When I was a girl, most of the other kids thought I was crazy because my favorite people to spend time with were my Grandmother and two eighty plus year old women living two doors away. I was enchanted by them and the stories of history they lived through and brought alive for me.
I also remember that anyone over the age of thirty was over-the-hill...so I wonder what today's youth would say if I said to them, "December 12th, I turn 60, and altough my body is not my best friend, this is the best, happiest time of my life."
They'd think I am as crazy as the kids did back when I was sitting wide-eyed at the feet of those wise, wonderful women.
Why do I feel this way?
Well because of the list of people that follows, all of them deserving recipients of my CIRCLE OF FRIENDS AWARD. (Follow the links to learn more about these incredible people...and to the ones spotlighted here, please copy and paste your award to your own spots.)
Kat Holmes...my daughter
Lea Schizas...my beloved publisher and soul-sister
Litsa Kamateros...my marketing director and soul sister
Glenn Kleier...brother beneath the skin and family of my spirit.
Karen Coté...Angel Girl and so much more
Tanja Cilia...another soul sister who is bringing Malta to life for all of us.
Gail Branan...My Y'All Soul Sister...my friend, and more.
Deliah K. Stephans...Creator of every one of my book covers and a daughter and sister to my heart.
Tiger Matthews...Brother and guardian of Delilah's joy, love, and laughter. Love you and am in your debt Tiger.
Ginger Simpson...Your humor keeps me placing one foot before the other at times when I want to curl up and cry.
Cyrus Keith...Brad...My Brother, my friend, and the restorer of my pride in what has gone before.
Roseanne Dowell...A sister who is always there.
Chris Speakman...The first of my sisters to learn the meaning of "Ahems"
Nancy Bell...Your heart is as wide as as ocean, your soul as life sustaining as a heartbeat.
Kevin Hopson...who with his wife taught me the true meaning of grace in the face of tragedy. I love you both.
Ellee Braun...Sweetie you never need to feel alone again.
Barbara Ehrentreu...your heart is so wide the world could crawl inside.
Suzannah Safi...Your beautiful visions make my world a brighter place.
Heather Haven...Meow my Sister
Jim Hartley...You made me a bear and became my spirit's Teddy.
Penny Ehrenkrantz...you were the first to open your universe to mine, and I'm not ever leaving. Hope that's okay?
Please return for part two.
I was seven when my father died. Hard age for a boy. Most kids got to learn how to swing a bat,
toss a football,
dribble a basketball, and you, know GUY things, from their dads. It's kind of hard learning those things when the dad you talk to and long to be close to
has moved on the next world.
As I was growing up, I imagined Dad sitting up there in
Heaven wishing he could be down here tossing me into the air and giggling right along with me when he caught me in mid-fall.
I longed to do simple things
that most boys
with dads take
for granted, like spending time taking me to the At-Home games of our baseball and footbal leagues.
I'm not really all that crazy about basketball, so didn't mind so much missing out on those. I do remember Henry Whitsell once bragging about the
hockey game his dad took him to and must admit I found myself turning a bit
green with envy. How cool would that be...celebrating with my dad a game that encourages beating
the teeth out of your opponent?
I didn't stay seven all that long. When I got my
permit to drive, I really, really wished my Dad was at my side. Don't get me wrong, I eventually DID get my driver's license, but like me, I think Mom would have been delighted if Dad had been here to spare her my stops and starts on the pathway to getting that license.
Going away to college was weird. Call me crazy, and believe me I've called myself that many times, but I swear every now and then, it feels like I'm being watched!
Twenty-one! I'm officially a man now.
2/3rds of my life, I've been fatherless...and yet. Remember that weirdness I told you about? It's escalating. A time or two I've turned really fast and could swear I'd seen my dad in the guy scurrying away like his
tail's on fire.
I don't know what's going on, but I've got this nagging feeling, my life's about to change big time!
For the better?
The Calling of Mike Malone by M.L. Archer is coming from the
Muse It Up Publishing side of Muse Publishing, Inc. this August 2011.
Click on the direct links for M.L. Archer's BLOG and AUTHOR'S PAGE
And remember at Muse we are always honoring the motto created by our
Goddess Of Muse Messages, Litsa Kamateros...we are...
~BUILDING THE TEAM TO ACHIEVE THE DREAM~
Come join us. Be a part of this incredible Dream now
rocking the reading world!
Life has been good for
Joanna and Jared Dresden, and soon they are about to begin a
new chapter all the way across the Country.
Along with their adorable daughter Jilly, they are going to spread their wings,
soaring from the
cold but known shores of
Maine and the
family inn they have managed for well, it seems like
forever, for the uniqueness of the
California Coast.
Excited,
eager,
happy, and
looking forward, they place their inn up
for sale.
So much joy, so much
wonder, so much
magic for this happy family
of three...until...
A month before the move Joanna and Jilly's world gives out from beneath them.
Jared is killed in an apparent car accident.
How does one go on when the center of your world has been ripped from inside you like that?
How can she and Jilly leave the familiar, the places, the small family inn that gave them
an anchor in these troubled storms?
They couldn't!
Joanna
cancels the sale, dives
back into running the inn, and tries to find some level of
acceptance for what is beyond acceptable.
Life doesn't stop moving forward no matter how deep the cavern of pain within you. A single woman now, she has no choice, but to seek
outside help to make her inn work.
His name is Rick, and he comes on board as her handyman.
Rick's arrival on the scene causes Joanna's close friend,
the
Sheriff of High Bluff, Maine to step in eyeing the younger man with suspicion, distrust and something more. Rick is trouble!
Joanna sidesteps the Sheriff's cautions.
Quickly, too quickly, a relationship begins
blossoming between Joanna and the handyman making some wonder at his sudden appearance in High Bluff and Joanna's life.
With it comes rumblings...
vile rumblings.
Was Jared's death an accident?
When a neighbor tries to rape Joanna and is later found
murdered, the rumblings escalate. Two deaths, so close together.
Was Jared's death accidental;
who murdered the would-be rapist, Is there
a hidden agenda behind Rick's arrival in Joanna's life so soon after Jared's death?
OBSESSION is coming. Be ready to grip the edge of your seats and gnaw the skin form your lower lip.
OBSESSION by
Sally Royer-Derr, amazing cover by
Muse Publishing's very own
Cover Art Goddess, Delilah K, Stephans, is heading your way on July 15, 2011 from the
Muse It Up side of Muse Publishing, Inc,
Can you feel your heartbeat beginning to race? I can feel mine.
Until its arrival follow
Sally Royer Derr at her WEBSITE, her BLOG, and her Muse AUTHORS page.
Also keep an eye on the Muse SALE page for
OBSESSION.
We have a motto we live by here at Muse
~BUILDING THE TEAM TO ACHIEVE THE DREAM~
Join us in our dream...become a cherished part of the team.
