Becky Wade's Blog, page 124

Reading Quirks

Hi friends,

I always love spending a day with you! I think all readers have reading quirks or habits. How we handle our books, when we read, where we read, and how we save our spot, of which I have numerous ways.

The traditional bookmark. My girls and I have an affinity for Llamas. It all started when a dear writing friend flew in for some hang out and write time, but her luggage was lost. We went shopping and she found the most adorable pajamas with Llamas all over them and saying “No drama Llama.” We cracked up. Ever since then, we’ve collected Llama items. This awesome bookmark was a gift from my daughter Kayla.

And, it matches a favorite coffee reading mug.

Using a bookmark isn’t very quirky or unique, but I have other ways to mark where I stopped reading for the night. Not that any goof books are easy to put down, especially Karen’s. I’m adoring it! And, in case you’re wondering, yes, I have multiple books going at the same time. I often have a couple of fiction novels and a couple of non-fiction titles.

I love sticky notes. They not only hold my page, but I can make notes on them of parts I really loved or questions I can’t wait to have answered. Hence, hard to put down!

Last but not least…

I highlight sections that really speak to me and not just in non-fiction books. That’s the beauty of Christian fiction, there are so many faith lessons in the characters’ lives. The fact I highlight books and underline things horrifies my sweet friend Joy. Actually, I think everything I do other than the bookmark horrifies her.

Reader Question:
How about you? What are some of your reading habits or quirks?

Blessings,

Dani

Birthday Treats

I have been going to Dairy Queen on my birthday for about 50 years. It’s a simple, sweet tradition that started when I was seven years old in central Illinois (the same year I received my lime green 3-speed bicycle).

The first Dairy Queen opened in 1940 in Joliet, IL, not far from Chicago, where I was born.  Dairy Queen’s international headquarters is now based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, near where I live now. Currently, there are more than 7,000 locations in the United States, Canada, and more than 20 other countries. I hope there is one near you.

When I was a kid, birthday girls (or boys) brought treats to class on their birthdays. Having a summer birthday, I didn’t get to do that very often, so I thought it would be fun to make up for that now. It’s my birthday on Wednesday, and I’m bringing the treats!

Back then, my favorite treat was a Hot Fudge Sundae. Since Blizzards were introduced in 1985, a Turtle Pecan Cluster Blizzard has been my choice.

What about you? Comment below with your favorite birthday treat (from DQ or elsewhere) and I’ll pick 5 readers to win $5 DQ e-gift cards (available for US or Canada only—my condolences if you don’t have a Dairy Queen near you. ) I know it’s not a large amount, but enough that your next Sundae or Blizzard is on me. (Please leave your email address with your comment in this format: julie(at)julieklassen(dot)com.)

Happy Birthday to me!

Summer Reading Program

When I was a girl, our village library offered a summer reading program. We were each given a chart with colorful stickers to keep track of all the books we read over the summer. There were prizes for the kid in each age group who read the most books—usually a book, of course. How I loved to see that chart filled with stickers! But I couldn’t cheat—my mother was the librarian, so she knew if I was really reading or just collecting stickers. Nowadays, I don’t just collect stickers, I collect books. As you can see, my shelves are pretty full!

I still think of summertime as reading time and I look forward to long afternoons to just relax and “do nothing” and read. I’ve been very busy these past months, writing and launching “Chasing Shadows” along with a Christmas novella, “Wish Book Christmas,” which will be out this holiday season. So I have fallen behind on reading books for pleasure. But now summer is here, and it’s time to remedy that. Here are some of my favorite places to curl up with a book:

The best place is on our beach on Lake Michigan. I love the warm sand and sunshine and the sound of the waves. This is the best place to read happy, romantic stories that end “happily-ever-after.”

My second favorite is our front porch. It overlooks a bike-and-walking path, so it’s fun to watch people go by with their dogs and kids while I catch up on all my favorite magazines, (which I’ve been neglecting). The porch has rocking chairs and a swing, and is a favorite place to read books to my grandchildren when they visit.

In rainy weather, I sit inside by the front window for the same view of the bike path. This is where I pray and read and have my quiet time year-round.

We are also blessed to have a screened-in back porch with a green, leafy view of trees and the fragrance of newly-mown grass. It’s above our walk-out basement, so I feel like I’m in a treehouse. A ceiling fan adds a breeze on hot, summer nights—and this is my favorite place to read when there’s a thunderstorm.

One last place is beneath the screened porch, down by the backyard. There are lots of comfy chairs and also a hammock if I want to take a little nap. Party lights make it festive after sunset, which comes late here in Michigan in the summertime.

So now I need to take a trip to the library. Do you have any great summer reading recommendations? What are your recent favorites and the places where you like to relax and read them?

Inspired by Scripture

We want to wish all the fathers and grandfathers and all who have served the role of loving father figure in someone’s life a very happy and blessed Father’s Day today!

This Sunday feature is brought to you by ClashVerseoftheDay.com. You may sign up to receive a beautiful photo with Scripture in your inbox each morning or view the verse each day online.

Cover Reveal!

I’m SUPER excited to reveal a cover today! The cover for book 2 in my Waters of Time Series!

The first book in this new time-crossing series, Come Back to Me released June 1. And the cover was spectacular! Don’t you agree?

I’ve had lots readers say that the cover drew them to the book. And many others who said that while time travel isn’t a genre they normally read, they gave the book a chance and really enjoyed it.

In fact, one of the most asked questions I get from readers finishing Come Back to Me is when book 2 comes out!

I’m happy today to report that Never Leave Me releases January of 2022, and it carries on the story of two minor characters, Ellen and Harrison.

Here’s the official summary to wet your appetite:

In the last stages of a genetic disease, Ellen Creighton has decided to live out her remaining days at the estate of her longtime friend Harrison Burlington. Harrison cares deeply for Ellen, but as a wheelchair-bound paraplegic, he’s never allowed himself to get serious in a relationship. However, he’s desperately trying to save her by finding the holy water that is believed to heal any disease. 

When he locates two flasks, Ellen refuses to drink one of them because she believes the holy water killed her sister and father. In an effort to convince her to take it, Harrison ingests the contents first, and when Ellen witnesses the effects, she can no longer deny the power of the substance in the bottles. Dangerous criminals are also seeking the holy water, and Ellen soon learns they will go to any lengths to get the powerful drug—including sending her back into the past to find it for them. 

And now, drumroll! Here’s the cover for Never Leave Me!

To pre-order, head over to my website! http://jodyhedlund.com/books/never-leave-me/ And before you leave, tell us what you think! Does this cover intrigue you?

Take the Character Quiz

Characters are the heart of every story. Each must be unique, fully developed, and compelling. A challenging task for an author. I found it especially daunting with The Heart’s Charge since I had four main characters instead of the usual two.

When we meet someone in real life, we don’t instantly know their deepest secrets and spiritual passions. In the beginning all we really know about them is superficial. What they look like, perhaps their occupation, and possibly some basics about their temperament–shy, outgoing, grouchy, goofy, polite, etc. However, the more time we spend with them, the deeper our understanding penetrates. The same is true for an author as she creates characters.

First, we start with the superficial. What do they look like? Here are my inspiration photos for the four main characters of The Heart’s Charge.

Then, as I start building the plot, I dig in to who these people are. What drives them? What special skills or emotional strengths do they posses? What scars from their past helped shaped them? What were their families like? What are their deepest fears? What makes them feel insecure? How do they react under adversity?

I don’t use character worksheets like some authors do. I usually keep a few notes about physical appearance, but the core of who my characters are simply lives inside me like it would for a friend or family member.

During the months it takes to write the story, I come to know these “friends” on an even deeper level, and by the time the book comes to an end, they feel real to me, and I grieve just a little to tell them goodbye.

As a reader, I tend to relate best to characters who share some of my personal traits, passions, or backstory. With four characters in The Heart’s Charge, I thought it would be fun to develop a personality test to match reader to character. This is purely unscientific, of course, though I did feel as if I was finally putting some of my psychology training to use.

Quiz & Book Giveaway

After taking the quiz, leave a comment about which character matched you best.

One commenter will win an autographed copy of The Heart’s Charge!

Indulging My Inner Librarian

I loved going to the library as a child—whether the school library, where teachers often sent me when I had finished my work and was bored or the local library, where I would check out more books than I could carry each week in the summer. Even in college I loved poking around the library just for fun.

But in 1986 I got a completely different view of the library. I accepted a job working the library of my university, where my husband was in law school. At that time (30+ years ago), working for the university got my husband a spousal discount of 90% off his tuition! And if I had to work somewhere, the library seemed like a good place for a book lover like me.

My job was in the bowels of the library, where books were ordered, received, and cataloged. I worked in the order department, with responsibility for all the standing orders—series in which we had indicated to the publisher we wanted an entire series as they were published.

I was initially wary of the job. It sounded kind of boring. But the more I dug in, the more I enjoyed it. Occasionally I would have to go ask the real librarians—the ones who catalogued the books—a question. I learned a bit about their process, too. Which fascinated me.

Not long after I arrived in the job we began to prepare for automation. The library had purchased an entire new computer system that would now have an online catalog, check out system and cataloguing system. This was still all internal, mind you. The internet didn’t happen for several more years! But we were going “online” in the sense of the word during the late 80s/early 90s.

I remember the thrill of figuring out how to input my paper files into the new system and then helping to barcode books on the shelves. Many of the older people in the library struggled, but I was still in my early twenties and excited about the possibilities of new technology.

Fast forward to my kids’ schooling in a small school where I volunteered in the library. I was able to help them automate because of my experience at the university level.

Now library automation is a given. We can search the catalogues online. Even check out electronic materials without having to leave the house! Maybe that’s why my home library has always been so important to me. Yes, we had to cull it when we lived in the condo, but now that our beloved library wall bookshelves—along with a few others!—are in our house, I’m ready to reorganize the shelves so I can find things.

Enter my inner librarian. The one that sometimes wonders what life would have been like if I’d chosen to purse a master’s in library science instead of writing fiction. An old dream surfaced—and dream to catalog the library of books in my house. Confession: I’ve tried to do this many times in many forms through the years, but nothing was quite right. But surely by now there were apps for this purpose that had been perfected.

And my dream had come true! There are actually many apps that do this, some paid, some free. I ultimately went with Libib, and I love it. It accommodates not only books but music and movies, too! (Be still my organization-loving heart!)

A few screenshots from the Libib app

The joy of scanning book barcodes and having my titles in the library on my phone defies words. When I finished all the books in my house that actually had barcodes to scan, I had well over 500 books! I was giddy with delight.

But I realized I have at least that many more that I will have to enter manually due to age or a corrupted or incorrect barcode.

Oh. My.

I guess my inner librarian will get her fill!

A little glimpse at the process. Or maybe I just wanted an excuse to experiment with time-lapse video!

It makes me happy to know that with a few clicks I can now avoid book duplicates when I hit a library sale or a used book store. It also thrills me that I can tag the books by location on my shelves, meaning no more random searching when seeking something I know I own! And I can tag my research books by time period and place so that I don’t go looking elsewhere for information already in my possession.

The task is enormous. But I’m taking it a few books at a time. For fifteen or so minutes every weekday I take a break from other things and indulge my inner librarian. What will I do when I have everything organized and recorded? Buy more books, of course! Although, to be honest, that part never stops.

Do you keep up with the book titles you own? What’s your method? Have you ever bought a book then realized later you already own a copy?

Share your pictures!

It’s been a while since we’ve played this—

Describe the last three photos on your cell phone

(it could be a photo you’ve taken or maybe a screenshot, whatever, just the last three)

And no, I didn’t go look at my last three pics before deciding to do this. I might have chosen a different topic if I had! ; }

#1

The last picture on my cell is a screenshot I took yesterday:

Maaike van Beek, a sweet friend from the Netherlands, let me know that Colors of Truth is #3 on their Top 10 Christian Fiction this month. Fun to learn that! (And I had to look up what aantal maanden meant. Number of months.) CONGRATS to our own Lynn Austin whose If I Were You made the list too.

Thanks to all my readers in the Netherlands for reading so faithfully (special hugs to you, Maaike). Love y’all and wish Kelsey and I could come see you again. That was such a fun trip!

Here’s Lynn’s book and mine in Dutch and English. Which language cover do you like best? (Just kidding on mine, LOL)

More about If I Were You

More about Colors of Truth #2

Next, the next-to-last picture on my cell:

We were on the lake Saturday night just before sunset. So pretty. But look at the image in the middle of the sun. What does that look like to you? Looks like a monster to me with its mouth wide open, ready to devour something. But that could be my sleep-deprived-and-a-tad-stressed-out-on-deadline imagination talking. : )

#3

Finally, the next-to-next-to-last pic on my phone:

This past weekend a writing loop I’m on encouraged us all to send in “real selfies” of ourselves. Just whatever you looked like at that moment, post it. So I did. Sans much makeup and with “lake hair.” It was such fun to see everyone unstaged. I was hidden away in a bedroom working on the contemporary I’m writing.

That’s it for me! Please describe YOUR last three pics!

Blessings on your Tuesday,

Tammy

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A Tale of Two Lawn Chairs

Once upon a time…oh, the anticipation of those famous opening words! Well, this isn’t exactly an exciting or inspiring story, but it is kind of a fun one. Once upon a time, there were two lawn chairs. I really don’t know how their “lives” began, but I know a lot of their story and I’m thrilled that for now, at least, their story has ended at our house.

My husband’s grandparents, who both lived to be 101, had these lawn chairs on the porch of their farmhouse for as long as Ken can remember.

After Grandma and Grandpa passed away, the chairs were slated to be sold in their farm sale. We didn’t have room for the chairs at our house and none of the rest of the family wanted them. But one of my sisters was fixing up a little under-the-deck patio at her house, so I sent her the photo above, asking if she wanted them. I think she paid $10 each for them.

They were perfect for the little brick patio she and my dad made under the deck, and I was thrilled that they were still in the family, even if it was my side of the family.

After Ken and I moved to Missouri two years ago, my sister and her husband offered the chairs back to us. She had painted them at some point, but after nine years, they were definitely showing their age. I kind of liked the chippy look and we were thrilled to have them for our back patio. They came in handy during the pandemic last spring when we needed to social distance with our daughter’s family over some apple crisp and ice cream.

The chairs had really weathered to the point that they were pretty rough to sit on with all the peeling paint, so we checked into having them sand-blasted and powder-coated. We debated whether to paint them the original colors—the only ones Ken remembers them ever being—but in the end, he preferred painting them both red, and I am just thrilled with how pretty they turned out.

We already had the aqua patio set that echoes the original color of the other chair, and I think it’s fun how the red backside of my “fake” teal door leaning on the screened porch over the patio echoes the red.

It was a little pricey to have old chairs redone. In truth, we probably could have bought brand new chairs for half the price. But new chairs wouldn’t have nearly the sentimental value these do. They should last for many, many years to come and might even get passed down to our kids and grandkids. I think Grandma and Grandpa would be pleased.

What “heirloom” pieces do you have that may not have any monetary value to the world, but are priceless to you?

Inspired by Scripture

This Sunday feature is brought to you by ClashVerseoftheDay.com. You may sign up to receive a beautiful photo with Scripture in your inbox each morning or view the verse each day online.