Last night I was doing devotions with my kids before bed. It started out with questions for them to answer, and the first question was: What are you afraid of? Jordan answered, "Something bad happening to my parents." Caitlin said, "Fire burning down the house." Then my four-year-old, Lauren said, "My brains falling out of my head." We laughed and laughed, and after that every time any of them answered a question the answer had to do with brains. I'm not sure how much they learned about God, but we had a good time as a family.

My husband grew up with four brothers and they spent their summers at the family cabin in McCall. I'm so glad my kids get to grow up with this tradition, as well. We spent the last two weekends flipping off the dock (Caitlin at right), tubing behind the boat, and watching the meteor shower from the beach.

I'm still not as crazy as the boys, but Dan said he knew I would fit on my first visit up with him before we were married. We'd all made a raft out of crates and Dan's cousin got out a mega watergun to attack. I slid off the raft and took him down. We may be the poor family in the midst of millionaires with vacation homes, but I think we have the most fun up there.

I got these questions from Jill Elizabeth Nelson's blog. I just finished her book The Reluctant Burglar--very creative.

1. What's the one book or writing project you haven't yet written but still hope to?

I just got an idea for a new twist on the old, cliche high school reunion and witness protection program stories. What if a girl went into the witness protection program as a child (say 12) then ended up working with a previous classmate 15 years later? He doesn't recognize her, but she knows stuff about him like how he is allergic to peanuts and his childhood nickname--this will be fun to tell from his point of view. Then she ends up going to his high school reunion with him (because the bad guys figured out who she was and she has to track them down) and she recognizes lots of people, but they don't know who she is. I'm excited about this idea, but I'm going to have to go to the mystery writer's conference here in Boise next summer since this will be a new genre for me. Title: "Fight or Flight" Tag Line: "She ran once. She's not going to do it again."

2. If you had one entire day in which to do nothing but read, what book would you start with?

I'm going to our family cabin this weekend and I'm planning to take Trish Perry's "Too Good to be True", and Tamera Alexander's "Rekindled".

3. What was your first writing "instrument" (besides pen and paper)?

My husband says I've got the opposite of the Midas Touch (whatever that is called) where computers are involved. I've been through one PC and two laptops in the last couple of years. And now this one is acting weird. I think I wrote my first picture book manuscripts on my parent's computer. That's one computer I didn't break.

4. What's your best guess as to how many books you read in a month?

I'm really into non-fiction at the moment, so I've got three or four books going at once. For fiction, I would say one book a month. Unless kid's books count, then I read tons.

5. What's your favorite writing "machine" you've ever owned?

I'm easy to please. Though I have to say I really enjoy my journal time--I don't get distracted by the internet.

6. Think historical fiction: what's your favorite time period in which to read?

Any period Deeanne Gist writes about.

7. What's the one book you remember most clearly from your youth (childhood or teens)?

"The Scarlet Pimpernel." Love, love, love it. We read it in 8th grade Advanced Reading, and I've read it quite a few times since. Another book idea I'd love to do is a contemporary version of "The Scarlet Pimpernel" where the Pimpernel is a woman--her disguise would give everybody the impression that she's just another Paris Hilton.

Pick a question or two and post your answers!

My best friend from elementary school visited me today. I haven't seen her for 15 years. But like she said, "It doesn't seem that long ago."

We had so many great memories...slumber parties where we played truth or dare and got one girl to eat cat food, the first time I heard about sex (Naomi: Sex is when you take off your clothes and roll around. Me: Gross. Why would anybody want to do that?), and the day she went out with Ben Beber then swore off men forever.

It was fun to hear what happened to everybody from my hometown, as well. A few people hadn't changed at all. Others I doubt I would recognize. Maybe someday I'll get to take a trip back to Kansas see for myself. After all, there's no place like home.