"In my debut novel, The Right
Ingredients, there’s a scene with my main character Ann, talking to her friend
Susan about something her mother once said to her. It’s pretty identical to an
experience I had and never forgot how funny I thought it was.
I was about 15 or
so, and pudgy. I was helping Mom close up the school library where she worked.
I’ve forgotten how we got on the subject, but something prompted me to ask my mother if I was pretty.
Now, neither of my parents believed in paying much
attention to one’s looks, other than making sure you were presentable and tidy.
They never said much about whether or not any of their four children (3 girls
and a boy) were attractive. Our behavior is what counted. I could see the
question made my mother uncomfortable.
After studying me for a few silent
moments, as I waited with nervous anticipation, she said, “You have the kind of
face people remember.”
After a pause, while I digested
her somewhat noncommittal remark, a response popped into my head. One which
would let her know she could have been a tad more encouraging, but also letting
her know I wasn’t upset at her lukewarm words. I said in a wry voice, “Thanks,
Mom. So does Frankenstein.”
We both had a good laugh, and
many years later, I found a spot for it in my book!"
Nancy Bolton,
author of The Right Ingredients
Ann’s hectic work responsibilities demand
all her time and effort, and what was once a useful,
satisfactory life has become a burden to carry. Her bakery
partner Susan has lost none of her enthusiasm for their
business, and Ann can’t understand her exuberance, or her
friend’s Christian faith. So she trudges along, hiding her
dissatisfaction from Susan, resigned to a life of work, sleep
and problems.
Unexpected comments offered by two
different people cause a crack in Ann’s armor and her thoughts
careen into unexpected directions. Attention from a young
widower with a son challenges Ann’s resolve to stay safe and
uninvolved. Susan’s example of faith through trial furthers
Ann’s curiosity about God. Ann must choose to step toward the
unfamiliar freedom of giving and receiving love, or stay in the
shadows, stuck in the grip of past hurts.
EXCERPT
Copyright
2014 © Nancy Shew Bolton
Ann hoped the bakery stayed empty of
customers. She needed every bit of concentration to decorate the
cake the way she envisioned it. Her eyes scrutinized the last
patch of undecorated surface. Almost done. Shifting on the
chair, elbows planted on the low icing table, she pressed her
lips together and leaned closer. She calculated the perfect
angle to hold the frosting bag.
A stray hair drifted into her line of
vision and she blew out a quick upward breath to deflect it. How
on earth could any strand escape her coiled braid? She should
have worn the hairnet. But hairnets were old-womanish. Still,
she preferred them to the flimsy paper hats she and Susan wore
the first year they opened the bakery. They never fit well, and
exasperated her by sailing off her head when she rushed past the
ceiling fans.
The bell on the bakery’s front door
tinkled. Ann sighed and wished Susan would return from
deliveries. She glanced through the archway and out the picture
window. Maybe she’d appear. No such luck. Oh, well.
“Be right there,” she called. Ann set
down the icing bag, rose from the chair and angled her hips to
slip past the table. As she stepped sideways, two bees zoomed in
and flew toward her. She startled, brushed both hands to scare
them away and lost her balance.
In helpless shock, her stomach fell as
her forearms, palms and chin landed on the cake and sunk in
while a groan escaped her. Ann lifted her head and stared in
total horror. Loud moans erupted. “No…no, no.”
As though a protest would change
anything. Tears gathered. She drew away from the cake, and
straightened up. One little wobble, and her handiwork was
destroyed.
“Are you okay?”
Ann stared at a tall, sturdy man in
jeans and a tee shirt. He stood in the archway between the front
and back rooms and surveyed the scene. “I’d have stayed out
there, but I heard you cry out and thought I’d better check on
you.”
Ann’s lip trembled. She pushed against
the tide of emotion. No tears in front of customers. The two
bees danced on the frosting, poking around on her ruined cake.
“It’s all their fault. I tried to do everything right, and see
what happened?”
She pointed a frosted finger at them
while her tears overflowed. Through the blur, she glanced from
the excited insects over to the man. She blinked to clear her
vision. His eyes were sympathetic, and his mouth wore a
suppressed grin. He stood in a firm stance, yet appeared poised
to offer assistance. Ann searched for a clean part of her arm
and brought it up to first brush the tears, then the frosting
beard off her chin. She must look like some sort of clown.
The merriment left his face. “I’m
sorry. I think maybe they flew in when I opened the door. Can I
help?”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Nancy Shew Bolton
is a wife of 41 years, mother of five grown sons, and
grandmother to a boy and girl. Ever since she learned to write,
she would jot down her thoughts and impressions in little
snippets of inspiration in the form of poetry, song lyrics, or
short essays. About six years ago, she decided to try her hand
at writing a full-length book. She’s since written five works of
fiction, two non-fiction, and is working on an idea for a
children’s book, as well as more fiction manuscripts. Writing a
full-length work is much more challenging than she thought, and
she has received so much valuable assistance from other writers,
especially from the ACFW critique groups. Her husband has been
supportive of her long hours spent at the keyboard. Many thanks
to her beloved Johnny! She thanks God and His Son for her life,
her loved ones and the spark of creativity inside every person.
She believes each person is a unique creation, with their own
special voice and place in this amazing universe. God’s
handiwork amazes her every day!
I love your book cover, Nancy. Congratulations on your debut novel.
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ReplyDelete“The Right Ingredients is a charming Christian romance. ”
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ReplyDelete“Ann's sheltered life expands when she begins to realize there's love all around. ”
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ReplyDelete“This beautiful story touches the heart and soul. ”
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