Top Ten Favorites of Minnesota

Although I live in Las Vegas, I spend a lot of time in Minnesota. Since, I write so often about it, I decided I would list the my top 10 favorite things.
10. Wonderful libraries.
9. The four distinct seasons
8. Uptown--eclectic shopping/dining/living area in Minneapolis
7. The community attitude of Minnesota--Go Twins!
6. Minnesota State Fair
5. The trees and all the the lakes and rivers
4. Dunn Brothers Coffee--especially the one in Anoka.
3 . The people are so nice--Minnesota nice.
2. My granddaughters--Emily Susanne & Brianna Meg
1. My son, Jeremy, and his wife Stephanie.
We will be leaving Minnesota in just a few days. I plan on enjoying every last minute.

Vanishing Bookstores--Disappearing Books

My favorite Christian bookstore vanished. I am in Minnesota and went to my favorite Christian bookstore--Northwestern Christian Bookstore. Poof! No longer there. It is now a Lifeway bookstore. Now I adore Lifeway stores, but the Northwestern store had a certain eclectic charm to it. Sigh.

Then today I read on Chip Macgregor's blog that non-fiction books are struggling due to the Internet and the economy. Honestly, it makes so much sense to me. If I am looking for information, the first place I go is to the Internet. It is very rare that I buy a non-fiction book now. A few years ago, I bought several a month. Interesting change in my own reading habits. Have you seen a change in your own reading style?

However on the fiction side of books, I am enjoying a variety of good books. Some Christian publishers, some general publishers. I am happy to say that Christian fiction now has wonderful books in all different genres. I just finished Dead Reckoning by Roni Kendig. It is a thriller that will keep you turning the page. Let's just say it has murder and mayhem. I recommend it if you like thrillers. If you are looking for good Christian fiction check out our She Reads, we have a list of titles that will intrigue your literary taste. http://www.shereads.org/

Happy Reading,

The Writer's Porch

Why is it that we writers are such procrastinators? I can have a whole day set aside to write--but then the laundry calls, my friends call, or I call my friends. Or the dogs need to be walked or the bills need to be paid--immediately. Before I know it the day has whittled away to 10 minutes of writing time.

Honestly, many writers need to leave their homes to write. Do I understand it? Absolutely. For myself, I find writing in coffee shops inspirational. My favorite is Dunn Brothers in Ramsey, Minnesota. (That's where I go when I visit my son and his sweet family.) Here are some pics of Dunn Brothers. Not only is the writing ambiance perfect, but they serve the best Cafe Americanos. I love sitting, sipping, & storying here. (Is "storying" a word?)

When I am in Vegas my choice is Borders right off of the 215 & Charleston.

Why I can't seem to do this at home, I don't know. But being out and about seems to put me in the writing mode. (The writer's muse works better in a coffee shop, with a jolt of caffeine.)

Where do you like to write? Share your favorite spots.

Internet Interrupted

I had withdrawal symptoms. There were no internet connections and I am addicted to wireless communications. I have been on a road trip with my husband where we ventured through much of Montana including the glorious Glacier National Park. It was beautiful, but for the most part, we had no wireless communication. Even cell phone reception was sketchy. I developed a new syndrome—Internet Interrupted. (For the record, so did my husband.)

Now I thought it would be fine. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to be disconnected for a few days? Then I’d log on and everything would be up to speed. No so much. I have been without wireless communication for a week Ugh! Every so often, my husband would grab our cell phones to see if we might have service. Invariably, the phones would say, “No Service.” We pulled into our campground and no Internet connection. It felt weird, kind of like a Stephen King story or something. I even imagined my skin was itchy due to the internet interruption.

Of course, because I couldn’t connect. I thought of a bazillion things I just HAD to do via wireless connection. Emails, phone calls, blog post, you name it, I thought of how much I needed to do.
Anxiety began to set in around the fourth day. We pulled into our campground in East Glacier, Montana around and few little bars of service appeared on our cell phones. My husband grabbed his phone and wanted to post something on Facebook. Ha! There wasn’t enough of a connection to post anything anywhere. I had some relatives who were in Glacier National Park and we couldn’t reach them by cell phone in their motel—Internet interrupted.

Now I am with AT&T and I have always been quite satisfied with their service. However, I do think the commercial stating that Verizon has more coverage areas than AT&T is accurate. My relatives with Verizon did seem to have an easier time with their cell phones connecting. (Sorry, AT&T, I am just saying.) Anyway, tonight we are still on the road, but finally managed to find some Wi-Fi service. So, for the past couple of hours I have answered emails, sent emails, blogged and surfed the Internet. I have to admit it was great to reconnect!

On the Road Again!

Every year my husband and I like to go to the Minnesota State Fair. (Best cheese curds on the planet!) Problem is we live in Nevada--my oldest son lives in Minnesota. So the past two years we have planned a huge road trip to make our way to Minnesota to be there for the fair.

So we load up our small RV and head out to see the world. My husband loves to eat at Guy Fieri's Diners',Drive In's and Dives. So we plot them out on a map--basically we eat our way to Minnesota.

Yesterday, we ate at The Blue Plate Diner in Salt Lake City. It was a 20 minute wait with very eclectic people hanging around. (I fit right in.) The food was good, I had some kind of very different cornbeef hash. I guess my husband and I are considered foodies.

By the way, if you are a foodie check out LeAnn Rice's blog. http://www.shecooks.org/ She has some amazing recipes.

Happy Eating,

Susanne

I'm Back!

After taking a sabbatical from my blog--I am back. After finishing and releasing my newest book Embraced by the Father and speaking at six weekend retreats this spring, I needed to take some time away from writing and speaking.

Here's a snapshot of my summer. I brought my granddaughter, Emily, for a week's stay in Las Vegas. She's 4 and said, "Vegas sure is hot." I went to Brianna's 3rd birthday party in Minnesota -- jump house and the whole works. And I tried to watch my grandson Michael as much as I could since he is starting preschool this fall. I am going to miss having my "little boy blue" around.

Mark and I took a weekend trip to Laguna, California. We so needed it. It was fun to reconnect, soak up the sun and eat fabulous food. Can I say, "Creme Brulee Oatmeal"? So yummy that I tried to make it when I came home--didn't taste the same somehow. :)

There are a lot of exciting things happening around Proverbs 31 Ministries and my life. I am ready to be writing and speaking again. We had a marvelous She Speaks! Conference and it jazzed me. So stay tuned for what's next.