Another Year Older

Well, today is my birthday. People tell me I don't look my age. One co-worker said I don't act my age. I don't feel my age. I think someone lied. But I must have been born when my mother claimed, because I remember all the fun stuff we did way back in the fifties. In Brownfield, TX, my sister and I joined friends for a walk down a dirt road to a wood-framed shop to buy a sno-cone or a "dime cherry-lime." We watched TV programs, "Gunsmoke," "The Rifleman," and all the episodes of the Cartright boys on the Ponderosa. We went to church on Sundays and Wednesdays. Dad sang in the choir and Mother taught Sunday school. And you didn't have to be embarrassed to say you were a Christian back then. We played outdoors in the summer, picked cotton on friends' farms, rode our bicycles all over the countryside without fear of predators. We had dogs: A Collie named Tonie and a Boxer named Babe. We had cats: A Siamese named Ichibon, followed by Dinghow 1 & Dinghow 2. Then came Genai, who outlived our mother. We had a parakeet named Cutie. She/he never talked, despite the little record we bought to train her/him in English language skills. My brother Jimmy horned toads and snakes as pets. I don't know if he ever named them. Then we grew up, got married, got heavier (well, some of us did), got gray hair, and few laugh lines crease our faces. But I don't feel my age. Maybe that's a good thing. Now, when I look in the mirror, I can say, "Not bad for an old lady!" Another benefit is an added excuse for shortcomings. "Oh, did I forget to do that?" A smile creeps across my face. "Well, I'm blonde AND old!"

Ancestors: Our Roadmaps to History

My dad researched our family tree back in the 60s, in pre-Internet days. He had to do it the hard way, through letters and library archives. He told us the story of our ancestor, Sir Gregory Clement, who was hanged for beheading the king of England.
My sister found a short article on Sir Gregory Clement through Wikipedia, and they even had a portrait of him! Born in 1594, to John Clement, a merchant and Mayor of Plymouth, Gregory grew up to become a Member of Parliament and one of the regicides of King Charles I. After working for the British East India Company, Sir Gregory returned to London from India and supported Parliament in the civil war. He became a Member of Parliament for Fowey in Cornwall in 1648.
He then served as a commissioner of the High Court of Justice at the trial of King Charles in January 1649. He was the fifty-fourth signatory on the king's death warrant. Fifty-nine commissioners signed in total. In 1652, the House of Commons dismissed him because of a reported scandal with his maidservant. Political opponent Thomas Harrison is suspect in engineering the false accusations. (Some things never change.) When Charles II reclaimed the throne, all fifty-nine judge regicides who signed the death warrant and witnessed the king's execution feared for their lives. A few fled England, but Sir Gregory was arrested, tried, and convicted of high treason.
According to Dad's research, the executioner offered those who were convicted with him a cordial for courage before being put to death. Sir Gregory refused the elixir and went bravely (and unrepentantly) to his death. On October 17, 1660, Sir Gregory Clement was hanged, drawn, and quartered at Charing Cross. A sad ending for a man of nobility and noble causes. So, there you have it. Part of my history. And I'm sure a part of history that will prevent me from ever being invited to tea with Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth.

Happy Friday

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

HAPPY FRIDAY!

This is one of many New Year's Resolutions I've decided to make for 2011: Post on my blog at least once a week. I've not kept up with my postings mainly because of being promoted to another level in my job. One blessing about my new position is the support and encouragement I receive from my team of attorneys and investigtors, but training in a new field can be stressful.

So, I'll post new messages every Friday, unless something comes up...like a death warrant or a brief. Just a thought here: why do they call it a "brief" when it's a 100+ pages of legaleze? One of the many mysteries of life.

Blessings to you and yours!

Merry Christmas 2010!

As many friends and family members suffer hardships this year, let us remember to give thanks to our Lord and Savior.

1. It's bitterly cold in Florida, unusually so.

I'm thankful I'm not stuck on a snow-piled highway in the middle of a blizzard.

2. I can't afford to buy presents for loved ones because of our financial distress.

I'm thankful that I have loved ones, for there are many who spend this time alone.

3. My husband denied me the joy of putting up a Christmas tree this year. No reason, he's just a humbug about Christmas.

I'm thankful he's my husband. Humbug or not, he's the man God chose for me, and I love him dearly.

4. My workload has been so heavy lately that my writing has been put on hold.

I'm thankful I have a job--and a promotion in position & salary, too!

5. I don't know whom, if anyone, will share Christmas Day with us for dinner.

I'm thankful we'll have something to eat, for many go hungry every day.

Since I struggled to come up with 5 complaints, I know I am blessed by a loving God. He has been with me through trials and triumphs, and my joy in knowing Him is great! You can have that joy, too.

May God bless you this Christmas season!

RPLA Winner!

My yet-to-be-published novel, The Obedient Heart, won second place in the inspirational romance genre of the Royal Palm Literary Awards contest. This was exciting news at first, but the competitive muse who sometimes takes over my thinking, reminded me that it didn't take FIRST place. After reading the synopsis of the first place winner, I'd say that author earned it. And I had to remind myself that being second place doesn't mean that only two novelists in this category entered the contest. According to Florida Writers Association Group Facilitator, Kaye Coppersmith, no one wins just for entering. If the entries don't meet the FWA standards, then there is no winner for that category. Second place is acceptable. I recall back in the days of Ted Mack's "The Amateur Hour" (the 1960s prelude to "America's Got Talent") Ann-Margaret took second place to a leaf blower. In an interview several years later, the famous actress-singer said, "I wonder where that leaf blower is now." I hope and pray the First Place winner gets a publishing contract, as I'm sure the author is much more talented than a man who made music by blowing through leaves. Ha!

The Obedient Heart takes place in south Tampa, with quick trips to Chicago, IL and Paris, France. Here's a brief synopsis:

Held captive in a tiny hut deep in the Guatemalan rain forest, Ted Bohannon and his friend, Donald Gregory, have one goal: take the four children imprisoned with them and escape.

Two years later, Ted's widowed sister Jennifer Ryaan paces in her living room. A mysterious note with a Guatemalan postmark appeared in her mailbox that afternoon. Someone knows her missing brother's fate. And her friends couldn't have picked a worse time to set her up on a blind date with airline pilot Jack McGowan.

FBI Agents, who investigated the original case, received new information about Jennifer's brother from a confidential informant. With Jennifer's permission, they set up phone taps and surveillance. A clandestine meeting in Paris brought Jack under the cross hairs of their suspicion.

Jennifer refuses to believe her new love is involved, but how can she argue with such compelling evidence as photos of Jack with two international crime bosses?

The tug-of-war between Jennifer's feelings for Jack and her determination to locate her missing brother is overshadowed by two men from Guatemala who stalk her. They offer to take her to her brother for a price-a price too high for her heart of obedience to God. From mysterious notes to Jennifer's kidnapping, this novel proves that an obedient heart can be broken, but faith in the Lord will help to mend it.

If you'd like to see this novel published, please let me know by posting your comment on this blog. Or if you think I need to "bump up" the synopsis, let me know that, too. I'm open to suggestions.

Vote!

In Hillsborough County we have the privilege of voting early in our elections. I'm not sure why the powers that be decided to open the polls two weeks before the actual election day, but I'm glad they did. Instead of standing in line, checking my watch every two seconds, and stressing about being late for work, I can zip out on my lunch hour, walk right in, show my driver's license (not my voter I.D.), and cast my vote.

Not voting is NEVER an option. How many men and women have spilled their blood to give me the right to vote? I cringe when people tell me they don't vote. And many don't vote because they either don't know or don't care about the issues, the candidates, or amendments. But you can bet your last dollar they know who got voted off the island on Survivor, who won the World Series, or who divorced whom in Hollyweird! Doesn't it make sense to learn about the candidates (and issues) who will have the power to raise or lower your taxes and make other decisions that will affect your liberty? Why do citizens care more about entertainers (many of whom are in that field because they are too lazy or ignorant to do anything productive), sports figures, or egomaniacs on a reality program? Maybe because it's easier than thinking.

I've enjoyed campaign walks and sign-waving events, and made some wonderful friends working for different candidates.

Study the issues & amendments, work on a candidate's campaign to get to know them (it's fun!), and go vote! You'll be glad you did.

Review of Ashes of Remembrance

Dear friends, I'm so sorry to have been so long between posts. One of my co-workers brought her sick child to the office because the daycare center has a policy of no sick children. We should adopt that policy for our office, because I succumbed to the viral infection the child left behind. Out sick for a week, and I'm still struggling to feel better. Always the optimist, this was a great opportunity to read, Ashes of Remembrance, the sequel to Only the River Runs Free by Bodie & Brock Thoene. Many of the same characters appear in this story, including Mad Molly, little Mary Elizabeth, along with main characters Kate Donovan, and Joseph Connor Burk. Joseph has reclaimed his rightful place in the community, and Chapter 1 opens with his wedding to Kate Donovan. Tragedy strikes when Joseph is arrested and falsely accused of treason before the end of the wedding reception! The evil Col. Mahon wants Burk property to graze his cattle. What better way to steal it than have Joseph hanged as a conspirator? A brief encounter in jail before Joseph is shipped off to Botany Bay leaves Kate carrying his child. In typical Thoene fashion, the history is factual, but, in my opinion, this one is much more brutal than their other writings. I still enjoyed this novel in spite of the gruesome details. After all, the mark of a good writer is when the reader experiences the book...smells the odors of the prison ship, feels the hunger pang of the prisoner who suffer from near starvation, dread the sinister shark's fin circling the skiff in the vast ocean near the southern tip of Africa. So, now I'm back from Galway, back from the sea voyage, back from another adventure in mid 19th century Ireland, only to wonder what happens next to Kate, Joseph, and the wee babe she carries within her. This gets another "Highly Recommended" from me!