CHASING JOE - FREE DOWNLOAD ON KINDLE

Be sure to check out CHASING JOE! This Kindle book will be a FREE download on Amazon.com for the next four days! Click on the following link:  CHASING JOE  - 

Joyful Gathering of Women - Ugly Christmas Sweater Contest!

A Joyful Holiday Garden Club Party - Ugly Christmas Sweater Contest

Holiday gatherings are the best! One of the reasons I love writing about the lives of women is exactly what this post represents - Women know how to be serious, how to laugh when there's really nothing to laugh at, talk out their problems in a sort of group therapy session, share both joy and grief, hug, comfort, and most of all believe there is hope in every dire situation. I love the strength and virtue of women! You all have a Merry Christmas and embrace the love of your family! 

Be sure to check out my Books for Women on Amazon.com

LOG CABIN JOURNAL - By Sherry Hartzler : JENNY BEARD - SECOND IN A SERIES OF AMAZING HOCKIN...

LOG CABIN JOURNAL - By Sherry Hartzler : JENNY BEARD - SECOND IN A SERIES OF AMAZING HOCKIN...: This is my second Log Cabin Journal post featuring an amazing woman of Hocking Hills. Today, I introduce clay artisan, Jenny Bea...

CLASSIC BOOKS - CLASSY CELEBRITIES

Classic Books - Classy Celebrities

LOG CABIN JOURNAL - By Sherry Hartzler : A CAPE HORN ADVENTURE - BARB ANDREAS - 1st in a Se...

LOG CABIN JOURNAL - By Sherry Hartzler : A CAPE HORN ADVENTURE - BARB ANDREAS - 1st in a Se...: Garden clubs are wonderful, and the Four Seasons Garden  Club of Hocking County, Ohio, is many-times blessed to have Barb Andreas as a...

IN COLD BLOOD - INNOCENCE BETRAYED

A link to my March 25th blog on Writing Wranglers and Warriors
http://writingwranglersandwarriors.wordpress.com/2014/03/25/in-cold-imageblood-innocence-betrayed-sherry-hartzler/

FOR THE LOVE OF DICK AND JANE - KEEP IT SIMPLE

Beginning a new writing project, I pull out my dog-eared copies of On Writing Well, by William Zinsser, and The Elements of Style, by Strunk/White/Kalman, and begin my mental mantra of “Why do write? Why do I write? Why do I write?” 

Certainly, I don't write for money or fame. Like most writers out there plugging away at the keyboard, I have more lint in my pockets than coins. Truth is, I fell in love with books the moment I opened my first Dick and Jane primer, which is exactly why I need to be reminded to keep my writing simple and to the point, following the old adage, “Less is More”. 

Back in the old-timey days, during the forties, fifties and throughout most of the sixties many classrooms used the Dick and Jane series. Dick, the clean-cut older brother, Jane, the innocuous middle child, and Sally, the cute three year old with a riot of blond curls, all coming to life in those sweet stories of sibling hijinks, along with their dog, Spot, and cat, Puff. (Note: Did you know that Spot was originally a terrier instead of a Cocker Spaniel?) These stories taught us to repeat words such as up, down, Oh, come, help, run, look, work, balloon, and rain. Teaching manuals referred to these as “sight words” or “whole word” learning, instead of phonetically sounding out words.  

Dick and Jane primers first appeared in the classrooms in 1930, through Scott-Foresman Publishing Company, with expert, William S. Gray, and Zerna Sharp, illustrator. (Note: Ms. Sharp often used the Sears Catalog as a reference for the children's clothing styles) Together, they devised basic primers with identifiable characters and stories meant to appeal to young age groups.

By the 1970’s, the experts complained that Dick and Jane didn’t do such a great job teaching us “baby boomers” how to read. And so, with little or no fanfare, the educators canned Dick and Jane. Could it be that modern educators tend to over-analyze and complicate "the basics" when it comes to keeping reading simple and a fun learning experience? Just sayin'

I want to share a few quotes from the fabulous Mark Twain, whose down to earth witticisms and homespun stories are still loved and appreciated in our so-called modern world:

“The world doesn’t owe you anything. It was here first.”

“All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence, then success is sure.”

“Never allow anyone to be your priority, while allowing yourself to be their option.”

“Censorship is telling a man he can’t have a steak, because a baby can’t chew it.”

 "When you catch an adjective, kill it. No, I don't mean utterly, but kill most of them—then the rest will be valuable. They weaken when close together. They give strength when they are wide apart."—Mark Twain, letter to a 12-year-old boy.

Now, without further ado, I’ll collect my ragtag books, On Writing Well, and The Elements of Style, and go to my reading corner and tuck a couple of comfortable pillows under my bum and begin to read, hopefully at a higher grade level than the naysayers of Dick and Jane say I, as a baby boomer, am capable of comprehending. Tsk Tsk.

By the way, if you happen to come across a copy of On Writing Well, check out Chapter 2 - Simplicity

Interesting reference web sites for Dick and Jane -  

http://www.rarebookschool.org/2005/exhibitions/dickandjane.shtml

http://www.tagnwag.com/dick_and_jane_books.html

Mark Twain quotes -

http://www.quotationspage.com/quotes/Mark_Twain/

Sherry Hartzler is the author of Three Moons Over Sedona, Island Passage, and Chasing Joe, all available on Amazon.com 

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss/178-1351656-0417943?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=sherry+hartzler

LOG CABIN JOURNAL: SOUP - The Ultimate Winter Comfort Food

LOG CABIN JOURNAL: SOUP - The Ultimate Winter Comfort Food:     More snow Ugh. Four inches of the stuff on the ground this morning, the temperature at 5 degrees.   Can you believe Tom and I d...

CROSS CREEK - A TRIP BACK IN TIME

Traveling back to Ohio, from Florida, my husband turned off the interstate and we moseyed on over to Cross Creek, near Gainesville, Florida. Tucked away in a swampy, palmetto thriving, alligator and snake infested, Spanish moss hangin’-from-the-trees kind of place, I suppose you’re wondering why I was so excited to visit such a non-destination.

Cross Creek was the home of Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, author of The Yearling, published in April of 1938. Her first novel, South Moon Under, was published in 1933, her success putting an end to her first marriage to Charles Rawlings. I suppose back then it wasn’t such a good thing for a woman to be more successful than her husband.

Marjorie bought her Cross Creek farm in 1928, determined to earn a living from her 74 acre orange grove. It was there that Marjorie wrote her stories about the colorful people who lived in the community of Cross Creek. 

An independent, educated woman, Marjorie could drink like a man and cuss a blue streak. In other words, Marjorie was a woman before her time, fueled by determination and a yearning for success as a writer in the flamboyant era of F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway and William Faulkner.  

Driving into the parking area of the Florida State Park of Cross Creek, I immediately felt disappointed that I wasn’t somehow magically transported back in time to experience first-hand the house and citrus grove as I’d envisioned it. Silly, huh? I suppose that’s the writer part of me – strongly imagining how something should be, and then disappointed to find out that it t’ain’t necessarily so.

It was chilly the day of our visit to Cross Creek. We got out of the car and wrapped up in our light jackets, anticipating a guided tour of the house and farm yard. Walking through the rusty gate and following the path leading to the barn and house, we were welcomed by a flock of chickens, one of whom politely consented to pose for my camera. However, the ducks pecking at the ground nearby chose to ignore us completely.

Except for ducks and chickens, my husband and I were alone on the premises.

Then, we heard the friendly squeak of a screen door at the front of the house and out stepped the tour guide, supposedly dressed in 1930’s garb. Her frumpy appearance looked more like she was headed to the barnyard to feed the chickens, which pretty much fit the scenery of Marjorie’s home. Being the last tour on this nippy, overcast day, Tom and I constituted the so-called tour group.

Following our guide to the front porch of the house, I experienced my second wave of disappointment. After having watched the movie, Cross Creek, with Mary Steenburgen, Peter Coyote and Rip Torn, for about a thousand times, I childishly had the  notion in my head that the movie was shot entirely on location. It wasn’t. In fact, I was soon to find out that there were many things in the movie that were not exactly true.

My first question to the guide was this: “Where’s the lake?” The guide laughed and told me that anyone who’d seen the movie expected to see a lake not far from Marjorie’s front door. She informed me that the movie production team had constructed a replica of the cracker house “a piece” down the road by the lake. Darn. It was akin to telling a kid there isn't a tooth fairy.

It wasn’t until I stepped onto the wooden porch that I shed my preconceived impressions of what I thought Cross Creek should look like. After all, this was Marjorie’s porch! To the right was the round table made by her first husband, Charles, the same table where Marjorie placed her typewriter and wrote her novels. This was the exact place – right here, right here - where she wrote The Yearling, the novel for which she won the Pulitzer in 1938.

Goosebumps shivered up and down my arms as the guide invited us into the cozy living room and intimate library. All the furniture is original, donated back to her home by Marjorie’s second husband, Norton Baskin.  

Standing in the center of the room, I imagined the likes of Ernest Hemingway sitting in one of the upholstered chairs drinking his whiskey, bourbon or whatever, immersed in conversations with other authors who had, at one time or another, visited Marjorie here at Cross Creek. Or, Max Perkins, the most fabulous editor of the mid-twentieth century, dining with other guests, in a second connected board and battened structure that housed the kitchen and dining room. Marjorie, an excellent cook, (See Cross Creek Cookery on Amazon.com) was known to serve seven course meals to her guests.

The guest bedroom, located in a third connected structure, is Spartan in furnishings with a bed that looks a bit too narrow for visiting company, but I suppose everyone was smaller and shorter back then, all except for Gary Cooper (actor in The Yearling) who once stayed in this guest room. Perhaps Gary just kind of dangled his feet off the side of the bed. This bedroom was also used by Margaret Mitchell, author of Gone with the Wind. Marjorie and "Peggy" Mitchell became good friends.  
Let’s see, Margaret Mitchell won the Pulitzer in 1937, and Marjorie won the Pulitzer in 1938. Two brilliant, independent women who attained remarkable literary success less than twenty years after women gained the right to vote! Truly amazing.

A comical point of interest in Marjorie’s house is the bathroom. It seems Marjorie had put in the first bathroom in the community. To celebrate this marvel of indoor plumbing, she held a party, icing down champagne in the bathroom sink and arranging red roses in the commode water. Lordy, I wish I’d known this gutsy woman!

The kitchen and dining room structure gave me the best insight as to who Marjorie really was as a person. The wood cook stove, wooden counters, old porcelain sink, the open cupboards displaying her dishes, and shelves filled with empty spice tins from the era. Not far from the backdoor of the kitchen is a fenced in garden. Ahhh, this was Marjorie’s domain, her real life as the woman who wrote about her existence in a rough backwoods environment.

Marjorie lived full-time at Cross Creek from 1928 through 1942. In 1941, she married Norton Baskin, her long-time friend. Marjorie and Norman spent the next decade dividing time between a farm in New York and Crescent Beach cottage, near St. Augustine, Florida.  However, most of her later writings she did at Cross Creek and the Crescent Beach cottage. Marjorie died December 14, 1953, after suffering a cerebral hemorrhage at the age of 57. She is buried at Antioch Cemetery near Island Grove, not far from her home at Cross Creek.

Our tour of Marjorie’s Cross Creek home came to an end. Before leaving our guide at the back porch of Marjorie’s quaint kitchen, I asked her if she thought Mary Steenburgen and Peter Coyote did an adequate portrayal of Marjorie and Norman Baskin? She replied that Peter Coyote had actually met the then still-living Norman Baskin during filming and how close they were in appearance and speech. As to Mary Steenburgen, the guide kind of chuckled, saying that while she thought the actress did a marvelous “younger version” of Marjorie, she would like to see another movie made of Marjorie’s later years and that Kathy Bates would probably fit quite comfortably into the role. Interesting thought

The web site for Cross Creek Florida park is 

http://www.floridastateparks.org/marjoriekinnanrawlings

For Marjorie's books, check out 

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss/192-2242544-9707651?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Marjorie%20Kinnan%20rawlings

Sherry Hartzler is the author of Three Moons Over Sedona, Island Passage and Chasing Joe, all available on Amazon.com

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss/192-2242544-9707651?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Marjorie%20Kinnan%20rawlings#/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Sherry+hartzler&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3ASherry+hartzler

til Death do us Part

 

 

Last Thursday I woke up at 3:00 a.m. with discomfort in my chest. I tried to remain calm. I took my blood pressure: 159/85. Definitely not good. Woke up hubby and went to urgent care, where the nurse takes me into a curtained cubicle and helps me into one of those revealing gowns and onto a surprisingly comfortable gurney with real sheets and a pillow. By this time, I’m convinced I’m dying. I fold my hands over my stomach and decide if it’s my time to go, I might was well relax and enjoy the idea of not cleaning up those dirty dishes left in the sink last night. By golly, someone else would have to do that now. And what about my hair appointment next week? Ah, someone will take care of that, too. I stare up at the bright light above my head while the nurse hooks me up to a blood pressure machine and sticks little round circles with wires attached all over the left side of my chest and flabby belly. Well, indeed, if it is the end, I won’t have to worry about taking off that extra fifteen pounds I’ve been procrastinating about forever.
The nurse works around me, hooking me up to the EKG, another nurse takes a couple vials of blood. The doctor comes in and starts asking me questions. I answer, trying to decide if my pain is a 1 or a 10, or somewhere between. At this point I’m not really having any pain, just discomfort. I feel guilty, as if I should give him something to go on, like at least a 1 or a 2. The doctor is nice; I can tell he’s asked the same questions at least a million times before.
Of course, writers always anticipate drama. We just can’t help it. I relaxed enough that I’m beginning to run new story scenes in my head. I feel a bit smug, knowing the doctor and nurses have no idea that I’m creating characters; that everything they say and do is fodder for dialogue and story. I study the curtains of my cubicle and watch as the air flow kind of makes them shimmy and sway. I wonder how many people have died on this same gurney. Not a good thought.
I feel a sudden pinch of pain just to the left of my breastbone. It’s intense but short in duration. I turn to the vitals monitor; my blood pressure is now 195/89. Amazingly, I’m really calm. I vaguely wonder how high my blood pressure can go before I implode. I think of that movie, Alien, and the creature bursting out of the man’s chest. Oh, yeah, even at death’s door, my imagination is revving up, in overdrive.
A technician rolls an x-ray machine into my cubical. I’m thinking I must be bad off if they have to bring the x-ray machine to me. Maybe I’m like a cake baking in the oven; if they jiggle me the wrong way, I might go flat. My blood pressure climbs to 199/90. Truly, I’m waiting for the “big one” like Red Foxx always talked about in Sanford and Son.
All this time my poor hubby has been sitting in a chair backed up against a wall and out of the way, waiting, waiting, waiting. He’s diabetic, so I tell him to go get something to eat before his sugar drops and he ends up in the cubicle beside me.
I’m alone in my cubicle. On the other side of the curtain, I hear the nurses talking to the doctor about my blood pressure. I begin to feel like a patient in one of those doctor shows where they are gathered outside the patient’s room shaking their heads and debating what the odds are for the woman in cubicle 7.
Finally a nurse comes in, and I say to her: “I gotta pee.” She detaches me from the EKG and monitor, gives me a couple of pills to relieve any possible indigestion, hands me a pee container and tells me to fill it.
By the time I return to my gurney, I’ve experienced a miracle. I no longer feel the discomfort in my chest. I’m giddy with relief. I tell the nurse that whatever she gave me did the trick. The next blood pressure reading is much lower. The EKG is normal. The blood is normal. Could it be I was cured with a belch and a fart? Oh, the indignity of it all.
The doctor returns to the cubicle and tells me that although I am to check with my regular physician, he doesn’t see me as a high risk for a heart attack. Acid Reflux is his diagnosis. He hands me a prescription and disappears into another patient’s life.
So, here I am, alive and well: a writer with a new experience under her belt. Two important things I’ve learned: 1) to appreciate the dedication of health care workers; and 2) my imagination and I will be together til death do us part. Big, big smile.
Sherry Hartzler is the author of Three Moons Over Sedona and Island Passage found exclusively on Amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss/183-7730245-9292037?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=sherry+hartzler

Creativity is like...

Creativity is like . . . slipping into that all-occasion basic black dress pulled from your closet, and then adding the drama of accessories.

Great Beginnings.

Love vacant places, the stories they could tell. Fodder for Great Beginnings!

I've been asked to do a workshop at a local shop on May 19th. The subject will be Great Beginnings, as in how to make the first three chapters of your book a page turner. Of course, if you are a writer, you already know it's your job to keep the reader turning the pages. To do that, you must provide a "hook." You could have great characters all lined up and ready to perform, a plot that has the potential of keeping the reader up until 3 a.m., and a dynamite cover that promises a great book. You could have all these wonderful things in order, but if you fail to serenade the reader into your world in three paragraphs, or if the reader becomes incredibly bored with details and snoozes off in the middle of the second chapter, you've lost them, maybe forever.

First, in three words or less, describe what your book is about. Just three words. For example, my current WIP is Devil's Change, a story about greed, loss and forgiveness. The first sentence of any book is like a welcome mat, asking the reader to step inside, take a look around, and if they like what they see (read), they'll stay awhile and get comfy. And if you're real lucky, by the end of the book, they're sad to leave the characters behind. 

In Devil's Change, my first sentence is, "Kate James was supposed to be in Italy right now - at this very moment." Of course, the reader will hopefully want to read the second sentence to find out exactly why Kate isn't in Italy. What happened? A bit of teasing to pique the reader's interest.

By the second paragraph the reader knows that Kate's husband died a year ago. And to heighten the intrique, Kate feels responsible for her husband's death. The reader will hopefully ask, "What happened to her husband. Why does Kate feel responsible for his death? 

Third paraagraph, the reader finds out that Kate is an attorney and is being stalked by her late husband's best friend. The big question: "What happens next?

Although the three chapters present the central theme of your story, it's the characters you create who are the real "movers" and "shakers." Give them life with emotions, dialogue and universal tags that readers can identify with.

Any thoughts or discussions are always appreciated.

Background noise!

It's tough to be creative with all the background noise that invades our lives. I often crave the peace and quiet that Laura Ingalls Wilder must've had on the prairie or Marjorie Rawlings had in her orange grove in the alligator invested swamps of Cross Creek. I doubt very much they did yoga in the mornings to pique their creativity, or downed a smoothie with protein powder to keep their energy up. I well imagine both Laura and Marjorie had their share of distractions, too, although it's fun to romanticize their lives as being simple and uncomplicated. Life is certainly a compromise, isn't it? Just think what Laura and Marjorie would've achieved (or thought they could've achieved) if only they'd had a washer and dryer, a dishwasher, microwave, blender, or the History Channel?  I suppose it's all relative. So, for today, I'll just accept the background noise of the washer and dryer, the dishwasher, and when I prepare my protein shake with almond milk, half a banana, strawberries and fresh leaf spinach (yes, I said spinach) I'll think of Laura and Marjorie and thank God I have a lap top!!!

OKAY, I'M WORKING!!

Okay, it's officially spring. While I have been ignoring my blog lately, I want you to know that I've been deligently working on my next novel, DEVIL'S CHANGE. Although the novel is complete, I'm in the throes of editing, and anyone who writes, knows what a headache that is. Writing is a lonely job. No one in the real world can possibly understand the amount of time and emotional stress involved in creating a novel. At times, even your beloved characters get disgruntled and tap their feet, wondering when the heck you're finally going to get it together. Of course, the payoff comes when the story goes out to your very special "readers" who give of their time to read the story and give invaluable comments and suggestions. I am pleased to say I'm finally almost to the point of giving DEVIL'S CHANGE to my "readers" and hope they will love the story and characters just as much as I do. At that point, the first and biggest phase will be complete. Then, off to the printers.

FREE ONE DAY ONLY

ISLAND PASSAGE free today (one day only February 5, 2012) on Amazon Kindle - Check it out - Break up the winter blahs with a little summer island - http://www.amazon.com/Island-Passage-ebook/dp/B005KSLX6C/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1328449478&sr=8-2

VALENTINE SPECIAL

Better than chocolate, Valentine Special -Women's Fiction -  ISLAND PASSAGE - 99 cents on Amazon Kindle This Valentine's Day, curl up with a "sweet" satisfying novel. - http://www.amazon.com/Island-Passage-ebook/dp/B005KSLX6C/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1328187278&sr=8-2

Sherry Hartzler - - BOOKS FOR WOMEN: "DON'T" EAT CAKE!!!

Sherry Hartzler - - BOOKS FOR WOMEN: "DON'T" EAT CAKE!!!

"DON'T" EAT CAKE!!!

Okay, it's a new year. I'm saying goodbye to all the chocolates, cookies, cakes and other tempting desserts that have put my blood sugar into a spiraling frenzy. Not to mention the extra two pounds to be shoved into my jeans and zipped up. I've long ago given up on new year's resolutions. They don't work, not really. I've found that bad habits usually follow you around like spoiled children, always wanting what they want, when they want it. So, this year, I've started something new, not really a resolution at all. This year I will not commit to anything that involves a second thought. I'll do what I can to be the best person I can be, eat the best foods for my body and mostly be kind to others. Hmmm that cheesecake in the photo was mighty good. Perhaps my commitment to not commit will be the best-kept resolution ever. As for the treats. well now, Valentine's Day is just around the corner. I can smell the chocolate now! My favorite: chocolate covered cherries.

Also want to thank everyone for all the wonderful December sales on Amazon Kindle - Happy New Year!

Sherry Hartzler, Author of

Three Moons Over Sedona

Island Passage.

Brandi Betts - Vinton County Courier

http://www.vintoncourier.com/news/article_70c378c4-2b53-11e1-b6e1-001871e3ce6c.html

Brandi captures my views on writing to a "T" Thank you Brandi.

THE THING ABOUT SISTERS IS...

When we were kids, my sister and I shared a bedroom. I remember being scared of the dark, and every night my sister would reassure me that monsters did not live under my bed. Her side of the bedroom was always immaculate; my side not so immaculate with clothes thrown helter skelter. And under my bed you might find a zillion dust bunnies, along with four or five shriveled apple cores. With a great amount of envy I watched my sister go to her first homecoming dance in a sapphire blue wool sheath dress. She looked so beautiful and grown up in her first pair of high heeled shoes and pearl earrings. Upstairs, on her vanity table, I became mesmorized by the pastel strands of angora she used to wrap around her steady guy's class ring. And I absolutely fell in love with all the pretty bottles of perfume, nail polish and makeup that I knew I'd better not touch, because somehow, she always knew if I did. Later, I was maid of honor in her wedding. We both grew apart. It took me a few decades to finally realize just how close a sister will always remain in your heart. P.S. If per chance my sister is reading this, I'm sorry for borrowing your favorite blouse in 1967, and then accidentally spilling grape juice on it before hanging it back in your closet. Oh well, the thing about sisters is . . . they always forgive you.

Sherry Hartzler

Author of Three Moons Over Sedona and Island Passage

Available on Amazon.com and Amazon Kindle