Denise Hildreth

Facebook Survey- LAST PERSON.
1. You hung out with? Baby Georgia – my favorite hang out buddy.

2. You texted? Andrew- my best friend’s little boy. We were celebrating his last day of school!

3. You were in a car with? My friend Monica who was visiting from Indiana.

4. Went to the movies with? Valencia- We went and saw 17 again for her birthday.

5. Person you went to shop with? Monica- I came out with a pair of shorts and a sweater….She didn’t come out with anything…What’s up with that?

6. You talked on the phone? My mom- almost everyday

7. Made you laugh? Baby Georgia-She’s just got a way.

8. You hugged? Sophie (My 2 and a half year old Shih-tzu)…she demands multiple ones everyday.

Every little girl at some point in her life wants to be an actress. Maybe little boys too. And sometimes dreams become reality. Y’all remember the story I shared with you a while back about doing the commercial. Well, a while back I got cast in a “mini-movie” for Lifeway bookstores. (My mom still thinks I’m going to be on LIFETIME, so please don’t tell her…) Lifeway does these awesome little movies dealing with things that teens struggle with and I was cast in the role of the mother of the lead character Aaron. His real name is Jason, and he’s a cutie, but I still think I’m way too young to have a boy that old!

We shot our second scene together Tuesday and I thought I’d share it with you. I’m the black blob in the driver’s seat. (Forgot my camera and had to use my phone.) He is angry over mine and his father’s divorce and I’m dropping him off at work.

This other shot is of him and his sidekick Barron who are about to play a prank on one of the kids at school who has been tormenting Aaron and who has his woman! Oh, the angst of the teenage years. Maybe I am glad I’m playing the mama! Thought you’d enjoy.

He always loved me…when I was little he was pushing me in the stroller and when we passed the taxidermist he said he wanted to take me in and have me stuffed. Thankfully he didn’t. He was a preacher from the time he was sixteen years old following in the footsteps of his father, he was a husband for 64 years to Aunt Betty, a father to three beautiful children Dexter, Dana and Marla, the oldest boy in eleven children and the uncle to a whole bunch of us…

He was my mom’s pastor, which is the sole reason she met my Father. He married them, dedicated me and could talk baby talk like no one’s business. I believe he is the author of it if you want to know the truth. The last time I saw him I was in Vero Beach on a book tour for The Will of Wisteria. My cousin Dexter and his wife Tammy brought Aunt Betty and Uncle James to see me because I was only in town for a few hours. Uncle James gave me a few kisses and then wondered off to do one of his favorite things, look at books…runs in teh family. Tammy was given responsibility of watching him and at some point we lost him. How do you lose an 82 year old?  Too funny…I knew then it might be the last time I’d get to see him. And it was.

This morning, at 82,  he went home to be with the Lord. He had just told my cousin Dexter that he was ready to go home to be with his Father. And now he is…just one more investment for me and my family in eternity. A faithful servant. Be at peace…Well done. We will miss you…

I love reading. Truth be told that has to be why I write. Because I never even thought about becoming a writer. But you could always find me with a book in my hand. Even now, I travel with one in the car most of the time and if I’m stagnant in a fast food line (you know I spend time there), or in a Doctor’s office, (not my first choice) or waiting on a friend for dinner, I’ll take a book with me. I’ve devoured more fiction this year than normal, because requests to endorse books has increased and because I discovered Francine Rivers…Enough said.

But a couple years back I connected with this wonderful lady over a phone call about literary agents. Since then we’ve connected in so many wonderful ways and I wanted to share with you her new book Things Left Unspoken which hits book stores on June 6th. My friend Eva Marie Everson is an award winning author, an incredible speaker and a popular radio personality. She writes fiction and non-fiction alike and I just love knowing her. So, I wanted you to get to know her too.

Okay- Here we go….

Well Eva, you know I love your new book. But I also loved your Potluck Club books too. You just make me laugh. But your new book, though it still has your charming wit, is a little more serious I think. Can you tell us how the story of “Things Left Unspoken” came to you?

I’d be happy to … when my great-uncle died, he left my great-aunt (they had no children) in the house she’d grown up in. She was unable to live alone so she came to live with my mother. My mother sold the house — now in a dying town — to a land developer who was going to restore not only the house, but the town. (It didn’t happen … ) Anyway, it snowed the day we buried Uncle Jimmy. Fleeting snow. Years later (about 10 years!) I was sitting on my back porch, rocking in one of the front porch rockers given to me from my great-grandparent’s estate. It was cold. February. Very gray. And I thought, “It snowed the day we buried Uncle Jimmy.”

I knew immediately I had written the first line of a novel. So, I ran inside and typed one sentence, then saved it. It snowed the day we buried Uncle Jim.

A few weeks later I wrote some more, then more, and then — as I thought about the restoration of the town that didn’t happen — a story formed. I wrote about five chapters and put it away. Some time later I was talking to my editor at Baker/Revell (Vicki Crumpton) and shared with her three ideas I had for a new line of Southern fiction. The story we now know as Things Left Unspoken was one of them …

The main character is on a search for herself in so many levels. You’re in those middle years of living, (can I say that without you writing me into the next book) do you find that you went through a season of self-discovery as well? And if so, when did that happen for you and what did it look like?

In part, this book had everything to do with my self-discovery, so to speak. I had been writing The Potluck Club books with Linda Evans Shepherd. These are great books, full of things that Christian women deal with. Though the subjects were deep, sometimes the approach to them was light. I’d been reading some deep fiction on my own and really wondering “what I wanted to be when I grew up” as a writer. I knew I was searching for deeper things. I wanted to write things that made a difference (not that TPC doesn’t!) and were more literary. Things Left Unspoken is my first stab at that.

There seem to be a lot of secrets that have been clung to with your characters. Any thoughts on why we can hold so tight to our stuff and cling to our secrets?

Because we are lied to. Call it the devil or your own self esteem issues … we hear the lies and we believe them. We think we are the only ones. Or that we are protecting someone, even putting ourselves at risk to do so. One of the characters — Stella — is holding on to more than one family secret. One, she thinks she is protecting someone she loves more than life itself. The other, the same … For Stella, it’s not about her, but about them. Then there’s the main character — JoLynn. Her secrets are so deeply engrained, even she doesn’t know what they are. She’s missed out on something she wants so desperately … so many things … but her silence will harm her spiritually and … in the end … maybe even physically!

Told you you’d like my friend. We’ll have more from her next Wednesday. Hope you all have a great hump day!

Take Care

Denise

Last week as I was sitting on my parent’s front porch I was reminded of something John Eldridge said in his book, Walking with God, that I read last summer. He said a lot of mornings he will sit with his Bible and ask God what He wants him to read for that morning. I hadn’t done that in a while. But on that morning I did. I asked. He answered. And led me to Romans 12:1-3.

It was the third verse that helped me understand verses one and two and it led me back to a discussion we had at our village a couple months ago. Our village meets every Wednesday night and is the equivelent of a small group. As we were talking about pain and suffering one of the men made the comment that he tries to live his life in a way where he sees everything as a privilege instead of entitlement.

“Entitlement”. That word struck me. It could be the quintessential definition of this age. But to read Romans twelve it is readily apparent it’s been around for quite a while. The feeling that life owes me. The mindset that to receive less than perpetual blessing is somehow a character flaw of God. From the fast food line to the “20 items or less” lane at Walmart our lives are consumed with our sense of what we deserve. We deserve to be served quickly. We deserve to be recognized promptly. We deserve healthy children, We deserve endless supply. We deserve marriages that work. We deserve to never suffer. We deserve…we deserve…we deserve. The thought clings to our marrow and becomes our reality. And when challenged we charge.

But Paul said, “For by the grace (unmerited favor of God) given to me I warn every one among you not to estimate and think of himself more highly than he ought…”

You know why I can receive this from Paul? Is because he got it first. He’s come to terms with who he is before he reminds me of how I should live. He says, “It is only because of the unmerited favor of god that I can offer you anything.” Basically, “I did nothing on this earth to even deserve an ounce of God’s kindness. His grace, extended in any measure, is unwarranted, undeserved, and indescribably kind.” Then he proceeds to tell us that we shouldn’t “estimate ourselves more highly than we really are.”

The beauty is that when I get the truth held in verse three then I can live out verses one and two. And then I realize that anything I have is simply because God is good and desires to give good gifts to His children. That I’m not all that! And if I live in health, walk in wholeness, and have some money in my checkbook it’s because He made provision for them. Because He has privileged me with His blessing. Not because there was something in me that could earn my way there or be good enough to merit his favor. Or because I am entitled.

Want to know what can shatter an entitlement spirit? A real picture of our personal sin. Live out a moment in life where shame is your companion, where a sense of your own failures wash over you, and all sense of entitlement vanishes. Recently, I was sitting in front of drug addicts, and recently paroled women and was sharing with them about my own moment of personal shame. I told them about the religious background I had come out of and that for me the stigma of divorce was the greatest level of shame I could know. Throw me in prison, let my old high school friends find out I was a thief or a drug addict, or sold myself for my next fix, and nothing would have filled me with more shame than to stamp the big D on my head and tell the world I was incapable of making my marriage work when my background assured me that those who divorced were as worthless as Hester Prynne in The Scarlett Letter.

And in that place of shame, God led me to His grace. It wasn’t a shame I chose to live in, because I know “there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.” But it was a moment that allowed me to realize how truly amazing God is. In my place of loss, God brought me to a revelation of the depths of His love that I had never known. That everything I have is a gift. Any day on my parents front porch, with cool temperatures, birds singing and life being lived, instead of passing me by, was a gift. The car I drive is a gift. The home I live in is a gift. The health I have is a gift. The friends that I am so blessed to share life with are a gift. My family is a gift. I am not an advocate for wearing a cloak of shame. I don’t believe that is God’s plan for any of us. He whom the Son has set free in free indeed. But moments of shame, if experienced but not soaked in, can bring unimaginable revelations of who God really is and desires to be and who we are not.

And when I realize how indescribably full of grace my Father is, then “presenting my body as a living sacrifice” is no longer about works. It is all about gratitude. “Not being conformed to this world- or this age…” is not a drudgery. It is a privilege. “The renewing of my mind” is a longing. A deep abiding hunger. And the “new ideals and new attitudes” that this acceptance of His grace produces is an incredible way to live.

I’m sure there will be moments that old sense of entitlment will raise its ugly head. I’ll get angry over something that doesn’t go the way I think it should. Or when a storm blows through I may have a moment where I get angry with God and begin to remind Him of who I am. And in His sweet way He will remind me of who He is. Of the depth to which His love went to save me from myself. And the places He continues to go each day to grab my heart and steal its affections. And my prayer is that I will become like Paul, where in my desire to remind others of the danger our arrogance can do, I would first remind myself of the unmerited favor that allows me to speak at all…

Okay- So I’m officially addicted to two things now, Facebook and Coca-Cola… And people on Facebook love to create these crazy Surveys for you to take. So, I thought it would be fun if I started posting funny ones on Fridays. Not that you probably care. But because well, answering them makes me laugh. And since I’m all about laughing, then just tell yourself, “Denise is doing this to save on her therapy bills!”
Enjoy…

True or False Survey- (Even though I have a really difficult time with one word answers…

Q: Kissed someone on your friends list? True…just kissed my mama last week when I left SC. What? Did you think I was going to tell you anything else. This ain’t truth or dare you know…
Q: Been arrested? What is your definition of arrested?

Q: Do you like someone? True…I like all someones.

Q: Held a snake? False-Are you crazy?

Q: Been suspended from school? False, because they never caught me cutting class.

Q: Sang karaoke? True…Badly

Q: Done something you told yourself you wouldn’t do? True… I’m currently drinking another Coke.

Q: Laughed until you started crying? Absolutely

Q: Caught a snowflake on your tongue? Cold

Q: Kissed in the rain? True…

Q: Sang in the shower? True…Daily

Q: Sat on a roof top? Why?

Q: Been pushed into a pool with all your clothes on? True…about drowned! Blues Jeans are heavy suckers when you get them wet.

Q: Broken a bone? False…Thank you Lord.

Q: Shaved your head? Seriously…
Q: Played a prank on someone? True…Several Someones

Q: Shot a gun? True…Call me Annie Oakley

Q: Donated Blood? Can’t…you don’t want to know why…You’ll hate me.
Told you I was pitiful at one word answers…Have an amazing weekend!

Denise

So, I have the best friends ever…Y’all read my books. Write me letters. Share my stories with your friends. And then take the time to write and share your stories with me. Please know, I never get tired of your e-mails or even when you ask for another Savannah book!

Last week, while I was spending some time in SC with my family, I got one of the greatest letters I’ve ever been sent. It was so precious I asked the girls if I could share it along with their pictures. They gave me permission, so I’m sharing it with you.

Dear Denise:

Our names are Renae, Melissa, Krissy, and Leanne. We have our own
"Savannah" story to tell you...

A few years ago, all four of us girls read your Savannah series. We
were good friends in highschool and liked to share our favorite books
with each other. Melissa was the first one to read your books and she
loved them so much, she had to share them with us. They were hilarious
and we loved them! We were all hooked! We talked about them all the
time at school and vowed to one day take a trip to Savannah, GA, just
the four of us. At the time, we all lived in California, on the west
coast. So although we wanted to take that Savannah trip, we didn't
think it would happen. We just lived too far away.

Right after highschool, Krissy and Leanne's family moved to
Greenville, South Carolina very unexpectedly. Melissa ended up going
to college at Bob Jones University in Greenville. Two years later, all
four of us are college students, and three of us attend BJU. Renae
still lives in California, but with several of her friends living on
the east coast, she wanted to come visit. All of a sudden, all four of
us were on the east coast and only a 4-hour drive from Savannah! Was
this the perfect opportunity for our trip or what?

So, May 10-12 (last week) we took our much-anticipated Savannah trip
and had a blast! The Savannah books were our "tour guide" and we tried
to visit as many places in the books as possible. 

We saw most of the
squares, walked on River Street,

Down on River Street

Down at River Streetate at Olympia's (had gyros and greek salad),
and enjoyed an evening at The Lady and Sons.

Girls outside Lady and Sons

We had various "chapter readings" throughout the trip, including when

we walked through Forsyth Park. We took pictures of many different places
mentioned in the books like E. Shaver bookstore, the Courthouse,
Clary's Cafe, the Gryphon Tea Room, Jezebel's, and more! On the last
day of our trip, we made sure to visit the Wright Square Cafe and
tried Key Lime Squares!!

Holding up their Savannah books!

Thank you so much for inspiring us to visit Savannah! We all love how
you incorporated real places from Savannah in your books. That made
our trip so exciting! The Savannah series helped us build stronger
friendships with each other and we've all been friends ever since.
Next, we're hoping to visit Seaside.  

Thanks again,

Renae, Melissa, Krissy, and Leanne (Savannah fans!)

Honestly, I’m not sure when something has made me smile the way this did. Got me thinking… always dangerous…might be fun to take a “Savannah weekend getaway” and do it together! What do you think? Let me know if it interests you…

And if any of you have taken a picture while you’re reading one of my books send it in. We’ll do our best to get it up and loaded…But- thank you girls. You made my May!

Take Care,

Denise

For the first time in a whole lot of years I’m getting to be home for Mother’s Day. I honestly am not sure the last time I’ve been home to celebrate this day with my mom. For those of you who have read my books I get so many questions asking me if Victoria is my mother. I always laugh and say, “Only the good parts.”

From the time I was a little girl I remember that my mom was beautiful. They used to get a kick out of her when we lived in Indiana because she had a garden and would wear her white slacks and high heels out there to hoe the garden. She hasn’t changed much. Even now when I’m home for the holidays she wears her high heels with her nightgowns. She’ll even sit in the floor with us to play cards or a game and slip them off and place them beside her. Then when she wants to get up and go into the kitchen, she’ll stand up and slip on her shoes. To go to the kitchen! We just shake our heads and then bust out laughing.

She is like Victoria in the fact that she is always “fully accessorized by 7 am.” No, she wouldn’t go anywhere with curlers in her hair but I can no longer say that she doesn’t own a pair of jeans. Because 08 was a breakout year for her. She now owns 3 pair! Her hair has been every shade Loreal owns. (Sorry, mom, but truth is truth…) And she has been an interior designer, owned a flower shop, organ player at church for a whole lot of years, and has been an amazing employee to 2 State Farm agents for the last 20 years.

She is the epitome of a lady.

But her beauty far exceeds her choices in heels or makeup. In fact, there is not one person who knows her that wouldn’t agree the beauty that is on the inside surpasses what is on the outside as if that is possible.

She loves her children with a depth few will ever know. She is the first one we call with good news. The first one we ask to pray for us. The first one to cry with us. The first one to believe in us.

For her grandbabies she is the Nana that will always be 39! She takes them into her big chair, tells them all that God has designed them to be. Gives them the eye if they need it and prays for them with the depth of a true intecessor.

For her family that is left, now only one sister and a brother, out of nine children, she is friend and the place where the turkey is cooked and the memories are shared.

For her friends she is an encourager, a confidant, a wise counselor and a stable heart in an ever increasing wavering world.

For her husband of a whole lot of years…she has been a faithful companion. Loving in the hard times. Believing in the doubting years. And enjoying the company of evening walks, Saturday trips to the mall and vacations to places I can convince them to go.

Our recent trip to Vegas- "It doesn't feel like sin city" she said:)

I think though what I’m most amazed of is what I will probably never get to see. Each day she gets up, starts her day, walks into her glassed in office at State Farm and one by one people come in, sit in one of the chairs in front of her and when their finish, they leave, only for someone else to do it all over again. But the stories those chairs could tell.

She’s been known to stop in the middle of taking a payment for a car or homeowner’s insurance and pray for a sick child, a grieving widow, or a man dying of cancer. She’s also been known to hug a neck, pat a hand, offer a “Bless your heart”, invite someone to church, or just give them that amazing smile.

There are many who will line up in heaven to thank her. Not just because she makes the best chocolate cake you’ll ever eat, listens better than anyone I’ve ever known, cares for her family like few women do. But because no matter where she is, Walmart-State Farm- Lugoff House of Pizza- or Leo’s she touches the deepest places in people. And they know that she cares. Truly cares. And in a world where narcissism grows more prevalent by the day, it is a privilege to meet someone who clearly defines humility, grace and integrity. And she is my mama…

And on Sunday, even though I’d love her to cook me some fried chicken. I think I just might cook it for her…oh I just found out my dad is cooking steaks. Good enough!

Great event tonight- The Faith Meets the Arts Series here in Nashville hosted by St. George’s Episcopal.

From their website: On the first Wednesday of each St. George’s Church has hosted prominent Christians who express their talent and faith through creative arts. Whether through writing and performing songs, stage acting, penning books, or painting vivid pictures, this series will help us understand the potential for employing creativity for the glory of God. Each presenter will talk about experiences in his or her field and explain how religious faith informs and sustains the creative process. We will also learn how artistic expression provides a vehicle for communicating Christian conviction. Events for youth and children are planned during this time, and the information is listed below.

If you’re free this evening come be with us at 4715 Harding Road, Nashville, Tennessee, 37205

River e-mailed me this morning. And again, she made me laugh. So, I asked her if I could share it with you, so you wouldn’t think I was making this stuff up. She graciously agreed. Plus, she choked me up too…she can have that affect as well. Enjoy…and don’t forget to go get her book!

“Thought you might enjoy the great, blog of Faster Than Kudzu featuring short interview on Saints In Limbo today. Comment on blog at will.

There it is. Finally and sooner than I expected. Today debuts the new novel, Saints in Limbo, and what a little jewel it is I promise you. If you love southern and you love something that runs a finger through the mysteries just on the other side of Tuesday, you won’t want to miss the Velma, Rudy, Long Sara, Annie, and Rose as they step off on this adventure of life.

For those of you who might not know that famous fastest pen in the South, Joshilyn Jackson has featured Saints in Limbo and yours truly on her world renown blog – FASTER THAN KUDZU where you can enjoy her three questions with yours truly and leave comments far and wide at will.

This week leading up to the big TADA has been busy and eventful from Nuns grabbing some fast paced exercise picking them up and putting them down on the streets of Nashville, to Garrison Kellier and Prarrie Home Companion broadcasting live from the Ryman. That specter of light is Mr. Keller himself – white suit, red high-tops, red socks, red tie. A fashionable man. Brad Paisely was one of the featured guests along with mandolin player Sam of which I immediately became a fan of both. A delightful evening for someone who once met Mr. K. at the Southern Festival of the Book and reacted just like Richie on The Christmas Story when he met Santa Clause. Mr. K. kept asking if I had written this novel, The Gin Girl, and I just kept nodding, big-eyed and tongue-tied. He finally gave up the attempt to have any conversation with me – much less anything intellegent. Fanship – it happens.

Husband and I wandered Broadway beneath the Batman building, walked into Jacks Barbeque and walked out drunk on Barbeque sauce.

Okay – so we’re heading down to the salty, no longer sleepy Gulf Coast for Mother’s Day and to kick-off Saints. Cousin tells me I need to be ready. That I need more books, new clothes. Maybe some botox and a spray tan. Yep. Well, the deal is you know how it is when you see some folks you haven’t seen in long, long time and the paper has run an old photo of you from the file where you looked a litttle – ummmhmmm – fresher. So this is what I thought I’d do.

Think I’ll head home as my friend from Africa tells me – home is not where you call home now and where you live, home is where you come from. Think I’ll head to the home I come from. Think I’ll show up with this face I’ve been wearing for a while now through a lot of ups and downs. And maybe some pants. Possibly a new shirt. Most likely not. Thought I’d pack some words and stories and memories, show up and share a few. And let some new stories develop in the process.

Because in the end, in the big picture of things, it’s not about my tan. And it’s not about those faces we keep checking in the mirror and saying like Beckett’s charcater in End Game – “Same, same.” There’s a lot more important things going on in the world than the images we are casting. Our reflections should be full of light, life, and the things that tell us we have a purpose for being here. As long as we recognise that light in our eyes – it’s going to be alright.

As I write this an old Simon and Garfunkel song plays and I sit looking out into the trees full of green growing deeper by the second. And thinking of Velma rocking on her front porch knowing her story is about to unfold.

Life is good.

–
River Jordan
www.riverjordan.us