New Book Release!

“I have come to the conclusion that there are some things only God can teach a person, and His lessons come in the form of personalized life experiences.”  ― Richelle E. Goodrich, Hope Evermore New Book!        My newest book is scheduled to be released in a few short days... on my birthday! Woo-hoo! Yes, I am a tad bit excited. Both for the release of my latest book and for a chance to celebrate another birthday. I am thinking P.F. Chang's for dinner prior to a fun movie at the theater. How does Beetlejuice Beetlejuice starring Michael Keaton sound? Shhh, don't say Beetle... you know... a third time!      Anyway, Hope Evermore will be available for readers on September 16th, 2024 in Kindle, paperback, and hardcover formats. You can preorder the Kindle version right now on Amazon.com and it will be auto-delivered to your Kindle on my birthday! (That is September 16th.) The audible version will take a little longer before it becomes available, but I will let you know when that happens.      Hope Evermore is the next in a line of my inspirational and motivational collections. This book was written with more spiritual influence than my previous "daily quote" books but still includes an original quote, poem, or short story for every day of the year, including the following: "Love accepts you as you. It will never ask that you be someone else." “There are many things in this world that we do not know, that we cannot see, that we do not perceive or comprehend. But I have faith in a god who sees and perceives all, who knows and comprehends all. It is God upon whom I rely.” “If faith without works is dead, then in the same vein, compassion without action is dead, and concern without voice is also dead.” "It may look crazy to you, but if you had traveled another’s road in their shoes, you would see and understand the underlying sanity in their actions. This is why we should love more and judge less." "Tomorrow is just another synonym for hope." “Take away your trials, and you take away the magnificent reward of overcoming.” This book is a wealth of hope and inspiration, written to uplift individuals on a daily basis. If you are anything like me, when you get your copy, jump to your birthday first and see what it says. I hope it is a thought worth pondering.       Book Giveaway - Enter to Win! Go to my author website at RichelleGoodrich.com and enter your email and name for a chance to win a signed paperback copy of Dandelions: The Disappearance of Annabelle Fancher. This book giveaway ends on my birthday, September 16th, 2024! I am excited to give away gifts on my birthday that are precious to me. Three winners will be chosen, and their names will be posted on my author website as well as on my Facebook page and Instagram page. I will contact the winners via the emails they provided for physical mailing addresses. Best of luck!   What am I working on now?      I am writing a new fictional story, a paranormal adventure with a heroic duo who may just save the world despite their personal roadblocks and human weaknesses. The title of this book is not yet decided, but I am considering Phantom's Veil as a possibility at the moment. This book takes place in the present, but involves some old Mayan mythology. I am about 40% done with the first draft as we speak!  My Recent Read My Review *spoiler alert* I had many expectations going into this book that did not pan out in the end. The main character is an old man named Eugene who is nearing the last days of his life. He believes he has lived many lives prior, and Eugene can tell you in detail about every one. When he talks of his true love, whom he has been pursuing throughout his many lives, I expected an intimate love story to emerge through the retelling of his memories. But the love interest never really develops. It turns out to be more wishful thinking than reality. And when he admits to lying about his present life, you begin to wonder how much of his tales hold any truth. In the end, I believe the moral of the story is that all human beings seek love and acceptance, no matter how many lives we are fated to live. Eugene appears to gain that love in his last few days on Earth when he opens up to a kind, friendly orderly named Angel. I enjoyed the development of their friendship more than anything else. _  _  ________________  _  _

Discover Annabelle Fancher's Story: Enter to Win

 UPDATE: 09/16/2024

Chosen by random drawing, the following individuals have each won a signed paperback copy of my book, Dandelions: The Disappearance of Annabelle Fancher. Each winner, please look for an email from Richelle Goodrich. I need your physical mailing addresses to send out the book copies.

Book winners are listed in the order in which their names were randomly drawn.

#1 Maria Carmen

#2 Kat Miner

#3 William GeLinas

and a fourth luck winner just because it's my birthday...

#4 Robyn Konopka

_________________________________

⇨  BOOK GIVEAWAY!  ⇦

Visit RichelleGoodrich.com and enter both your name and email address for one chance to win a signed paperback copy of the novel, Dandelions: The Disappearance of Annabelle Fancher, and be added to Richelle E. Goodrich's mailing list for her periodic newsletter.* 

This book giveaway ends September 16th, 2024. Winners will be posted here as well as on the author's official website, Facebook page, and Instagram account. 

Enter today to win 1 of 3 signed copies! 

BOOK SUMMARY:

What does a child do when life hurts? She dreams up a hero.
A childhood trial of survival.
Realism and fantasy beautifully intertwined.

This is a fictional tale that mirrors the unfortunate reality of many young people whose home lives are private nightmares. Annabelle's story tenderly acquaints the reader with her lonely struggles while sharing her courage in the face of adversity. Many of the events were taken from the real lives of individuals known by the author.

Annabelle Fancher lives with her mother and her often-absent, alcoholic father. When he is not on the road, his presence at home creates heightened anxiety in his wife and daughter—fear caused by years of abuse. Annabelle copes with her circumstances by escaping into popular fairy tales where she dreams characters to life. When her dreams cross over into waking fantasies, and the ghostly image of a dreamed character appears before her, Annabelle begins a real struggle to separate reality from pretend and sanity from beautiful madness.


* You can unsubscribe to the periodic newsletter at any time.

Happy Birthday, America!

Memorial Day and My Dad

       I hope everyone had an enjoyable Memorial Day yesterday. I know some of my family members got together and visited cemeteries. Mom was surely seated beside my dad's gravesite for a portion of the day. My husband and I had friends over for a BBQ. At times throughout the day I thought of my late father. Not because he sacrificed his life in the armed services, but because he served during wartime. My dad (pictured below) sacrificed years as well as a portion of his emotional well-being to the things he witnessed in war. I feel for our servicemen and women, and I thank them all for their sacrifices. They are our protectors and heroes.

Reading With Goodreads

If you are familiar with the Goodreads website, then you are probably aware of their annual personal reading challenge. It amazes me that some readers set their book-reading goals so high. One hundred books in a year? Wow! I suppose it is a doable goal if the pages are few or the books are read by Audible. Still, it seems quite a challenge to get through a hundred books in one year. At least for me it would be.

This year, 2024, I set my Goodreads reading goal small―a total of 10 books in all. So far, I have made it through one and a half. Most of the time I read thicker books because I like a story with substantial character and plot development. I do use Audible on occasion; however, I prefer curling up on the sofa with a tangible book in my hands. Paperback or hardcover, it does not matter so long as I can feel the texture of the pages as my fingers turn them one by one.


After finishing Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross, I started Eragon again, written by Christopher Paolini. I first read Eragon about fourteen years ago and loved it. This time around I am finding it even more enjoyable as I note details missed during the first read. I plan to get through all four books in this series, hopefully before the end of 2024. I’ll let you know how it goes.


In the meantime, give Goodreads a try for yourself and make a personal reading goal. It can be as few or as many books as you like; you set the pace. Let me know if you add one of my books to your reading list; I would love that.
​Happy reading, everyone!


―Richelle E. Goodrich

Valentine's Cupid and True Love

You know Cupid. That naked, chubby, smiling cherub who shoots his magic arrows at unsuspecting men and women to make them fall in love. He is a busy little match-maker whose image appears on many Valentine's Day cards. Now, I do not believe in an actual Cupid any more than I believe in the reality of Greek gods, but I do believe in the genuineness of love. True love. Love that equates with service and sacrifices made over time. What is this kind of love? I'll let Derian answer that question for you as he answered it for Eena in the book, Eena, The Return of a Queen. I think he got it spot on.

“Love is so much more than an emotion. True love, Eena, is something that develops over time. It’s not the initial infatuation nor the shivers and butterflies that take your breath away when you’re first attracted to someone. Those things are nice, but they are barely the beginning of what could become true love."

She shook her head. “I don’t quite follow.”

The captain inched closer, fixing her with the sincerest of gazes. His hands cupped as if he were holding his very heart in them.

“True love is a developed and intense appreciation for someone. It’s that perfect awareness you’re finally whole when she’s with you, and that hollow incompleteness you suffer when she’s gone. True love takes time. It’s an earned comfort that tells you she’ll be right there beside you no matter what you do, not necessarily happy with your every action, but faithful to you just the same. Love is knowing someone so deeply, understanding her so completely, you can finish her thoughts without hesitation, confident in reading her face, her body, even her slightest gesture means something to you. Love is years of devotion, sacrifice, commitment, loyalty, trust, faith, and friendship all wrapped up as one. True love does more than cause your heart to flutter. It upholds your heart when the infatuation no longer makes it flutter.”

Life is Like a Lengthy Road Trip

 I hope everyone had an enjoyable holiday season. I know I did.

My husband and I traveled more over the holidays than we have traveled in ages, spending over two weeks driving and flying from destination to destination. The trip was necessary, occasionally fun, every so often difficult, but definitely worth it. During the last two weeks of December, 2023, we were able to attend one son’s college graduation at Brigham Young University-Idaho as well as participate in three separate Christmas celebrations with family members. 

The last leg of our trip found my husband and I coughing, sneezing, and wheezing due to illness—not a pleasant occurrence because the virus plagued us for over a week afterwards (we have reached the productive coughing stage.) The trip, however, was still absolutely worthwhile.

While driving from Oklahoma to Tennessee to reach our little two-bedroom apartment we presently reside in, I was telling my husband that I felt our trip was a mini model of life. The whole trip was too short in some ways, yet it felt exceptionally long in other ways. We were able to spend precious moments with family members—talking, relaxing, and celebrating. I felt appreciation for the relationships I have with family and friends. We caught up on personal news, feasted on delicious dinners, and hugged each other a lot. There were difficult and disappointing moments too. For instance, I got sick with food poisoning which put me down for a couple of days (an awful way to clean out your system.) My husband felt the onset of cold symptoms on Christmas day; I was right behind him two days later. Luckily, no one else caught the virus, so we managed not to share it. There were other good points and difficult points about the trip. The airports and flights were great. The driving conditions and roads were clear—exceptional conditions for winter months in the Pacific Northwest. There was too much driving overall: one trip from Salt Lake City, Utah to Rexburg, Idaho and then back; one trip from Salt Lake City, Utah to Central Washington and then back; and one trip from Oklahoma to Tennessee. That was about 2,700 miles driven! Not to mention the two plane rides. Yes, the traveling was tiring.

 

The interesting thing to me is how both good and unpleasant moments comprised the trip. We experienced the greatest days as well as miserable days. If I wanted, I could list an abundance of blessings we received, while on the other hand I could list an abundance of hard disappointments. That is why I say it was like a mini model of life. The trick was deciding where to concentrate our attention. If I focused on the food poisoning, the many hours of driving, the friends I was unable to visit, the small and uncomfortable beds, the amount of money spent, the coughing and sneezing on the drive home, etc.—it would be easy to argue that this was a really bad trip. But the thing is, it wasn’t! it was wonderful! Why? Because I focused on the chance to see my kids and my family, the warm hugs I gave and received, the delicious dinners we shared, the gifts we exchanged, the perfect weather we were blessed with for driving, the safe travels, the chance to see my mom and sisters and nieces and nephews, the opportunity to attend a Jazz basketball game, the quick recovery from illness, etc. It is all in what we choose to focus on. Good and bad exist in everything. How we view an event, a trip, a relationship, a lifetime depends on what aspects we choose to focus on. I am truly grateful to know that life honestly feels better when we focus on the good.

Yes, life is like a lengthy road trip, filled with great moments as well as unpleasant moments. It is our focus that determines whether our travels through this life are deemed positive or not.