For a long time, I was writing non-stop. When the pandemic hit, I kind of lost my motivation. I couldn’t really travel for inspiration. Like everyone else, I was stuck at home.

Then my writing partner got sick. Yeah, my mom, who would read all my stuff as it was coming along, got sick. She really was more like a writing partner. I would come up with an idea but I used her as a sounding board. She would also make suggestions.

I remember in one story, I killed off a character and she sent it back and “suggested” that perhaps that character, who was nasty and mean, live a little longer and suffer a little more. So I resurrected the character, made her suffer and then killed her off.

Once again, Mom brought her back. She was right of course. The character was a horrible person. She survived all the drama only to get her come-uppance in the end. It made for a much better story.

I wasn’t writing anything when my mom got sick. She ended up in ICU as she went into a coma. I was up there everyday. During the pandemic, only one person could go into the ICU per day. It wasn’t like there was anyone else to help anyway. My sister lived in Arizona. My uncle helped out but he had his own life as well.

Miraculously, my mom woke up. She looked right over at me and said, “Where have you been? I’ve been looking for you!” Well, I broke into tears and thanked God she was okay.

She told me about how she was in the desert and these big huge lizards kept her from escaping. She said she could kind of see into the ICU room but not clearly. She kept wondering where I was but said, she knew I’d show up to help her.

I thought about writing that story.

Then my mom passed away. I’ve had a crisis of confidence. Who will read my stories in the interim and tell me when I’m way off? Who will make suggestions and turn the direction of the story?

It’s been almost 2 years since she died. It’s been hard because I miss her everyday. Not just from a writing perspective but she was also my best friend. She was my confidant, my own Jiminey Cricket.

I guess it’s time to try again. She’d want that.

Where do you get your ideas?

I’ve been asked that before and the answer is…I don’t know, everywhere?

Sometimes, something random will happen and I’ll think, that could be interesting. About three years ago I was in a car accident (I rear-ended someone but everyone was okay.) I was so irritated! Even if the accident isn’t your fault (in this case, it was definitely my fault), it’s still a pain in rear to deal with. Anyway, I got home that night and wondered what would have happened if I’d been in an accident with someone famous. From that came a story I like to call Not All Hockey Players Are Canadian.

Other times, stories have been inspired by encounters with people. Several years ago, John and I went to Big Bend. (It was his turn to pick the vacation destination. I pick and we go to Scotland. He picks and we go to Big Bend National Park). I have to admit (and I did, in my blog), that I was hesitant to go but go I did and we had a great time. We were sitting in this bar in a town called Terlingua that was barely a dot on the map. Three different men spoke to me that day, which is odd. It’s usually John that people talk to when we go to bars. But these were such random conversations that I thought, these people should be characters in a story. When I got home, I wrote Stranded in Terlingua.

I get a lot of story ideas from people watching. I have a terrible habit of staring without realizing that I’m staring. It’s a nasty tick that I inherited from my dad. I’m a regular at the gym and while I don’t ever talk to anyone (I’m just shy that way), I’m sure there are people who recognize me as I recognize them. Mostly, I run…for an hour. My gym has three TV stations that they play: MSNBC (yuck), Fox News (double yuck) and ESPN. One can only take world-class arm wrestling for so long.

While running, I noticed this “gang” of guys. There were three or four of them depending on the day and they moved from machine to machine in a pack. They seemed to be having a great time and I wondered what they did when they left. Did they hang out together outside of the gym? If so, where? That little scenario inspired a story called The Drunken Ass.

Once I even got an “assignment” from John. He came home one day and said quite excitedly, “I have a story idea for you!” He reminded me about the Malaysian flight that had just “dropped out of the sky”. From that idea, I wrote a little story called Missing: Flight 461.

That particular story brought about a new collaboration process with my mom. I’d been watching the news and they showed all the families sitting at the airport and it broke my heart to see those folks just waiting for any nugget of news. So, I decided to write the story from the view-point of the people waiting back home. After the first thirty or so pages, I wasn’t sure I was on the right track so I sent it to my mom, who is an avid reader. Her response? More! While I do realize that my mom is somewhat biased, I know that she wouldn’t want me to write something terrible. In fact, I’ve given her stuff that she’s sent back with a big thumbs down. But, I digress.

A lot of material that goes into the stories comes from life in general. If appropriate, I’ll insert weird but funny conversations that I’ve had with people or I’ll recount real life things that actually happened. For example, in “A Girl Named Willow”, Will is running a race and she’s doing her best time. She’s elated that she’s improved so much in such a short time. And then she gets passed by a little old lady who leaves her in the dust and is immediately deflated. Can I just say, when you’re in your twenties, it’s terribly humiliating to be passed in a race by someone who could very well be your grandma.

So, where do my story ideas come from? Everywhere…

I’ve been writing for a while now and have several stories in my “back pocket”. I’ve submitted one or two to various publishing houses and every time, they want to know “what’s your book about?” It’s a fair question but difficult to answer.

In fact, I think it’s harder to answer that question than it is to write the story itself. What’s your book about? In my mind, it’s about relationships. How people interact with one another. That description applies universally to all my stories.

A few years back, I wrote a story that I entitled “Missing: Flight 461” (titles are a whole different kettle of fish!). I submitted it to several publishing houses that were willing to accept un-agented manuscripts.

The story was about a plane that had gone missing and how the survivors were going to get home as well as what was happening with their loved ones waiting at the airport for any morsel of news.

Sounds pretty straight-forward, right? But if that’s all you had to go on, would you read it? I’d be hesitant, myself. Sounds kind of boring. But it really wasn’t.

There was drama: The plane is hijacked and five people survive the mass execution of the passengers on the plane. Once they are sure the hijackers have left, they band together and have to figure out how to (1) survive while on the island and (2) get home.

There’s humor. In addition to the five survivors, there’s one more person that finds a way to stay alive and she’s a pain in the @$$ when she meets up with her fellow survivors. Adam is the leader of the original five and he’s a patient man but Sandy, the sixth survivor, will drive a normal man to commit murder. Sandy is the one we all love to hate.

There’s romance. At the airport, Elsa is there to support her friend when she runs into a guy she went to high school with. Chase was the captain of the football team as well as the most popular boy in school. Elsa was the fat geek that everyone made fun of. Now the ugly duckling has become the swan. Will Elsa get with Chase?

There’s suspense. The survivors are able to figure out how to elude their captors. Escape seems within their grasp. As they flee the island, they are showered with bullets. Will they make it?

It even tugs at your heart-strings. At the airport, a group of people band together to become a family of sorts as they wait for news of their loved ones. They look after one another and are there for each other when the final news comes in. There are only a few survivors. Will it be one of their own?

What is your book about? Tell me in twenty words or less…Seriously?

It’s finally here! The final chapter of Fin and Willow. If you’ve been dying to know what happened after the screen faded to black, here it is.

In this story, Will has moved back to Austin to be with Fin. She goes back to work at the company that she helped Fin build. In her absence, things at the Pennington Properties have gone a little sideways but with Will’s help, the company gets back on track.

Fin has become obsessed with the idea of building a property from the ground up. When the opportunity presents itself, he and Will purchase a piece of land that is in a run-down part of the city with the hopes that their construction project will help revitalize that area.

Not long after they close on the property, they receive an offer to purchase it for twice it’s worth. Puzzled, Fin turns down the offer in order to fulfill his dream. Then the trouble begins.

Someone wants that property and will take extreme measures to get it while trying to ruin Fin and Will’s relationship in the process. They find themselves betrayed by the most unlikely sources. Can they survive this project with their relationship intact?

I hope that you all like reading it as much as I liked writing it. Thanks to my early readers (Mom and Carmen) for their input. And thanks to John for the title. Sometimes, I think that’s the hardest part!

Let me know what you think!

I’m not sure how many of you are following the saga of Fin and Willow but here’s the latest update.

I’ve had a few bumps and bruises but the second half of Willow’s story is coming, I promise. The title is Fin & Willow: A Family Business and it should be out by the end of the year for sure, probably sooner.

After twenty years of friendship Fin & Will finally tie the knot. Fin adopts Katie as his own and Will goes back to work at the company she helped build. All is going smoothly until Fin decides he wants to build a property from the ground up. It’s a project that he’s been salivating over and can’t wait to begin. With Will’s support, Fin scopes out the perfect location.

Right from the beginning, there are problems. No sooner has Fin purchased the land where they will begin construction when he gets several offers to buy the land. Fin declines and that’s when the real trouble starts. First there’s a fire that destroys quite a bit of the construction. Then there’s an unidentified dead body that police think is Fin. Is it?

Fin’s cousin, Nelson, shows up and begins to stir the pot. He’s never liked Fin and is jealous of Fin’s success. He would like nothing better than to see Fin’s pet project end with an epic fail.

If that’s not bad enough, Fin’s admin, Jenny, begins acting strangely. Furtive phone calls, long unexplained absences and a complete change in personality leaves Willow scratching her head.

All of these new challenges put a strain on her relationship with Fin to the point where she’s not sure if they will be able to continue on as a couple.

Will her love for Fin transcend all of trials that she and Fin will encounter? Is love enough to see them through?

Stay tuned as Willow tries to discover who is trying to sabotage not only their project but their lives…

Well, it’s been a few months since the book came out. I’ve had nothing but positive feedback. You have no idea how scary it is to put yourself out there and hope that people like what you have to say. I was so worried that nobody would like the story. If you’ve read the story and you liked it, I would encourage you to (1) please tell your friends - post on Facebook or just do it the old fashioned way and text them and (2) Please go on Amazon and leave a comment. I appreciate you all very much for your support. It’s been overwhelming.

I’m not sure if I told you all this but my original story had more to it. Unfortunately, I had to cut it in half or else the book would have been too expensive to print. But, on a positive note, I’ve taken the part that was left and developed it into a sequel.

So, if you’ve ever wanted to know what happens when the screen fades to black at the end, now’s your chance. The story is not yet final and I’m still trying to come up with a title. I swear, that’s harder than writing the blasted story! I’m hoping I’ll have it all together to publish sometime in the late Spring.

So what happens now? Willow and Fin have survived the attempted murder of Willow and Fin has proposed. Do they get married? Do they live happily ever after? Does anybody really live happily ever after? I will tell you this: Willow goes back to the company that she helped build. Pennington Properties takes on a new project. But, again, there are forces out there that don’t want Fin and Willow to succeed.

Fin’s dream is to build a property from the ground up. With Willow’s help, he purchases the property and that’s when the trouble starts. Someone else wants that property and they want it bad enough to kill. One man has already died and now Willow’s family is threatened.

What’s a girl to do? Should she encourage Fin to sell the property or should she support Fin’s dream at the risk of endangering her family?

Read about the latest adventures of Fin and Willow in the next installment….

More to come!

 

I wrote this story about two friends and how their lives are intertwined. Their story spans the course of twenty years. The story is about friendship, love and life. It started out as one thing and ended up as something completely different. I sent the story to my mom and she liked it. But then, she’s my mom. I think she’s contractually obligated to like whatever I do.

I have a blog where I document family events and vacations that I’ve taken with my husband and my family (there’s a link on the home page if you’re interested). I’ve always enjoyed writing about what we do and where we go. One afternoon I got a wild hair and thought it would be fun to try and write a story. Well, that one was…not great. But it sparked an interest that I didn’t realize that I had. Several stories later, I had this one. (My loving mother has read every one of my attempts at storytelling. Cheers to her!)

So, I mentioned to one of my buddies at work that I’d written a story. He was properly impressed that I could put enough sentences together to actually tell a story. He asked if I was going to publish it. I winced. I’d thought about publishing it. I had actually looked into it briefly but you needed a title and you had to have a cover…that was all beyond what I was capable of and I said so. (If it had been up to me, the title of this book would have been “Story 1”. Seriously, that was the best that I could come up with!) Then my friend basically shamed me into publishing. “I think you’re just being lazy,” he said. What??? Me? Lazy?

Well, I couldn’t walk away from that challenge so I called my mother. That’s right, Mom to the rescue! She came up with the title and helped me edit the story. The poor woman has read this story about twenty times. She could probably recite the blasted thing from memory.

After all that, I still needed a cover photo. Once again, I called my mom. I have zero imagination. I’m an accountant, for Pete’s sake. I’m not required to be imaginative. Anyway, my mom called my 12 year-old nephew, Atticus. She described what she saw in her head as the perfect cover illustration. Twenty minutes later, he sent her a text. That text became the cover of this book. It was exactly what I wanted but couldn’t think of for myself!

I found a publisher who was incredibly patient. After several months of back and forth, she sent me a printed copy of the story. It was very exciting to see something that I wrote in book form. It was even more exciting to see my mother’s vision sketched by my nephew as the cover of the book.

I have one more thing to add: None of the characters in the story are based on anyone. If you read it and think, “Hey! Is that me?” The answer is “No.” I will admit that I took my experiences and incorporated them into the story but they aren’t exactly my experiences. I made them fit the story. My poor husband kept asking if he was ‘Rich’ or ‘Fin’. Good grief! Those of you that know me will see some of my personality traits in Willow. Well, that happens when you write in the first person. But I promise, she isn’t me.

If you choose to read the novel and you like it, please tell your friends. If you hate it, you’re welcome to tell me but please tell me why. Just go to the Leave A Reply section at the top of the page, I promise not to egg your house and I’ll take it as constructive criticism. Thanks in advance.

So, here it is. A little synopsis of my first published novel. A Girl Named Willow.

Willow Fairchild and Finlay Pennington met as Freshmen at The University of Texas at Austin. The story chronicles their friendship through 20 years.

Fin Pennington is drop dead gorgeous, think Robert Redford gorgeous. He attracts women like flies. Fin and Will have been best friends for what seems like forever. Over the years, their friendship has caused a lot of friction in Fin’s relationship with women. Fin’s reaction is to dump the women.

One woman in Fin’s life has decided that she’s tired of Will. She wants to be the only woman for Fin and is doing her best to remove Will from Fin’s life, permanently.

Will Willow survive the many attempts on her life?

If you’re interested in reading the book, I’ve put a link on this website called “Purchase A Girl Named Willow”. You can also go to Amazon or to Barnes & Noble to buy the book. It should be available in e-book format soon if you want to wait for that format. On the link, there’s a sample of the book if you want to take a look. I don’t set the prices. I asked for the lowest price for each (paperback and e-book) but there are costs associated with printing so it is what it is….