Over 30 years have passed since my father transplanted a pear tree in the back yard. He was big on fruit trees, nurturing them and watching them flourish. Ten years after we moved from Hickory Valley, Tennessee, Dad drove 110 miles back just to dig up a fig bush we'd left behind. It now grows on the south side next to the house.
Today, both the fig bush and pear tree produce abundantly. Daddy lived long enough to taste the figs, but passed away before the pear tree produced. I remember him digging around it, fertilizing, and wondering aloud if it ever would bear fruit.
Over the years the fruit continues to increase. In the past month while visiting my mother, I've gathered three bags full of the delicious fruit. Mama has called in friends and neighbors to share in the bounty besides giving loads of pears to us kids. Still, innumerable pears hang on the tree and at least a hundred are scattered beneath it.
While gathering the pears, I contemplated on what Daddy would think if he knew what his efforts had wrought. What if he does know? What if God allows people to look down from heaven and see the fruit their life has produced in the lives of others?
I picked up my heavy sack and returned to the house to find Mama seated in the kitchen working on a Word-Find. She laid it aside as I heaved the sack up onto the table and asked, "Do you think Daddy ever considered he might be leaving a legacy behind when he planted the pear tree? I wonder what he'd say if he knew people come from miles around to gather pears."
She shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know, but it seems the tree produces more fruit every year."
A gift that keeps on giving. Who can count the jars of preserves that have been canned from that one tree? I know my dad would be pleased to share his bounty with his small community. You see, he was a giving person.
This brought something else to contemplate. Does everyone leave a legacy? I knew the answer as soon as I asked myself the question. Yes. Whether we know it or not, something we say, or an act of kindness we show to another can become a legacy--changing the person's life. Who knows what results may someday emerge from those kind words or deeds?
My fifth-grade teacher did not live long enough to learn she'd planted a dream in my heart when she announced to our class, "One day Laurie will become an author."
Her words were planted in my heart and not forgotten. Even though I nurtured them through the years, (journaling and writing poetry) three decades passed before I acted on them.
My prayer is for the words I write to become my legacy. For this reason I must always write what God directs and inspires. My desire is for readers to be emotionally healed and blessed through my stories.
The highest compliment I've received? When a reader turns to me and says, "Thank you. Don't ever stop writing. You will never know how much your story helped me."
Showing posts with label laurean brooks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label laurean brooks. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Monday, March 30, 2009
Blatherings about "Journey To Forgiveness"
Hello Fellow Authors and Bloggers,
My name is Laurean Brooks. (Pronounced Lau' ree un), please. It's been a busy two weeks since UPS delivered three boxes of books to my back door. The long-awaited moment finally arrived. "Do you have a knife?" I asked the delivery man.
"Nope, but I got something just as good." He pulled out a key and ripped through the tape on the top box.
I pulled out "Journey To Forgiveness" and stroked the cover before explaining that it was my first book. He asked me to describe the story. I had not much more than spoken the word, "romance" than I looked up and caught him racing toward his UPS truck, "hightailing it" for parts unknown.
What is it with men and romance? We ladies mellow at the mention of the word, but you would have thought I'd said, "Don't look now, but there's a Grizzly bear right behind you!"
My first book signing at the local "Pappy's" restaurant went well. I met up with friends, some I had not seen in a decade. Then last Friday, I was interviewed by the local newspaper at the same restaurant. Another enjoyable event, to inform the town of my upcoming book signing at the Fulton Public Library.
People are calling to tell me how much "Journey To Forgiveness" has touched them. Some have even said it should be made into a movie. God's hand has been on it since the beginning. A lot of prayer went into the writing. He bailed me out many times when I hit the proverbial wall. I would remind Him that this book was His, and that I wanted it to bring healing to many. And if He wanted it "out there" He was going to have to give me the words. I learned early on to pray for guidance "before" I wrote. It saved a lot of time.
Since this historical book addresses abuse (though mostly fiction), and is based on my mother's life, I wanted it to be special. But I didn't realize how involved I had become until I was keying in a nightmare scene about the abuse and began to shake. Before I could recoup, I had to shutdown and take several deep breaths. Have you ever been affected that way by your own writing?
Though "Journey To Forgiveness" deals with a serious topic, it also ripples with humor. The newspaper interviewer asked me, "How do you add humor to a story as serious as this?"
That's easy, I replied. "When certain characters come on the scene, they bring the humor with them. Their personalities change the atmosphere."
The hero, Austin Grant, plus Oscar Ellwood, and Trudy Hopkins, (secondary characters) all add rib-tickling laughter. Every story should have light moments to balance the dark ones. My book is no exception.
I learned by watching Michael Landon, the Master of Emotion. The man could move you from laughter to tears--from tears to joy--on "Little House On The Prairie" and "Highway To Heaven." My goal is to do just that. After all, if the reader isn't moved, she/he doesn't get much out of the story.
One of my favorite scenes is when my heroine, Jenny, is directed to unlock the storage shed for my hero, Austin. He wants to borrow tools to help rebuild a small town devastated by tornadoes. She reluctantly goes outside with him, but tries to keep her distance. After all, if Austin Grant will coerce money from a church congregation, what else might he do?
After Austin walks out of the shed laden with a couple saw horses, he asks Jenny to come inside and pick up the pile of tools he has selected. He follows her back inside. A hefty gust of wind slams the door shut. Lo and behold, it latches on the outside! All the pummeling and screaming does not bring Jenny's aunt to her rescue. Now what?
Austin suggests they wait out the storm. He unfolds a couple chairs. Jenny moves hers a little farther away, scanning the dusky building for the shovel she saw earlier. Just in case she needs it for a weapon. She spies the shovel a couple feet from her chair and kicks off one shoe. Wrapping her toes around the handle, she slowly drags it closer and closer until...
Sorry. You will have to read the book to get "the rest of the story."
Here's the blurb:
When Jenny Hinson's abusive fathr deserts the family, the responsibility of the family's Tennessee farm falls to Jenny and her mother. Four years later, in 1938, boll weevils infest the cotton crop, plunging the Hinsons into dire financial straits, and Jenny takes the train north to find work.
Electricity has yet to reach rural Chicory Valley. But, not only is the young woman introduced to it in its tapped form in Chicago, but also encounters a few jolts along the way when she challenges the infuriating Austin Grant over a luggage mishap. Sparks fly outside the Kankakeee train station when Jenny discovers her missing vanity case under Austin's arm. She labels the man a thief. And after Austin coaxes money from her aunt's congregation, Jenny determines to find enough evidence to expose him and his nefarious deeds.
Why did Austin pull money from the mission strongbox and stuff a sizable roll into his pocket? Wasn't this just the proof Jenny needed? Then why was she reluctant to report the theft? And why did her heart race at every encounter with the notorious Austin? Jenny's personal convictions would never allow a relationship where trust was blatantly missing.
Can Jenny muster enough courage to ask Austin the tough questions that will ultimately make or break their relationship? Can she forgive her father's brutality in order to move on with her life? Find out as you read Jenny's struggles in...
JOURNEY TO FORGIVENESS
"Love and Forgiveness Spiced with Humor."
Available through White Rose Publishing at http://www.whiterosepublishing.com/
Amazon Books.com. Type "Laurean Brooks" in the search when you get there.
Barnes & Noble site http://www.barnes&noble.com/
Visit me on my blog at Laurean's Lore: http://laureanslore.blogspot.com/
My name is Laurean Brooks. (Pronounced Lau' ree un), please. It's been a busy two weeks since UPS delivered three boxes of books to my back door. The long-awaited moment finally arrived. "Do you have a knife?" I asked the delivery man.
"Nope, but I got something just as good." He pulled out a key and ripped through the tape on the top box.
I pulled out "Journey To Forgiveness" and stroked the cover before explaining that it was my first book. He asked me to describe the story. I had not much more than spoken the word, "romance" than I looked up and caught him racing toward his UPS truck, "hightailing it" for parts unknown.
What is it with men and romance? We ladies mellow at the mention of the word, but you would have thought I'd said, "Don't look now, but there's a Grizzly bear right behind you!"
My first book signing at the local "Pappy's" restaurant went well. I met up with friends, some I had not seen in a decade. Then last Friday, I was interviewed by the local newspaper at the same restaurant. Another enjoyable event, to inform the town of my upcoming book signing at the Fulton Public Library.
People are calling to tell me how much "Journey To Forgiveness" has touched them. Some have even said it should be made into a movie. God's hand has been on it since the beginning. A lot of prayer went into the writing. He bailed me out many times when I hit the proverbial wall. I would remind Him that this book was His, and that I wanted it to bring healing to many. And if He wanted it "out there" He was going to have to give me the words. I learned early on to pray for guidance "before" I wrote. It saved a lot of time.
Since this historical book addresses abuse (though mostly fiction), and is based on my mother's life, I wanted it to be special. But I didn't realize how involved I had become until I was keying in a nightmare scene about the abuse and began to shake. Before I could recoup, I had to shutdown and take several deep breaths. Have you ever been affected that way by your own writing?
Though "Journey To Forgiveness" deals with a serious topic, it also ripples with humor. The newspaper interviewer asked me, "How do you add humor to a story as serious as this?"
That's easy, I replied. "When certain characters come on the scene, they bring the humor with them. Their personalities change the atmosphere."
The hero, Austin Grant, plus Oscar Ellwood, and Trudy Hopkins, (secondary characters) all add rib-tickling laughter. Every story should have light moments to balance the dark ones. My book is no exception.
I learned by watching Michael Landon, the Master of Emotion. The man could move you from laughter to tears--from tears to joy--on "Little House On The Prairie" and "Highway To Heaven." My goal is to do just that. After all, if the reader isn't moved, she/he doesn't get much out of the story.
One of my favorite scenes is when my heroine, Jenny, is directed to unlock the storage shed for my hero, Austin. He wants to borrow tools to help rebuild a small town devastated by tornadoes. She reluctantly goes outside with him, but tries to keep her distance. After all, if Austin Grant will coerce money from a church congregation, what else might he do?
After Austin walks out of the shed laden with a couple saw horses, he asks Jenny to come inside and pick up the pile of tools he has selected. He follows her back inside. A hefty gust of wind slams the door shut. Lo and behold, it latches on the outside! All the pummeling and screaming does not bring Jenny's aunt to her rescue. Now what?
Austin suggests they wait out the storm. He unfolds a couple chairs. Jenny moves hers a little farther away, scanning the dusky building for the shovel she saw earlier. Just in case she needs it for a weapon. She spies the shovel a couple feet from her chair and kicks off one shoe. Wrapping her toes around the handle, she slowly drags it closer and closer until...
Sorry. You will have to read the book to get "the rest of the story."
Here's the blurb:
When Jenny Hinson's abusive fathr deserts the family, the responsibility of the family's Tennessee farm falls to Jenny and her mother. Four years later, in 1938, boll weevils infest the cotton crop, plunging the Hinsons into dire financial straits, and Jenny takes the train north to find work.
Electricity has yet to reach rural Chicory Valley. But, not only is the young woman introduced to it in its tapped form in Chicago, but also encounters a few jolts along the way when she challenges the infuriating Austin Grant over a luggage mishap. Sparks fly outside the Kankakeee train station when Jenny discovers her missing vanity case under Austin's arm. She labels the man a thief. And after Austin coaxes money from her aunt's congregation, Jenny determines to find enough evidence to expose him and his nefarious deeds.
Why did Austin pull money from the mission strongbox and stuff a sizable roll into his pocket? Wasn't this just the proof Jenny needed? Then why was she reluctant to report the theft? And why did her heart race at every encounter with the notorious Austin? Jenny's personal convictions would never allow a relationship where trust was blatantly missing.
Can Jenny muster enough courage to ask Austin the tough questions that will ultimately make or break their relationship? Can she forgive her father's brutality in order to move on with her life? Find out as you read Jenny's struggles in...
JOURNEY TO FORGIVENESS
"Love and Forgiveness Spiced with Humor."
Available through White Rose Publishing at http://www.whiterosepublishing.com/
Amazon Books.com. Type "Laurean Brooks" in the search when you get there.
Barnes & Noble site http://www.barnes&noble.com/
Visit me on my blog at Laurean's Lore: http://laureanslore.blogspot.com/
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
