Recently I've been reading a lot of good writing tips articles, striving to find things that will help me improve my writing.

But I've specifically been looking for something that talked about writing in first person POV.

And I found a super good article on Pinterest the other day. (By the way, follow me on Pinterest for lots of good writing posts…there are all kinds of goodies on there J)

I've written one novella (Whisper) in first person. I really liked working in that POV and my WIP, Thunder, is also in first person. It helped me, as a writer, write better because I was writing through the character's eyes. (I know, way too many 'writes' in there, right?) And personally, I've always enjoyed reading first person POV novels if they were well written.

Now, with Whisper, I had quite a bit of dialogue in there which really helped carry the story.

With my new book project, Be Still My Soul, there is almost no dialogue. Uhhh….yeah, it's been interesting. There are a few spots where Adah is with other people, so there is some dialogue, and toward the end of the book there is quite a bit, but 90% of the time, she is absolutely alone.

I was reading through the beginning part of the book a few days ago and I realized something was missing….I couldn't figure out what it was, I just knew that something wasn't fitting together and the story was a bit clunky.

And that's a big problem.

The biggest issue with first person is that a lot of times it sounds clunky and awkward. I managed to do fairly well with Whisper, but I could tell BSMS was going to need a lot of work to smooth it all out.

The only problem was, no matter how many times I read over a chapter, I couldn't figure out exactly how to fix it. Something wasn't clicking.

Then I found this article on writing in first person POV!!!

Problem solved!

As I read through the article, I realized the writer was spelling out exactly what I had been noticing in my book. So for those of who are working on writing a book in first person POV, or think you might in the future, or know someone who is struggling with their project, read on!

Now, my dad is an auctioneer and so is my brother and uncle. I grew up hearing the auction chant (no, do not ask me to do it for you…your ears will hurt!) and to this day, when I go to a live auction or just hear my dad mumbling the chant under his breath, I love dissecting what they are saying. It's always fun to go to auctions with new auction goers…it always astounds them that I can understand what is being said.

Okay, so what does auctioneering have to do with writing books?

Filler words.

When an auctioneer is chanting the numbers, he isn't just saying the numbers…he's using filler words. And yes, he is actually saying words (most of the time) and not just making weird sounds!

If he were to just call out the numbers, it would sound extremely monotone and very boring. It would be very difficult to keep the crowd's attention, though it does make it easier to understand in some cases.

So he uses filler words to blend everything together and make that nice chant.

You're probably still wondering what on earth an auctioneer's chanting has to do with writing, specifically first person POV, which is what we are supposed to be discussing!

We use filler words all the time in our writing….we just don't realize it. And there is a place for filler words, but in first person POV, using filler words makes your story clunky real fast.

So unlike the auctioneer, who needs to use filler words to make his chant sound good, we need to cut some of these filler words out. (This goes for all POV, not just first person, but it is more noticeable in these kinds of books.)

Here is a great example from this article (mentioned above):

"Filter words can be difficult to see at first, but once you catch them, it becomes second nature. “I heard the music start up, tinny and spooky and weird,” vs. “The music started up, tinny and spooky and weird.” One is outside, watching him listen; the other is inside his head, hearing it with him."

Wow. I realized after I read that paragraph, that my whole manuscript is full of this…no wonder it's clunky! But I'm so pleased that I now know what the problem is. I was at a dead end before because I couldn't identify the problem. The problem is identified, which means I can work on fixing it and concentrate on making a habit out catching filler words as I write.

If you want more details (and a much better explanation) click here to read the full article.

Hopefully this all made sense…I threw this post together at ten o'clock last night after a very long day, so my apologies for any grievous errors!

Have you encountered this problem before, either in a book you read or a writing project? Do you have anything to add…other tips for first person POV writing?

Be sure to join us again on Wednesday for a very exciting announcement!

My first Photo Friday post after vacation! It's nice to get back to a regular schedule.

This little cutie is a three-four week old kitten we are bottle feeding, nicknamed Mr. Tiger for the time being. If you all have any name suggestions, feel free to leave a comment :) He is a bit easier to care for than orphaned lambs and goats and he loves his bottle! He should be on solid food soon.
Grandma Kathy and Mama Lydia are doing most of his care, but Auntie Lauren has been getting baby sitting duty :) I'm not usually a cat person, I like dogs better, but I have taken a shine to this little guy and Lydia's inside cat, Ranger.
These pictures were taken this afternoon. My favorites are #1 and #7. What are yours?

Well, I told you all I would be back on Monday....obviously that didn't happen.
After posting just whenever, it's hard to get back on a schedule. I tried putting together  a video for you of the trip, but my computer video program and YouTube both decided to go on strike at the same time! The video program somehow split the frames into two separate windows...which makes it super hard to watch. Not sure what happened there! I tried to fix it, but to no avail.
So I decided to just upload it as it was because I was running out of time.
Then it refused to upload to YouTube! By this time it was ten o'clock at night and I was too tired to think straight.
All that to say, I missed Monday's post.

I'm working on a slideshow to show some of our friends, but it's been slow going....10,000 pictures take awhile to sort! When I get the slideshow finished, I will upload it for you all. That is, if YouTube is cooperating!

I had writing withdrawals by the time I got home! I didn't write at all while we were gone....I decided that since I was on vacation, I would use that time to give my mind a break.
It was really hard to not write, but I stuck with it and I think I've been able to write better with a refreshed mind.

My plan to have Thunder published by this fall is nothing but dust. I haven't made very much progress on it, but once I finish BSMS, I will concentrate on getting that finished. My new goal is to have it finished by spring....something to aim for :)

Be Still My Soul is coming along nicely and I am terribly excited about this book! I originally thought it would be about the same size as Whisper, around 35,000 words, but I am currently at 32,000 words and there is no end in sight! But unlike other things in life, having no end sight on a book project can be a good thing, depending how you look at it and I'm excited that this project is going to exceed my expectations. I am hoping to hit at least 40,000 words. I would be ecstatic if I can reach 50,000. I have been chatting with the lady who did my Whisper cover and I should be able to release the cover in a few months! My goal publication date is December....maybe on my birthday?? That would be neat!

TCCAS #3 is still a WIP. The rough draft is about half way completed, but that half is only hand written, not typed into the computer.
So when I need a break from writing, I am trying to get it typed up so I can continue the story. I'm excited about this book and continuing Amy's story. I think the adventure, mystery and excitement in this book will be much better than the other two.

I have a vague story plot hanging over my head for another book....but I have decided to not start any other projects until at least Be Still My Soul and Thunder are finished. I really like having multiple stories going at one time, but three is about as many as I can handle and still be productive. So I'm just writing down ideas as I get them and someday I will go back and pick them up again.

And now, the second excerpt from Be Still My Soul!  

           My tired eyes brought Sarah's little face into focus. Her mouth was moving and I struggled to concentrate on what she was saying.
          "Wake up," she said urgently. "Pwease wake up!"
          Oh no! How long had I been asleep?
          I started to jump up, but was slowed considerably by my layers of clothing. I took a moment to yank off my coat and one of the sweaters before hurrying to the injured man's side.
          His eyelids fluttered as I knelt beside him and I touched his shoulder. "Ethan? Are you awake?"
          He did not respond, so I shook him a little. A deep groan was my only answer. My heart sank. Something wasn't right. Why had I fallen asleep? His cheeks looked flushed so I laid my hand on his forehead and quickly yanked it back. His skin felt like it was on fire.
          I realized Sarah was squatting beside me, a frown on her face. "Daddy won't wake up."
          "I know, honey." I picked her up and took her to the bed. She began to pout when she saw what our destination was.
          I set her on the bed and knelt in front of her. "Sarah, your daddy is very sick and I need to care for him. Can you be a good girl and sit on the bed so I can help him? It is very important you do this."
          To my relief, she nodded and settled down, her big eyes locked on the still form of her daddy across the room.
          I returned to Ethan's side. Why had his fever left only to return, apparently worse than before? I feared the outcome. I had no medical knowledge. He needed a doctor, or at least a nurse. But all the knowledge in the world could do nothing without the proper medicine.
          Beads of sweat rolled down Ethan's face and his hair was damp. Well, I may not have the knowledge of a doctor, but he needed cooled down, that much I knew.
          I pulled the layers of blankets down to his waist. His eyes were still closed, but his chest heaved as he struggled to breathe. I feared it was pneumonia. I knew that if not treated, it could kill people.
          Please don't let him die.
          I threw out the desperate plea without knowing to whom I was making it.
          Dipping a cloth in to the pail of half melted snow, I bathed his face and hands with the icy water. His skin was hot and dry.
          I realized he must be dehydrated. The only water he had had in many hours was the little I had given him before he went to sleep.
          I filled a tin cup with the cold water from the pail and held it to his lips. At first nothing happened and I again wished I had a straw, then I could have managed to get a little down him at least.
          But just as I was about to pull the cup away, his lips opened. I carefully poured in a trickle of water and waited until he swallowed before repeating the gesture.
          It took several minutes, but I got the whole cup down him before returning to bathing his face.
          I was encouraged that he had drunk, but the rattling in his chest squashed any hopes that he would make a miraculous recovery. If he survived, it would be an uphill battle.
           I was exhausted from hauling wood, but I forced myself to stay awake. This man's life depended on me. He may mean nothing to me other than the fact that he is human being, but I battled for his life for the sake of his daughter.
          I thought of her beautiful dark eyes as my hands dipped cloths in freezing water and laid them on his burning skin.
          I thought of her dark hair, so soft and silky as I struggled to prop him up higher on the pillow and blankets so his lungs would clear.
          I thought of her childish giggle which had so thrilled my soul, as I filled jars with cold water and tucked them next to her daddy's burning body.
          And thinking of her little form snuggled in my arms, I fell asleep, a dripping cloth still in my hands.
          I jerked awake for the second time that day. For a moment I wondered why I was lying on the floor, but it didn't take long for my memory to return.
          Pushing myself up, I closed my eyes. How long had I been asleep? What would I find? Would Ethan be dead?
          I felt like I was suffocating. If he was dead, I would never forgive myself.
          I sat there for what felt like hours, finally forcing myself to open my eyes. In front of me lay the prone figure of Ethan. I held my breath, waiting.
          Then, his chest rose and fell with a quick breath. I rested my head in my hands, silent tears streaming down my cheeks. I don't think I could have dealt with another death. David's was hard enough and there was nothing I could have done to prevent that. Ethan's death would have been my fault.

What do you think? Are you intrigued? Will you be back for the next excerpt? (and for the book when it's published!)

We have safely arrived home, but before I get into that, here is a few photos from the last few days of our trip.

After going through Yellowstone, our next stop was Mt. Rushmore. You can't really see the mountain until you enter the parking area, which is really nice in my opinion. I love the element of surprise :)
The base of the mountain was flooded with tourists,  but it wasn't as crowded as I had thought it might be.
We walked the trail that goes along the base of the mountain. There are an incredible amount of stairs, but the view from directly under the carvings is very nice. There is no way to show massive scale of Mt. Rushmore in a photo.

Our family photo in front of Mt. Rushmore

It was really neat to see one of the nine scale model's the artist created before the carving began.

This mountain is located about seventeen miles from Mt. Rushmore. Situated near the location of Custer's last stand, it is a work in progress carving of Custer on his horse. Once it is finished, it will be the largest carving in the world. Currently the face is the only thing carved, which you can see to the right.

We visited Jewel caves, near Mt. Rushmore. This picture, with the bars across the doorway, reminds me of a scene in J. Grace Pennington's novel, Never.

And some cowboy humor :)

We arrived home safe and sound late last night. The dogs, cat, bunnies, horses and goats were all glad to see us and it was good to be home. It was especially wonderful to sleep in a real bed!
Thus ends our adventures for the time being :) I will be taking the next week off of posting, but I will be back on Monday, the 13th, hopefully with some videos of the trip and a photo slideshow of all my favorites.

I think I will be more than making up for the lack of photos in the last post! 
First off, please excuse any spelling/grammatical or other such errors...it is nearly one in the morning as I type this. We finally got a good internet connection, so I am trying to make up for lost time...speed usually does not mean accuracy!! 
We have had a wonderful two days. We spent all of yesterday in Yellowstone National Park and explored as much of the 2.8 million acres as we could in that limited time. 
One thing was saw that was pretty special was the Old Faithful geyser. The rangers are able to predict fairly accurately what time the geyser will go off, so we only had to wait about thirty minutes and were able to be prepared to start clicking the camera's at the first sign of water bubbling. I must say I had expected it too be a bit higher, but it did go off a bit earlier than the predicted time, so perhaps it had not had time to fully get up to pressure. 
It was still wonderful to see! Since I am a voracious reader and I love history, I think the most special part of this trip has been getting to see all the different historical and geographical points of interest I have read so much about. Old Faithful was one of those moments. The top photo, as you may have already guessed, is of Old Faithful. 

One animal I had not been able to get very good photo's of along the Alaskan Highway was Elk. I dearly wanted a good photo...just one! But never could get a good shot. The Lord provided some spectacular Elk shots in the park! We actually stood about fifteen feet from a magnificent bull and he simply went about his business like thirty people weren't standing practically beside him. We also got to see two elk fawns in a river....very neat! 

We had seen quite a few Bison along the Alaskan Highway, but the Buffalo in Yellowstone were very impressive and I was able to get some more natural shots of them. There were hundreds and hundreds of these beautiful animals. I was thrilled to see some calves as we had only sighted bulls previously. 
These animals loved to stand on the road...often backing up quite a bit of traffic. It was almost like they did it on purpose. I saw one young bull who was standing in the left lane...when the car in the right lane tried to inch ahead, he promptly lumbered on in front of it, effectively blocking the car's path...I really think he did it on purpose :) It's just something a teenager would do. 

Some other animals we saw were Pronghorn and Bighorn Sheep. 
I was particularly excited about the Pronghorn. There were a bunch farther away, but we found two very close to the road. They are so pretty and extremely graceful when they run. 
The bighorn sheep were waaaaayyyyyy across a canyon, so it was difficult to see them, but their were several ewes and three babies, who all seemed to belong to one mother. Watching them leap around the cliffs is a thing of beauty!

We came up to a line of cars that were stopped and after searching around, figured out they were looking at a black bear cub in a tree. The light was fading and he was a distance off, so the picture isn't very clear. He/she was having so much fun playing in the tree sticking his head in a hole and tearing off the bark. Mama was a short distance away and seemed unperturbed by all the people. The second photo shows the crowd that gathered. When I watched videos of Yellowstone, I always thought the crowds and hoards of people they showed stopped for wildlife were the rariety...not so! 

I have been trying for a good sunset picture for quite some time and just never could get the perfect one. 
I believe I have at last succeeded. I. Love. This. Photo. I would be in love with it no matter the person who took it, but wow! I just love the brilliance of the sky and silhouetted trees. This one will probably end up hanging on my wall and I think I can safely say this may be my favorite photo of the trip. 

I can't look at this photo without shuddering slightly. We hiked so much distance looking at this waterfall, my feet hurt just looking at it. 
But it was worth it. 
I think. 
No really, it was great :)
This canyon was a really beautiful place with many colors painted in it's walls. We did hike around a lot, climbing the canyon rim and driving to many of the lookout points. We even climbed 600 feet down the canyon all on an extremely steep path to very top of the falls. That was pretty neat, but man was it hard to get back up! The view was stunning and the roar of the water crashing down was unbelievable. There was even some snow on the canyon wall next to the falls. Hard to believe as it was 90* out. 
Looking down into the canyon from the top was pretty impressive. The river looked small, though at times you could hear the water rushing. Not a place you wanted to trip or stumble. 

So I have some big news...I'm moving to Wyoming!!! 
I almost didn't keep typing...but it wouldn't be nice to leave you all hanging :)
I was very excited to see for myself what Wyoming actually looked like. We entered the state at night, but only when a few miles before stopping, the next morning, Dad hiked up the hill behind our RV site and this is what he found...my ranch! Isn't it beautiful? 
I've always wanted to live out west...so when we found this ranch, it was done deal. Wyoming here I come! Smoke will love this. 
Okay, so I am not moving to Wyoming. In my dreams, maybe, in reality, not yet. (You see I had to put not yet....no it too final, at least I've left the door a little bit open :)
But Dad did find this cute little ranch, so I can pin these up on my wall and pretend I'm in Wyoming :)
The country side out here is really beautiful and I love the mix of plains, pasture lands, hills and mountains. It has really good variety...something of everything. 
And you know you're in ranching country when there are cattle guards over the roads every few miles :) I particularly liked that touch. There were even cattle guards in the mountains. (Cattle guards are metal pipes that are placed over  a hole in the ground. Cars can go over them, but cattle and horses will not step on the pipes so it prevents them from wandering)
When we reached Cody, Wyoming, Dad was nice enough to stop and let me browse in the western stores. He had wanted to get to Mt. Rushmore this evening, but instead, he let me shop.
And guess what! I found some bargains! First I got a vanity plate for my car that says Cody, Wyoming with a bucking horse on it, then I found a woven tote bag that anywhere else would have cost 20-30 dollars and it was $8!! 
Then in another store there were some leather and fur vests. There was a coat that matched, but I didn't think it was really my style, but Mom convinced me to try it on. It fit like a glove and really was so me. The regular price is $113, but it was on sale for $55! So I decided to get it. When the cashier rang it up, we discovered there was another 25% off so I got it for $43! 
We plan on reaching Mt. Rushmore tomorrow, spending a few hours there then continuing on. We plan on being home by Saturday. I cannot wait to see my horses again! This is the longest I have ever been away. 

We have been so busy running around that I have not found a chance to post. We also had limited internet so I couldn't load pictures. 
So to make up for my silence, here is a long and detailed post!

We reached Skagway, Alaska last Sunday evening. We camped in an RV park and had some much needed quite time that evening. 
The next day, the real fun began. 
First, us girls went shopping. Now, I normally am not a shopping kind of girl unless there are bargains to be had. Being that Skagway is a tourist town, I expected to find everything to be expensive. But I knew this would be our last stop in Alaska and I had gifts and souvenirs I wanted to purchase so I tagged along. 
Much to my surprise, I found some really good deals! For a tourist town, they had very reasonable prices, so I actually enjoyed shopping. I was sooooo excited to get a pair of moccasins!! I have been looking for a pair for a long time, but couldn't find any I liked that had real leather soles, not the rubber ones. I found some in Skagway, so I have a pair of Alaskan moccasins! They are incredibly comfortable. 
At one o'clock, we boarded a train for a three hour ride into the mountains. We saw a glacier, many, many waterfalls, went through two tunnels (so neat! I loved that part!) and lots of other neat stuff. I spent the entire three hours standing on the train car platform. 

After the trail ride, we hiked a very steep, rocky, challenging trail up to Lower Dewey Lake. It was about a mile of incredibly steep paths. It was fun and even Mom made it all the way up! There was an upper lake that was quite a distance further up and according to a doctor we chatted with at the lower lake, it was a much more challenging hike. It was late in the day so we decided to head back down to the RV. Going down was fun because it was very little work, except for holding yourself back so you didn't topple head over heels. :)

Tuesday morning, we headed out of Skagway. There is only one road in and out of the town and the border is just a few miles out of town. We passed through customs with no issues (much to Lydia's relief). We headed to Whitehorse where we planned on turning off to Watson Lake to join up with the Cassiar Highway. 
So when we were packing for this trip, even though we had ruled out spending time at a ranch out west this trip, I packed my riding skirt...just in case :)
Well, as we were traveling to Whitehorse, we found an ad for horseback riding...two different places in fact. 
I can now say I rode a horse in Canada! We actually went about 40 km out of our way, but it was worth it. The ride we took was in thick, dense woods. We crossed three streams, waded half a mile through lake, climbed a ridge, road on the edge of steep hills, slogged through mud up to the horses bellies and jumped a crick. We had two lovely guides, Anna  and Lena. They said they take people who have never ridden before on this same ride...wow! They certainly wouldn't ever forget it! I was riding a mare named Lisa, Lydia was on Clover and Mom was on Barney, who looked and acted very much like Bannie :)
The internet here is still really slow, so to see pictures of the ride, follow this link: https://plus.google.com/+LaurenKLotter/posts/6NsFtB7vFZQ

On Wednesday we went canoeing! We had been trying to find a good place to canoe but finally, as we were driving down the Cassier Highway, we found a place that was cheaper than anywhere else we had looked, not to mention the gorgeous view! 
This was probably the most nerve wracking part of the whole trip for me, but I actually really enjoyed it once we got on the water. I do NOT like water, especially deep dark water that I can't see into, but the lake we found was beautifully clear. It was mostly shallow, about fifteen feet maybe, and you could see all the way to the bottom! There were very few fish in it. There were a few parts that were deep enough you couldn't see the bottom, but it didn't bother me and overall I really enjoyed it. Feeling the canoe skimming along the water was great! It was a huge lake with tons of islands and little channels. We explored a lot of it and the whole time we saw not one other person. A truly wonderful experience.  
Follow this link to see pictures of the canoeing: https://plus.google.com/+LaurenKLotter/posts/KSRqk2KfpAf

Yesterday evening we crossed the border for the last time. We made it to Spokan, Washington late last night and today we crossed the pan handle of Idaho and Montana. We are currently at the west entrance to Yellowstone National Park. We plan on traveling through the park tomorrow, sight seeing along the way, hopefully seeing Old Faithful. 
We also plan on seeing Mt. Rushmore as we continue our journey home. 
So our Alaskan adventure has come to an end, though the journey is not over yet! I have really enjoyed the trip, though I am looking forward to living in a house that does not move! 
Until the next post!

A week or so ago, this is what my photography wishlist looked like:

Caribou 
Dall's Sheep
Sea Lions
Otters
Bald Eagle
Grizzly Bear
Mustangs


By the time we had gone on the Denali bus tour and the Kenai Fjord boat outing, all of them had been crossed off except for the mustangs. 

I really didn't expect to see any. I thought I might have a very slim chance of seeing some when we pass through the western states on the way home, but I wasn't getting my hopes up. I figured that even if I did see some, more than likely they would be miles away on a hillside. 

Well, once again, God was full of surprises. 

We were driving along the Alaskan highway, late in the evening, traveling toward White Horse. Mom saw a horse crossing sign, but I didn't think much of it. We had seen them on our to Alaska and never spotted any horses. 

I was riding up on top of the cab, drowsily watching the scenery flash by. I began to see road apples alongside the road. I thought perhaps they were from trail riders, but there were so many....

About a minute later, I spotted a herd of horses grazing alongside the road!!!!

I shouted and jumped down from on top of the cab and almost wiping out. Dad pulled up on the shoulder. 

And there they were. I stuck my head out the window and their scent struck me. I hadn't realized how much I missed my horses until then. Some may not think horses smell good, but if I could buy a perfume that smelled like horse sweat, I'd probably wear it. 

Okay, maybe not. But it was wonderful to be that close. They were very calm. The mare and foal were about fifteen feet from the road, the others were a little farther back. The foal is very young. It still has part of the umbilical cord attached. 

There were two family bands. One consisted of a stallion, the mare with the foal, a mare that looked to be about a year old and an older bachlor. I'm not sure why the bachlor was still with the band, he looked mature, but for some reason the stallion was letting him stay. 

A short distance away was a young stallion with one mare. 

There were several ranches in the area and one of the mares looked like a standard bred, so these probably weren't true mustangs, but they were wild horses just the same. They are probably domestic horses that either escaped or were turned loose for some reason. I was very thrilled to get some good shots. 

I was also excited to see a war bonnet horse in person. The mother of the foal is wearing a bonnet of brown over her ears. War bonnet horses were highly sought after by the Native Americans. I've read about them, but never see one in person. 

My internet is very slow so I'm not able to load as many pictures as I would like, but here are a few :) I really love the one of the stallion (third photo)

We are in Skagway, Alaska right now. Tomorrow we are planning on taking a train ride (excited about that) and possibly going canoeing on Tuesday...uh, not so sure about that one! I know I'll enjoy it, but that won't keep me from being white knuckled at first. I'm not terribly fond of deep water and small boats :) The big boat on the fjord did't bother me though, so maybe I'm getting over it!

We had quite the eventful day on Thursday. We left Denali Park Wednesday morning and traveled through Anchorage, past the forest fire, down to Seward. We spent Wednesday night close to the water and Thursday morning, boarded The Star of the Northwest for a five hour tour of the Kenai Fjord. 

The rocky cliffs were shrouded in clouds and mist. It was very beautiful and the park ranger who was on board said we were very fortunate to have the visibility we did. 

Right from the start, before we even boarded the boat actually, we saw plenty of Bald Eagles. They were everywhere! We even saw a juvenile terrorizing the sea gulls. 

We saw lots and lots of waterfowl including many different kinds of ducks, loons, sea gulls and two different kinds of puffins. 

We saw two sea otters. I was only able to get a picture of one of them...boy was he/she cute! The park ranger (Deanna) said they can get up to five feet long. That's as tall as me! 

Seeing the sea lions gathered on the rocky shore was pretty special too. We saw a few in the water, but most of them were sunning themselves, though I'm not sure how that is possible since the sun was behind clouds :) There were quite a few of them and some were very vocal.

We also got to see a Glacier. I believe this one is called Bear Glacier. I was surprised at how cold it was near the glacier, but then, it is made of ice!

All of the above was amazing to see, but the highlight of the tour, even for the ship's crew, was the sighting of NINE humpback whales! The park ranger on board said that you might get one whale sighting per tour and then you will probably only see it's back. The captain received a report about where some humpback whales were feeding, so he took the ship out of the usual course to go see them.
All in all, we counted nine large spectacular whales. And even more exciting, they were bubble net feeding. Up to six of them would rise up out of the water at the same time! The ranger said that it is extremely rare to see this. She hasn't seen in it two years and she said it can be up to twenty years between sightings. God has been so good this trip, allowing us to see incredible things that according to others around us, are not usually seen with the clarity we have seen them. Some of the whales surfaced fifty feet from the boat.

Before all of this exciting stuff happened, on our way out of Denali Park, we spotted a mother moose and her twin calves alongside the road. They were eating in the ditch, just fifteen-twenty feet away. The calves hid in the woods at first, but soon joined their mama. I was able to get some adorable pictures of the babies.

So that's a little of what we've been doing the last few days. Yesterday was spent in Anchorage at the Bass Pro Shop and Cabela's. Then we backtracked to Tok, where we spent the night. Not sure where we are headed from here, but I'll post again in the next few days :)

As I said in my post yesterday, we reached Denali National Park and spent the night there, after spending an hour or so watching the antics of the mother moose :)
This morning we got up at 5 am to head out on an 11 hour bus tour of the park. Our destination was Wonder Lake, which we reached around noon. We saw lots of neat things, so grab a cup off coffee and prepare to join the trip. I daresay wherever you are reclining as you read this is a bit more comfortable than the bus seats...11 hours is a bit long to ride a bus, but we made it :)

One of the highlights of this bus tour is Mt. McKinley. Surrounded by clouds most of the time, the following picture is the most many people will ever see of the mountain. This was how our view started out in the morning.

About two-three hours into the tour, this is what our view changed too...a practically cloudless sky and a perfect view of the mountain!!

This is the view we ended up with. Simply stunning. The park ranger we met at one of the rest stops along the way said it was the best viewing day for the mountain since the start of the season. God gave us beautiful weather and a once in a lifetime chance to see this magnificent mountain.

We took the family photo for another family on the same bus as us and they then took our family photo with the mountain in the background.

This is the peak to the right of Mt. McKinley when you are viewing it from the park road. Our bus driver said that it is even rarer to see this mountain. It is usually completely hidden by clouds.

We saw a plethora of wildlife. First up, my personal favorite, the grizzlies! Grizzlies were high on my photography wish list and I can finally mark them off! We saw four adults and one of the adults had three cubs. She and her babies were waaaaayyyy off down a riverbed so it was difficult to get a shot. I got a few...but they are so far away it is hard to see them. If you can see my logo, look directly beneath it and you will see her and the cubs.

Another thing that was really neat to see was the Caribou. This was another animal on my list and we found one very close to the road. This is a beautiful bull with the velvet on his antlers.

Though we have coyotes where we live in Michigan, I have never been able to get a picture of one. This coyote was running down the road before dashing into the brush. So I had to come all the way to Alaska to get a picture of a nuisance coyote :)

Doll Sheep were on my list as well. We spotted some early on in the day, but they were very far up and difficult to see. This big boy was right near the road as we were on our way back. Just look at those horns! There were also two ewes with their babies up on a cliff. The picture is far back, but hopefully you'll be able to see them.

The prairie dogs are cute little critters and really not that shy. Mom and I had one walk right up to our feet! It was actually kind of aggressive! It was fun to see them pop in and out of their holes and one was being a little pig!

We saw one snowshoe hare right next to the road. Our bus driver said that their numbers are down this year, but sometimes they can see up to 150 in one day. This year they are lucky to see two-three a week.
What he said is that their numbers will skyrocket for several years until there are so many of them they are overrunning the tundra. When the plants they are eating are getting eaten back too far, they create a secretion that when the hares eat the plants, it causes them to not be able to digest any food. So they basically starve to death. While not a pleasant thought, it is necessary to allow the tundra to recuperate before the numbers go back up.

We were almost back to the park entrance and we still had not seen a single moose. Lydia happened to be the one to spot our only moose of the trip! This cow was off the road about fifty feet munching on the bushes.

Our destination was Wonder Lake, which we reached around noon as I said before. It was a beautiful spot, with Mt. McKinley to our backs, though by that time it was once again cloud covered.

At the lake we saw this gray jays (That's what Lydia said they were...I didn't look them up)
They came right up to the picnic tables looking for scraps :) It's kind of hard to see, but in the first picture, the bird has both it's feet off the bench in mid hop!

I just had to include this picture....the colors are just so neat! It reminds me of a model train display.

So that sums up our eventful day!

Tomorrow we are heading to Anchorage. We have been hearing about a raging wildfire over there and the road is even closed in some places so we'll see what it all looks like when we get there.

Thanks again for all your comments!

As I said in my last post, we reached the Alaska border late Friday evening. We reached Tok that same evening and reached Fairbanks Saturday evening. On Saturday, we also went to Delta Junction, which is the end of the Alaskan Highway. We got a family photo by the ending mile post.

Once in Alaska, we saw a beautiful bull moose (I had been hoping for a better shot than my first one and I got it!), but other than that we have not seen much wild life yet. We plan on heading to Denali Park and taking an 8 hour bus tour into the park on Tuesday….so excited for that! We’ve spoken to several people who have taken it and they saw lots of wild life…including grizzlies!!

We also stopped at a beautiful lake in which grow stunning yellow water lilies. I have never gotten a picture of a water lily before, so I was very pleased to get some good shots. I was particularly pleased with this one.

There was a cute old cabin set in some trees. I was able to get some good pictures of it, one of which I think might work for the cover of Be Still My Soul…we’ll see if it does or not! I also got a new author pic taken there for the back cover of BSMS. All my other author pics have horses in them J and I thought it appropriate to have this one taken at a cabin since that is the main setting for the story.

We saw some gorgeous snow covered mountains. This particular picture with the clouds and snow is destined to be one of my favorites. The setting was so perfect.

A few weeks ago, a girl emailed me saying she had read a post about our upcoming Alaska trip. She said she and her family, the Millers, were missionaries to Alaska and if we were going to be in Fairbanks, they wanted to meet us! We emailed a few times and I got the address of their church. We weren’t sure if we would hit Fairbanks on a Sunday, but we did! So this morning we attended their church and then went over to their house for lunch. They live waaaaayyyyy back in the woods, off grid, with a beautiful view of the mountains. Mr. Miller gave us a tour of the house and it was very interesting to see how they lived and the different things they have done to make their off grid life easier. Mrs. Miller and her daughters prepared a delicious meal for us and we thoroughly enjoyed our visit. Baby Timothy kept us entertained with his giggles and Mr. Miller and the three girls played their instruments for us. You can check out their family website: http://millersinalaska.org/

Just a few miles from the Miller’s house, there is a turnoff where you can walk right up to the Alaskan Pipeline. We stopped there on our way back to the RV park and got some pictures. It was neat to see it up close! Seth was being silly as we walked back to the RV and I snapped this picture of him jumping off the rail…it’s so perfect!

We plan on doing a few things in Fairbanks tomorrow, including a historical village, kind of like Green Field Village for those of you who are familiar with that. Then we will be headed to Denali, as I mentioned earlier.

It was very nice to stay in one place for a day. We are on day ten of the trip and so much moving around can get slightly tiresome. I was glad for a day away from my camera. I love taking pictures, but it is exhausting work!!

Getting used to all the daylight has been a challenge. As I type this, it is nearly ten thirty in the evening and it is as bright out as it was at five pm. I have woken at two am and found it still dusky. We also had to get used to the time change, as Alaska is four hours behind Michigan. I think I could easily get used to more daylight…more time to go riding!!! The downfall to that is that at one point in the winter, they only get three and a half hours of sunlight. I’ve always been a dark loving person, so I don’t think that would bother me too much, nor would the snow as I love winter and the cold. I imagine in would get tiresome toward the end of winter…even in Michigan I am ready for warmth by the time spring rolls around.

I think our schedule is going to pick up a bit one we reach Denali. We intended to hit Anchorage and Seward…other than that, I do not know much of the plan.

Until the next post...

She looks perfectly docile, right? Far from it. 
We reached Denali Park this afternoon and settled in for the night. We were not able to hook up to water in this RV park, so we had to use the campground showers. 
We had been hearing warnings about an aggressive mother moose that had twins. She liked to hang around near people, but she had already sent two people to the hospital, so we had to be cautious as we walked the trails. 

As Lydia and I were walking out from our showers, we saw the mother and her babies standing just off the trail, about forty feet from the building's deck. I didn't have my camera so we dashed back to the RV and ran back. By that time the babies were lying down and she was settling in as well. 

She was lying down as I was snapping pictures. We saw her head turn and she stared intently at something. I looked up and saw a man walking through the woods about fifty feet from her. He had no idea she was there. She jumped up and dashed full speed through the woods. Dad shouted a warning and the man jumped out of the way just in time. It was a close miss. Several other people got a good scare too. 

We will be going on an 11 hour bus tour into Denali Park tomorrow. I am looking forward to that! Expect lots of pictures!

We are on top of the world!! Thursday evening we reached Dawson City, the center of the Yukon Gold Rush. We walked the town for about an hour that night (It stays light literally all night) and had some interesting experiences with other tourists and locals...no comment :) 
We spent half of Friday seeing Dawson City's shops and museum, then we went to Bonanza Creek and panned for gold! Dad bought a panning pan in a shop and we found two shiny flecks that possibly could be gold. That was fun :) We also saw a gold panning demonstration at the museum and there were industrial mining operations along the road to Bonanza Creek. 

When we left Dawson City Friday afternoon, we had to take a ferry across the Yukon River. That was pretty neat! After getting off the ferry, which was a short eight minute journey, we were on the Top of the World Highway. That was really neat! The views were spectacular and often we were driving on a ridge that just the width of the road with dropoffs on either side. The temperature fell steadily as we continued driving and there were big drifts of snow still lingering along the road. There was even some snow in the valleys, that tells you how high up we were. This is where our family picture was taken. 

We stopped at the Five Fingers Rapids and hiked 2 kilometers round trip to a lookout deck above the rapids. First you had to go down 200 stairs, then hike a steep, narrow trail. It was quite the experience :)

As of yesterday evening, we are now in Alaska! Lydia was still a bit nervous about the policemen, but they were very nice and even though they were wearing guns(as she quickly pointed out!) I think it left her slightly less traumatized :)
Since we had those first few days with tons of wildlife sightings we really haven't seen that many animals. We were pretty high up in the mountians, so I'm hoping there will be more once we come down a bit. At one point, our elevation was 4200 feet above sea level. Our ears were popping!
I was happy to get a good shot of a cow moose. I also got a magpie, some weird water bird I don't know what it is and a beautiful yellow butterfly. 

We will probably reach Fairbanks this afternoon. Beyond that, I do not know the plan, but I can guarantee more pictures and stories in a few days :) I love reading all your comments, I'm glad I am able to share a bit of the fun things we are experiencing with you. 

We even got to see a porcupine!! I got within about four feet of him....so amazing!

The desire to stay grows stronger with each passing mile. I could live here for years and never get tired of it :)

We have only been on the road six days and already we have seen enough to last a life time!

The scenery is so amazing there is no way to describe it's beauty and pictures do not do it justice.  To really appreciate the incredibleness (Is that a word?) you definitely have to see it in person. 

What really captures me is the wildness all around. It really is an untamed land. You can drive for miles and not see even a house. Not even a log cabin in the woods. It is literally uninhabited. 

An overview of the large mammals we have seen:

4 moose-three bulls and one cow
13 black/brown bears
9 stone sheep-three rams, four ewes and two babies
5 elk-all females
6 bison-all bulls
1 porcupine    
1 fox

My photography wish list:
Caribou
Doll Sheep
Sea Lions
Otters
Bald Eagle
Grizzly Bear
Mustangs

We'll see how many I get to mark off! Hopefully quite a few!

On Tuesday, we passed a couple on two motorcycles. They were parked alongside the road flagging people down. Dad turned around to see if they needed help. Turns out they were out of gas! We were 50 miles from the next gas station. Another couple in an RV stopped and together the three guys tried to siphon gas from our RV and the other couple's car, but they couldn't get it too work. We offered to give the couple a ride to town to get gas, but they decided to stay and keep flagging people down until they found someone with gas. They were from Georgia, U.S.

We continued on and camped beside a lake that night. The next morning, as we passed a gas station that was just about 2 kilometers from where we had camped and we saw the same couple filling up! We turned around and asked them what happened. They said a lady stopped and she happened to have one gallon of gas. She said she wasn't going to pack it...but it just happened to get packed anyway! That was quite the adventure! 

Here are a few other misc. pictures....click play to start the slideshow or use the arrows. 

We have reached Dawson Creek—the start of the Alaskan Highway!

We are sitting in a Dawson Creek campground as I type this. The last three days we have been driving a lot, stopping only to sleep pretty much.

Now that we are in Dawson Creek the real adventure begins!

It is amazing how fast the terrain changes here in Canada. One minute its rocks and trees with lots of hills and the next its flat farm fields!!

There was a section in Manitoba that looked like Colorado…there were ranches and cattle everywhere! There were some fun looking hills and gullies that would have been so great to ride in.

Even though we didn't have time to stop for pictures, I was still really pleased with the pictures I was able to get while we were moving. I took over four hundred yesterday and quite a few today. There are several I think will look great in a frame.

Once we get on the Alaskan Highway, I'm  not sure if I will be able to get intenet, so this may be my last post until Alaska, but I will have lots of pictures to share when we get back online!

Now for the pictures…

This picture is my favorite. There were lots of cattle grazing right up by the highway. I was just clicking away as fast as I could as we drove by and just happened to get this shot. I just love it!

I really like this picture too. Again, just snapped as we drove by. A truck put out to pasture in Manitoba.

I've gotten around 50 pictures so far that I think will be printable. Not bad for four days into the trip!

A few weeks ago I posted about my new project, then titled Adah's Quest. I asked if anyone had any title suggestions and fellow author, Jason McIntire, suggested using a verse of Scripture for the title. Considering the fact that this story has more direct Biblical theme than my other books, I really liked the idea.
But I couldn't find a verse that really fit the story. 

This past Sunday, my family and I were singing at a nursing home in Ohio. One of the songs we sang was Be Still My Soul. I have always known the song, but as I sang, I listened to the words and I could not believe how well it fit the story. I decided to use it as my title and my theme for the story. I am at just over 23,000 words and I plan on adding at least 15,000 more thousand. This book is going almost as well as Whisper!
Below is a music video of Be Still My Soul and I have included the lyrics as well. What do you think of the new title? I'm hoping to be able to post an excerpt soon.

Be still, my soul: the Lord is on thy side.
Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain.
Leave to thy God to order and provide;
In every change, He faithful will remain.
Be still, my soul: thy best, thy heavenly Friend
Through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.

Be still, my soul: thy God doth undertake
To guide the future, as He has the past.
Thy hope, thy confidence let nothing shake;
All now mysterious shall be bright at last.
Be still, my soul: the waves and winds still know
His voice Who ruled them while He dwelt below.

Be still, my soul: when dearest friends depart,
And all is darkened in the vale of tears,
Then shalt thou better know His love, His heart,
Who comes to soothe thy sorrow and thy fears.
Be still, my soul: thy Jesus can repay
From His own fullness all He takes away.

Be still, my soul: the hour is hastening on
When we shall be forever with the Lord.
When disappointment, grief and fear are gone,
Sorrow forgot, love’s purest joys restored.
Be still, my soul: when change and tears are past
All safe and blessèd we shall meet at last.

Be still, my soul: begin the song of praise
On earth, be leaving, to Thy Lord on high;
Acknowledge Him in all thy words and ways,
So shall He view thee with a well pleased eye.
Be still, my soul: the Sun of life divine
Through passing clouds shall but more brightly shine.

While working on my current projects, Thunder and Adah's Quest(temporary title), I've been learning a lot about plots and characters.

One thing in particular that has helped me a lot, especially with Adah's Quest, has been the simple question, "What if?"

For Thunder, this doesn't work a whole lot, because I already have a pretty good idea of where I want the story to end up. That doesn't mean I can't still ask the question, but at this point I don't think I will be changing it up too much.

With Adah's Quest, however, this question has helped me tremendously!

What if…the cabin burned down?

What if…she got caught in a blizzard, far from the cabin?

What if…she went to leave the mountain and her car wouldn't start?

What if…she fell down a mountain?

What if…she decided to quit her job and live on the mountain permanently?

What if…she ran out of wood in the middle of a storm?

What if…horror of horrors, she ran out of coffee? (I ran out of coffee the other day…well,  not totally. But the other kinds we have are not my favorite by far. It's too hot to drink coffee anyway, so I'm not suffering too badly!)

This story is a bit different than anything I've written before. I am attempting to write it in first person and for the most part that seems to be working, though it does limit certain aspects.

It is also different in the respect that while I have an end goal for Adah, I do not know how I am going to reach that goal. I have a vague plot planned, but for now, I am just taking it one page at a time and asking the question, "what if" often. It's fun to explore the different twists and turns my plot can take J

For a brief writing update:

Adah's Quest is at roughly 20,000 words. I haven't had as much time to write, but in the few moments I have had, I was pleased to note that I am still not experiencing writers block with this story. At this point, I have no idea when Adah's story will be ready for you all to enjoy, but hopefully it will be sooner than later. Perhaps I will post an excerpt soon.

Thunder is progressing very slowly. Knowing how I want the story to end, and actually getting the story to that point are two very different things! I am still hoping to have Bethany's story out by fall, but with taking the entire month of June off for our Alaska trip, I will have to work furiously when we get back. I did manage to write 1,000 words the other day, which put me at just over 6,000 words total.  

Now that TCCAS #1 and #2 are published, I have turned my attention to TCCAS #3-The Stranger and the Lost Mine. The rough draft is approx. halfway completed. I am hoping to be able to publish it next spring, to keep the series on a yearly release schedule, but we will have to see how it goes.

Speaking of Bannie, here is a video of him and I doing some spring work getting ready for summer riding :)