Meanwhile, back at the ranch. . .

Amy just posted some photos on Facebook of the overnight canoe trip Paul and the kids took recently. I can't figure out how to link it here. Is it possible to link someone else's pictures? Ellen? Matt?

(Melinda helped me out: try this: Amy's Facebook Photo Album)

Today's Letter from Harrisburg tells the other side of the canoe trip story--what life was like for me staying home alone.

Emma

Early this morning I got a call from my sister Margaret. She had just endured one of parenting's darkest hours: a child disappearing.

Chad and Margaret have three children--Austin is 10, Emma almost 7, and Nolan is almost 4.
They are on their way from their home in Pennsylvania to visit Mom and Dad in Minnesota plus a few other relatives along the way, and had spent the night in a motel in Dubuque, Iowa.

They tucked everyone into bed last night, and this morning when they got up, Emma wasn't there.

Of course they ransacked the room looking for her, and checked the truck and everywhere else they could think of. Nothing.

They then notified the motel people and called the police. The motel was close to the freeway, adding to the chill of fear and awful possibilities. Various people were out looking all over for her, and meanwhile Margaret had to answer all the policeman's questions, "How big is she? What was she wearing?" that you never think you'll have to answer about your own child.

Somewhere in all this the motel's surveillance tapes were pulled and reviewed. They showed Emma opening their door and wandering out, looking a bit sleepy and out-of-it. And then they showed her wandering along the motel until she found a door that was unlocked, and going inside. Where she evidently crawled into bed and fell asleep, and there the policeman found her, and woke her up, and brought her back to her mom, who immediately burst into tears of course.

Emma doesn't remember any of this, so a few mysteries remain. She's not a sleepwalker or night wanderer by any stretch, so what was she thinking??

We're just all so very very thankful she's safe and all is well.

Quote of the Day:
"She probably had the best night's sleep of her life."
--the policeman

RIP Lenny

Tomorrow it's three years that my nephew Leonard passed away.

Tonight I find myself, again, reliving what must have been a very long dark night of his soul that ended in his death the next morning.

Other times, I remember his laugh and his looks and the last conversation we had and how amazing he was.

Tonight, I remember what he must have suffered.

Catching up

I have been resting my hands, which drives me crazy, but it helps speed the healing process of whatever I have. Carpal tunnel syndrome, says my nurse friend Sharon, but it also acted like Ellen's former malady--de Quarvain's tendoscleroprontogingivitis (or something).

I still can't open jars but I can put on socks.

Today, on the advice of Jed E., I went to town and spent a bunch of shekels on a new keyboard that dips and waves and curves in all directions. It's supposed to help.

Ok, on being In or Out as a writer:

Rhonda wondered if I have suggestions for getting on the Inside. Unfortunately, not many. What has always worked for me is to walk through whatever door shows up in front of me. I realize others are led to be more aggressive than that.

Local author Linda Clare posted this advice on Facebook:

I'll be presenting a talk on "Writing to the Rule of Three" at the Portland chapter of American Christian Fiction Writers on Monday, June 29th. While my hometown of Eugene, OR doesn't yet have a chapter, there are certainly enough Christian writers in our area. At any rate, I'm excited to be talking to fiction writers in the Portland area. Why would I drive I-5 for two hours, hope I find the meeting, speak for an hour and drive home? The answer is simple: networking.
A student asked me a similar question recently. He was invited to hobnob with a bunch of editors in his genre and his wife wasn't sure the trip to Michigan was worth it just to rub elbows with strangers. Money wasn't an object.
My belief is that you should never turn down the chance to network, even if there is no immediate benefit. One never knows when a meeting with someone you want to sell your stuff to or learn from will pay off. I'd hate to be the one not remembered from a meeting because I wondered if it was worth my time to network.
Writing Tip for Today: Networking comes easaier for some writers than for others. If you are the shy writer, you may have to work on your ability to "work a room," get noticed or even have the nerve to speak to an editor or other writer. Try these three tips.

• Be interested in learning about other writers. Ask them questions, not to tout your accomplishments, but as a fellow sojourner on this writing journey.Be genuinely interested in the person you are talking with. You aren't networking only to sell your books. You're staying tuned in to what is happening all around you. No one likes a blow-hard, but ask anyone a genuine question about their lives, and chances are, they'll open up and ask about your writing.
• Try mentioning to everyone you meet (even the grocery clerk) that you're a writer. Get comfortable with saying, "I am a writer." It's not boastful, it's the truth.
• Practice this and perhaps when you have the chance to speak to or rub elbows with that editor/agent/author you'll be able to network more naturally.

[I certainly don't mention to the clerk at WinCo that I'm a writer, but I think Ms. Clare is right that connections are key to writing/publishing opportunities.)

Mark and Romaine seemed to indicate that they are still on the Outside. I would like to charitably disagree (as a guy in my home church used to say but we aren't convinced he was actually that charitable) (but I am). Neither might be In with the local Barnes and Noble, but if either of them had an idea for a new book they would have an editor they could call who would take them seriously, a publisher who would most likely take on the project, stores and catalogs and websites that would carry the book, and an audience that would recognize their name(s) and buy it.

So I vote that they're more In than they realize.

Quote of the Day:
(from Romaine's comment and believe me it is true)
"I get to feeling writers are on the same level as cows, expected to produce annually to justify their existance."
she also said:
"Maybe I'm weird, but I do not enjoy being recognized and asked about my writing everywhere I go---even in the jungle of Belize where I thought I could get away from it."
Here's where I apologize, Romaine, because I'll bet you thought you could go to Northwestern Ontario among lakes and mosquitoes back in like 1988, and you were all exhausted from your trip and this pesky Smucker lady met up with you in the NYP guest house hallway and was all gaga over meeting a real author.

sorry

This is jenny posting for mom because she has carpal tunnel syndrome.So she can't post again or answer your questions untill she gets better.Poor mom.





jenny