Tag: humor

What I Heard vs. What You Said

On By Betty OwensIn hearing4 Comments

If you find it hard to laugh at yourself, I’d be happy to do it for you.

Groucho Marx

I sat next to my husband as we drove to our favorite taco café – I ❤ Tacos. I asked about his day. He answered. I had no idea what he said. I waited. Should I ask him to repeat himself, or just let it slide?

He looked at me. “You didn’t hear what I said, did you?”

“Sorry.”

I’m hearing impaired. I wear hearing aids, but they don’t always work. Sometimes background noises, especially road noises, cancel out other sounds. He could have been shouting and I may not have understood his words.

That’s life for a hearing-impaired person. And then there are the times someone speaks to me and I don’t respond. I’m not being rude–I can’t hear you. That’s what happened the other day when one of my neighbors was in her yard down in the court. When I walked out to the mailbox, I lifted my hand to greet her. She waved back. On the way back to the house, something told me she had spoken to me.

I looked again and she was gone. The next time I saw her out, I apologized and confessed that I don’t always hear when someone speaks.

I learned something important when I went to an outdoor concert with friends. Hearing aids can actually “overhear”. The loud music that my friends enjoyed so much actually hurt my ears. I had to turn off my hearing aids. If I ever attend another concert, I will take my noise-cancelling headphones. I might look silly, but I will be comfortable. Oh, and when my friends tried to communicate with me, I could not hear them at all, so we ended up texting one another.

And laughing. A lot.

A few helpful things you can do when you speak to someone who is hearing-impaired:

  • Make eye contact – we hear better if we can see you talking
  • Text, don’t call – telephone conversations are difficult!
  • If you must call, follow up with a text when details matter
  • You don’t have to shout, just enunciate better
  • Try not to lose your temper when we ask you to repeat something

Oh, and if you want to share a secret with me, and whisper it in my ear–believe me–your secret is completely safe with me. I cannot hear that whisper! 🙂

A Conversation with Deborah Dee Harper

On By Betty OwensIn Betty Thomason Owens2 Comments

Deborah Dee Harper is a Christian author of humorous and inspirational books for both children and adults. Her latest release is Faux Pas, A Road’s End Mishap.  The title kind of gives away the lighthearted intent, doesn’t it? I read the first book in the series, Misstep, and have to say, she mixes giggles in with mystery and suspense rather well. If you’re a fan of cozy mysteries and small town books, you’ll definitely like this one. But grab a blanket when you read it, because there’s lots of snow in the story.  And chickens and other … er … animals.

I invited Deborah to stop by and tell us a little about herself, her writing, and her latest release:

Deborah: Recently, my oldest daughter, Darice, and youngest grandchild (5-year-old Molly), and I moved from Tennessee to Alaska where my daughter has a job as a veterinary technician. I write fulltime and take care of Molly while her mom’s at work. We lived on an Air Force base up here in Anchorage five years ago and loved Alaska’s natural beauty so much we decided to return. I spend a lot of time, when I’m not writing or watching Molly, taking photographs. When my daughter isn’t working, we spend our time hiking trails, splashing in glacial streams, and chasing wildlife. Since we’ve been here these last two months, we’ve seen about two dozen black bears, several moose, a fox, eagles, Dall sheep, otters, porcupines, loons, ducks, and an Arctic hare—all in the wild. We also hiked to a glacier. It’s an invigorating way of life and one I’m glad we’ve been able to expose Molly to while she’s still young. I, on the other hand, am getting older by the minute, and I’m happy to be able to do these exciting things while I still can!

Of course, we miss our family members in the “lower 48” and plan to visit often. Even better, we hope they’ll come here to help us explore the Last Frontier.

You write humor in the main Christian genre. What other genre tags would you add to your stories?

Deborah: I’d add mystery (maybe cozy mystery) since my books in the Road’s End series all have a mystery in them midst the humorous events of the story.

I have another book (the first in a new series, I hope) that will explore the very real war Christians are fighting with the dark forces of sin and Satan’s fight against us. It’s darker than the Road’s End series—much darker—but then there’s nothing funny about sin or the forces aligned against us. With this series, I guess I’d tag it as a spiritual thriller.

If you could embark on something brand new that would change your life, what would it be?

Deborah: I think I’d either become a professional photographer or study the Bible thoroughly. I mean thoroughly. One of my favorite parts of my books is when my protagonist, Pastor Hugh Foster (former Air Force chaplain), gives a sermon. I love writing sermons! I sometimes dream of being able to spend my days in His Word and forgetting the mundane parts of living, but soon realize that the dishes and laundry have to be clean regardless of how much I’d rather think about God!

Why humor? What do you hope to accomplish/achieve with your novels?

Deborah: I believe God gave us a sense of humor to not only entertain one another and ourselves, but to also help us get along. Nothing bonds people of differing views as quickly as good-natured humor. I love to portray my characters as Christians with the typical character flaws—egotism, pride, gluttony, gossip, etc. Christians aren’t perfect, and I think being upfront with that knowledge helps to bring in the secular audience and convince them that we know we’re not perfect. We’re no better than they are, except we’ve accepted Christ into our hearts and had our sins forgiven by Him. In that regard we’re immeasurably more blessed, and I hope to bring others to Him through my humor and the knowledge that His love is unending and forgiving. I’m hoping that by using humor in my work I’ll be able to reach some readers who would not otherwise read a Christian book.

More about Deborah

Deborah Dee Harper currently resides Alaska with her oldest daughter and youngest grandchild. There she writes inspirational and humorous books for both children and adults and takes thousands of photographs. When she isn’t writing or taking photos, she stalks moose and other wildlife, survives earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, endures the long, dark, frigid winters, revels in the endless summer days, and is awestruck by the rippling northern lights of the Alaskan night skies. She also leaps mountains in a single bound and wrestles grizzly bears along hiking trails. (Not really. Just making sure you were paying attention.) Whenever she can, she loves being with her other daughter, son-in-law, and three grandsons in Kentucky, and her son, daughter-in-law, and two more grandsons in Michigan. (For real.)

The second book in my Road’s End series, Faux Pas, was published by Write Integrity Press on July 4th of this year. It continues the adventures of the zany residents of Road’s End, Virginia, that began in the first book, Misstep.

In Misstep, Hugh, Melanie, and their neighbors take on a group of drug pushers out to exact revenge on the beloved caretaker of the Road’s End Christ Is Lord Church. In Faux Pas, the President of the United States visits Road’s End for the wedding of Hugh and Melanie’s daughter Amanda to Jonathan Sterling, the only nephew of the president. Let the good times begin. The third book in the series is Misjudge, and in that one, the president decides to return to Road’s End for a peace summit. Needless to say, that little village isn’t the best place on earth to promote peace.

Join Colonel Hugh Foster, retired Air Force chaplain, and his wife, Melanie, as they take on the job of innkeepers at The Inn at Road’s End, and begin their retirement years with the cranky, set-in-their-ways senior citizens of the tiny, historic village. Never has being retired been as exhausting or as funny as it is for the Fosters.

Review excerpt (verified purchase/Amazon): “I truly wish there were a real Road’s End. I’d love to visit all the quirky characters there. Deborah Dee Harper has written another laugh out loud funny story about the antics of a (very) small community, most of whose residents rank up there in the senior citizen category … Read this book when you’re feeling down. You’ll be laughing in no time!”

CLICK TO PURCHASE THE BOOK

You can find Deborah Dee Harper in the following places:

Facebook Author Page – https://www.facebook.com/Deborah-Dee-Harper-190053721052292/
Twitter – https://twitter.com/deborahdeetales

Website: https://www.deborahdeeharper.com/

Save

Save