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Tanara McCauley

~ Love Knows Color

Tanara McCauley

Tag Archives: arizona

AWOL Writer Captured!

15 Saturday Jun 2019

Posted by tanaramccauley in Writing and Pursuing Publication

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alcatraz, arizona, AWOL, california, capture, road trip, san francisco, scorpion, summer vacation, texas, Vietnamese restaurant, writer

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Repost from 6/15/12. How appropriate as I’m currently recovering from early summer travels and jet lag :-).

It was hard, but we found her! She and her shiftless gang of vacationers were spotted crossing the California border, stopping first in her hometown of Sacramento then heading north up to the great city of San Francisco. When we were close on her heels (we had leads that she ate at her favorite Vietnamese restaurant Thanh Long then boarded a charter to Alcatraz) she eluded us by fleeing to the small town of Lakeport and hiding on the Pomo Indian Reservation with her husband’s extended family. As the chase heated up we followed her up I-10 North to I-40 East. We could never quite catch up as she sped past the New Mexico, Texas, and Oklahoma borders (apparently the “don’t mess with Texas” signs didn’t scare her one bit). We tried to head her off at a family reunion, but by then she had already ducked out with a larger group to visit the 200 acre farm that’s been in her family since Indian Territory days. We tracked her back to Oklahoma City, keeping our distance while she tried her hand at the shooting range. We were sure we’d nab her after a stint on stage with a live band during an open mic session, but because the place was occupied by mostly family members, her clan made it possible for her to slip away yet again. We were just about ready to give up, especially when we lost sight of her on a middle-of-the-night road trip heading back down I-40 West. We decided to stop by her house in Arizona to regroup and come up with a new strategy of pursuit. As luck would have it that’s where we found her. She was fishing scorpions out of the pool so she and her band of summer lovers could take a dip. We hid behind the potted herbs (long dead after several weeks of neglect in the merciless desert heat), and nabbed her as soon as she popped out of the water. Sorry it took so long folks. She gave us a run for our money, but we’ve managed to capture your missing writer and put her seat back in its seat.

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The Goodness of God

17 Saturday Jan 2015

Posted by tanaramccauley in and Other Topics, Faith, Faith, Relationships, and Other Topics, Relationships

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

arizona, basketball, Christ, Christian, faith, God is good, grief, joy, miracles, NBA All-Star, phoenix, prayer, tragedy

womanheart I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. ~Psalm 27:13

It was Valentine’s Day, 2009. The NBA All-Star festivities were taking place in Phoenix, and my husband Jon and I decided it would be fun to go as a family. We excited our twins, then three-years-old, with the promise of a fun-filled evening of basketball, cheering, and endless snacking.

We figured we’d buy tickets at the arena, since All-Star events never look sold out. But this event had. And the people selling tickets on the street were selling them at face value or higher.

$300. Each.

We’ve taught our kids about God from infancy. Trust Him. He loves you. Pray about everything. Know that He hears you.

And though we model these admonitions in their presence, praying about the tickets didn’t occur to Jon or me as we talked about a plan B.

“But, Dad.” Our daughter grabbed his face between her little hands and turned it toward the entrance. “We want to go in there.”

“We don’t have tickets, baby.”

“But we didn’t ask God yet. You said we could ask God anything.”

And so ask Him we did. Not two minutes after “amen,” a young man approached. “Do you guys need a ticket? I have an extra one.”

“How much?” Jon asked.

“Here you go.” The guy handed over the ticket, shook Jon’s hand and walked away. We received the rest of the tickets within minutes, all for the same price: free.

allstar

We had a wonderful time that night, and praised God for His goodness.

But sometimes the answer to prayer is no. Like the time I lost my third child to miscarriage, or when we lost my mother-in-law to leukemia sixteen months after her diagnosis.

Even in those instances, as painful as they were, God remained faithful, loving, and good. Because His goodness isn’t contingent on how He answers prayer, or even that He answers prayer. His goodness is one of His many unending, never-changing attributes.

A “yes” to our prayers is a byproduct of that goodness. A “no,” a byproduct of His wisdom. For He knows the plans He has for us, even when we don’t.

Divine admittance to a basketball game wasn’t a monumental life event, but it was definitely an eye-opening one. It affirmed that God cares about the trivial and the major, because He cares about us.

We can trust Him, knowing that He loves us. We can pray about everything, knowing that He hears us. And we can enjoy peace that passes understanding, knowing that the God we serve is good.

Your turn: In what way(s) has God wowed you with His goodness?

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The Phoenix Rattler

27 Sunday Jul 2014

Posted by tanaramccauley in Writing and Pursuing Publication

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ACFW affiliate, amwriting, arizona, author, books, Christian fiction, christian writers of the west, contemporary novel, CWOW, desert, historical, mystery, Phoenix Rattler, prizes, rattlesnake, romance, science fiction, writer, writing, writing contest, young adult

rattlesnake

A rattlesnake is a fascinating (albeit formidable) creature. A mixture of strength, mystery, beauty and stealth, this unpredictable reptile has earned the awe with which humans regard it. For when least expected, it strikes. And its effects on the subject are not soon forgotten.

The Christian Writers of the West (CWOW) are in search of entries for our Phoenix Rattler contest. Stories that live up to the legacy of the rattlesnake. Tales that strike the heart of the reader and leave indelible impressions on the mind.

Are you an unpublished* novelist with such a story? One characterized by strength, mystery, history, or love? Maybe even danger and suspense?

You are invited to enter the first fifteen pages of your unpublished novel in The Phoenix Rattler. rattler

The contest opens for entries on August 1, 2014. For more information, please click here. Finalists in the contest will have their entries judged by prominent editors and agents in the Christian publishing industry. The grand prize winner will receive a Kindle Fire HD or a gift certificate of like value.

Send in your entry, and discover if your story has bite!

*Unpublished fiction writers, or those who have not published in the last five years. See site for more details.

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Warrior Tribe

08 Sunday Jul 2012

Posted by tanaramccauley in The Scorpion Chronicles

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

ancestors, arizona, arthropod, bark, battle, chronicles, clan African, enemy, family, Indian, Irish, roots, scorpion, tribe, warrior, writing

We’re a family with tribal roots. African tribes, Indian tribes…even my Anglo background reaches back to the Irish-Scots clans – just another word for tribe. Our ancestors of each variety were warriors and hunters armed with spears, bows, and weapons of iron, striking out on countless missions with the noble goal of providing for and defending their people.

Centuries later, we carry that same warrior spirit into a new generation using new methods and facing a new enemy…the scorpion.

But we don’t wield arrows and daggers. In stealth we take up our black lights and go in search of a fluorescent green glow that marks the lethal arthropods. Then our female members issue a battle cry — one part roar, two parts scream — while our men spear the tiny beasts with long, slim, pointed stakes. I break from my guttural duties long enough to spray a mist that will cover and kill any scorpion escaping the stake (though the poison will take a few days). And the sledgehammer is our failsafe backup.

The danger is ever near us, but we are ever ready. Like those who came before us, we protect our own, and we do it ferociously with the warrior spirit passed down to us.

When the hunt is over we ask God to protect us from the scorpions we didn’t find. Then we break out the family games, pop the popcorn, and brag about our feats of bravery as if we’d just manhandled a few bears. Until we hunt again…

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The Scorpion Chronicles – First Encounter

11 Friday May 2012

Posted by tanaramccauley in The Scorpion Chronicles

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arizona, bark, california, chronicles, creature, dropping in, encounter, harmful, scorpion, venemous, writing

When most people hear the term “Just dropping in,” they think of an unexpected knock at the door by a familiar face. At worst, they’re inconvenienced by the need to go throw on something decent and kick items under the couch. No one associates the phrase with a scorpion landing on your head, then getting a running start to jump off your shoulder and scuttle into the closet before you can even register what’s happening.

I do.

We’d lived in Arizona two years by then and I had never even seen a picture of a scorpion, let alone a real one. Talk about a memorable introduction.

I wish I could say my reaction was reasonable. I should be able to say that. A woman who’s driven cross-country alone, single-handedly changed the spark plugs in her first car (a gray Grand-Am named Diane), taken many a charge on the basketball court, and who’s got a battle plan for intruders that could arguably scare your pants off if you knew it – that woman should not be afraid of a bug no larger than her big toe.

Nevertheless, that woman (who should be transitioning out of third person by now) had an all-out-fit!

Forget that the scorpion was long gone. Once my body registered that it had actually touched me, I couldn’t have stopped the flailing limbs, shrieks, and shoulder jerks if I wanted to. That’s not the worst of it. When my toddler twins came running to see what all the fuss was about, I threw my body sacrificially in front of them as if the whole room were crawling with venomous insects. I know. By the time my kids are all grown and out of the house I’ll have a resume long enough to get me instantly cast as female lead in a drama.

The twins remained calm (to the discredit of their mother), curiously peering around me like rubberneckers on the freeway trying to get a glimpse of whatever answered to the shrieky call of, “Scorpion! Scorpion!”

Breathing like I’d had a wrestling match with the thing, I finally composed myself enough to pull my phone out of my pocket and text my husband: “There’s a scorpion in the house.” It’s pathetic but I did fully expect him to drop everything at work to come save us.

His response? A very delayed, “Kill it.”

I sooooo was not happy with him at that moment. He of all people should know that his capable wife turns into a useless girly girl when there are bugs involved, though not utterly useless. I went instantly to Plan B. I called our pest control company, put on my sweetest trembly voice, conjured up a plea that would have appealed to the hardest heart (especially the bit about the small, helpless children) and had a technician to our house within fifteen minutes. There’s that acting skill again :-).

Turns out scorpions are multi-talented creatures themselves. Though I’d done a quick search and found nothing out of the ordinary but what looked like a tan piece of chewed gum in the closet corner, the technician instantly identified that gum as the scorpion. They’re able to fold themselves up and give off the appearance of a harmless blob. If that doesn’t make your skin itch!

The tech left with the blob/scorpion, but not before informing me that it was the most venomous kind in our region – the bark. Very harmful to small children and elderly adults. Oh how wonderful!

I got suited and booted as we native Californians call it (geared up for the task at hand) and got busy. Dressed from head to toe in thick clothing (with just the skin on my face exposed underneath my ball cap), I emptied every drawer, went through every pocket, turned out every sock, shook out every toy – you get the picture – looking for any kids, cousins, or extended family members the scorpion may have left behind.

I didn’t find any. But something about that first encounter let me know it wouldn’t be my last.

And since this is “The Scorpion Chronicles,” it obviously wasn’t. Four years and a refusal-from-my-husband-to-relocate later, you may wonder if my ability to handle these encounters has improved. I’m chuckling just thinking about it. Follow along and you be the judge.

Courtesy of my fearless husband This one was fished out of the pool already dead. My husband just couldn’t resist playing with it.

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The Scorpion Chronicles

20 Friday Apr 2012

Posted by tanaramccauley in The Scorpion Chronicles

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

arizona, desert, epic battle, fantasy, sci-fi, science fiction, scorpion, writing

You’re probably asking yourself, “What do scorpions have to do with writing?” And for the most part, the answer is, “Nothing.” However, living in Arizona, these creepy little creatures who serve some God-given purpose beyond my understanding have become a constant presence in my life. And because I have limited control over my house sitting in their desert, I figure the best way to handle the anxiety they give me is to vent about them from time to time. And who knows? Perhaps one day you and I will look out across the blurry horizon while a dry breeze thumps us and the setting sun fights ’til the last to crack our already parched lips; and we’ll see an army of scorpions facing off against some hero (or heroine) in an epic battle to rid one or the other from the world we were able to create through these blog posts. Writing sci-fi/fantasy is not yet my thing. But we’ll see. Angels and chariots, good and evil, throw some Unicorns in there. Hmmmm….Rather random right now but we’ll keep an open mind. In the meantime, I’ll just keep you updated on the day-to-day battle to keep the little suckers outside.

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