“The RoseBouquet”

The climax of last week - and everything seemed to build up to it - was the Music/Dessert Night we had as a fund-raiser for our mission, Western Tract Mission, Inc. We have discovered over the last four to five years of doing this that when we have a musical family with the children playing several instruments, and some singing, this goes over fairly well with our friends and followers.

This year we had the talented Wegner family, with father Leon on the piano, son Brendan (17) on the drums, Evan (15) on the lead violin and penny whistle, Keegan (12) on cello, Nathan (10) on violin, Kayla Marie (8) on viola and the youngest, Jannae (5) loves to sing and won hearts several times with her solos! Their mother, Sandra was the coordinator, prompter, and announcer.

It is not nearly as much work as preparing for a supper or banquet. Those of us working with the mission each bake a large pan or two full of desserts, and they are spread on a buffet table in the gym so that after the one hour program people can go by choose their delights, and sit at tables to visit with one another.

Last year was the first time we introduced our display of Scripture Signs and I found myself attending that table all evening. I had helped to create a number of them, so of course, I was eager to promote them. The same thing happened again, so I only got to pick up a couple of desserts when the ladies were cleaning up.

The attendance was generally not as high as we’d hoped. About 145 when we’d hoped for 200. But the offering for our Impact Canada project was over $3700.

Rick and Beryl Harbidge, our missionaries in Alberta, the province next to us on the west, had come to share a report, and on Sunday we met at the office for a potluck lunch so we could all visit together. That was great. Those who came all enjoyed it, despite the rain and even snow outside.

But I had spent Saturday afternoon spring cleaning in my offices, and so when I got home from the potluck I settled down into my recliner (my sleep chair) and had a wonderful nap until 9 pm! I felt so refreshed after that. Ready for a new busy week.

Naturally, I did not get the personal letters written that I had intended to, and only had a couple of hours to check for all the emails that had accumulated over the weekend.

Yesterday I finally had time to call the plumbing company my friend Helen had recommended, and got the basement floor drain looked after. It turned out that it was not my mainline to the street that was affected but the first four feet of the under the floor pipe had a lot of debris clogging it. That reduced the price the woman quoted me on the phone from $170+ down to $84.57. Whew, that was a relief too!

My spring cleaning binge at the office on Saturday was in preparation for the seminar, workshop and course I have been planning. Last week however, my enthusiasm and promotional efforts were cooled when there was talk of turning these upstairs rooms into apartments for extra income for the mission. I could always work from home (and that prospect began to appeal to me more and more), however, then I would not have a place for classes.

We have a mission Board meeting tonight, however, I think that issue is laid to rest already. Only the hesitation and delay means I have only about a week and a half to drum up some commitments to come to my seminar on Saturday, May 8, and the workshop on May 15.

You saw the descriptions of them right here last week, right? Remember, if you’d like to come, the one on May 8 is from 9 am to 12 noon and is free. But I need to know how many are coming to round up enough chairs.

I feel a bit torn. I’m willing to teach, even up to giving up two afternoons a week for classes to accommodate one students whose family will be moving away in July. However, if all this does not come to pass, I will be content.

That will mean I can focus more on my own web business sites, and my garden. I have not had time yet to rake the handkerchief sized lawn in the front, nor the spring clean up of the back yard. When Joe, my neighbour is able to borrow a rotor tiller and go through my garden I will want to sow my garden. Fortunately, that is something I can do in short spurts of a half hour at a time over a week or two.

Hmm…. this gets me daydreaming. If I worked from home I could pinch off a half hour at noon to do some yard or garden work. That would get me out into the sunshine. I would gain my walking time too, but then I’d have to go for deliberate walks to keep up my physical exercise. Ah, but I used to go for prayer walks before breakfast back in Hague. I could do that again. Maybe working from home is not such a dumb idea at all. - I would have to guard my office hours though!

(Sigh) I have committed to these May Saturday sessions and I will see how it turns out.

At the very least I now believe it is wise to take a nap when tired.

You don’t really have time to read on the couch, but if you’re like me, you do read snatches on the run, and somehow make time to read a GOOD book completely.

So how can you be sure this Ruthe in the book is not some kook? Read the eight sample chapters.

No one sent feedback on the discussion of last week’s workshop.

(I’m trying hard not to let that discourage me; but now you’ll have to spy upon me running this session alone again. and I hope you will decide to jump in and take part).

Just looking again over all the themes I found in my novel, Ruthe’s Secret Roses, I realize they are all good, but there may be too many of them. I’m just not sure what to chop out if I were to re-write the book. And I really truly would like some help to determine what is the main theme, so that I can focus on that in my sales material and how I promote the book to the public.

But let me not camp on that right now. Let’s move forward and discuss demographics. That means, who does this book appear to be aimed for?

Survey forms are easily compromised, but I will set this up as a quick vote survey with a new email and after about a week or so, I will delete the email address, so if you are willing to hazard even a guess or two, I would ask that you cast your vote before next Tuesday, May 3.

Click this email address; workshop-survey@ruthes-secretroses.com
Then enter in the subject line the numbers below that you think are true. Enter also a N or Y depending on whether you can truthfully say you have read my book or not.

If you are willing to add a few more moments of time, you can answer the last three questions, A, B, and C, in the body of the email.

NEW QUESTIONS: (Survey style)
Who does this book appear to be aiming for?
1. Teens/girls
2. young women - early 20s
3. Older women
4. General - everyone
5. Christians
6. Non-Christians
7. Just the author
8. The spiritually hungry/seekers
9. creative, artsy types
10. All the above
11. None of the above

N. No, I confess - I haven’t read it
Y. Yes, I have read it!

Questions for comments:
A. What ages are the characters?
B, What is that demographic like now?
C. Should the aim for target readers be more specific?

Hit SEND

My own comments will come to you in the form of an autoresponder, in about an hour. So if you want to know who I was aiming for you will have to do this survey. Clever, eh?

The weather was beautiful this past weekend, but I spent most of my time indoors. There was the Harvest Fest, a missions conference from Friday night to all day Saturday and Sunday afternoon. I enjoyed that, however, I did play hooky on Saturday morning and went to help a friend with some computer issues, and then on to my old home town of Hague, to see an old school friend, who was having a book signing.

I recall from when I had my only book signing (Pat has had a number of them already), that there is no guarantee that swarms of people will gather round to buy your book. So I wanted to be sure to show up and buy a copy and chat with her a bit if I could. She was scheduled to be there from 10:30 am to 3 pm.

It was nearly 1 pm by the time I got there, and I was able to stand and visit with her for 45 minutes! We had a great time talking about book promotion and publishing. Her book is about a woman in her church who had a great ministry with a troupe of young people called the God Squad, who put on puppet plays.

Pat had dressed up a little table very nicely and was blowing up and handing out balloons to children when they came near. Otherwise she sat and waited for people to come. It was a pleasure for me, and I think it encouraged her. We live in separate cities, she in Regina, and I in Saskatoon, but we met in our home town where we both graduated together from high school.

I recall that Pat and our friend Esther, and I used to talk about writing poetry and sometimes if we were bold, even dreamed of writing books. It was good to realize we had both realized this goal.

Pat has one advantage over me. She has a husband to support her while she focuses on writing, and she has other books in various stages, besides having some articles published. I still have to get my business ventures to pay off and become a worthy income stream so I can focus on the more intensive writing/publishing career. Which could still happen - if the Lord tarries long enough.

Besides my usual agenda with my new website, and projects for clients, I am trying to fit in time for promoting and advertising the seminar and workshop I am planning for May Saturdays, and then the 12 session course for home schooling teenagers which I hope to get in over the summer.

The family that first showed interest are in fact, leaving on a Sabbatical year in July, so now I’m juggling my schedule some more to see if I could fit all 12 class sessions in between the end of May to early July. If that doesn’t work I’ll go back to the earlier plan of one afternoon a week for 12 weeks, starting in June and ending at the end of August. I will take no more than four students at a time, but I need to confirm those students.

In preparation for that I want to offer a seminar that will explain the course and allow both students and parents to see where I would go with that, so they can more clearly decide if they’ll sign up.

I want to center around the SiteBuildIt! suite of services, and they do offer an online class, but I would charge less and give in-person, over-the-shoulder instruction and help. It happens that SBI has a contest on right now for affiliates who sell the SBI services offline. My seminar would be PERFECT! But the contest ends on May 15, so I’m scheduling that seminar for May 8th at 9 am. It is free to attend, so if you are within driving distance to Saskatoon, please give me a call and I’ll save you a chair. (I am limited as to how many chairs I can fit into this office).

We’ll start at 9, and I should be finished the presentation at noon. Those who wish may leave, those who want to ask more questions can linger.

The following Saturday Jondalar and I will put on a true hands-on-workshop on how to install an operating system on your computer. We will demonstrate with the spare computers I have here, and if someone brings a computer of their own, we can do a demo - the real installation if they like - on their computer. But the number of desk spaces is limited and since this is a real value offered, you need to register in advance, and we will charge $30 for the workshop.

I think we can set up 4 - maybe 6 computers, an extra person or two could just watch, but that’s the max, so you’ll have to let me know if you are planning to come, or I may turn you away at the door.

So you love clothes, eh? I bet you’ll love Darlin’ Bonne’s Shoppe in my book, Ruthe’s Secret Roses. Ruthe helps a friend in need by sharing her dream of a dress designing shop. Oh the fun and experiences they have there! You ought to order this novel! e-Book edition Softcover edition.

First, I want to thank Barbara Good and Shannon Martens for promising to take part in this virtual workshop and give me some feedback. I hope there are others - maybe you just haven’t got around to letting me know, right?

Now I want to stay on schedule, so I’m going to use my imagination and run this workshop AS IF a whole host of friends are paying close attention and ready to jump in with some feedback and brainstorming ideas. I’ll prime the pump. so to speak.

The Question under discussion today is; What exactly do you think is the theme of Ruthe’s Secret Roses?

Here’s what some early readers told me they saw in the book;

Kathy W: I loved all the transformations; the physical make overs, the home decorating, and best of all, the total heart conversions. All are made possible by an unassuming young Mennonite woman who trusts God to lead her and work through her.

Sharon (in Scotland): I liked reading about the characters developing new skills in their new-found lives with God, or developing skills they already had for His glory. I also liked seeing their lives being blessed and transformed….. I identified with Ruthe in that I too have felt an incredibly desperate desire to help others find Christ.

Rose (Eastern Canada): Wow! This little lady gets around doesn’t she! The style is unique, not your typical bookstore novel. I like the “stream of consciousness” effect as we see into her thoughts and she talks to her Companion about everything. All in all, a very interesting, action-packed chapter…..

Kathy O: I was touched by the way Ruthe was able to bring so many people to trust Jesus as their Lord and Saviour, and was able to be in so in touch with her family. I know that Ruth help so many people like the first family, the O’Briens, and their grandmother. Ruthe got the grandmother to accept the Lord as her Saviour before she died, and then they found out how much the grandmother thought of her.

Thelma: I loved the way Ruthe reached out to the unsaved, and the way in which each one turned their life over to living GOD’s way. That was the highlight, and many times when I was reading where one got saved, and then another, and another, it made me really think how shallow my outreach is. I must do better.

I loved the way she witnessed to the motorcycle gang. I liked also that even tho’ she was a real witness for the Lord, she wasn’t beyond having faults also.

Well, you can read their complete reviews and others
on this page

Back to me.

I have a multitude of interests so I may have cluttered up the book with too many themes and sub-themes, but here’s what I always thought was the theme of this book, and what I tried deliberately to weave into it;

Main Theme:
You can know Jesus as your BEST Friend, the way you see Ruthe knows and relates to Him. Watch her intimate relationship and learn how to pray and cope in crises from her example.

Sub-themes (mostly character studies):
Compassion and Conversion - how to help others have a salvation experience.

A Bleeding, Caring Heart - character study of someone who REALLY cares for hurting people.

A Care-giving Oldest Sister - the roles Ruthe and June play are a study in oldest sisters with siblings.

Designing and Make-overs - great fun for those who like to see or do make-overs - or just experience them. The major events are all make-overs.

Giving Gifts and Surprises - like Ruthe some people just love to give to others!

Making Work Juggle Right for You - watch Ruthe manage her busy life with discipline.

A Mentor or sCounselling Friend - learn the value of a mentor and how to be one.

Do you see any more? Or do you think I’ve split one character into too many facets?

I would really love to get some honest feedback from people who have READ the book, not just read what I write about it. I need some perspective from outside of my own head and heart.

Some secondary questions;
Are there too many themes? Does my book really bring the theme(s) out well enough?

Once you have read at least some chapters of the book, I’d like you to explore the website, Ruthes-SecretRoses.com, which I built around what I thought was the theme of the novel, and then tell me if the site actually does reflect the theme YOU see in the book.

This may be getting a bit ahead of myself here, but some have said there are too many characters to keep track of - so would an interactive game on the site, to get to know the characters help?

To be able to answer these questions you need to have read the complete novel, or at least the free sample chapters on the site. Start Here

Reward! IF *repeat* IF, I get some really helpful feedback between today and next week Tuesday morning, I will make time to craft some crepe paper roses to send you. (This is a dying skill that no one else in my large circle of acquaintances and friends knows how to do. They are quite realistic, very lightweight and will travel well in a parcel to any part of the world).

Next week I will report on feedback, and we’ll discuss Target Readers.

When we saw that freak snow/sleet/rain storm come up last Friday, with high-howling winds, those of us with some years behind us were telling everyone who would listen that we had known this spring was too early and a storm was quite likely.

I had battled a cold all week, and thought I was well enough to walk on Friday to the office, but decided that I better drive. Other than that, it didn’t have a huge effect on me on Saturday.

I’d read late on Thursday night in the Valley News, the weekly newspaper for all the small towns in a large radius around Rosthern and Hague, that an old school friend of mine from Regina had published a book and would be doing a book-signing in Hague at the Bigway. That’s the only grocery store in town there.

Hmm… I had meant to lay some tiles in the basement, but my, oh my, I’d sure like to meet Pat (Lesser) Reddekop again, congratulate her on her success, and buy a copy of her book. But that storm was still howling out there. Should I dare drive out? I recall when I had my book-signing and hardly anyone showed up. Surely more would come for Pat.

Saturday morning I decided to phone her mother in Hague and just ask to talk to Pat. She must be staying there for the weekend. Turned out that Pat had not been able to make it up from Regina. The storm had closed the # 11 highway south of Saskatoon. However, the Bigway had agreed to have the book signing this next week.

I managed to get a good section of my basement floor tiled (just about 30-40 left to go, I think, around the drain hole).

As for Pat’s book-signing… I think I’ve convinced myself that I should skip out on the Harvest Fest I was going to attend this next weekend. Surely it will be okay if I’m gone for just 2-3 hours. This Harvest Fest is a missions conference for this whole Saskatoon area and is meant to grow to include all of our province. I do enjoy missions conferences, and wanted to be there, but I believe meeting Pat is a worthy excuse to play hooky for a while on Saturday.

Hey, thought you might like a new shot of Snowflake in his cat house.

You know of course, that I’m like a cat with nine lives - except that I’m living all of mine at once - right?

I have a number of planets of activity going on in my life. A new one that has just come up in the last few weeks is an opportunity to teach a course to some home schooling teen agers. Perhaps some adults too. I weighed the pros and cons on Good Friday and this last weekend was working up the description of the sessions I will be offering so that I can start distributing them and see what kind of response I’ll get.

Yesterday I allowed this project to preempt most of my agenda. There are still a few details to iron out and I need to design a registration card yet today, but it is probably safe to announce my intentions here now.

I plan to offer a workshop together with Jondalar Lee of w3.handyman.com on how to install operating systems on your computer. We will demonstrate and if some attendees bring their own computer, we’ll do it on their computer too.

I also plan to offer a seminar to explain how it is possible for even a teen to start and run a solo web business on the internet - this is important - IF they use SiteBuildIt! Out of that seminar I hope to sign up 4 home schoolers for a 12 week course, using half a Saturday through the months of June, July and August. I will be charging for this course, so it is part of my business efforts and will add to my income.

However, it will cut back on my time to work on my house and yard at home. Sometimes you just have to be prepared to give up something to get something else you really want, or think is the right thing to do.

Maybe I should add that deep in my heart I know that I’ll need to hire some help with all my sites as soon as I can afford to do so, and these fine young people might be a terrific pool of potential workers to draw from!

At any rate, I’ve decided that April is going to be clean up month here in the office. I need to tidy up some unfinished projects, (and also at home), and clear space for this new venture.

Oh, and I’ve set aside my own training in designing vector drawings for video-making, so that I can speed my new site along. It needs to be a good working example of what I plan to teach, and I am impatient for it to start bringing in a good income. As it surely will!