This week the subject for the #MSH sponsored #blog tour is to interview the main character of our novel. So, today I have asked Bev Ransom whose biography, #Good Intentions, is due out later this month to speak with me.

Good Intentions

Bev, thank you for taking time to talk with me.

(Bev)Oh, sure. When Mom gave me the message I thought it would be interesting.

What are some of the reasons you participated in having a biography of your life written?

(Bev)Well, (she leans forward, arms propped on her thighs, face earnest) there are some things people should think about. I’m not that old, and I don’t have all the answers (she chuckles), but I know how I felt when everything came out in the open like it did.

Yes, that was quite the surprise, wasn’t it? What was the most important thing that occurred during the time sequence covered in your biography?

(Bev) My dad dying.(She glances away and blinks her eyes several times before turning back to face me)

I know how painful this must be for you. Are you okay talking about it?

(Bev gives a brisk nod)Yeah.(Taking a deep breath, she huffs it out and speaks in a stronger voice)Yeah, I’m okay. See my dad was always the one I talked to. Mom got so emotional about everything. But, Dad he was cool. I could discuss stuff with him. Where Mom cried about stuff, Dad would tell me to stop wasting time crying, and use that time to think about what I could do to change whatever it was.

That sounds like good advice.

(Bev)(She shifts around on her chair like she’s uncomfortable with what she needs to say)Well, yeah.Mostly.

What do you mean “mostly”?

(Bev)(Her brows scrunch down and she stares for a moment at her hands, clasped together in her lap) It wasn’t until quite some time after Rene died, and you know, everything else started happening, that I finally realized: with Dad it was all about logic and action, but it was Mom who let me feel.

Sounds like a person needs to do both of those things—think and feel.

(Bev smiles) Yeah, that’s what I learned. Eventually.

What was the second most important thing you learned during that time?

(Bev’s face falls into serious lines)I learned that #family shouldn’t keep #secrets from each other, especially not from their kids.

But aren’t there good reasons to keep things from #children?

(Bev firmly shakes her head) No. If a kid knows what’s going on in the family, we can find a way to cope. It’s when we’re kept ignorant of what is really happening that we get confused by conflicting messages that our parents don’t even realize they are sending out.

(Bev tilts her head and gives me a considering look) Do you know why I wanted my biography to be titled Good Intentions?

(I shake my head)No, I don’t know why you insisted on that title.

(Bev bites her lower lip then speaks) A friend of mine—and I don’t know where the quote came from—but she said, “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.” That’s what happened to my family. Everyone had good intentions when they made their decisions, especially the decision to keep me in the dark. Those good intentions were like cobblestones set in the street that we were traveling down. And that street led straight to the hell that our lives became.

Wow. That’s a heavy message. (We both take a sip of cold coffee from the mugs we’d forgotten were even there.) There you have it folks. Family secrets, even when they are kept with the best of intentions, can really bring a lot of sorrow to your loved ones. So, whenever you’re tempted to tell your children something less than the truth, please remember how much pain you might eventually cause.

Thank you, Bev, for coming today, and for sharing what has been a painful journey of self-discovery in your biography, Good Intentions.

Mountain Springs House Publishing, #MSH, will release the second edition of Good Intentions later this month of July. Please stay tuned to this blog for the final release date.

You can contact #Aya Walksfar, the author of Good Intentions, at:
http://www.facebook.com/ayawalksfar

Or tweet to her on Twitter Aya Walksfar@ayawalksfar
Check out other books by this author on her author page at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/author/ayawalksfar
Check out some of the books Aya reads on Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/ayawalksfar