Where would you live?

What says fall to you? A Writing Life…Missing ACFW!

Where would you live?

Hi friends,

Happy Wednesday! Always glad to spend a day with you.

A friend asked if I could live in any book, which story world would I choose. This is a writer and reader’s delight—at least for me. Books started racing through my mind. Stories I’ve treasured and the world they’re set in.

I immediately thought of Dee Henderson’s O’Malley family and how I’d love to meet each member of their family. Then my mind went to Karen Witemeyer’s historical romances and her endearing heroes.

I thought of Narnia and how awesome it would be to climb through the wardrobe and pet Aslan’s mane. Or solving a mystery with Nancy Drew. But my heart settled on Jane Austen’s world. My favorite book is Pride and Prejudice, but if I had to pick a specific book’s world to live in, I’d choose that of Emma. I just watched the version with Gwyneth Paltrow and Jeremey Northam last week for the umpteenth time and I loved it just as much as I always have.

I love the carriages, the women’s elegant dresses, and the men’s dashing apparel.

I adore how they spent their social time at picnics, or gorgeous balls dancing to lovely music. But of every aspect of their world, I love how they spent their private time most. I think of the movie Emma, which brought the book even more alive for me, and how she had tea with Mr. Knightley at a table set up under a canopy out on the lawn. The strolls they’d take along winding paths surrounding by trees and by ponds. Time reading books and handwritten letters. I admire the beauty of a less rushed life. I know I could use more of that in my life. More time of quiet reflection, more time with family and, dear friends, even strolls without any plans of how fast I’ll walk or how far but simply seeing where the path takes me.