Thanks for joining me for the Beat the Heat Blog Hop. I have been invited to join a blog hop with several other writers by my friend, the lovely Barbara Brink. With temperatures rising into the 90s this week and little desire to spend time outside in the heat, I thought this would be a great time to do some hopping. If you haven’t read any of Barbara’s books yet, I recommend the Frederickson Winery series. I flew through all three books and enjoyed getting to know the characters.
I delight in the way God constantly renews us. Saturday, I was invited to a tea party at a lovely home in a beautiful subdivision north of town. It was a celebration for the launch of Jessie, Rebekah Lyn’s brand new book.
We were all invited to wear hats, if we wished, which set the tone for our dress. At the last minute, I grabbed my only skirt – white, cotton, tiered, and put it on with a favorite flowery tee shirt. It turned out to be the right thing to wear – after all, it’s summertime down south.
One friend did wear a hat and it was a vintage number – a work of art – satin apple blossom in pale turquoise on a light frame of ribboned stems and a tiny veil. The dress she wore was beautiful too; in fact, it was such a fine dress that one of her best friends confessed to having one like it in a different color. Fortunately, it was still at home and she was wearing a long linen skirt and a bright gauzy peasant blouse.
Everyone at the tea party was interesting. Rebekah Lyn had known many of them for most of her life. Her mother was there. She’s Onisha Rebekah Lyn’s publicist. Another friend came too. She had been in charge of setting up the party, making sure there were enough china teacups and antique teapots to serve from. She handled many other organizational details and received a public promotion to assistant marketer. About a dozen of us sat at a round table and chatted. It was deliberately old-fashioned and reminded me of my mother, her friends, and their parties.
Rebekah Lyn’s great aunt Joan attended. She volunteers at The Titusville Historical Society and was instrumental in helping Rebekah with research of the history of this area. Jessie starts out in a community that no longer exists. The property became part of the Space Center, so the families who lived there had to move to the mainland.
One of Rebekah’s favorite teachers was at the party. Rebekah calls on her for not only general historical references, but for tricky English questions as well. Everyone paid close attention as Rebekah talked about the writing and publishing of Jessie.
Rebekah Lyn will be at the Sea Turtle Festival in downtown Titusville on June 14 with her books. I’m going down to help her set up, I think Onisha will still be in town, too and her assistant will come by and help, then head up to Jacksonville to visit her sister. As for me, I may look for a ranger I know who is monitoring baby turtles as they hatch. He’s looking for volunteers too and I may know someone who’d like to do just that. Maybe our son and his wife will come. He’s an environmentalist who dearly loves turtles and all other wildlife unless they’re “exotic,” which means they’re taking habitat and food from the local critters. Really though, he’s got a soft heart and will take the time to have a conversation with any live thing, even the brown lizards, who are taking over from the jewel-like green anoles.
That’s what it’s all about – tea parties – talking to the animals, family communications, reading each other’s books. It’s all about people loving people and working together in love and harmony.
Psalms 104:30 “Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created: and thou renewest the face of the earth.” (KJV
Jessie, coming-of-age story set in the exciting years of the U.S. race for the moon and releases July 20, 2014. Pre-order are available now at a 60% discount. Kindle readers will need to purchase through Smashwords
Biographies are obviously popular, we see a new celebrity promoting their book nearly every month. It’s human nature to want to get inside another person’s head, to understand what makes them tick.
The first biography I remember reading wasNicholas and Alexandra: An Intimate Account of the Last Romanovs and the Fall of Imperial Russia, a little light summer reading for a high school kid. I was fascinated with Russian society and drank in every detail of this doomed couple. Since then, I’ve read a number of other biographies, but as I write this, I am realizing that almost all of them were on political figures. I guess that makes sense, though, considering my love of history and desire to learn from the past to make better choices in the future.
Recently, though, I read The Soul of it All, the memoir of singer/songwriter Michael Bolton. I’ve been a fan for many years and knew a bit about his struggle to achieve the success he has, but this book gave me a new appreciation for his dedication to his passion. It is admirable Mr. Bolton was so candid about his struggles.
I love writing, and when I’m in the zone on a book I feel freer than anywhere else. Even when I’m not actually writing the zone can continue as the world I am creating takes over my brain. I love that feeling, but I don’t know if I could give up all the security I have achieved through my day job to focus solely on my writing. Mr. Bolton faced eviction and hunger more than once pursuing his passion. How often do we encounter someone with that kind of drive and confidence in their abilities? Too often I hear stories on the news or even in the office of people complaining about life not being fair, that they deserve more than they have. I’ve even been guilty of this myself, but this book was a good reminder that hard work is truly the key to success. I plan to keep the book near my writing area to help me remember good things do come to those who persevere and, of course, to make me smile at the sight of one of my favorite artists.
Just for fun, is there someone you would like to read a biography on that doesn’t have one out yet? Share their name and why in comments and you could be the winner of a pre-order of my upcoming release Jessie
