Goodreads.com has a new feature for its authors. It's called Ask The Author. Today I had about 5 questions on my page. The first one was, "Where did you get your idea for your most recent book?" I decided that the answer would be my blog for today.

The idea for my most recent book came out of a dark time in my life. I was struggling with a lot of questions and uncertainty. Without giving too much away, I'll just say that I sat down one morning and started writing about a character who would end up being Julie in my book, Where There is Love. If you've read it then you understand that Julie has a lot of dark spots in her life and struggles with her understanding of love and acceptance. I kept expanding this early writing about Julie and at one point thought the whole thing was silly and almost deleted it. I decided that it would be better to hold onto it and just not look at it for a while. Before long other ideas were popping into my head that could help me create the entire story. I couldn't fight it. In fact, I became so involved with the story and the characters I almost felt obsessed. After the book was published it took me a while to get where I didn't think about them every moment of every day like they were my closest friends. The characters seem very real to me still and there are days when I miss them! Ha!

Where there is love there is God.

Out of the depths I cry to you Lord...Psalm 130:1

Freedom…one of my all-time favorite words.

In my book Where There Is Love, my character
Julie is an individual who is extremely independent. She is a beautiful
intelligent woman. However, her Achilles’ heel—you might say— is her need for
emotional attachment…to feel loved and admired. She doesn’t recognize her
strength and abilities to go it alone. Without realizing it, Julie gives up or
trades in her freedom and independence for the chance to be loved—or at least
what she thinks of as love. Julie is a good example of the prostitute archetype,
which you can read about in detail in the Caroline Myss book Sacred
Contracts.

 It’s all too easy to give up our freedoms, our independence, and
the very person our spirit intends us to be for affection, material wealth,
fame, or security. It’s much more comfortable to be taken care of than to
accept personal responsibility for ourselves. But does that sort of bartering
bring true happiness?

In honor of Independence Day, I pose a question to you. Have you
ever traded your independence, your rights as an American, or even a bit of your
soul in order to achieve wealth, gain comfort, or find success? Oh, come on, you
know you have! Think about it. Have a great
holiday!


Where there is love there is freedom.

 What is it about a love story that transcends time or death? We love them, right? Why? Is it  because we want so desperately to believe that there’s something out there that will make all happy endings come true? Don’t ask me. I’m in the dark like all the rest of you. I’m just hopeful. That’s why I wrote about it in “Where There is Love”.

From the several wonderful reviews I’ve had recently on my book, “Where There is Love” one comment keeps standing out. She said she couldn’t wait to see this story on the big screen. Me too! My dream is to see this story played out in film as I’ve seen it so many times playing in my head.

Until Hollywood discovers this great work of literature I’ve created, we’ll just have to settle for what’s out there now. What are your favorite films that portray love’s transcendence? Here are my top five in no particular order. Feel free to comment.

1. The Lake House
   
   
2. Wuthering Heights
   
   
3. Somewhere In Time
   
   
4. Meet Joe Black
   
   
5. The Time Traveler’s Wife
   
   

Where there is love there is hope.

Helen grew up in a much simpler time than today. She had no inward struggles about who she was going to be or what she would do with her life. She knew she would be someone’s wife—David’s. She’d be a mother and her life would be defined by her love and her family. She had no thoughts of becoming a writer, a teacher, a chef. She had no desire to change the world. She was simply going to marry the love of her life and make a home for them.

Many women today would frown on that concept I am guessing. I know for me that it would not be enough to satisfy me. But let’s think about it for a moment—mull it over. Helen discovered the love of her life—her soul mate—in her childhood. Wow! How many people do that? Imagine knowing from almost birth that the person you love most in the world has already been found. How many of us spend our entire lives searching for that person? I’m guessing that search alone takes up at least 75-85% of your lifetime energy. After all, what is life without love? Then there is her desire to be a mother of several children and make a home for them. If you’re a mother then you know the answer to this one already. To be a mother, you must become a writer, a teacher, a chef, along with nurse, maid, and a motivational speaker at the very least. And again, having children just gives you more opportunity to love another human being.

Changing the world? How many of us feel that we’re doing that in our chosen careers? And how many of us sell motherhood short as a less-than-vital contribution to society? But I ask you, where would any of us be without the encouragement, caring, and wisdom of our mothers? Tell me that is not a career that doesn’t influence the world!

There is very little written to describe the male characters in my book. They are all secondary to the female characters, so I did not dwell on their descriptions or their emotions. However that does not diminish their contribution to the story. Without them the book just wouldn’t be what it is.

With Father’s Day approaching, my thoughts of course are turning to my dad. He was sort of a secondary character in my life, yet he managed to contribute a great deal without me realizing it at the time. My father was an alcoholic. He was not mean or abusive. He was a quiet drunk, and most of the time he was gone from the house so he could feed his habit without interference from us. So, growing up he never felt like a main character in my story. He was just there in the background—a source of income for our family’s survival. At least that’s the credit I gave him as a child.

Father’s Day always presented a challenge for me as an adult shopping for a card for my dad. He was not the “Hallmark” dad. He wasn’t the “Dad, you were always there for me” type, or the “We’ve shared so much over the years” type either. In fact many times I would find the best card for him under the category of “For Anyone” or “Briefly Stated”.

I often thought I should write my own cards for Dad because of our unique situation, but I never took the time. So, last year when I was sitting in the ICU waiting room while he struggled to survive his latest heart episode, I sat down and wrote this:

Dad, you weren’t there to coach my ball teams. You weren’t the athletic type. You were more the “sit in the pool, smoke cigarettes, and drink beer” type. You weren’t the loving, emotional, over-protective father either. You were more of the laid back, quiet man who rarely offered words of wisdom or—God forbid—saying “I love you”.

Still my belief that you could fix anything gave me the confidence I needed to learn skills that made me a stronger, more independent person. You knew how to bring out the beauty of an old car, a gun, or a piece of wood. I learned to see beauty and value in things that others might overlook. And looking back I see the patience that you had to accomplish so many things. You inspire me to take more time and work through obstacles that tend to frustrate me.

No, there will most likely never be a Hallmark category for who you are and all you mean to me. You may not have been Hallmark perfection, but you were God’s perfect gift for me. I am who I am not just because of your contributions, but for all of your weaknesses as well.

I never gave this message to my father. He passed away in April of 2013. I just told him I loved him every night before we left him.

So, to all you fathers out there…don’t fret too much that you may be a secondary character in your child’s life. Without you their book just wouldn’t be what it is. Where there is love there is unconditional acceptance.

My story took a turn for me somewhere in the middle of writing it, when I decided to let one of my characters be led to the great city of New Orleans. To me there is no better city to depict love, mystery, and spirituality than New Orleans, Louisiana. I fell in love with the city the first time I visited it in 2008. It has haunted me ever since. There’s just something about it that keeps drawing me back—whether that’s the amazing food, the music, the architecture, the history, or the energy of so many artists’ souls that linger in the background—it never ceases to envelope me in its warmth when I am there.

I’ve enjoyed several return visits to New Orleans. Each time I take my camera with me and spend countless hours photographing the French Quarter, the cemetery, and the Garden District. I have a treasure trove of photographs that I hope to turn into its own book someday.

New Orleans turned out to be the perfect backdrop for Hannah’s search for love in Where There Is Love. Because I have visited the city so many times since that first chance meeting I was able to see Hannah strolling through the streets experiencing the sights, sounds, tastes and interesting inhabitants. The character, Hannah, is a young woman who’s freshly out of college. Although far from naïve, Hannah has been raised in a pretty conservative atmosphere. I love the contrast between her character and the city of Voodoo! But does Hannah’s true love live in New Orleans or has her heart simply been manipulated? You’ll have the read the book to find out. After you’ve read Where There Is Love I’d like to hear your comments on whether I effectively brought you a little taste of my favorite city. It’s a magical place and it’s bound to cast a spell on you too if you ever dare to visit!

I love all the characters in “Where There Is Love”, but I’d have to say that Julie was the most challenging one. As I write I try to put myself in the minds of my characters, so I can do my best to imagine how they would really react to situations—what the words would actually be that would speak. Of course each character has a little bit of me in them. That’s just what happens when you create, but Julie’s character forced me to stretch mentally and emotionally.

Julie’s background is the daughter of an alcoholic—something I’m familiar with in my own life. But her lack of love and support as a child followed her into adulthood and ultimately shaped a lot of bad decisions in her life. Julie’s dark emotional side was difficult to slip in and out of at times. Many nights I went to sleep in a funk feeling deeply embedded in Julie’s state.

As difficult as she was, she also delighted me. I think of her now as more than just a character in my book. She is a friend that was briefly in my life who taught me a little more about myself. She was lovely and inspiring, tragic and romantic. I loved her in spite of all her faults. I hope you will also find something about Julie that will inspire love within you when you read “Where There Is Love”.