Congratulations, Ruth Nixon! You are the winner of the Whispers of Warning Giveaway!
Jessie: On the coast of Maine, moving once more towards a September 1 deadline.
I’m not sure why it is but for some reason, over the past six years I have had five September 1 deadlines. For some people having the summer to finish up a book would be ideal. Teachers perhaps. Or students.
For me, it hasn’t been an easy cross to bear. We live at the beach every summer and my office is on the front porch of our small cottage. The sound of the beachgoers trundling past my window smelling of sunscreen, boogey boards tucked under their arms just leaves me feeling crotchety and envious.
It doesn’t help matters that the salty breeze floats up and teases me with the reiminder of all I am missing as I sit at my desk putting my head down and conconcentrating on the task in front of me.
Making things even more challenging is the fact that my kids are home from school all summer and my regular work schedule is thrown into disarray. It is hard to focus on work when your nearest and dearest are thinking only of play. Or of what is or is not available in the refrigerator.
In the end though, all of those summers have been memorable and satisfying. The books, and the work it took to produce them, are a large part of what made those summers something to remember. Somehow, some way, the books have all gotten written. And as difficult as it is for me to believe, in just over a month, on September, 19, the second book in my Change of Fortune mystery series, Whispers of Warning, will be released. Last year at this time I was frantically trying to finish the manusript in order to turn it into my editor by the agreed upon date.
To celebrate the journey I would love to give away a copy of Whispers of Warning to one commenter who leaves a memory of something that took a great deal of effort at the time but was worth it in the end.
Kait Carson
Charlene D’Avanzo 
With three daughters under the age of seven, I enrolled in a full time degree program in accounting. Thirty plus years ago you actually had to attend classes in person! For four years, and five days a week most semesters, I commuted 42 miles to college. That was until I got aninternship that turned into a job and I traveled in the opposite direction 22 miles a day. I was still talking classes during that time so some days I would travel northeast 22 miles then south 42 miles then northwest 42 miles. Those were long days especially during the NH winters. With a lot of support from my family, my mother, and my in-laws I graduated summa cum laude and went on to a rewarding 28 year career in business. Of course, I look back and wonder why I didn’t get my MFA instead. I think at the time it was the promise of the paycheck!!
Your question led my mind in many different directions and prompted some nice memories. I was a Girl Scout leader for seven years. For a couple of those years I had both Junior and Senior troops while, at the same time, working on my doctorate and a full time job. It was challenging as we met weekly and continued throughout the summer; however, the memories I have of the girls, my wonderful parent volunteers, and the activities we shared made it totally worth the effort.
That is an amazing cover. Good luck with the deadline!
Graduate school with a small child while working full time.
Many years ago I attended High School and also went to the Jr. College next door. I dropped out of school last quarter of my senior year. Married. kids, single, married, one more kid and a friend decided to get her high school diploma and asked if I would go too. I called my old school to get records and when they heard my story they rushed to find my very old records and the said I would be surprised. I was short one class any class to graduate.I took a Art appreciation class got my diploma and the surprise was I had enough credits to get my AA too.
Taking care of my mother before she had to go to a nursing home.
I’ve done some hard things in life, but this was difficult in ways I’d never imagined. There were days I dug deep for patience, days I cried for who she’d been, and off-season days we just sat together on a bench at Kettle Cove or Fort Williams watching the gulls and timeless waves, and not for a minute would I have had it any other way.
Thanks for asking Kate.
For me, and my husband too as our breadwinner, the hardest time of my life was when we adopted our son who had been abused in many ways and neglected by his family before being taken away and put into state custody and into a foster home at 6 months if age. He then needed surgery.and had a rough time in his foster home being only 9 months old with 7 older kids not too kind to him. It was then that we took him home to his forever family. He got very upset and would scream and strike out about seeing men with dark hair and males with beards from past memories and had his days and nights totally turned around and still does!!!. He was hyperactive and didn’t want to eat and it took many years to get things calmer especially after the birth of our daughter less than a year and a half later. Our son was diagnosed with a number of conditions over the years and we saw many medical doctors as well as many therapists over the years too along with having MRI’s CT scans etc to try to find reasons for the problems. Trying to find solutions was very hard and after our son was hit by a car at age 16 and lived in a body cast for 9 months and had four surgeries during that time, I took care if him 24 hours a day. Life became even more stressful after this accident and now almost 30 years later we are still caring for our son. We love him dearly but this kind of responsibility has been rather hard for us even more now at our advanced ages. Thank God for love holding us all together for 46 years…we are just glad that we have been able to be strong and keep being able to meet these challenges. Love of family has made this happen along with a lot of emotional strength which you find out you have when you know you have to have it! All of this prepared me even more to take my Mom to live with us after my Dad passed away as she couldn’t live alone after two strokes and some falls. We had Mom with us for three years until she passed away after a surgery that didn’t go well. I am grateful that I was able to do this and that my husband was so helpful during that time as well. I know many others have done these kinds of things too and I have compassion for each of them. ♥️
Putting myself through nursing school as a single mother to two girls under the age of five. There were some days I thought I couldn’t do it, but I was fighting for our survival. I needed to have my RN license in order to support my girls and give us a somewhat happy life.