|
Social Networking
Follow Jane on: | |
|
|
Word Whisperings
 | | The Lost Garden by Helen Humphreys, W.W. Norton, 2002 |
Last month I shared a nonfiction book with you so this month, it has to be fiction. I have a wonderful book to tell you about - Helen Humphreys' The Lost Garden. It's set in England during WWII when "Land Girls" as they were called, volunteered or were posted to great estates to turn them into gardens of production -- potatoes, parsnips, carrots and kale. The harvests were sent to London a city being bombed daily.
The main character, Gwen Davis, has worked for ten years for the Royal Horticultural Service but now she's been placed in charge of a gaggle of young girls at an estate far from London. While there she discovers a lost garden and much about love and life."This is what I know about love," Gwen says. "That it is tested every day and what is not renewed is lost. One either chooses to care more or to care less. Once the choice is to care less, then there is no stopping the momentum of goodbye."
Her words are lyrical and deftly intertwine gardens with the lives of these women and a few men, too, since a Canadian regiment awaits orders on another part of the estate. I found myself tearing up frequently during the reading of this book. Gwen as a character is tense and driven and the young girls challenge her and change her as she discovers the mysteries of their lives -- and her own. For the reader, each character comes alive and is memorable, as distinctive as a rose is from a tulip.
Ms. Humphreys was born in England and has lived for many years outside Toronto, Canada. Her books have won numerous awards as has The Lost Garden.
At the end of this book, I cried. I don't often do that when I read a book, just great books. But it's hard not to with the British tendency toward earthy reality that portrays life as it is but with just a slender ray of hope. I found pleasure in the journey of this book, almost like walking a labyrinth, going to the center of this story and allowing the author to take me back into my own world, walking back out toward a renewed commitment to stop any momentum of goodbye before it is too late.
| |
|
|
|
April 18 Deadline
Reader's Choice
Vote Now! |
 | |
Reader's Choice Award Nominee |
|
The high tech world reached into southern Baja and brought me good news. A Flickering Light is a finalist for the Ken Kesey Award for the Novel through the Oregon Book Awards. The ceremony announcing the winners in seven categories of writing will be held in Portland, Oregon on April 25th. A Name of her Own was nominated in 2003 and it is a fine honor indeed.
While the winners have been chosen by a judge, a new award, Reader's Choice, has yet to be determined. You can vote for your favorite finalist on line, once a day, every day, until April 18th.
Click here to vote on the Oregonian website. You'll find A Flickering Light, click on it and vote. It's also a great place to find a fabulous reading list for the upcoming year. |
|
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!
A labyrinth is really just a pattern. Unlike a maze, you can't get lost while walking one and you can't make any wrong turns in one either so long as you stay on the path. If others are walking it too you might step aside and let them pass. Some people I'm told don't walk at all. They sit and watch, pray. A labyrinth -- like the one in our front yard -- is a circuitous road to the center.
Labyrinths are very old and almost all ancient cultures had them in some form or size. They're found in Christian Art and architecture in the first century. The earliest one dates from 325 and was found in a church in Algiers with a mosaic in the center that reads "Holy church." They invite active prayer: walking.
I learned about them in a book called The Sacred Way: Spiritual Practices for Everyday Life by Tony Jones. What I like best about them is that they're a metaphor for our lives. We're all on a journey uncertain where it will lead but trusting we will find our way to the center where we may rest, pray, stay, watch, before we begin our path out. I try to stay open to the lessons of walking and on the way out, pray for others as a reminder of my connection to the world around me.
 The morning I snapped this shot I'd taken the dog for a walk. He doesn't do well on the labyrinth, totally oblivious to the rocks marking the path. So we walked past it and then I saw how the snow had dusted the path and it came alive, up out of the grass. I took the picture and within minutes the sun came out and melted the snow. A hesitation and I'd have missed that moment.
How fortunate we are to have small moments in our lives to celebrate. This poignant morning "noticing" my labyrinth carried special meaning as once back inside the house we watched images of the tsunami and how in seconds lives were lost or devastated by shocked survivors. There is no pattern to their lives now, no flat spaces on which to form a walking path free of obstacles.
St. Augustine once noted that "some problems can be solved by walking." So when I walk the labyrinth this week I will think of those whose paths have been disrupted in Japan and the world around and I will think of those who would give anything for a place to walk toward the center without fear. I invite you to join me in thinking of others as you walk through your day whether on a labyrinth course, a street near your house, a favorite trail, or like me on a labyrinth course designed into being with love and community long before we bought our home. And if it moves you to make donations through your favorite charities to assist those around the world in need, then walking will have fed your body and your spirit, too.
|
|
Touching Base | |
Join me at one of the upcoming events!
Check out www.jkbooks.com for new additions.
April
April 5, 7:00 p.m. - Hood River, OR Hood River Hotel
April 6, 5:30 p.m. - Sherman County Public School Library, Moro, Oregon
April 7, 7:00 p.m. - Powell's at Cedar Hills Crossing, 3417 SW Cedar Hills Blvd., Beaverton, Oregon
April 8, 7:00 p.m. - Keizer Heritage Community Center, 980 Chemawa Road NE, Keizer, Oregon Library Fundraiser: Tickets are $15 each and includes coffee, tea and dessert.
April 9, 12:30 p.m. - Warner Pacific College, 2219 SE 68th Ave., Portland, Oregon, TEA WITH PRESIDENT ANDREA COOK. Fundraiser for scholarships. For more information contact Kevin Bryant at 503-517-1220 or kmbryant@warnerpacific.edu. Reservations and a fee.
April 13, 6:30 p.m. - Paulina Springs Books, 422 SW 6th St., Redmond, Oregon
April 16, 7 p.m. - Hoffman Center, 594 Laneda Ave., Manzanita, Oregon MANZANITA WRITER'S SERIES. Jane will speak to writers (and others interested) at this event which is open to the public; a $5 donation is requested. Jane will also be teaching a writing class in the afternoon from 2:00 to 4:00 in this beautiful beach community. http://hoffmanblog.org/manzanita-writers-series/workshops-2011-2 to register. kathie@jumpintolife.net for more information.
April 17, 1:00 p.m. - Fort Clatsop, Astoria, Oregon. In Her Footsteps presentation
April 17, 6:30 p.m. - Shoalwater Bay Tribal Community Library, Shoalwater Indian Reservation
April 21, 6:00 p.m. - WESTERNER'S HISTORICAL SOCIETY presentation http://www.westerners-international.org. Dinner at the Airport Holiday Inn in Spokane, 1616 S. Windsor Rd. Please contact: Don Popejoy dpoctalc@hotmail.com
(509)328-9368) by April 18th for reservations.
April 22, 2:00 p.m. - Rockford Historical Museum, Rockford, Washington. (Rockford and First Streets, off Hwy. 278; near Mica Creek, 30 minutes south of Spokane, Washington.
April 23, 2:00 p.m. Auntie's Bookstore, 402 W. Main Ave., Spokane, Washington Linda L. Hunt, (author of Bold Spirit: Helga Estby's Forgotten Walk Across Victoria America) Carole Estby Dagg (author of The Year we were Famous) and Jane will be together to talk about our books written around a common theme of Clara and her mother walking to New York City in 1896.
April 25, - Oregon Literary Arts - announcements of the Oregon Book Award! Tickets required. Jane and Jerry will attend as A Flickering Light is a finalist for the Ken Kesey Award for Fiction. She's also a finalist for Reader's Choice. Don't forget to vote daily until April 18.http://www.zoomerang.com/Survey/WEB22BS2G78ZM8
April 28, 7:00 p.m. - Oregon City Public Library, 606 John Adams, Oregon City, Oregon Community Wide Read. Jane will be speaking and signing books at this event that is open to the public. For more information contact Maureen Cole at mcole@orcity.org or 503-657-8269. The community is reading: All Together in One Place.
Saturday, April 30, 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. - Reedsport, Oregon. Ladies' Retreat "A LIGHT FOR OUR PATHS." Join Jane and other women from many walks of life and faith - or no faith at all - for a day of renewal and insight, caring and hope. Tickets are $20 per person and includes continental breakfast and lunch. For more information, contact Karin Waggoner 541-271-4193 (gkwaggoner@frontier.com), or Kristen Zenzsche 541-271-2428 (kzetzsche@internationalwriters.com).
May 1, 1:30. - Books by the Bay, 1875 Sherman, North Bend, OR |
A Mother-Daughter Story Contest | |
 The Daughter's Walk reflects the challenges of a mother and daughter as they overcome a family misunderstanding where triumph and grace return to their lives. Clara was never a mother...I'm telling a part of the story here; but she had a mother -- as do we all. In honor of the book and mothers and daughters, I'd love to read your mother or daughter story!
Story Suggestions? A long-distance story about you and your mother, a first-time mom story, a loss your mother overcame and how that affected you, or how about a secret revealed that proved to be a delight rather than causing a family schism? These are just a few ideas to get you thinking, and your story may be part of a longer project you're working on but are willing to share. Three prizes will be awarded in various categories as well as a few runners up...All prizes will include a personalized copy of The Daughter's Walk. Winners will be announced on my website the week of April 18th and in April's Story Sparks.
I'd love to post your stories on my facebook page, include them in my Story Sparks newsletter, and possibly my website. When you submit your story you are acknowledging that you are giving me permission to reprint your story. If you would not like to give me this permission I need you to state as such (I understand some stories are sensitive in nature). Please be sure to sign your name as you would like it to appear when reprinted. Your story will not be used for any other purpose. In the interest of space, please keep your stories to a limit of 1500 characters. Submit the story via my web page: http://www.jkbooks.com/Pages/contact.html. Or you can leave your story on my blog comment section at http://www.Janeswordsofencouragement.blogspot.com Remember, you don't need to think of yourself as a writer in order to write your story. You just need to show up and write!
The contest begins on March 26 and will end April 16th. |
|
April 5, 2011 |
 | | Helga |
April 5, 2011 is the big day! The Daughter's Walk will be released as a trade paperback book, an e-book and with an audio version so you can listen while you garden or...walk. There are a number of book events scheduled throughout the Northwest and I may be coming to Utah later this summer. Salt Lake City is where Clara and her mother agreed to don the reform dress you see them wearing here. They had photographs taken of themselves to sell, to help finance their walk across the country -- and back.
Several bookstores are planning "walking events" in connection with the book release and signings. You don't need me, though, to have a walking event. My publisher has prepared a kit for you on how to plan such an experience and maybe even make it a fund-raiser for your favorite charity. Here's the link if you're interested www.waterbrookmultnomah.com/daughterswalkkit. Come join us in Sunriver, Oregon for a walk for Habitat for Humanity.
If your book group should decide to read The Daughter's Walk be sure to let me know. Perhaps I can join you via speakerphone. Just visit my webpage under contact Jane and give me details.
Happily, The Daughter's Walk has earned starred reviews in Publishers Weekly, Romantic Times and Library Journal. The lines of the Pub Weekly I especially appreciated were
"Kirkpatrick is a master at using fiction to illuminate history's truths. This beautiful and compelling work of historical fiction deserves the widest possible audience."
I hope you'll agree on April 5!
|
|
I'm busy finishing my next novel that you won't get to read until April of 2012. But you can already enjoy the setting of this story if you live in the Northwest. It's set in Woodland, Washington, about an hour north of Vancouver. From mid April until Mother's Day each year, thousands of people arrive in this small city to take in the beauty and fragrance of Hulda Klager's Lilac Garden. Now on the National Historic Register, it's a place of exceptional comfort. I wanted to know more about the woman behind the garden and so I've had the privilege of speaking with descendants and others. When the final title for the book is known...I'll share it with you. Meanwhile, plant something as soon as you can to send winter away. It's good for the soul.
Warmly,
Jane
Jane Kirkpatrick |
|
|
