Dear Readers...

"Life is like a storm. You will bask in the sunlight one moment, be shattered on the rocks the next. What makes you a man is what you do when that storm comes. " ~ The Count of Monte Cristo

I have had a family emergency that has taken me away from my writing. Don’t worry, with God’s grace all is well, but it has been challenging and unexpected. One day I will perhaps write about it but now is not the time.

Over the past week, I’ve been thinking a lot about one of my favorite novels, The Count of Monte Cristo. Despite injustice and bad fortune, Edmund Dantes triumphs in the most satisfying manner. He does this because no matter how insurmountable his challenges seem to be, he absolutely refuses to give up hope and succumb to despair. Not only that, but it is in the deepest, darkest dungeon that he encounters a man from whom he learns more wisdom than he ever would have known had he remained free.

This is a painting I haven’t finished, in part inspired by The Count of Monte Cristo.

“Life is a storm, my young friend. You will bask in the sunlight one moment, be shattered on the rocks the next. What makes you a man is what you do when that storm comes. You must look into that storm and shout as you did in Rome. Do your worst, for I will do mine! Then the fates will know you as we know you.” ~ The Count of Monte Cristo

Well, I’m not a man, but I relate to Edmond Dantes more than to the woman he loved; I have always been more interested in adventures than in staying home. I would rather be tossed by a stormy sea.

My art from my sci-fi novel Luminaria

Edmond Dantes is wrongfully imprisoned. When he is asked, “What would you not have accomplished if you had been free?" he answers, "Possibly nothing at all; the overflow of my brain would probably, in a state of freedom, have evaporated in a thousand follies; misfortune is needed to bring to light the treasures of the human intellect. Compression is needed to explode gunpowder. Captivity has brought my mental faculties to a focus; and you are well aware that from the collision of clouds electricity is produced — from electricity, lightning, from lightning, illumination.”

I have always looked at life this way. It is the contrast between light and dark, good and evil, and the choices we make about which side we fight for, that refine us and make us who we are.

Dumas says, “Happiness is like those palaces in fairy tales whose gates are guarded by dragons: we must fight in order to conquer it.”

My artwork from my story Orgle the Terrible

Keep fighting. Tame the dragon, inside and out.

Teaching boxing, training to overcome, no matter what

Anyway, this might all seem a bit cryptic, but I have no doubt many can relate to what I’m saying. We all have our unique challenges life prepares just for us, just for our own personal growth. We are here to learn what we are supposed to learn, God willing.

I will be back to writing on Monday, if not before. I’m trying to use some of this time to work on my book about my Luxor, Egypt adventures.

Thank you for all your prayers and support. Much love and God bless.