Pepper Basham's Blog, page 19

My FAVORITE Readers I met this year

[image error]You know, there are a lot of “Favorite Book” lists going on right now to sound-off the end of 2016. It’s a humbling and sweet experience to make one…or be shocked to make MORE than one – but I what want to turn that ‘favorites’ lists around and give a shout-out to the readers.

I haven’t words to express the depth of gratitude and joy I’ve experienced this year in building friendships and finding encouragement from so many readers. (And me not being able to find words is a big deal since I’m both a writer AND a speech-language pathologist

History Tidbits – The Thorn Healer

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click on photo for reference

I love history – particularly certain time-periods. What about you?

 

Of course, there are certain eras I don’t care to read-up on as much, but as a whole  I really enjoy the discovery true events and places in the past.

As I researched for The Thorn Healer, it was amazing to visit the places that showed up in my book.

Today I’m going to introduce you to The Kenilworth Inn – but in The Thorn Healer (and in 1918) it was called U.S. General Hospital # 12 – a facility taken [image error]over by the army to be used as a hospital.

Before the owner of The Kenilworth Inn could use it for its designed purpose, the army swopped into Asheville with the distinct need of a convalescence hospital for soldiers, (while their primary hospital was being constructed in nearby Azalea). In 1918 the army opened the hospital to treat wounde

d soldiers, particularly those suffering from tuberculosis.

Biltmore Hospital, as it was locally called, shows up in The Thorn Healer as the place our hero, August Reinhold, is transferred after the German internees leave Hot Spring

s. It was a beautiful facility, still is – with a indoor bowling alley v[image error]ery similar to the one at the nearby Biltmore Estate.

Though the hotel saw some great days after the army returned it to its owner, the stock market crash of 1929 killed the owner’s dreams for the Inn and the facility began a slow shift from one owner to another until present day (again, used as a military hospital in WW2)

Now the building is an apartment building complex, but the beauty of the ‘Inn’ is still apparent.

[image error]August Reinhold, a other german internees like him, would have stepped down this very rug in the lobby of Kenilworth or sat by the fire and chatted here.

So….do you enjoy reading books where you can actually visit the places in the story?

Thanks to the lovely manager at The Kenilworth Inn Apartments who took me on a tour of the historical building. 

Overwhelmed by Reader’s Responses!

It’s true. The past two days I’ve been on the verge of tears from the absolutely BEAUTIFUL reviews that have come in about The Thorn Healer.

Why?

Well, because this story has been the hardest one to write to date (just as Julie Gwinn or Carrie Schmidt). Writing the hero wasn’t difficult, but ‘finding’ my heroine in the middle of all her pain (under deadline) nearly broke me!

Release Day!! Book Birthday #4

Wow! It’s been a crazy year, but after lots of hard work and some brainstorming help from my super duper brainstorming team and agent, Julie Gwinn – we have a new book baby!!

Yes! Today, the third book in the Penned in Time series is here!

This book is a little different than its two predecessors. Here are a few differences:

The Thorn Bearer used both the Blue Ridge Mountains and England for settings. The Thorn Keeper used England. The Thorn Healer takes place completely in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina.
The Thorn Bearer (TTB) and The Thorn Keeper (TTK) are best read together, but The Thorn Healer (TTH) can stand alone – although you might enjoy it more if yousee how the heroine, Jessica, changes from book one to book three.
Though The Thorn Bearer has follows the timeline of the sinking of the Lusitania in its first few chapters and The Thorn Keeper has pinpoint historical events within it, The Thorn Healer follows a close set of historical events surrounding the small mountain town of Hot Springs. 

What else to know about The Thorn Healer? It received 4 1/2 stars from Romantic Times and was listed as a Top Pick!! 

So if you’re looking for a good Christmas present for yourself…or someone else, try out this story. It’s even green for Christmas colors

In Pieces

It’s Christmas!

So, of course, my family is enjoying the process of pulling out ornaments we’ve collected through the years and safeguarded for posterity’s sake

Creating a Word…Shakespeare-style

You know what happens when you leave a creative mind in a car alone for too long?

Crazy stuff.

Like….creating a word that holds the essence of your brand! YES!

Historic note: It is theorized that playwright William Shakespeare first cited from over 200 to 1500 words! Whether he was the inventor of them or not, we can’t know for sure, but he’s given credit for a BIG bunch of them.

Another historic note you can use on Jeopardy some day: Author John Milton is said to have coined over 600 words still listed in the Oxford Dictionary! WOW!!

Word inventing is cool…especially if it is meaningful to the story or author

Appalachian y and er

Southern Appalachia is an interesting place.

As my culture, there are so many things I love about it. The fierce loyalty of family, the sense of community, the independent spirit and resourcefulness. Of course there are things I’m not too fond of either – the suspicion, the sometimes insular nature of people, the tendency to be fearful of the unknown. And then their is the culturally…um…unique things?

One is the tendency to put a ‘y’ on the end of words that end in an ‘a’. For example, instead of saying “I want an extra cup”, you might hear “I want an extry cup.” The name Sarah might be said “Sary”. Many a Laura naturally became Laurie

The Cautious Maiden by Dawn Crandall

I’ve been a fan of Dawn Crandall’s books ever since I read her first one, The Hesitant Heiress – by the way, I own the dress on this cover

The Dynamic Duo: Compassion & Power

I love that my kids have awesome imaginations. Of course, their ways of expressing their imagination is all different – one uses drawing, one – writing, one- crafts cool stuff out of a various assortment of things,…but all love dress-up. My fifth grader inherited some amazing Nerf weapons from his older siblings and these necessary tools,for destroying imaginary enemies, are his joys.

It just so happened that recently he misplaced on of his swords. Maybe I should say THE sword. A Nerf Master Sword (if you actually know what that means, you receive 5 points). This was a BIG deal. He looked everywhere…twice, with no result.

I knew what it was like to lose something I loved. I have a favorite pair of earrings floating around in the world somewhere that I’ve never been able to find. So we sat together, prayed for help, and I tried to comfort him as best I could.

Then I remembered him placing it on a piece of furniture and wondered if maybe have fallen in behind a difficult nook behind that piece of furniture. So we looked. Sure enough, there it was. Not only was it in a difficult to reach spot, it was also stuck beneath the weight of this large bookshelf. Definitely in a spot my 11 year old couldn’t get.

Thankfully, my arms are longer than his, so after shuffling the bookshelf around a little, then reaching my arms down inot the narrow crevice of doom, the sword came free and I had a happy son.

As simple as this sounds, it made me think of something eternal.

There’s something beautiful about compassion. When you feel as if you’re not carrying a burden alone, but others see the difficult and share in the struggle by showing kindness. Compassion serves a wonderful purpose of connection and comfort.

But compassion can only go so far. I could try and comfort Samuel about his lost sword, but he’d still hurt from the lossness.

However, I had something else. I had power. Power to remember where I’d seen his sword last and also power to move stuff around to reach the coveted sword. Compassion paired with power is AMAZING.

You know, that’s what we get in Jesus. Just think about two stories in Mark that are told back-to-back. First the feeding of the 5000 and then Jesus walking on water. Jesus had compassion on the hungry people – because not only were they hungry for food but hungry for His words. His compassion was beautiful – but he could do even more. He had the POWER paired with compassion to make a difference.

We all know that power by itself isn’t necessarily a good thing. It’s been misued for centuries to the detriment of millions -but paired with compassion it’s world-changing.

After the feeding of the 5000, Jesus sees his disciples trying to cross the sea only to be met by strong winds slowing them down. What does he do? He goes to them…walking on the water. If he was just trying to show off power, he’d have kept walking right passed them, but he doesnt. Compassion for his wayward disciples pauses him and even compels him to still the winds so they could make it across the sea.

I find such comfort in this! Why?

Life happens! – with all of its messy, storming, achy, heart-bending brokeness.

And though God is a god of compassion – and that compassion can comfort in part, He is also a God of power, which makes the comfort whole.

He is able to take on the storm, the hungry, the broken…the mess, and do something about it out of his overwhelming goodness. If you’re struggling with finding your hope, remember, He not only showers His children with compassion – He has the ability  “to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us,  to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” (Ephesian 3:20-21)

The outcome might be what we expect (ie…water walking

uk2k16 -Edinburgh 1

To continue with my love for England, I’m going to take you on our quick trip to Edinburgh.Oh my, this might have been our favorite part of our recent trip. I plan to take some time in the future to talk about other England adventures, but Edinburgh was amazing – a city that didn’t feel like a city.

But…to start, since it was Sunday, we worshipped in a wonderfully historic (and evangelical) church called All Souls Langham Place.What a wonderful place to visit! Such a warm and friendly church where you could feel the welcome and community of faith. We witnessed a baptism, learned some new songs, and enjoyed a chat with another

visiting American family…and OF COURSE we got to spend time with our new friends Peter and Ilona.

Well, after church we picked up a quick lunch in Kings Cross station and then hopped on the train for our 4 hour ride to Edinburgh. It was such an enjoyable trip. On the way up, we all actually got to sit together in a four seat set with a table in between. The scenary was lovely – we saw the English coastline just

before we crossed over from England to Scotland. BEAUTIFUL.

It’s around 5 by the time we get to Edinburgh, so we load up in a taxi, take our bags to our hotel, and walk directly to Arthur’s Seat. But on the way to the hotel, and looming directyl over the train station, is the amazing Edinburgh Castle. Oh my, just turning around and seeing this medieval fortress towering above you is impressive enough, but knowing we were going to get to tour it made it even more exciting. Again…photos seem SO small!!

Arthur’s Seat is part of Holyrood Park – 360 acres attached to the Queen’s Scottish residence Holyrood Palace.  The hike is probably considered a moderate one, until you get near the top – which is more rigorous – but we didn’t get the opportunity to hike all the way to the ‘Seat’ because of the lateness of the hour. However, we hiked halfway and had an amazing view of Edinburgh and even the North Sea.  Hailed as one of the possible sites for the legendary Camelot, it immediately becomes a place filled with stories waiting to be told (or that’s how it was for me anyway