Journal

On Saturday, I stopped in Michigan City, Indiana, on my way home from the Fiction Readers Summit. I pulled up to the parking attendant at Washington Park Beach. “I’m looking for any kind of Eastland Disaster memorial,” I told him. I had read it was around here somewhere. “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he said. So I told him what many of you already know if you’ve read my novel, Drawn by the Current. On July 24, 1915, the SS Eastland tipped over in the Chicago River while still tied to the dock. 844 people lost their lives. Their destination had been Washington Park Beach in Michigan City, Indiana for their annual picnic with fellow Western Electric employees. “Huh,” said the parking attendant as he took my money and waved me through. The weather was in the 50s, with a wind that cut right through my clothes. Not many others were around. I found myself thinking of this empty beach and the empty park behind it as it must have been on July 24, 1915. More than 7000 employees had been slated to fill these spaces that day. There were going to be picnics, foot-races, ice cream, baseball, swimming, dancing. It would have been the highlight of their year. But the Eastland and other chartered ships never came. I was really cold by Lake Michigan. I did what I normally do in this weather—I walked fast. Then I told myself to slow down. To stop, even though my ears hurt from the cold and the wind pulled my hair in all directions. Remembering tragedy isn’t supposed to be comfortable. So I remembered, and it hurt, and that is exactly as it should be. After my visit to the beach, I found the Old Lighthouse Museum nearly within spitting distance behind it. That’s where I found the memorial to the Eastland Disaster.   The memorial chain referenced in the previous photo can be seen on the left. Inside the museum, there was a display on the Eastland Disaster. Visiting the beach, park, and lighthouse was such a meaningful experience for me. I wrote about those who died and those who survived in Drawn by the Current. The novel won an award, I’ve released another novel, and I’m about to turn in another one. But even though the wheels of the publishing industry keep on turning, I don’t think I’ll ever move on from the Eastland Disaster. It will always hold a special place in my heart, and I'll always be grateful for the continuing work of the Old Lighthouse Museum Michigan City Historical Society and the Eastland Disaster Historical Society. Pics taken inside the Lantern Room at the top of the Old Lighthouse Museum P.S. If you would like to visit this area, park at the Old Lighthouse Museum Michigan City Historical Society, and enjoy their displays for the $5 fee. It's well worth it. The museum is packed with information that I didn't include here. Then walk to the beach and park instead of paying a separate parking fee. Have you ever gone in search of a site that was important in a novel you read? Tell us about it. *Please note that I moderate comments in order to weed out spam. I'll approve your comment as soon as I can.

I hosted 20 wonderful readers in the great city of Chicago for a World's Fair Christmas weekend Dec. 8-11. The weekend centered around the 1893 World's Fair as the setting for my novel, Shadows of the White City. My husband Rob (pictured at left) came with me this time to act as my right-hand man, although he preferred the term "henchman." His help allowed me to feel like I could be in two places at once, but of course we always like to be in the same place, too! Readers came from Florida, California, Colorado, Tennessee, and places in between. Here's what one participant had to say at the end of our weekend together: As a person who grew up in the suburbs of Chicago, I have been to the city many, many times, but even so, I enjoyed the atmosphere of being in the Loop at Christmas with all the beautiful decorations and lights. I am amazed how much I learned about the city, the World's Fair, Marshall Field's store, and the Palmer family, and I visited places I had never been to before, such as the Glessner House, the Marquette Building, Prairie Avenue, and the Midway. It wasn't necessary to have read the book in order to enjoy the weekend, but because I had read the book, I had a better understanding of the history that was shared in our tours and by the interpreters. For me it was both a learning experience and a nostalgic visit to familiar and loved places. ~Marcia Here's another perspective from a reader in our group: The Chicago World’s Fair Christmas exceeded my expectations!  I love history and historical fiction, so it was a natural fit for me, but my husband, who is primarily an action/adventure reader really enjoyed the trip too.  He read Shadows of the White City before the trip, but I think that anyone who enjoys learning about history, or the history of a city would enjoy this trip.  Many of our excursions had tie-ins to Jocelyn’s book, but visiting and learning about Chicago’s beautiful and historical buildings and dwellings would be of general interest to non-readers too.  I’ve visited Chicago before and seen several of the main tourist attractions, but everything on this tour (except Macy’s) was new to me.  The Jane Addams and Bertha Palmer historical interpretors were very informative and taught me a lot about those ladies’ lives and contributions as well as more about the history of Chicago.  Bill, our Glessner House guide, and Kevin of Wild Onion Walks were both very knowledgeable in their areas of expertise and kept us informed and entertained.  This trip was a visual feast with the many beautiful buildings and their amazing architecture and artwork, and Christmas decorations on top of that!  Chicago has a dangerous reputation, but most of our time was spent in and around the Palmer House and other historic areas accompanied by our group and drivers/guides, and I never felt uneasy.  I also appreciated having some free time to either rest or spend time in areas of personal interest.  All in all, a very enjoyable experience and we would go again. ~Elaine The pictures below are just a few of the highlights from our trip. We had a wonderful time! We stayed at the historic Palmer House hotel, which is featured in Shadows of the White City. It's always a treat to stay here, but it's extra special during the holiday season! In fact, we happened to arrive on National Brownie Day (Dec. 8) which the hotel celebrated since the brownie was invented in the Palmer House kitchen in 1893! Just inside the Monroe Street entrance Palmer House hotel lobby After our welcome meeting in the hotel, we hopped on a shuttle which took us to the Praire Avenue historic district. There, we enjoyed a one-hour private tour of the Glessner House, one of Chicago's gilded age mansions. Bill Tyre, executive director, shares with our group in the front hall. The library is one of my favorite rooms in the house. After our tour of the mansion, we enjoyed a hot buffet in the conservatory! There was plenty of food, and it was all so good. During coffee and dessert, I shared a little bit about the World's Fair. Every table had sets of laminated cards to flip through while I spoke.  Friday morning began with a Bring Your Own Coffee Book Club in one of the meeting rooms in the hotel. It flew by! I love having the chance to chat with readers and answer questions in person. After book club, we had a visit with Jane Addams! Actress Betsey Means of WomanLore gave our group a private performance which I don't think any of us will forget. A highlight of the weekend. My first photo with a Nobel Peace Prize winner! :)  Next, we walked over to Macy's with Kevin of Wild Onion Walks for a historic tour of the department store that was Marshall Field's for so long. Truly a Chicago institution. The tour ended on the seventh floor, where we enjoyed lunch in the Walnut Room. The tree is suspended from the ceiling with a cable/wire, so the weight doesn't damage the Tiffany ceiling from beneath the floor. Christy and Lynn at the Walnut Room After lunch was free time for the rest of the day! Christkindlmarket in Daley Plaza is only about a block away from Macy's, so that was a popular stop for several in our group. In the evening, some attended A Christmas Carol at the Goodman Theatre about half a mile from our hotel.  Saturday was another eventful day! It began with a city tour led by Kevin again. Our first stop was The Marquette Building, completed in 1895. Marquette was a French missionary and explorer, the first European to discover the Chicago River.  The outside of the building tells a story in four panels. Only the first two are pictured here. Inside, gorgeous Tiffany mosaic murals depict Chicago's early history. Another important visit was 2nd Presbyterian Church, which has National Landmark status for the nine Tiffany windows in its sanctuary.     Bill Tyre, who gave us a tour of the Glessner House, is also on the board at 2nd Presbyterian and explained what we were seeing in the church, as well. The chancel was being restored during our visit, but it didn't affect our ability to see the windows.  Those chandeliers were designed to look like crowns. At the end of our morning tour, some were dropped off to visit the Museum of Science and Industry, which is one of only two buildings still here that were built for the 1893 World's Fair. The rest of us scattered for a variety of activities! Some went for deep-dish pizza, and some went to Portillo's for a Chicago hot dog or Italian beef sandwich, pictured below. After lunch, everyone did whatever they wanted for the afternoon! Several visited the Driehaus Museum on the north side. Spectacular place! Several from our group attended the Nutcracker, which was set at the 1893 World's Fair! After everyone found dinner on their own from a wealth of options, we met again at the hotel for our final event. In the Crystal Room, we had a private performance by Dr. Leslie Goddard, who portrayed for us Bertha Palmer, wife of the man who built the Palmer House hotel. Both Mr. and Mrs. Palmer did much more than operate the hotel, though, and we enjoyed learning all about it. The performance was set as though we were in the year 1893. Our group of intrepid travelers, with Bertha Palmer in the middle of the back row!  For more pics, see my Facebook album here. This was the second tour I've led in Chicago. The first one, held in April, covered all three books in The Windy City Saga, including historic milestones in the city's history such as the Great Fire of 1871, the 1893 World's Fair, and the 1915 Eastland Disaster. (See my report on that trip here.) This December weekend was so much fun, I'm optimistic I'll offer another Christmas trip in the future. But if you're more of a warm weather traveler, save these dates! The next Windy City Saga Tour will be August 31 - Sept. 3, 2023! These weekends are such unique experiences. I'm looking forward to the next one already! Have you been to any of the places mentioned in this blog post? Or, which of these places or experiences do you think you would enjoy?

What a joy it was to be joined by four other authors and a few dozen readers on April 23 for the Novel-Tea Evening with the Authors! We held this event at the Palmer House hotel in Chicago, since I was already there hosting a weekend-long Windy City Saga Tour. (Read more about that here.) After a few years of barely any in-person events due to the pandemic, it was even sweeter to be able to gather in one room and talk about books and writing over tea. Every attendee was given a gift plus a program which included all kinds of fun extras related to our novel-tea theme. You can download this as a PDF and take a look at it yourself here. Enjoy some pictures from the evening below, taken by Chicago Corporate Photography and Video!  Susie Finkbeiner, Sarah Ladd, Kristy Cambron, Katherine Reay, and Jocelyn Green In the photo above, we authors are standing in front of the Palmer House lobby. But I bet you want to get a really good look at the lobby right? I don't blame you. Here you go: Our event was in the Crystal Room on the third floor of the hotel. First things first: fix a cup of hot tea. The centerpieces for each table was made of vintage books, lanterns, and teacups with fresh roses. We had a lovely group that night! Checking out the program! You can view the program as a PDF here. We had such a beautiful space! What did Susie say to make us all laugh? I cannot remember. I just remember she was hilarious. The best part was seeing our reading friends enjoying themselves so much! After our panel ended, it was time for book sales and signings! It was such a treat to meet so many readers! Wish you were here! The Novel-Tea Evening with the Authors is a wrap, but I'm still smiling about it!  (If you want to see more pics from the evening, see my Facebook album here.)

Over the course of my writing career, people have often asked me what a release day is like. It really varies. Some years, I’ve had Facebook launch parties with trivia, give-aways, and games. A few times I’ve just done live videos on Facebook. One year I had an actual launch party in person at my favorite local tea shop. That was for A Refuge Assured, and it was probably my favorite launch. Drawn by the Current, my tenth novel (nineteenth book overall) just released on Feb. 1, and is my third consecutive novel to release during a pandemic. You may have picked up on this, but it’s been really hard to plan in-person events for a while now, and I feel like people are getting burned out on zoom things. **However, if you’re not, I did do a 30-minute zoom interview with romantic suspense author Cara Putman last week that was so much fun. You could watch this and pretend it’s a release party with special guest Cara, although it was really Cara’s Book Talk Show with special guest me. Ha.**  So what’s a release day like during a pandemic? Other authors have been doing a much better job. I’ll just tell you about my own release day this year. 5:40am I wake up and realize I didn't put together a newsletter to announce the release of Drawn by the Current. Ha! Time to get busy on that. I have never, no never, forgotten to do this before. 6:30am I am done getting ready for the day and get going on formatting the newsletter.  7:00am I’m ready to send it, but my newsletter provider informs me I’m out of credits and only have enough left to send to half my subscribers. I realize that my monthly billing cycle is scheduled for the first of every month, and today is the first. So at some point today, I’ll be billed automatically, and after that, I can send the newsletter to everyone. OK, fine. 7:05am Time to get the kids up and hustling for school. Breakfast time. 7:40am I take the kids to school, where they take the first two periods of classes. This semester, they are dual-enrolled, which means that they homeschool most of their stuff, but still go to school for art, choir, P.E., etc. 8:04am After dropping the kids off at school, I arrive at Panera Bread, which has become a satellite office for me. I take advantage of their unlimited coffee/tea monthly subscription and almost feel bad about the amount of hot beverages I consume. I am getting way more than my money’s worth. Also, the mayor of our city frequents this place too, and he always says hi, refills my mug for me, and asks if he can treat me to something to eat. I am the only one in the world he does this for.* I open my laptop and start a writing sprint on the book that is due March 15. [Sidenote: it was actually due today, but since I lost a month to covid last fall, my editor was gracious enough to grant me an extension. Hallelujah.] *The mayor is my husband.  9:41am Drive back to school to pick up kids. Find out that my son got a part in the school play (Clue) as Unexpected Cop. He gets to speak a little, I think, and then play a dead body, which sounds like a fairly low-pressure way to make his theatrical debut. I love it. Daughter has a choir concert the same week of the play. Cool. 10am Drop kids off at home and return to Panera (see? satellite office) to meet with a friend and research source for my current work in progress. He’s a special agent of the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, and his office is just down the road from the restaurant. NOT PICTURED: I'm getting into an earnest question, but he stops me to let me know I have something on my face. Under my nose. A true friend. But did it just come from my nose? I hope not, I really, really hope not. I vote for lint. But I swipe at it, he assures me it’s gone, and we carry on. He lets me interview him for almost two hours since I have a NYPD detective character in the novel I’m writing now. (He also helped me for Drawn by the Current, since there is some investigative work in that book, too.) Amazing, invaluable meeting. He invites me to his office to see how things are set up for all the cases he’s juggling. So after a quick call to let my kids know they should proceed to feed themselves lunch, off I go for more information and inspiration. The day is a win! 12:30pm I stop at the gas station to fill up my filthy minivan on the way home. Decide to clean the rear and front windshields while I wait for the gas to pump. Somehow, while in the process, disgusting muddy water ends up flinging off that squeegee spongy tool provided by the gas station, and getting ALL OVER the right side of my cream-colored winter coat. Why do I have a coat this color? I have no idea. Probably it was on sale. 12:45pm Toss my coat and mittens in the washing machine, eat lunch, and open the internet for the first time today, except for when I formatted my newsletter that still hasn’t sent. Am reminded that today is a release day by all the kind messages on social media. Thank you! Thank you so much! Thanks! The above images are from various friendly Instagram accounts! Top row, left to right: @books.n.blossoms, @kristycambron, @gwendalyn_books_. Bottom row, left to right: @alittlebitofbrandy, @msdarcyreads, @thebeccafiles.  Try to send my newsletter again. Failed again. Sigh. I care less this time. I spend an untold amount of time responding to social media messages. This is fun. I realize the local paper didn't bite for the news tip I submitted about this book, even though we have a local resident who has a relative who perished on the Eastland Disaster (the event my novel revolves around). Bummer. At some point, I consider washing the sheets, but lose interest. Instead, I remember to email some other folks who had helped me find information for Drawn by the Current, to let them know the book has released: a chief medical examiner for the state of Iowa, staff at the Chicago Maritime Museum, and a producer of a DVD documentary on the Eastland Disaster. I received help from other people too for the book (see acknowledgments) but all of them already know about the release. Honestly, the next stretch is all a blur. I respond to emails. I update some graphics on my Web site. (See the sidebar on the right! Check out those wonderful sponsors at the top of the page!!) Pay some bills online and then spend too long on hold trying to pay another bill. I try one more time to send my newsletter, to no avail. This time I do not care at all. Tomorrow it is! At some point I decide that I really should change the sheets and rotate the mattress and start another load of laundry. So I do. 3:30pm I leave with my son to take him to his team’s basketball game an hour away. We need to be at the school by 4:45. No problem. My coat is clean and dry. Snacks are packed. (So is my laptop.) I’ve got this. 4:41pm The GPS tells us we have arrived at the school. We most definitely have not arrived at the school. What in the actual heck? Where am I? The middle of nowhere, that’s where. So I drive to a nearby Dollar General, dash inside and open with the charming line, “Excuse me, I’m not from around here . . .” The nice thing about small towns in Iowa is that everyone wants to help you. The cashier and the woman checking out both give me SOLID directions to the school. The Middle of Nowhere 4:44pm We pull in the parking lot. We are on time. I am so good at this. 5:15pm Still waiting for my son’s game to start. Pull out the laptop and start typing up this post. It feels a tiny bit rude, since the JV game is playing right in front of me, so I just look up and keep typing. That’s right, I am watching the JV game at the same time, totally following the ball and players up and down the court. I am a master. I am literally typing and not looking at my laptop right now. If anyone sees me from the shoulders up, they might not even know what I’m doing. I am so impressed with myself. 5:29pm My son’s game is about to start. I’m going to close this laptop and be done. I’ll predict what happens next. We’ll get home between 7:30 and 8pm. I may or may not find fast food for dinner on the way home. I will be exhausted. We’ll probably watch something together as a family and then I will collapse into bed. [Time passes] We did end up watching an episode of All Creatures Great and Small, a darling, favorite show. And then I got a call from my credit union’s fraud detection center asking if I really tried to make a payment to my newsletter service provider. Yes I did. And I have no idea why a $37 payment would be so suspicious, but here we are.] Happy Release Day! How’s that for a day in the life of an author? Epilogue Months ago, I really did have my heart set on an in-person event for some kind of launch party, because Drawn by the Current really is important to me, and so are the first two books in the series, Veiled in Smoke and Shadows of the White City. But there was no way to plan anything for February with any kind of certainty that I wouldn’t have to cancel it. So that’s why I decided to put together a giant weekend tour of Chicago for my readers in late April. The Windy City Saga Tour will be better than the best launch parties for all three books rolled into one. I can’t wait. We have two spots left if you are thinking about coming! Registration deadline is Feb. 15!  

The Mississippi River Readers Retreat was the third readers retreat I’ve participated in. What all readers retreats have in common is a roster of authors from a variety of genres, and a whole lot of excited readers. To be clear, we authors are always excited to be there, too. The purpose is to have a place for readers and authors to get to know each other on a level not possible through social media alone. At MRRR, they fostered interaction in a few different ways: Keynote speakers: Julie Klassen and Cynthia Ruchti each spoke for 25 minutes each. They did a wonderful job! I loved hearing them and I could tell their words greatly blessed everyone who heard them. Cynthia Ruchti and Julie Klassen Author Panels: Twenty authors were divided into four panels with five authors on each one. Joyce and Mandy Heffron, the retreat organizers, asked each panel two or three questions, and each author was able to answer.  L-R: Jocelyn Green, Regina Jennings, Gabrielle Meyer, Stephanie Landsem, Shannon McNear Round Robins: The event was held in a church fellowship hall full of round tables. One or two authors sat at each table and chatted with the readers there for about ten minutes. Then the authors rotated to a different table to visit with other readers. I loved getting to meet so many readers, and I’m only sorry I didn’t make it to every table! In the picture below, I’m with Beverly Snyder and her swag bag. We authors were given silver sharpies to sign anyone’s bag who wanted us too. I must have been tired because when I was signing that particular bag, I was thinking about Beverly, and started signing her name instead of mine! I didn't even know whose bag it was, but thankfully, it happened to be Beverly’s, so I just turned it into a greeting before signing my name. Although, now that I think about it, I could have just signed as “Beverly Lewis” and see if she noticed. I’m not sure my forging skills are that good, though. With Beverly Snyder and her swag bag! (Sidenote: At another table, we sat with Emma Faye, an accomplished audiobook narrator. Julie Klassen was with us, too, and at the request of Emma’s fellow readers at our table, she narrated a sample from Julie’s book, The Maid of Milkweed Manor for us on the spot. She did a phenomenal job, warranting all the applause. What a fun moment.) A bookstore had come into the church and carried about three different titles per author so readers could purchase books there and have us sign them, too. I loved being able to personalize copies of my three most recent releases for readers: Between Two Shores, Veiled in Smoke, and Shadows of the White City.  With 120 people there, the day flew by, and then it was time for a group photo!  Have you been to a readers retreat before? What was a highlight for you? *Note: Comments require moderation, so when yours doesn't appear right away, never fear, it's just waiting for me to approve it.