Tips to Keep Distractions from Veering You Off Course

Me - Dora Hiers

This spring, hubby and I purchased a new car. Before that, I drove a Ford Explorer, which I loved, but now that it's mostly me and the dog tooling around, it seemed pointless to drive such a big car. And gas? Nothing like watching $70 drain out of a tank, right?

So when the Explorer got to be of age, I set out to find a car with better gas mileage, but it had to be sporty and roomy enough to accommodate our full-figured Golden Retriever.

We decided on a Hyundai Santa Fe. I could ramble all day about the features. Heated seats, shiftronic capability (the ability to switch between automatic and stick~don't get me going on that!), great gas mileage, and ...

<--- check this out!

An electronic digital display estimates my average miles per gallon. What?? Do you know that you can boost your gas mileage by taking your foot off the accelerator for a few seconds? Well, I am all over that! That's why I got the car, right?

So, instead of focusing on the road, sometimes I would find myself honing in on that blue line, getting giddy as it edged closer to 50 mpg. I mean, really. How cool is that?

But then a honk would get my attention. Or moseying off the side of the road...

It's the same with our writing, isn't it? We allow distractions to take our attention away from getting words on the page. Those interruptions and diversions will drain our writing time and cause us to veer off the road, er...not accomplish anything that day.

Here are some suggestions that help me stay on track:

Determine your most productive time and stick to it. Early on, I recognized my most productive time of the day was in the morning, so that’s when I write. After breakfast and quiet time, I respond to emails and check social media briefly, and then immediately start writing. Every thirty minutes I get up and stretch, occasionally hit the restroom or refresh my drink. I don’t answer the phone unless it’s my husband, and I schedule all appointments for afternoons. Figure out your most productive time and do your best to work with it within the confines of your schedule. 

If you work a full time job, but your fingers fly across the keyboard in the mornings, can you get up a few minutes early to write? If your mind comes alive late at night, carve out some time after the kids go to bed to write. If your day consists of taxiing your kids around from football to gymnastics, you may have to adjust to lugging a laptop or tablet and squeezing word counts in fifteen minute increments. As much as possible, whenever you write, guard that time.

Set a goal. Set a realistic word count goal for the day, and then map it out for the entire year. Sounds like a lot of work, but it’s actually a great tool to help you see what you can accomplish if you cut out the distractions. Ask your spouse or a friend to keep you accountable by asking how many words you wrote that day.

Recognize your priorities. My recent college grad lived at home for a short time while he searched for a job. When he sauntered in my office, no matter the time, I was all ears because I recognized time with him was short, so talking with him was a priority. Occasionally, I found it necessary to adjust my word count while he was living with us, which I did, willingly.

Eliminate unnecessary distractions. Do whatever it takes to eliminate distractions. The biggest distraction for me is the Internet. There are apps available to disconnect from the Internet for extended periods of time, or you can just set a timer to alert you when your break is over.

What about you? How do you minimize your distractions?

Care to share the tips that work for you?

Journey's End
Purchase Link

Devastated after the brutal murder of her husband, Chelsea Hammond vows never to love another lawman. Intent on rebuilding her shattered life, she turns her focus to helping troubled teens. But when an angry father bent on retaliation, threatens her, Chelsea must turn to the one man she never thought to trust: Deputy U.S. Marshal Trey Colten. 

Trey wants only to protect Chelsea, but she blames him for her husband’s death. Trey can relate. He blames himself, also. As danger lurks, Trey begs Chelsea to heed his warnings. He let down one Hammond. He won’t let down another—especially one who now holds his heart.

When Chelsea is snatched from her home, can she put aside her fear, and trust Trey with her life? Can she forgive him for destroying her past and let him help to rebuild her future?

Creating Catchy Titles by Karen Witemeyer

Karen Witemeyer

With jazzy titles like Stealing the Preacher and Short Straw Bride, how could I not ask Author Karen Witemeyer for her tips to share with you? Be prepared to take notes! Enjoy, and I'll see you on the other side!!  ~Dora

Whether you are hoping to catch an editor's eye with an unpublished manuscript or a reader's eye as she browses for a new book, the first impression you make is with your title. 

The split-second it takes a potential reader to scan your title can be the determining factor in their decision to pick up your book and examine it more closely or to move on to something else. A strong, catchy title can make the difference between a sale and a pass.

A successful title reflects a manuscript's genre, tone, and possibly a key story element. For example: romance titles often include words like bride, love, and heart; suspense titles, on the other hand, favor words like dark, danger, and death. These words create an expectation in the reader. They create a mood.

Don't follow the formula too closely, though. Your title still needs a unique twist to set it apart from all the others. Since I write light-hearted historical romance, I try to create titles that reflect that humorous/romantic feel. With my debut novel, I came up with a title that played on words. In Tailor-Made Bride, my heroine is a seamstress or tailor yet despite the hero's resistance, he eventually realizes she is tailor-made for him.

Titles should intrigue the reader and make them want to find out more about your story. My most recent two titles play on this idea. Short-Straw Bride and Stealing the Preacher leave questions in the reader's mind. What is a short-straw bride? Did men really draw straws to see who would marry her? Why would someone steal a preacher? How does that even happen? Both titles also hint at possible humorous scenarios or shenanigans going on and when paired with the right cover, create a vivid impression on readers.

My other two titles did not originate with me. My editors actually came up with the ideas. The title for my second book, Head in the Clouds, plays on a key story element as well as highlighting my heroine's dreamer personality. She always had her nose in a book and her head in the clouds. But what made this title so perfect was that throughout the story, clouds were used to symbolize ambiguity as well as God's leadership of his people, like the cloud by day he used to lead the Israelites through the wilderness.

My final title, To Win Her Heart, is probably the most generic of the five, but it fit my genre as well as my story and was well-received by readers.

Keep your titles short, usually not more than 3-4 words. Remember, it needs to look good on a cover and not take up too much real estate. Give it punch so it lingers in a reader's mind. And after you pour your heart and soul into crafting the perfect title, don't marry yourself to it. Editors are notorious for changing titles. After all, a title's job is not just to represent your story but to sell your story to readers. It's all about marketing.

Question from Karen: What are some of your favorite book titles?
And from Dora: How do you come up with your titles?

Stealing the Preacher
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On his way to interview for a position at a church in the Piney Woods of Texas, Crockett Archer can't believe it when he’s forced off the train by an outlaw and presented to the man’s daughter as the preacher she requested for her birthday. He's determined to escape—which would be much easier if he could stop thinking about Joanna Robbins and her unexpected request. 

For months, Joanna had prayed for a minister. A man to breathe life back into the abandoned church at the heart of her community. A man to assist her in fulfilling a promise to her dying mother. But just when it seems her prayers have been answered, it turns out the parson is there against his will and has dreams of his own calling him elsewhere. Is there any way she can convince Crockett he ended up right where he was supposed to be?

About Karen Witemeyer:
Two-time RITA® Finalist and winner of the coveted HOLT Medallion and ACFW Carol Award, CBA bestselling author, Karen Witemeyer, writes historical romance fiction for Bethany House, believing that the world needs more happily-ever-afters. She is an avid cross-stitcher, shower singer, and bakes a mean apple cobbler. Karen makes her home in Abilene, TX with her husband and three children. Learn more about Karen and her books at: www.karenwitemeyer.com.    

Are You Connected?

Me

You thought I meant social media, right? 

Wrong! 

Dora here, and today I want to talk about connecting to a local writers group.

"Just one more thing to swallow more of my time." 

Maybe. Maybe not. It depends on the group. The dynamics, the schedule, the speakers, even the centrality of the meeting location.

Recently, under the leadership of newly elected president, Myra Johnson, (Yay, Myra!) our group transitioned to every other month meetings from our previous quarterly schedule. We also moved to a new, permanent location, a fire station "community room" conveniently located to a major interstate that connects both North and South Carolina. The new facility boasts a kitchen, WiFi access, and a large meeting area that accommodates up to fifty people.

Carolina Christian Writers ~ New Meeting Location

Like the new digs? Yeah, me, too.

But I digress. Of course, you're not just interested in visiting the fire station. But what if a Fire Chief talked about fire scenarios for your fiction? What if he cited examples or helped untangle plot issues? 

Missy Tippens, Love Inspired Author

OK. Maybe you're not working on a fire scene right now. You're polishing your manuscript and praying over it before you send it off to a publisher. Would you be interested in the advantages of working with a smaller publishing house? Or in a multi-published, award-winning Love Inspired author's presentation on Writing Proposals That Sell The First Time?  

Perhaps you just received a rejection from a contest entry. Would you want to hear an author with vast experience in winning and finaling in contests share tips? 

Or maybe you just want to connect with like minds and hang out with some of your favorite authors?

From L-R: Jennifer Hudson Taylor, Myra Johnson, Dora Hiers, Sandra Ardoin (standing), Mary Annslee Urban, Lynette Eason, Jennifer Fromke, Amy Clipston. Where is Angie Arndt?

There she is! Angie Arndt

Would it be worth a couple hours every other month?

Not yet? Really?

Hmmm...

What if you received a publishing contract from one of these meetings?

Ahhh...your eyes just lit up. Now I have your attention.

I'm a member of the Carolina Christian Writers, the local ACFW chapter serving both Carolinas. My first contract with Pelican Book Group (PBG)/White Rose Publishing was a direct result of one of our meetings. One of my CCW friends directed me to PBG, who was about a year old and hadn't blipped my radar yet. Would I have found my publisher had I not connected with CCW? Only God knows that, but He definitely opened a door where I had no idea one even existed.

For me, the benefits and blessings I gain from my CCW connection far outweigh the time commitment. You see, on March 15, I celebrated my fifth release with White Rose.

What about you? Are you connected with a writers group? 

If not, did I convince you to get connected?

If you are, what meeting topics would interest you?

Purchase Link

After a humiliating breakup, best-selling romance author Teal Benning flees to Promise Lake to complete her current novel, minus paparazzi and flashing cameras. Suffering from writer's block and a broken heart, Teal accepts the offer of help from neighbor, Hunter Miciver. 

Hunter longs to be more than the friend who picks up the shattered pieces of Teal's heart, but when Teal finds out his secret, will she see him for the man he is—a man of faith and devotion, a man who would cherish her for the rest of her days—or will she lump him into the same category as all the other men in her life, including her father?

Will Teal recognize when truth whispers her name?

Daddy's Girl by Pam Hillman

Purchase Link

What do you think about when you hear the phrase ‘Daddy’s Girl’? 

Do you visualize a princess in pink taffeta twirling before her beaming father? Or a little girl, hands encased in pristine white gloves, serving pretend tea in a tiny plastic teacup while her daddy balances on a chair so small he’s in serious danger of tipping over?

I was my daddy’s little princess, but instead of pretend tea, my greasy hands were more likely to hand him a crescent wrench, a roll of baling twine, or a screwdriver while the two of us worked to repair a tractor or finish baling hay before the storm hit.

My daddy was a farmer, and when my two older brothers left home, it was my turn to help Daddy on the farm. Daddy taught me to drive a tractor, to hook up a bushhog, milk cows, and to cut, rake, and bale hay — along with a host of other skills that have come in handy over the years. It never seemed to occur to Daddy that I couldn’t do the same work on the farm that my brothers had done before me.

My teen years were spent working side-by-side with Daddy, putting up hay for our own use and for neighboring farmers. Being behind the wheel of a tractor and raking sweet-smelling hay into neat rows with nothing but the blue sky for company is a good place to dream big dreams and do wondrous things.

I wore my hair twisted under a cap when working. It was cooler and kept it out of my way as well. One day while cutting hay at a neighbor’s place, a man drove up to their home. When he couldn’t find anyone at home, he drove out into the hayfield. I cut the throttle on the tractor and disengaged the PTO, letting the whirling blades on the hay mower grind to a halt. As I opened the tractor door, the stranger looked up at me.

His eyes widened in surprise, and he blurted out, “You’re a girl!”

That just tickled me pink. I guess he’d never seen a teenage girl operating a five-ton tractor and a hay mower. I couldn’t wait to tell Daddy what had happened. He got just as big of a kick out of it as I did.

On rainy days and Saturday mornings, Daddy and the other farmers could be found at the local country store, sitting around an old stove shooting the breeze. I spent many days sitting there with them, the only girl in the bunch. And when Mama told me I could skip school on my birthday, I was very excited. My birthday fell on a Thursday that year, and I spent the day at the stockyard with Daddy.

Daddy taught me the value of hard work through example. But more than that, he taught me that I could do anything, be anything. He never told me I couldn’t achieve my dreams — dreams mostly formed inside the cab of a tractor.

I dreamed of becoming a pilot and a flight attendant, a linguist and an accountant. I dreamed of touring the world, of taming the old west, of running away with the circus, of becoming a missionary. Eventually, all those dreams swirled together to form the best dream of all — weaving stories where I could be all of the above and more.

Daddy was taken from us in the prime of his life many years ago, and I never truly understood what a special man he was until much later. Even now when his name comes up among farmers in the area, it never fails that someone mentions what a good man and a hard worker he was. I’d like to think some of his work ethic rubbed off on me from the many hours we spent in the hay fields together.

Thanks Daddy. I’m proud to be your girl! 

Dora here. What about you?
Has anyone influenced your writing?
What are you doing to make your dreams a reality?

Pam Hillman was born and raised on a dairy farm in Mississippi and spent her teenage years perched on the seat of a tractor raking hay. In those days, her daddy couldn’t afford two cab tractors with air conditioning and a radio, so Pam drove the Allis Chalmers 110. Even when her daddy asked her if she wanted to bale hay, she told him she didn’t mind raking. Raking hay doesn’t take much thought so Pam spent her time working on her tan and making up stories in her head. Now, that’s the kind of life every girl should dream of! Claiming Mariah is her second novel. www.pamhillman.com

Writing from Conception to Completion Using a Desk ~ Really?

My old desk

After using the same desk and office configuration for more than ten years, recently I decided it no longer fit my writing needs. I needed more working table space and less vertical storage for things to get lost in.

But what would I want? I went on a quest to find the perfect desk and matching storage space. Know what? I didn't find anything.

I liked this desk at Pottery Barn, but it didn't come with a matching storage unit. But now, armed with a concept or idea, I had something to work with. A lot like writing, don't you think? Once you have an idea, you can start working on it, right?

Hubby and my dad

I had a particular storage unit in mind, one that would accommodate at least six cubbies to hold files and folders with the potential for a couple smaller shelves. Hubby designed the storage cubby and found plans for a similar desk to the one I liked. The planning or design phase, similar to "plotting." 

The actual creating of the desk took coordination and help from my whole family. Legs and shelves had to be level, measurements precise, and, of course, the appropriate balance between looking nice and being practical. We bought and tested about five different stains until we achieved the right look. 

My new desk

Here it is. My new desk and storage unit. I'm still looking for a couple little baskets and a wall board, so until then, my office is still in the tweaking stage. 

From conception to completion. 
Writing a book requires the same skeletal components:

• Concept or Idea
• Plan (plot or premise)
• Create (write)
• Tweak (edit)

In my current wip, I just wrapped up the creating phase and cranked up the edit process. 

Where are you in your writing phase?

Have you made any changes to your work space to accommodate your writing needs?

Journey's Embrace ~ Releases tomorrow, 3/1, with Pelican Book Group

After an injury forces Deputy U.S. Marshal Sage Michaelson off duty, he heads to his hometown with two things on his mind: recuperating and reevaluating, but Sage can’t refuse his best friend’s plea to keep a protective eye on his little sister after someone ransacks her house. But Delaney’s not so little anymore—and definitely not the young “Dane” Sage remembers. 

Flight Medic Delaney Hunt has loved Sage forever. But, he’s all about control and order while she embraces life and takes risks. As much as the idea appeals to her, she doesn’t need Sage looking over her shoulder. But when things go wrong and she finds herself hanging by her fingertips, who does she call to rescue her?

Will Delaney ever be the woman Sage wants by his side? Can Sage learn to live by grace, recognizing that God is in control? Can they overcome their fears to embrace life together?

My Everyday Valentine by Susan Tuttle

Valentines may be passed, but that doesn’t mean we can’t still talk about love, right? I was lucky enough to marry my BFF fifteen years ago. We’ve known each other for twenty-five years, but we were “just friends” for a good ten before realizing somewhere along the way we’d fallen in love. How lucky are we?

Now, when you’ve known someone that long, sometimes you think you know everything about them. You can almost fall into a rut. After we married, we had kids and settled into a nice pattern. When the kids reached school age, we decided we were going to homeschool. Things moved along nice and steadily. Hubby worked, I stayed home with the kids, and all our responsibilities naturally rolled into those categories. Which meant, laundry, grocery shopping, house cleaning, cooking…etc. were all mine. Along with schooling the kids. And I happily made our house into a home.

Then God called me back to writing.

Oh. I’d always wrote, it seemed as natural as breathing. But God was calling me into the ministry of writing and pushing me to devote more time to it. To seriously pursue it.

Now, with no agent, no book contracts, and only the whisper of God urging me forward, how was I to explain that to Hubby?

Luckily God paired me with the right man.

Because if you’re a writer, you know that there can be days or weeks where laundry doesn’t get done, the cupboards run bare (McD’s and pizza nights become the norm), and the house is destroyed. That’s been the biggest change for both of us—redefining our roles. It’s an act in constant progress, but we seem to be doing it. And over the past two years as I’ve learned to balance this calling and our home life, Hubby has supported me. Through every step, with no concrete outcome achieved, Hubby has been nothing but encouraging, prayerful, helpful…excited for me. Even when he comes home to a messy house or receives another call to pick up take-out.

And that is beyond lucky, that is blessed. That is love. Our lives have changed, and he’s changed along with them, learning to navigate this road with me and encouraging my dreams—even helping me to attain them. They are never too large, never too inconvenient, and never too far out of reach for him to push me towards them.

He’s my biggest support system.

He’s my everyday Valentine.

Now, it's your turn. 

Does your loved one encourage and support your writing?

How do you balance your writing and home life?

Dora here. Recently, Susan signed with Linda Glaz of the Hartline Literary Agency. 
Congratulations, Susan! That's definitely a "concrete outcome!"

Susan Tuttle is a homeschooling mom of three who is crazy about coffee, dark chocolate, and words—both reading and writing them. Combine that love of words with her passion for leading women to a life-changing encounter with Christ, and you’ll find her crafting Inspirational Contemporary Romance stories laced with humor, love, and healing transformations. When not cheering on her Ironman hubby, chasing the family dog, or tackling complex math problems to teach her kids (yes, even the second grader), you can catch Susan at her blog, Steps.

If the world ends tomorrow…what memories have I made? by Michele Chynoweth

This is a time of year famous for reflecting back on the year(s) past. Perhaps, it is more poignant today with tomorrow’s predicted “End of the World” according to the Mayan calendar. Now I don’t really believe that’s going to happen. Of course, I have no idea – only God knows for sure. But if it did…

I would be grateful for the following:

- Having my two novels, The Faithful One and The Peace Maker, published by a Christian publisher. More than that, for having found my true purpose in life, in being led by my Creator to write inspirational fiction;

- Marrying my best friend Bill Chynoweth in October, 2010 and raising our “blended” family –my children Will (22), Mike (20) and Kendra (16) and his children Morgan (16) and Bobby (14). Now four of the five live with us (!) Stressful and challenging? Yes. Rewarding? Definitely, when I allow myself to see it;

- My wonderful readers – and all of the new friends I’ve made on my writing journey;

- And I would even be grateful for all of the hardships and painful times in my life: a childhood abuse by my Catholic school teacher, depression and the effects of the family disease of alcoholism, a failed marriage and divorce, a miscarriage, a business I had to close after 20 years due to the recession…because all of these have given me something to write about, something to share with readers to give them some hope and extend how faith really works if you believe.

This past weekend I watched the Connecticut school tragedy on the news and the movie, “Seeking a Friend for the End of the World,” with Steve Carrell and Keira Knightley. They both made me think that the world and what happens in it often don’t make sense. Like Job (and Seth Jacobs in my novel, The Faithful One, we can often find ourselves questioning God: “Why me?” or “Why do bad things happen to good people?” And, as God answers, most often it is beyond our mere human comprehension, and we can only comfort ourselves by realizing we have to turn our will and lives over to His care and just have faith in His plan.

Both shows made me also realize that we have to count each day as precious and really be present to those around us, because it is these special times – often unexpected, when you’re open to them – that become fond memories. (For example, when two of my teenage kids actually had fun for a few hours finding and decorating the Christmas tree two weeks ago.)

This past weekend, however, I found myself so busy in the “trappings” of Christmas (cards, shopping, wrapping), that I couldn’t concentrate on what was really important (God, family, friends). That made me wake up sad Monday morning. I realized I had spent hardly any time with my husband and children. So I think I’ll go home tonight and hug them all and tell them I love them – and hopefully spend some quality time with them – because you just never know how much time we have left.

Chessa's husband, Darren Richards, is a behind-the-scenes narcissistic abusive alcoholic. None of that changes when he becomes the leading candidate for President of the United States. Chessa’s worries about her husband reach a fevered pitch as he closes in on winning the nation’s highest office. How can she support his candidacy, even if it will mean becoming First Lady?

Meanwhile, Darren’s opponent, Leif Mitchell, is selected from his humble life as a stable hand and country rock singer to run for political office. His charm and leadership pave the way for him to become a national hero and a real threat as the leading Republican presidential candidate. A powerful Darren will stop at nothing to bring Leif down, causing Leif to reconsider his “high road” approach to politics.

When Chessa finds out Leif is preparing to seek revenge on Darren in an attack that will not only destroy her husband’s candidacy, but will probably cost other innocent lives as well, she is suddenly faced with a decision: Should she preserve peace at all costs, protecting those who would become collateral damage as a result of the ensuing battle – and in default, her husband—in turn sacrificing her freedom and risking her own life? Should she try to stop Leif, which may ruin his chances but save his soul?

Purchase Link for The Peace Maker 

Meet Michele Chynoweth

Michele Chynoweth has worked in journalism, advertising and marketing prior to becoming a published author. She has won several awards for her work including first place in the drama category of the Maryland Writers Association Fiction Contest.  She is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame, is recently remarried, has five children and lives in her native Maryland.

Michele believes that the stories in the Bible - and more importantly, the people captured in them - are compelling, but because they were written so long ago, readers today have difficulty relating to or comprehending them. She therefore would like to continue writing novels that "re-imagine" them through modern-day versions that grip today's readers and still get God's messages across.

http://www.facebook.com/#!/michelechynoweth

http://michelechynoweth1.wordpress.com

Fond Memories by Erica Vetsch

I am of the opinion that fiction writers are born. We just don’t all realize we’re writers at the same age/time. But if you polled writers, I bet you’d find that from an early age, we spun stories in our heads, we lived vividly through the characters in books, and that we spent more time in a fantasy world than in the real world.

Some of my fondest memories as a child revolve around books. When I was young, I lived an intense inner life populated by the characters I had come to love in Marguerite Henry books, L.M. Montgomery books, John Richard Young books, and so many more. I pioneered with Laura Ingalls Wilder, rode race horses with Alec Ramsey, and solved mysteries with Encyclopedia Brown.

I not only lived those stories with the characters, my imagination picked up where the book left off, and I created stories with those characters, taking us all to new adventures. I was always reading a book, whether in school when I should’ve been doing schoolwork or with a flashlight under the covers at night. 

It was that time spent in another world that made me feel happy. I needed that escape, and I still do, though now it isn’t only reading about made up people, it’s making them up myself that is so refreshing and exciting.

When I was explaining this to my teenage son, about how I needed to spend time in my own head to feel like things were going okay, he nodded in complete agreement and said, “Me too, but a book will get me there faster.”

He gets it. He might even turn out to be a writer himself someday.

                                                    

About the Author:

Erica Vetsch is a transplanted Kansan now residing in Minnesota. She loves history and reading, and is blessed to be able to combine the two by writing historical fiction set in the American West. Whenever she’s not following flights of fancy in her fictional world, she’s the company bookkeeper for the family lumber business, mother of two terrific teens, wife to a man who is her total opposite and soul-mate, and avid museum patron.

A Bride Sews With Love in Needles, CA

A Harvey Girl waits on True Love.

With her brother already on the front lines in France, Meghan Thorson becomes a Harvey Girl in Needles, California. Ready and willing to wait on the hundreds of doughboys heading for Europe, Meghan deems this service her way of contributing to the war effort. When a Red Cross  representative breezes through town, Meghan embraces the challenge to do even more, committing to completing a Red Cross signature quilt and canvassing the town for donations to the cause.

Horseman Caleb McBride makes his living by training stock for the US Cavalry and keeps his pride by remaining a loner. When Meghan meets Caleb, she senses something mysterious and wounded about him, piquing her curiosity. But after the townsfolk scorn him as a coward and a profiteer, Caleb feels her pity and becomes even more guarded.

When Needles is hit by an influenza epidemic and the Harvey hotel is made into a temporary hospital, Meghan discovers Caleb’s shameful secret. Will both Caleb and Meghan find a way to kill their pride before their chance of love rips them apart at the seams?