Thank you for visiting my blog today.
Curious about my blog title? The plain part describes my first 24 years as a Mennonite girl in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania and the fancy follows as I move south: first to Charlotte, North Carolina, and then to Jacksonville, Florida.
Watch for stories about faith and family knitted together by memory. You have stories too—or responses to what’s happening now. Do comment. I love words. Share some of yours!
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Mennonite Daughter:
The Story of a Plain Girl
Read the Latest
Time Flies and You are the Pilot
This weekend some of us set our clocks back and hour, theoretically regaining the hour we lost last spring. It's the spring-ahead/fall behind herky-jerky phenom we never quite get used to. Either way, the rhythms of our lives are temporarily interrupted until we catch...
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Tell Us Your Hair Story
I'll go first: Now it's your turn!
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Extracting Honey, Bee-ing Kind
Aunt Ruthie’s 1945 Diary tells stories of her daily life, but it also holds clippings of other things, like a bee swarm . . . Cartoonists of this era tried to cram lots of action into one scene. Here’s a detail: ...
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Purple Passages
My Word, it’s 2016!
Have you started a diet? Renewed your gym membership or decided to walk more? Maybe you have resolved to cut down on Facebook time this year . . . Along with such New Year’s resolutions, some of my friends each year choose a guide word to help navigate the unknown...
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Kids, Oaks, and Quotes: Purple Passages for August 2015
A Short Story Once upon a time seven children from three different states came to visit their family in Pennsylvania. Some came from far away in a car, plane or train so they could see each other and get to know their grandparents and great-grandparents, who lived in...
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Purple Passages in Rainbow Colors
Calm Thoughts, Relax Here Where we relaxed at the home place, counting cars on a Saturday night, swinging on the porch and eating watermelon! * * * Be grateful for calm skies . . . Forever is composed of nows. (# 690) Emily Dickinson * * * I'm going to enjoy every...
read moreAbout Marian Longenecker Beaman
I publish my blog Plain and Fancy Girl on Wednesdays. Whether you are a commenter or reader only, I appreciate your noticing.
Book Reviews
Time Flies and You are the Pilot
This weekend some of us set our clocks back and hour, theoretically regaining the hour we lost last spring. It's the spring-ahead/fall behind herky-jerky phenom we never quite get used to. Either way, the rhythms of our lives are temporarily interrupted until we catch...
read more
Meeting Readers: The Joys of a Book Tour
Hands down, meeting readers on tour has been the highlight of the entire memoir publishing and launching business. But first, the launch party in Jacksonville, Florida! Hosted by my trusty Southern Friends, Judy Davis and Carolyn Stoner at Deerwood Country Club, the...
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Memoir Marketing: My Story in Pictures, Part I
Marketing my memoir marks a significant milestone to all that has gone before: Beginning a blog, learning to know other authors, writing reviews for their books. Then, with my own book Writing drafts Revising Developmental Editing Copyediting Layout and Design...
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