A Farewell to Scott

            Although Scott, my husband, passed on into Eternity March 2, 2014, I will see him again. I don’t know how long it will be as to when that happens. Only God knows. In the meantime, we celebrated his parting. Oh, don’t get me wrong. His friends and family (& me) were crushed, saddened, and very unhappy at his passing…for us. For Scott, we rejoiced!

            Many of his family and friends came to say a farewell. We started by singing glorious happy songs, knowing Scott was no longer suffering, knowing he was in Heaven with The Lord basking in the light. No pain. No suffering. After singing songs of joy, several stood and shared a memory or a thought about Scott. Some went back over 50 years, while others were very fresh memories. Tears touched most every eye in the church. Molly, our middle child, shared Scott’s testimony, how he came to know the Lord in 2010 and has been living joyfully even through the pain. Praise God, Scott had God as his anchor even in the midst of the turbulent waters his life had him swimming. Rachael, our oldest daughter followed with her memories and growth in their father/daughter relationship, sharing her thanks in having him as her Pop. Two of my grandsons, Koby and Scotty, had their mother share their thoughts on Pawpaw with the world. Koby attempted, but the tears strangled out his words. Hearing these shared emotions about my dear husband touched me more than I could ever say. I am grateful and blessed to know my husband was loved by so many. I assure you, he loved them as well.

            The celebration didn’t stop there. Meagan, the music leader put pictures together from Scott’s life and shared him in a visual way. Every picture showed that brilliant smile. Sometimes the face he projected was funny, making faces with his grandchildren, trying to match them, one-on-one, but he was always handsome. She even slipped in a video here and there, so his voice talking with his youngest grandson, Eli, was caught on digital disk forever, or at least for as long as it endures. Another great part of the celebration. Here is the link so you can click on it and enjoy a piece of Scott’s smile yourself. I guarantee it will brighten your day.  Richard Scott Craft memorial .

            Pastor Philip Pimlott, shared a phenomenal message which I’m sure touched everyone’s heart. The celebration ended with Pastor P’s dad, Pastor Allen Pimlott, singing a song “Learning to Lean on Jesus,” a song he sang to Scott in the hospital. The first time Scott not only enjoyed it but told me so afterwards how much it meant to him. The second time was shortly before he passed, while he lay in the bed not opening his eyes. As the song touched his ears, he opened his eyes wide for only a brief second, and then closed them again. I knew the music had reached his heart and gave him another shot of joy.

            My son Christopher held my hand through the entire celebration. He helped me make it through saying farewell to Scott for the last time. The next time we meet will be in heaven.  As heavy as my heart is, I know Scott is still smiling.

            I want to thank everyone who has been praying for him over these past few years. Know that not only had God healed him a few times and allowed him to stay down here with us, this last time God took Scott home to be in great health for eternity.

            This blog I paid tribute to my husband and I hope you all enjoyed it. We’ll get back to the writing on the next one. I have a lot of great news to share, but it will wait. God bless you all.

deb

Frustration - Who needs it?

A Day of Frustration

Have you ever had “one of those days”? I have…just the other day. Everything that could go wrong, it seemed went wrong. At least that was how it hit me at the time.

I think things went wrong because I lost focus. We need to keep our minds fixed on what is in the here and now, what is important today. Don’t let your minds wander off track. I did this and paid highly for it. I paid with lost time, added tension, and loads of frustration.

Situations happen in each of our lives. We need to roll with the punches and not let them get us down. As  a believer, I can turn my troubles over to the Lord and let Him carry the burdens, and He will give me rest. It tells me so in Matthew 11:28. The sad part is, I don’t always do that…turn my burdens over to Him, immediately. Instead I choose to hold on to them, wallow in the troubles for a while. That doesn’t help. It only makes matters worse.

How can you turn troubles over so easy you ask? You do it, by sharing your woes with The Lord, and asking Him to take them over. (and try to leave them with Him!) We usually call this turning over of our burdens, laying our problems at the foot of the cross. Jesus died on the cross baring our sins so we don’t have to. Once you’ve turned your situation over to Him, you then want to focus on the good, the favor, God has and is pouring into your life. Sometimes it’s a collection of small things. This is good. Other times it could be one small or one very big blessing.

I have a big one to celebrate. My new book – After You’re Gone is being printed as I type. The book should be ready for the public any time now. Yea!!!

Isn’t it beautiful? A romance. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it. My critique partners and friends who helped me tighten it up and get it ready for my publisher, I can’t thank them enough. Girls, it’s coming out any day!! I know they are as excited about it as I am.

Another favor or blessing coming my way is, I’ll be at the Jambalaya Writer’s Conference and Book Fair on March 22 in Houma, Louisiana. I’ll add more details on my web site as it gets closer.

Also the book video for my newest book - After You're Gone will be available for your viewing soon.

In the mean time, I know I haven’t written a blog in a while, but those who know me, know my life has been a little busy lately. If you’ve been a Deborah Lynne reader since my books hit the stands back in December of 2007, then you may recall my husband battling cancer due to Agent Orange back in 2010 & 2011. It’s back again. Cancer of any kind is horrible, but this bout has hit my husband pretty hard, not to mention all the trouble he just went through from September through January with having his veins blocked and blood not flowing as it should. Six or seven hospital visits along with whatever treatment or procedure he received, wore him down. In mid January the news about the cancer returning was a strong blow.

Praise God, our faith will sustain us and get us through this again. Another scripture (can’t say which one) talks about us (believers) being knocked down 2 times but getting up 3 times. That’s us. No matter how many times the devil tries to knock us down, we’ll be getting back up.

So keep my husband in your prayers…for strength, for perseverance, and for continuing faith.

Normally this would be the time I’d share a few writing tips, continuing in the layering of our novels. I hope you don’t mind waiting a little longer for that. In the mean time, you who write – keep on writing. AND you who read, keep on reading. The two go so well together. We writers, thank you who read. We hope you enjoy what we’re blessed in getting out to the public.

And don’t forget, in a few more months my books will go nation wide through a few chain stores. I can’t wait…but I have to. All of you who read Deborah Lynne novels, tell your friends they may want to check out one of your authors. I’d appreciate it.

God bless you all. Take care and ENJOY EACH MOMENT OF EACH DAY!

It's a NEW YEAR - share it with your friends

I'd planned to post yesterday on 12/31/13, but as I started typing my computer started jumping (pictures on the screen) like it was being shocked by electric waves. Needless to say, I shut my laptop down. I didn't want to take any chances. I hope waiting an extra day, you'll see it was worth the wait.

Today is the first day of the rest of your life. We all know things happen to us in life that may slow us down, try to take us down, and sometimes even leave us shattered, but take heart. Tomorrow is another day. As a believer, we are overcomers…we have victory in the depths of our hearts. Walk today believing for a better tomorrow and you will succeed.

We have to learn not to focus on our failures, our let-downs, or even our disappointments. We have to know that tomorrow is a new day. We have to pick ourselves up and push forward.

2013 is over. If you’ve made mistakes, try to learn from them. If you’ve hurt someone or someone has hurt you, ask forgiveness or forgive them and move on. Try not to do it again. If you’ve failed in some attempt at something…try again. Sometimes the third time is the charm. The main thing is—keep trying or move on to something else you should be doing. Sometimes we fail because we are not meant to succeed at that particular thing or at that particular moment.

Learn from your mistakes, but don’t dwell on them…don’t keep looking back. 2014 is going to be a great year. Start making plans to accomplish something this year. Give yourself small challenges and work up to greater ones.

I don’t know about you, but I had a lot of great things that happened in my life in 2013. One of the biggest and best things was my new grandson, Elijah, being born. Molly, my daughter and his mother, made a picture video of his short life here on earth and I’d love to share it with you. I am getting better and better with the technology of today – thanks to my grown kids who haven’t given up on their old maw. Hee-hee.

Isn’t he adorable? The boy always smiles…not only with his lips but check those baby blues. It’s in his eyes. We’ve learned if you’re having a conversation and you want to stay focused, don’t look at Eli. Your mind is immediately blindsided. He’s all you can think about from that moment on.

Now for my fellow writers…I’ll continue the lesson on layering your novel. I started sharing with you in December 10ths blog a lesson I learned (took notes—I’m still learning…always learning) through my membership with ACFW. I told you I would go back and check the archive’s of their teaching lessons (March 2011) and find out who taught this lesson to me through the group teaching. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find it.

A quick recap of what I noted on December 10, 2013:

Layering – a mix of elements beneath the surface of the main plot and characters to create a richer reading experience. When a reader is touched on several layers, it enhances their reading experience.

Purpose of layering:

            1. It adds more highs and lows

            2. Can add humor to a heavy story or weight to a lighter one

            3. Take some pressure off an especially emotional main plot, so as not to exhaust the reader

            4. Helps to control pacing and extend the plot

            5. Gives your fiction a “bigger” feel to it - better representing the complexities of real life

Now a little deeper look:

I.               Subplots

A.     A secondary strand of the plot that is a supporting side story of the main plot. Subplots connect to main plots through time and place OR in thematic significance. Subplots usually involve secondary characters.

1.     Subplots will deepen characterization by introducing other emotions, situations, actions, and reactions

2.     Subplots will enlarge the story world

3.     Subplots help control the pacing

4.     Subplots also grow your word count (but make sure your subplot enhances your story or you will bore your reader)

II.             Texture

A.     Adds volume and enriches your story, your characters – making both come alive to the reader. The texture makes your story stick to the reader long after he/she has read the last word.

1.     Add texture by sprinkling background of the city and/or location of where the story takes place

2.     Add texture by dropping in a piece here and there of the characters’ backgrounds—this is what makes them who they are and makes them react how they do…help the reader understand your characters by layering their stories within your story.

III.           Subtext

A.     Subtext is a more specific undertone message in a novel. Subtext is what your reader will detect from your story more subtly than through the main message or theme…example – the ugliness of racism as depicted in A Time To Kill by John Grisham.

I hope this is helping you; I know it’s helping me. We will touch on foreshadowing and symbolism next time…plus more. Stay tuned to www.author-deborahlynne.com e-journal for more. If you’ve missed any of my blogs, feel free to go back and read past postings. On most of my blogs, I touch on the person and writing events in my life and finish with a writing tip. Feel free to share with your friends who are writing or thinking about starting to write.

Have a great NEW YEAR!!!