My book, A Promise to Break, has been ordered and will be released this weekend! I’m so excited! I thought the day would never get here. If you are anxious to read the first chapter, you can find it on the publishers’ website. Here’s where I will be during the coming weeks.
June 17 Prerelease book party at 317 East Main Shawnee, Oklahoma 6:30 pm
June 18 Book release at Shawnee Historical Museum 11am to 4 pm
June 26 By the Book, Henderson Hills Baptist Church, Edmond, OK
July 2 Book signing at Carthage, Texas
July 7 1930s Book Celebration Party at The House, 232 Hurd, Edmond, OK
July 16 Book signing at Salt Cellar Bookstore, Lawton, OK
You can also order the book on Amazon after the 18th.
I’ve been impatient to show you this book (Since I began research on this book 15 years ago!) but I trust in God’s timing. Come on by and join us as we celebrate!
Why did 50 of us travel to Dodge City cow-town on Memorial Day weekend? Some of our family caravanned, a slow but fun way to travel, cars dog-tagging along, arriving at Dodge House Lodge before nightfall on Friday.
For the reunion, we wore matching t-shirts. Now that’s a bonding experience. We had cute gift bags, volley ball tournaments that lasted hours, card games, swimming and Billy Sims delicious BBQ. We made our own family tree on the wall, tracing our grandparents’ Sibyl and Fremont Pope’s lineage back to British royalty, well at least according to Ancestry.com. What fun! Then little acorn families popped up along the bottom. All we missed was the watermelon and a few family members who couldn’t show up.
Family TreeDodge House Hotel
Why do we do this? Why do we take time out of our busy schedule to gather together?
I thought about what family means, in particular my family. We’ve held reunions since I was a child, gathering elderly relatives, new babies, and strangers. Well, related strangers.
We do this to stay connected, or maybe reconnect. I was amazed at how different people played ping-pong or chatted over breakfast, ones who had never connected before. And grandma, oh my, she took individual pictures with each person present, chatting with them about their lives.
That’s the part I like, making memories.
All this is to create memories for our younger generation, and to also remind each person how precious and special they are. They are what makes up our family. We are a bunch of good-looking, creative, moral, and fun individuals. Diversified – different sizes, shapes, ages, colors. Maybe a little competitive. Maybe a little crazy. But we care about each other and that’s what counts.
Individuals have difficulties, days we have trouble getting through, but the support of a family is like a canopy of rare gems. We have to hold on to it, value it, and not let it slip away.
We are jewels. Each person shines brightly, reflecting on past achievements and future promises. Some like me may still need a bit a shining up after the failed starts, but remember that we go through this life together, a handful of people aging in the same sphere.
The lesson I learned this weekend: cherish each other, and go make some memories.
One benefit of being a writer is attending writing conferences and book fairs. I happen to love them. I attended the Edmond Author’s Book Fair last weekend and the Oklahoma Writers’ Federation, Inc. (OWFI) Conference the weekend before. What a blast! I highly recommend going.
I met tons of passionate writers, old friends and new connections, experts in different genres, beginning wannabe writers and accomplished, published experts. Although this was not my first time to attend one of these events, I learned vital tidbits here and there from the classes and from chatting with others. I took an advanced copy of my book and people seemed to like the cover and description. We were also entertained and taught by author and wonderful speaker Stephen James. On top of that, I won three awards at the writing contest! Who couldn’t love days like that?
Advanced copy of A Promise to Break!
The writing business is different than other industries I’ve been associated with (accounting, oil & gas, prison). Writers, who spend so much time alone tend to love to interact socially, confirmed by the OWFI crazy costume dinner Friday night, and the awesome support to other writers for their accomplishments, whether a small published blurb or a trilogy book deal. Isn’t that what God asks us to do, encourage one another in our calling?
Writers are helpful people and I’m proud to call myself one of them, even if my book, A Promise to Break, isn’t released by Memory House Publishing for another three weeks. Three weeks! Oh no! I better get busy and stop ruminating on the benefits of being a writer or I won’t have time to attend the next conference.
I’m excited about the release of my book on June 18th, 2016! A Promise to Break: Love, Faith, and Politicsin the 1930s, set in Oklahoma, is about a socialist banker’s daughter who falls in love with a Christian hobo!
This book took years of research, analyzing, writing and rewriting. Thanks to everyone who helped. Many of you willingly reviewed, made suggestions, and edited. If not for your encouragement and support, this book would still be covered with dust! The cover includes an actual picture of Sibyl.
Here’s the back cover description of the book.
Sibyl Trimble makes a promise to her father when she is a young girl that she will be part of a socialist political movement to change the world. From a wealthy banking family in Shawnee, Oklahoma, she is comfortable with fashionable clothes, cruising in a new Chrysler, and dancing at the local speakeasy. Even the Depression cannot put a damper on her comfortable lifestyle. By 1932, the timing to fulfill the promise to her father seems right.
Then she meets a handsome, blue-eyed, down-on-his-luck hobo and her life is turned upside down. The more she gets to know him, the more she learns about her world, her purpose, and God. Her love for him opens her eyes to a different way of life than she has ever known.
Based on a true story, this novel follows Sibyl through some difficult choices. She must dig deep within herself to find the strength to face her upbringing and determine which, if any, of her past beliefs can be salvaged. She must decide which is most important, love or duty.
I’m so looking forward to sharing this book with you, and plan to get it out on kindle soon.
As Christians, we have a dilemma, we want to be perfect, but we keep failing. We want to do everything right for our family and friends, but we mess up. I have an adorable slew of grand kids, well behaved, awesome kids as you can see from a few of them here. I lost my temper a few weeks ago, and felt bad about it. I don’t blame them, they’re just kids. It was me. I messed up again. How can I always stay the loving, patient grandma I desire to be? What is the Biblical answer to this problem?
I love Arise Ministries who do so much to help single moms! They let me do a guest post on their website.See my answer to our problem here:
I’m excited about the release of my book on June 18th, 2016! A Promise to Break: Love, Faith, and Politics in the 1930s, set in Oklahoma, is about a socialist banker’s daughter who falls in love with a Christian hobo!