I looked at the calendar the other day and realized Christmas is only two months away. The weather in Michigan has been so balmy, I almost forgot fall had arrived. Yet November and Thanksgiving and Christmas and birthdays (my family’s) are creeping up on me, whether I believe it or not. Of course, the best part about this time of year for me, is getting to see all of my kids in one place. We haven’t been all together for a year. Sigh…
This past month has been busy. I finished reading through Bathsheba’s page proofs and finally got all of the changes off to my editor. I got a glimpse of the bookmark Revell is making to go along with it. I love what they did! If you want some to pass out to friends to tell them about the book, please contact me with your address and how many you’d like. They are printing me 2000 to start, and I love to share! 🙂 I’m making a list and will get them out hopefully sometime in December. Here is the picture of them, both sides next to each other.
I’ve been carpet shopping, and received a quote from the store we visited. I love the carpet, and am hoping to have it put down before Christmas, which means packing up and moving a lot of stuff. Knickknacks, books, and numerous miscellaneous little things that can’t stay in the room for carpet to be laid. There is also the problem of cable lines and computer network and phone cords. Oi! I think I’m avoiding the task because it’s daunting. But in truth, I have started to pack up my office. I am hoping to pare down and get rid of a lot of the things that just end up being clutter to dust. Oh, to have a maintenance easy home!
I’m on my third read-through of Sarai and have reached that point where I have to pay attention to all of the little notes to myself to check this or look up that. This is where historical fiction gets down to nitty gritty accuracy. (At least we try to be accurate.) Things like, what did lotus blossoms smell like and were they only white? (Actually, research shows me they were white and blue and later varieties were also pink.) Next up – did they only grow in Egypt? Would Sarai have known the flower in Mesopotamia? Sometimes the answers are easy to find. But not always.
For instance, the other day I got to a place where I wanted to know if sheep could survive a sandstorm. If their skin became totally coated in sand, how long would they live? Could their skin breathe like that or would they need to be quickly washed in a river or something? Seemed like an answer I should have been able to find, right? Not so. Perhaps I will yet find a resource to give me this answer, but in the meantime, I rephrased my dialogue to leave it out. I don’t want to assume, and it wasn’t all that necessary. Sometimes I drive myself crazy…
Not much else is new – except I do have a hole in my kitchen ceiling. Randy has been repairing the drywall where water damaged it so we can finish painting. He’s feeling a little better, though not completely, and we still haven’t figured out what’s wrong. Prayers are still appreciated.
Until next time~
