Emilie Richards's Blog, page 140

Treasure Beach: Chapter One, Part Two

Not sure why you're here or what to do?  Visit this page for enlightenment and instructions.  And don't forget to visit quilter Pat Sloan's website to sew along on the Happiness Key quilt that goes along with the series.

Treasure Beach: Chapter One, Part Two

Olivia Symington didn't know where she was going, and she didn't much care anyway. Her grandmother was napping, and while she'd said Olivia should go right ahead and watch television or listen to the radio, her house was beyond tiny, and there was no privacy. Nana was old, and she was coughing a lot. The doctor said she had to rest and take a fistful of pills, or the cough might turn into pneumonia.

Even though it was blazing hot outside, Olivia figured it was better to hang out somewhere in the shade than to risk making noise. She had left a note, and she had her new cell phone, in case Nana needed her when she woke up.

She wished she could show the phone to her best friend Lizzie Turner, who had lived right down the road until last month. They had talked a lot about how cool it would be to have one, but Lizzie's mom couldn't afford it and Nana hadn't understood the purpose. When Olivia had finally explained the problem to Tracy, Tracy had gone right to Nana and told her that having a cell phone wasn't uncommon for a girl Olivia's age, that it was a smart idea in case Olivia needed to call home in an emergency. Nana, who said the only phone she'd had as a girl was on something called a party-line, had finally agreed.

Tracy, who owned the five houses that made up Happiness Key understood what it was like to be a kid, just the way Olivia's mother had. Karen Symington, Olivia's mom, had always seemed to know what was going on in Olivia's world. Tracy, who was a little younger than Karen would be if she had lived, always knew, too. Nana, was, well, somebody who fondly remembered party-lines.

Karen was gone now. Lizzie, Olivia's best friend was gone. And Olivia's father? Well, Olivia hoped he was gone forever, too. Lee Symington was a bad man, a dangerous man, and she was so, so glad he was in prison and wouldn't get out until she was all grown up. Of course now she was, like, an orphan. And if something happened to her grandmother, if Nana got sicker and died, then Olivia would be all alone.

That was hard to think about.

Olivia's head began to hurt and she wished that she'd grabbed a hat. School was starting soon, and the last thing she wanted was to show up on the first day of middle school with a sunburn. She had seen a show on Animal Planet about chickens who pecked to death any other chicken who was injured, and she figured that was as close to explaining how things were going to be in middle school as anything she'd been told during orientation.

She cut through an empty lot beside Tracy's house and headed toward the bay. Her grandmother didn't like her cutting through the brush. There were snakes and fire ants and sandspurs, but Olivia was careful. Besides, she and Lizzie had worn a path through this lot to their own private beach, Treasure Beach and made a pact to keep the spot and the name a secret.

When Lizzie was still living at Happiness Key Treasure Beach was where the two girls had hung out the most. Lizzie had gotten a metal detector for her birthday, and she and Olivia had found more treasure on this short stretch of sand than anywhere else on the key. So, okay, the treasure was just a few coins and part of an old silver charm bracelet. Wanda had explained about the bracelet. She had said that when she was young, girls used to buy charms that symbolized some part of their lives. The fragment she and Lizzie had found had a diploma and maybe a horse worn to a nub by waves and sand.

Olivia figured there were no charms representing her life that anybody would ever want to see.

Treasure Beach–Whose Story and Why

By now, maybe you've guessed who the  major character of Treasure Beach is going to be.  The first installment of the "novellini" went up on Tuesday, to be followed by many more.  Each Tuesday, right through July, a new part will debut.  Timewise the story fits snugly between Fortunate Harbor and Sunset Bridge,  at the very end of summer, and features the women of Happiness Key. 

I'm not ashamed to say Treasure Beach is in part promotion for the series.  If you haven't read Happiness Key and Fortunate Harbor yet, I hope you'll want to after reading Treasure Beach.  Then I hope you'll run right out and buy Sunset Bridge the moment it hits the shelves of your favorite bookstore in July. All three novels are quintessential beach books, set on Florida's gulf coast in a small, rundown beach community.  They feature four very different women who are sure, right from the beginning, that they have nothing in common, only to discover that friendship is the greatest equalizer.

There is a "fifth" female in the community, too.  Olivia Symington, age eleven and granddaughter of Alice, appears in all the novels.  While some of the other characters come and go, Olivia is in every book.  When I began to think about stories I hadn't had time to tell, I thought about Olivia and knew Treasure Beach should be hers.

Once upon a time, Olivia had a larger role in the series.  She even had a point of view in Happiness Key, and we saw scenes through her eyes and heard her thoughts.  But as I so often do, I overwrote.  Happiness Key was too long, even by my standards.  Before I submitted the  manuscript, I knew it had to be cut.  And while Olivia's scenes offered depth, they did not move the story forward.  So sadly, Olivia's point of view disappeared in my final version.

And darn, I missed it.

Olivia has suffered a number of losses in her short life, and she suffers another at the end of Fortunate Harbor.  Her best friend Lizzie moves away without a word.  And while Olivia seems to take this in stride, I remember how devastating this can be in real life.   Don't you? At eleven, a best friend is one of the most important people in a girl's life.  And Olivia is an intelligent, sensitive child who carries a lot of baggage.

Since Treasure Beach was written after I completed Sunset Bridge, I knew what was awaiting Olivia in the final book.  I decided that I had been given a golden opportunity.  I could provide the transition for her, let my readers experience her thoughts and feelings in more depth, and set up some of the action in Sunset Bridge.  I could, at long last, give Olivia a voice.

Of course Olivia doesn't exist in a vacuum.  She's loved and watched over by all the women of Happiness Key.  So, of course, each of them appears in Treasure Bridge and is heard, as well.  We even get some hints of what's to come. And trust me, it's never a chore to write from Wanda's point of view or to think about her pies.

I fell back into the community of Happiness Key as if I'd never been away.  Treasure Beach was as refreshing for me as a gulf breeze.  I hope you find it just as refreshing.

Treasure Beach: Chapter One, Part One

Not sure why you're here or what to do?  Visit this page for enlightenment and instructions.  And don't forget to visit quilter Pat Sloan's website to sew along on the Happiness Key quilt that goes along with the series.

Treasure Beach: Chapter One, Part One

"There she goes wandering down the road again." Wanda faced her husband and hiked her thumb behind her toward the front window of their concrete block cottage. "What did I tell you? These days that girl looks as low as a stuck duck in a dry pond. Camp's over till next summer, and now she's got nothing to do. It's hitting her, you better believe it, that Lizzie's never coming back. Nothing to think about but that until school starts again."

Ken nodded, the way he always did when his mind was someplace else. He looked like the cop he was, salt and pepper hair cropped short, demeanor that gave nothing away. Luckily he wasn't yet the victim of middle-age spread, despite the quantities of pie he consumed. The cops in Palmetto Grove weren't getting fat off doughnuts. They had pie from Wanda's own pie shop to thank for their extra pounds. Along with her neighbors and the residents of a local homeless shelter, PG cops devoured every pie Wanda's Wonderful Pies didn't sell.

"We ought to do something for Olivia," she said.

Ken got to his feet and looked at his watch. He was heading to work, and even though it was Monday and Wanda's day off, she would be heading into the shop soon enough to make sure all was well for the week ahead. Unfortunately her newest assistant was as useless as a sore thumb.

"You can't fix everything," he said.

"Maybe not, but that girl's had enough heartbreak. I just wish I could do something."

"Everybody here on the key's watching out for her. She's got her pick of women to talk to. She'll let you know if she needs you."

"It's just like a man to think a woman shouldn't interfere."

He leaned over and kissed her, then he pulled her close, even though she pretended to squirm. "And it's just like a woman to ignore him. Just don't go making things worse. She's what, eleven now? She'll figure things out, just like Maggie always did at that age."

"I wish I knew Maggie was figuring things out right now."

"How much of your worrying is about Olivia, and how much about our daughter?"

Wanda wasn't really sure, but she didn't admit it. She just gave up and hugged him back. It never paid to let a man know a woman was unsure of anything. Let a man stick that foot in the door, and all the pie in the world wouldn't set it to rights.

Treasure Beach: Who, What, Where, How and Why

Welcome to the housekeeping details for the unveiling of my brand-new "novellini", Treasure Beach.  Each future installment will have a link back here for instructions, just in case.

Treasure Beach is a sequel to my novels Happiness Key and Fortunate Harbor and a "prequel" to the final novel of the trilogy, Sunset Bridge, which will be at your favorite bookstore in July 2011.  The story takes place between Fortunate Harbor and Sunset Bridge and doesn't appear anywhere but here, on this blog.

Each Tuesday through July, I'll publish a section, completing one chapter each month.  If you miss a week, don't worry.  You'll find the story logged in "Categories" (to your right) under "Treasure Beach."  The most recent installment will always be at the top, so you'll simply have to scroll down to find what you've missed.  Each will be clearly labeled by chapter and part.  Additionally each individual chapter will have the same photo to help identify it.

I plan to make a pdf at the end of each month with the entire chapter, for those of you who prefer to read on your eReader.  Then you can load and read that chapter in its entirety on the final Tuesday of that month.

Treasure Beach will remain here on my blog through the end of 2011.

But that's only part of the fun.  To go along with the story, the fantastic Pat Sloan, quilt designer and good buddy, has designed a Happiness Key mystery quilt, to be unveiled right along with this story, a piece at a time each Tuesday.  You don't have to be a quilter to join in the fun.  Watch the quilt unfold, along with those who are participating, by going to the Flickr folder, as well as Pat's website.  Pat is offering kits to make it easier, and the fabrics are gorgeous.  I'll be making a quilt, too, and I can hardly wait to get to my sewing machine.  The quilt is absolutely charming, and well represents the novels.  Pat, being Pat, didn't stop there, so she's planned fun projects to go along with it and prizes each month.  

Tuesday, February 8, the fun begins, and on Friday the 11th I'll  be blogging about why I chose this particular story among the many possibilities.  An insider's look.  So check back then.

Thank you for reading along with us.  And thank you for quilting with us.  If you're a newbie quilter and don't know what to do, Pat's solved that, as well.

Most of all kick back and enjoy. Let us entertain you.

Out With The Old, In With The. . . Maybe Not

Since I'm between projects right now, the handwriting is clearly on my study wall.  It's time to clean off my bookshelves.  Weeks ago I took a photo of my desk and posted it here. While some may accuse me of doctoring it, the truth it, the mess was really that bad.  Papers stacked everywhere.  Magazines with articles I was sure I needed.  Keychains and paper clips, business cards from strangers I don't remember.  

Unfortunately things did not improve right away since finishing Sunset Bridge took priority.  Immediately afterward,  the holidays asserted themselves, then a trip to Florida.  Back now and finally running out of excuses, this week I began the process of clearing my desk top.  Then it was time to tackle the bookshelves.  With this, of course, comes the obvious question.  What do I keep, and what should I give away?  And what is so out of date, so dog-eared and forlorn, that it really must go in the trash?

Books are, of course,  a completely different dilemma from clothing.  I'm guilty of keeping things in my closet that are so out of date I'd be embarrassed to donate them to charity, but clothes are, well, "things."  Inanimate.  At most, reflections of who we are.  Books?  Books are imaginations set free, ideas to ponder, threads of human experience that bind us together.  They are also friends.  And who easily, willingly, relegates friends to library book sales or trash bins?

I set about making choices.  First I divided my library into piles.  One was for books I'd finished.  Another for books I'd intended to read and had never gotten around to.  Piles of books I'd started and books that had appeared on my shelves for no good reason.  Finally, with piles all around me, I began to cull. 

Oddly enough the easiest to give away were my book club reads.  I belong to an online group of authors who read one book a month and talk about it from a writer's perspective.  Were it not for them, I would have missed many amazing finds.  But one after the other, I relegated those books to the book sale.  We had read them.  We had dissected them.  And for the most part, whether I liked them or not, it was clear I wouldn't read them again.  So out they went.

I was surprised that of the books I'd read, few were "keepers", a word readers use freely.  I pondered this, afraid I was making a mistake.  Yet wasn't I "keeping" the ones I had loved where they mattered most?  Not on my shelve,s but in my mind and heart?  I wanted to share them and give other people the pleasure I'd enjoyed.  I wanted to "keep" them in circulation.  And I wanted to "keep" an empty space on my bookshelf for the next book I would love. 

The hardest to give away were the books I hadn't read.  Some, clearly, were books I never would.  They were in genres I don't enjoy or by authors I had tried before without success.  Some were so outdated they no longer held promise.  Those were easy.  But what about all the others?  Certainly among those unread volumes were books so absorbing, so enlightening, that when I finished reading, my world would be a different place.  Who could toss out a book with that potential?

Somehow I made my decisions.  Two boxes of books were taken downstairs to be given away.  And my bookshelves?  Suddenly I can see all the titles.  I can reach in and pluck out a book and know it's one I've kept for a reason.  By reducing my library, I've opened the door to a happy reading future.

In the end the gnashing of teeth, the rending of clothing, was worth it all.  Still, as I made my selections, I thought about my eReader and all the books it will hold.  No bookshelves to clear, no choices to make.  Enjoy a book?  You can keep it forever.  Dislike a book?  You can delete in seconds.  No fuss, no dust, no bother.  No boxes to cart to the book sale.  So maybe before long "out with the old" will be obsolete, right along with hardcovers and paperbacks.  In the meantime, I'll enjoy the books I own and all the secrets they've yet to tell me.  I'm looking forward to each and every one of them.

Paradise Lost? Be Careful, Or Your Library Could Disappear. . .

Recently I had the pleasure of driving through the neighborhood where I grew up.  Trips into the past are always bittersweet.  Show me a slide-show and I wouldn't be able to pick out the tiny one-story house where I spent most of my childhood. Pink and gray shingles have been covered with dark wood.  The back has sprouted a two-story deck, which raises my curiosity.  For a better view of sunsets?  To spy on the neighbors?  Despite this, the house is now one of the nicest on the street, while the neighborhood itself has declined.  Emerald green St. Augustine grass has been replaced by sand, and the lush shrubbery I remember is, for the most part just a memory.  Clearly this area, like so much of Florida and the rest of the country, has fallen prey to a weak economy and climate change.

I didn't visit one of my favorite places.  I was five when I got my first library card.  The Gulfport Public Library–the present version pictured here–was too far to walk, and my mother never learned to drive.  We went when friends or relatives invited us, but I got there whenever I could and always checked out the six books I was allowed.

Had I been given permission, I would have moved into the children's room and later the adult section.  I would have wiled away my nights randomly choosing books from the shelves, or inserting cards into the antique stereopticon viewer and taking random trips around the world through the eyes of another century.  I remember the musty odor of the books, the precise place where the first edition Oz series was kept for all to enjoy.  Next time I'm in town, maybe I'll visit the newest incarnation and see how familiar it seems.

I know from your many emails how important libraries are to you.  Many of you rely on libraries to read my books.  Were you forced to buy every novel you wanted, you would quickly go broke.  I understand.  When a library buys my books for their shelves, I've made a sale, and hopefully new readers have discovered me. 

Unfortunately libraries, like my childhood neighborhood, have also fallen on hard times.  Recently I've received steadily  escalating pleas to help libraries all across the country.  The most recent came from Oregon.  A library structure must be replaced, so would I send an autographed book, contribute a recipe or make a donation?  Authors are no longer just the voices on library shelves, we are now being asked to keep the doors open, too. 

Do a Google search. Type in "save local library."   See how many hits you receive.  Libraries in LA, Chicago, New York, even England and everywhere in between are in trouble.  My own library system has cut hours and employees.  What about yours?

Authors are generous, and many of us are responding to these requests, but we all know it will take more than a few autographed novels.  So what can we do together? 

For starters, my Google search turned up a concise, helpful article from the Good Culture site.   Take a moment and zip through it.  I bet there's something there you could do to help your own library.  Start locally.  I'll be donating books and money to all the libraries in my life.  That makes the most sense to me since I can donate more books and pay less postage. Imagine a world without your local library.  It's unthinkable, isn't it?

While you're considering how best to help, will you share with us here a memory of a library that helped turn you on to reading?  Nothing is a greater catalyst to change than good memories.  Let's all remember together then let's get busy.

Drumroll Please . . .

Thanks to all who participated in my Favorite Things giveaway by commenting here at Southern Exposure.  I really loved reading what you had to say.  You certainly cheered up anybody who took the time to read about the things that make you happy.  Random.org selected five winners and those readers will receive an autographed novel or quilt pattern book of their choice.

Drumroll please. . .

Congratulations to Lavanya, who loves reading with her puppy at her side. Emily, who loves hearing her son's ringtone. JoAnne who loves flourless chocolate cake. Judy S. who loves a snow day. And Audrey, who loves the first sighting of a hummingbird in the spring.

If your name wasn't chosen, don't despair.  There will be more contests coming soon, with books and other assorted goodies.  Lots of assorted goodies.

Meantime, I'll be back tomorrow with another post.  While you're waiting, think of your favorite library moment.  Will you share it in a comment tomorrow?

Summer Winds and Winter Blizzards

Winter Blizzards

I truly wasn't expecting the storm that began last night.  First, the Washington DC area, which has somehow managed to dodge all east coast blizzards this year, is suddenly under siege.  We woke up to a white world, no telephone, television or internet.  Our neighborhood was lucky, because despite that, we still had power.  This means heat, and in the scheme of things, worth trading for the Today Show and the daily flurry of email from correspondents who can't spell but still insist they can help me find a publisher, employer, college degree or sexual fulfillment.  While I am, of course, properly grateful for their concern, I enjoyed my brief vacation.  I hope my readers are all warm and snug and their sidewalks shoveled.

Summer Winds

Winter storms in January are no surprise, but I was surprised by the number of people who emailed or Facebooked after I blogged on Monday to see if they could write my publisher and express their support for the Shenandoah Album series and the publication of the sixth book, Summer Winds. 

Publishers make decisions based on many factors.  While I understand some of them, I don't pretend to understand all.  But why not make one of them a number of reasonable requests for another Shenandoah Album novel?  So please, do go ahead and write if you would like to.  Short letters from you and your book-buying friends will let Mira know that the books mean a lot to you–as you've told me so many times–and you would like at least one more tying up the series.  Then we've all done what we can. 

Some Good News

Ahem, in the meantime?  I finished Treasure Beach this weekend!  It begins right here on February 8th and every Tuesday thereafter until Sunset Bridge is on your bookshelf, too.  I'm officially switching my blogging days from Monday and Thursday to Tuesday and Friday so Pat Sloan and I can coordinate the novellini and the block of the month quilt that will go along with it.

And, of course, there's a new series in the planning stages.  Plus two new books going up on Amazon, B&N and other ebook stores, or rather I should say two out of print novels which will be reincarnated as ebooks.  I have always loved these books and am SO glad they're about to have a brand new life.  (Much like the women whose stories they are.)  You'll see covers soon, right here.

Planning to Write That Letter?

Now, the address.  Please write if you feel like it.  This is your chance to be heard.  And know that no matter what comes of this, I am so grateful you care this much.   The characters in the Shenandoah Album novels came alive for you.  That's a wonderful gift for an author to receive. 

Reader Service

P.O. Box 9049

Buffalo NY 14269-9049

And in Canada:

Reader Service

P.O. Box 616

Fort Erie ON L2A 5X3

Endings and Beginnings, Careers, Novels and Quilts

Although I have never started a novel I didn't finish, I have a host of quilts I've begun that are still waiting for their final stitch.  I quilt because it's fun.  Not because I need warm covers on my bed or bright patches of color on my walls.  The real reason I quilt is because it brings me pleasure to try new things.  Apparently it brings me less to finish them.

Writing brings me pleasure, too.  Rarely does a day go by when I forget that being paid to do something I love is a priceless treasure. I have, for the most part, been able to write what I want to.  I have written family sagas and romances, friendship novels and mysteries.  I've added paranormal elements, suspense, melodrama, humor.  I've darted here and there, tried this and that.  I've prided myself on the variety of my work.  Were I a student today, some concerned teacher might suggest I have mild ADD.  Since many of my most talented colleagues admit that they, too, daydream at the darndest times, I find this a blessing.

Sometimes, though, it is necessary to plan.  Usually I have to be dragged kicking and screaming into a session that begins: "Let's talk about the future."  Lately though, I've been faced with decisions that require thoughtful analysis.  I have two publishers.  They have other authors and sales figures.  And publishing is changing so quickly that anything written about it today is no longer relevant tomorrow.

While I have never  left a novel unfinished, I have not "completed" two series.  One is the Shenandoah Album series, set in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley.  Each book has a relationship (a different relationship) to a traditional quilt, but the novels are about the lives of women in the area around Toms Brook. The first novel, Wedding Ring, was supposed to stand alone.  Instead that novel expanded to five books and spawned audio versions and quilt pattern books.  I planned a sixth, but my publisher planned otherwise.  At this time Summer Winds is still unwritten.

At the same time I was writing the Shenandoah Album series, I began a cozy mystery series we called Ministry is Murder, about a free-spirited minister's wife in a small Ohio town who solves murders.  These books, too, were such fun to write.  I love Aggie and her family and the situations she gets herself into.  I love her harmless flirtation with Detective Roussos, her crazy real estate agent friend Lucy, her aging flower child mother Junie.   I wrote these just because I wanted to.  They are five books I will always be proud I authored, but for now Aggie is in limbo.  When my contract was completed, I didn't suggest more.

I have submitted a proposal for a new series, because after carefully crafted letters explaining why NOW is the time to finish the Shenandoah Album series, the answer was "no."  Not "no" as in, "never."  But "no" as in "not now."  And while that door may still be cracked, I'm afraid that "not now," is the same "not now" we parents use when a wheedling child wants us to go outside and play, and we have no intention of leaving our nice warm house.

Still a day doesn't go by when someone on my Facebook page or in an email asks when the next Shenandoah Album will be released.  Today I have no answer except "not now."  But here's what I can say.  I am still working on this, and publishing IS changing.  Who knows what the future will bring for my quilter friends in Toms Brook, or for Aggie and her family?  I haven't deserted them.  I am just waiting to see what unfolds and exactly how.  Then I can decide.

In the meantime, please come along with me on the next ride.  We took a whirlwind trip to Happiness Key and it was great fun.  I'm not sure what the future will bring, but I can only guarantee I will write the best book, the best series I can, and I hope whenever you read it, you will think so, too.

Novels, Novellas and Novellinis

I've always loved writing novellas.  I've written more than a few in my years as an author, most often in a collection as a holiday promotion from my publisher.  For someone who writes long books, novellas are an odd attraction.  Still, from the beginning, I found the format was a welcome break.  While our practice as authors is to "show not tell," we can tweak that rule with a novella.  While my regular novels hover between 100,000 and 150,000 words and leave acres of room for story development, my novellas are more often in the 25,000 word format. If I have background information to work in, I can simply tell it up front.  I can use direct narrative and description.  Something different, in other words.  Something different is almost always fun.

This week I began my first "novellini."  This is not a real word, at least I don't think so, so please don't look it up and lecture me in an email.  My very first editor once used this to describe a short, short novella she was editing, and the term stuck with me.  Now I'm working on my own novellini.  Not quite a short story, not a novella, either. 

I'm writing it for you.

Let me back up half a mile.  So there I was, having lunch with my friend, the quilt designer Pat Sloan.  We were lamenting the end of our Season of Grace Block of the Month promotion.  For those of you who don't know, this was a large wall quilt pattern we offered for free on our websites, designed to be either an advent quilt or a Christmas wallhanging, depending on the whim of the participant. The pattern was based on a quilt in my novel Sister's Choice.  Pat and I had fun with the design, and judging from the email and photos we received, so did our quilters.

Anyway, at lunch Pat and I began to talk about the possibility of doing another project together.  Only this time, she wisely suggested I get out of the quilt block biz and back into the writing biz.  Why didn't I write a "story" to put on my blog to go with a quilt she would design.

Wow.  Friends are a wonderful thing to have, aren't they?

Since I was finishing Sunset Bridge, book three of the Happiness Key trilogy, we decided both the story and the quilt should honor the series.  And fueled by Cobb salads, a new project was born.

Treasure Beach, my novellini, will debut here beginning in February and continue through until July, when Sunset Bridge arrives at your favorite bookseller.  The story is set between the end of Fortunate Harbor and the beginning of Sunset Bridge, and features all my Happiness Key characters.  I'm having such fun.  I get to be with my Florida friends again after I thought I'd said goodbye. 

Each Tuesday of those months I will "blog" a piece of the story right here.  All you have to do is log on to Southern Exposure and read along. Of course, there's that fabulous wallhanging, too.  Pat will be selling kits at the beginning of each month, as well as giving directions for each block on her website later the same month.  Those of you who want to use your own fabric can get the free pattern online then.  But I've seen a mock-up of the quilt, and it's absolutely charming.  Pat perfectly captured the feel and theme of the books.  I can't wait to make one myself from her kit.

What can you do in the meantime?  Well, if you're not current with Happiness Key and Fortunate Harbor, buy them and read, read, read.  The story will make more sense to you if you do, and then you'll be ready for Sunset Bridge, the final installment.  Of course you don't have to make the quilt, but why wouldn't you?  Pat's directions will be easy to follow, even for a beginner, and it's really going to be a winner. 

So come share in the excitement.  Novellinis and wallhangings.  Not an Italian pasta dish, but something delicious of a different sort.  Where else but here?

PS:  Don't forget to comment on my last blog for a chance to win an autographed book in my latest giveaway.  Deadline to comment is Monday, January 24th.