Country Perks & Grit: Delightful, Unexpected, and Hilarious Epochs of Country Living. by Dianne Marie Andre
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Little did Joe know what his Christmas gift to his little boys would lead to. As the days, weeks, months and years passed, Dianne, Joe, and the two boys learned what living off the grid meant. This book is a fun, and at times dramatic, story that grants insight into living off the grid. Those interested in life on farms, ranches, or anywhere away from the city lights, will love this book.
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The Characters in Returning to Amanda
“Kill your darlings, kill your darlings, even when it breaks your egocentric little scribbler’s heart, kill your darlings.”
I hadn’t been writing for long when I read these words by Stephen King. I didn’t intend writing a thriller, so I pushed those thoughts to one side.
Choosing the Characters
When I decided to write that first novel, twenty years ago, I followed the teaching, write what you know and chose a pastor and his wife and family to be the center of my story. However, lest anyone think I was basing the story on my own family, I made my main character to be an artist (which I most definitely am not!) I deliberately gave them four children, whereas I have three. So the Douglas family had Holly, a precocious thirteen-year-old, a pair of ten-year-old twins, Sue and Ronny, and a cute little two-year-old who was in the process of being hopelessly spoiled.
And so the family remained for a whole twenty years, never getting any older, but with me getting to know them better. read more
