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Announcements
September 2007

I haven't had much to report for a long time. I've been busy with my graphics design business and with life. I haven't been writing seriously, but I intend to as soon as I can get my life back on track.

It seems like every time I get back into writing mode, some major thing happens in my life. This spring/summer, I've had two such things happen that have torn my world apart.

The first was another death--my beloved Aunt Bonnie, whom I was very close to. She was only 58 years old and died from heart disease, a complication of diabetes, which she'd suffered from most of her life. I've listed her on findagrave. Please drop by and leave her some cyber flowers: Bonnie Lynn O'connell

The other thing that happened--my marriage of 25 years almost ended. It's, even now, on shaky ground.

That is something I never thought I'd say, because my husband and I have always been very close.

Strange as this may sound, this whole experience makes me want to work all the harder to get my writing career back on track. I need to do it for me and feel that I have something left worth reaching for and dreaming about--even if my marriage fails.

Hopefully, I'll have more optimistic news to report next time, and, since I've spent the past several months researching marital subjects, perhaps I will post some articles and other helpful resources to share.

I highly recommend this book: Emotional Infidelity by M. Gary Neuman. I can't express enough how great this man's wisdom is. I wish my husband and I would have read it long ago.

Announcements
May 2006

May arrived with progress and heartache. Can good ever come without bad? I'd started working hard on my horror trilogy. I edited Book 1 and started writing Book 2 and 3. I realized as I edited Book 1, that I should go ahead and pound out the other two rough drafts in case I needed to plant something in the first book. My main goal was to get the whole story line out of my system and focus on the plot. I've accomplished that to some degree.

Anyhow, I was doing great. I got back into writing mode after a long period of block and wrote for several hours every day.

Then I learned that, Lawrence Johnson, a close friend had died, and I've suffered the most horrible grief ever since, and I've not been able to concentrate on my novel or much of anything else.

My husband and I had hired Lawrence to renovate the exterior of our Victorian house in 2003. We were hesitant, because we knew that he'd had a drug and alcohol problem, but we decided to give him a chance so that he could get his life together. It looked like he was trying hard to do so. We became close friends. Lawrence was with us nearly every day, and we'd do just about everything together. Often, we'd sit on the porch after the work day was done and talk for hours. In short, he became like family. There was some glowing quality about him--he could lift a person right out of despair like an angel. Without a doubt, he helped us get through a horrible time in our lives and seemed like a Godsend. In fact, I believed from the start that God had brought him into our lives.

And then the friendship ended suddenly due in part to misunderstandings.

Lawrence packed up his family and moved to Maryville, a nearby city, and got on at a factory there. On April 23, 2006, he was driving north of the city when he ran into a cement divider on the road. We don't know if he fell asleep or what. His car went out of control, flipped, and landed in a deep ditch. He was dead at 41 and left behind a wife and three young children.

My husband and I didn't find out about his death until a few days ago when an acquaintance dropped by and left word with one of the kids. And we've both been overcome with grief ever since. At first, we didn't believe he was dead. I spent a whole day looking for information about the accident on the web until I finally found his obituary and a brief article. And yet, I still found myself searching for answers. I wanted an answer to that big question--Why? But that would never be forthcoming.

We went to the cemetery where the obituary said he was buried and walked the entire length of it looking for his grave (the office was closed), but we couldn't find it. We were on the Northeast side of the cemetery when an incredible scent of flowers arose out of nowhere. We looked all around but saw no flowers. I wanted to go in the direction the scent came from to investigate further, but my husband wanted to go. We decided to return when the cemetery office was open.

A couple of days later, the caretaker led us to Lawrence's grave. It was in the NE area of the cemetery where the floral scent had come from previously. Had we followed it, we would have found his grave. There were no flowers in the area. I'm convinced that Lawrence had been trying to tell us where he was.

We sat at the grave for quite some time, reeling from the loss. We'd hoped that the visit would give us a sense of closure. Since we'd learned of his death, so many unexpected thoughts and feelings arose--even feelings of guilt. We've learned that our sorrow for his loss far outweighed any animosity we'd ever felt for him. The conflict that broke up the relationship seemed shallow in comparison to the good that came of it. We cared about him more than even we knew while he was in our lives. We'd loved him like family and loved him still. And we realized that God had truly brought him into our lives to leave us with gifts of friendship, forgiveness, and love.

We needed to say these things to Lawrence so that healing could be possible--for us and maybe even for him.

Please drop by his cyber Memorial and leave some flowers and a note.

Announcements
November 2005

It has been a while since I've updated this site, and I thought I'd fill you all in on what's going on. I've still not opened my greeting card site. I've been very ill these past months with heart trouble, high blood pressure, depression, and diabetes. For many years, I've suffered from an endocrine disorder called PCOS--poly cystic ovarian syndrome. It's a disorder that's misunderstood by layman and doctor alike. Eventually, I will put some information on this site about the disorder in hopes of helping others who suffer from the condition. Some doctors don't take PCOS seriously or they don't understand it (though eyes are beginning to open) when, in fact, it's a very serious disorder with far reaching complications. It eventually causes the disorders that I'm suffering now--diabetes, heart disease, and high blood pressure. What's more, it made me very ill for many years before the major complications developed, causing severe fatigue, bouts of hypoglycemia, muscle pain, weight gain, mood swings, depression, irregular menstrual cycles, lack of libido, and so much more. I highly suggest that any woman who's suffering these symptoms or who has been diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, and/or IBS (irritable bowel syndrome), pick up a book called, "It's My Ovaries, Stupid," by Dr. Vliet. It is enlightening. It will help you understand what's going on with your body and what to do about it. Dr. Vliet also has a book out specifically on PCOS.

There is no cure for PCOS, but it can be treated. Right now, I'm lucky that after many years, I've finally found a doctor who understands PCOS. I'm finally on the proper medication, and I'm beginning to do a little better and losing weight. I'm starting to enjoy life again.

Hopefully, I'll have better news to share the next time I update this site.

Announcements
August 2005

I announced in May that I'd planned on opening my own greeting card site in July. The opening has been postponed due to illness and many other things that have been going on in my life, including a death in the family. I'm still working on it, however,and will announce its grand opening here.

This summer I was approached by a Hollywood producer who wanted me to write a 13 part upcoming horror TV series. I'm still thinking about it. I know I could do it, but I don't know if it's what I want to do. I've never had an interest in scriptwriting or in Hollywood. And I've been through so much these past three years that I don't know if I have the energy left for another huge project. Still, it has opened another creative door, and if it's the road that I feel that God wants me to take, then I'll put all of myself into it and do my best. I just need to think about it and let it sink in. I will let you readers know if I decide to delve into this area.

Announcements
May 2005

I'm pleased to announce that I'm opening my own greeting card site. I've had numerous requests from fans to do so, and so I've been busy trying to design it and create content for it. It will be at bobettebryan.com, and I'll announce the grand opening here! I'm hoping to launch the site before Independence Day, but you just never know what's going to come up with a huge undertaking like this. So please check back for news on the grand opening.

While I'm on the subject of greeting card companies, I wanted to brooch a subject about something that really ticks me off. A lot of other greeting card companies have attempted to copy my style and more...yes, even print companies. This has been going on for several years now in light of PassionUp's huge success (millions of readers around the world have shared the cards I wrote and designed for PassionUp).

I first noticed the plagiarism in 2001 when I was looking for a card to send to a dear friend. It floored me to see my own words on a printed card. Sometimes these other companies' cards are almost word for word like mine. One company even launched a whole line of cards that closely resembles mine--in design and wording.

They're bad imitations, folks. And it's not a good feeling at all to know that multi-million dollar companies are profiting from my creative efforts and not giving me a dime when I'm unemployed and struggling to make end's meet.

Whether this plagiarism is the fault of the designers and writers of such companies and is going on without the management's knowledge or is being encouraged by the upper echelons--I absolutely don't know. I only know that it's still happening.

Just this year, I went to a drugstore to get my husband a Valentine Day's card, and left disgusted after seeing my own words--only slightly changed--on the cards.

So let this be a notice to these companies and their staff that I know about it, and I'm mad. If I see this happen with the creative work I put on bobettebryan.com, I'm going to slap some major lawsuits on these companies. PassionUp might have been lax about doing so, but I won't be.

And my message to my readers out there...don't settle for an imitation.

On bobettebryan.com, you'll get the REAL THING!

Announcements
March 2005

It took me three months of endless work, and there is still so much to do, (like marketing) but I finally launched my web template and graphic site, ButterflyWebGraphics.com. Please drop in for the grand opening. The site features linkware and purchaseware web templates, 5000+ clip art images, including Victorian and 3D Digital Art graphics, PSP tubes, wallpapers, and more.

As many of you know, I no longer work for PassionUp. Things got pretty crazy there, and I decided that I wanted to strike out on my own and start my own business so I rejected their offer of employment in 2005. I certainly haven't given up writing by any means. So please don't think that I have. But I needed a break from poetry as PassionUp's 80 hour work weeks burned me out.

I'm a strong person though, and I bounced back. And for whatever reason, I needed to express a graphical side of my creativity. I've delved into 3D art, and I love it more than anything I've ever done on my computer. And I'm excited about the new site! I have so many ideas for expansion and for other projects. The possibilities seem endless. I'm creating new graphics every day, and I'm anxious to share my latest work with you.

But check out the new site for yourself and see what all it has to offer.

ButterflyWebGraphics.com

Announcements
January 2005

Flamingo Dance: When I started working for PassionUp, I had to sign an exclusive contract. I had a Flamingo Funpage dance site online that PassionUp wanted me to take down. Well, folks, I'm sorry to say that the flamingos have been jailed for the past five years, but now they're free again and partying anew. Check out the flamingos and join in the celebration. They're dancing all night and all day--even dancing on the ceiling.

Template and Graphics Site:
Last month, I announced that I planned to open a web template and graphic site in January called butterflywebgraphics.com. Well, I didn't meet my deadline. Getting such a site up is incredibly time consuming, but I'm working on it. In the next few days, I'll post some thumbnail images of a few templates on this page. You will be able to click on the thumbnails to view the templates. So please check back.

Eventually, I'm also going to offer a membership based graphics area as well, since I have a huge ephemera collection and thousands of Victorian images and photos, which I've been busy scanning and "fixing." I spend a great deal of time trying to make the old images useable. Sometimes I have to virtually repaint them. The endeavor is rewarding, however, when the image turns out how I hoped. It's such a good feeling to bring these old images back to life.

Look at the before and after images below for an example. I've made a beautiful template with this image, which will be available to license. If you're interested, let me know.