Pamela S. Thibodeaux talks about her writing and her latest release 'The Inheritance'

It's my great pleasure to welcome Pamela S. Thibodeaux to the Flightdeck today.

Award-winning author, Pamela S. Thibodeaux is the Co-Founder and a lifetime member of Bayou Writers Group in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Multi-published in romantic fiction as well as creative non-fiction, her writing has been tagged as, “Inspirational with an Edge!” ™ and reviewed as “steamier and grittier than the typical Christian novel without decreasing the message.” 

Help yourself to something refreshing from the replicator unit, Pam,  Before we find out more about your book, to you mind if I ask you a few questions about yourself - first of all can you tell us What do you do for fun when not writing? 

PST: When not writing (and even when writing) I absolutely love to read! Although I enjoy a great romance, I’m finding myself more and more drawn into reading spiritual non-fiction. Authors such as Dr. Wayne Dyer, Marianne Williamson, and Doreen Virtue along with numerous others encourage me to open my mind, heart, and spirit and cultivate a much larger perception of God and this magnificent universe He created. Dancing is also a favorite pastime of mine. There is not much more energizing to my heart and soul than a two-step or waltz across a sawdust covered floor in the arms of a gentleman.

What a wonderful answer, Pam. In your own writing, what comes first: the plot or the characters? 

PST: Hmmm…. That’s not easy to say. I’ve had stories begin with a single thought (they say life begins at forty but for Rebecca Sinclair that’s far from the truth – The Inheritance), a statement I make to someone, a dream or when people pop into my brain and start talking.

So what’s you’re writing process? Has it changed since writing your first book? 

PST: Many authors interview their characters and plot the story but me? I just started writing one day the book I’d want to read and this hasn’t changed in over thirty years.

I have to say that's pretty much how I write too Pam. Do you listen to music when you write and if so, what kind of music – or do you find it distracts you?

PST: Having a little background noise (tv from another room) doesn’t always bother me but with music, I either get irritated or so caught up in it that I’m up out of my chair and dancing so I don’t listen while I’m trying to write.

What is your personal definition of success? 

PST: Success is very personal to each individual and therefore as beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so is success. Personally I feel successful when I finish a project, whether that is an article, essay, short story, novel or non-fiction book.

Isn't that the truth, Pam! I couldn't agree more, to finish a project is an achievement that everyone who creates something, from an essay to a full length novel, should be justly proud of. Is there any advice, as a new writer, that you were either given, or wish you had been given? 

PST: Writing is writing…whether nonfiction article or essay, short story or full novel, you ARE a writer! Sometimes life will get in the way and you may want to quit, need to take a break or even a long hiatus from writing but that’s OK; it doesn’t make you less of a writer. Don’t worry about the rules, forget about the market, write the kind of book you want to read, and never give up!

Excellent advice Pam, Lastly, is there a question you really, really wish someone would ask, but they never do?  If so what would be your reply?

       PST: Yes, Q: To what or whom do you credit your success?

        A: Many people have a love/hate relationship with their muse. My muse is the Holy Spirit and I accredit every ounce of success to the grace of God because without HIM I seriously doubt I could write a single word, much less stories that bring hope and healing to so many.

Another great and insightful answer.  Thank you so much for being my guest today, Pam, now let's have a look at your book, which I have on my wishlist and look forward to reading.

Blurb for The Inheritance:

The Inheritance is about the chance we all long for…the chance to start over. Widowed at age thirty-nine and suffering from empty nest syndrome, Rebecca Sinclair is overshadowed by grief and loneliness.  Her husband has been deceased for a year, her oldest child has moved to New York in pursuit of an acting career and her youngest child is attending college in France. Having spent over half of her life as a wife and mother, she has no idea what God has in store for her now.  Will an unexpected inheritance in the wine country of New York bring meaning and purpose to her life and give her the courage to love again? 

US Postal worker Raymond Jacobey has been in love with the little widow since he first set eyes on her.  A wanderer searching for the ever-illusive soul mate, Ray has never stayed in one place too long. Raised by self-centered, high-power executives, he’s longed for the idyllic life of residing in a cozy house in a small town with the love of his life. Will he gain the heart of the lovely widow or will he lose her to the wine country of New York?

Excerpt for The Inheritance:

Rebecca shook her head, “But, surely it’s wrong for me to feel so much more for you than I ever felt for him. He was my husband yet I never wanted to touch him theway I want to touch you, to caress you, to feel you tremble beneath my hand. Why is it that I never felt that way about him? What does that make me?”

Raising her hand to his lips, he kissed the palm. “It makes you a woman, Rebecca, nothing more, nothing less than a beautiful, desirable woman with needs and feelings. And there’s not a single thing wrong in that,” he insisted in an achingly tender voice. “Touch me all you want,” he whispered, placing her hand over his heart. “Feel what you do to me.”

Rebecca closed her eyes, marveling at the way his heart thundered against her palm, matching rhythm with the blood thrumming through her veins. Mesmerized she slipped her hand inside his shirt, felt him shudder, and heard his soft moan of pleasure. Before she could jerk away, he covered her hand with his.

“It’s all right,” he whispered. “Don’t be shy or afraid.”

She lifted wide, pleading eyes to his.

“But I am afraid, Ray. Afraid of where all this will end, afraid that I’ll forget every scrap of morality I ever taught my children and even more afraid that I won’t care if I do.”

“I promise it won’t go that far. I’ll let you know when it’s time to stop,” Ray insisted.

Purchase Links for The Inheritance:

Kindle: http://amzn.to/19J6Dxf

Pelican Book Group

Ebook http://pelink.us/1cvBm29

Printhttp://bit.ly/1scLTVf

Connect with Pam by visiting her Websitehttp://www.pamelathibodeaux.com  

Blog: http://pamswildroseblog.blogspot.com

through Face Book: http://facebook.com/pamelasthibodeaux

or Twitter: http://twitter.com/psthib@psthib

The Three Kitties That Saved My Life By Michael Meyer

I am so pleased to be able to feature this book today, as it actually pulls on my heartstrings on several levels - not least that I can relate to it myself having been through a similar experience when I lost my first husband, John, when he was just 35 years old, it was my horses and dog that saved me, and I can fully understand the comfort Michael's  'kitties' brought him.! 

This looks like a truly worthwhile and touching book and I can't wait to read it!

The Three Kitties That Saved My Life

by Michael Meyer

Inspirational Romance

Categories: Memoir, Love and Loss

Publisher: Pacific Books

Release Date: April 23, 2013

Heat Level: Sweet

Length: 134 pages

Available at:

Amazon- http://www.amazon.com/Three-Kitties-That-Saved-ebook/dp/B00CGND93E/

B&N - http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-three-kitties-that-saved-my-life-michael-meyer/1115440516

Description:

AN UPLIFTING TRUE STORY OF LOVE

Losing loved ones is an awful fact of life; losing one's loving spouse, one's day-to-day partner through life, especially in the prime of life, is one of the most unbearable tolls that we humans are forced to endure. This is the true story of my journey from grieving widower, not caring if I lived or died, to the once-again happily married man I am today, a man who both loves and cherishes life. My three kitties have given me a new zest for living.

Both inspiring and entertaining, my story might just make you laugh at times, or bring a tear to your eye, as you journey along with me.

EXCERPT

My life with my cat, Coco, was good. We had a lot of fun together. Every day was joyful. I never knew from one day to the next what type of trouble the little guy would get himself into. There was always something new to explore, a new pose to assume. 

But I still ached for close human contact. I wanted to be hugged. I wanted to be held in someone’s arms. I wanted to be loved, and to love, but I was scared and I also felt guilty feeling these thoughts, although I realized that they were all rational. I just could not force myself to take the first step in this direction. I would see couples holding hands, and I would be jealous. I would see couples embrace, and I would yearn for the same. I wanted to be with someone who cared for me, and I for her. However, the guilt at thinking such a thing, that I was somehow betraying the commitment that I had made to my deceased wife, still ate at me.

I was scared—of both the future and of what the past had already done to me. No matter how hard I tried, I just could not shake the feeling that somehow I would be betraying Ciba if I sought love again.  I knew I was not thinking logically, but logic really had nothing to do with any of it. I was a lost man, and I so desperately wanted to be found. But that first step was huge, and it was so painful to contemplate. 

“Tiny steps now, Mike,” I remember telling myself, but saying and doing are not the same. 

It was clear that my legal commitment to her, “to love and to cherish until death do us part,” had been fully met, but the powerful emotional attachment still clung to me.  I wanted to get on with my own life, but I could not. Time had frozen for me, and I was its prisoner.

I fought to move on, but I just could not. It was too painful. I spent huge chunks of my waking hours inside my head, trying to think things through. I listened to my sisters, and to my friends. My library of books and pamphlets on how to deal with losing one’s spouse kept growing.

I read everything I could get my hands on, but nothing could help me to break away from my thoughts of guilt. I read and reread, several times over, my complete library on coping with grief. I practically memorized each work. I could have been a professional grief counselor since I knew so much by now. The things I read were wonderfully written, right to the heart. I cherished every word, but still nothing seemed to really provide the jolt that I required. 

That is until one day on the Internet, I stumbled upon a two-page response that a rabbi had written to a young woman who had posed the question, “How will I ever date again?” a year after the loss of her husband. For the first time since I had begun to scratch the urge to meet someone, the rabbi’s words had a profound impact on me, so profound, that after reading and rereading his words, after savoring every word, after thinking deeply about what he was saying, I was convinced that wanting to start dating was not only the right thing to do, but that it was exactly what my deceased wife would want me to do. 

The whole two-page response made total sense to me, but the part that really convinced me was the following passage: “Your husband loved you and you loved your husband—you will never forget that. But his memory should not be a dark cloud that haunts your existence. Your memory of his life should be an inspiration, not a painful albatross.”

Pow! I had been hit smack dab over the head with precisely what my own problem was. I had defined myself as a widower. I was a widower. Everyone I met, learned this. The word defined my very existence. 

And I was a widower, but that was not the whole me. I was also much more than that. I had forced my life into a box, and now it was time to climb out from that confinement. I would do so with love and dignity, never forgetting how my deceased wife had loved me and how I still loved her. I knew in my heart that she would want me to be happy. The rabbi’s words convinced me of that. 

I had no idea how to date. What would I say? How would I act? Where would I meet someone?

About the Author:

Mike Meyer recently retired from 40-year career as an English professor. He literally taught at universities throughout the world: Thailand, Saudi Arabia, the Virgin Islands, and he spent the last 24 years of his teaching career at a California community college. He lives in Southern California wine country with his wife, Kitty, and their two adorable rescue cats. 

Contact Mike on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/MichaelMeyersWritingLife.

Follow Mike's other Tour posts here:

http://www.cblspromotions.com/2013/08/promoblast-three-kitties-that-saved-my.html