Lady Traveler : 05/01/2012

Sunday, May 13, 2012

I love book signings!

I had a blast at my book signing at Books A Million in Sumter, SC, the town where I was born. The feeling of sheer nostalgia filled my senses as I drove past Shaw Air Force Base where my Mom and Dad met and fell in love sixty-eight years ago.

As I shared my story of Lady and the Sea, I could see their eyes light up at the spoken word. One woman is taking Lady on her cruise next week; another will read Lady while convalescing from her surgery she's having tomorrow ... I love their stories too. And I met several young women, Shannon and Jessica, who's passion is writing. I encouraged them: "Don't give up. Write your heart and soul. Your dream can come true!"

The Books A Million manager invited me back for more book signings, so I'll be returning to my home town in the near future to meet more friendly folks.

Writing is one of my passions, but encouraging readers and inspiring writers I meet along the way is the frosting on my cake.

Now I must go and finish enjoying my Mother's Day with the man of my dreams. Actually, ladies, he is the frosting on my cake, if you know what I mean. *wink*

I wish you smooth sailing and oceans of blessings for the coming week. And I hope you're having a special Mother's Day. Sharing my day with my daughter, Jacquie, after being apart for five years, is another dream come true for me. Hang on to those dreams ... they DO come true!

Friday, May 11, 2012

Author Julie Carobini: Lady and the Sea

Sunday, May 6, 2012

What brings you joy?

Yesterday's guest speaker at our Literary Luncheon in Rock Hill was Merry Taylor of Taylor and Associates. She is a motivational speaker so of course she asked us a few questions that got us to thinking. What brings you joy? What are your goals? Why do you write? or paint? or cook ... fill in your blank. I was forced to reflect. Besides God and family, my thoughts brought me back to my recent debut novel, Lady and the Sea.

I wrote Lady and the Sea because there was a story that took place in the 90's that needed to be told. It was not my story to keep. I was compelled to share it. Lady is not a fantasy or a fairytale. It is a true story of finding faith for forgotten dreams while sailing on the World War II vessel MS Restoration. The ship's Swedish engineer finds an American wife. A father-daughter relationship is restored. A vision comes to pass for a captain and his wife. A woman overcomes her fears to fulfill a dream to serve God in a foreign country. An old World War II ship stored in moth balls gets a second chance to sail the seas when she is assigned to transport Russian Jews from the Black Sea to Israel. The dream of over 1,500 Russian Jews coming to pass as they arrive safely in their Promise Land of Israel. And much more.

My goal to write and publish Lady and the Sea is my legacy. If I never publish another book, I am satisfied. Now, my present dream and goal is to place Lady in the hands of those readers whose lives will be changed and challenged by the story. I have no agent or publicist, but I have the Lord (II Chronicles 32:7-8). I guard my heart against comparing myself with other authors. I rejoice with them when they share their victories, knowing that they are celebrating with me when I share mine.

No matter what brings you joy, may you continue to sail on to yet another personal goal and victory.

The signposts of God are clear and point out the right road.

The life-maps of God are right, showing the way to joy.

Psalm 19:7-8

publicist goals joy vision Lady and the Sea

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Comfort...or Challenge? Decisions that direct your journey

I was living a comfortable life in Southern California when the opportunity came for my husband and I to volunteer on a World War II ship to transport Russian Jews from Sochi, Russia, to Haifa, Israel. Rob jumped at the chance to live on a World War II ship for 14 months, but this 48-year-old lady panicked. You see, I couldn't swim, so I had to face my biggest fear--water. Sailing across the Atlantic was my worst nightmare, so I had to make the decision: Comfort, or CONFRONT my fear. Comfort, or step up to the CHALLENGE. After much prayer and inner conflict, I inhaled a deep breath of faith, waved farewell to my safe shore, and dived into a new ocean.

I had gotten my sea legs by day four, when out of nowhere, off the gulf of Mexico, the MS Restoration caught the tail-end of Hurricane Hector. Panicked, I dropped my cleaning bucket and staggered to our cabin and jumped in my bunk. My life jacket fell from the rafter above, so I grabbed it, wrapped it tightly around me, and prayed as I fastened each buckle. If I had been Catholic, this would have been the perfect time to repeat the rosary. Instead, I cried out, "God, help me! Remember, I can't swim!"

As the ocean's surge tossed the ship with a vengeance, my Bible fell off an overhead shelf and landed on my bunk. With trembling hands I thumbed through the pages until I stopped at Isaiah 43. I tried drowning the sound of the waves beating against steel by shouting, "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you." While the Pacific raged, it was God's peace that flooded me, and I knew we would somehow survive Hector.

I had read this scripture before, but it had never given me as much comfort as it did that day at sea. I love how God gives us the right words of encouragement at just the right moment.

Now, back home on dry land, whenever I feel challenged, I recall the sound of the ocean's mighty roar, and I quote Isaiah 43:16, and once again, I am at peace.

A Season for Love...my short love story

To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven. Ecclesiastes 3:1

For the single, for the lonely, there is hope, and a season.

Here is my seasonal love story:

The year, 1984. Forty-one-years-old. Two failed marriages. The recent loss of my beloved Mother. 1987, life didn't look too promising. After working all day, I'd come home, and after a three-mile run and a cold shower, I'd indulge myself in my latest adventure-filled book. But this night I threw the book across the room. "God, please tell me there's more!" Then the phone rang. It was my friend, Tia, begging me to accompany her to a new singles meeting at a nearby church.

"I don't want to go alone," Tia moaned. After surviving her own divorce, she was tired of dating too many I-like-you-I'll-call-you guys. That's why I'd given up dating months ago. Stop-looking-and-let-God was my new motto, thus the reason for my nightly runs and cold showers. Tia, on the other hand, had been visiting churches with large singles ministries. "You have to go with me," Tia pleaded, so what could I say?

So the next night Tia headed for the front row. I insisted on the seats nearest the back door. I yawned as a young slightly-built blonde announced their upcoming March beach trip, and I glanced at my watch as the mild-mannered speaker closed the meeting. The only intriguing part of the evening was a tall, tanned, blue-eyed man wearing cowboy boots who was giving directions and moving chairs. Stop-looking-and-let-God I reminded myself. It didn't matter anyway. I had no plans of returning.

The following Thursday night I was half way out the front door for my evening run when the phone rang. "Ignore it," I whispered, but something inside said, Answer it.

"I'm Rob and I'm calling to thank you for attending our meeting last Friday night." Within minutes we were talking like we knew each other. Now I was curious.

"Are you the guy in the cowboy boots?" That made my heart skip a beat?

"Guilty," he answered.

My heart began to pound as I dove in. I had nothing to lose. "I was married sixteen years."

"I was married sixteen years too."

"I have a twenty-year-old daughter."

"So do I."

This will cause the conversation to come to a screeching halt. "I also have a thirteen-year-old son," I added.

"Me too."

An hour later he asked, "Will you come to our meeting tomorrow night?"

What could I say?

The next evening I scoped the room, but the cowboy was nowhere in sight. I turned to make my exit, but as my shaky hand pushed the door handle, a voice inside said, Don't leave! I reluctantly found a seat on the back row, and unknowingly, the handsome cowboy sat in front of me. I tapped his shoulder. I had nothing to lose.

"Are you Rob?"

"Yes. Are you Sharon?"

I nodded.

I returned that night to check out the stranger who invaded my life over the telephone. Little did I know that the next season of my life had just begun.

I proposed a year later.

What could he say?

One major moral to this story: Always answer your phone. You never know who is on the other end.

(For more details, read LADY and the SEA, a novel based on a true story--mine. www.sharonleaf.com. Available on Amazon.com and e-books.

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