A Novel Creation www.WatersWords.com

  Of Hurricane’s and Waterways Mike and I live in Florida. I want start by asserting there is more to Florida than “the mouse house” in Orlando.  Florida is known for access to wonderful sandy beaches…lots of them. Our state is a peninsula. You can easily witness a sunrise over the Atlantic Ocean on the east coast and take a leisurely drive over to the west coast to view the sunset over the Gulf later that evening.  But saltwater isn’t the only recreational source of water fun. Florida hosts clear, spring fed, icy cold, and crystal-clear rivers, springs, and chains of freshwater lakes and waterways. I’ve floated in innertubes down some of those spring fed rivers and skied and fished in the freshwater lakes. The Lake in Floral City a few years ago. Of course there is more to the state I call home. Florida is known for the large production of citrus fruit, strawberries, and farm produce. We also host cattle ranches and huge chicken farms. Our economy is far more than touris...

  Ever Feel Discombobulated? Discombobulated. I’ve always wanted to use that word. Not live it…Use it. Authors like to throw things at their characters. Actually, we may not  like  to do so, but it is necessary for our characters to grow and essential for our readers to turn the page rather than put the book down. So, we have everything going along smoothly for our hero, then throw a monkey wrench into the situation. Books, movies, and good stories depend on tension.  And tension comes when things don’t simply glide along without a glitch in the life of the character. Red Riding Hood  is merrily skipping through the forest to see her grandmother when a big bad wolf appears out of nowhere and wants her basket of goodies. Tension. I often feel a bit discombobulated. Star Wars: A New Hope   starts with a battle.  Tension. Even  Shakespeare’s  Romeo and Juliet   begins with a description of the feud between two families.  Tension. ...

Hello! I invited a fellow author to craft this week's blog post. I always talk about how I feel I live a connected life. The people I know and meet. The opportunities I have had. The places I've lived. Even the two men God brought into my life. I met Bettie Boswell over ten years ago in Ohio. Now, we have reconnected through our publisher, Mt. Zion Ridge Press. So when Bettie talked about "connections," I was all in. Enjoy the post and be sure to share those "unexpected connections" you've experienced in your own life in the comments!     Connections by Bettie Boswell I'm very honored to be Rebecca's guest blogger this week. She was in the first writing group that I officially joined over ten years ago. At that time, Rebecca was a published author. I was a dreamer, hoping a piece I'd written would one day find a home. Many years and miles now separate us, but we still have a  connection  through social media. When she asked me to write the bl...

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...