FAMILY
Spring is in full bloom here in Indiana with redbud, shadbush and wild plum sprinkled among the greening trees in every stand of timber. Grandson, Zach, has mowed the yard twice, the last time just today between Church and his job at the grocery store.
Melynda is finishing up the year at her Williamsport Day School, from which Mom is on vacation! Her children, Leslie and David, are getting the last of their home schooling studies done and longing for some time off for the summer.
Melyssa is also home schooling daughter Kim along with her township assessor duties. Jim and Mike, husbands of said daughters and brothers themselves, are busy with spring farm work.
Mac and Shelby are still immersed in Mac's incurables program which seems to be working. Mac feels good, looks good and is beginning to do odd jobs outside, part of which includes putting in a huge garden. This week he gets a break from the intensity of the program as he gets to actually CHEW some of the fruits, vegetables, cereals and nuts that have been going through the juicer for two months. It is a stringent and unre- lenting program, but no more so than if he were taking chemo and undergoing radical surgery. Plus, this promises health where the other gave only a 30% chance of recovery. Jacob and Adam continue to give all of us joy as Jake finishes kindergarten and Adam finishes lunch.
John and I are enjoying spring in our little house in the woods where the gold finches look like dandelions sprinkled across a new-clipped lawn, and the pos- sibility of seeing another rare blue gros- beak brings us often to the window.
books
RACHEL'S DAUGHTERS is evidently selling at least on Barnes and Nobles since it now has a ranking which my friend at iUniverse says indicates it is about middle in sales of a million books. We shall see what the royalty statement and check says about that!
ANGEL WORLD TRILOGY has been released and looks good. Melynda has been reading it to the elementary/high school class at school and they are fasci- nated with it.
(Urls where you may purchase both books will be included at the end of this newsletter.)
CARNIVORE, the fourth book in the Angel World series, is almost finished. I want to give it a different ending by having the man who is under bondage to the demon repent of his actions and turn to God. My problem with the ending is how to save the man while keeping the secret of Windfallow safe. Any of you who have read the TRILOGY are welcome to give me ideas!
SPLINTERS OF LIGHT is ready to submit for publication now. I'm just waiting on the money to do so. It is a compilation of all the poetry I've written over the last 40 years and includes the reprinting of MIND SONG which went out of print in 1988.
A sequel to RACHEL'S DAUGHTERS is the major project of this summer vaca- tion. I want to highlight Benjamin in this book and touch the ministry of Jesus as the book progresses. I've already de- cided on the surprise ending, but of course I cannot tell you that here.
There was a time when I believed the words were gone forever. I praise God that He has seen fit to send them singing through my mind once again.

POETRY CORNER
THE MASTER NOTICED
c.2001 from SPLINTERS OF LIGHT

I've never seen the ocean
but I've known a quiet stream,
I've seen it catch the sunshine,
and I've heard it as it seemed
to hold the wisdom of it Maker clear within its golden gleam.

I've never seen the ocean,
but I've known a drop of dew.
I've seen it on the rosebud
and I know it holds a view of worlds so wide and wonderful
that I must seek them too.

I've never seen the heavens
from the Master's point of view.
But I've seen a gleam of starlight
on a meadow, silv'ry blue.
And I know these things I've looked upon
the Master noticed, too!

AUTHORS DEN
I want to put in a plug here for a great site. In fact, it is the vehicle through which this newsletter is being sent to you. I found the website when I was looking for a place to publicize my first book, but never dreamed it would turn into the great place it has become.

AUTHORS DEN is a unique place on the web for authors and readers to interact. We are encouraged to put up articles, short stories and book notices on our Personal author's page and then they are indexed for the reading public to browse through. You can find articles on every conceivable subject, secular as well as religious. It's easy to read and easy to navigate. If you do decide to go on a reading spree, please take a moment to comment on what you read. At the moment, you must log in and give a password to do so, but we're hoping that will change very soon. No other personal information is taken and no spam is allowed to follow you home.
The eTeam is even considering a place where you can browse through a whole book to see if you want to buy it. The url will be listed below.
Thanks for reading and please feel free to respond with questions or remarks.
Have a great Spring and a greater Summer!
--Donna Swanson


YOU CAN READ A SAMPLE OF MY BOOKS HERE;

www.authorsden.com

YOU CAN ORDER THE BOOKS HERE:

www.amazonbooks.com
www.barnes&noble.com
www.iuniverse.com
www.borders.com

MY WEBPAGE:
"MIND SONG BOOKS"