Be Cautious and Pray

By Debra DuPree Williams @DDuPreeWilliams

As the publication date for Grave Consequences nears, I find myself busy with all manner of marketing things. With getting items made and things ticked off my “to do” list, I’m humming right along.

Many of you have contacted me about being on my launch team. I can’t tell you how much that means to me. A book doesn’t just appear out of thin air. It takes a lot of people coming alongside us to get word out about it.

Be Aware

But even as I’m busy doing those things, I’m acutely aware that we are in the midst of a huge health issue for many parts of the world. My own state, North Carolina, now has at least two if not more, cases of COVID-19.

As Church Doors Across the World Close, Could Yours be Next?

by Debra DuPree Williams @DDuPreeWilliams

This past week my sister and I had quite an intriguing conversation. Each of us likes Dr. David Jeremiah and we try to watch him every chance we get. My area gets his shows on a delayed basis, so she saw this one before I did. He talked about having visited a church in Vienna that has stood for over five-hundred years. At one time, it was the place where townspeople gathered to worship. He said this particular church is now only a tourist destination. How very sad. He continued by saying that in the next seven years, over fifty-five-thousand churches in the United States will close their doors.

What? I had to find some statistics somewhere to tell me about this. So off I went to good old Google.

Grave Consequences Has a Cover

By Debra DuPree Williams

I want to thank all of you for faithfully reading my posts. I can’t tell you how much that means to me. In the publishing world, it’s all about the numbers. Sad, but true. It’s not necessarily a bad thing. It’s just the way it is.

If you’ve read my posts for a while, you know that I’ve shared with you many things about my writing journey. One of those things was about the birth of a book and how long a process it is. I feel fortunate. I haven’t had to wait that long. Believe me when I tell you that was by the grace of God alone. 

Are You Listening?

By Debra DuPree Williams @DDuPreeWilliams 

You know those moments when something seems so wonderful that we can hardly believe it’s happening to us? But at the same time, you get this feeling in the pit of your stomach, a voice in your spirit that’s telling you this isn’t for you?

Listen to that voice.

That’s God.

I’ve recently had two such moments. One thing was inconsequential in the scope of my life, still, had I listened to those gut feelings, the red flags waving in the distance, I would have saved myself and another person a slight headache.

The second thing is big. I mean it could be very big. It could change my life, and it could potentially change the lives of many others. But, right now, I don’t feel comfortable with it. At this point, I’m still in a wait and see mode while I wait on God to bring me clarity.

Have you had those moments? I’ve had more than my share.

Overwhelmed? There's Help

By Debra DuPree Williams @DDuPreeWilliams

Do you ever get overwhelmed? I think most of us do from time to time. Right now, I’m working on all those things that must be done to market a book. Yes, I know. It hasn’t even been published yet. But here’s what I didn’t realize and maybe you don’t know either. The marketing begins the minute you have the idea for the book.

So, let’s consider that I’m about thirty years behind. That’s how long ago I began thinking about writing this story. I had no clue what marketing was back then. I had no clue I was a writer.

Better Than Cussin' - The Colorful Language of the South -

By Debra DuPree Williams @DDuPreeWilliams

Did the title grab your attention? I’m sure it did as you likely never thought you’d see such from me. Let me be clear, I’m not speaking of those words, the ones we simply do not use in polite society. I’m talking about Southern slang. Those phrases we use in place of the words which may, or may not have, come to mind.

Having been reared in south Alabama, I heard my share of both categories. Of course, that was back in the day when, if children used those words, out came the bar of soap. In our household, that meant the big, brown, scary bar of Octagon soap. 

My Granny - A Lasting Legacy

By Debra DuPree Williams @DDuPreeWilliams

One of the things I loved most about my childhood was having our grandmother, Mama’s mother, Ludie Smith Bass, live with us. She was such a sweetheart and I wish I’d been old enough to truly appreciate just who she was in my life. Of course, I was aware that she was Mama’s mother, but I had no clue about the people she knew and from whom she descended.

It took me many years to finally begin the search for my roots, on all sides. But Granny’s are some I rarely write about. Mainly because I didn’t know much about that side of our family.

Granny’s mother and father, I do know—Turner Thomas Smith and Elizabeth Gilbert, and sisters and brothers, but off the top of my head, I can’t tell you all their names. That is so sad to me. These are the people who influenced Granny’s early years, thus, the remainder of her life.