I think of an airplane and I think of flying high. Airplane's take us places faster than anything else on this planet. We can fly across the ocean from one continent to another an it only take hours instead of the days and weeks it used to with our ancestors. Where my husband, Keith, and I live now, we live right next to the Air Force field and constantly throughout the day, and sometimes even night, fighter jets are constantly taking off and landing. When we first moved into our new home, it … [Read more...]
The Journey with Ada Nicholson Brownell
Please welcome this weeks guest Ada Nicholson Brownell for The Journey. She answers the question: How have you seen God work in your writing journey? THE FIRE STILL BURNS When elected president of the youth group in my home church at age 15, our services weren’t the usual three songs and a speaker. We had a service where admission to the meeting was a mirror. The words to the music were backward, so the youth had to look in a mirror to read them. The speaker spoke on our lives … [Read more...]
Working with Your Own Children
I feel honored to say that I get to work with my niece/daughter almost everyday. I have the privilege of being able to homeschool her. We spend more time together now than I could ever have been able to when I was working full-time. I mean, I ended up changing my schedule so that we would drop her and her brother off at the before school childcare program that was on Fort Knox. This enabled me to be able to be home when they got home from school. But I wanted so badly to be able to be a … [Read more...]
Never Do Good Deeds Halfheartedly
How can anyone say they are doing a good deed if their heart isn't fully into it? I don't get that personally. If I'm going to do a good deed for someone or something then I need to have my heart fully into it. The fact is others will be able to tell that I'm not into it otherwise. Unless, of course, you're a fantastic actor/actress who can get away with faking it, but if that's the case maybe that person should be paid millions to do movies and what not then too. When Mari died, I could have … [Read more...]
Choices We Make
How are you changing the world with your choices? Think on this question for a second. How would you answer it? For me, it's more than just my writing. It is when I'm writing about my daughter and sharing my inner most thoughts and feelings on her dedication website (www.mommysangelinheaven.com). Whether my words were to only ever touch one person or millions, I know that in the end I have to be myself. If I am people will be able to see that through what comes out onto the page. I feel freer … [Read more...]
Should I get paid?
That's a good question. I love to do things on the computer, especially website design and creating graphics. When someone reaches out and asks for help, I love to say I can help because I have the experience behind me. Never is there a thought of, "Well, I should get paid for this." To me, that would be the wrong reason to do this to begin with. And it's not that I don't need the money. It just that I'd rather know that I'm helping a friend or fellow writer out to where they couldn't have done … [Read more...]
Day 2: Abundance
To have an abundance of whatever is important to you is what matters most. For me, it's the knowledge of writing and knowing my craft top my list. Would I've ever thought that five and half years ago? Nope. I was in blissful unawareness that my life was about to be uprooted and changed forever because in three months I would loss my daughter. Three months after the loss I began to write on her dedication website. It was my outlet during a very hard time in my life as this has, and will always … [Read more...]
Volunteering
There are so many things we can volunteer for in our life. There are outreach programs, programs for boys or girls or both, church related things, good causes, at a hospital, and the list goes on. When I believe in whatever I'm volunteering for it can make you feel good. I think most people when they volunteer they do it for selfless reasons. They want to help whether it's the needy, the poor, or maybe a group you're apart of. But are their some that do it just for selfish reasons? I have no … [Read more...]
Feeling Invincible
When was the last time you felt invincible? I don't know if I've ever felt invincible. My life has been anything but. I've had abuse, abandonment, neglect, and that was all from my childhood. My husband and I have had to deal in almost 20 years of marriage my childhood, meeting in the Army, infertility, having our only child end up with severe autism, recruiting in the Army, and finally our only child dying. And I feel like I'm forgetting something. So do feel invincible? No. But do I feel … [Read more...]
Day 1: Family Owned Diner
In my book, "The Unknown Door," one of my main characters, Nate, his family own their own little family diner. When I think of a family diner, I think of a quaint little place. Everyone knows everyone type of atmosphere. That's the kind of diner I'm going to have for Nate and his family. One of those types of diner I remember seeing in a movie is in "Picture Perfect" with Jennifer Aniston, Jay Mohr, and Kevin Bacon. In the movie, there is this scene where Jennifer's character is sitting in a … [Read more...]