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meet Gracie Lee

October 7, 2015 By Talya Tate Boerner

It’s high time you officially met Gracie Lee, the nine-almost-ten-year-old protagonist of The Accidental Salvation of Gracie Lee. Over the next two months before official book release, I’ll be talking more and more about her. What she likes and says and does.

meet Gracie Lee

So who is she really?

Let me start by saying it’s true, the idea of “writing what you know”. Gracie Lee was born from a compilation of true life stories, what began as memoir. So it’s only natural that we share many memories. But Gracie Lee is her own person apart from me.

She’s precocious and mature beyond her years. And brave when it counts.

She counts the days until her tenth birthday, certain that ten will feel different than nine.

 

Her Momma sees to it that she practices the piano, a complete waste of time in Gracie Lee’s opinion. Instead, she’d much rather learn to speak French, a skill she’s sure will help her someday when she has an important job working somewhere other than in Arkansas.

She still plays with Barbie, but tries to keep this from her Daddy.

As Gracie Lee lies in bed at night, unable to sleep, her mind is chock-full of questions and notions and secrets that churn like the nearby muddy Mississippi.

Accidental Salvation of Gracie Lee

The Accidental Salvation of Gracie Lee is available to purchase via Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Talya Tate Boerner
Grace Grits and Gardening
Farm. Food. Garden. Life.

Musical Pairing:
The Five Stairsteps, Ooh Child

 

Dear October,

October 2, 2015 By Talya Tate Boerner

Dear October,

Dear October,

Oh! I rejoice in your spirit, your essence. The memories of things past. The warmth of good things to come. The flavors and colors and aromas you bring, like a friend whose stories never get old, whose laugh is always familiar no matter how much time has passed between visits.Continue Reading

AWBU: my conference takeaway

September 4, 2015 By Talya Tate Boerner

Hot Springs, Ar

I returned home from Arkansas Women Blogger University (AWBU) with thoughts enough to fill ten blog posts. I scribbled ideas in my journal and attempted to reduce the weekend down to one key conference takeaway. Beyond the connections made and information absorbed and enjoyable time spent with like-minded bloggers, what was the primary benefit for me?

Everyone arrived at The Arlington Resort Hotel with different goals, different experience levels, different expectations. We attended the same educational classes, heard inspirational speakers and packed over 10,000 rice meals for the hungry (a definite highlight facilitated by The Pack Shack and Wells Fargo Advisors which you can read about HERE and HERE). We each left with more swag than anyone could imagine—thank you generous sponsors!

AWBU Sponsors for 2015
After spending a weekend together, I imagine we all took something slightly different home.Continue Reading

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Hi! I'm Talya Tate Boerner. Writer, Reader, Arkansas Master Naturalist / Master Gardener, Author of

THE ACCIDENTAL SALVATION OF GRACIE LEE (2016)

GENE, EVERYWHERE: a life-changing visit from my father-in-law (2020)

BERNICE RUNS AWAY (2022)

THE THIRD ACT OF THEO GRUENE (coming 2025)

Recent Ramblings:

  • Sunday Letter: 11.23.25
  • Maggie and Miss Ladybug: My New Children’s Nature Book
  • Sunday Letter: November 9, 2025
  • Sunday Letter: Oct 26, 2025
  • Sunday Letter: Oct 5, 2025

Novels:

Coloring Books:

Fiction-Themed Coloring Books

Backyard Phenology:

Children’s Nature Book:

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