Inglath Cooper's Blog, page 27

What's So Great About a Romance Novel?

Several things, actually.

A good book is like a mini-vacation, and for me, that has always been the appeal. No matter where I am – dentist's office, doctor's appointment, airplane – a good story can take me out of a less than appealing spot of time and put me somewhere infinitely more pleasant.

Maybe nothing does that quite like a good love story, where we follow two people who want to be together, who ought to be together, but can't quite clear all the obstacles thrown in their way. Who doesn't like to watch two people fall in love? Remember what the newness of that feels like?

Put them in a small town with some lovable secondary characters, and you have LaVyrle Spencer's contemporary novels like The Hellion, Bittersweet, Separate Beds or Spring Fancy.

Put them at odds over how to heal a broken horse and the girl who loves him, and you have The Horse Whisperer by Nicholas Evans.

Or pair Meggie Cleary with Ralph de Bricassart, and you have The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCollough.

Jane Eyre and Edward Rochester, and you have Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte (loved the 2011 movie version!)

Each of these books took me through a torrent of emotions, and left me at various points along the way happy, sad, amused, conflicted, and wistful. That's a journey well worth taking.

Many great books aren't romance novels, but many romance novels are great books.

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An Aussie Review of John Riley's Girl

John Riley's Girl – RITA Award Winner

John Riley's Girl

"I'm a bit sad that I got this book from the library because it would have had a place with my keepers."

Virginia Creeper Trail for Great Cycling

View from the Virginia Creeper Trail

If you like to cycle and crave the emotional restoration that a day spent outdoors can provide, the Virginia Creeper Trail is a great place to go for it.

A 34 mile ride from White Top through Damascus and on to Abingdon gives you the opportunity to do just that.

Here's how we did it:

Book a room at the Martha Washington Inn in Abingdon.  Beautiful old hotel with a great restaurant and spa.  It's worth the trip just to stay here.
Rent a mountain bike at one of the local shops that cater to visitors who want to ride the trail.  Each of these shops will also provide transportation to White Top where they drop you off with your bike.  We've used a couple different ones, but these folks are especially nice.
Start the ride in White Top.  Much of this part is downhill, so it's pretty easy.  There are many beautiful stops along the way, boulders to sit on in a river stream, trees to lean against.
The Creeper Trail Cafe is your reward at the end of the first 11 miles, a great place to stop for lunch or just a snack.  Highly recommend the pinto beans and cornbread, and word has it the chocolate cake is homemade.

Creeper Trail Cafe

Pedal on for the next 6 scenic miles, and you'll arrive in Damascus where another great stopping point awaits.  The Off the Beaten Path ice cream shop serves the biggest single serving waffle cones I've ever seen.  Of course, you'll be canceling out the calorie burn of the past 17 miles, but then, you're on vacation!

Off the Beaten Path Ice Cream Shop

The ride to Abingdon from Damascus levels out a bit and requires a bit more pedaling.  Here's your opportunity to make up for your ice cream indulgence.  The countryside out here becomes more dotted with pastures and cows who take cooling breaks in the river.

Cows Take a Dip

By the time you get back to Abingdon, you'll be ready to put your bike away for the day, but if you're like me, you'll also be looking forward to the next time you can come back.

I'd Like to Thank Angelina Jolie

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Thank You

The closest celebrity encounter I've ever had was a chance elevator ride at the Buckhead Ritz Carlton with Steve Martin.  He looked exactly like Steve Martin, :), and so I had no trouble recognizing him.  As soon as the doors closed, however, my tongue managed to tie itself into knots, and my eyes glued themselves to my shoes.  With every floor that passed, I couldn't bring myself to utter a single word of appreciation for any of his movies which have given me countless laughs.

So if I ever did actually have an opportunity to thank Angelina Jolie in person, it's very likely that I would choke again and miss the chance altogether.  But this week's People magazine cover made me think it would be nice to have that chance.  Maybe saying it here is the closest I'll ever get.

Even at her young age, it's easy to see the many ways in which someone like Angelina Jolie has already left her mark in the world.  She's made any number of blockbuster films, won an Academy Award, and served as a United Nations Goodwill Ambassador.  All of that, and she's also the mother of six children.  Yes, that was six.

And that's the part I'd like to thank her for.  The visual she's given us of a life completed and enriched by children, both natural born and adopted.

I can only imagine how many people have been inspired to adopt by the example she has set.  People who weren't able to have children of their own.  And people who might already have had children but wanted to help a child in need of a family.

The adoption of our four beautiful daughters has been the greatest blessing of my own life, and I can only hope that the joy of my experience has in some way encouraged someone else to pursue the adoption of a child without a family.  If so, that will be by far my greatest accomplishment.

My children have taught me many things, most importantly that there are some things we do in life that really matter, that make a forever kind of difference.  Through them, I've learned that family is what happens when people commit to one another, love and take care of one another.  Isn't that a beautiful thing?

I'd Like to Thank Angelina Jolie

Thank You

The closest celebrity encounter I've ever had was a chance elevator ride at the Buckhead Ritz Carlton with Steve Martin.  He looked exactly like Steve Martin, , and so I had no trouble recognizing him.  As soon as the doors closed, however, my tongue managed to tie itself into knots, and my eyes glued themselves to my shoes.  With every floor that passed, I couldn't bring myself to utter a single word of appreciation for any of his movies which have given me countless laughs.

So if I ever did actually have an opportunity to thank Angelina Jolie in person, it's very likely that I would choke again and miss the chance altogether.  But this week's People magazine cover made me think it would be nice to have that chance.  Maybe saying it here is the closest I'll ever get.

Even at her young age, it's easy to see the many ways in which someone like Angelina Jolie has already left her mark in the world.  She's made any number of blockbuster films, won an Academy Award, and served as a United Nations Goodwill Ambassador.  All of that, and she's also the mother of six children.  Yes, that was six.

And that's the part I'd like to thank her for.  The visual she's given us of a life completed and enriched by children, both natural born and adopted.

I can only imagine how many people have been inspired to adopt by the example she has set.  People who weren't able to have children of their own.  And people who might already have had children but wanted to help a child in need of a family.

The adoption of our four beautiful daughters has been the greatest blessing of my own life, and I can only hope that the joy of my experience has in some way encouraged someone else to pursue the adoption of a child without a family.  If so, that will be by far my greatest accomplishment.

My children have taught me many things, most importantly that there are some things we do in life that really matter, that make a forever kind of difference.  Through them, I've learned that family is what happens when people commit to one another, love and take care of one another.  Isn't that a beautiful thing?

Before Steve Jobs Gave Us the iPhone

I was talking with my Mama the other day, listening as she reminisced over a memory from her childhood.  This particular one was about the time she and her cousins were pretending to look for eggs in an old hay barn.  Mama was six then, and she remembers sticking her hand into a hen's nest.  She thought a chicken had pecked her and ran crying to the house to tell my grandmother what had happened.

My grandma, who had made the mistake that morning of sending the children out to play while she tried to get rid of a really bad headache with a little bit of quiet time, knew as soon as she saw my mama's hand that it was no hen peck.  The place on her finger had already begun to swell, and my grandma guessed correctly that she had been bitten by a snake.

To back up a bit, this was 1948, and my grandparents lived in rural Franklin County, Virginia.  Back then, rural had an altogether different connotation than it does today.  My grandparents didn't have a telephone.  My grandpa was at work, and my grandma didn't drive.  The closest hospital was approximately twenty miles away.  On foot, it would have taken a while to get there.

My grandma, knowing that she somehow had to get Mama there as fast as she could, ran next door to my great Aunt's house.  She didn't have a car, either.  But the two of them made a bridge of their hands and carried my mama, running as much as they could, to the nearest neighbor, a man named Sug Brooks.  (Sug as in Sugar)

Mr. Brooks was elderly and hadn't driven in a while.  But he didn't hesitate when my grandma knocked at his door and, in tears, asked him if he would take them to the hospital in Rocky Mount.  No sooner had they started off than Mr. Brooks asked my grandma which gear he should put the car in.  I'm sure her heart must have dropped to the floor.

But somehow they lurched their way to the hospital that July afternoon in time to save my mama's life from the bite of a copperhead snake.

In those days, before Steve Jobs gave us the iPhone to call 911, people were more dependent on the kindness of their neighbors.  Mr. Brooks helped my grandma and my mama even though he hadn't driven his car in so long he wasn't sure he remembered how.

And that's one thing that even modern conveniences can't replace.  There still needs to be a selfless human being on the other end of a plea for help, whether it comes in the form of a knock at the door or a cell phone call.

Thank you, Sug Brooks, for answering the knock.  May we all be blessed with neighbors like you.

 

 

 

 

 

Katherine Heigl, Pitt Bull Rescue and the Two Sides of Human Nature

Since I first became involved in dog rescue seven or eight years ago, I have seen some tragically mistreated dogs.  Nearly starved hounds.  Puppies with abuse-suspicious injuries.  Old dogs who've lived most of their lives without veterinary care.

But of them all, I would have to say among the most heart-wrending are the Pitt Bulls who have been used as bait for dog fighting.  I know of one situation where a dog had been dropped on a side road when he was no longer usable as bait, only to be found curled up in someone's garage just waiting to die from his horrific injuries.

In this case, he received care and treatment in time to save his life, but many of these dogs never get help because they die without anyone knowing what has happened to them.

By nature, the dogs who are often used as bait are the more meek and submissive dogs, dogs who would choose to roll over and give in to another dog's superiority instead of fighting.

Tucker - my rescue Pittie-cross.

It's hard for me to fathom what a person is made of when they consider it entertainment to stand by and watch while a stronger, more able dog tears a meek one to pieces.  That's a part of humanity I wish I didn't have to acknowledge exists.

But it does.

Hard as that is to accept, I have to believe that for every horrible action carried out by one person, there is another whose compassion can change a life.  I recently read that for one rescued Pitt Bull puppy named Rufus who had been used as bait, actress Katherine Heigl, known for her work with rescue dogs, did exactly that.  When it was determined that the puppy's injuries were so extensive that he would have to wear a body cast for an extended length of time, she took him home with her.

I don't know why we live in a world with such completely opposing examples of human nature, a world where it is possible for one person to heartlessly throw an innocent puppy into a fighting ring and another to selflessly step forward to save it and nurse it back to health.

But we do.

I'm thankful that people like Katherine Heigl and all the other rescue groups and volunteers who stand up for these dogs every day continue to fight the good fight, to throw light on the wrong, to insist that right win out.  Because it just has to.

Nola and Compassion

The look in Nola's eyes is one I've seen before.  Its message is clear and undeniable.  Hopelessness.  She has given up on any expectation of kindness or relief from her misery.

It takes a lot for any living being to reach the point of no longer asking, of lying quietly in complete submission to whatever the next indignity may be.  What is the point in asking when there is no one to answer your pleas?

That's where Nola is.

The picture below arrived on my Facebook page Sunday evening.  It is and was hard for me to look at.  Her poor, starved body says everything about the conditions she has lived in.  She is skeletal thin, and her head looks abnormally large for her body.

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Nola

The text accompanying her picture says she is out of time at a Southside Virginia county shelter, and is scheduled to die on Monday morning if no one comes forward for her.  To read those words and know that what has clearly already been a miserable life will end in this way makes my heart both ache and rage.

I have to believe that human beings have the opportunity to show their best and their worst in the way they treat those less powerful in the chain of life.  Not only is Nola an example of someone's unthinkable neglect, she is also proof that many of our communities have no system in place for helping her.  In the county facility where she ended up, the solution to her mistreatment was to end her life.

The Franklin County Humane Society in Rocky Mount, Virginia stepped forward to save her life yesterday morning.  A volunteer drove her from the county shelter to a local veterinarian known for his compassionate treatment of shelter dogs.

Nola is now safe.  But she has a hard road ahead of her.  She has a mass on one of her paws.  She is emaciated and malnourished.  She is heartworm positive.  However, she is now in the hands of people who want to see her flourish, who will work to raise the money for her treatment, who will treat her with kindness and respect and find reward in the moments when she shows her happiness over such small joys as a cookie before bedtime.

Simply enough, she will be treated with compassion.  And hopefully, as she absorbs each morsel of human kindness, she will begin to hope again, and even to anticipate the next rub, the next treat, the next smile.  I look forward to seeing those pictures of her in the weeks ahead.

If you would like to help with Nola's care, any and all donations are greatly appreciated.  Please click here.  Compassion for Nola.  Or paste this link in your browser.  http://www.plannedpethoodrocky mount.com/donate.html

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Nola Now Being Cared For

 

 

 

 

 

 

How to Stay Young

In a word, live.

Two people in my life exemplify this better than anyone I've ever known.  My mom and her dear friend Gary.  He's newly turned 80(still a looker by any standard) and my mom is a glowing 68.  She's always been beautiful and still is.  Gary is fond of telling anyone who asks that he's 80 and dating a woman in her 60's.

These two have known their share of pain and difficulties in this life.  There have been times when their journey here has put some significant potholes in front of them.  Painful loss of much-loved spouses, along with health issues and many of the things most of us will eventually experience if we're here long enough.  But their journey has also included finding each other and sharing this phase of their lives with an admirable determination to wring out every last drop of joy they encounter.

Take yesterday for example.  Monday morning.  Mama's up at 3:45  and off to meet Gary where, along with 50 or so others, they will board a bus at our church for a Mystery Day Trip.  They have no idea where they're going, but they're game for whatever.

First stop is a little place in Galax, VA where they are served a Southern style breakfast guaranteed to fill the emptiest of bellies.  Back on the bus, and they're travelling I-81 South to what they're all sure will be a stop in Abingdon, VA with perhaps lunch at the Martha Washington Inn.

But the Abingdon exit sign comes and goes, and the bus continues on until they reach Kingsport, TN where they pull into the parking lot of a shopping mall.  A hillbilly man and woman climb on board the bus and inform the passengers that they're hard pressed to marry off one of their numerous daughters.  So they "hijack" the bus after picking the man they think will be right for their daughter Daisy.

When the bus pulls up in front of a hillbilly cabin where several daughters in bonnets stand waiting for their hijacked groom, my mom says this was this point where she'd nearly laughed herself sick.  The "actors" continue to carry out the ruse, tricking daughter Daisy into looking up, then down as a nod when she refuses to say I Do.

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Daisy Waiting on her Groom

All of this took place at the Gaines-Preston Farm in Kingsport, TN where hilarious hijackings are a regular part of their group tours offerings.

All in all, it was a long day.  My mom and her friend Gary are at a point in their lives when it would be easy to say, "That just sounds too hard for me to do today.  Easier just to stay home."  But their motto is to keep living.  Keep doing.  Keep enjoying.  Keep going.

And isn't that the only real way to stay young?

 

Poke the Box

I just finished reading Seth Godin's Poke the Box, and as usual with anything I read of his, I came away feeling inspired and motivated.  But with this book, and his mantra – GO MAKE SOMETHING HAPPEN –  I also felt validated.

I published nine novels and one novella via the traditional publishing route, and I'm grateful for the opportunity I had to do so.

But things have changed.

Distribution has changed.

We now have the ability to release our creative work to the world through one little laptop.  When that first began to dawn on me, it came with a closet full of enumerated trepidations. What if my work wasn't good enough, I asked myself. What if people hated it?

I soon began to realize that no matter whether I release something through another publisher or through a company of my own,  I'm going to put the same amount of care and effort into it because my goal is not to put something out just to put it out, but to make it the very best I can at the time of its creation.

I care that it does its best to make someone laugh, cry or identify, even if it's in the smallest way.  I have always loved creating things, starting with a seed of something and growing it until it has the ability to do one of the above.  That is rewarding to me.

And so, I'm going to take Seth Godin's advice and poke the box.  Create the things I love to create.  And then release them to the world with the best care I can give them.  It's almost an added bonus when someone buys a book or a song and writes to tell me they enjoyed it.

The single most important thing I took away from Mr. Godin's book is that none of us need to sit back and wait for someone else to tell us we may now go ahead and pursue our dream.  We do need to put out the highest quality work we are capable of, but we don't need to be granted admittance to the dance.  We just need to get out there and start dancing.  Right this very minute.  Today.  Poke the box.

So here's my most recent attempt.  A song I co-wrote with songwriter Gabe Stalnaker, featuring super-talented Megan Conner.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdHJym...]