New book is now available on Anazon!

Fate? Destiny? A predetermined life? Whatever you believe, somehow we get from one event in our lives to another. Why do we often give credit to unfortunate situations as being the best thing that could ever have happened to us? Do we want to somehow believe that even those times are within our control to edit the outcome?

Sandra Bloom never dreamed that coming face to face with fate, would be during a trip to the store for pretzels and beer for a husband who she might have shared a home with, but not really a life and definitely not her heart.

Show More

Show Less

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008QLZN1G

I am such a Crybaby

I am such a crybaby

I know that I'm supposed to not be such a crybaby at my age, but I can’t help it on days like this. Finding myself once again staring into the screen of my computer at my new book as I hit - Save and Publish!  It brings the tears. I guess you just have to be one of us crazy wannabe writers to truly understand the rush of excitement when a book with our name on it hits the shelves. Even though my scope of readers isn’t among the millions, with the help of Amazon and the self-publishing industry my little world of titles is worldwide!
I want to give a short background to my latest ‘child’.  On the morning of June 16, 2012, yes, just a little over a month ago, I woke from a dream and as I made coffee that morning I wrote down several sentences as fast as I could remember them. – My memory requires notes now.
The first part of this story came to me in that dream. But that was all I had. Maybe it’s just me and that’s alright if it is, but as I begin to write, the story starts telling itself to me. I’m its first reader. I’ll write a few chapters and when I go back to read over it to see what I wrote it’s like reading someone else’s book. I have even come to keeping notes chapter by chapter so I can refer back to names, places and what’s happening because I don’t remember what I’ve written. And sometimes I have no idea where I'm going with the story.
As I did the formatting these past three days to get this book ready for Kindle I fully expected to see another name as the author in place of mine. But alas, it is mine, all mine! I even remembered how to design my own cover, seeing that it’s been awhile since I had to create one.

I keep asking myself the same question about this love of writing that will just not go away. Why do I love it so much? It certainly isn’t because I am a well-known author or have found some secret to breaking into the publishing world. Lord knows there are thousand of others like myself who write their books and hope and pray one day someone with the wherewithal reads them and they become a noted author.

Maybe it’s just for my own sense of accomplishment. Then with the Olympics being in progress I came to this concussion. I’m an Olympic writer. Physically, I sit in total amazement at the strength, determination, and sacrifice that these people make everyday of their lives to get to this coveted place – being the best in the world. Receiving that Gold Metal of recognition!

Although, I’m in no way comparing writing to the daily regiment that it takes to become an accomplished athlete, but what I think I can understand is the ‘heart’ part of believing in a dream and not giving up.  Part of what I think drives them forward is looking behind them. Believing that all the years, hours, days, and minutes of doing what they love to do will become all worth it in the end. Even those who don’t place for a metal say the same thing, “I didn’t give up. I made it this far and I am proud of my accomplishments.”

Maybe not all of us who have a dream that we follow have to have a ‘metal’ to prove that we have heart. Mine is beating faster once again today as I look at my new accomplishment. This one was birthed quicker then ever before.  I think it’s a good story. It reads easily and made me believe that good things can end up happening from not so good beginnings.

These new characters took me on a journey of just that, a not so good beginning but an ending that made me wish I could be there with them. As much as I love getting to the end of a book, I hate it even more. I want to stay in that world. I’ll miss Sandra Bloom and her friend and for sure Tom Perts who stumbled upon them one day . . .  Hmm, might just be a sequel here!

So to my few faithful friends and wonderful family, I say thank you for letting me share my thoughts and tell you that A Clap of Thunder will be at your local friendly bookstore, Amazon, within 48 hours should you want to read it.

 In the mean time, I’ll open another of my many files and write on!

Fancy Chicks

Fancy Chicks

When I was a little girl I spent a summer on my grandparent’s farm. I have some very vivid memories of collecting eggs with me Grandfather. I can still remember the warm soft underbelly of the Road Island Red hen as I reached under it to collect an egg after being assured that the friendly hen wouldn’t peck me. I can even remember how excited I was.  I never forgot that simple childhood experience.

During my adult lifetime I have had my own chick-a-Dees. I love the gentle clucking, strutting, and rustling of feathers. Even more I always loved the way they became attached. I am sure it had something to do with seeing the bowl of fresh vegetable clippings or cups of grain I came with. I want to believe it was that they loved me as much as I loved them.  I did have a couple that would actually follow me around the yard whenever I let them out of the chicken yard. It was a free-for-all on the days when they were let out after mowing the lawn to scavenge for bugs that were stirred up. When one keen girl found a bug all the rest ran like a blue-light sale at Kmart! They’d shove one another and peck madly sending a cloud of grass shavings everywhere.

Today my personal collection of hens and roosters sits across the room from me on a book case with a couple tucked in around my house plants. Still a pleasure. So when I found this chicken craft on Penterest my creative mind ran wild! I instantly thought about several ways to “Fancy” up these chicks.

I did my own scavenging around in my craft supplies from past projects and soon I was deep in cardboard, feathers, and beads, wielding my hot glue gun.

 So here is the first sample chick I found.

I made a plain-Jane chick and after a brief conversation with Henrietta (what else would I call her?)

We decided on a tasteful outfit. She is now a fluffy girl decked out with black shoes, earrings and a classy scarf!

I am sure there are many more of her feathery sisters who will soon join the lineup because right now they are marching through my mind.

God really knows best

God really knows best

I don’t know why for some, it takes so long for them to come to the realization that there is a God and that He is really a loving and caring Being. But I suppose the first realization to reach is to believe in God. That is the first step before you can totally surrender to the fact that He really knows what is best for your life and all His intentions are for your good.

I do believe in God being the bottom-line for my life and it took me a long time to finally shut up, settle down, and walk humbly beside him. Once I did that and decided in my own mind that I was going to trust His love for me things got easier. Have there been obstacles, of course. Could there have been a parting of the ways over the years because what I wanted and what He allowed were two different things – absolutely. Were there times I did everything He asked of me and like a game of Father May I, I asked first then I took all the steps and was told “No” when I was right at the finish line and sent back to start all over again? You bet.

But I guess what I am saying this morning is that never and I mean never was what God’s final decision ended up being for my life ever, wrong. Some things took time for me to see clearly all the repercussions of what might have been had I gotten my way. Places I would have found myself with people who would have nearly destroyed my life knowing what I know now.

I think the times that mankind feels that God is somehow uniformed or unaware or simply doesn’t care what is happening to the world or Heaven forbid might actually be behind these catastrophic events, as being the truth are the worst off.

Everyday I wake up and realize that my life is not my own and there is someone I can trust that will never leave or forsake me is worth any amount of money, fame or relationships. It is all going to pass away. The time spent here no matter the circumstances is far less than eternity. But here again you have to be a believer. If you don’t believe then this is all just philosophical babblings of a 63 years old woman who thought she had something to blog about this morning.

My testimony isn’t about earth moving events, though at the time they were to me. It is the simple things that God lovingly gives me everyday that I am so appreciative of. How he heads me off from things because He knows what is coming. How he has already gone before me and made provision for me in light of what could be an “outage” in my life.

For instant, yesterday was a record breaking heat wave for the month of June and yes, the air conditioning in the apartment where I live, died. It has done this now five times since they turned it on the “cooling” part of the system. I happen to live in a building where there is not the option of having your own unit to turn either to heat or cool at one’s own discretion. It is done down in the boiler room. So as you would guess there is someone else making the decision as to when or if we need heat or cool each year.

Back in March or April when it went from 50 some degrees straight to 80 the third floor apartments went to 90 and above. This is where I live. The first day that this happened and the air condition was not scheduled to be turned on for another month if then, I knew I had to do something.

God knew it was already coming. Two days prior to the change in the weather because I have learned to hear His voice, I knew to order a portable air conditioner and do it ASAP!

I didn’t even know they made such a thing where you installed a vent in the window, no mess no dripping pan no water streaking down the side of the building, just wonderful cold air for me to thrive in.

Within three days of the first onset of would have been madness for me trying to survive in this apartment with the temp over 100 degrees was taken care of because I listened and moved on what I knew was the right thing to do.

So when for the fifth time so far this summer and a lot more days to go with the possibility of the air being out, I have exactly what I need. I have to, no . . .  I WANT to give the Lord Glory for loving me and most of all helping me accept His wisdom and guidance in my life even in the times that it goes against all that I think my pitiful little mind thinks is wrong. Some of the biggest problems are the things that I simply do not understand how the world thinks and I feel so helpless.

This world is in a mess. Fires, floods, hurricanes, tornados, poverty, and lawlessness about to breakout to such a level that it boggles the mind to the extent that watching the news at night is frightening, and yet, we think we know what is best.  I’ve been wondering if through Facebook, or any source, a wave of silence and prayer for the world to step back, shut up and whether we all believe the same or not jointly ask God for the benefit of all mankind to forgive and help us could be possible?

I don’t know, I am sure there would be controversy on every side over even proposing such a thing. I just know I cannot help but thank Him for being here in my little world and loving me enough to see ahead of me and finally got me to trust His love to the point of listening and doing what I hear.

And as a parent isn’t that what we want and ask and would love for our children to do at times? To simply say, yes, Mom, okay Dad, even though I think I know what is best for my life, I am going to listen to what you have to say and I will take your advice. As wonderful a thought that is for us as parents what in the world would it be for God to hear mankind say it to Him?

Maybe things won’t have to get much worse before that becomes a reality.

Times like this !!!

Times like this !!!

It is time like this that I wish I had a writing buddy! I had a dream early this morning and have not been able to stop writing since I got up, made coffee and sat down in my chair. The coffee has long since gone cold and the words are flying onto the page.

I also did something totally out of character for me. I grabbed a pen and before I started I wrote out twenty-one individual paragraphs of the story to follow. From beginning to end I have it in an outline! I NEVER do that. It happened so fast I could not get it down quick enough.

Now I am just transcribing it from my head to the page. The dream woke me up. At first all I wanted to do was forget it as fast I could. I was in it and something bad had happened to me that caused me to be left alone in a store and soon found myself on the floor being asked if I was all right by a strange woman. From there all I can remember is the feeling of being rolled over and put on a gurney.

I was in a fix. I could feel the dread as I also realized that whoever this woman was had saved me from being hurt even more. The next part of the dream I was in her car and she was taking me to her home. Boy oh boy was I glad that it was only a dream!

Don’t you just love it when that happens? You wake up and poof! You are out of the situation!

But then the dream turned into this complete story. I know this sounds peculiar even to me. Usually I get this really great idea and then have to fill in the rest. I see all the characters and it is as if they are writing themselves. (I promise there is nothing but cold coffee in my cup.)

What makes this even more amazing is I am already working on two other books that are nearly writing themselves and I hava to keep jumping form one to the other  in order to not forget where each book is going. This one has completely taken over my life today. It isn’t going to wait on being written.

Hmm, now I am wondering what I ate before I went to bed last night? (She said, Grinning.)

I’m not complaining mind you. I’ll take them any way I can get them, it is just a lot to try and create all at once. My brain is swimming. Sometimes I think we can have spurts of highly creative energy. Now I need a burst of energy to get all this written. I look at the clock and it in 3:15! It was just 8:30 a few minutes ago. I end up losing a lot of days this way.

Has anyone else had this happen to them? I can’t believe I am some sort of artistic savant. It probably was the high blood pressure pill and swigs of Orange Juice at 4 am this morning.

Anyway I am going to blog this and get up and take my trash down the hall and check the mail. I need to give not only my brain a quick rest but my numb bottom as well.

There I go again, sharing too much FYI.