Curtiss Ann Matlock's Blog, page 15

Miracle On I-40 on Sale at 99¢

Dear Reader Friends, I want to let you know that Miracle On I-40 has just gone on sale. If you need some escape from the world and headlines, put your feet up and enjoy some heartwarming fun.

[image error]
At all major online bookstores.

Amazon Kindle
B&N Nook
Apple
Kobo

Lacey Bryant, single mother living on a shoestring, wants to go  home to North Carolina for Christmas.

Cooper, cowboy trucker and modern day Scrooge, wants no part of traveling across country with two children. But he has a promise to a good friend to uphold.

“Once again, best-sellin...

Your Definition of Success

Recently I came upon this bit of wisdom:
“Everyone has their own reasons for writing and their own definitions of success. I think it’s really important to figure out what those are for YOU as you move into the future. It’s the only way to pick your path. ~ Brenda Hiatt, bestselling author

Brenda Hiatt’s words struck me because I am at the point of finding my writing path forward. Some famous person has said that life has to be lived looking forward but can only be understood looking backward.

I began...

Solo Woman Camper

[image error]“You aren’t going alone, are you?”

This question was posed with surprise and a tinge of horror when I told a group of friends that I would be away on a camping trip for a week.

A woman choosing to haul a travel trailer by herself and go off camping by herself is considered by many to be an odd thing, and definitely risky. This viewpoint appears mostly held by people who are married and surrounded by sisters and family and friends. It is supported in part by constant news media telling of violent happen...

Book Recommendations

I have not been doing much reading, what with the moving and repeated furniture rearranging and shelf-building, and also taking it easy on the porch, but I have read several non-fiction books that have contributed to my well-being. I just picked up one–Jennifer’s Way–and opened it at random, and wouldn’t you know there was something on the page that spoke to me about my life today. I marked the passage and attached a yellow Post-it flag. This is a keeper.

[image error]Jennifer’s Way–my journey with celiac disease, by Jennifer Esposito, actr...

one–Jennifer’s

On My Own Now

I have spent the better part of the past four months moving into a smaller home, thus the silence on this blog.

You can imagine it–all the sifting and sorting of what will fit, what won’t fit, either the house or me as the me I have become. My very patient son moved a heavy television console in and out three times. I am now quite confident with a power drill from all the putting up shelves and modifying that I have done. Wayfair and Amazon deliveries came every few days, and I spent what seemed a...

Morning Bike Ride

I got myself organized first thing out of bed for a morning bike ride. Such is my life and my inclinations, the endeavor to ride required setting my mind the night before. It’s a wonder I got through the kitchen, or past the dog who gave me the accusing eye when I told her she had to stay home.

Then I was off! Imagine me–face into the cool breeze, the earthly beauty of the woods and fields on either side, the blacktop speeding beneath me. All around was a fresh summer morning abundant with sw...

Random Offerings

I apologize that my newsletter last week ended up with a blank image. I learned a lesson. Once sent, don’t change, not matter that the platform says you can. I think the thought I shared a stellar one, so I’m repeating it:
[image error]

Thinking of my own work as a writer, I focus on the extraordinary in the everyday. The backbone of civilization is carried on those magnificent men and women who continue to get up every day, day in and day out, and do their best to cook good meals for others, wait on othe...

Value Common Sense Love

[image error]

The Vish Puri Novels, and a couple of other book recommendations

[image error]Several people remarked that I have not been on Facebook recently. Actually, I haven’t been on any social media, nor watching television. I’ve been reading! These days I have difficulty, sadly, finding a book to make me eagerly grab it up and forget the world. I wonder if it has to do with I’m out of step with the popular culture. Before I hit on the first of this series, I had started and put down a couple of highly touted women’s fiction novels, which did nothing to ignite delight in me. Wh...

Time, Ancestors, and Southern Sayings

[image error]This morning I sat down to write a blog post, and that was three hours ago. I got sidetracked when I opened email first and found a notification of a post in an ancestry group to which I belong.

A member posted surnames from his great-great grandparents and invited others to do the same that we might see if we have any linked relatives. Of course I had to go check mine out. I discovered I had not gotten that far back on my father’s side of the family tree and thus the lost hours of my life as...