Welcome to Day 2 of the Log Cabin Christmas author blog hop! I’m so excited that you’ve joined me today.
I’ve previously written about how I came up with the idea for A Star in the Night (my contribution to A Log Cabin Christmas) when I visited Carnton–a Civil War-era plantation in Franklin, Tennessee. Carnton served as a field hospital following the Battle of Franklin, an unexpected but deadly skirmish south of Nashville.
As I mention in my novella, Carrie McGavock was the mistress of Carnton at the time of the battle, and offered her home to the wounded (both Confederate and Union soldiers). The guides at Carnton speak of her with the utmost respect, and it’s easy to see why. She served breakfast to the soldiers the morning after the battle and offered her home’s rooms–including all the bedrooms–as operating rooms. She tirelessly served the men in her home–some who were there for weeks.
One of the most beautiful features of the property at Carnton is the Confederate cemetary, a labor of love for Carrie and her husband. Following the war, the McGavocks tirelessly worked to identify and bury each of the fallen soldiers, and even today the rows of headstones bring to mind the immense loss of American life on both sides of the war.
But the truth is, there isn’t a whole lot really known about Carrie. The facts of her life are sparse, which allowed me lots of room to dream and take a little literary license. Carrie doesn’t actually appear in A Star in the Night, although she is mentioned several times, and my characters’ interactions with her are, of course, fictional. But I tried to be true to her legacy and character. I like to think that Carrie and Cora would have been fast friends.
Here’s a question for you:
What historical figure do you think you would be great friends with?
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Don’t forget to comment on this post and then pop over to Jane Kirkpatrick’s blog tomorrow for a special blog post from Wanda Brunstetter and comment there and on the other posts.
For a list of all the participating blogs, and full contest details, click here.
If you can’t wait to get your hands on a copy of the book, you can order it here or here.
I’m so exited to share with you all some really great contests this month! To celebrate my newest book, A Log Cabin Christmas, I’m offering you chances to win some pretty spectacular gifts and prizes (if I do say so, myself)! Here’s a quick overview of what’s to come.
1. Starting Monday, 11/7, join ALL nine of the authors of the New York Times best-selling A Log Cabin Christmas Collection in a very fun blog hop. Jump from blog to blog each day to learn some of the stories behind the stories in this wonderful collection and enter for a chance to win TWO copies of this gorgeous book, each signed by ALL of the authors. Tell me that’s wouldn’t be an AWESOME gift for that hard-to-buy-for friend (and for you, too!). The blog hop starts on Jane Kirkpatrick’s blog on Monday. Check out the official rules here.
2. I’m giving away a current Thomas Nelson fiction title of YOUR choice (subject to available titles)! The Thomas Nelson fiction team graciously offered me a free book for participating in a fiction focus group, and I’m passing that along to you! More details to come this week.
3. And then there’s the Christmas Story Giveaway Extravaganza! This one is going to be a doozy, folks! I’m still putting the final details in place for it, and I hope you’ll join me for the fun. Check back soon for details on a chance to win all sorts of great Christmas prizes including dvds, books, and gift cards!
See you on Tuesday for my entry into the Log Cabin Christmas author blog hop!
Breakfast at the Shipwright–prepared by their in-house chef–was as amazing as the rest of the inn. With no firm plans for the day, we chatted over our fresh fruit and eggs about our plans. And that’s when Hannah (the girl who mocked Mom and I for coming back from the island last year singing the songs of Anne and Gilbert) suggested we go back and see the musical again. But the truth is, we all kind of liked the idea of going back to Summerside. Back for another round of Anne and Gilbert.
But before we made a decision about seeing the show again, we had some exploring to do! And we were off to wander the shops and streets of Charlottetown, including a walk past the docks where we learned about why Charlottetown is called the birthplace of the Confederation. I had no idea about the history, and I don’t remember half of it, so if you’re curious, check it out here.
The dock at the Charlottetown HarborMore boats in the harbor.Hannah enjoying one of the islands most famous treats--COWS ice cream!Hannah and me in front of Confederation Hall.The Confederation Players--actors in period costumes who give tours of historic Charlottetown.
After shopping and exploring to our heart’s content, we finally decided that we could only see Anne and Gilbert on PEI, and we didn’t want to miss the opportunity. So we popped in the car and decided to zip along the southern shores back to Summerside. That meant a stop at Rocky Point to walk past a lighthouse and discover a second that we missed last summer!
The view from Rocky Point across the bay from Charlottetown.Love the red cliffs--even if they are erroding and signs warned us not to get too close to the edge.Hannah of the trees! (That's an LM Montgomery book if ever I heart one.)This path looked like it just disappeared into the ocean. But it didn't.Charlottetown in the distance.The first lighthouse at Rocky PointA second and nearly identical lighthouse set far off the water. We just couldn't figure out why there would be a lighthouse nearly hidden.I love the white churches that pepper the island.Across the road from that church--this view! Wow!
We arrived in Summerside just in time to go back to our favorite little Deckhouse Pub for dinner, where Mom loved her clam chowder and Hannah and I devoured some excellent comfort food. And then we sat in the very back row (the best cheap seats we could get) and fell in love with Anne and Gil all over again. I can’t even begin to describe how much I love this show and how glad I am that Hannah loved it, too!
This week, I’ll wrap up our pictorial tour of Prince Edward Island. (Sorry about the month-long hiatus on this!) I hope you’ll enjoy these as much as I enjoy reliving our trip.
Wednesday, August 3
We started the day by checking out of our little cabin in Rustico, packing up the rental car and heading back toward Cavendish. Just a mile or so from Avonlea village is the official national park site of Green Gables House. (Which is, of course, the home of LM Montgomery’s relatives, on which she based the Green Gables of her books.) The skies were a bit overcast, and we couldn’t be sure we wouldn’t get rained out of our walking tour of the house and grounds, but we decided to risk it. So after a quick tour of the museum and a viewing of the short film about LM Montgomery’s time on the Island, we were off.
Mom and Hannah in front of barn at Green Gables.The gardens around the house and barn were in full-bloom.The house that holds all the memories.That's me standing at the door of Green Gables.After touring the house, we took the path down to the Haunted Woods--alight with colors.Mom and Hannah walking the trail that leads all the way to Maud's childhood home.The trees protected us when the light rain came, and it was beautiful!After the Haunted Woods trail, we walked Lover's Lane surrounded by sounds of the babbling brook and rain kissing the leaves.
As we were leaving Green Gables (after a lengthy visit to the gift shop), it began raining in earnest, but that didn’t stop us from making a stop at the site of Maud’s childhood home. While the building was torn down years ago, there’s still a gift shop there filled with books. And oh the books we bought! We stocked up on all sorts of her lesser-known works before dashing back through the rain and hitting the road toward Charlottetown.
We arrived in town about 3pm, ready to check into our last home of the trip, The Shipwright Inn. Located in the historic district of Charlottetown, this old home is amazing on every level. Simultaneously large and quaint and decorated with 19th Century sea-faring pieces, we loved staying there. We were delighted to have the Tiller Flat, the basement apartment, complete with a spacious living room, cute kitchen, and it’s own enterance.
The Shipwright Inn on Fitzroy in CharlottetownBeauitful foliage along the inn's porches.Mom at our private entrance to the Tiller Flat.
Our hosts Judy and Trevor Pye were incredibly gracious and don’t even get me started on the 3pm treats. Hannah discovered them first. Every afternoon Trevor set out sweets that made our day! Berry pastries and brownies the first day. Cookies and scones the next. These were so wonderful that even weeks after our return home, Hannah and I would call each other to lament that somewhere Trevor was putting out treats that we couldn’t enjoy.
That evening we picked up Subway sandwiches and enjoyed them in our little kitchen in our flat before heading toward the Confederation Arts Center to see Anne of Green Gables: The Musical. We had hoped to see this musical before seeing Anne and Giblert, which we’d seen on Sunday. After such a wonderful experience at the smaller theater in Summerside, we had high expectations of the Island’s flagship musical.
As it’s name suggests, this musical covers Anne’s story from childhood to adpotion by Matthew and Marilla to school with Diana and Gilbert. And we had the perfect seats (4th row, right in the center) to experience it. The actors were clearly talented, and the dancing lit up the stage. The settings were so creative and the seats were even comfortable. But somehow it was missing that spark. I didn’t walk away singing the songs or reliving the dances. And Hannah and Mom felt the same way. We were glad to have seen it, but didn’t feel like we’d need to see it again. But that was okay because it turned out to give us another exciting adventure for Thursday.
Before I dive into any book, I read the author’s dedication. Maybe you ignore it–flip right past it. That’s fine. But for me, it opens a window into the author’s heart. I love writing dedications, too. They’re the last thing I write, usually after at least a round or two of edits, and I think long and hard about who I’m going to dedicate that story to. Of course, my first book had about 70 names in it … mostly because I wasn’t sure I’d ever publish another book.
My most recent novella in A Log Cabin Christmas Collection has these words:
For Judy and Ann, first readers and faithful friends.
Thank you for your encouragement, kindness, and example of joy.
I’ve known Judy for years. Well … at least I knew of her. We’d gone to the same church since I was a kid, and her kids are about my age. But it wasn’t until I wrote my first book that we became real friends. When I asked my mom for feedback on the manuscript of The Kidnapping of Kenzie Thorn, she suggested I send it to Judy, a retired teacher. Judy graciously agreed to read the book, but I’m afraid her feedback was pretty minimal. It consisted mostly of “I love it!”
By the time Kenzie arrived on bookshelves, Judy was my strongest supporter. She’d also been diagnosed with cancer. Again. I remember clearly on the day of my first booksigning at our church back in Yuma, that she handed me an envelope. She’d been in pain the night before and unable to sleep, so she’d stayed up on the computer and printed off every online review and mention she could find of me and my book. She’d also asked her brother-in-law to paint the cover of my book. It’s one of the most amazing gifts I’ve ever received.
By the time my second book rolled around Judy and her mom Ann were full-fledged fans of my books. But I was just plain fans of theirs. They had embraced me and my family, given my mom a friend she desperately needed, and treated my nieces and nephews like their own family. Despite her frequent trips to San Diego to see her oncologist, Judy remained a fantastically upbeat and filled with joy.
When it came time to write the dedication for my Christmas novella (a story that Judy and Ann had both read and approved), I wanted to show them just how much I cared and do what I could to reciprocate the love that they’ve shown me.
And then the books arrived. So beautiful and with that inscription just for Judy and Ann. I begged my mom to take Judy a copy of the book as soon as it arrived. Mom asked if I wouldn’t rather wait to give it to her myself, but I said no. I wanted Judy to see it as soon as possible. Ann says that Judy showed that book to every single person who walked into her house in the next week.
Less than two weeks later, Judy took a turn for the worse, and I didn’t get to see her again. She passed away last Monday.
I’m so sad to have lost a friend, but I am so grateful to have known her and to know that we’ll meet again in eternity. She loved God dearly, and that love flowed to everyone she came in contact with. As I’ve reflected on our friendship this last week, I’m reminded of her amazing example. Despite her pain and prognosis, she lived with joy, a joy that overflowed, spilling on friends and strangers alike.
And I’m so glad that I took the opportunity to say thank you to Judy before it was too late.
I’m so sorry! I just fell off the face of the planet … wait. That’s not quite right. I was here. I was working and writing. I just wasn’t blogging, and I left you in the middle of our trip to Prince Edward Island. Shame on me!
I’ve got loads of excuses, but instead of offering those, I thought I’d just dive right back in to the good stuff.
We’ll return to our pictorial tour of PEI shortly, but today, I wanted to tell you a little story about two little videos. You see, it all started with this one, Marc Martel’s video audition for the Queen Extravaganza (a tribute tour to the music of Queen). This little video has been making the rounds on social media, and I caught wind of it last week via twitter.
I was hooked.
I’ve listened to it 2 or 3 … or 40 times. (And I’m not alone if the nearly 4 million views on YouTube are any indication.) If you’re not familiar with Queen’s music, I’ll just say that this dude sounds astonishingly like Freddie Mercury, the late lead singer.
I was busy telling my boss about the video (we were working really hard at that moment, I’m sure) when my friend Mark Smeby stopped by the office and told me that Marc Martel of the Queen video is the same Marc Martel of the band downhere. Of course, I didn’t realize that the co-lead singer of downhere was named Marc, but I was sure familiar with their music. In fact, I’d linked to a video with one of their songs last Christmas. And I’ve had their album Ending is Beginning for ages. Just never really got around to getting into it.
Thanks to the Queen Extravaganza, all of that changed over the last week. I dug back into my old iTunes account and discovered just how fantastic downhere’s stuff really is. May I offer exhibits A and B.
But looking back wasn’t enough. I had to find out what they’ve been up to since that album. Turns out, they have a new one out called On the Altar of Love. And the first single off of that album is Let Me Rediscover You. Exhibit C.
Whoa. Man, I needed to hear that. Ever feel like you hear a song that’s just echoing the cry of your heart? That’s me with this song. “Reveal to me the God I thought I knew.” Oof. Wow, I needed that this week. Hope you enjoyed it, too.
And now I’m off to see if I can catch them on tour this fall.
We were on our own for breakfast at the cabin, so we enjoyed a banana and bagel that we’d picked up at the little grocery store in Rustico the night before. And then we stopped at a bakery that had just about the best cinnamon rolls ever! They were more like chunks of coffee cake deliciousness.
After the stop, we headed over toward Avonlea Village–a stop that Mom and I failed to make last year.
Hannah in front of the train station
Walking through the train station and into Avonlea Village is like stepping back in time 100 years. The roads are lined with authentic turn of the century buildings including a manse (that’s the preacher’s home), school house, church, and general store. And mingling with the visitors are actors dressed in period costumes, playing the roles that we love from Anne’s books. Charlie Sloan was busy getting kicked out of the chocolate shop, Mr. Phillips marched around the school house getting his students in order, and even Anne and Diana roamed the streets.
Mom and Hannah in front of the Avonlea one-room school house, which was once an actual schoolBehind the school was an artist creating an AMAZING sandcastleOn the swing by the schoolAcross the street was a Avonlea Dressup, which we assumed was a dress shopAnd it was ... sort of!Hannah and I having high tea in our 1910 dressesMom and I waiting for the trainThe stage on the back of the craft houseThe show must go on! Anne's first day in schoolAnne, Diana, and Gilbert in the back ground
Around noon, we snuck into the back of the fishing shanty, where a quartet was busy entertaining a full house with songs of the Island.
Main Street AvonleaWe spent a few minutes in the barn before boarding the 8-minute wagon rideHannah and Mom on the wagon rideNear the end of the wagon ride, Gilbert and Moody jumped in the back of the wagon, shooting their slingshots
After a fantastic day at Avonlea Village, we drove through the National Park along the North Shore.
Along the North Shore and the prettiest beaches on the Island
This beach had large, red rocks, many more than the others
Hannah said this beach was rocky … and decided to share with us a musical number from a rocky movie.
I could stay on this beach for agesLove the way these jagged red cliffs jut out into the waterWe were there at high tide, so getting this far along the beach was a bit trickyMom and Hannah--queens of the rock!
Monday, August 1 If every morning of our last trip to PEI started with the best breakfasts ever, this trip was off to a rocky start. First powdered eggs at the Holiday Inn, then some sort of mystery breakfast casserole at Serendipity. But the fresh fruit was enough to get us going for a day into the west side of the Island, an area Mom and I hadn’t been to last year. Our first stop was the Potato Museum.
Nope. Not kidding. Potatoes are a huge part of the history of PEI, and the museum was full of interesting facts about how the potato crossed from Ireland to PEI. The museum also had some historic buildings including a one-room school house, a chapel, and an old telephone room, where the operators worked.
The PEI Potato MuseumYes, that is a giant potato!The museum had plenty of historical pieces, including this iron lungHannah, outside the school houseInside the school house
After the museum, we headed to the West Point Lighthouse and Museum, where we climbed 4 stories through a self-guided tour. The first lightkeeper lived there with his wife and 8 children! Whoa! That’s a whole lot of family in one little house. But it was beautiful.
West Point Light HouseView from the beach
So was the beach next to it, where we wandered around and got thoroughly sandy and had to find a sink to rinse off in.
Collecting shells on the beachRinsing off at the picnic area
After the lighthouse and beach, we headed off toward North Rustico, where we stayed in a little cabin for 2 nights.
Love this little church that we passed on our way from West Point to North Rustico
While it was a beautiful area, the cabin left a little something to be desired–the pull-out sofa bed was a bit rough, to say the least. And the creepy bugs that showed up in the most inopportune moments were enough to give anyone the jitters.
Our biggest drama of the day turned out to be where we were going to go to dinner. We thought about trying a famous lobster dinner, except, when we got to the most popular restaurant, it was $35 for a dinner, and we just couldn’t talk ourselves into that, not knowing how we felt about lobster–seeing as how none of us had ever eaten it before. After a couple more failed attempts to find a reasonable place for dinner, we ended up at Jim’s–literally a side-of-the-road shack, where we ordered at a window. Mom ordered the seafood platter complete with lobster. So there it was, our first chance at lobster. Yuck! It was cold (apparently how many on the Island serve it) and oh, so fishy-tasting. I even tried a fried scallop. Like eating a piece of fried rubber. Not for me.
After the dinner debacle, we took off for the Rustico boardwalk, a 2km walkway around the harbor with a view of the fishing village and docks. The perfect way to end the day.
The Rustico boardwalk--2km of beautyA view of Rustico across the harborAnother shot of the village from the boardwalkThe lighthouse at the end of the boardwalkThe jetty next to the lighthouseThe North Rustico beach at sunset
A year ago next week, I took my mom on a trip to Prince Edward Island, Canada, to celebrate the publication of my first and second books. Wow! We had a wonderful time. So good, in fact, that about 5 months ago, I suggested perhaps we should go back. I was working on a book idea set on PEI, and I was looking for an opportunity to do a little research. Mom was on board in a heartbeat, and we invited my sister Hannah to join us.
Several weeks ago we took off for PEI and 6 wonderful days on the most beautiful island I’ve ever seen. I took over 300 pictures, and at least a few of them turned out. 🙂 So I thought I’d share with you a pictorial journal of our time on PEI.
Saturday, July 30 I flew out of Nashville at 6:25am. I knew I had a day mostly to myself, as I wasn’t meeting up with Mom and Hannah until I picked them up from the Charlottetown airport after midnight that night. So I brought with me one of the lesser-known books of PEI’s most celebrated author, LM Montgomery. My friends Rachel and Stephanie and Katie had been after me for years to read The Blue Castle, and I’d purchased it on PEI last summer. I’d just never gotten around to reading it. So I pulled it off my shelf and tucked it into my bag and read during my 3 hours at the Cinncinati airport and 6 hours at JFK. And I couldn’t put it down. It’s delightful! I highly recommend and can’t thank my friends enough for telling me to read it.
In fact, I enjoyed it so much that I was still reading it when I got to the Holiday Inn Express (the one with a big cardboard cutout of William and Kate, who had recently visited PEI) upon arriving on the Island. And I was still reading it when I went back to the airport to pick Mom and Hannah up. Their flight was delayed, so when they finally arrived at 1am, I was just looking forward to a good night’s sleep. I was going to need it if we were going to hit the ground running the next morning.
Sunday, July 31 We managed to drag ourselves out of bed in time to grab a bite of the continental breakfast (avoiding those powdered eggs at all costs) before getting gussied up for the first big event of our trip, Anne and Gilbert: The Musical! Mom and I enjoyed seeing this show so much last year, that we knew we had to go back and see it again.
We traveled through the middle of the Island, along the main highway (which is still only 2 lanes), lined with pine trees from Charlottetown toward Summerside. But we arrived early–that’s the thing when you can drive anywhere on the Island in 2 hours. So we took a little detour to view the Confederation Bridge, a 13km engineering marvel. It just disappears in the horizon.
Hannah and me in front of the Confederation BridgeSeven Mile Church, where we stopped to take pictures of the bridge.Another view of the bridge
On our way to the field Swamp Chestnut oak tree stole our hearts. As we drove toward Summerside, we passed this field. Unfortunately, the picture just doesn’t do the color justice. It was this brilliant yellow, and when we asked, we discovered it’s a Canola field–like the stuff that they make cooking oil out of. Weird. Beautiful.
Canola field outside Summerside
And then it was off to get some lunch at Spinnaker’s Landing at the Deckhouse Pub. Fish and Chips were delicious. So was the view of the harbour.
Spinnaker’s Landing next to the Harbourfront TheaterSailboats in the harbour behind the pubAnother sailboat on the gray seaThe Coast Guard station next doorI should have been a sailorLove these boats all lined up and ready to hit the sea
And then it was time to see the musical. Hannah wasn’t quite so sure what she’d gotten into … but I’ll tell you more about that later. We sat in the same seats as last year (row E) at the Harbourfront Theater. Anne was played by the same actress, but there was a new Gilbert. And he was GREAT! Here’s a video of one of the best songs in the show done by this summer’s cast. (You might have to turn your volume up, as it’s kind of quiet.)
After the show, we checked in at our B&B in Bedeque–Serendipity. It was a lovely yellow house, and we stayed in the Victoria Suite–2 rooms with an adjoining door on the 2nd floor. Sadly, that meant we had to lug our stuff up to the 2nd floor. And my suitcase was not light. After settling in and grabbing a bite to eat, we headed for the nearby beach at Central Bedeque (pronounced kind of like be-deck), where we found all sorts of wildlife–little spider crabs and even a few washed up jellyfish. Let me just say that Hannah is fascinated by this stuff, so we spent quite a chunk of time picking up shells and poking dried up jellyfish. One of the most interesting things about the beach was the way the sand packed together in ripples. And then, of course, there was a gorgeous view of the bridge.
We didn’t quite make it out in kayaks, but that’s on the itinerary for next tripLove those red beachesHannah on the rippled sandAs the sun begins to setSilhouettes in the setting sun
Over the last couple days, I’ve shared with you a bit about A Log Cabin Christmas and a bit about how I first learned about Carnton, one of the key locations in A Star in the Night. But I suppose the real question now is, what is A Star in the Night really about?
Here’s a little synopsis just for you!
In 1864 Tennessee Cora Sinclair lives relatively unaffected by the War Between the States until the Battle of Franklin leaves her to care for a wounded Union officer. Captain Jedediah Harrington just wants to get back to Washington and his role in the War Department, but his injury is more severe than he anticipated, and he’s forced to spend the month of December with Cora and her grandfather in their log cabin.
As Jed begins to heal from his physical injuries, Cora realizes that serving at a field hospital following the battle has left unseen scars on her heart, and Jed is the only one who can help mend her spirit. As Christmas approaches, will love prevail despite Cora’s pain and Jed’s imminent return to Washington?
So there you have it! Cora and Jed’s story hits stores in just a few more weeks with 8 other great books. The reviews haven’t really started coming in yet, but I did receive a sweet email from a reviewer who enjoyed it. And my sister said this is her favorite of all the books I’ve written. Maybe that’s just because it’s the shortest. 🙂
