meet Candy Arrington

Candy Arrington’s writing provides Biblical insights and practical advice, often on tough topics. Her publishing credits include hundreds of articles in periodicals such as Focus on the Family, Today’s Christian Woman, Marriage Partnership, Encounter, The Lookout, The Upper Room, Advanced Christian Writer, CBN.com, The Writer, and Writer’s Digest. Candy’s stories have appeared in the Chicken Soup and Cup of Comfort series. In addition to When Your Aging Parent Needs Care, she is coauthor of Aftershock: Help, Hope, and Healing in the Wake of Suicide. Candy serves on faculty for two national writers conferences, is on staff with The Christian Communicator Manuscript Critique Service, and is a member of the American Society of Journalists and Authors.

In nearly a quarter of households in the US, someone has the responsibility of caring for an aging parent. Yet few of us are trained caregivers, and our attempts often feel inadequate. With firsthand knowledge, Candy Arrington, coauthor of When Your Aging Parent Needs Care: Practical Help for This Season of Life, provides encouragement, practical advice, and resources to aid adult children with the challenging demands of caring for aging parents while balancing other aspects of life.
www.whenyouragingparentneedscare.com

You can purchase When Your Aging Parent Needs Care: Practical Help for This Season of Life at Amazon and CBD.

Thanks so much for being with us here at Patterings, Candy! Tell us about your epiphany moment when you decided you were going to seriously pursue writing.
My husband and I were at a weekend prayer retreat. The Lord woke me up about 5:00 a.m. with words I couldn’t ignore. While my husband snored, I went in the bathroom, sat on the edge of the tub, and wrote the words that flowed from my heart. I shared the poem I’d written with the group later that day. Afterwards, several people came up to me and asked for a copy of my poem. That was the beginning. I’ve written a few other poems since then, but none have the impact of those first words from God.

What is your most difficult writing obstacle, and how do you overcome it?
Currently my biggest challenge is carving out time to actually sit down and write because I am caring for my 89-year-old mother. When I do have a few minutes, I find my mind is cluttered with thoughts of myriad duties. This really thwarts the creative process. I learned long ago that I’m a cyclical writer so I try to seize the times when I’m “in the zone” and make the most of them. One thing that often helps is to change my writing location from my office to some other part of the house or to spend several hours someplace away from home that is quiet.

What is the quirkiest thing you have ever done?
I was in an ice cream parlor in Myrtle Beach, SC and a large group of people at a table next to me ordered one of those 15-scoop sundaes that are served in a giant bowl. After the server brought their order, I walked over to their table with a spoon, pulled up a chair, and said, “Need some help?” They looked at me like I was crazy, but everyone laughed. Then I got up and went back to my table. I have no idea why I did that! I think I embarrassed my husband.

LoL - That would've been something to see, Candy! What would a perfect day for you look like?
Because I stay so scheduled with caring for my Mom a perfect day for me is one when I don’t have to go anywhere or adhere to a schedule. My perfect day would include time outside to walk or write and, given the chance, I’d always opt for long, unscheduled days at the beach.

Oh, I looove the beach, too! It's the best for walking. :-)
Tell us the range of the kinds of books you enjoy reading.
Over the years I’ve really enjoyed reading Anne Perry’s novels and also Laurie King’s Mary Russell novels. Neither write for the Christian market but both are incredible writers. I tend to like historical mystery and suspense best. I also read a lot of nonfiction.

Are there certain foods or snacks keeps the words flowing for you?
Well, I really try to not eat while writing because I lose track of how much I’ve consumed. The juice that keeps the words flowing for me is a cup of hot tea – year round.

What lesson is the Lord teaching you right now?
He is teaching me to patiently wait for Him to act and to trust Him one day at a time. I’m a planner and organizer but the Lord continually shows me that I need to trust him for each day and not get frustrated when my plans don’t work out.

When is your next book due out and can you tell us about it?
When Your Aging Parent Needs Care: Practical Help for This Season of Life released this month and I don’t have another contract at the moment. I’m trying to determine if the Lord is taking me in the direction of fiction so I’m pursuing that and trusting Him for the next contract.

Candy is giving away a copy of When Your Aging Parent Needs Care: Practical Help for This Season of Life. To be entered in the book giveaway, leave a comment and check back on Thursday, September 17th to see if you've won. If you want to guarantee that you're notified if you win, then leave your email address in the comment, otherwise, you can just check back and email me through the button in my sidebar. OR you could sign up to have Patterings updates delivered to your inbox. If you do, it will give you a bonus entry in the giveaway, otherwise you can enter twice--once for each post you leave a comment on. :^)

Now, on to today's winners!!
~Tami is the winner of Shirley Kiger Connolly's book, I See God in the Simple Things, and Sunny is the winner of Kay Marshall Strom's book, The Call of Zulina. Congratulations, ladies!!

Thank you so much Shirley and Kay for being with us this last week! It was a pleasure having you ladies!

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