|
|
Archive for May, 2009
Friday, May 29th, 2009
 Simpson Creek, San Saba County, Texas As promised, I’m finally writing about our visit to the Simpson Creek/San Saba Texas area. We stayed in the little Hill Country town because Simpson Creek runs through it, and Simpson Creek is the imaginary–I thought–town that is home to my upcoming Simpson Creek Spinsters series from Steeple Hill Love Inspired, which begins next year with MARRYING MILLY in Nov. 2011 and will be followed by SOMEONE FOR SARAH (working title) and Lord willing, others.
Only it turns out Simpson Creek wasn’t a town only in my imagination. When we stopped to read a historical plaque near the creek itself, I learned that there actually had been a community there. How cool is that?
The creek itself is just as I pictured it–green and shaded and just deep enough to imagine a raiding party of mounted Comanche warriors splashing across it–which is something of a relief, since I’d feared it was only a trickle of a stream, or a dry creekbed except in the early spring. I believe it’s a tributary of the San Saba River, which is also quite beautiful.
Billing itself as the “Pecan Capital of the World,” San Saba is a classic little HIll Country town, with two parks, the Wedding Oak, and a couple of pecan shops. The owner of the Hill Country Inn couldn’t have been nicer, showing this ever-computer-incompetent author how to use his free internet.
You wouldn’t go there for the cuisine, to be honest, unless your taste runs to ma’n'pa restaurants or Dairy Queen, but a great buffet in nearby Lampasas made up for the lack. Hopefully my picture of the creek will load properly.
Blessings, Laurie
Tags: Lampasas, MARRYING MILLY, San Saba, Simpson Creek, Texas, travel
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Wednesday, May 20th, 2009
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Wednesday, May 20th, 2009
I haven’t been blogging lately, not only for the usual reasons of too much to do and too little time, but I’ve been dealing with some problems with the blog. Some of you saw my waaaaay-oversized picture of me standing by the Rio Grande and the Santa Elena Canyon in Big Bend. That has now been right-sized and is much easier to look at.
Also, my webmistress, the wonderful Karen McCullough, was hit by a virus and had some difficulty with her own blog and warned me to watch mine. Thankfully, so far, I seem to have escaped that. And she’s loaded the latest version of Wordpress into my blog. This is my first blog using it. I’m very averse to change, as a rule, once I’ve learned how to do something, but so far, it’s going OK. I’ll consider this a totally successful effort if you can see the photo of a pronghorn antelope, taken between Marfa and Alpine, Texas, last month.
Tags: computer viruses, pronghorn antelopes, Texas, wildlife, Wordpress new version
Posted in Wordpress, computer viruses, wildlife | 1 Comment »
Friday, May 8th, 2009
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Friday, May 8th, 2009
For my next review as a Waterbook/Multnomah reviewer, I’ve been sent Enduring Justice, book 3 in the Defenders of Hope series by Amy Wallace.
Hannah Kessler is a woman with a painful secret past. Molested as a child by a neighbor who’s gone on to political power as a senator, she’s haunted by the secret she’s kept, a secret that will not allow her peace, or to enjoy her relationship with FBI agent Michael Parker of the Crimes Against Children task force. But secrets tend to fester and cannot be hidden forever, especially when her molester is involved with a racial hate group that Michael is fighting to bring to justice. Hannah’s friendship with a woman of one of the targeted races makes the hate group that much more determined to involve her—and the senator’s and the leader of the group’s twisted feelings for her endanger her still more.
It is up to Hannah whether to continue trying to keep the smoldering, shameful secrets hid, or expose them to the light of day. Is she strong enough to say no to fear and yes to love?
Reading Enduring Justice was like watching an episode of one of my favorite TV shows, “Without a Trace,” except with Christian characters, which makes it all the more enjoyable for me. Though some gentle readers may find it a little violent, this story could not have been told realistically without portraying the violence—but it is never done gratuitously.
At first I found it a little difficult to get into the characters since this is the third book in the series, but I was able to catch up and now am determined to hunt out books #1 and #2 in the series, Ransomed Dreams and Healing Promises. Kudos to Ms. Wallace for a riveting, suspenseful read. I recommend this book!
Blessings, Laurie
Tags: "Without a Trace, Defenders of Hope series, Enduring Justice by Amy Wallace, FBI, reviews of books
Posted in reviews of books | No Comments »
Sunday, May 3rd, 2009
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Sunday, May 3rd, 2009
We’re back from Texas. I would have liked to post every day as I did from writing conferences, but most of the places didn’t have internet and I was with my husband, so I’ll write about it now. It’s nicer with pictures to accompany it, anyway.
Big Bend was magnificent, even if too hot for this woman to hike. The mornings required a jacket but by afternoon it was in the high 90’s as predicted. At least you could see a lot by driving. It was thrilling stand right by Santa Elena canyon with the Rio Grande running through it, for I’m convinced the artist must have used it for my cover of my upcoming August book, THE OUTLAW’S LADY. The vistas along the Rio Grande in the state park were really beautiful. The accomodations were less than fancy, but the people so nice it really made for that. The lady who ran the hotel registration at the Chisos Mining Company deserves special mention for her friendly helpfulness.
The adjoining towns of Terlingua and Study Butte (pronounced “Stoody” by the locals) could use a couple more good restaurants, but we didn’t starve and it was haute cuisine in comparison with our next stop… I tasted quail for the first time at a restaurant in Lajitas, but I’d be generous to say they included a whole ounce in my salad.
They really have a good sense of the weird in Terlingua, if the place called “Passing Wind” is anything to go by. And then there’s Kosmic Kathy’s Kowgirl Cafe–Biker’s Welcome,” but it was only open Thursday through Saturday, so we didn’t get to patronize it.
Next time I’ll tell you about Simpson Creek.
Blessings, Laurie
Tags: Big Bend, Chisos Mining Company motel, Kosmic Kathy's Kowgirl Cafe, Texas, THE OUTLAW'S LADY, travel
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
|
|
