I Love my ANWA Friends

By Sarah Hinze

It is always a delightful part of our annual ANWA Conference to see everyone and catch up on family and writing projects of the members. Peggy Shumway, Gayla Wise and I were chatting when Jannette Rallison came up to us and with her typical humor said,"Wow! I am witnessing a meeting of the charter members--can I break in with a comment?"

"Yea, please enlighten us", we joked back. So we all giggled and talked and enjoyed a warm and loving time together, excited about the projects and accomplishments of one another.

It was so good to see Julie Grant all the way from Texas. I was happy to connect with Betsy Love--what a perfect name for that girl--she is so full of hugs and sunshine! I vowed to her that I would attend my next chapter meeting. I asked Patti Hulet to write down the time, place, etc. so I would not forget.

"Can you stop by and put up a zillion hearts on my lawn--just to remind me to go, and as a special token of your love?"

"Sure, if that is what it takes to get you there--we miss you." said Patti, with that typical twinkle in her eye. What a sweet girl that one is.

But that will not be necessary. I plan to attend my chapter meeting this month and enjoy the warm fuzzys from my ANWA sisters.

You might want to attend yours too--who knows what interesting writing tidbits await us.

I loved the conference. I was inspired to get busy and keep writing. But most of all--thanks for the friendship of all you dear sisters. I love you so much.

What a treasure for me to have my beautiful daughters with me,Laura and Heather, both of them talented novelists. They amaze me with their strength and determination!!

Aren't Sisters Great?

By Christine Thackeray

As we speak, I am at my yearly sister's retreat. I came from a family of twelve children with eight girls. Two years ago when my mother passed away, we decided it was time to get together, just us girls, and spend a weekend without children and spouses enjoying each other. We do hokey crafts, talk until the wee hours of the night and laugh until invariably someone pees their pants, (a result of having many children.)

This year my oldest sister couldn't attend because she was on a mission in Brazil. My third sister was also unable to make it due to grandbabies. In order to include everyone, we teleconferenced them in and had our own little "View." Each of us came up with a single question to ask of the group and it was FUN!
Here's the questions we came up with and our general consensus:

1. If you had armpit stains, would you want someone to tell you? (Apparently, in Brazil it's so hot, you're whole body is an armpit.)

2. What is your internal age?(We ranged from 11 to 30.)

3. Do you force a teenager to go to church? (We didn't really agree but decided it depended on the teenager and was essential to seek personal revelation about it.)

4. Have you ever had to chose between something good and something hard but better that other people thought was wrong like EVE? (Interestingly, we all got it and we all had. One sister had to spend a lot of time with one child because of LD's, but she knew it was right. Actually, most of these answers were children based which is the same reason Eve took of the fruit- fascinating.)

5. What would you ask Mother if she were still alive? (This was teary but as each of us asked the questions, whether about a recipe we didn't have or about an interpersonal issue we were coping with, we were given an answer by someone else in the group and we realized that although Mother was gone, so much of her wisdom was still here- through us.)

Well, they are all getting on their exercise clothes to go running which my knees won't do but I can at least go do sit-ups or something. Have a great day and if you've got a sister, call her. If not, find a close friend to be an adoptive one. Because life with a sister makes everything better.

First Book Signing

by Joan Sowards

I had my first Haunts Haven book signing last week and it was so fun. Since my story is an LDS yarn, the by-line being an LDS Ghost Story, my novel is sold only in LDS bookstores, and since Haunts Haven is published by an independent publisher, my signings are in independent LDS bookstores.

The marketing person for Walnut Spring Press and Leatherwood Press, Amy Orton, arranged for me to sign at Beehive Books and More in Edgewood, Washington. Because of my schedule, it had to be on Thursday at noon. Strange time, I know.

She advised beforehand that bookstores are leery of book signings unless the author could guarantee a good turnout, so the president of my fan club (hubby) and I sent email invites to everyone we knew in the Seattle area, and posted an invite on ANWA Bulletin and FaceBook. As it turned out, “O” came from our efforts and I had to rely on the usual walk-in, Thursday noon traffic.

Beehive Books is an adorable shop that not only carries books and LDS supplies, but also missionary and scout clothing, and all kinds of extras. The owner and staff gave me a warm welcome and set me up in a cozy area with a loveseat and fireplace. After a few minutes relaxing on the couch, I decided it was best not to sit and hope people came to me. When each customer walked through the door, I took a book and a Ding Dong and approached them.

“May I introduce you to my novel?” I’d ask. The trapped customer always nodded yes. “Haunts Haven, an LDS ghost story is about a girl who inherits an inn that has been boarded up for 50 years, and when she moves in, she discovers she has also inherited a real ghost. The story tells how she deals with him. She is also addicted to Ding Dongs.” That’s when I’d hand over the Ding Dong bearing a cleaver ghost sticker. Inevitably, the person’s eyes lit up.

Out of the 15 women I spoke with in those short two hours, 8 bought Haunts Haven. (There were half as many men who came in, but when I tried to tell any about the book, their eyes glossed over.) I learned you can’t predict if a person will buy your book only by their appearance. Some I thought would not want to read Haunts Haven, were the most enthusiastic.

Thinking Ding Dongs could sell books, I visited the local LDS bookstore in my hometown, fully armed. With permission, I began giving my spiel to customers about Haunts Heaven. They listened politely, took the Ding Dong and said they’d keep my book in mind, but nobody carriedHaunts Haven enthusiastically up to the cashier. So what’s the diff? Do we have LDS bookstores so close that good products are always available and there is no expediency to purchase? Was it that I wasn’t an official guest of the store, so there wasn’t a luminary spirit?

Book signings and figuring out how to sell books is still kind of spoooky.

http://joansowards.blogspot.com/

I'm Flexible!

by Kari Diane Pike

I think most people have heard or read Charles Dickens' famous opener: "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way - in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only."

Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities
English novelist (1812 - 1870)

Thoughts about the existence of opposition and the role opposition plays in our lives have occupied my mind quite a bit lately. I don't think I have ever felt more challenged and at the same time more supported than I do right now. As a result, my prayers are longer, more frequent and more intentional. I feel greater love and sorrow for those who suffer and mourn, yet at the same time I have less patience and tolerance for unkind words and deeds. In a world where nothing stays the same, I have discovered the joy in knowing that God never changes.

I love how I can be feeling absolutely miserable and someone will cross my path with an unexpected smile or witticism. The other day a friend posted this on her Facebook status: "Women are angels and when someone breaks our wings, we still fly...on broomsticks. We're flexible."

Now, I realize that may not seem very funny to you, but I almost fell out of my chair laughing. My own wings were feeling pretty broken that day. Those words gave me a different perspective. Instead of whining about the internet being down, I dug out actual books to do some research. When the printer refused to print black only, simply because it wanted a magenta cartridge refilled, did I throw a tantrum? Maybe...but then I found my favorite pen and continued writing the old fashioned way. I hopped on my broomstick and kept riding--er--writing!

Hugs~