SIPS OF WINE FROM THE GRAPEVINE
BY PATTY L. FLETCHER
A PUBLICATION OF TELL-IT-TO-THE-WORLD MARKETING (AUTHOR, BLOGGER, BUSINESS ASSIST)
April 25 2021
Good afternoon to all.
Today, I have for you, an essay by author Trish Hubschman. Trish is a regular contributor of #WordPressWednesday and The Writer’s Grapevine magazine.
This month, after The Writer’s Grapevine Sensational Spring Edition April May 2021 came out Trish wrote me to say she’d really enjoyed it but, where was her contribution. Mortified I went to look and sure enough I’d left her What’s Up column out. I wrote to her with an apology and a promise to share.
It is with great pleasure I offer it here for your enjoyment.
The Last Year of the Century
1999
By Trish Hubschman
March 2021
https://www.dldbooks.com/hubschman/
So many things happened for me that led to new beginnings.
The New York State agency I’d been working for since 1990 moved to a different town. The new location wasn’t accessible to public transportation. I tried to get the paratransit handicapped bus to assist me, but they refused. I lived in a different County as the new office location. I had to rely on Kevin, mom and friends for rides and didn’t always know how I’d be getting home at night.
I saw an audiologist at Helen Keller National Center. She wanted to try new hearing aids. She took molds of my ears and wanted me to come back. I told her HKNC was too far from my home. She gave me a referral to a college closer to my house where her sister was an audiologist. I was fitted for hearing aids. They had remote controls like a TV, but they didn’t work for me. I had too many garbled sounds in my ears. Hearing aids only amplified the distorted sounds. It was here with this audiologist that I began my road to the cochlear implant.
Mom read a book by a local author, “Bridge to Yesterday” by Stephanie Mittman. She enjoyed it. In the back of the book was an address to contact the author. It was a post office box in a nearby town. Mom gave me the book. I read it and loved it. I sent a letter to Stephanie. Next thing I knew, I was a member of the Long Island Romance Writers, a chapter of Romance Writers of America. I was attending their monthly meetings which were at a library fifteen minutes from my house. I adored my mentor, Stephanie, and all the ladies in the chapter.
I’d written short stories and poetry, a lot of romance in both, but never a whole book. I wanted to do just that. I was an avid reader of the masters, Danielle Steel, Nora Roberts, LeVryle Spencer. I needed to create a phenomenal character, someone who stood out beyond all others. This is how my rock star, Danny Tide, was born. He wasn’t a super sleuth yet. That didn’t happen for another decade or so and Tracy Gayle had to be born first.
Danny was a very talented musician who was a heck of a nice guy. I featured him in two novels, “A Song For Love” and “a Song To Remember.” My writers group loved Danny and the books I’d done, but I was told that celebrities weren’t allowed as characters.
Soon after, Mom read a book by LeVryle spencer, “Small Town Girl” where the female character was a country music superstar. She falls in love with an old schoolmate. He had been a geek in the old days. He grew up and became a CPA.
“This reminds me of your books with Danny Tide,” Mom told me. I brought that up with the chapter. They agreed that I should be able to do it, but I wasn’t a big name author.
I never gave up on Danny Tide, nor did I stop or slow down on writing. That last year of the 20th Century was a foresight of the future.
Thanks for reading. If you enjoyed my story, please get in touch. My email address is palhub@rcn.com
To read The Writer’s Grapevine Sensational Spring Edition April May 2021 please visit: https://www.patreon.com/posts/50455228