Peering Through Life's Window

I carried the blue canvas stadium chair to the beach and planted it in the deep, white sand. A baby lizard lay in the seat. My husband, Rick, flipped it out with his hand and turned around to set up his chair. Tail and all, the tiny creature measured only one to one-and-a-half inches. Trying to move, it writhed in the grained earth. Bright sunshine lit up the fall day, but the shore felt chilly to my bare feet. He must be cold. I stared at the lizard. His little arms and legs so thin; his fingers, like short pieces of thread, wiggled frantically. “Now you’ve done it.” Rick sat down. “He can’t travel on the beach,” I said. Rick stood. Using his foot, he scooped up a large amount of sand with the lizard atop it. He took several steps, and the sand filtered to the ground, so he flicked off the lizard and repeated the process. At first the little reptile squirmed as though he tried to escape. But after a while he lay very still while Rick picked him up and moved him. At last Rick reached

Football is on television tonight. Once right after we married my husband, Rick, turned on the T V at 2:00 a.m., to watch two high school teams I’d never heard of. I’m not sure everyone is that huge of a fan, but college games bring out fierce loyalties among their alumnae, and followers of professional football will often travel hundreds of miles to support their favorite teams. During the first five years of our marriage we had season tickets to a college team on Saturday and a professional team on Sunday. I grew to appreciate the skilled players and the execution of well designed plays. I still abhor those who must commit a flagrant foul with the intent of injuring a talented player to gain an advantage. But, desperate behavior shows up in all walks of life. In many ways a football game with its set-backs, momentary glories and determined players resembles a snip-it of life. Possibly, that’s what fuels the sadness over a loss and the ecstasy of a win. When our team wins, we feel tha

What fun we've had celebrating with Linda! Be sure to stop by her blog at http://lindaweaverclarke.blogspot.com and check out the give away.

Linda Weaver Clark tells us about her journey from romance to mystery writer and talks about Anasazi Intrigue and Mayan Intrigue, the first two books of the adventure series about John and Julia Evans. To enter to win a copy of a book click on the link below to Linda's blog. Romance VS Mystery! I have written five historical romance novels but have changed to mystery. The writing process between romance and mystery is quite a change with a completely different mind set. It's so different from telling a love story. With romance, you plan out the plot around the meeting of a couple. As you write, you develop some sort of charisma between the characters, making the reader feel excited that one day they're going to hit it off and fall in love. You, as the reader, know what the outcome will be. But with a mystery, the reader is in the dark. The author has to come up with a plot that no one knows about until the end of

Thanks to all who stopped by to read about Anita and Irene's wonderful new book! The winner is...drum roll...Miss Kallie!

The heat indexes may be soaring, but before we know it the temperatures will fall and Christmas will be right around the corner. Irene Brand and Anita Higman give us a great opportunity to get an early start on our gifts or purchase a treasure for ourselves. They each have a Christmas novella in the new compilation, Love Finds You Under the Mistletoe. The book releases on September 1, but they'll be giving away a free copy to one visitor. To enter to win leave your email address with a comment. I'll put the names on pieces of paper and draw one on Sunday, August 29th. Both novellas are interconnected. And, Anita and Irene are here to tell us how they did it. Was it difficult to connect your two stories? Anita: Not at all. We had a brainstorming session by phone and by email and figured it out. Irene’s historical novella, An Appalachian Christmas is tied to my contemporary novella, Once Upon a Christmas Eve . They are connected through the passing of a mistletoe ball through

Reverend Keith Boyer who grew up in New York City shares a little known story about his native town. A Nearly Forgotten New York Story In the 1950’s I lived on East 6th Street in New York City. While normally taking a bus to school, I occasionally walked following a route that took me through Tompkins Square Park. The park was home to a simple and what appeared to be long-neglected fountain. It was just something to walk by. It wasn’t until 2004 that I learned the fountain had been built as a memorial to the 1,021 New Yorkers who lost their lives on June 15, 1904 in a fire on the excursion ship General Slocum. On that bright sunny day, over 1300 people, mostly women and children who had emigrated from Germany, crowded aboard the ship at the East River’s 3rd street pier in anticipation of a day of fun at the Locust Grove picnic grounds on Long Island. The excursion had become an annual congregational event of St. Mark’s Lutheran Church. Over 1500 tickets had been sold. The church, now l