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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2024: Enid Writers Club Annual Workshop

Posted on November 3, 2024 by peggylchambers

Yesterday was the annual writing workshop for the Enid Writers Club. For the last few years, we’ve gathered at St. Matthews Episcopal Church thanks for Fr. John who is also a member of our club. It’s a perfect facility with room for speakers and lunch. Writers are a special group of people and we’re always ready to learn more about our craft.

The first speaker was Rene Gutteridge Rene says…. Rene has been a novelist and screen writer for 20 years and is the head writer for the Skit Guys. She’s involved with the Oklahoma Film Industry and has written for Hallmark. She talked about pitching your work and being confident about your writing. She is an inspiration and works hard at her craft giving herself time off when needed.

Laurel Thomas About – Write with Laurel talked about characterizations and how they make the reader feel about the story. She had great examples about making your story character driven and giving it depth. She’s written for inspirational magazines and is a writing coach.

Peggy Doviak About Peggy | Peggy Doviak is a certified financial advisor and writes both non-fiction and fiction. She has a new line of cozy mysteries but started teaching people to use their money wisely after her mother was cheated out of her life savings by a sketchy financial advisor. After three degrees in English, she went back to school and became a financial advisor herself. Now she’s branching out into fiction.

It was a great day and I loved learning something more about writing and meeting the new people who joined us. This is becoming an annual event and we hope to continue it. We ended the day with a panel discussion with all the speakers until the Oklahoma weather threatened and we adjourned early. Rain and storms across the Sooner state made for sketchy travels, but that is Another Story for another Time.

What are you reading/writing/creating this week?

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2024: Craft Shows and Halloween

Posted on October 27, 2024 by peggylchambers

I am always amazed at the creativity of people. I write stories and that is about as creative as I get. But I spent Saturday in Enid at the Stride Craft Show. I was so impressed with the vendors and their abilities. The sights and sounds made me look around every corner. On top of the creativity were the Halloween costumes.

As I drove downtown to meet my sister, I realized that the beautiful warm Saturday morning before Halloween was a festival in itself. There were kids in costumes all around the downtown square.

And there were more at the craft festival.

A man and his son dressed in matching Superman costumes sold cheesecake. A woman across from us had elderberry juice squeezed from homegrown berries. Children’s clothing, candles, food, and three-D printed trinkets were around every corner.

My sister sells stuffed animals made by hand: dragons, gnomes, wolf pups, and puff balls with googly eyes. They sit on a dragon mountain and attract a lot of attention.

You can buy stuffed animals and clothes at any department store downtown, but the handmade ones are special. People pour their hearts and souls into their art and they not only sell it to their neighbors, they form a community. People from all walks of life show up and sell their wares and bond with like minds. A community of artists and consumers come together, but that is Another Story for another Time.

What are you reading/writing/creating this week?

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2024: Relaxing the Mind

Posted on October 20, 2024 by peggylchambers

We all need a weekend (or more) away now and then. Someplace away from the madding crowd. Someplace quiet. Our souls were meant to work that way. You can’t constantly barrage your mind or your soul with stress without overloading.

There’s something about sitting around a fire that relaxes the body as well as the mind. Just walking out into the woods and collecting acorns for no apparent reason, just works. It is good for the creative as well as the logical mind. It gives them both a rest and an opportunity to meld.

Creative people are sometimes looked down on for being lazy or not participating in life. There’s work to be done! But I believe both sides of the brain are necessary. I am a mixture of the two, creative and logical. I love music and literature but realized early on I had to make a living and that for me required logic. And I am sometimes logical. I have to-do lists which have to-do lists. I write everything down, not trusting my memory, but knowing I must follow the path: one, two, three. It’s logical. My computer teacher told me that in programming, “I’s just logical.” And eventually, I molded my creative brain into a logical one, right brain vs. left brain. I had two sides to my brain, and I needed to use them both, no matter how hard it was. And I learned. But the creative side, though it never made a living for me, had to be fed now and then.

There is nothing like getting back to nature to get the creative juices flowing. There area acorns to be collected and bird songs to be heard. It is an opportunity to stretch my creativity and give my logical brain a rest, but that is Another Story for another Time.

What are you reading/writing/creating this week?

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2024: Author Peggy Doviak at Enid Writers Club Workshop

Posted on October 13, 2024 by peggylchambers

The Enid Writers Club will present their fall writing workshop on Saturday, November 2, 2024, at St. Matthews Episcopal Church, 518 West Randolph, Enid, OK 73701. We have three speakers lined up that day. There will be books to buy from the speakers and the club members and they make great Christmas presents. Lunch will be provided.

Best-selling personal finance author Peggy Doviak Amazon.com: Peggy Frazier Doviak: books, biography, latest update will be our final speaker of the day. She started reading mysteries when she was a child. Now, she is an experienced financial planner who changed careers when a stockbroker exploited her mother. Peggy is thrilled to be realizing her dream of writing a cozy mystery series featuring a savvy financial planner who solves financial crimes and murders. Her award-winning personal finance books, 52 Weeks to Prosperity (2018, The RoadRunner Press) and 52 Weeks to Well-Being (2023, Centerboard Press), break financial concepts into digestible bites. Her first cozy mystery, You Can’t Cheat Death, was released by The Wild Rose Press on September 16, 2024. Peggy’s social media and newsletter links are on her website, www.peggydoviak.com, and her podcast, “Ask Peggy About Your Money,” is available wherever you listen.

The workshop begins with registration at 9:00 with coffee and doughnuts and the first speaker begins at 10:00. We have 3 speakers, Rene Gutteridge, Laurel Thomas, and Peggy Doviak.

We are offering pre-registration and payment electronically or by check. But pre-registration is a must, so we have a headcount. The price of the workshop is $20 and that includes lunch. The boxed lunch from McAlester’s offers a choice of ham, turkey, or vegetarian sandwich with a cookie and chips. Please mark your choice when you pre-register. Drinks are provided.

You can pay by using the link, https://serendipitylanecreates.com/products/enid-writers-club-registration (online registration handled by our friends at Serendipity Lane) or by mailing a $20 check and your choice for lunch, before October 28. The check should be made out to EWC and mailed to St. Matthews, 518 W. Randolph, Enid, OK 73701.

The workshop is coming up quickly so don’t miss the deadline to register of October 28. I can’t wait to see you and spend time with like minds at our workshop, because that is Another Story for another Time.

What are you reading/writing/creating this week?

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2024: Speaker Laurel Thomas at Enid Writers Club Workshop

Posted on October 6, 2024 by peggylchambers

The Enid Writers Club will present their fall writing workshop on Saturday, November 2, 2024, at St. Matthews Episcopal Church, 518 West Randolph, Enid, OK 73701. We have four speakers lined up that day. There will be books to buy from the speakers and the club and they make great Christmas presents.

Today I want to introduce you to Laurel Thomas who speaks second at 11:00 am. Her presentation is titled Write Your Heart Out! As a writer’s coach and novelist, Laurel Thomas loves crafting stories about ordinary characters who rise against impossible odds to accomplish the extraordinary. She’s written for inspirational magazines, ghosted nonfiction and currently enjoys her favorite role as storyteller. Three of her novels, River’s Call, When Stars Brush Earth, and Stones of Promise have won numerous awards. Through Write Your Heart Out! she teaches and supports emerging novelists with one-on-one coaching, a weekly round table, and small group intensives. You can find her at www.writewithlaurel.com. I can’t wait to hear what she has to say.

The workshop begins with registration at 9:00 with coffee and doughnuts and the first speaker begins at 10:00. We have 4 speakers, Rene Gutteridge, Laurel Thomas, Peggy Doviak, and Nick Lyon.

We are offering pre-registration and payment electronically or by check. But pre-registration is a must, so we have a headcount. The price of the workshop is $20 and that includes lunch. The boxed lunch from McAlester’s offers a choice of ham, turkey, or vegetarian sandwich with a cookie and chips. Please mark your choice when you pre-register. Drinks are provided.

You can pay by using the link, https://serendipitylanecreates.com/products/enid-writers-club-registration (online registration handled by our friends at Serendipity Lane) or by mailing a $20 check and your choice for lunch, before October 28. The check should be made out to EWC and mailed to St. Matthews, 518 W. Randolph, Enid, OK 73701.

I hope to spend the next few weeks getting you acquainted with our speakers, because that is Another Story for another Time.

What are you reading/writing/creating this week?

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2024: Heavener Runestone Book Signing

Posted on September 29, 2024 by peggylchambers

One fall, many years ago, my husband and I took a road trip to southeast Oklahoma to see the autumn colors. Thanks to an Oklahoma travel show on tv, we stumbled upon the Heavener Runestone State Park (now a city park). I have always been fascinated by Vikings and I was hooked. We had to see the runestone they said was carved by Vikings.

We drove to the park and finally found the sign and the road up the hill and walked down the stairs to the stone itself. I was in love. The forest is magical—I knew that from the time my feet hit the asphalt parking lot. And inside the little gift shop was a book, In Plain Sight by Gloria Farley that told the story of the runestone and her similar findings across the United States. While I roamed around the shop, a man came in with his son, a pre-school boy. I overheard him say he was an archeologist and wanted to see the Farley book, too. The shop was out of any to sell, but one could get a copy from Amazon. I ordered the book once I was home, but a story was born. A boy in the magical forest because his archeologist father was studying the stone—and the Glome’s Valley saga became more than just an idea.

I’ve sold that book several times at the Viking Fest and in the gift shop. But lately, I met a new person, Lynn Webster, who is involved with the park, and I was invited to come have a book signing at the park once more. They have a new coloring book by a local artist, Spencer Pierce, dedicated to the park. I look forward to meeting her and sitting at the signing table with her. It will be an honor to meet another fan of the park.

We will be at the park on Saturday, October 5, 2024, from 12:00 to 2:00. Come see us and get copies of the books. But mostly come absorb the magic of the valley, because that is Another Story for another Time.

What are you reading/writing/creating this week?

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2024: Rene Gutteridge Speaker at Enid Writers Club Workshop

Posted on September 22, 2024 by peggylchambers

The Enid Writers Club will present their fall writing workshop on Saturday, November 2, 2024, at St. Matthews Episcopal Church, 518 West Randolph, Enid, OK 73701. We have four speakers lined up that day. Today I want to introduce you to Rene Gutteridge who speaks first at 10:00 am. She will talk about pitching your work to a publisher, agent, etc.

Rene has been writing professionally for over twenty years, with diversified expertise in fiction, non-fiction, comedy sketches, novelizations, and screenwriting. She is the multi-genre author of 24 novels plus several non-fiction titles. Her indie film SKID won deadCenter’s Best Oklahoma Feature, and her novel My Life as a Doormat was adapted into the Hallmark movie Love’s Complicated. She is co-writer on the feature film Family Camp, a Movieguide award winner and a Dove Award nominee for 2023. She is also a Screencraft finalist in true crime. Rene is co-director of WriterCon in Oklahoma City, senior contributor at Writing Momentum and is the head writer at Skit Guys Studios. Find out more here:

ReneGutteridge.com

FamilyCampMovie.com 

Co-Director of WriterCon

Be sure to attend our workshop and meet our speakers. It is a lot of fun and you might learn something! You can pay online by using the link, https://serendipitylanecreates.com/products/enid-writers-club-registration (online registration handled by our friends at Serendipity Lane) or by mailing a $20 check and your choice for lunch (ham, turkey or vegetarian), before October 28. The check should be made out to EWC and mailed to St. Matthews, 518 W. Randolph, Enid, OK 73701.

I hope to spend the next few weeks getting you acquainted with our other speakers, but that is Another Story for another Time.

What are you reading/writing/creating this week?

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