I dreamed a plot last night. It involved a drug store and a wall telephone. :-) I dream strange things all the time, and when I wake up my memories are all utter nonsense, but last night the story I dreamed actually made sense. Enough that when I looked at it in the light of day and began to consider it a little further, I think it'll work!
I'm between books right now, and my job for next week is to write up several proposals for new projects and send them to my agent for her input. Then the next week, I have to get busy with my next project, Ghost. I'm ready to go!
But back to A TIME TO MEND. The following are some of the comments and reactions the book has received:
"Hunt deals with medical technology using clear, concise language. A dramatic and touching story that should find an audience in any library." --Library Journal.
I received several reader letters about this book--and expect to get a few more on the new edition (though now they'll probably be emails!).
Here's a sampling of reader mail:
"Just finished reading your Gentle Touch. It's a wonderful book . . . in your handling of cancer. At the age of 40 I was a mastectomy patient, and you covered the feelings of a patient extremely well (I hope that doesn't mean you've also had breast cancer). You were also very realistic about the reactions of others. Bless you for using your storytelling ability for giving women a positive viewpoint." --Lois
"Thanks for writing Gentle Touch. I first read it for the plot. However, I have read the book again, this time paying close attention to the medical things (since being diagnosed with breast cancer). I want you to know this has helped me ever so much. I really didn't know where to begin with what I need to ask the doctor, so your book gave me plenty of food for thought. I sat down with it and wrote out my questions." ~Helen
"I just finished reading your novel GENTLE TOUCH. When I was not quite eleven years old, my mother died of Hodgkins Disease, a form of cancer. I was the oldest of three children, so my childhood effectively ended then. . . . The character who really touched me was Daphne. In so many ways, she reminded me of my mother. My mother was not quite 29 when she died, but she had lived such a full life. . . . Her passing was quick. One day she was getting us ready for the last day of school, and then next day she was in a coma and then gone. I never really got to say goodbye to her because the adults believed that we kids were better off not really knowing the seriousness of her condition. As an adult now, I can almost understand their reasoning, but as a child, I felt as if something very precious had been stolen from me.
"Then last night as I was reading the final chapters of your book, I came to Daphne's letter to Jacqueline. And there it was--the goodbye from my mother! As I read and re-read the letter, I could hear my mother's soft voice and feel God heal the hurt places in my heart that I had covered up for so long . . ." ~~Diana
And, my friends, the reward doesn't get any better than that.
If you have any questions about the writing of GENTLE TOUCH/A TIME TO MEND, please post them in the comments section today . . . and I'll answer them in the next blog.
Next month's BOM? SHE ALWAYS WORE RED which should be in full release mode by the time May first rolls around!
~~Angie
I received several reader letters about this book--and expect to get a few more on the new edition (though now they'll probably be emails!).
Here's a sampling of reader mail:
"Just finished reading your Gentle Touch. It's a wonderful book . . . in your handling of cancer. At the age of 40 I was a mastectomy patient, and you covered the feelings of a patient extremely well (I hope that doesn't mean you've also had breast cancer). You were also very realistic about the reactions of others. Bless you for using your storytelling ability for giving women a positive viewpoint." --Lois
"Thanks for writing Gentle Touch. I first read it for the plot. However, I have read the book again, this time paying close attention to the medical things (since being diagnosed with breast cancer). I want you to know this has helped me ever so much. I really didn't know where to begin with what I need to ask the doctor, so your book gave me plenty of food for thought. I sat down with it and wrote out my questions." ~Helen
"I just finished reading your novel GENTLE TOUCH. When I was not quite eleven years old, my mother died of Hodgkins Disease, a form of cancer. I was the oldest of three children, so my childhood effectively ended then. . . . The character who really touched me was Daphne. In so many ways, she reminded me of my mother. My mother was not quite 29 when she died, but she had lived such a full life. . . . Her passing was quick. One day she was getting us ready for the last day of school, and then next day she was in a coma and then gone. I never really got to say goodbye to her because the adults believed that we kids were better off not really knowing the seriousness of her condition. As an adult now, I can almost understand their reasoning, but as a child, I felt as if something very precious had been stolen from me.
"Then last night as I was reading the final chapters of your book, I came to Daphne's letter to Jacqueline. And there it was--the goodbye from my mother! As I read and re-read the letter, I could hear my mother's soft voice and feel God heal the hurt places in my heart that I had covered up for so long . . ." ~~Diana
And, my friends, the reward doesn't get any better than that.
If you have any questions about the writing of GENTLE TOUCH/A TIME TO MEND, please post them in the comments section today . . . and I'll answer them in the next blog.
Next month's BOM? SHE ALWAYS WORE RED which should be in full release mode by the time May first rolls around!
~~Angie
2 comments:
Does the emotion of your topic ever overwhelm you to the point of tears or having to take a break from it?
As a reader, I sometimes have to take a break from the intensity of the scene or the sadness.
Blessings on you, Angie!
holly
PS I always heard that having a pencil and paper beside the bed is good for those early morning dreams and ideas :)
Do you ever have trouble telling your characters goodbye?
I really get absorbed in my reading. And I always hate to come to the end of the book, and even though you always end it well, I frequently want to keep the story going, just to know more about what happens. The folks seem so real.
And how do you decide which books are going to turn into a series - whether it's with the same character, other characters, or subsequent centuries even like Heirs of Cahira O'Connor - and which ones are just stand-alone books?
Thanks for sharing with us. You are a delight and a blessing!
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