How Does What We Write Affect the World Around Us?

Last night, I viewed one of my favorite television shows, "A Person of Interest." During the course of the program, the young woman who was the lead character for the evening gunned down countless people. Her actions made a fast-paced production. But they also made me wonder. Are TV shows like this causing us to become insensitive regarding human life?

The main prime time presentations on the major networks appear to be crime shows that usually start off with a murder. The 11 p.m. news programs are filled with details and taped scenes from the latest murders. Our national news channels are dissecting the Oscar Pistorius crime from every angle. Are all these terrible events making us immune, or are they just making us paranoid?

I don't know.

Mystery/suspense are among the most popular fiction books on the market. We love to read stories filled with excitement, adventure, and danger. Since I've started at least three of my own books with a murder, I'm guilty as well. Fast-paced books are page-turners. They might even become bestsellers.

However, when I found a new review on Amazon today for one of my books, I started to evaluate the best thing for me to write. The review for Daddy's Christmas Angel was written by a former teacher, someone I don't know. She'd taught second grade like Angie in my story. She "loved the book" and "had a hard time putting it down." She cried at the end.

There is no murder in Daddy's Christmas Angel. It's just a sweet story about three people--a child and two adults--who are all lonely in their own ways. It's about people who need love and caring in their lives. We all need that.

I started to think that perhaps my next book should not start with a murder. Perhaps it should be just another love story...

After all, I have to believe that what we write does affect the world around us. That world already has too much murder and mayhem.

--Mary Montague Sikes

Completing A New Book Manuscript Brings Excitement

Completing a new book always brings excitement to me. My newest project, Daddy's Christmas Angel, has been a story of my heart for several years. I always call it my "Sleepless in Seattle" book because it's the story of a child's dream of having a mother of her own.

Kathleen's mother died in a tragic car accident when she was only a year old. Her father blamed himself for the tragedy and has spent the last six years trying to make up for the loss he brought to his child. He never wants either of them to be hurt again. That means staying away from any relationship that might make him vulnerable. Although David has a trustworthy older housekeeper who has cared for Kathleen since she was a baby, he does not realize how very much his young daughter wants and needs a mother.

When she inherits a rambling old house and land on the outskirts of a small town in Virginia, Angie picks up her life and moves from city life in St. Louis. She takes a job as a teacher, and Kathleen is one of her second-graders. The little girl takes a special liking to Angie and connives to connect them.

A few years ago, I sign a contract with a publishing company for this story as an e-book. Then, I decided the timing was not right for e-books, and I wanted to wait until it could come out in print form. So I asked to be released from the contract.

"Angel in the Trees" copyright MMSikes

The story has waited until this year. Several weeks ago, I pulled it back up on my computer and started revising it into a 75,000-word manuscript. It is not a "Passenger to Paradise" book because there is no exotic destination. It isn't a mystery, and there are no paranormal elements in it. It isn't a western novel. It's a love story. Remember the movie, "Love Story"? It is a little of that sort of story mixed with "Sleepless in Seattle" but with a happy ending.

It's exciting!


--Mary Montague Sikes