I am proof that it’s never too late to change course and find a new avenue for life. After circumstances changed in our lives during the last recession, I found myself scrambling to reinvent myself. I stumbled upon a writing class through the University of Connecticut where I lost myself in writing and found myself there too.
Even though my books are fantasy fiction I have a real method for why I write the stories I do. In my own strange way, I answer the question through my heroines what would happen if we were aware of what really is happening around us. In the process I touch upon subjects that are important to me in a hopefully entertaining way.
When I’m tempted to believe I haven’t accomplished anything I remember a few things and it brings a smile to my face. Today was a time for me to pause and reflect. I have eleven books and one novella published. Each one accomplished later in my life. All of them have finished in the top ten in the Critters Readers Poll. Key To The Past, and As The Page Turns were both finalists in the CAL Awards in 2021 and 2022 respectfully. Searching For Closure, won a Book Excellence Award, was a CAL Award Winner this year and received a Firebird Book Award. I’ve made the Amazon Best Seller List which is a short window in time.
I’m no diva when it comes to my work, I’m grateful for any recognition I get, but most of all I’m thankful for you the readers who read them and tell me what you think. I have enjoyed meeting you and talking to you in person and through social media.
I have lots of room to grow, especially in the area of commas and showing and not telling. I may have more to learn about my craft and about marketing, but when all is said and done, writing has allowed me to find another way to be who I am even after life threw me a curve.
I am incredibly excited to announce that I have been recognized as a Book Excellence Award Winner for my book, Searching for Closure in the Mystery Category.
Out of thousands of books that were entered into the Book Excellence Awards competition, my book was selected for its high quality writing, design and overall market appeal.
When I was younger, I didn’t pay attention to the stories my grandparents and parents shared about family, but the older I get the more I wished I had. I’ve come to appreciate all the generations of people who came together to make me who I am. Reading this chart on Ancestral Mathematics was a great reminder.
Not only did it get me thinking about my immediate family but about those who are nameless to me. I started looking through some old photos, which I love to do. I wish I knew all the stories behind the pictures.
The conclusion that I came to was that a lot of people are part of my story. It’s a bit mind bending.
Wedding Photo
My Parents engaged
Grandfather (Mother’s Side)
Grandparents (Dad’s side)
Grandmother (Mother’s side.
The next part gets a bit trickier with eight great-grand parents. I have photos of two and several great aunts. I’ve learned my great grandfather on my dad’s side owned a large ranch in Texas. The rest of those numbers are names only for me.
Great-grandparents on my dad’s side.
Great-grandfather on my mom’s side.
No matter how I look at it I didn’t just happen. A lot of unique individuals went into the possibility for me to exist. And just because I love old photos here are few more of family and those I love.
My mom and dad as kids.
My dad and his sisters
My mom’s sister, my mom, and best friend.
My mom
My great grandfather, his wife and two daughters and son who is the baby. He was my dad’s father. I think you get the general idea.
Which brings me to me, my siblings, and the math goes on.
My older brother and sister.
Sister, me, and my younger brother.
Me (second grade)
Seniors in high school and yet to meet.
Me as a Senior
How he looked when I met him
Hubby as a Senior
The math continues.
You’ve got to love the magic of life. We are all connected and not as different as we like to think. In a world that often can be mean kindness matters and love wins.
I found myself walking into 2022 with nervous trepidation, feeling exhausted, and bruised, Yet at the same time, more in touch with who I am. Who would have thought that lockdowns, the loss of several friends from a virus that is relentless, and a couple of scary health issues in my family would change my ideas about what normal should look like? It changed everything.
I’m amazed by the strength of human resolve in fighting the battle to live. I know a few people waging that war right now, and I’m inspired by their courage. They remind me of the fragile, precious gifts of living, loving, and being loved. And that life is more about how we treat others than having the most possessions. Our real legacy is leaving our world a better place because of how we lived. Be kind to others, life’s battles are often tough.
Life is short even when it’s long. And though we often pay more attention to the externals it is the internals of the heart that we memorialize. People are remembered most for those qualities that are seen beneath the surface only visible in how they walk among us. It is those qualities that invite us to honor and applaud a life well lived.
I’ve chosen to slow down, breathe in the wonder, and not let my love for someone go unsaid. In an often angry, but grieving world, I want to practice kindness, gratitude, and listening. And I also want to learn to savor life’s little surprises when they come my way.
“Step with care and great tact and remember that life’s a great balancing act.”~*~ Dr. Seuss ~*~
My year ended with a memorial service for a couple who died from Covid two weeks apart. It seemed befitting in some ways that they died so close together. You couldn’t say one of their names without saying the other in the same sentence. I’m sad to say that the new year has started off the same way with the loss of two special people who share their own space in my heart. I feel richer for knowing them even if for the moment I must grieve their loss.
There is a strange tension that pervades human life. On the one hand, we are encouraged to open our lives to people and to love and be loved but on the other hand with that openness comes great loss and a deep void when they are gone. It makes for some happy and sad times in life. Times when we must ask questions and be reminded again of what is important and what’s not.
The older I get the more I understand how fragile life is. Every day is a gift to be lived with all the gratefulness we have. Some days are harder than others, but it’s nice to know that love is always present and to be loved is one of the greatest gifts. Love brings hope with it; hope that though weeping may endure for a season that joy will come again.
From the beginning of our life to the end so many people, moments, and circumstances come together to help make us who we are. All the things we have experienced are woven into who we are and are becoming. We can’t go back, we can only move forward one day at a time, one step at a time. Hope is what propels us forward and keeps us from giving up.
In the end, hope has helped me to see that though my heart is broken at the moment I will continue to dance even if it’s with a limp in honor of their lives.
