The Ancestral Pen

  Dear Reader, I’m writing this to you on Mother’s Day, though you’ll be reading it tomorrow. I hope yesterday was a good one — whether you were celebrating or being celebrated, or simply missing someone. The Woman Who Created Mother’s Day Here’s something almost nobody knows: the woman who created Mother’s Day died broke, blind, and alone in a sanitarium because she spent every dollar she had trying to cancel the very holiday she built. Her name was Anna Jarvis. When her beloved mother, Ann died in May 1905, Anna made a promise at the graveside that the world would remember women like her. She launched a relentless letter-writing campaign to politicians and church leaders across the country, and in 1914, President Woodrow Wilson signed Mother’s Day into law as a national holiday. Anna Jarvis had done it. And almost immediately, she was furious. Within years, florists were tripling the price of carnations every May. Greeting card companies were printing millions of sentimental vers...

  Idaho State Daughters of the American Revolution Conference If you have been with me for a while you already know this, but I have so many new readers in the last few months that I'm going to start back at the beginning. I began researching my family genealogy over twenty years ago, and I quickly had two things on my bucket list that I held on to for years through raising children, going back to school at forty, a new career, moving, remodeling, and all the other crazy chaos that creeps into life. Well, in the last year I can say I have checked two things off of that bucket list. First, I joined the DAR. We'll get to that a bit later. Second, I became an author and published some of those amazing ancestor stories that had been banging around in this head of mine for at least a decade. This weekend I witnessed the amazing culmination of both of those dreams coming together to share the same space. I am currently sitting here at one of the tables at the Idaho State DAR confere...

  Hello, friends! I have been sitting with something that genuinely fills my heart, and I just have to say it out loud: we are almost at  500 subscribers.  Five hundred of you have invited me into your inbox, and I do not take that lightly — not even a little. Thank you. Truly. Whether you have been here from the very beginning or found your way here recently, I am so glad you’re along for this journey. Reminder: The Fading Light Is Available for Preorder! In case you missed it last week —  The Fading Light  is now available for preorder on Amazon, with an official release date of  May 25th.  I’ll be sharing more about the book, the history behind it, and the characters who kept me up at night in the weeks ahead. You’ll be the first to know everything. And yes, I updated the cover from what I previously shared.  Button And if you really want to get to know the characters before May 25th, I’d love for you to join them for a single day —  July ...

  Earlier this week, I went on a beautiful three-mile walk with my daughter, daughter-in-law, my granddaughter, and two dogs around Lake Pend Orille.  ____ Weekly Question I had someone write in about last week’s question and share that she’s looking for uplifting, lighter reads. I completely understand, especially with today’s climate and all the tension. I’ll be digging deep to create something that fits that need. I do read your emails, and that one has me thinking. So this week's question ties into my share above. Where do you most love to read? Is it a favorite chair, in bed, outside? Tell me about your reading spot. I've got to admit that I do a lot of listening to audio books while in the garden or out for a walk. It's the only way I fit in excecise and reading into my non-stop schedule. Yours Truly Button Two timelines intertwine across war and memory. In 1918 Ukraine, a young pacifist risks everything to keep her pregnant sister alive as violence closes in. Decades...

  Borrowed Light "The two most powerful warriors are patience and time." - Leo Tolstoy I keep trying to remind myself to be patient, but I want so badly to finish this novella and get all of you started on my next series. The devil on my shoulder says, "hit send. Let them have it now." On the other shoulder the wiser old angel  says, "now why would you give the gift of a cake half-baked." So I'm choosing to listen to the angel and not give you a book half-baked. That being said, I do have the cover ready to tease you with. I'm doing a final read, and I hope to have it in Thursday's newsletter so stay tuned.  Now for your weekly question. I'm really curious about this one because I'm adding books to my TBR right now. I will be spending a lot of time in my garden over the coming months and what better way to pass the time gardening, than to listen to a good book, so please share some great reads to add to my TBR. What book have you recomm...