Posts Tagged ‘Mimosa Lane’

“Real” Family… Real sacrifice. What’s that about?

Wednesday, August 14th, 2013

What wouldn’t you sacrifice for the ones you love? What makes family real? Small communities are so beautiful and picturesque…but what’s going on under the surface?

stick-family

When I create and explore character, current events inspire me and challenge them. Seemingly insurmountable obstacles must be tackled, for the families in my books to be happy and succeed. And isn’t that pretty much a slice of every day life for the rest of us, too? We learn what life and family and love are really about, when we’re faced with the very real possibility of losing everything.

We see who and what we really are, by how we respond to life’s unpredictable curves and twists.

I love flawed families. I write happily-ever-after, but I do it as realistically as possible–which means I hold my characters feet to the fire a bit more than the average writer. My heroine in Three Days on Mimosa Lane, Sam Perry, and her husband Brian have fought their way back from an unimaginable tragedy–Sam witnessed 9/11 first-hand, as a preschool teacher in one of the many schools at the base of the World Trade Center Complex. She’s still wounded by her experience, but she’s still fighting for the life she wants, the way the rest of us must get up each day and struggle to make that day mean more than the last. Her struggles and her determination to overcome them are inspiring. Her marriage seems strong, if strained, and she’d do anything to become the kind of mother her children deserve. Anything?, I find myself asking…

How far is Sam really willing to go? As she and Brian face the truth about what their next step together needs to be, will they step up or back away?

Are any of us really ready to win the freedom we’ve always wanted–when it will mean putting everything we’ve thought we needed on the line? Are we ready to see what loving ourselves and our families with all of our hearts can really look and feel like?

family heart image

Freedom from past loss and mistakes and fear. Freedom from being chained to confusion and protecting ourselves and failing even when we’re “succeeding.” Freedom from what we are, despite ourselves, so we can claim what we were always meant to be. What would that freedom feel and look and be like? (more…)

The Soul of the Matter: Balancing Piles of Tribbles…

Wednesday, August 7th, 2013

I’ve just taken a week off. To be honest, I need more time away. Does that sound familiar–the lure of distance and silence and being still? Haven’t we all lost ourselves somewhere like that–nowhere–a time or two?

We need more off-the-grid than our busy lives allow. But how much “down” is enough? When must “doing” become the goal again, even though we’ll never stop needing the opposite?

There’s something eternally good-feeling about the nothing of zero responsibility.

zero responsibility

Yet we want to be productive, too. We build and we push and we create and we dream and bring to life. Whatever our jobs, we do them because we have ambition and drive and discipline. But within us is a deep well of silence, forever wanting. This quietness must be fed, for us to be healthy.

Nosier, bustling objectives reclaim our daily focus faster than any “breaking away” can outrun life.  Yet an inner call for peace lies in wait, continuously biding time, ever demanding. It’s a tricky balance. And when we allow things to go off-kilter–say by taking a much-needed week away from everything–equilibrium can be a bitch to grapple back.

I’ve focused on one goal, an important one, for months now. It’s attained, and I couldn’t be prouder. But… What next? As I survey the overwhelming demand of everything that’s been put off–piles of “I’ll do that tomorrow, or next week, or next month…”–I look at what once seemed easily done later, and now I see daunting obstacles.

I explained this waking up to my husband, as being like watching Tribbles multiply.

trouble-with-tribbles

You push aside just one or two things, to stay tuned into an important goal, to the exclusion of every distraction. When you next pick up your head, you find ten of the wee furry beasties lurking about. (more…)

The Soul of the Matter: “I am not a teacher but an awakener…”

Tuesday, July 30th, 2013

The words of Robert Frost have long been a muse for artists. He is one of my literary heroes. His words, even just a few of them, inspire thought and creativity and memory and vision for the future. His work feels; therefore, so do I, as I read him. I meet new characters. His emotion connects. His themes inspire deeply. He makes me want to write things that invite the same honest connection.

His poetry, his essays, quotes from his interviews and day-to-day life… They are glimpses into what he saw and thought and felt. They challenge me to search for new and uncharted discoveries of my own.

am-not-teacher-robert-frost

So much of RF’s soul lives on in what he’s shared…

I’ve read him so often, I knew exactly which quotes from his works I wanted to use in my second Seasons of the Heart novel. I was inspired by concepts, first, and then by the characters they helped me bring to life. And even though the quotes couldn’t remain in the published novel, each one still lives within the pages I penned with them in mind.

Three Days on Mimosa Lane, at its heart, is about teachers and learning. It’s about waking up to the world you have now, instead of allowing difficulties from the past, no matter how great, to define who and what you can be. It’s about learning from those we surround ourselves with, and letting our lives become something others draw strength from in return. It’s about sharing. It’s about heart.

awakening sunrise desert feild

No matter our challenges, we can learn and teach and help others do the same. (more…)

What does it mean to be safe? Grab hold of your security, BELIEVE it into reality, and never let go!

Wednesday, July 24th, 2013

We all grapple with finding our secure place in this world. Some of us are forced to live the reality that NOTHING is guaranteed to us in this life–security, first and foremost–more in our faces than others. Every time I see a tragedy on TV, I want to hug those whose lives are being disrupted by the chaos swamping them. And when I hear a survivor talk of finding hope again, I want to cheer louder than ever, because THAT’s the reality that feeds me and keeps me dreaming and shows me that, no matter my challenges, there’s absolutely no way I’m going to give up either. We all need something to hold onto. We’re all fighting for the same hope and security and peace that life wouldn’t be the same without.

never let go

The comments on yesterdays’ post mean so much to me. I don’t write easy-to-read stories. At least not from Page One.

I write heroes, through and through. But the true hero for me is one who bottoms out in a way most of us wouldn’t recover from, and then soars to new heights because of their faith and love and willingness to fight until they grapple their heart and soul back into believing.

Three Days on Mimosa Lane is a survivor’s story. Not just our heroine, who was a school teacher at Ground Zero (we meet Sam first in Christmas on Mimosa Lane, where she steals every scene she’s in).  But her husband–who’s stood by her side, at the expense of healing completely himself, all the years that he’s waited for her to come fully back to herself after the PTSD and trauma of everything she saw and felt and experiences on that awful day more than a decade ago. And their Chandlerville community and neighbors on Mimosa Lane. They’re survivors and heroes, too, tested on the first day of our story by a tragedy ripped from contemporary headlines: a school shooting that I swear was part of Three Days’s design, long before Sandy Hook happened.

I could have pulled back. I could have not written the more challenging things I’d intended out of the story. But these characters were already who they are, and they wouldn’t have been the heroes the were destined to become (or had the happily ever afters I wanted for them) if I’d pulled my punches. Happily ever after is essential to me as a creative writer, but it’s the journey to that beautiful place of discover that inspires me, as much as the destination. And this is one of my favorite journeys and endings of all! I promise you won’t be disappointed.

happy ever after

The Romance Reviews calls what I’ve created cathartic. (more…)

Three Days is Live! “He Knew a path that wanted walking…”

Tuesday, July 23rd, 2013

Three Days on Mimosa Lane is FINALLY live today! I can’t wait to share this amazing story with readers, where you get to see the three pivotal days of 2013 for our favorite returning characters on Mimosa Lane, and some very special new ones. It’s a spring story of redemption and renewal, it’s a summer story of freedom and courageously grasping your happily ever after, and it’s a Labor Day story about all that’s best about our country and how we keep fighting for family and our way of life and the love for each other that gets us through even the hardest of times.

It’s a love story about a family’s  journey, and finding their way through some of the rough stuff we all face,  and getting stronger, too, while they help each other get to that better place they find on their own.

It’s, hands down, one of my favorite novels I’ve ever written. And it was all full up with Robert Frost poetry that helped the book’s symbolism hits its mark even better…right up until I had to remove the quotes because of copyright concerns. But, BONUS, that doesn’t mean we can’t share the goodness out here on my blog.

“He knew a path that wanted walking; He knew a spring that wanted drinking;
a thought that wanted further thinking.”

~Robert Frost

Why, YES, now that you mention it, that’s why you see the beautiful, flower be-speckled path on Three Days‘ cover–a scene from Mimosa Lane’s park, where so many of our characters find themselves walking and trying to find their way back to the families and love they need so much.

Amazon TDoML Cover

Our characters have challenging paths to walk, and amazing happily ever afters to claim, and we’re lucky enough to be along for the ride.

Especially Sam and Brian Perry, whom we met in Christmas on Mimosa Lane. They came to the north-east Atlanta suburb they now call home over a decade a go, to start over. Except too much of what they need to deal with is still lurking beneath the surface, while they convince themselves they don’t have to. Of course, life has a way of making sure we deal with what we need to. Even if it has to kick us in the ass to wake us up.

And it’s the challenging journeys we often don’t want to take that bring us the most beautiful moments of our lives(more…)

Win a Kindle PaperWhite on my Blog Tour!

Monday, July 22nd, 2013

I promise the ad below will be better soon, folks. But I wanted to let everyone know one of the coolest things coming up in my Three Days on Mimosa Lane promotion.

Three Days launches TOMORROW, and my blog tour kicks off August 19th.

Join us, ans you can win a book at every stop, plus the Grand Prize will be a Kindle PaperWhite for one lucky commenter!

TDoML Tour banner (2)

Stick around for more great prizes and chances to win.

Grab yourself a copy of Three Days on Mimosa Lane.

We have our first RAVE from The Romance Reviews (4 Stars): “From every angle, this second Seasons of the Heart novel is a wrenching, heartbreaking, and ultimately redemptive story that isn’t afraid to go into some of the darkest places in the human heart, in order to help its characters find their way to the hope and love that wait on the other side … [A] story that will linger long after the final page has turned.”

And don’t forget your chance to WIN a Coach Daisy eReader Cover, from now through August 14th, on my current blog TDoML giveway!

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Amazon TDoML Cover

One day can change your life forever… Three days can transform a painful past into a beautiful tomorrow… (more…)

July Three Days on Mimosa Lane Contest–COACH eReader Case!

Thursday, July 18th, 2013

Three Days on Mimosa Lane launches in FIVE Days (pre-order now for the July 23rd release)!

To celebrate, my July Blog Giveaway features this AMAZING Coach Daisy eReader Case and a signed ARC of the book.

Look at the Rafflecopter widget below for super cute pics of one of this month’s prize!

My AWESOME assistant, Carla Gallway from Book Monster Promotions, has hit it out of the park again, with not just this but other fun opportunities to WIN in July, August and September.

So keep checking back for blog updates. And if you’re not already, sign up for my Newsletter updates. I hope Three Days on Mimosa Lane is a blast for everyone!

There are tons of ways to earn points for a better chance to win

So:

  • Read all the terms and conditions below.
  • Log In.
  • And dive into the fun!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Three Days on Mimosa Lane

Amazon TDoML Cover

One day can change your life forever… Three days can transform a painful past into a beautiful tomorrow… (more…)

The Woods Are Lovely Dark and Deep…

Monday, July 15th, 2013

The Woods Are Lovely Dark and Deep ~Robert Frost

Nature drives us, when we revel in its mysteries. Earth, water and sky surround and inspire and guide and cloak. We build walls and roofs and pave over the dirt and install artificial climate and run electronic entertainment that drowns out a lot. But it’s there: the woods waiting for us to explore. The lovely, dark and deep surprises of living…

woods flowers sunrise

In between the distractions,  life insists that we focus. We’re so lucky that it does.

My life has insisted for the last couple of months. Attention had to be paid. I’m climbing back to the surface of all that’s “other.” Not the least of which because Three Days on Mimosa Lane launches next Tuesday, July 23rd.

In it, was supposed to be a collection of my favorite Robert Frost poems about the living that finds us when we least expect it. Hence the quote above, and the blogging I’ll be doing regularly again. Look for the Pinterest album that will collect them all as I chat about them. Come back and share what your favorites mean to you. I suspect I’m not the only RF fan out there.

The poems were removed from the final draft of the novel (one of the many surprises), because of copyright issues. But inspiration cannot be silenced. So let’s talk about the woods.

woods green flowers

For me, they are full of wind and song and company, even when I’m there alone. Teaming with life and history and dreams and premonition, sometimes when I’m hiking interior to a waterfall or just a beautiful meadow someone’s told me about, I’m where I’ve always belonged, even though I’ve never been.

We don’t belong to the stress and the chaos and distractions of our every days. They are our days and we survive them, but they’re not our living. Our living is when we explore. (more…)

Fighters fight… But where do they hope and love?

Sunday, July 7th, 2013

When you’re a fighter, you fight. When others would fail or give up or collapse under the pressure, you fight. When you WANT to fail or give up or collapse under the pressure, you fight. You’re you’re own hero, when you desperately want someone else to step in and take over for a while. Sometimes, you refuse to relinquish that desperately controlling place, even when someone does step in. Because if you stop fighting, who will you become, what will you be, and will you survive the fall when the other person isn’t actually there the way you need them to be.

be your own hero

That’s what I write about in my Mimosa Lane series. Christmas on Mimosa Lane and my July release Three Days on Mimosa Lane are all about that, for my heroines. And Love on Mimosa Lane, which has kept me offline for a month and is currently now wrestling sleep and energy and courage out of me, so I can rewrite through my first round of developmental edits, is all about that. Most every heroine I’ve ever created has been all about that in their own unique ways. And, yeah, in very personal ways I’ll likely never share directly with anyone but those closest to me, I’m all about that. Otherwise, why would this be one of my recurring themes?

What keeps us from healing from past losses? And even more importantly, what do we deprive ourselves from having, if we never take that leap of faith and truly believe that someone besides ourselves can be there for us in the most intimate and meaningful ways we need them? These are the questions and messages that paint themselves all over the pages of my imagination.

trust hand

I’ve needed a new hero these last few months, while challenges and conflict invaded my ordered, productive work world and mucked things up to the point that I’m now scrambling to complete edits for a book that should already be in production. I’ve found I couldn’t be that savior for myself this time. The closed fist hammering through adversity until it’s tamed simply wouldn’t work. I’ve found myself leaning on others in ways that scare me to death. Just like my heroines who are terrified to try again, I’ve reached my “eventually,” where I haven’t had any other choice.

So many people have stepped in to help, to believe in me, and to want me to succeed. I’m so lucky, and still so scared. And so I still fight, but this time not alone. I still write, but I’m not hammering through the work as if it’s all I have. And I still doubt, but myself more than others now. Because I want this success and promise and tomorrow so many have rushed to my side to promise I can have. Only…the real person in my journey who’s been most prepared to let me down all along, has been me.

trust broken

If I can’t heal from this past that follows me and this present that scares me, the person who’s broken trust with me…is me. (more…)

How We Write: Day 5, One Step, One Leap at a time…

Friday, June 7th, 2013

When you have to go back to the beginning, do your step outline. Steps and leaps are what we’re talking about today. When you’re rewriting and you can’t see where you’re going, it’s time to retrace your steps. Every step. Every leap. What have you had your characters doing? Why are they doing it. What’s in their way (conflict), stopping them from getting what they want (goal), and how does that change their goal or the reason they keep fighting (motivation)? In EVERY scene. In EVERY story turning point.

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That’s what I’ve been doing for two days. We’re going to forget Day 3 and 4 like they never happened–because they didn’t for me, from a work standpoint. That’s how my life’s going these days. I can’t move forward, in the midst of chaos. But that doesn’t mean I stop working on my story. It means I find different ways to look at what I have so far–and this week, I’ve worked on another rewriting/manuscript deconstruction technique I’ve learned…step  outlining  what I’ve already written, to discover where my story AND character arcs need to be refined and deepened. Not just one or two scenes. Every scene. From the beginning. Until you realize what’s blocking the escalating conflict and flow of your characters and plot.

Yep. That’s a lot of work. (more…)