In This Issue
Word Whisperings
Library Story Winning Letters
The Power Of Story
Barcelona Calling
 

Social Networking
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Word Whisperings 
 

WhiterThanSnow

Whiter than Snow by Sandra Dallas

Enter a high altitude mining town in the middle of the 19th century in Colorado.  It's a sunny day and children are happily making their way home from school, lunch pails clinking as they walk.  Bring in the power of nature, an avalanche and read of the children, those who make it and those who don't.  And then let Sandra Dallas take you from this heart-pounding moment of loss to the lives of the families left behind by these children and you'll have an amazing story that will keep you turning pages into the night.  Trust me.
Whiter than Snow is  Sandra Dallas' latest historical novel.  It has all the historical  authenticity her works promise, all the power of language that Sandra displays so easily making real writing look like child's play.  In addition, she captures all three qualities of a good story that Joyce Carol Oates once noted:  empathy for the characters, giving witness to voices seldom heard, and memorializing.  She does each with compassion and literary genius.  
I'm always sad when I finish one of Sandra's books. Thank goodness she'll have another one to captivate us all come June.  Visit my blog at www.jkbooks.com for a terrific interview with this award-winning author.   

 

 
Library Story Winning Letters

We invited people to tell us library stories connected to my titles and picked six winners whose stories we have permission to share in Story Sparks and on my Facebook, blog and Twitter sites.  The winners earned copies of titles of other authors my publisher, WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group, publishes.  After reading those titles, I hope they'll donate them to their local library!  It's my way of helping celebrate libraries and their importance to communities.
 
Dear Jane,
I have read every one of your books! I love your historical fiction. It informs, inspires, encourages, brings tears, laughter and suspense.
The first book I read was "A Gathering of Finches". It especially intrigued me because I spent many summers in North Bend and Coos Bay.
I always bought every book and gave them as gifts but since I retired my income is very limited and our local Oregon City library has become one of my best friends. I love that I can go online, order books and DVD's, the library emails me when they are ready for me to pick up. It is a fabulous service and I plan to volunteer this fall at our library.
Thank you, Jane, for sharing your wonderful gift of writing with us. God bless you and Jerry. - Judy Kennedy
 

Thanks, Judy for you letter and for volunteering at your local library!  Your books are in the mail!

Permission to Forward Story Sparks

 

Some of you have asked if it's all right to forward Story Sparks to friends or to print it out for others who might not have computer access.  Yes and please include my name and the section telling people how to sign up on their own.  But before forwarding, be sure your friend really wants to see it!  Lots of forwarded emails get shot around cluttering up the web and I wouldn't want Story Sparks to show up in more "deleted" items than in the hearts of readers.

Story Sparks

"Stories are the sparks that light our ancestor's lives, the embers we blow on to illuminate our own"

Greetings!  

We're off to Greece!  I've read a dozen books about Greece, several are historical novels because let's face it, that's how I like to get my history!  While working on my undergraduate degree at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, I finally understood why history was important.  I'd taken a course on writing speeches and we studied great speeches from the time of Plato and Cicero and Churchill to present day assessing what made them memorable.  In order to critique wisely, we had to know the context of the speech, what was going on in Rome, in Greece, in New York City, in Great Briton. I had to discover history but it was noting how the events I read about touched lives that finally turned on my historical gene.  History became the spine of a story; people and how they lived became the flesh and blood. Those speeches were dialogue, really, and early fodder for what would become later stories written in my own hand about remarkable historical people and times. 

Acropolis

During my first stint in graduate school (I majored in Ancient Rhetorical Theory) I wrote a paper about a Greek philosopher, Isocrates and his understanding of two kinds of time:  chronos ( we get chronology from that word) and kairos  time which is not measured but rather is momentary, fleeting.  It is also translated as "God's special time."  We'll have a limited amount of chronological time in Greece.  So I intend to take in the sound of the sea, the voices of fisherman, the brilliance of the white sand, the crumbling of Greek ruins and savor the taste of real honest to goodness goat cheese remembering to express gratitude for the privilege of experiencing a country that St. Paul knew and commemorating the passage of time in Jerry's life as he's begun his 80th year.  Who knows what the future will bring but for the moment -- and karios, fleeting -- we will receive this present joy and consider the history of this nation that gave us Aristotle, the Olympics, a disciple's journey of faith and yes, Feta and Greek yogurt! ?
Beachside Writers - February 25-27, Yachats, OR
 
BeachsideWriters
 
For the fourth year, I've been invited to be a guest instructor at Bob Welch's Beachside Writers Retreat.  Limited to 50 people at various stages of writing lives, it's an inspirational weekend for students and instructors both!  Registration begins November 1 at www.bobwelch.net.
Touching Base
 
Jane
Join me at one of the upcoming events!  Check out www.jkbooks.com new additions.  
 
October 15-17. Wickenburg, Arizona (at a great guest ranch!).  WOMEN WRITING THE WEST Annual Conference.  Jane will receive her WILLA award here and attend a signing for winners on Saturday afternoon. To attend or find out more:  www.womenwritingthewest.org 

Saturday, October 23, 6:00 p.m. Cayuse Hall, Wildhorse Resort & Casino, 72777 Hwy. 331, Pendleton, Oregon. First Presbyterian Church 125 Year Celebration.  Jane will be the keynote speaker at a dinner gathering that is open to the public.  For more information call or e-mail Rudy Rada at 541-276-2258, [email protected].

October 29, 7:00 p.m. Northwood Christian Church,  2425 Harvest Lane, Springfield, OR  "AN EVENING WITH JANE KIRKPATRICK."  Jane will be the featured speaker for this fundraiser for the Northwood Church Library.  Admission is $5  for this public event with cookies! 

October 30, 2:00-4:00 p.m. First Baptist Church, 27910 Seven Mile Lane, Brownsville OR. BROWNSVILLE WOMEN'S STUDY CLUB'S 100th Anniversary Celebration.
 
NOVEMBER
 
November 3-7.  Bend, Oregon ~ Various venues
Jane will be attending the Nature of Words  events. To learn more visit www.thenatureofwords.org and join Jane as she "treats" herself to time in the audience at readings and lectures of some of her favorite writers like Anne Lamott and Barry Lopez."  

Sunday, November 14  (TENTATIVE)  Aurora Home Tour, Aurora, Oregon.  Jane's the hostess at one of the historic homes in Aurora.  Come and see how the Colonists lived, marvel at how their homes have been preserved and help support the Aurora Colony Historical Society.  Emma Giesy would approve!

November 16, 10:00 a.m.  Williamson Hall, 2200 NE Hwy. 20, Bend, Oregon  Jane is presenting to the Bend Genealogical Society about researching Native American stories; book sales and signing to follow.  For more information visit http://www.orgenweb.org/deschutes/bend-gs.   If you'd like directions to the hall or to ask about the Genealogical Society programs, contact Nancy Noble at [email protected] or call her at 541-593-3585.
The Power of Story

One of my favorite children's books is by Patricia MacLachlan (Sarah Plain and Tall).  It's a picture book titled What you Know First and captures the heart of those things that stay with us as children.

Some of you know that for seventeen years, I worked as a mental health consultant in early childhood on the Warm Springs Indian Reservation in Oregon.  I loved my work there.  The Early Childhood Center (ECE) served 90% of all the children on the reservation from six weeks of age (in the child care center) to 12 years of age (in the afterschool programs) and all the Head Start and preschool age kids in between.  Most of the children I encountered had special needs and were younger than five.
 
Earlier this summer a good friend of mine was hospitalized for a number of medical issues that resulted in her having to spend several weeks in the Neurological rehabilitation Center in Bend, Oregon.  During one of our conversations she told me that a nineteen year old woman from Warm Springs had also been there quite awhile and was hospitalized next door.  "I bet she knows you," she said.  I doubted that.  I'd have last seen her when she turned five which would have been fourteen years ago and I didn't remember her name when my friend gave it.  One day later, my friend rolled her wheelchair into the room and introduced herself telling the girl she was my best friend.  "Oh, I know her," the girl said.  "She worked at ECE."  Well, I was stunned and feeling badly that the girl's name didn't ring a bell with me.
 
The next time I visited my friend she insisted we go visit this young woman so we did.  "So we were together at Early childhood," I said.  "Yes.  You spoke at my Head Start graduation."
 
I had.  It had been an honor as usually parents select an elder or a tribal member.  But I have to say I always thought those little graduation ceremonies meant more to the parents than to the kids.
 
"Gosh," I said.  "That's amazing that you remember that.  You were only five years old."
 
She nodded and added, "You told a story."
 
I had.  One I'd made up for the kids that ended with my handing out polished stones to take away.  I remembered that part.  She said she still had her stone.  "Do you remember what the story was about?"  I asked.
 
"It was about an eagle who kept flying higher no matter what tried to pull him down."
 
I wish I'd written that story down on paper so I'd have it now; but what mattered most is that she had it and it continued to give her confidence and encouragement for the challenges ahead.
 
Perhaps that's why I love children's books and believe some of the best writing being done today are stories written for children and young adults.  Kids won't accept preaching or long-winded points being made.  They don't want 300 pages to wade through.  They want the essence of the story and it takes long hours to capture that in few words.
 
That said, I think I'll close for now and encourage you to go find a good children's book and read it to a child -- or to yourself.  You may re-discover the power of story.
Barcelona Calling
 
I don't have a final cover to show you yet, but my first contemporary novel Barcelona Calling  is on its way to production.  My editor at Zondervan is assessing the revisions I've made (I'll hold my breath until she says to proceed!  Well, maybe I'll breathe while in Greece.) The book will come out next September, after The Daughter's Walk.
Helga & Clara EstbyInterestingly, Clara, of The Daughter's Walk,  we believe traveled to Greece at the turn of the century as part of her interest in the fashion industry.  Greece leather tanners are some of the finest in the world.  I think I'll check that out while I'm there. 
 
Barcelona Calling doesn't have a Greece connection but it does have a bit of Barcelona in it.  This is a book about a writer who thinks if she can get Oprah to know her name or choose her book or even mention it, that she'll somehow get a bestseller out of it and she thinks that will make her life happy, happy.  It's a story about fame versus fulfillment and where our treasures truly lie.  It's meant to be light reading and I have to say, Annie Shaw, the protagonist, has many escapades that I've had in my life from squirting off of a spa stool because my body was so oiled (and nearly sending the stool through the 14 plate glass window of the cruise ship overlooking the port in Malta) to the emotional swings of hoping a book will do well and trying to discover -- with good friends -- what fame and fulfillment is really all about.  I hope you'll laugh and consider what might truly fill you up.
Old wives say increased cobwebs in the house mean an early winter.  If that's so, I expect snow before October 1 given the busy spiders in my house. Enjoy the changing season, seize that kairos time and thank you for being a part of my writing life.
 
Warmly,
 
 Jane

Jane Kirkpatrick