Five Purple Roses

All The Purple Roses I Have Known

The theme of purple roses is first introduced in my first novel, Bryony.

The room, although not very large, felt warm and comfortable, with its wine-hued carpeting and wallpaper, overflowing bookshelves, and rich mahogany furniture. Several desks sat at the east end of the room. One held a heavy, black, silver, oddly shaped typewriter, very different from her mother’s slim, beige, electric machine. Vases of fragrant, purple roses filled the room. Fully awake now, Melissa rested her head on the back of the settee and blinked in surprise.

My my oldest daughter Sarah was the first to receive a purple rose, a "fake" one from her stepson Nick. And her husband has given her purple roses, too.

My first one came from Sarah. She had died rose petals purple, dried them (because that has meaning in the story, too) and sent them to me. They should be packed, somewhere, in my BryonySeries files from my old office in Channahon - I hope.

Here are some of my other gifts of purple roses, left to right, top to borrom: a birthday cake Jasmine made, a random Mother's Day gift someone at Louis Joliet Mass placed in my hand, flowers from Timothy, a Mother's Day gift from Jasmine, a Christmas gift from Cindy, a homemade cake from Rebekah, and flowers from Rebekah.

Like other flowers, roses have meanings ascribed to them, based on their colors. Purple roses, in case you're curious, symbolize "enchantment."

Candle Sale for a Good Cause

A few months ago when Rebekah was assessing our BryonySeries candle stock (what we had left, sizes, scents, etc), she noticed some of the candles needed fresh labels.

So we reached out to Valerie Burkholder, owner of Valerie's Heavenly Scents, who had made the candles for us, and learned she was recently diagnosed with an aggressive form of lung cancer.

Although Valerie has kept us generously supplied with candles, we are actively trying to sell them all so she can have the money now, when she she most needs it.

The candles are homemade, soy, and come in a variety of sizes and five BryonySeries scents: bryony (a patchouli-like scent), purple rose, Sue's Diner (vanilla pudding), Lake Munson (ocean breeze), and Simons Woods (pine).

The candles burn very cleanly and retain the scent to the end.

The candles and I (along with my books) will be at The Book Market from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on March 23. The Book Market is located at 2365 Plainfield Road in Crest Hill.

If you only have money for either a book or a candle, I strongly suggest buying the candle. We will have specials for combos and multiple orders.

If you live out of the area or cannot attend the event and wish to buy a candle, message us at bryonyseries@gmail.com and we will ship candles to you.

Most of all, please send up prayers/good thoughts and wishes for Valerie. 

Thank you. :)

When Creativity Fills the House

What a wonderful weekend on so many levels!

First, I had only about four hours of work carryover into Sunday, the first time in a very long time, and I actually took all of Saturday off. The last couple days were not only restful, they were creative, for me, and for others, too.

I finished the WriteOn Joliet cheetah anthology (more on this later) last night and sent it to Rebekah to give it a fresh look. After we receive the cover art, we can upload it.

We spent a good 90 minutes on the phone with KDP with a wonderful representative who fixed almost all of our issues. A HUGE THANK to Daniel's girl friend Cindy for getting curious about my box of still unpacked books and reading through all the Bertrand ones. She's the one who found the printing errors.

I finished Cornell Dyer and the Eerie Lake and sent it to Timothy to read. So far, he said, it reads like the story he envisioned.

I wrote, and shot, Bertrand Spends the Night. If all goes well, I will have copies available at the March 23 book signing at The Book Market in Crest Hill.

Jasmine showed Rebekah and Cindy over a two-day period how to make gum roses for cakes, etc.

And while I finally unpacked, and put away, my box of books, Jasmine and Rebekah baked four different kinds of Irish soda bread (and some cookies) for my Herald-News food page on Thursday.

A few quick photos below:

The Rose of Tralee----- An old Irish love song