I Love Halloween!!

I love Halloween. It brings out the kid in me.

I love dressing up in costume to pass out candy.

I love munching on the candy while passing it out. (not the same one I'm passing out!)

I love the Halloween decorations.

I love watching the children step shyly up to the porch, and then watching their parents coax them into saying "trick or treat"!

I love watching the Ghost Hunters marathon on Syfy on Halloween night.

I love the "day after" clearance sales so I can stock up on decorations and costumes for next year.

I know there's more things I love about this fun holiday.

What's your special Halloween event? I hope you're not one of those people who turn off the lights and pretend you're not home!! If so, you're missing out on so much fun.

Silhouette Desire

I'm finally marketing my completed Silhouette Desire. I had written a first draft of this story over five years ago. I really liked it and had planned on submitting it to agents all those years ago.

However sometimes life throw us all unexpected curves. When I completed the first draft, I learned that my sister was diagnosed with leukemia. One of my secondary characters was going through treatment for leukemia. While my character would survive in the end, my sister was not so lucky.

Needless to say, I was no longer interested in completing that book. I stuck it inside a drawer for almost five years. During that time, I concentrated a lot on short stories and sold quite a few. I even finished editing my young adult suspense novel. I'm searching for an agent or publisher for that book now, also.

However, I've always been a fan of Silhouette Desire and Harlequin Intrigues. So I wrote another rough draft for Silhouette Desire. I liked that one too. But my thoughts kept going back to the first one I wrote. I rescued it from the drawer. And I finally finished it. Now the marketing game begins.

And, of course, the process of editing the second Silhouette Desire. And then to write another. And another......

Paramedic - On The Front Lines of Medicine - by Peter Canning

The author, a former political speech writer, leaves politics behind in search of a more rewarding career as a paramedic.

This book is never boring in spite of the fact that it’s chock full of useful information. You’ll learn the step-by-step instructions on how to start an IV, how to recognize and treat anaphylaxis shock, as well as how to properly insert an endotracheal tube.

If you’ve ever witnessed an ambulance speeding down the highway, lights flashing, only to see them leave the home after retrieving the victim, with no fanfare, you’ll learn why. (I always assumed this meant the victim had died, meaning there was no need for a speedy exit – not true!)

Unfortunately, you’ll also become aware that some people use Emergency Services for their own personal taxi to and from appointments, making the EMT or paramedic unavailable for actual emergency calls.

Needless to say, if you’ve ever thought of writing about a character in the medical profession, this book is a must for your writing library. You’ll find yourself going back for pertinent information time and again.

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September 1, 2004 - The New Normal

It was a Wednesday to be exact. My husband, Rick, walked into a medical clinic early that morning, complaining of severe pain between his shoulder blades. Three months later, on November 30th, he wheeled himself out of the hospital, into a wheelchair-accessible medical van, and returned to the house he never thought he'd see again.

A ruptured cyst on his spinal cord had left him paralyzed from the waist down. Our living room furniture had been discarded to make room for a hospital bed, as well as other necessary medical paraphernalia he would now need. The house we'd lived in for almost fourteen years was no longer adequate for our needs. And so we left behind good neighbors and friends and built a more suitable dwelling, which would give Rick the space he needed to maneuver around the entire house instead of settling into the two small living spaces he'd been designated to in our old house.

As a caregiver, working forty hours a week became too exhausting for me. I left a job I loved, co-workers I considered family, and moved to a new position within the same company, just across the street, where I now work part time. I recently read a book by Don Piper called Heaven is Real.



In this book, Piper reflects on how he has had to adjust to a completely new life after a devastating crash that left him dead for 90 minutes (90 Minutes in Heaven),

then returned to earth to face tough new health challenges in the years to come. Like me, Piper, and probably everyone at some time in their lives, has to accept the fate that life has dealt them or simply give up.

I chose the new normal.

Phobias

I don't like flying, but I don't think I'd call it a Fear of Flying. Since I have no intention of getting on an airplane again, I don't feel that this fear can reasonably be classified as a phobia.

However, I do admit to being afraid of low-flying airplanes. Whenever I hear the roar of an airplane engine, which seems to be directly over my house, I tense up and wait for it to pass. I tried looking online to see if this was a common fear with an actual name. Apparently it isn't. Aviophobia is the actual fear of flying. As I mentioned, this doesn't really apply to me.

I work with a woman who has Mysophobia, a fear of germs. Each morning before work, she reaches for anti-bacterial wipe and wipes down the entire counter, computer, keyboard, and anything else she has to touch. She also has a drawer where she keeps HER pen, and no one is allowed to touch it.

Phobophobia is the fear of having a phobia. Does this really exist?

Spectrophobia is the fear of mirrors or one's own reflection. Now this sounds like a great paranormal story in the making.

Workplace phobia is the fear of a workplace. I know people like this, but I thought they were just too lazy to work.

Do you have a phobia you're willing to admit to? Does it have a name?

Work Release Program

Today was the second time in the past few months that I've driven from home and back and witnessed a large white van which read "Work Release Program". Several prisoners, dressed in typical tv-show black and white horizontal-striped pants and yellow tee-shirts were outside performing various yard tasks work for the city.

I'm curious to know who supervises these outings. While I'm sure there were several "guards" in the area, I didn't really see anyone who appeared to be in charge. Since the van was parked at the end of a populated subdivision, I also found myself wondering how easy it would be for someone to wander off, sneak into someone's house, tie them up, and steal their clothes in order to make an escape.

The two times I've seen this work-release van, it has been in the exact location. I'd love to know how the residents of that subdivision feel about having the van of prisoners so close to their homes.

Am I the only one who finds this a bit scary? Or is my over-active writer's mind working overtime?

Actually, I'm sure it's the latter. But isn't that what writers do?

Memories - The Road That Never Ends

The road did end, but when you’re ten years old and just embarking on an exciting new journey through unfamiliar territory, the distance seemed daunting. After all, it wasn’t just a simple trek through the woods. The Road That Never Ends began at the edge of our new property in Boaz, Missouri, just near the narrow dirt road, which led to our home and the one other home a mile away, before the entire so-called neighborhood ended in an abrupt dead end.

The Road That Never Ends wasn’t actually a road at all. It was a narrow creek embedded in decorative rocks and occasional waterfalls that meandered through our new property. Often, we’d spend hours exploring the path that held such fascination for my siblings and me. We were totally captivated by the beauty of this magical place we’d discovered.

We encountered many friends along the way - Turtles, rabbits, squirrels, frogs, and yes, even snakes! But even those terrifying creatures weren’t enough to end our adventurous trek through Mother Nature’s glorious art walk.

And then one day we found our treasure. We were older, of course, although I can’t recall how much older. We’d managed to hike the entire length of the mysterious path until we finally stumbled across the end of the journey. We found ourselves at a distant farmhouse known then as the Linquest Farm.

The Road That Never Ends did end after all. But then, we knew it would eventually, since it obviously had a beginning. But we’d never known where until that day.

And so we trekked back the same way we’d come, marveling at the beauty that surrounded us. To this day, we still refer to it as The Road That Never Ends. There was no need for a change.