Monday, March 9, 2015

It's All About the Choices by Brenda Whiteside

Our lives are fashioned by our choices. First we make our choices. Then our choices make us. ~ Anne Frank

Any of the three quotes we've chosen for the month of March could apply to my life. But I've probably written enough about my combination farm life and writing career. I chose Anne Frank's quote because certainly the choices I've made in those directions have changed me. Then it occurred to me that my characters' understand the significance of her quote, too.

SLEEPING WITH THE LIGHTS ON
After two failed marriages and countless relationships, Sandra Holiday thinks she’s met the man to end her years of less than perfect choices; choices that not only derailed her travel-related career plans but also left her single and broke.
 
 Carson Holiday, a Las Vegas country crooner with swoon-inducing good looks, spent his adult life pursuing a recording contract and love, never holding on to either. After eighteen years, he drops back into Sandra’s life, reigniting an attraction he can’t deny.

 When Carson reappears, Sandra must choose again.  Only this time, nothing’s as it seems.  A secret admirer, a redheaded stalker, and an eccentric millionaire throw her on a dangerous path, with Carson her only truth.

 As life confronts her with yet another turning point, will her decisions find her eternally sleeping with the lights on – or will she finally discover a way to turn them off?

 So Sandra is all about choices!

THE ART OF LOVE AND MURDER (book one in series)
Lacy Dahl never questioned her past until the deaths of her adoptive parents and her husband. A husband who wasn't what he seemed. Her research uncovers secrets about the mother she never knew; secrets that dispute the identity of her father and threaten her life.

Sheriff Chance Meadowlark is still haunted by the murder of his wife and the revenge he unleashed in the name of justice. When he meets Lacy he is determined not to become involved, but their pasts may make that impossible. As they move closer to the truth, saving Lacy may be his only salvation.

Lacy begins to think the present is more important than her past...until Chance's connection to her mother and a murder spin her deeper into danger and further from love. Will the truth destroy Lacy and Chance or will it be the answer that frees them?

Lacy's choice to discover the parents she knew totally changes her life. Chance's choice of revenge has dictated his life. It's all about the choices they make.

SOUTHWEST OF LOVE AND MURDER (book two in the series)
Mystery writer, Phoebe Anderson, owes her success to killing her first husband on paper seventeen years earlier. Now, someone has actually done it. When she decides to take a few days away on the ranch of her best friend’s brother-in-law, she doesn’t expect romance to find her...or murder to follow her.

Mason Meadowlark is happy with his wild cowboy ways, avoiding love since the death of his baby and the end of his marriage twenty years ago. When Phoebe shows up, he fights to control his emotions, but soon wonders if she just might be worth the risk of opening his heart again.
 With an obsessed fan close on her heels, Phoebe is thrown into her own murder mystery…and the next target on his list is Mason.

Phoebe's first choice leads the way for an interesting life. Mason allowed his life to be defined by something he had no choice over. But eventually he makes his own choices.

So fictional or real life, it's all about the choices we make!

All of Brenda's books can be found here: http://brendawhiteside.com/books.html







 
 

10 comments:

Barbara Bettis said...

What a good quote, Brenda, and so true. Life is about choices, even if we don't realize it how important they are at the time. Enjoyed the excerpt! Best of luck with the book.

Jannine Gallant said...

If you write strong characters, then they'll have hard choices to make. Fiction should imitate real life. I'd say your characters are very real!

Margo Hoornstra said...

Nicely done, Brenda. Jannine is right. Your characters have to be strong to navigate the choices you've given them. Life imitates art - or is it the other way around?

Vicki Batman, sassy writer said...

Sorta like each question leads to another question. Each choice leads us to another choice.

Unknown said...

I love the quote and how the your books are defined through your characters choices. Great post.

Barbara Edwards said...

Too many choices for great characters. Want to find out what happens next to each of them.

Brenda Whiteside said...

Sorry Ladies. I got stuck in town and just now back to the farm and my computer. Thanks for all the nice comments!

Brenda Whiteside said...

Sorry Ladies. I got stuck in town and just now back to the farm and my computer. Thanks for all the nice comments!

Donna Michaels said...

Great post, Brenda. Sorry I'm late. Choices are a huge part of life and fiction, and have the ability to make things very interesting.

Brenda Whiteside said...

Thanks, Donna.