Anyone who reads
my writing understands that I am an eternal optimist. Always have been and
always will be. That’s just the way my brain is wired, the way my heart beats,
and optimism probably makes up the majority of my DNA.
I look back on
portions of my life that could have, maybe should have convinced me otherwise,
but somehow, some way, I’ve weathered the storm and remained upright. Don’t
know how, exactly. Could have been my faith. Could have been my belief that
hope and love conquers all. Could have been my belief in and the support of the
people around me.
For example, in
October of 2013, my nephew was struck by a car and died. He was an only child. It
was tragic because he was such a great young man with so much promise. The
world would have been better had he lived. I believe that. In April of 2014, my
mom peacefully passed away at age 99. She saw a lot, lived a lot and even at
the end, showed her strength and resolve.
It was the
summer of 2014 that really hammered my soul and shook our family to its core.
That July, my son was shot and killed as he walked down a street unaware of
what was taking place behind him. One bullet out of ten that were fired hit
someone, our son, and Wil died on the sidewalk. One month later in August, Kim’s
and my best friend succumbed to cancer. Like so many others, that tragic
disease took his life.
I haven’t been
tested like that before or since. As I said, my family and I weathered that
storm. What should have, could have caused me to lose my faith in mankind, in
people, didn’t. Some of the people I work with didn’t let that happen. My
family wouldn’t allow it to happen to us, to each other.
I’ve experienced
setbacks in my writing. I think I’ve received enough rejection slips from
agents and publishers to wallpaper the family room of our house. But all it
took was one yes and someone to say, “Yeah, I like this!” and four books later,
I’m published with another due out in April of this year.
Most People Are
Good!
They really are.
Sometimes one has to look long and hard and might deep, but there is goodness.
As many ugly stories as you might see on the news, I can point to an equal or
greater number of stories that uplift and celebrate and sometimes bring tears
to one’s eyes. Stories that melt a heart.
Luke Bryan has a
new song out titled, Most People Are Good and it has come to mean a lot
to me. If you have the opportunity, Google the lyrics or give it a listen. The
last two lines of the chorus are:
I believe this world ain't half as
bad as it looks;
I
believe most people are good.
I think he’s
right.
I wrote a post
several weeks ago titled The Dot and it urged us to not dwell on the
negative but on the positive. Honestly, sometimes it’s hard to do. I mean,
there are times more often than not that we are hit in the face with murder,
death, disease, greed, loss of one kind or another. Sometimes it feels like a never-ending
onslaught.
But that’s where
each of us . . . you and I together . . . each other . . . come in. We are
always stronger together than we are separately. Sometimes when we are so close
to breaking, all it takes is one or two others to take hold of a hand, to place
an arm around a shoulder, to be present to let us know that we have each other’s
back. That together, we’ve got this. And sometimes it is safer, easier to
hunker down, wait the storm out and peep your head out of the foxhole to see
what is still standing.
Remember, even
though it gets dark at night, the sun will rise. Even though there might be
dark clouds and rain, the sun is still up there and will make its appearance
eventually. It always does. If it sounds like I’m an optimistic fool, I’d
rather that then the alternative. Something to think about . . .
Live Your Life
and Make A Difference!
To My Readers:
I sent the final
edited copy of my fifth work of thriller/suspense fiction Caught in a Web Black Rose Writing this last week. It will drop in
April of 2018. I am working with Black
Rose on several publicity campaigns so when the “drop” nears, I’ll keep you
posted. There will be an opportunity for preordering Caught in a Web, so when the link becomes available, I’ll make sure
you know. Unlike my others, this one will be available in bookstores as well as
Amazon.
Good News!
I finished the
edits on Spiral Into Darkness and I’m working to find an agent for it. It is
more of a psychological thriller but with an attitude.
Please feel free
to connect with me at:
Twitter
at @jrlewisauthor
Facebook
at: https://www.facebook.com/Joseph.Lewis.Author
If you like Thriller/Suspense fiction and are
looking for something to read over the winter, check out my novels:
The Lives Trilogy Prequel, Taking Lives:
FBI Agent Pete
Kelliher and his partner search for the clues behind the bodies of six boys
left in various and remote parts of the country. Even though they don’t know
one another, the lives of FBI Agent Kelliher and two boys become interwoven
with the same thread that Pete Kelliher holds in his hand. The three of them
are on a collision course and when that happens, their lives are in jeopardy as
each search for a way out. http://bit.ly/Taking-Lives-JLewis
Stolen Lives, Book One of the Lives Trilogy:
Two
thirteen-year-old boys are abducted off a safe suburban street. Kelliher and
his team of FBI agents have 24 hours to find them or they’ll end up like all
the others- dead! They have no leads, no clues, and nothing to go on. And the
possibility exists that one of his team members might be involved. http://bit.ly/Stolen-Lives-JLewis
Shattered Lives, Book Two of the Lives Trilogy:
Six desperate
and violent men escape. One of them stands in a kitchen facing a 14
year-old-boy with a gun. There are many reasons for the boy to pull the
trigger. Mainly, the man had started it all. http://bit.ly/Shattered-Lives-J-Lewis
Splintered Lives, Book Three of the Lives Trilogy:
A 14 year-old-boy is willing to make the
ultimate sacrifice. High up on an Arizona mesa, he faces three desperate and
dangerous men in hopes of saving his father and his brothers. http://bit.ly/Splintered-Lives-J-Lewis
