One And A Half More Pages on the Book for Editing and Picasso Pumpkin

One And A Half More Pages on the Book for Editing

Light Within Cobblestones is just about ready for market. This has been a long and arduous journey but it has also been a joy to be the driver in this writing space. I have been blessed with some mighty great professionals. Dr. Terri Pixlee, Tina Bjorklund as well and my husband and some serious techno wizardry by Ray Boston. I think of all the things I have learned in the last years and finally I am about to be able to say, I have done a good thing for God, through God's leading. Just about a week from now the book will be available for purchase. I am actually getting a tiny bit excited.

Slow but steady wins the race, we are waiting for one and a half more pages.

~~~~~Life Before The Woods~~~~~

Life With Cecile

Picasso Pumpkin

We used to own a lovely gallery. We were not in the habit of conforming to a ton of holiday decorations, it deterred from the art so we limited ourselves to a small statement.  Each year we would in a minimalistic way put something on the front counter that indicated the season that was being celebrated. The only big celebration we made was at Christmas and that was confined to the window. Some people thought we were being PC but we weren’t. All we were doing was keeping the focus on the art and the artists in the gallery.

One year I sent my husband out to get a tiny little pumpkin. I drew a Picasso style stick face on it and propped it on the counter for Halloween. Amazingly enough we got requests for drawing other faces on customer’s tiny pumpkins brought in just because they too wanted an artsy pumpkin.  We were drawing (Ooo pun) so much attention we dubbed the pumpkin Picasso Pumpkin.

This went on for several weeks. We would refer to Picasso Pumpkin for treats in the nature of small percentages off on sales. We would ask Picasso Pumpkin if he liked the customer. It was good fun, it was funny and we got used to referring to the pumpkin when we invited people to come down to the gallery and visit.

This is where things went a bit awry with my husband. Unbeknownst to me; I had not hear him say it when I was in the gallery, my husband had begun to refer to the pumpkin with a different name. He got into this habit very quickly. No one had pointed out its possible offence. I was oblivious that it was a potential problem and could not warn him. So merrily my dear husband continued to refer to Picasso Pumpkin with this other nick name. My husband had not been on his day job very long and he was always bringing home interesting stories about his day.

The day came when my husband came to the gallery after he got off work. He had a very sheepish look on his face when he announced he had invited the head of human relations down to the gallery. He had been in her office and the subject of my job had come up and he had explained to her we owned a gallery and it was my job to run the business.

I was very pleased with his invitation to his co-worker but curious about why he seemed so embarrassed. 

“Well” he said, when I was in her office without thinking about what I was saying I invited her to come down to the gallery and meet Mr. P.P.

My mouth fell open.

He continued to explain to me. She of course blurted out, “Michael!?! “I had to explain who Mr. P.P was.”

Of course, the laughter welled up inside starting from deep in my belly.

My husband would never on purpose go out of his way to offend someone. However, he does stick his foot in his mouth once in a blue moon.

I laughed and laughed, and then laughed some more.

Now every Halloween when we wander through a store that carries these tiny pumpkins for sale we laugh uproariously.

Whenever I remember this, it also reminds me that we do things and say things often in an innocent manner that offend others. As much as this story is funny, it also is important to remember who we are standing in front of. Are our words equal to our hearts?

I stay stuff, I say all kinds of stuff. The way my brain works gives me the ability to see a different side of just about everything, most often I can see the funny side of any situation. Sometimes I should not open my mouth and repeat the things I think, and yet I do because I love to laugh and make other people laugh as well.  I forget often that the things I say might not give the same impression as my heart.

I was reminded of this when recently I mentioned Light Within Cobblestones to someone who had only heard me say stuff. They were actually shocked that I write Christian material. It was a serious aide-mémoire to my watching my mouth. We don’t know who is listening or reading, if we did we would consider what we are saying and writing each time we open our mouths. People hear what they want to hear, even if what you say is said in innocence.  

This last Sunday at the little church I have returned to after so many years, Pastor Brian Handcock’s theme was based on this question, Are You A Christian? The sermon based in the verses in James in the Bible. (Go ahead, look it up, tactile searching brings good learning) The sermon was about how we reflect the Christian condition of our hearts and lives.

Each time I walk through the door of the sanctuary it seems God has provided a message intended to speak to me through the Pastor. His message brought through this particular Pastor, always pokes me in the heart. That is a good thing in a pastor, the delivery system. If you need some down to earth preaching, consider this church if you live in Spokane.

Oh, but don’t tell anyone, Pastor Brian gives good raspberries on the foolish nonsense going on in this world.

I told you I say stuff.

4213 W Garden Springs Rd

Spokane WA 99219

(509)723-1123                              

​LSPastorbrian@gmail.com

http://www.lifesprings.biz/

I am a Christian, but obviously I still need some work. So it is back to the practicing.

Cecile Grace Charles, author.

Light Within Cobblestones 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45TRaSAsnUk

Dinner With Cecile And William, a cookbook 

http://www.amazon.com/Dinner-Cecile-William-A-Cookbook/dp/1434445267

Light Within Cobblestones Is Almost Ready and a Story About Boots

    The Journey to Light Within Cobblestones

We are so close to seeing Light Within Cobblestones come to fruition. It has been years of lessons, life and stumbling blocks. I have learned who the devil is as well as finding Christ in everything I now do.

     Diamonds In The Dirt the second in the Walk With The Lord Series is coming faster for some reason. Most likely it is because the lessons have sunk in rather well and I now know how to write a book.

     Book writing is completely different than blogging. For one thing, I don't use an editor when I blog and sometimes this translates into less than perfect grammar. I leave it alone because I am not perfect when it comes to English grammar. In fact I'm not perfect and old enough to realize, not being perfect is perfectly all right.

     The purpose of blogging it to get a short quick message out and entertain or educate in short spurts. It is also a good medium for advertising if you understand the type of advertising is best used on a blog forum. Relationship advertising is where you gain followers that like what you say. It is simply a vehicle for letting people who like what you write stick around and peek in for a quick virtual listen.

     In Light Within Cobblestones, I have used symbolic commentary combined with pretty pictures which tell a story through a garden vernacular. But the book is serious. Certainly it is frosted over with a lot of pretty but you will need to sit quietly and focus on the intricate style I have used to write the book.

     However, I don't lay claim to the messages within. The book is inspired by God, the words are His. He just made me, trained me, and then said, "I have given you the skills now do this for me. This is your purpose Cecile and it is time to get on with the job I have given to you."

     So, when it comes out, please consider both reading Light Within Cobblestones, as well as posting a review. I believe wholeheartedly in what God asked me to write. I think you will find it is all wrapped up in a pretty package, for this is how God is using the gifts he gave me,  but the message is straight from God.

When Diamond's In The Dirt comes out, you will find it filled with a bit more homespun, for it is the end journey to getting Light Within Cobblestones finished as well as changing our lives in the process to what God intended us to have in the first place. Diamonds In The Dirt is written in a slightly different style.

Anyway, there is a bit of advertising for you.

God Bless,

Cecile

~~~~~~~~~~Life In The Woods #031 City Boots~~~~~~~~~~

Sidewise I eyed the window that held the boots I had been coveting for several weeks. Every time I came to town I drove over to the storefront to walk by the window. Outside of my budget still I wanted them. They really were not something useful in my life they were merely foot candy.  In my mind I kept making up reasons why I should have them no matter what. They were a fine black Italian leather, not split leather like the boots I normally could afford. The boots had high heels and zippers in the back with tassels, they were my idea of perfection in a boot. I wanted them, unreasonably so. I went in one day and found out how much they were. The boots were almost three hundred dollars! I tried them on. Talk about vanity shaped like feet. I walked out of the store knowing I would never own them at that price. Still, I kept working out in my head ways I might buy them, maybe an eighty percent off sale?!? The weeks went by and still there they sat in the stores window front. Calling to me the desire for those boots was palatable. But, I live out in the woods. I’m rarely if ever in town and the need for fashion boots is one hundred percent unnecessary.

One day I passed by and sure enough, they had become a part of an end of season sale. I was surprised they had not sold. I diverted from my path and went in to see how much. You could have knocked me over, not only, only, only were they seventy five percent off, because they had a tiny flaw, they were an additional fifty percent off that price because of a succession of price reductions. I could not contain my excitement. That made them forty two dollars just barely within my budget. I was panting with exhilaration as I grabbed them and jogged to the cashier in my haste to make them mine and get them out of the store. Just in case I missed owning them at that very moment I already had my debit card in hand. Naturally, I also spent the full amount for the real leather conditioner and water proofing wax as well as the powder to keep them fully cared for. Which worked out to an additional thirty eight dollars. I was way over my budget but I did not care, I owned those boots, I had gotten such a deal!

I brought them home and showed my husband, all he said was where are you going to wear them? They are useless out here in the woods with those heels. But he smiled and I knew he understood.

I got them home and waxed and powdered the boots. I was delighted with their smell and how they felt. The wax box instructions said wait twenty four hours before wearing. Disappointed I waited that twenty four hours before I finally put them on. Oddly enough, they did not feel all that protected and supple the next day. I figured, being in the window so long they had dried out a bit. I wore them though and was happy. I kept looking at my feet and legs encased in those wonderful boots. I realized right away I could only wear them once in a while when I went to town. Our property is quite rustic, and the boots were frivolous.  

I took them off that night and waxed them and put them away. It was a few days before I wore them again, but the leather was dry and scratchy looking. I called the store, the cashier was doubtful. I took them in and showed them to her, she said “wax them again once the pores fill they will be fine.” So I took them home, a little disappointed but not really upset I had gotten them on sale.  

I waxed them and wore them several times, each time I looked at the boots it seemed they were getting a bit more worn and scratched and beat up looking. I began to feel the boots were not a deal even at the price I paid for them. I could not return them for they had been on sale but I was not exactly happy with my fine leather boots. I wore them though mostly indoors in the house. A few weeks went by and soon the boots looked rather nasty.

I woke up one morning admonishing myself for wasting my money on those boots.

As I lay there I could hear my cat making funny noises. She had a habit of licking plastic bags and I figured I had left one out where she could get to it and she was having herself a lick-a-thon. I got up and could not find her or the bag. I went hunting for her.  I found her in the closet licking away at the boots and I clutched at my stomach to try to keep the laughter at bay. I did not want my husband to hear me. It dawned on me, every time I waxed those boots she would make her way to them and lick the wax off until her raspy tongue had left marks on the leather. There was something in the wax that attracted her. Just like whatever was on the plastic bags. She had been going to town licking, sucking and delicately chewing on those boots for weeks. The boots were getting worn out from all the attention.

My husband came in from cutting wood and asked “why were you laughing so hard? I could hear you from outside.” I shared what was going on with the cat. My husband’s face screwed up and his eyes began to glitter, his lips were sucked in, he whipped around and headed out the door. God bless him my husband did his best not to laugh his head off until he got outside where he thought I could not hear him. I peeked out the window, he was holding himself up on the corner of the house as he enjoyed the imagery of the cat’s behavior and ultimately my loss of perfection on those silly city boots.

The moral of the story is if you are going to purchase something that does not suite your lifestyle and you do so with vain ideas, then you are going to get payback pretty quick. I no longer wear the boots, but my cat sleeps with them and still licks at them every day.

God Bless your day.

Matthew 6:19-21

19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal," 

20 "but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

Cecile

Words and Audio Too - Plus I'm Married To A Dishy Man

Light Within Cobblestones the Audio Version

Coming Soon

Light Within Cobblestones is just a few weeks away from going online.

The editing process has been amazing. At the same time the narrator Tina Bjorklund from Spokane Voice has been prepping for the audio version. The audio version will come out a few weeks after the ebook. Tina and I have made quite a few background sounds, and from what I understand, she will be recording my voice for small sections of the book. However, she will be narrating most of the book.

While looking for a good narrator, one has to consider the tone of the narrator’s voice. Will the tone suit the flavor of the book? Is the narrator a clear speaker? As much as these things are important. Ideally, the narrator has to like the book as well.  

But the bottom line is the recording equipment has to be top drawer as well as the narrator has to be very skilled. Creativity is wonderful when all of the different aspects of the narrator are stellar. 

We believe we have made a wise choice and audio book lovers will be pleasantly surprised. 

Tina is quite the DJ as well. Plus a quiet little fact, she is one fabulous hostess. 

http://spokanevoice.com/

I'm Married To A Dishy Man

Life With Cecile

     When I married my husband I was not used to doing my own dishes. In fact I had a maid for my home I even hired someone who could cook and leave my dinner in the refrigerator so when I got home from work there the dinner would be. I did without other amenities so I could hire someone to do my household duties. Some people enjoy cleaning house, I do not. I was not exactly domesticated, I had better things to do than clean and cook at home. I never learned to be a housewife in the old-fashioned sense of the word. My husband decided we did not need a maid. This caused quite an issue, even though I worked every day cooking at work, when I got home it was near impossible for me to consider making my own food. I will admit, having been a primadonna made life a little difficult.

     When I first married my husband all I had to say was I’m hungry and off my husband would run to the kitchen. Not to make something to eat, instead he would go and clean the kitchen. When he was done, sometimes an hour later (he is slower than molasses, pour tired thing) he would get the television remote and find himself something to watch on television. Then and only then would it be time to get something to eat. He would sit down and look at me pointedly as if to say, “OK, you can go cook now, what is taking so long.” I found this annoying. Newly married, we were still getting used to each other. Married couples need to pick their battles, so I kept my mouth shut even though it was driving me crazy.

We had a one backside kitchen. Only one of us could be in the space at a time. Obviously looking a gift horse in the mouth, I would get quite irritated and short with him because he was doing the dishes instead of getting us some food. Still, I would not tell him what the problem was, it seems so silly that it was annoying me. This went on for quite some time, when one afternoon I decided to hand over the issue to God. I stopped what I was doing and prayed about my irritation and my viewpoint thinking I needed a thought adjustment.

     After I got up off my knees I sat down and waiting for my husband to come home. After he got in the hugs and kisses were dispensed and he asked me how my day at work went. As was the usual, he asked me if I was hungry and sure enough off he went to the kitchen…to do the dishes.

     I sat there and suddenly realized, I did not have a maid yet I had not done the dishes since we were married. I thanked the Lord and waited for my turn in the kitchen.

     The following day I could not wait for my dear husband to get home. As soon as he walked through the door I said, “Honey I’m hungry.” As he jumped right up and headed to the kitchen and the dishes I laughed my head off and praised God. Har, har. My prayers never changed my husband. I just realized God had provided not only a wonderful husband, but he had provided a dishwasher as well.

     He cooks too eventually and I did begin to cook, on Sundays anyway.

     My husband is quite firm in his habits, he still does the dishes when he gets home from work. It’s been sixteen years. Sometimes I’m blind but I’m always blessed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1 Peter 4:9 Show hospitality to one another without grumbling.

Matthew 6:31-32 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.

  

The Trouble With Editing & A Funny Thing Happened

Cecile’s Latest Book Light Within Cobblestones

THE TROUBLE WITH EDITING

God is my master gardener,  I am HIS GARDEN tool.

There are times when one should gird themselves in preparation for a slow process. In the case of my latest book, the editing process has been a momentous and tedious struggle. Not with my current editor but with the last few.

It seems there is a vast difference between a general edit and an edit for publication.
If I had only understood this in the beginning there would be a lot less disheartening efforts in the wrong direction.

It is not a good idea to have a family member or a friend edit a book if they only have a rudiment of understanding of both the subject and of the process.

God love them, it’s not their fault, it is my fault. The process is not just fixing a few commas or making sure the spelling is correct on a word. So I will apologize here and ask for forgiveness from all of them. When editing a book for publication there are several steps. Verbiage and continuity in relationship to the theme is important.  

Then there is the need for an author to make sure the subjects are fully understandable through an easy read. Disconnections and unfinished thoughts disrupt the flow.  Authors don’t always see this for we write our thoughts out and then claim them without rereading at times. The author; that would be me in this case, has complete creative control. If the content causes confusion then the book will not read or sell well once the word gets out.

A good editor, one worth their salt will press for perfection in the edit process without regard to the author’s ego. With Light Within Cobblestones, and my editor Dr. Terri Pixlee, I struck gold.  When you read the book you will see why I say this. God gave me a great brush and pen. Then He brought the finish. With her editing help the book is exactly as God wanted the book to be.

I have learned patience is the next best thing to having a good editor.  The Lord was at work here when He had my friend Tina bring Terri to my attention. My thanks, Lord.

A Funny Thing Happened       

Life With Cecile  

                     We try to have a sense of humor about everything that happens in our lives because lots of Stuff happens. We don’t define it any further than Stuff because it can be so much Stuff there is no way to title it any other way. Instead, Stuff makes for funny stories.

                     My husband and I like to spend time together driving. Sometimes these drives are just to have a relaxing day. Other times they are great for working out our frustrations with life, our jobs or our personal issues. Driving shoulder to shoulder instead of face to face in tense situations like arguing is less stressful and is considered by many counselors to be a non-threatening physical position for a man and woman to have words and emotions that need resolutions. So away we go as often as possible. We pray before we head out each time for we never know, will it be a fun day or a work on us day? For fun or for fury either way it works for us.

We lay it out and let God labor on us through our honesty with each other.

One of these times we were more than heated in our discussions. So much so that my darling husband decided to pull over in the nearest empty lot out in the middle of nowhere with no one around. There were no homes just a few abandoned buildings so he parked to could continue the discussion at the top of our lungs and not end up distracted and in an accident. He is very thoughtful of my safety even when we are at each other’s throat over an issue. We are very plain speaking so I’m not being negative just truthful. I was grateful in my heart he was being wise even when we were growling back and forth with hearty exuberance.

          We went on and on for some time when suddenly WHAM and the car violently swayed back and forth. We grabbed each other like the world was about to come to an end. All thoughts of the argument immediately disappeared as we expelled the air from our lungs. Both of us having gulped and held our breaths when the car began to rock. In a few moments I looked away from my husband and looked out the passenger window to see exactly what if anything had hit the car. I looked down.

There was a dog, passed out on the ground. He had run into the car and knocked himself out.

          My husband and I began to laugh, we had had a drive by dogging. We laughed so hard we both got the hiccups. We completely forgot what we were arguing about with such vehemence. All we could figure was the car being blue and reflecting the clouds in the sky, the dog never saw us.

Of course then there is the fact that dog spelled backwards is God.

          Since we had completely forgotten why we were arguing we think the Lord intervened. We happen to know God has a sense of humor when it comes to both of us. We walk with Him in everything. We got out and pet the poor thing until it woke up and wandered off, just a little off kilter from the event. We were already off kilter and God was aware. God will be attentive if you bring Him along in everything you do.

Isaiah 41:10 10 So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~gh~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

http://lightwithincobblestones.blogspot.com/ Prayer  Lord, I step out my door with my virtual  tools. I carry a handful of tulip bulbs and  piled by the door are a dozen or so  cobblestones You have sent that need  to be set in my path. Only You know why they are there at  this moment. It is my job to find out and  set under them a firm foundation through  Your Word.I will give you my best  gardening skills. Thank you Lord for the job.