact, Annie is tired of "New Beginnings" she just wants life to stay the same for awhile. Riley is still dealing with the death of her father. She doesn't want anything to do with anyone.

Cover Artists

Cover Artwork

I love the art of my covers. I have been blessed with four artists who have provided not only their artwork, but inspiration for my writing.

I will go backwards in time, starting with my latest book.

My classmate Clarence Lum was preparing to show his art at Fandangles' in Flushing, Michigan.  He had several pieces standing on a chair in his living room.  I was looking through them when Prada Girl jumped out at me.  It was so compelling.  A story started to form and the images just kept popping into my head.  I had been trying to find a new storyline for a few months.  That night, I wrote the first three or four chapters.  It is a story from my heart and the inspiration from his art is why this story has been told. I purchased a digital copy for my cover.

A great Saginaw Photagrapher, Mike Sonnenberg, has been posting his pictures on Facebook for sometime.  I love looking at his photos.  They are from all over Michigan.  And if you know anything about me, you know I love Michigan.  One day he posted a picture of the Tawas Lighthouse.  It was so amazing.  We have camped in Tawas many times, so when I saw this picture I thought I would research it a bit.  Hah, I found a few references to it being haunted by a little girl.  A story began to form and I contacted Mike to purchase a digital copy to use for the cover.  His website is: Lost in Michigan

When I was looking for covers for the Holiday Series, my daughter suggested someone she knew, Hope Sweigart.  At that time she was a college student.  I met with her at Barnes and Noble in the coffee shop and I told her the storyline of the Holiday Series.  A few weeks later she had the cover photos I would use.  I loved them so much that a year later I asked her to work on the Four Season Friends cover with me.  I purchased the digital photos for the covers.

When I was writing my first book, Webber House, I didn't know what I was going to do. The four books in the series were well-known landmarks in Saginaw. I called my brother-in-law and thankfully he agreed to do the sketches.

The Webber House was torn down in the 60's, but their was an historical picture on the Saginaw Public Library site.  Bertie's Bakery building is still standing, but it doesn't look anything like a bakery anymore.  Dan took my description and transformed that old building.  Andersen was sketched from an old postcard.  His favorite was Daniel's Den.  Dan and his brothers went to several concerts at Daniel's Den and he really liked drawing that one.  I purchased the artwork to use on these covers.

Inspiration from the Past

Several years ago at St. Mary Cathedral, Sr. Nancy came to choir and told us about St. Michael's Christmas worship space.  My husband and I drove to St. Michael's in Oakley, Michigan.  They had beautiful stars hanging from the ceiling.  Right then I knew we had to find a way to do that the next year at the Cathedral.

I set about searching the internet. I found a site that explained how to cut several stars at once with a band-saw.  This is not the same site but it does show how we cut so many stars.  The one thing we did differently is drilling through to hold the plywood and the posterboard.  We drilled right through the top part of the star, thereby creating a hole to hang the star.

Then we folded the stars - like this site shows - then we spray painted them gold and added gold glitter.  We put up signs at the entrances to church that said, "The stars are coming, the stars are coming..."  Then had a sign up sheet for people to come help tie the stars to fishing line.

On a Saturday in early December about 25 people helped tie the stars.  There were 1,700 stars to attach!  We carefully gathered the string and clipped them with a clothespin to keep them from getting tangled.  Then when we decorated we crisscrossed the lines all over the church.  It looked like we brought the heavens inside the Cathedral.

In the book, A Light Shines Forth, the stars have been used a few times and it is time to retire them. The sisters, Sarah and Julie, from Four Season Friends that are on the Art and Environment Committee ask to reuse them at the Homecoming dance.

I certainly hope you are looking forward to July 2015 when A Light Shines Forth is published.

Four Season Friends is Now Available

I am pleased to announce that Four Season Friends - my first novel - is available on Amazon.

Four Season Friends begins with moving day and all the stress and anxiety of seven people relocating to a new home in a new city.   Each of them quickly becomes friends with the family of eight next door and the fun begins.  A few of the children  are homeschooled while others attend St. Mary Cathedral, just three blocks away.  There are vacations, a first job away from home and even a wedding reception in a Montana barn in the middle of winter!  You will come to love the Castors and the Maxums, possibly even wishing you could live next door to them.

I know you will like this book as much as the Saginaw Series and the Holiday Series.  Click the book.

The Wedding Barn!

After searching for a year, we found the wedding barn for Four Season Friends.  

The setting in the book is Montana in the winter for Nancy and Jim's wedding.  

However, we found the perfect barn for the wedding close to Brant, Michigan in the spring.  

I will have to go there in the winter to take a picture with snow in it.

When I saw it yesterday, I knew immediately that this was the one.

Chapter 1 of Four Season Friends

I am right on target with the next book, Four Season Friends.  This is not a series book, it is my first novel. Four Season Friends should be published on Amazon as an eBook by July.  Now is the time to put it on your summer reading list. It is a book appropriate for all ages.  This book follows two large families living on Hoyt Street in Saginaw, Michigan.  Some of the children attend St. Mary Cathedral and some of them are homeschooled.  The two moms, Sissy and Noreen, team up to teach some of their children at home.

The book starts out in Summer.  It is moving day for the Maxum family and it is not going well.  Everyone is overwhelmed and they all need a time out.  A new friendship begins on this day that will last a lifetime.

I focus a lot on Larry, one of the older children in this book.  He has some anger issues.  How does he learn from his outbursts of anger?  Can he learn to change his attitude?

The kids are encouraged to pull pranks by one set of parents.  The other parents are divided in the wisdom of pranks that are supervised and where safety is the major issue.  They all learn there are consequences to pulling pranks on each other.

There is fund raising for the East Side Soup Kitchen.  How good can actually come out of a bad situation.

Of course there is wedding - I don't think I can write a book that doesn't have a love story in it!

There are vacations in Montana.  My husband and I traveled to Montana this past year to gather information for this book.  The people we met were kind and helpful and even allowed me to put them in the book. Some of the book is set in Traverse City, Michigan.  One of our favorite vacation spots. One of the children wants to work there over the summer.  But she needs to learn what it means to have good work ethics before permission is granted.

I hope you will love this book as much as I loved writing it.  I am in the last phase of editing and have really enjoyed getting to know these characters.  Watch for the announcement of publishing.  I can't wait!

Chapter 1

Amanda yelled down from the top railing of the gleaming oak staircase, "Mom, where are the boxes from my bedroom?" Her mom was in the kitchen in the back of the new house.  With the dishwasher running she couldn't hear her daughter.

Amanda screamed louder, "Mom!"  Still no answer. She stomped angrily down the stairs, stopping at the landing to yell again. This time with all the pent up anger she felt about moving, she shouted, "Mother, where are my belongings?"

Without waiting for an answer she turned on the landing and ran down the last set of stairs to the entry hall.  She randomly started opening boxes and as she rummaged through them, the contents began spilling out onto the floor. Her mom had heard the last yell and as she walked into the long entry hall to see what was wrong.  When she saw the mess Amanda was making she gasped, "What are you doing, Amanda Jane? Don't start pulling things out of boxes right here in the front hall."

Tempers were short. Moving day was taking its toll. Mrs. Maxum stopped to regain her composure.  She stared out the front door and started thinking about the move.  When their fifth child, Timmy, was born it was evident they would have to find a larger home.  The only other boy, the oldest, Larry was sleeping in a room no bigger than a closet.  The three girls, Amanda, Clare and Joanna were crammed into the largest bedroom which had no place to put a crib.  Timmy had been sleeping at the end of the hallway.

Chaos Corner

When we went to Montana we visited Celeste at the X Hangin X Creative photography in the Chaos Corner. I asked her why they named it Chaos Corner and this is my favorite quote ever! Now she made this sign to hang on their door!
Chaos Corner is in the new book, Four Season Friends. Due out summer of 2014.
By the way, if you are visiting Absarokee, Montana, make sure you stop by the Chaos Corner!

Snapping Fingers - Inspiration

On Facebook last night my daughter Caroline posted a sign that says, "Sometimes I open my mouth and my mother comes out!"  My other daughter, Joanna, posted, "Hahaha...that started happeing YEARS ago for me.  Then my sister, Jane, posted, "Oh the snapping fingers!  I tried to stop myself, but alas they snapped!!

Which quickly turned into this in my next book, Four Season Friends:

After everyone was tucked in with kisses and books, Sissy called Noreen.  She groaned as she exclaimed, “I am turning into my MOTHER!”  She explained, “When I was growing up my mother made a lot of phone calls for school.  Whenever a vote came to the public that would help St. Mary’s in some way she, and her loyal group of friends, would begin a calling campaign.  Of course this was way before the Internet, so phone calls and mailing campaigns were the only way to go.  When Mom was on the phone all night long, there would be sometimes when I just had to ask something.  Invariably, I would get the snapping fingers with the disapproving look for interrupting her.  Today, I snapped my fingers at Julie.  I tried to stop myself, but alas they snapped!" Noreen burst out laughing.  Years ago I found myself clicking my tongue at something Amanda did and I slapped my own face!  The two women laughed until they had tears streaming down their faces and their husbands asking what was so funny!

Inspriation.  It comes from all over the place!

Editors

My editors are a gift from God.

After spending many hours writing and rewriting my books I tend to lose focus. The story makes sense to me because I know my characters inside out.  I begin to worry whether a new reader will like my book.

My cousin, Mary Lynn gets the first draft. When I give it to her I worry until I get it back.  She checks grammar and punctuation. If something seems confusing she points out the problem. She hates compound sentences.  Mary Lynn is the first person to get to know my characters. In the new book, Four Season Friends there are so many characters I was worried it would be confusing.  But when the phone call came, when she finished reading it the first time through, she said she loved the characters in the book.  I felt so relieved.

Issues and Conflicts

Issues and Conflicts in the Books

Four Season Friends, The Saginaw Series and the Holiday Series are filled
with loving families faced with difficult situations. 

There is a strong faith-filled community of adults to help the teens find answers
through prayer, faith, love and friendship. 

How ridiculous you look, my dear!

This picture was my Grandma Florence Shea's.  In the picture below she actually had pictures taken of herself wearing a hat like the one the 1911 woman is wearing.  Even the dress and the long chain with the watch are similar.  I never noticed this until I was writing this blog post.  I find it amusing that she copied the picture for her photograph.  In the Four Season Friends book Grandma Caroline sends these pictures to Clare for her report on fashions.

Clare researches and finds out that Haute Coutier - French for High Fashion - is often copied today and mass produced.  A few years ago, I took a picture of my granddaughter, Sheala, on her way to her junior prom in a dress that looks like it was copied from a Marchesa original.  When she sent me a text with a picture of the dress she was trying on I was amazed because I had just seen the original dress in the magazine I was reading.

Colleen, Katy and Jen's Easy Delicious Brownies

The brownies made by Colleen, Jen and Katy in the second book of the Saginaw Series: Bertie's Bakery Heaven Scent.  They are so good they made a comeback in the Four Season Friends book, too!


Click Read More to see the recipe!

Real People in My Books

Many things have inspired me over the years.  Even though I make up the stories that happen in my books, some of the people and places actually do exist.  I have written fiction about all of them - so the stories are all in my head.  Some of the events have happened, but again, the people are all just characters in the books.  I thought you might be interested in knowing some of the real people, places and things in my books.