Hi Romance Devotees! I’m Rebecca Heflin and I write women’s fiction and contemporary romance. I’m excited to be here on Coffee Thoughts Blog to talk about my debut novel, The Promise of Change. I’m giving away one free download today, so please be sure to leave a comment or two.
Are you impulsive or deliberative? Do you go with your gut or do you look at a situation from every angle before making a decision? Me, I’m a hybrid. But I often regret not going with my gut. More often than not it would have been the wiser choice.
Not so with Sarah, my heroine in The Promise of Change. She is deliberative by nature, and often finds herself regretting her impulsive decisions. But what happens when she finds herself divorced, bored, and twitchy? She wonders if she’s smack in the middle of a mid-life crisis. Her uncharacteristic decisions and contradictory actions are giving her family and friends mental whiplash.
In this scene, a very expensive impulse decision turns disastrous. Chastising herself, she makes up her mind to return to her deliberative approach to life:
What a day. Sarah sat in the passenger seat of Ann’s SUV, her eyes closed. It was almost 11:00 p.m. After calling the police, giving them her report, calling her insurance company, and taking Becca home, she was finally on her way home.
When would she ever learn? Impulsiveness didn’t work for her. It didn’t work for her marriage. She didn’t know why she thought it would work for the car she’d owned less than twenty-four hours.
No more impulsiveness. This was it. She was returning to her usual approach to life, no matter how dull it might be. From now on, she was going to carefully deliberate over every decision in her life, no matter how small.
Except for shoes. A girl could never go wrong with an impulsive shoe purchase. But with everything else, she vowed to be more cautious. And if the police didn’t recover her car, she was going to buy another sensible Volvo.
Mentally exhausted, she dreaded dealing with the insurance company, the rental car agency, and all the paperwork and phone calls. She heaved a weighty sigh.
As if reading her mind, Ann said, “You’ll need a car if they don’t find yours. Do you want me to take you to the rental car agency tomorrow?”
“I’ll be okay for the weekend without a car.” She turned to look at Ann, without lifting her head from the headrest. “For now I’ve decided to rely on Scarlett O’Hara’s mantra: ‘I’ll think about that tomorrow.’ It worked for her.” She turned her head and closed her eyes. “Can we just not talk? My head is splitting.”
“Sure, Honey. You just sit there quietly. I’ll have you home soon.”
Despite her determination to deliberate her every decision, she later makes the mother-of-all-impulsive-decisions. This decision, however, could lead not only to the realization of Sarah’s life-long dream, but also to the man of her dreams. Will Sarah’s decisions leave her life in shambles, or will they lead to the promise of change?
Have you ever made an impulsive decision that in the end turned out to be the best decision you’ve ever made? I’d love to hear from you.
- About the Author
- Posts in the Past
Rebecca Heflin is an award-winning author who has dreamed of writing romantic fiction since she was fifteen and her older sister snuck a copy of Kathleen Woodiwiss’ Shanna to her and told her to read it. Rebecca writes women’s fiction and contemporary romance. When not passionately pursuing her dream, Rebecca is busy with her day-job as a practicing attorney.
Rebecca is a member of Romance Writers of America (RWA), Florida Romance Writers, RWA Contemporary Romance, and Florida Writers Association. She and her mountain-climbing husband live at sea level in sunny Florida.
Great excerpt from a wonderful book.
The theme of this blog is the theme of my first book,The Billionaire's Bauble. My heroine follows her heart and it leads her to love while my hero forgot he had one until he meets Sloane. I think going with your instinct is often the most underused talent all people possess. Believing that deliberation is important, of course I overthink everything. When I go with my gut, I always feel better about the outcome.
I wish you great success, Rebecca. Thanks for a thoughtful post.
Hi Rebecca. Saturday morning with a little romance and a hot cup of coffee…doesn't get much better.
I really enjoyed, The Promise of Change. Good Job!
-Cheryl
Yep I sure did! Getting with my husband. I met him at a bar – so not my usual thing, but now, 16 years and 4 kids later. I wouldn't change a thing!
Thanks for the great excerpt! It sounds like an awesome book!
Hey Rebecca, I love the 'mental whiplash' line. Very visual, lol. Best of luck with The Promise of Change.
Thank you for sharing a bit about your book with us! Congrats on your debut… it sounds like it will be a book I would enjoy… Wishing you the best with your book and writing! 😀
Thanks for stopping by ladies. I love hearing from you.
Great post and I agree with that we as people don’t go with our instincts as much as we should 🙂 congratulations on your release!
Good excerpt… well yes just about every decision I've made concerning men I regret… thats why I'm divorced. I hope it works out for her. I also regret some of the things I buy online… its too easy to order stuff. lol
christina_92 at yahoo.com
Thanks for sharing Rebecca.
love the excerpt
Best of luck with your book.
I just finished reading The Promise of Change and loved it. Good job, Rebecca.
I once got in a car with a strange guy. This was in 1962 in the pouring down rain on the campus of a small college and I saw he had a textbook from the class I just left, but I don't recommed this and would kill my daughter if she did it. Fifty years later, I'm still glad I did.
Love the excerpt! And I can totally relate to being impulsive. I go through periods where I'm careful as can be, then I throw caution to the wind. I've tried to learn when I'm not making decisions because of fear versuses trusting my instincts.
Hi Rebecca
I stopped by yesterday and left a comment but it never showed up so am trying again today.
I wish you success with your book and future projects.
Thanks ladies. So true, Christy, about the online purchases. They are too easy to buy, and too much trouble to return. ( :
Thanks BJ, Casey, and Susan. Glad to hear from you.
My impulse urges have softened in my senior years. The negative consequences at this time in my life can be disastrous. However, several years ago I made an impulse decision, even against my husband's wishes, that had a powerful and beautiful impact for years.
A friend came to work with his Sheltie. Immediately I fell in love with Shep. I had to have a Sheltie just like Shep. Even though it took me nearly six months to find a Shetland Sheepdog breeder, and an other four months before I could pick up my little bundle of joy, I never wavered on my decision. It was all I could think about until hubby and I brought Scotty home, an eight week old puppy.
In the first two years of Scotty's life, he changed my world and my beliefs. Scotty's poor health required major surgery to correct severe hip dysplasia. He developed depression. Desperate to do anything to restore my dog's health, I searched for every kind of therapy that would go beyond conventional medicine. It was then I discovered Reiki which turned his problems around 100 percent. He was once again a bouncy happy dog.
My practice of Reiki led me to study other religions and beliefs, including Buddhism and Shaman practices. I studied meditation with Dr. Deepak Chopra. Amazing people began to flow into my life. My world opened to understand unlimited possibilities was at my command.
Scotty taught me about unconditional love and awakened me to the power that lies within. Without Scotty I would not have written The Guardian's Wildchild. The book is dedicated to this awesome boy, who loved without limits for thirteen years.
Feather Stone
http://www.featherstoneauthor.blogspot.com/
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