THE MEMOIRS OF SUMMER RAY

Our film fiscal sponsor Carole Dean of From the Heart Productions once told me, “Tenacity is the backbone of a filmmaker!”

Tenacity is defined as, “the quality or fact of being able to grip something firmly; grip: the determination to continue what you are doing.” Backbone is defined as, “the chief support of a system or organization; the mainstay.” I love the definition of “mainstay.” It is defined as, “Mainstay is a noun that means a person or thing that is the most important part of something and enables it to exist or be successful.” So, mainstay helps a filmmaker to not lose our grip, so that our projects can exist and be successful! For me personally, I believe it is the love of the story. But then someone like my sponsor comes along and becomes such an important part of the project that she is helping our project to exist and become successful. Truly, she is a gift from God to Indie filmmakers!

This reminds me of having “bulldog faith.” Here is a link to Kenneth Copeland Ministries and lots of videos about having that kind of faith. https://www.kcm.org/search?keys=bulldog+faith. But there is so much truth to bulldogs that when they bite down and clamp hard on something, they don’t loosen their grip until they want to. We need to have this type of grip on our projects as well. I know I do. I am never going to allow a setback, no matter how hard, to cause me to loosen my grip. I won’t let this go! I have been working on this project close to seventeen years. Trust me, along the way there have been many many setbacks. People who were close friends who worked on the project, bailed. I was either promoting Satan, or when I was adamant about something I wasn’t going to change, I was mistreating them. I have faced loss, but with great gain. Why? It is because I know that God works all things according to my good.

“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28 (NKJV)

So when someone wants to leave, I wish them the best and move on! Something similar happened with the one who was designing my books. I spent a lot of money on the first two and now I have to start over. If you have been reading along the last several months, you know how excited I was to finally get my own ISBNs and barcodes. The loss of this designer was over a barcode and what he said cost his professional time and energy. Amazon changed the way the did barcodes and there were things I needed to get straightened out. I, for myself, needed to get an understanding. It wasn’t as easy to get published as the first book. But they are my books and I needed to make sure things were right. Truly, it was the best thing for us to part ways. I learned what I needed to. My eyes were opened, once again, to some of the cold hard truths about this business. It is not always smooth sailing. Oftentimes you start out on beautiful sunny weather with calm seas.

Then somewhere in the middle a storm hits.

Wind and Wave Obey Jesus

“On the same day, when evening had come, He said to them, “Let us cross over to the other side.”  Now when they had left the multitude, they took Him along in the boat as He was. And other little boats were also with Him.  And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling. But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?”

“Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace, be still!” And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. But He said to them, “Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?” And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, “Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!” Mark 4:35-41 (NKJV)

If I was going to turn back and not cross over to the other side, I would have done it a long time ago. Summer Ray will get to the other side, and every other side that comes our way. This is a long project that will span over the course of several years once production finally starts. But I promise you before God, it will start all the way to the final, “The End!”

This the picture for the 1st book! I thought it needed an upgrade. The Unknown Soldiers are a such a huge part of the Summer Ray story line. I thought I would honor them on the cover of This Fair and Blighted Land!

But because I am no longer paying for the book covers and I already have most of the ISBN’s, (barcodes are fairly cheap), publishing the 2nd edition series will go a lot faster. I can actually have them done when I wanted to by February 9th 2026! That is the day the series first started, except it was back in 2009! Whew!!! We have come a long way and we will most definitely get to our destination. We will complete the project on time. But that timing belongs to God!

“He has made everything beautiful in its time.” Ecclesiastes 3:11 (NKJV)

It will surely be a beautiful thing to see each part of the series on the screen; whether small, medium or large! I simply cannot wait!!!

If you are an Indie filmmaker, I highly recommend reaching out to Carole Dean of From the Heart Productions www.fromtheheartproductions.com. She is not only immensely knowledgeable, but she also has a heart of pure gold!

Thank you, for also being such an important part of our Summer Ray universe!

References: www.biblegateway.com; www.dictionary.com; https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mainstay; https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/mainstay