God Is Faithful - Like A Cedar In Lebanon

"Mom, the only good that's come from my relationship with Jack is Joyanna and Pauly. What other good can come from this? Nothing, Mom! Not one thing!" (excerpt - Lebby to her mother in Like A Cedar In Lebanon") Have you ever felt like Lebby? We make choices, and then look for someone of something to blame when things go wrong. I married very young. I was barely sixteen years old and he was eighteen. I was in love with love and the thought of being a wife and mother. By the time I realized I was in a bad relationship, I had brought five children into the world. Lebby, in “Like A Cedar In Lebanon,” feels trapped. I felt trapped – angry, depressed, hopeless and helpless. As a writer, I weave tales based on my own life experiences, either personally or people I have known or worked with throughout the years. I find there’s a two-fold result from that: it either dredges up painful memories, and I hurt all over again, or I find healing in writing about it. God proves himself faithful to both Jack and Lebby in Like A Cedar In Lebanon, just as he proved himself faithful to me all these years. As we close the month of November, I am so thankful for my relationship with Jesus Christ. The road hasn’t been easy, but I’ve never walked alone.

Forgiveness

My book is finally out “Like A Cedar In Lebanon.”  My first published book!  Well, okay, I HAD it published—self-publishing, but I am excited nonetheless.

One of the key points of the book is forgiveness and reconciliation. Lebby (Lebanon), the heroine is an innocent, naïve girl raised in a Pastor’s home when Jack comes to town. Jack is handsome and charming and sweeps the young girl off her feet. From that point on Lebby’s life spirals downhill in a web of abuse and deceit, later forcing her to flee with her two babies and go into hiding.

Years later, Jack finds them and claims to be a new man.  Can Lebby trust him? More importantly, can she forgive him? He stole her youth, her innocence and is essence, her life. Now she’s made a new life, a wonderful life, for her and her children. To do so, she had to sever all relationships with her family and friends in her hometown of Yacolt, WA.

Both Jack and Lebby learn a valuable lesson in true forgiveness.

Get the book. It’s worth the read!

NaNoWriMo Woes

        Every time I start a new NaNoWriMo, I threaten to kick myself. I have three such novels of 50,0000 words and more that I need to finish. Why start a new one?

        Why indeed! Here I am typing my little fingers to the bone with a new novel (and way ahead of my word count, I might add) Seriously? I love my other novels. I want to finish them.  I can’t believe I’m doing this again.

        Never, ever, in my wildest imagination did I think that writing could be so time consuming. I thought it was like the movies----a remote cottage, gentle breezing blowing through a window, soft music playing, some devoted someone bringing in coffee or iced drinks and delicious sandwiches.
        Even in the movie Misery, the main character , an author, played by James Caan, who was in excruciating pain inflicted by the demented Kathy Bates, who also tormented him mentally, managed to crank out an entire novel. In the midst of all that, he made the novel writing look so easy.
        But alas, I suppose ‘No pain, No gain’ as the saying goes. So I lie in bed each night with my novel unfolding like scenes from a movie (that’s what pantsters do—no plotting for me) until I want to scream, “Leave me alone so I can sleep!”
        NaNoWriMo, how I loathe thee.…I mean, oh, how I love thee.