Journaling the Journey

Greetings friends, 

🌼 My journaling page is stitched from newest to oldest. If you’d like to begin at the start of my journal, simply scroll down to the entry titled "Welcome to my Journaling the Journal" page.🌼 

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’Tis the season... for decorations at Grama Jean’s

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   Because I was a single parent for 16 years, I taught my sons that Christmas is a season for caring and sharing... we did a lot of 'door-bell ditching' - which, of course, is also done in Volume Two of the Trilogy. I also taught them that without the atoning death and resurrection of Christ, there would be no reason for the Christmas season. I begin my decorations in November by setting up my Nativity sets—in fact, I have over 50 sets that I display, not including the six Holy Family tree ornaments. Our tree 🎄goes up on December 1st . What is your traditional day for putting up your tree? It would really be nice to hear from you. On my home page, you'll find my email address so you can share your traditions. 

   In Volume Two, Living the Inheritance, there is a ranch Christmas tradition of setting up the 12‑foot Christmas tree on … Well, we’ll need Smile‑Mile Inheritance to be a success before you can read about the ranch Christmas celebration in Volume Two. 🎄✨❄️🎅❄️✨🎄

      The Christmas gift‑giving season 🎁is upon us! It’s time to check your list for a senior or family member who would enjoy an uplifting Christian novel gift to snuggle up with by a cozy fireplace and learn about sharing the family legacy through faith. Smile‑Mile Inheritance just may be the inspiration someone you know is looking for this season. Remember, you can use the QR code on my home page to order gifts for those you love. 🎄✨🎁✨🎄

Journal entry: December 2, 2025

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Gathering Time at Grama Jean’s and the Ranch

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Where cookies are warm from the oven as friends arrive and stories flow.

The sunflowers nod in the breeze, and Children’s laughter is heard as they go,

The horses graze contentedly as family, faith and our legacy grow.

   🥧🦃🥧 Greetings, as I prepare for our traditional Thanksgiving at my home—just six of us—I pause to think about the large gatherings at My Ranch that you will find in Volumes Two and Three. Maria is head chef, although she does delegate so many family members and friends can share in the cooking, baking, and decorating. All are welcome. In fact, in Living the Inheritance, Maria hosts over 45 in attendance, and that doesn’t even count those celebrating down at Ella’s. Well, we’ll have to wait to read about those faith-based stories, because Smile-Mile Inheritance needs to prove successful before we can print Living the Inheritance.

   By the way, the gift-giving season is soon upon us. Perhaps you know a senior or young adult who would enjoy an uplifting Christian novel to snuggle up with by a cozy fireplace and learn about sharing the legacy. Smile-Mile Inheritance just may be the inspiration someone you know is looking for at this time. Remember, you can use the QR code on my home page to order gifts for those you love. 🥧🦃🥧

Journal entry: November 25, 2025

🍂 November Notes from Grama Jean’s Porch 🍂 

Where stories bloom like sunflowers and every mile is stitched with grace

Well, I’ve been busy with face-to-face marketing as a faith-based author in Kingman, Arizona. Our little town of Kingman hosts an open-air market all summer long on the first Friday of each month. Main Street—Beale Street—is closed off for six blocks, and vendors set up their tents, carts, and food trucks along the street. It’s rather homey and makes a lovely gathering place for family and friends.

🌻 Our community theater has been hosting a free talent show each time since July, when the remodeling was finished and we officially reopened. In September, I shared my love for drama and did a reading from the prologue of Smile-Mile Inheritance. I’ve also been handing out bookmarks and small flyers about my trilogy, my Christian fiction about healing and legacy.

Most of the bookmark info you already know, like:

🌼 Come visit my website: gramajeanbooks.com
🌼 Learn about my novel: Smile-Mile Inheritance – A Journey Stitched with Hope

I’ve also added a new invitation as part of my marketing plan:

🌾 Invite Grama Jean to your community!
Would you like an engaging, faith-rooted event exploring healing, legacy, and resilience?
Invite a Christian speaker for your women’s group.
I offer seminar topics on Faith and Finding Joy in Every Mile.
Contact me at: 1944gramajean@gmail.com

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That invitation is for YOU too! I can only travel locally, yet I do have Zoom, so I can visit your corner of the world and join you and your group. Just send me an email and we’ll set things up for a faith-rooted event for women's groups, book clubs and churches and you can host a virtual author visit with Grama Jean

🍁 Gratefully, I’ve made a few contacts at our First Fridays and even sold a couple of books. Now that winter is here, the open-air market will be closed until spring, so I’m shifting back to online marketing and plan to follow up with the leads I gathered in person. 🍁 

I’ll keep you posted. 🍂 

Journal entry: November 18, 2025

🌼 A Gentle Hello from the Journaling Trail 🌼 

     For my journal entry this week, I’d like to make it quite clear that I am an instrument in the Lord’s hands to bring about this faith-based Trilogy. He placed in my pathway many folks who helped make my manuscript reader-worthy. Here are the acknowledgments as found in the printed Volume One — Smile-Mile Inheritance. My Montana fictional ranch adventure:

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   Acknowledgments – Smile-Mile Inheritance

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Heartfelt gratitude to my friends who were willing to help me with this project.

Personal Editor: Deal Sumner.  

Proof readers: Holly & James Lambert, Sheryl Wilson-Hess, Elsie Woodhouse and my teen proof reader, William Jackson.  

They stepped up with clarifying questions, continuity suggestions and grammar corrections.  Thus helping me bring to life the ideas and characters of my story.

Very grateful for the encouragement and loving support of my sister Sunny Sparks Webb over the years for my artistic attempts at drawing and sketching. And many thanks to George and Lynn Van Kaam for making this publication possible. My heartfelt gratitude to the staff at Christian Faith Publishing for their caring concern to be sure my manuscript was reader-worthy.

🌳🐴🌼🌻🌸 With gratitude and grace 🌸🌻🌼🐴🌳

     As you can see, I am the facilitator of this Trilogy Team 🌳, and since its publication, I also add my acknowledgment for the marketing team: Christ Costa, who prepared a marketing plan for me, including online presence and in-person seminars; as well as my sons, Ray and Dave, who introduced me to the advantage of using an AI program to teach me how to build a website. The Copilot program Ray chose has proven very helpful creating this Christian fiction website.

     Well, I trust you will enjoy your journey into the mountains of Montana 🌲 as you make this Trilogy trek with Thomas and Ella in Volume One — Smile-Mile Inheritance. Just return to my home page and scroll down to the QR code, scan it, and you’re on your way to an inspirational fictional ranch adventure 🐴.

Journal entry: November 11, 2025. Yes, Veterans Day—and I honored my veterans today. I hope you did too.

🌱 Stepping Into the Unknown: Marketing, Glitches, and Grace🌱

Ready or not… here I am again. As this journey continues, I’ve discovered something surprising: it’s not just about writing anymore—it’s about marketing. That word alone used to send shivers down my spine. I’ve always found comfort in the creative part of writing, and I’ve handled one-on-one sales for my children’s books with confidence. Not sure about this online marketing for Smile-Mile Inheritance? That’s a whole different critter. Scary. Scary enough to hide in a rabbit hole.

I’m not a techy person. I’m a user—I know how to dig into family history programs and gather garden and baking tips, and do viable research. That’s doable. How can I be building a website? Learning about SEOs, links, and all the behind-the-scenes stuff of computers? That meant stepping way out of my comfort zone. Like stepping on a winter lake before you know if the ice is thick enough.

Thankfully, I didn’t have to do it alone. My guru-techy son, Ray, helped to build this beautiful website by giving me an AI system, and my patient son, David, taught me how to use the AI system that Ray installed—Copilot. I’m grateful for technology… when it works, that is! There were plenty of glitches along the way, and yes, I sighed more than once. Gratefully, Copilot helped keep me calm. The programmer did a great job of creating a team player—offering research, handy-dandy hints, rewrites, and suggestions that made this whole process feel less overwhelming.

So here I am, learning to market my Christian Noel online. I’m grateful to the Good Lord for this new-to-me technology, and for the chance to share His love with all of you. May you feel His presence in your life, just as I’ve felt Him guiding mine—through every sketch, every caption, and every step outside my comfort zone. 🌱

Journal entry: November 3, 2025

🌻 Welcome to my ‘Journaling the Journey’ page.🌻 

🌼 Greetings, Just thought I’d share HOW this Trilogy got started. It all began with that very first paragraph in the Prologue of Smile-Mile Inheritance on May 22, 2020. At two o’clock in the morning I was dreaming of a ranch with lots of horses and those words came to me. I looked around the ranch in my dream and those same words came to me again. Then a third time I heard those words spoken and someone said: “Write them down.” I sat up quickly in bed. Startled at the reality of that voice saying “Write them down.” So I did.

And that is how this Trilogy began. Inspiration from the Good Lord. For days after that I kept getting images of a girl and boy in the mountains and on the ranch. Scenes would play out in my mind, inspiration continued and, yes, I’d write them down. Those scenes came in no particular order, just random things the main characters would do. All very interesting to me. Now this wasn’t really a new pattern for me, because I have written over 30 children’s stories, what was different was: This story was going to be for adults! This is not a children’s story.

Well, it is a family story as you will quickly find out as you read it. By the way, volume one – Smile Mile Inheritance – covers six days. Volume Two - Living the Inheritance - covers six months and Volume Three - Claiming the Inheritance - covers twelve months. Those other volumes, of course, can not be published until the first one proves successful.

Remember, your family and friends can purchase Smile-Mile Inheritance by scanning the QR code on my home page. Enjoy!

Journal entry: October 27, 2025