Lines in Nature

While in Florida traveling with my sorority sisters I picked up a book called, Mark Making by Helen Parrott.  Why a whole book on lines?  Why buy a book about ordinary lines? 

It's a different way of looking at everyday items (although the reason I bought it was because I liked the holes punched in the cover and THAT gave me an idea). I have only looked at a few pages so far but one of them showed pictures of sketches the author had done of a tree scar.  My immediate thought was, 'Yeah, I'm not going to be drawing any lines that I see.'

What did I do today?  I drove into town to the library, picked up an audiobook from an author I've never heard of (but I need to take my own advice of trying someone new) -- and sitting in my driveway listening to a few minutes of it I looked up to see -- really see -- the tree in front of me. 

This tree has been growing there for probably thirty years or longer.  I have pictures of it from when it was just a sapling.  Have I ever really looked at it?  Sat under it for shade but no, have not paid much attention to it otherwise. 

Is it a W? A couple of Y's hanging out? Or V's? 

From here I clicked pictures of various leaves in my garden. Snapping them only for their lines. 

 Reminds me of the Zentangle movement.  Just lines.  But look what they can do. 

I need to revamp my Willowrose Publishing logo.  Maybe I've found the idea for W.  Maybe I've found something new to quilt. 

A Place to Read

Do you have a favorite place to read?  I have a couple.  One of them is in my back yard.  Quiet and peaceful I can relax, read, check out nature -- once I had a deer walk right by me -- and just enjoy the solitude.

This is also a great spot for me to sit down when I'm out walking to reflect and think about the book that I am currently working on.  Where is it going?  How am I going to get my character out of that tight spot I got her in?  Do I really think she's in love with that guy?

Sometimes, something totally new, out of the blue, comes to me. 

Reading to Imagining

While outside weeding in my very over-grown gardens I realized that I could imagine perfectly and on a tremendously small scale relate to the book I had just finished reading.

My Dad transplanted these yellow flowers from the house that I grew up in.  Yes, they are over my head and have not bloomed yet but they are taking over everywhere!  I needed to thin them out and in doing so thought about Lost In Shangri-La by Mitchell Zuckoff.  A very good read.  Survivors of a plane crash in New Guinea during World War II, I pictured myself in the jungle and what it must have been like.  Besides the wild animals that roamed the island they had to worry about cannibals and the Japanese.

My biggest threat was possibly finding a garter snake.  

The survivors in all their physical pain still had to walk to a clearing -- a landing site.

I am not minimizing what they went through but I love when I can really get into a book.  When 'I'm there' with the characters. 

Have you ever read a book where you could put yourself right in the pages?

Lovina's Pressed Flowers again

Almost done!  Only one more block to make.  Have the fabrics picked out.  
Then finish making yo-yo's, put them on the hexagons that don't yet have them and sew together.

  

The hard but fun part will be rearranging the blocks.  Several times.

Breaking my string, Part 2

In my last post I talked about people at book signings asking me if I had swear words in my books or were they Christian/spiritual?

Now I am heading in the other direction . . .

Recently a mother and daughter stopped at my booth.  "Oh, look Mom!  An author!" said the daughter.  She picked up one of my books.  "We both love to read.  Don't we, Mom?"

The mother, somewhere in her 70's or 80's, hurried over, "Yes, yes, we do.  Listen, are these anything like 50 Shades of Gray?"

"Mom!"

"I just loved that --"

"Mother!"

"I read all three books inside a week.  So, are these books anything like that?"

"Umm," I looked at the daughter with her mouth hung open and then back to the mother, "No, but I have swear words."

Breaking my string . . .

For the few years that I have been doing book signings it seems that at every one of them someone (or two, or three) will come up and ask me, "Do you use any swear words?" or a variation of this.  I find this odd in that, they never ask about sex or violence in my books.  

I finally started asking people why they are only interested in that aspect.  "I never read a book with swear words."  But what about violence?  Sex?  "Oh, that's just part of the story.  There is no place for swear words, though."

Okay.

Recently I was nearing the end of a book signing wondering when the question was going to come up.  Maybe, just maybe, my string of people asking me this was  broken.  I checked my watch, a half hour to go and here she came.

With a stern expression she asked, "Are these Christian books?"

I stared back at her, "No."

 She slammed her big purse on my table.  "I'll take one."

Beg(ga)(he)r e-book discounted

For those of you interested in e-reading I now have my latest book, Beg(ga)(he)r out.  And until June 13, 2014 it is discounted 50%.  Go to the link: http://smashwords.com/profile/view/jrarmstrongbooks and at check-out type in code: LD28Z