Plot Driven or Character Driven

I remember an editor I was pitching too, back in the day, who asked me...one of his first questions...

"Are your books plot driven or character driven."

Have you tackled that question yet?

For some reason it reminds me of a joke I heard a whole long time ago,

"What's the next Sylvester Stallone movie going to be about?"

"I've heard it's a sweet, sad coming of age story about a shy Amish boy."

Yeah, right.

It's Sly Stallone.

It's gonna be a Sly Stallone movie.

What he and what many actors do is often character driven to the extent that a lot of actors play the same (or a madly similar) character over and over and over.

So I get character driven movies he makes. Sort of. They still have to have a plot. (occasionally debatable, but let's say they do)

I heard a really interesting podcast about True Grit.

About the book, the first movie and the second movie.

And how the book had to be radically changed because the first movie became a John Wayne movie.

Rooster Cogburn wasn't really the central character in the book. It was Maddie Ross, the young girl.

But you don't cast John Wayne in a movie and not let him be John Wayne, and not let him be the central character.

So the movie had to change. It was fascinating to listen to the talk.

I'll link to it at the end of this blog post if you are interested in some really inside stuff about True Grit.

So now I'll tell you what I told that very scary editor. 

I don't know if I'm right or wrong, but I thought I had a lot of nerve to answer this way.

I think "Plot Driven vs Character Driven" is one of those 'writerly' conversations, like plotter or panster that really isn't a legit conversation, because NO BOOK can be written without a plot.

And NO BOOK can be written without developing characters who live out that plot.

The two influence each other to an extent that it's just not possible to have one without the other.

I love creating interesting, different, I hope--believable characters. 

For me the story comes first but the characters have to come to life. 

So is that plot or character?

The story has to GO SOMEWHERE. But if you do the characters right they are going to push and shove the story around as any living, breathing, reacting, thinking person would.

They are indivisible.

Woman of Sunlight isn't Woman of Sunlight if Ilsa is a savvy, confident citified business woman.

There is no story if she's that. There might be another story, but not this one.

What city woman knows how to climb a tree with a knife clamped in her teeth?

One thing I had Mitch and Ilsa do, very early on in a book between two perfect opposites, is recognize each other's skills and respect them. Often characters at odds like this will fail to recognize and respect each other and that can make a nice muddle. But I went a different way with Mitch and Ilsa. I had Mitch figure out pretty soon that he needed Ilsa's help and, instead of being over-protective, he relied on her to carry her weight.

From Woman of Sunlight

Her knife filled her hand with no conscious decision to draw it.

Mitch’s pistol was out and in action. He fired.

Ilsa was too close to him. She knew from her years of hunting that if two targets were a distance apart, it was harder to hit both. Keeping the tree between her and the peppering gunfire, she reached overhead, snagged a low hanging limb and launched herself upward.

A hard hand grabbed her leg and yanked her to a halt. She looked down.

Mitch’s eyes met hers. He whispered, “Don’t kill him if you can help it.”

She nodded with one jerk of her chin, her heart almost hot with the respect he’d just shown her. Then her bossy husband let her go, turned back to the gunman and fired.

If Cam in The Reluctant Warrior is an easy-going, soft spoken man, then he gets reacquainted with his daughter quickly and easily after war has separated him for her most of her life.

But how can an army officer be soft spoken? This man barks out orders. Only it doesn't work well with a three year old.

That's the heart of the story. Think of the way people sometimes talk in a weird, sing songy voice to a child. That's a version of what Cam just doesn't know what to do.

When he asks for help, Gwen, his heroine, says, "You have to change your whole nature."

Which makes him cranky and he starts barking out orders at her.

From The Reluctant Warrior

“Tell me what to do, Gwen. I’m a desperate man.”

            She scowled at him as if he’d just asked the worst question in the world. Her shoulders slumped and she drew in a long, slow breath.

            “The way I see it, you have to, pretty much, uh…change,” she cleared her throat, “change your—your whole, um, n-nature.”

Dead silence reigned.

He was absolutely stunned by this useless piece of advice. He felt his temper rising and fought it down. 

Click to Buy 

“How do—” He paused because his voice sounded more like a wolf growling than a man speaking. Forcing himself to remain calm…somewhat…he began again. “How do I do that? Change my nature. My nature? Isn’t a man’s nature, well isn’t that who I am? You want me to change who I am? Come up with some false way of acting and talking so the children will love that pack of lies?”

She shrugged one shoulder a bit helplessly. “Yes.”

Silence again. She hovered near his feet where she’d spent about ten minutes tucking in a blanket that would come loose again the minute Cam lost his temper and ripped it off and threw it on the floor.

Now she walked toward the head of the bed. It struck him as very brave because he thought his anger had to show. Or maybe she was a halfwit that didn’t know what was best for her. Considering she’d just advised him to be a phony and a liar, he reckoned the second was right.

When she should have run for her life, she sat down on the side of the bed. It was narrow so there really wasn’t room for her. She rested one of her gentle hands on his chest and leaned far too close. He had to admit, reckless though her behavior was, it had driven most of his temper back down.

Didn’t matter, he knew how to find it.

“I’m afraid that’s what I want, Cam, and remember you asked. And I don’t think of what I just told you as advising you to lie.”

Hadn’t she just agreed with him when he’d asked her if he should lie?

“I can see that you love your daughter, Cam. I see the sadness in your eyes when she is afraid of you, or when she is happy with someone else like Trace just now. Love is in you, Cam. But you don’t show it well. To learn to show love, to learn to not snap out orders, to learn that a little girl wants smiles and patience and sweet words, that isn’t lying. And in fact, it doesn’t mean changing everything about yourself.”

Cam was mighty afraid that was just what it meant.

Character Driven

Plot Driven

Writerly conversations are fun, so let's have one. Can you think of a truly character driven book?

I'm thinking myself right now. Not coming up with much. Superhero movies? The characters are there but some of them aren't very real. I like some Batman's better than others. Is that the actor or the director or the plot?

Can you think of one with a plot but the characters just inhabit a story without being three dimensional?

Let's talk plot and characters and tell me which YOUR book is.

Leave a comment to get your name in a drawing for an Amazon Gift Card worth $20.20. (I got this idea for Ruthy!)

True Grit on Six Gun Justice

Me on Six Gun Justice

http://www.maryconnealy.com

Sunday Scripture & Prayer Requests

PENTECOST

The Descent of the Holy Spirit in a 15th-century
illuminated manuscript. Musée Condé, Chantilly.
[PD-US]

On the evening of that first day of the week,

when the doors were locked, where the disciples were,

for fear of the Jews,

Jesus came and stood in their midst

and said to them, “Peace be with you.”

When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side.

The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.

Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you.

As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”

And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them,

“Receive the Holy Spirit.

Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them,

and whose sins you retain are retained.”

John 20:19-23

The Seekerville bloggers are praying for YOU and for our entire blog community. If you have any special intentions that need additional prayer coverage, leave a request for prayer in the comment section below. 

Please join us in praying for the United States--and the world--during this coronavirus outbreak. Also please pray for calm to be restored to our country and for peace to reign.

Dear Lord, protect us and keep us

free from COVID-19 infection. Help all who are working hard to contain the spread of this virus, especially those  

in the healthcare professions and those caring for the sick. 

Give clarity and right judgement to the National and State

Task Forces, the CDC, NIH and  Public Health

agencies combating this outbreak.

Guard all of us and especially our elderly and immunocompromised. 

Bring healing to those who have the disease, Eternal Glory to those who have succumbed to the virus and

comfort to the families who have lost loved ones.

God bless us, and God bless the United States of America.

Amen.

We are so grateful for all of you—for your friendship and your support! 

May the Lord bless you and your families on this special day.

Weekend Edition

  

If you are not familiar with our giveaway rules, take a minute to read them here. It keeps us all happy! All winners should send their name, address, and phone number to claim prizes.  Note our new email address and please send your emails to Seekerville2@gmail.com

Monday: Seekerville Closed for Memorial Day

Tuesday: Ruth Logan Herne focused on A New Season for Writers

Wednesday: Cate Nolan talked about Growth Mindsets for Writers and claims it's as easy as riding a bike!

Friday: Erica Vetsch invited fellow authors to discuss how they handled bad reviews.

Monday: Mary Connealy joins us Monday to talk about Characters Driven writing vs Plot Driven writing. There will be a prizes!!! 

Wednesday:  Mindy Obenhaus will be here with some tips on how to keep the writing momentum going.

  

Friday: Dana Lynn is our guest today!

There's a new Facebook group for readers of Inspirational Regency Romance! We'd love you to join and come share your favorite Regency books and topics.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/2568745689914759/

It's been out a while but I don't know if I've posted the cover for Her Secret Song, book #3 in the Brides of Hope Mountain series. Coming in October. The gunman and the recluse. There's gonna be trouble.


Cover reveal time! Looky, Looky!  I know it's early to be talking about a December release, but I just couldn't resist. To learn more about Her Amish Wedding Quilt, click HERE.

Late breaking news! Mindy Obenhaus's Reunited in the Rockies is a finalist in the Faith, Hope and Love Reader's Choice Awards!

JustRead Publicity Tours had a great first Buzz Week, May 25-29! We are finishing up this specific week on social media in celebration of reading books and more! But we always buzz about books! Follow #JustReadBuzz on social media to join the fun! Learn more on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter!

The Antithesis Method: A Simple Solution to Getting Unstuck in a Scene by Bonnie Randall at Fiction University

Have You Heard of Plottr? It's Quite Amazing by LA Sartor at An Indie Adventure

The Pros and Cons of Writing a Series by Laurie Schnebly Campbell at Writers In The Storm

How To Write Compelling Villains with Brian Godawa by Thomas Umstattd Jr. at Steve Laube 

Team Up! What Makes Writing Groups Work by The Editor's of Writer's Digest

What If I Fail? by CJ Myerly at Learn How To Write A Novel

What Is Book Brush? A Webinar by LA Sartor at An Indie Adventure 

Word Choice - What Does It Mean For Our Writing? by Jami Gold

Breaking Through Writer's Block by Robin LaFevers at Writer UnBoxed

Character Building: How Much Planning Should I Do? (Part 1) by Angela Ackerman at Writer's Helping Writers

Advice on handling bad reviews

Erica here today. Just over a month ago, The Lost Lieutenant, the first book in the Serendipity & Secrets series released. Before long, reviews began coming in at the various retail sites. And as is inevitable, the first one-star review posted. 

Blah.

Reviews are a part of an author's life. They come in all forms. Raves, evaluations, recaps, spoiler-loaded, rants, and everything in between. While we love hearing from readers, sometimes those reviews and opinions can sting. So I asked some of my writing buddies how they deal with one-star or less than rave reviews.

Jan Drexler

Here's a one-star that I got for Hannah's Choice:

This book milks the tragic death of little babies for dramatic effect right from the beginning. Unexpected and traumatizing in a book you expect to be romantic and restful. I'm actually getting tired of Amish books because they all exploit a sincere and genuine religion and culture for fun and profit, and that's just wrong. I think this is my last stop with the Amish. I have too much respect for their sincerity and right to privacy.

Jan's advice:

Bad reviews are the pits. But they don’t have to rule your life. The first thing I do is to identify exactly what the reviewer didn’t like about the story (sometimes it’s hard to determine!) Then I decide if I need to consider the criticism seriously. Most of the bad reviews are written by people who have a beef with something that has nothing to do with my writing, so I go on with my day and try to forget about it. I also have advice for new authors: I never respond to a review. I want people to feel free to leave reviews without being afraid that I will argue some point with them!

Mary Connealy – In Too Deep

I think the reader should be warned when a book is pornographic. A good story was ruined by graphic sex scenes that went on and on and on. Each of the books in this series had the same thing - even used the same words. Seemed like she just transferred the pages to the next book, so I skipped a large part of the book. I will not be buying this author again. I wouldn’t even give it one star but you had no minus available.

Mary’s advice: Time. That's my advice.

They used to hurt a lot. Now I look back on the PORN review and have some affection for it.

I can smile now. So give yourself a day to mourn if you must. Also you can actually dig through the cruelty and see if there is any merit there. What did they object to, was there any validity to it, and can I do better next time?

Ruthy from Back in the Saddle

"Not my type of story."

Ruthy will give you her advice in the comments section! :) 

Amanda Barratt

1 star review for My Dearest Dietrich: A Novel of Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Lost Love

After all the praise and 5-star ratings in the reviews here on Amazon, I was shocked at how boring this was. I adore this couple and revere this man, but this book was trite. Embarrassingly trite. "Nein" and "danke" and other common German words everywhere We get it, they're German. This set the tone for the whole book. I admit, I skimmed after the first few chapters. The characters had no life in them. Read Love Letters From Cell 92 instead--it contains their letters. No silly made-up conversations. Read Eric Metaxas biography of Bonhoeffer instead.

When it comes to reviews, I've heard many authors suggest not to read them, except when a reader sends one to them directly or after a family member vets the reviews first. This is great advice! As Mrs. Patmore from Downton Abbey sagely said, "What the eye can't see, the heart won't grieve over." However, I've never been able to follow that advice. I tell myself I won't check reviews, and then invariably, when a new book releases, I always do. When I come across 1 star reviews, despite the mental pep talk I give myself along the lines of "art is subjective," there are times when the words sting and doubt rears its pesky head. After reading a negative review, I've found it helpful to do three things.

1. Give myself a moment to feel sad and discouraged. To eat ice cream, vent to a family member, or just acknowledge the feelings those words produced. But the key word is "only a moment." Staying mired in discouragement because of a negative review isn't healthy, both personally or as an author.

2. Ask myself if there's anything I can learn from that review. Negative reviews are written for a variety of reasons. Sometimes a book stirs painful emotions in a reader and the review is written out of those raw places. Sometimes the reviewer is just angry, and vents their anger by writing a vitriolic review. But sometimes there's a nugget of truth in a critical review--insight into an aspect of the book that could have been strengthened. This is especially true if multiple reviews point out the same problem areas. Tuck those nuggets away. Though you may not be able to rewrite that book, you can focus on improving the next one.

3. 1 star reviews can provide a good perspective shift, reminding me, ultimately, WHY I'm writing. Not to receive earthly praise, but to honor and glorify Christ. If I'm penning the stories He places on my heart, being faithful to grow in the craft of writing, and seeking God above all else, then it doesn't matter how many 1 star reviews a book receives. It only matters that I'm serving Him with the words He's given me.




Carrie Booth Schmidt:

I think I've maybe given 2 one-star reviews my whole life. And I've hated doing it both times. I constantly preach KINDNESS to other bloggers & our JustRead reviewers. Not every book will work for every reader but there's never a reason to be ugly about it or question the author's soul or talent. My advice to authors would be - if there is no constructive criticism to be had from the review, just move on. Don't waste time stressing over it because, let's face it, some people on Amazon & Goodreads just like to give one star to be mean and feel empowered. Unfortunately, the trolls & the pearl clutchers will always be with us. :-/





Jaime Jo Wright

Review: Great book to read at bedtime as it is so boring it will bore you to sleep! Seriously, just couldn't wait to finish this book. Such a slow, stupid story set in the past and present. Ho-hum...zzzzzzz.


Getting a review that indicates your book has a better medicinal effect that prescription sleep aids could spiral me into a self-doubting pile of mush. But to cope with reviews like this, I try to step back and find the funny it. For real. They hated The House of Foster Hill so much they went so far as to include complimentary "zzzzzzz's"! Frankly, I balance reviews like this with other reviews that indicate the readers couldn't sleep because the book was so intense. Every reader is different and no book will resonate with every reader at 100% 4 or 5 star ratings. If that were the case, then The Great Gatsby would be high on my list . . . ahem.



Rachel McMillan

The entire publishing trajectory sets you up so by the time you get negative reviews, you should have developed at least an expectation of them. For one, we query agents who reject us, for another, we submit our proposals to publishers who turn us down. Then, once you do have an editor, the rejection continues: your editorial memo might ask you to slice large pieces of a story you loved, or ask you to switch the narrative tense. And, when you go to pitch subsequent books in hopes of another contract, there is a chance that your idea will be rejected. It is all part of the process.

As much as possible, I don’t read my reviews: because reviews are not for writers, rather for readers. Once we publish a book, we relinquish ownership. ANY opinion is valid because it is at the discretion and privilege of a reader’s perspective. But it is their prerogative. They could interpret your Amish historical thriller as a metaphor for purple elephants, but that is their right. Thus, I stay out of the dialogue between readers to readers regarding my work and get uncomfortable when I am tagged in dialogue about my book ---positive or negative. Because I want readers to feel free to share without having the author peek over their shoulder. I am especially sensitive to this because while I write and publish, I am a voracious reader and was a reviewer long before I published my own work. I am still a voracious reader and I don’t love every book I read so how can I expect everyone to like every book I write? I think it is imperative to remember that a well-written review that takes the time to dive into the nuance of the story and the balance of good and bad, even if negative, is so much more helpful to readers than a slew of five star one sentence reviews that could look like they were written by your family. For example, often, what the reviewer didn’t like about the book, is EXACTLY what my catnip is. Just showing us, again, how subjective the entire thing is. So, I never share negative reviews or positive non-trade reviews sent by my publicist without reader permission. Everyone has a different take on this and I am certainly not the authority, but as a reader, I cherish the honoured tradition of being able to share my opinions with other readers and for me to share negative reviews of my own books makes me feel like I am breaking the trust I most love finding in online bookish dialogue.

 Erica Vetsch:

Wasn't interested enough to finish it.

I have a couple of approaches to receiving a one-star review. 

a) walk away. Don't obsess, let it go, it's one person's opinion. Realize that in the grand scheme of things...it doesn't really matter. 

b) celebrate it. You're a real author now. I belong to a FB group of authors where when one of us gets a first one-star review of a new book, we serve "One Star Cake." We find a picture of a cake decorated with stars, and we post it. (Bonus, no calories in one-star cake!) 

Today, we'd love you to join us in having some one-star cake. Please let us know your thoughts as a reader, an author, a reviewer. 

Order your copy of The Lost Lieutenant today!

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0851RR29T 

Best-selling, award-winning author Erica Vetsch loves Jesus, history, romance, and sports. She’s a transplanted Kansan now living in Minnesota, and she is married to her total opposite and soul mate! When she’s not writing fiction, she’s planning her next trip to a history museum and cheering on her Kansas Jayhawks and New Zealand All Blacks.

You can connect with her at her website, www.ericavetsch.com where you can read about her books and sign up for her newsletter, and you can find her online at https://www.facebook.com/EricaVetschAuthor/ where she spends way too much time!

Growth Mindsets for Writers - As Easy as Riding a Bike

I love learning weird things.

I also love learning about how the brain works.

Sometimes, those two things go hand-in-hand.


Did you learn how to ride a bike when you were a child? Did you realize that mastering that skill is actually the result of a complicated mental process?


If you've got a few minutes, please take the time to watch this video. It boggles the mind. 

Are you intrigued yet?

Are you wondering what that has to do with writing?

In my mind, the connection is simple. Many people think writing is intuitive. If you love to read, you can write. Two sides of the same coin.

And then you sit down to do it and .... oops. Not so simple.

I do believe if you're an avid reader, you start out as a writer with a leg up, because there is a certain amount that you absorb. But writing is work.

Repeat after me

Writing is work.

Darn hard work.

So what is all this about Growth Mindsets?

Growth Mindsets is a theory that was developed by Dr. Carol Dweck in her book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success.  It's a big buzz phrase in education, but I think it also translates well to writing.

Essentially, Dweck's theory relates to how we deal with failure (or fear of failure).

If you have a fixed mindset, when you encounter failure, you assume you're just not good (talented, smart, etc.) enough and give up.

But if you have a growth mindset, you see failure as a challenge. It makes you want to try harder, to strive for success.

Think of it the way I saw it in my classroom when I was teaching 4th grade math. If a student had a really difficult problem to complete, did they give it a try, and then give up if they couldn't solve it right away (or got it wrong)? Or did they really dig in and struggle with it until they figured it out?

That 4th grade math problem can be equated with the struggle an author faces when a writing challenge comes along. Maybe it's a rejection, or a request to revise and resubmit (R&R). Maybe it's a revision letter from your editor on a contracted book. Or maybe it's a yawning plot hole in the current WIP. How do you handle it? Do you give up and mutter, I guess I'm not mean to be a writer? Or do you dig deep and work through it?

It's hardly rocket science to figure out which author is going to succeed.

But what about talent? You might ask.

In a video I will link below, Carol Dweck talks about the difference between talent and success. Often people assume if you are a success at something, you're just lucky enough to have been born with a superior talent.

Dweck says (paraphrasing here) that sure some people are born with talents or passions. But those talents are just the raw materials. It's what you do with them that matters. And she wants you to be
FEROCIOUS! Believe that you can. Then work at it. Struggle with it. Practice.


I was listening to a panel of best-selling authors on a Zoom chat a few weeks ago. The point they all made was that no matter how talented, how successful you are, writing is hard work. Success is just proof that you did the hard work, that you kept trying, even when it was daunting.



When I work on Growth Mindsets with my students, we start with a video series from Class Dojo  about Mojo and his friends. It might seem a bit simplistic for adults, but the kids love it. This clip is from Episode 3 - The Power of Yet.

The power of YET is what is so intriguing, and what I think applies most for writers. When the rejections roll in, don't give up, just remind yourself that you're not there - YET.

Yet doesn't mean never.

Yet means you need to rise to the challenge, keep your nose to the grindstone, keep on trying.

Think about that rejection or revision request that arrives -

If you have a growth mindset, you will do the work to fix it and send it out again.
If you have a fixed mindset, you will give up.

Which person do you think ends up with the contract?

Which brings us back to the bicycle.
A child wanting to learn to ride, keeps at it - starting with the training wheels, learning the necessary skills, practicing and practicing until they can ride. And they succeed because they never doubted they would.

We need to be like that child - believing that we can do this, not being afraid of the struggle, persevering when we're not there yet. Expecting the triumph and working towards it.


So let's talk. Do you have a growth mindset or a fixed one? According to Dweck, most of us are a mix. We can learn to develop a growth mindset, just like the man in the video learned to ride the new kind of bicycle.


If you're at all intrigued by the power of growth mindsets, you might be interested in listening to this Google Talk with Carole Dweck.

A New Season, Authors....

Well winter ended about four days ago, and I can't say I miss it one teensy little bit!

But with the end of the threat of snow (I am not even kidding, people!!!) and the abundance of possible sunshine, comes a lot of change for us here on the farm and for most folks who try to cram a year of family get togethers and gatherings and fun times into the 16 mostly nice weekends coming up, weekends filled with First Communions, graduations, weddings, baby showers, wedding showers, family reunions, family weekends at the beach or in the mountains or gosh... anywhere.

But maybe not this year.

Maybe not this season.

The recent scourge of a pandemic has changed our mental, emotional and physical landscapes. It's put a hard stop on getting together, having parties, meeting for lunch, even gathering for picnics because here in New York the state has tipped all picnic tables on end so that there's no place to sit.

Playgrounds have been roped off in many areas.

Kids have been distance learning and threats of a changed future seem like a chapter out of a futuristic novel but it's not a novel... it's today's reality.

There are no sports. No baseball, soccer, basketball, lacrosse. No MLB, NBA, PGA... and Nascar just held its first races of the season, allowing no fans.

But for all of this, there is a growing unrest among the people, a growing surge of re-taking control of our choices, our lives, our freedoms, and for you writers, these are the emotions that spur plots, that build characters. You are living in a story-rich moment... but it is several months long already, and that's why people are beginning to rise up to grab hold of the freedoms we hold dear... while mourning the tens of thousands whose lives have been lost to a new virus, an insidious illness that's been unleashed on the world, a world caught maybe in a state of complacence? And the virus became a wake-up call for so many, but also a launch pad for story ideas at every level.

In a stirring quote to the Second  Continental Congress as they debated waging war against Great Britain to create the country we now know as the United States of America, Ben Franklin said: "Those who would give up essential freedom for temporary safety deserve neither freedom nor safety."

This is an important time in history, we're living in the pages of a history book, and no one knows the ending or even the next chapter, but we've all heard the life-coach advisory: Anything you do for 30 days becomes a habit.

And that's the warning knell for freedom lovers, because the erosion of freedoms rarely comes like a swift hammer, but more as a creekside erosion.

Here at the farm we're working hard to create new things, to get our fall crops planted and I'm busily writing new stories and taking care of business... with a mask in public! Because no one wants to make other people sick or get sick themselves, but I'm blessed to live in the country, surrounded by wide open spaces and the ability to re-design how we do our fall displays to spread folks out because none of us know what autumn will bring, but I promise you one thing:

On our farm it will bring pumpkins and gourds and sunflowers and mums and a couple of acres of beautiful things produced by hard-working hands, produced with love and affection for our customers, our neighbors and our community and our country.

A country that should never take freedom for granted, but on this week, the day after Memorial Day, to realize that we are part of the greatest country in the world, and are so blessed to be here.

May God continue to bless America.

Multi-published, USA Today bestselling author Ruth Logan Herne loves God, her family, her country and she unabashedly bleeds red, white and blue as she writes beautiful stories with unforgettable characters on her farm in Western New York. She loves chatting with readers and writers. Friend Ruthy on Facebook, visit her website ruthloganherne.com, email her at loganherne@gmail.com or swing by Seekerville or visit Ruthy and other delightful Seekers at the Yankee Belle Cafe, a lifestyle fun, cooking blog!

Seekerville Is Closed Today

All is well, safely rest, God is nigh . . .

Seekerville is closed today as we pause on the American Memorial Day holiday to remember those who have given their lives that we and others worldwide can enjoy precious freedoms.

Please stop in again tomorrow!