Chesapeake Legacy

Chesapeake Legacy Arrives!

Friday morning I had a knock on the door and the very first ever copy of Chesapeake Legacy was delivered into my hands. I think the only other experience in my life that came anywhere near the excitement I felt was the day I delivered my son. A book is a big piece of work, one that takes months to mature. You can't imagine the emotion I experience when the first of any volume comes to hand.

I had a busy day planned Friday, but you can be sure I sat down and ran my hands over the cover, admiring Dawn M. Tarr's cover art. Then, I couldn't help but take time to read a few pages. I don't know if a non-writer can understand, but the day the first copy of one's book arrives is a very special time.

The work is pretty much finished, although my publisher admonished me to take time to read the copy very carefully for errors. You cannot imagine how much different one's words appear; first on the computer screen, in the print-out, and finally in a bound copy. I have an idea there are error gremlins that wait until the final copy. It brings home the notion that nothing is ever perfect, but I truly understand why Native Americans always left a hole in a weaving or a mistake in their art - a place to let the bad spirits out. I won't justify my grammatical errors by saying I left them in on purpose, but I do believe I cannot create perfection - only the Creator can do that.

Still, the moment I hold the first copy of any of my books in my hands, I will tell you honestly that I feel my baby is perfect. It is always a sunny day. Terry

What's With the Frogs?

Good Sunday Morning,

When I was a kid, Sunday was the best day of the week. We went to church to learn about God and Jesus, and once that was over the whole days stretched forward, with all the rewards of childhood. Sometimes we had a big Sunday dinner and then just lolled around the house (on winter days) staying close to the heaters. When it was nice we would go outdoors and take advantage of all the gifts nature provided.

One of my favorite things to do was to go down to the creek to look for pollywogs. You all know about pollywogs? They are these little fish critters that hang around in the water for a while, then grow legs and turn into frogs. I don't think they worry about either condition.

Which brings me to the point of this morning's blog. Tadpoles and pollywogs don't worry about anything, they just hang around secure in the knowledge God will take care of them - and then they turn into frogs without doing one darned thing. They Fully Rely On God and end up able to hop up out of the water and sit on the bank until some likely bug comes along.

The point is, I have the idea if we just do whatever it is we are supposed to do, we will all end up as frogs one day . . . as long as we Fully Rely On God. Are we seeing a trend here?

I have an idea that Cinderella and the princess who kissed a frog all came from the same line of thinking. People who do what comes naturally no matter what others may have to say, those who trust their own unique process, tend to be transformed in the end.

Let's hear it for frogs. And let's hear it for transformation. I hear it is pretty sunny over there! Terry

Sunday Dinner and Belief

Greetings Bloggers,

I like Sunday, it was always a special day when I was a child and I have fond memories of both Sunday School and the happy Sunday dinners and picnics that followed. My father was big on parties and he could make an occasion out of barbequeing a can of government surplus meat or making candy out of hot syrup poured on a pan of snow.

Times were hard when I was growing up, but I know Dad believed in me because shortly before he died, he got me James Mitchner's book on writing. Back then I only had a couple of self-published chapbooks, but he showed them off to his cronies and bragged on his daughter the writer. He helped me believe and I know that wherever he is now in the great beyond there is a party and he is bragging about his daughter the writer.

My point is that we have to believe what we want will happen. Every one of the authors I write about on the new blog I write for Nikki Leigh had a dream and hung on until those dreams came true. (http://authorsontourblog@blogspot.com)

I once heard a speaker say, "I would hate to think I would give up five minutes before my dream came true." and that really made an impact on me. Being a writer is a very lonely business. You do all the work alone, and it is not until the book is in print that you go out and meet bookstore owners and readers. Then the work has to speak for itself.

So, if you are a writer with a dream, hang. Your miracle could be only five minutes away!

Keep on the sunny side, Terry

TGIF

Hello There,

Boy! Am I glad it is Friday. It isn't that I don't like the other days of the week, but a lifetime of observation has showed me that Friday is that is a day of hope restored. No matter how tired we are at the end of the week, we have a 48 hour day reprieve from the madding crowd and the workplace blues. Then too, Cambridge and Dorchester County are real party places. It is a rare weekend that doesn't have some sort of community event to share with friends and neigbors. That said, I have lit a candle in honor of the weekend. Long may it last.

Tomorrow I am going to go celebrate Second Saturday by going to the Never on Tuesday bookstore here in Cambridge to sign my newest book, Chesapeake Harvest, the first in a series of historical novels set in colonial Maryland. I grew up in a house with no electricty or plumbing and I know how difficult it was to stay clean and to put up enough food to last through the winter -- even with my father's pay to help buy shoes and food from the grocery store. It was not, I imagine, one tenth as hard as it was for the indentured servants and wives who came to an unsettled colony and had to carve out a life in the wilderness. The series is my salute to the founding fathers -- and mothers who made the Eastern Shore a paradise for retirees.

Today I added my first post to Nikki Leigh's Virtual Blog Authors Tour! I will do my best to give her readers a chance to see in a few moments where the day's tours can be found. When we discussed the project I told Nikki I could be a bit quirky, and she said the quirkier the better, so it looks like a good match to me. Check out the new blog at: http://authorsontour.blogspot.com/ for lots of information on authors around the country and across the world.

Well, off to work. Did I happen to mention that a writer's work is never done?

Have a great weekend, Terry