Follow the Herd and Chocolate-y Good Carrots

Follow the Herd

Sometimes it's good to follow the herd. This little guy followed the herd out of the mountains right into the parking lot of the Safeway in Estes Park, Colorado, and look what great new adventures he is having. What are other writers doing this year? Get ideas from them. Here are four who have written to me about their projects and one with whom I visited over tea: Marcia Fleischman, Velda Brotherton, Sue Dawes, Donna, and Jan. Congratulations to all! (Yeah, yeah, I know it isn't really that great to have moose in a parking lot. I just wanted to make a point -- and use my elk photo.)

Marcia Fleischman is a pastor and artist who began painting angels after double lung transplant surgery in 2003. Less than a year after her surgery, on a raw winter night she came to a class with no idea who I was -- until I passed out my business cards. An artist who paints angels shows up in a class taught by someone whose writing business is called Angel In Your Inkwell. At first, it was hard for me to understand what she was telling me -- about the surgery and about the paintings. Then she brought some of her angel paintings and explained again about the remarkable surgery. Here is what she recently wrote in an e-mail:

Carol, Happy New Year! I have some news. I have self published a children's book of angels called "Angels Everywhere." You can get them at Authorhouse.com or Amazon.com. I am, of course, selling them myself and want to develop a marketing plan. Soon my second book will be out called "Wild Woman Theology: In the Arms of Loving Mother God" In it I relell the stories of the women of the Bible in rhyme and with a bit of whimsy and a feminist slant. I have done all the illustrations, too. Next, I will write the story of my first having angel visions and painting. Since I have done the illustrations already, I just need to write it. Now I am working on a book called "What Does God Look Like?" I am collecting people's ideas and then painting them. ....So, what does God look like to you, Carol.
Take care of yourself! Marcia Fleischman

I have to admit this email from Sue Dawes has been lost in my "Keep This" file for quite a few months, and as I visited Sue's blog today, it looks as if she hasn't posted in a while. Still, I think it is worth visiting. She has some great ideas on father-daughter activities, and she has written a wonderfully inspirational book titled Run the Race based on advice her father gave her when she was on her high school track team. When Sue's life didn't go quite where she expected or hoped, she tells us how her father's advice carried her through.

Hi Carol,I finally started a blog. It is daughtersanddads.wordpress.com So I hope to talk with xxx in the next few weeks to get this book moving. I did a radio show over the internet and it is showing up at 4th place on google under Sue Dawes.
Hope all is well with you. Take Care, Sue (Scroll to the bottom and look for Sue's blog in the Other Favorite Blogs listing.)

Velda Brotherton covers all aspects of being a writer, and, I believe, has information about a free writer's conference in Arkansas in February. I'm not sure about that. Anyone know anything about it? Here's what Velda wrote in her e-mail:

Carol, I too update my writer's blog the first of each week. I hope you're linked to it. I have a link to yours and would appreciate it if you could do the same. I so enjoy reading your posts and the chocolate recipes. Yumm. Thanks, Carol. Velda Brotherton. (Velda's blog is also included in Other Favorite Blogs below.)

After waiting for just the right time and just the right piece, Donna submitted her writing to The Home Forum section of Christian Science Monitor. We had barely hung up from our phone conversation in which she told me about e-mailing it in, when I received her e-mail saying her piece had been accepted. The editor didn't give a publication date, but look for it in spring as it is about robins.

Jan attended the Heart of America Christian Writer's Network writers' conference in Overland Park, Kansas in November, and from a contact she made there, she already has sold a piece and received payment! (You did say you had already been paid, didn't you, Jan?)

And speaking of "favorites," here is a carrot casserole recipe that is as good as chocolate. Ebbie brought it last year to the final meeting pot luck of the life story class that met at the First Baptist Church in Grain Valley, Missouri. It was so good we ate every bit of it and everyone asked for the recipe which Ebbie graciously provided. I hope she doesn't mind that I renamed it.

Carrots as Good as Chocolate

2 lb. carrots, sliced
1/4 tsp. dill weed
1/2 cup butter or margarine, divided
1/2 cup crushed saltines (about 15)
6 0z. Velveeta, cubed

Cook carrots in water in saucepan until tender, about 10 minutes. Drain. Place in greased 1 1/2 quart baking dish. In a small saucepan, melt 1/4 cup butter and cheese, stirring often. Stir in dill. Pour over carrots. Melt remaining butter. Toss with saltines. Sprinkle over carrots. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until lightly browned and bubbly. Serves 8.

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Stay warm this week. : ) Of course, if you are a Certain Someone in Palm Springs, you already are warm!