Guest Post – Lea Griffith talks Forgiveness
Today it’s my absolute pleasure to have Lea Griffith on my blog. I met Lea through twitter. We share the same quirky sense of humour. We forget things like blog visits. But she’s one of my favourite virtual friends and I can’t wait to meet her in person – one day!!!
Now I’m going to hand the reigns of my blog over to Lea!!
First off, thanks so much Nicole for having me. Hope you know what you’ve gotten yourself into. (Not sure but I think we’ll be fine)
Today I figured I’d talk a little about forgiveness. A big word in a lot of ways. Eleven letters and whole lot of meaning, forgiveness brings to mind so much about every relationship in your life. It’s also something my hero and heroine are forced to deal with in my latest contemporary release, Fistful of Roses. But we’ll get to that. Promise.
Forgiveness is the action or process of forgiving or being forgiven (psst—just so you know, I hate using the word in the definition, lol); also to excuse a fault or offense. Synonyms include: pardon, condonation, remission, absolution or mercy. Yeah — heavy, heavy words. In some instances it’s much easier to ask for it than to give it. Or maybe for some the other way around.
My mother always used to tell me, “It’s better to ask for permission than forgiveness.” I hated that phrase, 1) because it’s so true and, 2) because at the root of forgiveness is acknowledging that we’ve been hurt, or hurt another, in some way. Whether you’re the trespasser or have been trespassed against, somebody, somewhere along the line has been harmed.
I know I’ve been on both sides of the coin—the transgressed and the transgressor. As have Ryan and Sophie in Fistful of Roses. Ryan hurts Sophie so deeply at one point she must search every corner of her heart for that 11-letter word we were just discussing. And Ryan must do the same for himself and for a past he cannot seem to let go. In the end, they are both forced to recognize their need for one another and deal with forgiveness in all its varying shades. It is a story of discovering love, losing it and earning it back. And in the end they are both the stronger for it.
So in the end, I can tell you that it is when I have to forgive myself that I struggle the most. I have no problem asking for forgiveness when I wrong someone and I have zero problems offering it. Many think this makes me a fool, to forgive so easily I let it slip from my mind but forgiveness entails a certain forgetting. Yet how can I ask for it if I’m not ready to bestow it? But forgiving myself is damn near impossible but that’s a story for a whole different day :).
The above are words to live by for sure. Making them happen may be the hardest thing we humans ever struggle through.
And that’s me today, talking forgiveness. Oh, and Fistful of Roses. Can’t forget to pimp the book a little, lol!
One more thing and I think this is important. Nicole and I play a word game called Ruzzle. If you haven’t played it, you should and feel free to look me up, friend me and play. I’m a little bit addicted. Anyway, I think this is the perfect time to practice forgiveness. Bear with me. *takes deep breath*
Nicole? I forgive you for kicking my ass at Ruzzle. It hurts. But I forgive you.
LOLOLOL!! Gotcha! LOL I think the winning ratio is more in your favour than mine! But I forgive you for always winning 😉
Thanks for letting me visit your place. It’s been a blast and I’m looking forward to having you over at my place soon. I’m so happy to have you here and I can’t wait to visit your place! I’ll bring the chocolate 😉
Available at Liquid Silver Books and all major e-book retailers.
Sophie wants something she’s never had … his love. Ryan needs something he’s afraid to hold on to… her.
Sophie Hanson has done the unthinkable—she’s fallen in love with her boss. She wasn’t prepared for the punch of his gaze or the feel of his arms around her. The fact that he’s her boss notwithstanding, she wants him with a force that is becoming harder to ignore.
Ryan Locke wants the unthinkable—Sophie Hanson. That she’s his employee is quickly becoming irrelevant. Employer-employee relationships are a landmine but he’s willing to overlook the danger in the face of his overwhelming desire for her.
Sometimes love isn’t enough.
Overcoming that employer-employee barrier isn’t the only issue. A depth of feeling neither have experienced before isn’t the only issue either. Sometimes the hidden things that come to light can ruin a love before it’s had a chance to begin.
Lea Griffith began sneaking to read her mother’s romance novels at a young age. She cut her teeth on the greats: McNaught, Woodiwiss, and Garwood. A firm believer that love makes the world go round, she still consumes every romance book she can put her hands on, but now she writes her own.
Lea lives with her husband and three teenage daughters in rural Georgia. Two dogs, a cat, and a Betta fish named Coddy George complete a family always in motion. When not working at the EDJ, she’s usually at her keyboard, using every spare second to write. Science fiction, paranormal and contemporary romance, oh my! Nothing is off-limits when it comes to her writing.
Website: http://www.leagriffith.com/
Facebook Profile: http://www.facebook.com/lea.griffith.58
Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/LeaGriffithWrites?ref=hl
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LeaGriffith
