Patti Diener – Page 5 – Patti Diener / Author

Two Protagonists, Double the Fun

Hey Gang! Editing is hard work.

It’s only beginning with this rewrite, but my wheels are spinning, the fingers are flying across the chiclet style keys of my laptop, and I am feeling my character Sarah Mckinney, becoming more a part of this story. Her voice will be heard and instead of this novel only coming from the point of view of Gabriel Hart, you will truly understand Sarah now as well. This will be both of their stories.

I’m toying with the idea of giving you readers a preview of what’s to come from Sarah. Probably not the next post, but the following, I will give you a taste of what goes on inside of Sarah McKinney’s head.

Coming to the decision of writing both perspectives was not as difficult as I thought it would be. Actually, since I’ve written these people for the last two years and feel like I know them intimately, (writers will understand), I realized that it was the only logical way to go. I only wish I did it sooner.

Deadlines are helpful.

I’m giving myself a deadline for having the entire book revised and ready for second editing by mid May. That gives me close to 6 weeks to get it all done. I think it’s doable. If I set my sites on this being the case, I hope to send off my manuscript in June to the agent that was interested at the San Francisco Writers Conference. Just using the Law of Attraction, and Power of Intention. You simply gotta believe.

That’s it for this week folks. I will keep you all up to speed as I’ve promised and in the very near future, some of Sarah’s pages will be on pattidienerwrites.com for you to see first hand.

And as Stephen King would say, “When you write a book, you spend day after day scanning and identifying the trees. When you are done, you have to step back and look at the forest.”

Deadline Ahead photo from Google Images

Romance or Woman’s Fiction? That is the question.

I set out to write romance

and yet at the end of the day, I’m struggling with what genre my book actually is. What difference does it make, you might be asking. Well a really big one. It all boils down to dollars my friends. Agents have to know exactly what they are getting so they can sell your book and make money, honey.

Here’s the thing, if you don’t stick to a particular genre, then the editor cannot edit the book for that market. If you submit the manuscript to an agent that only likes Romance novels but avoids Woman’s Fiction and your book is just that, then you are going to be rejected. There are very strict guidelines in publishing and I am learning more and more about this. So basically, I am teetering on the brink of going outside of my genre and I have to choose.

After beating my head against a wall and several cups of coffee later, I looked up and it was after 12:00 noon. I’d been at it for hours and I realized I should walk away and gain some perspective.

Spring has sprung and I was happy to be outside. It’s my favorite time of year. The awakening of life and new hope. YEAH! The things we have been putting on hold because of the winter are now going to slowly get started. I am excited to work on our second faze of rebuilding our destroyed backyard from what the Clayton Fire did. Being outdoors and feeling the sun on your face is healing.

My husband worked whenever possible this winter at removing the most dangerous tree debris and hauling out the large logs. Now he is starting to find our old irrigation that was partially damaged from the dozer going through to create a fire break. He has made great progress and hopes to get our lawn in the backyard replanted soon. It’s only ONE of the many things to do out there.

The pictures aren’t the best because my camera is in the shop and I had to use my phone, but the patio was poured last season and I’m loving it! A pergola will be added and our youngest wants an outdoor bar. As you can see, we still have more tree work to do and fencing to repair. It’s a work in progress but coming along. The resilience of Mother Nature is amazing though, and there is much green coming back and our seasonal creek below is still a blessing. Walking around out there made me breath deeply and I smiled, feeling the sun touch my skin.

It made my writing anxiety drift away being outdoors. The temperatures outside today were in the mid 70’s and my tulips and daffodils are coming up. Everywhere I looked it was green in my little valley.

Something special that our tree guy Kyle, did is in the picture below.

This tree died and had to come down.

It was below my brother-in-law and his wife’s house right down our street, and was huge! The oak tree was magnificent and quite old and we all loved it. Sadly, the fire killed it but when Kyle took it down, he noticed this lightning like split within the tree. He cut a large D for Diener, in the remains and told us it was our new symbol. The Lightning D Ranch. It warms my heart each time I see it.

So back to the grind. I am going to make more notes tonight and tackle the book some more tomorrow with some fresh ideas on how to improve it. My editor Jen, is a wonderfully knowledgeable gal and giving me sound advice but in the end, I have to make some tough decisions and stick to them. This book has been my heart for more than the past two years and I want to make it shine.

Happy Easter friends. May you all enjoy this springtime season.

Title Change/ Editing Process

So after all the voting

on the title, I have to say, my first thought won out. I know, I know, I let you all weigh in on the title and for the longest time I left it as, OUT Of The Ashes. The thing is, I had this gut feeling it wasn’t right. And no, I won’t be using this as the book cover but it was fun to create anyway.

Before I went to the SFWC, (San Francisco Writers Conference), back in February, I researched the title and found there were multiple titles of OUT OF THE ASHES, due to the whole rising of the Phoenix idea. There have been both books and movies using this title over the past couple of decades. If I too used this then my book wouldn’t stand out at all. That’s why when I pitched the book to agents and others, I used my original title of AFTER THE FIRE.

Since you must know by now that the pitch went well and I found both the editor I wanted and agent as well, I am now in the stressful but exciting period of waiting to hear back from my editor!

The worst part of letting someone read your book is wondering if you are any good! Will someone who doesn’t know you well, hasn’t loved you your whole life, think your work of 2 years is worth a damn? It’s what Brene Brown would call, “Daring Greatly!” I put myself out there and hoped for the best. I entered the great arena and most vulnerably handed over my precious work to be critiqued. I’m either brave or out of my freakin’ mind.

Either way, I have never felt more alive! I have been writing more this past month than I have in quite awhile. I not only have been coming up with alternate scene ideas for my book for the rewrite, but I also have started to create a new blog, (to be revealed very soon), and have been doing researching for my new book. It’s like I can’t stop!

So I should hear something this weekend from my editor Jen, who I think is a pretty amazing person. She has been so supportive with her ideas, and very patient with all my questions, answering each one in detail. I must admit, I’m pretty anxious.

I have been terrible in blogging these past months in a timely fashion, which I understand is NOT conducive to a successful following, but I am going to change that now that the book’s completion is near. I DID finish the first draft in full and edited it to the best of my ability before I submitted it to the editor. However, that’s what I’m paying her for. She’s making suggestions for it to be better.

The process of getting it to an agent follows once the manuscript is spotless. I will attempt to post once a week from this point forward. I have a goal to submit it to the agent by June. Fingers crossed!

I am hoping this finds each and every one of you happily anticipating this Spring of 2018. It’s starting out quite blustery, but I feel it’s going to be a marvelous year. Beauty is all around us and I am constantly reminded of how blessed I am to live in California when I am surrounded with it’s splendor.

Count your blessings and thanks for reading.

Patti Diener’s Book /Making Progress

The SFWC2018

(which translates to; San Francisco Writers Conference 2018), was so worth my time and money! The trip was a huge success in education, making new friends, and connections for both my heart and my book. What a whirlwind of events!

Thursday, upon checking into the Intercontinental Mark Hopkins Hotel, I felt as if I’d come back to see an old friend. The first experience I had there set me on my course for finding the people I needed to guide me on my author journey. This year I knew better of what to expect and how better to navigate the conference, thus making better use of my time. I was so excited!

If you’ve ever been to any sort of multi-day conference, you know when you arrive you are full of excitement and energy. By day two, you are settling into the conference mode and mingling, class hopping, and filling your brain with as much information as possible. Upon day three, classes are harder to concentrate on and the cocktail hour comes earlier and lasts longer than the previous two days! My husband says, “the mind can only absorb what the ass can endure,” and I am here to tell you, that is very true! All that being said, I was still very happy to be there by morning 4 and Agent Speed Dating!

Grace Cathedral

is an inspiring and beautiful church in San Francisco, just a block from the hotel, and I spent the first two days looking at it through my hotel window. By Saturday morning, I was feeling a little overwhelmed and thought maybe the fresh air would do me good. I took a walk. The unusually warm breeze for February blew through my hair as I walked up California Street to a small park just across from the church and the Huntington Hotel. People were running in shorts and t-shirts and I thought, wow! How blessed am I to be in the city on such a gorgeous day!

After walking around I pulled the door open to the majestic Grace Cathedral and entered the silent basilica. I sat in the back pew just taking in the feeling of peace and gratitude. I realized I was there for a purpose that hadn’t hit me until I sat down. I needed guidance. I hadn’t stepped into a church for awhile, and I’m not even Catholic, but God and I go way back so I figured he wouldn’t mind much of my denomination. I prayed.

Whatever my purpose was at this conference, I knew I had my plans, but thought if God could just guide me to the people I needed to have in my life it would be better than me trying to figure this out on my own. When I left the church, I felt a sense of relaxation about the entire weekend. Whatever would be, would be. I was just happy for the experience.

I went to the SFWC2018 with a purpose. I told myself, I was going to find an agent that I could work with to help me publish my book! What I left with was far more important. I met and connected with new writers from around the world, found old friends, and serendipitously met an editor I am going to work with, just on an elevator ride from the lobby to the 10th floor! Last minute, I also decided to pay extra to meet for a 15 minute conversation with and agent of my choice. She and I had good chemistry, and she gave me sound advice. She also was NOT the person I believed I would try to connect with originally. She ended up being the person I was meant to connect with.

By Sunday morning, when I went in to pitch my book at the Agent Speed Dating, I was ready! When I found this same agent again, she smiled at me, said, “You don’t have to pitch me, I am already interested in the book,” and she gave me her card! Provided that the editor and I polish my manuscript, she said I could just send her the whole thing. I’d say that is a pretty darn good start!

Driving home

I felt accomplished because I did what I set out to do and more! My heart was full from the new friends I met and old ones I reconnected with, and moving forward with my book I also realized the original title I had for it, After the Fire, is what I’m purposing to use. It sat better than the title, Out of the Ashes, with every person I spoke to at conference. First gut instincts are usually best.

I will keep you all posted on my progress and know we are one step closer to getting this baby into book form! I hope to have a copy into each of your hands soon. It’s a process. It’s not something you can rush if you want it done right, but I am feeling like the train is still moving forward.

Love to one and all!

Book Blogging From #SFWC18

Sunset in San Francisco

is remarkable when there are clear skies, warm temperatures, and you are drinking a glass of wine at the Top of The Mark! This is what they are all out there talking about when they say, “be in the moment.”

I am a nearly 50 year old woman, with an empty nest, a husband at home I love, and a dream I’ve had since I was in the 5th grade. I am a writer. With or without an agent, with or without a published book, I am still a writer, and I still dream to live a comfortable life as a writer….and live happily ever after.

From the time I read my first novel without my teacher selecting it for me, I knew I was going to write. I can thank V.C. Andrews for Flowers in the Attic, in planting that seed. I chose that book from a shelf of many when my dad said to go select a book and read it in his office until it was time to go home, when I was 11 years old.

I had to pass time at my father’s deli and he had a paperback book shelf. I went and grabbed the book for it’s cover. As a librarian, I know book covers sell books! Maybe I should have gone into graphic or book jacket design, but anyway it sold me at 11 years old. I only looked inside the book because the cover was amazingly haunting and engaging! The story proved to be just the same.

Anyway, here I am more than 3 decades later, and I still have the same dream. I am in San Francisco, California, gearing up to pitch agents on Sunday about the book I’ve written as a genre/ romance fiction about the Valley Fire in Lake County, California.

Funny note: Tonight I was at the networking party and milling around. I bought a glass of wine, bought a few books, (after all, it’s not hording if it’s books), and basically killing time until I collapsed in my room for the night. When who do I see as I’m about to leave, but the agent I pitched my book to a year ago at the Redwood Writers Conference, Laurie McLean! She loved the idea of my book then but I only had a 1/2 written manuscript and she only looks at completed manuscripts so I had to wait until it was done. Well, I decided to talk to her briefly. Not an easy task! She is the director of this conference and very much in demand. So I see she acknowledges me, laughs and shakes my hand, almost like she remembers me but I’m sure she couldn’t remember why. Then another presenter from the conference approaches her and it’s all over. My brief connection is lost.

Not overly dismayed, I politely retreated from the conversation and made my trek upstairs a flight to the elevator that would take me 8 more floors to my room. I was tired anyway. But who do you suppose was running to the elevator to join us but Laurie McLean! This time I decided it was a moot point to so late in the evening discuss work. We simply joked at how damn tired we all were. She left at the 5th floor and I smiled on the way to the 8th, realizing it was very early in this weekend to obsess about missed opportunities. I will have plenty before I leave. It’s only Thursday night.

SFWC 2018

has started out with a bang. I reconnected with a friend from two years back. She is the one lady that talked me off a cliff last time I was at the SFWC pitching agents and nearly hyperventilated! Good times! I also met new friends from New Zealand, and Morgan Hill, California. Writers Conferences are a great place to collaborate with fellow writers, and I am so grateful to find my people. The next three days should prove to be very interesting!

Stay tuned to information on how this all pans out. As many of you already following know, I’m here to try and find an agent that fits well with me and my book.

Wishing you all love, light, and joy! From San Francisco,….. sleep well y’all!

*All pictures taken by me, Patti Diener.

2017 Blogging, Christmas, and a Literary Agent!

Reflecting is normal

as the year comes to a close. I’m sure we all do it. These past few years I’ve felt like life has accelerated to the rate of hurry up and do what you really want to do, speed. I worry about running out of time.

I started this blog to build a better book. It was intended to get the word out that I was writing a book about the Valley Fire, and to include my friends and community in this journey I’ve been on since the fire happened in Lake County. As we all know, California has since been on a rollercoaster journey of tragedy, loss, rebuilding, restoring, and finding faith and strength where we’ve least expected. At times writing allowed me to vent, in other times though, I lost my ability to express myself entirely. Those of you whom it has hit hardest will understand what I mean.

But the remainder of the country isn’t exempt from their own tragedies. With hurricanes, tornados, shootings, and other acts of terrorism, we live in an uncertain world! It’s come to the point I don’t even want to turn on the news. So how do we move forward without living in fear? What can we do to make things better?

HOPE!

There still is hope! Each day I wake I feel hope for a good day. I believe it starts with me so I try my best to be in a good mood and make the day good for myself, my family, my students, and friends. The ripple effect is real!

This holiday season has continued to bring hope. I decorated less and spent more time helping where I could. I truly enjoyed my friends and family more this year than I have in years past and made time for people I hadn’t in a long while.

In Murphys, California

we have friends we rarely see. They are a good solid 4 hours away and have lives just as busy as ours. We all attended the funeral of a mutual friend earlier this year and asked ourselves WHY we didn’t make more time to see one another. It was agreed that funerals were not going to be the only time we saw each other anymore, so on the first weekend in December, 7 of us drove to their house in Murphys, California, and spent the best time going to the town’s annual Christmas event. The entire town was open for shopping until late in the night, with fire pits lined down the main street of town, and lights on every building. A festive parade started it off, then hot chocolate, mulled cider, food, and wine were around every corner. Children in costumes ran by us as we stopped to talk with strangers around the warming fire, and my husband fell in love with a hound puppy. Christmas magic was all around and we ended the night visiting around a fire back at our friend’s home, reminiscing about old times.

This was the trend for our season, visiting with friends, doing things we never made time for in a long while, and just slowing life down to enjoy the moment. Each weekend was spent with friends and family.

I tried to think of what I’d write about this Christmas. I mean, really what hasn’t already been written about the holidays? The best I came up with was I found that even as I’m nearing 50 years old, (probably why I feel like I’m running out of time), I still feel curious about the world. I don’t feel this milestone birthday will make me depressed or anything, it’s just I am realizing we don’t live forever, and it’s kind of nice that I can still say my curiosity for life is as strong now as when I was a kid!

Moving into the New Year of 2018, I have so much I’m looking forward to! For starters, I’m going with my husband to visit our first born in the Portland, Oregon area soon and I can’t wait to see her. Children have a way of growing up and having their own lives whether you like it or not. But the excitement of a new city will be fun and I look forward to her playing tour guide to her parents. She only just moved there after Thanksgiving, but hearing the joy in her voice each day we talk makes me happy for her to begin her new life.

The time we spend

with our family is always precious. Soon I will have an empty nest, (youngest moving this month), and instead of being sad, I’m finding hope for a future of new experiences. Staying curious!

Since the book is basically done, I am in the dreaded editing phase and it’s my least favorite part of writing! The romance novel taking place in the aftermath of the Valley Fire is finally going to be pitched this February at the San Francisco Writers Conference. Here’s a sample pitch………needs work but here goes:

After losing his fiancé in a terrible car accident, an embittered excavating contractor is sent to a rural town to help clean up after the Valley Fire and not only falls in love with the community, but with a local girl as well.

Synopsis: When Gabriel Hart came to Lake County, California, after the Valley Fire burned over 1,000 homes, all he had in mind was to help rebuild the community, not fall in love. But when his job put him up in a local hotel, he saw the most enchanting woman with green eyes!

Helping the fire victims to clean up their home sites on Cobb Mountain, Gabriel happened upon this woman once again. Sarah McKinney was helping her friend sift through the rubble of her burned home site just yards away from where Gabriel was working. Could it be fate?

With both Gabriel mourning the loss of his fiancé, and Sarah’s untimely loss of her young husband, the two find an unexpected bond that is undeniable and ignites a passion like no other! But will haunting pasts, long distances, and a secret Sarah keeps stand between their true love?

In this story of catastrophic loss, community support, and renewed hope, two souls try to mend their broken hearts while assisting those who lost virtually everything in the fire.

So wish me luck my friends and followers! I hope all my editing between now and then will polish the book so it’s ready to submit.

Many blessings to you all in the New Year of 2018! Stay hopeful, stay curious, spend much time with loved ones, and slow your life down to take care of yourself! Remember to breathe, and always drink the good wine, and read a good book!

* Picture of typewriter & town of Murphys from Google Images. Patti & daughter Fallon taken by me!

Fire! We’ve Had Enough!

Fire! I hate it!

It’s become all too familiar now, the procedure for preparing to evacuate. The sickening feeling of not knowing where to go or when you will feel safe enough to sleep! The worry about your loved ones that are away from you, especially those fighting on the fires! Like so many others, I’ve had it!

With so many fires burning at the same time, it’s difficult to relax even if you are safe because you constantly are waiting for the other shoe to drop! With resources striped to bare bones and limited access to outside help, anxieties are high! The fire personnel are exhausted, and with so many fires burning, all of Californians are sharing these finite amount of resources! For some, it’s simply not enough.

I have to give it to the fire personnel! I truly don’t know how they do what they do without sleep! They stay up and live on adrenaline and caffeine for days, all the while having to make split second decisions, and perform physically demanding jobs! They are really an amazing breed!

The Sulphur Fire, here in Lake County, has eaten up approximately 150 homes, according to a recent report, but the true count won’t be made until the fire is completely contained. This being the third fire season in a row that our small county has had catastrophic fires, it has truly taken a hideous toll on our community and the people in it. We are all trying to be strong, but enough is enough!

These past few days I have tried practicing gratitude more than ever! Unlike the last two big fires, I didn’t have to evacuate this time! I am prepared to but don’t have to, and that is a blessing. I also am grateful my kids are here because phone and internet communications have been down, (until today), and since I’m such a worrier, it is a huge relief to me. Being able to listen for more than 48 hours to the scanner has also helped. Since I haven’t been able to call out or get any TV news, I at least have been able to monitor my husband’s whereabouts, hearing his voice periodically, and getting reports on conditions over the air.

All this devastation has brought on some major philosophical conversations in my household. Just what is happening in our world? Where are we (as people), headed? What does the future hold? Very deep conversations. It’s enough to make your head spin that’s for sure. But no matter what comes, we will do it together. Me, my family, my neighbors, friends, and community, will all do it together.

I am including this short Youtube video clip from the first morning after the Sulphur Fire, that was filmed from the lake. Local guys showing perspective from the water.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8FSXV04LwA

I pray tonight for cooperative weather conditions, for strength and guidance for our emergency personnel, and for shelter and peace to those who have been displaced and possibly lost it all! It is a difficult time with much uncertainty. In our neighboring counties that are struggling terribly, I pray relief comes soon for you all as well. Californians are all in need of help and prayers.

Photos 1. by Kurt Jensen 2. by Bob Minena 3. by Kurt Jensen and video clip Youtube

Writing My Novel

Writing this book…….

I have realized one very important detail I overlooked. It was something I kind of took for granted and did a lot of assuming. Now I realize that while writing my book, there is one very important interview I never did. It was my own husband’s!

Charlie is an amazing man! I don’t think I’ve ever really wrote much about my husband because, well it’s my blog, and quite frankly, he is not especially interested in technology or social media at all! But I know when I blogged about the Clayton Fire, I wrote quite a lot about what he’d told me to do and how I had him in my head when I was my strongest. Still, I never really did an official interview about the Valley Fire with him for my book. I simply was going off of the things we went through together, and the things he told me during the days he was away on the fire. Not exactly the best perspective for me to have! It’s really only my perspective unless I do the full interview with him answering the questions. So that’s what I’m doing now!

In case you are just tuning into this blog or don’t know from before, my husband Charlie is a Battalion Chief for Lake County Fire Protection District and in my book, (no pun intended), one helluva guy! He has 36 years of fire service under his belt. He’s seen a thing or two, (as the insurance commercial says), and before the Valley Fire, I never saw him look particularly worried about a fire call. This one, I could see in his eyes and actions when he left, made him nervous!

I told him that the last piece of this story is going to come from him. I have the entire timeline following the Valley Fire mapped out in my book. It’s ready to be finished and starts in the month of November after the fire, and finishes in the month of July. I am currently writing about the month of April. Late April. Like I said, nearly done. Although I did have his story entered into the outline, I now see it was all coming from me. I really need to get Charlie’s full experience written down to put within the pages of the book.

So since this weekend is the first one in months that there is NOTHING on our agenda, I am spending it writing, baking, and cleaning my house for fall decorating. Yard work can be in there someplace for weeding out old summer plants that are tired and replacing them with colorful cool weather beauties. However, the greater part of my time is going to be getting my husband’s words down in the book.

I’ve decided to make the character exactly him. Different name, but still a rugged man that wears both hats of a fireman when on duty, and farmer when he’s off. A proud, stubborn, passionate man that loves his family, loves his land, loves his community, and works hard to protect them all! His will be a character in the book that will definitely stand out and make a statement.

I love fall and all that comes with it. There’s a change in the air, the smell of damp earth and leaves, and for our family we have harvest to look forward to. Grapes first then right into walnuts. It’s busy, beautiful, and traditional. As I make some fig bread this weekend and write while smelling the sweet goodness fill the air of my home, I hope it will propel my writing into a tapestry of art. Inspiration comes from feeling good and this time of year is perfect for all things wonderful.

Please enjoy your family and your homes. They are the most precious things in life. One’s home is where so many things begin and end. Just remember it’s all the stuff in between that counts. I wish you all a great beginning of fall.

*Middle pic of typewriter by Patti Diener. 2 others from Google images.

Sunday Morning

It’s quiet.

The outside morning air is sweet with the smell of dewy grass and my dog, Bailey, is wandering around smelling the scents from nocturnal animals that visited us last night. Coffee is my friend. Together with my dog and beverage I am trying desperately to begin this day in peace.

What the hell is happening in the world now? I am trying to push it down and live in this very moment of silence. This is why I’m only an average meditator. I try but am only good about half the time with sitting still and quieting my mind. The events of recent years and recent days fill my head with noise.

The fires are only a fraction of what fills my mind. They were and for some still are catastrophic. But the continued loss , (family and friends dying), and continued natural disasters, just keep mounting to the point I’m overwhelmed and in near tears all the time. I just want to hide! Go into hiding from life where I can merely just exist…….. if for only awhile.

But of course, I won’t. Instead I try to catch moments of solitude and pray, listen to music, read, take pictures, or write. These things are my therapy. And once I nourish the parts of me that are suffering inside, I am good to contribute to my little part of the world again. The people I love, who I need, and who need me.

In our times of helping those with loss, I reflect to a time my father talked about and times I’ve only read about in books. During WWII, the small towns across America were filled with people bonding together. They did everything to become united! Households all looked after each other’s kids and families pulled together in times of great loss. Whole communities were family! I believe this sort of thing is catching on in Lake County! I feel it all around me.

These next few days are going to be nothing short of colossally difficult. Funerals are something I avoided most of my life but have unfortunately become unusually good at organizing these past several years. Since the loss of my sister Jill, I have found myself going onto auto pilot to just do what needs to be done. In the end, you just hope you have honored that person in a way that they know how much you loved them.

Life is a journey that takes us along like a boat on a river. Some days it’s calm, others it’s white caps, treacherously rushing! In the end though I know it’s all worth it. When we hurt, it’s because we loved! I wouldn’t miss feeling that love even if you promised me forever calm, still waters. And when I’m crying and look up to a beautiful sky, I know our loved ones are still with us, smiling and saying it’s ok.

I am grateful to be in a place where I know my neighbors. Where we can all count on one another. Today is my time to help the ones who need me. It’s just what we do here in small town U.S.A., and I am very proud to be part of this community. I pray God will lighten the load on all those who are suffering, and bring peace and comfort to those in need.

Have a blessed Sunday.

*Coffee picture from Google images, others by Patti Diener

A Scar Heals Stronger

Loss changes a person. Loss of any kind. It changes the very fabric of our being. But like a scar, sometimes it can grow stronger where it left it’s mark. For others, it simply never fully heals.

These past few months have brought to mind the truth that we are all here for a finite amount of time. What we choose to do with that time we are given is usually up to us. However, sometimes life changes direction and blows our sails in the opposite way from where we wished to be. The struggle to get back on course can be daunting.

Community is something I have found to be a constant. Sometimes we shut it out, sometimes we long for it. I have found myself at both ends of this rope. When times become difficult it can be very easy to slip into that pool of darkness, slowly drift away to a place of solitude. But it’s dangerous to stay there for long! Reaching out when we are at our lowest can be the biggest struggle of all! Living in a small town, I have come to realize more and more, that community is the greatest blessing of all.

The light that touches us when we are brave enough to reach out, can save us. In moments of great loss, of any kind, we often are unable to find our way to move forward. But lately, I’ve seen how compassionate this world can be in the midst of great tragedy. You will be able to move forward again only when you open yourself up to those who wish to give to you.

When we are most vulnerable, we often also are feeling unworthy of anyone’s help. Pride can block healing. But the people of our community in Lake County, have banned together on so many occasions these past few years to bring help, hope, honor, and grace back to us, that if those who need it would just let go of that pride, they would find something even stronger. It’s love.

Breathing again, after loss, comes one conscious breath at a time. But eventually the fog will lift. It does blow away, and if you can look up from grief, you may find that there have been people from our community there all along, helping you to breathe once more on your own.

Gratitude comes when you can see miracles in the smallest, everyday things. The sound of birds when you awaken, the smell of fresh coffee brewing, the smell of fresh cut grass, or the sight of an evening sunset. These things are there but when you really become aware of them, they can awaken you.

This blog started after the Valley Fire, and was primarily to help me gather thoughts for the book I’m writing. Oddly enough, it’s turning out to be mostly a book about the love of a community! The loss that so many had from the fires over the last few years is what prompted me. But after these past few months, the human loss of friends, relatives, community leaders, and icons, has brought me to this blog post. I simply want to say, I am so proud that however damaged our community has been, it still rises up to help each other through the storms.

A safe port for those searching, is usually right in front of you. Don’t be afraid to reach out. I believe I have experienced divine intervention many times in my life. Today I was driving home from our ranch, thinking about writing this post, and Marc Broussard’s song DON’T BE AFRAID TO CALL ME, came on and I found myself crying. I knew then what I had to do.

I believe it was intended for me to write this today, if even just one of you out there reads this. Maybe my words were meant for you. Remember, wherever you live, and especially in small town communities, there are always lots of people willing to help. People that want you to feel loved. People willing to help change the winds in your favor. It might not be the place you first set sail to, but it will hopefully be a place, (physically or spiritually), you can feel safe and call home.

All photos with the exception of the sailboat, were taken by me, Patti Diener. Sailboat from Google images.