Crazy For Lighthouses!

I was recently blessed to receive a literary contract for my historical fiction, Northern Light. The novel takes place at a "very real" historic lighthouse on the Texas Gulf Coast. I can attest to how much people love lighthouses by the number of sites devoted to them on the web. I'm guilty...I love lighthouses too! So to share that love with you, I've created something called...FRIDAY LIGHT DAY! Every Friday I will post a picture of a lighthouse and give a little blurb of information about the light. Since I started Friday Light Day on Facebook a few weeks ago, I've got some catching up to do. I'll post two lighthouses each Friday until I get caught up. 

The first lighthouse on the list is the Santa Cruz Breakwater Lighthouse at Santa Cruz, CA, also called the Walton Lighthouse. This is a very young lighthouse having only been in service since 2001. The light is called the Walton, because Charles Walton contributed a large amount toward the construction cost in memory of his late brother Derek. I visited Santa Cruz once while on a trip to the Mount Hermon Writers Conference. Me and three friends took a break from the conference and drove to the coast. What a gorgeous part of the country.

Walton Lighthouse

On week two the news was inundated with pictures of the frozen tundra up North from lake effect snow, brrr! So today I chose the Muskegon South Pierhead Lighthouse in Michigan. It stands guard over Muskegon Lake before emptying into Lake Michigan. Fun fact, in 1837 Muskegon Township was established and nicknamed the "Lumber Queen of the World." In the 1800s it was home to more millionaires than any other town in America and its lumber helped rebuild Chicago after the great fire of 1871. Either big or small, it seems there's a story behind every lighthouse.

                                        Muskegon South Pierhead Lighthouse

The Stages of Signing A Book Contract By: Annette O'Hare

This blog post is one I've been waiting to write for a long, long time. I'm proud to announce that my historical romance novel, Northern Light, has been picked up for publication by White Rose Publishing. Below is what I'd like to call, the phases of signing a book contract, by Annette O'Hare.

Stage 1 - The "Bliss" stage. You've received the e-mail informing you that you're novel has been accepted by a honest to goodness publishing company. Hubby takes you to a nice restaurant to celebrate...life is good!

Stage 2 - The "This Is It" stage. You're ready. The contract is spread out in front of you. The pen you hand-picked has been swirled around on scratch paper so many times to make sure it works that it's almost out of ink. This is it...you're ready to sign.

Stage 3 - The "Contemplative/Okay Now I'm Ready" stage. You were ready to sign, but you stop, withdraw your pen from the contract and contemplate for a moment. Wow, a real book contract. God has really poured out His blessings on me. It's finally happening. Okay, now I'm ready!











Stage 4 - The "Wait Just One Minute" stage. Before opening a vein and drawing out fresh blood to ink your name on the page, you stop. Wait just one minute! Am I really going to sign over my baby to people I don't even know? What was I thinking? How do I know they're going to take care of it like I have? Maybe this isn't such a good idea after all!
 

Stage 5 - The "Hurry Up And Sign The Darn Thing Already" stage. This is the final stage because your husband said so! He's tired of taking pictures and he's said more than one time that he's ready to order. The time has come. It's now or never. You put ink to paper and with the stroke of the pen you join countless others who have gone down the path to becoming a published author!