January 1, 1967 Jocie Brooke here reporting from Hollyhill on New Year’s Day. Can you believe it’s 1967? Sixty-seven!! I’m fifteen. Grown. Old enough to behave myself, Aunt Love says. Old enough to fall in love, Leigh says. Old enough to take a trip to Jupiter, Wes says. Old enough to understand a few things about life, Dad says. Tabitha …
Story Webs
We live in a web of ideas, a fabric of our own making. ~Joseph Chilton Pearce I’m editing my latest story right now. While I was writing this story that won’t be published until next September 2017, I sometimes felt as though I was having to dredge up every word. I wasn’t sure any word I was finding was a …
When the Words Disappear
One must be drenched in words, literally soaked in them, to have the right ones form themselves into the proper pattern at the right moment. ~Hart Crane Sometimes I feel as though I’m soaked in those words as the writer above says I must be, but then other times the words seem to be hiding from me. Especially those two …
A #2 Pencil and a Dream
“A #2 pencil and a dream can take you anywhere.” ~Joyce A. Myers Things are a little crazy, per usual, around here this week. I’m getting ready for my twin grandsons to come visit this weekend. That, along with this book I’m supposed to be writing and my Hometown Book Launch coming up, made me totally forget Wednesday’s post. So here’s …
The Story Behind Scent of Lilacs
What Can you Get for 99 Cents? What will a dollar buy these days? A candy bar. A soft drink – maybe. A pack of bubblegum. More gasoline at the pump than a year ago. A zillion or so different things at a Dollar Tree Store. Right now for less than that dollars, only 99 cents, you can download first …
Sometimes It Takes a Valley
I write Christian fiction. For years I wrote for the general market with varying degrees of success. I remember when I first started noticing Christian fiction books in stores. They were mostly in Christian bookstores. The majority of the books were nonfiction, but then a shelf or two or maybe a rack would have novels. I wondered if that was …
Rocks, Creeks and Books
July 13, 1966 Jocie Brooke here reporting from Hollyhill, Kentucky. Can you believe that there’s only about a month before school starts again? That’s just not right. Summer should last twice as long as other seasons. Each day needs to matter. Dad says I’m the one who has to make my days matter. I can’t be moping around wishing for …
Need a Few Influencers for a New Shaker Book
“The people who influence you are the people who believe in you.” ~Henry Drummond I am blessed by the influence of so many people who have believed in me through the years. My mother, first and foremost, always believed I could do whatever I set out to do. That’s not to say she might not have been a …
Saving Skelley
October 27, 1965 Jocie Brooke here reporting from Hollyhill, Kentucky. Wow, what a week. My teachers have been crazy this week. They must think we have nothing to do but study. Tests and homework and who has time for all that. I know. I’m in school. I’m supposed to have time for all that. But I have to help Wes …
On the Hunt for “The End”
One must be drenched in words, literally soaked in them, to have the right ones form themselves into the proper pattern at the right moment. ~Hart Crane Once more I am searching for the end of a story. Once more it seems to be hiding from me behind a crazy mixture of words that don’t seem to be paving the …