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"There is nothing . . . absolutely nothing . . . half so much worth doing as simply messing around in boats."

Getting boxes of one's books is always exciting! And today I received two lovely boxes of my July release - Shadows At the Window. It's a gorgeous cover, and I'll be posting it on my website here soon. (But you can get a preview here.)

I'm enjoying my voice recognition software, but this computer needs a bit more RAM to be able to run a bunch of programs at once. My good husband ordered more ram, and it arrived by courier this afternoon. We were out, unfortunately, so we'll get it tomorrow. Then, all will be well.

My husband and I, like a lot of people in my community, spent a whole bunch of time today walking through the downtown core of my city which has been flooded like I’ve never seen it. Schools were shut down, along with most businesses in the downtown core. The only traffic were rubberneckers like us. We even found a parking place!

This morning the news was advising everyone to avoid the downtown core, but of course everyone went anyway armed with cameras and camera phones. We joined the many TV cameras and vans. This is something that only happens every 30 or 40 years, although with global warming this may be more frequent now. The last big flood here was 1973.

This past winter we had record snowfalls, and now it's melting.

Here are a few links with the rest of the story:

CBC, CTV

Tune in this Satuday, April 19 to Poe’s Deadly Daughters where an interview with moi will be posted.

Also, my publisher, Steeple Hill is doing great things on its website. There are community forums, a free book to read online, plus a lot of other things. Click here and then scroll down the side and click on ‘Read’ (for a new historical to read free online) and ‘Talk’ to get involved in the Steeple Hill forums. Great fun.

Yesterday my cast was removed and now I’m slowly trying to work those non-used muscles back into shape. I’m still struggling with a bit of pain. I thank so many of you who sent me emails and cards. I really appreciate your prayers.

It has been three weeks since I broke my arm. I would be lying if I told you it hadn't been frustrating and that I’ve been sailing along and happily learning the lessons God has for me.

It hasn't been that way. I've balked at every turn. I still don't have the strength in my right hand to hold a pen, and I'm one of those strange breed of writers who writes most of her manuscripts in long hand. My journals remain empty and I plunk this out slowly with my left hand.

In my more 'angry at God' moments I've screamed at him, "You had to take my right arm, didn't you? It couldn't have been my left, it had to be my right. After all I've been through, this is a low blow, this is really low."

I was telling my husband today that I feel like a bag of jangling bones - all broken up inside and I never know what part of me is going to hurt next.

But I will not always be like this. And on this Easter weekend that fact comes to me in crystal clarity. I think about the trinity in a dance of love, as C.S. Lewis describes it - from all eternity past; loving each other, praising each other, worshipping each other, giving glory to each other - Father, Son and Spirit.

Then, for one horrid moment on Good Friday all of that ended. The Father's love was removed from the Son. Jesus Christ endured shame, pain, and the horrifically total absence of every shred and semblance of love - so that I would never have to.

And even though it may feel as if I've been abandoned, broken and left, I have not been. Underneath it all I am held by the One whose body was broken so that mine someday will be whole. And I can trust Him, and so can you.

A week ago at this time I was sitting in the Emergency Room of the hospital waiting for my right arm to be casted. I fell on the ice and ended up breaking both of the bones in the lower right forearm.

I need to add that I’m right-handed. I’m very right-handed. I’m one of those people who can’t so much as pick up a toothbrush with her left hand. And so here I am without the use of it. I’ve put my mouse and mouse pad to the left of my computer keyboard. Go ahead. Try it. It’s unbelievably awkward.

It goes without saying that this has been a week of pain and frustration and questions. Someone asked me how I was managing and I answered that if they put themselves in my position and lost the use of their dominant hand, that’s how I feel.

Plus, I’m a writer. And I can’t so much as add a word to my grocery list. I also can’t blow dry my hair, so it’s flat on my head. I can’t floss my teeth or undo jar lids or file my nails.

I spent part of today sitting at my kitchen table writing out my ABC’s with my left hand. It was slow going and clumsy, and I felt like my 4 year old grandson – but his printing is better than mine.

But my condition is temporary. In six weeks or two months I’ll probably be pretty much back to normal.

There are plenty of people who won’t be – people who suffer strokes or do irreparable damage to their spinal cords. I think of Joni Eareckson Tada who had to train herself to hold her paintbrush between her teeth. Stroke victims must relearn the pathways and learn to use their non dominant hands for dominant activities.

A friend of mine just emailed me that there was a sign in her doctor’s office stating that the way to keep the brain from aging is to occasionally switch hands. So, I did a Google search. Click here to see what I found.

Who knows? Maybe when this whole thing is over I’ll keep my mouse pad on the left side. Meanwhile, I’ll keep you informed of my progress.

A few weeks ago my husband and I had the opportunity to visit Washington D.C. We stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial where Martin Luther King gave his memorable ‘I have a dream’ speech. We looked out over the reflecting pool – even though at this time of year it was only half filled with water. We walked and walked. We walked past the Korean war monument, and took a moment to talk with a mounted police officer who was patrolling the ground on his very large horse.

But I think the thing that moved me the most was the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall. The names of the 58,000 men and women who died in Vietnam are inscribed on the wall. Along the wall volunteers with books and brochures stand ready to answer our questions.

The one we spoke with said that there were still more than 5,000 who are still missing in action. As the bodies of these soldiers are uncovered and identified now that relationships with Vietnam are what they call ‘normalized,’ the symbol beside these names are changed on the memorial.

I stood there, silently, crying. It was like prayer. 58,000 young men and women dead.

Since we're still at the beginning stages of 2008, I thought I would share with you a neat Bible resrouce. A resolution of many of us is to read through the Bible in a year. I have done this in the past, always charting my progress in my Bible on sheets of paper that get lost along with last week's bulletin.

When I finish reading my passage for the day, I update my progress in my online calendar. I get to choose from dozens of translations. This year I've decided to read through the Bible using The Message paraphrase.

Also, if I'm reading along and a particular verse jumps out at me, I can click on it, and look it up in many different translations (my own 'parallel' Bible). I can also read about the verse from a number of commentaries.

More later. I'm racing toward a deadline, and when that is over with I plan to write more about giving, living simply, missional living and who I'm reading these days.

But for now, it's back to the computer as I finish up Shadows on the River, the third in my Shadows trilogy for Steeple Hill.

Last year Marilyn Smith, Director of Justice Initiatives of our Baptist denomination spoke at our church. Smith said something that I cannot stop thinking about. She said that if the entire world were to live according to North American standards it would take six earths. Think about that – six planet earths to bring everyone in the world to the level that we take for granted here.

Please click here for more information about what my denomination is doing for world hunger.

I begin this year thinking about greed, and wondering if we have gotten this all wrong. In our Christian circles we have almost justified greed, made it holy, made it part of who we are. Do this good thing (whatever that is – giving money, giving time, praying more, etc.) and then God will ‘owe you.’ He’ll be forced to open up the 'Windows of Heaven' and shower you with cars and iPods and boats and shoes.

Our nation consumes most of the world’s resources, and so we call ourselves ‘blessed’ by God. God has ‘richly blessed’ us here in Canada, we say. And I’m just not so sure. Maybe this is really a curse, since it's so easy to turn things into idols.

Greed is such a subtle thing and it becomes so easy to justify. I deserve the best. I’m worth it. God thinks I’m worth it, too.

I don’t know how my husband and I are going to do it, but we’re determined to live a little differently this year.

As we begin a new year we want to live more simply, give more generously, and practice more hospitality. Here’s a link to the blog by that name sponsored by my denomination.

Another blog I would like to draw your attention to is one that just came to a writer’s group I belong to. It’s all about living simply and getting out of debt. Click here for a link to that one.

When someone has been given much, much will be required in return; anpd when someone has been entrusted with much, even more will be required. Luke 12:48

Today I'd like to give you a story to read. Does it fit with Chrismtas? Of course it does. Jesus' incarnation was proof that He is setting in motion his plan to redeem the earth and ressurect us.

Over the past year I've come to know Randy Alcorn via email. He is a man of faith, and man of God, or as my husband says, "He's one of the good guys."

This story has to do with Randy, Starbucks and L.A. Times columnist Joel Stein.

I have learned so much about Heaven by reading his book. In fact, the ladies Sunday School class that I teach, have been studying his book since a year ago fall. We are just about finished. It's been a wonderful study.

Click here for my thoughts on Christmas! I am a part of author Rachel Hauck's Twleve Authors of Christmas blog.

Also, be sure to click on the book blog on the upper left which is a nonfiction offering this time, Gail Gaymer Martin's Writing the Christian Romance.

Author and online writing friend, Rachel Hauck is featuring the Twelve Authors of Christmas Tour. Click here to read the Christmas thoughts of some of your favorite novelists. It's very insightful and interesting. I'll be on her blog Dec. 12, so stay tunred.

As we dig out of our first major snowfall of the year here, I thought I would share some of my thoughts of the season with you as I reflect on Christmas.

Every once in a while you live through a year where so much is packed inside of it that you wonder if the calendar will contain it all. And usually the lessons of such a year are long and difficult.

This past year was one such year for me. But as I reflect back, I can see that I have learned things. I see stronger and growing relationships with family members; my sister and my mother, and my husband. I see growing friendships in my small group and among friends.

Also, I find myself in a deepening relationship with God. I find myself on a quest for an understanding of ‘First things.’ I don’t have all the answers. I probably don’t have any answers, but I’m trying to listen.

C.S. Lewis writes about "First Things and Second Things" and is quoted by Larry Crabb in Soultalk, a book my small group is working through. First things have to do with our relationship with God. Second things are everything else; family, career, success, health, and even our ministries, the good things we do.

Rev. Tim Keller of Redeemer Presbyterian Church is another one who talks on these themes, only he calls them "Good Things and Ultimate Things." In his sermons he often asks, “What gets you up in the morning? What do you want more than anything? Those are your Ultimate Things.”

My answer usually had something to do with career and publishing success. And of course to see my family successful and happy is way up there, along with health and friends. Yet, this past year so many of the important, good, and ‘second’ things in my life seemed to be yanked out from under me. And all I had left was God.

This Christmas, as we celebrate the coming of a First Thing, I want to share a verse that has been meaningful to me.

It’s Psalm 27:4 - ONE THING I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in t,he house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple.

David knew the difference Ultimate Things and Good Things, and he desired the Ultimate Thing.

Go to amazon.com and you’ll see what is being talked abo.But on every writer’s internet group over the past couple of days – the Kindle, which is an Amazon reading device. No longer do you need to carry around your paperback book, your text book, or the daily newspaper. The Kindle holds it all, and in the morning all you have to do is to press a couple of buttons and the daily paper will load right onto your Kindle.

My newest novel, Shadows in the Mirror is also an eBook. Click here for information about that. It is also an Amazon Kindle book. Click here to read about that.

There’s nothing new about handheld reading devices. Sony has had one for a few years, plus books can also be read from Palm pilots and PDAs, and computers themselves if you really want to sit in front of your computer to read a book.

The Amazon Kindle looks pretty cool, and if they weren’t so expensive, I’d want one for Christmas. Seriously. I would.

I like the fact that I can make the text font any size I want. I like the fact that I can hold a whole novel is a light little rectangle that can go with me anywhere. I like the idea that when I’m reading along in a novel and want to refer to something early on, or remember a character or name, I can search for it. I like the fact that it’s backlit so I can read in bed without disturbing my husband too much.

And yet, and yet, the inventers of book reading devices still don’t completely get it. Way back in 1992 I wrote a futuristic thriller called The Josiah Files which was set 200 years in the future. This book holds a special place in my heart because it was my first published book. (It might still be available in some used bookstores.) In my world of the future the paper book had disappeared. Instead, everyone used Bookreaders. The device I invented in The Josiah Files was wireless, held tons of books, and when you downloaded a book from the public library, it automatically expired and disappeared from your Bookreader after three weeks.

But, I added a few touches to my ‘invention’ that these new ebook readers lack. First they were completely waterproof so you could read in the tub. Plus, they had a cloth or leather backing, depending on preference, so they looked and felt esthetically pleasing. My Bookreaders ergonomically fit a hand, instead of the hard plastic rectangles that are the ebook devices of today.

There are many readers who say that the electronic books will 'never' replace real books. Well, I'm not so sure. Already my husband and I get most of our news online. I used to be a devoted CBC listener. I still am, but now it's on my own time. If I'm working in the morning I download the podcast for later. A program that I love is CBC's Tapestry which is on Sunday afternoon. And Sunday afternoon I'm often away from my radio. But that's no problem, I simply download the podcast and go for a walk and listen to it on my iPod.

So, we're really not all that far away from electronic books. The idea appeals to me.
Walk with me to around 100 years hence. I'm thinking that the 'covers' of the eBooks we download will be like movie trailers. No more still art or photos on our covers. I'm thinking of the Harry Potter pictures here, but that's not so far away. Did anyone see the refridgerator unveiled on the Oprah show the other day? Instead of the old 'fridge magnets' that hold up your childrens' drawings, you can now download their pictures on computer screens right there on your fridge.
But now back to ‘regular’ books – the Blog Book for this week is A Cloud Mountain Christmas by Robin Lee Hatcher. Check the link up and to the left to read about this one.

A couple of months ago when I was in the middle of a strenuous and difficult editing deadline my husband came up to me and said, “You’re working too hard. You need a Sabbath rest.”

My first reaction was no, I can’t. I have deadlines. I have work to do. My particular job of ‘novel author’ requires me to work seven days a week. I’ve done it for years. It’s the only way I'll meet my deadlines.

It’s not uncommon for me to work all week, then do more work on Saturdays, and then Sunday after church coming home, firing up the computer and getting in three or four hours of work before evening.

When my husband told me this, it stirred something inside of me. I knew he was right. Even God rested on the seventh day. He allowed himself the entire day to stand back, look around himself, wander through his creation and say, “It is good.” I, however, had been working so hard I had no time to enjoy the creating I had done.

I made the excuse, though, that I wrote my novels during the week and then on the weekend I did my other work. I teach a writing correspondence course, plus, every other day it seems, I’m asked to be interviewed for this or that person’s blog, or book tour, plus write this or that endorsement for this or that book or organization.

And then there’s blogging, answering reader emails, and all the stuff that requires my panicky right-now attention. These were the kinds of things I did on the weekends. And because it was different work, I figured it was okay, because ‘A change is as good as a rest’, right?

But I was only fooling myself. I wasn't really resting. There was no day of the week when I allowed myself to take a walk in the woods and say, “This is good.”

So, my husband and I tried a rather bold experiment together. Following the Old Testament dictates, we decided to turn our computers off after supper Saturday and not turn them on until either Monday morning, or Sunday night (sundown to sundown).

At first it was quite odd not to rush to my computer as soon I got home from church, but then it grew to be very freeing. I no longer had to feel guilty if I spent the afternoon on the couch reading that mystery novel. I could go for a walk with my husband and not worry about hurrying back to grade papers.

I also discovered something else. On Monday morning I came to my work refreshed and able to tackle it with renewed vision and vigor. I made my deadline.

Because I have done weight training, I know that the surest way to serious injury would be for me to keep weight training day after day after day with no rest days in between. I am careful about this. Yet, I wasn't careful about this in terms of my mental health.

When Friday gets too busy and I feel drowning in all the work, there is this glimmer of a thought now that comes to me, “Only two more days and I get to do nothing.”

It's been nonstop work for my husband and I as I've been working practically around the clock to get my second Shadows book revised. That one is Shadows at the Window and it'll be out this coming July.

The blog book this week is Blessed Assurance by Lyn Cote. Click at the link at the top for info.

My newest mystery, a romantic suspense entitled Shadows in the Mirror is now in stores! It's also the featured BLOG book of the week! Click on the link to the upper left to read more about it.

I'd love for you to tell me what you think of it. Plesae email me at Linda@writerhall.com

I am pleased to announce the two winners in the Shadows in the Mirror Vermont contest are Dorothy Massey from Alabama and Connie Fink from Illinois, who between them figured out that Vermont is famous for Ben and Jerry's ice cream, autumn leaves, maple syrup and cold winters.

Congratulations Connie and Dorothy! An inscribed and autographed copy of Shadows in the Mirrors will be sent to you shortly.

Garage sale time! We’ve been doing some housecleaning here at the Hall home, and I have four complete “three book sets” of my Mountie Series: August Gamble, November Veil and April Operation that I would love to clear off my shelf. For $25.00 plus postage you can have all three copies inscribed and autographed and sent to you. Postage will be between $5 and $10 and you only pay what the post office charges me. Please email me if you are interested. Linda@writerhall.com

The Blog book for the week is: Forever Christmas by Christine Lynxwiler. Click on the link to the left for more information.

My publisher has kindly made the first three chapters of Shadows in the Mirror available on the Christianity Today website. Click here to read the first three chapters.

In October, Shadows in the Mirror will be on shelves. To celebrate its release, I'm personally giving away two signed copies. Shadows in the Mirror is set in Vermont, a most beautiful state. All you have to do is to email me at: Linda@writerhall.com by October 1 with two things (industry, products, wildlife) that Vermont is known for.

Each week for the past number of weeks I've been featuring a new book from a group of online friends who write novels. This week the featured book is Angela Hunt's Doesn't She Look Natural?

With this week's blog I've added a link to the left here which will open into page with information and links and an interview with Angela.

Tomorrow is just one month until my first Steeple Hill/Love Inspired book SHADOWS IN THE MIRROR is released. Last evening I heard from someone who’d received an advance copy. She emailed me to tell me she loved it! That is always nice. I’ve written a dozen novels, but this is my first romance, so naturally I’m a bit nervous.

I have listened to Rev. Timothy Keller’s sermon entitled ‘The Lord of the Storm’ from his series on Mark many, many times during these past few days. And each time I hear it, I am given something new. Last night as I lay in bed, plugged into my iPod, listening to the sermon and stilled with pain killers it came to me that when Jesus calmed the wind, and stilled the waves, he didn't do it for the disciples benefit alone, he did it for me.

Jesus knew that in August 2007, I would be going through a whole lot of storms and that I would need to remember that ultimately he will be stilling all the storms in my life.

On Tuesday I had back surgery, a laminectomy, to hopefully improve the chronic and often debilitating back pain that I’ve had for the past number of years. And right now, I’m home from the hospital and suffering the grinding post-op pain, and wondering which pain was worse, the original pain or this pain? Plus there are no guarantees that this will work 100 percent.

This past year has been one of storms for us. My father died of cancer in April, and I had to go through the ‘storm’ of watching him die. And just when we were home and trying to get back to normal life, Rik's brother passed away suddenly.

As well, we have experienced some financial challenges that have blindsided us. And then there was my back. All storms, all things I would rather do without - thank you very much - yet I am beginning to see that all of this is to show me that God, the storm-stiller can be trusted with all the little storms in my life, because he went through the greatest storm, for me.

My husband and I have purchased a number of sermons from Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City. Click here for more information. There are a few ‘samples’ worth listening to and I guarantee you will get something from them.

We’re home from the salt. There are many more things I want to write about our trip down the coast, but they will have to wait for just a little while.

On Tuesday I’m scheduled for back surgery. So, if you’re wondering where I am, and why this blog is empty, that’s the reason. I hope to be back soon. (No pun intended.)

Because of deadlines, and other things, It’s been a shorter sailing trip this year, and as I write this I’m on a park bench in North East Harbor, Maine picking up someone's wifi and drinking a cup of free coffee (The Tan Turtle, a great little restaurant here gives away FREE coffee and muffins every morning at 9 a.m. No, I am NOT lying!! There may be no free lunch, but there is free breakfast.)

Yesterday we sailed up from Belfast, the hot, hot weather of last week has dissipated and it’s a tad bit cooler now. I’m sure out on the water it will be long pants and jacket weather.

It’s always cooler on the water than the land. In years past we’d arrive at a harbor and wander up still in our fleece jackets and long pants. And of course, every one else is sweltering in shorts and tee-shirts and the sun’s blaring down at a criminal temperature.

On another front, I just received word that my copies of SHADOWS IN THE MIRROR at my house! It's always so much fun to look at that first off-the-press copy of a new book! SHADOWS IN THE MIRROR doesn't officially release until mid-October, but keep reading this blog for a contest for a FREE autographed copy. Yes, not only are their free breakfasts, there also are, on occasion, free books!

We are now cruising the Penobscot Bay, which is one of the more beautiful bays along the Maine coast. We usually travel down to this bay thinking we’ll move on, head even further south to Freeport and Boothbay, and then the beauty of this bay captures us and we go no further.

We are heading to Camden today for a “town” day – water fill up, pump out, and groceries. All the essentials. The weather has been hot and sunny with not a lot of wind, but just enough that we’ve had a day when we ran the spinnaker and two days when we ran with the drifter. (See a previous blog for an explanation of these terms.)

The reason for the title for this blog is that in this bay schooners abound. Rik took the picture at the upper left here on our trip across the bay.

Our days in town are spent doing things but I love our days in anchorages. They’re spent swimming, reading and of course, eating. Down here in the Penobscot Bay the water is truly warm enough for swimming.

Change of subject: The Chi Libris Book Blog book for the week is In His Dreams by Gail Gaymer Martin. It’s the third in the Michigan Island series. Simply because it has the word “island’ in it, it’s definitely going on my TBR list. (To Be Read.)

Gail and I both write for Steeple Hill/Love Inspired now, and she’s been a great help and internet friend as I’ve had many questions about my ‘new’ publisher. (My first Love Inspired/Suspense will be out in October.)

About Gail:
Gail Gaymer Martin is an award-winning novelist for Steeple Hill and Barbour Publishing with over one million books in print and forty fiction novels or novellas. The second book in the Michigan Island Series, With Christmas In His Heart, was recently honored with the 2007 National Readers Choice Award in Inspirational. Her book, Writing The Christian Romance will be released in December from Writers Digest.

About In His Dreams:
Escape to beautiful Beaver Island could be the answer to Marsha Sullivan's need for a fresh start. Since her husband's death four years ago, Marsha had lost her way, but on Beaver Island, she had good memories to help guide her. Running into Jeff, her brother-in-law, in this paradise turned out to be a blessing. Not only did they share grief in losing their spouses, but also a warm bond began to form between them. Did God want her to love again? The only thing she knew for sure was that being with Jeff and his daughter felt like family.

When we arrived in Belfast, ME we decided we wanted to pay for dock space. This is not usual practice for us, since dock space costs (think camping space) and we’re always watching our pennies, in this case American pennies.

But just about every item of clothing we had ever worn on this trip needed washing, plus our sheets, plus our water tank needed filling, plus it would be to take advantage of the free showers that purchasing ‘dock space’ allows. (Although we are very adept at our cockpit showers, and yes, I take a shower once a day.)

Little did we know that this is the weekend for the first annual National Boat Building Challenge in Belfast. Participants had to build a complete boat in an hour. Then they were raced by rowers to a mark out in the harbor and back again. We watched the race from the docks and I couldn't help but wonder how you can take a just built wooden boat and put it in the water and expect it not to leak. Well, you can’t! Wooden boats require a sealing process, a sort of gradual submersion and then bailing in order for the wood to expand enough to fill the cracks. Some of the boats floundered dangerously by the second round, and it was funny and exciting to watch.

Belfast was also hosting The Classic Small Boat Show down by the waterfront, so it was interesting to see the beautiful small wooden boats that people had crafted. Maine has a long and rich boatbuilding history and still make dome of the finest yachts in the world.

There was music under big tents, and lots of food, and it was enjoyable to be walking on shore. Belfast has always been one of our favorite destinations.

We are experiencing a lot of lovely weather and nice sailing, and the water is quite warm enough for swimming, so it’s always nice to get to an anchorage and swim for a while.

Yesterday on our trip from Smith Cove (near Castine, Maine) where we’d anchored the night before, we did the eleven miles mostly under sail and mostly of that sailing was done with what Rik calls our “rainbow drifter,’ named that for it’s multicolors.

A ‘drifter’ (sometimes called a ‘jenniker’ or a ‘kite’) is unlike a spinnaker, which is a more familiar term. A spinnaker is a symmetrical and basically a bubbled out triangle. It’s meant for sailing when the wind is more close to “directly behind you”. It’s the slowest point of sail because a boat can’t go any faster than the speed of the wind. But these big kites are beautiful. They are the multicolored sails that billow out in front of boats.

The top end of the spinnaker (called the head) is pulled to the top of the mast on the spinnaker halyard. The two bottoms of the triangle are secured to two lines. One is called a sheet and attaches to one side and one is called a guy (this one goes through a spinnaker pole that keeps the bottom of the triangle out to the side). These are manipulated and constantly adjusted to get the best winds.

Why so many different terms and names? Think about the old “square rigged” ship. Think about Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean. With dozens of different sails, all needing at least three or four lines, he couldn’t just yell – “Pull on that rope!” and so, each has its own name.

OK, back to our sail across the Penobscot. Because the wind was not directly behind us, but angling toward us from the left (or port side), we used our drifter. The head of the drifter was up at the top of the mast, and one of the bottom corners (called the clew) attached to a sheet and was flying free for us to control. But, the other corner (called the tack) is attached to the bottom of the forestay. Because we only have one side to worry about it’s a bit of an easier sail to manage.

Originally I wanted Dark Water to be entitled A Good Season for Whales. Unfortunately, my publisher thought giving it a simple title like Dark Water would have more pizzazz. and they’re probably right. A Good Season for Whales is a bit of a dorky title. But now you know, authors don't usually get to choose their own book titles.

But I feel attached enough to it to use it here on my blog, because this summer is a good season for whales.

As I write this we are in the fifth day of our 2007 summer cruise and we are motoring down the Grand Manan Channel. A few minutes ago we dawdled at the tip of Campobello Island to watch the whales. This year they seem to be particularly plentiful.

Yesterday we spent the afternoon whale watching. We’d headed out after lunch from our mooring in St. Andrews to see if we could find the whales that people were talking so much about this year. As we motored across the Pasamaquoddy Bay and through Little Letete Passage, we soon saw a bunch of boats, commercial whale watchers, plus a dozen or so private recreational boats like ours, clustered at the tip of Campobello Island.

As we sailed toward them with full jib and main, we could see them blow in the distance which looks like a fire hose shooting out of the water. As we got close enough we could hear them, that unmistakable sound, like a loud, deep sigh.

We were able to get quite close, and Rik got a few wonderful shots of a finback whale rising beside our boat.

One of the things we love about cruising are the people we meet. While we overnighted at a mooring in Saint John, we met a couple on a beautiful Taiwan made sailboat. They are full time cruisers who live aboard and are on their way south – far south – like the Bahamas and beyond.

We met them again just after we cleared U.S. customs in Eastport, Maine. We were invited aboard their boat after partaking of the wonderful hospitality of Bob Del Papa at his Eastport Lobster and Fuel Co. And since we had just come through customs we, of course, shared many ‘clearing customs’ stories. Everyone has these. Even people not in boats have these.

The rules for clearing customs by sea are this: As soon as a vessel enters foreign waters it hoists a plain yellow ‘quarantine’ flag or 'q' flag from the starboard (right) flag halyard. When the boat pulls up to the wharf, the captain of the vessel takes the boat registration plus the papers for all crew members up to the custom’s house. Crew may not get off the ship. Authorities have the right to search the incoming vessel if they wish. When the captain returns and if everything checks out, the boat takes down the quarantine flag and then hoists the flag of the country they are entering.

In the olden days this health inspector came aboard to make sure everything checked out health-wise – hence the term ‘quarantine.’

And that’s basically how it works for us. We land the boat, Rik takes our passports and the very official looking registration document for Gypsy Rover II up to the custom’s office. I spend the time on the boat cleaning up. When he returns with a stamped cruising permit good for one year, we hoist our American flag.

Vessels fly the flag of their home port from their stern (in our case Canada), and a smaller flag of the country they are visiting (in our case U.S.) from the starboard flag halyard.

Which brings us to the friends we were visiting. We were talking about the fact that we don’t have a quarantine flag. And she said, “I’ve got two of them. I’ll give you one.”

We couldn't let them just give us one, so I was back at our boat where I retrieved a brand new copy of DARK WATER to give them in trade.

Will we fly our quarantine flag next time we come down? Probably not. No one really does that way up here.

Today was officially the third day of our summer cruise and the first day on the salt. To get to Maine where we like to cruise, we need to sail through the Bay of Fundy. Now, the Bay can be a beast or a lamb. We’ve been on it when it’s been a millpond and bathing-suit-hot. We chased whales that day.

Today, however, it was not. The winds weren’t horrendously high, but the tidal current was going down the bay, the winds, such as they were, were coming the up the bay, and huge sea swells from the Atlantic from yet another direction. And it was frightfully cold. And need I add foggy. We barely had quarter mile visibility and relied on our radar for most of the eight hour trip.

And for a good part of that eight hour trip both of us were horrendously sea sick. At one point I was saying to myself - This is vacation. Right now I should be in a resort somewhere lying on the beach with a good book at some resort while waiters named Andre or Felipe bring me tall drinks with umbrellas in them. Instead, I’m sitting at the back of the boat while wearing a wool toque and mittens and it’s freezing and I’m being sick numerous times over the stern.

The Chi Libris Blog book for this week is A State of Grace by Traci DePree. Over the last year I’ve come to know Traci in a special way. She was my editor on BLACK ICE, and her editing skills are second to none, and because of her Black Ice is a better book.

Kate Hanlon is at it again. Minister's wife, stained-glass artist, and sometimes sleuth, Kate Hanlon discovers more than she bargained for when she visits a woman whose daughter is battling leukemia. Before she knows it she's on the road uncovering clues that could be the girl's very survival.

Book #2 in Mystery and the Minister's Wife, A State of Grace picks up where Through the Fire left off as Kate and Paul Hanlon learn about life in small town Tennessee. Follow Kate as she comes to know the town and its inhabitants. Admire her persistence, intelligence, and strength of character as she slowly, but surely, begins to unlock the town's secrets.

Each novel in the MYSTERY AND THE MINISTER'S WIFE series is a page-turner, a good old-fashioned "whodunit." They're books that bring truth to light, that reveal dreams, and that show that trust in God always trumps fear and anxiety.

My greatest fan and supporter (my husband) said I needed to add the Mariner's Psalm to my list. :

Others went out on the sea in ships; they were merchants on the mighty waters. They saw the works of the LORD, his wonderful deeds in the deep. For he spoke and stirred up a tempest that lifted high the waves. They mounted up to the heavens and went down to the depths; in their peril their courage melted away. They reeled and staggered like drunken men; they were at their wits' end. Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and he brought them out of their distress. He stilled the storm to a whisper; the waves of the sea were hushed. They were glad when it grew calm, and he guided them to their desired haven. Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men.

I don’t know why I didn't think of this one. I grew up singing it. I like the words – 'the chart and compass come from thee.' God will guide my life and his guidance are like a chart and a compass.

I wonder if people these days know what a nautical chart even looks like. In these days it would be more likely a road map and a GPS.

Jesus, Savior, pilot me
Over life’s tempestuous sea
Unknown waves before me roll,
Hiding rock and treacherous shoal.
Chart and compass come from Thee;
Jesus, Savior, pilot me.

2. Sail On
This one, I admit, is unfamiliar to me, but the words are pure sailing and worth noting.

Art thou far from shore, and weary worn,
The sky o’ercast, thy canvas torn?
Hark ye! a voice to thee is borne:
“Sail on! Sail on! Sail on!”

Sail on! Sail on! The storms will soon be past,
The darkness will not always last
Sail on! Sail on!
God lives and He commands:
“Sail on! Sail on!”

The message is to keep on going, that God has not forgotten about you, even though you feel cast adrift and “far from shore.”

Rik and I just got back from a wonderfully long bike ride on this beautiful day here on the east coast.

A book deadline is keeping me from spending too much time on Gypsy Rover II, but Rik has taken various friends out for day sails, but I'm enjoying it when I can.

One of the things Rik and I enjoy doing when we're out on the boat is to think of all the old hymns we can that have something to do with the sea or sea travel. Back in the olden, olden days travel by water was common. Getting on the paddle wheeler was like getting on the Greyhound Bus. It was how you got from point A to point B. And so the hymns of that time reflect that.

3. Since Jesus Came into my heart (and the phrase : floods of joy o'er my soul like the sea billows roll)

I hope all of my American friends had a lovely day yesterday enjoying fireworks and barbecue. Here in Canada we had our fireworks on Canada Day, July 1.

Gypsy Rover II was tied up at the wharf with other members of our yacht club and while the city had huge fireworks downtown, we had our own fireworks, set off by a couple of the guys.

We were on the boat for the weekend but didn't go anywhere. I spent a lot of the time working to meet the writing deadline.

I just heard that my October release, SHADOWS IN THE MIRROR will also be an audio book. More about that later.

The Cure
By Athol Dickson

Imagine a medicine that cures you of your worst vice.

One dose and you’re free. How much would a person pay for such a cure? How far would they go? Would they lie for it? Steal for it? Kill for it?

Riley Keep, former man of God, former missionary, has been a beggar on the streets for years, desperate to forget the past. His wife, daughter, work, and faith were all lost in the aftermath of one far-flung act of wickedness. Believing some things cannot be forgiven in this life, lately Riley has begun to think of giving up the ghost. Then he hears the rumors.

Miracles are happening in Maine.

An old woman fleeing a horrific monster, a lonely wife and mother tempted by forbidden desire, an impoverished lobsterman lured by tainted wealth, a young girl weighing life and death decisions, a small town cop with a murder on his hands . . . these are just a few of the citizens of Dublin, Maine, a picture postcard village slowly suffocating underneath an avalanche of hungry people searching for a miracle. But only Riley Keep will find what he desires. And only then will Riley learn if it will save him, or if it’s true what people say . . . .

Sometimes The Cure is worse than the disease.

About the author:

Athol Dickson’s writing has been favorably compared to the work of Octavia Butler (Publisher’s Weekly) and Flannery O’Connor (The New York Times). His They Shall See God was a Christy Award finalist and his River Rising was a Christy Award winner, selected as one of the Booklist Top Ten Christian Novels of 2006, and a finalist for the Christianity Today Best Novel of 2006.

Rik and I spent last night on Gypsy Rover II, our first 'sleepover' of the season. A shakedown cruise, we call it. We needed to see what we'd forgotten. Turns out quite a lot. A flyswatter, the electric mosaquito 'zapper', my iPod adapter for the radio and scotch tape are just a few of the items.

In two days we head out on the FPSS Canada Day weekend cruise where we'll meet with friends, sail and raft up (that's boats tied to each other) for the evening where we'll swim and stay out on deck before the mosquitoes get to us.

But a lot of that time will be spent writing. I've got a book deadline of August 1, so of course my current novel will be coming along with me.

I have to admit it. I'm a sucker for sailboat races- watching them on TV, that is. Rik and I have been watching the America's Cup sailing races which have been streaming live on TSN.ca

Summer is here and with it all the things that this season brings: water, sailing, swimming, boating and sitting on the beach to simply watch the waves. And because I love everything having to do with water, (to me a vacation just isn't a vacation unless there’s water involved), stay tuned for quizzes, contests, free things, quirky facts, links and reviews of seafaring books.

Even if you’re just an armchair lover of the sea, or a 'lounge chair lover of the beach' as the case may be, please enjoy.

Today Rik and I made a 15 minute trip down to the boatyard to get our mast ready for installing on Gypsy Rover II. It’s been a late start to the season for us. But today what should have been a fifteen minute job took an hour and a half. Rik ended up helping one guy with his roller furling, talking to another about boat surveys for insurance purposes. I helped as well and then sat in the car and wrote furiously on my next novel while the sun shone.

This week the Chi Libris book blog book is Angela Hunt's novel, The Elevator (Steeple Hill).

Get caught in The Elevator!

In the path of a devastating hurricane, three very different women find themselves trapped in the elevator of a high-rise office building. All three conceal shattering secrets —unaware that their secrets center on the same man.

The betrayed wife, eager to confront her faithless husband, with rage in her heart and a gun in her pocket . . .

The determined mistress, finally ready to tell her lover she wants marriage and a family . . .
The fugitive cleaning woman, tormented by the darkest secret of all . . .

As the storm rages ever closer, these three must unite to fight for their lives in the greatest test of courage — and faith —any woman could ever face.

It was so much fun to be a part of last night’s festivities at The Word Guild’s Award Gala, where the best in Canadian Christian writing was featured. I was thrilled when DARK WATER received the award for best 2006 mystery written by a Canadian Christian.

When pictures of this ‘very black tie event’ are ready, I’ll be sure to post a link to them here. I’ll keep you posted.

I was also pleased to be a part of Book Expo Canada, where I signed copies of my recent release BLACK ICE. I also read the prologue at the Bloody Words Mystery booth.

Later today, the Write Canada conference begins. My husband is with me this time, and he’ll be helping out in the bookstore, plus both of us will be involved in the praise band which will be a part of the very early morning worship service (8 a.m. gulp!)

Here’s a plug for a great Yahoo group if you like Christian fiction. It’s called Chapter a Week. Each week, you’ll get right in your IN box the first chapter of a great new fiction release by a top Christian author.

Discouraged and destitute, her dreams shattered, Roxy Burke is going home. But what lies beyond the front door? Rejection ... or a brighter future?

A lot has changed since Roxy escaped small town life to become a Nashville star. Her former boyfriend Wyatt has found Christ and plans to become a minister. Her sister Elena, who comforted Wyatt when Roxy ran away, is now his fiancée. Her father Jonathan, a successful businessman, is heartbroken over the estrangement of Roxy from the family.

Now Roxy—her inheritance from her grandmother squandered, her hopes of stardom dashed—finds her way home ... not by choice but because it's her only option. Her father's love and forgiveness surprise her, but her very presence throws the contented Burke family into turmoil, filling Roxy with guilt and shame.

Elena is shocked to discover doubt and resentment in her heart after her father's easy acceptance of Roxy into the family circle. Wyatt wrestles with doubts about marrying Elena. And Roxy struggles to accept forgiveness. Isn't she more deserving of rejection? As the story of the prodigal plays out, each member of the Burke family must search for and accept God's grace.

Click here for an interview with yours truly at the Christian Suspense Zone. Just scroll down near the bottom.

In a few days Rik and I will be heading into Book Expo in Toronto for a day of signings, then it will be on to the Write Canada conference in Guelph. I hope to see some of you there.

This weeks Chi Libris blog book is Dangerous Game by Lyn Cote. Be sure to check this one out. Lyn is a friend of mine, and both of us are writing now for Love Inpsired Suspense.

Look at the picture to the upper left to see our spring boarders, a robin with her four eggs. She's taken residence under our sundeck, which means we've moved our bicycles and other 'under the sundeck' stuff to our shed, which is overfilled. And when we step out onto our deck, we try not to disturb her.

On Wednesdays I post the latest in new released Christian fiction, and the book for this week is Remembered by Tamera Alexander. Have a look:

“Though loss is often marked in a single moment, letting go of someone you love can take a lifetime...

The threat of war—and a final request—send Véronique Girard from France to a distant and uninviting country. In the Colorado Territory, she searches for the man who has held her heart since childhood—her father. Pierre Girard left Paris for the Americas to seek his fortune in fur trading, vowing to send for his wife and daughter. But twenty-five years have passed and his vow remains unfulfilled. Sifting through shards of broken promises, Véronique embarks on a dangerous search for a man she scarcely remembers.

His grief finally healed, Jack Brennan is moving on with life. After years of guiding families west, he is now working as a freighter to the mining towns surrounding Willow Springs. What he doesn't count on is an unexpected traveling companion on his trips up into the mountains, and how one woman's search will cause havoc with his plans... and his life.”

It’s maybe time I told you a bit of what’s been happening in my life lately and what I’ve been learning. Next month I’ll be featured on The Suspense Zone, and one of the questions asked of me was:

This question brought me up short, because I haven't shared about this winter with too many people. But maybe you, my faithful readers need to know what has been going on in my life.

What a question this is for me this year! In January my father was diagnosed with inoperable cancer. He passed away April 4. So, the winter was mostly spent with my parents. And then my husband's brother passed away suddenly. As well, I’ve had various health problems of my own, in terms of a recurring back problem. This manifests itself as leg pain and walking any more than two minutes is painful.

And let’s see, what else has been dropped in my lap? Career and publishing challenges big time, which I won’t go into here. All have conspired to make this a most difficult winter. Yet, through this all, I am beginning to see God’s hand on my life. It’s like he is telling me to be still. And listen. And wait.

A few weeks ago we were singing a contemporary hymn in church and I found myself stopping on the line, And while I wait I rise up like the eagles. I have sung this song many times, but it was the first time I noticed the lyrics. I wept as I sang it. I checked out that verse in Isaiah, and what it says is that during the waiting I can rise up – not after this horrible ordeal of a winter is over, but during it God gives wings to rise.

Susan, a modern-day soccer mom, is pulled through a portal into another world, where a nation grappling for its soul waits for a promised Restorer to save their people. Can she fill that role? While she struggles to adapt to a foreign culture, she tackles an enemy that is poisoning the minds of the people, uncovers a corrupt ruling Council, and learns that God can use even her floundering attempts at service in surprising ways.

A: I’ve always been fascinated by the story of Deborah in the book of Judges, and wondered what a modern woman would look like in that role. The fantasy genre provides a powerful way to look at a familiar story in a new way. I loved the challenge of creating a completely relatable character, and then inviting the reader to follow her into an imaginative journey.

A: I wrote this story for my friends – ordinary women who are sometimes called on to fill extraordinary roles that they don’t feel prepared for. We may not be literally yanked into an alternate universe, but the idea of being pulled into an unexpected challenge is very real to most of the people I know. I wrote this book for my friends who receive a diagnosis of cancer, or the news that their child has a learning disability, or their parent is battling Alzheimer's, or their spouse has lost their job. They suddenly find themselves in a foreign world, facing new rules, and being asked to fill a role they don’t feel ready for. My prayer is that as well as being entertaining, this novel can inspire courage and determination for those facing daily battles.

A: Susan’s spiritual journey – her desire to follow God and her confusion when the road is much harder than she expected—is very parallel to my own. I’ve never carried a sword into battle, but I’ve faced the challenge of surrendering more deeply to God’ s purposes when they didn’t make sense to me.

I’ve been cleaning through cupboards and shelves and closets these days. It’s that time of year, I suppose. This morning I sorted piles of books into four stacks.

I was talking with a friend the other day about all of the things in this world that keep us from reading. Used to be you’d be waiting in the airport for your flight and everybody was reading a paperback. Now, people have individual DVD players in their laps, iPods with videos, video games. And at home it’s 200 satellite TV stations, endless video games and X Boxes, podcasts and the internet. Do people even read anymore? (By the looks of my TBR pile, it could be surmised that I don’t either - and I only have three TV stations on my TV – by choice, in case you’re wondering.)

Awhile ago I was reading an article – and I can’t find it now despite many Google searches, so I’ll try to give you the gist of it - that made the point that reading is an active pursuit and television/movie watching is a passive pursuit. The article went on to say that even when you’re lying on the couch, you burn more calories reading a novel than you do watching TV (maybe it’s the page turning.) I don’t know whether that’s true or not, but it added that reading, and particularly reading novels, is good for the brain (along with crossword puzzles and learning a foreign language).

Stephen King in his wonderful book On Writing writes that he spends his mornings writing and his afternoons reading. A friend of mine saw him in a café in Maine a couple of years ago, just sitting there in the afternoon, drinking coffee and reading a novel. Maybe that’s what we need to do – give novel reading a priority in our lives. We need to make time to read, rather than take time to read.

Here’s a book to put on your TBR pile – it’s the Chi Libris featured blog book for this week:

Veil of Fire, an exciting new novel by Marlo Schalesky, has just been released. Here’s a blurb about it:

In 1894, the worst firestorm in Minnesota history descends on the town of Hinckley . Heat, flame, and darkness sweep through the town, devouring lives, destroying hope. In the aftermath, the town rises from the ashes, its people determined to rebuild their lives. But in the shadows, someone is watching. Someone is waiting. Someone who knows the secrets that can free them all. A rumor begins of a hermit in the hills - a person severely burned, disfigured beyond recognition. Doubts rise. Fear whispers. Is the hermit a monster or a memory? An enemy or a love once-lost?

Based on historical events, Veil of Fire beckons to a time when hope rose from the smoke of sacrifice, when trust hid behind a veil of fear, when dreams were robed in a mantle of fire . . .

I’ve left this blog for far too long. (And a few of you have emailed me asking - where is it?) But life has intervened. So, maybe it’s time for me to get back on track here!

Spring is fully on its way, and it’s so nice to sleep with the windows open, and watch the street cleaners go by. Here in Canada, the first signs of spring are: 1) Tim Horton’s Roll up the Rim (already long past now), and 2) the street cleaners, those huge vacuum machines that clean up the streets from the salt and salt that was scattered on our streets all winter.

My novel Dark Water has been shortliest in the mystery/suspense category for a Word Guild award. The Gala is Wed. June 13, but I’m up against a stiff competitor in the Defilers by Deb Gyapong (An excellent book by the way.)

And - if you like good Christian fiction, check this one out: The Chi Libris Book Blog this month is featuring Rachel Hauk’s new book: Diva NashVegas.

After a decade topping the country music charts as the queen of country soul, Aubrey James, daughter of legendary gospel singers, must come face-to-face with her life. After being betrayed by a close friend, Aubrey agrees to tell her exclusive story to CMT's Inside NashVegas host Beth Rose. Little does she know her future depends on reconciling with her past. But Aubrey's country world is rocked when Inside NashVegas host Scott Vaughn, a man from her past, shows up to hold the interview. Will Scott's gentle manner and insightful interviewing win Aubrey's trust, and ultimately her heart?

After my father’s funeral, Rik and I set off for a month in the little Caribbean island of Dominica (not to be confused with the Dominican Republic.)

It was a trip we’d planned long before my father was diagnosed with the cancer that finally took him home. But we cut our trip to Dominica short for a number of reasons, not the least of which is my back, which is continuing to flare up. But I would be remiss if I didn't share a few pictures with you. Click here for some photos of our trip.

2. The snorkeling. Snorkeling has got to be one of my favorite things to do in the universe.

3. The simpler life that most Dominicans live. Do we really need all the stuff we’ve accumulated under our kitchen cupboards?

5. Sulphur pools and champagne bubbles. It's not what you're thinking. Because the island of Dominica is largely volcanic, hot sulphur pools abound. It was luscious to sit in my very own mountain pool with the warm water streaming over my back. There is a snorkeling area where underground sulphur activity cause bubbles to come up from the bottom. Very cool to be swimming in bubbles.

The roads. They were narrow and dangerous, and whereas I always, without fail, hooked myself into my seatbelt, none of the locals did.

Yesterday morning at 3 a.m., my father, Robert Mignard, went to be with the Lord. He was one month shy of his 80th birthday. He’d been unwell for some time and in January he was finally diagnosed with inoperable cancer. He went almost immediately into hospice care here at home.

It has been a honor for Rik and me to have been here for much of his illness. There have been frustrating times, of course. But good ones as well. Yesterday Rik told me, “I count it a privilege to have been here.”

Many mornings I would get up and there would be my husband wiping a cool cloth on my father’s fevered head. And always, always, right up until his last few weeks of life, we would purchase gas station flavored cappuccinos from those machines and bring them home. He loved those.

He was a full time minister and up until the week he was diagnosed, my father – who never retired - preached three sermons a Sunday.

Rik and I have been staying in his basement study where his last sermon notes are laid out on the desk, and where the page-a-day desk calendar remains at January 20, his last day down there.

My father has also been the person I have emailed with all of my theology questions. I teach a ladies Sunday Class and when my ladies ask questions that I don’t have the answer for my standard answer to them is: “Let me email my dad this week and I’ll get back to you next week.”

It’s hard for me to believe he will no longer be there for me to email with all my questions.

A family emergency is keeping me from this blog these past few weeks. Please be patient. I’ll be back in full force soon. :)

In my Feb. 9 blog I gave the link to Randy Alcorn's excellent editorial on ghostwriting. Here are a few more links:

Did you know that not all the novels you see on the shelves of your favorite Christian bookstore are actually written by the individuals whose names you see under the 'by' line? Shocked? Or does it even matter to you? It should.

This issue was recently addressed on a Christian novelists' group I belong to when one of our members was approacehed by a Famous Christian Person asking her - through her agent to ghostwirte a novel. The author would come up with the idea and write the book for X amount of dollars (in the case a lot) and then hand the whole thing over to Famous Christian Person who would stamp his name on the front, just like he was the author. The real author would be sworn to secrecy about the fact that it was she who really wrote the book and not Famous Christian Person.

I scratch my head and wonder what kind of brain processes are required to turn this into something that's remotely okay.

When I define ghostwriting, I need to backtrack and tell you what I don't mean. I'm not talking about co-written novels with the real author's name somewhere on the cover. We're all familiar with the Left Behind series. And most of us are aware that Jerry Jenkins wrote the books with theological input and ideas from Tim LaHaye. Both names appear equally on the cover. I'm also keeping my focus here on novels, and not on nonfiction books or memoirs, many of which carry the 'as told to' line on the cover. And that's fine.

What I'm talking about are works of fiction in which the real author's name does not appear anywhere on the cover or in the book.

This practice is deceiving. The public picks up Great Christian Novel by Famous Christian Person and thinks, 'oh my, not only does this guy preach twice a week on the television, but he also writes all kinds of books, and even novels! What a talented person! How does he do it? God must truly be blessing him.'

It also degrades the author. A few years ago a well-known minister 'wrote' a novel which was featured on numerous television programs including Oprah. The author who actually wrote it ended up feeling used and lost and degraded when Famous Christian Person wanted nothing more to do with her. You may well say, "Well, she should have known. She signed the contract, after all."

Unfortunately, the human psyche doesn't work that way. Author Liz Curtis Higgs uses the harshest terms I've heard in describing ghost writing. To her it's nothing short of 'prostitution.'

This also demeans the craft of the novel itself. Anyone who has ever written a novel realizes that it's not easy. It's not something that can be knocked off in one's spare time.

Recently, I signed my name to a letter which went to all Christian publishing houses
as well as to many agents. Part of the letter which was drafted by author Angela Hunt and signed by more than 40 of the top Christian novelists, including Jerry Jenkins, Francine Rivers, Randy Alcorn, James Coggins and moi, stated in part:

A novel is an art form that arises after years of work and studying the craft.
We are committed to excellence in our fiction, and we write to glorify God. For a publisher to propose that a novel be cranked out, stamped with a celebrity's name, and sold to an unsuspecting public demeans our work and dishonors our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the truth and tells the truth.

But I believe that the greatest damage is done to the celebrity. The practice says to the celebrity, "You're someone special. You're far superior and better than this measly novelist. Your name alone sells books."

This fuels pride, something the Bible warns against in the strongest of terms. As well, it feeds our culture of celebrity - or cult of celebrity, the near lust we have for the rich and famous.

For more on this subject, I would encourage you to read Randy Alcorn's excellent editorial on the subject. Click here:

We must end this travesty. Ephesians 4:25: So put away all falsehoos and tell your neighbor the truth.

Here's a blog that you might enjoy. I occasionally write in. It features the thoughts and ideas of Canadian writers who are Christian. Click here.

We finally got one of those little yellow ribbon magnets that you put on your car in support of the troops. We’d wanted one for quite a while, but never got around to getting one. And so finally we did. It was yellow with a lovely little Canadian flag right in the middle. We took it home.

And then it wouldn't stick! We have a Saturn which is all plastic. So, now our wonderful little magnet is sitting on the back dashboard of our car. Rik is trying to come up with a way to affix it to the inside of the back window without damaging the defroster lines there.

This is the time of year when we look forward with resolutions and goals, plans and strategies for our lives. But before I look forward, I want to look back on this year. I need to. In many ways 2006 represents a kind of change point for me. This is the year when I realized that we are all mortal, and that there’s more to this life than this life.

This year I learned that the twinges of pain that have come and gone in my back and legs for a long, long time aren’t ‘nothing’ but signal something more serious. As I’ve been forced to deal with chronic pain issues, I’ve done some web searching, and found Rest Ministries. I’ve been receiving a daily chronic pain devotional from them which I’ve found very beneficial.

This was the year that the teenage daughter of good friends of ours was tragically killed in a car accident. And we question why? Why her? Of all people, why her? Answers seem elusive and far away.

My father had open heart surgery this year, and as I write this, a brother-in-law is in a hospital after having survived a heart attack. We are all mortal. We grow, and age, and backs hurt and bodies die and even young people die and none of it seems fair. And if we keep our vision on this earth, it isn't. Of course it isn't. There must be something more.

Yet, this was the year that I was elected to the Deacon’s Board of my church. Serving communion to my fellow passengers on this journey of life for the first time was a profound and meaningful experience for me. I didn't think it would be. My first concern was that I would fumble the plates as I walked down the aisle. Yet, as soon as the plate was passed to me, and I turned and faced the congregation I realized that at this moment I was serving the representation of the body and blood of our Lord. I was involved in a sacred task.

This was also the year that my daughter and son-in-law were married. That was a wonderfully, happy time.

A week ago we stayed in downtown Vancouver for a few days in a hotel room on the 26th floor. Looking down onto the magnificent city of Vancouver was dizzying from that height. Look at all we’ve made, I thought one evening as I stood at the full length window; the engineering feats, the buildings. We’ve built this amazing city with our own hands.

Yet, even as I stood there I thought of the verse in the Bible and was reminded that I am looking for a city whose builder and maker is God.
No, this isn’t the final destination. That is – that final city of God.