Tag: Christian fiction

a2z: The letter is “P’ for Piecing

Posted on by Diana Lesire Brandmeyer

I often wonder why everyone isn’t excited about piecing  a lot of small pieces of fabric into a quilt. It’s much like life-something happens and you pick up the scattered hurts and patch them into something a bit different and useful.

And then I spend a few hours on a Saturday ripping out what I put together the night before and realize this is why everyone isn’t piecing! It’s often painful and no fun at all.

Spiral Tree Skirt someday



This tree skirt may not get finished in time for Christmas. I’ve had to take it apart at least 20 times.

Lutheran World Relief Quilt

 This one will get finished. I belong to a small but might group of quilters at my church. We piece together quilts that are collected and used during disaster relief and for the homeless. The idea is to use the fabric donated and just sew the blocks together. I can’t. I must try and make them someone pretty. This is the one I’m working on now. It will get finished soon, but I did make it a diagonal pattern so I might be ripping it out too. 


I have a great ripper. Surgical sharp. I know. I’ve caught my finger with it a few times.


I like piecing and I got my love of it from my grandmother Pauline! Yep, she’s a “P” and her photo is on my shelf. When I get discouraged about ripping and starting over I see her smiling face and know I’m not the first to rip, but I have a feeling she was more patient than I.

Pauline



 And because I enjoy torturing myself with small pieces of fabric my next project is going to be a Dear Jane quilt. The finished blocks are 5″ and the entire quilt has over 5000 pieces.

Dear Jane Block



I may need another seam ripper.

*Laury–I visit your posts, but can’t seem to get my comments to work. 

for more a2z posts visit Patty Wysong!

posted by Diana Lesire Brandmeyer

Eureka. Small town. Big Secret. A Syfy Original Series

Posted on by Diana Lesire Brandmeyer

I’m so very sad to see that this series has been canceled.

I haven’t had any problem releasing reality and feeling that there is a Eureka filled with genius minds planning, researching and messing up–all secretly supported by the government.

Jack Carter, the sheriff is a normal person trying to keep chaos under control in this town and without his common sense there wouldn’t be a Eureka. I want to live in his smarthouse, where Sarah fixes breakfasts, controls ambiance of the house and offers motherly advice.

The other character I will be sad to see no more is Jo Lupo– so much in love with Zane and until last nights episode determined to beat every challenge presented to her. Watching her character change and grow has shown me how to grow a character in my writing.

What canceled show do you miss?

posted by Diana Lesire Brandmeyer

a2z: The letter is ‘O’ for Oscar

Posted on by Diana Lesire Brandmeyer

 

When I started this challenge I promised myself I wouldn’t use people or pets for my letter of the week.
I’m breaking that promise. 

This is Oscar, my father-in-law. He’s no longer with us, his address is Somewhere In, Heaven, but the legacy he left behind is strong.
Oscar, much like his son, my husband, couldn’t sit still.  Retirement and doing nothing with your time wasn’t a concept he practiced. He had small job at the local furniture store delivering sofas and chairs, he fixed lawn mowers, picked strawberries –for an old woman he knew (his words) he even worked at my husband’s store on occasion.
One afternoon I received a horrible phone call. Oscar was working at the furniture store, and the service elevator he was in fell 3 stories to the basement.  
What followed were a lot of surgeries, a few amputations, and “He probably won’t make it, don’t get your hopes up,” comments. After many months he came home. 
They said, “He’ll never walk.”
Oscar wouldn’t accept that diagnosis deciding instead to prove ‘them’ all wrong. He did physical therapy, practiced using a walker, and wore a prosthesis on his foot.
One day he called to tell me he’d walked 30 feet with the walker. After that he refused to use the wheel chair if he could walk. I would take him Christmas shopping for Elsie, my mother-in-law and he wouldn’t take the handicap hang tag with us. I would drop him off at the door and park. 
Why? Because other people needed those parking places more than he did. His words, not mine.
He taught me, my husband and my children the value of perseverance. The need to keep at a task no matter how hard, painful or seemingly impossible and how doing so will produce results. It will build our character, and it will bring hope as we conquer each difficult task.

Many times since Oscar has died I have thought I couldn’t do something—write a book about our blended family, write an 80 thousand word book in less than 9 months, work through the pain that attacked my muscles, and then I would think of him. 

Always in pain and almost always smiling and ready to tell a story. No complaints were heard from him—at least not to us, perhaps when we weren’t around he let his guard down with Elsie, my mother-in-law and also his caretaker and worthy of her own blog post.
What or who do you turn to when you think you can’t take one more rejection, argument or no?

Romans 5:2-4
New International Version (NIV)
2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we[boast in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope.
for more a2z memes check out Patty Wysong’s blog
posted by Diana Lesire Brandmeyer

Who do your written words say you are?

Posted on by Diana Lesire Brandmeyer

Relief for my tortured writing soul has been found thanks to a quick quiz. The quiz was sent in the News You Can Use from the Steve Laube Agency. 

The quiz is called, I Write Like
Even if you aren’t a writer it could be a bit of fun and distraction for you as well. It’s easy to take the quiz, you copy and paste a sample of your writing in the square, and then press the analyze button.

I posted in a few paragraphs from A Bride’s Dilemma In Friendship, Tennessee –my book that is coming out next May. I took several sample from different places and discovered my writing style is like Margret Mitchell and Steven King. 

Then I tried a few blog posts and now I write like J.D. Salinger. 

I tried sections from We’re Not Blended-We’re Pureed–still Steven King.

 Just for fun I put in this blog post and it came up as Cory Doctorow–a science fiction author!


So what did I learn from this?


                                     

I’m a confused writer?

 

I’m multi-facetted?

 
I have many personalities?


Maybe all of those things. 


Will I ever use this tool again? Yes! I’m thinking it would be helpful to check on my individual characters–they shouldn’t all sound the same. Which is why A Bride’s Dilemma in Friendship, Tennessee has the style of both Margaret Mitchell and Steven King.

So are you going to play along? See who you write like? Please take the quiz, come back and let me know who you write like.  


Photos are from Freedigitalphotos.net
posted by Diana Lesire Brandmeyer

Morning

Posted on by Diana Lesire Brandmeyer
Ducks on the lake

Can you see them? 

Ducks, lots of them, they are so still waiting for the brightness of day to arrive.

There is a park with a walking trail across from my house. Several times a week I drag myself out of bed and walk. This is the first day I found out what it was like to walk before the sun rose. 
 
Once you go up a slight hill and turn the curve there is a lake. Usually the ducks are active, momma ducks chasing little ones back to the shoreline or dipping their heads underwater for something to eat.

The stillness this morning, the patience of the ducks made caused me to pause and snap a shot with my phone.  Looking at them I realized I start my day wrong. I start with an agenda of what must be done and how fast can I accomplish marking things off my list. Perhaps, if I met the dawn in stillness, praising God, my day would be much better. 

I think I’ll try that–tomorrow. 
How do you start your day? 

posted by Diana Lesire Brandmeyer

a2z: The letter is ‘N’ for Needles

Posted on by Diana Lesire Brandmeyer

                                                N is for Needles

 I love to sew, stitch pieces of fabric into quilts or shirts. To do that I have to use a needle. What many nonsewers are unaware of is–how many kinds of needles there are!



For hand sewing there are betweens, sharps, applique, darning, short, long and even curved ones used to repair a special stuffed animal or a rip in your couch.

And the choices don’t stop there.


There are so many types of needles for my sewing machine that I need an organizer. 


Physical hurts are fixed with needles. Sorry no photos of that! I’m squeamish. Some needles are used to give us healing medicine or to check out blood levels.

I have learned the easiest way to get thread through fabric is to use some Thread Heaven.


This stuff coats the thread helping it glide through tightly woven fabric making it easier to join edges together.


The one thing I dislike about all needles is that they hurt when they stick in your finger. Too bad the Thread Heaven doesn’t help with that.


for more a2z check out Patty Wysong.


posted by Diana Lesire Brandmeyer

a2z: The letter is ‘M’ for Moments in Michigan

Posted on by Diana Lesire Brandmeyer

                            Moments in Michigan

It’s been a while since we were able to get away–just the two of us. We’ve been away with others, or for conferences, or Josh’s wedding last year.

The past 2 years have been stressful for me, writing two books back to back, and for Ed constructing many large paver projects. We needed some time to relax, put the phones and computers away. 

Off we went to St. Joesph, Michigan to capture what felt like stolen moments out of a too busy life.

The first thing to great us in the small town were lots of fun farm animals. This one caught my attention. I happen to love goats and this one has pages of books written by teen mothers learning to read to their children. I think, books, children and moms reading to them are one of God’s special moments. 

Lucy in St. Joesph, MI


We spent the days walking the beach, piers to three light houses and watching lots of little children who made us laugh. One small boy licked a window by a chair at the coffee shop so his sister wouldn’t want to sit in the chair he watned!

A moment of happiness

One night we walked the beach and waited for the sunset. It was hidden by a cloud. It didn’t matter. The night was special. The lake lapping on the shore, holding my Ed’s hand, toes squishing in the sand. Later the stars came out and we stood there gazing in awe. We can’t see the stars where we live, too many lights keep the sky bright.

Sunset in St. Joesph, MI

The trip was too short, but we are thankful for the time we had to relax, the moments when the phone didn’t ring interrupting a conversation, perfect weather and a slower pace. It’s good to get away even if only for a moment.

for more a2z visit Patty Wysong.

posted by Diana Lesire Brandmeyer

a2z: The letter is ‘L’ for Listen

Posted on by Diana Lesire Brandmeyer

Oscar Wilde said it best.My own business bores me to death. I prefer other people’s. 

I’ll admit it. I listen. I can’t help. The stories coming from other diner tables are interesting.

Last night I overheard the sweetest child’s voice telling her daddy what she liked about him the most. 


Sometimes I only get snippets and those connect like magnets with a solid click and a character will grow in my mind.


The sad thing is I’ve taught Ed how to listen too.



The frustrating thing is, he won’t always share what he hears. Like last night, what was making him smile? What girly girl language did he try and translate into man speak? 

So here is my defense:
I’m a writer, listening gives me a feel of how people interact with each other in social settings. And if you’re at Wal Mart on your cell phone I will follow you and you just might end up in a book.


for more a2z post check out Patty Wysong.
posted by Diana Lesire Brandmeyer

a2z: The letter is ‘K’ for Keds and Kickstands

Posted on by Diana Lesire Brandmeyer
Letter K

 This letter had me stumped. There are many ‘Ks’ I’d like to write about, my brother Karl, his daughter Karla, my friend Kristen, my niece Kristen, my kids, God the King…. how to pick from some many important people in my life?

Rather than get anyone upset for choosing only one of the above I grabbed a key from youth and unlocked two memories.

Vintage Keds

 Remember these? Or something similar? The first day of school and putting on a pair of Keds meant you would run faster and further than anyone. In my highschool it was ‘the thing’ to wear boys Keds if you were a girl. I loved those shoes. I had a pair of white ones. My boyfriend’s little brother grew super fast and I got his almost new shoes. They were my favorites and now I’m wondering if it was because the soles were thicker. My girly Keds didn’t have the same comfort and sense of adventure built into them. My Keds took me on hikes through Babler State Park, through the creek that runs through the park and even went on a few horseback rides. (Just to be safe Keds is a tradmarked name. I would have used that little symbol so you’d know that, but I have no clue how to make it.)

KICKSTAND

And then there is this small piece of metal that balances a bike. The kickstand. Many times I didn’t use this part of my bike. I enjoyed the thrill of riding fast, jumping off at my destination point and letting it crash. I’ve lived some of my life that way too, now I know to stay upright I need the balance God provides.

Summers and my bike cannot be separated in my memory. I didn’t go far, but I went a lot. I rode to Luanne, Debbie, Terry, Brenda and Gwen’s houses. Sometimes I just rode around the streets and thought of things that were good and not so good at home. It was my spaceship, airplane, travel machine and it still is. Except it’s been to hot to ride this summer. 

What are some of your summer memories?


For more a2z check out Patty Wysong’s blog.

posted by Diana Lesire Brandmeyer