It has been ages since I have come to this site and written anything personal. And my long-time followers have probably noticed a myriad of changes since the first of this year and probably even in the past couple years or so. When I began this blog, I had no earthly idea what I was going to do. In fact, I almost started it on a whim. I had been using it as a prayer blog, and suddenly I decided it was time to return to an early love of mine–writing.  I endeavored to  do it all–writing my thoughts, reviewing products, reviewing books (one year, I reviewed on average a book a day), sponsored posts–and I still do some of these. But I never could get passionate about doing all those reviews. I didn’t particularly care for writing a lot of advertisement pieces. I wasn’t sure what I wanted.

A couple of years ago, God used the Hallmark network to change my life forever. I got hooked on live tweeting, and I even began to tweet to actors I was watching whom I recognized from their various shows. I had a blast, but I still didn’t know what the plan was with my blog. I was a substitute teacher, but I didn’t feel led to go back into the classroom–I didn’t understand that. I let my book and product reviews go for awhile. I let many things go. What was God’s purpose?

Let me tell you a brief story about me. When I was growing up, I was obsessed with old Hollywood. I mean, literally OBSESSED! Before the advent of the internet and remote controls, I would watch the newspaper for all the old movies and record them off our TV. (Remember doing that? Anyone???) I would go to the library and research biographies of actors. I could rattle off facts about Judy Garland, Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Clark Gable, etc. in nothing flat. I used to pride myself on knowing how old each actor was, when they died, why they died, what their best movies were–this was before the Internet Movie Database!

As a child and a teenager, I lived in a world that was filled with actors. I used to dream about connecting with actors and becoming their friends. I had dream worlds in which I escaped the reality where no one wanted to be my friend and everyone thought I was weird and should be shunned to a realm where I was genuinely accepted for who I was. I wrote so many stories and plays where I met my favorite actors. Maybe they were dead; it made no difference in my stories. In my late teen years, I even dreamed of going to Broadway and becoming an actress myself. I would be the one who shone the light of God’s love and positivity all around in a universe of negativity and darkness. I even envisioned conducting Bible studies for these actors. I had a long list of actors I had never met for whom I prayed regularly.

Well, I got a bit misdirected. I was married ten years, and then another guy caught my eye, and both of them were control freaks. I allowed them to change me, and I forsook the things I valued most in this world. But God is good, and He brought me back. He removed me from both relationships. In fact, the last one is one that to this day I still reminisce and am convinced that my writing was what God used to get release me from it. Neither one would have believed that I could do anything worthwhile in my life without them. No doubt, they still believe that deception.

Enter an auspicious day in the summer of 2014, when I made the decision to follow the entire cast of Hallmark’s show Cedar Cove on twitter. Now, I loved Cowboy Cliff Harting and his lovely lady, Grace. But when I found out that a man by the name of Sebastian Spence–a Canadian, I might add–played this Texas cowboy, I couldn’t wrap my head around it. Sebastian?? Wait a minute! That’s the lobster from The Little Mermaid! Come on, what kind of name was that?? You must be joking, right? I followed him, but I decided I would wait to see if I wanted to interact with him.

Well, it wasn’t long, I admit. I mean, the gentleman was so filled with old world charm and kindness. I don’t know how much time that summer he must have spent on twitter. There were various groups with whom I tweeted, and they loved to invade his feed with all sorts of amusing and intriguing tweets. He didn’t seem to mind, but I wasn’t too sure. I think I finally mustered up the courage to tweet him when this Sebastian fellow tweeted out a selfie of his new haircut. I was still new to the whole twitter thing; I had only used it to promote my blog. Now I was carrying on conversations. Oh, and by the way, Sebastian did respond to my tweet. Needless to say, I was interested in connecting with him from that moment on. Even if he was a Canadian cowboy with a Disney name.

Over the course of that summer, there were several milestones for me. I won’t go into all the details here, but I have some very fond memories. One that still sticks with me is how he took an interest in our yard sale. Really?? An actor I’d never met actually cared about the fact that we were having a big yard sale? He left me some very kind words that helped me through the doldrums of that sale that weekend.

But there was a moment that changed the direction of my life forever. I don’t know why I decided to do this, but I wanted to do something to promote Sebastian’s work. I had seen him in a handful of films, and I decided (on a whim) to review his film The Obsession. Now, it wasn’t very good, as I look back on it now, but it was my first real movie review. And I will never forget how it took three times sending it to him before he saw it! I nearly gave up after the second time, but I’m so glad a dear friend (Thanks Mon!) decided to encourage me to try one more time. I didn’t want to bug him (well, I got over that concern–poor guy).

When Sebastian read my review and responded, the connection between us was forever cemented. I mean, our friendship was already growing, but we had no idea what storms would come our way in the coming months and years. Sebastian saw my talent, and since he is also a writer, he always gave me his honest opinion of my work as I began my attempt to review as many of his films as possible. Every time I did, it drew us closer. We both seemed to genuinely understand the other, and thankfully my fan girl days were practically gone where he was concerned.

In addition to Sebastian, I began to gain other friends and followers. I could spend a considerable amount of time detailing how a review of a well-known film caused a leading actor to unblock me after six months (maybe someday I’ll have the courage to share that story). With other actors, I had to prove who I was by my continued support. And then there were those who never noticed me until I had written several reviews of their works. But most of these actors took an instant interest in me and began to value my support. And most of these actors were in–you guessed it–Vancouver! I have often joked that my twitter feed is full of more Vancouver news than U.S. I often know what is going on in Canada long before the U.S.

Fast-forward to this year. On a whim yet again back in January, I decided to try my hand at interviewing. I figured I would be awful at it. I was the girl who was always a wallflower at parties, and I could go an entire day without speaking a word if I so chose. Conversationalist? Me?? It was one thing to review a film or TV show, but now I was expected to interview the actors who played the roles? The first actor I asked responded in less than five minutes, and his answer was a definite “yes.” And so began a new venture. Brennan Elliott–my first-ever interview–I will never forget how nervous I was leading up to that. I wasn’t nervous about talking to him. I suppose I should have been. No, I was nervous that I would completely ruin it. Brennan is one of the top people I support, and if I blundered this interview, I would never forgive myself. Instead, Brennan had to deal with forty-five minutes of delay as I worked out the technical difficulties. By the time we got to the interview, I was so relaxed. And I had a blast. Actually, so did Brennan. And there was no doubt I was hooked. I loved interviewing actors!

This year has seen so many new things. My first film festival in April. The first time I had to completely rewrite an interview and my dear friend Rick Ravanello (another actor who incidentally is a good friend of Sebastian’s) had to calm me down. Deadlines, errors, actors who liked the interviews, actors who didn’t, actors who never even acknowledged the interviews, actors who couldn’t thank me enough. For the most part, my experiences were positive, and all of a sudden, I had more friends than I had ever had in my life, and the vast majority of them were actors!

Do you see what God did? I only began to realize it some time this spring. God took that childhood dream that I thought was gone forever, and He transformed it into something that at the age of forty-two, I am actually experiencing! I had no clue that when I pretended to talk to Andy Williams and Barbara Streisand and Michael Crawford that I would be actually be talking to real actors one day! But God did. I couldn’t have understood it back then, but I sure do now.

Now, some might say that maybe I am getting a big head. I interview actors all day. I sit around and eat bonbons (yeah, I wish–not really, my figure would never allow that). What I do is hard work, and only recently have I begun to receive any monetary compensation. Some nights, I don’t go to bed till two or three A.M. (Dylan Neal could tell a story about how he stayed up writing later than I did), and I have to get up the next morning by six or seven. Some days, I have three interviews. Some weekends, I have six interviews to get up by a certain time. Some actors have been waiting months for me to publish their interviews. (Sorry! I have not forgotten!)

And let’s talk about my fans. Yes, I have fans now! There are some wonderful people on twitter and facebook who always read my interviews and support my endeavors. I could list them all here, but I am sure I would forget someone. But it’s also cost me friends. Some people have turned away in jealousy. Some have called me out for being stuck-up or no good as a “journalist.” Some people come to me for inside information that they are convinced I have. Or they figure they will “ride my coattails” so that they can be friends with an actor, too.

Well, next week at this time, I will be preparing for the next chapter in my life. These two years or so have been leading up to something very special, and about a month ago, God showed me what that something was. While I will still live in Washington State for now, and I will still be a substitute teacher, God has opened up some new doors for me.

When I was asked to do some writing for HollyWords Publicity Group and get paid for that writing, I was beside myself with excitement! I had worked with some of Holly’s clients (Mitchell Kummen, Sean Kyer, Adrian Hough, and many more), and it had always been a fabulous experience for all. She had been a consistent encourager of my work, and I jumped at the chance to write for her. And the very day that happened, a new idea sprang into my head.

Back when Cedar Cove was shooting its third (and what would become its final) season, Sebastian had encouraged me to explore the possibility of visiting the set. I got everything ready, including my passport, but it just wasn’t meant to be. When I went to LA for the film festival, I tried to meet Rick Ravanello, but he was too busy, and our schedules just didn’t work. I considered going down to LA this fall when Dylan Neal and Brooke Burns were on Home and Family on the Hallmark Channel, but the timing never seemed right. I used to dream about meeting Sebastian in Vancouver, but I had essentially given up on that dream ever happening. The timing never seemed right, and I wasn’t about to force it.

Well, the dream is now coming true. I don’t want to prejudge anything, but I’m going to Vancouver, and it looks as though God has decided the time is right to meet Sebastian Spence amongst other actor friends of mine. Next Friday, I head out on a venture I still have a hard time believing. Not only will I meet Sebastian, Holly of HollyWords Publicity, and many other actors, but I am attending my first-ever awards show! Oh, and I’m going to a nightclub for the first time–thanks Jaime Callica! There are so many who want to meet me, but I have only so much time when I’m there. So I see this as the first of many and/or regular trips I will be making to Vancouver.

One more person I need to thank. There is an anonymous benefactor, and this person knows who I am talking about. I have been overwhelmed with this person’s generosity, and although I refuse to say who this person is–thank you from the bottom of my heart. Your incredible philanthropy goes far beyond anything I could have imagined!

I give all glory to God for where I am now. I know I’ve worked hard, but I have waited upon His leading. And all I can say is that when the time is right, it does all fall into place. I cannot get over how everything has been just perfect in every detail.

Oh, one more thing. Am I nervous about meeting all my friends? I really am not. While a part of me was trying to predict and control how I’d act, a very wise friend gave me some advice that said I needed to stop putting pressure on myself (thanks Sebastian!). And I am heeding said advice. While nothing is set in stone, I can assure you that I will have plenty of pictures and news to share. I realize that some may think yet again that I am putting this out here to “show-off,” but nothing could be further from the truth. I felt led to write this post because maybe someone out there needs to know that if God has given you a dream and it hasn’t yet happened, it doesn’t mean that God took it away. He may be waiting on the perfect moment which hasn’t happened yet, but will in the future. At least, that’s what I have observed.

I’ll end with this verse, truly a lifetime verse for me.

“They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings as eagles. They shall run and not grow weary; they shall walk and not faint.” Isaiah 40:31

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