Frozen Lakes

When I started writing 'frame by frame', my wife and I were busting our backsides to finish building our new home while we were both working full time and dealing with our vegetable farm. Each day I would steal a few hours here and there, to create the characters that journey through each chapter. Many were based on pieces and parts of people in my life. Unfortunately some are no longer with me. Ree, for example, is part of my Mamaw Murphy and one other spitfire matriarch that played an important part of my life. Snapping beans on the porch and cutting a forsythia switch were real parts of my childhood. And no, I don't remember MaMaw ever using a single switch I brought back to her. She kept this ornery tomboy in line with gentle hands and helped me grow into the person I am today.

The store truly exists and is just as quirky as I've described it with trophy deer heads and mounted fish lining the walls. I go to church with Mule and trust me, that laugh shakes the walls. Wunder's questions come from my eight year old nephew, who once asked me about the concept of ninja pigs while we were working on the farm.

'frame by frame' also deals with two things I truly care about, Breast Cancer Awareness and the horrors of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder-PTSD.

I lost my MaMaw to breast cancer. That single loss cut deep and changed my life forever. I have numerous friends who have, or are currently, waging the battle against breast cancer or some other type. Bonnie's Bus is real and travels around rural area's in West Virginia offering free and low cost mammograms to women who might never have access to this vital preventative care any other way. #cancersucks

I've spent nearly thirty years of my life in the emergency services, primarily in three area's, emergency medical technician, a 911 dispatcher and in my longest role, as a firefighter. I've seen things that still wake me up in the small hours of the night, in a cold sweat. Things I can never forget. I've never been in the military, but I know many people who have. I've listened to their friends and family tell me about the horrible flashbacks they suffer and how debilitating they are. Not all the scars are visible on the outside of the body. Some wounds are deeply embedded in places they can't be seen and are much harder to recover from. 'frame by frame' is a story of love and acceptance, of finding out that home isn't always a building with four walls and a roof.

Reading has always been a love of mine and I'll chose a good book over a television any day. I've always believed that to be a good writer, you have to be a great reader. I'm thankful that my Mom read to me while I was still in the womb and continued until I could read on my own. Grandpa taught me that reading was an adventure to feed my imagination. Now, my adventure in writing has given me a creative outlet and a way to exercise my own demons. I'm thankful to everyone who encouraged me to take a chance. Maya Angelou said...“Making a decision to write was a lot like deciding to jump into a frozen lake.” I can honestly say, I absolutely agree with her. I spent a lot of years walking around the outside edge of the lake, but there is nothing like holding your nose and cannonballing right into the deep part.