The Day Our House Flooded by Sally Shupe

Welcome to October! This month is the 2-year anniversary of our house being flooded, from the inside, by a dog that wasn’t ours. Sound unbelievable? It really happened.

How do we make our stories believable? We research, we interview, we live through it. When I came home and found water flowing down my steps from the upstairs bathroom to the living room, I put my hands on my face, wandered around, and said over and over, “I don’t know what to do.”, “I don’t know what to do”. It’s what I did when I continued walking through the house and heard a rain forest in the kitchen. The water ran from the ceiling, in lines, dripping off the cabinets, off the door jamb, pouring out of the light socket hanging from the ceiling with water inches deep on the floor. I now know that when the heroine puts her hands up to her face and wanders around in the mess saying over and over again, “I don’t know what to do.”, “I don’t know what to do.”, that is a real reaction. Before, I thought it was over the top acting. Nope.

And what of the dog? His name is George. He’s a beagle. (If you have one, please make sure you have accidental water damage coverage on your home owner’s insurance!) All I remember of him from that day is his eye and ear from where he sat in the bathroom window after he’d jumped on the sink, turned the water on, knocked stuff off the sink into the sink, clogging the hole, causing the water to run over, flood the bathroom, out into the hallway and down the steps to the living room, to going through the floor to the kitchen underneath, and through that floor into the basement. Where that dog went after I saw him in the window, I have no idea. My daughter tells me he was downstairs when she came home, running around beside me. I now know that sometimes you only remember certain things, even when you’ve experienced the whole event.

I have put my notes together of this time and want to put it into a book. Unbelievable things happened. The day after the flood, God showed me this scripture: Deuteronomy 4:32-40. During this process, God gave me songs and signs to show me it was going to be okay. For instance, I love snow. I love woolly worms. Especially the black ones, because they indicate a snowy winter. I usually only see a handful a season. After this happened, I saw so many black woolly worms, a handful a day. Our apple tree fell after Service Master dried the house out. The tree took down our power line to the house. In the midst of all our chaos, we had to upgrade the power. We had been thinking about getting someone to cut the tree down. Now we didn’t have to, and it was free. After the power was turned off, it took about a week to get it upgraded. We went to stay at a motel. I love the red leaves. Every morning, the parking lot would be covered with them. Would any of this be believable? And there’s so much more.

Have any of your experiences made it into a book? Did readers think they were unbelievable, but you knew for a fact they were real because you lived them? Have you read unbelievable scenes in a story and wondered how that could possibly have happened? Please share!

Sally Shupe lives in southwest Virginia with her husband, two grown kids-a daughter still at home and a son nearby, and a whole bunch of pets: five dogs, three cats, a rabbit, and birds at the birdfeeder (and the mandatory snowman when the snow cooperates). She writes contemporary Christian romance, with two completed manuscripts and three more in progress. They are part of a series located in small town Virginia.

When Sally’s not writing or working full-time, she is a freelance editor for several authors who write fiction and nonfiction; students working on dissertation papers; a copy editor for Desert Breeze; a content editor for Prism (became part of Pelican); performs beta reading for various authors; publishes book reviews on her blog and with Valley Business FRONT’s monthly magazine; is a member of ACFW and a PRO member of RWA; loves genealogy, running, and crocheting.

Sally uses her love of words to write about God’s amazing love.

Connect with Sally:Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sallyshupewritings/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SallyShupe1
Blog: http://sallyshupe.blogspot.com/
Email: sallyshupe1@gmail.com
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/sallyshupe1/
Website: http://sallyshupeseditingservice.weebly.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sally-schreiner-shupe-8217a639?trk=hp-identity-name

Do You Remember Your First Story Idea by Terri Weldon

Hey, folks, I'm sick and unable to come up with a new post. That said, I hope you'll enjoy reading an oldie that I consider to be a goodie. 

I still remember the idea for my first book. My creative mind had been soaking up every word of the contemporary Christian romances I had started reading. Then suddenly I devised a story idea. It was over the top, gut wrenching, and filled with angst. A daughter abandoned by her prostitute mother is determined to confront the woman she hates, the woman she blames for everything wrong in her life. When she lands on her mother’s door step, it’s too late. She learns her mother has died.

Time for total honesty here – I still like the storyline! At the time I wrote the book the plot was too difficult for me. The book needed a more experienced author. Trust me there was much more to the storyline than I told you above. 

I waited a few years. I even penned my first book, which resides in a drawer in an old filing cabinet. Then Love Inspired Romance advertised a contest. All I had to do was send in my completed manuscript, and if I won, I could become a published author. Oh, hope springs eternal. As fast as possible I penned the entire book and carted it down to my local post office. When the winner of the contest was announced, her name wasn’t Terri Weldon. 

Even after that I didn’t give up. I probably didn’t write as much as I should have and I let too much time elapse, but I didn’t throw in the towel. Even today I’m still plugging along. Sometimes I miss the young woman who wrote that novel with such confidence.  In my heart I knew I was destined to be published and I believed it would happen. And it did, but not for many many years and not with that book. 

Still, no matter how many new story ideas I come up with, I don’t think any of them will ever replace the excitement I felt when I devised the first one. 

What about you? What was your first story idea? I’d love to hear all about it. 

Ellie Alexander is in love. And the only thing sweeter would be if Libby, Natalie, and Stephanie, her three unmarried, unattached granddaughters, could find the same happiness. Maybe with a little help from her and her beau Blake Parker . . .

A Match Made in Williamstown by Lady of Love Inspired Romance Jean C. Gordon — Libby Schuyler has avoided dating since her break-up with college-sweetheart Jack Parker. Out of nowhere, Jack shows up claiming Ellie is swindling his grandfather, Blake, through a travel agency partnership they’ve formed. Libby and Jack team up to protect their grandparents and get to the bottom of Ellie and Blake’s business and romantic relationship. While Libby and Jack fight their reignited attraction, Ellie and Blake conspire to bring the two together.

A Match Made in Sheffield by Terri Weldon— Natalie Benton bounced from one foster home to another until she landed on Ellie Alexander’s doorstep. Natalie’s vagabond childhood caused her to yearn for a secure life, which led to Natalie’s five-year plan: complete her law degree, marry the perfect man, become a partner at Montgomery, Haynes, and Preston, and produce one child. Getting arrested wasn’t in Natalie’s plan. Needing a public defender wasn’t in her plan. Falling for Grady Hunter, her public defender, definitely wasn’t in her plan. Can Grady convince Natalie there is more to life than her five-year plan? Is Ellie the only one who sees a future for Natalie and Grady?

A Match Made in Freedom by Lisa Belcastro — Stephanie Gould loves life on Martha’s Vineyard . . . until she runs into Kay and Tim, her former business partner and her ex-fiancé, who just returned from their honeymoon. Surprised by the heartache she thought was gone, Stephanie heads to the Berkshires to visit family and friends. Arriving in Stockbridge, Stephanie meets Captain Henry Lewis. Little does Stephanie know, her grandmother has already met Henry, and Ellie thinks Henry is perfect. Stephanie has no interest in dating, Henry included. If only Henry didn’t turn up everywhere Stephanie goes. When he walks up beside her at the Norman Rockwell Museum, Stephanie can’t deny her attraction, but she’ll do her best to fight it.

Buy Links

Amazon Kindle & Print: http://amzn.to/2pb4HuK 

Nook, iBooks & Kobo: https://www.books2read.com/u/3neJnB
Barnes & Noble Print: http://bit.ly/2qbmqEtMatchmakers  

Terri Weldon is a lead analyst by day and an author by night. She enjoys gardening, reading, and shopping for shoes. One of her favorite pastimes is volunteering as the librarian at her church. It allows her to shop for books and spend someone else’s money! Plus, she has the great joy of introducing people to Christian fiction. She lives with her family in Oklahoma. Terri has two adorable Westies – Crosby and Nolly Grace. She is a member of ACFW and OCFW, a local chapter of ACFW. Terri is the award winning author of The Christmas Bride Wore Boots.

Readers can connect with Terri: Website: www.TerriWeldon.com or Blog: Seriously Write 

Beauty and the Birdseed By Patti Jo Moore

Our Georgia spring seasons are lovely, and this spring has been no exception. The azaleas in various colors, the lavender Redbud trees, and our Bradford Pear trees are only a few of the beautiful sights to enjoy in the springtime. Even from inside my home, I have a nice view of the nearby blooms, thanks to lots of windows.

My cats also enjoy the windows, but not for the same reason I do. They are entertained by watching the numerous birds and squirrels that visit my deck for their daily feast of sunflower seed. I toss generous amounts of the seed onto the wooden rail on one side of the deck, and my cats sit by the windows to enjoy the view, with twitching tails and the occasional meow. I’m likely in the minority on this, but I love squirrels. Their antics delight not only my cats, but they make me laugh, too.

However, squirrels are messy eaters. A couple of months ago, I glanced out a window and noticed large amounts of chewed sunflower seed the squirrels had knocked off the rail and onto a patch of ground below. It was not a pretty sight. Ugh—I’d probably need to go out and scoop up the remnants before my husband cut the grass again. But since it didn’t seem urgent, I didn’t do it then. In fact, I forgot about it. 😉

In mid-May, I glanced out a window with a view of the ground below my deck, and couldn’t believe it. Two beautiful sunflowers had grown in the middle of the messy area. As I stood looking out at the sunflowers (which happens to be a favorite of mine!), I was struck with the thought of how a few weeks earlier, that patch of ground had been an eyesore, but now was a spot of beauty.

As I continued gazing at the sunflowers, I couldn’t help comparing this to writing. Sometimes we might begin writing a story, but we reach a certain point and stop. We feel our words have reached a dead-end, or what we’d thought was a great story idea just isn’t getting off the ground. We feel that what we’ve written is a mess, and we delete it, or just tuck it away, assuming it will never see the light of day again.

But if we’ll take a break and return to that project later, we’re able to see it with fresh eyes. We might be able to veer in a different direction with the plot, or maybe the main characters need some changes. The setting could even need to be moved, and that could get our ideas flowing. Sometimes, what we’d considered a hopeless mess can end up being a beautiful story. After all, looking out my window at the unsightly mounds of chewed-up seeds, I wouldn’t have thought it possible that beautiful sunflowers would actually grow in that spot. So take heart if you’ve got a story tucked away that you’ve given up on, because you might be able to re-work it and produce a story that you—and your readers—will love. 😊

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Meg Mills is thankful she relocated to Coastal Breeze after becoming widowed two years earlier. As she makes plans to achieve her dream of owning a small bookstore, she begins doubting herself after being harassed by her late husband’s stepmother. She’s also confused at her strong attraction to the shy, lanky piano tuner who arrives for an appointment one day. Todd Davis is grateful for his aunt’s encouragement to move to Coastal Breeze after a painful divorce, and is soon captivated by an outgoing piano tuning client. But he’s an introvert, and feels certain the pretty widow wouldn’t be interested in him. When Todd is hired as the local church’s choir director, he hopes this will help him get to know the attractive widow better—if he can come out of his shell. When the cousin who bullied Todd as a youth unexpectedly arrives in Coastal Breeze, Todd must confront his greatest fear, while getting past the pain of his memories. Meg worries that her exuberant personality has driven Todd away—until she learns the truth about his past. Can two people who are polar opposites help each other and find romance in the process?

Patti Jo Moore writes “Sweet, Southern Stories” and has lived in Georgia all her life. Her very first series, Emerald Coast Romances, is published by Forget-Me-Not Romances and is set on the Florida panhandle. Each book is a stand-alone, and Patti Jo hopes her readers enjoy “visiting” her fictional town of Coastal Breeze. The third book is In Tune With Romance and features Meg, an outgoing widow who wants to start her own business, and Todd, an introverted piano-tuner who must confront his greatest fear. Can two people who are polar opposites help each other and find romance in the process?

Patti Jo loves Jesus, her family, cats, and coffee. She loves connecting with other readers and authors. You can visit her on Facebook at Author Patti Jo Moore, or her personal blog at http://catmomscorner.blogspot.com

A Fun Take on Research! by Laura Conner Kestner

Like most authors, my days are filled with writing, rewriting, research, rewriting, more research, and lots of prayers. But unlike some writers, I really enjoy the research. 

I’m not talking about Google searches, YouTube videos and library collections, although I do enjoy all those as well. I’m talking about the equivalent of a school field trip. 

My favorite such destinations are small museum. Those facilities don’t just provide the answers to my research questions—sometimes they inspire a new character, a new scene, or a new book. And since I write in multiple genres, none of it is wasted. I jot it all down in my research/inspiration notebook (or more truthfully, on an envelope, receipt, or fast food napkin) for future use.

Even though I live in a tiny town in a rural area of Texas, there are a surprisingly large number of historical museums within an hour or two of my home—and several really good ones closer than that.

Since these are mostly history museums, the exhibits are varied. Some of my favorite finds include a late-1800s spinning wheel, an 1800s printing press, a hand-crafted miniature three-ring circus, log cabins (real ones), jail cells (including a steel cage that was created to fit on a wagon so the sheriff could haul prisoners to the state capitol), weapons, clothing, wood cook stoves, rope beds, barbed-wire collections, branding irons, a stuffed and mounted panther (also known as a mountain lion) that was shot many years ago by a rancher during a fierce battle near the Brazos River (I was able to talk to the man’s now-elderly daughter for details), medical equipment, blacksmith equipment…well, I could go on and on. 

There are also several old military forts close enough for occasional research expeditions, as well as regularly scheduled “living history” events nearby.  

I often write about these finds for my Facebook author page, and enjoy sharing the photos and information with others. But it’s a bit more complicated when writing fiction. I don’t want to use the real story—that belongs to someone else. So when something sparks my imagination, I ask myself two questions: What if? and What now?

What if a man who occupied that cage was innocent? What if he managed to escape but injured the sheriff in the process? Now he’s alone, on foot, with no food…and he’s no longer innocent. So then I try to answer the “What now?” question. That’s harder. And it often takes the story in a direction I didn’t anticipate. That’s where the fun really begins.

Of course, you don’t have to go to museums to find inspiration. Story ideas are everywhere. 

I once discovered an old shopping list tucked away in a pocket of a vintage handbag I purchased at an estate sale. 

I immediately started speculating on what event this woman—the purse’s owner from a bygone era—had been planning. It was mostly food items she’d jotted down. But some of it was pretty fancy. Was she planning a holiday party? 

There was no date on the penciled list but judging from the purse itself, I could imagine her dressed in her mid-century best—high heels, navy blue dress with a pleated skirt and white collar, pearls, and a bouffant hairdo—strolling the aisles of a grocery store where a freckled-faced boy with a crew cut would bag her groceries when she finished, and then carry them to the car. 

Of course, this first scene is just a beginning. You can’t just build her wardrobe—you have to build her world. 

What about her car? A nice sedan, I think. No, wait. A cherry red convertible. Because no one should be entirely predictable.       

Later, in the kitchen of a modern brick home with colorful appliances, she empties the bag, humming a little tune as she works. I recognize that song. Frank Sinatra? Dean Martin? No, it’s Bing Crosby. White Christmas. So it is a holiday party. 

But so much depends on the genre. If it’s a romance book, she might be making this special meal in hopes of impressing Mr. Right. If it’s women’s fiction, she may have found Mr. Right years ago and is now wondering how she can get rid of him (haha).     

What about suspense? Maybe the list was a clue. Perhaps there was one item on the list that didn’t go with the others. 

But, wait. What’s that last item she’s taking from the shopping bag? Rat poison. Well, that wasn’t on the list. Oh, my. It seems we have a murder mystery on our hands. I did not see that coming. Better start researching poisons.   

So, do any of you ever look at an old house, classic car, or vintage anything, and wonder about the people who’ve gone before? Do you enjoy visiting museums? I would love to hear about it. 

REMEMBER TEXAS

Abigail Horton’s life is turned upside down during the last night of a week-long revival when her father—believed dead—shows up in the custody of a Texas Ranger. Abby is thrilled to see him, and equally devastated to learn he’s been living the life of an outlaw.           

Texas Ranger Caleb Calhoun stops in Moccasin Rock to let his prisoner, Bob Horton, visit briefly with family before transporting him to Austin for trial. Caleb takes a room at the family’s boarding house, planning to be in and out of the small town by morning. But within hours he’s kissed Abby Horton, made an enemy of her naïve suitor, and let his prisoner escape. 

As Caleb searches for the missing outlaw, and Abby struggles to keep the man’s whereabouts a secret, they also battle a growing attraction to each other.

Throw in a Calhoun family mystery, an elderly preacher on a mission, an old flame of Caleb’s, a secretive spinster, a team of surveyors, and Abby’s mother and brother—and you have a compelling story of faith, family and forgiveness.

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After 25 years in community journalism, Laura Conner Kestner embarked on a career in inspirational fiction. Laura is a proud seventh-generation Texan. Born in Fort Worth, she now lives in central Texas. She is happily married to the “boy next door” and they have two daughters, two wonderful sons-in-law, and five grandchildren. She’s thankful for God’s grace, her family, and an opportunity to do the work she loves.  Laura is a 2016 ACFW Genesis Award winner, 2016 ACFW First Impressions winner, 2016 SWFRW/RWA Joyce Henderson Contest winner, a 2016 NWH/RWA Lone Star Writer’s Contest finalist (second place), a 2016 SARA Emma Merritt contest winner, a winner in the RWA/KOD 2017 Daphne du Maurier award for excellence in mystery suspense, a 2017 Maggie finalist, and winner in the inspirational category of the 2017 RWA Southern Magic Linda Howard contest.  Laura was also a 2017 GOLDEN HEART® finalist, and a double finalist in 2018. Her novel Remember Texas was published in October.