A Novel Creation www.WatersWords.com

Rebecca Waters, a graduate of Tampa’s George D. Chamberlain High School and the University of South Florida, served over fifteen years as a teacher in the public school system in Fairfield, Ohio. During that time, she earned both her Master’s and Doctoral degrees at the University of Cincinnati. Rebecca then taught at the University level for fourteen years at Cincinnati Christian University where she was awarded “Teacher of the Year,” in 2010. Rebecca left her position in 2012 and penned her first novel, Breathing on Her Own which released in 2014. Rebecca’s husband of forty-three years died in a bicycle accident that same year. Rebecca stepped away from writing during that time and focused on, in her words, “breathing and putting one foot in front of the other.” Rebecca spent the 2017-2018 school year teaching fourth grade in a school in Prishtina, Kosovo. For her it was a time of healing. On her return to the United States in 2018, Rebecca’s second novel, Libby’s Cuppa Joe was relea...

  Expect the Unexpected… Because God Can See Around the Corners If you follow my blog, you know Mike and I have spent some unexpected time in Ohio. We have a house there and Mike wanted to do some yard work. I wanted to see the kids and grandkids. Well, Mike finished the yardwork. We visited some with the kiddos. Never as much as I would like, but that’s another story. I cleaned out my office and managed to get a bit of writing done. It was a crazy week. We headed home and got as far as somewhere in Kentucky when our truck had a problem. We made it back to the Ohio house without incident. My Namesake...  Preparing for the Unexpected Go Rebi! But I trust that God can see around the corners.  There is always a reason things turn out the way they do. We may never know what or why, but stuff happens. I trust we are exactly where we need to be right now. Whether it is Ohio, in Florida, or wherever. I’ve experienced that feeling before.  Once, when I was in India, my young...

  You Can’t Get there From Here…Part II If you read last week’s blog post, “You Can’t Get There From Here,” you know Mike and I drove to Ohio from Florida via a new route. The first part of the drive was beautiful. But it turned somewhat complicated…at least at the end. I should have trusted the GPS. Just sayin’… The week was great. We accomplished all we intended to do and then some. So, since Sunday is a good day to travel, we headed south toward home early Sunday morning. We were packed and ready. The plan was to head South on I-75 early and stop somewhere (Read: probably Buc-ees) for breakfast. The weather was good, the traffic was light. We had everything we needed. We knew the route. Interstate 75 South. Easy. Then something happened. A light from the truck’s computer system warned Mike the DEF fluid was low.   Not the best way to start a thousand-mile trip. And it was Sunday. Nothing was open. Nothing. I take that back. We found a McDonald’s, ate breakfast, and made a p...

 “You Can’t Get There From Here” Mike and I decided to take a different route from our home in Inverness, Florida to our house in Ohio. We wanted to see if we could find a suitable route that would get us to the west part of Kentucky and avoid Atlanta.  I’m not “dissing” Georgia. I know many people who live in that southern state. Good people. But the traffic on the interstate through Atlanta is not always “user friendly.” Bowling Green is west of our normal route and one of our plans involves a trip to Bowling Green, Kentucky. Why Bowling Green? Because the Corvette manufacturing plant and museum is located in that part of Kentucky. We headed out on a Saturday in the truck. We didn’t need to pack much, but since our ultimate destination was Southwestern Ohio, Mike wanted to take some lawn care stuff like weed eaters and such for the house there.  Every Trip is Better with Buc-ees I had maybe …maybe, driven through the Florida Panhandle once that I can vaguely remember. I...

  Several years ago, while I still lived in Ohio, I received a Triple A (AAA) magazine. In it was an article by the Ohioana Library Association featuring     “Ohio’s Literary Trail.” Our writing group was intrigued. We researched the sixty-one sites. Some of them turned out to be a mere marker on the side of the road signifying “so-and-so was here.” Others were true sights to explore and gain insight into the experiences of authors familiar with Ohio.   Ohio Trail Mix: Available on Amazon We were intrigued. Five of us took it on ourselves to write short stories connected to each site. We had fun  getting together, exploring the area, and brainstorming ideas for stories. The result was an anthology we published n 2022. It was fun.  If you follow me, you know my formative years were spent in Florida. After living in Ohio for many years, I returned to Florida when I married Mike. I joined a group of writers called “Citrus Writers of Florida.” They are an eclec...

  On Growing Old…er …Or…  A Visit to the Vampire It happens every day. Every. Single. Day. One breath at a time, everyone…you included…. everyone grows older. One minute. One hour. One day at a time. It’s just that some days you feel it more. At least I do.  Basically, I don’t feel all that old. Certainly not the number of candles on my cake…which will boast one more come May. No, I generally feel pretty good. Strong. Active. Enjoying these retirement years with Mike. Generally.  A week or so ago, I made an appointment with my doctor because of a rash. An irritation on my neck and arms. She sent me to a lab for an allergy test. She wanted them to draw blood to test for nuts, seafood, and trees. It sounded a bit silly to me. Especially the tree part. I haven’t had seafood in a while and I eat nuts a lot, but I’ve always enjoyed them without incident. Still, as I had a few days before the lab tests, I decided to cut out nuts and seafood. I hadn’t consumed much seafood,...

  Living Through a Drought Our neck of the woods has been going through a drought. June first marks the first day of Florida’s rainy season, but of course, there is still no guarantee of rain. The little girl on the Morton’s salt is a reminder that “When It Rains, It Pours.” I hope she’s right. No big hurricane. Just the rain from one. Not to sound like a poet or something but our daily lament around here has been,  “The lake is down. Our grass is brown.” Yep, we need rain. You may see some green in the photo, but what you see is usually underwater...And the dock is high and dry! My writing went through a drought for a while, too.  There was a season of life when I struggled to gather my thoughts or sustain my steam if I did have an idea. It was a rough time as a writer. That’s why I have a file full of writing I call “Fits and Starts.”  It may be the ebb and flow of every writer’s life. I don’t know, but I’ve heard other authors speak of “slumps” or “dry spells” in ...

  Graduation...in Kosovo This week  marks a special event in Europe.  And I'm not there to experience it.   Those of you who have followed my blog for a while, know that I received a message in 2017 from one of my former students at the University. A message that proved to be a gift. Heather graduated from the teacher education program where I taught and served as the head of the education department. I was one of Heather’s professors as well as her advisor when she studied at the private university in Cincinnati. Since graduation, Heather had married and now used her gift of teaching at a private school in Kosovo. Think “Southeastern Europe.” The message was simple. Heather let me know she and her husband were going to have a baby. It brought a smile to my face. The next part of the text explained she was returning to the United States to have her child. I remember thinking that was likely a good decision.  Finally, she noted that since she was going to be in t...

  Do You Have a Story to Tell? Tell It!   Someone asked me how I keep writing. “Aren’t there times when you just don’t feel like writing?” Sure. That’s when having a plan helps.   I was trying to think of a good metaphor to explain my writing schedule. I could compare it to exercise. You just do it on a regular basis, inspired or not.  Exercise Your Writing Muscle In fact, when I’m not particularly “inspired” to write, I engage in a writing exercise. There are story starters online or even books with suggestions to exercise your writing muscle.    I’m sure those are helpful, but for me, I will often turn to topics  Chicken Soup for the Soul  plans to publish and write stories for the next two or three titles. If I like what I wrote, I edit the story, read it out loud to make sure it says what I want it to say and submit it to the publishers. They are not all accepted, but I have had several stories published under various titles in the  ...

  The Train Ride We had a ticket to ride! If you read my post a couple of weeks ago called “Yay for May!” you already know my oldest grandson graduated from the University of Cincinnati in the field of cyber-technology. You may recall from that post I said Joshua has other interests, too. If you missed that post, I’ll put a link to it at the bottom of this one. The station had it's own Thomas the Tank Ever since he was a young child, Joshua  has had a fascination with trains. He was a huge fan of Thomas the Tank Engine. He loved the train under the Christmas tree. He collected all sorts of track and trains through the years.  Of course the big draw for us to travel to Ohio was to celebrate Joshua’s college graduation, a week or so before accepting that diploma, Josh graduated from “train school.” Seriously. He graduated as a Junior Brakeman. The first step in the train school in Connersville, Indiana.  So, while we were in the area, Joshua took us to Connersville to ...

True Confession:     “I am a paperphile.” There. I said it. I love paper. I’m addicted. They say the first step to recovery is confession.  So here it is: I am a paperphile. I don’t think I’ve ever met a blank piece of paper or a notebook or even a paper placemat at a restaurant that didn’t draw me in to retrieve a pen or pencil and start writing. Or drawing. My mom would send me to my room to clean it only to find me sitting in the middle of the floor an hour later, surrounded by paper, books, or half used notebooks, reading or writing. My paternal grandmother understood. She sent notebooks and calendars my way.  Even as I am typing this, I am surrounded by five notepads and two pads of post-it notes and four pens.  That is in addition to the legal pad on the other side of the computer where I’m working! This is not a set-up. This is my life! Poor Mike. I have a desk in our house that I regularly clean out. Actually I mostly stack the paper in neat piles a...

  Yay for May! Yes, my birthday is in May. But this isn’t about my birthday. Yes, Mother’s Day is in May. But this isn’t about Mother’s Day either. (If you want to read a wonderful Mother’s Day post, click HERE . I’m pretty sure last year’s Mother’s Day was the best yet for these five mothers in the story.) Nope, this first weekend in May we are celebrating the boy turned man named Joshua. Joshua Thomas or JT was born in May, too. But the real celebration is that this May, Joshua is graduating from the University of Cincinnati. He is the oldest and first of the grandkids to graduate from college.  My heart is full. Joshua’s degree is in “Information Technology-Cybersecurity,” but he is so much more than a techie.  Joshua’s interest in cars offered an immediate connection to Mike when they met roughly four years ago. In fact, when Mike took Joshua to the Don Garlits Museum in 2023, I thought they’d never come back! And JT loves the fact that Mike and my late husband, Tom, ...