SueHarrison.com

My husband and I just returned from a 10-day vacation.  We had a glorious time visiting my brother and his wife and children in Kansas.  While there, we celebrated the marriage of his oldest son.  Then we went on to Colorado to enjoy the  wonderful hospitality of my husband’s oldest brother and his wife.  

Now we are home again and having a very different kind of family gathering.  One of my Harrison sisters-in-law just lost her sister, and we are celebrating Linda’s life, loving her husband, children and grandchildren as best we know how, with faith and flowers, words and ceremonies.  

As I write this, I am watching three families of geese on our beach with their goslings.  Moms and dads are teaching babies how to live and swim and someday fly away.  My house is full of teenagers – nieces and nephews here with moms and dads who are teaching them how to live and swim and someday fly away.  And together we will celebrate Linda, who has flown away to the best home of all. 

Blessings, Sue

The dog ’s name was Ichabod. He was a good boy as shih tzus go, a little full of himself, but a courtly fellow, and a great companion to our high school aged daughter. One day Icabod fell asleep in a sunny spot on an oak stairstep.  During this sleep he flipped over and sent himself rolling down the stairs.

He survived his tumble without injury, but afterwards, he was afraid of the stairs, particularly coming down the stairs.   Down was bad.  Down hurt.   

After a few weeks of indulging his paranoia (carrying him down the stairs), we realized we had to teach him to overcome his new fear.  Here’s what finally worked.  One of us would stand near the stairway and say, “Come on, Icabod, you can do it. Just take one step. Just one step. “  Then Icabod would take one step. We would congratulate him for his bravery and say, “Now, one more step. Just one more step.” And finally one step by one step he would reach his goal.

If you are a writer or artist, you know that down is part of the business - down being rejections and/or realizing that what you have created is not as good as you thought it to be. If you are not a writer, rejection is still part of the package. Families squabble, co-workers shun, bosses yell, systems break down and so do we.

I want this Blog to be a happy place, but sometimes to get to the joy we have to negotiate a stairway. So I thought perhaps a little encouragement via Icabod’s story might help us all.

My inspiration for this particular post (besides Icabod) was a gentle rejection of my current novel by a very encouraging agent.  I am not her client, yet she took the time to tell me what was wrong and how I might go about making the needed changes.  Her encouragement was so strong that the stairway down hardly seemed down at all.  And the stairway back up doesn’t look that scary either.  Usually.  Most days.

Are any of you experiencing a difficult “down” time in your life?  Please imagine all of us standing beside the stairs encouraging you to reach out to God, grab His hand and face the next step, all of us saying to you, “Come on. Just one step. Don’t look further than that. Just one step.”

Your kind words about my novels have been so important to me.  Thank you for helping me find the courage to negotiate that next step.  And the next.  And the next…

Blessings, Sue

Last Saturday, I had the privilege of being interviewed by Ray Case, the editor of “Encompass Magazine.” The magazine is regional to the southwestern area of Michigan, but Ray and the staff have wonderful plans for expansion, and I’m very excited that they chose to interview me for one of their articles. I will let you know when it is published.

I really enjoyed doing an interview again after so many years of silence. In some ways I feel like a new writer, just learning the ropes. (Lots of changes since the whirlwind days of my Alaska Trilogies, mainly in technology.) Many familiar names are still out there, but I am also making the acquaintance of other gifted people who help bring book dreams to fruition and make possible the freedom of speech and communication that has blessed our country since it was founded.

So my thanks to Ray and “Encompass Magazine”. May your horizons be wide!

Blessings, Sue Harrison

I’m concerned that the current unrest in Haiti will discourage people from donating  to earthquake relief funds. Yes, there are problems, but pulling back and doing nothing is not the solution.

It’s easy to forget the God factor – that He is in charge.  Our place is to trust and to help however we can.  Because I did not know where best to send my donation, I contacted a friend who had served as a missionary for OMS International in Haiti. She told me that Franklin Graham’s group, Samaritan’s Purse (Perhaps you have participated in their Christmas Child shoebox drives.) is working with OMS and Missionary Flights International to fly workers and supplies into Haiti.  Through this cooperative effort,  tarps, tents, water purification kits, food, clothing and medical supplies are being shuttled to the people of Haiti. 

You can go online and donate directly with a credit or debit card through the Samaritan’s Purse website, the OMS  International website or Missionary Flights International. 

Meanwhile, let’s keep the people of Haiti, as well as our soldiers and all the relief workers,  uplifted by an ocean of prayer. 

Blessings, Sue Harrison

When I was in my late twenties, mom of two toddlers, I was an easy mark. If anyone asked me to serve on a committee or volunteer for a job in our church or our community, I ALWAYS said yes.

A wise friend took me aside one day and said, “You know, Sue, if you work yourself to death, nobody’s going to stand over your grave and say, ‘Poor girl, she did it all for us.’ They’re going to stand over your grave and say, ‘What a fool!.’”

As a novelist, I’ve learned that if I don’t set boundaries, I lose my writing time.   I try to curtail inconvenient phone conversations with a polite comment along the lines of,  ”I’ll make this quick.  I’m in the middle of my writing time.’  (People don’t know if you don’t tell them.)  Our household password is PYOW.  Pull Your Own Weight.  If you wear the coat, you hang it up.  If you make the mess, you clean it up.  (We’re still working on that one, especially with the dog.)  The dog HAS learned to wait for his walk until after my writing time.  I schedule activities and interviews in the afternoons.  (I’m a morning person, so that’s when I do my most intensive writing.)

Now I’m the first to admit that I haven’t perfected this boundary thing.  So how about share with me and other Blog readers how you attack this problem.  What works for you?  I’d love to know!

Blessings, Sue Harrison

When my first book was published and book tours loomed, I decided to update my wardrobe. Somewhere in that time of purchasing non-Walmart clothes,  I bought a silk scarf. It is a beautiful scarf, full of orange poppies and elegantly signed by Anne Klein. 

Thus Sue Harrison entered a brave new phase in her professional life: fashion maven, trend-setter, owner of semi-expensive clothes.

The first time I wore my scarf was at a library-sponsored meet-the-author presentation.  After my speech, as I greeted audience members, every one of them were fascinated by my Anne Klein scarf. In fact, they couldn’t take their eyes off it.

When the evening was over and I returned to my hotel room, I allowed myself one more look in the mirror at my fashionable ensemble. Which is when I noticed the two safety pins dangling from one corner of my silk scarf.  And thus do dreams of grandeur die.

And laughter bubbles up and doubles you over as God reminds you who you are and assures you that He loves you anyway.

You are reading my new Blog. (Yeah, I know you know, but I need a segue here.) It was set up for me by a friend and by my husband and by my daughter, all techies, to whom I am very grateful. They have allowed me to enter another brave new phase in my professional life: Internet presence, life commentator, purveyor of wisdom… Ummm, right.

However, I’ve discovered that once you have a Blog, you don’t just sail in and type away. You need to learn a few things — actually more than a few — about technical stuff.  Otherwise you mess up your widgets.  And then you have to admit to your techie husband what you did. 

Bummer.

Okay, well, I’m studying and I’m listening to tutorials and I’m really, really working at not messing up my widgets again, but I want to warn all of you that once in a while, on this very Blog, you might see a few safety pins dangling. So if and when you do, just smile and know how grateful I am to you for putting up with my ineptitudes, and also know that I will not be insulted if you join me in a bit of laughter, from the heart, from God, as are all good gifts.

Blessings, Sue