Words Matter

 

Then the peoples around them set out to discourage the people of Judah and make them afraid to go on building. They bribed officials to work against them and frustrate their plans…Thus the work on the house of God in Jerusalem came to a standstill… (Ezra 4:4, 5, & 24, NIV)

 

            Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words could never hurt me. Whoever coined this quote was either naïve or stoic. The truth is in Proverbs 18:21 (NIV): The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.

            As authors, passionate wordsmiths, our world revolves around words. We spend early mornings and/or late nights bleeding on pages, hoping every thought flows and grabs the reader’s attention. 

        We also hope to receive encouragement and support. Family and friends promise us that—only to go AWOL. They’ll wonder why we’re making the time for this while neglecting other so-called “important” things.

            We get writer’s block, lose motivation, and don’t publish our books. That dream was foolish, after all, and is soon a long-forgotten memory.

        

        After 70 years of exile, the Israelites rebuilt the temple. They worked hard day and night and finished it in no time. But they didn’t complete the walls of the city. The opposing Samaritans wrote in a copy of a letter they “are rebuilding that rebellious and wicked city…the royal revenues will suffer…[it is] a place with a long history of sedition” (Ezra 4:12, 13, & 15, NIV).

            This unrelenting libel elicited a heart- and a work-stopping moment: “Now issue an order to these men to stop work, so that this city will not be rebuilt until I so order” (verse 21). These discouraged Israelites gave in to the Samaritans’ words. The “standstill” (verse 24) lasted fifteen years!

What did they do during this decade and a half? How did the Israelites answer the question(s) about the rebuilding? They must have lamented about burnout, lack of support.

            Are you staring at the cursor on your laptop screen on this Monday morning, wondering what you’re doing and why? The only thing I can think to say is defy all the discouragement. Let your fingers fly across the keyboard. Further defy all your naysayers and publish your book.

Where I Wrote Crawling to the Light

The Word of God, the Bible, my favorite book.

It comprises works by over 40 authors, all of whom wrote their books in various places and times.

I read and study this every morning. This is where I get inspiration for everything I write.

This past week, I've pondered on these authors, on where they wrote their books. Moses wrote in the wilderness; Paul, inside prison walls; and Jeremiah in a dungeon.

I then thought about where and under what circumstances I wrote some of my books. Today, I'll put the spotlight on Crawling to the Light .

When did I write this? I started writing it about 2012. 

Where did I write it? In the computer lab at Roane State Community College, Oak Ridge campus, and at the Oak Ridge public library. At the time, I had no laptop. I still remember arriving at the former location early in the morning, even on cold ones, my hands still in gloves, my fingers flying across the keyboard to warm them up, to get myself in a groove, while listening to Foreigner.

What inspired me to write it? Psalm 68:6 (NIV): God sets the lonely in families, he leads out the prisoners with singing... At the time, I went to a lot of local Christian hard rock shows. 

What other circumstances were going on in my life? Painful underemployment, unsure where to go next, and unsure where to go with all this writing. My husband had frequent military orders. I wrote a lot while he was gone.

What obstacles did I have to overcome while writing this novel? My long unmet desire--everything short of a need--for my own laptop. A certain personal relationship had also suddenly gone awry. These public computers weren't accessible until 8 or 10 a.m. The one at the public library had a two-hour limit. Nothing like being inspired at 6:30 a.m. and having to settle for paper and pen. I've also experienced being so fired up to write--only for the computers to not be available, for any reason, from federal holidays to them being "down". When I wrote this book, I cried a lot. Sometimes, it was because of the unfolding of the plot, other times from having to go to these great lengths to write this book.

Even back then, I knew to not wait for perfect conditions. This leads to my last question.

What would I change about the novel now? The wordiness, killing some of the characters, and taking out the head hopping.

I'd now like to hear from you, please. What other book of mine would you like to know more about? Please tell me.

I'd also like to hear from my fellow authors. What inspired you to write the book you published? What were your circumstances at that time? What did you have to overcome?

Reclaiming My Story: The Best Prefix Ever, Part 2

 A big thank you to all who read and commented on last week's blog post. I'm glad you got something out of it and appreciate your kind words and input.

.

At the end of September, I met a woman who has become a good friend and mentor. She gave me a binder about her small group. It comprised tabs and hard copies of things she'd written. The last one described something I'd never heard of before--and almost every word described this personal spiritual issue I'm getting through, one step at a time. I re-read and wrote some notes about it, circling some words and phrases.

Rediscover meaning

Reshape personal narrative

Reclaim your story

Reclaim means is to rescue or bring back from error to ways of living or thinking regarded as right; to demand the return of; try to get back. Some synonyms include reshape, refashion, regroup.

This has been the best year yet of having mentors. Let me reclaim feeling better after talking with someone. I haven't had this in several years. I've gone too long without it.

Last Monday afternoon, I met up with this friend/mentor in her office. When I first met her, she bought a copy of Strong & Steadfast . When we initially spoke on the phone and I told her about my books, she said she wanted to buy a copy of this novel. As we talked last week, she had the book with her and showed me she was more than halfway done. She said she loved it and couldn't put it down.

She only wanted to know more about my books, what inspired me to write them.

I realized she's in my target audience. She bought my book, almost sight unseen. For the past six or seven years, that target audience I'd had was gone. It's now time to reclaim that--as well as other things about being an author.

Let me reclaim my role as an author after so many years of others teasing me, blowing me off, or letting me know in no uncertain terms they were not going to support me. I forgive all of them of their outright unkind words and actions (or lack of them).

As an author, I've faced lots of rejections. But getting so many of them to the detriment of my health and well-being. Let me finally experience joy, support, acceptance.

The conversation with this friend/mentor lasted much longer than expected. As we slowly wrapped up our time together, I thought of these questions: 

What if your story was different from everyone else's in some group? 

What if you experienced something outside the confines and norms of social media?

The Best Prefix Ever

Never in my life have I appreciated the re- prefix.

Some of its definitions in my Webster's New World College Dictionary: back, returning to a previous state; again, anew, over again.

one of the purposes of my indefinite hiatus. 

I've been mostly under the radar, still writing. Finally coming up for air after publishing so many books. 

Refresh

Where do I go next?

I'm also in a deep, detailed spiritual 

renewal 

A few days ago, a significant spiritual leader bought some copies of my books. I'd planned to give them to him; he insisted on buying them. I was dazed for the rest of the day.

What effect will this have on my writings? Will I have better direction, more support? Will I 

rebrand 

any or all of my books? That word is not in the physical copy of my moderately-used dictionary. Therefore, I'll look it up on the dictionary web site. What it means: "In business, to rebrand is to change the way customers see a product or company by changing logos, names, or designs."

Will I

refine

-or-

revise

my earlier novels, like Crawling to the Light ? Distance creates clarity. And the clarity makes things, as one of the definitions for re-

anew

In the Center of a Theater

 Here's a small piece I wrote a little over a year ago:

    I sit in the center of a theater. Photos of yesteryear adorn the walls of the entrance. It tries to look new, but it’s old.

    So are the people in the auditorium, in the lobby, as if it’s a reunion, one I unintentionally crashed. An older gentleman in the far-left aisle seat, a rolling walker in front of him, says to someone, “I was first here in 1944.”

    All these people fill the seats as the Saturday storytelling matinee starts. What are their stories? Did they frequent this theater back in the day? To dance? To socialize? To watch the latest movie? Anything from The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly to Raiders of the Lost Ark.

    More than likely, they met their lifetime mate here. They may have passed, and their surviving spouse has come here to honor their marriage.    

     I used to live in this town. No one recognizes me as I sit here in the center of the Historic Grove Theater.

Saturday Night's Dream

 Oh, the vivid dreamer and prolific author I am!

And oh, the privilege to write down my dreams!

Here's the one I had the night before last.

[Begin dream]

I finally had the courage to ask Relative, "Why have you not read my books?"

She said, "I don't like them anymore."

I tried not to cry, yell, or wring my hands. "I can't believe you're saying this. I was hoping you'd support me. I worked so hard on all of them. I've spent so much time on and invested my emotions into every word."

My husband was beside me and said to Relative, "I'd like you to consider reading her books and telling her what you liked about them."

Relative said to my husband, "History is more interesting, more significant."

[End dream]

It's Monday morning, and I'm still trying to get over this one.

A Journal Entry of a Seasoned Author/Rookie Screenwriter

Saturday, 5/23/2026

A wonderful afternoon I'm having. Nothing going on. Nothing I need to do at the moment. Writing sure is in me. It's still in me even though I'm not writing anything big. It's just past 7:00. Something about this down time, while I'm alone and scribbling away, that makes me think of Cultivate [a local coffee and flower shop]. I believe the last time I went there was earlier this year. To work on my screenplay. That had to be what I worked on. Cultivate, where I went to work on 3 books in a short period of time. Thought about all this as I read the latter part of [Ela Thier's] memoir . I love how she wrote about writers needing community and support. Going to a coffee shop, writing together, brainstorming. Well, I did the writing part. All those times I went to Cultivate, I went alone. Oh, that thinker I am sure was there, present, focused. One of few who was alone. Laptop, flash drive, notebook, and don't forget headphones. So I can listen to that Strong & Steadfast playlist for the millionth time. You can't undo the pain, the anger and the shame ["Blinded" by Mark Mulch]. I want you to scream my name ["Scream" by W.A.S.P.]. Won't be the one to hold you when you cry in the middle of the night ["The Devil That You Know" by Tattered Sons]. I'm rusted and weathered, barely holding together ["Weathered" by Creed]. The playlist is about an hour long. It got to be that way especially when I added on Your Love is a Rumor [by Tattered Sons]. That was my cue to get up, get some more water, go to the bathroom. Two hours of that. Get there at 8, get set up as efficiently as possible. The sooner, the better. In that way, the music of choice playing in the shop doesn't un-inspire me. That first song to remind me of why I wrote Strong & Steadfast . This sounds strange, but "Every Rose Has its Thorn" [by Poison]. That joke about being in so much pain. That joke about Bret supporting endo because of his tension on the word pain.

Then those words a few songs later in Home Again. Hard to believe I once had that song on repeat. Not only when I was diagnosed with endo, but also when I wrote the novel.