Heart Matters

In honor of Valentine's Day, let me tell you a little romantic tale. It's about two people in love, who on this week in February in 1978 wanted to marry. Only, they didn't. Why? Because of the infamous Blizzard of 1978. Walking down the street in New England, particularly in Danvers, Massachusetts, was challenging in of itself; attempting to fly out of Logan airport to travel internationally was impossible. Therefore, wedding plans were delayed until further notice. That delay continued all month, until FINALLY on March 2, 1978, my parents were wed overseas.

There was no elaborate wedding, no photos to mark the occasion, either. Just the presence of all their loved ones as they said their vows with the Justice of the Peace, followed by a modest party with family and friends. Such was the start of their lives together, with many adventures ahead. But they weathered everything, just the two of them, sometimes without even asking for help from their loved ones. There were many things they handled on their own, which they were determined to figure out for themselves.

Their first test of love was in making it through a temporary season of living apart while my dad came back to the States and prepared a place for my mom. Not long after she finally joined him and made it a true home, she became pregnant. Only, circumstances happened that it was all but sure she lost the baby. Saddened but resilient, they moved forward, and it was to their utter surprise that around this time (give or take a few weeks) in 1979 that they discovered that little life (me) had somehow yet remained in the womb! No one knows how or why, but the very fact that it happened that way was typical of the rest of how our lives would be. And so, for their second test of love, I very impatiently made an entrance into this world two months ahead of my due date as a very tiny preemie that required all kinds of ongoing medical attention for many months and years to come.

My parents are generally private people who love family with a fierce intensity. And anyone who knows them knows how much that is true of their parenting. Good or bad, they spent every last dime on whatever it took to keep the three of us in good health and with a roof over our heads. Sometimes it meant we moved a lot, sometimes we had no car. And sometimes we ate with close family friends on a weekly basis. But no matter what obstacle lay ahead, my parents got through each one without fail. We were together, and that was what was important. They taught me that love is worth more than all the money in the world. It reminds me, in fact, of the very Bible verse found in 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 which can be paraphrased as follows:

If I don't have love, then everything I try to say becomes mere noise.
If I possess all the knowledge of the world and have the kind of faith that moves mountains, they amount to nothing without love.
If I give away everything I own for the sake of those in need, or suffer any sort of persecution without love, I gain nothing.

Time and again, through countless tests of love, my parents have shown everyone we know how much love is WHO they are. So many people have been invited over to share in humble meals, watch a football game, or celebrate holidays with us, just because they had little or no family to do so with themselves. My parents have gone out of their way to greet strangers, they've given rides to anyone who needed one, and have shown up unannounced with food and gifts for anyone they've been prompted to go visit.

For as long as I can remember, I've always made it a point to make their anniversaries special. One year, I arranged to have them take a limo ride to a fancy dinner for their first and only ever date night out. For another, I got our gang together and held them a surprise party. Just a few years ago, I put together a slideshow of wishes from our family from across the globe, set to music they cherish. And last year when they celebrated their 40th, I collected everyone's sentiments and hung them as ornaments on a table-sized "tree."

What I want my parents to know this year is that they continue to bring the rest of us joy by celebrating yet another anniversary. We LOVE you just as much as you love us all, and we wish you the very best, now and always!❤️. And have a Happy Valentine's Day, too!😘

Christianity is Not for Everyone

“Christianity is not for everyone,” I’ve been told before, and you know what - they ARE right. And here’s why:

It’s not for people who insist on doing things their own way.
It’s not for people who don’t want to believe they were made on purpose for a purpose.
It’s not for people who aren’t willing to accept they’re not perfect and want to put their trust in Jesus to perfect them.
It’s not for people who don’t want to follow rules.
It’s not for people who can’t accept that even bad things happen so that God may be glorified.
It’s not for people who don’t believe in kingdom come.
It’s not for people who just DON’T WANT IT!

No amount of arguing, pleading, or threatening can change someone’s mind - not wholeheartedly, anyway. You can’t make someone believe what they can’t feel, or said another way: you can’t make someone have identical faith to yours. Faith is personal, dynamic, linking who you are in Christ. All you can do is share what that means to you. And not just by saying it directly. It’s often more the indirect things you do that make the difference. It’s what motivates you to do your daily activities. How you respond when someone says something you may not agree with. People will always watch for you to “slip up” so they can scoff or joke. You make an impression everywhere you go, and sometimes it’s the only chance you have!

For all those people you encounter who are resistant to what the Lord offers, remember something else, too. Heaven is for those who want to be there, who’d enjoy celebrating with the saints for all the Lord has done in our lives. To many people, however, the concept of Heaven is less than appealing FOR THAT VERY REASON! It might very well sound more like torture, making a person less interested in living to obtain Heaven and more inclined to have Heaven on earth in their lifetime instead.

The focus for Christians is always Christ, of course. Not our own agendas. Not our concept of faith we wish someone else dear to us would accept. We don’t want people to accept faith because we tell them to. We are all only human, not divine. It’s a fine line we walk to instruct vs. insist. Yes, we can be adamant about what we know, but at the end of the day, if someone doesn’t see our point, or apply it to their lives, then they’ll never change their mind.

That is why in all that we do, no matter who we are, we are called to live life with a purpose! That means connecting with God daily so His character is in us, making us think clearly, to anticipate the needs of others, and able to respond to the challenges we face. Then, when anyone asks why we do what we do, either by scoffers or even people who may look up to us, our response would be the same: I live for Christ. It’s not something we go around saying, either. That only annoys people even more! And that’s what’s wrong with the world today - people are annoyed by what they don’t agree with, and defiance and intolerance are the default of self preservation!

So, to quote a famous line of philosophy, speak softly and carry a big stick. In other words, be humble, don’t seek ulterior motives, and know when to speak up, but don’t misuse your authority. The stick is there to remind you that you are connected to the tree that gives you life, and are one branch of many! No one likes an authoritarian or an abuser. So be the answer instead of part of the problem. Be the healer instead of the one to inflict the wounds. Keep smiling, be an optimist, and when all else fails, smile and love like Jesus, for you never know who might need a word of kindness to get past a wall of hurt.

That is personally why I do what I do, why I write, and how I prioritize my time. If you don’t agree with it, that’s your right. But if you do agree, feel free to peruse my books and blogs for inspiration and let me know your thoughts!

My Genealogy

Since 1999, I have dabbled with my family's genealogy, and managed to stumble upon some huge discoveries - primarily with my dad's side. Thanks to the Internet, I found distant relatives whose great-great grandfather was brothers with my dad's great-great grandfather. It changed the way I looked at my family as I knew it, for we have several nationalities between us, thanks to Europeans who came to India and intermarried with the people there, thus creating what became known as the Anglo-Indian community. Others who have called themselves AI were not of Indian ancestry at all, but merely born in India - remaining a well-debated topic to this day. But, as I said, my family is of mixed heritage, so we are AI's by blood.

For the last decade, I've spent a great deal of time compiling my research into an electronic tree for my living relatives to have access to, and have "branched" out in finding out more information on my mom's side of the family, as well as my in-laws'. Because of this, my tree has well over 1,000 entries! I prefer using Geni as a free user. It is amazing how many people have since contacted me on a regular basis because of it! So many photos, stories, and names have been learned, as with the above photo of my mom's paternal grandma, my great-grandma Edna. I'd like to think I inherited something of her features. She was a spunky lady who as a nurse, was a midwife to the Nizam's wives! Her father was Scottish, but he died when she and her sister were quite young. Her mother, (who then remarried to a widower of several children), was of English heritage, and in fact even has some ties to the family of Windsor!

Overall, this hobby of mine has truly given me a deeper appreciation of what I've considered family to mean, and has paved the way for my love of reading to morph into a love for historical fiction, family recipes, and travel shows. It's a link to the past in a very personal way when I can read about what life was like for my ancestors, sample their favorite meals, or visit where they've been. It makes one realize just how small the world used to be, and how much time has marched on since then.

So when it comes to embracing culture, I'm all for it! Anything German, Indian, Irish, Scottish, English, Portuguese, or even Czech (from my inlaws) I'm in. It's not always easy to find information on missing links to your tree, or obtaining accurate records. Unfortunately, natural disasters, wars, and mishaps in record-keeping have remained obstacles. Plus, I'm not able to go to the places of my ancestors on a whim, so the Internet is my tool of choice. Preferably on the cheap (i.e. FREE). So sites where I continue to have luck with finding family include Ancestory, WikiTree, and the Church of the Latter Day Saints. Search engines can be extremely helpful. Sometimes entering family names, full names, or key bits of info can lead you to a wealth of information. I've learned a few tricks, such as with adding "obituary" to a name search - which has helped me find both living and deceased relatives - and naming geographical locations or schools, to bring up entries in society journals, maps, forums, newspaper articles, and yearbooks.

To me, one of the most meaningful things that sums up family and has captured my interest is the Tree of Life. Have you seen depictions of it before? They are absolutely stunning, especially these Pinterest projects and decor:

Tree of Life Jewelry Holder/Wall Art
Tree of Life Suncatcher
Tree of Life Pendant

If you have Tree of Life trinkets, pics, and other doo-dads, or are a genealogy buff like me, feel free to comment below! I'd love to hear from you!

Kicking it Into Overdrive

So this week, I’m kicking it into overdrive...and by that, I mean to say, not just in promoting the heck out of my book, but to literally promote it for Overdrive - as in the digital library circulation platform! As of today, you can request A Place to Call Home at your local library! Believe it or not, the prospect of being available to readers worldwide who may want to check out a digital copy of my work holds more appeal to me than any number of book signings or mass sales. In fact, you can say that being included in my library’s catalogue is a bucket list item for me, as I held my very first job at the branch I still frequent today! So I hold a very special place in my heart for its services, and the memories I have of going there with my family. Now, granted, my branch ITSELF may not purchase a copy, but the system as a whole, may. And if they do, that still counts in my book (pun intended!).

So if you use Overdrive to read books, maybe you can give A Place to Call Home some love??? You don’t even HAVE to request to check it out for yourself if you don’t want to read it but know someone who would. One of the options after you select the book and request it for purchase by the library is to simply get an email notification when it’s available. And if you DO want to read it, select the option to have it checked out as soon as it’s been purchased, and you’ll get an email when that happens. The more people select the book and request it (per library), the greater the chances of influencing the staff to make the purchase!

I can’t wait to see what happens, and I hope it turns out to be a win-win situation for us all!

New Beginnings for The Ellises

To those of you who were kind enough and willing to read the previous versions of A Place to Call Home amidst some typos, I give you my most humble thanks! That “first time” experience as a novelist with a publisher was very different than I had been told in advance, and so after getting through some difficult times and learning through it, I’m so very happy to have pushed out a more professional, cleaned up, and exciting version for having re-published it for myself this time around! As you'll see from the link, the old cover has been replaced - as much as I would have liked to have kept it, I had to consider the market's needs. Therefore, while the image is special to me as a memento of my late writing mentor, I'm going to use it as my logo for all print books in the series, and I plan on using it as the cover of an entirely different project later this year.

Buy A Place to Call Home in paperback
Buy A Place to Call Home for your Kindle

If you’ve liked the story and haven’t given it a review as yet, will you consider writing one? It can either be on Amazon (even if you didn’t purchase it there but have an account, you’re able to do that), or on BookBub or GoodReads. Your reviews don’t just help me know what you found good/bad, but they also help other potential readers, bookstores, and libraries make up their minds in wanting to invest in copies too! So far, I’ve only got reviews listed with my previous version of the book. Unfortunately, those reviews can’t be copied or transferred, so right now my new version could use some love!!!!

Are you an avid reader who wants to know how you can get your hands on an ebook version to review, or are you interested in group rates for a reading group? I’m creating a discussion guide for talking points, and am happy to work with you - because I value your readership, since it’s because of YOU that I can continue to have anything to market in the first place.

Are you a Christian entrepreneur who would like to be featured on my website/blog in exchange for mention of my book or a blog interview? I’m all ears.

Whatever your question or comment, please drop me a line today going to my website to contact me there.

Thanks for your support in helping make this new beginning off to a great start!!!!

- Natasha -

Resolutions for the New Year

It's that time of year when people typically talk about how they want to start the year off right, be different than before, or conquer old demons. Well, for me, it's a little different because I like to make a list of achievable goals of various sizes, broken into smaller ones so that practically everything I set out to do, I do. That being said, there are a few things I don't end up finishing. But I learned a long time ago that that doesn't matter - it's about trying, and still keeping at it, and not giving up that counts. So guess what? Any goals I didn't finish last year get added to this year's list of achievables, so that I continue where I left off. That's it. Surprisingly, it's alleviated so much pressure for me in doing it that way, and I have to say, I've done A LOT in just a few short years - since 2014, to be exact. Accordingly, I freed up my mind so that I went forth and:

*De-cluttered my house (albeit on an on-going basis)
*Cleaned out and organized our garage (anyone who knows us knows how much of a challenge that was!!!!)
*Developed new cooking skills (as well as new recipes our family enjoys)
*Made new friends and contacts
*Gained proficiency in a few foreign languages
*Discovered new authors to read
*Took steps to be healthier (another on-going process, but that's life, right???)
*Wrote and published my first novel

With that last and probably the most obvious achievement that you'd expect to read from my list, you'd be surprised to know that that was a long-term dream of mine. At the time I put it out there, I had tried several times to finish my manuscript for The Ellises and got frustrated over the years with my inability to do so. Honestly, it was a last-ditch effort to hold myself accountable ONE LAST TIME so that I could prove to myself that I could do it and finally put that story "to rest" (not really, but at least get it on paper) so that I could move on from there. I thought, well, if I could break down the rest of my goals into achievable ones, why not my book? Not knowing what my future would hold, I sat down and thought about it.

Life has a funny way of giving me ideas from all sides when I take the time to listen. First was to not stop doing everything else I was already doing - which was to keep writing articles, keep reading, keep in touch with my friends, and keep making new ones. One thing led to another, and I was writing for a couple of clients, making some money on the side to supplement my day job. Not too shabby, and I had a reason to dust off my writing bio. Then, a surprising thing happened: I was put in touch with an honest-to-goodness editor of a publishing company! When that happened, I also had a brainwave in approaching a dear friend about bouncing back ideas to keep me motivated in writing my novel. Thus, between promptings from the publisher, and my friend's help, I DID IT! And let me tell you, it was not as romantic or as easy as you would think. There was so many ups, downs, and inconveniences along the way that some days I questioned my sanity. I was exhausted, mentally tortured, and irritable. Even though the advice from my publisher was to write as long as it was "fun" for me, you'd think I was a sadist or something, because I was driven to still do the task even with all the pitfalls. Perhaps the even bigger struggle was in knowing that I would have to do it all over again to write another one. And...gulp...ANOTHER. Well...

Here's the thing. The stories we authors write are complete in of themselves, BUT they have elements that can be expanded on when you keep reading. And as much as I was "done" with my first novel, it wasn't the end of that dratted voice in my head that still had more 's'plaining to do for the next novel I'm currently writing for the series. Woe is me, right??? Not only do I have to continue the story, but I also have to make the new book its own. I am, and at least the writing is going faster than the first time, but I do have some different challenges to conquer with it. The biggest deal is that my publisher announced late 2017 that she is going to shut down at the end of this June! Which means I'd either have to find another publisher or become an indie author...so after much debate, I settled on the latter.

I'll soon be getting back my rights to The Ellises #1 A Place to Call Home, and when I do, I will be re-releasing it as a self-published title, along with book #2 Worth Hoping For. In the meantime, I've experimented with a series of journals I self-published (2 so far, with a final one I plan to release next month or so). They are:

Gratitude Journal: Tracking Your Prosperity and Abundance
And I Love You: Journaling for the Romantic at Heart

Not only do both of those journals have space for penning your thoughts, but I also included some poems I've written, as well as some little quips I've been known to say over the years, and some self-help thrown in thanks to my years of writing non-fiction articles, blogs, and study guides. Overall, I was pleased with the efficiency and speed of the self-publishing process. So that in of itself has given me encouragement for when I tackle publishing novels on that platform from here on out.

However, my other HUGE challenge is what's currently happening on Amazon with The Ellises #1 A Place to Call Home. If you've ordered a copy this fall, and perhaps for Christmas, you may have received a weird printed version, devoid of pagination, and other formatting mishaps. If so, I urge you to return your copy if you can and complain to Amazon for an exchange! I did revise the book one last time so that once and for all there are no typos in it, BUT somehow there was a technical glitch with the file and what Amazon has to do to print it on demand. It just so happened I ordered a copy during this time frame, as did people I know, which is how I came to know there was a problem occurring! It bothered me greatly, because that should have been caught by whoever prints the book and flagged for correction. Unfortunately, it was not - even after bringing it to Amazon's attention. Now, I don't know if it was because the company was back-logged with Christmas orders (non-book related) that they let it slide, or what, but I can tell you that once I was in touch with them, it wasn't a happy process. It was down-right brutal, and took FOREVER to resolve. Even as of now, the book has some strange thing with the text size being slightly smaller than I'd like, and the headings were slightly different in wording, and in bold font. So, I have to rely on my publisher to iron it out while she's dealing with trying to dissolve her company. But the version is still GOOD and certainly the Kindle version will be unaffected, so by all means, please don't get discouraged from ordering! Just know that in the coming months and possibly weeks, I will be eventually taking the reins and re-publishing it as a slightly different title, so its link on Amazon will change. Of course, when that occurs, I will make the necessary changes so that all mention of the title will point to the new link for ordering.

As if all that isn't enough, my other challenge is in not having the same level of writer's block help than I did for book #1 of The Ellises. Not only because of my schedule with my day job I now have, but also with the schedules for the others who are helping me. So, I'm in the middle of trying to get past a certain point, but at the same time, I'm encouraged by how much easier the plot is still flowing. It's all good.

One final thing I wanted to mention in this blog is that I also have started delving into my earlier writings, and have so many other projects planned for this year! God-willing, I will be debuting a YA novel series that's been on my heart forever, and hopefully will get to have some of my work available in local stores AND bookstores, since as an indie author with Amazon, wholesale distribution will be possible! 2018 is going to have all good things happening, but it's just all going to take a little bit of work and time. I hope you, dear reader, will come along for ride! And as always, if you have any questions or comments, please feel free to reach out to me on my Facebook page, Twitter, here, or by dropping me a line. In fact, I hope you do share your thoughts with me, because I'd love to hear what some of you have planned for the new year, too!!!!

Here's to a great year where resolutions are within the reach of us all!

-Natasha-

Highlights from Local Author Vendor Sunday

Yesterday I participated in an event for local authors, held at a sweet shop known as The Quirky Feather Confectionery. Up until a month ago, I'd never even heard of the place, until my best friend shared the info about the event. Immediately intrigued, I looked into it and quickly determined it to be a great way to meet other authors and gain exposure among the public, all while practicing having discussions about The Ellises series.

Preparation wasn't lengthy - most of what I needed I already had, plus I was able to borrow a few items from my family. I ran a drawing, and prizes were from some of my friends who direct sell for some fun companies like Mary & Martha and Mary Kay. My boss even donated a bottle of yummy balsamic vinegar from Artisano's Oils and Spices! The thing was, foot traffic was slow, and as it turned out, everyone who entered the drawing won something.

There were 7 other authors alongside me, all from other genres. Paranormal, fantasy, romance, historical fiction, and drama. They were friendly, with several of them first-timers like me. I was the only Historical Inspirational Romance author.

I'm so grateful to have had this experience, and for the many wonderful conversations I had with everyone. I can't wait until my next adventure!

P.S. I'm also giving out a special holiday gift of recipe cards, based on The Ellises, Book 1: A Place to Call Home. You can find them here.