Becoming a Writer Part 2

So you want to be a writer? Fantastic. It's a wonderful, great, hard life. I mean, things I couldn't even imagine being an issue or concern before I started writing, are now an issue and concern.

I'm like, "Who knew?" For example? Like, how to "brand" myself. I thought only corporations used brands. Blogging with purpose instead of eclectic. Social media. How to work in partnership with publishers while remaining responsible for your own career.

Or things like staying with changes in publishing, the nuances of the Christian fiction market. You know what was selling well, what the readers demanded, five, ten years ago is very different from what's selling like hot cakes now.

I wonder if some Christian readers who used to read secular books are migrating to the CBA world and picking up books they never knew existed. As a result, a lot of these readers are romance readers, it changes the balance of the market.

Just a guess. But come on romance readers, we welcome you!

So, what do you need to know as you start out?

1. Read a lot. Read widely. Read to study the craft. How did the author put this story together? When I wanted to write chick lit, I read a lot of chick lit to figure out how the author told the story.

2. Study the craft. We have some great tools and work books over at My Book Therapy. Make sure you understand point of view, how to use conflict and tension, the purpose of back story, all the basics of good writing.

3. Write your book all the way through to the end. Don't stop and start over more than once or twice. My first book took 2 years to write because I kept starting over. Keep going. There is always something that happens in the middle or the end that reveals something you can layer back into the beginning.

4. Rewrite your book. Get it critiqued. Rewrite it again. Dig deep to get those character layers. Delete stuff! Rewrite. Your genius will reinvent itself. Trust me. :)

5. Get involved with writers organizations. Join ACFW, ACW, My Book Therapy, RWA, local writers guilds or groups. Take or audit a creative writing class at the local college. Get into the writing community.

6. Attend conferences to learn and to network. Get to know people. Join Twitter and Facebook. Follow authors, editors and agents.

7. Listen more than you speak. Give more than you take. Be teachable.

8. Be ready for the long haul. No shortcuts.

9. Once you've finished your manuscript and attended a conference or two, and you feel you're ready to query agents or editors, research the ones you're interested in. Read their guidelines. Read their blogs. Be informed. Send them the RIGHT stuff. If an agent does take children's manuscripts, don't send yours! I tell you, writers can be so obtuse sometimes.

10. Realize your manuscript is not God's gift to literature. You've not written something that defies all the rules and even a publisher who doesn't published Amish Sci Fi Steampunk still won't want your masterpiece. Don't shoot yourself in the foot.

11. Once you find an agent interested, do what they ask as soon as you can. Send the synopsis and first three chapters if that's all they want. Don't send them the whole manuscript. Follow directions. Same with any editor you might be dealing directly with.

12. Behave like they taught you in kindergarten. Please and thank you. Honor. Do what you're told or asked. ;)

13. Blog with a view to hone your prose and to observe life. Observing life, catching the hyperbole is so much a part of great fiction. I am a big fan of blogging as a way to train yourself as a fiction author.

Can I end on the lucky number thirteen? I think I will. I'm not afraid. Next, I'll blog on what I think it takes to make an average author extraordinary. :)

(... to be continued. Part 3)

Becoming a Writer Part 1

Lately, I've had a some folks ask me about becoming a writer. They, or someone they know has written or wants to write a novel. I get asked a lot about how to get published and the steps involved. So, I thought I'd discuss it here. Create a reference. Make a few people laugh. Make a few people cry.

One. Writing a novel is hard work

It's more than an idea, a flash of inspiration. It's more than a driving passion. More than the wrongs you want to right about your life or the life of others. Its not, please, please, please, a sermon or church lesson. It's not theology or doctrine. It's not a tract or propaganda. It's not a way to sugar coat your driving message.

It's story. It's a slice of life. A novel is taking the ordinary and making it, in some way, extraordinary. The storyteller in you has to see the hyperbole in life and assign it to your characters.

To write a novel you need quiet alone time. Not always, but some where along the way you need to dig deep and get the core layers of the story on paper.

You need "butt in chair."

You need the ability to stare at a blank page for more than a minute without quitting, going to You Tube or surfing the web. You need to write what's on your heart, letting the words flow, then have the courage to go back and change or delete half if not all of them.

You need to be teachable, to learn the craft. Let other writers read and give input on your work.

Your mother/father/sister/brother/husband/wife/children/employee/dog/cat/best friend do not count as accurate readers. Why? They know you. They hear your voice in the story. They will love it because they love you.

Outside input is a great test to your voice as a story teller. You either have it or you don't. You can learn craft. You can't learn that inner "story teller" that makes pretend people come to life.

I knew I might, just might, be able to make it as a writer when I was in Venezuela way back in '89, training typesetters at a newspaper how to use my company's computers to do their job. While they practiced one afternoon, I started writing a story. As new writers often do, I worked with a burst of inspiration which soon faded because all I had was a "what if" idea. No real story. But, it started out well and I pasted it to a display ad page (this was before PCs!) and typeset it.

I had to go back to teaching, so I left my page for later. When I went to pick it up from the typesetter, four men hovered over my story, reading it. Now remember, I'm in Venezuela. They speak Spanish. My story was in English. They smiled, told me they like my story, blah, blah. They were flirting. The probably understood some of the words but not the concept.

Two months later, I go back to the paper to work on another project. One of the typesetters stopped me in the hall and asked in his broken English. "What happened to the girl?"

"What girl?"

"In the story?"

"What story?" Ohhh... I laughed. "I don't know. I never finished it."

He frowned. "We want to know. What happens?"

So four men who didn't read or speak English well carried that 500 word piece in their hearts for ... two months? I tucked that moment away. Maybe, maybe, I could become a writer. Some day.

That's a piece of my story. What's yours? What's the reaction to things you've written? Take those tidbits of encouragement and use them as inspiration.

(... to be continued)

ACFW Featured Author

Thanks to Dineen, Mary and ACFW for giving me a spot on the ACFW Featured Author page this week.

Wasting time

I stopped watching Oprah a few years ago. One, we got rid of TV. All we have now is Blueray. But even before we cut the mind sucking entertainment tentacles from our souls, I stopped watching Oprah.

One, she was preaching a different gospel. Why would I spend an hour of my day with someone leading millions astray from the truth claiming Jesus the Christ wasn't the only way.

I wouldn't spend one second let alone a full hour listening to any other false teacher so why would I listen to and follow Oprah?

Listen, if Jesus is not the Christ, He's a crazy man. No other so-called gods or spiritual leaders died brutal deaths on a cross claiming to redeem humanity. What a nut job Jesus must have been if he was not the Son of God.

Two, Oprah talked a lot about her dreams and becoming someone when she thought she was no one. So why was I giving her an hour of my time and thought and heart instead of giving it to my dreams, my goals, my friends and family?

Granted, I can find all kinds of ways to waste my time. Even tell myself it's needed for my career, social media and all that, but really, how much does it gain me?

I went to a young man's funeral yesterday. He died too young, but in many ways, it was God's mercy. Staying off drugs and out of trouble was not easy for him. But he righted his life and died in the arms of Jesus.

The church was packed with friends and family. As people spoke of this young man, I was so surprised to hear he had several "moms," and lots of friends. I took for granted a kid struggling to stay straight was a loner, having alienated all his friends and family.

While his life was over, I felt for the young ones mourning him. "Don't let your life be wasted. Make it count." Change what has to be changed.

But change isn't easy is it? We often can't see our failures and weaknesses, or pull ourselves out of the hole we stand in. I've got plenty of blind spots.

But what we do with our time does count. We can "take it with us." We will give an account to the Lord for our time. Take stock, what are you spending your time on? I was thinking last night I had nothing to do so I goofed around on my iPad a bit, looking up apps. But you know, I couldn't spent an extra hour in prayer. Not that iPad play is wrong, but I could've done both.

I've not nailed all of my disciplines. I struggle, but I want to do the best I can with the time I have on this life, in this internship God has granted me before I pass into eternity.

I don't want to be like Jacob in Genesis 28:16, "Then Jacob woke from his sleep and said, "Surely the Lord is in this place and I did not know it." Next Jacob was afraid and "How awesome is this place!"

I want to be expectant of the Lord. To be awake. To be aware. To keep my heart in a place of humility. "Down heart, down." To say, "I see the Lord is in this place."

Are you asleep? Will you awake to realize God was there and you missed it? What things can you cut out of your life that are keeping you from your dreams and goals, from the very things God has called you to do and be?

Also, is there someone in your life struggling? How can you help them? Are you "mom" to a teen losing his way. Do something about it. Speak up. It may change the course of his destiny.

Yowza, y'all

I can't believe it's been a whole weeks since I blogged. Tis the way of deadline. A friend said to me at church today, "You're always on deadline."

Um, yeah, pretty much and happily so.

Here's how I define deadline. Three months before the book is due to my editor. Before that three month marker, I say, "I have a book due." Or, "I'm working on my next book."

But at the three month mark, I have to buckle down and get 'er done. By then, I should have most if not all of a first draft done. First draft meaning I have an idea where I'm going but half if not more could change or be severely tweaked.

Two months out, I start rewriting. I need at least two weeks before the deadline for someone, anyone, hello? to read the manuscript for sanity. Did I miss closing a plot thread? Does my story logic and sequence make sense? Are the typos too funny for words. Do my characters ring true.

Then, I need a few days to go over it and send it in.

The last month, which is about where I am now, I call it Deep Dark Mode. That means "Girl, put your head down and get this book done, don't you dare look up for the light of day until the final, this is it The End."

Speaking of Deep Dark Mode...

Went to church, got "wooshed" with a flag!

I'm a worship leader at a non denomination church with... shall we say... charismatic leanings. We're not weird. Nor "holy rollers."

But we do believe in living a Spirit filled, Spirit led life by prayer and the Word. We ascribe to the things Paul writes about in 1 Corinthians 12, 13 and 14.

In the past, we've encouraged people to worship the Lord in Spirit and in Truth, urging them to express their hearts to the Lord as we sing.

Dancing and flag waving has become a part of that expression for some. And distraction to others. Some want the leadership to let the people worship freely. Dance is found as a form of worship in the Bible.

Other in the congregation want it restricted. They feel they cannot invite outsiders because the guest won't understand the flag waving and dancing. It's too unusual. Different.

We've noticed guests arriving and leaving early. If they stay, many don't return.

So the leadership has been debating this topic for months now, even talking with the pastor of another church who has a large dance ministry. He has the same struggle.

Now I grew up with this stuff. The pastor's wife at our church in Tallahassee was a dance major at Florida State. She was a beautiful dancer and trained those in the congregation how to dance before the Lord. There was structure and order to the dancing.

Flag waving? Not a big deal. We do it a ball games, right? Scripture is full of the singers going out behind the banners. AKA, flags.

When the Lord sent me to Israel in '93, I was on a dance and intercession team. And I'm not a dancer...

Yet I can see how it's a distraction. Our sanctuary is boxy, and not built for a lot of movement.

Maybe to the outside eye, flag waving and dancing seems like an awkward expression. In my church now, we don't have a dance ministry leader, so there's less organization and structure.

All in all, those who express themselves in dance and flag waving do it well.

Recently the leadership talked to the dancers and flag wavers about moving to the back of the sanctuary during worship.

Being in the back means more people feel liberty to move about... And some are not always aware of their movements.

Sunday we had a couple of visitors. Like most first timers, they sat in the back. When worship started, the flags started. In the back.

And somewhere along the line, those visitors got "wooshed" with a flag. Not once, but twice. It's unclear if they were hit with the flag stick, or if just the flag itself wafted over their heads, but either way, they were gone. Skedaddle. Out of there.

One of the pastors tried to catch them, but they were too quick. The whole incident seems to have been a combination of things.

The flag waver not being aware. The observers not moving quick enough to remind the flag waver to pay attention.

The guest probably felt uncomfortable and not bold enough to tell the flag waver to be careful. I mean, would you? If you were in a new church?

I've been in some kind of ministry for 22 years. Before that, I watched ministry from my parents point-of-view.

It is never, ever easy to be in ministry. Some people want more liberty and more room for the Holy Spirit to move. Others want more structure, more organization.

I've heard debates over polar opposite issues like pre trib and post. Healing is deliverance from sickness to going home to heaven being the ultimate healing. Do we have to tithe ten percent? Wasn't that the Old Testament?

Leading a church is not easy. I don't envy our pastors. Because every one in the congregation comes to the house with their own paradigm, their own experience, and even yes, their own fears and wounds.

Pray for your pastors. Ask the Holy Spirit to teach and enlighten them. Don't pray what you want, or what some other guy wants, pray what Jesus wants. He is the perfect leader.

To the couple who got "wooshed," I pray you find the right church home where you can grow in the love and knowledge of God. Grace and peace. I'm sorry you got "wooshed" today but we are imperfect and still working it out.

What about you? Are their church traditions or expression that you like? That make you uncomfortable? Is it valid? Is it culture?

Light yoke, easy burden

By the fall of 1990, I'd been on the road for four years, traveling seventy percent of my time, installing computer systems and training newsroom and classified ad reps around the world.

I'd been to Australia twice. Ireland, Spain, Venezuela three times (before Chavez, thank goodness,) Mexico, Canada, and traveled the U.S. from California to Maine.

Two weeks in Mexico magically stretched into three. And I had NO money the last week I was there, traveling from one little town to the next.

A personal weekend to New Zealand -- I had to see what kind of town was named Christ Church -- was nixed by my company when the Australian distributor wanted me to stay to do additional training. (Oops, Rach, yeah, we forgot to tell you about that...) During the training days, a married man pretended to be single and flirted with me the entire time. Thank goodness I was unmoved by his advances.

I came in from lunch one Friday with my co-workers to find I was on a three o'clock flight to Colorado Springs with one of the engineers. I had an hour to go home, pack, and get to the airport. We landed around ten mountain time and drove down to Pueblo. We arrived at the paper at midnight and worked until the wee hours. By then, I'd been up almost twenty-four hours.

Did I have plans for the weekend? A young, single girl? You bet. And it didn't include trouble shooting a down system.

I've sat in dark, out of the way offices and cried because the publishers were livid that their half-million dollars systems weren't working right. I've worked forty hours on weekends to get the output right for a classified ad section so we could make a Monday "go live" date.

I once trained seventeen Mexican typesetters gathered around one tiny fourteen inch monitor how to write production reports using Informix via a hired, outside, interpreter. A task complicated enough without a language barrier!

I'd done trade show in Las Vegas, Atlanta, and Melbourne, Australia. Toured Toledo Spain where the Christians were persecuted by the Muslims. Chains of remembrance were nailed to the side of churches.

I'd driven the highway from Sydney to Melbourne.

I'd laughed so hard I couldn't breathe. Once, I just fell down on the side walk and guffawed.

I'd shopped in St. Louis until I dropped.

I'd met amazing people, bonded with talented, fun co-workers, strenghtened my weak Spanish, faced enormous challenges and won. I'd both loved and hated that corporate job.

And I got tired. There was just a point where I said, "I can't do this travel thing any more."

So, that fall of 1990, I was in a hotel in Charlotte, NC, spending the night there before catching a plane home the next morning.

"Lord," I said just as an exhale from my heart, "Your Word says Your burden is easy and Your yoke is light. That if I come to You, You'll give me rest. I'm weary, heavy laden and I need rest. I don't want to travel any more."

The prayer was all I had because there were NO solutions in the natural. If I wasn't on the road training, there was no job. I was not technical enough, nor trained, to be an engineer. Customer support had two non traveling positions, but they were filled. We road warriors backed them up when we were in town.

Documentation was new and also filled.

Literally, outside of quitting my job, getting off the road was impossible. I'd asked. My boss had nothing to offer me. Another road warrior had tried to come off the road. Didn't work. They kept sending her out.

So, I flew home from Charlotte with a peace, but no hope of a solution. Monday morning of the next week, I went into work, prepared my expense and trip reports and checked the calendar for my next assignment.

December was blank. I had no trips. But the word Doc was written on all the weeks.

Same with January. And February. Doc. Doc. Doc.

In the course of a few days, on the heels of my prayer, a shift had changed in personnel and a position had opened up in Documentation. My boss slipped me into that slot and I planted my "glad to be home" self and never traveled again.

In 1991, the Lord began other changes in my life. My best friend, now known as Hubby, began to realize we were supposed to get married! That's a whole other story. We were engaged by the end of the year and married in March 1992.

God hears our prayers! His timing is perfect. But as we lean into Him on a daily basis, releasing our hearts to Him, He actually engages us on how to pray! And when.

That rest prayer was totally spontaneous to me. While I understood what Jesus was telling the people in that passage, I'd never applied it so deep and personal to my life.

The Lord Himself, by the Spirit, prompted me to pray, "You give rest, Lord. I need rest. Your burden is easy, your yoke is light."

He answered immediately. I believe He wanted to boost my faith. He wanted to encourage me. He wanted me to know He was intimately acquainted with the issues of my heart.

As you go into the New Year, ask Him what is on His heart. What is He prompting you to pray, to believe for in this season?

The week in between

The week between Christmas and New Years. I'm never quite sure what to do with this week.

Work?

Play?

Vaca?

Piddle around between work and play?

In my corporate life, I had this week off and it was play and vaca time. I'd visit family and friends. But now that I'm self employed and work at home, this is the oddest week of the year.

What to do with the "week in between?"

I have a deadline for March 1 and am a few thousand words away from finishing the first draft. I really need to use this week to finish. And I will. I will!

BUT, my husband is home, on break from church and school. He's asking me if I want to "go to lunch" or "see a movie." Ahhh, yes!! But, um, No!!

This is the week I assess my life. How did I do last year with my goals and disciplines? What do I want to do differently next year? What do I need and want to change?

During the "week in between" I feel like I can do anything and everything. Yes, I can exercise an hour a day with Tony Horton five days a week. Yes, I can eat salad for lunch every day. Yes, I can spend at least an hour a day in prayer and the Word. Yes! I can write the best book EVER in six weeks. Yes, Yes, Yes!

Then January 2nd hits. I'm sluggish and tired, and I don't want to spend an hour with Tony Horton making my body hurt. I don't want salad for lunch, but a sandwich. What? Write the best book ever in a month and a half. Fergettaboutit.

But hanging with Jesus? I must! I will! I can do without all the rest. But not Him. I'm not perfect by any means at carving out time for prayer and the Word. I get distracted, tired, even bored. Not with Him, but with myself.

The best things in life come with discipline, focus and setting goals. Being determined. Yet even so, we need God's grace and vision for our lives to enable us to do the very things He's put on our heart to do.

So, what will I do with this "week in between?" Write. Assess. Pray. Get ready for 2011 knowing God is good. Knowing He loves me.

My biggest goal for 2011? To tap into His divine nature. After having a "joy attack" over Thanksgiving, I'm realized I can do more, be more, than just existing and surviving. I don't have to "not" have a panic or anxiety attack, or worry attack. I can actually engaged God's divine nature and experience JOY and PEACE, and LOVE at a holy level.

Look here: 2 Peter 1

²Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord;

³seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.

⁴For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.

That is an unbelievable statement. We can become partakers of His divine nature! That's my goal for 2011. To gain understanding and insight into this.

What about you? What's your plans for the "week in between" and 2011?

And we have a winner!

I'm so honored and humbled by all who participated in the Dining with Joy Nook give-away. The voice and influence of others is so critical to an author's success these days.

Thank you!

The winner of the Nook from this grand campaign is..... (drums rolling)

Sherrie Maner!

Congratulations!

Let's all give a shout out to this winner and join with her in the JOY of winning this season.

Merry Christmas to all.

The Pull of Light: Aching to See More

@stickyJesus: how to live out your faith online, by Tami Heim and Toni Birdsong, is a book about how to infuse God’s heartbeat into social networks. This post is part of the @stickyJesus Blog Tour of Light. You can follow @stickyJesus on Twitter, Facebook, or learn more about the book at www.stickyJesus.com

Can you imagine what it’s like to live as a blind person? To intermingle in a world void of color, beauty, depth, height . . . void of light?

For most of us blindness would seem unbearable. However, even 20/20 eyesight isn’t a gurantee that you can see much of anything. In fact, you can fumble around, trip, and fall just like Bartimaeus, only your blindness might be spiritual rather than physical.

No matter where you are in your journey with Christ, you should never live beyond the ache to see more of God’s Light. Our pursuit of revelation, intimacy, wisdom, and mercy from God should be the prayerful desire of every believer.

Still our Light flickers. It begins to diminish when we think we know it all or start to see other’s opinions, beliefs, ideas, or perspectives as less than. We begin to ignore the pull of Light. Instead, we take the reigns because we caught one too many glimpses of our remarkable selves.

Time and again Jesus uses blindness in His parables to illustrate how easily pride, religion, sin, and self righteousness can replace the ache for Light in a person’s heart—even a person who claims to know God.

In John 9, Jesus heals a different blind man. The man exuberantly tells the Pharisees about his miraculous healing. Outraged (for several reasons), the Pharisees promptly throw the man out of the synagogue to which Jesus later retorts in John 9:39-41: “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.” He goes on, “If you were blind you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.”

Ouch.

In the book Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality, author Donald Miller suggests that the enemy’s best trick isn’t to get us to commit some great evil. Instead, he allows us to develop a religious habit in which we hear about God but really never engage with God.

Religious habit suffocates our ache for Light.

That’s what happened with the Pharisees. They weren’t so much “the bad guys” as they were guys who had “arrived” and settled in their minds exactly who God was (and wasn’t)—so much so, they didn’t recognize Him standing in front of them. Turns out, God was greater than they could have imagined. Jesus blew their tiny, little God boxes to smithereens.

We’ve all got some Pharisee in us. We think we’ve figured out something super spiritual so we check off the box as “done.” But that’s never true. Until we “arrive” at Heaven’s door, we’ve never really “arrived” at anything.

God is the Author and the Finisher of our faith. For self-reliant, type A people (yes, especially writers), that truth can be one of the toughest to which you’ll ever have to surrender. Absurd isn’t it? That someone else holds the pen and makes the edits to your life? That someone else can shed more Light on a bias you’ve worked years to build up? That someone else might actually . . . be . . . perfect?

So how do you keep your ache for Light strong? Like Bartimeaus, the blind man, you simply tell Jesus each day, “Rabbi, I want to see.”

Scriptures to help amplify your ache:

Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law.

Psalm 119:18

Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
Psalm 139:23-25

Look on me and answer, Lord my God.
Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death . . .
Psalm 13:3

When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
John 8:12

Post/Tweet this today:

Until we “arrive” in Heaven, we’ve never really “arrived” at anything. Open my eyes, Lord. Give Light to my understanding. #LiveSticky

Join us tomorrow for The Direction of Light: Pointing Them to Heaven at Wayne Hastings’ blog.

****

Rachel here. I really loved the line "religious habit suffocates our ache for light." It is easy to replace our desire to see Jesus in both His divinity and humanity by going through the motions of worship but never really opening up our hearts.

What about you? Are you going through the motions, pretending to "see" the Lord but being quite blind? I'm asking to "see" my religious blindfolds this Christmas season. What do you think?

The two facets of gazing

Last night my husband and I attended a surprise party for a friend in our quaint, downtown area. On our way home, we cruised the main thoroughfare looking at the street decorations, the lights and festivities behind the store windows. Very beautiful.

As a kid, my grandparents would take us to downtown Columbus to peer into the Lazarus windows. The song Silver Bells still takes me back to those days.

It's been a long time since I've strolled a sidewalk, gazing into windows, being awed by what was on display. Even longer since I've been in awe over something without ultimately wanting it for myself.

That's the design of window shopping, to stir desire for the merchandise. When you go to an online store, the merchandise is displayed and coupled to make you want to buy something. More than "something."

It's said we become what we behold. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 3, "But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit."

As we behold the Lord, we are changed. Transformed! Into His likeness.

But how do we choose what to behold? I mean, how does a person behold Jesus long enough to be changed.

Ah... Desire.

We only behold what we desire. And what we desire is what we become. As I've studied Jesus, His life, His beauty, His love, His willing obedience to the Father for mankind's redemption, I've become fascinated. As I've become fascinated, I've developed a desire to behold Him. As I've beheld Him, I've change. Emotionally. Spiritually.

What do you desire? What do you spend your days gazing upon? The news? Is it a wonder you desire drama and negativity in your life?

Do you read stories of illness, death, destruction? Are you fascinated with it? Are you desiring it more and more? Worrying more and more? Is it effecting your heart and mind? Your emotions?

I spend a lot of time on social media. I can feel myself starting to desire it. I have to check email or Twitter in the middle of the grocery store! It's crazy. But I have to change, go deeper, behold more of Jesus so my desire for the external pleasure of this world no longer have a fascinating grip on me.

Men who get caught in pornography start with a fascination.

Fascination. Desire. Beholding. And suddenly, the person is changed.

You can be changed one of two ways of gazing -- at glory or at sin. If you are fascinated with sin, you'll begin to desire it. Then you'll behold it. And your emotional and possibly mental chemistry will be altered.

Fascination doesn't have to be deep dark sin, either. Worry is a sin. Fear is a sin. Lust, gluttony, greed, lying, adultery, fornication, homosexuality, all sorts of coveting, stealing...

Gazing at the negative aspects of your life can have a strong impact, too. Do you agree with the negative emotion nothing in your life is good or ever will be? Pretty soon, you'll start to desire it. Believe it or not...

Right after I moved to central Florida after college, I was hit with this draining despair that I'd live in that shared house, sleep in that second hand bed, work at that stupid job the rest of my life. I'd wake up in the middle of the night feeling like I had no future.

I refused to agree with it and finally kicked it out of my life using Jeremiah 29:11. Man, call me a Jesus Freak, but if being a Jesus Freak means I get to tell fear, anxiety and despair where to go and to never haunt me again, buy me the t-shirt, I'll wear it! Jesus Freak. Wouldn't trade His power and authority for what the world has to offer.

So how did I overcome? I gazed on Jesus. How can you overcome? By changing your gaze.

First, become fascinated with Jesus. Just who is this God-Man who brought redemption to the human race? Go beyond salvation and look into redemption. Who is this redeemer King who calls you "beloved" and "friend?"

Second, as you become fascinated, you'll begin to desire Him. You'll want to know more about Him. You'll find yourself discovering aspects of His character in the Word and through prayer you never noticed before.

You'll begin to desire different things in life. I don't desire things I used to because I've changed my fascination.

We can't do this life alone. We need Jesus because only He saves, heals and rescues. Only HE is the righteous judge. Do you need justice in your life? Behold Jesus.

What we desire, we behold. And what we behold changes us. Hebrews 12:1-2

"... let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."

Win a NOOK eReader in the Dining With Joy Giveaway!

We've cooked up something fabulous!

To celebrate Book 3 in The Lowcountry Romance series, Dining With Joy, I've partnered with Litfuse Publicity Group in the Dining With Joy NOOK Giveaway! You could win a JOYOUS prize package worth over $185.00! (And see below to find out how you can enter to win a $30 gift certificate to Barnes & Noble!)

Dining With Joy is a fun, yet serious story about a cooking show host who can't cook. (what a nightmare that would be!)

Publisher's Weekly says: A delectable and light tale of finding love amid everything edible, a story that goes down easy. Readers will find themselves hankering for another serving of lowcountry living from Joy's pantry.

Celebrate with me and click on one of the icons below for your chance to win!

One grand prize winner will receive:

• A brand new Nook with Wi-Fi


• Sweet Caroline by Rachel Hauck Nookbook


• Love Starts With Elle by Rachel Hauck Nookbook


• A $15 dollar Barnes&Noble.com Gift Certificate

To enter, simply click on the icons below to fill out the entry form. Be sure to tell your friends about the contest.

The contest runs from 12/7 - 12/22. Winner announced December 23.

Want to help Spread the Word for a chance to win an additional $30 BarnesandNoble.com Gift Certificate? Help Spread the Word about Rachel's fun giveaway and we'll put your name into the pot for the gift certificate!

Share this button on your blog or website (worth 10 entrees!):

<a href="http://litfusegroup.com/What-s-New/dining-with-joy-nook-giveaway.html"><img alt="Dining With Joy Nook Giveaway" height="125" src="http://litfusegroup.com/images/stories/hauck_300x250.jpg" width="150" height="125" /></a>

Additional entrees can be earned by talking up the Dining With Joy Giveaway on Facebook & Twitter. It's simple. Just use the sample post & tweet below (and be sure to follow the fine-print instructions!).

SHARE THIS ON FACEBOOK: Enter to win a NOOK eReader (just in time for Christmas) in Rachel Hauck's Dining with Joy Giveaway! Enter here on Facebook at this link http://apps.facebook.com/sweepstakeshq/contests/76734. And don't miss Rachel's latest witty tale about a television cooking show host who CAN'T cook! A MUST read!
(then email info@litfusegroup.com to let us know you posted to Facebook - feel free to post once a day for extra entrees. Just let us know how many times you shared! You rock.)

TWEET THIS: @RachelHauck is giving away a NOOK eReader for the release of Dining With Joy - her latest witty read! http://ow.ly/3jN4p #litfuse
(must use hashtag #litfuse to be entered. No need to email us about your tweet - we will track those via twitter using the hashtag. And as with Facebook you'll earn extra entrees by tweeting multiple days. You rock.)

~~~

More about the book: Joy Ballard has a secret: she's a cooking show host who can't really cook.

When her South Carolina-based cooking show, Dining With Joy, is picked up by a major network, Joy Ballard's world heats up like a lowcountry boil.

Joy needs help. Then she meets chef Luke Davis who moved to Beaufort after losing his Manhattan restaurant. A cook at the Frogmore Cafe, he's paying debts and longing to regain his reputation in the elite foodie world.

Luke and Joy mix like oil and water…until Joy is exposed on national television. With her career and his reputation both under fire, they'll have to work together to fix the mess. Is it possible that they can learn to feast on God's love and dine with joy?

Don't miss the other books in this series: Sweet Caroline (buy it here for $5.85) and Love Starts with Elle (buy it here, also $5.85)!

Ten ways to manage your holiday weight

Yeah, 'tis the season to be jolly. With cookies, cakes, candy, cheese spreads, chocolate covered... everything.

So, what's a girl to do? My hubby always goes into December saying, "Let's just get through this month and in January, we can eat just lettuce. 'K?"

Um, no. And why wait until January? Why not plan and start to manage our eating now? Several years ago I started Weight Watchers in December right before our birthdays. I lost fifteen pounds that month.

Here are a few tips.

1. Keep those skinny jeans handy. Try them on once a week, and if you can't get them on, wrap the waist band around your neck. The ends should stay the same distance apart. If you can't wrap the waist band around your neck, you're in trouble. Let's just say it.

2. Throw away the jeans you wore when you were a senior in high school. I want you to hold onto your skinny jeans, not your "are you insane?" jeans.

3. Bit it, write it. A great motto from Weight Watchers. Keep a log of what you eat. I'm not too great at this, but I try to mentally calculate my calories during the day so I don't overeat.

4. Eat light the days you have evening events.

5. A taste is almost as good as a big-honking-piece. In the past, I've had just a fork full of cheese cake instead of a slice. Or, I'll get a small bag of chips to go with my sandwich instead of buying a big bag. Look for ways to manage smaller portions of your fun food.

6. Move more. My job is so sedentary. I understand why writers struggle with their weight. I mean, I walk across the house to my office, and plant it, and there I stay for hours. So find ways to move more. Park out farther in the parking lot when you go shopping. Don't hover for a front space. Let someone else have it. Also, take breaks in the day and instead of reaching for a snack, walk around the neighborhood. Whatever, but move more.

7. Do wacky jacks! Have you seen these? Tony Horton on P90X introduced me to them. Get in a jumping jack stance, but instead of doing straight-up jacks, draw you knees to your elbows, bending your torso side to side to meet your knees. Wacky jacks. It will jack up your heart rate. And they are fun!

8. Consider push ups as a reward. Finish your word count? Complete a project? Drop and give yourself 20. Okay, 2, but you know what I mean.

9. Pray. Ask the Lord to help you manage your appetite and cravings. Just say No to food when you're full and satisfied.

10. Tell January you're going to meet it 1 - 5 pounds lighter. Take that you holly-jolly holiday food.

What about you? Have any tips for us?

And the winner is....

Crystal Laine Miller! Her name was drawn at random by Thomas Nelson to win the KitchenAid mixer and a signed copy of Dining with Joy.

Congratulations to the runners-up, who are being contacted privately.

Thank you all so much for participating and spreading the word about the contest and the book. What a blessing!

Here's Crystal's post about her cooking mishap. A mishap post wasn't required, but when her name was drawn, we decided to post it.

A new fun contest was launched today, too! A chance to win a Nook! Check it out on my Fan page. (look to your right!)

What a fun day to turn 50! I love giving prizes.

"Don't Get Ahead of Me!"

Have any of you done the P90X program? Or watched portions of it? Tony Horton, the developer and instructor of the P90X work out regime, has an off the cuff, unusual but very fun style of instructing.

On some routines, he lets us work out at our own pace. On other routines, like the ab ripper X routine, he insists we follow his count as we work through an exercise.

Take Scissor Abs. The legs are poised in an L shape. One up, one down. Tony's count, we switch legs. The down leg goes up, the up leg goes down. And you hold each switch for a second or two.

Tony says, "Don't get a head of me. Switch on my count."

Why? Because he's leading us in a designed routine intent on strengthening our abdominal muscles. There's no point in doing it if we fly through it and don't generate any resistance or tension.

Many, many times, God directs us in a like manner. "Don't get a head of me." It's not that we are stagnant, or sidelined, but we are moving forward by His direction.

Far to often, we think the go ahead from God means we take off on our own, and work at our own speed and pace. And we miss out on so many essential criteria.

Take prayer and the Word. We get up, breeze through a devotional or our daily Bible reading, offer up a bit of prayer and we're off. We're doing our discipline, our routine, but... are we accomplishing anything.

It hurts my abs when Tony holds us in a position for a few seconds. I'm so glad to hear him call, "Switch." But keeping with him has physically changed my body. For the better. I'm not ready for swimwear modeling, but you get my meaning here.

What if we approached God like our exercise routines? What if you heard God saying, "Don't get ahead of me. Okay, switch." What if we purposed to run with Him rather than ahead, or behind, or not at all.

God does want us to run with Him. Did you know that? We're not to be spectators, or sideliners. But He also wants to accomplish something in our hearts and minds as we run, and labor with Christ.

Are you ahead of Him? Are you running with instead of ahead. Where are you in the process? Can you take a few extra minutes and linger with Him in the Word and prayer?

Beloved, it's time to develop spiritual muscle. It's time to reshape and sculpt our inner man with the love and Word of God.

What's your P90X commitment for the Lord in 2011?

Dining With Joy Release Day November 16th

The big day is finally here. The third in the Lowcountry Romance novels, Dining with Joy.

This is a fun book with serious undertones about a cooking show host who can't cook. In the video below, I talk how I came up with this concept and the process of writing the book.

Thomas Nelson is partnering with me to host a contest, for you, the reader! Post your comments below for a chance to win. See contest rules here.

What's up for grabs? An KitchenAid Artisan Mixer is

the grand prize. The winner will be chosen randomly on December 3rd after the December 2nd deadline.

You can post a comment, or your own fun kitchen-cooking story. Stupid Cooking Tricks is an element on Joy's show and we invite you to share your own stories.

I'll be sharing mine this week.

Ten runner ups will receive a signed copy of Dining with Joy and the new Thomas Nelson cookbook, Second Helpings with Johnnie Gabriel.

I'm excited for this opportunity for you all!

Dining with Joy video