CRABAPPLE HOUSE

Dotti and author James Scott Bell

I'd like to introduce my writer friend, Dorothy Adamek. Well known as 'Dotti', she lives at Crabapple House with her Beloved and their three children, twenty fruit trees and Gilbert the cat. A graduate of La Trobe University, Dorothy studied Literature, History and Education. She taught secondary school English and English as a Second Language.  
   
She shares about her blog:

Hi Rita. I’ve been writing at my blog, which I call Ink Dots, since 2009.  I started sharing my writing adventures also some of the historical details I’ve unearthed in my research. I chose the name Ink Dots in salute to olde worlde writer’s ink, and picked up the dots from my nickname, Dotti. Ink Dots represents what I write ~ Historical Romance ~ The Heartbeat Of Yesteryear.  I’m a serious fan of most things olde worlde. The Australian colonial era is my favourite. Anytime in the 1800s draws me and I’m currently working on a 3 book series set on Phillip Island in the 1870s. I’m also working on a goldfields series set in Ballarat in the 1850s, with yet another project set in the 1840s. You can read more about why I love history on my About and Australia Pages at Ink Dots.

I asked Dotti if she had support from her family:

I’m surrounded by tremendous support as a writer. My family cheer ‘loud and proud’ and tell their friends and colleagues about my writing. God has blessed me with many kindred spirits in the book world who understand the peculiarities of the writing life. Readers and writers alike pray for me each day and share the writing road with all its dips and peaks. And I’m blessed to be able to return the gift of praying for my supporters, too. I know this is something not every writer enjoys and I don’t take it for granted. If there’s a writer reading this now, weighed down by little support or discouragement, please message me. I’d love to be praying with you. In many pursuits, prayer is the foundational work and writing is no different.

  
Thanks so much for sharing with us. Genuine heartfelt prayer makes all the difference to our lives. Dotti would love you to visit INK DOTS some time at http://dorothyadamek.blogspot.com

Follow me on Twitter   @RSGalieh

  

I DO ... AGAIN

Ten disappointing years of marriage. Seven painful years of divorce. One remarkable, true-life story of a love rescued by God.
An attractive young couple, Jeff and Cheryl Scruggs seemed to have it all: professional success, adorable twin daughters, and a good marriage. But their picture-perfect image concealed a widening chasm between two people unable to connect on an intimate, soul-deep level.

After years of frustration, Cheryl’s longing for emotional fulfillment led to an affair and, finally, a divorce that left Jeff utterly devastated and seething with anger.

Yet, incredibly, seven years later, Jeff and Cheryl once again stood at the altar, promising to “love, honor, and cherish” one another. A new and vibrant love had risen out of the ashes of this family’s pain. 

'I Do Again' reveals the hidden secrets that slowly destroyed this marriage and the spiritual awakening that opened the way to healing. This remarkable book is a riveting account of the power of prayer and redemption, and offers renewed hope for even the most troubled marriages. It also and reveals why the rewards of restoration are well worth the wait.

WRITING on the WALL

Carol Slama is an acclaimed writer and speaker, and calls Alaska home even though she’s also lived in Hawaii. Every winter when Anchorage temps drop below zero, Carol questions her decision to leave the tropics.  Her first suspense novel, Shroud Of Silence, was published by Bethany House Publishers.

Carol shares a touching story:

Our five-year-old son Max hurried downstairs for breakfast still in his pyjamas. Max had just finished his first week of kindergarten and he was excited to learn to read.
“Mom,” Max said, his blond hair spiked in all directions as he slid into a chair in the kitchen nook, “God’s writing me something.”
“What do you mean?” I said, setting the waffles and syrup on the table we’d recently snagged at a garage sale.
“At night, sometimes, he writes on the wall.”
“There’s writing on your wall?” I was quick to ask.
“No. Not now. You can only see it at night and I can’t read the long words.”
The earnest look on his face told me he was serious. “If it happens again, do you want me to read it for you?” I asked.
Max nodded vigorously.
Three-year-old Grant climbed onto his chair and folded his hands, eager to eat. “Let’s pray,” he announced. He and Max shared a bedroom and they were best buddies.
Prayer said, and youngest son eating, I turned back to Max. “Okay, when you see more words, call for me and I’ll come to your room.”
Worry lines now gone from his face, Max hiked up the sleeves on his Batman pajamas, stabbed a waffle and grabbed the now sticky syrup bottle his brother had abandoned.
That evening I was on alert, but no little voice called out. The next morning I asked Max if any words had appeared. “No,” he yelled over the noise of Grant pushing his corn popper toy. “He didn’t write last night.”
I gave him a hopeful nod, not wanting to discourage.  After a difficult week of dealing with teen moms in the ministry I led, I was waiting on God, too. How was I to help these young unwed mothers understand that the love they looked for wasn’t in a physical relationship but in a relationship with their creator? If only God could “write on their wall” that life was found only in him.
Three nights later, just before I drifted off to sleep, I heard a loud whisper coming from the boys’ room. It was Max. “Mom! He’s writing.”
I woke my husband and we hurried down the hall. My heart raced.
Max pointed and there, in a long, bright four-inch wide line was what looked like letters being written on the textured wall. I tried to make out words, letters. Then, I breathed.
“Max, honey, you know what, that’s the moonlight coming in under the window blinds and see, the tree branches are moving so it looks like writing.”
“Oh,” he said, disappointed. “So God wasn’t writing to me.”
My heart went out to him and I held him tight. He’d been so excited to hear from God—a message just for him. “Max, who made the moon and the trees?”
“God.”
“Right. And what he created made you think of him. I can just see him smiling, thrilled that your first thought was of him.”
Max lifted his face and nodded.
“Let’s see, how long did we wait to see this on the wall?”
“A long time,” Max said.
“Yes, a few days. But we don’t have to wait to hear from God.” I picked up the children’s Bible on the floor next to his bed. “We can read what he wrote us and talk to him anytime.”
And right then and there, we did just that. Two blond-haired boys, my husband and I—all reading a message that God wrote… just for Max, just for us, just for you.



Thanks for sharing with us, Carol. Hope it's not too cold up there in Alaska!

Follow me on Twitter,  @RitaSGalieh

A FINNISH WEDDING

Kyle and Tiia - Happily ever after

Marion Ueckermann, author of Helsinki Sunrise shares about her son's wedding to a Finnish girl.

The wedding took place on a Finnish summer’s day in a cozy hall made of wood and set in a forest beside a lake. Traditionally, wedding ceremonies are held in a wooden church and celebrations continue late into the night. It is normally a high budget affair with an American flair. But Kyle and Tiia aren’t ones for tradition.

We arrived at our sleeping quarters the afternoon before the wedding, along with friends and family of the bride and groom. Two rooms were occupied by the bride, her bridesmaids and friends from all over the world. The groom, his groomsmen and friends slept at the bride’s family’s summer cottage where the bridal couple would spend their honeymoon. 

Adam & Eveliina - Helsinki Sunrise

The group of young men enjoyed the sauna and lake late into the evening, and the following morning, prepared the cottage with candles and rose petals for a romantic wedding night.

The bride and her friends decorated the hall in Finnish blue

and white.

But the Finns have an incredible way of taking things in their stride—must have something to do with their relaxed, unstressed way of life. Tiia disagrees on me with this one, but, to me, everything looked like it was going according to a precise Finnish plan. By the time the wedding started the following morning, the hall was set, the food was cooked, and the stage had been erected. Accompanied by a guitar and violin, the groom sang his bride down the dusty aisle beneath tall pines while children of all ages ran ahead of the bride carrying signs in different languages. Morsian—Finnish for bride—one read. Another was in our native, Afrikaans—Hier kom die bruid (Here comes the bride).

Because the bridal couple had been married in court two months prior (a wedding in paper only), they did not require a minister, and so the fathers of the bride and groom conducted the ceremony in English and Finnish, both accompanied by a translator. Thereafter the bride and groom said their own vows…in English and Finnish.

A really fun part of this Finnish wedding was the traditional ‘kidnapping’ of the bride by masked men with water pistols. When Kyle was finally able to rescue Tiia, he found her trapped on an island on the lake. What the ‘kidnappers’ didn’t know was that he had been frolicking in those same waters with his friends the day before and knew the water wasn’t deep. So he merely rolled up his trousers, swooped his barefoot bride into his arms and carried her across the watery divide until they were both safe on dry land. At the same time, it began to drizzle and they got a little wet after all.

At the end of a beautiful and truly memorable day, the groom made off with his bride to begin their happily ever after.

 
Helsinki Sunrise, a Passport to Romance, blog tour follows on from yesterday’s How to Keep Your Readers Turning the Pages blog with Zoe McCarthy in Southwestern Virginia, USA.

Tomorrow we'll stop  and smell the Finnish flowers with   Pamela Thibodeaux
in Louisiana, USA.

Helsinki Sunrise is available to purchase from                      
 Pelican Book Group,   
Christianbook.com, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble
 

There will be an eBook of Helsinki Sunrise up for 
grabs today. To be entered into the draw, please 
leave a comment with your email address before 
September 19th.*

Watch the Helsinki Sunrise book trailer on YouTube.

Watch the Passport to Romance book trailer on YouTube.

Thanks Marion for allowing us to share in your family's happy day. And you've certainly captured their true life romance experience in your fictional characters Adam and Eveliina.

(NB: The winner for this blog tour day was Deanna Stevens)

MARRIAGE - EMPTY BOX

Wonderful advice hereAsk God to help you follow it!