Today’s post was supposed be the first Fact or Fiction article of 2023, however, I experienced an unusual act of kindness I just had to share. Can You Imagine?
What most writers dread
The 90th Birthday Celebration!
Marketing is the bane of most writers’ existence, and I’m no exception. My trip to South Florida was a combination of business and my dad’s 90th birthday celebration. While there, I decided to take photos of Search Beyond Lies with natural backgrounds to use in marketing. I found what I believed to be an ideal location on the bridge that crosses the inlet.
the bridge
Since currents are extremely rough, it opens
on demand and there is always a bridge operator. I selected a great spot and
started taking photos and videos. I didn’t think about the dynamics of how I
needed to move to capture these photos and the thought of what I may have
looked like never occurred to me until…
the bridge operator
The bridge operator came rushing out of his shelter to make sure I was alright — carrying a beautiful rose. Can you imagine what he must have thought?
When I explained what I was doing, a grin spread across his face. He handed me the rose and wished me blessings on my day. I can only imagine why he had this picture-perfect rose in the first place…
What an incredible act of kindness!! He definitely made my day as I took the remainder of my photos with the rose.
My walk
My 3-mile walk turned into 6.5 miles. With a smile on my face, I took photos of my book and special rose in a multitude of scenic places:
Along the inlet…
On the beach next to the inlet…
In the park, and …
My day was truly blessed!
A writer friend of mine started sharing quotes as a ministry during COVID and one of her primary topics is kindness. What are the most unusual acts of kindness you have experienced? Any ideas to share? We’d love to hear about them!
The first Fact or Fiction article of 2023 will reveal what was fact and what was fiction about the paintings found in Search Beyond Lies. Stay tuned!
What about that New Year’s resolution? Did you make yours? If you did, how long is your list? My New Year’s resolutions started in middle school and continued for more years than I’d like to count. They included what most people placed on their list, although they varied based on the time of my life:
avoiding sweets,
exercising,
losing weight (especially after having babies),
meeting new people (I was very shy — notice the past tense), and
providing additional community service hours…. .
Although my resolutions were made with good intentions and were always meritorious, there was an undeniable common thread — I inevitably broke them. The question was how long did I maintain before I failed?
new year’s resolutions: overcoming failure
With failure came disappointment, frustration, and a sense of loss. My motivation went out the window, after all, I already failed. I stopped making New Year’s resolutions a number of years ago, however, I never threw the baby out with the bath water. My thinking, focus, and approach changed.
new year’s goals
I no longer make New Year’s resolutions, I make New Year’s goals. According to the dictionary, a goal is “the result or achievement toward which effort is directed; aim; end.” I create goals and strive to achieve them.
It’s okay to get off track, I can always get myself back on without a sense of failure. It’s a healthier, positive outlook that keeps me on track.
My article, On the Road to Healthy Living: Foolproof Your Plan! provides the road map to successfully meet your New Year’s goals. Encouraged by the success of Search Beyond Lies, the first book in the Search & Recovery International (SRI) series, my professional goals for 2023 include:
releasing the audio version of Search Beyond Lies;
continuing to grow my law practice;
continuing the Fact or Fiction Series for Search Beyond Lies as well as other Fact or Fiction articles for guest authors;
releasing the second in the SRI series, After the Verdict;
working toward getting the third in the SRI series, Pattern of Deception, ready for my editors; and
doing the research for the 4th in the SRI series which takes place in Hawaii.
My other goals include remaining physically fit, increasing my physical performance, staying within the low range of my ideal body weight in anticipation of the planning and celebration that goes into the next goal — my son’s wedding!
There is no doubt that 2023 will be a big year! Accordingly, I plan to post at least twice monthly, more with guest authors.
Wishing you all a very happy, healthy, and productive 2023! God bless!
In The Clues Part 1 of the last Fact or Fiction article for Search Beyond Lies, we learned that the existence of the glasses Charlie discovered was fact. The way they were discovered was fiction. The story behind the glasses still makes my head spin….
The History Behind the Glasses
Brian was an avid hiker with a goal of hiking all the 14ers. Par for the course, his sunglasses took a beating. J.C. was also hard on sunglasses so as a tit for tat type of joke, they gave each other their favorite sunglasses for their birthdays. At the time, J.C. liked a certain style of Ray-Ban® sunglasses.
Brian & J.C. hiking wearing the infamous sunglasses.
The sunglasses
The day before J.C.’s birthday, 8 months after Brian’s last hike, a small package was delivered to our home for J.C. By this time, J.C. had started a new job back east, so he asked me to open it. They were Ray-Ban® sunglasses. He asked who the sender was and where it originated from. Logical questions.
Estonia
The answers, however, did not make sense. They were sent from Estonia and the sender was his father, my husband. Clearly, he did not send them. Not only had my husband never been to Estonia, but even if he had, he would have sent a gift to his son’s new residence.
Hmmm. I took a picture of the sunglasses and texted it to J.C. They were his favorite style….
The investigation
I called Ray-Ban® and was advised that they could be counterfeits. They did not distribute from Estonia, and they were made only in Italy or China. I checked the packaging and tag. These were made in Italy, or so the tag said. The next step was to take it to an authorized distributor who had the capabilities to inspect and determine whether they were genuine Ray-Ban® sunglasses.
Italy City Scape
I did and they were genuine Ray-Ban® sunglasses. Hmmm.
friends and family
J.C. called every one of his family and friends who may have given him those sunglasses for his birthday. He struck out. No one he knew sent him those glasses.
conclusion
Who sent those sunglasses? Maybe it’s only my novelist’s
imagination, but I’m not 100% sure Brian is no longer with us….
Part 1 of The Sojourners’ Quest, “Fact or Fiction,” discussed the hard facts of life for pioneers who crossed the American continent by wagon train on the Overland trails. In Part 2, we’ll consider three elements of fact or fiction in the story.
1. The Sojourners’ Quest opens with Irish-born heroine Sarah Byrne riding on the box of a Prairie Schooner with her employer, the Reverend Matthew Sinclair—a protestant clergyman—walking next to the wagon nudging his team of six mules forward. Which scenario would be most accurate—riding or walking?
Teams of six to twelve mules or horses or four to six oxen comprised the animals hauling the Prairie Schooners. Still, men, women, and children usually walked alongside the wagons due to the rough terrain and lack of suspension on the wagons.
Only the sick or weak would ride inside the Prairie Schooners. Sarah had walked most of the way, but her shoes were so thinly worn that they hurt her feet to walk in them. Unfortunately, ragged shoes and sore feet were facts of life for the emigrants who walked the two thousand miles across the continent.
2. The Sojourners’ Quest takes place during the summer of 1869. Hadn’t wagon trains become a thing of the past by then?
Not entirely, but they were on their way out. Between 1836 – 1869, more than 420,000 people traversed the continent on wagon trains. By May 10, 1869, the Transcontinental Railroad between New York and San Francisco gave people a different option. Though wagon trains operated through the 1880s, most people migrated west on the railroad. Steam locomotives could travel 40 miles an hour—4 days from coast to coast with less time in between. Wagon trains took 4 to 6 months, depending upon the weather.
Taking the wagon train made sense for Sarah, Matthew, and his two children. Matthew had books and heirlooms to carry. Besides, the first railroad to climb the steeper elevations connecting Denver with the mining communities wasn’t built until 1872 into Black Hawk through the steep and narrow Clear Creek canyon. The railroad didn’t stretch as far as Georgetown, Colorado, until August 1877.
Sarah and Matthew would still have had to get to Georgetown by Prairie Schooner once they arrived in Denver.
3. Early in the story, Sarah says of her life in Ireland, “How could any of us [women] survive the kind of poverty so devastating that it’s driven us to descend upon this United States in droves?” Several factors contributed to the mass emigration of men and women to the United States from Ireland in the nineteenth century.
The most significant influence for women like Sarah after the Irish potato famine of the 1840s and 50s was a change in the social and economic climate that discriminated against unmarried women, particularly those from the lower class. The combination of inheritance laws that favored the moneyed class and a lack of opportunities for employment made options for making a living nearly impossible.
Moreover, without a dowry, young women had no chance of marrying. Their families encouraged them to emigrate, and the majority worked as domestics in the homes of wealthier Americans, allowing them to earn a living. It would be a fortunate Irish maiden who also found love while serving in such a home.
(c) 2022 Donna Wichelman
The Sojourners’ Quest
Novelette Prequel to the Singing Silver Mine Series
Sarah Byrne left everything behind to escape the poverty of her Irish homeland. But will she make a better life in America and find love?
Born into the
lower class of Irish society, Sarah Byrne had no dowry, no chance of marrying
well, no way of earning a living to rise out of her miry bog. When best friend
Mary insists she must emigrate to America to make better than butter and egg
money and find a man to marry, Sarah risks her life on a disease-ridden ship to
sail across the Atlantic.
But
leaving the land and people she loves proves more difficult than she had
thought as Sarah combs the streets of New York for a job, and everywhere she
turns, the signs read, “No Irish Need Apply.” Her only option: become the nanny
for two children of a widowed minister who has accepted a position in the Rocky
Mountains.
But will Sarah
have the strength to cross the Great American Prairie in a covered wagon during
the dusty heat of summer? And will her grief-stricken employer ever return the
profound feelings she has developed for him?
Find out how and where love blooms in this novelette prequel to the
Singing Silver Mine Series, an exciting new Historical Romance series
that will take you on a journey into our deepest longings for love and
contentment.
This novelette is a Giveaway. You may click on the following link to receive your free copy. https://BookHip.com/BGKHGJN
Donna worked as a communications professional before turning to full-time writing. Her short stories, essays, and articles have appeared in various inspirational and secular publications, and she has two self-published books available on Amazon.com. Weaving history and faith into stories of intrigue and redemption grew out of her love of history and literature as a young adult while attending the United World College of the Atlantic—an international college in Wales, U.K.
She still loves to explore the peoples and cultures of the world and views her writing as a ministry, developing plots that show how God’s love abounds even in the profoundly difficult circumstances of our lives. Her stories reflect the hunger in all of us for love, forgiveness, and belonging in a world that often withholds second chances.
Recently, my husband and I took a road trip in a 300 hp Jeep
Grand Cherokee to visit friends and family and sightsee the Midwest, Blue Ridge
Mountains, and Eastern Seaboard. With autumn upon us, we packed the SUV with
clothes and extra gear for inclement weather. A small ice chest and picnic basket
held a stash of food, utensils, and paper products for eating along the road. Other
times we pulled off to get a bite to eat. Gas and hotels were plentiful.
Jeep Grand Cherokee: Compliments of Pixabay
Ice Chest: Compliments of Dreamstime
We reveled in comfort on our twenty-first-century high-speed freeways, loving our heated seats on cold mornings and audiobooks downloaded on an iPhone to keep us from boredom on long stretches of road. Minus the days we enjoyed with friends and sightseeing, we spent seventy-two hours on the road and drove forty-six hundred miles from door to door.
United States Map: Compliments of Dreamstime
Our trip provoked reflection on how my characters fared, migrating across the continent in the nineteenth century on the Oregon and Overland Trails in a covered wagon.
Abandoning their homes in the east, pioneers left most belongings behind in favor of necessities to sustain them throughout their travels. They drove in covered wagons—Praire Schooners—wooden boxes that measured four feet wide, ten feet long, and three feet deep.
The box sat on four wheels made of wood, iron bands fastened to the outside rims, and was covered with a double-thick canvas coated with linseed oil for waterproofing. They tied the ends for privacy or protection from the elements
Prairie Schooners weighed thirteen hundred pounds and
required teams of horses, mules, or oxen to pull. Poor suspension and rough
roads meant people preferred to walk alongside the wagons rather than endure
lurching in the box. They wore through their leather boots quickly, tolerating run-down
shoes. Traveling two miles per hour—fifteen to twenty miles per day—the two-thousand-mile
trip took four to six months, depending on the weather.
Pioneers constructed their wagons with interior storage;
some had false bottoms with extra storage below. Few towns and scarce services meant
carting hundreds of pounds of flour, lard, bacon, beans, fruit, coffee, and salt.
They also carried cornmeal, eggs, potatoes, rice, yeast, and a large barrel of
water tied to the side of the wagon. Halfway across the hot, barren prairie,
water often ran out, and they collected it crossing rivers or during rare rainstorms.
Cattle and people withered without it.
Typical Prairie Schooner: Compliments of Pixabay
They also carried a reflector oven (tin kitchen) to cook meals, consisting of meat hunted along the trail, baked bread, hard tack, beans, bacon, and dried fruits. Without an ice source, they preserved their food with salt, and without kindling on the prairie, they collected buffalo chips (dried animal feces) to fire up the reflector oven and start campfires.
Reflector Oven: eBay Collection
Kettle: Compliments of Pixabay
Movies and historical fiction novels give romantic notions of travel on the Oregon Trail. But diseases such as cholera, accidents, swollen rivers, and exhaustion took nine out of ten lives. The Oregon Trail afforded little time for leisure. Most pioneers spent their days walking the trail, tending camp, and fending off various dangers, including snake bites and nefarious folks stealing vital resources. Suicide was common.
Only faith and long-suffering kept the pioneers’ hopes and dreams alive. They deserve great honor and respect for risking all to obtain a better life in the west.
(c) 2022 Donna Wichelman
The
Sojourners’ Quest
Novelette Prequel to the Singing Silver Mine Series
Sarah Byrne left everything behind to escape the poverty of her Irish homeland. But will she make a better life in America and find love?
Born into the
lower class of Irish society, Sarah Byrne had no dowry, no chance of marrying
well, no way of earning a living to rise out of her miry bog. When best friend
Mary insists she must emigrate to America to make better than butter and egg
money and find a man to marry, Sarah risks her life on a disease-ridden ship to
sail across the Atlantic.
But
leaving the land and people she loves proves more difficult than she had
thought as Sarah combs the streets of New York for a job, and everywhere she
turns, the signs read, “No Irish Need Apply.” Her only option: become the nanny
for two children of a widowed minister who has accepted a position in the Rocky
Mountains.
But will Sarah
have the strength to cross the Great American Prairie in a covered wagon during
the dusty heat of summer? And will her grief-stricken employer ever return the
profound feelings she has developed for him?
Find out how and where love blooms in this novelette prequel to the Singing Silver Mine Series, an exciting new Historical Romance series that will take you on a journey into our deepest longings for love and contentment.
This novelette is a Giveaway.
You may click on the following link to receive your free copy. https://BookHip.com/BGKHGJN
Donna worked as a communications professional before turning to full-time writing. Her short stories, essays, and articles have appeared in various inspirational and secular publications, and she has two self-published books available on Amazon.com.
Weaving history and faith into stories of intrigue and redemption grew out of her love of history and literature as a young adult while attending the United World College of the Atlantic—an international college in Wales, U.K. She still loves to explore the peoples and cultures of the world and views her writing as a ministry, developing plots that show how God’s love abounds even in the profoundly difficult circumstances of our lives. Her stories reflect the hunger in all of us for love, forgiveness, and belonging in a world that often withholds second chances.
On July 5, 2018, Brian Perri was reported missing on Mount Meeker, one of the most dangerous mountains in Rocky Mountain National Park. Search Beyond Lies, Book One in the Search & Recovery International Series is a work of fiction, whose inspiration lies in a rare type of friendship J.C. Fischer and Kimo McEwen had with Brian where they put their lives on hold and jeopardized their safety and well-being to search for him. Was the manner in which Brian was discovered missing fact or fiction?
J.C. and Kimo
discovered missing
The manner in which the character, Brett, was discovered missing in Chapter 1 is fact. From his failure to show up at the defense, to the condition of the apartment during the welfare check is fact, including the participation of the character James. The description of the police officer is fiction.
The Last Known Location
A selfie revealed the last known location was the summit. That is where the search began, and that is fact. The when, where, and to whom the selfie was sent, are fact as well as the reasons a missing person’s report was not filed at that time.
the car
The description of the car, where it was parked, and the events surrounding it are fact.
the park rangers
Fact: The work of the Alpine Team. A number of these dedicated Park Rangers continued their search on their days off as volunteers – they would not give up.
Fact: The existence of the Community Liaison and the Park Rangers’ reasons for deterring volunteers.
What was written about the search and rescue dogs are true. You’ll have to read the book to see their role.
Bull Elk in Rocky Mountain National Park
Since I don’t appreciate spoilers, you’ll notice that I intentionally did not include any. I want you to enjoy the book while appreciating what is fact and what is fiction.
In the next Fact or Fiction article for Search Beyond Lies, we’ll take a look at the clues revealed during the search. I promise not to include spoilers.
Thanks for having me, Karen. Today I’m going to talk about my Peaktop Dude Ranch series. The comment I get most often from readers of this series is “I want to vacation at Peaktop Dude Ranch. Is it a real place?”
peaktop dude ranch–Is it real?
The short answer is no. Sorry, but Peaktop Dude Ranch is not real. Neither is Peakview County where the ranch is located or the two nearby towns of Peakview and Aspen Ridge, which are other series I’ve written.
A little history
Having said that, Peaktop Dude Ranch is based on my extensive experiences of both staying as a guest and working on dude ranches in Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana. My love for dude ranches started when I was five years old, and my parents took our family to a Colorado dude ranch where I got my first experience of riding a horse.
Dude Ranch
I still remember that small, black and white horse named Little Joe (those of you who are old enough to remember “Bonanza” will understand the name). Anyway, we continued to vacation at a different dude ranch each summer until I was thirteen. That’s when we found Lost Valley Ranch near Deckers, Colorado. We loved it so much that we vacationed there as a family for the next six years, and later I worked there for three years. I always refer to it as “my happy place.”
Beautiful Memories
In my adult life, I have spent many weekends in the spring and fall there with my kids and grandkids. Four generations of my family have now fallen in love with the dude ranch
The inspiration behind the ranch
Peaktop Dude Ranch is based on my personal experiences at Lost Valley and other dude ranches. You can be sure that when you read my books, they authentically portray a dude ranch. Several of the books in all three of my Colorado series have covers that were taken at Lost Valley Ranch. In my Peaktop Dude Ranch series, the corral in the background of Peaktop Dude Ranch Homecoming is the actual corral and some of the wranglers at Lost Valley.
the fires
In the fall of 2020, when Fort Collins, where I live, was blanketed in smoke and ash from the Cameron Peak wildfire, I was inspired to write a romance including a Colorado wildfire, so Peaktop Dude Ranch Aflame was born. Click on the title to check it out.
Lost Valley Ranch was actually in the middle of the Hayman Fire, one of the largest wildfires in Colorado history in 2002.
As a result of thousands of people praying for the ranch worldwide, a thirty foot wall of flames that roared through the canyon and came within a mile of the ranch shifted and went around the ranch, burning all the surrounding hillsides, but not a single building of the ranch. (If you ever doubt the power of prayer, all you have to do is look at the photos from after the fire).
Colorado Fires
The fire at Peaktop Dude Ranch is loosely based on that. The photo on the cover of the book is an actual photo taken by firefighters right outside of the Lost Valley ranch house after everyone had been evacuated.
If you read my series and want to vacation at a real dude ranch, you can go the Dude Ranch Association website and connect with hundreds of dude ranches spread throughout the western United States. It is a truly magical vacation if you want to ride horses and pretend to be a cowboy or cowgirl for a few days.
(c) 2022 Jill Haymaker
Currently she is busy writing a Montana Pines Series, set in western Montana. She also has had several short stories published by Chicken Soup for the Soul, the most recent in the book my Hilarious, Heroic, Human Dog.
Jill Haymaker was born and raised in Indiana and Ohio. After high school, and college she moved to Fort Collins, Colorado. She practiced family law in Fort Collins for over 20 years before closing her law office to become a full-time author. She has three grown children, a son and two daughters. She also has six granddaughters and one grandson.
When not writing, Jill enjoys the Colorado mountains, horseback riding, gardening, long walks with her Toy Australian Shepherd, Merlin, and spending time with her children and grandchildren. She enjoys their numerous sporting events. She is also an avid football and basketball fan and can be found on weekends cheering on her favorite teams. She has a passion for working with high school youth, she serves as a mentor to at-risk youth, is a youth group leader at her church, coaches a high school mock trial team, and is a volunteer at cross country and track meets. She loves to hear from readers. Feel free to email her at jillhaymaker@aol.com or follow her website and blog at www.jillhaymaker.com
Now that we’ve looked at what I am doing, let’s examine what I’m not doing. Have those things, too, helped revitalize my writing? Maybe. So what am I spending less time doing?
Cleaning
I’m spending less time cleaning house. No, I haven’t let the house be condemned by the Board of Health, but I’m realizing more of what is important … and what’s not. Spending less time cleaning house has been great. Not only do I have more energy and time for life’s important moments, I also haven’t experienced any noticeable change in lifestyle. Post-pandemic, the house isn’t perfectly clean; that’s a given.
Cleaning House
But neither was it perfectly clean pre-pandemic. I was scrubbing, dusting, vacuuming, etc., all for a false sense of self-worth. Now, I work to keep the house comfortable and semi-decent. My happiness level shot up, as did my time to daydream about the next book or noodle around with ideas for trying a different genre.
Accumulating
I’m spending less time accumulating
more things. Spending less time in accumulation is just practical. Having a bunch of things means more dusting
those things, more re-arranging those things, more trying to find room for
those things. My time is much better
spent playing with grandchildren and writing.
worrying
I’m spending less time worrying over if I will sell more books. I will do my best in my writing, but I’m not going to obsess over it. Using less emotional energy to worry over if I’ll ever sell another book gives me the courage to take risks in my writing. Could I add a more in-depth scene to my latest book and would the editor like it? We’ll see.
Selling More Books
I’m spending less time worrying over what others think of me. Spending less time on this has been infinitely freeing. (How else could I carry off having blue hair for over two years?) In my seventies now, I realized I had spent far too much of my life anguishing over what others thought of me. No more.
FINALLY
I have no presumption that what
works for me will work for you. These
are just a few of the things I am doing differently now. Whether they make me a better writer is yet
to be seen, but they are making me a better person.
What works for you?
Jane M. Choate dreamed of writing since she was a little girl and entertained her friends with made-up stories about them. She postponed her dream of writing to get married and have children. On one particularly hard day when it seemed all she had done was to clean toilets (she had two small boys at the time), she wrote a short story and sent it in to a magazine on a whim. To her surprise and delight, it was accepted.
Jane now writes for Love Inspired Suspense where she combines romance, danger, and faith. Jane is the mother of five children, grandmother to ten grandchildren, and great-grandmother to one adorable baby girl. When she is not writing, she can be found trying to keep up with her grandchildren. (The operative word there is “trying.”)
You won’t want to miss Jane’s latest release–Rocky
Mountain Vendetta–A must read that spent 2 weeks on the Publishers Weekly
Bestseller List!
I’m spending more time with my family, especially my grandchildren. I’m taking more trips, like a recent one to Utah to see a new great-grandbaby. (Yes, I have a great-grandbaby, and she is beautiful.)
Spending more time with family and friends has allowed me to watch the interactions between individuals and then to use that, when appropriate, in my writing. Our family is messy. The relationships are messy. And isn’t that what life is about? Messy relationships that somehow stick. Our family sticks together, no matter our messiness, no matter what goes on between us. We may fight, but let someone attack any one of us and we come together, ready to take on any and all who would divide us. Since I write mainly romantic suspense, the hero and heroine have a “messy” relationship. Things don’t come easily to either of them. They argue; they fight. More importantly, they fight those who would hurt the other.
more purging
I’m spending more time purging, letting go of what I don’t need and don’t want. Letting go or purging possessions that no longer work for the life I want to have has freed not only space in my house but space in my brain as well. Both are important.
Too many things create clutter. After forty-six years in the same house, my husband and I have enough clutter to last several lifetimes. Getting rid of some of it (I’m even letting go of some books) allows me to see white spaces. We all know that white space is important in the pages of a book. We gravitate toward that because we know that white space means dialogue. In a home, white space means freedom from clutter. White space in the brain is vital as it creates a blank page for my thoughts to take shape.
More joy
I’m spending more time finding joy in the small things. Practicing finding joy in small things keeps my “glass half full.” In order to write, I need to recognize unexpected moments of happiness, of laughter, of love.
This is largely related to spending time with grandchildren. Who can resist a hug from a four-year-old blue-eyed blonde granddaughter who calls me “Meemaw?” These little scraps of joy remind me that the world is full of things to write about.
more fun
I’m spending more time having fun, like dying my hair blue. Spending more time in having fun and doing silly things, like dyeing my hair and eyebrows blue, has awakened that part of me that used to do such things on a regular basis. With that, I was able to add bits of humor in my last book, which garnered favorable response.
saying “no” more often
I’m saying “no” to requests upon my time and energy more often. Saying no to unreasonable requests upon my
time and energy has freed up both.
In our service organization, we practice what we call a ministering program. It’s a good thing to be able to help others, and I try to do what I can. However, when my husband and I were assigned to one lady who every week had more and more things for us to do, requested more and more things which required ever-increasing physical and emotional strength than we had to give, we finally asked to be released from that particular assignment. Though she was a nice enough woman, she had no sense of boundaries. She took and took, leaving us with little left over for ourselves or anyone else. Post-pandemic, I have found more courage to speak up and say what’s working for me and, also, to say what’s not working. Reclaiming that energy and time gave me the same to devote to my family and my writing. For a while, I felt selfish in saying “no,” but then I realized it wasn’t selfish but practical to take care of myself.
What are you doing more of?
Find out what Jane’s NOT doing in the last article in this series. You won’t want to miss it.
Jane M. Choate dreamed of writing since she was a little girl and entertained her friends with made-up stories about them. She postponed her dream of writing to get married and have children. On one particularly hard day when it seemed all she had done was to clean toilets (she had two small boys at the time), she wrote a short story and sent it in to a magazine on a whim. To her surprise and delight, it was accepted.
Jane now writes for Love Inspired Suspense where she combines romance, danger, and faith. Jane is the mother of five children, grandmother to ten grandchildren, and great-grandmother to one adorable baby girl. When she is not writing, she can be found trying to keep up with her grandchildren. (The operative word there is “trying.”)
You won’t want to miss Jane’s latest release–Rocky Mountain Vendetta–A must read that spent 2 weeks on the Publishers Weekly Bestseller List!
In the first Fact or Fiction article, I introduced a new series to reveal how authors use real life characters, places, and events to write fiction. The series was targeted to what was fact and what was fiction in Search Beyond Lies, a romantic suspense thriller inspired by true events.
Search Beyond Lies — Fact or Fiction
I’ve had so much interest from my readers, that I’ve invited some favorite authors to share the inspiration behind their novels and reveal the facts behind their fiction. My plan is to publish the Search Beyond Lies Fact or Fiction series every other week and share guest articles on the alternate weeks. Some weeks 2 articles will be released.
Our first guest is Jane M. Choate, author of 41 romantic suspense novels, the latest being Rocky Mountain Vendetta – a definite must read that spent 2 weeks on the Publishers Weekly Bestseller List.
This article is the introduction, the first in a three-part series by Jane that will look at how the pandemic affected the creative writing process in developing the story, characters, and “Aha” moment.
THE OTHER SIDE OF THE PANDEMIC
BY JANE M. CHOATE
On the Other Side of the Pandemic
We are now on the other side of the pandemic (at least until a new one or another life-altering thing hits). What do we do now? If you’re like me, you’ve faltered, may have doubted yourself, even questioned whether you could or should continue writing at all. We get it. We’re all feeling our way to a new kind of living, a new kind of dressing (how many of us have pretty much lived in pajama pants over the last couple of years?), and, for the writers among us, a new kind of writing.
How do we find our way back to our writing or forging a new
path in that writing? This may be changing genres or it may be developing a new
schedule or changing how we look at the world.
It may be letting go of something that fit the you that you were and
finding something different that fits the you that you are now.
In the last two-plus years, I’ve been practicing new life
skills, adding some things, subtracting others.
How are any of these things helping with my writing? Truthfully, I don’t know how much they are
helping, but I can see and feel a difference in myself. They are helping me keep myself in balance. And that’s important. For my writing. For my life.
In the next article, I’ll discuss what I’ve added.
Jane M. Choate dreamed of writing since she was a little girl and entertained her friends with made-up stories about them. She postponed her dream of writing to get married and have children. On one particularly hard day when it seemed all she had done was to clean toilets (she had two small boys at the time), she wrote a short story and sent it in to a magazine on a whim. To her surprise and delight, it was accepted.
Jane now writes for Love Inspired Suspense where she combines romance, danger, and faith. Jane is the mother of five children, grandmother to ten grandchildren, and great-grandmother to one adorable baby girl. When she is not writing, she can be found trying to keep up with her grandchildren. (The operative word there is “trying.”)
