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Chautona Havig

Chautona Havig

Using story to connect YOU to the Master Storyteller

How Characters Influence an Author’s Life

by Chautona Havig · 7 Comments

Or:  How Willow Guilted Me into Work

On Tuesday, my daughter bought us two of the grocery store rotisserie chickens for dinner.  I remember her hinting strongly that we only needed one.  However, I like to use the leftovers for chicken soup and even on a half-empty house, one won’t cut it for two meals with my crew.  She dutifully bought what I asked.  Go Jenna.  (and can you please disobey me next time?)

Anyway. I was on the ball.  I had dinner planned for Wednesday night and then we would have chicken soup on Thursday.  That meant that I had to boil those birds, make broth, get the meat off the bones.  All in a day’s work. I mean, it’s not like I had to butcher the things!  They were cooked when I started!

I had another daughter (I have a superfluity of daughters–something for which I am very grateful) dump them in the Dutch oven and start the boil.  And they did.  For a long time (because we all forgot about them).  My husband turned off the heat before he went to bed.

A couple of hours later, I remembered them.  Gulp.  Surely they were cold and probably unsafe.  Yes.  Of course they were.  We’d forget the fact that I’d be reboiling it all before we ate it. Right.  Didn’t need to do it.

I worked on Past Forward for a little longer until the guilt nearly strangled me.  Sigh.  So, instead of replacing the previously expunged “McDonald’s scene,” I went into the kitchen and tested the pot.  Still hot.  Drat.  Resigned to my fate, I began the tedious task of removing meat from bird bones.

It took me fifteen minutes tops.

Really, Chautona?

Sigh.

Does it say something horrible about me that my conscience knew the right thing to do but did not do it (Oh, dear… James 4:17 strikes again), but knowing that some woman who doesn’t exist at all would be shocked was enough to get me off the couch and into the kitchen?

It probably does.

Double sigh.

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Comments

  1. Rebekah says

    August 24, 2012 at 8:20 am

    LOL I think the funniest part of this post might have been imagining Willow’s reaction if you had just stayed where you were and left the stock! :p

    I’m enjoying rereading Willow by the way. And if the McDonald’s scene is the one I think it is, now I’m going to be on the lookout to see if you ultimately decided to keep it, or get rid of it. 😀

    To the KING be all the glory!
    Rebekah

    Reply
  2. Kristi Stapler says

    August 16, 2012 at 5:13 pm

    ROFLOL! Nodding my head in complete and total understanding!

    Reply
  3. Marylin F says

    August 16, 2012 at 3:56 pm

    Chautona,
    That is too funny… Thanks for sharing this.
    Question: Are you a late nighter? I’m in Oregon and many times late at night I get my emails from you and I thought you lived more in mid west.
    Also, I was driving around with my daughter the other day and we put in a cd. As I was listening to the song it made me think of Willow. Or how she would think of this change in her life. The song is by Tenth Avenue North (My nephew’s band) and it’s called – All The Pretty Things. If you’ve not heard it you should!! It talks about all the thinkgs that take us away from God. Enjoy! Marylin

    Reply
    • Chautona says

      August 16, 2012 at 4:00 pm

      I’ll have to go find that song!

      I am most definitely a night owl, but I’m west coast. California’s Mojave Desert.

      Reply
  4. Bethany Goff says

    August 16, 2012 at 6:51 am

    It’s good to know that you’re just as human as I am! And I appreciate you being so real with all of us. 🙂

    Reply
  5. barbara says

    August 16, 2012 at 6:01 am

    ROFLOL! I had a similar thought the other day when I wanted to buy $40 per bottle shampoo, thought about making some instead and then thought “Willow would NEVER buy that!”

    Reply
  6. Carla Linhart says

    August 16, 2012 at 3:30 am

    Sounds like Willow except she would have killed her chickens.

    Reply

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The Because Fiction Podcast
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Episode 567: A Chat with Roseanna M. White
byChautona Havig

Being a spy in WWII must have been harrowing–being responsible for a network of them? Listen in as Roseanna M. White and I talk about her newest release, The Spy Keeper of Marseille.

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One thing that always surprises me is how much the German invaders supported the arts. It’s not what you expect during a time of war.

I love how Roseanna shows faith flourishing and growing in times of trouble as well as triumph.

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Marcel Laurent was a renowned concert pianist before joining the French army and being sent to a POW camp. Freed in a prisoner exchange by a wealthy businessman with ties to the Resistance, Marcel agrees to spy for Alliance by conducting a youth orchestra, gathering intelligence from patrons who are loose-lipped Nazi sympathizers. Marcel’s weekly radio broadcasts introducing the orchestra’s performances give him the perfect cover to send coded messages over the airwaves.

As Zelie and Marcel grow closer through their shared love of music, she begins to rely on him. But betrayal from within Alliance puts everything they’ve fought for at risk. When a double agent infiltrates their ranks and the two are captured, their bond faces its greatest test . . . and any misstep could jeopardize not only Alliance but the very outcome of the war.

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  • Includes discussion questions for book clubs

Learn more about Roseanna M. White on her WEBSITE (with all the bookish merch) and follow her on BookBub and GoodReads.

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Episode 567: A Chat with Roseanna M. White
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It's a battle royale and a bit of loathe-to-love all rolled into one town fighting to stay alive. Milton and Atticus do their part to reframe his business plan into something that'll work... and yeah. They're doing that matchmaking thing. Can you blame them? With a name like Honey, she's got to be perfect for him.
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The introduction to the Bookstrings series, Spines The introduction to the Bookstrings series, Spines & Leaves takes you near Joshua Tree National Park and a tiny bookstore desiccating in the heat. But Milton Coleridge and his love of books sees potential--and another kind of love. For someone else. Again. Still, with his trusty parrotlet Atticus (not Finch) by his side, he's turning his business skills in a new, more rewarding direction. Jump into the first Bookstrings novella today. Available in print, on Kindle (and Kindle Unlimited) and audiobook, as well as able to be listened to FREE on YouTube. https://amzn.to/3U2Smtn #affiliatelink
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A tiny bookstore in an equally tiny town? Sure. Wh A tiny bookstore in an equally tiny town? Sure. Why not. Joshua Hart is determined to make it a success--to share his love of reading with his community. And it will... if the crazy baker (with the amazing cinnamon rolls) across the street will quit blocking his store's existence with her behemoth of a vehicle pointing everyone to those (yes, totally amazing but come on!) cinnamon rolls!
It's a battle royale and a bit of loathe-to-love all rolled into one town fighting to stay alive. Milton and Atticus do their part to reframe his business plan into something that'll work... and yeah. They're doing that matchmaking thing. Can you blame them? With a name like Honey, she's got to be perfect for him.
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https://amzn.to/4bA7B32
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A tiny bookstore in an equally tiny town? Sure. Wh A tiny bookstore in an equally tiny town? Sure. Why not. Joshua Hart is determined to make it a success--to share his love of reading with his community. And it will... if the crazy baker (with the amazing cinnamon rolls) across the street will quit blocking his store's existence with her behemoth of a vehicle pointing everyone to those (yes, totally amazing but come on!) cinnamon rolls!
It's a battle royale and a bit of loathe-to-love all rolled into one town fighting to stay alive. Milton and Atticus do their part to reframe his business plan into something that'll work... and yeah. They're doing that matchmaking thing. Can you blame them? With a name like Honey, she's got to be perfect for him.
Available in print, on Kindle (and Kindle Unlimited) as well as audio. You can also listen to the audio FREE on YouTube on @christaDelSorbo's channel
https://amzn.to/4bA7B32
#ChristFic
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