Author name: Sayling@@Away

Rarely have I read a book so filled with love, acceptance, kindness, faith, and hope. The Gift brought me to tears several times, and the experience of reading it was uplifting. This is the second in the Harbor Pointe series, covering two centuries of stories linked by the Harbor Pointe Inn on a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean in California. Banished by her parents, Sixteen-year-old Shelly is heavily pregnant as the result of a one-time mistake. Her father gives her the keys to his old truck and some money for gas, and tells her to drive across the country to live with an aunt in Washington until her baby is delivered… and possibly longer. Out of gas and money, Shelley finds herself on a fire road close to the West Coast when her contractions begin. A snow storm rages outside as Shelly delivers the baby on her own, then determines that she and the baby will die in the truck if she can’t find them shelter. Wrapping the newborn in her father’s old coat, she follows a flickering light in the distance. The light is from a lighthouse, and she collapses at the door to the lighthouse keeper’s cottage. She is rescued by Jes, the lighthouse keeper, and his wife, Mary.  Shelly and her baby are a Christmas gift of life and love to Jes and Mary, who lost their only child after a few years after she was born. The love between Jes and Mary as they open their hearts and home to Shelly and the baby is miraculous. The characters in the story are so real and their emotions so beautifully rendered that I felt great joy while reading. This is a happy story – only good surprises as you get to meet Jonathan, Shelly’s boyfriend; his cousin Howard, who happens to live in Harbor Pointe, and Jonathan’s parents. The allusions to the real Christmas story filter in here and there, as well. I highly recommend the book, and I hope everyone will read it to feel the joy of the season.  About the author: Gwen M. Plano grew up in Southern California and spent most of her professional life in higher education. She taught and served as an administrator in colleges in Japan, New York, Connecticut, and California. Gwen’s academic background is in theology and counseling. Recently retired, she now lives in the high desert of Arizona, where she writes, gardens, and travels with her husband. When Gwen is not writing, she’s often in the beautiful Red Rocks of Sedona, where she finds inspiration. She has authored five books. The Contract is a thriller fiction novel she co-authored by John W. Howell, which received multiple awards and is an Amazon Best Seller. You can find Gwen Plano on her blog: https://www.gwenplano.com/ 2 0

“ From ghoulies to ghosties, and long-leggedy beasties, and things that go bump in the night, good Lord deliver us.” Robert Burns 0 0

Some of you know I am writing a book about Daniel Boone, Daniel Boone and Me, aimed for YA and adult readers. I never expected to take a side trip with this book, but I wrote a story for an online prompt and the members of my critique group encouraged me to expand on it. So I ventured down the rabbit hole of research on Daniel Boone. Along the way I learned some interesting facts about this legendary explorer and hunter. Portrait of Daniel Boone from Wikipedia by Chester Harding (copyright free) “I can’t say as ever I was lost, but I was bewildered once for three days,” he reportedly said. !. Daniel Boone was not southern. He was born in 1734 and raised by Quakers in eastern Pennsylvania, about 10 miles from the modern city of Reading. In 1734, this was fairly close to the frontier, and he was given a gun at age 12 to hunt. 2. Boone was not well- educated. He disliked school and went hunting as often as possible. His sister taught him to read and a little of writing. 4. In the early days, Boone had long braided hair, dressed with bear grease. He tied his long shirt with a leather belt, from which hung a powder horn, a bullet pouch, a knife and a tomahawk. He dressed himself like the Indians in a breechclout – a length of cloth that passed between the legs and then under a cloth belt, with the extra cloth hanging in the front and behind. Many hunters dressed that way. 5. He did not wear a coonskin cap! He wore a wide-brimmed felt or beaver hat, much like the Quaker style hats worn by men in Pennsylvania. Daniel Boone wears a blue capeau coat over his buckskin coat, based on one seen in the only legitimate portrait of the frontiersman, painted circa 1820 by Chester Harding. Indian at lower right is his Shawnee friend from Missouri who accompanied him on hunting trips. (True West Magazine) 6. In 1775, Boone and a group of thirty men completed a 200-mile trail through the wilderness to the Cumberland Gap—a natural break in the rugged Appalachian Mountains—and into Kentucky, which would become his home. This trail would be named the Wilderness Trail and the route by which many settlers moved west. By the artist George Caleb Bingham I hope you find these tidbits interesting, and I’ll have more as I come closer to a publication date! 0 0