Do you want to know a great blessing I have? Well, I have three younger sisters! We are the best of friends and love our time together. Yes, I’m the oldest, and I know that is the best place to be! Haha! Any oldest siblings out there? I know all other positions think they are the best too. Anyway, the four of us like to choose a destination and meet there to relax, catch up, talk about everything–just exist together in the same place.
This year one sister suggested Charleston, South Carolina. Why? Because she had just finished Bring Me Near, my Revolutionary Faith Book Three. “I want to see all those places in the books.” As well she should. Charleston holds her roots as much as mine. How could I refuse being a book tour guide to my very own sisters!
I plan on showing them the different houses featured in my books, including the Lestarjette house on Church Street. We’ll include a cemetery search behind St. Philip’s Church for Elizabeth Elliott’s parent’s tombstones. Also, on the tour are the college, the Exchange Building with the dungeon ,and most likely a house tour.
Charleston was voted the best Southern city in “Southern Living” recently. Of course, it is. And the food…we will eat and eat, soaking up the atmosphere. The city is very walkable, and we love exercise, especially since our house is in the historical district.
There is no way I will pass up a chance to research. I decided to stay an extra three days giving a few hours to research at the South Carolina Room in the Charleston County Public Library and the South Carolina Historical Society. A quick trip to Orangeburg will add an additional dimension to my research as that is where Louis and Elizabeth are buried.
I look forward to sharing tidbits about Charleston and my research. Since I’ve finished writing Draw Me to Your Side, I am anxious to start on As I Wait which involves another phase of the American Revolution.
Do you have a favorite city or destination to which you repeatedly return? Charleston is that for me.
out of medical school—and runs from her parents. Genealogist Jillian Parisi-Duffy’s digging traces the family long tradition of doctors to an ancestor saved during a yellow fever outbreak in Memphis in 1878. As Meri’s family closes in, Jillian gets the final puzzle pieces in place just in time for them all to learn the truth. The Inn at Hidden Run is the first book in the Tree of Life series. Readers will come back to backdrop of a lovely mountain town of Canyon Mines again and again to explore and celebrate unforgettable family stories that inspire them to connect with their own family histories and unique faith journeys.
husband and twentysomething children provide welcome distraction from the people stomping through her head on their way into her books. She chases joy in stunning Colorado at the foot of the Rockies, where daylilies grow as tall as she is.
I’m not one who usually exaggerates, but I am going to here. If you are not a teacher, I know you probably think “what is she thinking?” Well, the last two weeks before school gets out for the summer are the longest, for everyone. 1001 days in the ten days of school. If school let out in June, then the two weeks before that date would be long too. I can’t explain why, but I have a few suggestions.
I’m not complaining because I know the end will arrive like it does every year. Here is what happens. I teach in high school. The seniors leave, and the students have two more weeks of school. They think school is over and surprise, surprise it isn’t! They still face projects, tests, assignments, and finals. Each day seems to be 16 hours long instead of 8 hours.
What do I do to counteract the students giving up? With Spanish, it is fun! Create music videos or board games, make pinatas, sing, drama, read. It’s not bad at all, except the days are so long.
I teach at an awesome public high school in Louisiana. Everyday I walk with a colleague by the English classrooms. This semester I have had the privilege of watching the students transform the hallway into an art gallery. Daily the images materialized bringing to life the books that the students have read.
It’s May, the busiest month of the year for me, even more so than December. How about for you?
Also, this year I have a writing deadline–Draw Me to Your Side, Book Four of Revolutionary Faith–due on June 1! I am so near the end, if my cat will let me use my computer. I’ll gladly share my major feat with you next week, I hope. I spend my evenings and any weekend time writing, editing, and inputting. Since I am deadline driven, I know it will be done on time. Exciting but time-consuming.
Oh, I can’t forget my niece’s graduation in Mississippi on Mother’s Day weekend. I’ll then enjoy an afternoon with my own mother back at home.
Connect in Fiction with Marguerite Gray 