Angel Sister is still on e-book sale for a few more days, but the sale is almost over. The book was featured on BookBub and had a sweet run on Amazon Kindle to be a number one seller in Christian Historical Fiction for a couple of days. The price is 79 cents. A reader can give a book a try for 79 cents. Of course, the hope is that once the reader tries this book, he or she might want to read other stories I’ve written. Have you ever found new authors that way?
Anyway, since I’m still back in Rosey Corner and trying to entice other folks to join me there to read about my Merritt family, I’m posting one of my favorite scenes from the book although I do have several. Loved it when Aunt Hattie prayed. But this scene is between Kate, a viewpoint character who is fourteen and little Lorena Birdsong who is five. This is where the title of the book happens. So here goes.
When Kate came around the corner of the church building, a little girl was already sitting on the steps. She looked around at Kate and said, “Are you an angel?”
“Me? An angel? Far from it. Just ask anybody,” Kate said with a laugh as she squatted down in front of the steps.
The little girl pulled her faded red dress down over her knees as though she wanted to hide as much of her small body as she could from Kate. Little bare feet crusted with dirt stuck out below her dress. The child pushed her dark curly hair back from her face and dropped her chin down on her knees to wait for whatever Kate was going to say next. Tear streaks ran down her cheeks, but she wasn’t crying now. Kate had never seen the child before.
“Are you lost, sweetie?” Kate asked.
“No.” The child pressed her lips together. Tears filled her dark chocolate brown eyes and slid down her cheeks. She didn’t bother wiping them away as she stared up at Kate with a mixture of fear and hope. “You have to be an angel. Please.”
“Why do I have to be an angel?” Kate moved over to sit down beside the child. She started to put her arm around her, but then stopped. She didn’t want to frighten the little girl.
“Because my mommy said that if I sat here and didn’t cry an angel would come take care of me and love me and bring me something to eat. I tried really hard. Just like I promised Mommy.” The little girl looked down at her feet. After a few seconds she went on in a tiny, sad voice. “But I couldn’t keep all the tears in. They just came out.”
“Where is your mommy?” Kate asked softly.
“She left. With Daddy. She had to.” The little girl pulled her dress down farther over her knees until the hem touched the top of her feet. She curled her toes under as if to hide them too.
“Why did she have to?”
“Because of the baby in her tummy. Daddy, he’s gonna’ find work and then they’re coming back for me. But Daddy said this looked like a good place. He said it had gardens and apple trees and two churches. Most places only have one. They kept Kenton because he’s sick. Nobody wants a sick boy. I told them I might be sick too, but they said the angel wouldn’t care. That she’d make me feel better. They’re coming back for me. Mommy promised.”
The little girl looked up at Kate as if she needed Kate to say it was true, so Kate said, “Then they will as soon as they can.”
The little girl let out a long breath and scooted closer to Kate. “Can I touch you or will my hand go right through you? You know like a ghost. I’ve never seen an angel before.”
“You can touch me. I’m not a real angel. Those you might not be able to touch.” Kate put her arm around the child and drew her close against her. Her shoulders felt very bony under her dress. “My name’s Kate. What’s your name?”
“Lorena Birdsong. Mommy told me to say my name every morning when I get up and every night when I go to bed and that wherever she is she’ll be saying it too. My name. Lorena Birdsong. Names are very important, you know. She told me never to forget that.” The little girl pulled a piece of paper out from under her leg. “She wrote it down for me so that when I start school, I’ll spell it right.” She ran her finger over the writing on the paper before she held it out for Kate to see. “That and the day I was born.”
“Lorena Birdsong. June 1, 1931,” Kate read, then smiled at the little girl. “That’s a very pretty name.”
Lorena’s name did play a big part in the story and not only this first Rosey Corner story, but the other two as well. My editor once told me as they were getting the last Rosey Corner book, Love Comes Home, ready for publication, that after one of the meetings where they discussed the book, they would meet in the hallways and say “My name is …….” and fill in their name. That was because there is a scene at the end of Love Comes Home that uses that “My name is….,” because as Lorena says, names are important.
Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed this scene from Angel Sister.
Do you agree with Lorena that names are important?
Comments 11
Oh, even though I have read Angel Sister, I couldn’t pass it up for that price! I just may read it again. It’s been quite awhile.
Author
Thank you for downloading the book, Karen. I appreciate that so much. That is a really, really cheap price for a book.
Angel Sister was my very first book I read of yours which led me to read MANY more. I shared the book with my sister, Becky, which led her to read many of your books. I have a book of yours waiting for me at the library—Murder is No Accident. I never really thought about whether a name is important. I guess it is if you’re looking up someone’s phone number or address….😊
Author
That’s a practical way of looking at a name being important, Karen. I guess since the right name for my characters helps them come to life in my imagination, that makes their names important to me.
I’m so glad you read that first book and then wanted to read more of my stories. Fun that you invited Becky into my stories too. Thank you for that. I hope you will enjoy going to Hidden Springs for another mystery.
I know I will, Ann! God bless you for sharing your God given talent with us! 😊
I LOVE Lorena Birdsong! She needs her own book – she has to be grown up by now, right? 🙂 Thanks for this article! I hope many more readers find Rosey Corner because this book is on sale! I think this one was a freebie a few years back and that’s how I discovered you!
Author
So glad you discovered Rosey Corner and enjoyed getting to know my Merritt family , Erin. Yes, I would like to write another story about Lorena who would be grown up. Maybe someday I will. My publishers like the three books in a series plan, but that doesn’t mean that I might not write that book yet.
I loved Angel Sister, and the way Lorena always said her name. It’s a nice characteristic. Names are important. My name is somewhat unusual. I had never heard of anyone else named Lavon, until I was in high school. UK had a basketball player named LaVon Williams. I got teased a bit for having a guys name, so I started signing my name LavonSheree because it sounds more girlish. And I still do.
I just looked up Mr. Williams to verify his spelling…mine gets misspelled a LOT! It turns out that basketball took him to college, but he’s well known for his art now…namely his woodwork. So your post led me to reading a really nice article this morning! Thanks!
Have a great week, Ann. 🙂
Author
I remember LaVon Williams when he played for Kentucky and I did know that he was an artist now. I wasn’t sure what sort of art he did. I’ll have to look him up too. I have new neighbors who just had a baby last year and I think they named their little boy Lavon. But I’m not sure I’ve ever really gotten the baby’s name right. 🙂
LavonSheree is a very feminine sounding name and is even more unique than Lavon.
It is still one of my favorite books. It is so touching. I guess I’ll have to read it again.
I think names are important. Sometimes you have to live up to your name. It’s like it becomes your reputation.
Author
I think that living up to your name is especially for a last name, don’t you, Paula? Your family name. Of course sometimes you might have a family name that wasn’t so respected in a community. We had some of those type of name and then my niece married someone with that last name. But everybody always said it wasn’t those “name” family. We were all so judgmental.
I appreciate your kind words about Angel Sister. If you like to listen to audio books, I think the narrator who read Angel Sister did a fantastic job. I haven’t listened to many of my books. Only this one and part of a couple of Shaker books. I listened to Angel Sister because it was a couple of years since I wrote it before I wrote Rosey Corner 2, Small Town Girl, and listening to Angel Sister was how I recaptured Rosey Corner in my imagination.