Happy Friday!

I’m soooooo glad it’s the weekend. Ready to relax a bit, ready to get some more writing done. This past week, I discovered that I need to go back and layer in another subplot throughout the book. This is never a fun discovery when I’m on page 200, but it’s one that will make the book better, so I shall tackle it!

Am continuing to listen to Irish tunes to keep the muse alive, as well as get me through some of these annoying book tasks. One particular song, which I must confess I always thought was Bob Dylan but is actually Donovan, is “Try and Catch the Wind.” It’s a great song, one of those that has been used in many movie soundtracks and friendship scenes.

As far as movies go, I’ll also be checking out “21” this weekend. Great cast, great story according to the previews. On the book front, I am re-reading “Gone, Baby, Gone” by Dennis Lehane. This is a series and I’m going back and reading his books in order.

I must say writing sequels can be challenging, but Dennis Lehane pulls it off with style. You don’t have to read his prior books to get the basic plot, but it helps if you do.

Hope everyone has a happy weekend!

Good morning all,

The photo shown was taken last weekend in the North GA mountains, at one of the many vista points.

This is only one of the spots where we spent the day scattering Jester’s ashes, my Shiloh Shepherd who died on Valentine’s morning this year. Odd thing is, he was born on April Fools Day 2000, bookends of laughter and love.

Getting away from the city traffic was a wonderful break, and even inspires the mind to begin thinking of more plots, more characters, more goody stuff. Plus, as I’m sure you can probably imagine, the North GA mountains are filled with interesting folks :)

Always remember to laugh and love – that’s the one positive I got from Jester’s passing this year. Hope everyone has a great week!

Coincidence : A sequence of events that although accidental seems to have been planned or arranged.

I’m not one who believes in coincidences. When certain things happen, I believe it’s the universe’s way of urging us in a certain direction. Call it the muse, the gut, the instinct, call it anything but coincidence. I’ve shared an example below…you be the judge.

In mid-February, hubby and I went to Savannah to do research on my current book-in-progress and celebrate my birthday. Savannah held its annual Irish Festival, and since the book has Irish themes, what better way to have some fun and do research at the same time? We shopped, we walked, we talked to men wearing kilts. (Apparently it’s an Irish thing too? I figured it was only Scottish, but I digress…)

After a few hours (and a clueless bartender who, instead of making me a Black&Tan, made a black and foam – gross!) I was, shall we say, a bit grumpy. We met up with people who wanted to see a later performance by another band, so as much as I longed for the comfy bed back at the B&B, we stayed at the festival. But I was proactive! Knowing that saving seats would be a nightmare, I went into the earlier act’s performance to hear the last 10 minutes of their set, figuring I could easily save seats once they finished.

And this is when coincidence did not happen.

During those 10 minutes, a band I’d never heard of (Roger Drawdy & The Firestarters) ROCKED the house down. Fiddles, guitars, drums, lyrics–all combined with a passion and energy I hadn’t seen before. To watch musicians with so much talent and dedication to their creative art was, for lack of a better word, mesmerizing :)

And that’s when a key character for the book was born. I’d been trying to incorporate some Irish customs into the plot but wasn’t sure how. Up until those 10 minutes, my subconscious had been marinating on ideas, but it was like walking around with blurry vision. Seeing them perform was like having Lasik surgery.

Suddenly, the muse was no longer whispering hints…she was talking non-stop! And she’s continuing to chatter all the time, which is helping this book move along faster than I could have hoped for.

But, coincidence? What if we hadn’t met up with our friends that day and we’d gone back to the inn to relax before dinner? What if we’d gone to Savannah on another weekend? What if that bartender had fixed my drink right and I would have remained nearby to drink another one, thereby missing the performance?

All interesting questions…

There are no coincidences…

I feel like I’ve just done a load of laundry and found $10 which got run in the washer by mistake! In other words, found money where I hadn’t expected!

No, I didn’t really find money…but I did find 4 songs from Roger Drawdy & The Firestarters “Open Seas, Empty Skies” CD which were stored in a different folder on my hard drive. I purchased the MP3 album from Amazon…and I think I accidentally opened Windows Media Player when it was downloading, because 4 songs accidentally wound up in a separate Library folder, and not in the usual download location.

By the way, to answer those of you who emailed, yes, you can purchase their CDs on Amazon. Click here to view their CD list. (If this link does not work, simply do a search and the list will display.)

So even though I’ve had the CD for a month, I listened to those songs yesterday for the first time… and WOW. I especially liked one called “Tatters.” The lyrics are too powerful to describe, but on a high level, the song is about life in Ireland and coming to America seeking opportunity. This one made me cry. It’s beautiful.

Like all things “coincidence” (Friday’s blog will have more info on “coincidence” so be sure to check back!) hearing this song was perfect timing with the book in progress. My protagonist’s parents are from Ireland but moved to the States, and hearing this song helped me envision their background a bit…perfect research for a book’s secondary characters.

Speaking of country/freedom…one of our family friends, 22 years old, is an Army MP and is going to Iraq next week. Between knowing him and others who serve our country, and hearing the song about seeking better opportunities here, I don’t think we (USA) remember enough how fortunate we are. It’s not that we’re ungrateful, because I think many of us are. (And for those who truly aren’t…Karma will deal with you!)

The scandals, daily stress, and corruption schemes flood the media, and in the midst of all the controversial hubub, we forget how much we really have. Whatever political party we may choose, or whatever our feelings about the Iraq war may be, we owe it to ourselves and those men and women who fight for our freedom, to use the gifts we’ve been given. We have the opportunity and freedom to try. And that is the most blessed gift of all.