tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10374865254736042082024-03-05T09:30:33.167-08:00Wake Me Up If I Fell Asleep At the ComputerA look inside the wacky world of writingLaura Browninghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03257184550737010323noreply@blogger.comBlogger57125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1037486525473604208.post-13008453564060254672018-04-20T08:19:00.000-07:002018-04-20T08:19:00.836-07:0012 Truths About LifeI came across this TED talk by writer Anne Lamott while I was doing some research on reading and literacy for my work as an instructional coach. The author I was reading had mentioned it in conjunction with making sure we give students enough time and room to DO instead of just passively sit and absorb. However, in listening to Lamott, I discovered a treasure trove of fantastic information that applies to each of us.<br />
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Her comments about writers--why and how we do what we do--really touched a nerve. In addition to the gems I can hold for my own writing, there's a wealth of wisdom we could apply to helping students find their voice and the freedom to develop it.<br />
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So, I'll quit pontificating and simply give you the link to watch and listen on your own. <div style="max-width: 854px;">
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Let me know what you think!Laura Browninghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03257184550737010323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1037486525473604208.post-30209754696214367772017-08-19T05:01:00.002-07:002017-08-19T05:09:28.694-07:00Healing Touch is Now Available for Pre-order and I Need You!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6MiZb8I-ch2AV7pRFAZiVMaXV0lHr5JCPkwYRULh03aKNhB9K8uDEBGiJrOV1o43-1Wfptww6YVEPtbsJArjAKH0OQmtC5DnEk5YaT-OI5H6mCH8rHGebdJo7bRR2HTCvFA3M32wBl2M/s1600/Healing+Touch.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6MiZb8I-ch2AV7pRFAZiVMaXV0lHr5JCPkwYRULh03aKNhB9K8uDEBGiJrOV1o43-1Wfptww6YVEPtbsJArjAKH0OQmtC5DnEk5YaT-OI5H6mCH8rHGebdJo7bRR2HTCvFA3M32wBl2M/s320/Healing+Touch.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
Welcome back to Mountain Meadow, Virginia. On August 28, <i>Healing Touch</i>, the first book in my new small town contemporary series <i>A Place to Call Home </i>will release. For those of you who read my <i>Mountain Meadow Homecomings</i> series, you'll find some familiar faces along with the new ones.<br />
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<i>Healing Touch</i> tells the story of Luke Allred and Rachel Hastings. Luke is a widowed veterinarian who's coming home to establish a new life for his two children and him. His son is angry at the world. His daughter won't talk, and Luke worries he just might be the worst daddy in the world.<br />
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Rachel Hastings has a way with animals. In fact, she's the go to person when local wildlife is injured or abandoned, and her healing touch carries over to everyone...except herself. When she agrees to help watch the two new kids in town, she's also put herself back in the orbit of her high school secret crush.<br />
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Rachel brings her own baggage, with a failed marriage behind her and a determination to not let another man run or ruin her life. However, neither Luke nor she can ignore the explosive attraction between them. As they pull together, though, the secret Luke's children are hiding could tear everyone's world apart.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTCYqqml6lR0VkrQOf3tt-IZ_E-wZ9B36UcgHP9RQwf02aeDh9DY2VF5uHjxmZhf_-pdY35r4J_1-dZ_xeZ4j4Mg_897cVGdBX89MuC5NH9qILWhuSPb24awmVbC-3nLFfoQXU6_NB9L0/s1600/BrowningLaura_SpecialDelivery.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1083" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTCYqqml6lR0VkrQOf3tt-IZ_E-wZ9B36UcgHP9RQwf02aeDh9DY2VF5uHjxmZhf_-pdY35r4J_1-dZ_xeZ4j4Mg_897cVGdBX89MuC5NH9qILWhuSPb24awmVbC-3nLFfoQXU6_NB9L0/s200/BrowningLaura_SpecialDelivery.jpg" width="135" /></a>I am offering up a handful of free copies in exchange for a fair and honest review. If you're willing to do that, please email me at <a href="mailto:laurabrowning613@yahoo.com">laurabrowning613@yahoo.com</a> and let me know what format you need.<br />
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I am so excited about this new series. We met Luke's younger brother, Jake Allred, in <i>Special Delivery</i>, but the <i>Mountain Meadow Homecomings</i> series really focused more on the Richardson family--Evan, Tabitha, and Erin. A Place to Call Home will bring the entire Allred clan back to Mountain Meadow. <i>Healing Touch </i>is available right now for pre-order on <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Healing-Touch-Place-Call-Home-ebook/dp/B074QMZN2Z" target="_blank">Amazon</a>, <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/healing-touch/id1269422930?mt=11&ign-mpt=uo%3D4" target="_blank">Apple</a>, <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/healing-touch-laura-browning/1126954110;jsessionid=A9877CED748F4850708CE022988BFE7A.prodny_store01-atgap02?ean=2940154747773" target="_blank">Barnes & Noble</a>, and <a href="https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/healing-touch-13" target="_blank">Kobo</a>. The next books in the series, <i>The Secret Ingredient,</i> comes out in December, and the story of the Allred twins is still a work in progress.Laura Browninghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03257184550737010323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1037486525473604208.post-13617622295795504902017-07-05T07:58:00.000-07:002017-07-05T07:58:55.278-07:00<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2391321.After_the_Kiss" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px;"><img alt="After the Kiss (Notorious Gentlemen, #1)" border="0" src="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1348712226m/2391321.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2391321.After_the_Kiss">After the Kiss</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/23294.Suzanne_Enoch">Suzanne Enoch</a><br />
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2050045746">5 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
This was a new author to me. I really enjoyed this book and am getting ready to start the next one in the series. The characters were well-rounded and realistic, including the secondary characters (parents and brothers).<br />
As a horse person, I appreciate the fact that this author either did some great homework, or she knows horses too. It's really annoying to read a book that talks about horses that are either 18 hands (not that common) or HUGE animals of 15 hands (two inches shy of being a pony). The training techniques for the horse and the rider were spot on, again refreshing.<br />
Without giving away any spoilers, Enoch was dealing with a tricky issue for that time, a hero who was a bastard. Again, unlike some other books I've read, she doesn't magically make this disappear or resolve it in a completely implausible way.<br />
I stumbled on this book because members of my RWA chapter sometimes bring in books they're clearing off their "already read" shelves. What a happy circumstance picking up <i>After the Kiss</i> turned out to be!<br />
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/4829604-laura">View all my reviews</a><br />
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Laura Browninghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03257184550737010323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1037486525473604208.post-12719722999602003592016-07-14T06:23:00.000-07:002016-07-14T06:23:58.239-07:00Making MemoriesIt is the natural order of things for us to be born, to grow, to foster a new generation and then to die, but the process is never smooth or easy. There are always bumps along the road either for us personally, or for those we love. As parents, we want to smooth the way for our children, to save them from some of the rough spots that we encountered. As children, we dread that time that must inevitably come in which we must say goodbye to our parents.
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I said goodbye to my mother this week. Perhaps that’s not solely true, for I think we had been saying our farewells for some time now. When I visited, she would always have something that she wished to give me either because I was the only daughter and she felt it was something that should be passed on to a daughter—like the beautiful wooden jewelry box my father gave her that played Lara’s theme from Dr. Zhivago, or the college notebooks from an uncle who liked to write short stories apparently more than he wanted to take notes on botany while he was at university—or it might have been something I gave her that she wanted to give back to me. Those things do hold memories, and they make me smile when I look at them, but the greater gift was in being able to sit down and share those memories with Mom while we looked at them and talked about them.<br />
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Memories are what we make every day with the people we care about, so let me tell you about some of mine.<br />
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I remember my mother taking my baby crib and converting it into a canopy bed. Why does this matter? It shows an essential part of her character. She could take almost anything and find a way to repurpose it to use a catchphrase of today. This was nothing new or admirably resource saving. It was simply the way that she was raised. Nothing was wasted. That crib saw new life for me as a toddler bed, and it also holds the memory of her climbing into it with me when I was small and had a nightmare, or getting me out of it during the thunderstorm I was afraid of to hold my hand while we stood at the window and she helped me overcome that fear.<br />
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Speaking of fear—probably not the right word—was the knowledge that she took her role as a parent seriously. When we had done something wrong, there was never any comment of “wait til your father gets home.” Punishment was meted out quickly and fairly. With four kids to raise, she managed to wear one leather belt completely out and had to get a new one. We had either learned enough she didn’t need to wear out a second, or she decided we’d all gotten too big to spank.
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She wanted us to learn to make our own decisions, and then live with them—right or wrong. “Pick out what you want to wear today.” I can remember standing at my closet and agonizing over that choice when I couldn’t have been more than four or five. Mom swears I always picked my fanciest dress. From teenage and adult years spent in jeans and barn boots, I find that hard to believe.<br />
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Mom wanted to make sure we had the skills to live on our own…or she might have been just a master of delegation. We knew enough about cooking to feed ourselves, enough about sewing to hem and sew buttons on. She might have tried to teach me more, but that sewing thing didn’t take. We learned how to read maps, set up household bill paying accounts and filing systems. She taught me the basics of gardening and so many things I could never possibly write them all down.<br />
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One of the things she taught me was that building a strong marriage takes work. Love alone is not enough, though it is the foundation. It takes commitment, acceptance, and a willingness to truly forgive. I think that probably applies to any lasting relationships in our lives.<br />
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If I had to summarize my mother in just a few words, I would say “boundless energy.” She ran our house in such a way that I have no doubt she could have been a corporate CEO in this day and age. But that wasn’t the role she was raised to expect in her generation. Instead, she turned that drive, focus, and energy on her family—providing an anchor and stability for our dad as well as us. She also channeled that energy into volunteer work. I can remember “helping” with Heart Fund campaigns and political ones as well. Many times, I went with her to help deliver for Meals on Wheels. She was always active in something.<br />
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She used to wear us out on vacations with going places and doing things. In fact, it was when she looked at me and said, “I can’t do that anymore” that I realized we had entered another phase where the time we shared when I visited would be more about reflecting on what we had done than creating new memories. Yet, even this was another layer of making memories. If living in the South for the past quarter century plus has taught me nothing else, it’s that taking time to just sit a spell and talk has immeasurable value. You can learn a lot when you close your mouth and listen.<br />
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We talked about death too. It is a part of life that none of us can avoid. Mom was 90, and she would be the first to tell you that was about twenty-five years more than she expected to have because her parents passed away in their sixties. Every time she would say she didn’t expect to still be alive, I would remind her of one of her cousins who was well over a hundred before she passed away. At first, it was a joke, then maybe a wish, and finally I think it was a fear.<br />
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Age takes its toll on all of us, and Mom was tired. People have described her as a fighter, a scrapper, a firecracker, and she was all of those things, but ultimately, she was simply ready to say goodbye to all of us still travelling our own journey so that she could go on to the next phase of hers.<br />
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Of all my many precious memories of my mother, being able to be with her as she said goodbye to this earthly life will be one of them. She wanted to die at home, so we granted that wish to her. We surrounded her with family and love, held her hands, and let her know that we loved her, and that it was okay to give up that fight and say goodbye because her job was done here. She had raised us to become adults who had found our own paths to walk, had learned to live with our own mistakes, and to forgive ourselves and others for those blunders that inevitably occur.<br />
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We opened the door to her patio during those last few minutes, so she could hear the birds singing, but more importantly so that her spirit could depart and have a pathway to Heaven. I have no doubt that my dad, my brother John, Mom’s parents and her sister were all there to take her hand and welcome her in.
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I will miss her presence, her guidance, and that boundless energy drawing me out of my shell and daring me to do more than I thought I could, but I am so glad I had these years with her to build the memories I can carry on with me now. I would encourage all of you to look at your own parents, children, grandparents, and grandchildren and take advantage of that time. Make those memories so you can look back with a smile, sit a spell, and say, “I remember when…”
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I love you, Mom. Thanks.Laura Browninghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03257184550737010323noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1037486525473604208.post-38812475431849245372016-06-18T15:39:00.000-07:002016-06-18T15:39:55.706-07:00From Writing to Gardening: The "Blessings" of AbundanceIn my spare time, when I’m not working or writing (which lately seems to be work), my family and I are growing a garden. Like many projects around our place, the garden has gotten much, much larger than I ever envisioned. In fact, I believe we could probably feed our entire neighborhood.
If you’ve ever grown a garden, then you know that vegetables have a bad habit of ripening all at once. (Next year I plan to plant one seed per day to avoid this thoughtlessness on the part of my plants.) The net effect is that I’ve eaten and frozen broccoli to the point I don’t think I can look at another stalk anytime soon. Kale is my new best friend because it keeps doing its thing for weeks and weeks without bolting. Bonus: it’s good for you too.
The problem now is cucumbers.
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We haven’t even made a dent in what’s coming in the door.
Don’t get me wrong. I like pickles. However, our household can only consume so many pickles in a year. Now we face the inevitable question: what can we do with all these cucumbers? You see, our two rows (80 foot long rows!) of cucumbers have just gotten cranked.
So I decided to find out if there were any non-food related things for which cucumbers could be used. Turns out, there’s quite a lot.
Here’s some of the things I plan on trying:
1. Ant control – I checked three different web sites that recommend spreading cucumber peelings, the bitterer the better, around the places where you believe ants might be entering your home. I’m going to assume for cucumber usage purposes that the little pests are entering via the entire circumference of my house. With generously peeled peelings, I believe I can use about 352 cucumbers for this project.
2. Reduce swelling – we all know the cucumber slices on the eyes trick from all those spa scenes in chick flicks. I like this idea, but there are two problems: my son and husband aren’t keen on a spa day, and this isn’t going to use nearly enough cucumber. However, curing eye swelling is just one trick. Apparently cucumbers are good at dealing with another “swelling”: cellulite. Again, my expert web sites recommend rubbing slices of cucumber on cellulite to help tighten skin. If rubbing works…why not a bath? That should use bushels of cucumbers, and I might be able to fit back into my skinny swimsuit.
3. Cucumber will clean stainless steel sinks and faucets. What do you know, I have a stainless steel kitchen sink…and dishwasher…and cookware. Yep, mass cucumber usage here.
4. Squeak eliminator – toss out the WD40 and rub a cucumber slice on that noisy hinge. I wonder if it works on knee joints?
5. Shoe polish – I don’t see much mileage in this one. I think I’m down to about two pairs of shoes that actually need polishing.
6. Sunburn relief – if you don’t have aloe, use cucumber. Now, I might be able to use this since I’m fair-complexioned, but hubby and the kid have that olive insta-tan skin…damn them.
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There is one thing that gardening does add, whether it's cucumbers or the other vegetables we have coming on: it's a wonderful stress reliever and a great way to take a break from spending so much time in front of the computer either writing or promoting my books.
Check out my website at <a href="http://www.laurabrowningbooks.com">www.laurabrowningbooks.com
</a> I've got a series out that I'm sure you'll enjoy.Laura Browninghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03257184550737010323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1037486525473604208.post-27179718625106912582016-03-11T07:33:00.000-08:002016-03-11T07:36:05.034-08:00Where is the Moral Compass of Today’s Young People? I will say right up front that I teach in an alternative high school, so I am dealing with students who may not have the most stellar of pasts or come from the best of homes. Today, however, I listened in on a conversation taking place while students were getting work done in my class. The entire discussion centered around the best ways in which to steal items from Walmart without getting caught, and an open discussion of people they knew who had stolen everything from cell phones to TVs.
Am I dangerously naïve? Just how the devil does one walk out of a store with a freaking television set?
More importantly than that—never, anywhere in this conversation, was any thought or comment given to the fact that stealing is wrong. To take someone’s goods or belongings without permission or payment is fundamentally, unequivocally wrong. One of the students involved in this discussion regularly attends church. Are the Ten Commandments not taught there anymore? I may be a bit rusty, but I do believe one of them is “Thou shalt not steal.”
I’m a parent, not always as attentive as I should have been over the years, but I have to ask…
Your kid suddenly shows up with a brand new cell phone…don’t you ASK where they got it? If they walk in the door with a new television, don’t you ASK how they bought it?
What the hell?
What is our country coming to when people think that they should have anything they want just because they want it, without paying any price for it?
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtZjjIB_SwCsAMgNSKcD-aZayiT28wfTxzLXZntC6HvaioRhaffIv9wF8AR3fVyPLnxYECUxekLE9RvI1PkHlu4_a3KsNgYXYs2dFd2YQZrJovhHO-IuTrbPb9yH_yjQZoW7DUL-HPU9s/s1600/compass.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtZjjIB_SwCsAMgNSKcD-aZayiT28wfTxzLXZntC6HvaioRhaffIv9wF8AR3fVyPLnxYECUxekLE9RvI1PkHlu4_a3KsNgYXYs2dFd2YQZrJovhHO-IuTrbPb9yH_yjQZoW7DUL-HPU9s/s320/compass.jpg" /></a></div> More frightening even than that, what is the destiny of a nation in which many, many people no longer seem to have any functioning moral compass whatsoever?
This is the same group of students who asked me if I would “help” them during their state writing tests. I told them no in no uncertain terms. One of the students said, “She could get in trouble and lose her job.”
To which, I replied, “You’re right, I could, but more importantly than that, I wouldn’t do it because it’s wrong, and at the end of the day, I want to be able to lay my head down to sleep at night with a clear conscience.”
How alarming that that concept seemed something entirely new to them.
Laura Browninghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03257184550737010323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1037486525473604208.post-19614045252888087522016-02-21T07:20:00.001-08:002016-02-21T07:20:09.540-08:00Here's your chance to win a copy of my newest book!<div id="goodreadsGiveawayWidget173512"><!-- Show static html as a placeholder in case js is not enabled -->
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28328320"><img alt="Lost & Found Love by Laura Browning" title="Lost & Found Love by Laura Browning" width="100" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1454555017l/28328320.jpg" /></a>
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<h4 style="margin: 0 0 10px; padding: 0; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">
by <a style="text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4411219.Laura_Browning">Laura Browning</a>
</h4>
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Giveaway ends March 11, 2016.
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See the <a style="text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/173512">giveaway details</a>
at Goodreads.
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</div><script src="https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/widget/173512" type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8"></script>Laura Browninghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03257184550737010323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1037486525473604208.post-84452908867827873522015-12-24T07:29:00.000-08:002015-12-24T07:29:21.024-08:00Paper or Virtual? How I Make the Choice Between Print and Digital FormatsI've read a couple of articles this year discussing the leveling off of e-reader sales, and I've heard plenty of people say they just have to feel a book in their hand, be able to turn the pages. It always seems to me in the articles sounding the slump in sales of digital readers that there's a certain amount of an I-told-you-so attitude to it, as if digital and print formats cannot peacefully co-exist. So, here's my personal take on it as a writer whose books appear in both digital and print formats, and as a voracious reader of fiction and nonfiction.<br />
<br />
There's room for both. However, I have my personal preferences when it comes to my own reading. When it comes to reading for my own enjoyment, give me my Nook or my phone any day of the week. I can carry around a whole freaking library in my purse. Do you know how amazing that is to me? Not only can I carry around a whole freaking library, but I don't have to listen to reading snobs comment on what I choose to read. So you want to read the latest critically acclaimed piece of literary fiction? That's fantastic. I want to read hot sex scenes and stories that I know are going to have a happy ending.<br />
<br />
I spend all day teaching writing and literature. Before I began teaching, I spent all day writing television news stories, most of which were heart-wrenchingly depressing. When I'm done working, I don't want to read more serious writing. I want dessert. I want candy. I want cake. So give me a fun, sexy, fast read that is pure entertainment.<br />
<br />
And give it to me on my tablet, please.<br />
<br />
When it comes to serious reading, such as literature that I am going to have to discuss, or textbooks, I would prefer to have them in print. Now, if you're a book purist, please skip the next few sentences. The reason I like them in print is because I write, highlight, and add sticky notes all over the pages. I have attempted to do this with digital books, but it's just not the same. For the latter half of my masters degree studies, I participated in a Nook program in which all my books were downloaded to my tablet. Don't get me wrong. It saved me a TON of money, but I just couldn't get comfortable with electronically highlighting and writing notes. It just didn't feel right. I like my reference books in print as well. I think it's easier to use my <i>Chicago Manual of Style</i> or my APA manual when I can flip through the contents and the index and quickly turn to the page I need.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjThsomylokiBErkfhTDCXFIqf1r8KC1f53mEW_v-2C1kPTi17LuG8zTNi_dFNEQJ12QogzCk94_5l7PSXy7cSbHpJbsixvL8JFsn4fZWdtic-Az_sEFug3m_aOHs8ytj8XCinVyE1LjRE/s1600/special+delivery+full+cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjThsomylokiBErkfhTDCXFIqf1r8KC1f53mEW_v-2C1kPTi17LuG8zTNi_dFNEQJ12QogzCk94_5l7PSXy7cSbHpJbsixvL8JFsn4fZWdtic-Az_sEFug3m_aOHs8ytj8XCinVyE1LjRE/s200/special+delivery+full+cover.jpg" width="135" /></a></div>
What got me thinking about this is that my publisher, Kensington, is putting the digital version of <i>Special Delivery</i> on sale for just 99 cents from December 27, 2015 through the end of January. This is a great deal--more than 75% off retail price. What makes it even better is it's the first book in my series, Mountain Meadow Homecomings. Although the book is not specifically tied to the Christmas season, it does take place around this time of year, so now is a great time to get it, if you haven't already.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhnKdC3X-n9cj2kMc2uDPRw57mMxnRxNIb3HcQ-w-JBT8GH4If9ansjHPSnJgjHapFOlrm5gDl64G9ReZDQhGTGXb0al3IEiStVPxdNkZHJ00nHhBdruP4mtBGiM-ff3m_2Ndgr8z6f2g/s1600/Lost+and+Found+Love_Final.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhnKdC3X-n9cj2kMc2uDPRw57mMxnRxNIb3HcQ-w-JBT8GH4If9ansjHPSnJgjHapFOlrm5gDl64G9ReZDQhGTGXb0al3IEiStVPxdNkZHJ00nHhBdruP4mtBGiM-ff3m_2Ndgr8z6f2g/s200/Lost+and+Found+Love_Final.jpg" width="135" /></a></div>
The sale ends just in time for the release of book two in the series, <i>Lost & Found Love</i>, on February 2, 2016. This story is so much more than a romance. It's also about finding family and the redeeming qualities of love. I am really excited about this second book in the Mountain Meadow Homecomings series. I hope you will be too.<br />
<br />
The best thing of all is that whether you enjoy digital or print... this series is available in both formats. Sorry, though, it's only the digital version of <i>Special Delivery</i> that you'll be able to pick up for 99 cents. However you choose to read, I hope you'll enjoy Mountain Meadow and all the folks who live there.<br />
<br />Laura Browninghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03257184550737010323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1037486525473604208.post-13724392863593026832015-12-16T18:59:00.001-08:002015-12-16T18:59:12.723-08:00Finding Home for Christmas<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I’m
going to be spending Christmas away from my husband for the first time in twenty-four
years this year. My mother is ill, so my son and I will be visiting and helping
her over the holidays. Work and home responsibilities (animals…did I mention
animals?) mean my husband will have to stay on our farm. Plus, I know he will
want to see the new grandson and his very first Christmas. I’ll miss that, but
I’m making a trade-off.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">We
have never been one of those families that fill a quarter of the room with
presents, and as my husband reminded me, we can celebrate Christmas anytime we
choose. Still, we become attached to that idea of being home for this
particular holiday.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Thinking
about that reminded me of the one other Christmas where I really felt I wasn’t
home. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Sixteen
years old, I was living with a family in Switzerland, thousands of miles from everything
that was familiar to me. Their traditions weren’t my traditions. To top it all
off, I had just recently had my cast removed after tearing ligaments in my
ankle. I had had to undergo surgery within a week of arriving in my new
temporary country. Homesickness had also arrived in a big way.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">There
are things I remember, like how fascinated and somewhat frightened I was by the
fact my Swiss family actually burned candles on their tree. Nevertheless, it
was beautiful. They also opened presents on Christmas Eve. While it was pretty
cool to be able to open gifts early, it was a bit of a letdown Christmas
morning. Santa was nowhere to be seen. Instead, there’d been St. Nicholas, but
he’d come and gone weeks earlier on December 6<sup>th</sup>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">All
in all, it was a culture shock, and—Swiss or American—we were supposed to be
celebrating the same holiday. The real comfort was in going to church. Despite
the fact that it was darn cold inside that big sanctuary, the tunes were the
same ones I had grown up with.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I
remind myself of that now. Christmas will be different this year, but there is
always something to be pulled out of it that can help give us a feeling of
home, even when we are far away from the ones we love the most.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Laura Browninghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03257184550737010323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1037486525473604208.post-54493573527651581792015-10-10T06:04:00.000-07:002015-10-10T06:04:23.712-07:00Do They Still Teach That?<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4tUxC6GcwAfYelnnfGbYrg5V4AjdWRSmvKLoW1UN_NYD9QqByLfKwjvT-DrSP5NLawPsCTCMzZZtnSJS-599Iwmcuz2i5Rj9Ahhi4EkzbFCCwXZ9UkmqUls1jfxQLTmfEKShz2lV-12M/s1600/Ralph_Waldo_Emerson_ca1857_retouched.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4tUxC6GcwAfYelnnfGbYrg5V4AjdWRSmvKLoW1UN_NYD9QqByLfKwjvT-DrSP5NLawPsCTCMzZZtnSJS-599Iwmcuz2i5Rj9Ahhi4EkzbFCCwXZ9UkmqUls1jfxQLTmfEKShz2lV-12M/s200/Ralph_Waldo_Emerson_ca1857_retouched.jpg" width="125" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ralph Waldo Emerson</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Do they still teach that? A fellow teacher posed that question to me the other
day when she discovered that I would be guiding my students through Ralph Waldo
Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. It took me aback. At first, I had to ask
myself if the question was tied to the “quality” of my students—I teach in an
alternative high school setting with students that are predominantly lower
income and African-American—or if it simply had to do with these writers being
old-fashioned and out of date.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I dismissed the first. After all, I don’t think it
matters one whit what color my students’ skins are, nor what their
socio-economic level might be. Pandering to that is what holds people back and
allows them to become victims of society. Quite frankly, I don’t think it matters
that some might perceive the text as being too difficult or too advanced for
students reading three to four years below grade level. After all, I am here to
teach these students to extend themselves not continue to feed them pablum that
allows them to fall even more below grade level while I sit and draw my
paycheck.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">If my students cannot read a text independently
because of the difficulty of that passage, then I can assist them by walking
them through that material, discussing it, and helping them to form their own
observations and opinions. They will stretch their ability to look more deeply
into difficult text, to use strategies like pausing to evaluate what they have
just read, but most importantly they will be exposed to <i>ideas</i>. Of course, my hope is that they will pause to actually think
about those ideas because I find that to be the biggest challenge to today’s
students, no matter their education level or background: they too complacently
accept what they read, see, or hear without questioning its accuracy or
validity.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">So, that takes us to the second thought—that Emerson
and Thoreau are old-fashioned and out of date. I would argue that also is a
fallacy. Rather than viewing them as old-fashioned and out of date, I see them
as the foundation for many of our modern philosophers and activists. Emerson
pushes forth the idea that, above all else, we must be true to what we know is
right within our own being. Thoreau takes that concept of self-reliance to
another level when he urges people to “break the law” when they know a law is
unjust. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">These two men are the inspiration for so many modern
day activists: Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. being two examples.
However, let me put forth some others, whether you agree with their ideas or
not. The Occupy Wall Street movement, which sought social and economic change—more
than just a bunch of whiny generation X,Y and Z’ers—they at least followed this
idea of protesting what they perceived as unjust. The Rowan County Kentucky
clerk of court, Kim Davis, held to her religious beliefs and refused to obey
the law with regard to issuing marriage licenses. On one hand, staying true to
her own belief system falls right in line with what Emerson and Thoreau preach.
Of course, she doesn’t exactly align with Thoreau because he also says that the
highest duty of a government official who disagrees with what the government is
doing is for that official to resign office. That hasn’t happened so far.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMNjt94FDVR_SeLJ0o_EkTJw8upZ4LxTY1MyEHQY43JAJLP0o-50liex41T4krNyppMgHbHWgUtm-EOgNtUY7htWjF5Qo7Wkqh75IqbI2Kfbzo4xRX41pMJHShc7y5qglV1NHn8UYXts4/s1600/thomas_paine-common_sense.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="135" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMNjt94FDVR_SeLJ0o_EkTJw8upZ4LxTY1MyEHQY43JAJLP0o-50liex41T4krNyppMgHbHWgUtm-EOgNtUY7htWjF5Qo7Wkqh75IqbI2Kfbzo4xRX41pMJHShc7y5qglV1NHn8UYXts4/s200/thomas_paine-common_sense.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thomas Paine</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The point is that if part of my responsibility is to
teach students American Literature, then I must do so based on a foundation of
understanding, a historical precedence, if you will. If they are truly to
understand the writings of people like Dr. King and Malcolm X, then they must
understand Emerson and Thoreau. If they are to understand Emerson and Thoreau,
then they must also understand the writings of men like Thomas Paine, Patrick
Henry, and Thomas Jefferson, who helped open the door to the idea of standing
up for what is right even if it means opposing government. Writers do not pull
ideas out of nothingness, so writing does not occur in a vacuum. It is the
result of what has happened in the past, what is of current concern, and what
might be of concern in the future. For students to predict future concerns,
they must have some knowledge of the past. In order to have some idea where
they are headed then, we must give students some idea of how our society
arrived at its current state. We do that by showing students where we have
been.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Men like Voltaire, Jefferson, Paine, Emerson, and
Thoreau lay down the continuation of thought and action that brought us through
Dr. King and the Civil Rights Movement to present day interpretations of
activism. It is only with that grounding that students can make valid judgments
and find their own core belief system when they must decide whether actions
such as Kim Davis’s or the actions of protesters in Ferguson and Baltimore are
right or just. To do any less is to do my students a disservice, so while I
cannot answer whether <i>they</i> still
teach Emerson and Thoreau, I can answer why <i>I
</i>do.</span></div>
<br />
<o:p></o:p>Laura Browninghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03257184550737010323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1037486525473604208.post-24157385581263012502015-05-10T04:03:00.000-07:002015-05-10T04:03:49.608-07:00Another Mother's Day...Oh My!<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Happy Mother’s
Day. Today I have the privilege of being able to look at Mother’s Day from a
new perspective. The cynic in me says this is another one of our trumped up
days designed to generate business for card companies, florists, jewelers, restaurants,
etc. The reality is every day is mother’s day, but there are special ones that
stand out.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRh3cENYS8HT6zWrEO8WjQHgP8guWF8Me3tB5Mafz5Lbj0ZMrbQG5Rdn6N8iv1U4Yt_D5fhCcvZMM4FeZqcX3O4R1EFRUtpGxLS5Pze0NzUnYK02YuczK8CbpCuTBmqjVwMQVQngRQJkU/s1600/DSC_2415.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRh3cENYS8HT6zWrEO8WjQHgP8guWF8Me3tB5Mafz5Lbj0ZMrbQG5Rdn6N8iv1U4Yt_D5fhCcvZMM4FeZqcX3O4R1EFRUtpGxLS5Pze0NzUnYK02YuczK8CbpCuTBmqjVwMQVQngRQJkU/s200/DSC_2415.jpg" width="131" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Uncle Jacob with the new addition</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">My
daughter-in-law celebrates one of those today. Her first. Her son won’t be a
week old until tomorrow. Like all of us when we were new mothers, she is, or
will be, going through the overwhelmed, self-doubting, exhausted phases of
parenting (I’m still waiting for that to stop—just kidding). There is nothing
like a baby to blow up your entire existence. Many times what you imagined,
dreamed, pictured, envisioned, planned, or scheduled gets tossed out the
window. I remember reading an article while I was pregnant about an exhausted
new mom who said, “I just want things to get back to normal.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Normal, as
defined by your existence as a single woman, then a married woman is gone
forever. The author of the article sagely informed the new mom that she would
have to find a “new” normal. Well, that’s not exactly true. There is no more
normal. That’s the truism. Every day will be different. Some of those days will
be wonderful, and they will stand out in your memory. Some of those days will
be terrible. Those, too, have a way of standing out in your memory. Some will
just be—days.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The biggest
thing to know is despite all the books that can tell new moms how to insert tab
A into slot B, there really is no owners’ manual on how YOU should parent YOUR
baby or what is best for you and your family. Those decisions are yours to
make, and you don’t really need to justify them to anyone, including your own
mom.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I am lucky in
having a mother who took the time to make sure each one of her four kids got
attention, but not so much that we couldn’t function. Part of that might have
been juggling four kids to raise, I don’t know. What I do know is that every
one of us turned out to be very distinct individuals with very different
personalities. We had the freedom to grow into thinking, caring adults who
found our own paths in life. To me, that’s what being a parent is all about. It’s
not smothering your child with too much attention. It’s not tossing your kid
out when things get tough (although, yes, there are times that’s tempting). It’s
knowing when to hold them close as well as when to give them that push, like
the proverbial mama bird pushing babies out of the nest. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">My mother is my
greatest cheerleader (still). That is one of the best parts of being a mom.
Whether they’re your kids by birth or by choice, you get to be in the corner
for your kids cheering them on and praying like hell they don’t make some of
the same mistakes you did growing up.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">So, Happy Mother’s
Day. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18.3999996185303px;">Tuesday, my new book, <i>Special Delivery </i>releases. The heroine is a new mom. Please remember, this is fiction where babies don't spit up, howl, or poop all over the new swing. That's the wonderful aspect of writing fiction. I can ignore some of those realities of being a new parent.</span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
Laura Browninghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03257184550737010323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1037486525473604208.post-29858215213126331222015-05-05T00:30:00.000-07:002015-05-05T00:30:04.753-07:00An Interview with Special Delivery's Hero, Jake Allred<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst">
<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">We’re one week away from the release of Special
Delivery the opening book of my new series, Mountain Meadow Homecomings. Jake
Allred joins me today. He’s the good guy in Special Delivery.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Me:</span></b><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"> </span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Thanks
for agreeing to this at the last minute.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Jake:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">
You’re welcome.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Me:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">
How does it feel being such a stand-up kind of guy?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Jake:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">
Did Evan put you up to this?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Me:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">
No. He might have mentioned that you hated that label so I should make sure to use it, but honestly, Jake,
everyone around town talks about how friendly you are. Well, maybe not Betty
Gatewood.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Jake:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">
(leans back in his chair and rolls his eyes as he crosses his arms across his
broad chest.) She’s not exactly my number one fan.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Me:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">
I got that impression. She’s kind of nosy too. Is the whole town that way?<br />
<b>Jake:</b> Pretty much. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Me:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">
You know, I have to ask…if that’s the case, why on earth did you come back? I
mean none of your family’s here anymore…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Jake:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">
It’s my home. I needed that after the military. And before you go off in that
direction…that topic is not up for discussion.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Me:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">
But…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Jake:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">
Seriously. I’ve talked to Holly and Evan about it, but that’s it. I appreciate
your tact in handling it, although you could have left out the nightmares.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Me:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">
It’s kind of central to who you are, what motivates you.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Jake:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">
Making a home in the place I love motivates me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Me:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">
(It’s my turn to roll my eyes.) You know, you can be such a guy sometimes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Jake laughs and
arches a brow.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Me:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">
All right. Tell us something about your family. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Jake:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">
I have one older brother, two younger brothers and a sister.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Me:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">
(I wait, but nothing else is forthcoming.) Jake…come on. You can elaborate more
than that.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">(Holly sticks
her head in the doorway.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Holly:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">
Jacob Allred! Quit giving that woman a
hard time and talk to her.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">(Jake gets this
gooey expression on his face as he stares at Holly. She smiles at him and he
grins as though he’s just grabbed all the gifts from under the Christmas tree.
The grin fades as he turns back to me.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Jake:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">
All right. My older brother, Luke, is a veterinarian in Fairfax. Works for some
big, fancy small animal practice. He’s married and has two kids—a boy and a
girl. Then there’s me, and I’m followed by my twin brothers, Noah and Caleb.
Noah’s a photographer. Travels all over the place. Haven’t seen him in a
while. Caleb’s got a bar on the coast. Then
there’s Becca, the baby. She’s a chef at some fancy restaurant. That girl loves
to cook.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I can hardly believe
Jake has strung so many words together at one time. It must be the power of Holly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Me: </span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">What
about your parents? (I look down at my notes.) John and Mary?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Jake:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">
Dad decided he wanted to retire to one of those places where he didn’t have to
lift a finger except to pick out his next golf club. So they’re in Florida. Don’t
see that lasting. He’ll get bored. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Me:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">
What about your other siblings?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Jake:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">
(Shrugs) Who knows? Wouldn’t mind having them back. Are we done?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Me:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">
(sighs) Yes. Thanks for helping out.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Special Delivery is available now for pre-order. <a href="http://www.laurabrowningbooks.com/my-books.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: yellow;">Click here</span></a> to get to my buy links.</span></div>
Laura Browninghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03257184550737010323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1037486525473604208.post-7118577714938930412015-04-21T01:00:00.000-07:002015-04-21T01:00:02.722-07:00The Place to go in Mountain Meadow<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Mountain Meadow’s nerve
center is the Mountain Meadow General Store, better known as Tarpley’s to the
locals. In <i>Special Delivery</i>, it’s
where Jake first sees Holly, after all.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Like Mountain Meadow, Tarpley’s
isn’t an actual store. It is a composite that draws upon many stores I’ve
visited over the years. I’ll start with the one from my childhood: the Prospect
Store in Prospect, Kentucky. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">When I was a kid, I
made the trek down the highway along with my brothers or some of my older
neighbors to what was then the only store in Prospect. That’s certainly not the
case anymore as this area grew into a well-to-do suburb or Louisville with
shopping centers, McMansions and some real mansions too. However, back in the
dark ages, it was a small grocery with wooden floors, narrow aisles, and a
really great candy display. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">My friends and I would walk
along the highway, pump our arms to get truck drivers to blow their air horns,
and collect returnable soft drink bottles people had tossed out their windows.
At three cents each in a day when penny candy was really a penny, every bottle
collected was a huge bonus to whatever allowance we had to spend. Mr. Snowden
would take our returns, hand us the change, and we’d promptly spend it again
for whatever sweet treats were making our mouths water. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The Prospect Store had
a meat counter in the back, and I remember stopping to look at the cow tongues
and thinking, “Ew, how could anyone eat that?” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The original store’s no
longer there. It’s a Marathon gas station now with a modern convenience store
in its place. I guess that’s progress, but it sure is a loss in pure character.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The second store I had
in mind when I imagined Tarpley’s is one in Danville, Virginia called Midtown
Market. It reminds me somewhat of the Prospect Store with its crowded aisles
and wood floors. It’s got a great meat counter and some of the best chicken
salad around, bar none.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">During my years of
working in television and visiting and living in the South, I have also been
inside any number of small groceries across the region. I quickly discovered a
few things about them. 1) There’s usually a group of older guys who hang around
out front during summer or inside during colder weather telling bullshit
stories and drinking either soft drinks or coffee. Some stores even give them a
place to sit and do that. 2) If you need to know where something or someone is,
the store owners are the people to talk to. Just be prepared to share some of
your own life story with them. 3) Never go into a small country store thinking
that you’re going to grab something quick and get on home. Sharing some of the
yarn-telling by either dishing out your own BS or listening to someone else’s
is part of the charm.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Tarpley’s and real
stores like it are the South’s way of reminding us to slow down and take the
time to say hello. I hate to see them disappear only to be replaced by
lookalike convenience stores that just don’t have that same character. I guess
one of the sad effects of the pervasiveness of technology and big corporations
is we are losing our sense of regionalism.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">So Tarpley’s is a
salute to places like Midtown and the Prospect Store. Thanks, Mr. Snowden, for
leaving me with some rich childhood memories.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Hey, and don’t forget—Special
Delivery releases in three weeks! <a href="http://www.laurabrowningbooks.com/my-books.html" target="_blank">Click here</a> for buy links where you can
pre-order.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Laura Browninghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03257184550737010323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1037486525473604208.post-9479916751070784862015-04-15T17:54:00.001-07:002015-04-15T17:54:36.796-07:00Where the Heck is Mountain Meadow?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbQ7768f_fh7kpk5y-mlDboJtj0dI2wFlBj1gOUsyLUs0ZHmPhUopTEygtCHZPgeKN_WB7CNaIwr0vYYh9_36MWf4JX2GOjgqh5DgSRcOm3BBPUb7oaYBVNAuo4vuWndWajYE453fRgnk/s1600/BrowningLaura_SpecialDelivery.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbQ7768f_fh7kpk5y-mlDboJtj0dI2wFlBj1gOUsyLUs0ZHmPhUopTEygtCHZPgeKN_WB7CNaIwr0vYYh9_36MWf4JX2GOjgqh5DgSRcOm3BBPUb7oaYBVNAuo4vuWndWajYE453fRgnk/s1600/BrowningLaura_SpecialDelivery.jpg" height="200" width="135" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I
am so excited. <i>Special Delivery</i>, the
debut book of my new series, Mountain Meadow Homecomings, is just four weeks
away from release. I love reading and writing series. I guess the real payoff
for me is in being able to breathe an extended life into characters and
locations like Mountain Meadow Virginia<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">So…Is
it real?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The
simple answer to this question is no. You won’t find a town by this name in
Virginia. However, I will admit to Mountain Meadow being loosely based on
several communities. The first is Meadows of Dan. This was the first
inspiration for the town because I used to drive through this community along
U.S. 58 as I crossed southern Virginia to reach I-77 during trips to visit my
family in the Louisville, Kentucky area. It is a very picturesque area, and
honestly, since they’ve constructed a highway by-pass around it, I miss winding
past its collection of businesses. However, Meadows of Dan, as beautiful as it
is, simply wasn’t big enough to accommodate my story vision, so I had to turn
to other communities to help flesh out that vision of what I wanted Mountain
Meadow to be.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I
turned to a couple of towns in North Carolina for help: Yanceyville for its town
square and Hillsborough for its atmosphere and thriving business area.
Together, all three of these towns melded in my imagination to become Mountain
Meadow, Virginia.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I
also borrowed from Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains for the county in which
Mountain Meadow is located. For this, I researched the area from which my
mother’s family, the McAfees, originally hailed more than 250 years ago, before
they moved into Kentucky and beyond. Botetourt (BOT-a-tot) County helped me
create Castle County, as much for government structure as its setting in the
Blue Ridge. With a county population under 35,000 according to the most recent
census, Botetourt was about the size I wanted Castle County to be.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">If
you have never visited the Appalachians, including the Smoky Mountains and the
Blue Ridge Mountains, among others, then you have missed a beautiful and
historic area of our country. There are still many areas nearly untouched by
man. These are not the more rugged mountains of the western United States.
Instead, they are aged and mellowed by eons into areas of lush, green growth,
through which wind everything from tiny streams to rivers that can alternate
between lazy to crazy in the span of just a few miles.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">All
of these areas are places I love, so I’ve combined them together to create a
place I hope you, my readers, will also love—Mountain Meadow, Virginia.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><i>Special Delivery</i> will release on May 12, 2015, but it is already available for pre-order at your favorite e-book retailer.</span></div>
Laura Browninghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03257184550737010323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1037486525473604208.post-14114158322810819282015-01-04T12:56:00.001-08:002015-01-04T13:03:12.107-08:00What's with book trailers?Check out this short book trailer for my upcoming release of Special Delivery...<br />
<a href="https://animoto.com/play/0gHNcMcVDrVteOABD0a7OA">Special Delivery</a><br />
<br />
I decided to play around a little bit with Animoto. I'm still not completely sold on the idea of book trailers, although I have heard from some authors who absolutely adore them.<br />
<br />
This is a shorty...just 30 seconds long, and you know, that's okay with me. As a former TV news producer, :30 is a lot of time. The average television commercial is just :30. I have seen book trailers come in around 2:00 to 2:30 minutes long. Way tooooo long.<br />
<br />
So I may play around with this, but I have to say, I'd like to see some hard data that these things increase visibility and sales because to do one right, it would require a lot more investment of time and money than it might well be worth.Laura Browninghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03257184550737010323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1037486525473604208.post-77275211558428961002014-12-24T18:04:00.000-08:002014-12-25T04:13:57.024-08:00Life's Little Blessings<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">As
I sit here at the computer this Christmas Eve, unable to really concentrate on
serious writing, bored with reading, and unwilling to do anymore work around
the house, I have spent some time thinking back on 2014, only a week away from
coming to an end.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">It
has been a year filled with change for our family. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">My
husband lost his job in February. While it has forced us to live on my income
as a teacher and the royalties I make as a writer (not yet where I wish them to
be!), I considered it to be a blessing. For the past six years, he had worked
at a job far enough from our home that he had to live there during the week and
was only home for weekends. Maintaining a family life long distance is never
easy. It also brings with it enough increased expenses in maintaining a second
household (even though his lodgings were rent-free) that I often questioned
whether we were really better off.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Adjusting
our lifestyle to such a cut in income has had its ups and downs, sometimes like
the most insane roller coaster ride you can ever imagine. Yet each time that I
have grown concerned that we couldn’t possibly make it through a month, somehow
we did. Royalty checks, big and small, arrived just in the nick of time, or my
husband picked up some freelance work that helped to tide us over. A litter of
puppies brought in additional income.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">We
planted a garden, then added a watermelon and cantaloupe patch in a different
location on our mini-farm. Plentiful rain and moderate temperatures provided us
with an abundance of fresh vegetables and incredibly flavorful melons. A
neighbor killed and butchered one of his steers and brought us a box of beef.
Just before Thanksgiving, my husband expressed the wish that he could add a
deer ham to our smoker, and less than an hour later we were hauling an eight
point buck home in the back of our truck.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv4KwRkq5ME5wFfhppevIg4rko7demAHiy_C-Aif_-bh41y3gePCY238jCYbNgcCnrjdDh7cn8MFXeKkMsr61v1-CIEs2K4u2Ntiilrg810xIch_X23T1VpdUdE3haUoKZLchn5A2rIQE/s1600/DSC_1615+crop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv4KwRkq5ME5wFfhppevIg4rko7demAHiy_C-Aif_-bh41y3gePCY238jCYbNgcCnrjdDh7cn8MFXeKkMsr61v1-CIEs2K4u2Ntiilrg810xIch_X23T1VpdUdE3haUoKZLchn5A2rIQE/s1600/DSC_1615+crop.jpg" height="200" width="142" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">In
May, I earned my masters in education. Thanks to a gift from two very good
friends, we had gas money so we could attend commencement in Virginia Beach.
The pomp and ceremony had a wonderful bonus effect: my son, who was not at all
excited about his own upcoming high school graduation ceremony, suddenly looked
forward to the event. The smile on his face after that ceremony will live in my
memory forever. School was not the easy academic ride for him that it had been
for me and his father.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">With
the change in his employment, my husband decided to take a hard look at what he
wanted to do. He had already completed a course in fixing small engines,
which—to my thinking—paid for itself when he was able to fix our riding
lawnmower himself. He is now back in
school and has completed his first semester of a very fine gunsmithing program.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">My
career as a writer has continued to grow and expand this year. I had a book
release under a different pen name in July, which has done very well. My next
release as Laura Browning, <i><a href="http://www.kensingtonbooks.com/book.aspx/31334" target="_blank">Special Delivery</a></i>, will come out May 12, 2015, and is
already available for pre-order.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Just
this week, my husband finally secured a part-time job that he can fit around
his schedule as a student and as the coach of a high school fencing team. My
son has matured during this year, now holding down two part-time jobs as he
continues to explore what he would like to do for a career.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">In
all, though this year has been filled with tremendous change, it has also been
filled with such timely blessings, I can’t help but believe in the divine hand
of providence at work. Through the many adventures and misadventures during my
life, I have always felt I must have a very special guardian angel. Now I am
sure of it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I
don’t wear my faith on my sleeve. Maybe that’s a function of being a Lutheran,
maybe it’s just my personality. However, I have spent many moments this year
thanking God for his assistance in so many little ways. So this holiday season,
when we think about the miracle of faith embodied in the birth of God’s son,
remember that miracles occur every day in many little ways. It might be the
garden blessed with good weather or a timely gift from a friend. It might even
be that longer than usual wait in a checkout line that put you two cars behind
the impaired driver instead of right next to him when he lost control of his
vehicle and crashed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">As
Walt Whitman says, “Keep your face always toward the sunshine – and shadows
will fall behind you.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">So
as 2014 winds down and 2015 begins, remember to look for the best in every
situation. Find those little blessings that can brighten your day and help you
brighten the day of someone else. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
Laura Browninghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03257184550737010323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1037486525473604208.post-32843243998525192292014-12-03T16:05:00.001-08:002014-12-25T04:16:49.423-08:00Love Will Bring You Home<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirgHdAqoUh_B5nufKVSJC8QEEBr9xgRv2Ar5duvqVQ9BS5L4NfXvAS0CKVVJZhVtlnpIiVEXSkF8-q_XwAbkd1YvI4upiUG-htsF7RReKZh5T1tGII0YaGsscIRhPwuy-BakWQgYOHUaE/s1600/BrowningLaura_SpecialDelivery.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirgHdAqoUh_B5nufKVSJC8QEEBr9xgRv2Ar5duvqVQ9BS5L4NfXvAS0CKVVJZhVtlnpIiVEXSkF8-q_XwAbkd1YvI4upiUG-htsF7RReKZh5T1tGII0YaGsscIRhPwuy-BakWQgYOHUaE/s1600/BrowningLaura_SpecialDelivery.jpg" height="320" width="216" /></a></div>
Welcome to Mountain Meadow, Virginia -- home of some hot guys, some nosy church ladies, and the newest residents, Holly Morgan and her little brother. Oh yeah, and Holly's soon-to-be-born baby.<br />
<br />
Special Delivery kicks off my new series: Mountain Meadow Homecomings with Kensington's Lyrical Press imprint.<br />
<br />
I can't wait for you to meet Holly and the hunky cop who helps her out, Jake Allred.<br />
<br />
Special Delivery will release May 12, 2015. It's available for pre-order now from <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Special-Delivery-Mountain-Meadow-Homecomings-ebook/dp/B00ONTR9BC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1417651360&sr=8-1&keywords=9781616507534" target="_blank">Amazon</a>, <a href="http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/special-delivery-60" target="_blank">Kobo</a>, and <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/special-delivery-laura-browning/1120611669?ean=9781616507534" target="_blank">Nook</a>. I hope you will love all the folks of Mountain Meadow as much as I do!Laura Browninghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03257184550737010323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1037486525473604208.post-49382103131576833172014-08-26T07:52:00.000-07:002014-08-26T07:54:21.438-07:00What Do You Want to be When You Grow Up?<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">One of my writer
friends had posted a question on Facebook: “What did you really want to be when
you were growing up?” I flippantly replied: archaeologist, veterinarian, horse
trainer, and artist. None of my careers have taken me down those paths. I have been
a television journalist – in front of and behind the camera. I write for
money—more or less. I am also a teacher—not a career that I would have told you
would EVER be on my radar.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">However, my response to
the question of what I really wanted to be got me thinking. I have done all of
these careers. They are part of the everyday fabric of my life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">First of all, let’s
look at archaeologist. One look around my house would be enough to show you
that I am indeed an archaeologist. Just this morning, I excavated a heating pad
from the hinterlands of my office bookshelf. Every time I open the
refrigerator…well that’s an archaeological expedition in and of itself.
Entering my teenager’s bedroom—need I say more?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Veterinarian,
medic…Yup, that’s me. When you have as many animals as we have had over the
years, particularly horses which seem especially accident prone, you have to a)
be made of money, b) marry a veterinarian, or c) learn to do that stuff
yourself. So, here’s a probably incomplete list of my animal medical skills:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: 38.7pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Expert foot
bandager – horse and dog<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 38.7pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Expert “bits”
cleaner – trust me, you don’t want to know<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 38.7pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Can treat eye
wounds<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 38.7pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Worm horses and
dogs<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 38.7pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Dock tails<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 38.7pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Remove dew claws<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 38.7pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Give shots – IM
and subcutaneously on cats, dogs, and horses<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Then of course, there
are the human medical needs:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: 38.7pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Tick removal
from places you simply don’t want to know<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 38.7pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Road rash
cleaner outer<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 38.7pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Butterfly
bandages for the “hell no, it doesn’t need stitches” people in my world.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 38.7pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Applier of
splints, ace bandages, and masseuse<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Bandage changer
for the “hell no, I don’t need to go to the doctor” people in my world<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">2<sup>nd</sup>
and 3<sup>rd</sup> degree burn care…see above.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4YLfAEdQJC7ZeXWS48lPXnlk6M7NPHrGghPNCKscMHC_51OGDeeYmWUKdiHZclM45r9Gfp0GbuvVKv2Jjmlk3KbEkpVumkLqgeNXXc_C15Ev3Eds4neriWFnJnfzzigGqKXkZhP7SmfI/s1600/MVC-006S.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4YLfAEdQJC7ZeXWS48lPXnlk6M7NPHrGghPNCKscMHC_51OGDeeYmWUKdiHZclM45r9Gfp0GbuvVKv2Jjmlk3KbEkpVumkLqgeNXXc_C15Ev3Eds4neriWFnJnfzzigGqKXkZhP7SmfI/s1600/MVC-006S.JPG" height="200" width="150" /></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">So, yes, I have gained
extensive veterinary and human medical experience over the years. My husband,
bless him, has spared me experience in the one area I’m not sure I could
handle—putting down my favorite horse and my first JRT.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Next, horse trainer.
I’ve had horses for going on 30 years now. That doesn’t count when I was a kid.
I have fox hunted, evented, and played polocrosse. I have remediated three
horses who were petrified of getting on horse trailers. One horse had been in a
trailer accident in which the trailer came loose form the tow vehicle (before I
owned him). No, nobody paid me, but I ended up with lovely horses over the
years who always managed to get the job done for me.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqzLSHptZVNyVRBhnm3XBJMegCyv33KClzUo7aqjaKROteR9kJKZUv8b-cCgTimRAp27a1eLs-8QE7q_IWtJ6vaZVPeL-WcEalOdFR-iX9CC336rrlHqu1QpXQ3NQMhcVaIOIoMJIO1HQ/s1600/Jacob+and+Tweed+crop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqzLSHptZVNyVRBhnm3XBJMegCyv33KClzUo7aqjaKROteR9kJKZUv8b-cCgTimRAp27a1eLs-8QE7q_IWtJ6vaZVPeL-WcEalOdFR-iX9CC336rrlHqu1QpXQ3NQMhcVaIOIoMJIO1HQ/s1600/Jacob+and+Tweed+crop.jpg" height="160" width="200" /></a></div>
<o:p></o:p><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Finally, artist. I
don’t paint, unless it’s a wall or a table. I doodle. However, there are other
media – I have photographs, sculpture, and of course, my writing because it is
also art. Over the years, with my son, there have been homemade Halloween
costumes, grease-painted faces, clay and craft projects, and carved and painted
pumpkins. This year, I might add watermelon jack-o-lanterns to the mix if our
melon patch doesn’t hurry up. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">So, no, I might not
have studied archaeology or veterinary medicine. I might not be training the
next Olympic wonder horse or giving Rembrandt a run for his money. I have,
however, enjoyed a very rich, adventuresome life that was never limited by
believing I could only do ONE thing when I grow up. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
Laura Browninghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03257184550737010323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1037486525473604208.post-13420864937683916782013-12-10T13:03:00.001-08:002013-12-10T13:03:40.158-08:00'Writer's Block'<a href="http://bitstrips.com/r/2ZM87">'Writer's Block'</a>Laura Browninghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03257184550737010323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1037486525473604208.post-66276953587555209872013-10-30T20:42:00.002-07:002013-10-30T20:44:21.804-07:00Broken Heat Pumps, High-Stakes Testing, and Biting Dogs<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Sometimes, life gets in
the way of the best of plans. When my newest book released at the beginning of
this month I thought, great! I’ll get a plan together to promote it, do some
book giveaways, some guest blogging and all those other fun things.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Screech…. That would be
the sound of the train derailing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Somehow, my publisher
didn’t get the word that the release date for my books was right in the final
week of two simultaneous graduate level courses in which I had papers due…in
each class…at the same time. Hey, that was okay. I got the papers turned in…just
in time to have to push hot and heavy into prepping my high school students for
their End of Course Writing exams. I’ve analyzed more reasons, evidence and
counterarguments in the last month than I really want to see—at least until
next semester when we’ll do it all over again.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">So, while I was deep in
the middle of reviewing parallelism and using specific vocabulary, I woke up
one morning and thought, “Gee, it’s cold in here.” However, with a terrier
curled against my back, I didn’t think too much about it, until I finally
stumbled into the bathroom where I could hear the outdoor portion of the heat pump
running madly, but couldn’t feel any air blowing out of the vent.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Not good.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0_pTA0tnh0VcximUkZayT-3PTIeGSkjzPEfqkq_a7JbWxSuVwbn_p_V3rf_OyUwyDpljpOlyb-qj-qPtFl174ICm0i0ONjmT7WIOwXUtkFCDXRRK13_wdG-HK1dIdlw_R2YMfXxCsozQ/s1600/DSC_0004-a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0_pTA0tnh0VcximUkZayT-3PTIeGSkjzPEfqkq_a7JbWxSuVwbn_p_V3rf_OyUwyDpljpOlyb-qj-qPtFl174ICm0i0ONjmT7WIOwXUtkFCDXRRK13_wdG-HK1dIdlw_R2YMfXxCsozQ/s320/DSC_0004-a.jpg" width="212" /></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The final distraction
to promoting <i>Broken Heart</i> came from
this cute guy whose picture you see here. Sweet face, soulful eyes. In fact,
this is the little cutie who likes to curl up to my back at night. He is also
the dog that my son takes great pleasure in teasing. This is not a good thing.
Said cute, cuddly, worshipful Jack Russell Terrier is also a former abuse case.
His previous owners saw fit to toss him out a car window, which is how we ended
up with him. We quickly discovered he has real fear issues with men. It took
him two years to warm up to my husband. He blows hot and cold with the
teenager.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Which is why I usually
find myself saying: “Get out of his face. He’s going to bite you.” I don’t even stick my face in this dog’s
face, and he thinks I walk on water, dance on the moon, and need to have him
lying near my feet or sitting on my lap whenever I remain motionless for any
length of time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">However, teenagers
being the way they are. I don’t know what I’m talking about when I say: “Get
out of his face. He’s going to bite you.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Which is why I spent
Saturday evening wiping up blood, soaking a prized T-shirt in cold water, and
examining my son’s upper lip to decide if it needed stitches or not. I
refrained from being the first one to say: “I told you so.” My spouse took care
of that.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">My teenager’s gone to
school with an ice pack this week.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">All I finally said was:
“I’m sorry this turned into such a painful lesson son, but I hope you’ve
learned it this time.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">And he said: “I have. I
don’t want to repeat it.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Which just goes to show
you, teenagers can learn something.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy3QfT-PyPTC2Gr3ICH9dWcEP8LfW77Rf1m3Nv3Z59YdRIa_z1NcAj1-Y1kcgrZpkFD2JXMUDuYdhQICEzTuS4oRsGr5NPjPgPYhf2fb-b3m7bB3OXVYT2hhvWQZNsnuB1CW034RFK7H8/s1600/brokenheart+750.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy3QfT-PyPTC2Gr3ICH9dWcEP8LfW77Rf1m3Nv3Z59YdRIa_z1NcAj1-Y1kcgrZpkFD2JXMUDuYdhQICEzTuS4oRsGr5NPjPgPYhf2fb-b3m7bB3OXVYT2hhvWQZNsnuB1CW034RFK7H8/s200/brokenheart+750.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">So, where does that
leave me with promoting <i>Broken Heart</i>, which—if I do say so myself—is a darn
good story? Leave a comment and I’ll enter you in a drawing to win a copy of
it. To be fair, I'll give away two copies. So I'm going to hold off and hold the drawing on November 9th.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Laura Browninghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03257184550737010323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1037486525473604208.post-68787097449947082252013-10-13T16:06:00.000-07:002013-10-13T16:06:03.473-07:00How far would you go to help Family?<i>Broken Heart</i>, book 4 in my series about the Barlow-Barrett family brings at least part of the family together. Stacey gets help from all of her brothers when she finally decides to stand up for what she wants. How families function, or don't, is a theme that runs through this series. Here they are, a family that could buy and sell most of us several times over, but few of them seem to have happy lives.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJuVSKscinG-MG6d7DcKtBErTlpf_ZMA0JYLaIqWoaqch2_kfhi6pkvGF_j9TT5bHzjsBlyvW8JE1TUgkUTmXKKgWz0cVCYewbaWGGgTW1OEcKC6BN4zOoZsgGY1PM8vICltbX0kjcDI4/s1600/balancingact+-new+200.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJuVSKscinG-MG6d7DcKtBErTlpf_ZMA0JYLaIqWoaqch2_kfhi6pkvGF_j9TT5bHzjsBlyvW8JE1TUgkUTmXKKgWz0cVCYewbaWGGgTW1OEcKC6BN4zOoZsgGY1PM8vICltbX0kjcDI4/s200/balancingact+-new+200.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>
In book 2, <i>Balancing Act</i>, the hero and heroine are both people devoted to family. Seth has stepped up to run the family business, and Tessa will do whatever she has to in order to protect her younger brother, even if the price is her shot at love and happiness.<br />
<br />
How far would you go to help family? Leave me a response and I'll enter you into next week's drawing for an e-book copy of <i>Balancing Act</i>. Remember, I'll be drawing each book in the series...10/20 will be <i>Remember Me</i>, and on 10/27, I'll draw two winners of the newest release, <i>Broken Heart</i>.<br />
<br />
This week's winner of <i>Bittersweet</i> is Dawn. Congratulations!<br />
<br />Laura Browninghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03257184550737010323noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1037486525473604208.post-68394747889040758362013-10-06T15:11:00.000-07:002013-10-06T15:11:28.709-07:00Do You Need Money for Happiness?When I was a kid, there were plenty of times that I thought,"Everything would be great if only we were rich." It was usually those moments when I wanted something I couldn't have, or I would have to save my money to get what I did want. As an adult, I can appreciate those lessons my parents taught me about learning to work hard for what I want in life. So thanks, Mom and Dad for making me save for six years to get that pony.<div>
Over the years, I have met enough people with money to realize that having wealth isn't a free ticket to a life of infinite happiness. Just look at the news that hits the Internet every day, and anyone can see that. Sure, that person pulling in millions might not be wondering if there will be enough money to put gas in the car until the next paycheck, or if they have enough food in the freezer to cover what they can't buy fresh in groceries, but there are some problems that transcend a family's net worth.</div>
<div>
The four books (so far) in the Barlow Barretts' series touch on some of those issues. Anna, in <i>Bittersweet</i>, struggled with the issue of never feeling as though she fit in. Seth, in <i>Balancing Act</i>, struggles with living up to his role as the eldest son--when his heart's in a different place. In <i>Remember Me</i>, Brandon discovers how life in the limelight can turn ugly, and in this latest book, Stacey faces some of the biggest challenges of all. She's done her best to be the perfect Barlow-Barrett, but it's not enough. Even worse, she faces domestic violence in a marriage that's unraveling.</div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZx-6ZGJ43HOkpT4dXzqsWOa6qjo00U6H1EiKwWo6mgnraWVtcfYtUw8lGO8rA_lOd5HOzVUvCD-gk2f0fRVhZx0eBdwc9GE_FRWsM7MNftIydrBqKumfi1Rgm1Ds1zE1FJwlpumsFcos/s1600/brokenheart+750.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZx-6ZGJ43HOkpT4dXzqsWOa6qjo00U6H1EiKwWo6mgnraWVtcfYtUw8lGO8rA_lOd5HOzVUvCD-gk2f0fRVhZx0eBdwc9GE_FRWsM7MNftIydrBqKumfi1Rgm1Ds1zE1FJwlpumsFcos/s200/brokenheart+750.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>
<div>
<i>Broken Heart </i>was a tough book to write, but as I started exploring exactly what kind of story Stacey might have to tell, it occurred to me that the way she'd led her life was simply too good to be true. Nobody had a life as perfect as hers seemed to be, unless they were a Barbie and Ken doll in one of my childhood games.Since I pretty much write by the seat of my pants, it surprised me what issues began to emerge in Stacey's life.</div>
<div>
I have to thank my editor, Dianne, for making me go back and rewrite Jace, Stacey's husband. He's not a likable character, and there are people who will feel he doesn't get all that he deserves, but he has a story not unlike Stacey's. Like her, Jace's life has been all about keeping up appearances. It's his reaction when he can no longer do that that becomes the problem.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsAjVLxMVLYjXpakRq_3c03dVA1VRdHGfUL3ERm3Fo3HUb8OCUyMRO5opyWCAZYUA-FGbiVQLVzj49yh4Xrl_loii-yEifrAh16g-irbt27eC04Uc6iOX9k-bov2eBlJ7xdFtrfKJRzII/s1600/bittersweet+200.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsAjVLxMVLYjXpakRq_3c03dVA1VRdHGfUL3ERm3Fo3HUb8OCUyMRO5opyWCAZYUA-FGbiVQLVzj49yh4Xrl_loii-yEifrAh16g-irbt27eC04Uc6iOX9k-bov2eBlJ7xdFtrfKJRzII/s200/bittersweet+200.jpg" width="133" /></a>You know, I'd like everyone to have a chance to get in on this series from the beginning, so this week I'm offering readers a chance to get a copy of <i>Bittersweet</i>, book 1 in the series. All you have to do is leave a comment on whether you think having money makes life hard or easier. I'll draw a winner and announce it next Sunday when I'll do the same with book two, and so on. Pass the word.</div>
Laura Browninghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03257184550737010323noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1037486525473604208.post-7980014601193037632013-07-22T05:36:00.000-07:002013-07-22T05:36:35.404-07:00A Fresh Look at the BardIn my "real" life, when I'm not writing, I teach high school English. That includes trying to help students unravel reading Shakespeare. I think I do a pretty decent job at helping them understand it. After going to see <i>A Midsummer Night's Dream</i>, I now see how much richer that experience could be if my students could actually see a play staged.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3qLucqX9JUWNtOzCkxxMpINvciId9IDrUlx8rMlgAIqmM0RgcBOlKi5HcV-84ALgYqx4KDTOfkk56LB8szPFcdwsrJuLipO3mmpC0EOKVm4SUCxfBdtHL7kNrJP1iU6XTvSvqvxJb27A/s1600/MSND_square_website.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="182" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3qLucqX9JUWNtOzCkxxMpINvciId9IDrUlx8rMlgAIqmM0RgcBOlKi5HcV-84ALgYqx4KDTOfkk56LB8szPFcdwsrJuLipO3mmpC0EOKVm4SUCxfBdtHL7kNrJP1iU6XTvSvqvxJb27A/s200/MSND_square_website.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
While I was at the Romance Writers of America Conference in Atlanta last week, I joined some friends at the Shakespeare Tavern just down the street from the conference hotel. What a great experience! We laughed our butts off. Anyone who knows me, also knows I have never been a fan of Shakespeare's comedies. I now understand that's because all I was doing was <i>reading</i> them.<br />
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While I thought everyone did a great job, I have to give kudos to the actors who played Bottom and Puck. When I've read this play in the past, I simply found these characters annoying, but seeing how the actors interpreted them on stage was fantastic.<br />
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If you're heading to Atlanta, the <a href="http://www.shakespearetavern.com/" target="_blank">Shakespeare Tavern</a> is definitely worth a visit! Oh yeah... the food's good too.Laura Browninghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03257184550737010323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1037486525473604208.post-81457510332522731322013-07-18T15:01:00.001-07:002013-07-18T15:01:32.013-07:00All I can say is Wow!At the risk of sounding like the wide-eyed newbie author...I am attending my first Romance Writers of America convention. After finishing my first full day here, I've had the chance to gawk at some of my favorite authors -- Kristan Higgins, Robyn Carr, and Jayne Anne Krentz. I listened to a really powerful and motivational speech by Cathy Maxwell at our keynote luncheon and left it really uplifted. It was great to find out that even authors I consider to be "Super-authors" have some of the same jitters I do.
It's humbling to see so many men and women who've come here not only to hone their craft, but help others do the same. So a big thank you to all the people who are taking time out of their lives to help the rest of us figure out how to work our way through the world of a writing career.
The sessions I've attended have already helped me get a better handle on who I am as a writer...and where I want to go. As Angela James said this morning in the spotlight on Carina Press "There is no one right way" to publish. What we should be looking for is the best way for us...and that means matching our strengths and weaknesses to find the right fit with a publisher. In the end, we all come away winners.
I think Robyn Carr had the right idea too when she told writers in the contemporary chat audience that rather than planning a series arc too far in advance, writers should concentrate on making the book they're working on the best book it can be.
And to my husband who wondered if we should really spend the money on this...oh yeah...definitely!Laura Browninghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03257184550737010323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1037486525473604208.post-16637759935259978092013-03-17T14:41:00.001-07:002013-03-17T14:41:41.262-07:00Remember Me -- How Can I Forget?<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOSER9i0i1gj4vdy1mvXqWQXEu9Af-QivfX71WB5-764Cer00VX2xHifHIQGVdRKFOv6QBswJk7jMKKSKRSODm4iQpJWDt1XxYa-o0T29QmdcVuG-BF68qoW7Nx6pAYxNSof5P66Pd8DQ/s1600/rememberme+200.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOSER9i0i1gj4vdy1mvXqWQXEu9Af-QivfX71WB5-764Cer00VX2xHifHIQGVdRKFOv6QBswJk7jMKKSKRSODm4iQpJWDt1XxYa-o0T29QmdcVuG-BF68qoW7Nx6pAYxNSof5P66Pd8DQ/s320/rememberme+200.jpg" /></a> Over the years, I’ve been in car accidents, navigated through forests with a compass and a map, slept in houses built before Columbus sailed to America—I’ve even been airlifted off a mountain in Switzerland.
I have plenty of life experience upon which to draw for writing. However, the heroine of Remember Me presented me with a brand new challenge. You see, Lucy is a stripper. Well…not only have I not done that (and be thankful for that because I would probably fall off the stage or tell the first guy who tried to tuck something in my G-string what he could do with his fingers before I ripped them from his knuckles)but I had never even been in a strip club when I began the Lucy and Brandon’s story.
So…I turned to my friend the Internet. I researched laws regarding strip clubs for this particular geographic area, read as much as I could about salaries and pay. I watched videos on the Internet, including how-to videos for pole dancing—yes, they’re out there(yawn)—but I was still not quite comfortable with the results because I had not actually been to a strip club, and wasn’t sure I could accurately convey the atmosphere.
That’s where my ever helpful research assistant, my husband, came in. While his checkered past did include personal experience with strip clubs (gasp!), he was more than willing to make the sacrifice by accompanying me to one because God knows, I wasn’t going anywhere near one alone.
The experience was fascinating, and seeing the women actually performing gave me a whole new level of respect for the strength it takes to be truly good at the job. I also discovered that most of these women had other jobs outside of working at the club—quite a few working as fitness instructors of some sort.
In the end, I also learned that my research had been pretty solid. I tweaked a couple of things in my story in order to paint a more vivid word picture, but overall I’d done okay. Most of the strippers I talked to would be the first to tell you that the amount of money Lucy makes is way more than they bring home, but that’s the best part about writing fiction—all things are possible.
Laura Browninghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03257184550737010323noreply@blogger.com0