Scribbles

Back in the Day!

Pops had big hands.(Picture is of Pops, and my mother in front, and her youngest brother, John behind her. ) Wide and strong and they would sweep me up and hold me over his head. His silver gray hair was always Bryl-creamed back. He had eyes that twinkled when his granddaughter walked into the room. A train engineer, his hats lined the stairs to the basement. They were gray, striped and much too big for my head when he fitted them on me, pulling them over my eyes. 

An immigrant from Germany at the age of 14. Pops survived world war I in Germany and became a patriot of America during World War II. Later, he ran for office in his small town in South Dakota, and became a county commissioner. He loved his family, his five children, his wife and my best memory of him is sitting on my sofa in my teenage years, clasping the hand of the wife who loved him for forty-plus years. 

I loved going to their house - the yellow Sears & Roebuck box house in Mobridge, SD. The one with the two attic bedrooms - one for the boys, and one for the girls. I would bury myself in the clothes hanging on the pole along the pitched roof, emerge with vintage shoes and purses, my imagination stirring. They had a pitched cellar door that led to the basement: I loved to slide down it when it was closed, and it fascinated me that it led into the depths of their home when opened.  Mumps (Pops' name for her), had a roller dryer that she fed the wet clothes through, then hung them on the line in the backyard. I feared that my fingers would turn to hamburger between the rollers.

Mumps and Pops had a stove that had a little warming tray for toast, and in their back room ... an organ. In the closet in the back room they also kept an old fashioned picture viewer - the kind that came with double postcards that fit into a slot. I would curl up on their sofa - the one covered in plastic - and spend hours peering at the black and white postcards of The World's Fair, Chicago in the twenties, and images of the sea.

As I write historical fiction set in my favorite era, the 1940s, I often return to the little yellow house, the taste of my grandmother's chocolate chip cookies crunching in my mouth (she kept them in the freezer to deter quick consumption), Pops' smile as he came in from his walk downtown, holding a paper.  Or, in the early days, coming in from the train station, green thermos and black lunchbox in hand. He'd set down that lunchbox and scoop me up...in his big hands.

What memories do you have of the generations that came before? The ones that set our course and shaped who we've become and the society we are today?

Share your stories for a chance to win a Memory Prize Pack! Visit the SHARE page at the Sons of Thunder website!

http://brothersinarms.susanmaywarren.com/

Join me for Kitchen Chat on Friday!

Join me on Margaret McSweeney's Kitchen Chat on Friday at 11:00 am Central! Want to ask me a question? Call in to the show: 1-877-864-4869

To listen go here: http://toginet.com/shows/kitchenchat and click on the player in the upper right corner.

And leave a comment on my segment post here to win a copy of either Double Trouble or Sons of Thunder! (Be sure to leave your email address!)

February Fun!

Okay, so, I know I didn’t blog much in February.  It’s because, well, I was offline.  Having…fun!

First, there was this….



AKA, Dinner out with my hubby for Valentine’s Day.  It’s a little frightening, I know, when I’m enthralled with a piece of cake, but this was simply gorgeous (and tasty too).  Since there was no dancing (we couldn’t find a decent blues or swing band!) I had to be satisfied with this amazing cake.

I’m realizing as I write this that I sound rather pitiful. 

Not to fear, because, then I got on an airplane and went to FLORIDA. 

Where I did this: video

My definition of fun is hanging out with people who like to talk books and writing! 

So, I capped off the month by hanging out in Atlanta with Literary Agent Chip MacGregor and teaching at his Bestselling Novel seminar with these folks:







Then I came home. 

To this: 









But some of these people were waiting. 



So, it’s all good. 

Thanks for all the fun, friends!  Let’s do it again next year!

Susie

It only happens … once in a blue moon

Once in a Blue Moon by Leanna Ellis

(B&H Publishing)

About the book:
Faith is the first step to soaring.

The day Armstrong stepped on the moon has special memories for most Americans, but not for Bryn Seymour. It’s the day her mother died. Despite death defying feats, guilt has always pulled Bryn down time and again. But a perfect love shows her taking a leap of faith is the first step to soaring. But it only happens … once in a blue moon. Read an excerpt.

About the Leanna:
‘Leanna Ellis takes a back seat to no one,’ says Debbie Macomber. But Leanna hopes she allows God in the driver’s seat as she taxies her two children to and from all their activities, lets her menagerie of pets in and out … in and out ..., figures out what to cook for dinner (or where to order takeout), and at the same time keeps those quirky characters in her head from bothering others. Winner of the National Readers Choice Award, Leanna writes quirky women’s fiction with a splash of romance. From a long line of southerners and patriots, she lives with her family in Texas. For more about Leanna and her other books, visit her website.

Announcing my new collection ... Brothers in Arms!

I'm thrilled to announce that book 1 in the Brothers in Arms Collection is available for purchase everywhere!

Here's a bit about Sons of Thunder and the collection as a whole:

It’s every author’s dream to have one of their favorite editors call them up and say…”will you write me a story?” Uh, yes! And especially wonderful is when God has dropped a story in that author’s heart to simmer months earlier.

See, I was on a plane to Florida. And, as I sat down, my seatmate was on his cell phone, speaking another language. I admit I was curious (some may call it nosy). So, I asked him what language he was speaking. Greek – and he was talking to his father who was an immigrant from Greece. And it got better - his grandfather was also an immigrant, and had fought in World War Two, while his wife raised their children in Greece. But that wasn’t all – there was an uncle involved, and family scandal and….hmm…interesting. This poor man graciously answered a thousand questions during our two hour flight, and seeded in my heart a story about two Greek brothers who loved the same woman.

By the time I arrived to my friend Rachel’s house, I had the entire plot worked out. Now, I just had to wait until…my editor asked me to write it.

Thus, Sons of Thunder was born. I have long desired to write books set in the World War Two era. Such a heroic, courageous time, filled with heroes and epic romance and tales of hope and redemption. (Not to mention the amazing music and dress styles – oh, I was born in the wrong era!) More than that, as I’ve had the privilege of traveling the world and meeting amazing people from other countries, I’ve realized that many, many Christians fought in the war, on all sides – British, Russian, Dutch, French, American…even Germans. Brothers united by a common lineage in Christ forced to pick up arms to fight in a war they may or may not believe in, but because they were patriots to their country. My vision was to write stories from around the globe of heroes from all nationalities. I call it the Brothers in Arms collection.

The first book is an epic three part story about two brothers who love the same woman. As they flee their Greek home after tragedy, they both make her a promise. But only one can keep it. Set in three pivotal time periods of the 20th century – the Jazz/Gangster era, Pearl Harbor and our entrance into the war, and the liberation of Europe in 1945, the story is rich with the historical backdrop as well as the characters of Marcos, Dino and Sofia, three people who trying to understand and trust in God’s deliverance. It one of my favorites – I hope you’ll enjoy it to!

Read the chapter excerpt. And on the share page, read stories from those who have had family who have immigrated to America, or fought for her on foreign shores. Don’t forget to share your own! Just click on the share button at the top right of the Brothers in Arms Website!

The winner of the Double Trouble contest is ... Was it YOU?

Wow - first I just have to say how blown away I am with the number of people who entered the contest that ran during the blog tour - over 1200 of you! And again I say WOW! We used RandomInteger.com to choose a winner ... so congratulations to #690:

Melissa McNicol from Florida!!!!!

You've won the Super Sleuth Prize Package!
*  A brand new iPod Shuffle
* A $15 iTunes gift card
* A $10 Amazon gift card
* A $10 Starbucks gift card
* A pair of designer sunglasses
* A gorgeous scarf from World Market
* AND signed copies of both Nothing But Trouble & Double Trouble

And for fun I decided to giveaway 5 more sets of Nothing But Trouble and Double Trouble to: (again, chosen randomly)

430 :  Eleanor Harmon from South Carolina
67:    Carrie Bartee from West Virginia
1144: Robert Willsey from Nebraska
777:   Pam Ogren from Indiana
284:   Trisha Dowling from Georgia

And as a consolation to those of you who didn't win:

Here is a downloadable Nothing But Trouble bookplate and a sample chapter from each book!

Nothing But Trouble

Double Trouble

Again! Thank you all so much for playing along ... blessings to you and your families!

(Winners please send your mailing address to my assistant Amy amy@susanmaywarren.com)