Last month, we were hoping everyone was holding it together during these trying times of wearing masks in ninety-five degree weather, fretting about if your kids would be safe at school or should stay home, and if our supermarkets would ever allow us to travel both ways down an aisle every again.
I am here to say, there is light at the end of the tunnel. Well, aisle that is. I was in the grocery store this past weekend, and all the directional signs giving me permission to head west down one aisle while forbidding it in the next have been removed. We still have to wear masks, but we can now go east and west in the aisles.
I know. When I spell it out in such detail, it sounds absurd, doesn't it? To make a patron walk an extra one hundred feet because they have to go down Aisle 7 to get to Aisle 8? Passing people anyway because someone's Aunt Gertrude has camped out in front of the soup section, reading labels?
To many of you who may not have grocery stores in your areas with "X's" at the alternating ends of each aisle, it may sound even more ridiculous. In the year 2020 (the year when vision is anything but), where we "live in a time with a virus so deadly, we have to get tested to know if we have it," we should be thankful for the perceived idiocy, I suppose. It could be worse. It could be the military-grade strain of the bubonic plague with no known cure that's on the loose.
Yeah, it exists, by the way. Now, that's scary.
So, let's all sit back on the Florida Front Porch, six feet apart, of course, and remove our masks because we are outside. Besides, we have some sweet tea and something to eat resting on the table too. That always gives us the green light to remove the masks. Hence, the quarantine "fifteen." :-)
Joining us on the front porch is brand-new Scrivenings Press author, Cindy Bonds! Welcome, Cindy!
Why don't you break the ice and give us a quick bio. In fifty words or less, who is Cindy Bonds?
I’m Cindy Bonds, and I’m a wife and mother, finder of all shoes, shirts, and food items. I have a never-ending train of thought that asks questions and tells stories. My creativity runs a wide gamut besides writing, and I’m thankful God gave me the people in my circle.
Before you ever got a notion of becoming a writer/author, how old were you, and what were you doing in that time of your life?
When I started writing, it was because I had been reading a lot and my hyper-creativity was put on overdrive. I was a stay at home mom at the time, yes, a reward and a struggle in and of itself! Feeling as if I needed to contribute to our finances and torn between leaving my stay at home life with the kids for a job, I had exhausted several other avenues to find work from home.
But
when I started writing, it just all flowed out as if I had stockpiled ideas for
years! In all actuality, I had. Sleep was hard to come by as a new mom, so
after my first child, when I tried to go to sleep, I had a running dialogue in
my mind, kind of like a movie flowing through my conscious that lulled me to
sleep. It focused all those rambling “mom thoughts” into just one train of
thought and calmed my brain so I could sleep.
You've already mentioned that you are married and have children. Tell us a little about your family.
I’m married and have been for almost 16 years to my awesome husband. We met at
college, and he’s been the best thing God’s put in my path! We have two
children, Conner is 11 and is starting 5th grade, Kenzie is 9 and
starting 3rd grade.
Besides storytelling, what talents do you have?
At one point in time, I anticipated myself to be
a professional tennis player. After going to college and attempting to practice
and play the sport as well as balancing my studies, that fell to the wayside! I
do have a rather large creative streak and have dabbled in art and painting,
scrapbooking and photography…
Tell us about what project you are currently working on.
I currently have several stories saved that I’m searching through at the moment! I want to continue this writing gig, so I’m going back and editing what I can and trying to choose the story that will fit best. Most of my works have a military background, something I want to perpetuate as I publish!
Currently, I’m torn between a reluctant, retired Recon
Marine with a British operative friend in trouble and the storyline of a retired
Navy Seal who has taken on a job within a tactical response unit and is faced
with protecting a fiery red-head. Both stories complete, I’m trying to edit and
decide which one to present to publish. Anyone want to give me their opinion?
Okay, readers, which one should she pursue next?
While they are thinking about their answer, tell us about your writing day. How do you go about writing?
My writing shifts consistently. With two kids that are involved in extracurricular activities, I can only plan so much around schedules. I work out of the house during the day, so I use my lunch to get through blogs (such as this) or return emails. But as for writing, I do tend to write more in the evening. I’ve been known to stay up late on the weekends when I don’t have work the next day to write.
Before I had a full-time, out of the house job, I was
definitely a night owl! I would stay up late and type, get up early to get the
kids up and then after they left for school, I’d go back to bed for an hour or so
before I would begin my day!
Knowing what you know now about writing, publishing, etc., what piece of advice would you give to the person thinking about writing that novel they have always wanted to pursue since they were young, or the person who believes they have a non-fiction book in them that would be helpful to others?
Going to these conferences gives you so much information and
can help you make connections in the industry. In that first conference, I met the
owners of a small publishing company, a cover art expert, several published
authors and was able to get the first few pages of my manuscript edited. All
those things and those people guided my path and they are the reason I kept
writing and was able to get my novel published!
Let's switch gears for a minute. If you had one person you could meet (think ONLY Bible characters here) and could spend as much time as you wanted with that individual, who would it be besides Jesus?
Peter. I admire Peter so much and his story has given me so much hope. He walked with Jesus, ate with Jesus, was rebuked by Jesus and forgiven by Jesus. Peter denied his friend and Messiah, despite the love he obviously had for Him! And yet, Jesus readily forgave him. How often we turn our back or walk away from Jesus and His Word. But Jesus constantly forgave and constantly forgives now. There’s hope for people like me that fall short all too often!
The apostle with the foot-shaped mouth. Peter seems to be a popular answer, for that very reason. :-)
Why do you live where you live?
We live in a small, rural community. This town is where my husband was born and raised. When he graduated from college, it was during the recession back in 2009. We moved around, trying to find a job that could become a career. After moving out of state to Oklahoma, we had our second child and then we were looking for a permanent home. All of our family—well, the grandparents—still lived in Arkansas. He was finally offered a job in his hometown that actually had to do with his degree, so we moved back.
Growing
up, I never really considered myself a country girl or a city girl, neither was
typical of where I lived. I had friends that had cows, horses and such, but I
was not one of them. The “city” we lived in was small, I graduated with about
140 students. Now that we live here, on a farm, surrounded by cows, I do
consider myself country. And we are definitely raising country kids!
When you are looking for a book to read, what are the things that are important to you?
I am a genre snob, I admit it. I’m not necessarily proud of that fact! I do try and branch out, to read other Christian novels, especially by those I know! But I love suspense! I need that mystery and conflict that pushes and pulls. When I go to the library, I start with Christian books and go from there. It’s the back cover that pulls me in. I want to know where the conflict lies and what’s at stake.
Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers about you, or anything we didn’t cover?
Writing
became my creative outlet at a time when I was feeling as if I was at a
standstill. As I wrote, I tried to think of those that might not know God and
how I could give something in my story to help them see Him. We all live in
this fallen world and as a follower of Christ, I want my readers to see a
glimmer of hope in my stories. I want others to relate to my characters and
understand that being fallen doesn’t mean unreachable. After all, this is my
mission field, and I do feel as if God called me here!
If
you go to my website and sign up, I’ll send updates about the next novel that
makes it to publication!
Cindy, we thank you for taking time out of your day to answer a few questions for us and wish you all the best on finding time to put "pen to paper," as it were.
And dear readers, if you wish to get to know Cindy better, you can find her at these locations:
https://scriveningspress.com/cindy-bonds/
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| Me attending my first Christian Writers Conference |
Until Next Time, May God Bless America, and more importantly, may America Bless God,
Kevin
