A journal of the journey

My daughter is so sweet to me. And very creative. Scrapbooking is not my thing, but she knew I wanted one to journal my road to publication. So she stepped in.

Photo one is the cover of the scrapbook. It turned out a little royal blue here, but it is acutally a navy blue tooled leather 12 x 12 inch scrapbook.

Here's Heather with her handiwork. She is so creative, and had lots of ideas. She told me what she needed for pictures and print matter, and then took off.

Page one is the author page. She used a photo of me, one of my business cards, and my author bio. Along the right hand side are pictures of my support staff, Peter, Heather, and James. Also, my two blue finalist ribbons, and a quote from my agent when he offered representation back in January of 2005 found their way on the page. My favorite part is the ribbon across the top and the paperclips with letters that spell out AUTHOR. The picture frame around my picture has a border of ink pens. The paper in the background is different printed samples, type and handwritten.

Page two is divided by a black ribbon. The top half of the page is dedicated to the ACFW Conference Genesis Contest. She used pictures of my plaque and my certificate, as well as small pictures of me on the night of the banquet. Also making an appearance is Mary Connealy, who won first place in the Short Historical category of the ACFW Book of the Year.

The bottom half of this page has pictures of my new editor, JoAnne Simmons, and portions of the letter she gave me offering me a contract on The Bartered Bride. The black ribbon with Barbour Author printed on it came inside the letter so I could wear it on my name badge for the rest of the conference. I did so with giddy pride. The background paper has both capital and lowercase ABC's on it, and stickers and foil hearts complete the embellishments.

This page is a busy one, with lots of different things on it that are all loosely related. In the upper left is my invitation to the Barbour Authors' "Meet-and-Greet" held at the Underwater Adventures Aquarium at the Mall of America. The ticket for the event was included in the letter from JoAnne, and I saved my hot pink wristband and Heather included it. The upper left of the page has a picture of my agent, Les Stobbe. The bottom left is a picture of the gorgeous flowers my parents sent when they learned of the book sale, and the other photograph is of me signing my first contract. Also on the page are a note from CJ, that she included with the lovely gift of a Cross pen (RED of course!) for me to use for all my future book signings (Thank you, CJ! I LOVE it!) and a picture of me with Susan Sleeman and Annalisa Daughtey who also received contracts from Barbour Publishing this year. The background paper is a pen and ink ledger.

This page is for the first book in the Kennebrae Brides series: The Bartered Bride. Heather used a sepia-toned paper with wedding cakes on it to build the page. The color photo is of the arial lift bridge in Duluth Harbor (the book is set in Duluth) and the other two photos are of 1905 era steamer cargo ships on Lake Superior. Heather included a brief description of the book, as well as stickers showing musical notes and piano keys, since the heroine is an accomplished pianist. A wedding cake sticker and gold-foil hearts complete the page. Well, almost. She left a place for a picture of the book cover when we get it.

This page is for book two in the Kennebrae Brides series: The Marriage Masquerade. Heather used a paper of water/waves for the background, since this book is set on a fictional island along the North Shore of Lake Superior. The photograph is of Split Rock Lighthouse. (My husband took the photo in June of 2007, when we visited Split Rock. He played with the sepia setting on his camera and I love the results.) The trees represent the vast forests of Northern Minnesota, and she included a brief synopsis of the book, as well as nautical stickers to show that the hero is a ship captain. She left room for a book cover image.

The final page she completed this week just might be my favorite, but I'm not sure, they are all so wonderful. (Also, this is the book I'll be starting on two weeks from today, and my favorite book is always the one I'm working on at the moment.) The background paper is of circular protractors to emphasize that the hero is an engineer. The border is of soft, pink, Victorian roses, bringing in the heroine's point of view. A short synopsis of the book is included. She said she kept most of the stickers and embellishments squared up to emphasize the engineer theme. Small tree stickers show that the heroine's father is a lumberman. Two photos of ships show that the hero is a shipbuilder. The Gibson Girl picture comes to me courtesy of CJ, and is perfect for the heroine and the era (1906). Heather left room for a book cover image in the upper right corner.

I couldn't be happier with her efforts. And her optimism. She said she wants to do a page for each of the books I sell. I am blessed.