Nicole C Schroeder's Blog

CONTEST: WRITE TO INSPIRE

nicolecschroeder — Mon, 11 May 2009 16:36:52 +0000

On September 20, 2008, I lost my father. He had a heart attack and died before I ever had a chance to say, “good-bye.” This loss changed the course of my entire life. I always imagined that he would be there to see my one-year old daughter grow up because being her “Pa Pa” was the most important thing to him and she loved him just as much. After his death, she walked around with a photo album, with pictures of the two of them inside, and it was a constant reminder of what we’d truly lost, a loss that I could not have been able to get through if it had not been for my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I know it’s not a popular answer, but it’s the truth as I know it. His love and mercy has given me the strength to pursue my dream of writing, and it is the reason why I’m having this contest entitled: Write to Inspire. The details are simple. Send me an email at nicolecschroeder@yahoo.com or nicoleschroeder@nicolecschroeder.com, explaining how you were able to get through a “storm” in your life. Not only could you be an inspiration to the hundreds of people, who visit the website each month, but you could also win an “IN THE MIDST OF A STORM” gift basket. The contest ends Wednesday, July 15, 2009 at noon CST. The contest winner will be chosen and announced on the website, www.nicolecschroeder.com – Friday, July 17, 2009 at seven p.m. CST, so start writing to inspire! Please be sure to enclose your first and last name, postal address (a gift basket will be mailed to the winner), and an active e-mail address.

Racism within Churches

nicolecschroeder — Sun, 03 May 2009 22:04:26 +0000

In my novel, In the Midst of a Storm, I pose a question to the characters, as well as my readers: if an individual chooses to worship with their respective race, is it a preference or a sign of ones prejudices or misconceptions about ones race? As this multicultural romance novel was being created, a childhood thought came to mind: when I was in the eight grade, I attended a predominately white church (in my hometown) because my closest friend and favorite teacher were members there. The people were nice; they never once made me feel out of place for being the ONLY black person there; except for, this one time, which just happened to be the last time that I ever attended the church. The minister was preaching about unity within the church and in the midst of her sermon, she said and I quote, “we should be more like the black churches because those people know how to stick together.” In that instant, I decided to go back to the “black church” where I’d grown up since “they” understood the Christian relationship better than the predominately white congregations did. As the years passed, I continued to hear the term, “black church,” so much in the media as well as our society that it almost seemed like a denomination within itself. When I was a Freshmen in high school, a friend of mine asked me a question. She said, “You go to an African Methodist Episcopal Church. Does that mean that only Africans or blacks can go there?” My response was this: “I don’t think so. I don’t know. Let’s go to lunch.” Even though I was a Freshmen, I should have been able to say more than, “Let’s go to lunch.” Fifteen years later, I wish I had that moment back, so that I could have said, “Everyone is welcomed in the house of the Lord, regardless of race or any other cultural differences because (as Christians) we’re all serving the same God.”

Preachers and Sex “What’s the big deal anyway?”

nicolecschroeder — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 01:37:28 +0000

On page 131 in my novel, In the Midst of a Storm, it reads: The remote to the dvd player still needed batteries, so Rita Young had to walk over to press the play button. As she bent over, her shirt raised slightly, revealing the small of her back, and the top of her thong. Reverend Michael Green silently yearned to see more of her, but he quickly felt ashamed. He felt ashamed because there was a part of him that wanted to forget about his commitment to God, and give in to his latest temptation, which was Rita. Now Rita wasn’t just “some” woman. She was “the” woman, so waiting was the right thing to do; however, it was also one of the hardest things that he ever had to do and he let that be known throughout the book.

In a recent online discussion, I discovered that there are readers who actually thought that I should have allowed the two of them to have sex. The reasoning was simple: preachers are human beings. Human beings have premarital sex everyday. What’s the big deal anyway? Well, here’s the big deal: Reverend Michael Green, like so many preachers and spiritual leaders today, should do their best to live their lives in a way that will be pleasing to God and I wanted to show my readers that this some times difficult goal could be achieved.

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Nicole C. Schroeder, In the Midst of a Storm, www.nicolecschroeder.com

Heart attacks kill. We should know!

nicolecschroeder — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 23:44:33 +0000

In my novel, In the Midst of a Storm, the heroine, Rita Young, loses her father: He has a heart attack and dies one Sunday afternoon. Three months before my novel was released, my aunt called my husband and I at two-thirty in the morning and told me that my father, whom I loved dearly, had a heart attack and died instantly. My aunt called me because my mother was too upset to speak. As I listened to her crying in the background, the reality begun to set in: my father, like my character’s father, was gone and neither one of us ever had a chance to say, “good-bye.” When I released the E-BOOK on my website, www.nicolecschroeder.com last month, I tried to rewrite that scene. I thought, “at least one of us should have closure,” but I couldn’t get passed the first word change. My eyes started to water and my hands started to shake. Nothing like that had ever happened to me before, but it was clear to me that she, like me would not get the closure that we desperately wanted. I say, “wanted,” because if I needed to say, “good-bye” to my dad I truly feel that God would have given me the chance to do so and if Rita Young truly needed closure, I guess I would have written it that way in the beginning.

I DID “IT”

nicolecschroeder — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 23:19:53 +0000

It took twenty-three and a half years, but I finally did it! I finally hosted my first book discussion/signing for the novel that I knew that I would write (at the age of five years old). Of course, I didn’t know the title or the content at the time, but I knew that I was born to be a writer because I couldn’t think about anything else. If given the choice back then I would have chosen a pen to write with over a fork or spoon to eat with. (I have to admit that there are times when I still feel that way). However, when I stood and spoke in front of a room full of people at the Huntsville Public Library in Alabama, the experience was quite humbling because it was no longer just about me or my attempt to advance my writing career. It was about my family, friends, and (dare I say) fans, who’d taken the time to purchase, read, and discuss my novel, In the Midst of a Storm, on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. I felt blessed to be in their presence and that feeling meant more to me than anything else…