Life and Writing

Life. What an endurance. Just when you think everything is going your way then something interferes.

The same is said about writing. You planned to write that scene or word count, but then out of the blue a family problem occurs and you spend your week dealing with that issue.

This is what happened to me last week. Praise God everything worked out, but the incident cut into my writing time. This is when I reassessed my mood.

What really is more important? Writing?

Think again. When we are long gone, it is not what we wrote which is remembered instead it is our children, family and with me humbling myself before the Lord.

Of course, we need to write and we hope our books are best sellers or leave life-lasting impressions. However, our primary influences are still with our family and grandchildren.

I can verify this because my inspiring-historical romance, Lockets and Lanterns, is loosely-based on my grandfather who had red hair, a charming whit, was a fireman and exhibited a thumb-twiddling habit as the main character does in my new novel. The story, though, is not his story, but an imagery one seeped in the early-twentieth-century - the time period they began their marriage. In fact, their wedding picture appears on the book’s cover.

Without knowing my grandpa, I could never have experienced his engaging personality and his love for my brother and myself. I recall the many times he jokingly said to my sibling: “You’re full of baloney.” Images and expressions stay with you. Thus appreciate these simple times.

Instead of looking at not being able to write with sadness, embrace these setbacks. These moments could develop into creative fodder later. It also gives your writing a down-home realism. Listening and watching never are bad characteristics to witness. When you tell your granddaughter it is windy today and she replies, “God can do anything He wants. He is a big guy.” You can use that in a story like I did in my book, Seasons of the Soul.

Well, I made my spiel. God’s blessings to you. If interested, Lockets and Lanterns, (His secret ... Her broken heart) is available NOW at http://www.tatepublishing.com/bookstore/book.php?w=978-1-61862-169-6 before its official release date of April 24.