Changing Your Universe

I'd like to welcome Louann Carroll, fellow Crescent Moon Press author, to Changing Your Universe. 

We're all the sum total of our life experiences, but there are moments when someone or something affects us, possibly even influences the direction our lives will take. Here is one of those stories.

I have a sense of humor and laughter has seen me through life. I don’t remember a time when there hasn’t been change. Sometimes I pray, “Can’t you just give me six months of peace?”

In that context, I’ll share a few precious moments with you.

One of my first memories is staring at our house from a neighbor’s window. The darkened windows speak of loss, the silence of change.

My father had died, the ambulance whisking him away to parts unknown. I was five and my dad was my hero. When he moved on, he taught me loss, fear, love, and faith. In a Shadow of Time, Kellyn learns to cope with the loss of her husband. She walks through grief, struggles though loneliness, and ultimately finds love again. Grief comes to all of us in one way or another, but it is in the walk that you learn to dance in the rain.

Twenty years later… Needing a quick pick-me-up, my husband stopped at our local 7-11 for a cup of coffee. A gang of kids, the oldest just seventeen, grabbed him from behind and stabbed him nine times. The next thing I knew, I received a phone call from our local emergency room. The police officer who called, said, “Stop at all stop lights. Do not speed, but get here as soon as you can.”

In one moment, my life changed. We had three children. The oldest was nine, the youngest six months old.  From that experience, I learned to say I love you even when just going to the store.  In Gemini Rising, Kate’s world changes in a second and her reaction to those changes is the basis for the sci-fi romance trilogy.

Another change came when I had to write a thesis for my philosophy class. Struggling to get through it, I finally stopped typing when a friend of mine came into the room. She asked, “Can I read it?”

Reluctantly, I let her.

Several moments into the paper, she shouted, “This isn’t a thesis, this is a novel!”

Johanna Laird wrote a column for our local newspaper. From her that was some compliment.

“You think?” I asked.

“Absolutely.”

From that moment on, I began to write. Since I’ve led a rather tumultuous life, I have plenty of material. Bits of my life is sprinkled throughout my books, lending my characters a reality they’d never have had had I not had my struggles.  

From my dad dying to almost losing my husband, sprinkled in with the birth of children, the loss of my mother, and various other life-changing events, I learned you are never given more than you can handle. Even though at the time, you might be overwhelmed. In some moments, I’ve dropped to my knees in prayer. Through this, I discovered that no one is ever alone.

 Each unique bit of my history has taught me something, but the most important lesson I have ever learned… is that good comes from bad.

Always.

You just have to have faith. 

http://louanncarrollbooks.weebly.com/