Today’s guest is my good friend, Cynthia Meyers-Hanson. Cindy is a
school teacher as well as the author of several amazing books that can be found
on Amazon Kindle. When I read Cindy’s non-fiction book, Mom’s on the Roof and I Can’t Get Her Down, I couldn’t help
but appreciate the courage she demonstrated while caring for
her mother, and then sharing her experiences for the benefit of others. When I
asked Cindy to participate in an interview, she readily accepted. I compiled my
questions based on her first book Mom’s
on the Roof. She graciously responded with answers straight from the
heart. I presented the first half of her interview in July when I asked the
question, Your favorite phrase is “I am surviving!” Cindy, what gave you the
strength to cope and to recover? You will find her amazing answer here:
http://gail-baugniet.blogspot.com/2012/07/todaysguest-is-my-good-friend-cynthia.html
Today is a presentation of the second half of
Cindy’s interview.
GAIL:
Cindy, at one point, you asked yourself, “How can I die someday in an accepting
manner when she (Mom) is rejecting God so loudly?” Your story is a study in
acceptance, your mother’s and your own. How did you learn to accept?
CINDY:
Above all, once I admitted that I am 1% unsure of ‘life after death’ or that a
‘master mind’ exists- then, the higher probability (of 99% sure of a God
controlling my fate) kicked in. Plus, my
mom eventually allowed the very short conversation that she was truly dying to
occur between us. God supplied the rest through the things He
orchestrated before, during, and years after my mother’s death. Still, admittedly, as a human, I have my
doubts. In fact, when my book was
abandoned by the original small publisher, I put it to rest. It didn’t rest in peace; God reincarnated it
after the new millennium. Strangers that
knew some of the people that had copies of my first printing called, wrote, or
e-mailed me to buy copies; this all happened in a few months span. With the beginning of online indie publishing
and PODs, I found and researched a few ways to get that book back in
print. God forced my hand; He pushed me
to accept my fate as the writer because I’d developed a ‘love hate’
relationship with that title. WHY? I’m human, and I was disappointed that the
book only sold 1,000 copies or less in 1994-95.
What revived interest? It started
with a call from my electrolysis’s secretary.
He son died tragically in a car accident, and my book was recommended to
her. I had NO copies left expect my
personal one. The media I used to write
the tale was very out of date and on the wrong computer devices as well as in a
format way before Word Perfect or MS-WORD.
I manually retyped one chapter at a time e-mailing the sections to
her. Other people got forwarded copies
until the demand built beyond my e-mail capability. At that time, I found a POD with good
reviews and low costs to the indie author, and that book went indie.
Again, the sales were dismal and fleeting. However, when my ‘human will’ remained
stubbornly against reentering the writing field, God had His say. He sent people with incredible stories. I felt compelled to help those souls compose
their books as well as more and more of my own stories. My desire was to spread His good news but I
hoped to carve out a living as well. To
date, I am still as poor as a church mouse.
However, I write because I am driven- mostly in the spirit. Most of my books, even my fictions, are based
on facts and ‘the moral of this story’ ideas.
My most compelling thought that
keeps my stories alive follows. ‘If I
had not copyrighted my first
book in 1994, how could the book prove itself even without my help? God had a plan much larger than I understood
in 1991 and 1994-95. Or, even
today!’ Like my readers, I want to see
how my story ends (in Paradise?) and whether or not John ever arrives to my
life!
GAIL:
The captivating title of your book, Mom’s on the Roof and I Can’t Get Her Down,
has an equally charming history that had me laughing and crying each time I
read the passage (I just reread it to refresh my memory, and there I go again!)
Your father’s sense of humor shines through in this passage. With the tragedy
and loss in your family, how has the maxim ‘Forgive, Forget, and Love’ helped
you, and how can it help for others?
CINDY:
Another thought I have ‘over analyzed’ follows.
Anger, revenge, grudges, and any temperamental thoughts are slow
versions of suicide. They waste precious
time and consume your soul. Thus, I try
to reset my bad feelings when they occur!
Its self-preservation! ‘Don’t worry (too much); be happy!’ I strive towards
that ideal but I fail, some days. In
the end, only kindness matters! I love that song by Jewel, “My hands are small
I know but!!!” Where there is someone without a voice, there I will proceed….to
tell their or my relatable story as well as listen for their and God’s feedback!
Meanwhile, my first book’s title or Mom’s
on the Roof and I Can’t Get Her Down is based on a joke; dad used to tell
it. It is an old, recirculated one. It means the best way to tell you mom died is
slowly so you can adjust to that idea and then see the miracles. However, it can mean other things such as mom
shouted or babbled her message of God and love from the rooftops. It can mean that I could not stop the
inevitable, so I let go and let God guide us to my mother’s death. I love
layered meanings!
I learned jesting from dad but I
learned coping with life by employing humor from my mother. She had a tough life and never blamed it on
God. She was so much like Job. For example, she used to joke that she married
dad for better or worse, and she got the worst!
Mom told me that she stayed married to my father to give him a normal
family life- as much as humanly possible.
Dad was bipolar and a hard soul to live with but dad prospered with mom’s
help. He committed suicide once his
helpmate left for Heaven. My mother warned and God prepared me for his
bad decision; I survived it all as a result!
GAIL:
Your story deals with death, afterlife, and Heaven. You must have met skeptical
people in your life who say that no one knows what comes after, whatever
“after” means to them. The word MIRACLES also has many interpretations. What
does A MIRACLE mean to you?
CINDY:
Soon after publishing my first book, I did a book fair at the library in Helen, Florida..That is the town next door to Cassadaga,
Florida- which is a spiritualist town.
Some people looked at the cover of my book and went for my throat. That was one of two times that I came face to
face with vampires; I’m joking, maybe.
Even so, that day, I sold books. However,
that experience made me wonder about people that tell you their minds are open
or they are spiritual but go immediately after you in an attacking manner if
you have an alternative point of view about the nonphysical world. I asked myself, ‘Are they really all that
open to others’ thoughts or just their own? Why do they feel the need to attack before
completing a civilized conversation?’ Time taught me NOT to argue with people
with closed minds.
Besides, I didn’t write my first
book to prove anything! I wrote it to tell the amazing tale of mom’s terminal
death. I believe she spoke with God, and
He is proving His Theory that He exists- with or without my help.
Meanwhile, to me, miracles are
events that might happen arbitrarily but the pattern is so vivid that you know
there is an order- a higher order- and a source for their randomness. The timing is so precise that even if it’s a
natural event it’s unbelievable that it happened as precisely as it did. It can only be expressed in the word Miracle!
There are small miracles and larger ones; they happen all around us. An individual just has to open their eyes to
the smallest random events and see their intricacies in their timing.
For example, I was born legally
blind in the right place at the right time.
A doctor asked to experiment on my eyes; now, I see. Was it random? I discuss my miracle story in The Vision. In hindsight, all these well-timed events in
my life from my blindness to vision, from my mother saying God cares and loves
us to my near arm amputation, and so on help me see and understand how random
events are well-planned. They are for
lack of a better description MIRACLES. There has to be a Higher Source
orchestrating it all.
By the way, my book reveals that
even Death is a miracle. For an example
of this logic, you’ll have to read Mom’s on the Roof and I Can’t Get Her
Down.
GAIL:
I am curious about another of your books, The GNAW Project. What does the
acronym stand for and how did this project come about?
CINDY: The book entitled The GNAW Project
is not about vampires! It was a high
school class project. The picture book
came about because I taught ‘At Risk Kids’.
Due to that life experience, I totally get the movie The Blind Side;
I taught many students like the main character, the street boy. As a teacher, I decided to show my kids more
than how to read. I tried to teach them how to fish. They wrote a book; and their classes read it
to pre-school aged children on their campus.
The book sold but mainly to me. I bought copies for everyone
involved. My wealthy friends donated to
their cause as well. In spite of meager
sales, the students had pride in their stories.
I paid for the copyright for the student’s work so that local charities
may earn from their efforts one day.
By the way, GNAW stands for
‘Granola, Nuts And Water’ or ‘Granola, Nuts, Apples, and Water’ depending on
who you ask. The title has dual
meaning! We are so hungry it GNAWs at
our stomachs, or we want to help others in poverty so badly that it GNAWs at
our souls. Meanwhile, those teens
imagined raising money to feed home pantries or other students’ book bags with
those nonperishables. The students felt
empowered instead of needy even though their book never turned a true profit.
Years later, I still give to their
cause via two local churches in town; I feed their kin. In other words, proceeds from that book and
my personal cash still fund their idea.
I believe that even if it inspires other communities or people to pitch
in and help that the book served its purpose.
Meanwhile, I have gotten feedback and helped others weave blankets in
their towns as well as heard that others are writing books with their students. That’s encouraging because we are teaching
the poor how to fish.
GAIL:
One of the questions in my FAST FIVE Author Interview is: If Paris is not an
option, then where would you most like to spend your time writing and why.
Cindy, you were given the opportunity to visit France and wrote of wanted to
return. Has Paris remained a dream vacation spot for you?
CINDY:
Funny you should ask about Paris. I’ve been there twice in my lifetime. The first time, I lost my luggage. The airline got my clothes to me just as I
was heading out to London. The second
time, due to ‘Euro Chip’ issues, I rode the rails like a starving hobo because
my plastic cards would not work to get me cash, food, or accommodations. I already owned a month of rail passes so I
had a place to legally sit and stay out of the elements. Meanwhile, my sense of humor, about my two
disastrous forays into Paris culture, is in a work in progress called My
Warped Tours. Now that I am home
safely, it’s a comedy of sorts! Recently, I wrote that manuscript to use up
some notes. Plus, I wanted to write a feel
good book or my fiction based on facts.
I unleashed my sense of humor in that work in progress.
In
spite of my problems, part of me belongs to Paris. My grandfather was French Canadian Indian; so
I have blood ties. I speak broken
French. PLUS- I always wanted to be
special; so I used to say I was born July 4 quietly adding the ‘teenth’ part of
14th of July. When I took
high school French, I gave up my birthday in French, and the teacher began
dancing while chanting Independence Day or their Bastille Day. I knew I gave her the 14th date, so it
dumbfounded me. I was born on
Independence Day- just in the wrong country? Much later in life, I got to share my birthday
in person on that second trip to France.
It was fun to see their fireworks on my special day but they shut down
their world for a week! Thus, I could
not get into a bank to explain my ‘Euro Chip’ issues; that made me a hobo! All the misadventures are categorized in my future
book where I poke fun at my traveling misadventures in France as well as other
places in this world.
In
spite of it all, I’d go back to that country.
I want to get to Lourdes; cash flow and time constraints cancelled that
side trip during my hobo daze and days.
Now, I have a reason to go back to France; I need a full arm healing! Plus, I’d love to see the land between Italy
and France as well as Monaco and Nice.
If I had time and ready money, I’d go to my roots or Le Harve as well. Plus, I’s love to see my other ‘blood line’
countries a well; I need to win the lottery or sell some more books!
As
far as where to write? I love island
life; the balmy breezes call my name.
I’ve been to some Pacific Islands such as Hawaii as well as Atlantic
ones such as Puerto Rico. I’d like to
see the Greek ones with the white building such as in Santorini. I’d get my travelling pants on and visit
there if money was no object. Would I
write book two of My Warped Tours or anything while touring, again? It depends on what happens!
For
now, I get to write in Florida. It’s a
bit muggier, and there are no mountains to climb to speak to the Heavens. But- there are rooftops left to explore! It
is almost Paradise, which brings me back to my first book. I write when the spirit moves me; I write to
tell my side of the story. If I prove
something in the process, my goal is more than accomplished.
Speaking
of journeys and where I might go before completing my ‘bucket list,’ I have had
a couple near death experiences but didn’t kick the bucket, yet. I had an ‘out of body experience’ at age 16 while
sick with pneumonia and one more recently.
Also, God sends me personal visions in dreams and other messages. In fact, one or more of my dreams centered on
Hawaii or The Big Island. I had a vision
and then saw the actual place at Disappearing Sand’s Beach. Plus, I told a friend I’d leave her cliff
messages then saw the pumice greetings on that island. How did I know that culture before arriving?
God only knows!
In
my opinion, ESP or to know something ahead of schedule can be mystifying but it
may drive you insane. Believe me that
second guessing all of mom’s prophecy from Her Marker has been a juggling
act. Trying to make sense of images,
dreams, visions, and messages can rack your brain! Sometimes, surprises are better! Either way, God is the good news in most of
my writing especially my nonfictions. I
hope you’ll take a peek at my fifteen or more books and come on buy.
My author name for nonfictions
and children’s literature is: Cynthia Meyers-Hanson
My pen name for fictions or
novels and so you know when I’m fibbing or embellishing is: Sydney S. Song
E-mail: mchanson714@yahoo.com
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