by Debra Clopton
I’m so glad to be here on Inkwell Inspirations today! Thank you ladies for having me here to talk a little about my June 18 release from Thomas Nelson Publishers A BRIDE FOR ALL SEASONS with the wonderful Margaret Brownley, Mary Connealy and Robin Lee Hatcher. What a fun and wonderful experience it was to work with these authors and Thomas Nelson.
Anita Mae invited me here to share an inspiration about my story in the book AN EVER AFTER SUMMER (my first historical). So, here goes...
One of my favorite quotes comes from the movie You’ve Got Mail with Meg Ryan. I loved the role of Kathleen Kelly (played by Meg Ryan) because she lived the quote. Kathleen was facing a life changing moment, the closing of the bookstore that had been her life and that of her mother's. Her longtime friend, Birdie, played by the fantastic Jean Stapleton, told her not to be afraid. “You are daring to imagine that you can have a different life…you are stepping out into the unknown.” (I’m not certain if that’s completely quoted correctly but its close) I LOVED that!
I’ve been in Kathleen’s shoes and stepped out with God at my side and dared to dream that I could become a writer. Life can be scary sometimes—much of the time actually—but I think that’s how we grow in our faith and in our personal lives by stretching ourselves. I’ve never been one who was afraid to fail, as the Bible says: If God is with us who can be against us! But still there is that worry: am I doing the right thing?
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Ellie, my character, lived a life without love. Her story : A born killer, Melvina Eldora Smith killed 3 people by the age of one: her mother at birth, her father of a broken heart and poor uncle Mutt outside a bar with a runaway buggy! When this hook came to me I knew a cute story would follow. Melvina—Ellie for short—is sooo lacking in love that when she sees an ad from a widower looking for someone to love and raise his baby girl—whose mother died in childbirth like her own did, Ellie knows she’s stepping out and changing her life. Good, bad or ugly she’s hitting the road, stagecoach bound for Honey Springs Texas. Little does she know that she is not exactly what Mathew McConnell had in mind when he placed his ad!
As you see Ellie is drawn to step out on faith and yes—to dare to imagine that she can have a different life…to step out into the unknown seeking that new life. And Ellie does it because if all else fails, there is an innocent baby girl on which she can lavish all the pent up love she has inside of her to give. Like Ellie, I believed in possibilities and years ago took that step and wrote my first book. Of course it took 13 years to finally sell my first story but God had put that desire in my heart and through rejection after rejection I pushed forward. One, for the joy writing brought me and two, I believed that God had a plan. And He did and it came in His timing…not mine. It taught me patience (Lots of patience!) and God’s wonderful, amazing faithfulness.
So, is there a character from a movie or a novel that inspires you or you would like to be?
I’d love to hear about it. If you leave a comment with your email address I'll enter you in a drawing for a copy of Her Rodeo Cowboy, Book 1 of my Mule Hollow Homecoming series. The drawing will be held Wed, June 26th, at 11:59 pm.
Join me for a blog tour and Facebook week of fun with prizes July 12-23rd, then FB party on the evening of the 23rd.
Also, check out my contest page at http://debraclopton.com and FB http://www.facebook.com/debra.clopton.5
Thanks so much for having me here on the blog for Inkwell Inspirations. I hope you’ll check out A BRIDE FOR ALL SEASONS.
