40 Ways to Enjoy a Southern Summer

 

1. Go hiking at a state park
2. Visit a real "u-pick-it" farm.
3. Take a dip in the creek.
4. Go star-gazing and learn new constellations.
5. Enjoy a tall glass of ice cold sweet tea.
6. Catch lightning bugs.
7. Wake up early and find unique treasures at a yard sale.
8. Relax in a rocking chair.
9. Enjoy a picnic in a beautiful park.
10. Relish the nectar from a honeysuckle.
11. Spend the day fishing.
12. Shop at your local farmer's market.
13. Visit your local library for summer reads.
14. Grow your own tomatos and peppers.
15. See a movie at a drive in theatre.
16. Learn to can your own vegetables.
17. Read poetry in a garden.
18. Pick blackberries.
19. Visit a new BBQ joint.
20. Feed the ducks at the local lake.
21. Take a road trip to see some waterfalls.
22. Fall in love with a new flavor at the ice-cream shop.
23. Make lemonade from scratch.
24. Visit Rock City.
25. Go to an outdoor concert.
26. Send real postcards during your travels.
27. Go canoeing or kayaking.
28. Declare water war with super soakers and water balloons.
29. Drink from the hose.
30. Tie-dye something.
31. Take photos in a photo booth.
32. Visits wine country for tours and tastings.
33. Spend an afternoon finding shapes in the clouds.
34. Nap in a hammock
35. Visit an art festival.
36. Discover a new park.
37. Go barefoot.
38. Get a new cut and color for the summer.
39. Eat watermelon. Spit seeds.
40. Go tubing.

 

 

 

Deborah Malone's first novel "Death in Dahlonega," finaled in the American Christian Fiction Writer's Category Five writing contest! Deborah was nominated for 2012 and 2013 Georgia Author of the Year Award in Novel category. She has worked as a freelance writer and photographer for the historical magazine "Georgia Backroads." She has had many articles and photographs published, and her writing is featured in "Tales of the Rails," edited by Olin Jackson as well as the "Christian Communicator, and the "Southern Writer's Magazine." She is member of the Georgia Writer's Association, Advanced Writers and Speaker's Association and the American Christian Fiction Writers. You can find her at www.deborah-malone.com.

Its Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

 

 

 

 

25 Ways to Enjoy the Holidays

 

 

1. Spread the cheer! Do one act of kindness for someone each day of the holiday season.

 

2. Go ice skating!

 

3. Have a holiday movie night and watch all of your favorites. What is your favorite?

 

4. Grab some warm cider and drive around one night looking at the beautiful Christmas lights.

 

5. Buy a CD of holiday tunes and sing along to it in the car as you travel this season.

 

6. Build something creative and fun out of gingerbread.

  

                             7. See a local holiday play, show, or Christmas pageant.

 

8. Choose charities for holiday donations. You could sponsor a child for Christmas, donate food to an animal shelter, or give coats and blankets to the homeless.

 

9. Go sledding on a favorite mountain.

 

10. Give a waiter or waitress an extra large tip.

 

11. Wear at least one festive outfit.

 

12. Take blankets and a thermos of cocoa and go see a Christmas parade.

 

13. Make a gift for someone special.

 

14. Attend a holiday party and learn a new recipe to bring along.

 

15. Make a DYI Christmas photo booth with props and have a silly photo shoot with loved ones.

 

16. Read Christmas stories.                                                

 

17. Make winter treats for your backyard wildlife.

 

18. Make treats for your neighbors.

 

19. Shop at  a Christmas market.

 

20. Try a creative hot chocolate recipe with flavors like orange cayenne pepper, or peanut butter.

 

21. Create a one-of-a-kind wreath for your front door.

 

22. Bundle up and enjoy the beauty of winter by taking a nature walk.

 

23. Bake Christmas cookies. Try something new like rum balls or lemon crinkles.

 

24. Get a new pair of pajamas for everyone in the family to open and wear to bed on Christmas Eve.

 

25. Remember what the reason for the season is and be grateful, humble, kind, compassionate, and generous each day.

 

 

 

 

Deborah Malone's first novel, Death in Dahlonega, finaled  in the American Christian Fiction Writer's Category Five writing contest! Deborah was nominated for 2012 and 2013 Georgia Author of the Year Award in Novel category. She has worked as a freelance writer and photographer, for the historic magazine, "Georgia Backroads." She has had many articles and photographs published, and her writing is featured in "Tales of the Rails," edited by Olin Jackson. She is a member of the Georgia Writer's Association and Advanced Writers and Speaker's Association. As a current member of the American Christian Fiction Writers she has established a blog where she reviews Christian Fiction. 

Fighting Crime in the Big City

Well, the truth is Rome, GA is not a big city but I did help fight crime for a night. In Rome you are able to ride along with a police officer on his shift. I was privileged to ride with Officer Cory of the City of Rome Police Department. This is great for research when writing any genre of mysteries. Come along with me as I tell you about our big night. Oh! I almost forgot to tell you that I did have to stay in the car when on calls. However, I could see the small monitor on their screen and I could hear what he was saying. Let's go on some calls!

3:00 - Time for group briefing before going out on the beat. Sectors and cars were assigned. 

3:30 -  We got a call to check on someone at one of the local extended stay motels known for drug use and prostitution. A woman had called in to 911 saying she was concerned about her father and thought he might be suicidal. We made the call and officer Cory discovered the man was all right. He called his daughter and relayed the message to her. 

3:50 - We no sooner got down the road when we came upon a wreck that had just happened. Officer Cory turns the car around in the middle of the road and proceeds to work the wreck. No one was hurt, but the EMT's were called to check out an elderly lady. She was fine, but I'm afraid the car wasn't as lucky and had to be towed.

4:11 - While I was waiting on Officer Cory to wrap up the wreck scene I heard there was a domestic situation between two unrelated people at the local CVS right across the street. Since he was tied up we didn't go to that one so I don't know the outcome of that situation.

4:26 - We were called to the local senior apartments where a lady said there was a young child being abused in one of the apartments. Officer Cory went to check it out and talked with the man living there. He said the child was his eight year old son, but had not been to the apartment for two weeks. We went to the child's home and followed up on the accusation. 

5:23 - While he was talking with the young man I heard a call where a suspect was running on foot. The description was a white male with black facial hair and a pony tail. At the time I did not realize we were in the neighborhood where the suspect was. When Officer Cory returned to the car he zoomed away to the location. We were the second car to arrive at a residence where the suspect ran  into. He jumped out running and about 3 or 4 other cars zoomed in on the area. The suspect was apprehended and I saw him being handcuffed, frisked and led to the car. If we'd been a few minutes earlier we'd have arrested the suspect - well I mean Officer Cory. The suspect had fled the scene of a wreck.````

The next few hours were quite and during that time Officer Cory worked on reports and we took a break to eat supper. Then we were back on the beat.

8:30 - A call came in to go to a domestic situation between a wife and husband. This call lasted about 45 minutes with the officers writing a citation banning the husband from coming on the property. 

We were headed back to the station to drop me off (Officer Cory was working a 10 hour shift until 1 a.m.) when there was a call to a situation where a man was going from door to door in a neighborhood asking if they had stolen his wallet. The man had gotten into a argument with a couple of the men living in the neighborhood. Officer Cory couldn't get him to leave. When he did start to leave he bumped into one of the men with his car. Officer Cory got him out handcuffed him so he could talk to him. He wrote him a citation and then followed him home to make sure that's where he went.

10:00 - Finally arrived at the station and I thanked Officer Cory for letting me tag along for the night and wished him a safe night. I so appreciate what these Officers have to deal with day after day protecting us. 

The great thing about the time we spent together I was able to pick his brain about the duties of police and the protocols. I had many questions and he was so gracious to answer all of them. If you're thinking of writing a mystery or just want a night of excitement then call your local police station and inquire if they have something like this for citizens. Some areas even offer a citizens academy. 

 

Death in Dahlonega is being offered on Kindle for a special price of .99.

Deborah Malone has worked as a freelance writer and photographer since 2001, for the historical magazine, "Georgia Backroads." Her writing is also featured in "Tales of the Rails," edited by Olin Jackson. She is a member of Georgia Writers Association, American Christian Fiction Writers, and Advanced Writers and Speakers Association. 

What Happens At AWriter's Convention Stays At A Writer's Convention!

Southern Christian Writer's Convention

by

Deborah Malone

 

 

Well that is usually the case, but I'm going to give you a special insight into what goes on at a writer's convention. First I drove for an hour to pick up another writer friend and both of us crammed all of our luggage and books into her car. The back seat was full and the trunk was full. Fortunately there was enough room in the front for us. Oh, I almost forgot to tell you that my GPS took me the long way around getting to her house. That's including dirt roads! After loading up we take off for the 2 and 1/2 hour drive. We hadn't seen each other in a while so we talked non-stop in the car.

 

Finally we arrived at our destination and checked in the hotel. We went out for supper and of course had to stop by the Lifeway book store on the way back. I picked up two books from the bargain shelf and when I went to purchase them was told it was buy two and get one free! Whoop! A free book. Night was uneventful and we were up early the next morning. We had a little time before we had to be at the convention so we went to Bear Bryant Museum at University of Alabama. Wow - it was fun looking at the history of football. Then on to the stadium to get a view of this huge venue. We missed the tour by a few minutes. Maybe next time.

 

Now on to the convention held at First Baptist Church in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. First thing to do is set up my author table and hope that readers will stop by and take a gander at my Trixie Montgomery Cozy Mystery Series.

 

 

The rest of the day is spent attending classes, listening to speakers and meeting old friends we haven't see in a while. I was blessed to be in a room with Joe McKeever who is an author, minister, and artist. He is known for sketching your portrait in 30 seconds. I watched person after person come and sit in front of Joe to get their keepsake. I was fortunate to be Joe's first sketch of the day.

 

 

We ate a good supper of spaghetti provided by the wonderful cooks at SCWC. By the time we got back to the hotel room we were beat. It was time to get a bath, put on jammies and curl up in the bed with a good book. It was nice to be away from the routine and to be able to relax for a while. That is until there was a knock on our door at 4 am in the morning. I remember hearing the knock but thought I was dreaming. Debra, my friend who went with me, discovered the knock was coming from someone who had the wrong room. Really! at four in the morning? Well we were up by then so it was time for a little snack and some girl talk until six in the morning. Then we were able to get a couple of hours before it was time to get up again and start the day all over again. 

 



 

 

One great thing about going to a convention is that you get to rub elbows with other authors. The keynote speaker for this year was Cindy Woodsmall (yes I spelled it right) who writes Amish fiction. I'd read several of her books and was thrilled to meet her and have her sign a book for me. Yes, us authors are awed by other authors. At the end of the convention the writing awards are announced. I was thrilled to learn that I'd won second place in magazine articles. 

 

 

 

 

Debra Collins (Author and Friend)



 

Now the day has come to and end and it's time to say good-bye to our old friends as well as our new friends and hope to see them again next year. We're tired but happy to have had the experience. I'm already looking forward to Southern Christian Writer's Conference 2016. Now there is just one more stop before we get home. That was Top of the River Restaurant in Gadsden, Alabama. If you live anywhere near this area you have to go visit this one of a kind place. Here's what we had to eat: mustard greens, fried pickles, slaw, and the best cornbread ever. Where is the fish you say? Well, turns out neither one of us like fish, but boy do we like the fixins. If you're a writer or aspire to be a writer please check SCWC out for next year. It is sponsored by David and Joanne Sloan and their family. It is one I look forward to attending every year! Now you have the inside scoop on what goes on at a writer's convention.

 

 

 

 

Deborah Malone's first novel Death in Dahlonega, finaled in the American Christian Fiction Writer's Category Five writing contest! Deborah was also nominated for 2011 and 2012 Georgia Author of the Year in Novel category. She has worked as a freelance writer and photographer, for the historic magazine "Georgia Backroads" since 2001. She has had many articles and photographs published, and her writing is featured in "Tales of the Rails," edited by Olin Jackson, as well as the "Christian Communicator." She is a member of the Georgia Writer's Association, Advanced Writers and Speaker's Association and the American Christian Fiction Writers.