Monday, August 27, 2012

Diary of a Writer: Deadline

Deadline.

Deadline.

Dead. Line.

Working on substantive edits and rewrites for "Once Upon A Prince" coming to you April 2013!

Look for the cover soon!

It seems no matter how and what I plan, or all my valiant efforts to avoid deadline crunch, I wind up in it anyway.

Oy.

Power recliner!
Keeps me leaning against Jesus.

Random Fact: I still use the ironing board I bought when I first moved her 26 years ago. My iron is the one I inherited from my great Aunt Lillian 20 years ago. Ha!

News: Getting new furniture this week. Hubby picks up his Lazy-Boy today. Wednesday, the rest comes. :)

Friday, August 24, 2012

Blog Tour: Mackinac Island with Cara Putman and Melanie Dobson


Mackinac Island. It’s a magical place that allows you to step back in time from the moment you first step off the ferry. Authors Cara Putman and Melanie Dobson have teamed up for a tour of the island, now and then. Comment at each stop for a chance to win a copy of one of their books set on Mackinac Island. You’ll find the list of stops here. Share the tour on twitter, Facebook, pinterest and other places, and you’ll gain extra entries for the grand prize of a copy of each of their books and a 5 slice box of Murdick’s Fudge, straight from Mackinac Island. Just be sure to email Cara at cara@caraputman.com, so she can record your entries. The grand prize winner will be drawn August 27, 2012.

Cara Putman: A Wedding Transpires on Mackinac Island The draw that pulls my heroine Alanna to return to Mackinac Island is helping her parents keep their art studio open. Several shops on the island display art and photos created by local and regional authors. That served as the impetus for me to create the Painted Stone studio. The island is a place that inspires photos that show the blue sky reflected off the lake in contrast to the grass and quaint shops and Victorian homes. It’s hard not to shoot tons of photos under a cloudless sky.
The island has drawn artists and writers from its earliest days. There are several shops that highlight local artists. And the plaque pictured to the right is in memory of Constance Fenimore Woolson, an early American writer who loved the island. Is it any wonder we were drawn to the island as a setting for our stories? 

A Wedding Transpires on Mackinac Island Join attorney Alanna Stone as she returns home despite her determination to never set foot on Mackinac Island again. Once again in close proximity to Jonathan Covington, her first love, she vows to protect her privacy and her heart from the man who still makes her pulse race. But when her worst fears are realized and history repeats itself—landing her in the midst of a murder investigation—Jonathan may be her only hope. Will they be able to lay aside the past and let God heal their hearts, or will reconciliation come too late?  Read the first chapter here.

Love Finds You on Mackinac IslandAs the Gilded Age comes to a close, Elena Bissette’s family has lost most of its fortune. The Bissettes still own a home on fashionable Mackinac Island, and they spend summers there in hopes of introducing Elena to a wealthy suitor. Quickly tiring of the extravagant balls at the Grand Hotel, she spends her days walking along the island’s rugged coastline. There she meets Chase, a handsome laborer who invites her to watch the ships from an abandoned lighthouse. The two begin to meet there in secret, hoping to solve a mystery buried in the pages of a tattered diary. As Elena falls in love with Chase, her mother relentlessly contrives to introduce her to Chester Darrington, the island's most eligible bachelor. Marriage to the elusive millionaire would solve the Bissettes' financial woes, and Elena is torn between duty and love.  Read the first chapter here

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Back from Oregon Christian Writers Conference

Mt. Hood
I was honored and thrilled to be invited to the Oregon Christian Writers Conference this year.

What a great conference. Going on 50 years of encouraging writers to share the good news of Jesus Christ to readers.

The staff and attendees were fabulous. Kind. Helpful. Eager to learn. Joy abounded at every meal. There was such a spirit of worship and prayer.

It was a complete and utter joy to be there. I taught two classes and hosted two Nite Owl sessions with a My Book Therapy Live. Susie joined me and we did what we love to do -- comb through a manuscript.

Aldersgate
I learn so much at each live book therapy. We had an enthusiastic attendee Bob who said live therapy was the best thing he'd ever heard. The next night he applied what we demonstrated and taught to his first chapter. At breakfast he said, "It worked!"

Now, if only Bob could come and write my story for me... LOL.

On the last morning, the fabulous Jim Rubart invited me to sit in his class with him and take questions from his class. Awesome time.

If you can't tell by now, I'm going to say "awesome" about everything I did at OCW last week.

Susie and me on the last day.
There was one other time in my life where "awesome" was the only appropriate word to use for what we'd experienced. It was the first summer we took the youth band "on the road" and did a youth rally in Poughkeepsie, NY.

God just breathed on our weak effort and each night the attendance grew. When we left, the host church had grown over 150 members.

Awesome! Truly awesome.

So, instead of going on and on, I'll just add the pictures. I'm excited to be returning to OCW in October 2014 to keynote their fall retreat. Woot!

Trees.
Randy Ingermanson and Jim Rubart

Oregon sunset

With Harvest House editor, Kim Moore

With Sandra Bishops lovely puppy! And photo montage







Friday, August 10, 2012

I like the quiet...

I like the quiet.

When the only sound in my office is the whir of the ceiling fan.

The tick of a clock that won't keep time.

The rapid click-click of my keyboard.

The resonance of my thoughts...

I like the quiet.

Those moments when the world is still.

When the breeze lies down.

When peace finds a harbor.

I like quiet.

When the white noise of ceases.

When social media ends.

When the music is off.

The radio dim.

No voices outside or in.

I like the quiet.

When God speaks.

JOY!

I like the quiet...

Tuesday, August 07, 2012

ACK! How many days since my last post...

It's true. I've scientifically confirmed it...

Time flies!

What have I been doing since my last blog?

Mentoring, hosting company, plotting my next book... Working title An Uncommon Princess.

I'd planned to be here more. After all this is my own, personal blog watering hole. But, alas, I've not meandered by.

I'm writing today. Rewrites for Once Upon A Prince. The book releases April 2013! So excited for this book.

How about some pictures? Sure...
Lunch with friends. Two of the couples worked in youth with Hubs when I met him!

The picture says it all

Notes from brainstorming a rewrite scene with the great Susie May.

A gift. What a nice surprise.

Long time friends the Leslies. Thumbs up from a Michigan State fan!

Hector, the yard jockey!