Sunday, June 3, 2018

A Quiet Sunday Morning


It’s raining again. A lot in the last few weeks. The river is high and rising. Flood warnings. Several communities already hurting and potentially will hurt again.

Kim and Emily traveled to Wisconsin for our nephew’s commencement. Shannon is excited as any kid would be. A happy occasion. They were able to visit another nephew, Alex, who just bought his first house. A cop, a good one. Actually one of the characters in my new book, Caught in a Web. Hope he likes himself as much as I did writing the character. Hannah went to a concert in Pitt and spent the weekend there. Leaving me with our two dogs, Bailey and Stella.

Alone.

It is peaceful as I sit on my couch in the quiet. The rain tapping, if not pounding, on the windows. But I’m warm and dry and comfortable on the couch in the family room that is empty but for me. Even Bailey and Stella choose to lay quietly in the other room, together, but separate from each other and separate from me.

Lonesome, perhaps, but not lonely.

I’m comfortable and content, though I miss my family.

There was a time way back when I was okay being alone. Before I was married and had kids. You see, I didn’t know any better. I didn’t know what I didn’t have. How could I?

And now?

I like my life. I’ve been able to see and do many things others have not been able to. I’ve lived in five states, each different. I’ve had a dream of being a writer for a long time and now I can say I have five books published with one more complete, one about a third of the way complete and an idea that keeps rising to the surface. I have to beat it back down until I’ve completed the one I’m working on.

But the best part of my life is my family. My wife, Kim, and my kids, Wil, Hannah and Em. I like being with them and don’t like being separate from them. And even though Wil was taken from us, I enjoy my memories of him. No one can take those from me . . . us.

And my extended family of brothers and sisters, in-laws. I’ve stopped differentiating between the tie of blood long ago. It’s just family to me, all family. And family is so important. More important than health or wealth.

I like my peace and I like my quiet. But I also like noise and activity.

I feel I’m a much better writer when my family is nearby, when there is noise. I think better, feel more. I think I’m a better person too.

There is a bible passage about the Lord going to the desert, going off by Himself. Another when He and the apostles wanted to escape and go off and rest. But in the end, there were people to minister to. People who needed guidance and words of light and love. To be fed more than just the fish and loaves that the little boy had with him. His service, His time on earth was all about being there for others. Serving others.

I think each of us needs each other in one degree or another to function properly. I think we were made to be with each other and not to be alone. To talk and to listen. To hear both with ears and heart. There is comfort in being together. And while it is okay for a time to be alone, to refresh, to bask in silence, we need each other. We need others.

So on this wet, quiet and peaceful Sunday morning, I bid you your own time, your own solitude and your own peace. But eventually, please come back to us. Join us. It is better that way. Something to think about . . .

Live Your Life, and Make A Difference!

To My Readers:

I have been really blessed with some wonderful reviews on my new novel, Caught in a Web. Best Thrillers wrote: “The Bottom Line: This important, nail-biting crime thriller about MS-13 sets the bar very high. One of the year’s best thrillers.” You can read the entire review (rather short, but impactful) at https://bestthrillers.com/caught-in-a-web-one-of-the-years-best-conspiracy-thrillers/     

Another review, from Diane Donovan, Senior Reviewer at The Midwest Book Review wrote: “As the investigators review relationships, affairs, and threats, they find themselves unraveling an ever-increasing web of deception as readers are carried into a thrilling underworld of gang violence and teen involvements which gradually lead to a resolution where characters may fudge on honesty, but tie up loose ends.

Characters are many, but are well-drawn; the action offers just the right blend of tension and intrigue; and detective story enthusiasts will especially relish the level of emotional inquiry which makes the characters both human and believable.

The result is an involving detective piece that probes the worlds of teens and gang members with an equal attention to precise, staccato details that flow smoothly into a story that creates a satisfying conclusion to all conundrums.” You can read the entire review, again fairly short, at http://www.midwestbookreview.com/mbw/may_18.htm#donovan

So far on Goodreads, Caught in a Web has received ratings from 77 individuals and has garnered a 4.35 out of 5. Nice return for only a few weeks in release.


Connect with me on Social Media:

Twitter at @jrlewisauthor


Friday, May 18, 2018

Conductor


I met John in my first high school as principal when he was the band director and instructor. He had a ready laugh, a ready joke and a wry wit and a glint in his eye that announced a prank- any prank- on anyone. You were never safe around John. And whatever he did or caused would leave everyone laughing. He was as much a colleague as he was a friend. I admired him so much that I ended up hiring him at my next school as the band director and instructor.

Kids lived in his room. They were welcomed and were accepted and were safe. They ate lunch, and sometimes breakfast there. They’d hang out. It was a home away from home.

I remember one commencement sitting up on the stage next to a school board member watching and listening to the band perform. The musical selection was from Pirates of the Caribbean. Not sure what the selection had to do with commencement- probably nothing, other than to showcase the students.

His arms waved (not sure if that is the correct musical term, but you get the picture), his short body lifted and jumped. Throughout the whole song, I don’t think I took my eyes off of him. I couldn’t. I know folks maybe overuse the term mesmerize, but that’s exactly what happened. Probably for others to.

By the time the piece had ended, John was red-faced and sweaty and puffing a little. The board member turned to me and said in a not so quiet tone, “Wow! My God, is he good!” I couldn’t agree more.

I see the same in Eddie, Joe and Mandy who are the current band, choir and orchestra instructors. High expectations, but a willingness to help kids meet them. A home and safe haven for kids. A place where kids feel they belong. A surrogate mom or dad. The kids respond to them in a way that they don’t respond to others.

And the really unique thing about John, or Eddie, or Joe, or Mandy is that they don’t play a note. They don’t sing a note. They wave their arms and grimace and smile and maybe dance slightly, and magic happens. Yes, magic. All of it comes from the kids sitting or standing in front of them- they’d be the first to tell you that.

But the magic, the real magic, is they don’t play a note. They don’t sing. The only thing they might say is by way of introducing the piece or introducing the soloists. And at the end of the piece, each one steps to the side, lifts up an arm and presents the kids as having done a great job. He or she might bow, but it is on behalf of the kids.

Do they get nervous? Maybe. After all, they are the proud “parents” of the kids sitting or standing before them. After all, they try to place “their children” in the best light possible for the benefit of the audience filled with family and friends.

Did I mention proud? Yes, I did, and I meant it. I’m sure John, Eddie, Joe and Mandy can point to specific passages where it didn’t go quite right or as well as they had hoped. But in the end, they have to be so proud of what the kids accomplished.

Did I mention what the kids accomplished? Yes, I did, and I chose those words specifically. Because if you were to compliment each instructor as I have done, they are quick to say thank you, but point out that it was the kids- not them. Each time, every time. It was the kids. Well, I agree, but it was the kids who performed under their direction, their lead.

Each of them, John, Eddie, Joe and Mandy work their magic, and their magic is done in silence.

They lead. They conduct. Every ounce of energy is focused on the kids. They live in the moment of each selection, each piece. And they create magic.

In silence. Their actions are truly, louder than their words. As it should be. For you and for me. Actions are louder than words. Through action, through silence magic happens. Something to think about . . .

Live Your Life, and Make A Difference!

To My Readers:

I have been really blessed with some wonderful reviews on my new novel, Caught in a Web. Best Thrillers wrote: “The Bottom Line: This important, nail-biting crime thriller about MS-13 sets the bar very high. One of the year’s best thrillers.” You can read the entire review (rather short, but impactful) at https://bestthrillers.com/caught-in-a-web-one-of-the-years-best-conspiracy-thrillers/    

Another review, from Diane Donovan, Senior Reviewer at The Midwest Book Review wrote: “As the investigators review relationships, affairs, and threats, they find themselves unraveling an ever-increasing web of deception as readers are carried into a thrilling underworld of gang violence and teen involvements which gradually lead to a resolution where characters may fudge on honesty, but tie up loose ends.

Characters are many, but are well-drawn; the action offers just the right blend of tension and intrigue; and detective story enthusiasts will especially relish the level of emotional inquiry which makes the characters both human and believable.

The result is an involving detective piece that probes the worlds of teens and gang members with an equal attention to precise, staccato details that flow smoothly into a story that creates a satisfying conclusion to all conundrums.” You can read the entire review, again fairly short, at http://www.midwestbookreview.com/mbw/may_18.htm#donovan

So far on Goodreads, Caught in a Web has received ratings from 73 individuals and has garnered a 4.35 out of 5. Nice return for only three weeks in release.


Connect with me on Social Media:

Twitter at @jrlewisauthor


Amazon at: http://www.amazon.com/Joseph-Lewis/e/B01FWB9AOI /

Friday, May 11, 2018

The End of the Road


My heart sort of fell apart a little yesterday. It was Emily’s twentieth birthday. A happy day normally. End of the teen years and stepping into adulthood. But it was also the day Kim and I moved her out of her dorm room and into an apartment with two of her teammates as roommates. She has two jobs she’ll be working this summer. And, she’ll be living in Greensboro, not at home with us. Not.

It is sad for me. Real sad.

Of course at the start of the day, Em was excited. It was her apartment. Her own keys and her own address. Her own mailbox. Her own room. New pots and pans and mixing bowls. New lamps and a new bedspread. Everything new.

At the end of the day and after the great, grand move in, there was a birthday dinner celebrated with her boyfriend, her two roommates and their families. Lots of laughter and smiles.

And then as we got ready to leave and as we stood outside by the car that would take Kim and me away, I think reality set in for all of us. There were hugs and tears. And that was when I felt big chunks of my heart fall away. I think Kim and Em felt the same thing. It was the reality that she is there and we are here and our lives- Em’s, Kim’s, Hannah’s and mine- will be different.

I’m a little bit older today . . . not so much physically, although I am that too. But emotionally. I’m not ready for it. Maybe someday, down the road. But I’m not ready for it today. Just not.

And as I think about it, this time of year is sort of the journey down the End of the Road for many of us and in various ways.

It’s the start of the end of the year. It’s the start of the end of routine- for teachers, for parents, and even for the kids.

Some will retire. Some are moving on to different jobs and different positions. Kids are graduating. Other kids are moving one grade closer to graduating. And still other kids will be making the move to high school. Others to middle school. Others will enter kindergarten.

I get it. Life keeps moving. I get it. Life moves forward and doesn’t stop just because we want it to . . . maybe need it to. I get it. But I don’t have to like it.

There is an analogy. Stick your hand in a moving stream or river and the water continues to move around it. Your hand doesn’t stop the water from moving. Not at all. All your hand does is get wet.

And, no matter how I feel . . . how we feel . . . life keeps moving forward. It marches to its own beat, its own rhythm. It is independent and separate, yet it involves us whether we want to be involved or not.  

So, this is the time of year when I most feel I’m on the journey towards the End of the Road. Knowing of course, that there will be a new road, a different road. Knowing that there will be a different journey. And like the last journey, some of it will be fun and joyful, just as some of it will be sad and maybe painful.

As much as I’d like to buck up and say, “All is good and it is the way it should be!” I can’t. I’m not ready to. As I said, I’m a little bit older today. I’m not ready for it. Maybe someday, down the road. But I’m not ready for it today. Just not. And I think that’s okay. For me. For you. For us. It’s okay. Something to think about . . .

Life Your Life, and Make A Difference!

To My Readers:

I have been really blessed with some wonderful reviews on my new novel, Caught in a Web. Best Thrillers wrote: “The Bottom Line: This important, nail-biting crime thriller about MS-13 sets the bar very high. One of the year’s best thrillers.” You can read the entire review (rather short, but impactful) at https://bestthrillers.com/caught-in-a-web-one-of-the-years-best-conspiracy-thrillers/   

Another review, from Diane Donovan, Senior Reviewer at The Midwest Book Review wrote: “As the investigators review relationships, affairs, and threats, they find themselves unraveling an ever-increasing web of deception as readers are carried into a thrilling underworld of gang violence and teen involvements which gradually lead to a resolution where characters may fudge on honesty, but tie up loose ends.

Characters are many, but are well-drawn; the action offers just the right blend of tension and intrigue; and detective story enthusiasts will especially relish the level of emotional inquiry which makes the characters both human and believable.

The result is an involving detective piece that probes the worlds of teens and gang members with an equal attention to precise, staccato details that flow smoothly into a story that creates a satisfying conclusion to all conundrums.” You can read the entire review, again fairly short, at http://www.midwestbookreview.com/mbw/may_18.htm#donovan


For those of you in the Fredericksburg, Virginia area, I am doing the last of three Caught in a Web book sale and signing events. You can find me at:
Tomorrow, Saturday, May 12 Salem Church Library in Spotsylvania/Fredericksburg from 1:00 – 3:00 p.m.

Connect with me on Social Media:

Twitter at @jrlewisauthor