Heidi McCahan's Blog, page 24

Throwback Thursday: Books and I Go Way Back

I feel like I’ve shared this one before, but it warms my heart and is worthy of an encore presentation. Growing up in a family business, I often wanted to be near my parents and underfoot. When customers needed attention, my presence was a bit of a problem, so one way to pass the time was to enjoy a book. I don’t remember this particular event, but I love the photo. I was enthralled by the power of a great story from a young age. We always had lots of books around and I watched my grandmother enjoy reading. In fact, last night I was brushing my teeth and I wanted to ask her if she’d read the latest Francine Rivers novel yet. It was like one part of my brain forgot that our sweet Grammie no longer walks this earth. However, I’m sure she’s having a grand time in heaven. I wonder if there are book clubs there?

I’m linking up with Jessica Turner from The Mom Creative for her weekly Throwback Thursday Stories. Come on over here and share the story behind your TBT photos.

 

Wordless Wednesday: I Love These Funny Faces

Our annual funny faces Father’s Day photo shoot. I sure do love these goofballs.

Character Spotlight: Unraveled’s Hero, Blake Tully

Blake Tully, the hot young entrepreneur from Emerald Cove, Alaska and hero of the inspirational romance novel Unraveled, had a few minutes between kayaking and white water rafting excursions to answer some pressing questions. He shared insights into his past, his idea of the perfect woman and plans for the future. Read on, ladies. You won’t want to miss this.

Blake, thanks so much for chatting with me today. I hear this is a busy season for you. 

Yes, this is prime tourist season here in Alaska. With summer solstice coming up and then the Fourth of July, we’re booking lots of excursions. My brother, Jeremy, took the afternoon whitewater run so we could talk.

What’s it like being in business with your brother?

{Laughter} Maybe you should ask him. I’m a dot all the i’s and cross all the t’s kind of guy, while he’s more go with the flow. We butt heads now and then, but overall, I think it’s great. Family businesses are common here and we’ve learned a lot by watching others succeed.

When you’re not working, what’s your idea of a good time?

Well, I sent you a picture earlier of a kayaking trip we took to a glacier nearby. We’ve paddled out that way since we were kids. I love getting in among the icebergs, listening to them pop and crack, feeling the cold air on my face … Man, there’s nothing like it. Just before we turned around yesterday, an iceberg calved. If you’re not familiar, that’s when a chunk falls off the face of the glacier and lands in the water. It’s incredible.

Wow. I can tell by the excitement in your voice that you really love being outdoors and on the water. What else do you do for fun?

My best friend, Jess, has a cabin on a lake a few miles from town. We build a big fire and hang out … spent many a night with our trucks circled up, telling stories, playing pranks. Good memories there. I like to watch baseball and basketball. In the winter, we watch a lot of movies.

So you’re a truck guy, then?

Yep. Always have been. It’s kind of a necessity here, with the winter weather and everything. I drove a beat up red Chevy for a long time, which I loved, but had to sell it. {Clears his throat}. Like I said, lots of memories. I’m driving a new truck now, something more suitable for all the gear I’m hauling around.

I hear you’re a country music fan. What’s playing on your iPod these days? 

Um, let’s see … Lady Antebellum, some Brad Paisley and Dierks Bentley. I like U2 now and then, as well as James Taylor. My dad’s a big classic rock guy, so I still listen to some of his favorites.

I know you’re a bit shy about discussing your personal life, but inquiring minds want to know what you look for in your dream girl.

I wouldn’t say I’m shy. I just like to keep a few things close to the vest. In terms of appearance, someone who’s physically fit, likes the outdoors. I kinda have a thing for green eyed redheads. A woman who values her family is important to me, as well as a person who makes living out her faith a priority. A sense of humor helps, too.

If you could have dinner with three people, who would you choose?

Wow. That’s a tough question. Hmmm … my grandfather Tully, because he came to Alaska before it was a state and he always told the best stories. Also, Tim Duncan, because he’s a phenomenal basketball player and I’d want him to teach me a few things … let’s go with Bono for the third one.

Very cool. I’d like to be at that meal. Next question: name one regret from your past?

{low whistle}. Well, I definitely have more than one. I’d say the biggest regret is that I let someone I loved walk away and I didn’t pursue … the relationship. If I could turn back time, I wouldn’t have given up so easily. Because that one decision snowballed. Lots of ramifications from the poor choices we make.

We all have choices we regret, don’t we? Isn’t that why grace and forgiveness are so amazing?

Absolutely. Couldn’t have said it better myself.

Blake, I’ll let you get back to your day. Thank you so much for your time. You’ve got a growing fan base out there and I think I speak for all of them when I say we look forward to seeing what the future has in store for you.

I appreciate that. I don’t know what the Lord has planned for me, but I hope it involves staying here in Emerald Cove, putting down roots, maybe coaching some high school basketball.

Take care, Blake.

Thanks, you too.

 

Unraveled is Heidi McCahan’s debut release from Winslet Press. It’s available now in both traditional and e-book format. At this very moment, the Kindle version can be downloaded here for 99 cents.

 

photo credit: shutterstock

 

 

 

Almost Wordless Wednesday: Spray Ground

We started another round of swim lessons today. He planned his itinerary over breakfast.

1. Swim lesson

2. Kiddie pool

3. Spray ground

4. Snack chart (I can’t bear to correct him. Much to his dismay, the snack “chart” wasn’t open today. I guess we’ll have to drop $3 on a ring pop some other time).

I’m always amazed by the things boys come up with to amuse themselves. He LOVES to plug the water at the spray ground. Today he called it a car wash.

Today I tried not to think about how fast he was growing up.

Ten on Tuesdays: Books I Want in My Beach Bag

I have so many books I want to read this summer. My intentions are always much bigger than reality. I can squeeze in a page or two when we’re at the pool. The boys get out of the water for ten minutes every hour and usually have a popsicle. My husband is kind enough to supervise all of that and I read until it’s time for them to jump back in. When we’re at the beach, I take a fully loaded Kindle and a stack of paperbacks, but I never read as much as I think I’m going to. We vacation with extended family, too, so there’s always lots of activity and people to visit. Since we don’t have a napper anymore, there goes a big chunk of reading time. {Panic!}

I have favorite authors that I know I can count on to produce a “beach read” every summer. It’s what I come to expect each summer. I almost always give these authors a go. Along with the anticipation of a wonderful vacation, I look forward to reading these new releases when summer arrives. I have a relative who also looks forward to these same authors, so we trade our informal reviews back and forth while we’re at the beach together. I don’t quite know when all this reading is going to happen, but without further delay, here are 10 books I want in my beach bag this summer.

1.  Goodnight June by Sarah Jio

2. The Summer Wind by Mary Alice Monroe

3. The Hurricane Sisters by Dorothea Benton Frank

4. Landline by Rainbow Rowell

5. A Long Time Gone by Karen White

6. The Stories We Tell by Patti Callahan Henry

7. A Broken Kind of Beautiful by Katie Ganshert

8. The Bridge Tender by Mary Beth Whalen

9. The One and Only by Emily Giffin

10. Catching Air by Sarah Pekkanen

 

There you have it. Happy reading, friends!

What’s on your summer beach read list this year?

As I often do, I’m linking up with The Broke and the Bookish girls today. We’re all talking about our summer beach reads, so click on over there and gather some more titles for your TBR pile.

 

A What I’m Into + What I Learned Mash-up

Every month I get so excited to read Emily Freeman’s “What I Learned” post and blog link up. Then I encountered Leigh Kramer’s “What I’m Into” monthly linkup and now my blog reading horizons are greatly expanded. From the funny to the serious, these commentaries are thought provoking and the observations about pop culture are always good for a laugh. May was a very intense yet enjoyable month for me and I can’t even believe it’s over. So I’m chiming in on this second day of June with a lighthearted mash-up of both what I learned and what I’m into {for May}. Ahem. Fashionably late, I am.

1. Going away with the husband is positively delightful. That’s the most important thing I “learned”. We escaped sans children for only the second time in our marriage. We need to improve our average. This picture doesn’t do it justice, but we had a wonderful visit to the mountains of the great North state. We didn’t see a single chicken nugget or listen to Radio Disney for forty-eight straight hours. And I remembered the many reasons why this man stole my heart. Go, us.

2. Buffer is both the greatest and most intimidating thing I’ve encountered in quite some time. Scheduling Tweets, posts, etc., around the clock, even while I’m asleep?! Get out of town. I gave it a trial run and I thought it was fabulous. But I’m so intimidated. I try to subscribe to a 3 to 1 rule: 3 posts about content that involve someone else for every 1 post I share about my own writing. It’s tricky, that balance. Grateful for Buffer.

3. Summer Song: I love to see what country radio latches onto as the unofficial summer anthem. Last year, I feel like “Pontoon” by Little Big Town nabbed that top spot for me. On those rare occasions I was alone in the car and that song came on, it was definitely worthy of a volume crank. This year I’m really liking Scotty McCreery’s “Feelin’ It”. Now I’m not shy about my affection for Scotty and I’m glad he’s trying to branch out with a ‘party song’ that appeals to his target audience. Good on ‘ya, Scotty.

4. Project Life: I’ve watched the scrapbooking gurus sing the praises of the Project Life system for a long time. This weekend I broke out the Honey Edition and got to work. Oh my. So Easy. I should have implemented this process a long time ago. At this rate, I have some hope of actually catching up.

5. Burger Shop: I’m not much of a video game person. I ignore all the requests for Farmville and Candy whatever. Apart from Words With Friends, it just doesn’t capture my attention. I did play my fair share of Pac Man growing up and I remember when that Mario arrived on the scene and we all lost our minds. Now that I’m living in a house full of boys, there’s a constant stream of conversation about the latest apps, Minecraft, blah, blah, blah. It’s enough to make my head spin. Then Burger Shop happened. I blame the four year old. He started playing it on the Kindle but asked for my ‘help’ one afternoon. So addicting. I think it brings out all my obsessive compulsive, perfectionistic tendencies. You should probably avoid it.

6. Summer reads: I’ll be back tomorrow with my official summer reading list, but I have to mention my current fave. Goodnight June by Sarah Jio. A fictional take on the famous author of the classic children’s book Goodnight Moon. Apparently Ms. Brown was vivacious and fun, but struggled with her personal relationships and died at a young age. I wasn’t going to start reading it because my friend warned me it would suck me in. But I caved this morning and read four chapters while I was riding stationary bike at the gym. Multi-tasking, right? It’s an excellent read by one of my favorite authors.

There’s still time to link up at both Leigh and Emily’s blogs. Tell us what you learned and/or what you’re into these days.

Throwback Thursday: The One With the Patch

I’m linking up with Jessica at The Mom Creative and sharing a Throwback Thursday story from the archives. Our youngest is home from preschool for the summer and no longer in need of a nap. Often I ask him to find a quiet activity in the afternoon so I can do my “writing work” as he calls it. It was more quiet than normal today so I went to investigate. He was sitting on the floor, checking out the scrapbooks. His year of choice: 2007. Now this particular child looks remarkably like our first child, so there is quite a bit of confusion about who is in the scrapbook.

Aren’t you so grateful for modern technology that dates our digital photos? {Unless your husband uses an old camera with the date permanently stuck on 2002. Then your photo organization software goes a little cray-cray and suddenly you have pictures misdated before the subjects were even alive}.

But that’s a post for another day.

Anywho. I found Eli staring at this picture of his brother, Luke. “What’s that thing on his face?”

Oh, yeah. The Patch. It’s funny how quickly you forget a season of life that, in the moment, felt like an ultra marathon with no finish line in sight. Or maybe I blocked it out. Ha! There’s a reason why God doesn’t hand us an itinerary for our lives with updates in real time. If we’d known in May of 2007 that patching for nine hours a day was only the first of many hurdles we’d jump in this eye alignment adventure, I think … well, I don’t even know what we would’ve done if we’d been able to see the end from the beginning. He’s our first child. We would do anything to make sure his eyes are straight and his vision uncompromised. Our ability to remain hopeful about a positive outcome, to trust that God knew what was going on with Luke’s eyes even when we didn’t–that’s where our faith was strengthened. The long commutes to the specialist, the sometimes-baffling treatment plan, four surgeries in six years… that’s where we were shaped and molded. Living day in and day out with an issue that just won’t go away definitely changes you. How could one tricky, non-compliant eyeball teach us so much?

I’m happy to report all is well on the eye alignment front now. We’ve graduated to aligning his teeth. Lucky us.

 

 

If you’ve got a story to go with your Throwback Thursday post, please share it and link up over here.

The Ten on Tuesdays: Great Reads With a Lakeside Setting

On Tuesdays I enjoy linking up with The Broke and the Bookish for their most delightful Top Ten Tuesdays. Most weeks, there’s a specific theme for our bookish lists. But it’s a choose your own theme kind of Tuesday. Steve and I were daydreaming about owning a lake house. I doubt it will ever happen, but it got me thinking about great books I’ve read where a lake played a role as the setting.

Ten Great Reads With a Lakeside Setting:

1. Morning Glory by Sarah Jio : A houseboat on Lake Union in Seattle. Love, unrequited love, ping ponging between the past and the present. So much to enjoy here. The Bungalow is still my favorite Sarah Jio novel, but this is an exquisite read, as well.

2. A Sweethaven Summer by Courtney Walsh : an old scrapbook, a midwestern lakeside town, secrets revealed and friendships that span generations. What’s not to like? This is the first in a 3 book series and the perfect summer read, whether at the lake, the beach or the pool.

3. The Lake of Dreams by Kim Edwards : a bit darker than the other novels on my list, this one makes the cut this week because of the unique lakeside setting in Upstate New York. A protagonist at a crossroads, grieving the death of her father and caught up in finding the truth behind a secret that could change everything. I adored her previous novel, The Memory Keeper’s Daughter and this one wasn’t quite as captivating, but I still enjoyed it.

4. Dream Lake (A Friday Harbor Novel) by Lisa Kleypas : a quick romantic read set in beautiful Friday Harbor, Washington. Lisa Kleypas is one of my faves when it comes to contemporary romance.

5. Take A Chance on Me by Susan May Warren : the first in her Christiansen Family series, this novel is set in Deep Haven, a fictional resort town on the shores of Lake Superior. The Christiansen family owns the historic Evergreen Lake resort, which plays a minor role in this inspirational contemporary romance.

6. The Shores of Moses Lake series by Lisa Wingate : a delightful series of inspirational romance novels set in fictional Moses Lake, Texas. Lisa Wingate takes us deep into the lives of her characters and there’s romance, mystery, redemption and hope weaved into every story.

7. Here To Stay by Melissa Tagg : her second novel, Melissa nails the lakeside setting in this fun romantic comedy, introducing her readers to the fabulous community of Whisper Shore.

8. Lost Lake by Sarah Addison Allen : I’ve talked about this one forever, but finally had a chance to start reading it today. I’m hooked.

9. Lakeside Sweethearts by Lisa Jordan : this soon to be released Harlequin Love Inspired novel is on my radar because Lisa and I are both involved with the My Book Therapy writing community. I really enjoyed Lisa’s previous release Lakeside Family. 

I’m stopping at 9, because several of these are part of a series … so I’ve technically mentioned more than 10 books today.

Your turn: favorite book set near a lake?

Now click over here and see the fun topics tackled by the bookish bloggers this week.

Five Minute Friday: {Close}

Photo Credit: Death to the stock photo

I’m so close. Like a marathon runner who catches that first glimpse of the finish line, I’m on the home stretch. Within 10,000 words of typing ‘The End’ on my second novel. It’s been almost a year in the making, crafting in fits and starts, between the carpool and the trips to the orthodontist and soccer games and launching the first book baby out into the world.

I could take many moons to finish this one, but these characters are starting to rail against my procrastination. They whisper so close to reality that I can almost feel them, fighting against my inactivity for resolution to their story.

I’m so close.

And yet so far.

This is the hardest part. Like anything else in life, I avoid the hard parts. Even if the taste of victory is close. But lingers just out of reach. In some ways, writing this novel makes my heart sing. I love the characters, the storyline, the romance. Then my inner critic wakes up, like a sleep-deprived preschooler, and starts proclaiming my inadequacies. Lousy sentence structure. Too many adverbs. Hasn’t this plot been done before, like, a bazillion times?

And just like that, the magic is gone. Snuffed out. I’m left with a string of unfinished sentences and that blasted blinking cursor, always taunting me.

I’m close. And with each word, inching ever closer. It will be a great day when I legitimately type ‘The End’.

Five Minute Friday is back. But we’re missing one thing: your post.

Link up here  and give us five minutes on today’s prompt: close

{Almost} Wordless Wednesday: School’s Out!

We wrapped up another year of pre-school today. I can’t believe it. He  learned and grew and changed so much. This ladder, any ladder, used to scare him to death. Now he climbs it happily and points out that soon he’ll be taller than me.

No kidding.

He knows quite a few sight words, sings all kinds of songs, has a great sense of wonder and amazement about the world. He likes to make emphatic proclamations about his faith and remind his brothers when they’ve wandered from the proverbial straight and narrow.

You can imagine how well that goes over.

Thankful for this sweet fella and looking forward to a summer filled with lots of adventures.

I’m linking up with Five Minutes for Mom for another round of Wordless Wednesday. Would you care to join us? Details here .