Friday

Dear Readers,

I've got a very busy few months ahead, so for the summer I have decided to take a break from writing this blog. Never fear, however, because my assistant Shari is going to continue post here each week a brief excerpt from my book The House That Cleans Itself. I hope you'll keep stopping by to take a look--and that the info you get will be helpful as you work through or fine-tune the program!

As for me, I'll be hard at work finishing my next novel, Shadows of Lancaster County, which will be released in January from Harvest House Publishers. It's a gothic-type mystery set in Amish country and I'm having a great time immersing myself in the story. If you have any household mess questions in the meantime, feel free to send them to Shari at shari@mindystarnsclark.com, and she'll hold onto them for me to answer once I have turned in my novel in August and can return to this blog and give your questions my full attention.

Thanks for your patience and understanding! I hope you have a lovely summer full of reading and relaxing and VERY LITTLE CLEANING because your house, like mine, is practically cleaning itself!

Blessings,Mindy

Sunday

Your Comments

In April, I heard from Melissa Lester, who said, "I love entertaining and can usually get things together for a party, but struggle with daily home maintenance." Melissa, you have no idea how common that is! Many of us housekeeping-impaired types are highly creative and know how to do things with a flair, so parties are a natural fit. Not so for the drudgery of day-to-day household upkeep.

The good news is that the House That Cleans Itself plan can be a godsend to a creative mind. We excel at problem solving! We love challenges! Now if we can just look at our messy spaces with fresh eyes and think through the right solutions to stop those messes from happening in the first place, half the battle is already won. Melissa, I hope you are persevering in the plan and seeing good results.

And readers, you may want to check out Melissa's blog. She's being humble when she says she can "get things together" for a party. Just scroll down and take a look at the photos from her daughters's birthday and you'll see she gives Martha Stewart a run for her money! While you're there, take a look at her great idea for an end-of-the-year teacher gift as well.

PS to Melissa: I also loved the posts about your trip to New Orleans. With your interest in Louisiana, you may want to check out my latest novel, Whispers of the Bayou, which celebrates that region, where I was born and raised.