Five Fun Flower Facts

 

Bert Goose, a secondary character and expert gardener in my newly released novel THE FLOWER GIRLS, enjoys feeding Daisy O’Reilly intriguing flower facts.

I thought I’d share a few fun flower facts with you today.

 

Tulip bulbs were more valuable than gold in Holland in the 1600s.

Sunflowers move throughout the day in response to the movement of the sun from east to west.

The English name of dandelion is derived from the French dent de lion which means “lions tooth” due to it coarsely toothed leaves. Its flower petals are used in making dandelion wine while its roasted roots are used as a caffeine free dandelion coffee.

The Underground Orchid lives entirely underground! Unlike other plants, this unique orchid cannot use sunlight to obtain its energy, and instead gets its food from the decaying stumps of another plant, the broom honey myrtle. The orchid attaches to the roots of the broom honey myrtle through a special kind of fungus that is believed to be essential to the orchid’s survival.

And as we learned recently, lilies are poisonous to dogs. Trip to the vet & $100+ later and thankfully all is fine with our Panda pup. She got into the irises, which can cause stomach trouble, but not to the same extent as lilies.

Have any fun flower facts to share?

*Fetched info. from here, here & here

**Keep an eye out for my Countdown to Summer FlowerGirls Giveaway on Goodreads!

***Don’t forget to post a picture of your copy of THE FLOWER GIRLS next to blossoming flowers that catch your eye to social networking sites. Here’s the latest one I’ve seen. Sarah Blake’s copy. Gorgeous!

Love is the Flower

My first full-length novel, THE FLOWER GIRLS released yesterday. A toast to all things that grow!

 

Hey, here’s an idea…

What a blast we could have posting pictures of my book cover (Kindle & iPad work too) next to burgeoning flowers and posting them around the web! When you receive your copy of my book I’d love you to capture the moment by taking a picture of my book with your favorite flowers. Send the picture my way to post or start posting it on social media sites yourself!

Let’s decorate the web with flowers!!!

 

*Here is the Pinterest board dedicated to my book!

**Stay tuned for an announcement regarding a June 2^nd Facebook virtual launch party.

 

 

A fun song called "Flower Flower"

 

~*~

 

 

Love is the flower you've got to let grow.
John Lennon

 

And 'tis my faith, that every flower
Enjoys the air it breathes.
William Wordsworth
Lines Written in Early Spring.

Shapeshifting Our Truths

 

survivor guilt - a deep feeling of guilt often experienced by those who have survived some catastrophe that took the lives of many others; derives in part from a feeling that they did not do enough to save the others who perished and in part from feelings of being unworthy relative to those who died (as defined by The Free Dictionary)

 

My older sister is still alive, but I’ve wrestled with aspects of survivor guilt ever since I was thirteen. You see, I was thirteen when my parents sat me down in our living room and told me the CT scan of my sister’s brain revealed a cancerous, malignant tumor. In that splice of time something burrowed into me. A question that would fester and pervade—why her and not me? How could she be saved?

To complicate my already knotted emotions, my older sister had also taken quite a liking to LSD and cocaine around the time her tumor was discovered. She’d been diagnosed mentally ill to boot. A trifecta of convoluted things for me to feel guilty about. To wrestle with.

While other sixth graders spent their weekends at sleepovers talking about boys, I spent mine driving an hour to see my sister in rehab. Racking up some real QT hours with the fam as I learned that “it works if you work it” and that I had the wisdom to know the difference between the things I could and could not change. Though we were all beginning to quickly understand there’d be no changing my sister, my family had adopted the charge to do everything in our power to save her. Of course we knew you couldn’t save someone who didn’t want to be saved. But ask anyone witnessing a loved one spirally down fast. There’s the constant temptation to reach down into the pit until your whole body threatens to lose footing and fall in.

You might be wondering, Wendy, why are you writing about this? Isn’t your book, THE FLOWER GIRLS releasing in a week? You should be ecstatic about the responses and pumped for us to read it.

I am. And here’s why. There’s a very vulnerable piece of me laced into the fabric of this work. I have a tendency to show up in both O’Reilly sisters, Poppy and Daisy.

In THE FLOWER GIRLS, Daisy has lived with a cognitive disorder since childhood, causing her to be socially awkward and hyper-dependent on her sister Poppy. While Poppy is over trying to “save” her sister.

~*~

Authors have a sneaky way of shapeshifting our truths, our encounters with brokenness onto the page. I can attest to doing just that in THE FLOWER GIRLS, releasing in less than a week.

I hope you get as much out of reading it as I did writing it!

“Fiction is about everything human and we are made out of dust, and if you scorn getting yourself dusty, then you shouldn't try to write fiction. It's not a grand enough job for you.” ~ Flannery O’Connor

“A good story is always more dazzling than a broken piece of truth.” ~ Diane Setterfield, The Thirteenth Tale

*Early endorsements for THE FLOWER GIRLS, RELEASING TUESDAY, MAY 20^TH!

Ten Reasons Why I Am a Fan of Book Clubs

Earlier this week I was presented with thoughtful gifts from members of a book club I helped to create at a local coffee shop.  The group had such a positive experience they wanted to say thank you. Reflecting on this, I realized the incredible benefits of being involved in a book club. I can certainly speak to this as a member of three.

Needless to say, I’m a fan of book clubs.

And I’m about to tell you why.

Book clubs . . .

Encourage Reading

Several members of the book clubs I attend likely wouldn’t take the time to read were it not for a selected book and a scheduled meeting date. Book clubs offer a degree of accountability and a reason for carving out the time to read (not like I’d ever need a reason for that).

Incite The “Get Real” Factor

Not many environments lend themselves to the type of connectivity that can occur while comfortably seated in a living room, snacking on delicious cheeses, brain buzzing with thoughts about the chosen novel. Conversation slides into the vulnerable, the relatable, and the “real” when the tough questions come out to play. It’s a joy to watch this kind of exchange take off.

Reinstate the True Meaning of Social

You can do everything online these days. It’s refreshing and rejuvenating to meet face-to-face. Nothing like matching laughs with another or nodding profusely when you both agree on the same point. I’m also a firm believer that high-fives will never be uncool.

Allow Unlikely, But Strong Bonds to Develop

Initial conversations, through time, can blossom into rich friendships.

Stir Up Stimulating Conversations

“Mom, where are my cleats?” “Honey, why is the dog food in the toilet?” “Will you volunteer?” “The payment is due in less than a week.”

During most of the day we listen to an audio track of requests, needs, pleading, and demands. Book clubs have a way of tunneling into those long lost crevices in our minds that remind us on occasion we at one point were able to think clearly, we enjoyed presenting a sound, coherent thought that might actually make sense to someone.

Know what’s really cool?

When someone flings a coherent thought back at us and this little thing called conversation ignites.

Grant More Understanding

I have my own personal test groups. In my book clubs I get to constantly be privy to what readers feel works and doesn’t work in books. As an author I take mental notes. I also delight in hearing what kinds of characters gel or repel.

Offer a Glimpse of What’s Been Done

Because I’m reading so much I’m able to see what’s out there. What’s been done before. What’s considered new and innovative. This is incredibly helpful when it comes time for me to plot my novels.

Are Ideal for Sharing Ideas

Not only have I benefited from the collective wisdom present at book clubs, I’ve seen other women launch business ideas by bouncing them off group members. Book clubs are inherent focus groups. And more times than not, it’s not necessary to spill details. Facial expressions and questions serve as excellent indicators whether or not you’re on the right track.

Spark Creativity

Decorative ideas, appetizers served, specific questions asked. Book club night is the exact time to let your imagination run wild. Authors are incorporating more and more “Enhance Your Book Club” sections in their books (take note, I’ve done this with both of mine) because we know how fun it is to play.

Eat, Drink, & Be Merry

I’ve learned stellar wine choices, intriguing foods to pair up, and the name of a cheese I’m now obsessed with (Toscano) thanks to my book clubs. Topping off the enriching conversations, the bonds that quickly form is the thrill of sampling new foods & drink. Now that’s what I call an evening out.

Brain stimulated. Happy belly. Life changed.

Cheers to book clubs everywhere!

 

*Please contact me if your book club would like to discuss my soon to be released book, THE FLOWER GIRLS. I’d love to be a part of the event. (Excited to announce CA is on the board for my Key Book Clubs from Coast to Coast Contest)

**Here’s my board “BookClub Brainwave” on Pinterest

***Thrilled to be featured at Julie’s place today sharing about motherhood & writing!

 

 

 

A Brief Introduction To . . . The Flower Girls

My novel, The Flower Girls, is releasing in just a few weeks! I thought this would be a good time to share a little more about it . . .

 

Imagine staring into the face of a loved one with no recollection of who they are. Every person a stranger. Daisy O’Reilly's inability to recognize faces, a cognitive disorder resulting from a childhood accident, causes her to rely heavily upon her twin sister, Poppy. Perhaps too much so.

Overwhelmed by Daisy’s needs, Poppy anticipates the freedom her upcoming wedding will bring—a chance to relinquish her obsessive worries about Daisy and escape the clutches of guilt from one hazy day when the girls were seven. When they were still invincible. 

With a thriving floral photography career but a floundering love life, Daisy questions how strong she will be on her own. And who she might become without Poppy living down the hall or offering a deluge of reminders during each social interaction. 

But for the O’Reilly sisters to properly let go, they must first understand what they’re holding on to.

 

 

Can’t wait for you to get your hands on this one! If you are a member of a book club & you’re interested in reading The Flower Girls, please contact me & I’ll make every effort to be as much a part of the conversation as your group would like.

*I’ve had a blast visiting over a dozen local book clubs, discussing my novella, The Disappearing Key.

 

Your House as a Book

Whew, done with line edits for The Flower Girls.

Thought I’d have a little fun today to celebrate.

If your house was the title of a book, what would it be called?

My house would be named The House of Unfinished Projects.

 

*Congratulations to Diana! I’ll be sending you a copy of Michelle DeRusha’s fabulous book, SPIRITUAL MISFIT. Please email your mailing address. (My contact email is located on the sidebar.)

 

Michelle DeRusha Gets Real

Want to know the name of one my favorite nonfiction books? I’m not only going to give you the name of the book, I’m hooking you up with my interview with the author today.

Michelle DeRusha & SPIRITUAL MISFIT...

 

Wendy: As a native New Englander I could relate with your apprehension about moving to the Midwest. We’ve moved all over the country, but settled down in Ohio for several years. I thoroughly enjoyed reading about your transition to Nebraska. I loved the line, “In New England…God was not discussed over coffee and blueberry muffins.” What do you think it would be like if you moved back to New England? You mention how much a place can define us. Do you still feel as though you’re partially defined by your New England roots?

Michelle: I am definitely still defined by my New England heritage and by my Catholic roots as well. Once a Catholic New Englander, always a Catholic New Englander, apparently! In all seriousness, though, when I visit Massachusetts, it still feels like my true home, mainly because my whole extended family is there. I’ve realized that’s the key for me: home isn’t so much a place as it is a people.

That said, I’m sure I also romanticize and sentimentalize New England because I don’t live there anymore. Truthfully, there are plenty of aspects I notice now when I visit that don’t appeal to me: like the wild, tailgating drivers (including my own mother!), the frenetic pace and the “keeping up with the Jones” mentality that seems a little more prevalent there than here in Nebraska.

Now that I am more spiritually grounded it would be interesting to see how I would navigate faith and religion in Massachusetts if we were to move back. I suspect, even though religion is a little less overt in New England, that I would eventually find my niche there, too.

Wendy:  One of my favorite lines is “I’m beginning to think he gives us these ordinary miracles, these small blessings, these ‘Why not?’ moments in the midst of the everyday instead, so we will learn to open our eyes and see him not just in the wild, over-the-top, media-worthy miracles, but in the hundreds of everyday miracles as well.”

In Spiritual Misfit you detail a wonderful encounter with a Klee Klee. Could you explain the significance of that encounter and why you included it in your book?

Michelle:  Oh my word, I love the Klee Klee story, and it’s about a bug, for heaven’s sake! That experience in the garden was an “ah-ha” instant for me. It was as if everything dialed back into slow-motion, and I was suddenly aware that beautiful, albeit tiny, miracles were unfolding almost every moment of every day.

I included that story in the book because it was a spiritual turning point for me. I’d always yearned for the big, splashy miracle – the road-to-Damascus experience, the lightning strike moment. The whole time I was waiting for the grandiose, I’d missed the thousands of miracles taking place every day in my very own life. The day I sat on the curb and watched, mesmerized, as Klee Klee the bug crawled daintily over Rowan’s shirt, I realized I’d missed the big picture all along.

Wendy: I love how your book isn’t a three-step guide to faith. Instead, you are raw and real about how your understanding of God manifested as John Wesley describes a “heart strangely warmed.” This is so freeing, to be reminded there is no one size fits all type of faith out there. As a fellow “wrestler” I’m grateful for your candid account of warming to God. Gary Thomas wrote a book called SACRED PATHWAYS that really spoke to me about how we can all receive God quite differently. Some best through music, interaction with others, Bible reading, nature…the list goes on. When do you feel your heart is warmest to God?  

Michelle: I am most connected to God outdoors in nature. Whenever I feel spiritually disconnected or dry, I try to make a point to step outside, even for just a few minutes, and even if it’s only into my own backyard or neighborhood. Sometimes I take my camera, because snapping photos encourages me to hunker down and get close to creation, and that helps me feel God’s presence in a real, palpable way. That’s also why I prefer to run outdoors instead of indoors on a treadmill. I don’t even wear headphones, because I like to listen to the bird calls and hear myself think. 

I feel like the “right answer” to your question should be that I receive God most clearly through Scripture, and while that’s true a lot of the time, there are also times when I feel restless or even agitated when reading the Bible. Stepping into the outdoors, on the other hand, nearly always offers me a connection to God.

Wendy: You conclude your book confessing how you often still feel like a spiritual misfit. Then you remind us that “Jesus chose the outcasts and loved the misfits.” Why do you think this is so difficult for our current culture to perceive—or for any culture to perceive for that matter? What is the most pressing message you want readers to “get” from your book?

Michelle: Our culture emphasizes success, achievement and ambition, but Jesus emphasized the exact opposite. He was all about downward mobility, but because we face a constant barrage of messages that insist on the opposite, it’s difficult for us to understand, accept and live out “less is more” in our own lives.

I, think, too, that misfits – whether spiritual misfits, social misfits or any “other” for that matter – make us uncomfortable. They don’t fit into the comfortable boxes we have established for ourselves; they threaten us with their differentness.

As for the message, I hope readers finish this book realizing that faith and doubt can indeed co-exist, that questions can remain unanswered and that faith doesn’t have to be all wrapped up nice and neat and tied with a shiny, red ribbon. I want readers to know that faith is messy and that messy is okay.    

~

Thanks Michelle for answering each question with such thought and attention! I loved your openness to my asking them. And I am a huge fan of your book. I know it will impact many.

My review of SPIRITUAL MISFIT:

I’ve never encountered a book with such an insightful blend of humor and poignancy. I’ve been waiting to read DeRusha’s work in print for years. SPIRITUAL MISFIT exceeded my expectations. By tackling probing questions like can doubt and faith coexist, DeRusha writes a necessary book with a brave and witty voice that is sure to engage many wrestling and “misfit” souls.

I’ve been enthusiastically recommending SPIRITUAL MISFIT to friends and family. I’m eager to read more from DeRusha!

***

What are you waiting for? Go buy it.

*I almost forgot (actually, I did forget & I came back and edited this...life is a bit crazy) I have a copy of SPIRITUAL MISFIT to give away. Comment for a chance to win your own copy!