Blog
May 2023
Rainer Maria Rilke said, “It is spring again. The Earth is like a child that knows poems”. We Pacific Northwesterners wait all year for these precious days. I am sure that is also true for many of you in most parts of our country. Here in Washington State, daylight...
April 2023
Now that our Spring has arrived, our three hens seem as happy as the effusion of melodic robins and sparrows in the yard! How do I know this you ask? Because they are once again laying eggs – delicate brown and pale green! Ahhhhh, sunlight and longer days causing all...
March 2023
Earlier this month, I was at Refeather Your Nest in downtown Mount Vernon, WA, signing and selling books. I just love being there. The store is like a wonderland and the people, both those working in the shop and those coming in to browse and shop, are so warm and...
February 2023
In protest of Punxsutawney Phil’s outrageous prediction of another six weeks of winter, I just ordered poppy and zinnia flower seeds and cleared the kitchen garden! Daffy and tulip bulbs are popping up nicely and the rhubarb as well. And the heather is in bloom! And...
January 2023
Happy New Year my Friends! I hope you are excited and hopeful about 2023. I am not one for making resolutions, but I have promised myself that I am not going to allow events that I have no ability to alter or control cause me stress. That doesn’t mean I am going to...
December 2022
Happy Holidays Dear Friends! May this letter find you and yours making plans to be with family and friends to celebrate love, joy, and peace. Our family will be together on December 23 for dinner in our home. Our children, grandchildren and friends will later...
November 2022 Newsletter
Ahhhhhh! Finally, rain is forecast this week for the Pacific Northwest. According to the weather bureau, the summer of 2020 was the driest and hottest summer and fall on record for the Seattle greater area, which includes our Skagit Valley. The water levels of our...
October 2022 Newsletter
Fall has come in like a lamb and even though the mornings and nights are cool, the flowers and vegetables continue to flourish. The garden has produced the most beautiful and delicious tomatoes we have ever grown. If only I had written down the variety so I can...
September 2022 Newsletter
Another Labor Day Weekend has passed, and most kiddos will be headed back to school. This always seems like another new beginning and one that always holds hope and renewal. In these times, let’s add our prayers for the safety of our children and those that teach...
August 2022 Newsletter
The end of July found us at West Yellowstone in Montana at beautiful Lake Hebgen. We met daughter Taryn and her family at the lakeside campsite and enjoyed a week of great fishing and family time with our grandsons Wyatt and Colton. The wilderness was also alive with...
July 2022
This last week I attended the 2022 Chanticleer Authors’ Conference at the beautiful Bellwether Hotel which is situated along Bellingham Bay. The weather was gorgeous every day, the presenters informative, collaborative, and entertaining. The best part of the...
June 2022 Newsletter
June 21 is the summer solstice, the official first day of summer in the Northern Hemisphere. On the solstice, planet earth is tilted at an angle towards the sun where it receives the longest duration of sunlight making solstice the longest day of the year. Here in the...
May 2022 Newsletter
May is a month of anticipation and hope. Trees and flowers begin to bloom, the grass begins to green, birds are singing and thoughts of spending hours in the gardens fill my mind and imagination. And now for a bit of interesting trivia. The month of May entered...
April 2022
It’s Tulip Time in our beautiful Skagit Valley Washington! After two years of pandemic woes, it is truly exciting that the annual Tulip Festival is once again in full bloom. Our valley will once more be welcoming thousands of visitors to come feast their eyes...
March 2022
As an author of historical fiction, specifically dealing with World War I and World War II, it is shocking to realize that countries are still engaging in unprovoked and premeditated war. That Russia has invaded Ukraine, an independent and sovereign nation,...
February 2022
According to an informal poll conducted by me, everyone I speak with is ready and waiting for spring. However, wily ole Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow today predicting another 6 weeks of winter. But I have never put much store in Groundhog Predictions, and since my...
January 2022
May this first newsletter of 2022 find you warm, safe, healthy, and ready to usher in a 2022 filled with hope! Brrr! We have had quite the winter here with as much as a foot or two of snow blanketing much of Western Washington. We had a white Christmas, only the fifth...
December 2021
Our usual chilly Pacific Northwest December days spur us to begin thinking about lights and trees, presents and big holiday dinners. This year, however, our focus has been on watching the flood waters of our rivers rise over their banks causing significant flooding as...
October/November 2021
October flew in on windy days and welcomed in November before we knew it. I think time has passed so quickly because we have been focused on the arrival of our new family member. Meet Mandy, our 12-week-old German Shorthair puppy. She is a darling with much energy and...
September 2021
Fall is certainly in the air here in the Pacific Northwest! We have had very little rain over the summer and the trees are rapidly changing to reds and oranges. The gardens, both flowering and vegetable, are tucking themselves in for the winter’s rest Adventures in...
August 2021
Bon Jour from Gail Noble-Sanderson Being once again a part of the Lavender Festival at the B & B Family Lavender Farm in Sequim, WA, was as wonderful as all the previous years. My talented sister, Kathy, and I set up our wares table, and over the next three days...
Bon Jour from Gail Noble-Sanderson
During this time of renewal and reawakening after a year of solitude, I am excited and eager to get back in touch in so many ways with those I know and would love to know. I will be writing a post each month and sending it out as an e-mail to whomever would like to...
Launched: “The Lavender Bees of Meuse”
Village Books in Fairhaven, WA will be hosting a virtual book launch, via Crowdcast, for my new book, "The Lavender Bees of Meuse" on Thursday, August 20 at 7pm PT.So hope you can join my sister, Kathleen, and myself as we discuss my books, her cover art, and our...
Published! “The Lavender Bees of Meuse”
The lavender is blooming, the bees are buzzing, and it is the perfect time to release my new book, "The Lavender Bees of Meuse". This is the final book in the Lavender Meuse Trilogy which brings me great joy but also leaves me feeling terribly melancholy. It is...
Chanticleer Book Award – 2018
Very excited and appreciative! My first novel, "The Lavender House in Meuse", is a semi-finalist for the 2018 Chatelaine Book Awards for Romance Fiction, which is a division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards. So looking forward to attending this year's...
It Takes a Village
Although the phrase, "It takes a village" has been around for a while, it doesn't make it any less true. This is certainly the case when you indy- publish. You must surround yourself with people you trust and whose expertise you admire as you develop your publishing...
Onward and Upward!!
This was my second time attending the Chanticleer Authors Conference and the first time I had a book entered in a Chanticleer International Book Awards contest. This fall, my second book, "The Passage Home to Meuse" made the short list for the Chatelaine Books awards...
Inspiration by Design
Last Sunday evening, two friends and myself had the pleasure of listening to Anne Lamont. Anne, a gifted and prolific writer, shared her words of wisdom (doused with a generous dose of humor) to a sold out audience at Benaroya Hall in Seattle. She talked about...
Women’s History Month
March is National Women's History Month. This Thursday, March 22 at 4:30 pm, I'll be part of a three-author panel at the lovely Seaport Books in La Conner, WA, discussing the significance of telling history through the experiences, eyes and voices of women. I am...
Making Time
While I am researching and writing my next historical novel, I find that ideas for short stories continue to come to mind. This usually occurs shortly after I wake up (sometimes I dream the stories). If I take the time then and there, in that early morning...
Young Authors
Yesterday I spoke to at a group of middle school students at a Young Authors' Forum. They were eager to hear and discuss the many aspects of writing, at least as many as could be covered quickly in an hour. They were in their classroom in an environment in which they...
La Saint Valentin
Thinking of all things French and Valentines today, I looked at the history of this day of love. Many countries claim Valentine's Day began in their realm. Most likely, long ago during the Middle Ages, Valentine's Day replaced a Pagan festival day of fertility, The...
Writing in the Rain
Rain is a way of life in the Pacific Northwest, part of our culture. We are not a people of umbrellas, but more often a people with hooded coats. Spring, summer and fall coats with hoods. In the summer we wear our sunglasses to protect us from the brilliant sun...
Website Input Please
Updating my website and would so appreciate it if interested friends and family would take a look and provide feedback. Is the font large enough, are the colors pleasing, does the placement of the buttons, headers and sidebars seem logical? Is the site easy to move...
The Crazy Process of Writing
They say that the process of writing, putting words to print, is a solitary business and it is certainly a crazy business. Or rather, crazy making! I had planned for my next book to follow in proper time sequence after book two. Book two, "The Passage Home to Meuse"...
2018: Looking Ahead to the New Year
With the September 2017, publication of my second book, "The Passage Home to Meuse” and having completed revisions and release of the second edition of the first book, "The Lavender House in Meuse", it is time now to look ahead to the next book. That means research,...
Hot off the Press!
Receiving a box of "hot off the press" books is exciting! I carry that box from the porch into the house and try and try to pull back the thick cardboard flaps realizing that if I just went and got a tool, the box would already be open. Peeling back the thick white...
Shabbat
I am not Jewish. At least not in this life. In writing my second book, I am including a chapter in which the main characters celebrate the Friday ritual of Shabbat. Shabbat is the Friday night ritual performed either in Synagogue, in a larger community, or at home...
Creative in LaConner
This past Saturday I participated in a creativity workshop in LaConner, WA. Sixteen women - poets, novelists, playwrights, painters, actors, an astrologist, and others, gathered for the day to discuss the aspects of creativity and to focus on expanding and utilizing...
Remembering Verdun on Memorial Day
While we in the United States celebrated our Memorial Day this weekend, there were ceremonies throughout the world commemorating the lives lost by our United States military while supporting our allies in armed conflicts. In Verdun, France this past Sunday, French...
Book Two
The manuscript for my second novel is now in the skilled hands of my publisher. She will do a first read, we will edit and then send the manuscript on for final edits. I very much enjoy the editing process as it is very instructive and facilitates the creative...
They’re back!
Have you noticed that the bees are back beginning their months of tireless work gathering nectar for their honeycombs? In doing research for my first book, it was fascinating to learn that evidence of the domestication of bees is depicted in Egyptian hieroglyphics as...
Lavender
The lavender in my gardens is preparing to bloom. The chubby yellow and black bumblebees are flying around the lavender bushes impatient to gather its nectar. The honey bees as well flit from the pansies to snap dragons and then land on the still-closed blooms of the...
Ten Days of Solitude
Writers often talk about where they write, what type of esthetic is most conducive for their writing, do they write every day and when they do write, do they do so in large chunks of time or brief periods as inspiration strikes. I have been in Dallas for what will be...
Young Writers
Next Thursday, March 10, I'll be speaking to students in the Young Authors Program in the Mount Vernon School District. The director of the program has ask me to specifically talk about the importance of editing. Writers love to write but they usually dislike the...
Collaborative Creativity
This Friday I'm headed to Dallas to visit my mother and sister Kathy and her family. You may recall that Kathy illustrated the beautiful covers for my book, "The Lavender House in Meuse". Last time I visited, Kathy and I spent many wonderful hours collaborating on...
Keeping Track of Life
Since the beginning of this new year, I began to journal everything I did each day related to my writing. I also established quite a stringent writing schedule if I hoped to make my April 1 deadline of submitting to my publisher the manuscript of my next book. To...
Research vs Reality
This week I have been researching the role that thousands of dedicated Sikh solders from India played as they fought alongside solders from France and England in WW1. I have been looking at pictures of the Sikh solders marching in formation, lining the trenches and...
Today in History
Martin Luther King Day prompts us to not only remember this great man of peace but to pause and ask ourselves about our own efforts towards reconciliation. On this date, Jan. 18, 1919, delegates of many countries convened in France to begin a peace conference in hopes...
Finding the Balance
This morning I have been exploring the blog posts of other authors and their comments about the new year as it relates to their writing. Some feel energized to begin anew and committing to so many pages a week or starting that new chapter or story. I felt energized...
Holiday Book Festival
The Bellingham Holiday Book Festival is this Thursday, Dec. 10 from noon - 8pm at the Bellingham Cruse Terminal. I'll be there along with 26 other Pacific NW authors and illustrators. A great place to find great reads for Holiday gifts for children and adults as well...
Remembering
Today, December 7, is National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day. During the early morning hours on that date in 1941, three hundred and sixty Japanese warplanes, in a surprise attack on our Hawaiian naval base, bombed and killed 2403 people. In France during WWI, ninety...
Holiday Art Walk-Anacortes, WA
This Friday 12/4 from 6pm-9pm in Anacortes, WA, the beautiful town on the bay, will be hosting their December Gallery Walk in conjunction with the Anacortes Chamber of Commerce Holiday Art Walk. I am privileged to be one of the authors that will be at the Watermark...
The Audience
As a newly published author, I am very fortunate to have patient and helpful instructors (my publisher and editor) helping me to navigate, understand and jump (ok - maybe walk briskly) into the real world of publishing books. Authors in today's very competitive market...
Thanksgiving
It's Thanksgiving week here in the States. With our eyes all watching what is happening around the world and our ears attuned to "breaking news" here and abroad, we realize we live in increasingly unstable times. This last week I read and heard the words "World War...
Veterans and Armistice Day
Today, Nov. 11, is Veterans Day here in the United States and Armistice Day in France. This day in 1918, in the town of Compiegne in northern France, the armistice treaty was signed ending World War I. More than 15 million people lost their lives in that "war to end...
Sunday’s Book Event
I am so looking forward to this Sunday's book event at Village Books in Fairhaven, WA at 4pm! I will be doing readings from "The Lavender House in Meuse" as well as reading from chapter one from the upcoming sequel. My sister Kathleen Noble, the illustrator of the...
The Sequel Question
Many are asking if there are plans for a sequel to "The Lavender House in Meuse", and the answer is a resounding "yes"! I plan to have the draft of the manuscript to my publisher and editor at Green Darner Press by April of this next year. After that we begin the...
November 8th Book Reading and Signing
My book "The Lavender House in Meuse" is now available from Amazon as an e-book as well as in paperback. Now that the book is out and will be available soon, I will be doing an author event, readings and signings, on Nov. 8 at 4pm at Village Book Store in Bellingham,...
The Vineyards of Alsace
Have left Alsace in the Colmar region and now in Beaune. Hot and sunny and the hundreds upon hundreds of fields flowing with the vines of multiple varieties of ripe grapes are beginning to be hand harvested. Today we spent the morning in the open market sampling...