Whispers in Purple is pleased to present author Mary Hamilton as our guest blogger today. Please welcome her as she shares some thoughts and talks about her new book. Oh ... there's a giveaway, too. Just scroll down for the details.
Truth or a Lie
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| Image courtesy Pixabay |
I’ve heard it takes seven compliments to overcome one
criticism. Honestly, I think it requires a lot more than seven. Those negative
statements not only cut deep, but they continue to hang around long after their
sharp edges have grown dull.
Years ago, a misunderstanding resulted in someone I
considered a friend declaring I was “incompetent and irresponsible.” I’ve
always prided myself on being dependable, so this was a sharp slap in the face.
I shed many tears over this rebuke, but eventually I had to decide whether I
was going believe those words spoken in anger, or believe what I knew to be
true.
In Pendant, my main character deals with the same issue.
Elaine is an award-winning teacher who has a track record of helping her
students find success. But when one of her students disappears from a field
trip and is never found, she finds herself dismissed with the very same words.
Incompetent. Irresponsible.
For years, she believes that one person’s evaluation of her
character. In response, she withdraws from friends and neighbors, unable to
stand the thought of their perceived judgment. She gets stuck in that well of
self-pity and despair, until circumstances force her to climb out and make
herself useful again.
Has this ever happened to you? If you’re still smarting from
unkind words of judgment, consider this conversation I had with my young
daughter many years ago. She came to me with a long face and said her friend was
calling her selfish. Rather than sympathize, I asked her a question.
“Well, are you?”
She looked a bit taken aback at my question, but then shook
her head and said she didn’t think so. I gathered her in my arms and said, “I
don’t think you’re selfish either, but I wanted to make sure you knew it. Now,
if she’s saying you are selfish, she’s either ignorant or lying. If she’s
ignorant, that means she doesn’t know the truth that you’re not selfish. In
that case, you can feel sorry for her and act in a way that will show her
you’re not selfish. But if she’s lying, she already knows you’re not selfish
and is just being mean. Then you might want to think about how important her
friendship is to you, and whether you want to be friends with someone who lies
about you.”
It’s always a good idea to evaluate whether or not there is
any truth in the criticism. If there is, work on changing what needs to be
changed. But if not, go your way, confident in the truth, and act in a manner
that will convince any who may doubt.
About Pendant:
A field trip gone awry. A student gone missing.
Haunted by a teacher’s worst nightmare for more than a decade, Elaine finally stumbles onto a vital clue—and discovers someone will do anything to keep the truth buried. When her life is threatened, she allows the one person she trusts to whisk her away to safety in Texas.
But assuming a false identity and hiding among the quirky residents of a retirement home is not what she had in mind. Now Elaine must solve the mystery from afar, as soon as she figures out if her friend is keeping her from danger…or keeping her from the truth.
About Mary:
M L Hamilton released her first adult mystery/suspense.
She says monsters under the bed never bothered her as a kid. She was scared of
the man hiding in her closet. She never figured out who he was or how he got
into her messy closet, but since then she has imagined lots of other scary
situations that will form the basis of more mystery and suspense novels. Her
other hobbies include knitting, photography, and spending time with her family.
She and her husband live in Texas, but you can find her here:
About the Giveaway:
Mary is offering a free copy of Pendant, print or eBook, winner's choice. Entering is easy: Just leave a comment below with your name and contact information. See? Told you so. Giveaway ends one week from today (Dec 14) at Midnight o'clock, CST. Winner will be selected in a random drawing and notified via email. Thanks for entering!
