THE MEMOIRS OF SUMMER RAY

I started working at a near by ski resort at their new ice rink. I totally love it as I get to teach kids and adults how to ice skate. Yet, if I am away from the battlefields too long, the missing of the boys starts to creep back in, until I simply cannot stand it any more. I have to visit the battlefields and it reminds me why I wrote the Summer Ray Series (and still writing) and why I moved to Gettysburg. I am grieved as I see our history slowly slipping away and it is also something I cannot sit idly by and watch happen. While people are protesting and rioting in the streets because our new President Donald Trump; while women are marching for the equal rights we already have; while celebrities like Madonna are wanting to blow up the “White House,” I sit back and wonder what possible impact The Memoirs of Summer Ray will have on society.  Abraham Lincoln once stated on June 16, 1858

“A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure, permanently, half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved — I do not expect the house to fall — but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing or all the other. Either the opponents of slavery will arrest the further spread of it, and place it where the public mind shall rest in the belief that it is in the course of ultimate extinction; or its advocates will push it forward, till it shall become lawful in all the States, old as well as new — North as well as South.”

Although the circumstances are different, 159 years later, this country is once again divided. The politics that are supposed to unite and support this great land, due to differences in opinion, are actually shredding it. But, it is not the statutes that are to blame, but the opinions of diversity. For me and my house, we will serve the Lord. I might be “offensive” to some people in how I view things or in how I do things, but my heart has never been to serve man. I serve God first.  I react as someone who is passionate about the God she loves and the history she is trying to keep alive. I may not always go about this the right way, but none the less, my heart and soul are embedded in both. When hard decisions have to be made about the film, they have been made, due to their being no other choice. People might not agree with me and the beauty of it is, they don’t have to. I have never once, gone after someone who has left the film for what ever reason. Because I know that God always has someone better standing in line waiting.  If someone leaves, it is because their time and purpose are fulfilled, or they were not committed to the project in the first place. I don’t have to be agreed with all of the time. But, when I have to make a hard decision, it is to be respected. There are those, I have had to walk away from myself because they said one thing and did something completely different, or promised much and produced nothing. I am not bull-headed and I listen. In fact, I listen, ponder and ponder some more. But, if something doesn’t sit right in my stomach after all that pondering – where my soul and spirit are, I have to react and do what I feel is the right thing to do. If people decide to leave, they leave. It isn’t my place to try and keep them on the project.

With the expansion of the book series to 7 books, I am in the process of refining the first script. With every ounce of my being, I know that someone is coming who will either take the project on, or who will help me get it produced. This person is as passionate about the preservation of history as I am.  I have an idea of who it is. But, until I can say for sure, I have to get everything ready to pitch this to hopeful perfection. Which is cause of great joy for me. I have needed people to join this production who want to preserve history and not just make a big buck. Although seeing the fruits of our labor is still something to shout about, I must admit. The preservation of history is priceless.

I wholeheartily believe that The Memoirs of Summer Ray are being raised up for such a time as this. It isn’t just for the preservation of history, but also to help heal a land so divided that it is in danger of falling. I try to see the Civil War through the eyes of the soldiers and wonder how they would feel, if they saw the state of the world today. The Revolutionary War, when our Founding Fathers broke from the tyranny of British rule, how would they react upon seeing their beloved America today? A land that was founded on God who is now taken out of our schools and courthouses. I don’t have to be understood. But when it comes to the production of this film, I have to be respected. There are certain things I simply won’t change or budge on. So in some ways, I guess I am bull-headed and stubborn. But for the right reasons.

With all of that said, I  am working on the package, to present to those who can help get us to Production and to the theaters. When everything is ready and right to God’s approval, everything needed will be there waiting. God is watching over this and in His time, He will make it beautiful.

Juliana