Why Is The Table Vibrating?

We recently had our granddaughter and her UNC student friends over for lunch after church on Sunday. They were a spirited group of young people whose conversations can bounce from one topic to another without missing a beat. Topics ranged from the latest people in their lives, where life was taking them, and can I have another helping of spaghetti and meatballs. If you want to stay awake and remain savvy, then hang around with some young people. Their energy is contagious.

But then a strange phenomenon occurred. I felt vibration rippling through the dining room table. I first thought it was a minor earthquake, but the vibration never came to a complete stop. I thought maybe it was my imagination or the air conditioning blower fan was wobbling.

I asked my wife, “Do you feel that?”

“Feel what?” she asked, encouraging everyone around the table to go for second helpings of food. (Those who may have eaten in an Italian heritage household know there is no point declining to eat anything else. Even if you say no, you are still going to get a second helping heaped upon your plate!) Food is far more important than a vibrating table.

Back to the vibration ___ when the table was set there was a bread plate on the left and glass for drinks on the right. As each young person sat at their place, they all positioned their iPhones set on vibration mode between the bread plate and the glass.

Throughout the entire meal, every phone on the table at one point or another vibrated with incoming messages. When all phones vibrated in unison, the water in my glass actually had ripples moving across the surface like I was casting stones into a lake. The incoming text messages never stopped.

Young people can be amazing. They can look you straight in the eye, answering your question, while at the same time their fingers nimbly text back messages with nary a glance at the phone keyboard.

Cell phone and tablets are here to stay. Whether we like it or not, older adults must adjust to the new paradigm of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and everything else out there that may seem like noise on some days.

Embrace the future. Overcome your fears. Get you grandkids to help you sort things out.

Just jump into the fray and start making ripples!

Robert Parlante

July 2014

Now Live on Amazon

Patch Town - A Letter from Miss Wingate is now live on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Patch-Town-Letter-Miss-Wingate/dp/1620202905/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1406206432&sr=1-1&keywords=patch+town+parlante

Official print release date is set as October 1. The ebook is going live before the print edition release.

It was a long and hard path getting to this stage, and I keep staring at the computer monitor thinking I'm still dreaming. While I'd like you to read the novel, (and hopefully are blessed by it!) there's another message with which I would like to encourage you. Never give up!

I've been writing since I was 13 years old, always dreamed of writing a novel or two, but never accomplished that task until now. We all use typical excuses to accomplish a late life goal. When I got to that Y in the road years ago I should have taken the one I chose not to take at the moment. With late life comes the usual concerns like age, illnesses and family responsibilities __ all of which can sidetrack our dreams and goals. But the things we are passionate about do not necessarily diminish with age.

After you read my novel I would like you to remember two things. The character Martin Gilmore in the story had to overcome monumental hurdles to move from failure to forgiveness to spiritual redemption. His success as a person ... as a believer ... took commitment, support and perseverance. I hope your future dream gets accomplished the same way!

Robert Parlante
July 2014

FACT or FICTION

One of the earlier comments from my publisher Ambassador International about my novel Patch Town was the work read as an autobiography. The main character and I do share some common elements. We are both male, lived in Pennsylvania and spent our childhood in a coal mining community. I emphasized it is fiction. But like any writer, it is difficult to ignore one’s life experiences even when you are a fiction writer.

Then I found myself trying to think of all the people who entered my life and contributed their support and encouragement to this book. I have been writing since the 7^th grade so I found that task formidable. Through my decades of life as a husband, father, friend … as an engineer, minister and writer … there are just so many people who touched my life in different ways. I am sure their influences, their words in passing and their different physical makeup, even their spiritual lives, have likely found their way into my characters, the way they live and the hurdles they have to face and overcome.

Those I have met along the road of life did not set out intentionally to pour an experience into my life so I could incorporate it into a novel decades later. Something far greater had to be there to pick and choose, refine and rewrite, rewrite, rewrite! That honor belongs to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He has been steering my ship of life since I was a young man.  I believe He orchestrated my novel and its plot lines. To Him be all the glory.

It takes a lot to live with a writer who easily gets frustrated by the difficulty of the creative process, the endless hours stooped over a laptop and the restless nights while plotting story lines in my dreams. One of the first things I do early mornings is to sit at the computer and try (not always successful) to remember what I plotted through the night.

By the way, I named characters in my first book, and its future derivatives, after each of my grandkids. I warned them though. The book characters are not them, and do not have their physical appearance or personality. I just thought it was a fun thing to do. They can’t wait to read the book due sometime in September. Hope they are not disappointed. I made sure no villains were named after them!

Robert Parlante

July 2014