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The Filming of Hallmark’s Moriah’s Lighthouse! An Author’s Journey...

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Serena, acceptance speech for Alumna of the Year 2014

Alumna of the Year

A couple months ago, Serena was asked to attend Ohio Valley University‘s Homecoming Weekend 2014. She knew she might have to say a few words since she was a student of OVU, but she didn’t dream she’d be picked as the Alumna of the Year! She thoroughly enjoyed the weekend, and really enjoyed the singing and talent performances by the current students of OVU. Below is a copy of Dr. Harold Shank’s (President of OVU) quarterly newsletter commenting on the homecoming weekend. -Jacob Presidents Update Spring 2014

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Clutter!

One more week and this latest book I’ve been writing will–Lord willing–be finished. I’ll send it off to my editor and then I will begin my clearing-out stage. I’ll wad up and throw away reams of scribbled notes, put my research books back on the shelf, and maybe even dust and vacuum. I love this part of the process. I’ll also spend time clearing out the clutter in the rest of the house. Drawers, closets, garage, overflowing trash cans, inedible objects in the refrigerator. It feels so good to organize and reclaim my house after allowing everything to fall apart as I try to hit my deadline. It isn’t just my house I’ll put back together. I’ll also try to repair the friendships I’ve allowed to stagnate during this “birth” process of getting a book finished. I’ll get to start cooking again. The oddest thing about having a career as a writer is that it has made housework very appealing when it didn’t used to be. But back to clutter…… For many years, I lived several hundred miles away from my family back before e-mail, and I would compose weekly letters to my mother detailing everything that had happened in […]

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Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!

I just wanted to say THANK YOU! We just got the ratings in for the premiere night of the movie and… we broke UPTV’s highest record for ratings! Check out more info here http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com Anyways, if you didn’t get a chance to see it, or you wanna know what everyone is talking about, don’t worry! 🙂 There will be an encore Friday (June 6th) @ 9pm and 11pm est. I’m so happy everyone enjoyed it! The reviews and comments have been Amazing!

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Muddy River

I grew up up in a four-room house perched on the banks of the Little Scioto River in Southern Ohio. That river provided unending entertainment for us kids. There were crawdads to catch, mussels to track, and ancient grapevines to swing on. We swam, fished, paddled around in an old flat-bottomed boat, took slivers of soap along with us and took a soapy bath when the weather was hot. It even had a nice gentle swimming hole that doubled as a baptistry for our church both summer and winter. My older sister would sometimes fry up bacon and tomato sandwiches, wrap them in waxed paper, grab her bathing suit and little sister, and we’d go spend the day up the river on a sandbank where she could lie in the sun, and I could play in the water or dig for buried treasure. One memorable day I dug up a snapping turtle. When the rains came, our mother checked the level of the creek several times a night to make sure it didn’t get into our house. But if it did, we knew we’d be okay because we could climb up the hill to the railroad and walk the tracks […]

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Sugarcreek DVD is now available!

Several people have asked about getting a copy of the movie, and I promised to let everyone know as soon as I found out. Fox is releasing the DVD, Love Finds You in Sugarcreek next week! (10/7) but it’s available for pre-order right now via Amazon & Barnes & Noble and available for digital download from Amazon, Nook, iTunes, &  VUDU. The DVD will also have some behind-the-scenes interviews with Kelly, Sarah, Tom, the director, and me. To my knowledge, at least four million people have watched the movie so far on the UP network, and many other countries have picked it up to broadcast on their stations. As I work here in my farmhouse, living a normal life of canning tomato juice and babysitting grandkids, I am astonished that a story I struggled so hard to write will soon be viewed in countries as far-flung as the Middle East. I am very, very grateful to the talented actors, producers, and director who brought that story to life.

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Have you heard!?

We just found out that Serena is a finalist in the Christy Awards!  Serena’s novel Under a Blackberry Moon has been nominated for the Historical / Romance category of the 2014 Christy Awards  (link)  For those unaware, the Christy Awards were started in 2000, and are awarded each year to recognize novels of excellence written from a Christian worldview. (it’s a pretty big deal!) The winners will be announced June 23, 2014 in Atlanta and we’re very excited about Serena being nominated 😉 -Jacob

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Welcome Cocoa!

  So while Serena was in L.A. for a conference, her goat Cleo (short for Cleopatra) gave birth to a spunky little Kid named Cocoa. She’s only a few days old, but she already loves giving kisses. We did have the name “Tiny Dancer” pegged for her, but we soon realized it had too many syllables for when my baby niece starts talking. Serena’s words: “Some people wouldn’t think so, but I consider this to be therapeutic!” I Think she’s pretty happy with little Cocoa. 🙂 -Jacob  

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Attention Bargain Shoppers! eBook Sale!

I LOVE IT! MY PUBLISHER IS GIVING READERS A BREAK… AGAIN! I’m so excited! Just a few months ago An Uncommon Grace was on sale and now the sequel, Hidden Mercies, is on sale! My publisher just informed me they are only charging $1.99 for the ebook from now until December 22th. (Instead of the $10-$15 they usually charge.) I don’t know about you, but where I live it’s getting really cold! I’m just glad they’re giving readers a chance to cozy up with a cup of cocoa, a quilt, and a bargain copy of Hidden Mercies! ENJOY! -Serena Locations to grab a copy! Amazon Kindle / B&N Nook / CBD / Google Play / Kobo

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The Sisterhood of the Pink Ribbon–Update!

I wrote the following post six years ago. It seems like only yesterday all this happened.I thought in honor of the pink ribbon month, I would repost it along with the follow-up good news that my niece is now six years cancer-free! We were just talking about this and she pointed out the fact that God had answered her prayer to allow her to live long enough to see her children grow up! Praise God for answered prayer! And for some excellent doctors and nurses.Posted on November 30, 2007 by SerenaAs many of you know, my niece was diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer a few weeks ago. She discovered it early enough that the surgeon was able to remove it all. The biopsy of the lymph glands was clear. We celebrated. She is now in the process of enduring several months of “preventative” chemotherapy. The prognosis is good. Frankly, I don’t even like thinking about the word “cancer.” I don’t like using the word “chemotherapy.” I don’t like pondering anything that involves hospitals or illness or pain. I am infamous in my family for having passed out cold on the doctor’s office floor when he mentioned that […]

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FINALLY! THE BABY ARRIVES!!

So…little Miss Clara Grace Miller finally decided to make her appearance at 12:52 p.m. yesterday afternoon, more than a week past her expected due date. She weighed eight pounds five ounces, was twenty-one inches long, has curly black hair and is a healthy baby! She’s also gorgeous. We are, of course, not a bit prejudiced–but it is our contention that she is quite possibly the prettiest baby girl in the universe! Our daughter-in-law, Meaghan, had been hoping for a completely natural childbirth, and managed to have one in spite of being overdue more than a week. Eleven hours labor. She is tired but so happy. This is her and Caleb’s first baby. He is nearly as relieved as Meaghan–not only about the safe arrival of his newborn daughter, but of the fact that he did NOT pass out (as he greatly feared) and the staff did NOT have to drag him out of the birthing room feet first. Thanks to having a Canadian mother and American father, Clara Grace will have dual citizenship, which is very cool, as is having plenty of grandparents and uncles and cousins and aunts who totally adore her. It has been ten years since we […]

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Day seventeen: (10-4) movie set of LFY Sugarcreek Ohio

Tomorrow, Saturday October 5th, is the last day of filming. Everyone looks forward to this day, but there’s some bitter sweetness to it as well. For weeks everyone has worked together, eaten together, and shared our lives with one another. A movie set becomes a mini-family. Now, with things drawing to a close, we know there are those on this particular set we’ll probably never see again. The director is hopeful that he’ll have some rough footage put together by tomorrow evening to show us. I’m dying to see it–but have decided to go home a day early. Some things are simply more important than movies…… Today is our baby granddaughter’s “due” date, which is a worry to me. When I came up here for the movie, I planned on simply jumping in the car the minute I got the call to come home, no matter what was going on in Sugarcreek. The crew knew I might disappear at any moment and they understood why. Unfortunately, there was one major flaw with this plan. It is nearly impossible to get AT&T phone service in Ohio Amish country. This has made things difficult for the crew and it made getting a […]

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Day fourteen: (10-1) movie set of LFY Sugarcreek Ohio

Yesterday was cold and overcast, and I had not taken a sweater, so I was chilly all day. Today, I dressed warmly–as did most of the crew–and, of course, it was broiling and sunny all day and many of us spent the day slightly miserable. The yellow jackets happily joined us and added their buzzing, nosy, presence to our party. I was chatting with the chief of police and not paying attention as I started to take a sip of coffee. Someone standing nearby stopped me and pointed out that I was about to inhale the yellow jacket that was exploring the inside of my cup. My favorite scene today was when Chloe (Joe’s uppity agent from L.A.) verbally lashes out at Aunt Anna (who has the mental capacity of a child) and hurts Anna’s feelings. Marianna Alacchi (“Homicide: Life on the Street”) who is the actress portraying Anna, does a wonderful job portraying a mentally-challenged adult. Joe defends Anna and tells Chloe to never talk to her like that again. One of the reasons I love this scenes is because the script-writer includes a great pay-back on the part of Anna later on in the movie. Other members of […]

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