Thoughts from a writing mom

What you will learn about the Bravo 400’s shift as you read “Final 42” is that they are a close-knit shift. A big contributing factor as to why they’re so tight is because they are led by two men who are not only good leaders, but who respect and genuinely like one another. Sergeant Gabe Torres is the man in charge. Sarge is a retired Navy Gunner’s Mate, ‘an old salty dog’, some may call him. He retired just before 9/11/2001 and joined the Corpus Christi Police Department because he wasn’t finished serving. Sarge is a serious man, an intimidating man, but his kind eyes give hints to the integrity behind them.   He and his wife, Eva, are parents to two adopted daughters – Victoria and Veronica, now college students attending the same university. Sarge leads his shift in the same manner he did as a supervisor in his Navy days, trusting the man below him, never micro-managing or looking over his officer’s shoulders.   Sarge is often quiet and sometimes unreadable,...

It’s already July, 2017. WOW.   I said at the beginning of the year that I’d blog more about what I am grateful for and I haven’t done enough blogging.   Not because I lack things to be grateful for, or the gratitude itself . . . I’m going to remedy my lack of blogging with a post about what I thank God for every day, without fail. My kids, of course.   My offspring.   My crazies.   My half-dozen. Faith Ann, Caroline Mae, Scarlett Clare, Thomas Michael, Barrett Gabriel, Marian Grace. Some reading now are totally thinking, yikes, six is a lot ! And that is correct.   Six is a lot. No doubt about that.   I really couldn’t have guessed that I would have a large family.   My husband and I both hoped for at least four, and were blessed with super fertility.   Now I can’t imagine anything else. I don’t have to tell you that it’s hard.   Everyone knows kids are hard. One kid, twelve kids, whatever your nu...

This particular blogpost requires some backstory.   In September of 2003, I arrived at my first duty station – Helicopter Mine Countermeasures Fifteen (HM-15) which was located at the time onboard Naval Air Station Corpus Christi (it has since moved to Norfolk.) This is when I was a Yeoman Third Class. HM-15 admin office. I would spend a total of three years at this squadron.   The first two, I resided in the barracks on NAS. The last year I spent in an apartment alone off-base. Those three years were the most formative of my life.   I’ll explain. For one, I met my husband while I was there. He was not assigned to HM-15, but to base security there on NAS.   I blogged about our beginning earlier this year. You can find that story here. http://myonedayisnow.blogspot.com/2017/02/a-love-story.html I also joined the Catholic Church while I was there. (Again, I’ve blogged about this experience before too. Link for that one is here. http:...

Once upon a time, a 20-year-old female sailor was almost arrested for violating article 134 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice.   What was she doing, you ask?   Well, she was conducting in a nature that would bring discredit to the Navy.   More specifically?   She was drinking under the age of 21.   Even more specifically?   She was drinking a bottle of Bud Light, with approximately 8-10 other young sailors, in a friend’s barracks room. This young girl knew she shouldn’t have been drinking underage.   But she wasn’t very bright, and was not thinking of the consequences of her actions if she were to be caught, so she did it anyway. That evening, a young male sailor on duty (he was a master-at-arms in the Navy, in other words-military police) was patrolling the barracks.   He’ll tell you now, if you ask him, that he was bored and looking for something to do. Well, he found something.   He found the aforementioned girl and her ...

Hello, January! Hello 2017! I don’t normally make New Year’s Resolutions, but I DO want to be better about seeing and acknowledging the things in my life I am grateful for.   I’m starting now with a blog post explaining the reasons why I am grateful for my publisher, eLectio Publishing.   (I know what you’re thinking – ‘you love them because they said yes to your manuscripts!’ – but actually, there is more . . . ) 1.          They’re faith-based.   As directly stated on their website ( www.electiopublishing.com ) they are “First and foremost a Christian publisher.”   Does this mean that they only accept manuscripts from Christian authors? No, it doesn’t! Does this mean that they only accept manuscripts that are Christian works? Again, no. It DOES mean that they are a Christian company that seeks to put God first and seeks to put out wholesome books.   You won’t find a garbage book from this publisher.   It’s refresh...

Allison Clark is a girl who is accustomed to getting what she wants.   An only child to two parents who give her everything, she drives the car she wants, goes to the college she wants, and even gets the pure-bred puppy she wants after she graduates from nursing school. What she doesn’t want is a jealous, controlling boyfriend – so when she finds herself in a relationship with one, she ends it.   She doesn’t need a relationship, she thinks.   She has a comfortable life without one.   Until she meets Jeremiah, the new guy in the apartment next to hers.   He’s perfect.   She can’t keep away from him.   The attraction between them is unlike anything Allison has experienced before, and in what feels like a whirlwind, the two of them are engaged to be married. Allison’s relationship with Jeremiah had the potential to be a fairy-tale.   But Allison, with her self-regard a little too high, doesn't quite realize the damage she is capable of when ...

Jeremiah is married to Allison, the main character in The Consequence. He is attractive in a subtle way – his sandy blond hair isn’t long, but is just long enough to peek out from underneath the ball cap he wears when he isn’t working.   He has a tiny dimple on one cheek – when he smiles, and the dimple is revealed, it’s impossible not to smile back at him. Before meeting Allison, he leaves his parents and three brothers behind in Minnesota for an accounting firm and the promise of more sun in Dallas, Texas.   He’s an accountant because he likes numbers, but what he loves is working with his hands, building, so he volunteers for Habitat for Humanity to satisfy that passion. He meets Allison after moving into the apartment next door to hers.   He sees her getting out of her car one day, wearing scrubs.   He can't help but take interest in this nurse who is literally the girl next door.   They marry, and have what he believes to be a good marriage. ...