Merrillee Whren's Blog, page 11

A Place to Call Home

For the past two years I’ve been on a new journey—a journey to indie publish one of the books I have written. A Place to Call Home won the Golden Heart for Best Inspirational Manuscript in 2003.  

 The following year a different book, The Heart’s Homecoming, became my first sale to Steeple Hill Books, which is now Harlequin Love Inspired. In subsequent years I wrote and sold ten more books to the Love Inspired line. During that time Love Inspired lowered the word count for their books, and I realized that A Place to Call Home with its longer word count would no longer be a fit for Love Inspired. I always wanted to find a home for my Golden Heart book. So not only was the hero of the book looking for a place to call home but so was my book.

Enter indie publishing. I was inspired by author friends, Debra Holland, Nora Wilson, Delle Jacobs, Theresa Ragen and Lisa Mondello, who all have had great success with indie publishing. But my journey was slow and cautious. I started by hiring Kim Van Meter to design my cover. Then over the next few months I joined several online groups associated with indie publishing and absorbed as much information as I could.

I worked to revise the manuscript, but as any wise writer knows, you need an editor. I began inquiring about freelance editors and contacted several before going with a recommendation from Meg Moseley. The revision letter from Jessica Barnes pointed out a number of places that needed work. So I started on the revisions, but that process was slower than slow because my husband and I were dealing with his mother who had multiple health issues. But whenever I had a chance, I would work on the book.

Finally, the manuscript went back to the editor for a line edit. I also had a number of readers who looked at the manuscript for typos and inconsistencies. During this process, I decided that I wasn’t going to tackle formatting the manuscript. I have a hard enough time writing this blog. Judi Fennell with formatting4U.com formatted the book. Opening accounts with the different vendors was technical enough for me.

So yesterday and today A Place to Call Home went live at the following places:

Barnes & Noble

Amazon

Smashwords

The book will be available on some other formats and in print in the next few weeks.

What do you think about indie publishing for authors?

 

King Cactus

For the next couple of weeks I’m going to be sharing photos from the desert. The Sonoran Desert in southern and central Arizona has a lot of interesting plant life. I learned that the Sonoran Desert is one of the wettest in North American. That could be the reason it is so populated with the saguaro cactus, the featured cactus of this blog post.

Saguaros (pronounced sa·hua·ro; s-wär) are 95% water and can weight as much as 14,000 pounds. The average saguaro lives from 125 to 175 years. They are usually 50 years old before they produce their so-called arms. They bloom sometime between late April and June. I don’t have any photos of them in bloom, but the white flowers are at the top of each stalk or arm. Below are numerous photos I have taken of the saguaros in the Tucson area.

 I wonder how old this saguaro is. You may notice the holes. They are made by birds making their nests inside. I tried to get a photo of a bird sitting in the hole, but they wouldn’t cooperate.

This one is a youngster compared to the other two. You can see one little arm just starting to develop.

 

 Here is a closeup of some of the holes in a saguaro. There is a cactus wren hiding in that hole. I saw the bird go in there, but it wouldn’t poke its head out while I was standing there with the camera.

 

These photos were taken in Sabino Canyon near Tucson. It looks like the saguaros are marching up the hillsides.

I hope you enjoyed the saguaros on parade. Although they are often a symbol of the southwest, they survive in an area limited to southern and central Arizona, a small part of southern California and northwestern Mexico.

What impresses you the most about the saguaro cactus?

Happy Easter

Matthew 28:5-7

The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.”

Praise God for the glorious gift of his Son, who died and was raised that we can have eternal life with Him.

Easter blessings to you all.

This and That about March

As March draws to a close, I’m going to reflect a little about the third month of the year. Where I live in Florida, March can be filled with Azalea blooms around every corner. Here are some in my back yard. What flowers bloom in March where you live?

When I was a kid March was known for coming in like a lion and going out like a lamb or coming in like a lamb and going out like a lion. March was also considered a windy month. March has St. Patrick’s Day and the first day of spring if you live in the northern hemisphere or fall if you live in the southern hemisphere. Sometimes Easter is in March, as it is this year.

What is there about March that you like or dislike?

Happy St. Patrick’s Day

As I wish you all a Happy St. Patrick’s Day, I’m posting a photo of the shamrock plant in my yard. I received it several years ago as a hostess gift when we hosted a chili party one cold winter in Florida. Well, or course, cold doesn’t last long in Florida, and I planted it out in my yard. It has survived the cold, the hot, the wet and the dry. It’s a lovely little plant that reminds me of our family’s Irish heritage. You can read about it in my blog from last year. You can see last year’s St. Patrick’s Day post here.

When I was a kid, I always wore green on St. Patrick’s Day because if you didn’t someone would pinch you. It was a silly game. Do you have any Irish traditions?

Ides of March

[image error]

Today is the Ides of March. In these times it is known as the day Julius Caesar was murdered. The expression “Beware of the Ides of March” carries an ominous tone today, but in the Roman calendar it merely meant the middle of the month. Every month had an ides.

In Roman times, March was the first month of the year. Julius Caesar made numerous changes to the calendar. You can read here about the development of our modern calendar.

The most important thing to remember is that God is in charge of time. Galatians 4:4-5 says, “But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.”

If you had a chance to change our calendar, what changes would you make?

Frankenstein

[image error]What do you know about Frankenstein?

I’ve been picking out some interesting tidbits to blog about from the History Channel website. Today in 1818, the book, Frankenstein, by 21-year-old Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley was published. It is considered the world’s first science fiction novel. I don’t read much science fiction, and I haven’t read Frankenstein. I’ve mostly associated the Frankenstein character with cartoons or horror movies.

Have you read Frankenstein? What are your thoughts about the book and the character?

The Hula Hoop

[image error]

Today in 1963 the Hula-Hoop was patented. I was surprised to learn that it didn’t receive a patent until 1963. I was playing with a Hula-Hoop in the late 1950′s. I suppose one might have seen the phrase “patent pending” on a Hula-Hoop. I was also surprised to learn that Wham-O, the company that developed the Hula-Hoop, also created the Frisbee, the Superball, Water Wiggle, Silly String, Slip ‘n’ Slide and the Hacky Sack. They made a lot fun for kids and adults.

I used to be great at using a Hula-Hoop, but the last time I tried one, I couldn’t keep it up for more than a few seconds. I thought it should be like riding a bike—you never forget how to do it.

Did you play with a Hula Hoop as a kid? What was one of your favorite toys?

Florida Becomes a State

[image error]Today in 1845 Florida became the twenty-seventh state in the United States of America. I find it interesting that Florida has the oldest city in the United States, St. Augustine, and yet it didn’t become a state until nearly seventy years after the American Revolution. The “sunshine state” boasts miles and miles of sandy beaches, orange groves, Disney World, Kennedy Space Center, the Everglades, the Keys and a host of other tourist attractions too many to name. I love living in Florida.

What do you like about your state? If you could live in any state, what would it be?

The Right to Vote

[image error]History is full of interesting facts. Thousands and thousands of things happen each day all over the world. Some of these things become important in history and often affect the lives of people many years into the future. Today in 1922 in the United States, the US Supreme Court upheld the 19th amendment to the Constitution that gives women the right to vote. As a female citizen of the United States, I find this a significant part of history.

I still remember the first time I voted, and I have voted in every presidential election since then. As a citizen I think it is important to vote, but I also think it is important to be informed about whom and what you are voting for.

Do you remember the first time you voted? Tell me about it.