Shelley Shepard Gray's Blog, page 5
August 12, 2014
A Visit to NYC
My husband and I returned from New York City on Sunday afternoon. On Monday, he flew out on a business trip. I’m still unpacking and trying to get motivated to take a big bag of dresses and suits to the cleaners! Last night Tom on the phone, Tom asked why it always takes me so long to put everything away. It might be because I’m lazy, but I think the real reason is that I’m usually sad to put the trip completely behind me. I truly love to travel.
This most recent trip is no exception. It was busy! Really busy! I love that.
One of the highlights was discovering through Facebook that Tiffany, my best friend from junior high and high school, happened to be in New York on business! Just a few hours after her husband and I exchanged texts, Tom and I were sitting in a cafe at Rockefeller Center with Tiffany, her husband Mark, and their two boys. Later that evening we had dinner with one of my husband’s best friends from boarding school. Monte and his fiancee drove three hours just to have dinner with us! It’s amazing how some friendships can be picked up again in just minutes.
Another highlight was the day spent at the Harper Collins building on Thursday. The folks there recently completed a move (honestly, I don’t know how they did it!) and there are books galore! Not just recent titles but collections of books from several decades of publishing. Being the reader that I am, I would have been content to merely wander around every floor and look at all the old books. My favorites? The signed Agatha Christie novels! Oh, and the meeting room on the children’s book floor decorated by Harry, the Dirty Dog.
I love Harry!
While there, Alaina and Chelsey helped me make a couple of short videos. We laughed a lot~and I also tried my best to talk about my books. It was very fun and something I’ll never forget.
goofing around at the video shoot with Chelsey and Alaina. We’re trying to do selfies without me moving from where they arranged me!
We also got to visit with my husband’s family and go to a fancy NYC wedding. No wonder I’m still pretty tired!
This week, however, it’s back to writing, which truly is one of my favorite things to do. I’m beginning a novel this week, A Wedding at the Orange Blossom Inn. This is the third book in next year’s Amish Brides of Pinecraft Series. I truly love the process of writing a first draft. I write it fairly fast, and give myself permission to try out different names for characters, misspell words, and end scenes abruptly. As I continue the book, I’ll go back and fix things up again and again and again. But for now, it’s simply making things up, which is fun for me.
Thank you for stopping by!
Wishing you many blessings today.
shelley
July 29, 2014
See You in Mason, OH
This Saturday, I will be the guest speaker at Faith Christian Fellowship in Mason, OH. I’m so looking forward to this luncheon~what an honor it is to be invited by the women of this church!
The best news is that if you happen to be in the area and you’d like to join us, you’re invited!
All you have to do is contact Marsha at mgabbard@juno.com and she’ll give you all the information.
Here are the details:
HEART-TO-HEART LUNCHEON
Saturday, August 2, 2014 at 1:00 pm
Faith Christian Fellowship
200 W. Church St.
Mason, OH 45040
July 20, 2014
See You in San Antonio!
This week I’ll be in San Antonio, Texas attending the Romance Writers of America National Conference. I really enjoy these conferences! It’s a chance to see my agent and my editors in person~and reconnect with many of other authors who I’ve befriended over the years.
Do you live in the San Antonio area? If so, I hope you’ll plan to come to the
READERS FOR LIFE LITERACY AUTOGRAPHING
This year, over 400 authors will be in the 3rd Floor Ballroom signing books!
This is such a wonderful event. Publishers and authors donate books, and they are offered for sale to the public. ALL proceeds from the sale of these books goes directly to charities associated with literacy!
This year’s event will take place on Wednesday, July 23, from 5:30 -7:30 pm.
San Antonio Marriott Rivercenter Hotel
3rd Floor Ballroom
Open to the public and Free to attend!
As many of you know, I not only like to write books, but I love to read! I’ve already been checking out the RWA site to see which authors will be attending. Every year I come home with a stack of signed books!
July 7, 2014
Pinterest Scavenger Hunt This Week!
Join us for a Pinterest Scavenger Hunt! Questions will be posted on my website from July 7-14, 2014. The answers to the questions can be found here: http://www.pinterest.com/shelleysgray/ Not on Pinterest? You can still find the answers by using this link. Answers must be submitted to Laurie at laurie4ssg@gmail.com by Monday, July 14th, to be entered into a drawing to win one of three copies of SECRETS OF SLOANE HOUSE! If you answer the bonus question correctly, your name will be entered twice into the drawing. Winners will be announced on July 15th. Have fun and good luck!
QUESTIONS:
Find Shelley’s SECRETS OF SLOANE HOUSE Board. Erik Larsen wrote a book about H.H. Holmes who killed somewhere between 27 and 200 people, mostly single young women during Chicago’s finest moment, the World’s Fair of 1893. Shelley’s Chicago World’s Fair Mystery was inspired by this story. What is the name of this book by Larsen?
Head over to the 4th of July Board. Find the pin of the DIY Table Runner with Stars. How many white stars have been stamped on the burlap in this pin?
Return to the SECRETS OF SLOANE HOUSE Board. Locate the pin of 2 Corinthians 11:14. Fill in the blank: “Satan himself masquerades as an __________ ___ __________.”
Shelley’s son recently graduated from college. Visit Shelley’s Graduation Party Board. Which pin has the most repins on Shelley’s board? (Hint: refer to the number listed in the bottom left corner of each pin).
What is Shelley’s favorite book from the library? The answer can be found on the About Shelley Shepard Gray board.
Set against the backdrop of Chicago’s Gilded Age and the 1893 World’s Fair, Secrets of Sloane House takes us on a whirlwind journey of romance and mystery. According to the pin of the book cover on the SECRETS OF SLOANE HOUSE Board, when will we see this book on store shelves?
Head back over to the 4th of July Board. Each year the United Service Organization (USO) offers a free t-shirt when a monetary donation is made to their organization. Fill in the blank: “Support our troops today with a gift of ____ ___ ______ to get your FREE July 4th T-shirt.”
BONUS: We will enter your name TWICE in the drawing if you can tell us the four ingredients used to make the strawberry pie filling for the Picnic Pies found on the 4th of July Board.
June 25, 2014
Cover Flats and Catching Up
This week I’m playing catch up.
Yesterday, I learned some incredible news. THANKFUL was named one of Amazon.com’s top 15 Romances! Here’s the link: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_pg_1?rh=n%3A283155%2Cn%3A%212334088011%2Cn%3A%212334119011%2Cn%3A3003015011%2Cn%3A5522565011&ie=UTF8&qid=1403633382&ajr=2
To celebrate, I’m giving away 5 sets of signed cover flats! Each set comes with a $10 amazon.com gift card. If you are interested, tell me here or on my FB page what one of your favorite summer activities is. I’m a big fan of Crystal Light Iced Tea, so my favorite thing to do is write or read outside, sipping tea.
We’ll draw the five winners over the weekend and announce the names on Monday morning.
As always, thank you for stopping by!
Blessings to you,
Shelley
June 19, 2014
The Dinner Party
So, we hosted a dinner party two Saturdays ago. It was my husband’s idea, but I went along with it…as long as I got to be in charge. He had envisioned a barbecue of sorts. I nixed that idea and said I wanted to go old school and host a ‘real’ dinner party, complete with my parents’ old china and chairs for everyone to sit in. (don’t you hate wandering around with plates in your hands? I never know where to put anything.)
That settled, we sent out invitations, thinking maybe half would say yes. If we were lucky.
Ten couples said yes. Suddenly, I was hosting a formal dinner party for 22.
I began carrying around lists and cookbooks. Started searching through cabinets and boxes, wondering just how many place settings we had of various sets of china. Started thinking about where I was going to seat all these people. Where was I going to put all those tables?
My husband? He just looked at me and smiled and this party was so good for me.
Say, what?
That’s when he reminded me of how the last five or six months had been. For some reason (and I put this blame completely on myself) I had three books due in four months. Usually, I space things out a little bit better. I also don’t procrastinate, so I usually am never too far behind on any book I’m working on. I write every day.
But even a girl who writes everyday can only write so much. And that meant, oh, sometime around mid-February…I had to start writing not 10 pages but 12 or 14 a day. And instead of writing 5 days a week…I started writing 6. And then every day.
And then I not only got cranky (even girls who love to write like breaks).
And then a little manic.
It wasn’t good.
I know lots of people work very hard in very demanding jobs. Writing fiction is not all that hard. But spending most of my days with only made-up people for company? I think I was driving Tom a little nuts.
Hence, the dinner party.
As the big day became closer, things started to come together. I polished silver, I shopped for fresh table cloths. I experimented with recipes. I chatted with friends about suggestions and my mother-in-law about timing issues. Tom and I talked more than we had in weeks, and he was by my side when I was trying out those recipes, chopping and braising, tasting and washing dishes. We laughed. We talked about our kids and planned vacations. We decided that Jimmy Dean sausage rolls were never a bad idea.
And then our big night arrived!
Practically the moment everything looked as pretty as I could make it, the doorbell rang and our party began. Everything went off just fine. Since our last guests left at 1:30 in the morning, Tom and I declared our event a success.
The Monday after, when I was carrying my third cup of coffee down to the basement, I felt like a new person. I was relaxed and happy. Eager to write. To top it off, I’d even told Tom that I was already looking forward to next year’s party.
Tom grinned at me, then kind of nodded in a pleased way. I was back to my normal self. Happy about writing. Happy about life.
His work was done.
one of our three dressed-up tables!
June 12, 2014
See you in Covington, KY!
I’ll be in Covington, KY at 2:00 pm on Saturday afternoon! This event has been planned for quite a while, and I’m so looking forward to it! I’ll be speaking, reading a few pages of THANKFUL and will be giving all kinds of fun things away. Please join us!
Here’s all the information:
KENTON COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY
MARY ANN MORGAN BRANCH
502 Scott Blvd.
Covington, KY 41011
859-962-4076
June 5, 2014
Signing at Lane Library Tonight!
I’ll be speaking, reading an excerpt from THANKFUL, and signing copies of my books tonight at the beautiful Lane Library in Hamilton Ohio tonight.
If you live in the area, please stop by! We’ll be giving away several fun things, too!
Hamilton Lane Library
300 N. Third Street
Hamilton, OH
6:30 pm.
June 2, 2014
Polishing Silverware
I spent several hours Sunday afternoon polishing silver. I’m not going to say it’s one of my favorite things to do, but I have to admit to getting a certain amount of satisfaction from the chore.
One of the main reasons I enjoy the job is that most all of our silver comes from my parents. They had lots of it, remnants from another time when people actually hosted fancy dinner parties. Whenever I pull out those old platters I remember sitting in my bedroom and listening to the low murmur of conversation, the tinkling of glasses and spurts of laughter floating up from the dining room. Shining up those old items almost makes me feel like those days weren’t quite so long ago.
This Sunday, my chore was a bit different. My husband and I actually are hosting one of those old-school dinner parties next weekend. And, (to my surprise and delight) just about everyone we invited is able to come. That meant we were two place settings short.
Last week on a whim I went looking for some silverware in an antique shop near a favorite cafe. And there, in an old cardboard box, I found twenty assorted silver-plated forks, spoons, and knives for $15.
Success!
I ran home and showed my husband my find. To be honest, he was more than a little skeptical. See, the silverware was so old and uncared for, it was practically black. It didn’t look like it would ever be a good match to my parents’ silverware nestled carefully in felt liners in one of our kitchen drawers.
Making it pretty again was my perfect Sunday afternoon challenge. On went the gloves and an old t-shirt and shorts. It took me two hours and three rounds of polishing, rinsing, and buffing, but I did it. Those old pieces soon became lovely. I discovered they had little beads on the edges. They were stamped on the back. The spoons were rather unusually shaped.
And instead of being surrounded by old memories of my parents, polishing that silver spurred my imagination. I started thinking of the many things in my life that needed just a little bit more care. About places that I had started to ignore, imagining that they couldn’t be something of beauty again.
I even started thinking about different things about myself that I should try to improve! Who knows? Maybe I’ll one day learn not to be so hard on myself for mistakes I’ve made. Maybe I’ll even not to need so much coffee in the morning to be coherent! (There’s always hope!)
In the meantime, that old box of forgotten silver has found a nice home in my kitchen drawer. On Saturday night I’ll set it out with pride. And if someone asks about it? Why, I’ll have a pretty good story to share.
What do you have in your life that needs a little bit more time and attention?
Blessings to you,
Shelley
May 30, 2014
Thankful Winners from Blog Tour!
I’m pleased to announce the winners from my recent Thankful giveaway and blog tour!
Thank you so much to everyone who entered!
Congratulations to the winners:
Tonya Scott
Sandy Finney Renshaw
Lisa Stifler
Joy Roberts Gibson
Lisa Nelson
My publicists from Litfuse Publicity Group will be in tough via email with details on how to claim your prize.
Congratulations, Again!
