2017 Something New: Old Friends

Posted on September 24, 2017 by peggylchambers

    I used to listen to retired folks say they are so busy these days, they don’t know where the time goes.  I thought, you’re retired, what is so important?  And then I found out after I retired from the daily grind.  You have time to live your life, do the things you want, and maybe do the things you should have been doing all along.

I am in awe of people who don’t want to retire.  They love their jobs and might do them for free if they could afford it.  I had some good jobs in my career. But I’m happy to say, now I can do what I want.  My dog gets more walks because I’m home.  I work out more, because I’m not so tired, I finish more writing that I started, and I make time for friends.

I went to lunch with two of my favorite people yesterday before one went on a trip, just to catch up.  In the middle of a Saturday afternoon there may or may not have been a small glass of wine to celebrate the season.

The other night – on a week night – we had dinner with some old friends from my husband’s career days.  Someone we seldom see anymore and it was such fun hearing about their plans and telling them ours.  We should do it more often.

I have plans for every Saturday in October with book signings, discussions with the library and all things literate. I love books (no! you say) but I also love people. I’ve made many friends over a long life and a lot of them are still around to spend time with.  My goal is to make sure I take time for them too and not just hide out in a book.

What about you?  Do you see your friends enough?

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2017 Something New: Vikings!

Posted on September 17, 2017 by peggylchambers

    Once again, I’ll sip coffee in the ancient forests of Oklahoma with thousands of my closest friends and take in the sights and smells of all things Viking.  October 14 and 15 this fall is the Heavener Runestone Viking Fest at the Heavener Runestone Park. I’ll be there. https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g51403-d578637-Reviews-Heavener_Runestone_Park-Heavener_Oklahoma.html

Vendors and reenactors will be selling their wares and food trucks will have food.  It is a chance to rekindle old friendships and enjoy the park.

If you’ve never been to the Heavener Runestone, you are missing an important landmark in Oklahoma.  Weather you believe that Vikings settled in Oklahoma long before Columbus sailed or not, it is still a great time for everyone.   There will be Celtic music and Birds of Prey shows at the ampetheater in a family friendly environment.  Check out the reenactors and blacksmiths, jewelry makers and all the vendors that make up the festival.

The Heavener Runestone Park is owned by the City of Heavener and these events twice a year help to fund the park and preserve its landmark.  The event has grown until you must park in town and buses transport you to the festival at the top of the hill.  You can catch a bus back to your car anytime you want.  They run all day.

While you’re there, stop by my tent and pick up a copy of Return to Glome’s Valley, the second in the Glome’s Valley series that will debut in the magical forests of Oklahoma this October at the fest.  I’d love to see you and we can talk about Vikings, magic swords, dragons and draugrs.  This young adult book is a sequel to Glome’s Valley and set in the same place as the festival. 

Look around you and you might catch a glimpse of the magical creatures that inhabit the valley. I’m sure they see you.  I’ll be there and I hope you will be too.

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2017 Something New: Prairie City

Posted on September 11, 2017 by peggylchambers

    Red dust covered the back window, forcing me to use the much-neglected side mirrors.  Gravel roads on the prairie – a great improvement over the ruts formed by mud and covered wagons – dirtied only the outside of the car. The occupants remained clean and cool under the air conditioner on padded seats.

Clear blue skies and mild weather reminded me how beautiful our state is – accept when it isn’t.  An F-5 tornado racing across the plains creates a different picture.

But this day great friends and beautiful weather backdropped the homestead of Angie Debo, Oklahoma historian. She was a woman ahead of her time.  Born before the Oklahoma Land Runs, she attained a PhD when most people couldn’t graduate high school. She told history through the eyes of a woman bent on finding the truth.

The Enid Library, in conjunction with other libraries in the state are hosting “One Book, One Community” and the works of Angi Debo will be read and discussed.  I have the honor of leading one of those discussion groups as we talk about her book Prairie City – her only work of fiction.  The book is about the town she grew up in, Marshall, OK even though she named it Prairie City in the book.  The book described life on the prairies of Oklahoma before statehood.

After driving around town, finding her home and church, we drove to the local cemetery.  Her headstone said it all: “Angi Debo, Historian, Discover the Truth and Publish it.”

I hope my life says as much.

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2017 Something New: Glome Returns

Posted on September 3, 2017 by peggylchambers

    The forests of Oklahoma are magical. If you look hard enough, you will find trolls, fairies, runestones, magic swords – and Norse gods.  And there might even be dragons.  The Glome’s Valley series takes place in southeast Oklahoma at the Heavener Runestone.  In Return to Glome’s Valley, Ethan comes back fourteen years later to the place he loved best as a kid.  The valley was much as he remembered it – well, maybe the cottage was a little worse for wear. But news traveled fast that he was back, and the residents of the valley were anxious to see him again. And there might be a new one he’s not met before. Trondelag – the dragon that lived in the pond.

The dragon’s scaly head broke the surface of the pond and burst into the ebony sky like a missile, sending cattails and sleepy dragonflies spewing from both sides of the pond. Her long neck was quickly followed by a massive body that glowed a blood red on the underside. Free from the confines of the pond and finally airborne, the front legs unfolded releasing her magnificent crimson wings edged in shining gold. She flapped once, sending the trees bending to her glory and flames belched from her mighty jaws illuminating the moonlit night. Then, pointing her nose toward the cave the draugrs guarded, she flapped once again and rocketed through the night sky like a giant ruby ready to explode.

Fafnir sat on his bat watching the spectacle, then followed at a safe distance to avoid the prop wash created by her wings and magnificent tail. The cave, a half-day’s hike from the cottage on foot, was a mere three flaps of the monstrous wings – and all eyes looked up – marveling at her arrival.

Return to Glome’s Valley takes place fourteen years after the first.  But this time Ethan will learn that the Vinland Map is hidden in a nearby cave and it could prove his father’s theory – there were Vikings in Oklahoma long before Columbus came to the new world. Could he prove his dad’s theory?

Return to Glome’s Valley is available in paperback http://tinyurl.com/ybdsqr6w

and e-published, http://tinyurl.com/ybvpqva9. Check it out and leave me a review.

The forests of Oklahoma are magical.

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2017 Something New: Angie Debo, Return to Glome’s Valley, and Woolaroc

Posted on August 27, 2017 by peggylchambers

    I’ve had a busy week.  Return to Glome’s Valley released and books should be delivered tomorrow. I’m so excited about this book! I set up two book signings in addition to the Heavener Runestone Viking Fest.  October is filling up fast.

I also volunteered for a worthy cause with the Public Library of Enid and Garfield County; One Book, One Community: Enid Reads Prairie City by Angie Debo. http://enid.okpls.org/events/special-events-enid-reads/.  I will lead a discussion group on this book along with many other leaders.  There are ten different discussion groups held throughout October in Enid and it is free to the public. Stillwater library will have a similar celebration of this Oklahoma legend.  Angie Debo grew up in Marshall, OK.  Her family moved there before the Cherokee Strip Land Run and she went on to graduate with a PhD and was an educator for many years as well as an author.  Not many women reached those goals in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s.  She lived to be 98 and published eight books on Oklahoma history.  She was installed in the Oklahoma Hall of Fame in 1950. The above portrait, by Oklahoma artist, Charles Banks Wilson, hangs in the Rotunda area of the Oklahoma State Capitol.

This week we took the dog on a road trip to Bartlesville and the Woolaroc Museum http://www.woolaroc.org/ .  We met reenactors and some great museum staff.  I left my husband in the museum to check on the dog when I was told she could come in too, if on a leash.  She was so excited!  She’d never been to a museum before!  I’d really like to go back and take more time in the museum.  It is huge and houses more art and relics that you can see in one afternoon.

Fall is on the way, and with it lots of activities await. I have book signings set up and look forward to introducing the next in the Glome’s Valley series.  Oklahoma has so much to offer and there is magic in the forests if you look hard enough.

What have you been doing lately?

 

 

 

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2017 Something New: The Saga Continues, Return to Glome’s Valley is Released!

Posted on August 20, 2017 by peggylchambers

    It’s available!!! Return to Glome’s Valley is finally a reality.  The second in the Glome’s Valley series is available for sale at Amazon in paperback and electronically.  The book will debut this fall in the forest where it is set at the Heavener Runestone Viking Fest, but for now it is available for the Kindle and as a hard copy.

The second book takes place at the Heavener Runestone fourteen years after the first.  Ethan is working on his PhD when he is called back.  He soon finds the forest much as he left it as a child, only he has grown up.  But Glome, the fairies, and the trolls are determined to turn him back into the child they knew.  The tiny house he played in as a boy needs repairs, but who has time when tolls attack, Loki gets wind of his return, and he’s pulled into the pond to meet the dragon who lives there.

One night at a cookout, sticky with s’mores, he learned about the Tartar Relation. Legend had it that the Vinland map resided in that document.  And Glome said it was in a cave nearby.  He wanted to see the map and hold it in his hands.  As a budding archeologist, it would be a great find and prove his dad’s theory of Vikings in America long before Columbus.

But some mysteries shouldn’t be solved.  Or should they?

Return to Glome’s Valley is available now.  Be sure to pick up a copy and leave me a review (http://tinyurl.com/ybdsqr6w).  I can’t wait to see what you think as the saga continues.

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2017 Something New: Living Life to the Fullest

Posted on August 13, 2017 by peggylchambers

    I want to live my life to the fullest.  I don’t know how many chances I get to get it right – maybe there is only one – but I know that time is drawing short.  My mother and her mother both died of cancer at 74.  That is a short ten years away for me (I know I look much younger!) and I have cancer and heart disease in my background (and I should lose some weight).  But my big plan is to do as many things as possible in the time left to me – no matter how long that is. Maybe I will live to be 174.

            My husband thinks I should quit saying that my mother and grandmother died young or it might make my longevity shorter.  But to me it serves as a reminder that I should get moving.  I have tons of stories still in my head that are not written down.  I want to take that train trip down the west coast of the United States in the spring, and I want to watch my children as they live their lives.  Maybe I’ll be given the chance. Maybe not.  But I will try.

            A doctor friend of mine from High School has been putting out Facebook posts to the “Class of ‘71” about Medicare lately.  We are all turning 65 this year.  Some already have.  It is a milestone and I am grateful for the information.  I have a lot to learn.  And that is a good thing.  I have always had a life-long thirst for learning and I will find the answers to that tangled web of bureaucracy we call Medicare.  I might not like the answers I find, but I’ll find them.

            Living under the threat of nuclear war again makes me even more determined to find things I love and take part in them.  I am planning trips, books, and good times with friends and family. I will drink that bottle of wine because it tastes so good.

            I’m having lunch with a friend from high school this week.  We are celebrating our birthdays six months late – or six months early. Whatever. 

            I’m going to a Monday afternoon matinee with a friend from work to see a new movie.  That’s something only retirees can do in the middle of the work week.

            My daughter invited me to a wedding in Dallas in September and I said, “why not?” That means I’ll need a new dress. Darn!

            Time could be short, but I will participate in all I can. 

            What are you doing about living your life?

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2017 Something New: Return to Glome’s Valley

Posted on August 6, 2017 by peggylchambers

    Something new indeed!  I want to show you the cover for the second in the Glome’s Valley series – Return to Glome’s Valley. The cover was created by the uber talented, Diana Haslett.  The release date is still to be set but it will be available this fall.  I’m so excited about this new YA book and I hope that fans of the first will find the second as much fun.  If you’re not a fan, what better time to get in on the action than with the newest installment set in southeast Oklahoma at the Heavener Runestone.

The Vinland Map, supposedly drawn by Vikings who discovered America long before Columbus, was met with as much controversy as the Heavener Runestone.  Historians were on opposite sides of a fence – some said the map was authentic, others thought it was a fake.  But maybe some mysteries shouldn’t be solved.

In the first book, Glome’s Valley, set fourteen years earlier, Ethan met Glome, the Viking ghost, and the fairies at the cottage where his father was studying the Heavener Runestone.  Now Ethan was back and news traveled fast in the forest.  Currently working on his PhD in Archeology, Ethan soon found the forest much as he left it when he was young. Only he had changed.

While making s’mores with Glome and the energetic fairies, Ethan learned that the Vinland Map lay hidden in a nearby cave. Every self-respecting archeologist had read about the map in college. And he wanted it.

Warned by Trondelag, the dragon, not to go up against Loki and the draugrs for a piece of paper to make him famous, Ethan decided to go anyway. And then there was Mac – his doppelganger from when he was young. Would he be able to protect her? With his magic sword and friends to back him up, how could he lose?

Once again Ethan revisits the runestone only to face challenges and find adventure, danger, surprises, and an epic battle.

Due out this fall, I can’t wait to introduce you once again to the magic of the forests of southern Oklahoma.

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2017 Something New: Gardens That Repel Mosquitos

Posted on July 30, 2017 by peggylchambers

    Herbal insect repellant is all over the internet this time of year.  I’ve downloaded a few recipes myself.  And when the reports hit the news that it would be one of the worst years for mosquitos in a long time, I was concerned.  I water in the evening just before dark, their favorite time of day. And I hate insect repellent all over my legs and arms. 

But I haven’t had mosquitos like in years past.  So far, I’ve had one bite from sitting on the patio reading a book until it was too dark to see. Then I realized why as I read an article about plants that repel the nasty little creatures.  It is the plants I have growing around the house!

If you’ve read my blogs in the past I talk about my Basil crop that there is no way to use.  I dried it last year and gave it away in tiny jars as Christmas presents.  The herb garden in the back serves several uses mostly for cooking. 

But in the front, I am overrun with Marigolds!  They reseed like the Basil in the back and I am unable to thin them as I should.  They’ve taken over the front flower bed and provide a lush of color to the front of the house.  These little hardy flowers take the Oklahoma sun and last into the fall. The children next door love to water and pick them. 

I also have Lemon Balm growing in the back yard next to some Mint.  It is in the same family, smells like lemon and can be used in tea or on chicken.  It makes a good ground cover where little grows and comes back each year.

The article I read mentioned Lemon Balm, Marigolds, and Basil as deterrents to mosquitos and other insects.  I guess they don’t like the way they smell.  Too bad, I think they smell lovely and they were free.  They come back each year. 

Let me know if you need a start of any of these plants.  Nature provides them to me each year and I am happy to share. 

 

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2017 Something New: Sunflowers and Hurricanes

Posted on July 23, 2017 by peggylchambers

    Meg’s solace in life is her home – and garden, and son.  The rest of the world can go away and leave her alone. The straight rows of vegetables are in direct contrast to the meandering stones leading to sunflowers and sea oats.  She functions fine by herself, making dinner from the food she grows while smelling her roses.  What else could she need? Well, her son thinks she needs a large city and a house that isn’t falling apart.

Meg and her son, Jon, were alone in the world for years after his grandfather died.  His father died before he was born. And that was fine. He and his mother were close.  But after he grew up, she went back to the island she loved when she was young.  Now he can’t protect her.

But when the secrets of Sandhill Island began to unravel, Meg opens herself up to Alex – the first man in a long time – just as hurricane season boils in the Gulf of Mexico.

Secrets of Sandhill Island, the first in the Sandhill Island series, is set on a tiny strand of land running next to Corpus Christi.  The only way on or off the island is by ferry; and that can be quaint.  Unless you need help.

Available in electronic format or paperback, Secrets of Sandhill Island is a great summer read.  Check it out and leave me a review. http://tinyurl.com/yasxweet

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