Stacy Verdick Case's Blog, page 2
July 18, 2016
Book 4 Update
Okay, stop asking already! Yes, book 4 of the Catherine O’Brien series is complete. It is typed in (because if you know me you know I hand write every first draft).
That doesn’t mean the work is done though. That’s where the real work begins. The true beauty of storytelling comes during the re-write.
So I’m deep in re-writing. It’s where Catherine’s world comes to life. Hopefully, it’s the place where I make her real to you the reader.
So be patient with me. Catherine is almost dressed.
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July 8, 2016
I am So Grateful
Victoria Touring Second Harvest Heartland’s Warehouse
On Tuesday I took my daughter to Second Harvest Heartland so they could interview her about the $31.27 she saved (you can read their interview here).
I thought I knew the statistics about hunger in Minnesota. I did not. I told Marie our interviewer that I had explained to Victoria that 1 in 10 Minnesotans go hungry every day and that meant for every 10 people she counted in her class 1 could be hungry. That’s when Marie took the opportunity to correct me. She said at the school level the statistics increase to 1 in 6.
1 in 6! 1 in 6 children go hungry every day. Not half a world way. Not in a war torn country. Here in Minnesota. In one of the wealthiest nations in the world. Right next door. This is staggering.
In 2014 1,281,826 children under age 18 lived in Minnesota. That means 213,368 go hungry every day in Minnesota. That number makes my heart hurt.
In my life I have struggled financially, but I have never been put in the position where I had to decide between putting a roof over my child’s head or food in her belly. I am so grateful.
I am asking you to please help but giving to Second Harvest Heartland. Even $1 can make a huge impact in the hands of Second Harvest. Please follow Victoria’s example and give what you can to help. Here’s a link to Victoria’s Food and Fund Drive for Second Harvest. Thank you for you help. #NotInMyState
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July 4, 2016
June 29, 2016
A Giving Soul
1973 Feed The Hungry Loaf
How many of you remember these little bread loaves? When I was a kid we would get them from church and put our pennies in to feed the hungry.
Awhile back we were cleaning out my Grandmother’s house and we found an empty one that she saved for some reason (she saved a lot of WTF? things). On the back this loaf is dated 1973 – 43 years is a long time to hold onto a plastic loaf – I’m just sayin’.
When my daughter spotted it she asked me what it was and I explained it to her. She asked me if she could have it. No one else wanted it, so I said she could take it home. She put it on a shelf in her room and I really haven’t thought about it since. Until yesterday when she brought the loaf to me full of money. Not just pennies but folding money (yep that’s a $20 bill in that photo). She told me I had to bring it to the hungry people. She told me she even put the lucky penny she found in there so they could 
have some luck too.
I was stunned. And heck yeah I got choked up! I’ve written a post before about how she forces me to buy the food-shelf bags at the grocery store and our standoff over them on one fateful trip (you really should read it – click here), but that was her being caring with my money. This was something different.
My daughter doesn’t receive an allowance yet and she’s seven so she has no job. That means whenever her Papa or Uncle (the two biggest culprits-I’m sure it’s Papa’s $20) gave her money she squirreled it away, or at least part of it, in this bread loaf so she could give it away.
What amazed me even more is that we’ve booked a trip to Disney for this year that she’s been saving for too. Yet somehow she managed to fill this loaf. It was the most selfless thing I’ve ever seen anyone do.
In total she saved $31.27 to feed the hungry and I delivered it to Second Harvest Heartland as she instructed. I emptied it from the loaf so I can return the loaf to her, so she can start again.
Everyday, I fall deeper in love with the person she’s becoming.
I’m urging all of us to follow her example and give to the Second Harvest Heartland. I have set up a food drive called $31.27 with Second Harvest Heartland. I’m challenging you all to match her donation. It’s such a small thing to do that makes a big difference. Show my daughter how much grown-ups care.
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June 27, 2016
It’s Not A Mystery
A weird thing has been happening to me lately – well ever since the show started. Now when I talk to people about books and they start to talk about a book they enjoy they start with the phrase, “It’s not a mystery.” Almost apologetically.
I get it. I mean I host a show called It’s A Mystery to Me. Naturally the thought is that I read mysteries and I do.
Let me state for the record that I read more than just mysteries. If it has words on it and stands still long enough, chances are I will read it.
I enjoy all forms of genre fiction, but I also like to read inspirational, self-help, and even business books.
So don’t feel like you have to apologize to me for telling me you loved A Man Called Ove, Jenny Lawson’s books, or Self Made, because the answer you will probably here from me is Me Too! And if not me too then it just might be, “I have to read that.”
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June 24, 2016
The Real About Me – Part 6
If you’re still with me on this journey you already know I’m giving you the real me because all bios are crap. For a more 
in depth explanation click here.
Sometimes I think I’m funny but not as much as other people do.
Let me explain because that wasn’t mean to be arrogant. When I try to be funny I’m not. When I’m just living my life I’m evidently hilarious.
So I’m funny when I’m not trying to be. And when everyone laughs I’m not sure what I’ve said is that funny. Maybe it’s the delivery. I don’t know because I can’t see myself.
Anyway, I’m kinda funny. So there.
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June 17, 2016
The Real About Me – Part 5
Continuing to get real because all bios are crap. See the original post with my reasons here.
I have an epic coffee addiction. Yeah you think you do but no. I am an addict and caffeine is my drug of choice.
My addiction is so strong that if people have bad news for me they will slide a 20 oz cup of coffee in front of me first to sooth me before delivering the memo.Coffee actually calms me down. I wish that were a lie, but it’s not. Remember I’m being real here.
It’s not a good thing. I realize that but blame my upbringing. My Grandmother would give us coffee after dinner. You did read that right. We drank coffee after dinner. Before bed. As small a small child. I can still drink coffee at night and go right off to bed.
As I watch my seven year bounce off the walls with enough energy to power a small town, and all she’s had is water, I wonder what the hell that woman was thinking. Never the less, it’s part of me and now I’m an addict. Thanks Grandma.
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June 10, 2016
Me Time
Life with Stacy is complicated at best. I’m a minefield of contradictions and fabulous bewilderment. Just ask my long suffering husband and I’m sure he will tell you how confusingly awesome I am (he’s learned to just smile and nod his way through after 23 years).
The only time I get a little on the bad side of good is when I don’t get some alone time.
To be honest, the idea of living with someone is alien to me. Growing up I spent most of my time locked in my room. No the lock wasn’t on the outside! This wasn’t some draconian punishment by my parents I just didn’t want anyone to come in. I like being alone. If Websters understood the true definition of the word loner there would just be a photo of me next to the word.
I like being alone and I want to be alone.
Then I got married and he wanted to live with me (yeah, I’m still a little fuzzy on how I let this happen). So we bought a house with an extra room so I could still have a space to myself. I even call it “My Room.” He learned to give me time so I will function as normally as I can.
The we had a kid. More of my time that I would spend alone got eaten away. So I had to carve out my me time from lunch hours at work and after she’s gone to be. A lot less time but still some. I can still function.
The other day when I got home I spent the whole evening with my grouch on. The husband was confused and rightfully upset. Why was I in such a bad mood?
At work I’d been training some new and had been with them all day including my precious lunch. This had gone on for two days straight. I had not been alone.
Though I’ve always known I was a longer I didn’t realize that I have no capacity to function as a civil human being without some time alone.
I finally had to go to my room for an hour to be alone with my thoughts. It helped. Now I know “me time” is not a luxury. It’s a necessity.
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June 7, 2016
The Internet is Dehumanizing Us
Daily I am staggered by the things people will say under the protection of a username that they wouldn’t say in real life. This is probably bothering me more than normal because of the Cincinnati Zoo news stores and of course all the political coverage that we’re going to have to endure for a lot longer than I really want to.
What happened to “if you don’t have anything nice to say don’t say anything at all?” When did we become a society of judge-y, b*tchy, d*cks?
I believe in a collective consciousness that connects all of us, so when we’re an a** under a pen name we’re sending that vibration right back to ourselves. No wonder we’re so angry. We keep feeling the pain we’re sending into the world. Can you imagine the power we would feel if instead we were human and decent to each other?
If your first reaction to reading a news story is to become self righteous and jump to comments and spew hate, them maybe you should disconnect from the internet for a very long time and remember what it’s like to be a human.
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June 3, 2016
The Real About Me – Part 4
Here we are again! For those of you jumping in here and wondering what this is all about click here to read the first post in the series.
Here’s something you should know about me if we’re going to be friends (and why not – lets be friends). I am a fan of the apocalypse. It’s true. I don’t even care what form the apocalypse takes be it the moon getting too close, volcanic eruptions plunging the world into a new ice age, an electromagnetic pulse, or zombies – I’m a fan.
I don’t mean that I’m hoping I suddenly have to start using a hole in the back yard as a toilette, or want to have the learn to sharp shoot a cranial target (I don’t want to start anyone off on a project here), no I just like apocalyptic stories.
Why? I hadn’t really thought about it until I sat down to write this post. Maybe because it’s real drama. Yes, I understand that zombies aren’t real but the drama of what could happen if there was a complete societal collapse is real. It’s the highest stakes possible in a story. It’s life or death and not just for one person but for everyone. So not only does it become life or death it becomes a story of challenging morals and beliefs. I like that. Plus, it’s a safe place to be afraid and face those challenges. It forces the reader to ask themselves tough questions.
Those questions stay with me long after I close the book. Read The Road by Cormac Mccarthy as a parent and call me. We can have a long philosophical conversation about that one.
I think I like being afraid of things like zombies because they can’t really hurt me.
Or maybe I’m a sick and twisted individual who should probably seek counseling at my earliest convenience. I’m going with the explanation above and you all can hold whatever opinion of my you’d like.
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