havingfunwithoutyou...

TIME MARCHES ON!

2011-09-21T09:41:00.000-04:00

I cannot be the only person shocked by being past the middle of September. I am doing almost anything to keep from actually writing something. I had a really good idea for a new cast of characters and a new series - sort of. I am still working it through in my head. I don't know how it will come out. Not at all if I don't get something on paper.

Mary, Jamie and I are meeting today. Everything is going soooo slow for me. Not that I am a great big help at getting things done. Mary is busy at selling off her shop. Jamie is busy with little Evan, Darlene is busy recovering from a heart attack. I am sort of lost and alone and cannot find my direction.

Our Welcome to the World party is this week end. Official welcome of little Tucker into the world and the family. I hope we have a good time. I hope lots of folks come to eat hamburgers and hot dogs. I'll get back to you about this.

I am missing book signing opportunities. I haven't got the sweet potatoes dug at the garden yet. I am barely stumbling along. Pray for me.

BUSY WEEK

2011-09-15T11:08:00.000-04:00

My next job is to learn how to deal with photos on the computer. I have not learned to do this yet. I need to know how it's done. I'm going to ask my daughter in law to teach me. Seems like all the my kids kknow how to do this and I don't.

I am trying to put together a sheet for the writer's group and I can't adjust the size of the photos the way I want to. I just hate that.

The 2011 Summer Scribble contest is officially over. We had a little reception at the library board meeting, thanks to the library board. All the winners showed up and that was really nice. Next year we are doing another book to sell and the picture Janet took of all of them will be the cover. This has turned out better than I imagined it would. This was our second year and we went from 17 entries the first year to almost 50 this year. Who knows what will happen next year. It feels good to encourage upcoming writers.

We are getting very close to sending our new book to the printer. Then we will have to get a book signing tour in operation. I like going out and seeing the ladies. Quilters really are cool people. I'll also have to get busy working on the next book. I have ideas for two. One about the girls during the Civil War and one about an encampment by Civil War re-inactors. I will have to get my rear end into the seat and actually start writing to get that done.

It's very cool this morning. I think fall has snuck up on us. I spent the night doing the night feedings at my daughter's house so she and her husband could get a full night's sleep. Guess which two folks didn't get a full night's sleep --- grandma and the baby. He's such a sweet little thing and I don't even mind being awakened by him.

My son turned himself over to the Army today. He will be gone for most of a year - part of that time in Afghanistan. His wife, his 9 week old son, and the rest of the family will miss him. We love him and we need him to be here. We are doing the best we can.

2011-09-12T18:34:00.000-04:00

THE TROUBLE WITH WRITING
is that there are so many much easier things to do. I am finishing up my gardens. Clearing them out and hopefully getting ready to be readier in the spring than I was this spring. I have only two more things I want to "put-up" this year. Apple butter, which my friend Patti is going to help me with, and Apple Jack which I have never done before. Oh, I also have to dig sweet potatoes and onions. My garden was better than last year but not spectacular yet. I am working on it.

My dear friend Darlene is out of the hospital and at her son's house recovering from the heart attack she had lastt week-end. Boy, I was afraid she was going to die, but she didn't thanks to The John McConnell Heart Hospital at Riverside. They truly saved her life and I am grateful.

My son is being deployed - eventually-to Afghanistan and he is leaving us this week.We all hate to see him go. Besides us, he is leaving a wife and seven week old baby here with us. We all will be fine and I will be glad when his deployment is over and he is home for good.

I couldn't watch all the 9-11 stuff on TV during the week end., I couldn't believe it when I saw it the first time. I am not yet ready to see it again. My son said he wanted to watch as much of it as he could so it would all be fresh in his mind when he gets where he is going. The world is a strange and dicey place. My daughter and I are going to change our eating habits while he is gone. We have a year to do it.

I will get serious about the writing when I get my head above the water that seems to be gaining on me.

BLOGGING IS LIKE DIETING. I CAN'T SEEM TO STICK WITH IT

2011-09-02T13:48:00.002-04:00

Both babies are born. You have no idea how hard this is on the grandmother. Boith are perfect and beautiful. Evan Thomas Hannon and Tucker Allen Chaffin. I am having trouble getting the names right. The babies may have to learn to answer to either. They are perfect and wonderful and I love them both.

Kyleigh is five and has started to kindergarten. Oh she is a sweetheart and got a yellow mark already ( this is not good) Green is good. I asked her what she did and I could have guessed without one hint. Talking during rest time. I know that has always been against school rules, but she doesn't.

So I'm wrapping up the gardens. We had a bumper squash crop and a half bushel of potatoes. Boy, are they good. This is our biggest potato crop so far. I am very pleased. We haven't dug the sweet potatoes yet. That will be on the next trip to the farm.

My fiftieth class reunion was this summer. I had a great time. Some folks who have not showed up in the past came to this one. There must be something magic about the fiftieth. I seriously wonder where the time has gone.A blink of time has passed. It is shocking. It is stunning. Pay attention and try tending to every minute. It gets away fast.

We have passed the one year anniversary of my husband's death. It has been much harder than I ever imgined it would be. It got worse the closer we got to the actual day he passed. I relived the past year and what was happening each day that time last year.

Seems like I have been behind all year and I'm hoping to catch up this next year. Wish me luck.

This blog is supposed to be abut the reading and writing that goes on in my life. Other stuff, too, but I'm trying to chronicle the experiences I have as I try writing things that matter to me. I have decided not to publish BUYING THE FARM AND WHEN DUTY CALLS for sale. I took them to Staples today to have copies made just for the family. We will take them to the farm and have them as part of our family history.

TIMELESS STAR is nearly ready to go to the printer. That will be a big day. It is the second quilting novel and I think people are going to like it. We have had some problems getting it to press but it really is coming soon. We will be setting up signings at guild meeting around central Ohio like we did with Guild in the Granary. We also have a new web site www://doubledpress.com where you can order the books that we have available for your reading pleasure.

I will try very hard to get back to you next week. Stay tuned.

Coming Back ....Again

2011-05-26T11:48:00.000-04:00

Where does the time go? I'm trying again to get back to the blog. The sun is finally shining in the Midwest. T
he storms have been dreadful this week. My thoughts and prayers go out to the folks who have lost so much.

I am getting ready to welcom two little grand babies. Oh, how wonderful this is. I can hardly wait to get my hands on the little fellows. That is what we are doing this summer. Having grandbabies. Both little boys:
One to be born in July and one in August. Joyful, joyful!!!

Some writing going on here. I'm trying to adjust my posts and format as I am associated with a new publishing company called Double D Press. I can't seem to get this done. It's been so long I forget how to do it. I will have weekly ( I hope) posts for you about how things are going. You do not want all the gory details of the change. . . trust me. But we are getting ready to move forward under new management. We'll see how it goes.

havingfunwithoutyou... McDiggs Publishing: Here I am again!

2011-05-26T11:36:00.000-04:00

havingfunwithoutyou... McDiggs Publishing: Here I am again!

Life is intruding on my plans!

2010-07-14T21:45:00.000-04:00

I'm back witih a short message. I have written chapter two of Ivy and Esther. I am interested in what is going on. Anybody besides me have to write the story to know what is going to happen? Presidnet Lincoln has called for Union soldiers and they are passing through Wilkesville on their was to the war. Esther is going to sneak out and go see the troop trains. This is going to cause all sorts of problems for both Esther and Ivy. I can hardly wait to see how it turns out.

I just read The Widow of the South which was excellent. I have recommended it to my book club ( the one at the library) and maybe they will decide to read it. I want to recommend it to anybody who is reading this blog, too. It is a war story and a love story and human story and it is very well written.

It's hard to believe July is half over. I am starting to harvest from my garden. Still only one red tomato but they are going to come oon with a vengence in a few days.

My husband is doing okay. He ate a bit better today and didn't sleep all day long. These are good signs.

I'll get back to you.

I'M BAAAACK!

2010-07-11T17:38:00.000-04:00

This is the quilt I made for my grand daughter's new big-girl bed. I got another picture up on here but I had a lot trial and error involved. Yikes! I have to improve at this.

Life sure is interesting. We have to get up in the morning to see what is going to happen that day. I have started actually writing a new book. I'm calling it Ivy and Esther in my head, not sure what the title will turn up being. It centers on two young girls during the years of the Civil War. These young girls are based on what I know about my children's great great-grandmothers. One was the daughter of an Indian squaw and a white man. The other was the daughter of a town doctor. I have the barest of information about these women and so will have to make most of it up.

I have done a lot of research on the civil war era but there is so much to know. I am concerned about making some horrible mistake that will make me look like a dummy but I will forge on. The story takes place in southern Ohio before and during the time of Morgan's Raid through the southern Ohio area. I am very interested in these two girls and what they get up to. The doctor's daughter has diabetes and the squaw's daughter becomes her companion. The relationship between the girls in intersting to me and or course what was going on with the war as a backdrop.

I have one chapter written and am encouraged.

In the meantime my husband is not feeling so well. He fell off the toilet and cracked his head on the cupboard on Friday. I know, it's almost funny, but it scraped the skin off his forehead and since he is taking blood thinners we had to get his brain checked out. It was a long morning in the emergency eventhough when we arrived there was not a single person in the waiting room. Not one. I couldn't believe it. Ended up he was a bit dehydrated and was given IV fluids.

So that's what I'm doing for fun this day. I'm not going to explain about my failure to stick to my proomise to write every week. I'm just going to try doing better.

Here I am again!

2010-06-16T17:02:00.001-04:00

It's been a big week. There is more to writing than writing. My friend Darlene and I went to a book signing at the South Lebanon Quilt Show on Friday. Oh my God was it hot and humid. It was a wonderful show with the life quilting works of                  . We were privileged to meet her when she came into the show. She is delightful and 80 years old. A very beautiful woman.
     We sold some books and met some wonderful people. We met Peggy Logue who was also selling her book called Skin in The Game which is about the year her nineteen year old soon spent in Iraq as a US Marine. I am particularly interested in this becasue my son and I are collaborating on a book about the year he spent in Kuwait and Iraq.

     I am also very excited to have received a review of Glory from the Midwest Book Review. I am including it here so you can see what a complete stranger had to say about the book. I am very excited that they liked it. You can find it at http://www.midwestbookreview.com/ if you don't want to read it here.

Glory Pruitt has just spent two months holed up after her husband died
of a heart attack. In another woman's bed. That is the first of several
shocks she is about to receive. The roughly 2.5 million in assets from
their business have disappeared, and her husband has been sending
flowers to a number of women in town. Camden, Ohio is a town full of
pedigrees, and its insulation begets snobbery that Glory doesn't really
understand. But the shadows are full of menace, and it is up to Glory to
put it all together:

I I .
"My front door was unlocked when I arrived home. I couldn't remember
ifl'd locked it before I left for Studs Unlimited or not. It seemed like I'd
left days ago and anything was possible. I pushed it open and stepped
inside.
'Anybody here?' I called out.
My voice echoed in the stillness. For a moment I stood quietly, listening
for an answer. The silence in the house was heavy, artificial. The
drawers of my desk were open and papers were strewn across its top. I
knew I hadn't left it that way. I fingered through the papers and saw the
mail was still there where I'd left it and felt a shiver crawl up my back. I
didn't know if it was seeing the envelope from my mother's lawyer or
something else. I wondered if Kate might have stopped by to have
another look at the desk."

Forrester's talent is that she sets up scenes guaranteed to make the reader
want to scream out at Glory to be careful. Glory's character is someone
who has been sheltered her entire life and suddenly has to function on
her own in the midst of an evil presence determined to bring her down.
Forrester carefully paces the story so that Glory has to either adjust or
literally die, which makes for a hair-raising spine tingler of a mystery,
and one that the reader simply can't put down. GLORY is a winner.

Shelley Glodowski
Senior Reviewer

     Isn't that nice? Don't you just love it? I do.

     We have a book signing in Port Clinton, Ohio on June 23 and a signing at the Logan Antigue Mall on June 26 from 1-3. Quuilters are busy here in Columbus this week at the NQA show. I am not going to make it down. My family is taking first priority at the moment. My husband is very ill.

Two weeks in a Row

2010-06-09T10:16:00.000-04:00

I'm very proud. I got a picture put up all by myself. This is my grandaughter and her dog, Gus at our farm. I made the dress and hat. I love this child in a way even I cannot believe.

The point of this blog is to tell you about my writing experiences but I haven't had any this week so I will talk about something else. My husband has a stage 4 gastric cancer. The entire family has been dealing witih this almost two years now and we are getting to a harder part. It takes all our energy some days. I think Bill (my husband) is depressed. He doesn't feel good, that is for sure. He has lost his appetite and had two embolisms in his lung last week. so now he is on blood thinners and the dosage is not yet adjusted. This morning he had a bloody nose. It did stop but his INR is too high and needs to come down.

He is not the best patient in the world and I am not the best caregiver. We have fun around here. I had him eat advacado which he does not like this morning. That will help with his vitamin K intake. I told him to think of it as medicine. I have to call the Zangmeister Center and find out what they think we should do. A lot of my time is spent in this sort of activity, so no writing gets done. Bear with me.

I am going to a book signing on Friday in South Lebanon, Ohio. This will be interesting to me as it is my first experience as a vender at a quilt show. Hopefully we will sell some books. I still have a lot of them in the garage. I will let you know how it goes next week.

I am still thinking about the civil war book I want to write next. My main characters are named Ivy and Esther. They are ten and fourteen. Esther is ill, gravely ill, as a matter of fact. Her father is a doctor and he suffers over not being able to help her. The year is 1862 and the Civil War is raging down south and threatens to spill over into Ohio where Esther and Ivy live. See, it sounds interesting, don't you think? I have to schedule some time to work on it. I want to begin to find out what's really going on. That is the main reason I write. It is the only way I can find out what the story is.

Check back next week and see how things are going. I'm relly pleased I got a picture up all by myself.

Only a week has passed!

2010-05-26T10:07:00.001-04:00

Only a week has passed and I am blogging again. So far I am keeping my word.

I have to learn to do photos. Tht is the reason for the flower. Mary showed me how to do it.

It will take me a few times to get the hang of it. I want there to be soomething interesting for you to read, so I'm not limiting myself to writing about writing or quilting oro just life in general. I'm going to be

writing about all of that, probably all mixed up together and tell you what I am doing and learning as I

go along.

One of the things I do is lead a book club. It started at Always in Stitches quilt Shop and from the

book club we decided to write a book, which we did. That book is The Guild in the Granary and it is

available for purchase at McDiggspublishing.com.

Then we publlished Glory which I wrote all alone and it is also availabe for purchase. It has nothing to do with quilts.I am working on a couple of other booksthat may be published in the future. Nobody really knows for sure.

Anyway the book club met on Monday. We had a field trip to the Gantz Farm herb garden which is located in one of the city parks in Grove City, Ohio where we are from. It was very interesting and we appreciate the city making the efforts it makes on behalf of the citizens. The book for the month was The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen. Most of the group like4d this book but we didn't get to rate it. The meeting was sort of as mess because pre-schoolers were having end-of-the-year activities at the park. It was hard to hear and we didin't get to have much of a discussion. Sometimes things don't work out that well. Monday was one of those days. We broke up early and will try to do better next month. Next month out book is The Castle of the Flynns by Michael Raleigh.

Starting Over!

2010-05-19T14:16:00.000-04:00

This is Glory! It has been getting great reviews!

I find it helpful to start over every now and then. I mean begin again with my life. I don't know how it got from November to May without my posting a message but it did. Glory is out and response to it has been very good. I gave a copy to our library, because they have no money to buy books, pay staff or do much of anything else and there are reserves on the book. People have to wait in line to read it. I am so excited about this I can hardly stand myself.

We have been to a couple of book signings with Glory and the stack of boxes in my garage is shrinking. This is good news.People like this story. It is the story of almost any small town and it's people. I want you to read it and let me know what you think.

I am making a pledge to blog once every week into the future. Mary is going to help me put a picture of Glory up. I hope I will learn to do this myself eventually. I didn't say how long the blog would be so I'm going to stop now and gather my thoughts before I do this again. I have been advised to talk about other things going on in my life, besides just my writing so I plan to do that. Tell me how I'm doing. Please? I get nervous when I am all alone.

Book signing in Columbus

2009-11-19T09:00:00.001-05:00

Mary and I went to a quilt signing at Columbus S Quild on Tuesday evening. Again it was fun. There was a lot of interest in the way we managed to write the book. Most everybody agred with me that Sleimer was not a good last name for a love interest for one of Caroline's girls. I felt vindicated for saying, "We can't use that name. It's dreadful.

We sold some books and met more great quilters. This guild has a man. Is he the cat who ate the canary in a bunch of women? We went to dinner before the meeting and Rita bought my supper though she barely knows me. I love it. There was an H1N1 innoculation sight next door to the quilt meeting and the parking was brutal. Mary is a member of this guild and that makes things extra nice. Jan wasn't able to go with us becasue she was visiting family in Chicago. We missed her and I have to say sort of screwed up her part of the program. Sorry Jan.

We asked the guild members to vote on our potential titles. Well three of them. I couldn't remember one of them so we couldn't ask about it. Results were 9 votes for Star-crossed quilt, 3 votes for the Timeless Star and 1 vote for the Timeless Star. Some of the other suggestions were Star Everlasting, Magically Pieced Star, Threads of History, and Stars and pieces. One quilter saud she didn't like any of the suggestions and thought we should keep working on it. The input really does help us decide.

Glory should be arriving from the printer in the next couple of weeks. I have a few pre-sales on my list and will be having a signing at the Always in Stitches Christmas Open House on Sunday December 6. I am excited about this.

We are having some problems with getting our second book on the page. We are to Chapter 19 and not sure what direction to go. We will try to resolve it soon and get moving again. Jan and I may start working on a quilting story that takes place during the Civil War soon. It is going to be really fun to write. I'll let you know when we get it started.

Book signing in Marysville

2009-11-08T20:58:00.000-05:00

        We had a great book signing at LoneStar Quilting in downtown Marysville on November 5. It's a great new shop that opened in September. It is a great little shop in a used-to-be bank. Can yo believe I bought some fabric? Don't know yet what I will do with it but I'll think of something. Mary had to get back to Columbus for the Kids N Kamp auction at Ohio State so Jan, my husband and I had supper at Old Bag of Nails. I love Old Bag of Nails so that was a treat. Then we went to the Union County Quilt Guild to do their program and to sign books for their members. We met another great bunch of quilters and had a wonderful evening. Thanks to all who shared the fun with us.
       The more quilters I get to know, the more I like quilters. The Union County ladies have a finish it challenge going on. Did you ever hear of such a thing. They actually get points for finishing projects that have fallen by the way side. I was impressed and we got to see some great finished work at the meeting.
       We also got to share the cover for Glory which is at the printers right now. This was the first viewing of the cover and I am very happy with it. I hope you all will like it too. The book should be ready for release by January 1. We are excited about that. It will be available through McDiggs web site and from Amazon.
     We are still working like crazy on the sequel to The Guild in the Granary. We are ready to really name the book. One of the ladies at the Union County Guild suggested we let readers have a chance to help name the book, so we are going to try that. So how about voting on the title you like or thinking up something we haven't thought of yet.
Our suggestions are: A Timeless Star
                                A Star in Time
                                The Antique Star
                                The Star-crossed Quilt
Send us your votes and suggestions and we will consider all of them. I promise.

I will have a few advance copies of Glory at Always in Stitches Christmas Open House  on Sunday, December 6 from 2 to 4 pm. I will be signing books while they last. They are going to make great Christmas gifts for your reading friends. Price is $14.95 plus tax. Hope to see you there.

I have been writing a while

2009-10-27T12:38:00.000-04:00

     I decided to look online and see what work of mine might still be there. I found only two stories remaining and they are from the last century. Sounds like a really long time ago doesn't it. In the Rose and Thorn Ezine I have a story called Jessie's Angels. The story was inspired by my mother-in-laws angel collection. I had fun writing and I think wrote two versions of it. The other story I found on-line was Private Services in La Petite Zine. This story was inspired by my mother-in-laws ashes being delived by mail to my husband and me in a box much smaller than I expected. Her wish was to be spread among bushes at a neighborhood live theater in the area where she lived.
     I really like the short story form. When done properly it is like a diamond. Compact and brilliant moving toward one conclusion and only one conclusion. It lingers in the mind after it is read causing the reader to think about what happened and why. I've won several writing competitions with short stories and am proud of that. They are little slices of life that touch another person.
     McDiggs is finished with Glory which I told you went to the printer. I will have several weeks before the finished product comes back and sales can begin. While I have a little down time, I'm going to begin working on a book my son and I are co-writing - or maybe you'd say we have already co-written it. My son was in Kuwait and Iraq last year. We each kept a diary and I kept the letters and emails we wrote back and forth. I hope a compilation of these things will help other families deal with the many circumstances of millitary deployment. In fact, I'm going to work on that right now.

2009-10-26T21:14:00.003-04:00

Hey Everyone!

Today the Always In Stitches Monday morning bookclub met and we had a discussion regarding the title of book # 2. We are thinking something with the word Thread.... We want to have a title that makes you want to grab the book, and also describes what the book is about. Expect to hear some of the ideas very soon! Have a great week! - Mary

Glory going to printer!!! Wahoo!

2009-10-21T18:04:00.000-04:00

Glory, my mystery story, is going to press sometime in the next week. I am excited. It is a mystery story about what bloodlines mean to some people. It's set in a small Ohio town and is full of really great, funny characters. I am excited to get a completed copy into my hands. It is scheduled for a January release. My website is under construction. I will let you know when I have an address you can visit.I wrote this book all by myself, while Mary, Jan and I collaborated on Guild in the Granary. Jan has done all the preparation of the manuscript and Mary tells me she is reading it. I will post the cover when I get a copy. My good friend Nancy did the cover. She is a professional and I will post her business name after I ask her if she minds.

It is a beautiful day today in Ohio. I have my first go at running the leaf blower. It's not that hard. I also pent the morning at the Fall Festival at my three-year-old grand daughters day camp. Oh my, these little ones can run the legs off their grandmothers. I am pooped.

I wonder if there is anyone out there. Somebody write me back, please, so I know I'm not alone. I'm a learner at this and need reassurance.

We had a Book Signing in Portsmouth, Ohio

2009-10-17T20:36:00.001-04:00

Monday we traveled to Portsmouth, Ohio for a booksigning. It was a beautiful day. Mary drove her new car. I am a very nervous rider and Mary has a tendency to be very casual about her speed and looking where she is going. It worked out okay. She was very considerate of me. We made it there and home safely. This is always a great concern to me when we go out into the world.

First we went to Lil's Quilt Shop where we sold twelve books. I met a wonderful children's writer who came into get an autographed copy of our book. Her name is Pollyanna and she writes children's books. Don;t you love it? I did and her, too. We were at Lil's for two hours. I bought fabric and a set of 600 thread count sheets for $24.99. What a deal and I just started thinking I needed some new sheets. The staff was wonderful and helpful. We made some samples they are going to display and offer their customers. It's a darling shop.

We had supper at a micro brewery in town. I bought beer to bring home but we didn't drink because we still had a program to do at The Down by the River Guild. Food was good and I know the beer would have been, too, if we hadn't been on a sober journey.

We decided quilters are the nicest people. Every where we go they welcome us and are so pleasant to us. We did our little talk about the Guild in the Granary and how we came to write it. Jan brought her rat. You have to read the book to understand that. It is available on McDiggs Publishing website. We got to see a wonderful Boy Scout quilt made for scouts to raise money and we sold a bunch more books. I think total for the day was twenty-seven books. We are happy with that and know we are not Jonathon Kellerman.

We also learned that the lady ( I can't remember her name) who started quilt barns in Adams County, Ohio, to honor her mother, is ill. I was so sorry to hear that as I enjoy the barns all over the State of Ohio. There are people doing good things every where but it is the others who make the evening news. Doesn't seem quite right does it.

We met at Always in Stitches on Wednesday to hash out some concerns with our second book. We had to go back to the drawing board and beef up our suspect list. Rewrite, rewrite, rewrite, but I think you are going to like it when we get finished. I am trying to figure out this blogging business. Bear with me. Diana!

Who we are!

2009-09-25T13:13:00.001-04:00

Karen Harper calls us the triplett writers. She gave us generous comments about our book after we met her at the Ohioana Book Festival this spring. We have met many wonderful and generous people as we have gone through the past year.

We are three women who decided in a reading group to write a book. We are all quilters so we wrote a quilting book called The Guild in the Granary. The book has been available for nearly a year now and we are very happy with our sales, considering we knew nothing when we started. We thought it might be fun to share our experiences and what we have learned with some folks who might be interested. If you're not interested find something else to do.

It has been an adventure. Mary Clark owns a quilt shop called Always in Stitches and that is what we named the quilt shop in our mystery story. Mary's quilt shop has been open for about four years. She has had a sharp learning curve and has put together a warm friendly quilting shop which quilters should plan to visit if they are in the Columbus, Ohio, area. Mary is married and has one (very smart)daughter in college.

Diana Forrester is the weak link. That's me. I am a slapdash quilter who started quilting when I quit smoking because I had to have something to do with my hands. I made about three dozen quilts the first six month but they all had twelve inch blocks. They would make any master quilter weep. I am a reader and a writer and have a half dozen unpublished novels and memoirs in the drawer. I've written hundreds of short stories that have been published in in eight countries. I am married and have four grown children. an attorney, a computer expert, a social worker and a chef. Isn't life interesting?

Anyway, the three of us were part of a reading group at Mary's shop. We decided to write a mystery about a bunch of quilters. It took us over two years to get the first story onto paper.
And another six months to get it out into the world available for purchase. Visit our web site to see all about that book.
We are to chapter twelve on the second book in the series. And we are all still speaking to one another. We've had a few days that were touch and go but so far we have survivied as a group. The three of us will be making notes and comments on this blog as we work our way through the rest of this book and get it birthed and out into the world. We invite you to check in on us and see how we are doing when you get a minute.