Archives for December 2011

Ms Malibu and I traveled 2307.6 miles on the book tour. “All by yourself?!” person after person exclaims. I love traveling alone, just me and the radio and long expanses of time to think and just to be, comfortably settled into the driver’s seat, an open snack and bottle of water at my side. GPS […]

I love involving others in my readings and presentations. The stories come across more vividly and effectively when others join me—I always play the part of Rose—to portray her people. I was afraid, though, that this dramatic element might not be possible on tour because my “road show,” entitled “Advent Readings from Sunday by Sunday,” […]

One night my ultimate hostess sister and her husband took me out for supper. When he went to pay the bill, we were laughing at the thickness of his billfold. Sorting through his cards, he hilariously justified the need to have each one in his hip pocket at all times. Playing along, I pulled out […]

Surprises popped up throughout the tour, naturally, and most of them were good.* I herein share four of them. To set up for surprise #1, here is an excerpt from my blog way back on August 25, 2010: “A small spiral notebook in which I jotted ideas and thoughts before they were forgotten proved to […]

Ms Malibu, my trusty wheels, underwent general maintenance and a major tune-up immediately prior to setting out on the tour. Hoping my gas mileage would improve after that considerable expenditure, I decided to figure mpg throughout the trip. I did the math once, forgot to the next time, wrote down numbers to get back on […]

Maybe I need 26 days for a full re-entry, since that’s how many days I was gone. This harrowing process, tinged by a fatigue deeper than I could have imagined and doubts about my intrinsic value as a human being, is boiling down to an exercise in faith—as life always does. Trusting in a God […]

My pathway for the book tour was established by my birthplace–Woodstock, Illinois. Long ago, in anticipation of publishing the final book, I scheduled a signing at Read Between the Lynes, an independent bookstore (owned by the Lynes family—cute, huh?) on the square in quaint Woodstock. What a cool, full-circle experience, greeting and meeting friends and […]

Sunday by Sunday’s main character Rose Harris and I glory in teamwork. That’s why she wanted to have a high-five with the guy she inadvertently cut off in traffic to celebrate that they didn’t crash. That enraged fellow, however, did not share my and Rose’s viewpoint that driving is a team sport—and everyone on the […]

Wednesday afternoon, I drove back into town at the end of my 26-day book tour and vacation. A school bus approached from the opposite direction. Figuring Buddy Boy (grandson #1) would be on it, I slowed to let the bus make its right turn and then made my left turn, slipping in behind it. Sure […]