Lions and Tigers and… a new book!
Yay! It’s finally here! We’ve arrived at Year 2 in the Suamalie Islands series! First up is my book, Seashells Tell No Tales! To celebrate, I got to choose the topic for a series of blog posts that the other Suamalie authors get to contribute to. Accompanying the posts is a giveaway! Here’s my question:
In Seashells Tell No Tales, Faith has a fear of heights—and with good reason. Do you have any fears or phobias? Is there a story behind your fear?
Thankfully, I don’t have any outright phobias. I don’t like heights. I don’t like spiders. But I wouldn’t classify those as phobias. They are definitely not paralyzing like my sister’s phobia of snakes. And they don’t cause me a significant amount of fear and anxiety, like Faith’s fear of heights in Seashells Tell No Tales.
However, I do have a very strange, very strong aversion to something. It’s not a fear. But it is a shuddering, nails-on-a chalkboard aversion. I know it’s weird. All of you will laugh. And you should.
I can’t stand anything made of… wood.
Wooden pencils (cringe). Give me a plastic mechanical one.
Wooden kitchen utensils. I would rather stir something with my bare hand rather than a wooden spoon.
And possibly the worst… popsicle sticks. Nothing is worth eating a popsicle attached to a wooden stick.
The aversion also extends to cardboard. I know, super weird. I can’t stand the feel of any rough wood. If something has a good coat of lacquer, I can manage. But I can’t handle the rough feel of unfinished wood.
What’s even more weird is that within the past few years, I’ve discovered that my sisters share the same bizarre aversion. Then I found out that my dad is fine with wood, but not at all fine with cardboard. If he needs to pick up a cardboard box, he immediately feels the need to wash his hands.
Yes, you may think we’re strange. And we are. But even more strange is the knowledge that we are not the only ones with a wood aversion. It’s a thing. A quick google shows multitudes of others with the same bizarre quirk. Not a phobia, but a definite, completely irrational aversion to the feel of wooden objects.
Technically, it could be called xylophobia. According to my good friend Google, if you have xylophobia, you may have a strong, irrational fear or be completely repulsed at the idea of touching, licking or running your teeth along a wooden object. And just that description makes my skin crawl.
So there you go. I can hike along the rim of a deep canyon without a problem. I can dispose of a spider if out of necessity. I was also brave enough one to take care of a rattlesnake that had made it into my garage. I may be a superhero to some, but shhhh… my kryptonite is a popsicle stick.
Lions and Tigers and… Popsicle Sticks, Oh my!
Seashells Tell No Tales by Amanda Tru
A remote island with secrets that the waves and seashells don’t even dare whisper about.
Faith Marlowe never breaks a promise. Especially not a promise she made to her dying brother. Easier said than done when the promi
se includes taking care of an injured and embittered war vet. Not to mention having to hide who she truly is
in order to keep her vow.
Army Ranger Vet, Gideon Sundquist (Sunny) doesn’t want help. He’s exiled on an island in the middle of the South Pacific and hiding from the world for a reason. However, losing both his legs forces him to accept care from a nurse. But if she—or anyone else for that matter—finds out about the black ops mission where he was injured, it could put all their lives at risk.
On a beautiful, remote island in the Pacific, Faith will try to teach Sunny to live again. But if the tales of their secrets are told, neither will see the sun rise in the Suamalie Islands again.
Take a trip to the Suamalie Islands where palm trees sway, the sand and sea pulse with life, and the people will steal your heart.
Check out some of the other fun dad jokes from the other Suamalie authors!
Amanda Tru: February 27
February 28: Susan K. Beatty
February 29: Chautona Havig
March 1: Melissa Wardwell
March 2: Tabitha Bouldin
March 3: Marguerite Martin Gray
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