The Story

I’m daydreaming…looking at man with an oversized cowboy hat riding a bull or a wild horse in a large corral. I’m not sure which it was because I was wondering more about why this vision was invading my thoughts. I dismissed it, but then when I saw the same sight in my mind’s eye the following day, I decided to sit down and meditate upon it.

As I relaxed into this vision, I realized that the man was an Italian singer that I enjoyed listening to. This realization made the whole daydream even more bizarre. I started to make notes as I watched the sketchy images of an unfolding story. I wrote the short story, “That’s Just the Way it Is” in a little over two hours which I published in 2013. A little later I wrote a sequel, “Return to Texas,” published in 2014. The cowboy from the vision became John Colter, who is the protagonist Becky’s, first husband.

Somehow Becky’s story never “felt”  finished…too many loose ends needed to be connected. Life got in the way until 2020 when I began working on a book that would reveal a more complete version of Becky’s life. This book became the novella Where the Heart Goes in which Becky’s shares scenes from her life as a child up until her death, from a place that seems like the afterlife. It’s like a saga packed into a novella-sized book informally narrated by the protagonist. This is a story of love, guided by the heart.

Where do stories like this come from? Is this a past life memory…mine or someone else’s shot out of the collective unconscious? Was I Rebecca? Perhaps it’s just the product of an unbridled somewhat creative mind. We will never know for sure, will we? What I do know is that this story was meant to be written and lives in a special place inside my heart. I hope that it will find a place in yours as well!

Note: That’s Just the Way It Is and Return to Texas are FREE on Amazon, today through Dec. 3rd!

Update – What I’m Working On Now

I am happy to say that I have returned to writing daily (at least for now 😊) It feels comfortable, and for the most part, the words are flowing. In 2016, I slowed down considerably due to family issues and then experienced several changes which required my time and attention. Now I’m back with renewed enthusiasm and a more focused perspective on where my writing is going.

Some of you may remember the strong, female protagonist, Rebecca, in the two short stories I published. She has been insistent about my finishing her story before I complete anything else. Rather than making a trilogy of the stories, I have decided (with her help) to write a richer, expanded version of the first two stories and complete it with the final section into a novella. “Where the Heart Goes” will be released early in 2020. For those of you who haven’t read my short stories, this is historical fiction with a romantic theme that takes place primarily in Texas in the late 1800’s.

The novella will be followed by a novel, “Trip to a Lifetime.” I began writing this several years ago after a trip to Italy. About two-thirds of it is written and if all goes well, it will be published in 2021. It is spiritual fiction with a reincarnation theme.

Thank you for following me on this journey. Your support is important to me and hopefully it will keep me from slacking off. 😊

I Didn’t Know

I liked you, even loved you, from afar

I felt I had known you before

In my mind, that cabin in the woods

A cruel, ridiculing father

Brown eyes filled with tears

A boy too sensitive and kind to kill a deer

Was I the disapproving one

Or the other too weak to speak?

Equally a sin against a gentle child of God

Haunted by the memory of your pain-filled cries

Unaware I’d have a chance one day

To heal, and be healed, from the sorrow I caused

Now to hug you dearly as a lost child

And hear you whisper, “I’m hugging you back”

To have you ask for an embrace I couldn’t give then

And feel your love radiate back to me

To say, “I love you” and hear you answer softly, “I understand”

I didn’t know

Photo Credit:  Copyright: mizinatanya / 123RF Stock Photo