Crawling Into Cyberspace

Actually, today I took a step.  I signed up to be one of over 3500 authors whose autographs are available on "Kindlegraph."  Yes, it's true.  Kindle books can now be autographed.  I'm amazed. Should you want my autograph, here's the link:  http://www.kindlegraph.com/authors/patrushford

I really need to spend more time learning these little (or big) tricks.  Or not.  Many of these innovations fascinate me.  Others scare me.  Some bore me.  But, hiding is not an option.  At least not if I hope to sell books.  So I dutifully have signed up with linked-in, twitter, and of course, facebook.  In adition, I blog, do an occasional newsletter and maintain a web page.  One would think this would be enough, but no.

Recently I attended a fiction writer's class on social media.  I learned some valuable lessons.  Like, sell yourself--just not everyday.  No worries there.  Lucky if I post once a week.  Another is to develop friends outside of my family, friends and writing buddies.  Guess I need to hook up with more readers.  Hello--hello out there readers--won't you be my friend.  Okay--that sounded like Mr. Rogers in his neighborhood, rest his soul.  One I really like and wish more writers practiced is promote yourself, but only once in ten to twenty personal notes. 

So moving right along in with my cyberspace mode...  My next goal, I think, is to get my own author page on Amazon.  Others have done it.  So I thought I might ask Google. 

Time was when I would ask advice from friends--now I ask my computer.   Unelss someone out there in cyberspace can give me an answer I might be able to understand. 

Love to all, Pat

Mysterious Musings, May 2012

Greetings!

My plan to do a quarterly newsletter sort of fell apart as the past few months have been filled with medical craziness. Too many ER visits and hospitalizations, all related to my heart. Many of you already know my saga so I will pass by all the details and simply say that it looks as though my AV-node ablation has been effective and I can get on with my life.

I have not been writing, but hope to change that soon. In fact this very day I began a new mystery!

The big news of the day is that Ron and I are taking a train trip to East Grand Forks to visit family. My daughter and her husband, Ben & Caryl Lester have moved to Riverbend, where they run Stable Days Youth Ranch.

You can find this fantastic non-profit organization that is all about kids and horses on Facebook.

Writing News

Celebrate with me! I just received word that Deadly Aim, the 2nd book in the Angel Delaney Mysteries is on Amazon Kindle's best selling list. For a while it was actually 3rd!. The very good news is that during the month of May you can download it for free. The entire series is available in a number of different e-book formats.

To download click here your free copy of Deadly Aim

 More Book Stuff

 As always you can find my books on my website. The still popular Jennie McGrady Mysteries are now out of print and I'm hoping another publisher will pick them up. I continue to receive lots of letters from fans who want to seeJennie all grown up and that is a possibility.

The Max & Me Mysteries, an exciting series for kids with adventure, mystery and suspense, for 8-12 year-olds are a favorite among both girls and boys. These are available through me as well as at book stores and online. They are also available on Kindle and other e-readers. You'll enjoy meeting Jesse Miller and Max Hunter, both twelve, who form a deep but unlikely friendship. Jesse is thin and frail and has leukemia. Max is wild and adventurous, with spiked hair that changes color from day to day depending on her mood. Jesse has no real friends until Max comes along. She sees Max as being very brave and adventurous and tries to keep Max out of trouble. Then Jesse discovers Max's dark secrets and must lead Max into danger in order to set her free. To can read an excerpt from The Trouble with Max & Me. Books in this series include: The Trouble with Max, Danger at Lakeside Farms, and Secrets of Ghost Island.

The McAllister Files . . . a popular police procedural series, are receiving rave reviews among mystery fans. I wrote the series with an Oregon State Police Detective, which lends authenticity to the events detailed in the investigations. Secrets, Lies & Alibis, Deadfall, Terminal Nine, and She Who Watches are now available online with Kindle and other e-readers.

Be sure to visit my website. Also, feel free to forward my newsletter to friends or anyone you know who might be interested. Thanks. I pray your year will be filled with time to read your favorite books.

Mysteriously Yours,

Patricia Rushford

Grandma's Oatmeal Cookies

My grandmother was one of the pioneers who settled in North Dakota in the late 1800's.  Her name was Petra Pedersen and in the old country, Norway, she married Dagfin Olsen.  Here is a wedding picture of her and Dagfin. They settled in North Dakota near Rugby and Barton where they operated a farm.  Petra and Dagfin had 13 children. 

I adored my "mom"  and "pupup."  She was the most fantastic cook I've ever known and I still make a lot of her dishes--especially at Christmas.  One of my favorites is her oatmeal cookies which was passed down from who knows where.  I like to think it originated in Norway--which it likely did.  Norwegians love their goodies.  What I love about these cookies is the flexability.  You can make them plain or add chocolate or nuts, raisins, or seeds.  You can make them more healthy or less and they are always yummy.


Grandma's Oatmeal Cookies

1 cup shortening
1 cup sour milk
(Sour the milk by adding a tablespoon of vinegar)
(You can substiture sour cream or yogurt for the shortening and milk)
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon soda
1 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla

Mix these ingredients together and add:
Chips, coconut, nuts seeds--whatever sounds good.
3 cups oatmeal (use old fashioned oats.)
3 cups flour
(If you use yogurt or sour cream you may need to cut the flour. Also, here, I will often use 1 cup of  wheat or bran flour and 2 cups of all-purpose unbleached.) 

Watch the consistancy--I used yogurt and even by cutting the flour by 1/2 cup--they were a little dry.

The cookies should stay in a nice mound and not flatten out.  They are moist and chewy and delicious.   At least I think so.  For me, they substute as breakfast. 

And I can't make them without seeing my grandma Petra in the kitchen. She endured a lot of hardships and struggles throughout her life. One thing I remember is that she was very stubborn. She wouldn't learn English and if you wanted to talk with her, you spoke Norwegian.  And I did. Sadly, when she died, so did my ability to speak a second language. 

Whenever I make these cookies, I remember her and smile.

        Rushford Christmas Letter, 2011

Dear Family and Friends!

What a year this has been!  Many of you already know about our trip of a lifetime—a 111 day trip around the world.  It was a working trip—I landed a job teaching creative writing on the ms Amsterdam (Holland America), but oh, what a fantastic journey. We visited over 50 ports in mostly warm places. Ron ran over 300 miles on and off the ship and is looking into presenting running programs for cruise ships. We left January 5th and came back the end of April. 

 Once again, there will be no trip to Grand Forks, or Edmonton, or Idaho, for Christmas as we visited North Dakota and Minnesota in May and October.  (In May, Ron, Jonathan, Ben, Caryl, Nick and Tom ran in the Fargo 5K and half marathon and did very well.)  Ron and I will be home enjoying our tree and celebrating 48 years of marriage.  My mother, Dagny passed away in June, and we miss her—especially now as the holidays are upon us.  
 
On the family front, Caryl and Ben are hurriedly getting their house in Grand Forks ready to sell. David and Shelley are still in Edmonton, Alberta and David recently received his Canadian citizenship. Corisa and Nick are spending their first Christmas in their new home in Dundas, MN near St. Olaf College. Hannah and her husband, Tom Harmon, have a new baby girl, Adalia Rose. The count on great grandchildren is up to eight now. Andrea (13) and Madelyn (5) have taken up knitting and crocheting—following in their nana's footsteps in the craft department. Corisa will graduate from UND in May of 2012 and we are so proud of her.  Christopher and Kyrstin are working and being wonderful and living in Couer d' Alene. Christian and Jonathan are living at home, working and enjoying their art and music.    

 We just celebrated Andrea’s 13^th birthday.   She is very much into horses and through the experience with horses, Caryl and Ben have developed Stable Days Youth Ranch, a non-profit organization providing the horsemanship experience to children.  You'll have to check them out on facebook. 

As for us, Ron is still running nearly every day, working out and staying in great shape.  Unforunately, my health is not so wonderful.  In addition to the hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (enlarged heart muscle—a genetic defect) I now have atrial fibrillation and am on a pacemaker-defibrilator.  I actually feel good and my heart is still beating so I’m happy. 

 News on the writing front is exciting. I have a mystery coming out soon and have been putting some of my out-of-print books, like the Angel Delaney Mysteries online for the Kindle and Nook and other e-readers. With no contract, I have had plenty of time to make gifts, which I love doing.    

So—thankfully, life goes on. And here we are celebrating another Christmas with gratefulness and joy in our hearts always remembering the greatest gift of all. We pray that joy will reach out to you as well. With much love,

Pat and Ron Rushford 

To Blog or not to Blog.

Blogging is a issue a number of friends and I have discussed a number of times.  For those of us who are writers, blogging, according to the marketing gurus, is the thing to do if you want to to sell our books, articles and the like.  It's part of building our platform.  Of course we all want to sell what we write, but I'm curious as to how many people really like blogging and why they do it. 

 If you weren't trying to market your books and yourself, would you be blogging at all?  Not that marketing is a bad thing, I just wonder if that's all there is.

I began my blog a few  years ago when someone at a writer's conference said I really should blog and have a website and actively promote myself on the internet.  Soooo.  I started a blog.  Put up a couple of entries and fizzled out.  I felt guilty and inadequate.  But then I have never been much of a self-promoter.  I do have a website that really looks pretty good.  But the blog?  I couldn't help asking:

 What did I have to write about? 

How could I sustain something like this long term? 

When would I find time? I was fortunate enough to have contracts coming in on  a regular basis. 

Did I really want to expose myself to the world? 

What was blogging really all about?

Was anyone really interested in what I had to say? 

 Despite my tongue in cheek assertion on my website that I know everything, I really had to wonder if blogging was for me.  It isn't as though I don't have a lot to say because I do and I've written over fifty books to prove it.  When the opportunity arose to take a world cruise and serve as the creative writing instructor, I realized that blogging would be a great way to share my experience with family and friends and to keep a journal for myself.  I made the promise and stuck with it.  Now that I am home, I'm back to the old questions.  What should I write about and does anybody really care?

 I'm not sure, but I thought it might be a good idea, especially after seeing that my son and granddaughter are blogging just because.  But that still leaves me with what to write about.  Writing? Life in general?  Sharing thoughts and ideas and philosophies--pet peeves? Maybe a place to write what's on my heart--like a journal.  And again, I wonder who cares? 

 Maybe a blog should be a question and answer thing.  Like an advice column.  I applied once after Ann Landers died--suggested doing a column called "Pat Answers." Guess they didn't see the humor. I could do an advice blog about writing, but I think that's being covered.  I think I would rather say what I think. 

 I discovered recently that my son was chronicling his journey on:  http://lovetruth777.blogspot.com/

And my darling granddaughter, Hanna has this lovely blog called A Mother's Mosey. 

http://amothersmosey.blogspot.com/

These two have become an inspiration in finding my way to a blog.  I think the secret is to be who I am--not to worry about selling books or making myself a star.  I gave up being a best selling author long time ago, when I learned the truth about publishing and the mid-list author.  Okay--so I would like to sell books and maybe continue speaking and writing and making a living.  But for the blog, it will be what it will be.

I will share whatever feels right.  Perhaps friends will stop in from time to time as I  touch on subjects and issues that sound appealing.  Perhaps not. 

One Journey Ends--Another begins

  My son told me awhile back that I forgot to end the cruise--that I left everyone in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. You probably already figured out that we made it to Ft. Lauderdale and had a non-eventful flight back to the Pacific Northwest. The cruise was an amazing experience and believe it or not, after 110 days, I still love cruising. So does Ron. We are looking to do something a bit shorter though--perhaps this winter.


So, now it's time to end that journey and embark on another. We'd been home for only four days when my heart started flipping out--went into atrial fibrillation and would not convert. I got a ride in an ambulance. This was actually my second ambulance ride ever, but on the first one I remember nothing.

My heart eventually converted and I was given additional medication. Less than a week later it happened again. I ended up staying in the hospital for a week and came out with an ICD (pacemaker/defibrillator).

Since I needed time to rest, I went back to Grand Forks to be with my daughter and her family--I had to go see my adorable new great-grandbaby, Adalia Rose. My time there was, of course, rich and rewarding--UNTIL I got the call saying my mother was in ICU and not expected to live. I cut my visit short by a couple of days and the following day, the doctor and social worker arranged for her to go to the hospice house. I was with her night and day until she passed away seven days later.

The journey from life to death is a painful one. Someday I will write about that journey as well.

Rough days at Sea

What day is it? I forgot to look in the elevator this morning.  For two days we had rough seas with waves around 16 feet.  Me, who had been doing quite well warding off seasickness succumbed.  Threw up. Yuk. Was sick for two days, then seas calmed and I was fine.  Then the next day my heart went into artial fibrillation during my class.  Thought is was the same old spells I get, but it wasn't.  Went to the infirmery. Long story short, I'm on extra meds until I can get home to my cardiologist. 

BUT I am doing fine and back on track.  Winding up my class on creative writing and looking forward to getting home--at least for a while.  :-) 

Hugs to all.  Pat