Blog a Friend

Word Wednesday

The American Heritage defines FRIEND two ways, the first: a person whom one knows, likes and trusts.  Hudson Catalina, the main character in my novel of the same name, learns about friendship while she is held hostage by a killer.  There are two other hostages, Ruby Desmond an elderly black woman, very wise and brave, as well as autistic Willy Wu, the young man who becomes Hudson’s unlikely hero.  In a life or death situation, like the one these three fictional characters find themselves, the word friend is tested and retested.

 

I count myself wealthy in friendships.  What I lack in siblings I have been blessed with in friends.  All of whom I know, like (love) and trust, and even if I had one true friend, I would still be wealthy, for the measure of wealth is not in the tangibles but in the intangibles of human connections.

The second definition for friend is as follows: one who supports, sympathizes with, or patronizes a group, cause or movement.  In recent days I have been promoting my book, HUDSON CATALINA.  Free for two days through Amazon and now to borrow or buy.  So many followers turned into friends of the second definition.  They supported my efforts and shared their friends and in two days of free promoting ten thousand eBook copies were downloaded.  Amazing.  I extend my gratitude to these friends and their friends alike.

  

Although this is the last day in October which has been designated as BREAST CANCER AWARENESS month, please remember that breast cancer awareness needs to be twelve months a year.

Blog what you see, feel, think, and hear.

Live each day well … or write a book.

Linda

Blog a Survivor

Word Wednesday

My mother and my half-sister, survived breast cancer, for each, a courageous battle. October is breast cancer awareness month and survival makes the fight to cure the pink ribbon disease a priority. Webster defines survival as: to remain alive or in existence: to endure. Yes, that is the goal. None of us get out alive, but we would prefer to exit as very senior as possible.

HUDSON CATALINA is the protagonist in my novel of the same name. Her survival is in question-she too has breast cancer and has lost hope of surviving. Her story, although fiction, portrays the need to stay hopeful-to have the will to survive, our Word for Wednesday. Tomorrow the 25th and Friday the 26th the eBook version of HUDSON CATALINA will be FREE to download from Amazon on your Kindle or other reading device. For a Good Read and to find out if Hudson survives take advantage of this special promotion.

Blog what you see, hear, feel and think.

Live each day well…or write a book.


Linda

Blog a Debate

Wednesday Word

Debate, the Wednesday word, is defined by the American Heritage Dictionary as a formal contest of argumentation in which two opposing teams defend and attack a given proposition. Hopefully today we are more enlightened by last night’s presidential debate. As citizens of the United States of America we have the ability to vote. We have the freedom of choice. Anyone who cares about the future of our country should take the time to be informed and by doing this each of us can make better decisions for our collective futures.

A debate is also defined with words such as deliberation and consideration-words which can be put into action by each vote cast. Debates are arguments pure and simple-they are not popularity contests. Voters need to sift through the facts of a debate and make decisions based solely on who can do the best job. I f you do not get the job done, then someone else needs to step up and get the job done and so on and so forth until the right person is chosen, until promises are kept and politics become less important and there are jobs and opportunities once again.

The power of debate is something our country should be proud of-allowing opinions and voices to be heard. As voters we need to be deliberate, our own form of debate, we must use the individual power of voting as our forefathers intended it to be used.

Blog what you think, feel, hear, and say.

Live each day well or write a book.

Linda

BLOG A HERO

Wednesday Word

Again I cheated-no blind finger down the page of Webster in search of a word. No. HERO was stuck in my head. HERO is the Wednesday word. The dictionary defines a hero as “a person noted for feats of courage or nobility of purpose-selflessly brave”. The protagonist in my novel HUDSON CATALINA was interviewed on a recent blog. She was asked about the hero of her story. Hudson said the readers should decide about heroes and went on to talk about Willy WU, the autistic grocery cart collector she meets at Whales Market the night she, Willy and the store’s manager are taken hostage by a killer. Willy is my hero she said. Many might disagree with me, because there is no way to measure how much he processes. Willy Wu is special and capable of saving a life.

There is an author message on the back page of HUDSON CATALINA from me, the author, to you the reader: “The seed or inspiration for HUDSON CATALINA came from a character in the book, Willy Wu. I have long had a fascination with heroes, the idea of heroism in the pure sense of the word, the selfless act of giving your life to save another without thought of anything else beyond that act.”

Today anyone of us could be thrust into a situation that tests our own heroic ability. Thank you to all the heroes that keep us safe and free.

Write what you see, hear, think and feel.

Live each day well…or write a book.

Linda

BLOG about HOPE

Word Wednesday-“To give up hope is to give up life.”

I confess. Here is the truth and nothing but the truth. My finger did not slide down the page of my American Heritage dictionary to land on this week’s word-HOPE. No. Hope, the four letter word, was stuck in my head this week. Webster defines hope: to wish for something with expectation. Page one of HUDSON CATALINA makes a bold hair-on-your-arms-straight-up-statement. Every morning we hope for a good day-a reason to get up and put our feet on the floor. We as a collective are hopeful. Life is a game that we are hopeful to win-there is no getting out alive, but hopeful that nothing awful will happen along the way.

Hudson Catalina has given up hope. She wakes one morning convinced she will die from the disease that has taken her breasts. Hope, for her, is lost. She tells her own story about that day. Twenty-four hours in which hope plays an integral role in deciding who lives and who dies.

My hope is that you will share this message with your friends/followers. Share this message of hope. October is breast cancer awareness month-have you had your mammogram-tell your wife, girlfriend, mother, daughter, sister, friend, aunt or cousin to make an appointment today. Hudson Catalina tells her story, not about breast cancer, but how so many of life’s tragedies can rob us of hope-how life can turn ugly in a blink and of how hope creates heroes and brings us closer to the face of God.

Blog what you see, feel, hear, touch and think.

Live each day well…or write a book.

Linda