Victim mentality is an acquired personality trait in which a person tends to recognize themselves as a victim of the negative actions of others, and to behave as if this were the case.
Billie Stone felt she was a victim of life. A beautiful woman with the voice of an angel living on an idyllic island with the artistic mother she loved. Even with the beauty around her she felt alone after her husband and son were killed in an accident. Her music was the only thing that got her out of bed some days – that and her aging mother. And she wanted her life back.
Joe Franks felt like a victim of life when everything he’d ever worked for was taken from him and he was forced into pizza delivery to make ends meet. He never meant to hurt anyone on that dark Texas highway. Suddenly the minivan was in front of him and he couldn’t avoid it. He went to prison, lost his house, car, and job. Society was determined to keep him down.
Who was the victim and who was the victimizer?
Franks saw Billie as the lucky one. She had a job she loved, a beach house on an island to live in, and he wanted his life back. So, the man who killed her family approached her wanting her help – and when she wouldn’t give it, he tried to take it from her.
Stones of Sandhill Island picks back up where Secrets of Sandhill Island left off. Some of the same characters make an appearance, but the main character – Sandhill Island – is once again in the forefront. The island is home to a handful of inhabitants who are wooed by her beauty and live their lives loving the calm and isolation it brings. The people are kind – except when exploited – and take care of each other and their island.
Billie Stone would get her life back if it killed her.
I’m clearing my life of unwanted clutter and offering up new and inventive ideas this year.
My mother died of cancer 18 years ago, one day before seeing her great grandson born. She tried desperately tried to hang on to see that little bundle of joy, but nature had other ideas. The next day I became a grandmother. I couldn’t attend the birth because I needed to help my dad, who had Alzheimer’s and heart disease, plan a funeral. That morning I put my husband’s pickup in a ditch when I hit the only patch of ice in the whole town. They say things come in threes.
I had a great time at the Meet the Artists! event at A New Chapter Bookstore and Café yesterday. Music by Chloe-Beth, coffee and tea from the bookstore and even cookies! From 4-6 the public shuffled in and out and were entertained by the music of Chloe-Beth (much of it original). Families came and brought the kids. The relaxed atmosphere brought music and literature together in a cozy environment. Friends bought books and drank coffee and tea and enjoyed the early spring afternoon. 
Enid has a lot to do for a small town and plenty to get involved in; some for pleasure others for need. The Garfield County Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children (CASA) hold an event each year on the Courthouse square. The wooden children in the picture represent the 246 cases of abused or neglected children in Garfield County reported to authorities each year. Many are never reported. The numbers incline or decline depending up on the year, but Enid is not a metropolitan city and Garfield County is not an especially large county. I think that number is much too high, but CASA is working hard to reduce it. My husband and I adopt one of these wooden children each year and dress it, take it to the Courthouse lawn with all the others and hope that the money collected will be enough to help with this worthwhile project. 
I recently met an incredible talent right here in my own hometown. Chloe Beth Campbell (stage name Chloe-Beth) has a voice like an angel. She writes and performs her own music and released her first CD on her 18th birthday titled Remnant. She has gigs all over town – and some out of town – and I am sure she will go far in her singing career.
I’m still cleaning white woodwork. The more I clean, the more dirt I find. Cobwebs love the lattice work. Eventually, cleaning will have to be painting, though I try to deny it. The white, while clean and crisp, only remains that way for so long.
Sitting out here on the prairie writing stories, I’ve made some friends in California. Thursday March 15, 2018 at 7:00 PST (9:00 CST) I will be a guest on The Writers Block radio show.
Yesterday was the second annual Enid Author Fest at the downtown library. Over 40 authors were in attendance and there were panel discussions with the authors, readings by the children’s authors and even Doc, the reading dog, made an appearance. (Doc can’t read, but he loves someone to read to him. He has his own story time at the library on Tuesdays at 4:00, come read to him!) 
Saturday, March 3, 2018 over forty of the state’s finest authors will converge at the Enid Public Library. The festival, in conjunction with the Public Library of Enid and Garfield County, Friends of the Library, and Enid Writers Club, will host the second annual Enid Author Fest! Festivities begin at 1:00 at the downtown library 120 West Maine and end at 5:00. The public is invited to meet and discuss all things literary with the local authors. Their books will be available for purchase at tables set up in the downstairs area.
