Elizabeth Seckman on Healing Summer and Telling Lies

I'm sure many of you know that Elizabeth is on a blog tour right now promoting Healing Summer, the second book in her Coulter Men series.  You may also know she's writing guest posts based off prompts we bloggers have given her.

My prompt to Elizabeth was: "People pay me to tell them lies."

So you must read how the quick-witted, creative Elizabeth Seckman responded!

Me lie?

Why Jeff, I am offended. You say people pay me to tell them lies? Why, I never lie…but I do take literary license as my God given right and talent. ;)

Okay, no lies; true story.

Elizabeth Seckman

My mother bought me a Hummel wall plate. I love Hummel. I LOVED my plate. Notice I said LOVED? Yep, my son knocked it off the bathroom wall. I heard the shattering glass from the kitchen. I knew my cute little pink cheeked, bow lipped, plucked from a happy yard in the 1950’s children were probably dust on the floor.

See, I have four boys. They are active and ornery and I have yet to abuse a single one. And that’s not by luck. You see, years ago I determined the best way to keep from giving them a good beating was to take many deep breaths before visiting the scenes of their crimes.

So, on that day, as I waited for God to grant me calm, I overheard an older brother tell his younger brother, “Don’t just tell her you broke it. Make something up. Something funny, like you were practicing your ninja techniques or rehearsing to be Spider-Man. Just telling her you threw a shirt at me will get us both killed. Make her laugh, keep her distracted, and we’ll order a replacement.”

I was impressed. My children had colluded against me to save the younger, weaker member of the pack.

And they taught me the fundamentals of any good lie, eh mmm, I mean story…you have to engage the receiver. Whether we’re telling stories to entertain, to get attention, or to save our hides…we have to find the best combination of truth, lie, and detail to interest and engage the listener.

A bit of truth…yes we broke the plate
A bit of lie…it happened in an extraordinary way
A bit of detail…something interesting…like ninja moves or Spider-Man

It’s a lesson from my boys, who use story telling as a defense mechanism, for us writers, who take it to the next level and ask for cash. If we can distract and amuse readers long enough, we can rob them of their money and not have them call the police for giving them nothing more than pages and pages of lies in return.

About Healing Summer:

Ditched at the altar…biopsied for cancer…Mollie Hinkle is having a bona fide bitch of a summer. When life sucks so hard it takes your breath away, what's a girl to do?

2nd Book in the Coulter Men Series

Road trip! Pack a bag, grab a few friends, and leave the past and the worry in the rear view mirror. What wounds can’t be healed by a drive across the Heartland, where quarter flips at cross roads determine the route and the future?

All roads lead to Craig, the second son and bad boy of the haughty Coulter line. Craig has spent his life taking care of number one—himself. He’s not interested in a relationship and he’s definitely not looking to fall in love. But if a morsel drops in his lap, who is he to refrain?

Mollie’s not looking for love either, but truth be told, she’s not opposed to it. Heck, if fate brought her to the miniscule Montana town to find happily ever after, she won’t fight it.  Perhaps it is a summer where love, not time, heals all her wounds.

Links:
Healing Summer Blog Tour page.
Connect with Elizabeth on Facebook and Goodreads
Get Healing Summer on Amazon!

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