Sunday, December 16, 2012

Each Day a Gift

Photo courtesy of Free Artistic Photos


"Grief is not a disorder, a disease or a sign of weakness. It is an emotional, physical, and spiritual necessity, the price you pay for love. The only cure for grief is to grieve." - Earl Grollman


Today is the one year anniversary of my father's passing. I miss him every day. But this month, there are so many  reasons why his absence will be more deeply felt: birthdays only two days apart that we always celebrated together, Christmas mornings at his house, and the New Years Day gathering that he always hosted before he got sick.

As I grieve this year, I am painfully aware of all of those who grieve the unbelievable tragedy in Connecticut - so many beautiful lives cut short. And I am thankful for every year, every day I had with my father. I treasure the memories that I have and the opportunity to be with family, share stories, and feel his presence in the impression he left on all of us.

"What we have once enjoyed deeply we can never lose. All that we love deeply becomes a part of us." - Helen Keller


This year, is the first Christmas since our oldest daughter bought her own house. She has been working hard to make it a home and she will be following her grandfather's tradition, taking over the New Year's Day celebration. There will be new memories made and an abundance of blessings to be counted. My hope is that each time I feel the prick of grief anew in my own heart,  it will be a reminder for me to lift up in prayer  the families of those lost at Sandy Hook

"She was no longer wrestling with the grief, but could sit down with it as a lasting companion and make it a sharer in her thoughts." - George Eliot



Photo courtesy of Free Artistic Photos

Wishing you all a blessed holiday and a happy new year!

Monday, December 10, 2012

Genre Immersion


Last month I posted about books with male MCs. As I was revising my own novel with a male MC I had been reading lots of these books. And I received some great recommendations in the comments. Thanks, Suze, for telling me about The Cardturner by Louis Sachar. I read it, loved it, and have been hesitant to bring my copy back to the library because I want to read it again!




The project I'm working on now is a humorous contemporary YA romance. Sometimes I find myself loosing the thread of the story and becoming too serious. That's when I need to immerse myself in lighthearted reading. Some of my favorites so far have been Eileen Cook's, The Education of Hailey Kendrick and Janette Rallison's, Just One Wish.  Do you have any recommendations for me?


How much of what you read is in the genre you write?