Starting Over ~Fingers on the Keyboard

Posted on October 31, 2013 by Linda Barrett

Hitting the Pause Button….

Every so often in a writer’s career, she’s reminded of why she’s writing in the first place. Last night was such a time for me. So I’m interrupting my regularly scheduled post today to share the email that brought me to tears and then turned my tears to sobs:

Review: HOPEFULLY EVER AFTER by Linda Barrett

“This book is non-fiction. A courageous true story…”

HOPEFULLY EVER AFTER is a book that must be read by everyone. It is a story of encouragement for all cancer patients, it a story of affirmation for families and friends of someone with cancer and it is a story of celebration for cancer survivors. But it is more than that, it is Linda’s story, a story of surviving breast cancer not once but twice in ten years. Through her ups and downs, life continued for Linda and she faced it all in a very human, “let’s do this” kind of way.

Battling cancer is a team effort that is made bearable with support. Ms. Barrett allows her readers a glimpse into her journey and all the twists and turns and bumps along the way. Her Knight in Shiny Tinfoil, aka her husband, played an indispensable part as did her team of doctors, surgeons, oncologist, radiologist, and nurses. Although fighting cancer does take a huge chunk of time and effort, Linda Barrett did not let it rule her life. She continued to teach adult literacy classes, write novels and fulfill her roles as mother and wife while preparing to move from Texas to Florida.

HOPEFULLY EVER AFTER contains information about breast cancer and especially about the BRCA1 gene mutation of which Linda Barrett is a carrier. But it also describes a life being lived to the fullest with love, persistence and encouragement. Talented Linda Barrett has always been a favorite author, I have followed her career from her first published romance novel, but HOPEFULLY EVER AFTER is her greatest love story to date. Thank you Linda, for telling your story, one that is all too familiar to a number of people, and for putting a face to this frightening disease.

Donna Zapf, Reviewer — CataNetwork/Single Titles Star Rating: 5 Stars
Not only do I want to thank Donna Zapf for her thoughtful and well-written review, but more important, I want her to know that I cried because she “got me.” She understood what my journey was really about.
Communication from the heart is what every author hopes to do with every single reader. That is why we write.

My very best to each of you. As always, thank you for stopping by. I hope to see you for the next edition of Starting Over when the pause button will be released, my regularly scheduled blogging will resume and the winners of the October contest will be announced 🙂

OCTOBER CONTEST: Two winners in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Post a comment and your name will be entered in this month’s drawing for two of the books shown below and a $25 gift card to either Amazon or BN. Your choice!

Starting Over ~ Fingers on the Keyboard…

Posted on October 28, 2013 by Linda Barrett

THAT DESERT ISLAND QUESTION…

I’m in the middle of a blog/book review tour which will last through November. This means that lovely websites run by lovely bookaholics will be posting about my two most recent books: Family Interrupted and Hopefully Ever After. [In fact, Hopefully is a featured book today at Bibliotica – just Google the name if you want to see what this is all about.]

Sometimes, these websites simply post an excerpt of the book and my bio. Sometimes, they read and review the book. Sometimes, they “interview” me by sending me questions in advance. Then they post the Q & A. This is the first time I’ve jumped into the blog tour world, so I’m learning as I’m going. Yesterday, I received about two dozen questions from which I was to select six and respond. I always love the creative questions best. Even if I’ve heard them before (and some have been around a long time), they still intrigue me especially if I’ve never given them a lot of thought. I found one such familiar question on the current list, so familiar you’ve probably all heard it in some form or another…

If you were stranded on a desert island…what one book would you bring with you and why? There are variations on this question of course. For example, with whom would you like to be stuck with on desert island? But we’re talking books. So which story would you choose?

It only took me two seconds to come up with mine. Except that my vision of the story is beyond what Victor Hugo imagined when he wrote the magnificent Les Miserables.

So on my desert island, I have a tablet or a CD player. I have seen the stage production of Les Mis several times. I taped the 10th Anniversary PBS choral rendition of it years ago and watch it once or twice a year. I bought the updated version of the same production – fancier camera work and a little editing – and I own the music on CD. Of course, I’ve seen the recent movie with Hugh Jackman.

No matter how many times I watch or listen to this story, I am NEVER bored. The many themes and conflicts in this powerful work criss-cross each other and resonate deeply: God. Faith. Hope. Idealism. Loyalty. Politics. Honor. Hypocrisy. Greed. Sacrifice. Redemption. And of course, love. Love on many levels: Parent-child. Close friendships. Unrequited love. Romantic love. And as though that weren’t enough, wrapped around these storylines is a stunning musical score. It soars, weeps, and then makes you laugh. It shadows the story, rising and reprising itself as the events unfold.

The musical retelling of Les Miserables is the story that touches my soul. Words, music and exposition of life. Of the human condition. The strengths and the frailties. If a young person were to ask me about the meaning of life, a subject young people often ponder, I would direct him or her to Les Mis and say, “start there.”

If you have never seen this play, check out the PBS listings especially during their fund raising weeks. The “big” productions are often run at those times, Les Mis among them. If you’ve seen this play, let me know and share your reaction to it. I can think of worse situations than being stuck on a desert island with Les Mis.

As always, thanks so much for stopping by. I hope to see you for the next edition of Starting Over.

Starting Over ~ Check-up Time

Posted on October 24, 2013 by Linda Barrett

A cancer survivor never forgets anything that has to do with her medical

Available October 3rd

experience. This includes discovering the lump, the gasp when receiving the actual diagnosis, the crappy treatments, and most important, the support of friends and family. When all of that is in the rear view mirror, she never, ever forgets doctor appointments.

I had my regular six month appointment this week on Tuesday. You may have noticed a FB post about it. Once made, I never change the appointment. This year, I gave up a tour and luncheon at the Moffitt Cancer Center’s main campus in north Tampa because of my appointment at their smaller facility across town. I didn’t know about the tour when I scheduled my appointment. Just too bad for me. I didn’t change the appointment. I wouldn’t change the appointment. Perhaps I’m superstitious. Ya’ think?

I was NEVER a superstitious person before I became a writer. Shortly after beginning this career, I began noticing my “rituals.” First, I close my office door. Against who? I don’t know. I’m usually alone in the house. Second, I drink coffee from the same mug every day. Written on the mug are the words: Working on a Best Seller. I hand wash it daily so it’s ready for the next morning. Thirdly, no radio, iPod, television or any aural distractions allowed. Other authors must create a playlist for each book before they start writing, but I need silence. In addition, I can’t begin a book without first thinking up a title. Even if it’s changed later on, the manuscript MUST have a title before I begin Page One. I also can’t begin a new story without arranging the research folders on the table next to me…and arrange them just so. I have to begin each day with the piles exactly the way I want them.

Once at the computer, I check email first. Then Facebook. Sometimes a game of Spider Solitaire. The truth is, I’m procrastinating the real work–writing the book! Creating something out of nothing is hard. Very hard for most writers. But here’s another truth: once you sit down and jump back into the story, the writing becomes easier. It’s the thought of starting again that’s worse than the actual doing. In any case, writers have developed a load of ways – rituals – to procrastinate the work.

Which brings me back to medical appointments. My check-up this week was fabulous! My doctor is fabulous. I gave her a copy of HOPEFULLY EVER AFTER and she immediately started browsing it and laughing out loud. “I love the chapter titles. Oh, look, the Rolling Stones.” And then, “I have a lot of breast cancer patients who’ve had the disease twice.” Just like me. I gave her bookmarks to share with others. She doesn’t know it yet, but she’s in the chapter called, The Search for Dr. Wonderful. She’s also in the Acknowledgement section.

FORCE LOGO

I mentioned FORCE – Facing Our Risk of Cancer Empowered–which is the only non-profit foundation in America that focuses solely on hereditary breast and ovarian cancer. It’s located in Tampa, and my doctor knew about it! Some of her other patients…the two-time survivors…must be aware of it, too.

It’s almost three years for me now, and my luck is holding. I’m not taking any chances whether rituals or superstitions make sense or not. I don’t walk under ladders, but I do keep original appointments.

Anyone out there have their own rituals or superstitions? Come on. Tell all. Curious minds want to know 🙂

As always, thank you for stopping by. I hope to see you for the next edition of Starting Over.

OCTOBER CONTEST: Two winners in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Post a comment and your name will be entered in this month’s drawing for two of the books shown below and a $25 gift certificate to either Amazon or BN. Your choice!