Roxanne Snopek's Blog: From the Mind of Roxanne, page 10

It Made Sense In My Mind

So I was at the oral surgeon’s today with our youngest daughter. Lucky gal has three un-erupted wisdom teeth that will need extracting. Yikes. Anyway, after the intro given by the lovely nurse, the doc comes in, all wild-eyed and Superman-ish. We’ve known him for many years; he used to be our neighbor. I really like him, but he’s a little scary. 

“Well, that was fun,” he says, sliding into his chair like it was home base.

I look expectantly at him, unsure how to respond. Is he mad? Is he having a bad day? Do I want to know, in either case??

“90-year old lady,” he explains. “Alzheimer’s. Needs all her teeth pulled.”

“Ah,” I said. (I’m a real conversationalist.) We’d passed the lady in the waiting room. Poor thing was definitely unhappy and confused.

“Won’t do it though,” he continued, looking between us as he prepared the punchline. “Mouthful of rotten teeth and she refuses treatment.”

“Why?” we asked obediently.

“Because her teeth made her go blind.”

Daughter and I look at each other.

“What?”

“That’s right. Says her teeth made her go blind. Adamant about it. Had to tell me the whole story.” He shook his head. “Some days.”

“You’d think,” I said, “that she’d WANT to have her teeth out, since they made her go blind.”

You know. She’s got Alzheimer’s. Her reality, and all. My daughter understood me.

Doc Superman did not.

“The teeth didn’t make her go blind,” he explained. “The dementia did that.”

We stuck to the business of wisdom teeth after that.

Roxanne’s Not-A-Speech Wedding Story

Many of you know that our oldest daughter got married this summer.

It was an event of such family celebration that six weeks later, we’re still riding the high.

During the reception, her father made a lovely speech about change and growth in marriage. (Plus fatherly wisdom and the usual lightly-veiled parental threat of they’ll-never-find-your-body-if-you-ever-hurt-her.)

I heard it for the first time while we were standing at the podium and it made me cry.

I am lucky to be married to such an insightful (and teachable!) man.

I was unlucky to be the following act, especially since I’m lame at speeches.

But I like stories. And since we’re a family of avid readers, it seemed fitting that I read a story that I wrote when our daughters were very young.

A few people have asked about it, and Stephanie has given me permission to share, so here it is:

Initiation

Once upon a time a young couple had a baby. This utterly unremarkable occurrence that happens every day around the globe, ordinary as dirt, was as momentous to them as a meteor hitting the ground. Unbelievable, really, to think that a 6 pound 4 ounce bundle of eyes and limbs and noise could turn a naïve, hesitant girl to mother and a nervous, unprepared boy into a father.

Unbelievable, really, that they were allowed to leave the hospital with her.

These uncertain parents took great pains to learn their new roles. The baby was fed and changed and rocked. The mother played Patty-Cake, read Runaway Bunny, sang Twinkle Twinkle. The father played Choo-Choo with the strained peas and gave tummy raspberries. The baby grew smiley and cuddly and learned to wave her arms to be picked up.

She also learned to spit those strained peas and scream in the grocery store and weep and wail when the lights went out. From the very start, this baby, like all babies, took, took and took. And the parents gave, gave and gave, because that’s what parents do.

Time passed. The little girl grew strong and mobile, and her needs changed. She began to ask questions. Lots and lots of questions. She began to say no. To many, many things. She learned to love Cheerios, to hate her car seat, to become a big sister, to resent sharing, to be excited about vacations, to demand “I wanna go home, I wanna go home,” at bedtime in a hotel.

The mother loved her baby, but sometimes she was afraid, and even angry at how much was required of her. Sometimes, in secret, the father wondered if he was strong enough, or smart enough to do this wonderful, terrifying job. But each night, when they looked at their little girl sprawled crosswise in the bed, her hair every which way, limp with sleep and replete with trust, they felt themselves grow and become somehow… more… than they were before she was born.

One day the mother looked up from her work and saw with a start that the baby who had changed her life had sprouted tall. Her face was steady and knowing, and there was a slender grace to her once-gangly limbs. The mother searched wonderingly for signs of her baby and found her again in the clear blue eyes that sparkled just as they did on the day they first opened on the world.

Then, as the mother watched, she saw this baby-child-woman stoop suddenly to kiss her little sister. The sight of that small, unbidden kindness caused the mother’s heart to leap and swell and with a gasp, she felt all the care, all the giving rush back, bursting upon her like a garden in spring.

The years went on and the parents – naturally – were called upon again and again to give of themselves. But now when they do it returns in a flood, a stream of love looping back, growing swifter, stronger, wider, magnifying and spreading, bringing with it new, fresh gifts and more joy than those parents could have ever imagined.

Once upon a time a young couple had a baby. And she rocked their world.Thank you, Stephanie, for bringing Steven into our lives. We love you both so much!

Heat Wave Getting to You?

May I recommend immersing yourself in a snowy romance novella, perhaps while drinking something cold, slushy and icy? My novella Saving the Sheriff, previously released as part of the Stranded With a Hero anthology from Entangled Bliss, will be out under its own cover July 28.

So cool off this summer with a sheriff, an elf, a truckload of reindeer and a black-out blizzard:

 

The power might be out…but the heat is on.

Every year, free-spirited Frankie Sylva banishes her holiday loneliness with good deeds. This time, she’s rescuing a truckload of neglected reindeer—until a blizzard sidetracks her scheme, and now she’s stuck…literally.

 

Local sheriff Red LeClair is shocked to find a very cute, half-frozen woman trespassing on Three River Ranch in a ditched rig, with a suspiciously empty trailer. Is she a horse thief? Is she on the run? Is she out of her mind? He has no choice but to take her back to the ranch and keep an eye on her.

 

But when the power goes out, Red and Frankie are forced to depend on each other in a way that both have avoided for years. The sheriff’s quiet holiday is suddenly festive: a crackling fire, candles, carols, and an irresistible stranger…who might be a felon.

“Life’s too short to say no when love shows up at your door.”

 Thanks for visiting Three River Ranch and enjoy the sunshine!

Here’s what readers are saying about Saving the Sheriff:

5 stars: “… the Three River Ranch series is up with my fave Bliss books… with the romance, touching moments, fun and laugh-out-loud humor of all of the Three River Ranch full-length offerings, I loved it.” – Nicola_1202 from South Yorkshire, UK

4.5 stars: “You will smile, laugh, and probably cry a little bit.” -Kim “Read Your Writes Book Reviews”

“Excellent story… As I’ve been reading the series, I’ve come to feel more of a vested interested in the protection of the wildlife around us. I love it when I’m about to learn something while I enjoy a good story. WTG Ms. Snopek.” – an Amazon customer from Nebraska

“This happens to be my favorite story of all of them.” -Melody May from Montana

“…this story has all the Christmas cheer you could ever want.” -BookishLove

 

 

 

Love You Forever

Yesterday, while picking up a few things for our daughter’s garden wedding next month, I happened to come across the Robert Munsch book Love You Forever. I stopped in my tracks in the Wal-Mart stationery section, scrambling to hang onto my tub of Miracle-Gro, fresh bottle of Advil, Miracle Revitalist face cream and Hello Kitty pajama pants.

There it was, the book that made me cry when I read it to our babies, staring at me the month before our first baby’s wedding. Yup, that’s me, bawling in Wal-Mart.

If you have children and a heart in your chest, read this book. You could read it to your dog, too. But bring tissues. (And buy the hard copy. This is not an e-reader kind of book.)

Roxanne’s Glimpse of The Matrix

 Or Why I Hate Technology.

…and DERAILED.

So last week, I started having some trouble getting online with my desktop computer. This is my main brain, and the fact that I’m so dependent on something I understand so poorly makes me very uncomfortable. Paranoid, even. Technology bothers me, like a splinter in my mind.

Then the new printer quit.

Then none of the networked laptops could get online.

It was horrible. Like being dropped back into the seventies, onto a big black dial phone that won’t stop ringing. I couldn’t Tweet or Like or Share. I couldn’t even send an email to explain that I Couldn’t SEND AN EMAIL. So now that I can again, I thought I’d explain to those of you who follow me (yes, both of you!) why I disappeared temporarily.

I did all the usual things to fix it: restart computer, unplug and replug router, push buttons on modem, bang hands on desk. Nothing worked. So I sent an urgent Hail Mary SOS to Morpheus, our computer technician. After two hours – and this guy is good – he shook his head and said Something Very Bad and Unusual Occurred and you may be Totally Technologically Screwed. Apologies for the jargon.

Computers aren’t here to annoy me; they’re here to destroy me!

Yay. Did I mention that our old cordless phones have 3 seconds of charge, making them useful only for screening our vacation winnings, and that I communicate almost entirely by email? (Of course I use Pinkie, my iPhone 4, but she lives a fairly sheltered life. I don’t want to stress her out.)

So the next morning, I put Pinkie on speaker and called my internet service provider. After about an hour of clicking and pointing and whatnot, they told me “everything’s JUST FINE on our end. It’s your router.” So I followed the White Rabbit…

…to the router customer service number. I attempted to interpret the polite instructions of our call-center representative. I have to say, she pulled out all the stops. But after another hour of various machinations, including standing in the closet, plugging a five-pound laptop into the too-high router, with a too-short cable, then balancing it on my shoulder, while my daughter typed in commands above her head, all she could tell us is that “it’s not us. It must be them.”

So I called my provider back. I think they could hear my eyes spinning over the phone because they hastily agreed to send a technician out first thing in the morning.

Long story short, after replacing the modem, the router, a bunch of cords and plugs and whatnot, it was discovered (not by me) that a cable doohickey from 12 years ago had cracked or something.

So everything’s just fine.

Well. Something won’t stop twitching in my forehead. But at least I’m online again.

Solja Boy Gangnam Style? Um, No.

As many of you know, we’ve got a wedding coming up this summer. My big contribution (besides the bride!) is getting our yard in shape for the ceremony. Fortunately, we’ve got a talented landscaper helping us, so it should be spectacular-spectacular!

But it occurred to me that before the reception, I might want to learn a few basic dance moves. Since I love to dance. And have no ability to do so.

Naturally, I went to YouTube. Do you have any idea how many dance tutorials are out there?!? Well, I didn’t.

I won’t be doing this:

I won’t be doing this, either:

So I’m going to focus on learning three moves. Three. There is nothing more basic than this. Wish me luck.

Wedding Bliss

Wedding Bliss!

St. Thomas More Chapel, University of Saskatchewan

This summer, our oldest daughter is getting married, right in our own backyard! I’m so excited to be a mother-of-the-bride. Thankfully, Bridezilla is nowhere to be found!

My own wedding, many years ago, was a small affair in a beautiful old stone chapel near where my husband and I met. As we lived in Ontario and the wedding was in Saskatchewan, this meant planning-by-distance. I do not recommend this.

We flew in a week before the whirlwind event, and flew out the morning after. Thanks to my family, it was a lovely ceremony. My sister – and only bridesmaid – made it even more special by singing for us, a beautiful song that had everyone in tears.

My daughter is also planning her wedding from a distance. Fortunately, she’s super-organized, a good thing, since she has seven – that’s right, seven – bridesmaids! But if I know my girl, it will still feel intimate, focused on friends, family and fun. And of course, the celebration of love.

In my latest release, RESISTING THE RANCHER, the story unfolds in the weeks leading up to a garden wedding at which my hero Jonah and heroine Celia are best man and maid-of-honor. I confess that as I wrote the wedding scene, I was imagining the flowers and decorations that will adorn our own yard this summer.

Our outdoor chapel

There’s something special about every celebration of love. Whether you were there as the bride, groom, attendant, parent, guest or guy who parks the cars, is there a special wedding memory you’d like to share with us?

From a guest blog post at Kate M. George

Resisting the Rancher review

I try not to read my reviews, but what can I say, I have no self-control. And with reviews like this, you’ll understand why: From Angela on Goodreads:

***

4 1/2 stars! This was the one in the series I was most looking forward to because when we met Cee Cee Gamble for the first time in His Reluctant Rancher she was the spunky but difficult “little sister.” Now in Resisting the Rancher we get to see Celia Gamble as an adult, still spunky but having had to mature through some tough circumstances. 

 

The latest in the Three River Ranch series

 

My favourite aspect of the whole Three River Ranch series is the way Roxanne Snopek characterizes the animals. Mistral and Chewy seem like old friends by now; Cyclops and JD are the newest additions. And the horses are always present because of their place on the ranch(es) but also because of the relationships the human characters have with them.

Although I don’t usually read romance, I always read Roxanne Snopek’s fiction because it includes everything I want in a story: well developed characters, a memorable setting, excellent dialogue, a heart-rate raising plot line and true-to-life resolutions of conflict. I only approve of “happy endings” if they are truly believable and I won’t spoil it for those of you who haven’t read this latest novel yet. But trust me: Snopek knows what she’s doing! 

Full disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of Resisting the Rancher for an honest review. I would have loved the story to be a bit longer, set over a longer period of time–but it’s not really a weakness to leave your readers wanting more.

***

Many thanks to Angela!

The heart-clutching first flush of love… sigh…

Romance For Every World Interview

Recently, I was lucky enough to be interviewed at the review blog Romance for Every World. In case you missed it, here it is:


Where do you get your ideas? 

I did NOT just do that.

In that instant between turning the steering wheel and hearing the blast of horn from the guy in your blind spot. Well. Only once. Actually, there are random moments throughout the day and night. I wish I knew, really.

Do you create the characters first and then come up with the plot or vice versa?

It depends. If my publisher wants a “friends-to-lovers” book, then I craft a rough – very, very rough – plan first. Then, I figure out what kind of people might get into the situation I’ve created and – most importantly – WHY they might get into it. I use astrology sometimes too, to figure out the inner workings of my characters. If it’s a book I’m starting from scratch, it’s almost completely characters. I’ll get a glimpse of a quirk, say a woman who draws concentric circles on her hand while she’s on the phone. Something very small. And I go from there.

Who is currently on your Kindle? 

Books by two authors who are also have new releases this month: Robin Bielman (Wild About Her Wingman) and Jennifer Shirk (Fiance By Fate). I just finished First Grave on the Right by Darynda Jones and have a paperback of Fast Women by Jennifer Crusie.

Why did you begin writing?

I always thought it would be the epitome of coolness and success to be an author. I’d always written in the usual varied forms, but at one point, I simply had to try to write a Whole Book. Start to finish. It was incredibly uncool and a complete non-success (see how I did that?) but I considered it a huge accomplishment and determined to do it again and again until I arrived at the successful coolness I crave. Looks like I’ll be writing for a long time to come!

Your favourite book the you wrote?

A family saga that has yet to see the light of day. It might be best that way, but that’s the book that made me really feel like an author, all full of angst, suffering, ancient history, themes, hope, etc.  Yeah, probably best it stays under the bed.

The character that you created that you most connect with?

You know, I think it’s Sabrina Becker from Fake Fiance, Real Revenge. She’s a nurse-midwife and there was a period of time when I considered that career path. But I had three babies instead, all totally natural births. I was my own midwife, you could say!

What’s next?

A novella that’s part of a fantastic series beginning in fall. I’m so excited about these characters! That’s all I can say for now but watch my website for more information.

The heart-clutching first flush of love… sigh…

Are You a Highly Confident Person?

Highly confident people believe in their ability to achieve. If you don’t believe in yourself, why should anyone else put their faith in you? To walk with swagger and improve your self-confidence, watch out for these fifteen things highly confident people don’t do. Now, I’ve come a long way, baby, but this shines light on several (okay, many)

Uh-oh

troublesome areas for me. How about you?

They don’t make excuses.

Highly confident people take ownership of their thoughts and actions. They don’t blame the traffic for being tardy at work; they were late. They don’t excuse their short-comings with excuses like “I don’t have the time” or “I’m just not good enough”; they make the time and they keep on improving until they are good enough.

They don’t avoid doing the scary thing.

Highly confident people don’t let fear dominate their lives. They know that the things they are afraid of doing are often the very same things that they need to do in order to evolve into the person they are meant to be.

They don’t live in a bubble of comfort.

Highly confident people avoid the comfort zone, because they know this is a place where dreams die. They actively pursue a feeling of discomfort, because they know stretching themselves is mandatory for their success.

They don’t put things off until next week.

Highly confident people know that a good plan executed today is better than a great plan executed someday. They don’t wait for the “right time” or the “right circumstances”, because they know these reactions are based on a fear of change. They take action here, now, today – because that’s where progress happens.

They don’t obsess over the opinions of others.

Highly confident people don’t get caught up in negative feedback. While they do care about the well-being of others and aim to make a positive impact in the world, they don’t get caught up in negative opinions that they can’t do anything about. They know that their true friends will accept them as they are, and they don’t concern themselves with the rest.

They don’t judge people.

Highly confident people have no tolerance for unnecessary, self-inflicted drama. They don’t feel the need to insult friends behind their backs, participate in gossip about fellow co-workers or lash out at folks with different opinions. They are so comfortable in who they are that they feel no need to look down on other people.

They don’t let lack of resources stop them.

Highly confident people can make use of whatever resources they have, no matter how big or small. They know that all things are possible with creativity and a refusal to quit. They don’t agonize over setbacks, but rather focus on finding a solution.

They don’t make comparisons.

Highly confident people know that they are not competing with any other person. They compete with no other individual except the person they were yesterday. They know that every person is living a story so unique that drawing comparisons would be an absurd and simplistic exercise in futility.

They don’t find joy in people-pleasing.

Highly confident people have no interest in pleasing every person they meet. They are aware that not all people get along, and that’s just how life works. They focus on the quality of their relationships, instead of the quantity of them.

They don’t need constant reassurance.

Highly confident people aren’t in need of hand-holding. They know that life isn’t fair and things won’t always go their way. While they can’t control every event in their life, they focus on their power to react in a positive way that moves them forward.

They don’t avoid life’s inconvenient truths.

Highly confident people confront life’s issues at the root before the disease can spread any farther. They know that problems left unaddressed have a way of multiplying as the days, weeks and months go by. They would rather have an uncomfortable conversation with their partner today than sweep an inconvenient truth under the rug, putting trust at risk.

They don’t quit because of minor set-backs.

Highly confident people get back up every time they fall down. They know that failure is an unavoidable part of the growth process. They are like a detective, searching for clues that reveal why this approach didn’t work. After modifying their plan, they try again (but better this time).

They don’t require anyone’s permission to act.

Highly confident people take action without hesitation. Every day, they remind themselves, “If not me, who?”

They don’t limit themselves to a small toolbox.

Highly confident people don’t limit themselves to Plan A. They make use of any and all weapons that are at their disposal, relentlessly testing the effectiveness of every approach, until they identify the strategies that offer the most results for the least cost in time and effort.

Okay, I’m no Dale Carnegie, but I’m not walking into the Fraser River with rocks in my pockets, either. But here’s what I’m going to watch for: I tend to need a lot of reassurance (feel free to give it, anytime now. Really.) and I hate inconvenient truths. They’re so darn… inconvenient.

How about you? What are your trouble spots?

Author & article source: Daniel Wallen | Lifehack

And huge thanks to the wise and confident Paula Altenburg for sending this my way!