2025: Snow, New Novels, and Thankfulness

Posted on January 12, 2025 by peggylchambers

We’re in the middle of January and here in Oklahoma it means the middle of the coldest part of the year. I’m not a fan of wintry weather. I normally just hunker down and get through it. Today I may bake bread. I got a present with some bread mixes for Christmas, and I will make good use of it. It will be warm and inviting with Italian food tonight. But the sun is shining, and the thermometer is above freezing this morning. More frigid weather is on the horizon.

There’s been a lot of illness and death in my small circle of friends and family lately. I blame winter. It should be sunny and 70 degrees year-round. But we wouldn’t be thankful for life if it were always perfect. We need some good to go with the bad.

I am in the edit phase of the final Sandhill Island novel—Smugglers of Sandhill Island. I expect a galley to review this week. I haven’t seen the cover yet but when I do, I’ll show it to you! Next on the horizon is a novel set at another lake in Oklahoma. A Home Among the Sand Plums is about half finished and has to do with a lonely woman who takes in a child who needs a home only to find herself immersed in a life she could only imagine. The disappearance of Indigenous women has become epidemic of late, and it is in every corner of the world, not just Oklahoma.

So, I think I’ll get out in the sunshine today and bake that bread. I need to carve out some writing time, but next week the weather will be brutal again. And I have a funeral. Now the snow is melting and for that I am thankful.

What are you thankful for this week? And what are you reading, writing, or creating?

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2025: Thankfulness

Posted on January 5, 2025 by peggylchambers

Last week I talked about being thankful for my life and the things in it. Here on the Great Plains this morning it is 20 degrees with a howling north wind, ice, and snow. But my heater is working. The house is warm and cozy. And as is my habit in bad weather, I may bake. That is a habit I started when I had little kids, and I wanted to keep them occupied. Fill them with sugar! Maybe we should have played board games.

The phone rang early to tell me that my sister had fallen in the rehab center and was taken to the Emergency Room. She was x-rayed and returned to rehab, but they will call her surgeon in the morning. She has had a tough uphill battle.

But in writing about thankfulness, I did a little research on thankfulness vs. gratitude. Gratitude is a general appreciation of life, while thankfulness is a response to a particular event or experience. With the weather today and my sister’s experience overnight, I need a little of both.

Generally, I am an optimistic person. Like everyone else, I get down sometimes and overwhelmed by experiences in life. But my life, like my heater this morning, is good. Thankfulness takes a little more thought sometimes. Then I think I am thankful for the heater.

I am thankful that the winter storm should only last a few days. I have food in the house, a heater that works, and writing to do (always plenty of writing to do!). I know there are people who are not in as good a position as I am. I’ll say a prayer for my sister, it is all I can do.

I am optimistic that the winter storm will not last. I’ve seen enough Oklahoma winters to know things will change. You know the saying if you don’t like the weather, wait a minute, it will change.

We’ll all get through this weather. I’ll do laundry, write, and knowing me, I will bake. But most of all, I will be thankful for all I have. How about you? What are you thankful for? And what are you reading, writing, or creating this week?

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2024: Thankfullness

Posted on December 29, 2024 by peggylchambers

Christmas is over. We still have New Years next week, but the holidays are winding down. I have one more present to deliver today, but that is all. It has been an eventful season full of joy, sadness, and exhaustion. I’ve seen my kids a couple of times, and I received a couple of unexpected gifts. There has been illness and death in the family, but we came together and got through the tough times.

I got a new computer out of necessity (but I love it!) and my editor is happy that I FINALLY got that manuscript back to her. My sister is in a rehab center after major surgery and is finally doing well. I plan to make bread from my new bread mix I received and maybe make some soup to go with that. Soup is healing.

I spent an hour watching my new Roomba vacuum for me! It is a thrill watching something else clean for once. Now I can do something else while the floors get swept.

I’ve had a virus to add to the craziness, but I got through it and tomorrow I promise to get back to the gym. I’ll feel better getting back to my comfort zone.

But I am blessed. I am thankful for the opportunity to see family, and to have survived all that happened. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, right? Sometimes, I’d rather not be so strong.

I think the tag line for next year’s blogs will be thankfulness. I need to concentrate on feeling blessed instead of stressed. I’ll think about that as I begin my blogs for 2025, BUT THAT’S ANOTHER STORY FOR ANOTHER TIME.

What are you reading, writing, creating this week?

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2024: Almost Christmas

Posted on December 22, 2024 by peggylchambers

It’s almost the end of another year. I have been on this planet for a long time. And still, I have lots to learn.

I blog on Sunday mornings and that means I have only one more this year. Next week needs to be brilliant!

My sister had major surgery last week and I was unable to visit because I had a virus. I couldn’t help the surgeon anyway, but I could have been a show of support.

The other sister has problems of her own in Arizona and I couldn’t help her either. I guess I was supposed to stay home lately.

My editor contacted me this week wondering how the edits for Smugglers of Sandhill Island were coming. I said I had a respiratory virus, Christmas, a sick sister, a new computer, and other excuses, but I would get back to it. She said no rush. I wonder if she really meant that, but . . .

Christmas is this week. I have company coming Tuesday night and then Wednesday night I am traveling out of town. I am blessed to have two dinners to attend. I will run the vacuum cleaner before company comes and make one small dish. It won’t be a big dinner like Thanksgiving. But I will get to see one side of the family. Then the next night I’ll see the other side. Many people aren’t so lucky.

I hope your Christmas is warm and inviting. I hope you have more than enough to eat and are surrounded by friends and family. I hope you remember the reason for Christmas, and you are able to share your good luck with the world. I still must come up with a tag line for next year. I’ve almost worn out the old one. But that is Another Story for another Time.

What are you reading/writing/creating this week?

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2024: The Gift of Books for Christmas

Posted on December 15, 2024 by peggylchambers

There are only two more weeks until Christmas. I have MOST of my shopping done. The house is decorated and the cards—well, let’s just say I have them.

How’s your shopping going? Is there that one person who is so hard to buy for still on your list? I have the best idea. Books! (you knew I would say that). But there are so many authors and so many books, how can you go wrong?

If you are interested in my books, you can click on the titles at the top of this page and they will give you the description, cover, and a buy link where you can purchase them in paperback or electronically. They are available locally at Putnam Six Bookstore in Enid, OK Home | Putnam Six Bookstore where I live. Chloe will be happy to help you out. And I have an author page on Amazon (most authors do) that can take you to all the titles available for sale there Amazon.com: Peggy Chambers: books, biography, latest update and Barnes and Noble peggy chambers books | Barnes & Noble®.

As an author I have been unable to decide whether to write just mysteries, or fantasy, or children’s books. They are all important. But maybe that is good. That way you have a choice.

But whether you buy my books or someone else’s, books are the best presents. They can take you places you may never be able to go. You can sit in your easy chair and travel anywhere you want by way of someone’s imagination.

So, enjoy a new book for yourself or your friend and you will have Another Story for another Time.

What are you reading/writing/creating this week?

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2024: The Season of Friendship

Posted on December 8, 2024 by peggylchambers

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas! I got the tree up and some of the presents wrapped. Mostly I use gift bags, it’s so much easier. I have to get some cards out soon.


But in the middle of the festivities, we have a funeral. Doesn’t it always go that way? He was a friend to the writing club and his family is devastated. We want to do all we can for them and try not to smother with them with kindness. Where to draw the line. I hope the warmth of the season helps to ease the pain of the family who lost someone. Our writing club is a close-knit group and not only helpful in our writing lives but friends. I was asked to help with the reception, and I was honored.


I also lost a niece this month and I won’t be able to attend that funeral. It’s across the country and my flying in, being picked up at the airport and housed, would be more trouble to the family than I’d be worth. It’s hard to have funeral during the holiday season.


Our club Christmas party is also this week and then I’m planning to get together with family next weekend. I have a friend that I make plans with each year to drive around town and look at the lights.

I love all the activities. I wouldn’t have it any other way. Of course I didn’t want funerals, but I still love the camaraderie, friends, and family. The month between Thanksgiving and Christmas doesn’t seem long enough.


The activities of the holidays are always hectic and festive at the same time. Funerals are inevitable even though it doesn’t seem so at the time, especially for the family. But time marches on. Someday there will be no more trees to trim or baking to do. I plan to enjoy them as long as I can, but that’s Another Story for another Time.


What are you reading/writing/creating this week?

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2024: Changes

Posted on December 1, 2024 by peggylchambers

It’s been an eventful fall. Every weekend in October was full of travel (not that I’m complaining, I love travel) and several family members spent time in the hospital. Then there was Thanksgiving and company, and today I plan to switch from autumn decorations to Christmas. ‘Tis the season. Now my computer is in the shop and I’m borrowing my husband’s laptop to get the weekly blog out. (His keyboard feels like it is off to the left). Life has been eventful. Like many I want my life ordered and planned in advance. I don’t handle change well. But life goes on.

I found out I GET to have cataract surgery after the first of the year. So that’s why everything is so fuzzy. I thought I needed new glasses.

But I had a wonderful Thanksgiving with the kids at my house. They did most of the cooking, I just provided the place to meet. I love seeing my adult children. And we made plans for Christmas. I am blessed.

But during this holiday time, I know that I have a lot to be thankful for. I have a warm home, food to eat, and family to love. I will get back to writing as soon as the computer is returned and beginning a search for a new one. It is time and ideas for novels are stacking up.

Enjoy your life and live it to the fullest even when it is busy—especially when it is busy, BUT THAT IS ANOTHER STORY FOR ANOTHER TIME.

What are you reading, writing, or creating this week?

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2024: Thankful for Another Thanksgiving

Posted on November 24, 2024 by peggylchambers

It’s the week of Thanksgiving—the beginning of the holiday season. It’s that month with too much food, too little money, and lots of company at your house and others.

I will host Thanksgiving for my family this year but I’m not doing all the cooking. In fact, I’m doing very little cooking. I’m providing the house and at least one pie and a side dish. My son loves to cook, and he insists on preparing the turkey. Fine with me! I’ve cooked enough giant birds in my life, I love that someone else is taking over.

But more important than the food is the company. I have two adult children who have families of their own and I try to see all of them. That is not always possible, but I will try. Getting them in the same place at the same time takes a lot of logistics.

However, I’m thankful for the large family and all that they bring to the table. Not the food, but the company. I’m thankful that my kids live close and still want to spend time with me. I’m thankful that we all love to get together.

So whether the turkey is dry, or the pies are runny, we still enjoy the company around the table. We will sit and talk and enjoy the day. Then we’ll begin the cleanup. I’m using heavy paper plates this year! But that’s Another Story for another Time.

What are you reading/writing/creating this week?

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2024: Books and Christmas

Posted on November 17, 2024 by peggylchambers

Halloween is over and Thanksgiving is right around the corner. I spent some time shopping this week and found the stores were loaded with Christmas decorations.


My hometown of Enid, Oklahoma has a giant Christmas tree for the last few years that kicks off the holiday season, https://www.theoneenid.com/ with a lot of fanfare. They have a permanent spot downtown for the tree that once was a real tree trucked in every year and now is an artificial one. There are opening ceremonies, and an ice rink is nearby with light tunnels to walk through. It begins on December 1 and goes through January 1 when everything is taken down and stored for next year.
The true meaning of Christmas in the Christian world is the birth of Christ. There are lots of other winter celebrations that coincide with the same time of year, but Christmas falls at the beginning of winter each year and I find that gives a heart-felt warmth to the beginning of the cold and sometimes dreary season.


And since it is cold outside, it is a good time to curl up with a good book. It is estimated that around 11,000 books are published every day. That mind-boggling number is enough to make writers and readers throw up their hands in despair. What to read (or write) and where do I find them? Online is always a good option but so is your local, independent bookstore. I have my books in several locations, but I always try to keep them in Putnam Six, https://www.putnamsix.com/ the local bookstore in Enid. You can find them online on Amazon, Barns and Noble, Walmart and several distributors for eBooks but nothing beats browsing the bookstore and holding the book in your hand.


Books always make a great gift whether it is for someone else or yourself. You can curl up with a hot cup of cocoa and a good book after a long day of shopping and watch the cold wet weather from the comfort of your easy chair.


The holidays are upon us, but that’s Another Story for another Time. Think books for Christmas for your loved ones. And after they are finished with them, maybe they’ll loan them to you!


What are you reading/writing/creating this week?

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2024: Santa Fe, Chapels, and Werewolves

Posted on November 10, 2024 by peggylchambers

My husband and I spent most of October traveling—mostly some weekend trips to southeast Oklahoma, but the last week of the month we went to Santa Fe, and northern New Mexico. We’ve been there before but this time we met the Texas cousins and as usual we had a fantastic time. We ate way too much Mexican food. We shopped and did our tourist thing. We rented a fabulous Airbnb outside of Santa Fe. https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/40455203?c=.pi80.pkYm9va2luZy92Ml9taWdyYXRpb24vcmVzZXJ2YXRpb25fZ3Vlc3RfcmVtaW5kZXI%3D&euid=f82b6adc-bdcf-3e7f-b8c1-344338ad6349&source_impression_id=p3_1731251352_P3WllL2teWAfwhwc. But first we had to get there.

We chose I-40 west on the way out with winds whipping us around. Huge trucks and all the wind did not make for fun travels. We spent the first night in Amarillo and then the next day we drove into Santa Fe. We took the northern route home, and it was much more pleasant. The uneventful Oklahoma panhandle had little traffic, and the winds were no more. If we travel that way again, we’ll take the northern route.

Downtown Santa Fe has more shopping than you could ever see. But we tried. We toured old churches. The Loretto Chapel https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loretto_Chapel is still used for weddings and would make a beautiful event. But it is known for its spiral staircase that is made without a central post, glue or nails, only wooden pegs. The builder is unknown and disappeared after the staircase was built without being paid.


On Halloween day we traveled to wineries north of Santa Fe. We ate a late lunch at Rancho de Chimayo https://www.ranchodechimayo.com/ then trekked north to wine country. We stopped at two wineries and ran into a werewolf having a beer on the patio. It was Halloween. He said he didn’t work there, just lived nearby and let us take his picture. It was a beautiful sunny day on the pergola with grapevines hanging overhead.

Though chilly, the weather was wonderful, and we sat out by the fire pit in the evenings sometimes. Santa Fe is much larger than I remember from times past or I’m confusing it with Taos. But it is beautiful, the people are friendly, and the food is fabulous. Parking downtown can be a challenge.
The drive home was uneventful and the next day it began to snow in the mountains. It was raining at home, but in the high desert the precipitation was frozen. We were lucky to leave when we did, or we might have been stuck where we were until the snowplows got to us but that is Another Story for another Time. Thank you, Santa Fe, for a beautiful week.


What are you reading/writing/creating this week?

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