Sienna – a Tough Little Wildflower

“Wildflowers aren’t meant to be cut and tamed. They’re meant to be loved and admired.” — Anthony T. Hincks

Thank you all for playing my Random Line Game. I hope you had fun. I did even though I was a little surprised that I had trouble deciding on which line to choose randomly. So, perhaps the selection wasn’t completely random such as line 5 on page 87. I originally thought I might pick the lines that way. For example, if I had picked that line randomly from When the Meadow Blooms on the last post, here’s what I would have had.

As much as he hated to admit she was right, she was.

That wouldn’t have been too bad. It’s Dirk admitting Miss Warfield, the head of the orphanage, is right to not let him take the girls without proof the girls’ mother had given him permission. But I don’t think it really points a finger at the story. Also, when I tried the line whatever on page whatever in some of the books, I came up with lines that had names. While I wanted to give you a clue, I didn’t want to give you all the answer.

I must have given you enough clues with this last random line. That child was going to be hard to shut out of his heart. Most of you jumped right on that one and knew it was Dirk talking about Sienna in When the Meadow Blooms. 

I did think that one would be easier than some of the others I’d pulled out of books. After all, it was from my most recent book which you might have read not so long ago. And then there was Dirk who tried to wall off his heart to everyone to keep from being hurt again.

“I dream of a quiet man who explains nothing and defends nothing, but only knows where the rarest wildflowers are blooming, and who goes, and finds that he is smiling not by his own will.” — Wendell Berry, Given

This Wendell Berry quote made me think of Dirk and I like the idea that Sienna was a kind of wildflower, a very rare kind, that did have him smiling not by his own will.

The initial spark of an idea that started me down the storyroad for When the Meadow Blooms were two sisters in an orphanage. Those sisters, who kept walking through my thoughts, became Calla and Sienna. They then needed many people around them. I have some new characters walking through my thoughts now, and I’m eager to begin doing the extra brush strokes of words to bring their world to life.

One of the books I pulled a random line from for this game was River to Redemption. 

“The Lord, he always answers if you pray believin’.” No doubt leaked into his words. 

Many of you got that one too because you remembered “pray believing” was a line I had Louis say many times in the story. It became a tag line for him and for those who knew him to repeat. Now when I autograph a copy of River to Redemption, that’s what I write along with my name and the Scripture reference Mark 11:24.

“Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.” (New King James Version)

I have no way of knowing whether the real Louis, who was that spark of inspiration for my story, ever said anything like this. Even so, I imagined him a man of God with a strong faith in order to do the things he did during the cholera epidemics in the town of Springfield, Kentucky.

Right now, River to Redemption, is part of the Baker Book Haul, a special sale of 50% off and free shipping on a boatload of select titles in their store. A great time to do some Christmas shopping, because what’s more fun than finding a book under the tree?

And the Winners Are:

I’m finally getting around to the news you may have been waiting to hear or read in this case. I picked the three winners for my Random Line Game today. They are Lisa Bragg, Roberta Peterson, and bn100. I’ve heard from Lisa already, but she wants to check out which of my books she already has before picking her prize book. I haven’t heard from Roberta or bn100 yet. So, if you two see this, please check  your emails and let me know which book is on your wish list.

Again, thank you all for playing along with my Random Line Game. We’ll do it again sometime and for sure, I’ll be giving some more books away before Christmas. Until then, be sure to check out the Baker Book House Big Haul Sale.

Oh, and one more thing. I’ll be in Columbia, Kentucky this coming Friday, November 4 from noon until 6 p.m. CST at the 7th Annual Adair County Book Fair held in conjunction with Columbia’s To the Nines! Numerous regional and local authors will be on hand at the Columbia Baptist Church on 201 Greensburg Street to sign their books. More chances for those Christmas gifts. If you’re in the area, I’d love to see you.