Happy Birthday, Rachel!

Just wanted to wish my sister, Rachel a very happy birthday! I hope you have a great day and enjoy turning *19* !! :)

Love,

Sarah

Character Creation. :)

So today is my 19th birthday. :) But that wasn't what my post was about. (I think my sister re-titled this blog in honor of the day though.... :)

I wanted to explore what makes a memorable character. I know I've written on this topic before, but I've been thinking a lot about it recently.

What is it about some people in books that captures our fancy and makes them come alive in our imaginations?

Is it their name? Their personality? The way they speak?

Whatever it is, there is no doubt that the characters are what makes your story. You might have a brilliant plot, carefully built and written, but if you do not have people, you have nothing.

I know I have written time and again about how much I love Charles Dickens' writing. I truly believe that his greatness lay in his characters, not only his intricate plots.

Charles Dickens did not only pay attention to and cultivate his main characters. Of course our protagonists must be strongly portrayed, but it is the side-line characters that make the novel.

No one can forget the poor law-clerk, Guppy, in Bleak House, or the nonsensical but loveable Edmond Sparkler in Little Dorrit. It is not easy to get the evilly debonair Rigaud out of your imagination long after you have put down the book, or to stop thinking about jolly Mr. Pickwick and his travelling companions.

So in the remainder of this post I will discuss how to build unforgettable people for your books.

Step One: Pick a personality-- What is it about your character that makes him who he is? Is he a complex person or a simple guy? Is he ridiculously melancholy or the life of the party?

Make your decision and build off of it.

Step Two: Give him a touch of oddity-- Something that makes this character stand out from all the others. It could be the way he pronounces certain things, (Like Dickens' Samuel Weller who switches around his "w"s and "v"s. :) or the way he walks, or something he loves doing that is just a little strange.

Step Three: Choose a name-- I have always found the phone-book to be helpful in this step. Flip through and find random names. I've come up with a good many strange ones in this way that I might never have thought up before, like the name I've reserved for some selfish banker someday somewhere: Bardwulf Becker. :)

I think naming characters is one of my better points. I love choosing the perfect name for my people. One of the servants in an unfinished novel was named Essie Doris after a street in our town. Another is the wild Ann Company whose father, Flounder, named her so that it would look clever and business-like on a library card. (Flounder & Co.) I like stretching to the limits on crazy names for people.

So those are the three main steps I can think of right now, and as I'm out of time I will let you all suggest anything I have missed. :) What sorts of tips do *you* have for creating characters?

The Speech You've All Been Waiting For... ;)

This is not a picture of me giving my speech...it was taken by my cousin, Matthew, as part of a graduation photo-shoot for me. :) I had just burst into laughter...thus the tilted head and cheeky smile. :)
Anyway, at long last, after I have griped about it, worried over it, and finally read it in front of 150 people, I can show you my speech. I am not sure at all about how good or not good it is, having never had to give a speech before in my life. I only know that I spoke from my heart and that has to count for something...

"You know I cannot make speeches, Emma. Perhaps if I felt less I could talk about it more."
~Mr. Knightley

But for better or for worse my speech was given and I didn't botch it up too badly at any point. I wasn't even very nervous, which was a direct answer to prayer. I think my nervousness came out in a silly feeling and abnormal thirst. I was gulping ice-water until it was my turn! :D So, without further ado, you can read below, in full, my graduation speech and tell me what you thought about it. Oh yes. And before you read, please realize that I know it is not highly polished writing, but my edits were done in the crazy few days between laying on the couch with a dizzy head from wisdom teeth and the actual graduation. Time was limited, and talent would have to suffice. ;)
Also, I formatted the speech this way for ease of reading. I could see where I needed to emphasize things without having to think to hard about it. The great preacher, Peter Marshall, did the same...that's actually where I got the idea! :D Here you go:

"When people look at me with pitying eyes and ask if I’ve enjoyed being homeschooled, I have to laugh.

The idea of not enjoying it is so absurd.

Because the truth is, I love the life Jesus has given me.

I love my big, crazy, funny, hard-working family.

I love knowing my sisters so well that we can simply share a look and know just what the other thinks about a matter.

I love having an older brother who plays chauffer and takes me on adventures and isn’t ashamed to go into departments stores and try on crazy Sunday hats with me.

I love having a younger brother who brings me dead birds and trapped mice and frozen butterflies because he wants me to be able to draw them.

And I thank Jesus for sparing me from a conventional, pre-packaged education.

I used to wonder how it would feel to have a “normal” schedule like the public school kids and many home-schooling families.

What would it be like to go through my school-books without any interruptions?

My books were never pre-ordered for the next five years in a tidy curriculum package. Mama chose whichever books she felt we needed at that moment.

I doubted most girls my age accomplished their algebra in the bumpy work truck in between lawns.

Most girls don’t stop book-work for nine months to build a house with their dad.

That’s just not the way it’s generally done.

I never truly wished for a different schedule, but I did wonder what the benefits of our life-style were.

Now, as I look back, I can see many benefits of being raised differently than most girls.

One of the biggest blessings of our style of homeschooling is that my education has been chosen and designed by God particularly for me and my future.

I can know for sure that everything He has brought into my life will be needed someday. I can’t always see how I will use some of the knowledge I’ve been given…

Is there any particular reason I learned how to put tin roofing on a porch?

And will my skills racing walk-behind mowers ever come in handy again?

Yet because Dad and Mama have been faithful in following God’s leading, I have had many opportunities to gain new skills and I know that everything I have learned is useful.

I will admit that the life I’ve been given can be crazy and uproarious now and then.

This past winter we were having a slow season and I found it difficult to fill my time. That all ended when God saw fit to give us a crash course in botany, agriculture, marketing, and business management.

All at once.

Since then we have been so stretched for time it’s a mercy nothing important has snapped!

Another benefit of this life is the real experience I’ve been able to have. Not many girls my age have already had experience (however limited) as a carpenter, electrician, plumber, painter, landscaper, horticulturalist, floral designer, seamstress, author, and office manager.

If I cared to write everything down, I might end up with a pretty impressive resume!

Dad and Mama have passed along an admirable work-ethic to each of us children. Dad especially has always encouraged us to do hard things, to stretch and get outside our comfort-zone.

It’s the reason we joke that our family motto has become “Semper Gumbi: Always flexible.”

I suppose that’s how we built the house.

And I have a hunch that’s why I’m standing up here giving a speech.

Mama taught me at an early age to love literature, and now I’m a writer myself.

Perhaps because of both these things I have fallen into the habit of looking at life like a novel the Lord has written and placed me in the middle of.

Only the story is beautifully true.

I like flipping back through my memories like the pages in the book that I’ve already read.

My child-hood was one chapter.

My high-school years were another, packed with many of God’s Providences.

So now I stand on the brink of a new chapter in my life, and I can only guess at what is ahead. So far each chapter has been better than the one before.

I expect to meet with many adventures in this next chapter. And yet I’ve come to realize that adventures seldom happen to those who don’t look for them.

Oftentimes the things God means for adventures, we take as inconveniences and troubles and so we miss opportunities to see God work miracles.

I mean to take every adventure Jesus presents and “live it to the hilt” as the missionary, Jim Eliot, said. It’s exciting to think on the possibilities ahead.

But naturally the question comes up, “What will you be doing now, since you’ve finished school?”

Of course I can’t know for certain what sort of adventures are written down for me, but I do have some guesses and will work toward them until I come to the next bend in the road.

I have set my ambition on a career that I believe I am fitted for in every prospect. I know one of the most talented women in this field and greatly admire and love her.

For several years I have been in training for this occupation, and now that my school-work is finished, I will enter a season of even more intense training in hopes of one day making this my profession.

I am not going to merely be a doctor, for I will have the care of souls as well as bodies.

I am not going to be a lawyer, though my career will involve a sort of judicial system

The profession I am working towards is the noblest career a woman could have. It will involve every bit of knowledge I possess, and much more that I have yet to learn.

It will task my every skill and talent. And yet the rewards are bounteous and ever-lasting.

So what career am I training for?

That of being a wife, a mother, and a homemaker.

I believe that in this new season of my life, Jesus is calling me to stay at home, learning from Mama all the skills I will need for my hoped-for career.

Staying at home is so much more than pies and aprons, clothes-lines and curlers. The family is the most vital unit in society. A woman whose heart is in her home is a queen. Beside her husband, she helps rule a miniature kingdom with eternal effects.

I have always held that a conviction must be a personal thing, not brought on man’s opinion, but by God’s voice.

And so I do not choose this path because it is the “good Christian-girl” thing to do. I choose it because I feel that God has equipped me my whole life for this work, and that, as a woman, it glorifies Him when I work in this role.

I choose it because I truly admire Mama who has walked this road before me. I marvel at the feat it was raising me, remembering the days when I’d try her patience with my mistakes. I recall the days I would weep over my math-book and she’d stand patiently by, ready to explain the equation for the hundredth time.

And that was just me!

Mama has given her life to all eight, soon to be nine of us children. Motherhood is a noble calling indeed…

To be a wife, ready to love, help, and honor her husband,

To be a mother, bearing children and raising them be strong men and women for Christ’s kingdom,

To be a homemaker and create a beautiful, peaceful haven for my family and strangers alike,

This is one of my fondest hopes and dreams.

So much for the long-term ambition. As I said before, Jesus is writing my life-story, and He may have other plans for me.

At this point in the novel there is no knight in shining armor galloping down the hill to sweep me off my feet.

Jesus may call me to a life of singleness. That would be a new adventure, but I trust my Lord would be just as ever-present and faithful on that road, for if He has chosen it, there is nothing else that will fulfill me.

I am open to whatever my Lord wishes me to do.

But I do know that my education has not been so carefully cultured by the Lord merely to be laid aside like an old coat. I have confidence that no matter what capacity He calls me to, I am prepared.

I will enjoy the adventures God is giving me today while waiting to see what His plans are for this upcoming chapter.

My life is overflowing with the Lord’s abundance. I am working full time on our family farm, and part-time as the business manager of our landscape business. As an elder’s daughter there is plenty to do toward preparing our home for church and other ministry. I help Mama keep our home and family running smoothly. With soon to be twelve people in the house there is never a dull moment.

In my spare time I have many interests, among them sewing and historical-clothing designing, studying herbalism, watercolor painting and writing, all of which could easily be turned into business ventures. Who knows? I may publish one of my books and find myself a real author someday. I dearly love learning and there is a plethora of subjects I have only glanced over. I might just take it into my head to learn French, or teach myself how to play at least one song decently on the piano.

Thanks to both my parents, but especially Mama, I have a deep love for learning and a zeal for many pursuits. I will certainly lack nothing to keep my time filled.

As I look back on my education and my life so far I am overwhelmed with gratitude. Mama and Dad, under Jesus’ guidance, have placed me so far ahead of many girls my age… I know it will affect the rest of my years.

From my marvelously unconventional upbringing, I know I will never have a run-of-the-mill life.

I am living a life of adventure, wilder than any novel, because it is written by the King of kings.

It is written by the Creator of the world.

It is written by the Author and Finisher of my faith.

How can I keep from smiling at the doubts and fears when I have this assurance?

God’s plan may take me into uncharted territory, wilder than I could ever imagine, but I know that the same Lord who has led my life thus far will keep me, lead me, and guide me to the end.

And with such a promise, my story is guaranteed a Happily Ever After."

Vexing Inspiration :)

There is a certain phenomenon that I have noticed recently. And that is simply this:

That when I am the most pinched for time and haven't a spare moment to devote to writing even if it's the thing I long to do most, inspiration suddenly flies at me and knocks me over. ;)

Much to my sister, Sarah's chagrin, I am terrible about beginning one story and then getting inspired for another and leaving the one in a dubious state of completion while chasing the other.

But she's not a writer and she can't understand the elusive joy that comes when The Idea pops into your brain and taps you on the shoulder with a "catch me if you can" smile on its face. And I usually end up going back and finishing the first story....*after* I've done with the second. ;)

I know I'm not the only one with this problem. I've heard that Sir Walter Scott always worked on two novels at once. He placed them on separate desks and stood between the two pacing up and down. When he got an idea he'd dash to either manuscript and scribble as fast as he could.

I'm not *that* bad....or at least I don't think I am.... ;)

Puddleby Lane was coming along splendidly, but then life got to be a whirlwind of weeds and vegetables, wisdom-teeth and graduation speeches and I had to lay it aside in lieu of other more prosaic realities. That was fine in itself, except that somehow Inspiration decided to commandeer my attention and I have had the hardest time imaginable trying to ignore this perfectly amazing plot that is tumbling around my mind. Puddleby Lane is a good story and *will* be finished. I think I don't think it would be fair to poor Cora Lesley to just leave her hanging and dash off to the French Revolution. :D

So this brings me to the second random musing in my writers' brain. (As a note: I may seem to flit about from one subject to another like a distracted butterfly but I think that it's all the fault of being a writer....we all understand each other....right?)

The second random musing is......

Keep a Writing-Inspiration Notebook....I'm *going* to think of a clever name for mine.

But in this book of secrets, I pledge to write all the plot ideas, character sketches, descriptions, and everything else that floats past my Writer's Radar in this book to be pulled out, dusted off, and hung up to shine in a future day. I've done this loosely but never in an organized format...but I really think it's a good idea. What do you think?

Oh yes. And I can't forget the third and final thought I've been discussing in my head. And that is the frustrating longing to be a *great* writer like Dickens and Austen...my pen is clumsy at times and won't behave how I want it to.

But I will write all the same and I *know* practice makes perfect. Even if I never do end up a truly great writer, let it never be said of me that I stopped trying. :)

Simple things cheer me up...things like one of my favorite graduation gifts I got. The brother of one of my friends wood-burned me a sign that is destined to hang over my writing corner whenever I make it. It's a simple, wooden sign, but it made me smile with its two words:

Author's Study

Somehow that made me feel officially an authoress....that and graduating. ;) It's so funny how someone simply acknowledging your passion makes it real. Wasn't that a thoughtful gift? :)

Tomorrow I'll post my graduation speech for your observation. :) ~Rachel

Inkpen Poetry Day: Awaken the Dawn

Hello everyone! Sorry it's been awhile since I've posted. Life has been crazy since wisdom-teeth and now my graduation coming up tomorrow. I've written the speech, and I think it's a pretty good one. :) At least passable if not *good*. After I deliver it, I will post it on here for you guys to read and tell me what you think. :) Anyway, this morning was absolutely drop dead gorgeous. So beautiful it gave me a queer ache and almost made me want to cry.

And when I get that queer ache, it means a poem is coming on. And it just so happened that the past few times I've read a Psalm before bed, I always seem to come across the phrase "I will awaken

the dawn". And since I actually was awake to watch the awakening of the dawn this morning, a poem grew out of it, so here it is! :) Enjoy! (photo is courtesy of Google images. :)

"Awaken the Dawn"

By Rachel Heffington

The east began blushing behind the trees

While the moon hung over the lea

And the velvet of night turned to sapphire hue

Like the blue of a newborn sea.

No breeze cared to move the whispering leaves

But they whispered themselves alone

And the first rays of sun kissed the cool of the morn

Before mounting the aerial throne.

The dew-spangled grass glittered pure and unspoilt

As if hundreds of diamonds were strewn,

Or like dozens of tears had been carefully dropped

From the pearlescent eyes of the moon.

Blue shadows hung shyly beneath the boughs

Of the emerald, sylvan-king;

The ancient pine swayed and held his court

With the swallows on the wing.

With a glorious, final shout of gold

The sun was now enthroned

While the world rejoiced like a sinner saved

That the night's dark was atoned.

Real-Life Author Interview: Angela Bell

I'd like to introduce my good writing friend, Angela Bell! :) She is a homeschool graduate and lives with her family and 3 dogs in Texas! :) You can got to her wonderful blog here.
So, Angela, it's great to have you here on the Inkpen Authoress! How are you this fine morning? :)

I'm doing quite well. Thank you for having me!
Tell us a little about your latest writing project!

Right now, I am working on a science fiction novel currently titled The Remnant. It's a sequel to my first completed manuscript and follows my heroine, Yakira, as she struggles to trust a power she cannot see in order to save her planet from an ancient enemy.

What is your number one, brilliant piece of advice for other aspiring authors?

My number one piece of advice would be to learn the writing craft. Study books about writing rules and techniques, maybe see if there's an author/writer in your area who would be willing to meet with you and share their wisdom, and read as many good fiction books as you can, both classics and new releases. Once you've learned the basics, if you're serious about pursuing publication, attended writer's conferences. Writer's conferences are expensive, but the wealth of knowledge and chance to pitch your story to editors and agents is well worth it. Plus, you get to meet other writers! :-)

Are you seeking to become a published author yourself, or do you write for fun?

My writing started out as a hobby and then over time developed into a passion. I am now pursuing publication and dream of seeing one of my books in print!

How do you get inspiration for your stories?

There isn't a particular thing that I do to get story inspiration. I just sort of live life, pay attention, and take notes. Historical people and events, lessons and experiences from my own life, and scripture have all inspired my stories over the years.

Are your characters inspired by real-life people, your imagination, or a little of both?

A little of both. Some of my characters are loosely based on friends, family, or people I have observed in various places. Other characters reflect different sides of my own personality, and the rest are pure imagination. :-)

Do you have a favorite spot to write? (If you have to sit at the computer desk you might just skip this question! :D)

I hope one day to have my own office dedicated to writing. It would have an antique desk, shelves lined with books, and a large bay window so I could gaze at my beautiful garden when the words refuse to come. However, that office is still a dream, so . . . I write on my bed with my computer perched on a cushioned lap desk. ;-)

Do you work best in peace and quiet or with background noise and action?

When I write I need total silence in order to concentrate. However, I can’t sit still for too long or my creativity becomes stagnant. After working a few hours, I usually take a break and move around to revive my imagination.

Which area would you say you're strongest in as a writer? Plot, dialog, characterization, action, showing vs. telling, description, etc?

I think my strengths would be Showing vs. Telling and staying in one Point of View at a time.

Which area is hardest for you?

Plot. I organize the events of a book on worksheets, but I have to constantly return to my notes to remember what's supposed to happen next. And I usually have to make plot changes during the writing process because my first idea either wasn't the best or wasn't plausible.

Who are some of your favorite authors?

This list could go on forever, but I will limit myself to the first five that come to mind. Jane Austen, C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Bryan Davis, and Frank Peretti.

Do you agree with the old adage, "Write what you know"?

To an extent, yes. You should definitely be familiar with what you're writing about (history, emotions, story world, etc.) so that it feels real to the reader. However, if authors limited themselves only to what they knew, then we would miss out on fanciful stories like The Chronicles of Narnia or Winnie the Pooh. Knowledge is good, but no story is worth reading if it is void of imagination.

Any tried and true tips as far as technique goes?

One helpful technique that I've recently learned is the Cause and Effect rule. For example, "Rachel shivered as the cold wind blew." The cause and effect in that sentence are out of order. The cold wind blowing (cause) should come before the shivering (effect). So the sentence should go like, "As the cold wind blew with a fierce howl, Rachel shivered." See the difference? That attention to detail is what separates good writers from great writers. :-)

What is your remedy for Writer's Block? :)

I have a couple tricks to chase away writer's block. 1. Play the What if Game? - What if this happend? What if my character did this? Etc. I play around with different "what ifs" until I find the scenario that works best. 2. Randomness - My writing mentor, Teri Dawn Smith, gave me a game cube with different letters on it. If I get stuck, I roll the cube and then come up with ideas based on the letter I rolled.

And now for your last, and most challenging question: Why is a raven like a writing-desk? :)

Even though the Mad Hatter's riddle is meant to have no answer, a raven and a writing desk both remind me of Edgar Allan Poe. ;-)

What a great interview! Thanks so much, Angela! :) It was great having you! ~Rachel

A Mother for the Seasonings: A description and an excerpt

For some time I have been meaning to satisfy my readers' curiosity and give you a back-of-the-book blurb about A Mother for the Seasonings. For what good is a post about The Seasonings if you poor people don't give a hoot over who they are or why in tarnation we care about them! ;)

So without further ado, I give you an introduction.

Basil, Rosemary, Angelica, Dill, and Fennel, the children of a widowed British officer, love their life. With a doting father, plenty of money, vivid imaginations, and the run of Cape Farsight, what more could they want? It would seem they need nothing else. Until the children decide to find a wife for their father and a mother for themselves. But how to go about it? They can't tell their papa their scheme--that would ruin it. And they can't ask for help from the OLAF. (Old Ladies Against Fun) But faint heart never won fair lady, so to speak, and the children will not be daunted. They'll simply do the courting on their own.

Thus begins a hysterical, touching, adventurous, bitter-sweet, whirl-wind summer of visiting prospective mothers. But things do not go quite as planned. Something always seems to get in the way of complete success. It could be Miss Lorraine Simms who, to the children's shock, is old enough to be their grandmother and bitter to boot. It could be the beautiful Ana Vasselieve who has taken her vows a moment too soon and exits the abbey, a nun, just as the Seasonings arrive.

Whatever the reason, none of the women are the right fit for such a family.

Will they ever find a mother? Will this ache ever go away? And will they get through the summer without ruining the Seasoning reputation?

Written from the oldest son, Basil's perspective, and set against the vivid backdrop of British East India during the Victorian Era, A Mother for the Seasonings is sure to make you laugh, cry, and hope for a happily ever after.

There you go! :D What do you think? Would you read such a book? Let me know! :) Oh yes. And here is an excerpt to tempt you further. :)

"By the following morning I had had sufficient time for my anger to rise against Dill. Wounded pride fed the flame of irritation in my heart. I sulked in the icehouse, fanning the flame until it roared into a wildfire of indignation.

If Dill had not opened his mouth and proposed to Sister Ana, we would never have been humiliated.

Since when had I given the authority for anyone else to do the proposing? True, Angie had helped me along now and then, but what did that matter? Dill had gone too far and made fools of us in front of a whole abbey full of nuns.

What would be the best way to punish this mutinous behavior? After all, I was the oldest child, and since I couldn't quite bring the issue before Papa, I had to deal with it myself...Inspiration struck at that moment. Dill's pudding! I jumped up from the sawdust floor and ran into the house. I skidded to a stop outside the parlor door. I peeped through a crack and beheld Dill putting together a jigsaw puzzle on the floor.

I cleared my throat and stepped through the door. "Dill, I need to talk to you."

'Oh? What about?' He squinted at a piece and placed it in the center of the puzzle. His coolness irked me.

"About your behavior yesterday afternoon. You humiliated us, you know. A real man would never have proposed to a nun." I crossed my arms and tapped my foot on the floor, waiting to see how Dill would take my words.

"I suppose I did," he said in even tones.

"I've decided to take away your pudding and treacle."

Dill gave no sign that he had heard me. He turned the puzzle pieces over with a studied air. My anger swelled.

"I'm taking it away," I said, "for a solid week."

Dill sat up and stretched. "I suppose I did cause a fuss. Very well, Basil, you know best."

I stared at him, incredulous. I had expected a fight, or at the very least a frantic protest. But here Dill sat agreeing with the cruel and unusual punishment as if I had merely remarked on the fineness of the weather.

Was he feeling quite well? I peered at his rosy face, wondering what malady possessed him.

Dill met my gaze, his eyes searching mine. "Well, isn't it about time we got on with the visiting? I'll call the girls."

Dill exited the room, leaving me silent and not a little bewildered. I shrugged. There was no use trying to fathom what his submission meant. It only worried me...

'Miss Piccalo will be right with you." The maid dropped another curtsey and left us to the mercies of the slippery chairs.

I thought a word of caution in order. "Remember, we aren't proposing unless we really think we want Miss Piccalo for a mother. And this time I'll do the asking."

I shot a glance at Dill, but his face was turned toward the walls of the regally decorated room.

Chocolate brown and gold-striped paper met walnut wainscoting halfway down the walls. The trim of the doors and ceiling was gilded, and even the drapes in the deeply set windows were a rich sugary color. Tall curio cabinets filled with beautiful shells and figurines stood on either side of the ornate doors. A large plush rug bedecked with brown and red roses occupied the very center of the room. My feet sank into its velvety depths.

'Isn't this a wonderful way to live?" Angie gave a delighted little bounce that sent her sliding to the floor. "Oh mercy." She scrambled back upon her chair as the sound of light footsteps approached.

A moment later Miss Lily Piccalo appeared, looking cool as cream in her white gown. Her light brown hair was coaxed back from her face and she smiled at us warmly before sitting down.

"How are you children doing?" She perched herself like a dainty bird on a horsehair chair and folded her hands in her lap.

"We are quite well. Thank you," Rosemary answered.

"The weather is quite warm today, isn't it?" Miss Piccalo fanned herself gently with a paper fan.

I nodded and fidgeted with my tie. "Yes ma'am."

At this point I discovered that visiting a person alone was much different that visiting with a grown-up. I couldn't for the life of me think of what to say next.

Rosemary smoothed the ribbons on her hat and bit her lip.

"Did you enjoy your trip to Europe?" Angie asked.

Miss Lily leaned forward in her chair. "Oh yes, ever so much. I filled dozens of notebooks with sketches. It was absolutely lovely."...

Shortly, the maid appeared with a large stack of sketchbooks.

"You may each take one and look through it." Miss Piccalo took Fennel upon her lap. "If you want ot hear about any of the places, just ask me. There were so many interesting things to see and do. To tell you the truth, I was just thinking that I'd like to tell my adventures to someone who was truly interested in hearing them."

We all laughed at the funny little confession, and Miss Piccalo's easy manner soon put us at ease.

For the next hour she showed us her sketches and told us wondrous stories of lands where real kings and queens ruled, where the native people were as fair as ourselves, and where the climate was so cold that snow stayed on the mountain peaks till the middle of July.\

At last, when the conversation was drawing to a close, I telegraphed 'the question' to Rosemary. She nodded ever so slightly.

I cleared my throat. "Miss Piccalo, I have an important question to ask you."

She smiled. "Yes?"

"You see, Miss Piccalo, we haven't had a mother for years. Our own mother died, you know. Papa has seemed very lonely ever since then, and we've all gone a bit wild without a woman in the house. In short, we would like to ask you if you will marry Papa and become our mother. I know you'd be happy."

"Children, I...cannot agree to your proposal without knowing much more. Would your father be a kind husband? Is he a Christian? Would I be comfortable? Is he financially stable?" Miss Piccalo seemed to be talking to herself, her eyes fixed on some place distant. Her cheeks flushed with excitement.

Rosemary touched her hand with an appealing expression. "Papa is a wonderful father--I'm sure he'd be a kind husband."

Dill popped the last half of a tart into his mouth. "Yes, he is a good father...at least when he remembers to give us supper."

"Your father forgets to feed you?" Miss Piccalo looked quizzically at Dill's round face.

"Yes. And then Angie and Fenny have to dance in the market for money so that we can buy food." Dill smiled. "And if you come, you'd better bring all your clothes. You're lucky yesterday was laundry day. We might have had to visit in our underclothes because we only have one set of clothes each." Dill paused for a moment, leaving us dumb and in a great state of shock. I could not believe my ears.

After taking a sip or two of lemonade, he continued. "As for being a Christian, I suppose he is, but most Sundays he stuffs bits of cotton in his ears so he can't hear the sermon and spends the collection dime on whiskey."

Angie found her voice at last. "Dill Vervain Octavius Seasoning!"

She took a breath after delivering the long name, but Dill used this pause to continue his string of absurdities.

"As for being comfortable, I'm sure you would be fine if you didn't mind a mattress as thin as an old man's hair. We all have to use our mattresses for ten years, because Papa says he can't afford a housekeeper, much less new mattresses."

I wanted to protest at the top of my voice and defend papa, but the lies were so absurd that I could only sit there gaping like a fool as Dill's falsehoods grew into a new and horrible reputation for the Seasoning name..."

Hope you enjoyed that! Let me know what you think! Should I do any more excerpts? Oh yes! and stay tuned for the first of hopefully many author interviews, coming soon! ~Rachel