The days leading up to the new year are always my favorite. They give me the opportunity to reflect upon the last year and to prepare for the coming one. I always enjoy the television shows about the most influential people of the year, and I always get misty-eyed when I see all the faces of those who passed away.
I didn't want this year to come to a close without weighing in on my own Most Admired List of People in 2013. Though I am not Catholic or Methodist or Jewish, there are people of those faiths on this list. Some people you have no doubt heard about, and others who you probably haven't. But all have influenced the world in a positive way in 2013.
#1 : Pope Francis
I've never been to the Vatican and will never be privy to the inner workings of the inner-most circle. But it has to be nothing short of miraculous for a Pope to lead followers in new directions, modernizing the church and banishing the old order. I admire Pope Francis for leading his people into a path of brightness. He will no doubt be recognized as one of the greatest popes who ever lived.
#2 : Nelson Mandela
It's easy to focus on those who have done us wrong in one way or another, and many of us stubbornly hold onto old prejudices and beliefs. Imagine how difficult it must have been for a man who was not treated as a man but as something less, to be imprisoned, forced into hard labor, beaten down both physically and mentally... To emerge victorious. Mandela showed the world what it is to forgive. His life was an example of a beacon that refused to be extinguished, and of a light that I hope will last far into the future.
#3 : Neelley Hicks
Neelley Hicks works for United Methodist Communications. In the past, she has worked toward eradicating malaria in third world countries and on improving the life of the poor throughout the world. She is now working on Information and Communications Technologies for Development (ICT4D), a project that can revolutionize the world as it brings the Internet, cell phone technology and computer technology to the poorest of the poor in the least advanced countries. She works tirelessly, giving of herself, her energy and her time, to improving mankind.
#4 : Michael Feinstein
Michael Feinstein is the CEO of the Jewish Community Center of Greater Washington (Washington, DC). I've known him for about twenty years and for almost ten years, he has mentored me. I know I am not the only one he mentors; he gives of his time and his energy without judgment, and he's shown patience when most folks would have been tempted to throw up their hands. Yet he never asks for anything in return. His work through JCCGW and personally is far-reaching and life-changing.
#5 : Mickey Gregory
Mickey Gregory is the Executive Director of the Lumberton Visitors Bureau in Lumberton, North Carolina. She works tirelessly to improve Lumberton and Robeson County, pulling together business leaders, community organizations and individuals from all walks of life. She seems to be everywhere at once: from early in the morning until well past evening, seven days a week, she is attending community events, making telephone calls, giving talks, answering emails - and never taking "no" as a final answer. She is undoubtedly one of the key players in taking Lumberton from a farming community into a new, exciting era as a tourist destination.
#6 : Mary Ann Masters
Dr. Mary Ann Masters is an Optometrist but she is on this list because of her vision for the Arts. She resurrected the Robeson County Arts Council, which had been dormant for several years, and has spear-headed efforts to revitalize Robeson County, North Carolina as an arts community. She has pulled together artists from theatre, the visual arts, the literary arts and more, helping to develop events that attract tourists from around the country, and profiling the vast talents of artists and artisans in this community.
There are many people, both well-known and obscure, both great and small, who help to make their communities and the world around them a brighter, better place to live. I salute each and every one of you!
Who has made a difference in your life this past year?
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Monday, December 30, 2013
Top Ten Books of 2013
Earlier this year I began working with a publisher to edit books. I have also been hosting various virtual blog tours at www.bookemnc.blogspot.com. As a result, I've had the great fortune of reading new books by authors I hadn't discovered before. I look for superb storytelling, compelling plots, and characters I love (or love to hate). And I must admit that 2013 was filled with romance and romantic suspense genres! So here's my list of the Top Ten books I read this year (with click-thrus to the pages on amazon):
1. Through the Oracle's Mist by Aedan Byrnes
2. Saving Sandra by Shane Hayes (not yet released - to be released in the spring of 2014)
3. Ghost Lover by Liza O'Connor
4. Selkie's Song by Clare Austin
5. Captured Lies by Maggie Thom
6. Spirit of the Revolution by Debbie Peterson
7. Going Back for Romeo by L.L.Muir (and the entire Muir Witch Project series)
8. Stealing Fire by Susan Sloate
9. A Love Through Time by Terri Brisbin (and the entire MacKendimen trilogy)
10. The Laird by Sandy Blair (and the Castle Blackstone series)
What were the best books you read in 2013?
1. Through the Oracle's Mist by Aedan Byrnes
2. Saving Sandra by Shane Hayes (not yet released - to be released in the spring of 2014)
3. Ghost Lover by Liza O'Connor
4. Selkie's Song by Clare Austin
5. Captured Lies by Maggie Thom
6. Spirit of the Revolution by Debbie Peterson
7. Going Back for Romeo by L.L.Muir (and the entire Muir Witch Project series)
8. Stealing Fire by Susan Sloate
9. A Love Through Time by Terri Brisbin (and the entire MacKendimen trilogy)
10. The Laird by Sandy Blair (and the Castle Blackstone series)
What were the best books you read in 2013?
Friday, December 20, 2013
Drama and Conflict
People who know me well know that I dislike drama and conflict in my own life but such is not the case in writing. Regardless of the genre, the story is propelled forward through conflict. Without it, there's no point in reading it. Even inspirational books weave stories of conflict and drama through them, if for no other reason than to show the reader how they can come out on top in similar circumstances.
With suspense, nothing can be easy. And as the story unfolds, the noose must become tighter and tighter around the protagonist's neck until the reader doesn't know if that character can survive.
For years I had a sign in my office that read:
"She was born. She died. And somewhere in between, she encountered something so frightening and so threatening that she did not know if she would survive."
It's that occurrence that I write about in my suspense/thrillers. It isn't the story of how they were born, their early years, the things that happened to them that were good or heartwarming or positive - It's the conflict, the taking of an average person and placing them into extraordinary circumstances. It's the page-turning suspense and twists and turns that pulls the main character deeper and deeper into an abyss that seems impossible to climb out of. That is the stuff of suspense.
In The Tempest Murders, Detective Ryan O'Clery is working a serial murder case. He's a police detective so the case doesn't affect him personally, right? Well... not quite. He falls quickly and passionately in love with television reporter Cathleen Reilly, who appears on the scene to cover the unfolding homicides. But nothing can be easy in suspense. Through a wicked twist of fate, the relationship between Ryan and Cathleen is in danger of falling apart - just as he discovers a link from the killer to his own family. The serial murders are personal - and Cathleen is the killer's next target.
As the noose closes around Ryan, Hurricane Irene is barreling toward the coast, capturing Cathleen, Ryan and killer Diallo Delport in its grasp - and against the formidable winds, rain, flooding and devastation, three people battle for their lives.
Purchase The Tempest Murders from amazon by following this link. It placed as one of four finalists in the 2013 USA Best Book Awards!
With suspense, nothing can be easy. And as the story unfolds, the noose must become tighter and tighter around the protagonist's neck until the reader doesn't know if that character can survive.
For years I had a sign in my office that read:
"She was born. She died. And somewhere in between, she encountered something so frightening and so threatening that she did not know if she would survive."
It's that occurrence that I write about in my suspense/thrillers. It isn't the story of how they were born, their early years, the things that happened to them that were good or heartwarming or positive - It's the conflict, the taking of an average person and placing them into extraordinary circumstances. It's the page-turning suspense and twists and turns that pulls the main character deeper and deeper into an abyss that seems impossible to climb out of. That is the stuff of suspense.
As the noose closes around Ryan, Hurricane Irene is barreling toward the coast, capturing Cathleen, Ryan and killer Diallo Delport in its grasp - and against the formidable winds, rain, flooding and devastation, three people battle for their lives.
Purchase The Tempest Murders from amazon by following this link. It placed as one of four finalists in the 2013 USA Best Book Awards!
Thursday, December 19, 2013
Finding Contentment
On Tuesday, I posted a blog about being overcommitted and frazzled, particularly at this time of year. I received this tip, which I'm passing on to those women who contacted me, admitting they, too, suffer from overcommitment and the inability to say "no".
I was told to take two sheets of paper. At the top of one sheet, write:
Things That Make Me Content
At the top of the second sheet, write:
Things That Result in Discontent
"Happiness" is a term that seems to be elusive; when I ask women if they are happy, more than not they respond with, "What is happiness?"
But ask what makes you feel content, and the reaction is quite different.
Something that makes me feel content each and every time I do it is writing. That tells me I need to continue writing.
Something that causes discontent is being manipulated into doing something I would not ordinarily engage in.
For example (because I realize that last sentence was rather vague): I received an invitation in the mail to an engagement party - only the invitation appeared to have come from ME and it was at MY home at a particular date and time. I knew absolutely nothing about it. After making a number of phone calls, trying to run down the source, I found out that a party had indeed been planned without my involvement or consent and several dozen people had received their invitations on the same day that I received mine. Not wishing to blow a bad situation completely out of control, I put on my big girl panties and hosted the party. On the outside, I might have appeared calm or accommodating. Inside, I was seething. The party cost me time and money, and I already had other plans, which I had to cancel.
Lesson: put the brakes on manipulation. Others will try it; there's no doubt about it. But it does not make me content to be manipulated so whatever conscious decision I need to make to prevent it from happening has to be on my front burner.
Let me know if you try the "Content" and "Discontent" columns, and whether it becomes the first step to organizing your life the way it should be.
And I'll continue to post tips as they come in.
I was told to take two sheets of paper. At the top of one sheet, write:
Things That Make Me Content
At the top of the second sheet, write:
Things That Result in Discontent
"Happiness" is a term that seems to be elusive; when I ask women if they are happy, more than not they respond with, "What is happiness?"
But ask what makes you feel content, and the reaction is quite different.
Something that makes me feel content each and every time I do it is writing. That tells me I need to continue writing.
Something that causes discontent is being manipulated into doing something I would not ordinarily engage in.
For example (because I realize that last sentence was rather vague): I received an invitation in the mail to an engagement party - only the invitation appeared to have come from ME and it was at MY home at a particular date and time. I knew absolutely nothing about it. After making a number of phone calls, trying to run down the source, I found out that a party had indeed been planned without my involvement or consent and several dozen people had received their invitations on the same day that I received mine. Not wishing to blow a bad situation completely out of control, I put on my big girl panties and hosted the party. On the outside, I might have appeared calm or accommodating. Inside, I was seething. The party cost me time and money, and I already had other plans, which I had to cancel.
Lesson: put the brakes on manipulation. Others will try it; there's no doubt about it. But it does not make me content to be manipulated so whatever conscious decision I need to make to prevent it from happening has to be on my front burner.
Let me know if you try the "Content" and "Discontent" columns, and whether it becomes the first step to organizing your life the way it should be.
And I'll continue to post tips as they come in.
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
Tis the Season... To Be Frazzled
There are just two weeks left in 2013. New Year's Day is always my favorite holiday. I spend the time leading up to the new year contemplating what my goals and resolutions were for the current year and establishing new goals and resolutions - and plans for achieving them.
This year as I look back on 2013, I realize what everyone else has been seeing all along: I am frazzled and completely overcommitted.
I am a people pleaser, which means it is very difficult for me to say "no". I have become an expert at staying so busy that I have no time for myself. I give away my time to friends in need, to authors in need, to volunteer groups, to animals, to people in all walks of life who lean on me on a daily basis.
I had an ah-ha moment this past weekend when I had a rare opportunity to read a magazine - and read an interview with Maria Shriver, in which she mentioned the number of women she's met who say they don't have time to wash their hair. For the first time that I can remember, I realized I am not the only one who is in this boat.
Women today are asked to do more than ever before. I know women who work long hours at high-powered and high-stressed jobs and who routinely go through fast food drive-throughs on their way home from work, because their family is waiting for their dinners - one woman in particular who has a stay-at-home husband, and she's still responsible for the cooking (or fast food pickups), the cleaning, the child-rearing, AND the bread-winning.
I know women sandwiched in between raising their own children and caring for their elderly parents who have moved in with them. I know women who must serve as nurses, spouses, mothers, caregivers, cooks, housekeepers, chauffeurs, secretaries... in addition to working full-time jobs.
And I know other women who work two jobs in an attempt to make ends meet, which is a constant challenge of juggling bills and "robbing Peter to pay Paul". One woman is working six days a week in a full-time job and has had to take on a second job on her only day off.
I know other women in their 50's, 60's and 70's who thought at that stage in their lives they would be taking it easier, coasting into or enjoying retirement, and instead are learning new careers, reinventing themselves, and stretching themselves to the breaking point.
So I know when I come up for air and take a rare look around me that I am not the only one who has ended up on a treadmill that goes ever faster. The question is how to rearrange my life so that I am not the last in a list - a list in which I rarely get toward the bottom - but near the top, or as many of my friends are striving for - at the top.
I have tried saying "no" and people are insistent. If I don't personally step in, this dog will die. Or that person will encounter catastrophy. Or someone else will be unhappy. Or angry. Or upset. Never mind that it means I won't get lunch that day, or that I won't have time to go to the bathroom, or I won't have the opportunity to rest for five minutes, or the exercise routine I just decided yesterday had to happen - won't happen for another year. Or two years. Or three. Or maybe never.
It has reached the point where everything I do, I must give up something else to do it. And that "something else" is always something for myself.
Yet I know I am not the only one. By far.
Are you finding yourself in this same boat? If so, I'd like to hear from you. I'd like to know if you managed to get off the treadmill, how you did it. If you're struggling, what you're contemplating doing. Where you find support.
In the coming weeks (if anyone is interested) I'll post what I'm doing to get balance in my life. And in six months or a year, we'll see if I am successful. It's my New Year's Resolution, after all. And they never fail... do they?
This year as I look back on 2013, I realize what everyone else has been seeing all along: I am frazzled and completely overcommitted.
I am a people pleaser, which means it is very difficult for me to say "no". I have become an expert at staying so busy that I have no time for myself. I give away my time to friends in need, to authors in need, to volunteer groups, to animals, to people in all walks of life who lean on me on a daily basis.
I had an ah-ha moment this past weekend when I had a rare opportunity to read a magazine - and read an interview with Maria Shriver, in which she mentioned the number of women she's met who say they don't have time to wash their hair. For the first time that I can remember, I realized I am not the only one who is in this boat.
Women today are asked to do more than ever before. I know women who work long hours at high-powered and high-stressed jobs and who routinely go through fast food drive-throughs on their way home from work, because their family is waiting for their dinners - one woman in particular who has a stay-at-home husband, and she's still responsible for the cooking (or fast food pickups), the cleaning, the child-rearing, AND the bread-winning.
I know women sandwiched in between raising their own children and caring for their elderly parents who have moved in with them. I know women who must serve as nurses, spouses, mothers, caregivers, cooks, housekeepers, chauffeurs, secretaries... in addition to working full-time jobs.
And I know other women who work two jobs in an attempt to make ends meet, which is a constant challenge of juggling bills and "robbing Peter to pay Paul". One woman is working six days a week in a full-time job and has had to take on a second job on her only day off.
I know other women in their 50's, 60's and 70's who thought at that stage in their lives they would be taking it easier, coasting into or enjoying retirement, and instead are learning new careers, reinventing themselves, and stretching themselves to the breaking point.
So I know when I come up for air and take a rare look around me that I am not the only one who has ended up on a treadmill that goes ever faster. The question is how to rearrange my life so that I am not the last in a list - a list in which I rarely get toward the bottom - but near the top, or as many of my friends are striving for - at the top.
I have tried saying "no" and people are insistent. If I don't personally step in, this dog will die. Or that person will encounter catastrophy. Or someone else will be unhappy. Or angry. Or upset. Never mind that it means I won't get lunch that day, or that I won't have time to go to the bathroom, or I won't have the opportunity to rest for five minutes, or the exercise routine I just decided yesterday had to happen - won't happen for another year. Or two years. Or three. Or maybe never.
It has reached the point where everything I do, I must give up something else to do it. And that "something else" is always something for myself.
Yet I know I am not the only one. By far.
Are you finding yourself in this same boat? If so, I'd like to hear from you. I'd like to know if you managed to get off the treadmill, how you did it. If you're struggling, what you're contemplating doing. Where you find support.
In the coming weeks (if anyone is interested) I'll post what I'm doing to get balance in my life. And in six months or a year, we'll see if I am successful. It's my New Year's Resolution, after all. And they never fail... do they?
Monday, December 16, 2013
Through the Oracle's Mist
A lifelong lover of words and writing, he claims a diverse reading appetite and his writing reflects the myriad influences. A self-proclaimed 'reader's writer', he looks for the emotional and the sensory in word combinations, not just the visceral comprehension of phrases in the stories he crafts and his love of all things literary shines through.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Cyrenna thought she died the day she watched Tynan and his brothers jump through the banishment portal in an act of solidarity with Rigor. Little did she know, it would be the first of many deaths she would experience in her quest to claim his heart. She would surrender not only her immortal soul, but a mortal one repeatedly. Through a deal with the great Oracle, she has multiple mortal lifetimes to change the direction of her future and have a chance with Tynan.
Her journey spans the ages from the GenPei War in Japan and the Silk Road west, to Cromwell, the Three Kingdoms and modern times, bringing her one step closer to forever until she makes a misstep. Then, the burden falls to Tynan. The only thing that is absolute is her fervent hope that he will come, but there’s one big problem.
Through it all, he doesn’t so much as know her name.
AN EXCERPT
How many times can a man be broken? How many times can a man die and never have it be final? How many lost loves or lost chances at love will it take to undo any chance of ever becoming whole? In the purest sense…only one. Nothing I could imagine or ever endure would compete for the absolute punishing agony of her folding me into her arms to comfort me and hearing her whisper…
“I know.”
Two words. Who knew that two words would be all that it would take to loose the storm? Hardly two words really, only five letters. Five little letters with extreme power. Five little letters to rob Zeus of his most lethal bolt, focus the strike, and rend me in pieces. The surge had pushed past my pride and leaves me sobbing for the loss I had yet to experience. A loss I knew would take my breath, but I cannot die. How cruelly ironic that death has become my sole wish now?
My internal emotional upheaval is a flash storm out of place beneath the cloudless sky. The cacophony of my noisy tears and transition scatter the small creatures for miles. I have no control and shift without grace. Rage and pain coalesce to an explosion, angst roaring as the internal battle is waged and the war lost before the call to arms is done sounding. My thunderous eruption screaming against the fading light, with a rising silvery moon and shimmering stars to bear witness to my destruction. The metamorphosis from man to beast is abrupt. I shift, not with the flexing of bone and the stretching of skin, but with the crack of a gun blast and a single pull to form. It is razor wire across my senses and I am bloodied raw without a trace to be found.
A testament to her, she stands still. Not frozen, but placated to let me render the fury that must come out as I cannot hold it in. The beast from within is enormous, but not big enough to hold so much. I warned her. I told her. I had made her aware almost cruelly that first time I let my inner wild out that this day might come…could come…would come and that it would be ushered in on an unseen tide that would sweep our perfect world away. I had wanted her to be afraid. She wasn’t. She had believed, but had also naively assured me that the day would be long into the future and we would enjoy the time until then.
She had been wrong. There was nothing to say now. ‘I’m sorry’ would be a hollow sentiment and ‘I was wrong’ would do nothing as the last thing I would want to hear and know about this was that I had been right.
LEAVE A COMMENT - AND WIN A PRIZE
Aedan will be awarding one of two journals (with the winners' choice of covers) to two randomly drawn commenters and an Erian Crest necklace as a grand prize to one randomly drawn commenter during the tour.Follow the tour and comment; the more you comment, the better your chances of winning. The tour dates can be found here:
Twitter: @AedanByrnes
Friday, December 13, 2013
Musings on the Reviewer's Responsibilities
Well, the review was based on the reviewer reading only the first five pages of a 265-page book.
That's right. Five pages.
Yet that's precisely what this reviewer did with The Tempest Murders. Though she praised the first chapter, she admitted in the review that she had no clue why the second chapter began in North Carolina nearly two hundred years later, or what it had to do with the scene from 1839 Ireland. She said the only physical description she had of Rian Kelly was that he had black hair - but she didn't read beyond the fifth page to see whether the character was fleshed out as the story progressed (which it was; I very rarely describe a character in his or her entirety all at once, which slows down the action). If she'd read the synopsis or the back cover of the book, she would have known more than what she admitted knowing in her review.
While I appreciate any and all reviews, it made me wonder: as a reader, what do you expect from a reviewer? Do you read the reviews anticipating or assuming that the reviewer read the entire book? That they've read enough to know if the book gets better, gets worse, wraps things up or falls apart at the seams? Or at least enough to know the plot?
How much of your own reading is based on the reviews of others? Or do you ignore reviews altogether and go strictly by the book's description? Or the author's reputation?
To read more about The Tempest Murders including the plot and reviews, visit this page. The book placed as one of four finalists in the 2013 USA Best Book Awards!
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