Changing Seasons

 by Fran McNabb

It’s that time of year, the time when warm breezes switch to cooler, or in some cases, much colder winds. I don’t live in the north where brilliant colors on hillsides tell everyone that autumn is here, but even in the South we have little indicators that winter is on its way.

As I walked up our stairs with the morning newspaper, I caught a motion in the bayou. (Yes, I still like to read the news in paper form. Hubby reads online.) I stopped and watched as a small duck bobbed on the water, ducked under momentarily, then popped up close-by. I don’t know the real name of these little ducks, but they appear every year about this time and spend the cold months on our bayou. I called them “Mama’s ducks” because my mother used to sit in the sun room keeping track of what they were doing. They gave her hours of pleasure. Mom is no longer with us, but when I see her ducks, I can smile and remember how she loved them and the joy she had watching them.

This morning there was only one little fellow on the water, but as the week goes on, there will be a few more. I don’t know where they spend the summer, but I’m thrilled they choose my little corner of the world to get through the winter.

In the last Classic and Cozy Blog, Deborah Nolan wrote about Bucket Lists. My bucket list includes a trip up north to see the changing leaves, but whether or not I actually get to see the brilliant changes on the northern hillsides, I can at least know my year is changing with the appearance of my little ducks. The ducks may not be as spectacular as the changing of the leaves, but for me they give me a warm feeling throughout the cold winter.

What tells you that your year is moving on? Do you wake up one morning and suddenly feel the frigid air around you or even a sprinkling of snowflakes? Do you step outside and see the hint of a color change in the trees. Mother Nature can give us tragedies in the form of tornadoes and hurricanes, but she can also provide us with little things that make our days brighter.

Winter is coming so step outside and see what you can find that puts a smile on your face.

FRAN MCNABB lives on the Gulf Coast and uses this setting in many of her novels and blogs. She writes sweet romances and presently has nine available. A SOLDIER'S HONOR is her latest. Visit her at www.FranMcNabb.com or at mcnabbf@bellsouth.net

A Lesson Learned

by Fran McNabb

NOTE: Posts on the first Thursday of the month are usually written by Victoria Johnson. She has asked me to fill in for the October, November and December blogs. I am honored to help her out.

Technology is a wonderful thing. I keep telling myself that even when it drives me completely insane. I love my computer and am on it way too much. My old computer is trying to go out so I bought another one and have yet to conquer all the differences. Being "untechy" and not wanting to deal with getting my new computer ready to use, I look at it, close it, and go back to my old computer and decide I’ll deal with the new one later.

Phones can be just as frustrating. While on vacation in Fort Lauderdale, I woke up one morning to find my phone completely dead even though it had been plugged in all night. I panicked.  I was expected at my DIL’s house and had no way to contact her except from the hotel lobby phone, but once I got there I realized I didn’t know her cell phone number nor anyone else’s except my husband’s. He was on a boat in the Atlantic fishing and I knew he was skeptical about answering a number he didn’t know. Luckily the lady at the front desk let me use a phone and my husband answered and had my son text his wife.

Long story, short, it took three hours for my DIL and I to figure out it was my charger gone bad and not my phone. That was a relief, but in the process I learned a lesson. Today we take for granted the ease at which the computer, the internet, and cell phones make our lives so much better, but I think we rely on them way too much. I made a vow to write down all of my important contacts and their cell numbers in case something like this happened again. We no longer have telephone books for cell phone numbers nor do most of us memorize phone numbers. (Gosh, I still remember the 7-digit phone numbers of my childhood friends.) I feel much more connected knowing I can rely on a paper list of my important contacts. Do you have one?

Now that I have my phone working again, a list of emergency numbers stashed away in my purse, and a new computer I've almost conquered, I can sit back and enjoy this tech-21st Century and pretend I understand it and am part of it!

 

FRAN MCNABB grew up along the Gulf Coast and writes sweet romances sometimes set along the coast. Her newest book, A SOLDIER’S HONOR http://a.co/d/cJ6y5U8, is set on the Gulf Coast as well. She and her husband live on a bayou harbor and enjoy the activities and beauty of the water. 
Visit Fran at www.FranMcNabb.com

Branching Out

By Fran McNabb

 

The oak tree outside my kitchen window is bare from the recent winter winds. The branches jutting

out in all directions made me think about writers and writing. Yes, I know, we writers sometimes have a strange way of looking at the world.

An analogy of a tree with a strong trunk and many, many smaller branches fits most people. Each one of us has a strong inner self, but we also all have tiny avenues of interest (our branches) that make us distinctively individual. Readers and writers alike can get into a rut so sometimes we need to branch out and expand to new areas of interest

If you're a reader, have you lost interest in books? Maybe changing genres can help. Do you read only historical romance? How about trying main stream or contemporary sweet romances? Tired of Science Fiction? Try inspirational for a change. Try new authors and new genres.

Branching out is good for all of us. Writers must branch out or risk becoming boring people and boring writers. We must move out of all comfort zone, write about characters that are different from us, use settings where we’ve never been.

We’ve always heard the advice to write what we know, but if that’s all we write about, we put ourselves at risk of not growing. Are you having writer’s block? Are you still looking for the inspiration you hoped to find from in this new year? Is looking at the world in the same old way keeping your creativity stagnant?

Yes, we have to stay true to ourselves, but let’s step out a little. Do you always write about a heroine who returns home after venturing out on her own? Maybe switch it around and use a heroine who realizes she must leave home to find her potential. How does she adapt to her new surroundings? Who does she let into her life?

Are your settings close to home? Writing about our hometown is easy and a great way for new writers to start, but again, move away from your comfort zone. Do research. Read about other parts of the world. Visit these places if it’s possible.

Readers and writers both must try something different for a change. You can always go back to what you originally liked, but who knows? There might be something else out there that opens your eyes.

The strong trunk of your personal tree never has to change. It develops and gets stronger, but basically stays the same. It’s those little branches that we can work on in 2017. Let them grow in different directions and maybe those branches will open up your potential for your new year in writing and in reading.

FRAN MCNABB writes sweet romances with some of them are set on her beloved Gulf Coast, but like the tree outside her window, she has branched out to other places for settings: W. Virginia, Key West, Texas, and South America. She has also stepped back into time with two historical romances. She’d love to hear from you at mcnabbf@bellsouth.net  or  check her out at www.FranMcNabb.com

Time Flies

by Fran McNabb

The dog days of summer are upon us. No, let me rephrase that. The dog days of summer have been with us for a couple of months. This has been a very hot summer. My husband and I sit out in the afternoon and evenings to enjoy the harbor activity or to enjoy the company of neighbors. This summer we’ve spent more and more afternoon inside in air conditioning.

Maybe the weather is hotter this year, or maybe we’re just getting older and the heat affects us more. The second explanation is probably the correct one. We are getting older and as we go from one year to the next, it seems the summers are hotter and the days are flying faster than they did in the years past.

My mom used to say that as we age, the years go faster. I never paid much attention to that—until now.

We had the privilege of having our five-year-old grandson at the beginning of the summer. His birthday is the last day of August which makes all the others in his class older than he is. One day out of the blue he looked at me with a sad-sack face. “McMama, I’ll never be six.” I started to tell him he was being silly, but then, I realized that for him time isn’t passing as fast as it is for me. Getting to be six is the biggest worry his little mind has right now, and to him, the three months ahead were endless.

Yes, time flies as we get older. We clutter our minds with family matters, financial worries, career problems and on and on and on. As I look back at a simpler time in our lives—when our greatest worry was as simple as a birthday—I realize that youth and simplicity was a state of bliss.

That six-year-old birthday party was celebrated early this year, and at the party I heard the little

fellow tell a friend, “I’m not six yet.” I didn’t say anything though I wanted to say that his real birthday would be here before he knew it, and before he could blink an eye he’d be an adult celebrating graduations, births, and anniversaries with his own family. I hope these future celebrations will be as anticipated and as wonderful as his “real six-year-old birthday.”

Yes, time does seem to fly, but I hope as adults we can still feel the innocent excitement we once felt in childhood.

 

FRAN MCNABB and her husband have two sons and two grandsons and have enjoyed watching these young men experience life as they mature. She writes sweet romances and loves including children in her books. Visit her at www.FranMcNabb.com or at mcnabbf@bellsouth.net.

Birds, Birdhouses, and Writing

By Fran McNabb

Classic and Cozy Blog is primarily a writers’ blog so when you read an entry, I’m sure you expect some reference to writing and books. My topic today is “Birds, Birdhouses, and Writing.” I really wanted to write about our martin birdhouse because after nine years of watching an empty house, we have martins! I’ll figure out a way to include writing.

Before Hurricane Katrina we always had martins in the old birdhouse that was positioned on our pier. We lost both the pier and the birdhouse in the storm so after we settled into our new house, my husband ordered a brand new, really cute birdhouse. We were so proud of it, but when martins came into the area, they flew to ours, checked it out, then went to our neighbor’s house where they laid their eggs and raised their little ones.

Year after year this happened. It finally got to be a joke in the neighborhood because our

sparkling clean house stood empty while our neighbor’s old, dilapidated house attracted the birds. Not so this year. When the martins came into the area, we held our breath as bird after bird checked out our house and actually returned. Today we have six or seven nesting birds. Why this year? Who knows? The wind did shift the house slightly. Maybe they didn’t like the direction before it turned. We’re not questioning the why. We’re simply enjoying their presence.

Now how do I connect this to writing? It’s easy. In the mornings I sit on my chaise lounge in the sun room not far from the martin house. For the last week I have loved, loved, loved the sound of chirping as I work on my manuscript. Their constant chatter makes me happy.

I love living on the bayou harbor especially in the spring when life returns and everything seems to be active. This year is even more wonderful because of those cute little birds and their happy songs. No matter where you live, I’m sure there are birds that liven up your spring. Listen to them and let their singing help you tap away at your keyboard.

Fran McNabb lives on the Gulf Coast and uses the coast setting in many of her light romances. Her publishing credits include eight light romances, two entries in non-fiction anthologies, and several magazine/newspaper articles. As a former English and journalism teacher, she loves giving writing workshops. Visit her at www.FranMcNabb.com  and mcnabbf@bellsouth.net

A Walk In the Past

By Fran McNabb 

Delving into the past is a great way to make sense of the present, to learn about the past, or to simply enjoy piecing together what people before us did. My husband and I did this recently when we traveled to his hometown to bury a former classmate. In our spare time, we visited some of the local cemeteries to find graves of my husband’s family. Because his hometown is a small city with many rural communities surrounding it, we were not even sure if we could locate the different cemeteries.

We first visited his hometown cemetery where his parents and one brother were buried. We put flowers there, then with only the name of small rural cemetery and directions from one of his friends, we headed out.

It was a gorgeous, crisp autumn day making our drive quite enjoyable. We drove down winding tree-lined lanes and into what seemed to me to be a long forgotten area of the world. Occasionally we came upon neat little homes with large, well-kept yards. It surprised me how people today could live away from towns, but as my husband says, “It would be a boring world if everyone liked the same thing.”

Finally, we came upon a little white church with a high steeple sitting next to a fence-in graveyard. 

We got out and started walking down the small rows of graves and were amazed to find a half row of tombstones with his family name on them. Some of these markers had been there for well over a hundred years. We found his grandfather’s headstone. As the story goes, his grandfather was killed by a family member while his grandfather was robbing the other man’s trot lines. He had been buried at the young age of 28 in 1922. The man, who supposedly killed him, lived to be 67 and was buried just a feet away. If the story is true, I guess in the early 1900’s, it was okay to shoot someone stealing from your trot lines.

We found graves of Civil War soldiers and of many, many babies. One man had four infant graves next to his with only the identifying words of Infant and the last name. The lack of medical advancement during those years was a harsh reality.  Even my mother-in-law had lost a baby at birth, and on the second day of our search, we visited a third cemetery and found a tiny little marker with his brother’s name on it.

Visiting cemeteries isn’t something my husband and I normally do, but the time we spent on that day was quite meaningful. As we drove away from all the cemeteries, my mind and my heart went out to the families of those people buried there. Sometimes we forgot our ancestors and the people we read about in history books were actual people who lived and breathed, suffered and rejoiced, loved and mourned just as we do today.

 If you have a little time sometimes, take a moment and walk through a cemetery near you. It’s amazing what you might learn.

Fran McNabb writes light romances and is waiting for her eighth book, KEEPING HOPE ALIVE, to be published by The Wild Rose Press. Visit her at www.FranMcNabb.com or at mcnabbf@bellsouth.net.

 

Feeling Naked - No Phone

by Fran McNabb

On my way to a doctor’s appointment this morning, I realized I’d forgotten my cell phone. No

big deal, right? Wrong. I wasn’t going far, just a couple of miles, but I felt vulnerable, and yes, naked.

 

What would I do if I had car trouble? Flat tire? A wreck? What if I stopped at the grocery store on my way home? How would I call my husband to see if he’d thought of something else we needed?

My mind spun. I felt alone. I thought about going back to the house to get the phone, but I didn’t want to be late so I moved along with the slow flow of traffic. I arrived at the doctor’s office a few minutes early, checked in, then took my seat along with the four other people waiting for their names to be called.

 

The first thing I did was to reach into my purse for my phone, but alas, I remembered I didn’t have it with me. I looked at the others in the lobby, but no one acknowledged me. How could they? All of them had their heads down looking at their cell phones.

 

I wanted to giggle. This little waiting room wasn’t just a doctor’s lobby. It was a tiny slice of the world around us, made up of people living and working alongside of others, but most of the time isolating themselves from the masses around them.

 We’ve become a nation dependent on technology. The cell phone is just one of the pieces of technology that has become a necessary part of our lives. Is that a bad thing? Certainly not. I could write for pages about how the phone has made our lives easier, but not today. Today as I think about the waiting room, I wonder how many lives we’ve neglected to see around us because we were so engrossed in our emails, texts, and internet.

 When the nurse called my name, I picked up my purse, smiled to the young man who actually looked up when I stood. I realized if I had had my phone, I would’ve been just like them—isolated and much too involved in a tiny piece of technology to see those around me.

After my appointment, I didn’t stop at the store. I rushed home and the first thing I did was to locate my phone. I didn’t like feeling naked. I wanted to feel connected.

Fran McNabb and her husband live along the Gulf Coast where they raised their two sons. She has used the beaches, islands, and waterways in this area for many of her seven published books. When she and her husband are not boating or fishing, she loves presenting writing workshops. Visit her at www.FranMcNabb.com and mcnabbf@bellsouth.net.

Never too Late by Fran McNabb

 

            Springtime is a time of renewal and change. If you’ve been thinking about doing something

different, maybe this is the time to start.

            Maybe your job is at a dead end. Maybe you’d like to play a musical instrument or take art lessons. Maybe you have an idea for a book or a song. Whatever it is that you’d like to do, sometimes taking the first step is the hardest especially when you are aware that time is not on your side.

            But don’t give up hope. I am living proof that it’s never too late to take on a dream or even to reinvent your dreams!

            Right now I call myself an author, but that’s not how it always was. I wrote for years before I saw the fruits of my works published. I started writing in the 1980’s, got a few rejections, thought I was being silly to think I could get published, and put the dream of publication back in the far corner of my life—but I never stopped writing. If you’re a writer, you write. It’s that simple. I wrote, played around with stories, and one day I realized I had quite a few manuscripts in different stages of completion. One day, I told myself, I’ll do something with all of them.

           That day came earlier than I anticipated. Before I was ready, I had to take a medical retirement from teaching. Boredom immediately set in. One day I pulled out those boxes of old manuscripts (I didn’t own a computer then) and the writing bug bit me once again. I joined an RWA chapter, attended as many conferences and workshops as possible, and I eventually had my dream come true.  It was one day before my 58^th birthday that I received The Call.

Fifty-eight years old might seem ancient to those who are younger, but I think age depends on attitude. If you’re young enough to dream a dream, then you’re young enough to try to discover it. If you’re willing to do the work learning how something is done, then the world is open to you.

            I will have my seventh book published at the end of next month, and when it comes out I will smile and pat myself on the back because I didn’t lie down and quit when I had to find a new life. I’m enjoying my time in the publishing world, just as you can enjoy your time doing whatever it is you might want to do.

Even if you're not a "spring chicken," your dream can still come true because it's never too late to start fresh.

Fran McNabb taught high school English until she had to take an early medical retirement. Now she spends her time writing, reading, and enjoying the time she and her husband spend on the water. Her seventh book, SAVING THE CHILDREN, will be released on April 29. Visit her at  mcnabbf@bellsouth.net  or at www.FranMcNabb.com.