Ramblings-n-Writings

Archive for December, 2009

Hopping online for a quick second to wish all of my online friends a very Merry Christmas. I hope you are celebrating the real reason for the season – Christ’s birth. I also hope you are spending time making memories with family and friends.

I’ll be back sometime next week. This past week has been a real challenge – the Blizzard of 2009 dumped 13 inches of heavy wet snow in our part of West Virginia. Electricity went out early Saturday morning (12/19) and wasn’t restored at my house until Christmas Eve morning. Sometime next week I’ll share photos and lessons I learned from the blizzard.

Until then, have a wonderful, relaxing time!

This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing The Sheriff’s Surrender Barbour Books (December 1, 2009) by Susan Page Davis

ABOUT THE BOOK

Gert Dooley can shoot the tail feathers off a jay at a hundred yards, but she wants Ethan Chapman to see she’s more than a crack shot with a firearm. When the sheriff of Fergus, Idaho, is murdered and Ethan is named his replacement, Gert decides she has to do whatever she can to help him protect the citizenry. So she starts the Ladies Shooting Club. But when one of their numbers is murdered, these ladies are called on for more than target shooting and praying. Can Gert and the ladies of Fergus find the murderer before he strikes again?

If you would like to read the first chapter of The Sheriff’s Surrender , go HERE

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

I’ve always loved reading, history, and horses. These things come together in several of my historical books. My young adult novel, Sarah’s Long Ride, also spotlights horses and the rugged sport of endurance riding, as does the contemporary romance Trail to Justice. I took a vocational course in horseshoeing after earning a bachelor’s degree in history. I don’t shoe horses anymore, but the experience has come in handy in writing my books.

Another longtime hobby of mine is genealogy, which has led me down many fascinating paths. I’m proud to be a DAR member! Some of Jim’s and my quirkier ancestors have inspired fictional characters

For many years I worked for the Central Maine Morning Sentinel as a freelancer, covering local government, school board meetings, business news, fires, auto accidents, and other local events, including a murder trial. I’ve also written many profiles and features for the newspaper and its special sections. This experience was a great help in developing fictional characters and writing realistic scenes. I also published nonfiction articles in several magazines and had several short stories appear in Woman’s World, Grit, and Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine.

My husband, Jim, and I moved to his birth state, Oregon, for a while after we were married, but decided to move back to Maine and be near my family. We’re so glad we did. It allowed our six children to grow up feeling close to their cousins and grandparents, and some of Jim’s family have even moved to Maine!

I was trekking around the Braxton County area today feeling a little discouraged that I was getting nowhere with ad sales when I got a call. It was a potential customer I had talked to last week who found out she had some advertising money opening up for 2010. She had some questions about Two Lane Livin’ so I offered to stop in since I happened to be in the area (kinda convenient since I live 45 minutes away).

This month my only job is selling ads. I’ve been trying to land some bigger / longer contracts, but the footwork just doesn’t seem to be paying off. I’m wondering how I’ll pay the mortgage and have $$ left for Christmas and a trip to PA. In fact, just before the phone rang, I was having a self-centered pity party. After I hung up the phone with the customer, I kicked myself for doubting that my needs will be provided for. I might have to work extra hard, but the bills will be paid and Christmas will happen.

One of the things I’ve noticed over the past 6 months is that whenever I start focusing on me, myself, and I and having a pity party, God hits me upside the head with a 2×4. Today’s 2×4 episode was the phone call. You’d think that after so many whacks in the head, I’d start to catch on. Ha! Of course, maybe that explains those dull achey headaches I get sometimes. Hmmm… LOL

Now, if I could only figure out a way to visit customers without having to trek around in 25 mph winds and frigid temperatures…….

I finally feel like I’m in touch with reality. I have a real cell phone!!! (“Real” as opposed to the pay-as-you-go kind.)

And if that isn’t exciting enough … The phone actually works at my house!!! Well, as long as it’s sitting on a windowsill and I’m not expecting to get any incoming calls on it. I can send/receive texts and possibly make a call on it, but after no cell service at all, that’s pretty cool!

West Virginia is notorious for poor cell phone reception. There’s been a lot of talk on the local news about improving broadband access and cell phone reception. Five years ago, you could drive 100+ miles on I-79 and not have reception for a good portion of the trip. Not the best thing if your car broke down. And once you got on some of the back roads … um, yeah right. If we were lucky (meaning the weather was blowing just right), we could stand in the middle of our dirt road and possibly pick up a cell signal (while hoping a car wouldn’t come careening around the corner). Basically, the cell phone reception equaled the department of highway’s care for the road conditions – really pathetic.

Five years later I have broadband internet access and a cell phone with reception in my home. (And reception most places that I go!) So now, just maybe the department of highways will start to improve our roads. Hmmm…a girl can wish, can’t she?

I’m not a big fan of daytime talk shows, but the last few minutes of Dr. Phil’s show today caught my attention. I turned the television on ready to scan the channels for something to listen to in the background while I made dinner. What Dr. Phil was saying stopped me dead in my tracks. I grabbed a pencil and used envelope to scribble it down. This isn’t verbatim, but close …

If you have been cheated on, it was not your fault. If your spouse cheats on you, they make that decision. It is the spouse’s fault through immaturity, lack of impulse control. It is not your fault.

Just over three months ago, I shared that I was walking through uncharted waters and dealing with a divorce. One of the things that I’m grateful for is that I never felt like my ex-husband’s actions were my fault. I’m not saying I was completely innocent, but he made the choices.

He decided to pursue the other woman, even after I knew about her. He’s the one that chose to leave his family’s farm and move to another state with her. I was here. I was waiting. He made the choice.

One of the things that helped me was when it became obvious that he was headed down a different road, he told me that none of it was my fault. He bore the responsibility for his choices. And during a couple of conversations after he left, he repeated to me that it was not my fault.

While it saddens me that he recognized what he was doing and didn’t attempt to change it, I’m grateful that he reinforced to me that his actions, not mine, were causing the problem. Again, I’m not saying I was 100% innocent, but like Dr. Phil said, the spouse who cheats makes that decision. It is his fault.

If you are walking the same road I’ve been on – knowing (for 8 long months) that your spouse is cheating, watching your marriage fall apart, or dealing with a divorce – don’t let Satan attack you and destroy your self esteem. You are better than that. You are better than the spouse that cheated. Relationships can get ugly with finger pointing and name calling, but remember that as long as you are remaining faithful to your marriage vows, you are strong and what is happening is not your fault. Remember to listen to the Voice of Truth.