COVID*19

FEEL GOOD FRIDAYS: Debbie Dadey

Donna L

Debbie quote

 

(Editor’s Note…If you’re like me, adjusting to a new, COVID-19 world is a bit stressful. Everywhere you look…radio, TV, newspapers, and even the internet…are stories of the latest stats from around the world. Hospitalizations. Unemployment. Social distancing. How do we keep our sanity in the middle of all the craziness? 

BY STAYING CONNECTED WHILE STAYING SIX FEET APART

For the next several weeks, many of my writerly friends will be virtually dropping by to inspire, uplift, and make us laugh as we look for reminders that even the scariest of times do not last forever. I hope you enjoy this FEEL GOOD FRIDAYS series. If you want to know more about me, Donna L Martin, or my books, check out my Story Catcher Publishing website at www.storycatcherpublishing.com)

 

Pandemic Swing

By Debbie Dadey

 

I spent a lot of time on my swing when I was a kid. It wasn’t a fancy wooden one like you seen in the backyards of MacMansions today. It was red metal with a painted wooden frame my daddy had attached to the bottom. The frame was supposed to keep it from rising off the ground or turning over. It didn’t work. We never turned over completely, but we did lift the frame off the ground almost every day. We would swing for hours. Sometimes I’d sing or sometimes I’d talk with my brothers or friends. The wooden frame made a seat for me to tell all my troubles to my dog, Spike.

On a really good day, our neighbor, Dougie, would come over. He would stand in front, on the frame stage, and give us a comedy show that was better than the Brady Bunch. It didn’t matter if I’d flunked a spelling test or I was in trouble with my mom, the entertainer would help me forget it all.

I realize I’ve been on a pandemic swing lately. Perhaps you have as well. My frame has been wobbling up and down, making me nervous the whole thing will tip over. I admit I’ve been singing around the house perhaps more than usual. On Easter morning, I stood on my porch looking at the sunrise and sang, “Jesus Christ is Risen Today!” at the top of my lungs. Not sure what my neighbors thought about that.

I’ve also called and texted my family and friends more than usual, just to make sure they aren’t sick. It’s comforting to face similar problems, like neurotic hand washing, with someone else. It’s not the same as sitting side by side on a swing set, but it’s still a comradery that’s soothing. My dog has even suffered through some teary talks and came out wagging her tail.

But mostly, what has helped me to keep moving has been entertainment. My husband and I have been watching a movie a night, when we would normally watch one a week at the most. I am averaging a book a day, when usually one might last me a week. I tried reading classics, but I needed comfort fiction, which for me is Christian Historical Romance. I needed books I enjoyed and swept me away like an old Calgon bath commercial. After all these years, I still needed the diversion of the arts to take me away from the troubles of the day. I keep my regular ‘work at home schedule’, but I make allowances for ‘comfort time,” because we must be kind to ourselves as we face this pandemic swing. We will not tip over, but soar on.  

 

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Debbie book

 

Pearl needs her merfriends’ help when she’s named Winter Princess and finds out she’s going to be a big sister in this sparkling Mermaid Tales adventure.

Pearl is over the moon when she gets the fin-tastic news that she’s been picked to be the next Winter Princess! She can’t help gushing to Shelly, Kiki, and Echo about the beautiful dress she’ll get to wear and how all eyes will be on her when she makes her big speech at the Winter Festival. She can’t wait to tell her parents!

But her parents have some news of their own…Pearl is going to be a big sister! They’re adopting a baby boy, and he’ll be coming home with them right around the time of the Winter Festival. Suddenly, instead of glittering gowns and princess tiaras, Pearl has to talk about new cradles and baby toys. How can her new brother be stealing all of her parents’ attention before he’s even here?

Can Pearl convince her parents that a messy, noisy baby is the last thing they need? Or will she discover she’s more suited to being a big sister than she thought?

Available on Amazon and other online retailers.

 

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Debbie picture

 

Debbie Dadey is the author and co-author of 176 traditionally published books, including the upcoming Mermaid Tales book, The Winter Princess. It is available for pre-order before the July release (pushed back because of the pandemic). Debbie is working to help homeschooling needs by providing content on her website and with a YouTube live reading every Friday at 2:00 Eastern through the end of May, which will be available on her YouTube channel afterwards. During National Library Week, Debbie will read aloud an entire book, Marty the Mudwrester, on FacebookLive at 9:00 Eastern, which will be available afterwards in her Facebook library. Find out more about Debbie on debbiedadey.com, Facebook.com/debbiedadey, Twitter.com/debbiedadey, or youtube.com/debbiedadey

TALES FROM THE BAYOU: The “New” Normal

Donna L

 

normal

 

Before I started writing stories in my youth, I wrote poetry. Some of my poems were good. Many of them were not. But they all served a purpose. It gave me a way to express my feelings when the world around me stopped feeling normal.

Since nothing these days seem very “normal” to me, I thought I would change things up a little with my TALES FROM THE BAYOU post. I’m sharing two poems with you this week. “Carry On” was written when I was twenty years old. I wrote it for a friend of mine at the time who lost his younger brother to a sudden heart attack while he was playing touch football. For my friend, his “normal” changed that day as he struggled to come to terms with his “new” normal.

The other poem, “The New Normal”, came to me last night in my dreams. When I woke up this morning, the first two lines played over and over in my mind until I had to write them down. It reflects how I’m feeling right now as I struggle to adjust to my own “new” normal.

Maybe one day this “new” normal we are all dealing with will become old again.

 

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CARRY ON

 

When the clouds turn grey

And the path seems long,

When your will to fight

Doesn’t seem that strong,

When the world turns away

And you feel like you don’t belong;

Just  keep your head up…carry on.

 

When the turn of the card

Doesn’t come your way,

When you want to give up

At the end of the day,

When friends start to leave

Though you wish they would stay’;

Just keep your head up…carry on.

 

When the night draws near

And darkness will find you,

When you feel all lost

And don’t know what to do,

When something brings pain

And you discover others hurt, too;

Just keep your head up…carry on.

 

When you lose someone you love

And you have to say goodbye,

When the truth begins to hurt

And you start wondering why,

When you know it’ll get better

Yet still feel the need to cry;

Just keep your head up…carry on.

 

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THE NEW NORMAL

 

Where I once lived, flowers grew,

Among the rocks and grassy dew,

There, families hugged

And laughed

And loved,

Living the only “normal” they knew.

 

But now the world seems so tilted,

With dreams on pause and lives all stilted,

Where some will cry

And mourn,

Ask why?

Towering faith suddenly wilted.

 

Yet sounds of nature are still there.

Songs of life still in the air.

Where families still hug

And laugh

And love.

This “new” normal where people still care.

 

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HM Hunting Gris-Gris Epub cover

 

HISTORY’S MYSTERIES: Hunting Gris-Gris

Eleven-year-old Emma misses her father who’s serving in Europe during World War II. He left behind a treasure box with six secret compartments to be opened during her birthday week. He also told her to watch out for the gris-gris while he was gone. Looking out for swamp creatures and dealing with wartime rationing was hard enough, but now there’s a British refugee coming to stay at the house! How will Emma enjoy her birthday and keep her decision to hunt for the gris-gris a secret with a stranger hanging around?

NOW AVAILABLE IN EBOOK, PAPERBACK & HARDBACK ON AMAZON, BARNES & NOBLE, BOOKS A MILLION, AND OTHER FINE RETAILERS!

 

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donna - Copy

 

Best selling, award-winning author, Donna L Martin, has been writing since she was eight years old. She is a 4th Degree Black Belt in TaeKwonDo by day and a ‘ninja’ writer of children’s picture books, chapter books, young adult novels and inspirational essays by night. Donna is a BOOK NOOK REVIEWS host providing the latest book reviews on all genres of children’s books, and the host of WRITERLY WISDOM, a resource series for writers. Donna is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators and Children’s Book Insider. She is a lover of dark chocolate, going to the beach and adding to her growing book collection. Donna’s latest chapter book series is called HISTORY’S MYSTERIES. Book three, Hunting Gris-Gris, is now available in ebook, paperbook & hardback everywhere!