Friday, November 20, 2009

And it's in....

For the last few days I have been working on an article for a possible anthology book. Today I decided with the hecticness of Thanksgiving and Christmas coming up that I would finish it and...then email it in. It amazes me how much cheaper and faster and quicker this is that the old
way of snail mail and then wondering if they received it. Within minutes I had an automatic message telling me that the article had been received!

Wow. I have a lot to do with the holidays coming as three of the four of my children will be here ---
it kind of boggles the mind when I think about it all. And last night I became very ill suddenly. I've been slowly recovering today. Finally the weather is turning cold ....until now November had been very mild and beautiful.

John is also busy doing some publicity on his book Earth Is Not Alone. He and our daughter, Phoebe, made a trip to Florida last week to see his mother/her grandmother. It was good they could go. I stayed here and went to the quilt retreat where I visited with friends from Oswego, NY and made progress on my quilt! Now thankfully I've been making some progress on my writing also....




Tuesday, November 3, 2009

GREAT DAY!

Today is a day of birthdays! I know two people celebrating today!
And I'm celebrating also. I'm just very content today. Some days are like that. I'm trying to be more appreciative of all my blessings and I have had a lot. I know they came from the Lord and even the hard times have been allowed (though they are not easy to deal with....) I think one thing we don't do as Christians is really let our brothers and sisters who are going through hard time grieve the way they may need to. We can still know Christ as feel really sad as many of the Bible characters did. We know we have hope in the end but in the meantime it is hard to understand.

But today I have to choose. And today I'm trying to make the most of the time. Last night I did submit an article for an anthology even though I won't know for a while. Another article I submitted a while ago has not been chosen for a series although since it has not been returned YET there is a possibility the editor could be holding it for a later book. Doubtful but yet possible. And I'm working on another article....so I have plenty to do. As well as try to finish my fall quilt that is in about its' fifth year ....it's now or never!

Monday, November 2, 2009

November news.....

The countdown is on to the end of the year and finally I'm back to writing. I recently completed an article I hope to submit to an anthology whose deadline is a month from now. And I'm working on another article. So I'm back at it.

Yesterday there was an article in our church newspaper about my husband's book Earth Is Not Alone and John has also been doing a few other marketing items regarding the book. In other news members of our family have had the H1N1 virus that is going around and the World Series between the Phillies and the Yankees is going on not far from here. (2 hours away right now in Philly)
And I'm hoping to get my quilt out from last year and begin work as the quilt retreat is coming up soon. Plus we have a "surprise" project that is taking a lot of our time....down the road it will be revealed!

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Poems

This week Eli wrote a new poem for the Golden Goblets....a poetry collection of funny poems my family has been writing for children. He was hoping to inspire us once again. We write them in fits and spurts. The new one was called "Cobweb Head." I like it a lot.

Since I didn't post this summer I forgot to say that Focus on the Family Clubhouse Jr. published John's poem entitled The Lost Bible this past July. It is a long poem based on 2 Kings 22 and 23.
It is about King Josiah. John wrote eight of the stanzas but I actually helped him write the last three stanzas when Clubhouse said they needed an "ending" to the poem and John was busy. So that poem is special to me. Yesterday John wrote a new article for Torah class on the website and is waiting for me to edit it. As time goes on, I get more confident in my editing abilities.

Right now John is watching the Phillies play the CO Rockies in the playoffs. He is wanting the Rockies to win even though we live and love it in PA. Tomorrow (Columbus Day) we will finish our Art Tour. I am also about to print out the players for the NBA as we have our draft coming up on Oct. 25. Time is going too fast....

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Endless Mountains Art Tour


This will be short and hopefully sweet! Today was the Endless Mountains Art Tour which visits the studios of artists in and around Montrose. Wow, some of them have gorgeous artwork to tempt us with as well as beautiful studios in which to create their art. On Monday we will complete the other half of the tour. Two of the places we visited were in Dimock, PA and I saw where much of the gas drilling is headquartered in Susquehanna County with Cabot Gas Co.


I guess that isn't much about writing but it does inspire one to do one's best writing and produce for the public. I also have a beautiful place in which to write so I need to get to work and make the most of the gorgeous spot in which I get to spend time.


John had a wonderful review of his book, Earth Is Not Alone, on http://www.titletrakk.com/

One has to go to the archives but if anyone is curious, it is certainly a different book and

one that is worth the trouble to read about.


I enjoyed adding a photo so much yesterday that I am going to try one more time.....

okay that was fun. This shows a Labor day photo when we were enjoying some venison with our youngest son and other guests. Enough of photos...back to writing tomorrow.

Friday, October 9, 2009

It's October!


Well once again I tried to upload a picture....

the only thing is this time it worked. I was actually trying to upload a picture of the cover of John's book, Earth Is Not Alone, but that was not successful so instead you see a picture of my grandson playing with some kittens on the porch of his house!

No he doesn't live in PA but in NY. However I will say that it has been quite a summer and a nice thing is happening at my PA home which unfortunately, I can't talk about at the moment since it is a surprise. But in time, I'll let you know. Another nice thing. Today John completed a draft of his fourth Torah class article. Now he just has to edit it. You can see his latest one at www.torahclass.com I also have been working on an article finally...it, too, needs a lot of editing. But I'm back on my blog and hope to tell you many new things about writing in the upcoming days. It has been an interesting and busy summer and now I'm ready to write....and submit!

Monday, June 8, 2009

Time flies when you are having fun......

Home to PA! Our time in FL has flown! I feel like I just arrived and now in three days we need to leave. John, my husband, is working on an article for www.torahclass.com website and should
have it finished shortly. I just submitted an article to an anthology but I will not hear about it
until fall at the earliest.

In the meantime my middle son, Eli, and his wife and child have moved to Houghton, NY so we
will be able to visit them when we arrive back in PA! Eli is finishing work on his dissertation this summer (or at least he is hoping that he is.) I'm looking forward to visiting Eli and Linda in NY. And on our way home from FL, we will visit my daughter and her husband in TN.

My youngest son, Andrew, leaves next Tueday for Israel for a month. He will be going
on an archaeological dig in Hazor. But he will also have the opportunity to visit my oldest
son, Ethan, in Beersheva which is great! Ethan also has an apt in Jerusalem so maybe they
can meet up there at the end also (depending on Ethan's work schedule.)

I can tell it's summer time by all the traveling folks are doing. Even us. But I will be sad to leave FL. I really enjoy the time we get to spend here......but now I've got to get packing!

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Obviously I can't......

Let's see if I can do this!


J O H N K N A P P I I
WHAT IS EARTH IS NOT ALONE?
by John Knapp II
"After terrible tragedy, a parent-teacher-
student confrontation leads to the discovery
of new worlds."
Adventure that includes Assassination. Abortion. Adoption. Attempted rape. Acrophobia. Agnosticism. Atheistic honor vs. Christian honor. Barter economy necessitated by disaster. Burying those suddenly killed. Cheating suspected among Christian honor students. Calendars in other worlds. Doubting. Deception. Demon possession. Defending a mountain fortress against impossible odds. Dying in the line of duty. EMP (electromagnetic pulse). Exorcism. Emryss and Elphia as planets?
Fairness. Faith asking for facts. Fallen humans from other worlds. God in other worlds. Horrible natural disaster. Hatred of killing and war. Interplanetary romance. Justice. Jesus’ death and resurrection for salvation everywhere? Kidnapping. Killing to survive. Love until death. Martial law. Military strategy. Mental retardation, an unexpected resource. Missionary responsibility—how far does it go? Nuclear disaster. No electricity, no lights at night, and no motorized transportation. New laws and rules. Numbers and logic. New important stories and records discovered. Order vs. anarchy. Passion. Princes, Princesses, and other royalty. Prophecy from another planet. Quick, necessary marriages. Risks of commitment. Redefining time.
Survival without electricity. Substance abuse in a "fairy-tale" world. "Susquehanna" behind walls. Speaking in tongues. Stories within stories, carefully analyzed. "Sci-fo" format. Tabloids and truth. Travel to other planets? UFOs. USA shrinking in size (to 47 states) and power. Vows to win at all costs. Visions that language can’t explain. WDSS (What does Scripture say?). Witches. Worship in other worlds. X with the "hanging spikes"—a legitimate symbol? Young—too young—love, necessary but dangerous. Zareba’s best secret.
A mysterious global crisis seen from the mountains of northeastern Pennsylvania—from Aeron to Zareba— in 500 pages with several illustrations by Dominic Catalano. It’s all here— and more.
This easy-to-follow story is perfect for a gray, rainy weekend—best by candlelight.
To read the first two chapters and see the cover see www.johnknapp2.com or www.earthisnotalone.com.
EARTH
EARTH IS NOT ALONE
J O H N K N A P P I I
ALONE
I S N O T
EPHEMERON
PRESS
T H E E M R Y S S C H R O N I C L E S

If you are reading this you may not know until I tell you that this is not what I was trying to
copy on this blog. I was trying to paste the picture of the cover of EINA. But obviously and unfortunately I did not succeed. Somehow I managed to get the blurbs of the book. Well as Scarlett O'Hara says, "I'll think about that tomorrow!" It's late and I must get on to other things.......

Sunday, March 22, 2009

March 22nd!

Happy Spring!

I can hardly believe it is spring ....it's hard to tell when you are in Florida. I'd certainly be noticing if I were in PA. Today my oldest son is flying back to Israel and yesterday was my daughter's birthday. And my grandson just went on his first camping trip in Tanzania (and his parents survived! Since I've mentioned everyone else I should mention my youngest son is probably in Baltimore watching the NCAA Tournament as am I. We are watching Syracuse playing Arizona State and it's (hopefully) looking like Syracuse may win and make the "Sweet 16"!

I tried to put the cover of John's novel on this blog but somehow it would not upload. Anyway this has been quite a week as I have helped John set up paypal on his website and we have continued to "proof" his book. Hopefully next week he will have some copies in his hand....we have one copy of the book already that we have been proofing and have been quite happy with it! It's been a long time coming......

Thursday, March 5, 2009

It's March 5th!

In two days it will be my oldest son's birthday! He lives in Israel but is flying back to the
US next week for a week of training for a possible new job. In the meantime friends from
here in Fl are visiting Israel and will see Ethan. Why didn't I think to send a birthday card
via them? Recently Ethan authored an article about Passover on the Holy Land Marketplace
website and in the near future will have a new article on the www.Torahclass.com website
entitled Why Galilee Part 2. He has certainly been busy.

Since I mentioned Ethan's birthday, I will also say that my son-in-law, Greg Cole,
will have a momentous birthday also this month! And my daughter, Phoebe, will
have just a regular birthday on March 21! They will be coming for a visit on March 29!

But the big news is that my husband, John, will most likely have his book, Earth Is
Not Alone, (the final proof copy), in his hands in about a week or at most, a week and
a half. Then when corrections are made, the actual book! Sometime within the next
month. That's hard to believe after all this time.......

Friday, February 20, 2009

Getting there.....

Completing anything is always satisfying and John is reading me aloud all 500 pages of his novel, Earth Is Not Alone. Tonight we passed the halfway mark. Obviously we aren't getting a lot of other stuff done but I think he is finding it satisfying - even if he is finding more errors than he wanted.

And last year we "tried" to read the Bible through in a year. We had a guide where you read three different readings each day. John actually succeeded but I was hit and miss. This year we are reading it together also and we are past a month and a half and still on track which feels great! We are reading the Archaeological Study Bible and it is great. So far even reading all the notes. Hopefully both projects can be completed!

Thursday, February 19, 2009

More editing than writing.....

Not much new writing being done (by me) but a lot of editing is continuing. My son, Ethan, has been working on a short piece about Passover for HolyLand Marketplace on the Torah class website. So he emailed that to be edited. Ethan is working on his final draft of Why Galilee...Part 2 also for the Torah class website.

And John (my husband) is reading me his whole 500 page soon-to-be-published novel,
Earth Is Not Alone, so we can edit it and catch any errors. That as you can imagine takes some time. So although I may not be getting a lot done myself. I think I am getting a lot done as far as encouraging others.

There is also a lot happening in the lives of other family members which I won't go into here or this might turn into a novel itself.

A fun thing for diversion from editing has been going for a bicycle ride in gorgeous weather....it reminds me of fall up north with a cool breeze blowing. Last week I found a great deal on a "used" ...all the way from Binghamton, NY ....Huffy bike and John got one too. It is so nice riding it in "flat" Florida and reminds me of my youth which is always nice!

Saturday, February 7, 2009

Good News!

We made it to Florida but we are only now beginning "regular life." And here in Florida it has been quite cold. Yes, not as cold as in PA but cold for here. I have been hoping the oranges do not freeze as I love the Florida orange juice ...it is one of the things I really miss when I am away and I even pay a little extra for it.

January disappeared just the way I thought it might. Sort of in a busy blur. We opened up here and then went to Venice, Fl to move my mother-in-law out of assisted living. Our daughter, Phoebe, met us there as she had been given a grandfather clock. Phoebe came back home with us and was busy scanning photos and letters for the next week. January was a "moving month" for many in our family. Our middle son and wife are now in Tanzania till April and our youngest son and his wife moved to a new apt in Baltimore. All of a sudden it was February!

BUT good news had arrived in January An article I had written called "New York Calling" has been accepted for a Cup of Comfort - Bible Promises anthology which should be out this fall or winter/spring of 2010. I'm not sure exactly when...maybe even sooner since the editor said there is a promotional opportunity for it coming up.

That is my encouragement to make the most of these coming months in Florida when life will be slower and I should have time to write. Our oldest son, Ethan, is working on a follow-up article to "Why Galilee?" for the Torah class website and my husband is hoping to get his book completed and out this spring! And today the sun is shining. PTL!

Sunday, January 4, 2009

2009!

The year of 2009 has begun and hopefully in about a month my writing will begin on turbo mode. This present month will be much like December in that family obligations have me quite busy. This month we move from PA to FL and also have to move my mother-in-law out of her apartment and will vacation with my daughter and son-in-law after that.

Actually 2008 ended fairly well for me writing wise as my article entitled "What My Fourth
Grader Taught Me About Prayer" came out in the last issue of Come To The Fire magazine.
Well, the magazine will continue but online. So that was very nice. It was the Nov/Dec issue of the magazine.

Then I had an article entitled "Sew Much, So Close" in the Oswego Alliance Beacon. That is
the newspaper of our former church in Oswego, NY. John and I were charter members there and attended there for over 25 years. This year nine attendees of that church came to
Montrose for its' annual quilt retreat so I was honored to write an article for the church newspaper telling about the retreat and also catching the church up on our family's activities since we moved. The article was subtitled "Annual November Quilt Retreat at MBC."

Our oldest son, Ethan, who lives in Israel also had an article on the Torah class website www.torachclass.com entitled "Why Galilee?" And my husband, John, was kept busy editing chapters of our middle son's dissertation for Colorado State University. There was a lot of writing going on.

Add to that my husband wrote his annual Christmas letter that was two-sided. And right now a good friend gave us some personal memoir writing to read and give feed back. on. As I list these accomplishments, I realize that writng is writing .....and hopefully all of this will be used by the Lord for His purposes whether secular or religious.

One of the best pieces of writing is the article I just read about a young man whose father was a founding member of Hamas in Israel. This young man became a Christian and is now sharing his faith with the world! What an amazing testimony! His name is Mosab Hassan Yousef and you can google him and read about his conversion. Please keep him in prayer for safety and also that the Lord would give him a mighty ministry to Muslims.