I Almost Never Knew my Mom

This Mother’s Day I’ve been thinking about my mom. She passed away in December 1982, at the age of 70 after a long illness. She died earlier than many, but I’m grateful that Mom never had to live in a nursing home.

Today I listened to a message my pastor Colin Smith preached a couple weeks ago on Hagar, the maidservant of Sarah, Abraham’s wife. My mom’s life was nothing like Hagar’s, but the message caused me to think about my mother’s suffering as she went through my birth. She almost died. Even though I’ve known that for a long while, this morning the thought jarred me as I realized I could have been raised without her in my life at all.

My mom was in nursing school when she came down with Juvenile Arthritis. Almost out of her teens, it was very unusual for one so old to get the disease. After being told by doctors that she’d never walk again, she proved the them wrong and did walk again, but she also had a permanent curvature to her spine. The curve wasn’t overly pronounced, but it was there. Because of that, she was told that if she ever became pregnant she’d have to have her babies by C-section rather than natural birth. And back then C-sections were not often done.

After my parents married, it was six years before she became pregnant with me. I sat here this morning, wondering if like Hannah in the Old Testament, my mom prayed daily for a child and God delayed the answer. I’ve heard bits and pieces over the years but never about the years of barrenness. Maybe that part was too private.

How much Mom must have rejoiced when she found at long last she was pregnant. I wonder if that joy was tempered by the warning given to her over 12 years earlier that she should deliver her babies by C section.

The sad thing is that by the time she reached her ninth month of pregnancy none of the doctors who had advised her against natural birth were around, and the only doctor available to do the delivery waved off the warning. He told her she would be fine.

Of course, I remember none of it and that’s probably a blessing, because after about two or three days of labor, I entered the birth canal and it wasn’t long before the doctor realized those other doctors were right. To deliver me the natural way would be very dangerous for my mother.

The doctor found my dad in the waiting room (those were the days when husbands paced the floor and were not in the delivery room). He told my dad I was too far into the birth canal and he could save me, but he couldn’t promise that my mom would live through the birth.

Of course, as you have figured out, my mom again proved a doctor wrong and lived through the birth. It wasn’t until I was an adult that I heard the entire story, and when I did,  I immediately realized why I’m an only child. And also why my mom loved me so fiercely.

Another profound thought popped into my mind today—if it weren’t for the grace of God I wouldn’t have known my mom at all.

The picture is one that is printed at the back my book, Love Finds You in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. I was about two years old at the time—not that long after the ordeal Mom went through having me. How deep must have been the joy she felt being alive and able to hold me and enjoy a beautiful summer day at the beach.

I’m very grateful that God chose this Mother’s Day to bring these thoughts to mind.

Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms who read this!

The Next Big Thing - Blog Hop!

Over the past weeks many authors have been participating in a blog hop to help get the word out about our new upcoming books. Today it is my turn. Below are answers to questions about the "next big thing," which for me is the coming release on April 1, 2013, of Love Finds You in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin.  I feel very blessed to have the opportunity to write about my hometown. 

What is the title of your book?

Love Finds You in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin

Where did the idea come from for the book?  

My publisher, Summerside Press, was looking for stories set in resorts and I was raised in Lake Geneva--a perfect fit I would say!

What genre does your book fall under?  

Historical Romance

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?  

When I first developed my characters I decided that my heroine, Meg Alden, looked like an actress from the 30s whom I think is Gloria Stewart, but I can’t find the source now. 

In my mind's eye, Jack Wallace, the hero, bore a resemblance to Jack Kennedy during his college days. 

As I wrote the story, I realized more and more that I was picturing Meg and Jack more as how my parents looked at that age, which isn’t too far from the original “famous people” models I used. 

Here’s a shot of my parents when they were young and in love.

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?  

Will she give her heart to the man who stole her job?

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

I am represented by Terry Burns at Hartline Literary, and the book is published by Summerside Press, due to release April 1, 2013. You can preorder it on line right now at Amazon.com and other online bookstores.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

Counting the three months of research, about nine months.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?  

Any books in the “Love Finds You” line or historical romances set in small towns during the 30s and 40s.

Who or What inspired you to write this book?  

I’ve always dreamed of wanting to write a story set in my beautiful hometown and when my editor encouraged me to come up with a proposal, I decided on focusing on the Riviera Building which was built in 1933. The “Riv” has become an icon of Lake Geneva and is historically protected. The second floor ballroom hosted many big bands during that era and it has proven itself to be a worthy “co-star” in my story. 

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

Today Lake Geneva is still a beautiful  town, but it is vastly different than the town of the 30s or even the 50s and 60s. My story gives a glimpse of the town as it was when Main Street was lined with retail establishments that included at least two drugstores, a bakery, two hardware stores, a meat market, and many other businesses. People went to town to shop and socialize. Nowadays people do their regular shopping at the edge of town where Walmart and Target are located. I took great care through my research to include actual stores and restaurants that were there during 1933 depict the small town life that existed back then. It’s a nostalgic look at Americana during the Great Depression that carried forward for several decades. 

But, one thing hasn’t changed since a very-long-ago glacier first carved out Geneva Lake—the lake itself. It’s still spring-fed,  crystal-clear,  beautiful body of water there for all to enjoy.

My book is already listed on Amazon and other on-line bookseller sites. If you click on my book cover, you will be taken to Amazon to pre-order, but feel free to purchase at other sites if you wish!

Blogger's Note: Late yesterday I learned that the sequel to my debut novel Thyme for Love,  will be released in about three weeks! This blog was already written for today. Be sure to look for Love Will Find a Way, a contemporary mystery romance that concludes Marc and April's journey to love with a few mysterious twists and turns along the way!

Next week two of my author friends will be posting about their new books at their blogs. Be sure to hop on over there and check them out.

Ada Brownell:  http://www.inkfromanearthenvessel.blogspot.com/

Lynda Schab: http://www.on-the-write-track.blogspot.com/

Love Finds You in Lake Geneva Wisconsin - The Cover!

I have been beside myself in waiting to be able to show the world the beautiful cover Summerside Press has designed for my April 2013 release. And the day has finally arrived!

This story is set in my hometown, and it is a huge blessing from God that I have been granted the opportunity to show the world through this story the beauty of the small Wisconsin town where I grew up.

So without further ado here is my new cover!

Thyme for Love Book Trailer!!

At long last I am pleased to share the book trailer for Thyme for Love! Please feel free to share this!

It's Graduation Time: A Time for Looking Ahead & A Time for Looking Back

I'm writing this on June 6, 2011. Many years ago on another June 6th (I'll spare you the year) I graduated from Badger High School in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. My grandparents came from Ohio to sit in a very hot and sticky gym and watch me walk across the stage. At the end of the ceremony, we grads moved our tassels from one side of our caps to the other. I can't remember which side you start on and which you end, but I remember the feeling that with that act, my childhood was truly ending.

After most of us had escaped the hugs and slobbery kisses from our moms and grandmas, we converged at the Rivera (the building that figures prominently in my yet-to-be-published novel currently titled Dream and Little Dream of Me) and boarded one of the large excursion boats that ply the lake during summer. It was a unique way to celebrate and one most appropriate, since the lake and the boats figured greatly in my growing up years.

To me that night was bittersweet. Like any kid that age, I was anxious to get on in life, and ready to take on the world. But, my senior year had been a difficult one for me socially, and that figured strongly in my eagerness to get out of Dodge. To that end, I was set to attend a state college a half-hour's drive away, but  I'd never admit to anyone that I was scared. Scared because I didn't think I had the chops to make it in college, but also scared not to give it the "old college try"  because I didn't want to be different from my friends. To me waiting wasn't an option.

I was right. I didn't make it. Truth was, I had no business going on to college until I matured a couple more years. Staying at home and working and saving for school would have been a much better choice for me.

So home I came, and the next year found me working at a local bank and saving money to return to school to learn some office skills. The academic track I'd been on during high school did me no good in the real world without that diploma.

Fast forward about ten years and two cross-country moves later, I was working in an office, using those skills I learned at secretary school. At my roommate's urging, I finally ventured back into a college classroom, taking a course here and there. I actually received A's! Funny what ten years of maturing will do. Fast forward another couple decades and another cross-country move back to the Midwest. There, on a May morning, with my proud papa sitting in the audience, I received my Bachelor of Liberal Arts degree.

I may have accomplished the degree much faster, had I made a different choice years earlier. But, between the time I would have graduated from college and when I finally did get that degree, a lot had changed in my life. Most of all, God came into it in a huge way. By the time I got serious about school, I knew that through Christ I can do all things, and He gives me the strength to face all conditions. Through the accelerated adult program I was in,  I learned that He had gifted me to write, quite possibly for publication.

Would I have figured out the writing angle if I'd done college way back when? Maybe. But I might have pursued a far different direction with how to use my writing ability. From the beginning of this endeavor I have always sought to give God the glory for the gift and the inspiration, because He truly is the source of who I am and what I am to become.

If someone had told me that warm June night as I was handed my diploma in it's red leatherette case, that on that same date many years later I'd be writing fiction stories for others to read, I'd have laughed, thinking no way. But my ways aren't His ways and He had a plan for me that I would never have believed if I hadn't experienced it for myself.

This is true for all of us. All we need to do is turn to God and say where You lead I will follow.

You Can Go Home Again - Lake Geneva, Wisconsin

From the age of two until my mid-twenties I called a certain southern Wisconsin town home. When my family moved to Lake Geneva for my dad's job, the town was mostly tourist with a spattering of industry. Over the years more industry moved in, but that didn't take away from the main draw--the beautiful lake.

Ever since the 19th Century, Chicagoans have flocked to this gorgeous area which sits about 12 miles north of the Illinois-Wisconsin boarder. During the 1800s, wealthy industrialists built their "summer cottages" on the lake. Many of these mansions still stand today and are the focal point of the excursion boats that travel the 26 miles of shoreline. During summers the wealthy families moved out to the "country" to escape the summer heat of the city. And after the Chicago fire, some had to make their Lake Geneva homes semi-permanent while their city homes were being rebuilt.

But that isn't the only history to be found in this slice of heaven on earth. During the early 1930s the city passed a vote to erect a new "recreation building" using WPA funds. The project provided jobs during the depression and gave the town an energy of excitement. The building was erected in an amazing five months and contained a bath house on the first level along with concessions to feed hungry beach-goers and a state-of-the art ballroom with a parquet wood dance floor on the second level. Wayne King and his band appeared at the grand opening in May 1933, and after him, many of the big bands played there including Tommy Dorsey and Louie Armstrong. Named the Riviera, the building was recently refurbished to its original glory and now hosts wedding receptions, meetings, and, of course, dances. In fact, when I attended a high school reunion a year and a half ago, that is where it was held. That's a picture of it at the top of this blog.

The Riveria is the feature of my new WIP which will be set in the 1930s when the Riv was first built. I am so jazzed about this subject and excited to feature my hometown in a story. Last Thursday I drove up there (about an hour's drive away) and spent the day pouring over microfilm copies of the local paper during that time. This week, I hope to go back and visit the museum and scour their folders, gathering facts and ideas to incorporate into my story. Even though I grew up there, I realized I really knew so little about how the building of the Riviera came to be.

I have many memories of lazy summer days on the beach, countless boat rides around the lake when my high school boyfriend worked on one of the excursion boats, learning how to water ski behind the ski boat of a classmate, hikes along the lake shore path, and the plain old joy of growing up in a small town.

Many of the pics in this video showcase the Riviera. I hope you'll check back again to see what's next on my writing journey as this story comes together!