Wind,Rain,Winding Roads & Sunshine, The By-Ways of Life

STILL ME...AFTER ALL THESE YEARS, 24 WRITERS REFLECT ON AGING, BY KAREN HELENE WALKER

Good things for an individual are born out of the vision the person holds steady before his or her inner eyes. The person comprehends, as he or she examines what it will take to fulfill the vision that it is made up of building blocks. Each building block has to be mastered, which means learning, changing, expanding, and shaping, one step at a time. I believe that is why God said, “Don’t belittle the small steps.” Small steps, equivalent to building blocks, are vital to moving forward toward the vision and maintaining the momentum.

Friday evening, I received the hard copies of one of my small steps.

Still Me…After All These Years by Karen Helene Walker is an Anthology in which twenty-four writers Reflect on Aging.

I am elated to be one of those authors.

Still Me…After All These Years is available in print and as e-book at Amazon, Kobo, Smashwords and other bookstores.

Shalom aleichem,

Pat Garcia

And The Whippoorwill Sang by Micki Peluso (On Sale for a Limited Time Only)

Micki Peluso, a writer and dear friend, out of the State of New York, wrote her first book after her daughter met her untimely death, which was caused by a drunken driver.  However, And The Whippoorwill Sang is more than a book detailing the loss surrounding the  suffering of her family and herself as a mother. It is a short chronicle of the golden age when women’s rights were still practically unacknowledged, and Gloria Steinem was slowly becoming a household word.  The book is witty and filled with wisdom; it is sad, and yet filled with joy.

I have read the book,  and I have re-read certain chapters several times because Micki has a way of putting words on paper that make you laugh even though you may want to cry.

And The Whippoorwill Sang is being offered at a reduced price this week. If you haven’t read it, it is worth the reading. If you have read it, then consider investing in And The Whippoorwill Sang as an Easter gift for someone you think will enjoy it.

 

bookcover_lspsite%202%20better%20version.jpg

Micki Peluso
AuthorsDen.com – Member Den

https://www.facebook.com/AndTheWhippoorwillSang?ref=hl

And The Whippoorwill Sang

 

 

http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/811377-micki-peluso?utm_medium=email&utm_source=follower

https://twitter.com/

http://www.mallie1025.blogspot.com/

http://lspdigital.com/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shalom,

Pat Garcia

 

 

Related articles

Hope

Gloria Steinem Fast Facts

Here I Am Again

At one-minute pass midnight on November 1, 2012, NaNoWriMo began. NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month, and there are authors all over the world who participate. 

This was my third time participating.  The first two years I did not finish.  I would start only to tire out or become disgusted with what I was writing.  Besides due to being frustrated with the whole challenge, I was unwilling to put in the time and energy one needs to take to complete such a project. I thought I could do a thousand other projects and still meet my goal.  That is not possible, at least for me it is not.

So, this year, I planned it differently.  Why? I got tired of having a guilty feeling resulting from my not giving NaNo my best shot. Sure, I know NaNo is a fun type of thing, but even in fun, you don't want the joke to be on you, and that is how I felt the first two years after not reaching my goal of 50000 words.

Determined, this time I was going to go all the way, I prepared myself mentally. I informed every person I had built a relationship with, husband, friends, writing groups, and even animals, just kidding about the animals, I was doing NaNo, and would perhaps disappear for some days, but if something significant happen to them that was earth shaking, they could reach me on my computer through email. Having my notifications on, I could see when emails came into my mailboxes without opening up the email.

I had already developed my main characters in my novel and became friends with them. We got to know one another, and I fell in love with them, and I had a topic I wanted my characters to handle.  It worked. They are handling the topic wisely. My novel is not yet complete, but I had the word count validated yesterday at 57026 words. 

Am I happy? You bet.

NaNo is coming to a close for this year, and I have begun to get back into the flow of writing my own blogs, catching up on blogs I follow, preparing for a singing engagement, and participating in my writing groups. 

I truly enjoyed NaNo.  Completing it successfully made me aware of a few things about myself, I did not know.

NaNoWriMo comes again next year. Maybe, just maybe, I'll participate once more.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ciao,

Pat Garcia

The Chosen - An Introduction to the Series

The Bible fascinates me! I love reading it, love testing it to see if the promises and conditions written within are fact.  Of course, I read lots of other books. I have always been a voracious reader that buys books before I buy something to eat.  Notwithstanding, the Bible is the book I read the most, because I dwell in it on a daily basis, have parts of it programmed into my iPad so that a verse pops up to energize me on an hourly basis and because I have discovered the principle truth for my own life.   It is not only entertaining; it is not only history; it is not only literature, it is simply fascinating, and it demands childlike faith and trust to encounter and find the jewels hidden within it.   The Bible  is a tiny reflection of the wisdom, strength, patience, knowledge, understanding, mercy, faithfulness, and love our God has for the human specimen he has created, and in my opinion, could have only been written by men and women who were divinely inspired by the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Godhead.

 

As a writer who majored in Psychology with minors in English and Education, my childlike beliefs were challenged when I entered the university, and I must admit that I failed the challenge.  As some of those people who are presented in the Bible, I took an intersection that led me far from the faith of my parents and those people who had so courageously put pennies together in church to send me off to college.  

 

Instead of childlike faith, I entered into the world of philosophy where everyone was a mature adult that knew it all, and I discovered the decadence and double-mindedness of  human beings who believed only in themselves and their perceptions of the world.  I became associated with men and women who had rules and regulations based on how pleasurable it felt and discovered a lonely life, where the most precious innate sense of purpose became buried beneath the egotistical blanket of self.  

 

It took me some years to come back, but thanks be to God, at the age of twenty-seven I knew what hell was like, by living it on earth, and the LORD stepped in as he has done with so many others and pulled me out of hell's fire.

 

This introduction may sound strange, but I felt it necessary to give you a small private glance at my own background before I begin the series.  You see, I am not a Bible Scholar and have not studied theology in any school.  I am not pretending to know the Bible from inside out, because I believe the Bible will never be fully known or fully discovered until Jesus comes and we are raptured up to be with him.  Paul says it so eloquently in 1^st Corinthians 13, we know in part but then shall we know as we are also known.  I am only one single individual that has been walking in the Words written within this book daily, since the day He pulled me out of Hell's fire, and I am continually finding out what God says he will do, he does.  He is truly not a God who lies. You can bank on it.   The word of God is undoubtedly living and active, sharper than any double-edged word. It does penetrate the soul and the spirit, the joints and the marrow and it judges the thoughts and attitude of any heart who would make a permanent commitment to follow him and do things his way.

 

Therefore, what I write about in The Chosen series is my perception in accordance with how God has revealed it to me through the Holy Spirit.   In times where I have needed encouragement to continue on, or the patience to wait on the fruition of  my heart desires, or the faith to keep my eyes on my goals,  or the love to forgive others as he forgave me, or the joy to rejoice in who He is and not what I am, or  the compassion, to be merciful as he is merciful to me,  I have discovered in the Bible the only real help and assistance to do any of these things.

 

As God proclaimed before Moses, I proclaim in my writing,

 

He is the LORD, the LORD God,

Merciful and gracious

Longsuffering and abundant,

In goodness and truth,

He is the LORD!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ciao,

Pat Garcia 

A Request from Pat Garcia

 

 

 

Today was a big day for me. My first short story has been published by a Canadian Online Publisher in Canada.  The story, On A Rainy Day, by Pat Garcia, can be read at their website www.romanticshorts.com , and I believe people will enjoy reading it.

I say this, because I need a big  favour from you, the writers  of blogs and books,  which I subscribe to, and also,  from  all of my readers  to tell your reading population or your friends  about my short story and ask them to read it sometime this week and also leave comments of what they think, if possible.  This week is especially important because my short story is being featured on the front page of the publishing company‘s website for the entire week, and the success of my story is based on the percentage of  people  who view the Romantic Shorts’ website and read my story.

The story will  be available for an entire year, but as I have said, this is the week that counts for me. 

Please allow me to repeat the essential information you will need once more, the story is  On A Rainy Day by Pat Garcia,

Website: http://www.romanticshorts.com.

I sincerely thank you in advance for your assistance.

Ciao,

Pat Garcia

 

Letting Go

Recently, while helping someone out that needed help urgently, I experienced the pain of letting go.  Letting go of someone by death is difficult, but I believe it is more difficult to let go of people with whom you have celebrated birthdays, weddings or with whom you have celebrated many meals together.  These are the people you have called friends, people who have played an integral part in your life. These people have not departed this world but have separated themselves from your life, by moving in a different direction on their life journey.  This kind of departure is not easy.

  Letting Go A  Running Theme In The Bible

 Yet the Bible is full of people who had to let go.  Abraham had to leave a family that he treasured.  Moses was put in a basket by his mother and floated on the Nile with his sister watching to see where he landed.  Brothers, who hated Joseph the dreamer, forcefully moved him away from his loving and doting father.  David had to leave his beloved home and go in the King's castle to play on his harp, and lift the depressions that King Saul had.  Samuel was given up as soon as his mother, Hannah, weaned him and given to Eli the wicked Priest who was more afraid to chastise his own sons than to make sure that everything ran properly in the LORD's Tabernacle. Mordecai gave up Esther to the harem of King Xerxes, the ungodly ruler of 127 provinces and at the appointed time, she was able to save a nation.  These are only a few of the biblical instances where people were put into situations where they had to let go.

 What does that say to you?  How many of you are willing to let go of the old?  To stretch yourselves into something new or to let someone new into your circle of friends; someone or something that will not only change your life and your way of thinking, but will affect the lives of those people you normally come in contact with.   Is it not often so, that you get so comfortable in your little niche, with your little group of friends that you feel immediately threaten by someone new or something new?

 Inviting Change Into Your Life

 At the beginning of the year, I began my rehearsals with my pianist in preparation for our first band practice at the end of February.  His son, barely four years old, came to the door as I rang the doorbell.  His father said to me, "Simon wants to be a part of your rehearsal. He wants to watch you sing."  This was something that I had not experienced for a long time, nor had I expected it.  Normally, I relate to his father and mother. We are adults and have things in common with one another. However, here was a four year old wanting to be a part of my circle.  I must admit that I thought he would not stay there the entire time. After all my voice has a natural and unusual loudness and in a small room, it is even louder. In addition to that, his father and I tend to repeat a song until we both have reached the level of professionalism, where the song is buried in my spirit.

 Needless to say, I was surprised when that little tiger stayed in the room, the entire time.  He did not even try to distract us and as I sang, every now and then to him, he would look directly into my eyes. It honoured me and made me realized that I had just won another friend.  It also made me think of letting go and being stretched.  Letting go of my perceived perception of who belongs in my world and allowing myself to be stretched so that a little tiger like Simon could enter in.   My circle became a little wider that afternoon because a new friend had entered into my life that I have  had to learn how to relate to.  

 The Invitation To Let Go And Stretch

 So, let go and let yourself be stretched. Don't limit yourself to your little world.  Sooner or later you will find yourself stagnating.  Doing the same old thing or hanging around the same old people all the time is not good for anyone. 

 No wonder Jesus replied to the crowd when his mother and brothers stood outside wanting to speak with him, " Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?"

 Pointing to his disciples, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers.  For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.[1]   

 Be blessed this week.

Shalom,

 Pat Garcia

---

[1] Matthew 12:48-50, (New International Version, 1984 Edition)