Angels, Demons, and Mortals

I have often spoke of my experiences that led me to write "The Guardians: Angels, Demons and Mortals," but I have not written it down in words, until now. Usually, it is hard for someone to confess that they have experienced something not of this world, but that never really occurred to me. It seems lately I have been telling anyone who will listen. I truly believe in these angels that watch over us when we need them. I don't pretend to understand why, it's just a feeling, but I am pretty sure I will believe it until I am no longer of this world.

The first time I experienced this I was in high school. I was heading to my part-time job and as usual I was running late. I was heading downhill in a residential area. I wasn't going extremely fast, but I am sure I was above the speed limit. I veer over and spot a group of children walking home on the sidewalk right next to the road, then all of a sudden a white piece of paper went flying before my vehicle and a small girl darts from the sidewalk right in front of my car to catch her drawing that had blown out of her hand. Anyway, I was heading downhill, gravity already against me. A look of horror crosses my face as I see a tiny face in my front of my windshield. I hit my brakes forcing my car to a halt, and I stop breathing. I knew I had hit the girl. Shaking, I climb out of my vehicle and everything is a blur. When I get out, there is a woman screaming at me. I start to scream back, but I don't know what I am saying. And then I see the girl who was in front of my car standing in the middle of the street. She is fine. She tells me she is fine. She then points to her shoe which in the commotion had fallen in the middle of the road. The shoe was right about where I had seen her. I can't believe my eyes.  I could have sworn I hit her with my car. She was right in front of me. I kneel down and she looks at me pointing at her shoe as someone brings her shoe to her. The woman who has been screaming at me calms down after seeing how upset I am and tells me that everything is fine. The little girl seems to be fine.

I would have been devastated had I hurt that little girl. I am not sure, but I remember crying out right before impact. I said "God, please don't let me hit this little girl." And somehow she was no longer in front of my car. She had been moved to the middle of the road. Miracle? I would say, yes.

The next time I was newly married and still attending the local university. We lived in an old apartment building in a busy part of town close to the university. I pulled my car up in front of our apartments and for some reason checked my side view mirror. In the mirror I saw a man looking around the apartment building at the end of the block. Well, we lived on an extremely long block and I felt it was safe for me to leave the security of my car and head to the front door, which had to be opened with a key. Being young and naive you sometimes have these lapses in judgement.  Anyway, I get have way up the sidewalk and I have a tapping on my shoulder and I turn around and the man is right behind me. He starts asking me questions that I do not know the answers too. All of a sudden, he becomes furious with me. At this point I know that I am in trouble.

There were large hedges hiding me from the side view and a parking lot of the back of a restaurant across the street. I look around and there is no one in sight. At this point, I start to think about where I am going to run. All the while the man keeps yelling at me, becoming more and more angry by the minute. All of a sudden the apartment door flies open, and I literally see a bright light emerge from the doorway. Standing in the doorway is the teacher who lives on the lower level. She asks me if I am coming in and I say, "Yes."

I go in the door and she looks out and asks the man a few questions and closes the door. She said it was strange because she never ventures to her front window that overlooks her front porch, but for some reason she walked over there today and looked out and saw me outside.

Well, these are a few of the occurrences that inspired me to write my eBook.  People will call it nonsense and explainable, but I will always call them miracles. And so "The Guardians: Angels, Demons and Mortals" was born.

I hope if you have had miracles in your life you will share them with me today. I know I am not the only one. Have you had an unexplained miracle happen to you in your lifetime? Let me know. And I hope you will find joy in reading my new eBook, "The Guardians: Angels, Demons and Mortals." It can be found at Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble. It is also offered through Synergebooks.com. Links can be found at my website, stacythowe.com. 

There is no Fear Like the Fear of Submitting... If You are a Writer.

People always ask me how I find the time to write. I always wonder about that question. I know it is cliche, but writing is like breathing to me. If I couldn't do it, I would be tremendously saddened. It has become a part of me. My answer is always, "It's because it is what I love."

I am sure you have been on the negative end of someone criticizing your work. Or opened that letter that said we appreciate you submitting, but your work is not what we are looking for. These used to devastate me when I first made the decision to submit. I have to admit they still are no picnic to get, but I have moved forward. I think about each new rejection as an incentive to submit somewhere else. And really that's all they are. It just means your work wasn't right for them. I doesn't necessary reflect badly on your writing. Your piece just wasn't looked at by someone who connected with it. The rejection doesn't mean that the next submission is going to reject you too.

I remember when I first started writing every negative comment threw me for a loop. My husband would always say, "Dear you are going to have to get thicker skin." And he was right. I had to look at the negative as a way to move forward.

I have met many writers on my literary road who don't submit their work for fear of being rejected. I guess I never even considered this. I am writing to help someone. My stories are ones I hope will bring encouragement to the reader. The thought of no one seeing my story depresses me. After all, if I don't submit my writing how do I expect to get my work out there. Isn't that the real reason we all are creating this crazy, wonderful art.

I wrote this post to encourage other writers. I encourage you to get into a good writers group. My hope is that you don't just let your material sit on our computer hidden from the world. Take a chance. After all your first publication may be just a click away. And today it is so much easier to get your work into a publisher's hands. You don't even have to met them face to face. So what are you waiting for. Get out there.

Do you have a submitting story to share, good or bad? We would like to hear about it. Let me know what you think and good luck submitting.