Labels: change, health, retirement

I've noticed a phenomenon now that I'm getting older. I'm sure it was always there, but I'm just noticing it. We've had quite a few men whose wives have died. Within six month or so, they are dating. One was even remarried in three months after being a devoted husband to his wife of over fifty years.

Labels: men remarriage

Labels: book covers

A friend of mine repeated a sermon she heard Sunday at her church in Nashville, and it resonated with me. Remember when scientists were researching the concept of building an atmosphere for living on another planet? I don't recall a lot about it, but that doesn't mean much. My memory is just coming back after a long few months of forgetfulness.

Labels: deep roots, enduring hardship, Good stress

I hope all writers go through this. I know Colleen doesn't, but she's sort of inhuman with the happiness gene, so I'm going to bypass her. I'm in a whiny mood. I do believe I always get to this place about the same point in my book. Something is missing, and I can't put my finger on it, and so I keep going praying that it will come to be by the end.

This is when I wish that I knew how to plot. Actually, I know how to plot. I could teach a class on it. I just can't plot. My characters never do what I want them to do, and this annoys me. It's kind of like my kids. LOL

The kids are gone to my mother's house until tomorrow, so there's more at stake than usual. I should be writing Shakespeare's sonnets with this kind of time. Do you ever do that though? Squander time when you know THIS IS IT. I should not be procrastinating! The maid was here today, and so I cleaned out my son's room. She heard me in there squealing (I dropped a bookshelf on my head -- that's another story.) So she came in and helped. And we had so much fun cleaning that disaster.

I do believe my son has every Lego he's ever received since he was two, and I tried to make a place for them all, or I got rid of them. (He has also saved the boxes and every Lego magazine and instruction manual.) I kept the instruction manuals, ditched the boxes and the catalogs. I totally accomplished something. Just not what I was supposed to accomplish. My car was in the shop all day today, so I didn't even have the ability to go OUT and waste time. Yet I managed to do it right here, without any accomplices. What kind of things do you avoid?

First off, please pray for our Diann. She's in the hospital. Has been experiencing severe pain and nausea. I suspect she has mucositis in her intestines from the chemo. The doctor suspects an ileas problem. Whatever it is, we want them to find it and fix it!!

Labels: childbirth

The book world is changing fast, isn't it? Just a few short years ago, if you wanted a book, you had to go to the library or bookstore. Now, with books gone digital, it's a different game.

Labels: digital books, Kindle, Reading

Writing is one of the few businesses with a very small required investment. A computer, printer, books on writing, and a membership in ACFW, That’s the bare minimum. You can get books on writing from the library so buying them isn’t necessarily an expense you have to have. So now you’re in pretty good shape. Or are you?

There’s one expense I consider vital. A conference a year. Some writers object to the cost of a conference. I counter that by saying ANY business requires you to invest some money. In the scheme of things, the cost of the ACFW conference is a drop in the bucket. And there’s nothing that can take its place. Nowhere else can you meet editors and agents face-to-face. Nowhere else can you find people who “get” you. The rest of the year we’re like birds underwater. We’re gasping for the air of creativity, to find like-minded people. Among our own, we are free in a way that we never see without that experience.

When I was first writing, I’d never even met another writer. I call that my “wandering in the wilderness.” My first conference was a small Indiana one called the Midwest Writer’s Conference down at Muncie. I went on a scholarship that year. It was the most remarkable experience to find out that I wasn’t strange, that other people had characters living in their heads too. The next conference was after I was published, and it was Glorietta. I met Kristin Billerbeck and Carol Cox at the conference along with Tracie Peterson and other “stars” that I’d only dreamed of meeting. I was hooked when I realized I got to meet editors and agents. Hallelujah!

Then I started going to the Mount Hermon’s conference every year with Kristin and Denise Hunter. Diann Hunt began to join us, and I met Ami McConnell for the first time. That conference changed my life. I can clearly picture sitting on the floor outside the advanced writers session and pitching Without a Trace to her. She bought it and I’ve been with Nelson nine years now, writing the stories of my heart. So conferences have changed the game plan for me in many ways.

The ACFW conference is phenomenal. Nowhere else will you find so many FICTION writers gathered together. Nowhere else will you find so many editors and agents for fiction. Nowhere else will you have so much opportunity to connect with someone with your same passions.

People ask me why I still go to conferences. I’m at my dream house. I have a great agent who has helped me for ten years. What benefit is there for a published author? The benefits are still huge! Being with people who understand you is incredible. There is a lot of synergy gathered in one place at the conference. I get to meet with my agent, editor and publisher. I get to spend quality time with my peeps. I am privileged to encourage those just starting out on their journeys, to look them in the eye and tell them they can do it. The road can be hard and the climb steep, but the rewards are waiting.

So is it worth the sacrifice to get there? Yes, a resounding yes. Come, you won’t be disappointed. It’s the first step to success.

So has anyone seen the documentary, "Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead?" It's about a man who decides to "juice" for six months. He lost something like 82 pounds in that time, but his message is not weight loss. His message is health and eating more fruits and veggies. I bought a juicer after hearing him, because I always feel sick after I eat, and so I don't eat that often. Weight wasn't an issue, but health and energy was.

I've been juicing for nearly two weeks now, and it does give me so much energy, I can be scary. I am feeling great though, and I do think it would be a great way for people really think about what they put in their bodies. I will say my tastebuds are changing already and sweets are too sweet. I'd rather have fruit & veggies.

I am not a health food nut. I will never go all in, but for me, I really am seeing a difference in health and my MS symptoms. Even if I do ONE juice a day, I'm eating more veggies in that shake than I used to in a whole day. I still can't get used to the color. It's disgusting. Green is not an appetizing color, am I right?

Have you ever made ONE health change that changed your life for the better? Share it with us!

And since it's my day to blog, I have to share the cover for Blue Moon Promise. It's a Texas historical that will be out next spring. It's also a marriage of convenience story. Lucy agrees to a proxy marriage to escape a man who killed her father. When she arrives in Texas, she finds that not only did her new husband know nothing about the marriage, but that danger has followed her and her siblings.

Labels: Blue Moon Promise

I feel like Michael J. Fox must have felt when he finally arrived back home and slept in his own bed. This year so far has been a whirlwind: a visit to AZ, a trip to Nashville, Dave's cancer diagnosis and surgery, another trip to AZ, then rushing home to take care Alexa while her parents went to Jamaica. Now we are home. We go to sleep on our own bed, and boy, did it feel good!

Labels: normal day

It took me a week to recover from Justin's graduation and party weekend, but here's my favorite shot. Doesn't he look happy?

Labels: europe, The Holy land, vacation

I think I'm going to print out this picture and put it on the wall next to my computer. It has been so very hot here in Missouri--and in so many places around the country--these past two weeks. How does one stay cool and still look decent in public?

Labels: Eugene Arthur Patterson photography, keeping cool, summer heat

Our beloved Di is not feeling well today, so if you can be in prayer for her. God would really appreciate hearing from you, because I know God really loves our Di and doesn't want to see her in any pain.

We're all doing the final run-through of Smitten, the novella we did (Di, Colleen, Denise and me, Kristin.) I think this is going to be a fantastic collection. I enjoyed reading everyone's story because they are just so us. And the reasons we love each other are all in there. Friendship is such an amazing thing. My friends have taken on burdens and prayers when I had no strength to do so, and that's the beauty part, right?

It's hard to be the one who needs prayer though, don't you find that? It's so much easier to give than take!

We girls have been working on final edits for Smitten this week so I had to show off that fabulous cover. :)

Labels: Grace, Providence, Smitten

Suzanne Schaffer (

clickingherheels@gmail.com)

Carla (
littlebird@hur.midco.net)

Charlene Clevenger

Wendy (wsmarple@gmail.com)

Beverly
 (bgrider2@cox.net)

Please send your address to my email at diann@diannhunt.com and I'll get your book in the mail to you. :-)

Thanks to all who participated!!

Labels: Love Letters in the Sand, Novel Give-Away

Two weeks ago I was on the campus of St. John's, Joplin, MO, having some medical tests. It was a morning-long ordeal, boring but not terribly painful. We had some excitement because there was a code gray at the hospital, and we were warned that if the weather got worse we'd be moved to safety. It didn't get worse, though I did get drenched picking up ribs at Rib Crib on the way home.

Labels: human kindness, rescues, tornado

Wow, can you believe it! My first trade-sized novel (since I've been sick) is soon to release!! I'm so excited that I am celebrating!!!

Labels: authors, party, reviews, romance novel

I'm knee-deep in my new novel, which has yet to find itself a name. It's about a "nose" or a perfumer who can specifically identify over 6,000 scents. Until her fiance dumps her at the altar and she loses her sense of smell.

Have you ever noticed when you're taking things too far, stress tends to wear you down EXACTLY where you need your strength the most? I must admit, I got the idea from Shania Twain who lost her voice for no physical reason. Just from the stress of being betrayed by her husband and best friend.

Notice I say "JUST" stress. I think we underestimate how damaging stress is on our bodies. If you don't deal with something one way, God finds another to get your attention.

Back to Daphne, or whatever her new name might be. A "nose" makes good money. There are less than 500 certified noses in the United States, so coming by research hasn't been easy. But the one thing I found is that fragrance isn't created in a lab. Fragrance is created the same way a novel is created. Out in the world looking for inspiration. Everything inspires. Everything is notepad worthy. IT was funny to see the men noses compared to the women noses.

So did you know that your sense of smell is your strongest memory producer? The smell of something lingers in your brain longer than any other sense. Do you have a favorite smell that brings you to a different time?

Labels: nose, perfume, sense of smell, Shania Twain