My name is Gail Sattler. To sum myself up, I am a wife, mother, writer, and musician, and the order of those things will depend on what day it is. Friends tell me that I lead a busy life, and I suppose that's probably true. But I enjoy everything I do, so I can't stop any of it. Yet, for all the things I'm involved with, and even though I began my adventures of musicianship early at age eight, writing is my passion. I remember the first book I wrote, back in middle school - on a clackety old manual typewriter. It was uniquely based on a pre-teen girl named... Gail... and her 3 best friends, all of whom shared the same names as my own best friends. Despite dangers and unknown perils, we raced against time following cryptic clues to seek a precious treasure in a haunted mansion before the ghosts, police, and relatives of the deceased owner of the house caught and locked us in the damp, dreary cellar until we perished.

I can't even remember if we found the treasure, but I have to assume we did. After all, I'm here to tell about it.

My writing has changed a lot since then (PTL!) and you'll soon be able to by my next romantic adventure, A NARROW PATH., which will be out in May, 2010 with Abingdon Press. This is a longer book than my previous releases, and I hope you will enjoy reading about the trials and adventures of my contemporary Mennonite heroine and Old Order Mennonite hero as much I enjoyed writing about them.

 

Besides my writing, and my ongoing foray with the Golden Ears Jazz Band, I've taken up a new instrument - the acoustic double bass, which I play for the Maple Ridge Concert Band. This has been a standing joke with my friends and family, and I will not pass on the comments of my charming children. The next time you see a band, live or on television, with a very tall man playing an acoustic double bass, please think of me. Before I bought mine, which is a shorter model that what those tall gentlemen play, I made a number of phone calls. The man I eventually bought mine from asked why I was buying the one I had chosen because it was a student model and only good for someone under 5'5" tall. My reply to that was... duh... . So now I don't have to get my son (who is studying carpentry) to build me a stool. Better, I don't have an extra piece to lug around when it's gig time. However, that said, I still feel like I march to the beat of a different drummer (when playing for a jazz band, that saying has a very special meaning), where not many women play electric bass. There is a good reason even fewer woman play acoustic double bass. I can feel my conductor biting his tongue here. (waving at Ed) They don't know what they're missing, I say.

My new baby - the "student sized" model

Back to writing. I won't mention my books - please see them, with nice pictures of the covers - on my Books page. To recap some background, I've won a number of awards for my writing over the years, and in 2009 I finaled for Best Contemporary Novella in the ACFW Book of the Year contest. I have a photo of myself, both with my Barbour editor Rebecca Germany, and my agent, Tamela Hancock Murray, on my Gallery page, in the section for the 2009 writers conference.

Before I close off, I want to tell you about a thought-provoking bumper sticker I once saw. Close your eyes for a second, and imagine your favorite/dream car. Now for the bumper sticker. "Don't let the car fool you. My treasure is in heaven."

I drive a cheap economy car, but my treasure is in heaven, too. If you want to ask more about this treasure, email me, and feel free to ask any questions. Or, if you want, follow this link.

Now, back to our regularly scheduled program.