Sunday, December 3, 2017

ANNOUNCING..............

Today was a very exciting day.  The book I've been working on for several years has finally been published!  The book Daffodil Hill and the Purpose of the Lavender Fields is now out.  It has been a long and arduous journey getting it to this point.
Daffodil Hill is a book about a small community that loves and depends on their gardens. When a creature come through and starts to dig them up, the whole town is in an uproar! What they find is completely unexpected! Daffodil Hill is like most cozy stories with a surprise twist at the end. Clean, no sex, no violence-a perfect book to trust to your teenager without worrying what they are reading.
I  love the characters, they are all a part of me and those I love, even the crazy ones!  Here is a picture of the cover... The drawing of the trees were hand drawn by Jill Nelson.  She did a great job.  And I love purple!   Let me know what you think and I hope you love it as much as I do.


Here is one of the reviews... Its kind of long, but worth it!
There is a great Rolling Stone song that speaks to the truth that “You can’t always get what you want.” In Danette Key’s Daffodil Hill, this theme resonates throughout this cozy community as several characters come to terms with, as one of them describes it, the realization that one’s hopes are not their reality and the sadness that comes from that discovery. At some point, we’ve all experienced this disappointment in various aspects of our life—relationships, career, health, faith—and the residents of Daffodil Hill are no different.

Ms. Key creates many well-developed and relatable characters, each of whom is struggling to move beyond past misfortunes and find their way forward. While it is a small community, and almost everyone knows everyone else, there is another thread that links the various characters together. There is a whimsical, unobtrusive sci-fi fantasy element running throughout the novel (and running through the vegetable gardens of many residents). But, in the end, even that doesn’t turn out as planned.

The real strength of this story is in the depth of character development and the believable interpersonal connections that breathe life into these people, this community, and even the “creature” at the heart of the story. You feel as if you could walk these streets, go to these shops and have conversations of your own with these people, and that is what keeps the story moving along. You really care what happens to them. Some adapt and look to a bright future, and some hold steadfastly to the past and are miserable, but you can relate to all in some way. It’s that connection, along with Ms. Key’s straightforward writing style, that earns my 5-star rating and wholehearted recommendation.

Thursday, March 9, 2017

WISHING YOU WOULD HEAR...

You thought I was writing "wishing you were here", didn't you?

Either way, wishing is a good thing. Unless you are wishing for something you shouldn't have like Peter in my book, "On the Edge of Wishing".  So,  lets address that first.
Wishing for someone else's spouse is not good.  Wishing for someone else's car is not good.  Or wishing for someone else's kids isn't good either.  Wishing to win the lottery isn't very productive nor is wishing for something to happen that you know isn't going to happen.  Peter does make wishes, but doesn't seem to realize he shouldn't be wishing for those things.

So what is something good to wish for?
 I always wished for my husband to be nicer to my kids. It didn't happen. I was sad and discouraged. I finally expressed this to him and he began to change.  Wishes can be good, but there needs to be action too.  

Taking action and then wishing it happens is good.  If you wish for your neighbors car, save up your money and make it happen!
If you wish for an outcome, make it happen.

Now Mary Ellen in "On the Edge of Wishing" does start to wish certain things and in a fictional story wishes do happen without action.   As her wish begins to come true, she is surprised and excited.  Cinderella had the same experience.  However cute both stories are, they are not real life.

So today..  I'm wishing you all the luck in your wishes!   Make something happen.
Read, "On the Edge of Wishing" by Danette Key for more information on WISHING.