I've just returned the edited manuscript of The Seasons of Covington, to be published in the summer of 2006, to my editor in New York. Editing is time consuming. I turn in the manuscript, my editor reads it, makes whatever corrections or changes she would like, and returns it to me. I make those changes, then print a copy and edit it again for spelling and any other mistakes, and return it to her. There is another edit on her end, and the manuscript comes back to me for a last read, then back to her. You might think editing is work, but I love the process, and you know it's never work when you love doing it.

Fellow author Celia Miles and I have been colleagues in a writing group, The Plotters, for over five years, and we travel together for talks and book signings. It takes a special attitude and tolerance to travel well and happily with another person, as many of you know. It works for Celia and me.

Celia is a native of this area and writes about Appalachia, as in her novel, Mattie's Girl: An Appalachian Childhood, a coming of age story set in the late 1940s, and in her two gentle romance novels A Thyme for Love and its sequel, Thyme Table Mill, set on an herb farm near Asheville, North Carolina. She also has written and published a collection of short stories On a Slant. I treasure Celia as my friend and for her kindness and generosity of spirit.

[ Celia, Joan, and Doris Monzo at Rural Retreat Library ]

When I first heard the name-Rural Retreat- I thought it was literally a rural retreat, it is a small town (once called Mt Airy, renamed Rural Retreat in 1856) I soon discovered that in 1998, Rita Cobbs, Kathy Lovelace, and Evelyn Lahman gathered friends, and with the help of Wythe Grayson Regional Library Director, Michael Gilley, found a location, raised funds, and established a library in the small town of Rural Retreat. Today, they own their own library building (renovated by volunteers) and maintain with the help of limited government funds plus book sales, raffles, silent auctions, and author luncheon/dinners like the one Celia and I attended recently, at which I spoke. In the photo above, Celia and I join Doris Monzo at Rural Retreat Library.

With this gorgeous hibiscus blooming in a pot in my yard, it feels like summer, though we are still having days in the 60s. This year I am planting flowering tropical plants in pots: hibiscus, bougainvillea, plumbago and lantana, some of my favorites. As I get older I find that I surround myself with things that remind me of my St Thomas home.

I first heard of Quilts of Valor (QOV) this spring when I spoke at the Welcome Wagon Book Club's Tea in Johnson City, TN. Hostess Pat Ledbetter showed me a pattern for a lap quilt that she and her mother Marion are working on.

Quilts of Valor is a volunteer program started in November 2003 by Catherine Roberts, a quilter and mother with a son in the military. These quilts are now distributed, with love and prayers for healing, to wounded soldiers mainly from Afganistan and Iraq at Walter Reed Hospital in Washington, DC and at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, TX. As of January, 2005, 160 quilts were given to these men and women as an expression of support and appreciation. Many more are needed. You can visit the web site at www.quiltsforsoldiers.com for more details on this important project.

Those of you who have read my latest novel, The Three Mrs. Parkers, know that is it set in Salem and Walhalla in South Carolina. (My husband and I own land in Salem.) Recently, I visited and spoke at the Walhalla, Seneca, and Salem Libraries. Barb Askew, the incredibly well-organized President of the Friends of the Oconee County Libraries, and other members of the friends, provided refreshments at every event. I worried she'd get tired hearing similar talks, but if she did, she never showed it.

Pictured, left: Joan, Barb Askew, John Hewell

Celia and I wandered the back roads, crossing lovely Lake Keowee again and again. We visited Lake Jocasee, now Devil's Fork State Park, and photographed frogmen preparing to dive. We drove down to the interesting mill village of Newry. The mill closed many years ago, but the village and the people are still there.