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Julie Worthington

Last Page First…

There are several different types of readers. There are fast readers, slow readers, skimmers, deep readers, and those who read the last page first. I’m more of a deep reader who takes the whole journey with the characters. I look for the deeper meanings to what is being told, the symbolism, the metaphors, and the connections to real life, that’s what draws me through the story… No matter what type of reader you are I’m sure you’ll enjoy Sarah’s journey to New Parish. I believe there’s something for everyone in her story.

I do have friends who always read the last page of a book first… I don’t understand this, but I accept all people for who they are. So, for them and all of you who read the last page first here it is…

The last page of New Parish:

“Okay, what’s wrong,” Sarah asked noticing her sister’s lack of enthusiasm for finishing school.”

            “Nothing really,” Hannah replied. “School is fine. I’m done now with all my assignments. I don’t think I’m going to hang around here though. They can send my diplomas to me in the mail, I don’t want to walk at graduation.”

            “What?!?” Sarah asked in complete shock, “Why not?”

            “I’m just really done with being here,” Hannah stated flatly.

            “What’s happened?” Sarah demanded to know.

            “Well, you know that guy, the returned missionary with potential, I told you about?” Hannah started.

            “Yeah,” Sarah said, trying to encourage Hannah to continue.

            “He turned out to be just another self centered jerk who only wanted one thing,” Hannah explained.

            “Sorry,” Sarah sympathized.

            “I’m so disgusted with men!” Hannah growled.

            “I’ve been there,” Sarah sympathized again.

            “Yeah I know you have,” Hannah acknowledged, then continued, “I’ve had my last bad date! I’m not giving any more jerks the opportunity to make me feel this way.”

            “I’m sorry Hann,” Sarah tried to console her. “I wish I could help, is there anything I can do? You should come out here for Christmas, you’d love it. You could ride horses and stuff.”

            “I think I’m ready to give what you did a try,” Hannah said slowly. “I don’t want to date and I don’t want to wait for years like you had to until you can get married and have a family. What’s the process to get married down there?”

            Sarah sighed, “Well, like I told you before, it’s a return to the old ways, a return to the basics, a return…”

New Parish Available Now!!!

https://www.amazon.com/New-Parish-Julie-Worthington/dp/1732224005/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1530921759&sr=8-1&keywords=new+parish+by+julie+worthington

New Parish!!!

Do you want to know what happens when a feisty southern girl meets a true west cowboy? I’ll give you a hint, there’s cows, hot chocolate, and red punch involved… along with anger, embarrassment, and –

Excerpt From New Parish:

            “Brother Michael smiled and said, “Max I’d like to introduce you to, Sarah, from Georgia.”

            Max pulled on the reins of his horse and stopped a few feet away, he smiled and drawled, “Howdy, ma’am.”

            Sarah was completely captivated by this cowboy, she thought his smile was the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen, his deep blue eyes sparkled – she felt like her head was filled with something sweet and gooey which was slowing her thought processes down. Her brain was stuck on, “Oh my gosh, he’s so gorgeous…”

            Before she could reply to the cowboy’s greeting she heard someone shout, “NO!” ”

If you want to know what happens next get your copy of New Parish on Amazon – https://www.amazon.com/New-Parish-Julie-Worthington/dp/1732224005/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1530632057&sr=8-1&keywords=new+parish+by+julie+worthington

 

The Long Wait is Over!

Have you ever heard of the Marshmallow test? It’s where you put a marshmallow in front of a little kid and tell them they can have that now, (yeah, a lot of them cram it in their mouths immediately before you can finish saying), or you can have lots more later, if you don’t eat it now, and wait a while. Life is like that test in many ways. We get so many opportunities to take instant gratification or delayed gratification. We can get a job right out of high school or go to college and work our way through that. We can buy a new car with a huge loan or save up and get one later without a loan. We can rush into many situations that will give us instant gratification, they’re not all bad, or even wrong choices. But, we usually get much more gratification when we wait that little while to get the more candy instead of eating the one in front of us…

Sarah waited, she waited and waited for the right guy to come along. She could have taken instant gratification and settled for just any old guy but she wanted more… she wanted someone to be the man she needed for always, not just for a little while.

Excerpt from New Parish:

“The cool air and busy sidewalks were almost enough to distract her mind from the pervading thoughts of how much this plural marriage thing could go wrong. She wanted to believe that things could be as wonderful as Mary said they were, but she knew how people could be, especially men… Her thoughts went to, “Maybe I should just drop the whole thing.” Then the idea of dating again entered her thoughts, which almost made her nauseous. Then the thought of giving up on her dream of having kids and a family came to her mind. A tear rolled down her face, which she quickly brushed away, that thought was the saddest one she’d ever had…

            Sarah looked up at the sky and saw a plane flying west, she knew she would be on one soon… flying west. She breathed out a sigh and with a new resolve, walked back to her apartment.”

Do you want to find out for yourself what happens next?

New Parish is now available on Amazon.com

Simply search New Parish by Julie Worthington or follow the link below…

https://www.amazon.com/New-Parish-Julie-Worthington/dp/1732224005/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1530209993&sr=8-1&keywords=new+parish+by+julie+worthington

Southern Girls…

Southern girls have a uniqueness all their own. They have a soft side that is sweet… they are usually polite, and well mannered – kind, supportive, loyal, and helpful. But there’s more to them than just the sweet southern belle – They are also usually determined and will admit to a fair amount of stubbornness. They are also usually very passionate and have a good idea of what they want in life. When they face challenges that get in the way of what they want, that’s when the stubbornness and passion turn on in full force. In my book New Parish, Sarah and her sisters can be sweet southern belles but when things get challenging they show the other side of the southern girl. Their stubbornness and passion comes to the surface and others get a full on idea of what southern girls are.

When a southern girl meets a real west cowboy, who is everything she ever wanted and everything she can’t stand, things get very heated, sometimes loud, and usually in a very funny way.

I can’t wait to share their story with you!

New Parish Coming very soon!!!!!

Excerpt from New Parish:

“The next day after breakfast Sarah and Mary decided to get out and explore some of the community and enjoy the snow that had fallen. Several of Mary’s little brothers and sisters tagged along with them. They were all bundled up in coats, scarves, gloves, and boots. Sarah laughed at herself and the rest of the gang, they were definitely prepared. Sarah had already decided that the community was quite beautiful but now with a blanket of snow, it seemed like a picture postcard of a Christmas village from long ago. There was even a wooden wagon with red painted wheels going down the road, pulled by two large, chocolate brown horses – it was all very picturesque.

            They walked along the freshly shoveled sidewalks happily talking and planning on building a small snowman in the park. When from behind her Sarah heard the sound of a horse trotting, she turned to look and saw the man she never wanted to see again, on his horse. She quickly looked around to see if any cows were running around, then said to Mary, “Let’s walk faster, that cowboy is back, and you know what happened the last time he was near.”

            Mary laughed, “You know it wasn’t really his fault, right?”

            “It was his cows,” Sarah replied avoiding the fact that she just deep down seriously didn’t want to like him, or his smile, or his beautiful eyes, or his anything.

            “Yeah but they broke the fence and got out,” Mary tried to excuse the cowboy.

            “Wasn’t it his fence that wasn’t strong enough to hold his cows?” asked Sarah.

            “Yes, but, really that stuff happens,” Mary tried to soothe.

            Sarah looked at her firmly and said, “Red punch and hot chocolate all over my brand new outfit.”      

            “Sorry, that was really bad,” Mary agreed.

            The sounds from the horse got much closer as Max touched it’s sides to encourage it to speed up, he pulled the reins to stop where Sarah and Mary were on the sidewalk, “Howdy Mary, Ma’am,” he said in a very friendly cowboy drawl.

            Sarah looked away and didn’t speak, Mary smiled and said, “Hi Max, what are you up to today?”

            “Just rounding up a few strays,” he smiled back at her.

            That threw Sarah into an angry frenzy, “What sort of cowboy can’t keep his cows where they’re supposed to be?!?” She looked around frantically wondering from which direction she’d be attacked. “Maybe you should get a different job!”

            “Oh, no Ma’am,” Max tried to explain his previous comment, “I’m not rounding up cows. The cows are all safely in the pasture, don’t worry. I’m looking for some of my kids that are supposed to be home doing chores their mothers told them to do.”

            Sarah didn’t reply to his explanation, she wanted to put as much distance between him and her as possible, “Let’s go,” she said to Mary.

            Mary shrugged to Max and said, “Okay,” to Sarah.

            “Wait, Ma’am,” Max’s horse suddenly stepped in front of Sarah’s group. “I think we got off on the wrong foot, let me make it up to you.”

            Sarah with as much control as she could muster looked him in the eye and said, “Move your horse. Now!”

            “Look, Ma’am…” Max started.

            “Stop calling me ma’am!” Sarah shouted, “Move your horse and leave me alone! You paramecium brained, macho sh…”

            Sarah didn’t get to finish her verbal assault on Max because Mary put her hand over Sarah’s mouth and sweetly said, “Children are present.”

             “Ah!” shouted Sarah, “Okay, fine.”

            Max took this cue and tipping his hat to her, said, “Ma’am,” and rode away.

            Mary raised her eyebrows and asked, “Are you okay?”

            “I’m fine as long as he isn’t around, rounding up anything,” Sarah said with anger still in her voice.”

Colorful Characters

In life we meet many people, some stand out, others blend in. Colorful characters are ones we always remember, they don’t necessarily have to be bold and flamboyant, but often are very memorable in some way. Throughout my life I’ve met many people who have been memorable, some I’ve met in person, some I’ve met through other mediums such as literature, film, or stories told by people I know. I think the ones that have been memorable to me are the ones who I can connect with on some level, be that level humor, or emotion, or like circumstances. No matter what brings that memorable connection we all find colorful characters in our lives. In my book New Parish, there are a few memorable characters that I’ve connected with, I hope all of you will too when you read the book – very soon!

One of my favorite characters in New Parish is Uncle Alex. He’s definitely a colorful character in this book and plays a very large role in the next book, Return to New Parish.  He’s one of those people when you meet him you never quite forget him for many reasons. He’s got a lot of depth that isn’t always available at first sight. He’s a person who lives life full on, come heck or high water he’s going to be himself whether anyone likes it or not.

 

New Parish Coming Very Soon!!!

Excerpt from New Parish:

“Mary shrugged an ‘I have no clue shrug’ and said, “Hey do you want to go on the hayride? Looks like they’re getting the first one ready.”

            “Oh, yeah, sure,” Sarah said, “I’ve never been on a hayride before.”

            “I love them!” Mary said excitedly as they both sat their plates down for later and quickly walked toward the barn where people were climbing onboard the wagon.

            When they reached the wagon a very jovial voice said, “Well, hello there little Mary!”

            “Hi, Uncle Alex!” Mary returned smiling brightly at the man.

            “Who’s this pretty little filly with you?” asked Uncle Alex.

            Mary laughed and said, “This is my friend Sarah.”

            “Howdy ma’am,” Uncle Alex stretched out his hand to Sarah smiling broadly beneath his mustache.

            Sarah smiled back and took his hand, “Hi.” She mentally flushed the instant thoughts of the other cowboy that came to her mind when she heard Uncle Alex say ‘howdy ma’am and did her best to not let that interfere with her meeting this cowboy, and the impending fun.

            “You sure are a pretty little thing,” he smiled at her looking her up and down.

            Sarah blushed a bit, but recovered quickly, “Thank you, you’re not so bad yourself,” she returned the tease, looking him up and down. He was tall and slender, wearing a brown leather jacket with fringe, jeans, a leather belt with a large silver and turquoise buckle, a black cowboy hat with a silver and turquoise band, and black cowboy boots. He had 70/40 silver hair ratio with blue eyes that somehow reminded her of that cowboy she was trying very hard not to think of.

            Uncle Alex laughed loudly and said, “I like you.””

Letter to a Friend

Dear Friend,

I’d like to tell you about my new book, New Parish. It’s a literary fiction, romantic comedy, about a young southern woman, Sarah, who feels like life is passing her by – well the life she wants to have.

Sarah is of course full of southern sass, spunk, and moxie, which comes out often throughout the story. Her independent nature has her living in the big city of Atlanta, working in her dream job, and doing volunteer work at a children’s center. She has almost everything she wants, she’s near enough to go visit her family whenever she wants – in Savannah, she loves kids and gets to play with them on a regular basis – at the children’s center, her dream job is as a graphic artist for a large publishing company – working on children’s books, lets her work from home. What she doesn’t have is a wonderful husband, and awesome children of her own… this becomes more and more of a bother to her as she gets into her later 20’s.

She’s dated, a lot! But hasn’t been able to find a decent guy to spend her life with… yet. She gave up on a knight in shining armor riding in on a white horse to rescue her long ago. She just wants someone nice, genuine, and not afraid to commit to a long term relationship.

Any who… her new friend Mary tells her about an option she hadn’t thought of before. Sarah goes from wondering if this new option is something she could really consider to wondering about her sanity for even thinking about it.

Hope you like my book… hope to hear from you soon…

Julie

P.S. Only about 3 more weeks till the book will be available!

 

Excerpt from New Parish:
From Chapter 5 – The Storm

            “Stepping out onto the sidewalk made her feel alive and in control, she was a kid again going out to have fun, she loved feeling this excitement. The burdens she’d been carrying were slowly abating and she was finding a calm happy place inside.

            She chose a table near the front of the very familiar restaurant and ordered the crab cake sandwich, which was what she always ordered there and quickly inhaled it. Being near the ocean always made her hungry. From her table she could see the beach and ocean beyond, something inside her longed to be there and feel the sand beneath her feet, so she didn’t linger at the restaurant.

            Before stepping from the pavement to the sand she removed her shoes so that she could enjoy every second of the experience. Tying the strings of her canvas sneakers together she hung them over the strap to her backpack which she slung over one shoulder. Her oversized blue denim shirt was perfect for this time and place. There were a few white puffy clouds in the sky of brilliant blue, the sun was shining down warming her face with its touch. The light cool breeze from the ocean fanned her long white boho skirt that hung down around her ankles. She took a deep breath and stepped out onto the sand to begin her journey toward the decision that would affect the rest of her life.

            Sarah had the beach mostly to herself, she could see a few sage gentlemen standing iconically on the pier fishing, but other than that she was alone with her thoughts and her decision.

            The white sand made a slight scrunching sound beneath her feet and she couldn’t resist digging her toes in it as she walked. The waves gently embracing the shore carried her thoughts to a place where there was no ocean – New Parish…

            Sarah sighed, “Living there would be so different, just the climate with its dry arid environment would be a challenge,” she thought. “I had to use loads more lotion when I was out there for just a few days. I could get used to that, and invest in tons of lip balm.” She pondered over the mountains and mesas of the surrounding areas of New Parish. She stopped her walk and stared out at the ocean waves in the far distance, some were creating little white caps. “It would be so far away from my family,” she thought. “I’m not one of those girls that needs to be near their mom, but living in Atlanta is near enough to go home any time I want.” Sarah sighed again, the “girl talk” session from her last night in New Parish came into her thoughts, “What if I get into a mess like some of those girls?” She walked on down the beach with her thoughts, feeling very heavy and worrisome now.”

Wednesday Morning…

Have you ever wondered what a writer does? Sometimes, of course, they write, other times you may see them staring off into space, this is called plotting….

Whether you’re a writer or not, I hope everyone  plots out a wonderful day today 😊

Oh, yeah… New Parish Coming Very Soon!!!