Ben Wetta---inspiration

Why Don’t You Write?

      Sounds like the beginning of a letter from a neglected friend or lover to most people, but it was the question of the day of a writers’ blog that I enjoy. . . My first answer is that I get too busy, but then I realize that I allow myself to be so busy because I don’t take myself seriously as a writer, even after receiving a small check and seeing my words published in a book and magazine. 

      At the same time, the spirits of Uncle Ben and my parents have been nudging me to finish the work I have started. Writing over 250 pages and then letting it hide in my computer is really pretty stupid and a huge waste of time. 

     Ben has really been nagging me recently. He tells me that I need to revise the section that I wrote about his life on the ground in Italy.

             As written in the book now, he is telling about this in a letter to my dad.  I really thought that this was working until Uncle Ben told me it is lackluster--- that I need to make it rousing with pilots betting and drinking over a game of poker and Ben being cussed out for poor hygiene due to a difficult shower situation Have I piqued your interest? Well, just writing about that again, I realize that Uncle Ben (or my muse) is right! Back to revising!!! (Is everyone positive that I am totally insane---thinking that Ben is inspiring me?) Will write more about Ben later this week.

Beautiful Gifts My Excuse for Blogging Absence

We have been graced with two beautiful new grandchildren in the past six months. Both are the third child in the family, so they arrived to much love.  Since helping family and friends is fundamental in my life, lending a hand with these angels has taken precedence over writing. Because Mom still relished caressing “those precious little hands” of babies when she died two years ago, I know she would understand my postponing her story for helping with babies.

Josie Radell was born Sept. 27^th. She is a little round doll who loves to laugh and play.       Because our daughter Emily and her husband live in Hutchinson near us, I am blessed to take care of her most Thursdays.  Needless to say I accomplish very little other than playing on those days. It is amazing how much these precious creatures develop each week.

Beckett Thomas was born March 15^th to Sara and Zach who live in Kirkwood, a suburb of St. Louis. He arrived three weeks early while the family is in the midst of a house renovation and living above their garage. Life is always interesting and providing fodder for stories.

Between these two births, I have been in charge of two major events at our church: the one blogged about last week, and an elegant fund raiser, The Taste of Chocolate. Both required much time. However, they were both enjoyable and rewarding endeavors.  At the same time, I have been able to squeeze in some writing time, and have actually completed revising the book. It only needs a little more work (I hope) to begin sharing in hopes of finding an agent and publisher.  Therefore, I will write more about people in the book next week.

Honoring Military Veterans

Well Golly! The last time I wrote I said I would add to the blog every week---that was the end of October! It is now the end of March. In the meantime life and dedication to family has been more essential for me than writing the blog. I guess this is meaningful because the people who are the central component of my book held family, church, and country as most important in their lives. Family often meant anyone in need.  So I claim their influence as my defense.As I was working on my book, a muse, or the Holy Spirit reminded me that the 70th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor was approaching.  This voice kept telling me something needed to be done to honor the veterans of that war who are still living. I checked with various “powers that be” about what plans were being made at our church to honor these unsung heroes.  Guess who was given another job! After many phone calls, discussions and planning, early in November our church held a weekend of festivities to honor all armed forces veterans. In the midst of planning I discovered that the Korean War had begun in 1950 so another group of veterans were marking the 60th anniversary  of the conflict in which they served. A program and dinner on Sunday honored 16 veterans of those two wars.  Being chair for this event, took time away from writing, but it was much more important  to honor these people who had done so much for us. I was amazed to hear every honoree say that something like this had never been done before. I had just presume that surely the WW  II Vets were honored during the 50th anniversary.  The vets  eagerly shared pictures and memorabilia for a display during the dinner celebration, and all were excited to visit with friends who were amazed to learn interesting stories about some people they thought they knew. I would highly encourage you to check to see if you community has had an event to honor these vets.  . If not, perhaps you can take the lead in organizing this. The most difficult part of planning the festivities was finding out who had served. So many of these individuals have been so humble about their contributions that friends and sometimes even family members are unaware of all they have done.  Because the book I am writing takes place during WW II, it seemed more fitting that I do something concrete to honor the characters still living instead of writing.  That is the 1st reason I have been  away from writing fit to share for so long.  I will discuss the other reasons in my next post