Shannon here: Inspirational author David Bond shares insight into his real life romance plus a chance to win your choice of his e-books, The Attaché or A Time to Build. Comment on any post dated June 11 – 15. Deadline: June 23, 11:59 pm central time. Here’s David:
A disclaimer: I am not as romantic as my fictional characters!
The byword in my marriage to my wife of almost 26 years is, “adjustment.” I lost my eyesight 1-1/2 years after we were married, and this changed the nature and course of our lives dramatically. Even before we were married, my wife and I were making trips to Wills Eye Hospital near Philadelphia in a vain attempt to salvage my failing eyesight. At the time of our marriage in June, 1986, I had undergone several laser surgeries involving initial visits to the doctor, the procedure, and several follow-ups. Throw in my type I diabetes (diabetes was the cause of my sight loss) and in many ways, it’s a wonder my wife didn’t turn and run while she still had the chance!
My wife will forever be 24 in my eyes! Maybe because I have fewer visual memories to hold onto, there’s plenty of room for those early images. Including the tearry one as she stood at the back of the small church on a Saturday afternoon in June, 1986, preparing to walk up the isle to join me in marriage!
I had ordered a dozen large red roses for our honeymoon suite, and for the next week as we drove south from Pennsylvania to Williamsburg, Virginia, and then Virginia Beach, those roses went with us as if they were part of our luggage!
A word of advice for anyone considering a honeymoon in Virginia Beach. Don’t stay in a room in a hotel in the flight path of the naval air base! The first one or two F-16’s coming in for a landing, directly over our hotel, were pretty awesome. But, after about a dozen incoming fighter jets, the sight (and sound) became a little much!
We stayed one night in Virginia Beach, then transferred our reservations to a hotel in Nags Head, North Carolina, and finished out our week, plus a few days, in relative peace! I didn’t know my wife well enough then, to know she wasn’t spontaneous. But bless her heart, she never complained about the change of plans, which for me, was no big deal.
And as the years flew by, and change continued to be a constant in our lives, Kimberly has remained loyal and acceptant. She has, by the way, learned to be a little more spontaneous! But maybe this has something to do with raising our 16-year old son, Nathan.
During those early years, when I first lost my sight, children were way off the radar screen. But, God had different plans for us! I had gone back to college to pursue a degree in Biblical counseling, and while this proved not to be a career I went in to, those were some of the best years for us. We had been living with Kimberly’s parents, re-adjusting to life. The college had on-campus married housing, and we in some ways, had a second honeymoon when we moved away from my in-laws to be on our own again.
The college was Lancaster Bible College. A running joke among the married couples on campus back then was, “LBC” actually stood for Lancaster Baby College! Amazingly, our son was born 7 months after I graduated! Does God have a sense of humor, or what!
About David: David Bond is blind. He lost his eyesight due to diabetic complications in 1988, less than two years after getting married. He was previously involved in different areas of the construction industry, from manual labor, to project management. One of his jobs involved drafting, in the days before CAD. He graduated from Reading Area Community College with an AS in Technical Illustration, and later, after losing his sight, graduated from Lancaster Bible College with a BS in Bible and a minor in Biblical Counseling. He was the Program Director for a ministry to victims of crime for five years until 2000.
David has been involved in writing since the early 2000’s. He was first published in an anthology, but began learning the craft of fiction following that. Authors like Gilbert Morris, and Richard Paul Evans, and a wide variety of authors have helped shape his style over the years.
David’s Christian faith is an important component in his writing. His stories involve characters who struggle with real-life issues, and who ultimately realize the God of the Bible is able to help them.
His stories are not meant to preach, but to model. Christians, or people unsure about Christianity, will find entertainment, emotional conflict, and resolution in his books. But always, Biblical principles and Godly character are demonstrated in the lives of his characters.
David lives near Lancaster, Pennsylvania, along with his wife and teenage son. They have a beagle who loves peanut butter, and can chew up any toy on the planet!
About the book: Brian Marshall lives a quiet, serious life. At age thirty-three, he’s content and reasonably prosperous. When a new client steps inside his office one July morning, and he recognizes her strikingly beautiful face, his thoughts are thrown back in time thirteen years, to a time when he committed perhaps the greatest mistake of his life.
Hallie Grover has come a long way in thirteen years. When she left central Pennsylvania as a dispirited seventeen-year old to live with her divorced mother in California, she couldn’t have imagined the path her life was to take. Will she be able to handle her new life, owning and managing a small café in McCane, Pennsylvania? And will she be able to rebuild a relationship with her sister, and a thirteen-year old girl she’s never had the chance to know?
Brian fears Hallie will one day remember him. He knows he needs to keep his distance, but it’s impossible.
Hallie blossoms, but is she ready to embrace a relationship she wasn’t expecting?
Come back June 13th for David’s interview.
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Readers' Pick #1 – June – Aug 2011
Readers' Pick #1 – June – Aug 2011
Well, this one is near and dear to my heart – My mother is slowing losing her eyesight to type 2 diabetes, and I live near Lancaster, PA! Looking forward to discovering David’s writing
I, too am married to a “non-spontaneous” spouse and I love to “turn on a dime”. I’m sure I drive him nuts. Your book sounds like a good read. Please enter me in the drawing.
Dave, you said you’re not near as romantic in real life as your characters. It sounds like you are to me – I can sense how much you love your wife. Here’s wishing you many sales on your new book. It sounds like one I’d love to read. June
Dave, I loved reading your personal story and I really enjoyed your first book, Attache.
Another book I have to read…can’t wait to get it on my Kindle.
Is this the sequel to The Attache I’ve been waiting for, Dave? Can’t wait.
Toni
A note about A Time To Build (ATTB), scheduled for release June 21: No, (Toni), it is not the sequel to The Attaché. Things worked out kind of strange–I’ll be bouncing back and forth between the different books in 2 different series. Here’s what to keep in mind. All books 1 will be written (with ATTB, books 1 are now completed), then books 2, and then books 3.
A visit to my web site should help clear things up. (I’m working on getting the site updated with the release date coming up.)
Thanks, ladies, for your comments! I especially appreciate the kind words from those of you who have read my first book (The Attaché). ATTB is a little different, but still set in Pennsylvania, and still with a twist or two!
Dave
They say opposites attract.
Best wishes on the novel…second in the series.