Becky Wade's Blog, page 102

Some Bookish Quotes + Giveaway

Next week is spring break at Purdue, and I can’t wait to get started writing my next novella. This has been a crazy, busy semester, and I’m eager to pick up my pen or put my fingers to the keyboard and start creating. Up first are two novellas in collections that I have signed or am about to sign the contracts for. Both will be set during World War II, and I am so excited to return to my favorite time period.

As my thoughts turn bookish, I thought it would be fun this week to do a fun post. First, I have a few fun book quotes for you. Then at the end I have a giveaway. I’ll be gifting a book to at least two readers, but may do more. My book pile is getting a bit ridiculous, and what better way to endure the last days of winter than with a good book!

Jane Austen is one of those authors that many of my friends adore…but I’ve only read Pride and Prejudice. I’ve tried to read Sense and Sensibility but get bogged down because I know what the movies show happening to Marianne. I know. I know. I should never rely on a movie to represent the book…

But can I admit I haven’t read Northanger Abbey? Even so, I firmly agree with this quote.

CS Lewis is an author I adore and yet know I need to read more of his nonfiction. However, I didn’t want to overshare my favorite quotes from the Chronicles of Narnia. What’s your favorite CS Lewis book?

Finally, I can’t quite agree with quote from one of Charles Dickens’ books. As a writer, I want to believe that all books have immense value. But there are a few that I put down and never get back to…I guess you could call it death by neglect. Still, I think this quote is a bit harsh, but it does get one’s attention. What do you think? Are there books where the cover is the best part?

Now for the giveaway. Good luck! I’d love to send one of my books or a friend’s book to you. Most of all, happy reading!

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What Makes a Great Villain?

I’m happy to say I officially signed off on The Deadly Shallows a few weeks ago. It’s finished with editorial and on to paging. Phew. That book was literally the hardest I’ve ever written. I couldn’t tell you why. Well…five surgeries between the end of May and the end of August didn’t help, but well before that, this book was wrestling inside of me. It ended up causing me to have two years between releases. I felt like I’d let my readers down, but just seeing the excitement for The Deadly Shallows has filled me with such encouragement and love. I have the BEST readers.

The funny thing with The Deadly Shallows was that I knew the hero and heroine well but still struggled to find their story. It turned out it was the villain along with his motivations and actions that finally propelled the story forward.

Recently I took a fabulous online class by Steven James entitled: Villains—How to Write Believable Antagonists, and it really got me thinking about the creation of villains. You might be thinking you don’t read or write suspense, but are villains only in suspense novels? Are villains only the perennial “bad guy?” I did a little digging and I really loved this definition of an antagonist from Masterclass’s blog:

You can read the full article here. It’s fabulous and covers the four types of antagonists.

People often don’t think about conflict-creators or inanimate forces like a tsunami headed for a small island as antagonists, but they are. Every story needs an antagonist creating conflict in the story. But, being a suspense writer, I’m going to focus on “bad guys.” In my humble opinion, the villain makes or breaks the story. He or she drives the story.

Side note: In an effort to avoid writing “him” or “her” every time, I’m going to stick with “him” just for this post.

What do I mean when I say the villain drives the story? The hero coming up against opposition by the antagonist forces him to make a choice very early on in the story: will he embark on the quest to defeat the villain or ignore the path he’s being called to (Hint: if he ignores the path, the story is over and he’s not much of a hero).

The villain’s action affects the hero’s choices and thereby, his world. It kicks off the conflict of good vs. evil, good guy vs. bad guy. From there they dance. The villain’s actions result in a reaction from the hero. The lightning pace and intensity of the ‘battle’ rise in waves of increasing conflict, culminating in the story’s climax. In most stories, the hero defeats the villain. Those are the stories I love to read—good overcoming evil.

As I sit at my desk dreaming through my next book, I find all this tracking through my mind. I know I must create a villain worthy of the story’s hero. A villain strong enough to really press my hero to his limits—to keep the conflict growing, and the pacing tense. I’ve spent time recently thinking of great villains that really grabbed me from literature and movies. Considering what made them great, and what made them so bad? What motivated them and why they were the way they were?

Without giving the villain’s identity away, I’ll just say a few of my favorite literary villains are in Terri Blackstock’s superb novel Predator, Lisa Gardner’s The Perfect Husband, and Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca. Brilliant, truly frightening, and well-motivated. I only hope I’ll be able to fashion one as well.

Reader Question: Who is your favorite villain from literature or film? You can just name the novel or movie if you prefer and feel free to share more than one. I can’t wait to see who everyone chooses.

Have a blessed day!

~Dani

Ukraine

The other day I felt inspired to post something about Ukraine, and I believe it is still apt today.

Remember the story of David and Goliath? One huge giant with a sword and spear; one young shepherd with five little rocks. The difference between them was GOD.

Today we are seeing another David and Goliath story. I don’t know God’s will in this situation, but I know we should be praying for those innocent men, women, and children who simply want to live their lives in freedom.

Don’t “hold a good thought” for them–your thoughts won’t help. Don’t “send positive vibes”–your vibes won’t go any farther than your breath.

What you CAN do is pray to the God who sees all and knows all. Who holds the hearts of kings in his hand, and directs the nations to do His will. Who has a plan for this world and is working it even now.

Pray that God will preserve the innocent and punish the guilty. Pray that God will comfort the sorrowful and be close to those who cry out to Him. Pray that God will show Himself mighty and just.

And pray for two other countries: Taiwan and Israel. Taiwan, because China has coveted that land for decades. I visited Taiwan more than 40 years ago, and remember that even then, the people had an ever-present awareness that China was watching . . . and coveting.

And Israel because Scripture tells us that one day Russia and China will come against that country, and then God will act in a way that leaves no doubt as to His power.

The stage is being set. So pray to the only One who holds true power over this world. It’s the best thing you can do in this moment, this hour, this time.

Inspired by Scripture

This Sunday feature is brought to you by ClashVerseoftheDay.com. You may sign up to receive a beautiful photo with Scripture in your inbox each morning or view the verse each day online.

COVER REVEAL!

For those who have been following the progression of my Colorado Cowboy series, you’ll know that two books have already released: A Cowboy for Keeps and The Heart of the Cowboy.

The 3rd book, To Tame a Cowboy, releases in just a couple of months at the beginning of May and continues the saga with Brody, the third brother in the McQuaid family. Brody is a sensitive man who bears many scars both outwardly and inwardly. As he finally joins his family in Colorado, he works to tame the mustangs that run wild in the mountains. Of course, in the process of finding his own healing, he also finds his true love. I hope that you’ll enjoy this upcoming installment.

You can pre-order the book at Baker Book House for an awesome deal here: https://bakerbookhouse.com/products/405414

Today I’d like to share with you the cover for the 4th book in my Colorado Cowboy series, Falling for the Cowgirl. This book is about Ivy McQuaid, the only sister among a family of four brothers. She’s obviously a tomboy and loves all things ranching, including competing in cowhand contests (a precursor to the modern-day rodeo). In the process of trying to make a future and home of her own, will she be able to find love with the man she’s always adored? Her book releases in October of this year.

You can pre-order this book at Baker Book House too: https://bakerbookhouse.com/products/433703

Without further ado, here’s the cover!

Just so you know, there are FIVE books in this series. The 5th book hits shelves next February of 2023 and involves the last of the McQuaid brothers, Dylan. He’s a prodigal son with a past that catches up to him. The name of that book is The Last Chance Cowboy.

There you have it! Hope you are excited about diving into the rest of the books in this series! I admit, I’ll be a little sad when it’s all over. It’s been so fun to write that I’m contemplating continuing with another series involving some of the minor characters!

How about YOU? What books are you most looking forward to reading in the coming months?

Showered with Blessings

It’s wedding season in the Witemeyer household. Our first. This past Saturday, we had the joy of watching out children be showered with blessings at their first wedding shower. Wyatt is my middle kiddo and oldest son. He grew up in the small country church where we attend, and our church family has watched him grow from a toddler who played on the stage steps after church, to the college minister who preaches, leads songs, and teaches class. His bride-to-be, McKenna, is a lovely young woman who makes him light up every time she enters the room. We adore her and couldn’t be happier to welcome her to the family.

The food was fabulous! Texas sheet cake, brownies, zucchini bread, cheese & crackers, fresh fruit, pigs in a blanket, and dark chocolate kisses. The most beautiful food item, though, were these gorgeous Mr. & Mrs. cookies made by the hostess’s daughter. Perfection!

Next came the gift opening, and what a wonderful abundance they received! So many practical and beautiful items!

McKenna loves all things Disney, so these hand towels were perfect!A cast-iron skillet so she can keep him in line. And since Tangled is her favorite Disney movie, it seemed particularly fitting.
Frying pans. Who knew?One of my favorite candid moments. The little girl was helping her unwrap, saw the knives, and dashed away with great haste. The girl recognizes danger when she sees it. She will be the flower girl at the wedding.I cross-stitched a wedding sampler for them to commemorate their big day. In keeping with her love for fairy tales, it reads, “And they lived happily ever after. Wyatt & McKenna – May 14, 2022.” I got it back from the framers less than 24 hours before the shower. Whew!

McKenna’s dad works at ACU just like Wes and I do, so they already feel like family. Her mom is so nice, not to mention super organized. The perfect combination since this is the first wedding for both of us.

My main responsibilities are outfitting the groom and groomsmen (suits are bought and waiting to be tried on over spring break) and the rehearsal dinner. I’m hoping to cook, but we’ll see how all that works out. Thankfully, my sister-in-law has volunteered to help, so that will be a blessing.

It’s such an exciting time! I’m so happy for them, and only the tiniest bit sad to no longer be the most important woman in my son’s life. But, hey, I’m a romance writer. I recognize a happy ending in the making when I see one.

Any advice for the mother of the groom?
What are some of your favorite wedding traditions or festivities?

My New Favorite Task/Calendar App

I like lists and calendars, schedules and systems. Well over 10 years ago, after I decided I liked having a calendar and to list in my digital pocket, I subscribed to a productivity/task app new to the scene. It was based on the GTD method of projects and tasks and worked well for me for many years. However as this past year drew to a close I found myself tired of switching between my task app and my calendar app and wondered it there was an app that married the two. 

Sure enough, the answer was yes! Several, actually. I tried a couple of different ones before I landed on my new favorite: Fantastical. (Sorry, y’all. It’s an Apple only product. But there are others out there in a similar vein that work with other operating systems.)

Fantastical shot to the top of my list for a couple of reasons. 

The calendar syncs with my ical, so all those different calendar I already had set up did not need to be redone—and also means that if I need to I can add something on my ical and it will be in Fantastical quick as a wink. (Though truly I’m all in on the Fantastical app and never open ical anymore!)I can create an event from a task into an event with a couple of clicks. This is important to me because I like to generally log on my calendar how I spend my time during the day. Even though tracking my time is a bit tedious, it keeps me from lying to myself (either that I’ve done nothing or that I’ve been busy!). A few screenshots of the app

But there are more things I love about Fantastical than those two main things. Here are a few more: 

I can set it so I only see the current day and next day’s tasks. This is good for me so that I don’t look too far into the future and stress out! I can set an end date for recurring tasks. My old task manager didn’t have this option and I love it!I can make templates for often used events so I don’t have to type them in every time. This has been one of those features I didn’t know I needed. Unlike auto-fill on ical, I can quickly choose the template or not and don’t have to fight with auto-fill when I don’t want it. At the top of my task list, it shows the high/low temp for the day and whether it will be sunny, cloudy, rainy, etc. Which means I don’t have to always click back to my weather app if I just need a quick look at the day.

Still, it’s not perfect. However, I have found work-arounds to compensate for some of its flaws. 

It doesn’t allow me to order my tasks within a category. However, because it uses Reminders  app (via iCloud), I’ve discovered I can go in and number the tasks I want to pop up in a particular order. And I discovered that I can set my categories on Reminders in the order I want those batches of tasks to appear on my Fantastical list. I can’t email something to become a task as I could in my old program. However, I can click an email subject line, click Share, then click Reminders. From that pop up I can set the due date, category, rename it, etc. It will then appear as a task and I haven’t had to go out of my email program to add it. 

As you can see, for me, the pros definitely outweigh the cons. Of course this is after just two months of using it, but so far I’m pretty happy. I like only having to open one app to see all I need to know in terms of both tasks and events. But then I’m kind of nerdy like that. 

Do you manage an online calendar and/or task list? What tool is your current favorite in the productivity arena of life? 

Intuition…or Experience?

Is there something you do well now that you didn’t always do well? A certain task that’s become intuitive? But it didn’t used to be. It only became intuitive because you developed that skill set through experience.

I have such a skill. And it’s a very important one—that my husband continues to call into question. Like he did two nights ago.

I was measuring ground beef for a Taco Soup recipe (that I got from good friend and author Tricia Goyer), and I had a 3 lb chub of ground beef on the counter. I only needed 2 lbs, so I eyed that sucker and walloped off a third.

Joe commented, “I’m guessing that’s 1 lb 4 or 5 ounces.” I said, “No way, it’s a pound!”

So out came the scale. And BAM!

He just looked at me and smiled.

When I’m cooking or baking in the kitchen, he’s been known to say, “Whoa there, you’re not measuring. How do you know how much you’re putting in?”

“I just know,” I tell him.

But that knowledge isn’t just intuition. It came from experience. From countless hours in the kitchen cooking and baking. You just know what a tablespoon of half and half or molasses looks like, or a teaspoon of salt or pepper, or a cup of flour or sugar.

And I have to say, I love cooking and baking this way. Especially when I’m making a family favorite like buttermilk biscuits. There’s something about not having to use a recipe, just as I don’t ever remember seeing my mother or grandmother use a recipe when they made biscuits. They just knew.

And then passed that intuition along to me. : )

What’s something you do well now that you didn’t always do well?

Joining in prayer with you for the people of Ukraine. Our God is able, more than able.

Tammy

Be sure to enter to win 1 of 10 MP3 audiobooks for Colors of Truth!

Giveawa y ends today

I STILL Brake for Garage Sales

Today I’m reviving a post from eight years ago but giving it a total overhaul. If you’ve followed Inspired by Life…and Fiction very long, you’ll recognize the topic as one dear to my heart (and you’ll know a big reason that I’m longing for spring).

As many of you know, my husband and I have made garage sales into a destination date over the past decade. It all started when Ken wanted to find bicycles for our grandkids to ride when they come to visit Papa and Mimi at the new house we’d just bought in Wichita, Kansas. Ken dragged me along to the garage sales, estate sales, and flea markets as he searched for those treasures. We found them too! And so much more—at prices we could easily afford (at a time when our budget was pretty slim).

Tagging along with Ken, I rediscovered why I used to love garage sales so much: a person could redecorate an entire house with a few well-timed garage sale trips! So we turned our garage sale outings into our weekly Friday morning date, and almost ten years later, we still haven’t grown tired of the hunt. Here is a sampling of favorite treasures we’ve collected since moving to our home in Missouri.

My biggest (and heaviest) purchase by far—but still a steal at $10, was this gorgeous old urn planter, but it is SO heavy Ken and I could barely lift it until we dumped out the wet soil. When we got home with it and opened the back of the van to unload it, it rolled out onto the driveway! I thought it would break into a gazillion pieces, but only a chunk of the pedestal broke off. (We were just grateful it didn’t land on one of us!) I still love it and think it’s worth well over $10. I can’t wait to plant some lantana in it this spring.

One of my best bargains in Missouri (so far) was this vintage French Arc glass ice bucket in perfect condition for only a dollar! (There’s one on eBay exactly like it for $28) I like the way it echoes the polka dot FireKing mixing bowls that belonged to my grandmother.

Floral shop vases are a dime a dozen at garage sales, and I certainly don’t need any more vases, but I found a couple of extra pretty ones that I’ve thoroughly enjoyed using. The tall one with the birds was $2.50. The shorter aqua and gold one was only $1 and they both make cheap grocery store bouquets look like a million bucks!

During the winter months when there aren’t many garage sales, we have a nice selection of thrift shops and antique stores to explore in this part of the state. This soup tureen was in the 75% off bargain basement of my favorite antique store, Annie Laurie’s in Cape Girardeau, MO. It has a lid and a ceramic ladle too, but I prefer to use it as a planter.

This round mirror always makes me think of this favorite memory: Our three oldest grandsons were garage sale-ing with us one day, and I saw a round mirror at one sale but decided it was too much. Ken and the boys were waiting in the car and I told them, “Man, they had a mirror I really love, but it’s $5.” The boys said, “But Mimi, didn’t you see the sign? It said ‘Everything must go! Make us an offer!’” That did it! I jumped out of the car and went back to buy the mirror for $4. It looks perfect in this guest room.

Garage sale season will be here SOON! If you’ve never caught the bug, give it a try! You may discover, as we have, that one man’s trash, truly is another man’s treasure! And a garage sale date is cheaper by far than dinner and a movie. 

Here are some tips for making the most of your treasure hunting:

• Find out what day of the week sales in your area begin, and go as early as possible on the first day.
• Check the local newspaper or website for garage sale listings—especially church rummage sales and neighborhood sales where many homes participate on one street—but be prepared to brake for the many unadvertised sales along the way. Just follow the homemade signs. And drive carefully.
• Come prepared with a list of things you actually need. But don’t be afraid to suddenly “need” something that wasn’t on your list. You can always resell a “mistake” in your own garage sale later or donate it to Goodwill.
• Stick to your budget. Decide ahead of time how much you will spend and take only that amount in cash with you. We find it a fun challenge to stay within a preset limit. We usually set out with $20-40 in our pocket and probably spend, on average, $8-12 each week.
• Carry paint chips and fabric swatches with you, along with a list of measurements, to determine if an item will truly match your decor or fit in that empty spot.
• Don’t be afraid to strike a bargain. It’s perfectly acceptable to ask, “will you take $6 for this instead of $10?” But be prepared for a “no” (especially if you’re an early bird) or for a counteroffer of $7 or $8. Or be willing to walk away without the item.
• If you’re unsure about an item, write down the address where you found it so you can come back later. You may think you’ll remember which sale your treasure was at, but you likely won’t.
• If furniture or larger items are on your wish list, empty your trunk or hatch before you set out. Or if you’re really serious, bring a pickup or trailer.
• Wear comfortable shoes and clothes, and bring along your morning coffee or bottled water and a quick snack for the car.
• Practice the golden rule. You’ll be “shopping” in someone else’s garage or home. Treat their property the way you’d want others to treat yours. Be thoughtful of neighbors, too, and don’t traipse across other yards if you have to park a distance away.
• There’s nothing wrong with coming home empty-handed. Sometimes the joy is in the search. Garage sale-ing can be good exercise, and a great way to get to know the neighborhoods of your city, and those are worthy pursuits in themselves.

Are you a second-hand bargain hunter? What’s the best treasure you ever found at a garage sale, flea market, estate sale, or farm auction?

Inspired by Scripture

This Sunday feature is brought to you by ClashVerseoftheDay.com. You may sign up to receive a beautiful photo with Scripture in your inbox each morning or view the verse each day online.