Last week I shared that many find the community of faith to be a pillar of life that supports all other areas. I agree. Whether a community like Charles Town, S.C. 1776 or a modern town, city, or village. But what else holds a special place in our lives? I believe one is the social element. Society.
As I’ve gotten older, I’ve become more of an introvert, not minding my own company. In the past, social events pulled me to participate. Now, not so much. I was one to always have a dinner party or birthday gathering. Fun. Fiesta. As my life continued to get busier and fuller, I found my social calendar suffered.
I remember the regular parties my friends and I had about fifteen years ago. We called them “hoolahs.” Every season, every occasion, or no occasion. The laughter, the food, and the awesome memories. So worth it!
Perhaps, we have lost the art of social events. I’m thinking back to the 1770s. In my Revolutionary Faith Series, Elizabeth and Louis enjoy numerous community events, large and small. Their commitments tire me just reading about them. Dinners. Balls. Weddings. Charity events. Gowns. Hats. Flowers. In their world without movies, TV, cars, and internet, these events filled their time as entertainment. We’ve lost the need for that level of entertainment. And perhaps we’ve replaced these personal encounters with our impersonal devices.
I think I might plan a “hoolah” to satisfy my desire for social mingling.
Do you entertain at your home?
Brennan discovers he lied to her about where he had been going that day. A cryptic notebook, a missing computer, and strange noises under her house soon have her questioning everything she thought she knew.
Mitchell is the author of 14 novels. She has also written 2 novels under the pseudonym of Iris Anthony. She graduated from the University of Washington with a business degree and has worked in various levels of government. As a military spouse, she lived all over the world, including Paris and Tokyo. Siri is a big fan of the semi-colon but thinks the Oxford comma is irritatingly redundant. Visit her online at 
Cove, Oregon, other battles wage. Anna McDowell continues to fight old fashioned stereotypes as she runs a newspaper committed to truth. Despite opposition, she’s determined to expose ongoing rum-running and prohibition lawlessness.
teens, women, and children. That’s a lot of books, but mostly she considers herself a “storyteller.” Her young adult novels (Diary of a Teenage Girl, True Colors etc.) appeal to teenage girls around the world. Her annual Christmas novellas become more popular each year. She’s won a number of awards (including RT’s Career Achievement Award, the Rita, and the Gold medallion) and some of her books have been optioned for film/TV. Carlson has two grown sons and makes her home in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and yellow Lab dog.
I take a walk through history as much as I can. On vacation. On walks in my hometown. Through old houses. Through old photo albums. In the pages of books. I’m enthralled with history. With that comes a desire to understand the people in those communities that seep through the time warp into my present mind.
My characters attend St. Philip’s Church, a Church of England congregation. The importance of their participation with this group of citizens molds their lives. They find the community of faith a stronghold in their dramatic lives in the pre-revolutionary and revolutionary stages. Marriages, burials, baptisms, worship, dinners, celebrations all revolve around the group of people they share through affiliation of the church. I read a very informative book about St. Philip’s and her growth and influence in the community 
Even the mountains praise Him…The rocks cry out…The lilies are clothed in splendor. And then there are butterflies. What a colorful array of floating beauty—majestic in design and flight.
Norgaard understands courage. Orphaned within an 
Joanne Bischof is an ACFW Carol Award and ECPA Christy Award-winning author. She writes deeply layered fiction that tugs at the heartstrings. She was honored to receive the San Diego Christian Writers Guild Novel of the Year Award in 2014 and in 2015 was named Author of the Year by the Mount Hermon conference. Joanne’s 2016 novel, The Lady and the Lionheart, received an extraordinary 5 Star TOP PICK! from RT Book Reviews, among other critical acclaim. She lives in the mountains of Southern California with her three children. Visit her online at JoanneBischof.com; Facebook: Author, JoanneBischof; Instagram: @JoanneBischof.
Orphaned as an infant, Oklahoma heiress Adelaide Fitzgerald has enjoyed every advantage. She possesses a unique gift for music and has excelled on the opera stage in Italy. As a philanthropist, she’s adored from America to Europe.
and six grandchildren were born in Texas. She devoted the bulk of her 40 years as a special educator in Texas schools. But her mother and grandmother hailed from Oklahoma, the setting for Linda’s 2015 debut novel, The Calling of Ella McFarland, which won the 2014 Jerry Jenkins Operation First Novel Award and the 2016 American Christian Fiction Writers Carol Award. Linda continues to write from her home in San Antonio, Texas. She and her beloved husband Al worship and minister at Oak Hills Church. Linda enjoys chatting with readers through her website 
Walking is one of my favorite pastimes whether for exercise or a stroll to check out new and old neighborhoods. What about you? Does the prospect of a walk send you searching for your walking/running shoes? When I travel, I enjoy setting off through the streets and paths of the area hoping to find something not overtly popular in a guidebook. And if there is time, getting “lost” is sometimes a pleasant use of time especially if it is in Venice, Paris, or any other interesting city or town. My husband is a master at leaving the tour and winding through the less traveled streets. One of my favorite memories is turning off the main passageway in Venice with a few hours to spare soaking up the ambiance of the neighborhoods with a few stops for gelato.
Well, maybe not for every soul. But for me, research is a thrill. It always has been even way back in junior and senior high. I even went back to school for graduate work and concentrated on the areas of research. I thought about getting another masters degree in order to research some more. But, I stopped with my MA in English. After all, I can research on my own…whatever topic I want.
I’ve found many ways and places to satisfy my deep desire to learn something new or to delve into a topic whether for a new novel I’m writing or a new interest. The library is always a top choice–the smell of old books and the feel of aged paper as well as the thickness of the volume or the well-used softness of the paper. The internet offers many resources too. I’ve found recently that archives in state libraries and museums are an awesome source of information.
Connect in Fiction with Marguerite Gray 