Open Spaces
March 2025 Open Spaces
Vol 25.3
By John Vander Velden
March 24, 2025
The month of March is always an exciting time for the Vander Velden household. It opens with Jackie’s birthday and then our anniversary comes just past its midpoint. I am led to reminisce about the day I wed my beloved, more than thirty years ago. A light snow fell, and I remember watching wisps of white blow across the highway, as I drove to what I knew would be one of the most important events of my life.
Jackie and I filled the church with family and friends, all those who had come to bless Jackie and I, as we joined our lives together. Certain parts of that day remain clear in my mind, while other portions are blurred. But the significant moments will always be clear. Especially when I held her hands as we made vows unbreakable.
Shouldn’t we all take the time to consider our life altering events…the good as well and the bad. Remembering how each day has had its effect upon us. For I have come to understand that the person I am, has been molded by my life.
I hope you have reasons to feel that March and every other month holds something special for you and yours.
This month also hints at the change of seasons and offers us the first days of spring. Yet, even though the “new green” has not begun, we know with each day’s passing year comes closer to the reawakening of the world around us.
But do not pine away days yearning, for even at this time of the year, each day offers something special, to those open enough to catch a glimpse of its grandness.
Now for a bit of writing news:
I begin this newsletter a few days early because I have a hectic week ahead. My first Author’s Event comes on Saturday the 29th. I will be taking part in BookCon 2025. That’s the name of St. Joseph Public Library’s annual Author’s Fair, in South Bend, Indiana. It will be my third time participating in the event, and as all events, it requires a bit of preparation.
On another front, I have secured a local store to display my books. Next week I make my first supply of Misty Creek Series books to Simply Stated Gifts, 100 North Michigan Street, Plymouth, Indiana. I am hopeful that they might catch the eye of shoppers, and if by chance they purchase a volume, they too might become a fan of the series. Those of you that have become fans of Elizabeth’s story can understand my excitement.
Things continue to move forward with When Light Comes Unexpected, the fourth book of the series. The final edits are moving along well. The light at the end of the tunnel continues to grow brighter.
The long, and sometimes, difficult journey is nearing its conclusion, and I look forward to the next project. The summer release of When Light Comes Unexpected is not beyond possibility.
A few final words:
There seems to be more than enough stress in our lives. Perhaps it might be difficult to reduce the challenges that are thrusting themselves into our lives, but we can do our best by not adding to the burdens of others. For if each of us opens our hearts to the battles those around us face, perhaps, with understanding, we can do even the smallest bit in their aid. I read a post that said, sympathy is caring, but empathy is actions driven by our caring. The world needs more actions driven through empathy, don’t you think.
With God’s blessings,
John
February 2025 Open Spaces
Vol.: 25.2
By John W. Vander Velden
February 22, 2025
Friends,
The month of February has always been close to my heart. Not that I have always put emphasis on Valentine’s Day. But marrying my beloved has helped me see just how important the 14th is to those of us that find ourselves fortunate. So, the month’s mid-point is significant in ways I was unable to understand years ago.
That being said, to most, February is just that cold month that follows January and is soon forgotten once the weather warms. But to this guy, February was always my month. For my birthday comes in early February. Even as a child I claimed all 28 or 29 days as my own. Birthdays are a big deal to children. But now that I have had so many, it is perhaps a little less so. All the same I try, at times, to put myself in my younger shoes and wonder: Did I, when I was, say, 18, ever think what my life would be like at the age I have reached?
Not once.
Perhaps it was because I really didn’t know my grandparents. 3,000 miles could do that. Oh, I am told I met my father’s father once, and I have just a tiny bit of foggy memory of their visit when I was very young. My two grandmothers came for a visit while I was in college. So being my younger self, I squandered that opportunity. Just stating facts, not making excuses. The point I was trying to make was that when I was 18, I had had very limited exposure to the senior population. Sometimes I find myself amazed at the place I find myself. Another milestone reached and, in many ways, a difficult year completed.
Yet I will not dwell on the year now behind me, the surgeries and recovery, the inability to travel last summer. The hiking trips, planned and untaken. No, I look forward with open eyes, to what lies ahead, and this year’s adventures. So, during this month, I made my first mental plans for a major road trip west, and seeing our son in the process.
It is my sincere hope that you too are looking forward as well, for forward is the direction we are bound.
For a bit of writing news:
I am nearly halfway through my last set of revisions of When Light Comes Unexpected the fourth book of The Misty Creek Series. What does that mean? It means, I am only a few months from the completion of four years of hard work. Though the wait might have been hard for you, my friends and fans of the series, imagine how difficult it was for this man at the keyboard, pouring over page after page, month after month, for the duration. But I will not offer anything but my best, for you, my readers, deserve nothing less.
As for Author’s Events, my first of the year will be at BookCon 2025. It will be held at the main branch of the St. Joseph Public Library, downtown South Bend, Indiana, on Saturday March 29th. If you live in the area, I would love to chat with you face to face, so stop by.
I have two other events lined up for the year. Perhaps I can put together others. Stay tuned for news, dates, and places.
And some final words:
Perhaps February is a good time to think about love…love in its broadest sense. The fortunate are born into a loving home. That is the first place we are exposed to the absolute-ness of love. Then we mature and hopefully we carry that love which has been poured upon us, to the other facets of our life. Then one day, if you were as lucky as this guy, somehow you find the right person to bind your life to… and together you share the love you have brought to the relationship. Only love, real love, can pave over the rough spots and fill in the potholes of life.
But even that is only a portion of what love is. The ancient Greeks had five words to describe the various forms of love, each different, but with a common root. So, I remind you that love is the strongest force in the universe. The adhesive that holds everything together. And the ultimate source of all love is God!
It is a fact that we all need to be reminded of from time to time.
Until next time, take care my friends,
John
January 2025 Open Spaces
Vol.: 25.1
By John W. Vander Velden
January 25, 2025
Dear friends,
January is nearing its ending and another year is underway. Overall, I have little to complain about the winter so far. With each week’s passing spring edges closer and I don’t regret that fact.
There was a time, I really loved the winter. And though I will not say that I hate the season, for I don’t, I certainly do not enjoy the snowy days as much as years ago. Being a country boy, with a good sledding hill only a quarter mile from home, helped to make the season special. And for the boy I was then, it was marvelous, frozen fingers, toes, and all.
But situations change, don’t they? They have for me in any case, and now a hot cup of coffee and a good furnace, seem much more important than careening headlong down a slope.
It is my hope that you have found a cozy place as well. Yet it is also my wish that you appreciated the beauty that only winter offers. There are times when the sun hits the snow frosted trees, the sparkling crystals fill me with awe. Wind shaped drifts can be a thing of beauty as well. I feel it is important to see each month for what it is and what it offers. Take a moment, each day, and absorb the world around you.
Now for a bit of writing news:
I have already made a couple of Author Event commitments for the year. I hope to check into the possibility of another very soon. If you are part of a book club and feel your organization would enjoy a visit, let me know. I love book clubs, because I love readers. In a world that strives to overwhelm us with other forms of media, I really appreciate those that stand against the tide and read.
But I expect author’s events are not the news you seek first, in this letter. I am well into the proofread stage of my newest project. The holidays have slowed my progress some, but I am a full third through this last edit of When Light Comes Unexpected, the fourth book of The Misty Creek Series. When I began writing Misty Creek, I never anticipated that the first draft I wrote in 2010 would lead me to continue the story past Elizabeth’s Journey. But you, dear friends, have coaxed me to continue the story. Many of you have shared how much you have enjoyed entering the world of Elizabeth and Matthew. Their world in 1890’s Kansas. And the third book, With the Sun’s Rising, introduced you to a young man, Nick Coulter, which you have come to love as well. Those three characters will take readers forward on the next part of the story.
They are, to me, more than imaginary friends. And the words I hear from fans of the series tell me, they are more to them as well. Those comments humble this storyteller. It was beyond my imagining, that my feeble attempt to assemble words have, in some small way, resonated with readers the ways it has.
So, to the fans of the series, I offer my sincere gratitude, and it is my hope that this next book will please you as well.
Now a few final words:
We love mercy. Each of us are grateful when we receive mercy. We respect those that give it, for the world is desperate of mercy. Yet we find it difficult to be merciful ourselves.
Perhaps that is enough us to consider in the weeks ahead.
As always, blessings,
John
December Open Spaces
Vol.: 24.12
By John W. Vander Velden
December 20, 2024
Hello friends,
I am trying to rush this letter through before Christmas, so forgive me if there is a typo or two.
Christmas has always been important to me and Jackie. We both grew up in homes that understood the true meaning of the holiday, and worked to maintain the family’s focus on the child born in a stable.
There are some that questioned the details of the Christmas story, but the specifics, are not nearly as important as the fact that God sent his Son to live among us. Each time I consider that fact, and I do daily, I feel overwhelmed.
As a father of a grown son, my focus might have changed, just a bit. You see, our son lives more than a thousand miles from the place he started…the place that once was his home. It is my hope that I aided him in an ability to use his wings to do his part to change the world. Perhaps it was similar for God, the Master and Ruler, to send His only Son to enter our world. But God was willing to do so, for you and me, knowing the whole of Christ’s story…birth to crucifixion.
As I look over the decorated tree and gaily wrapped packages, I understand the greatest gift is not among them. Yet, in truth, that greatest gift surrounds us…it fills our home and our lives…the gift of God’s love.
It is my hope that you feel the love of that gift as well.
A bit of writing news:
The draft of When Light Comes Unexpected is in the process of a final proof reading. My friend, Mark, has taken on the challenge. He uses his expertise to find the hundreds of errors I have missed. I am very grateful for Mark’s talent and am reminded of just how much I lean on others as I work to create a story. A story, I hope, that satisfies the readers that have come to love Elizabeth’s and Matthew’s tale.
Let me close as I began:
Jackie and I wish each of you a Merry Christmas. May all the light and love of the season fill your home and your life.
Have a blessed Christmas, and may 2025 be a great year for you and yours.
John
November Open Spaces
Vol.: 24.11
By John W. Vander Velden
November 25, 2024
Hello friends,
Thanksgiving is Thursday, and as I put these words together, I am reminded of the people I know, and I am grateful for each of you. You see, I recognize the blessings I have received through meeting and knowing others. Each person that touches my life, be it brief or extended, leaves a mark. There are times those marks are profound, perhaps even life changing. So, as I count my many blessings, know you are among them.
May you too be thankful for the people in your life, and all the blessings that you have received. May gratitude be something that each of us feel every day, and not a thought that only pops up in late November.
And so, I wish each of you a wonderful Thanksgiving!
For a bit of writing news:
I am perhaps a week away from finishing the second round of editorial revisions, of When Light Comes Unexpected the fourth book of the Misty Creek Series. Working on this book has been an incredible journey. The next step will be having the book proofread. I expect that task will require at least three months. So from where I stand, that means I should be able to send it to my publisher in late March or April. I have no idea how much time Palmetto Publishing will need to process and format the book.
I’ll let you know as things progress.
I have heard from fans of the series, longing for this next installment. I am touched by their desire to join Elizabeth and Matthew on this next portion of their lives. It is my hope that you will be pleased by When Light Comes Unexpected, and believe the volume was worth the wait.
Other current news:
For those living in north central Indiana, I will be having a few Author’s Events in the coming weeks. Saturday November 30th, yes that’s this Saturday, I’ll be at Beary’s Emporium, 200 N. Michigan Street, Plymouth, IN. from 10 AM until 4 PM. Stop by and say hello. Then from 5 to 7 PM on Tuesday December 3rd, I was invited to participate in a Local Author’s Fair at the Mishawaka-Penn-Harris Public Library, 209 Lincolnway East, Mishawaka, IN. Perhaps I might see you there.
I have had a friend open these doors for me, and there may yet be a couple more opportunities before the end of the year.
As you might expect it is through these events, I introduce readers to my books. Since most readers choose titles based on authors they know, being an indie author means the books of the Misty Creek Series are easily overlooked. But there are occasions when putting a face to the name on the cover, creates a doorway for a reader to seek a new book.
Wish me luck.
Let me close with these few thoughts:
It is easier to be disgruntled than grateful. It is simply human nature. But we are reminded, that for the largest group of us, that we have much to be thankful for. So, I ask two things of you.
- Recognize the good things in your life, family, home, and so much more.
- Open yourselves up to share with the less fortunate. Give to the local food pantry. Drop a donation into the Red Kettle as you go shopping. There are many, many, ways you can help the suffering. Please do so.
God’s love is all around us. We are blessed in ways we are unable to see. Share that love, especially during this special season.
With God’s Blessings, and Christ’s love,
John
October 2024 Open Spaces
Vol.: 24.10
By John W. Vander Velden
October 28, 2024
Friends,
Have you seen the fall colors. In our area the trees are ablaze with breathtaking beauty. The leaves of scarlet and gold are indeed a sight to behold. Their beauty is a fleeting thing, so I take the time to drive around the neighborhood in awe of God’s paintbrush.
I feel it is important to take the time, now that I have a bit of control of how I spend that precious commodity, to see the wonders that surround me. Times I grab my camera in my feeble attempt to capture the magnificence of Autumn’s colors.
It is my hope that you too have had the opportunity to enjoy the colors of this fall season.
Now for a bit of writing news:
The morning of Saturday, November 2nd, I will be participating in the Plymouth, Indiana’s Public Library’s Author’s Fair. The library has recently undergone a major remodel. Though the south half of the building’s redo was finished a year or so ago, the north half was reopened last month. Even if you have no desire to meet some of my area’s local talent, come and see this amazing library and what it has to offer.
As for When Light Comes Unexpected, the fourth book of the Misty Creek Series, I am nearing page 400 of 520 in this the second round of revisions. I’m not yet certain of a release date, but each day is one day nearer. I continue to strive to provide my readers the best within my abilities. It is my hope that this volume satisfies those longing for the next portion of Elizabeth and Matthew’s story.
A few final words:
As I continue in my recovery, I am, for the time being, dealing with physical limitations. My mobility improves month to month, and I recognize the importance of the exercises I do nearly every day. Building strength in my lower limbs is helping me in this recovery.
When I dealt with the most difficult and painful portion of this particular journey, I began praying for the courage needed to go forward. I repeat that request each day, for I understand that all life’s challenges demand courage.
Doing my best to notice each bit of improvement, and there have been many, I thank the God that sustains me. The God that with each morning presents me with an amazing gift…a new day. A day with opportunities as well as challenges. But sometimes the challenges are the greater gift, for they stretch me in ways nothing else can.
So each morning while I ask for a measure of courage, I thank God for the day. I thank God for the opportunities, and the desire to seek them. And I pray for the determination and strength to face the challenges, knowing I never have to deal with these things on my own.
My wish for you this month is that you do not forget the grandness of the gift of a new day. That no matter what you face, that you too will know that you do not face those things alone. For God, the Master and Creator, knows and loves you and will always be closer than your next breath.
John
Open Spaces September 2024
Vol.: 24.9
By John W. Vander Velden
September 27, 2024
Hello friends,
Summer is behind us, and we have entered fall. Many consider Autumn their favorite season. Though I do love the colors of the season, Spring is my favorite time of the year. Winters in Northern Indiana can be brutal, and, as the leaves fall, I am reminded that frigid weather comes closer.
Which is not to say that I do not enjoy the crisp air in the evenings, or the morning dew that makes the spider’s webs sparkle. Because I do. I love when the leaves virtually burst with color, as no other time of the year. But Spring makes me think of new life, and Autumn doesn’t.
Yet I seek the magnificence of each day. I recognize that with each sunrise opportunities come, and I must be ready to grasp them when I can. There are times when we do not get second chances. So I appreciate fall just as much as any season, noticing what makes the season unique, doing my best to embrace those things.
It is my hope that Autumn has begun well with you. And more, that the month ahead is able to produce events that you will store away as happy memories.
Enjoy the days ahead.
Now for a bit of writing news:
I continue revising When Light Comes Unexpected the fourth book of the Misty Creek Series, and it goes well. I’m attacking this book a little differently than my previous books. I have broken down the work to three individual steps, rather than trying to get it done in one. It is my hope that it will help me catch more mistakes and smooth out the manuscript in ways I have not tried before. I am hoping to complete these steps before Christmas. Wish me luck.
I took part in an author’s fair in early September and have been invited to another in November. Author’s fairs are different from regular book signings. For one thing, September’s event had nearly forty authors in attendance. I’m not certain how many to expect in November for each library. Authors rarely sell many books at these events, so you might ask, why go to an Author’s fair?
The answer is simple enough, for the exposure. Indie authors do not have name recognition, and most books are selected by the name on the cover. One way to get readers familiar with my work is to talk to them one on one.
Readers are amazing people.
If you hear of an author’s fair, or some event featuring an author, find the time and check it out. You might be surprised.
A final few words:
I feel my life is a gift. And as all good gifts, it is up to me to use it fully but carefully. I must try not to waste any of this gift I have been given. But knowing myself I realize that I will allow opportunities to slip past. I will procrastinate when I should be charging forward. I will look away when I should remain focused on what is right in front of me. I am after all human.
Even with all my foolishness, God continues to offer new challenges, new possibilities, new ways toward success. So even as I grow older and the common things of life become more difficult, I thank God for this gift He has given.
It is my hope you appreciate the gift as well.
With God’s blessings and Christ’s love,
John
If you wanted the link to my 1st Virtual Author’s Event here it is….
