The Perils Of Cheryl by Carol McClain ~ new release

Only a man can save her—any man so long as he’s hot

If you’ve been around Christian writing circles at all, at one time or another you’ve run in to my friend Carol McClain. I’m absolutely pleased to have her on the blog to promote new new release.

Sassy, desperate, and ditched by her husband, Cheryl Chandler realizes only one thing will redeem her from her ex-husband’s betrayal. A man. Finding love in rural New York proves a daunting challenge. With a shallow gene pool and a crazy family, she wants someone willing to accept her quirky teens whose eccentricities range from New Age ideologies, to OCD, to religious fanaticism, and a toddler—her husband’s parting gift. What man would love her and accept them? (Or could she hide the kids?) Her children, and mother, have the solution. Online dating.

Here she meets two men. Religious fanatic Tarrant charms her, but he’s so pious, he actually likes to go to church and loves to study his Bible. Mysterious Carleton is everything her desperation desires, witty, knowledgeable, and handsome. How does a woman choose among a crazy family or a need for unadulterated love or the draw of faith? She certainly can’t decide without a hefty dose of humor.

Author Question:  What do you as the author want the reader to take away from this novel?

Carol’s Answer:  Cheryl believes only a man can save her, any man so long as he’s hot. Little did she know that the one she needs isn’t the one she expects. Only one person can straighten out the mess of our lives (and Cheryl’s is an LOL mess). Any Christian knows the answer.

Author Bio:

McClain is the award-winning author of four novels. The New York Yankee on Stinking Creek is the first-place winner of The Dragonfly Book Award for best novel.

McClain writes novels about the redemption of the unredeemable. Even her most serious works are laced with humor. She is a consummate encourager, and no matter what your faith might look like, you will find compassion, humor and wisdom in her complexly layered, but ultimately readable work.

She is a past president of ACFW Knoxville and its current treasurer/secretary. She facilitates Postmark Writers, an offshoot of the LaFollette Art Group. She teaches online courses and is a clinical supervisor for WGU.

In addition to the above, she’s served on the Board of Connections to Recovery, an organization dedicated to keeping addicts sober. She’s mentored recovering addicts, and at one time, had been a foster mother–the complexity and difficulty of that calling proved she was better off writing about it than performing it.

(Is there nothing she can’t do?)

Aside from writing, she’s a skilled stained-glass artist, and a budding potter.

Purchase THE PERILS OF CHERYL on Amazon.

Need an exciting read for the new year? COURTING DANGER ~ Young women are being murdered in this Florida #beach town. The female detective feels she knows the murderer, can’t place him, and it’s tearing at her.

 

 

I Had A Minor Female Procedure Done ~ for women only

Half of an abortion cocktail was proscribed.

 

I had to take the medication, as prescribed, every six hour on the day before the scheduled procedure. This medication causes the uterus to dilate.

Why I initially sought treatment was for Post Menopausal Bleeding. I’m 71-years-old and started spotting/light bleeding for five days then the bleeding would stop. It would start again a week later light bleed/spotting for six days. So I was bleeding lightly twice a month.

I sought treatment immediately after the first bleeding. A sonogram was ordered and on a later date, this procedure, a biopsy to see if the cause was cancer. Then it became scary, but I am a calm person by nature. I know my body and felt the bleeding was related to physical exertion. Still the word “cancer” is daunting and plaguing. The doctor told me the medication would cause some cramping. I knew all bases had to covered. I will find out the results of the sonogram and the biopsy in a few days. That is NOT what this article is about.

The day after the biopsy, I was ill. bleeding had increased. I figured the meds and dilation had caused that. However, I was nauseous to the point I could not get food down, had body aches, and was exhausted to the point that I thought not only could I not stand, I could not sit. That first day after the biopsy, I slept for 9 hours during the day and then my usual  8 at night, a deep sleep both times. This feeling of sickness lasted four days. Finally, today I got up with my usual energy and have started my morning — and I thought, Oh, Good Lord, that medication was very, very toxic.

Yesterday, I had an email exchange with a senior woman who had a hysterectomy for bleeding fibroids a few years ago. She’s the type who always puts family before herself and put off taking care of the bleeding. She wound up hemorrhaging. At that point, the doctors told her that her hemoglobin count was so low it was scary. Since the hysterectomy, she’s been fine. After all, by the time you get to Medicare, what does a woman need a uterus for?

My friend thought although I went through difficult side effects from the medication, and that the doctor should have alerted me to them, it’s something I had to go through because Post Menopausal Bleeding is no joke.

I should’ve read the paper that came from the pharmacy with the side effects, or looked them up online. I was fixated on the word “cancer” and I didn’t. So, I was completely taken by surprise.

I wonder what the experiences of other senior women with Post Menopausal Bleeding have been, and also women who have taken similar drugs for dilation purposes for other reasons. If you are a woman who took the meds for an abortion there will be absolutely no judgement here!!! I’m only interested in the actual physical/emotional experiences of women (and their caretakers) with Post Menopausal Bleeding and dilating drugs.

All My Tears by Kathy McKinsey ~ an author interview

 

Five women search for God’s hope through sorrow and deep troubles.

Meet five women who struggle with life’s deep sorrows. Beth fights to recover from alcoholism and to mend her relationships with her family. Ann doesn’t believe God will forgive her. Kathleen wrestles with a years-old fear and with saving her marriage. Cassie needs to learn to deal with chronic depression. Martie finds herself the single parent of the eight-year-old niece she barely knows when the child’s parents die in a car wreck.

See how god gives them the gifts of hope, healing, and love.

AUTHOR INTERVIEW:

Nike:  What is the key theme and/or message in the book?

Kathy:  God is our loving Father, and when we stumble and walk away, he waits and watches for us, so that he can see us as soon as we start to return and run to greet us and take us back.

Nike:  Why this genre is important to you, personally?

Kathy:  I write what I enjoy reading. I like books about women, reading how they deal with family and marriage issues; jobs, their work and job setting; and different kinds of relationships—dating, parents, siblings, neighbors, best friends.

Nike:  Does writing energize or exhaust you?

Kathy:  Making myself start to write exhausts me. When I finally settle into working on a story, I become excited, even after a long session of writing.

THREE FUN BULLET QUESTIONS:

What is your fav vacay spot?  Visiting my mother and daughters in Missouri, Iowa and Wisconsin

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?  A writer

Describe yourself in three words.  Goofy home body

BIOGRAPHY:

Kathy McKinsey grew up on a pig farm in Missouri, and although she’s lived in cities for nearly 40 years, she still considers herself a farm girl. She’s been married to Murray for 31 years, and they have five adult children. She’s had two careers before writing—being a stay-at-home-Mom and working as a rehabilitation teacher of the blind.

Now she lives in Lakewood, Ohio with her husband and two of her children. Besides writing, she enjoys activities with her church, editing for other writers, braille transcribing, crocheting, knitting, and playing with the cat and dogs.

Contact Kathy at:  Kathy.mckinsey@gmail.com

Visit her at:  http://kathymckinseyauthor.blogspot.com/

 

College Courses on How to Date? ~ so, gals, why is that necessary? Should it be?

Several colleges are now offering courses on “how to date.”  A few of these schools fall into the category of prestigious institutions of higher education. Some students enrolling in these classes might be registering thinking they’ll find someone to date there. In my day (and I’m truly not that ancient), girls and young women learned about the opposite sex and dating from their mothers, grandmothers, aunts, older sisters, cousins, and such.

In all honesty, our mothers usually didn’t open up too much about their romantic lives, and though we were curious, maybe that was a good thing. But, aunts could be a surprisingly good source of information. Oh, yes. I recall (as a pre-teen), nearly holding my breath so I wouldn’t be noticed and sent away, as my aunts discussed a situation in town where it was suspected a particular husband had been unfaithful. I think my little ears grew as large as Dumbo’s as the convo got salacious (to my young mind). Trust me, my aunts were not happy with that husband. What made the most impression was how awful they felt for the wife. One generation of women was passing on to me, on a total experiential level (emotional, conscience, societal norms) when I was a little gal that you don’t do that to another woman. It was so intense, I still have near total recall of the situation.

But you had to be there. This life lesson couldn’t be experienced so profoundly online, or via texting. Sometimes I get the feeling that Gen X, Millennials, Gen Z/Centennials don’t feel Baby Boomers have anything of value to contribute to their lives and they run from deep interaction with us. These younger generations don’t want to let in any info they’re uncomfortable with. They forcefully block it out.

In many cases young women block out the extremely valuable information they can only get through a relationship with an older woman. Without a doubt that older woman will hold different viewpoints on many things from the younger woman. The very act of fleeing from a differing viewpoint disallows for a skill needed in dating and relating to a potential spouse. Yes, it takes a skill-set.

Dating is messy, and it might be frightening in the era of apps where individuals get what they want in a clean-cut way and it’s immediate. That’s not dating.

So, what is dating? And what’s it for? In days gone by, it used to be a ritualistic way to find out if the other person was in the running to become ones eventual spouse. Way back in the ice-age, it was called “courting.” That isn’t the function of dating today, not even for Christian singles who do see marriage as the eventual outcome of a serious relationship.

⁹ Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor. ¹⁰ For if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion. But woe to the one who falls when there is not another to lift him up. ¹¹ Furthermore, if two lie down together they keep warm, but how can one be warm alone? ~ Ecclesiastes 4: 8-11 [New American Standard Bible, NASB]

If a young woman googles “dating”, she’ll find thousands of links, many aimed at Christians. There are online dating sites, matchmakers, speed dating, and more. You’d think with all this online help, dating would be easy. It’s not, and many women are left depressed and bitter by the negative experience.

Today, young people are getting career skills, going to college, creating a resume and may be putting marriage off a few years. If these younger women are waiting until they’re more secure financially, one of the things an older woman will tell them is, “Don’t wait too long, the odds are you’ll never be totally financially secure.” The older woman will probably give a good hard laugh when she says that, and the laugh will travel up and fill her eyes with mirth.

Dating means taking a risk. When you “meet a guy online”, you haven’t actually met him. Even if he’s been totally honest online from his point of view, when you meet him face-to-face, you might be surprised. If he isn’t what you thought he’d be and you know a relationship is impossible, the mature route is to be gracious. Get through the date (and it should be a coffee-date) and tell him briefly why you don’t see a future connection. “It’s too bad you’re allergic to dogs. I have three.” Or…”Did I tell you I’m planning a one year mission trip to Ecuador? How are you on long distance dating?” Then don’t count it all a waste of time, another loss. No! Consider it spending a couple of hours with a pretty decent human being, rather than sitting home alone for two hours. How he takes it is his responsibility.

Likewise, if you’ve met a guy within the confines of a larger group of friends, you haven’t met him one-on-one and don’t know him as a potential partner. Again, you have to take a risk and “meet him” outside of the safety of the group, or the classroom, or the church group, or the work environment. In this type of scenario, my best advice is don’t rush it. No matter how cute he is, no matter how much you seem to have in common when you’re both in the group…take it slow. Go for coffee and take a walk in the park, or around the mall. Make that first “date” a very low key, casual “non-date.” That way, if you immediately know this guy is not for you, you can keep it light and return to the safety of the group without having gone through an apocalyptic event that destroys the former “friends/colleagues” relationship.

If you want to find a long-term relationship, a life-mate, and from my Christian perspective that means marriage, you’re going to have to do some plain old fashioned courtship type things. You are going to have to get past how cute he is, how witty. Are you going to be able to live with this guy and respect and honor him? If you can’t, that doesn’t necessarily make him a bad-guy, but you still have to move on.

You might have to further refine your search criteria. You might have to find a better pool of men to choose from…better for you.

As far as taking a college course in dating, I’d rather you order pizza and have a good-long, no-holds-barred talk with your aunt or older sister.

Pray for This Dear Lady ~ prayer for the sick

L to R: Betty Lee and Moi, New Year’s Eve 2017

 

Betty Lee, a wonderful and dear 92-year-old southern belle is going for a procedure to lessen (hopefully to eliminate) the pain in her lower spine. In the last two months, the pain has increased tremendously. Please pray for her full recovery.

 

Betty has cried out in extreme pain.

19) Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble; He saved them out of their distresses. ²⁰⁾ He sent His word and healed them, And delivered them from their destructions. ~ Psalm 107: 19-20 [New American Standard Bible]

 

L to R: author Dalyn Woods and Betty Lee, New Year’s Eve 2017

 

Lord, I know that all healing is in You and comes from You. Please touch Betty Lee’s doctors and all staff involved in her procedure.  Please guide and use them in Betty Lee’s healing. Lord, I thank you that You love Betty Lee and have her best interests in Your heart. I am so thankful You are a lover and a healer. In fact, Lord, You are Love. I pray for Betty Lee in Jesus name. Amen.

A New Year! Are You Enough Without Him? ~ widowhood

I recently had to decide whether to purchase an extended warranty for my husband’s car, which I now drive. I called an umpteen number of people asking their advice on extended warranties. I stressed and called a few more people. I prayed about it and stressed some more. In the end, I had to make the decision alone. Just me.

Disclaimer: Widows aren’t the only women who have to make important life decisions alone. Divorced women do and so do single women.

Disclaimer #2: Not all widows have ultra-loving feelings toward their deceased husbands. Some husbands were serial lotharios, abusive, gamblers, alcoholic or drug addicted. In many cases it’s complicated. He was overbearing, but a good provider. He wasn’t romantic or complimentary but was an excellent father.

My friend Carol, who moved to the west coast, adored Richard, her second husband. However, when he got extremely ill, he became difficult. As his physicality worsened, so did his mental capacity and he said mean things to her. Ten years older than me, and having lived in NYC most of her life where she took public transportation, she didn’t drive. Living near Seattle at that time, she called a taxi and went to the hospital almost every day to be with him. When she returned home, she usually phoned me. Being a blunt Brooklynite, she’d often shout something like this: “I’m gonna kill him if he doesn’t die first.” When Richard passed, the stress of his illness was forgotten. As far as she was concerned he was the best man who had ever walked the earth. She is also gone now, and I miss her terribly.

Whether the marriage was a dream come true, or something much more complex, when he dies, the wife is alone. She may find she’s now a fifth wheel when in the company of other couples they had socialized with. The company of other widows and single women can be a blessing. Within a posse of women without men, you can more comfortably say krazy-widow things and confess to having freaky-widow feelings.

Entering a new year can be difficult for women who are alone. Hanging a new calendar on the wall or opening a new datebook only reminds them how forlorn they sometimes feel. Those feelings of desolation are much worse for a widow than for a divorced woman whose husband is still running around (pun intended). No matter how wonderful or ignoble her husband was, he is no more. She can’t hold him, hug him, laugh with him, or argue with him, as the case may be.

Still, it is a new year and getting through it will be much easier with gal-pals. I feel more than blessed to have found a group of Christian women friends who are joyous. Laughing is the norm in our get-togethers. Upon learning Logan’s Steakhouse had power after Hurrican Irma knocked out electric for three days, Lynn, Charlotte, her daughter and I cracked sweaty-body jokes and laughed so hard other diners stared at us. We were so grateful just to get a cooked meal. Okay, they’re not simply joyous, they’re as nutty as I am. Let me tell you, when you’re a widow, zany friends are good, very good. Laughter breaks through the solitude and there’s lots of solitude. So, widows, get yourselves some fun-loving, single women friends. It’ll do you good.

A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones. ~ Proverbs 17:22 [KJV]

 

 

Kicking Back in Kissimmee ~ a writers’ getaway

The resort train which Dalyn and I rode to get to the miniature golf course on the grounds

Florida Christian fiction writer Dalyn Woods and I took off to relax for a week in central Florida. It was my first vacation since my husband passed away, nearly one year ago. We had a terrific time, yet it felt strange being there without Joseph. Daylyn and I stayed at Westgate Town Center and Resort in Kissimmee. [Disclaimer: this is a time share resort and I know they are somewhat controversial, but my husband purchased and paid for a time share thinking he and I would use it.]

 

Moi in front of the glof course

 

Dalyn put-putting on the golf course

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then it was off to the on-site waterpark where we floated in the lazy-river, had lunch, then lazed in lounge chairs watching children playing in the water.

Moi at the kiddie pool

The resort is affiliated with Disney. While we were there we watched at no charge (in their little theatre) two Star Wars movies and Alice Through the Looking Glass.

 

Sophie the wonder-dog travels with moi.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A word about FOOD…

 

Drafts is a sports bar on the resort and the food is great. Here I had a turkey club on multi-grain bread. Dalyn had a Philly cheesesteak

Dalyn’s Philly cheesesteak. The beer-batter fries were to die for.

We also went off campus to eat at Giordanos for Italian and the Wildside Barbeque and Steakhouse. I took photos at Giordanos but we were so hungry when we went to the Wildside we just dove in and I didn’t get any shots. The food was real good in both places. BTW, we got coupons from the resort for both.

 

Cheesy garlic bread. Each slab has four slices. You dip them into the sauce (which is e frin scratch)

 

 

I got the spaghettie with meat sauce. As you can see, they’re generous with the meat.

 

 

Dalyn had Linguine with Alfredo sauce, which she said was yummy.

 

 

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