2012--- WHAT DO YOU WANT?

Okay, so here it is, New Year’s Eve. I’m spending it with a favorite friend of mine, Captain Morgan and waxing philosophical.

I’ve been fighting depression for weeks.  I ask myself, why?  I think I’ve figured it out.  I’m tired of not getting what I want.  Is that selfish?  If so, then so be it, I’m selfish. Deal with it.

The key in getting what you want is to know exactly what you do want.   This sounds simple enough. Right? However, you’d be amazed to find how difficult a question this is for people.  They can tell you what they don’t want but stumble over what they do want.  (I have to apologize for the Captain.  He isn’t a writer and doesn’t give even one tiny Yo-ho-ho on how many words he repeats.)

Here’s an example of what I’m talking about: people say, “I don’t want to be poor.”  Wrong!  Say instead, “I want unlimited abundance to come to me in a very joyful way.” (You have to put that disclaimer in there, “in a very joyful way” because your favorite uncle might die in a car crash and even though you inherit all his money, you miss him something fierce.  Thus the meaning of the old saying, “be careful what you wish for.”)

Another example: “I don’t want to be fat.”  Wrong!  “I want to be slim, trim, and healthy.”  See where I’m going here?

Am I rambling?  Sorry.  It’s the damn Captain.

The thing is, I’ve been saying this mantra for years and my bank balance is still zip.  The scale still moans when I step on it.

I’m tired of it, damn it!

I just can’t imagine that God created us to struggle so. Think about it. Why would He want His children to suffer?   If He liked seeing this, then He wouldn’t be God, would He?  (Captain Morgan is so logical.) God wants us to be happy!  If  you follow this reasoning, then another old saying, “you create your own reality” is absolute.

According to the Miyans’, 2012 is the end of the world.  Good! I've had it with toiling from 8-5 in a dead-end, God awful boring job.  Let it be the end of me worrying how I’m going to pay my bills. Instead of me always thinking about what I don’t want, I will focus all energy on what I do want.   And, believe me I have a list a mile long.

Do you?

Ask yourself on January 1, 2012, "What do I want?"

Okay, that’s enough  deep thinking. 

Right now, I want another drink.

Happy 2012 everyone!

TOP THREE PICKS FOR AMAZON KINDLES

Tomorrow is Christmas and hundreds of people everywhere will receive their new Kindles from Amazon.  Then what?  What books do they download?

Here are my top three picks:

For the historical fiction/Civil War buffs, and paranormal fans:  Soldiers From the Mist by me, Ruth Burkett Weeks is a must read. The Civil War is the backdrop for the story of three men and three promises—two were broken, one should’ve been. Trapped for eternity because of these promises, the ghost of Charles Ely haunts the Ozark Hills in search of the fourth promise that will set them free.  Soldiers is two stories in one. It is the real life story about how the author communicated and worked with the ghost of Charles Ely in the telling of his story.

For all the women fiction lovers out there: Redneck Goddess by Pam Foster will leave you laughing all the way to New Year’s and beyond.  Goddess is the story of a backwoods country girl (named after a candy bar) from Noisy Creek, Georgia and her hot Latino lover, Julio. Read about Goo-Goo’s struggle with her redneck family to accept her golden-skinned boyfriend while trying to win the Redneck Goddess Beauty Pageant. 

Bayou Jesus by M.G. Miller is Southern Gothic at its best.  Bayou Jesus dares to ask the question, “If Jesus returned as a black man in the Deep South during the Depression would mankind accept him for the King of Kings?”  Dark and thought provoking, Bayou Jesus will haunt you long after the last page is turned.

Merry Christmas and Happy Reading!

                                                     

"Does Father Still Beat You?"

Peter’s eyes closed and his fists clenched.

“I’m a son of the South and she is a demanding mother. Even though sympathetic to the North, Mama Dixie will insist on my allegiance. I’m an officer and will be called to command. Mostly boys I fear. War always takes the young first. I’ll be responsible for their very lives.” His shoulders slumped.

“I fear the task is too great. How can I save them, Mother? It frightens me to my very core.

“Son.” Her voice came soft. “If war happens, you’ll not be responsible for it or over who lives or dies. That is God’s decision. Your compassion for your fellow man swells my heart with pride.”

He whirled.

“Compassionate? Do not think me so. If pushed. If threatened. I’m more than capable of violence. Hard and premeditated, if need be.”

Thunder rumbled in the distance. At storm brewed and rain clouds ushered in not only a change in weather but in his attitude as well. The air crackled with tension and a dark, uneasiness swirled with the wind. Lightning flashed and so did his eyes.

“Does Father still beat you?”

Lieutenant Peter James Montgomery is a tortured man who drinks to forget a promise made in cold-blooded anger—a promise that should’ve been broken.  Is the responsibility of  Unit 547  his atonement or punishment?

Read Soldiers From the Mist and find out.

Soldiers From the Mist by Ruth Burkett Weeks

                                                      Available on Amazon Kindle.  Download now!



Soldiers From the Mist



A Charlie Brown Christmas

Madison's prompt for this week's Friday fiction made me sad.

           “Christmas was your favorite time of year.

I hated the holiday. But not you. Every year you’d insist on putting up a damned tree. Had to be real. No artificial tree for you, no sir. I hated it.  Pine needles littered the floor. Jim Cat climbed the branches, tipping it over. You’d laugh.  Every year, The Christmas Story and It’s a Wonderful Life.  Ebenezer had it right—bah humbug!

Strange how your grandfather clock stopped when you passed. Never had the heart to start it again. But I did put up a tree this year. Oh, I know, it’s sad looking and droopy, but then again, so am I.  Next year will be better, I promise. But for now, it’s the best I can do.

Merry Christmas, Winnie, I miss you.”     

KINDLIZED!!!! JUST IN TIME FOR CHRISTMAS!

Breaking News!!!! 

Soldiers From the Mist is now available on Kindle.  Just in time for Christmas!!!

Three men, three promises--two were broken, one should've been. Trapped for eternity because of these promises, the ghost of Charles Ely haunts the Ozark hills and serches for the one that will set them free.

Make your first download to that new Kindle Fire, Soldiers From the Mist by Ruth Burkett Weeks.

LIGHTS, MUSIC, & FOOEY THE SNAKE

Sometimes simplicity is a soothing balm to the ragged heart:

Sunday night my brother, great-nephew, and niece honored a Burkett Christmas tradition—we  loaded up  the Tahoe and drove around the neighborhoods looking at Christmas lights.

My great-nephew is three years old and is smarter than all of us put together. No kidding, the little scamp can work his I-Pod like it was nothing. I don’t even know how to put my cell phone on vibrate.

As we drove to Fayetteville to marvel over the Lights of the Ozarks, I sat beside Logan in the back seat and laughed at his story about his imaginary friend, Josh, who lives far away at the WalMart in Springdale. On a roll, he then told me he worked at JB Hunt. When I told him I worked just down the street from him and that someday we should do lunch, his giggles melted my heart.

Lights of the Ozarks

Logan and Pa-Pa are great buddies.  (Another thing that melts my heart.) Both share the love of music and lights. Rocking out to country-western songs like,”Going Out with My Boots On, and I Like to Move It, Move It”, Logan kept us in stitches and entertained.

On the way home, we honored another tradition—Pet Smart.  Pa-Pa often takes Logan to Pet Smart to look at the fish, birds, cats, and snakes. Even though Logan informed me he doesn’t like snakes, he still insists on Pa-Pa lifting him up to gaze into the slimy, slithery snake cage. I asked him what the snake’s name was and without missing a beat he said, “Fooey.”

That Sunday the only thing we spent was time—golden time together doing something as simple as going to the pet shop. 

So, if you find yourself depressed over this holiday season and struggling with the insanity of shopping, buying, paying-for, and dealing with Christmas crowds, I recommend taking time out and going to see the lights—or to Pet Smart to visit Fooey the Snake.

Coming January 20, 2012: THE REDNECK EX

             REDNECK EX

                             

Summer Leigh is jolted back to the Ozarks from Alaska to help her coon-hunting, bull riding, ex-husband, Dwight. The last time she helped Dwight, he flicked her aside like an empty can of Skoal. What will she find this time? The man she fell in love with years ago and a second change for love and family or heartbreak and sorrow deep in the backwoods of the Ozark hills?

If you like good ol’ boys, wit, charm, snarky women, and rekindled love, The Redneck Ex by Claire Croxton is a must read. 

Coming Januray 20,2012 from The Wild Rose Press: The Redneck Ex by Claire Croxton.



Confessions of a Closet Bacon Eater

This week's flash fiction from Madison is very unique.  I couldn't tell what her son was doing in the picture until I read her caption that he was frying bacon on a space heater. What kind of a story could I make up about this?  Read on and find out.

            Hello.

My name is Bob.  And I’m a baconholic.

It started innocently enough— bacon and grape jelly on a toasted sandwich for breakfast.  I know now Mom wasn’t to blame. She just wanted me to have something hot and filling in my stomach before going to school.

Next it was bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwiches for lunch.  Then bacon cheeseburgers for supper.  But I wasn’t worried.  I could stop any time I wanted.

I knew I’d hit bottom when I started cooking bacon over my space heater. That’s when a friend of mine told me about Bacon Eaters Anonymous.

It won’t be easy giving up those crispy sizzling strips of pure pork fat.  I’ll just have to take it one day at-a-time.  

Jesus is coming! Christmas Day 2011

 Bayou Jesus:

One of the many things I like about belonging to the Northwest Arkansas Writers’ Workshop is that the group is comprised of a variety of writers working on different genres—from westerns to romance and everything in-between.  I thought I’d heard of very type of novel out there until M.G. Miller returned to the fold.

M. G. (Mike) Miller is a Southern Gothic novelist and former fiction editor for a national horror magazine. What is Southern Gothic?  In Miller’s case, it horror that chills your bones and curls your toenails—and his brand of Southern Gothic is not for the faint of heart.  

           Even though I talk a good game, basically I’m a big chicken so my taste doesn’t run toward the macabre but Miller’s God-given talent of weaving tales of shock and revulsion into works of pure genus made me a fan.  Currently he is fine-tuning his new book, Murderous. I can’t wait to get to class to hear what despicable act his character, Caroline has done to her mother this week.

Because I’m addicted to Miller’s unique voice, I read one of his earlier novels, Bayou Jesus.  OMG!  I couldn’t put the book down and read it in one sitting. Bayou Jesus not only is a brilliant piece of writing but is also a book that conjures questions.  Questions about faith, belief and man’s inhumanity to man. The novel dares ask the question, “If Jesus returned today in a different form or way other than the traditional Christian belief, would we accept or deny him?”

Personally, I think he’d be crucified all over again.  The pharmaceutical and health insurance companies would have a stroke if Jesus walked in our midst healing the sick and raising the dead. The economy would collapse. And do you think the power of the almighty dollar would bow down to unconditional love and compassion? I wonder.

What if Jesus returned as a woman?   Maybe that’s already happened.  A viable argument could be made for Mother Theresa. She healed the sick and walked among lepers seeking no fortune or fame.  Hmm . . . sounds familiar, doesn’t it?

If Jesus came back as a stringy-haired teenager with a nose ring and tattoos, would Christians think him the King of Kings?

What if Jesus returned as a poor black man born in the Deep South during The Great Depression.  Would mankind accept him as their Savior?

Read the reissue of Bayou Jesus by M. G. Miller and find out.  Available Christmas Day from Southern Exposures Press exclusively on Amazon Kindle.

Connect with M.G. Miller on line

Website:  http://www.mgmillerbooks.com

Blog:  http://www.mgmillerbooks.wordpress.com

Twitter:  http://twitter.com/#!/m_g_miller

            Facebook Author Page:  M.G. Miller