Welcome to My Website. I'm G.G. Vandagriff and one of my passions is writing. Here's my latest newsletter!
© 2007-10 - G.G. Vandagriff
All rights reserved.
Photograph by William Whitaker
March, 2010
Hello Readers!
I am composing this newsletter aboard a plane en route to Long Beach, CA where I am taking my deferred vacation that I had to cancel because of my unexpected hip surgery last December. Both hips now in tip top condition, although my energy level still sags a bit. My sister is suffering some health challenges as well, so I imagine we will have a lot of laughs as we struggle to keep each other vertical. We are planning a 4 hour drive to Porterville, CA to visit my daughter, son-in-law and grandson, and are already having concerns about which of us should drive. When we return to my sister’s hometown of Irvine, I will be guest at her Book Club whose members have been reading The Last Waltz. I hope I don’t do or say anything outrageous that will embarrass Buffy.
Happy Dance! The Last Waltz has been chosen as a finalist in the Historical Fiction category for a Whitney Award . A big thank you to all my readers who nominated me. I have some very stiff competition, however! The awards will be announced at the Whitney Gala on April 24th and then posted on the website at WhitneyAwards.com.
In other news, I have posted an exciting fan fic contest for all Alex and Briggie fans. For details please go to the contest page. I hope I’ll have lots of contributions! This is your turn to let your creative genius shine and win a $20 gift certificate to Deseret Book as well! Deadline is Apr 15.
The next newest news is that my husband, David’s, long-awaited book, I Need Thee Every Hour: Applying the Atonement in Everyday Life, is in stores and on the Internet! I recommend it highly.
The quality that makes this book so unique
is that as he presents doctrine from the
scriptures and modern-day revelation on
different aspects of the atonement, he
illustrates them with moving stories from
his experience as bishop, both of a family
ward and a BYU singles ward, together with
tales of his life with me during all the difficult
years of my depression. His examples show
how we need the atonement not just at the
end of our lives, but every day of our lives.
His book has already touched many people.
For those of you making a study of the
Atonement, he posts quotes from the
Brethren on the subject daily on his blog.
For more about the book, check out
David's Author Website.
I just submitted my manuscript The Only
Bright Thing to Shadow Mountain and am
hoping that it will be released this fall. It
is the tale of a marriage challenged by
facts and experiences that each partner has kept hidden from one another. Like Waltz , it illustrates that there are different types of love, and that real love of any kind can change our perceptions and redeem us from our flaws. Readers of Poisoned Pedigree will recognize the setting in the Missouri Ozarks where the book was originally composed. I think you will enjoy the irrepressible Dennis with his dreams of Utopia and his wife Sigrid whose unknown past has made her a completely different person than she appears. It will be no surprise that their 3 ½ year old son, is based on my grandson Jack with his lovermastering love for anything to do with Star Wars.
I have finished the first draft of The Crazy Ladies of Oakwood: Escapade in Tuscany, and it is now in the hands of my treasured alpha readers. I feel the book has a lot more potential than I have given it in this first draft. Dealing with four heroines and their neuroses and romantic adventures, a heist, and a 400 year old murder, not to mention the glories of Tuscany was like wrestling an octopus. I am fearful that the octopus won and am counting on my alpha readers to help me tame him.
The next trip I take will be to Rome where David and I will depart for another adventure as we research the Crazy Ladies’ cruise to the Greek Isles. Thank heavens for royalties!
