Due to “technical difficulties,” some of you may have received this post twice.
My apologies!
Hello everyone!
Are you having a fantastic October? I hope you have autumn-like weather where you live—such a beautiful time of year!
THERE’S NOTHING TO FEAR BUT…
I love this season and I love Halloween. Always have. I guess it’s an excuse to dress up and decorate, one of my favorite things to do. Once when my kids were young, we created a very amateurish haunted house in our garage with the intent to get the neighborhood kids to come over and check it out. It consisted of a Dracula who sat up from a prone position in his coffin, a rocking chair that rocked by itself, a garage floor path full of “guts” (wet cooked egg noodles), and more, and all surrounded by scary music and ghoulish screams. So much fun!
Now, I’ve resigned my decorating to hanging a scary banshee with a wicked laugh on my front porch next to Mr. Bones (see picture) who by the way is very disappointed in the Atlanta Braves. Their game performance during the Phillies series last week took away any chance of repeating last year’s spectacle ending to their season.
When you were a child, were you afraid of Halloween’s make-believe monsters? I wasn’t, but the real monsters I heard about and saw on TV, frightened me. I think I was five when I saw a news bulletin about a little girl kidnapped from her own bedroom. That event terrified me for quite a long time.
As adults, we all know that some things are out of our control. However, living in fear only stifles us. There are so many things one can be afraid of at one time or another—health issues, Covid, family problems and situations, and of course, the bad guys out there. I’m sure you could add to this list. If I choose to dwell on uncontrollable things, I let worry and dread overwhelm me. It takes a mindset change and lots of effort not to do that every day. I refuse to let the scary things of life take away one moment of the life I’ve been given.
Then again, a dose of healthy fear never hurt anyone. Using one’s common sense and avoiding risky situations is a smart way to live.
Enjoy your spooky holiday and for heaven’s sake, don’t eat all your kids’ candy!
ONE OF MY CHARACTERS
Last month, I mentioned how I use a Character Personality Worksheet for each of the primary and secondary characters in my writing. We dove into the protagonist in my work-in-progress, Lies in the River. This time I’d like to give you a sneak peek into the personality of a secondary character in my current novel, RELATIVE CONSEQUENCES. Her name is Rita May McAfee. Not all this information is in the novel, but when I create a character, I invent a history often just for the sake of character formation.
Rita May has naturally curly orangey-red hair, gorgeous green eyes, freckles, and a fair complexion. She has a birthmark on the back of her shoulder shaped like a half-moon. She was born to Lynette and Davis McAfee, tenant farmers who, when Rita May was a child, traveled from Arkansas up through Illinois and then down to Bonita Springs, Florida to pick seasonal crops. In Bonita Springs, a thirteen-year-old street-wise Rita May meets Jessy Tate, our protagonist. The girls become fast friends and experience a traumatic event that will shape their adult personas forever.
By the time Rita May is in her sixties, she basks in her achievement as a prominent nutritionist and associate professor at George Mason University in Virginia. While she maintains her perfect figure, she manages to look much younger than her years courtesy of her plastic surgeon. On the hunt to find Husband No. 3, she snags Harrison Rhodes, a distinguished and charismatic African-American Congressman, who is younger than Rita May. The woman has lied all her life and so must keep secrets about her past from her husband. Now you’ve met Rita May. Please read RELATIVE CONSEQUENCES to learn more about this interesting character.
COMING SOON! AN UPCOMING HOLIDAY BOOK PROMOTION!
Beginning November 28 through December 12, 2022, RELATIVE CONSEQUENCES will be ON SALE for your holiday shopping.
The Mass Market Paperback will be available for $12.99 and the eBook will be available for $3.99 on the following:
BookShop – https://bit.ly/3IMV1Nk
Amazon – https://amzn.to/3GN4l1M
Barnes & Noble – https://bit.ly/35BMdLW
Walmart – https://bit.ly/3aMwLzm
Kobo – https://bit.ly/3IStGKl
BooksAMillion – https://bit.ly/3OifwDp
Thanks for joining me today!
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
Jody
Jody Herpin 