Chat 'n' Chew Cafe'

Lynda Schab: Mind Over Madi!

2012-01-19T00:00:00.000-05:00

I've known Lynda Schab for a few years now. She's a delightful writer and person who now has published a fiction book called Mind Over Madi. And I can say I've known her back in the day when she was winning contests before all this fame and fortune. (See certificate above. So, all of you who've asked me if you should enter the ACFW Genesis Contest, see what Lynda did!)

I asked her some questions about writing, gave her some prompts to finish...and as usual, she was an open book. She gives her perspective as she now is writing the next books in the Mind Over Madi series.

What’s your favorite part of writing a book?
Definitely the beginning. Coming up with the concept, planning my opening, thinking of a title.

When the well runs dry, how do you recharge your creative energy?
Nice follow-up question to the last one. Though I start my books with a bang, I tend to peter out around the half-way point. I find what helps me is taking some time to sit down and plot out the next few chapters. I come up with ways to make my story more interesting, perhaps by throwing a curveball, such as a death, pregnancy, or another unexpected element.

Do you keep regular hours in writing? What’s a typical day when you’re writing?

I wish I could say I am one of those insanely disciplined writers who sinks into my computer chair every morning and doesn't come up for air until I reach a specific word count. But that's not me. I write when I can and try to schedule writing time a few times per week. However, now that I'm on a deadline for book number two in the Madi series, my "typical" day may start to look a little different. I have a feeling I'll need to scrounge up some of that discipline I so desperately need.
The biggest enemy of my writing is….. Time! Not enough of it, that is. Continuing from the previous question, I need to learn how to better organize my time and exercise more discipline.
My best ideas come from or when….. real life.
People I know - personality traits, quirks, habits, looks - provide me with plenty of ideas for characters and plot lines.

I still can’t get the hang of…. comma placement.
Seriously! Fortunately, I have critique partners who are comma Drill Sergeants and love to keep me in line.

What’s your favorite way to celebrate the accomplishments? Ice cream!

What do you know now in writing that you wish you had known in the beginning?
I know now how to follow my gut and not listen to every piece of advice thrown at me. At first, I tried to follow everyone's suggestions and I ended up making a mess of my story. Of course, it's always good to receive good instruction and input, but no one knows my book like I do. Listening to too much advice can sometimes cause the unique voice to get lost. It's important to stay true to your own personal writing style.

Any advice to the readers who wish to publish a book?
Find a good core group of critique partners who understand your genre. And put on your "patience hat." This is a looong process.

(Crystal's advice...Lynda and I both belong to a fabulous organization called ACFW --join up to find your soul sisters and brothers!)

Any special techniques for building your characters? I don't do any extensive character outlines, but a valuable piece of advice I received is to really get into the mind of my characters. Motivations are huge. Knowing why my characters do what they do is key to creating characters that readers can relate to.

About your book/topic/characters:
Is there anything in your book that intersects with your personal life?

There is a lot of me in my main character, Madi. Insecurity is something I’ve always struggled with. As a child, I was very shy. As a teenager, I was insecure about everything, which resulted in a lot of rebelling and contributed to hundreds of my mom’s migraines, I’m sure.

As an adult, early in my marriage I experienced some of the insecurities Madi deals with, regarding her husband and his faithfulness. That isn’t something I deal with anymore today, but I still have similar insecurities about what others think of me, as well as doubts about God’s love for me. Other ways I’m like Madi is that we share bad eating habits, a love for coffee, a tendency to waste hours of time playing computer games, and an insane fear of spiders.

What do you want readers to take away from reading Madi’s story?

An understanding of just how infinite God’s love is. That no matter what we’ve done, God will never stop pursuing our hearts or desiring a relationship with us. His mercies are new every morning and His grace covers our weaknesses, our mistakes, our ignorance.

What were your biggest fears concerning your book? How do you feel about speaking about the topic?

My biggest fear is how I'll deal with the negative reviews. It would be nice if everyone loves my book, but let's be real. Pleasing everyone just isn't likely. It's a vulnerable place to be. But that's okay. Lots of growth comes out of vulnerability.

I have very little experience with public speaking, but I hope to gain more confidence in this area. I'd love to speak to women about overcoming insecurity and truly seeing themselves as the princesses they are.

LYNDA LEE SCHAB got her writing start in greeting cards (Blue Mountain Arts, Dayspring) and from there went on to write articles and short stories (Mature Living, Christian Home & School) and in many places online (including www.Examiner.com and www.wow-womenonwriting.com), but her passion has always been fiction.

Mind Over Madi, her debut novel, is near and dear to her heart. Lynda admits she has a lot in common with the character of Madi. Not only are they both addicted to ice cream, chocolate, and computer games, they struggle with the same types of insecurities and continually require a hefty dose of God’s grace.

Lynda works behind the scenes at FaithWriters.com and is a member of ACFW. She is a regular book reviewer for FaithfulReader.com and is the Grand Rapids Christian Fiction Examiner and the National Writing Examiner for Examiner.com. Mind Over Madi received Runner-up in the 2007 FaithWriters Page Turner contest, was a finalist in the 2007 RWA Get your Stiletto in the Door contest, and won second place in the 2008 ACFW Genesis contest, Chick Lit category.

Lynda lives with her husband, Rob, and two teenagers in Michigan.

Mind Over Madi: (Published by OakTara)

Madi McCall admits her husband lacks a little in the romance department, but all in all, he’s been a good husband, a good father. Now, though, she suspects Rich is having an affair with Fawn Witchburn, the mother of one of his fourth-grade students. To say Fawn shows off her “assets” more than should be legally allowed in public is an understatement, and Madi’s insecurities kick into high gear. When, in a heated moment, she asks Rich to leave and he complies, Madi is forced to deal with her issues--issues of love and trust she’s tried so hard to avoid. Issues that trail all the way back to her childhood and make her act like a total moron.

Find Lynda Lee Schab:
www.LyndaSchab.com
www.on-the-write-track.blogspot.com
www.Twitter.com/Lyndaschab
Facebook Page

Also stop by When I Was Just a Kid where I interviewed Lynda on her childhood--a fun interview!

Lynda, When She Was Just a Kid, phoning her future!

Update on Lynda! She just signed the contract for two more books this week and is hard at work on book #2, Madily in Love. Stay tuned to Lynda's work.

Blogging at Hoosier Ink

2012-01-11T14:00:00.002-05:00

I'm blogging today at Hoosier Ink on the building blocks of good writing and finding your own passion in writing. Come leave a comment!

Hoosier Ink

The Maid of Fairbourne Hall by Julie Klassen

2012-01-06T20:25:00.001-05:00

The Maid of Fairbourne Hall by Julie Klassen
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I've read all of Julie Klassen's books and this one may be my favorite, which is saying a lot. There's something intriguing about a woman running from a heinous would-be fiance' and hiding under the nose of a man she had turned down years before. I loved the setting, the characterizations and the dialogue.

What is awful is that this book came out just after Jan. 1st, I had it read in a few days and that means not another Klassen novel for who knows how long! Julie, can't you write faster?

If you love Christian regencies with romance, it's just what you're looking for!

View all my reviews

2011-11-14T00:00:00.000-05:00

I'm posting at The Barn Door today!

2011-11-09T00:00:00.000-05:00

I'm posting over at Hoosier Ink today!

Autumn Dreams in Indiana

2011-10-14T12:00:00.000-04:00

Here I am at Old Mission Lighthouse and Coast Guard House in Michigan. It's exactly halfway between the North Pole and the Equator! This is near Traverse City.

A couple weeks ago in late September we traveled to Traverse City, Michigan area so my husband could take some well-deserved time off from his very stressful job for a mini-vacation with a couple friends. We were going to play golf, eat, tour some of the local beauty (Sleeping Bear Dunes is not far from there,) and oh, yeah, eat. They are known for their cherries and I love cherries! We got only two rounds of golf in. Sad sigh.

We went to Crystal Mountain to play golf, which made me feel like a narcissist, but I was pleased and it was beautiful. Unfortunately, it rained most of the time. You see,autumn was already hitting them with her gorgeous glory when we were there. With that comes the rains. But I love Michigan and even with the rain, I was so happy and daydreamed about that area of the state even days after I came home. (It's always, "I could set a book there!" ha.)

When we came back, I took a look around my own yard and while we have started to show signs of fall, it really wasn't in full regalia until this week. Why is it when you're home, even though you do notice the beauty, it isn't until you snap a few photos and try to describe it to others that it finally hits you--you DO live in a gorgeous place? So, here's a short tour around my "yard," which is about 7 acres of woods, mostly. And yes, I think I live in a beautiful place, too.

Do you like black walnuts? I do, but no one else here does and they're a mess to fix, unless you are into natural staining of clothing (which some people use black walnuts for that.) We have black walnut tree that I think has more walnuts than I've ever seen on it. They continuously fall with a loud pop on our driveway. I end up kicking them off the drive when I walk the dogs.

Black walnuts that have been pelting our driveway

Used to be that the squirrels would have them socked away in some squirrelly retirement fund, but now we have cats. With cats you don't see hide nor hair of the squirrels. So, my goal is to chuck them (the walnuts) down into the woods (we have a 30-ft. drop to the ravine where the creek flows and the main floor of the woods is.) Maybe they'll find them down there and no cat will get the squirrel.

Smokey, one of the feral cats who guard our place, and also one of only two gray cats. The rest are all black.

The woods are constantly trying to retake ground where our house sits. This would be ok with me, but the civilized world requires some grass to mow and some curb appeal. Whatever. (God plans the best curb appeal!) But after Michigan, I came back to this full blown profusion of tiny flowers. I'm not sure what they are or why suddenly they took over this section of the yard, but I left them. The last of the bees thanked me. And aren't they pretty?


I mean, seriously! This is a huge takeover. I didn't plant them. They just "showed up." (Really showy!)

Up close to the tiny blossoms. They are "daisy-like" but very tiny. Maybe you know what they are called? I'll look them up.


Another part of fall are all the mushrooms showing up around the yard. Here are some that were growing next to a tree we cut down.I've never seen them grow like this before in our yard.

There are tons of leaves down already (mostly oak) but meanwhile, so many trees haven't turned yet. But by the end of October all of our leaves will be on the ground, deep and swishy.

I know it's hard to see, but this is a canopy of grape vines which are draped over some trees along the edge of the woods. I took this photo last week, anticipating this blog. The grape leaves are already on the ground and the vines are bare.

My favorite season of the year is autumn. I used to dream about having an autumn wedding, but I didn't get to do that because of my husband's schooling schedule, and I was a school teacher. But I wish some days that I had my wedding anniversary (we celebrated 30 years in June) in October so I could have an autumn celebration with a specific purpose. But you know, as life passes by, we have to celebrate any moments that are important. Like breathing in fresh, spicy autumn air! And cool, rainy autumn afternoons with hot cider and cinnamon and honey cookies. Oh, yeah.

So, tell me, do you have turning leaves and autumn season where you live? Do you have any reasons to celebrate in autumn? What's your favorite season?

Crystal Laine Miller

Posting at The Barn Door Today!

2011-10-14T00:00:00.000-04:00

Today I'm posting at The Barn Door! Come on over and visit!

To Market, to Market, to Buy a Fat Pig....

2011-10-13T21:15:00.000-04:00

"...Home again, home again, jiggedty-jig!"

How many times did we sing that song as kids? Well, about every time we'd been to town. Back in the day, you went to town if you lived in the country, and that only happened about once a week. And you knew where to go for each thing, trying to get everything in one-stop shopping. There was a jingle for every kind of product on our 3-channels-only TV. You sang them without thinking and looked for those things when you went to town.

Well, guess what? Authors have to market their product, too. And I have been asked about this aspect so many times this past month that it was time to give out a few links to help you on that road.

You may have to lick a few stamps to get results!

First, do get a web presence, if possible even before you ever shop your manuscript, or as soon as possible. Whether it is blogging, website, commenting on other blogs, guest/interview or group blogs, book review sites, Facebook, Twitter and other forms of social networks, being an expert about your main mission or topics (topic blogs,) whatever works, or all the above.

Please, please, puhlease, do not flood your readers or networks with constant marketing. What I mean is when the only thing you contact people with is to beg people to read your book, that's not cool. It's a delicate balance,I know, because yes, you want people to be aware of your book, and yes, they want to know. But sometimes talk about things that just interest them (or you) or get to know your faithful followers.

Two of my favorite author group blogs are Seekerville and Girls Write Out. Both are group blogs where they take turns blogging about a topic on their mind. We always know when they have a book coming out, true. But most of the time they are blogging about things that just interest us. It's like a conversation with best friends. (Seekerville dishes out virtual buffets! Yum. No calories!) You're just chatting with them in the comments (they are good to comment back) and next thing you know, you're checking on their latest book.

Indiana's Own Denise Hunter has one of the best author pages on Facebook. She doesn't just upload her book covers and link to her website. She has conversations with us. (And she's introverted, like most of us.) Another Hoosier, Diann Hunt ,also has started an author blog that is engaging and fun.

Since I love the group blog that I'm on, I have to mention The Barn Door, too. These are Midwest writers (some fiction, some nonfiction) blogging about life in the midwest. And there's a whole section on books, too, but it's not just the books of those authors.

But if you're looking for marketing advice, I have four links this week to help you with that all-illusive platform.

1. I can't tell you how many of Michael Hyatt's blogs I've copied to put into my file. (Yes, I keep a file to refer to for just this sort of thing.) Some have to do with your life mission and life goals. Some on writing. But he is a master of marketing, too. He has so much information.

Why You Need to Be Building Your Platform Now by Michael Hyatt

While you're there, you may get lost for awhile on a multitude of topics if this is your first visit.

2. I caught this blog entry on the Word Serve Agency's client blog on what you can be doing for marketing at Word Serve Water Cooler:

Creative Marketing: Try Something New by Karen Witemeyer

3. The CAN Marketing gurus are always talking shop on this blog. I get their blog by email. I can click on their link if I want to go there to comment.

4. Finally, Terry Whalin has built a website that has more information than you can go through in a day. He's built it over years and has articles from some of the best in publishing in layer-upon-layer. Definitely worth sifting through there. The September 30, 2011 guest blog is called, "10 Rules of Social Marketing (Guerrilla) Engagement" by Wendy Montes de Oca, MBA

Do not forget our national website where there is more information than you will ever absorb. Like eating an elephant; take one small bite at a time.

http://www.acfw.com

You may have gone to town to buy a pig, but with good marketing in advance, you could come home with a cow, a chicken and few magic beans, too. That's why we do what we do. There's a master plan in that organized chaos!

Lemme Know: What's the best marketing tip you've seen for a fiction book?

Crystal Laine Miller

Catch Me At:

http://www.facebook.com/Crystallainemiller

http://www.twitter.com/CrystalLaine

http://www.crystalwarrenmiller.com

http://www.thebarndoor.net

Lisa Mills: Holding On and Childhood Leukemia

2011-09-19T00:07:00.001-04:00

Today I have Lisa Mills who just came out with her novel, Holding On. She decided that all sales for the month of September would be donated for childhood cancer, so this book has a special topic and a special purpose. While I would love for you to buy her book due to this reason and hope that you do, we are giving away a copy of this novel with the winner choosing the format--ebook or paperback. A random drawing will be held on Friday from those who comment.

Lisa Mills spent ten years working as a freelance writer, penning devotions, book reviews, a biography, and much more. Her articles have appeared in magazines such as Today’s Christian Woman and Brio.She’s also contributed short stories to several anthologies aimed at encouraging families of special-needs children. Holding On is her debut novel and the realization of a dream to write fiction.

She lives in the Michiana area with her husband and their blended family of five kids, three cats, and a large dog with an over-abundance of personality.

Let's talk about writing! I asked Lisa some questions about the writing process and her personal life.

CM: What’s your favorite part of writing a book?

Lisa: I think I like brainstorming and plotting best. That stage of the book-writing process is so full of hope and possibility, and there are no wrong answers. I love taking subplots, themes, character arcs, and scene ideas and putting them together like a puzzle. In the outline form, it’s easier to see if there are holes, if something is missing, and to shore up the weak spots.

Writing the first draft is a labor of love. I struggle to get the ideas down without nitpicking my sentence structure and word choices to the point that I bring myself to a standstill. That takes constant adjustments to my mindset. “Just write, Lisa. You can adjust it later!”

Then I pore over the revisions. I take the book apart line by line and page by page numerous times before I’m satisfied enough that I will allow another human soul to see the manuscript.

CM: Do you keep regular hours in writing? What’s a typical day when you’re writing?

Lisa: I try to keep a fairly regular writing schedule, during the school year anyway. My kids leave for school and my husband leaves for work around 7, and the house is fairly quiet after that. I usually get a few chores out of the way, then go to my desk. I may answer some emails and check in on Facebook and Twitter. I allow myself a short while to goof off, then I get to work.

If I am writing a first draft, the primary focus of the day is getting down a word count. I try to meet a 1,000-words-a-day minimum during a draft. If I go over, and I often do, that’s a bonus. If I’m editing, I set a goal to fine-tune two or three chapters. Right after a new book release, I take a month to focus on marketing, so my tasks revolve around that.

I work through the day, interspersing chores, and occasionally a nap, into the mix. At 4:00, I set aside writing to cook dinner. Evenings are reserved for family and spouse time.

CM: Any special techniques for building your characters?

Lisa: I love to use an enneagram program that I discovered years ago to help build my characters’ personalities. It categorizes people into nine different personality types, outlining their major traits, defensive coping strategies, strengths, vices, and more. When I determine which personality type my character falls into, it really helps define how they will think, feel, and react to the conflicts in the story.

I prefer the enneagram method over other personality profilers like Myers-Briggs because the personalities are separated into more categories which are further defined and more specific. The better I know my character, the better I can write from his/her perspective, so I recommend the enneagram profile.

I also fill out a quick character chart with age, physical description, background, etc., to help me keep the details straight. Beyond that, I figure it out as I go.

CM: When the well runs dry, how do you recharge your creative energy?

Lisa: I am a firm believer that all work and no play makes a person dull. So when I am feeling drained, I schedule some fun. That usually means a night out line dancing with my hubby. We take lessons and have so much fun dressing up in our jeans and boots and shuffling around the dance floor. I always leave feeling refreshed and full of creative juices. I also try to spend time with my girlfriends on a regular basis. I have the best friends in the world!

CM: The biggest enemy of my writing is…..

Lisa: Fear! I don’t know why but I always feel a sense of anxiety before I sit down to write. I think I’m afraid the words won’t come, or they will come and they’ll be hideous drivel that no one wants to read. So I procrastinate and find a hundred other things that I “must” do first.

When I finally make myself sit down to write, I usually get into the flow and enjoy myself immensely. It’s one of those mental hang-ups that creative people can struggle with. Thankfully, I am aware of this internal obstacle now, and I can usually bypass it by drinking a Diet Coke for fortification and giving myself a little pep talk. Chocolate rewards also help immensely.

CM: My writing world would be perfect if only….

Lisa: I recently remarried, in case you hadn’t heard! Between my husband and I we have five children. We have two houses until we can sell one and consolidate, so double the house and yard work. And a lot of adjusting to new schedules and circumstances, etc. So I’ve thought about the subject of the perfect writing life often of late.

I think I could write so much more if only my kids were old enough to drive themselves to sports and appointments. If only I didn’t have to shop, cook, and clean. If I didn’t have to pay the bills. If only weeds didn’t grow in my yard and elves and fairies would come and do repairs and improvements on my house. I could write so much more if the dog would quit shoving his tug toy in my hand and the cats would quit walking on my keyboard while I’m typing. If my friends and family members never had a crisis. If ... if ... if.

But then I think about what my life would be like if I didn’t have all these people and activities, and I realize, my life would be so boring. My family, my home, my friends, my pets, and even my responsibilities give me joy and provide comic relief. They inspire me. They challenge me and make me think. They teach me about life and love and being a friend. They help me to grow as a person and as a child of God.

And all that stimulus makes me a better writer. Sometimes they make me a frustrated writer—like during summer break when I can hardly get 20 minutes without someone interrupting my work time—but without them, I’d have little to write about. So I’m grateful for my imperfect circumstances. They are perfect for me.

CM: My best ideas come from…..

Lisa: I write Women’s Fiction, so I think my best ideas come from real life—mine, my friends, people I know or read about. My primary requirement is that it has to grab me emotionally. If I’m going to spend six months to a year living this subject through my work, I want to be passionate about it. So I usually look for topics that leave an impression on me, subjects that come to mind often and won’t let me go, like my experiences with children who had cancer that became the subject of Holding On.

CM: Is there anything in your book that intersects with your personal life?

Lisa: I had a son who seemed healthy at birth, but began experiencing health issues and developmental delays by age six months. He wasn’t gaining weight or doing normal baby things like trying to sit up or even holding up his own head very well. Doctors couldn’t figure out what was wrong with him. So we began a journey of four or five years going to nutritionists, physical therapists, and a wide range of specialists, treating his symptoms as best we could and trying to find a cause. Dealing with his medical needs soon became a full-time job for me. I learned what it meant to have a special-needs child and the sacrifices that parents and families make. Walking that journey with him helped me to understand the emotional roller coaster that parents go through in these situations.

We spent a lot of time in doctors’ offices and hospitals. After an emotionally grueling and medically-expensive couple of years, doctors finally discovered my son had a heart problem and needed open-heart surgery. We drove to a children’s hospital for the procedure.

While my son was recovering from his heart surgery, we spent several days in the ICU alongside families with terminally-ill children. The scenes I witnessed there—an unforgettable mix of suffering, pain, courage, and hope—left a deep imprint on my heart. Many families in that ward were waiting out the final days of their children’s lives. My heart broke for those mothers and fathers. I could only imagine what they were feeling. The sorrow of knowing you only have days left with your child. They wept in the family lounge, exhausted and broken. But then they dried their tears and went back to their little one’s bedside to offer soft words of comfort and smiles full of love, showing so much courage and strength. Life is fragile and love is so precious. I learned a lot about both of those subjects that week.

CM: What inspired you to begin work on this book?

Lisa: My experiences with my son’s medical struggles and all the people I encountered along the way left such an imprint on my heart and mind. I wanted to write Holding On to honor the bravery and courage I saw in the ICU of that children’s hospital. And I wanted the book to serve another purpose too. Those families in that hospital ward left such an impression on me. As I saw their tears and heard their sobs and witnessed their suffering, I felt so helpless.

Since that day, I’ve wanted to do something to make a difference so maybe other families wouldn’t have to endure that kind of pain. So when I wrote Holding On I decided to donate a percentage of my income from the book to children’s cancer research and charities. Since September is National Children’s Cancer Awareness Month, I’m donating 100% of all money I make on the book to charity. So if readers will buy it, I’ll donate it!

If you love kids and hate cancer, consider helping us raise awareness and funds this month. A Facebook post, a Tweet, or a blog could help save the life of a sick child somewhere. You are welcome to share a link to this blog or my personal blog and website with your social network. Every effort helps, and by working together we can make a big impact!

CM: Were you surprised at the outcome of the book when you finished?

Lisa: After I finished the book, I set it aside and didn’t look at it for at least a year. When I finally picked it up and reread it, I was very moved by the story. I’m sure that people think that writers, having written a book, practically know each line by heart. For me, that is completely not the case. When I finish a book, I’ll remember the general plot and major incidents, but I forget all the details, even main characters’ names sometimes. If I do a sequel, I have to go back and reread to refresh my memory and make sure that I get names, places, and descriptions right in the next book. So when I picked up the story after a year and enjoyed it from a reader’s perspective, I was very pleased.

CM: How do you feel about speaking about the topic?

Lisa: I have done my share of public speaking and I’m actually learning to relax and enjoy the experience. That’s not to say I don’t still get a few tummy flutters. I do! But it’s getting easier as I do more of it.

CM: Any advice to the readers who wish to publish a book?

Lisa: Follow your heart! Like any job, writing has its fun parts and parts that feel like work. Writing novels takes determination and persistence, but it is also very rewarding. It’s one of the few professions where you can be anyone and do anything. Your imagination is the limit.

CM: You offered to give away a copy of Holding On to a blog visitor. How can readers enter the drawing?

Lisa: Yes I am, and I appreciate Crystal’s willingness to host a contest for a free book giveaway. If you would like to enter, please leave a comment, along with your name and contact information, at the end of this blog.

Crystal will be drawing a name from the people who comment at the end of the week. The winner will have their choice of an ebook download or a paperback version. I used to read paperbacks, but I recently received an iPad as a birthday gift and am beginning to understand the e-reader craze. So I will happily accommodate your preference. :-)

Lisa: Crystal, thanks so much for having me as a guest on your blog and offering me the chance to share about myself, my book, and a cause that’s near and dear to my heart. It is my hope and prayer that someday we will find a cure for childhood cancer and novels about parents and children fighting this disease will become obsolete. :-)

Blessings,

Lisa Mills
http://www.authorlisamills.com
http://www.authorlisamills.com/blog/

Author Lisa Mills

Holding On by Lisa Mills

When single mother, Danielle Jordan, discovers her seven-year-old son, Trevor, has leukemia, she is thrust into a desperate mission to save his life. Despite the best medical efforts, chemotherapy fails and the doctors inform her that a marrow transplant is his only hope.

But the search for a donor presents a new set of challenges. Because finding a match among blood relatives is his best chance, Danielle must return to her hometown to confront painful childhood secrets and people who have left deep scars on her heart.

Can she face her hurts and fears to save the son she loves so dearly?

***

Readers can purchase various ebook formats through Smashwords:

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/69612

Print and Kindle editions can be found at Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Holding-Lisa-Mills/dp/1463650132/ref=wl_it_dp_o?ie=UTF8&coliid=I3Y6CHW2V4ILN&colid=1V0I6E9QILKQE

(Winner has been drawn)

Posting at Two Places Today!

2011-09-14T01:29:00.000-04:00

I am posting at two blogs today. The first one is a writing blog for the Indiana American Christian Fiction Writers Chapter website, Hoosier Ink.

Then, if you would, head over to the Midwest Writers blog where you can see all sorts of Midwestern thoughts from the writers at The Barn Door.

Thanks so much for reading. I appreciate you all so much.

On My Mother's Birthday

2011-09-01T19:01:00.002-04:00

Lillian Pierson as a Toddler

My mother died in 1997. She had lived 39 years with only one lobe of one lung and raised two children. (She lived almost 65 years total.) She had 6 grandchildren when she died and she is missed greatly by all of us. She lived five years beyond what her doctor predicted, but hey, she lived beyond what anyone expected her to live back in 1958 when she was first diagnosed with TB. For someone who could barely draw a breath, she was very active, had a great sense of humor, was well read, and seemed to know everything.

She was tough and survived many heartaches and illnesses, but yet, almost always seemed to have a smile on her face, except at Christmas. She seemed depressed at Christmas time. I can't ever remember seeing her cry. I think I heard her crying in her room once, but when she came out, she smiled sweetly at me.

I remember another time getting her a yellow gold head scarf with my own money for one Mother's Day. I loved that color(one of my favorites,) but my mother was more at home in blues,pinks and pastels. It wasn't a flattering color for her (I don't think I ever saw her wear yellow.)I was thinking of my favorite color instead of hers (blue.) She still said she loved it and put it in her special drawer with the jewelry she kept but didn't wear. She'd get it out and admire it in front of me and I'd be satisfied.

I'm taking a few liberties here (and there's no one to dispute my answers) but here's what Lillian might say if she were the featured kid today on my When I Was Just a Kid blog (and I heard these stories many times):

Childhood Ambition: To be a librarian or a teacher and to also get married and have many children.I love children and really wanted to be a mother. I lost five children before I was able to have Crystal, right before I turned 30.

Fondest Memory: When my sister Mayme, who was 13 months older than I was, and I were little girls someone gave us a doll for Christmas.We had to share her, but it was so nice having something like that for Christmas.Mayme was my closest friend.I was also close to my sister, Adeline and brothers, Don and Grant.

I also loved it when someone in the house had a birthday. My mother would make a huge deal about it by making a crown for the birthday child, singing to him or her, and making special treats to eat all day--allowing the child to pick whatever they wanted. That person was King or Queen of the Day. It was so much fun.

I also loved it when she made lefse.

Proudest Moment: When I had my daughter, Crystal, and my son, Ricky. But that was when I was an adult. I was proud of my heritage and family, as a child, and of how I could take care of myself and the animals. I was proud of being able to draw pictures and read.

Biggest Challenge as a child or teen: When I was 5 years old, my mother died from TB. I was scared, but was told not to cry by my older sisters. I was afraid to go in where my mother was laid out on the bed and wouldn't go in there after the funeral. I was the youngest girl of five children that my mother had (I had five older half-siblings who were either living on their own, or getting ready to leave home.) My little brother was a baby of two and he went to live with one of the older sisters, so he was taken from us. My father had a farm to run and all of these little kids. He was in much grief--it was the second time a wife had died and left him with children to raise alone.He was 22 years older than she was.

She died in January, and my birthday was in September. When my birthday came, I went to the table and sat down. My older sister who was staying with us (she was a teen) looked harshly at me and said, "And just what do you think you're doing?"

I replied, "It's my birthday. I want oatmeal for breakfast." I fully expected my mother's tradition on birthdays to be carried on.

She glared at me, grabbed my arm and yanked me up to my feet. "Well, you might as well get used to being a big girl now on your birthday. You get your own breakfast. There will be no more birthdays. Today you grow up."

So, I grew up when I was 6-years-old. It was a cruel reality of what was to be for the next 12 years, and really, for the rest of my life. I really never remember being a child. I worked as hard as a man on the farm, and also had to keep house. I was the last child to leave home, though I did go four years to a private Christian academy for high school.

Lillian in the TB hospital in Ft. Wayne, IN

My First Job: Working on the farm and all of us had chores to do from the smallest (me) to the oldest. (The youngest boy,baby Don, was sent to live with my older married sister when our mother died, until he was old enough for my father to take care of him.)

My favorite time of the year was lambing season. Almost always there would be a lamb or two who didn't have a mother, and I'd take care of them. We worked from sun up to sun down in the harsh elements of Minnesota, but always took Sabbath off from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday (though we took care of the animals every day and still did our chores.) We lived so far out in the sticks, as kids, whenever someone came up to the house, we'd run and hide because we were so shy! But we had lots of fun playing and making up games while we did our chores and work.

My second job was when I went to the academy at 14. I worked in the library. Loved the library. I also was a secretary at 18. I wrote in my boss' ledgers as she wouldn't allow anyone else to do it. She was extremely demanding, and I couldn't even leave an i undotted. She was a woman and an attorney, and I didn't realize how unusual that was at the time. She taught me quite a lot.

I also was a nurse's assistant in the nursery at the hospital at 19. I loved that job, bathing the babies and wrapping them tight, holding them. Nothing was more satisfying, except for being a mother myself,than that job.

Childhood indulgence: We didn't really get many "indulgences." Since we were in a family which worshiped on Saturday (Sabbath) and were strict about our diet, too, plus were living on a farm,our indulgences came in the form of reading. I spent a lot of my spare time reading.

I loved to spend time outdoors, too, and watched all of the wildlife that thrived around the Lake of the Woods. One thing I do remember is making games out of daily life. We laughed a lot.

One of the things I remember was sneaking into Papa's room while he slept to play tricks and listen to him talk in his sleep.

"Papa" Aaron Pierson on the left and his brother, Oscar, on the right who died in barn fire

He would talk in his sleep and his language was Swedish in his sleep. We were not allowed to speak Swedish at home, only English, so unless we were visiting a relative, I didn't speak it, just understood it. We would giggle and laugh, and once we brought in a bucket of cold water to stick his hand in. I'm sure he was awake, now that I am older and realize it, but back then I thought we were playing a good trick on him. He didn't even move when we plunged his hand in that water! And doggone it, he didn't do what we were told would happen if you put a sleeping person's hand in cold water. (Do you know what that was?? ha!) We were pretty pesky kids.

And he was rather indulgent of us, considering how cruel his father had been. He broke that cycle of abuse--and was a good man who loved the Lord--and he was our Papa. He had a great sense of humor. He was always giving us riddles, math problems, or telling us stories. I can tell the best stories that he told us!

Favorite Childhood Movie: Our religion forbade us to go to movies. I had never seen a movie until I was 19 years old when I left home and came to Indiana. I enjoyed seeing movies so much, I watched many, many movies after that. I particularly loved historical movies, like Gone with the Wind.

The illustration is from Girl of the Limberlost, and was done by
Wladyslaw T. Benda. (now that's a name!)

Favorite Childhood Book: A Girl of the Limberlost by Gene Stratton Porter. I imagined I was Elnora and thought the Limberlost must be a wonderful place. When I grew up, I lived within a few miles of the real Limberlost that Gene Porter wrote about. I loved Indiana and continued to spend a lot of time outdoors, fishing, gardening, observing nature and going to Indiana state parks.

All the Pierson children gathered at Papa's funeral in 1953
(Lillian) I am fourth from the left and Merlin is in the center of the brothers

The sister who told me "grow up" on my 6th birthday is to my right(your left.) When I grew up, I forgave her because her mother had died when she was young and she was having her own growing pains.

Mayme, my best friend/sister, is the last one on the right of the second row.

One sister is missing from this photo because her husband made her leave immediately

Childhood hero: My older half-brother, Merlin, who was a pastor. He was in the first family and his mother died when he was a boy. He was married by the time I came along, but was kind and loving. I was my father's 10th child and the fourth child of my father's second wife. My mother and her mother had taken care of the children from Papa's first marriage when his first wife died. My mother, Anna, allowed the older children from that marriage to name me. They had a baby sister who was the youngest of their family (the first family) and her name was Lillian Arlene Pierson--and that's exactly the name they gave me. She had died as a baby. It was really weird seeing my name on a tombstone next to their mother.

So, anyway, Merlin, was always kind to us, and particularly to me, or so I thought. He'd sit with me and draw pictures with me. I would do anything to please to him. One time I decided to draw a picture of the barnyard, so I was watching the chickens peck and cluck, and I drew them. I noticed that they were also making droppings as they went along, so I drew that into my picture, as well. I thought I was being particularly clever to include so much detail, and my, wouldn't my brother, Merlin, think I was great? He asked me about my picture, and I'm explaining in minute details about those chickens. He got this frown on his face, and told me I mustn't draw things like that--it wasn't a good thing to do. I was just crushed, as he was never displeased with me. It was a heartbreaking moment for me, but I loved him fiercely all the same.

When I was grown up and had children of my own, I saw him and his family less and less. He had two sons, one of whom was very ill and died as a child, and a daughter named Gwen, who was just a little older than my own daughter. He and his wife had a busy ministry in Minnesota. Where my brother lived there was a river and in the spring of 1965, it flooded. He, his wife and daughter got into a canoe, even though it was quite cold, and went downstream to see what damage there was to properties along the river and if there was any way to help others along the way.

When they got to a bridge, the water was flowing over the bridge. The water was going so rapidly, even though he was quite strong, he couldn't stop the boat. The boat overturned and witnesses say he grabbed onto the bridge, but his wife, Hulda, and daughter, Gwen, went under. He was a very strong swimmer, but he could not pull them up to safety and he could not overcome the undercurrent, not to mention the frigid temperatures. They all drowned and that was one of the hardest funerals I've ever been to--to lose my hero, my brother, Merlin, and his family.

They had one son who wasn't with them that day--he was away at school. That son grew up to be a dentist and was a missionary in Africa for many years (Kenya.) I was very proud of him.

Crystal here: It is a great privilege for me to have had such a wonderful mother. I hope that I am even half the mother to my boys, that she was to me.

My Grandmother Pauline: A Life-Long Story 1914-2011

2011-08-07T11:24:00.002-04:00

(Part 1 of My Grandmother Pauline's Story) This is Part 2 of Pauline's Story


Pauline 1914-2011

A tornado swooped down into the Beech Creek Hollow of Tennessee in 1936 and several lost their lives. My dad, a small boy, told of being lifted into the air by the cyclone and Daddy grabbing his ankles to pull him down.

The tornado did take Pauline's mother, Sally May, on that fateful day. She got up to shut the door of the rough-hewn house and her treadle sewing machine came crashing into the back of her head, killing her. Years later I remember the story being told as if yesterday, tears in the eyes of those who knew Pauline's mother, as they gently pulled back the rag rug covering the blood stain on the ancient wood floor. It was a violence they didn't get over.

But Willie, Pauline's Dad, was still young and he remarried. He married a woman called Tildie (Tilda) and Pauline warmed to her Dad's choice for a bride. This was the woman I remember. "Tildie" was more like a term of endearment. Even so, no one forgot Sally May, Pauline's mother who had so many children.

The years were difficult with Roy teetering between bouts of alcohol and gambling, and preaching the Bible at a church. At least twice he gambled away the family business. Pauline kept working during these up-and-down roller coaster days of the 1940s and 1950s. Some went off to WWII, including several in the family and her brother-in-law, Pat Warren (he was at Pearl Harbor and lived to tell about it.) Then, the 1950s came along with my dad marrying my mother and their lives once again were marked with conflict--this time the Korean Conflict.

Wilburn in the army

Wilburn Warren, U.S. Army

In 1953 when my dad was summoned to go into the army, he took his new bride of two years home to his parents so she would have people to live with and take care of her while he was gone. My grandparents still had small children at home--a son, a daughter and a granddaughter, but they scooted over and took "Lin"(my mother, Lillian was called this by his family) right into their hearts and home.

Pauline worked, Roy had a job, too, and so, it was decided that Lin would care for the children at home. During the time Pauline's son was away, there was a lot for them all to get used to, but Pauline took it all in stride. Lin had an education, had worked in a hospital and had a natural way with discipline and love with kids, so it wasn't a trial, but a time for love to grow among the family. That time bonded them all.

By 1956 not only was Wilburn home, but Lin had 5 miscarriages. Wilburn took a job driving a semi-truck hauling automobile parts in the Midwest in November of 1957, so they settled in Indiana to be close to Lillian's sisters and to be close to the dispatch terminal of Wilburn's job. Then, I was born. I was a miracle baby and Lillian wasn't sure she would ever be able to have another child.


Wilburn Warren with his new baby, Crystal

Pauline was anxious to see this miracle baby grandchild with white blonde hair, but she would have to be satisfied with photos for awhile because everyone had to work, and no one had money to travel, anyway. My mother named me Crystal before anyone could influence anymore name choices (Pauline suggested Sally--her mother's name, the one who died in 1936 in the tornado.) But Lillian had her way and the name Crystal was it.

When the Tennessee family got the card announcing my name, puzzled, they said, "Why would she name that darlin' 'Cry-Tail'?" until Linda pointed out it was Crystal. So, not to be totally out done, they settled on calling the new family member Crissy. To this day that part of the family calls me Cris or Crissy. I answer to any variation.

Lillian's mother died from TB when Lillian was only 5-years-old. And it looked as if her mother's fate would also be hers. Lillian had 9 siblings, but I had none. In 1958 she was diagnosed with tuberculosis and was required to go to the Irene Byron Hospital in Ft. Wayne, to have her TB treated. She had to find someone to care for me full time, as my dad needed to keep working as a truck driver, so once again, Wib called his mother and asked if she would take me.

Everyone knew there was a chance my mother would not survive. So, I was taken to Tennessee and my mother made her mother-in-law promise that if she survived and came home, she wanted me back. Grandmother said ok.

Mama Pauline taking care of her granddaughter

My mother said once that if she had known what she was in for, she might not have made it. One surgery was so invasive, it would seem the "cure" would kill her. They removed all but one lobe of one lung and broke and caved the rest of the ribs on the empty side to fill the cavity. It was brutal. She lived the rest of her life trying to breathe. Any physical labor was difficult.

Crystal in Tennessee in a dress fashioned by Pauline (I still have this dress, it is see-through blue.)

Meanwhile in Tennessee, Linda, a young aunt of only 13 took care of her baby niece. I slept in her bed. She would stick a bottle in my mouth to keep me quiet. (This later would cause me a lot of painful surgeries.) It was a lot of responsibility for a young teen, but with everyone else working to survive, it was the only option. Linda ended up quitting school. (Later she would go on and get her GED and became very successful in business.)

Crystal with Granddaddy Warren in Tennessee

There are no photos of Aunt Linda and me that I've ever seen. I think she took all of the photos, so she wasn't in them. Once, her daughter, Annette, told me that I had scribbled in all of Aunt Linda's yearbooks and books (obviously, as a toddler I wanted to "write.") Annette said it in a way that made me realize I was a burden and a hardship to them all. As an adult I only heard a few snippets of my time with them. I'm sure it was especially hard on my Aunt Linda and she didn't really want me there at the time.

Aunt Linda, a young teen in this photo, who had to take care of me

It looked as though they would be "keeping" me as things weren't too bright in Indiana. But as the months turned to a year and then beyond, Grandmother Pauline wrote letters and would have me to "write" to my mother. "Mama Lin" was someone people around me talked about but I didn't know who she was.

Crystal at Christmas in Tennessee. My mother's photo was placed next to me. My mother cried all day when she received this photo.

Because my Grandmother had become "Mama" and Granddaddy was now "Daddy, " I later would be very confused when I finally did go home to get reacquainted with my parents.

Linda took photos to send to Lin, Pauline labored over letters that she really didn't have time to write just so my mother would have information on her only child. Finally an opportunity came for my mother to see me. My Dad came through to pick my mother up for a weekend leave from the hospital. She was under strict orders to not leave the area as she was still recovering. Lin was stubborn and she got my Dad to slip off on a whirlwind trip to Tennessee, which would take many hours on treacherous back roads. She endured the trip there and back in order to see me.

One of the photos snapped by Aunt Linda

One of the "posed" photos by Aunt Linda--she had me imitating Bub Pope, someone they knew

Lillian on her AWOL weekend from the hospital. No doubt she wasn't supposed to be lifting weight.

My Grandmother Pauline: A Life-Long Story 1914-2011

2011-08-01T15:19:00.003-04:00

Part 1

My Grandmother Pauline with Me ("Crissy") and Little Dog, Candy on a Tennessee Porch

On September 20, 1914 a girl was born to William James and Sallie May Pulley. Their house was already filled with kids, and more would follow this born-in-the-middle, spunky girl who would earn the nickname "Top" amongst her seven siblings (being 8 kids in all.) Every one of the Tennessee Valley Pulley kids had nicknames, too, and there was plenty of teasing and fun in between their hard work that no one got out of on a farm where a family cemetery already cradled their kin before them. Life wasn't easy, but there could be joy between the sorrows and pain. On July 30th she joined her kin both in the cemetery on Warren Hill, but also at the reunion in heaven.

It's fun for me to peruse through the names of those people who share my history, but Pauline Pulley Warren Pope would do more than just make me dresses, sew my wedding quilt or send me small tokens of jewelry for birthdays--she would take me (and my dog, Candy!) into her home when I was a small child still in diapers and drinking from a bottle, while my mother battled for her life in a TB hospital in Ft. Wayne, Indiana.

But back to her siblings. See if you think her brothers and sisters had interesting names and nicknames. I knew their nicknames long before I ever knew their real names!:

Effie Opal ("Jinks")
Gladys Leona ("Short")
Ernest Clayton ("Doc") He got this nickname from doctoring his sister with a dung ball covered in flour to resemble a pill to "help" his sister's headache. Yeah, pesky Doc!
Pauline (no middle name) ("Top")
Earley Clifford ("Cliff") A man who was full of "ginger peachy" until the day he died.
Ollie Larken ("Lark") Another pesky feller.
Mary Lois ("Head") I remember her warm, kid-filled house, and her boys who found it funny to loose-saddle a horse for me, hitting him on the behind, and then laughing themselves silly as I hung on while my saddle slid underneath.
James Edward ("Ton") He won my dad's marbles back for him when some mean boys at school scammed him out of his only toy. He was my dad's best friend and died from cancer way too soon, his son and wife being a friend to me when I was just a kid.

My Dad, "Wibby,"(Grandmother's 1st son) with his uncle "Ton" (Grandmother's youngest brother) in "fun" days

I don't remember Grandmother Pauline talking much about her childhood, except calling her father, "Dad" and about how much he loved his children. She spoke about him with respect. When she was 16-years-old, she fell in love with a 24-year-old man named Roy Lee Warren. She planned to elope with him one evening, but before she could "run off," Dad caught wind of it from one of her brothers, and he sat her down to talk to her. He was a little heartbroken, and said to her (quoting Grandmother, and I hear it in his Southern accent) "If you think more of him than you do me, then go on and run off. But you can stay with us if you have another thought."

A Young Pauline

She was wild about the raven-haired Roy, so off she went to marry and keep house on April 4, 1931. Justice of the Peace J.F. Melson officiated.

Roy Warren, Pauline's First Love on a Tennessee Road

Her first child, Clara Nell ("Nell") was born nine months later. She wouldn't have her second child, my Dad, Wilburn Andrew, (who took creative license with his birth certificate at 16,) until a year later.

Nell (Warren) and Rob Davis

My Dad has a story all his own and at 16, he ran away from home to Indiana, got a woman to attest to being present at his birth in Tennessee (she wasn't,) and dropped the hated "Andrew" name. I'm pretty sure my Dad gave Grandmother more gray hairs than she should've earned. To fit into Hoosier life, he also changed the childhood name "Wibby" to Bill, and "Wibby" was always called this by his Tennessee family, but everyone in Indiana called him Bill.

"Wibby" Warren, my Dad, with my mother's nephews, Mike & Dan, long before I was born

When Dad married my mother he called home and said, "Get the cradle out, I'm bringing home a wife." My mother was not pregnant and on top of this, he had told my mother that he was adopted. He wasn't. Imagine everyone's surprise when she brought this up to his sisters and mother. Grandmother in a half-way teasing voice said , "Law, if he weren't mine, I'd a'never taken him!"

Lillian and Wilburn Warren in Tennessee early in their marriage

Besides leaving the bosom of his family and never moving back home, (which most of them never left Wayne County, Tennessee,) he brought home a strange "Northern" woman with a Minnesota/Scandinavian accent. Pauline's second child was a worry to her from early on.

Sue Warren (Morris) with my mother, Lillian Warren in Tennessee

A year later after Wilburn was born, she would have another child, Melba Sue, and then she got a reprieve from being pregnant for eight years. Alton Lee wouldn't be born until 1942. Alton would suffer from "spells" (epilepsy) until he died in 2008. He was my Grandmother's "baby."

Linda Ann, the youngest of Pauline's and Roy's children

Two years later the last child which she would be pregnant with, Linda Ann, would come to live with the Warrens, but she would not be the last child Pauline kept in her home. All of these children called her "Mama," including her grandchildren, and she worked hard both at home and at her jobs. When her daughter Nell married young, had a daughter, Gayla Paulette, divorced and then married Rob Davis, Gayla came to live with her grandparents and didn't move back with her mother until later. Gayla would always call her grandmother, "Mama."

All of the Warrens: L to R back: Alton Lee, Wilburn & Lillian, Pauline, Roy, Rob & Nell. L to R front: Linda Ann, Gayla, Sue

She worked 24 years at the shoe factory, GENESCO, in Wayne County, Tennessee. She was not without hobbies though, and sewed, crocheted, played mean games of ROOK and BINGO, and loved fishing more than anything else.

Through both her marriages (my Granddaddy Roy died in 1972 and she married Hiluard A. Pope in 1976 who died in 2002) she fished whenever possible. The early years would be on the "river"--Buffalo River or Tennessee River--near Clifton, Tennessee, and the family homeplace and then she fished the Atlantic Ocean when her husband, H.A., would take her to Florida for deep sea fishing.

Nothing was better than fishing, and I think she didn't even care if she got to eat the catfish, brim,bass or perch that they caught. Her hushpuppies were renown, though, and she could not only bait her own hook, but could expertly clean and cook her catch, too. Later when she no longer could go fishing, it was a treat to go to local establishments to eat fish and remember "good times" on the river.

Part 2 of Pauline's Story

Drawing from Your Everyday Life

2011-07-15T00:07:00.000-04:00

This is a tree in our backyard. I know it's hard to see, but it's carved with "T 'heart symbol' D." When we first moved here fifteen years ago, I imagined all kinds of scenarios because I knew the names of all the people who lived in this house before us, and none of them were a T or D. Also, they bought the land from farmers to build this house--the house had only been there for two years. I figured I would never know the "rest of the story" of the romantic tree.

Then, one day, a man stopped by. He seemed a little embarrassed and said to me, "Several years ago I was dating a woman and we came to this land and carved our initials on a tree in your backyard. Is it still there?"

I assured him the tree was still there and the initials were still visible.

He smiled and said, "Let me explain. I asked her to marry me there and we carved that into the tree. At the time no one lived here, and there were more trees on this lot. We asked the owner to sell us this land to build a house. He wouldn't sell. Then, years later he did sell it to a couple, not us. We bought land over the ridge there and built a house there. We're actually your neighbors now. I'm Tim. My wife, Debbie, is in the car. We were wondering...could we go back there, take a photo by the tree? It's our anniversary."

Well, what would you say?

I didn't even peek, though my extreme curious nature wanted to take notes, ask more questions and yes, take a photo. It was a private moment for them and I wasn't going to spoil the moment. I later got to know them better and they are a nice couple. But how often do you actually get to know the rest of the story? A love story!

I make up stories, have friends who make up stories. Do you ever take one of those true life moments and make up a story from it? If you are a writer, you will use everything from your life that intrigues you. Things like this can launch a novel.

This week I decided I needed to look around me more for things like this, so I took this photo--almost too late, as it's getting rather grown out. I'm going to be a lot more aware of these interesting little tidbits that would fire my imagination. My little life right here in Bird's Nest, Indiana. My life. It's what I know best but tend to take for granted. No more.

By the way, my real home is not Bird's Nest. I made that up. But it really looks like Bird's Nest, Indiana here. The town has sprung up around that tree. That very romantic tree. Can you see it?

Do you have a true life tidbit that has launched a story for you? What sort of prompts do you use?

Posting at The Barn Door Today

2011-07-14T10:33:00.000-04:00

Go over The Barn Door today to read about my Midwest Writer's Dream Office Come True.

Winner of Benevolence by Teena M. Stewart

2011-06-24T11:49:00.000-04:00

Winner of the book, Benevolence: Ministering to the Poor and Needy by Teena M. Stewart, is Lorlynn! And I also drew a second winner whom I will send a copy of the book to, as well, is Christa! Look for my email asking for your addresses.

Do go check out Teena's book and do consider donating to or visiting Java Journey. Find ways to be benevolent in your life!

Benevolence: Ministering to the Poor and Needy--Do You Have the Tools Necessary?

2011-06-16T12:51:00.001-04:00

Teena has been my long time friend and critique partner, as well as someone who has co-authored columns with me. We have been in a group of friends/writers for many years and know each other's secrets, pains and joys. Not only is she gifted in many areas of writing and art, but she and her pastor husband, Jeff, have been involved with ministries their whole married life and now are running the innovative Java Journey, a coffee house ministry in Hickory, North Carolina full of life, art, music and people. If you're in the neighborhood, do stop by! (Tell 'em Crystal sent you!)

She just published another book with Beacon Hill Press called Benevolence: Ministering to the Poor and Needy, and she also will give away a copy to one commentator here, which I will draw from on this blog. Leave your questions and comments below and your contact email and this weekend I'll draw one name to give to Teena (she will send it out early next month.) If you have trouble posting, email me at crystal.mrsinewaATgmailDOTcom with your email and comment and I'll enter you and send your comment to Teena. YOU MUST sign your comment if sent by email. Please leave your email on comments below.

Many people want to help others, but do not always have the know-how of what to do. Ministry or benevolence teams go through many starts and stutters, burning out in the process, and Teena has much experience in how to avoid pitfalls and well-intentioned mishaps. This book will help you, your church or group to find ways to minister in effective and healthy ways. I asked her some questions to help us to understand just what it's all about.

Author and My Friend, Teena M. Stewart

In Benevolence, Teena Stewart shows us how to start a benevolence reserve in a church, helps us recognize charity opportunities, considers how different ministries can work together, and gives us ideas on how to manage those benevolence opportunities and ministries. With this book, learn everything you need to know about starting and keeping a ministry going.

Teena realizes, and points out in this book, that benevolence is a practiced, harnessed skill and one that needs accountability, and will change our lives. The truth is that we do have the capabilities, organization, and passion to start a benevolence ministry; it's just a matter of keeping it.

Crystal: What motivated you to write this book?

Teena: At the time this book was conceived I was on staff at Northgate Christian Fellowship Church in the San Francisco Bay area. I saw the needs of the hurting and broken as they came in or called in and how they were handled. I also helped organize a special event where we coordinated multiple opportunities for our church members to get involved in area charities and service projects. I learned volumes.

People often want to help the needy or local charities but do not know who to help, or how to go about it in a healthy way. Individuals might give money to someone in need in order to cleanse their conscience but without thought to whether it will truly help them or not. I am a natural encourager and equipper and I wanted to share my knowledge regarding how individuals and churches could have a positive impact on helping hurting people.

CLM: Why should we care about the poor and needy?

TMS: Many people claim to follow the teachings of Christ. A sign of Christian maturity is our willingness to look beyond our own needs to care for the needs of others. Scripture references more than 2,000 passages regarding the poor and needy. Giving back is clearly important to God.

Teena (third from left) has been a part of service and ministry since she was small. This is Teena's Baptist GA group as a young girl

CLM: What has your present work for a women’s rescue mission taught you about helping the needy?

TMS: I have worked in a number of capacities at Safe Harbor Rescue Mission in Hickory, NC, most currently as their Resource Warehouse and Gallery Director. The experience has been amazing. I’ve learned so many things. First, that sometimes people have landed in difficult life circumstances because they had no choice. Some have had really difficult upbringings. In other cases it is because of poor choices. Sometimes they remain broken or in need because of emotional illness or physical disabilities. It has taught me to look at the underprivileged and hurting with new eyes. It used to be I would see a homeless person and think, “why don’t you just get a job?” Now I look at them and consider the myriad of things that may have brought them to that point. I’ve also learned how many hands it takes to turn one life around.

CLM: Tell us a little more about your book.

TMS: I spent a lot of time interviewing different people involved in benevolence ministry for this book. So you will find those accounts in the book. The book also includes advice for developing benevolence teams and boards, sample mission statements of charitable ministries, guidelines, policies and procedures for handling benevolence needs, resources, outreach ideas, promotional ideas. It also has an appendix of benevolence resources, and chapter questions to help readers reflect on best benevolence practices related to benevolence ministry.

CLM What is the exact book title and where can people purchase it?

Benevolence: Ministering to the Poor and Needy by Teena M. Stewart

TMS: It is called Benevolence: Ministering to the Poor and Needy by Teena M. Stewart (Beacon Hill, 2011) and you can find it at most book stores including online entities such as amazon.com or on the Nazarene Press website .( It is available after June 1, 2011.)

TEENA M. STEWART has served in ministry leadership for years, most recently at Northgate Christian Fellowship in Benicia, California and at Java Journey Coffee Shop Ministry in Hickory, North Carolina where she and her husband, Jeff, an ordained minister, currently serve in market place ministry. Stop in for discussions on all of life's issues and a good cup of coffee your way!

Java Journey on Facebook.

Teena's published articles have appeared in Leadership, Discipleship Journal, Ministry Magazine and many other publications. Book credits include Successful Small Groups from Concept to Practice (Beacon Hill), co-authoring The World's Easiest Pocket Guide to Money and Marriage with Jeff Stewart and Larry Burkett and contributions to several anthologies, most recently Follow Your Dreams (Thomas Nelson.)

For more info on Teena's writing visit http://www.teenastewart.com where she has also designed logos for writers, web sites and can do any writing services.

Teena is also an artist and jewelry designer. Visit her art website at http://www.serendipitini.com. I happen to own several of her jewelry pieces, which are beautiful! Do go check this out and do contact Teena if you'd like to commission a piece of jewelry or art.

In addition, she has used her administrative and creative skills to oversee and launch Safe Harbor Rescue Mission's Resource Warehouse and Gallery.

The Java Journey 2011 from Jeff Stewart on Vimeo.

First Lines and How They Get Your Readers

2011-06-08T05:00:00.010-04:00

My latest WIP and opening line

First lines. Who loves them? Sometimes we've been told to wait until you've written the whole book before writing that opening.And yes, it could mean the difference between a rejection from an editor or agent, or a request for a whole manuscript. So, I think about this often for not just my manuscripts, but also anyone's manuscript that comes across my desk.

Noah Lukeman has a whole chapter about adjectives/adverbs in his book, The First Five Pages: A Writer's Guide to Staying Out of the Rejection Pile.He talks about overuse and how you do not want to pepper your manuscript with them. He says just cut them. But he also says to replace common ones with unusual ones. Get ones that draw attention. Strengthen your nouns and verbs. Or substitute a comparison, analogy or metaphor. Use this advice for your opening lines, too.

I decided to look at some books I pulled off my shelf. Try it with your favorite authors, too. Mary Connealy is one of my favorite authors and here are some openings of her books:

Montana Rose: "Cassie wanted to scream, Put down that shovel!"

Petticoat Ranch: "Sophie heard God in every explosion of thunder as she listened to the awesome power of the approaching storm."

Petticoat Ranch was one of her early books. Montana Rose came later. Can you see a difference in the openings?

This is from Gingham Mountain: "Martha had an iron rod where most people had a backbone."

She sure can tell a story and she pulls me in every time. I'm anxious to get into some I haven't been able to read yet because I've been doing a lot of judging and book reviews for magazines.

Can you choose a book to share from the opening? I think writers often choose books differently than just straight readers. We have a whole set of criteria that intrudes into our selection process. So tell me, does a first line or opening scene clench the choice? Or is it something else? Here are some others I pulled from the shelf. Do any of these grab you or would it be the author or genre that would be your first criteria?

By Darkness Hid by Jill Williamson (Blood of Kings Book 1):
"Achan stumbled through the darkness toward the barn. The morning cold sent shivers through his threadbare orange tunic."

Missing Max by Karen Young:
" They say people have a premonition about calamity before it strikes. But Jane Madison felt only irritation when her cell phone rang as she waited in the Mardi Gras crowd to order shrimp po' boys."

She Walks in Beauty by Siri Mitchell:
"'Get dressed, Clara. In your visiting costume. We are going out.' My aunt's words were at once both commanding and precise--as precise as her posture: a series of ninety-degree angles, seated upon one of my bedroom chairs."

Almost Forever by Deborah Raney:
"Bryn drew the queen of diamonds from the stack of playing cards on the wobbly table between her and Charlie Branson. The grizzled Vietnam vet eyed her from his wheelchair as she discarded an ace."

A Woman Called Sage by DiAnn Mills:
"Life didn't get any better than having the love of a good man and his baby kicking against her ribs. Add a summer breeze to cool the heart of a southern Colorado sun and a bed of soft green grass tickling her feet, and Sage felt a slice of heaven had come to earth."

Lukeman points out these things that could draw a rejection for your manuscript: (And realize that he is speaking about the first five pages:)
1. A weak opening hook.
2. Overuse of adjectives and adverbs.
3. Flat or forced metaphors or similes.
4. Melodramatic, commonplace or confusing dialogue.
5. Uneven pacing and lack of progression.

While openings are only one portion of the entire manuscript, you usually only get one shot at the first few pages to attract attention. Here's the other thing we didn't talk about yet--sometimes the opening which caught the agent/editor's eye to start will get changed before it's published. (Yeah, it happens. Go figure!)

All this isn't written in stone, but seeing many openings of published books shows you how it has been done by those who are published. When you pick up a book in the bookstore, Steve Laube, a bookstore manager-turned-editor-turned agent, says you only have a scant few seconds to capture that reader before he puts down your book and picks up the next one. There is something to writing that opening paragraph. Once you've written your book, go back and look over your opening with fresh eyes before sending it out. Get Lukeman's book and work on his exercises. Run your opening past a few people who know nothing about your book to test it.

Are you trying to pick your next book to read? Want to entice us with your own book (published or unpublished?) Throw out a few sentences to let us pick!Throw us the opening sentence or especially if you're trying to decide.

The First Five Pages: A Writer's Guide to Staying Out of the Rejection Pile by Noah Lukeman is a book for every writer's shelf, so be sure to get a copy.

See my posts at Hoosier Ink, along with other Hoosier Writers.

Those Opening Lines

Dark Secrets, or Just a Simple Question of What Street Did You Live On?

2011-05-15T18:30:00.000-04:00

In the past I've revealed my mother's family's dark secret--that her grandfather was a harsh man who never mourned his children he had put into harm's way. He drove his wife to shamefully filing for divorce at the turn of the century by his cruelty to her. That wasn't a common occurrence where the woman left the man and divorced him. One other daughter was committed to one of the first mental institutions after the death of her brother and sister and her father's cruelty. These mental institutions sprang up after Dorothea Dix fought for better care for the mentally ill.

My Pierson family at the turn of the century, my Grandfather Aaron is on the back row

Here (above) is the official family portrait of a hardworking farm family and it is missing a couple people--Oscar, who died in the barn fire, and Esther who died when she was overworked by her father by lifting pails of sand from the well. She died from a ruptured spleen the next day. The one lone son on the back row is my grandfather, Aaron. The daughter who would have a breakdown not long after this, Ellen, is directly behind her father. The portrait even looks as if there are missing people.

I have a similar photo of my grandmother's family. These long ago photographs are posed, and they would have to hold still for a while. They were directed not to smile, but still, there is a stark contrast in the two families. In the Pierson portrait, when I study their faces, knowing what their family was going through, I see pain and sadness. Maybe bitterness. (Above.)

My Thompson family in Minnesota,Grandmother Anna is the tow-headed girl on the front row. Aunt Mina, a storyteller and writer, is the oldest daughter on the back row.

I have been told lots of sad stories from my grandmother's side, too, but they were a happy,faith-filled, giving family with many people bearing witness to their many kindnesses to people--with even many stories of kindness/neighborliness to the Indians on a nearby reservation,(the people who were despised by many at the time, especially local people who remembered the uprisings.) Look at my great-grandfather's face, Bernt Thompson. (He the one with sparkling, friendly eyes on the front row.) I want to know him immediately. I wish I had known him.

The smallest child, and only tow-headed blonde in this family, is my grandmother, Anna Thompson, who was "stolen" for a day by the local Chippewa medicine man, Mickinock, when she was just a few days old. He said wanted to show his friend's blonde-headed baby off to his people. Notice how her mother lovingly cradles her hand and leans in. This was the family who helped young Aaron Pierson (my grandfather) when his first wife died.

These are the people, the Thompsons, who tucked Aaron from the first portrait safely into their family and cared for his five children, as he struggled to hang onto his farm in those mournful days after his first wife's death. And their youngest daughter, Anna, two years later, is whom he fell in love with, married, had five more children with, and cherished, until her dying day. My mother was only five-years-old when Anna died from tuberculosis. But before that happened, Anna allowed Aaron's children from his first marriage to name their youngest daughter, who was my mother. They picked their dead baby sister's name, Lillian Arlene. My mother would say (with a smile) later that it was tough, or maybe just strange, to see her own name on that baby's tombstone.Technically, my grandfather's first wife named my mother! But bonds were made this way.

What stories are being told in your family? In our family we love to tell stories. We laugh about the funny things that have happened, and miss the people who are gone. My kids know about great-grandfather Aaron and the wolf thrown over his shoulder, the time the bull charged him and he flipped him over his head, and a whole bunch of stories displaying his sense of humor. It is important for us to tell stories. It is the best gift you can give to those around you.

Maybe you are grasping for hope right now. Maybe you are like Aaron, bitter and angry at someone in your family, mourning someone lost. Many of Aaron's sisters died, he blamed himself for his brother Oscar's death because he was gone that day, his first wife died from a tubular pregnancy just a year after they had lost a baby. He was left alone with five small children in harsh Minnesota.

Just when he was desperate and didn't know what to do with his children, along came the Thompsons to help their brother in Christ and neighbor. Did Aaron pray to God to help him? I think he probably did, as he was known as a man of God in his church and community. I have his English Bible a well-worn book (He was Swedish, but insisted on learning English.) I'm sure things seemed pretty desperate before they got better.

You have to tell your stories. Garrison Keillor says,"We need to write, otherwise nobody will know who we are." If someone had not written down these stories that passed on to me (Aunt Mina,) and if my mother had not told the stories to me as a small child,maybe I would've never known.

I wouldn't know that I came from people who came through hard times, and could go on. These are more precious to me than anything and it helps me to know that God has a plan if we only open our hearts to Him. If you don't know your ancestors' stories, that is ok. Tell YOUR stories, the things that you have come through, the things that make you smile and cry, the pain mixed with the pleasures and joy.

Most of my own stories are set in rural and small town Indiana. While my mother's people came from Sweden/Norway/Maine/Minnesota, were Lutheran and Seventh Day Adventist, and my dad's people came from England/Ireland/Scotland/Virginia/North Carolina/Tennessee and were Southern Baptist and Cherokee, my parents met in Indiana and that's where I met my husband and we had our four boys.

Your story could've started in one place and ended up in another. It doesn't matter. Write down some of that story today. My mother and dad have been dead for over ten years now and there are still questions hanging that I didn't ask. Make a list of questions you want to ask and then ask--before it's forgotten and hard to track down.

The Millers, (their dad took the photo) a few years back, on their great-grandparents/grandparents porch in Indiana

Don't forget to to stop by The Barn Door, where I am also a contributor.

Win One for the Gipper

2011-05-11T10:00:00.001-04:00

I'm posting today over at Hoosier Ink, THE official blog of the ACFW Indiana Chapter. Go over and check out the many great writers there.

Who is your most inspiring writing coach and what's the hardest lesson he/she's taught you on the field?

Ellie Kay once asked this question and it was tough question and memory-producer by the sheer act of posing a question. Most inspiring? Sigh. Many inspiring coaches. Hardest lesson?? Ack! Who wants to recall the “agony of defeat?” But that comes along with “the thrill of victory” (you have to be old to know where I got all of these quotes…)

I’ve played sports most of my life. Not very well, mind you, and I’ve also coached teams (and was paid.) I coached one team that won the girls' city track and field championships. One of my girls I worked with in physical education classes later went on be a state HS and college women’s standout in basketball. (But she was good, and all I did was encourage her, even though I teased it was all of those basketball scrimmages I played with her.)

I have my favorite teams and sports to watch and play, and get this, I wanted to be a sports newspaper writer when I graduated from college. In fact in high school I was the sports editor—the first female sports editor—of my high school newspaper, The Clan Courier. It was my sports writing that won me a journalism scholarship to Ball State University.

I also wrote the copy for a two page-sports spread in our high school yearbook. It was all about girls getting into organized sports, something that was new to our high school and the state, and about sweating. So, when you think of a coach, you might think I would say my best coach was some sports coach I had.

I can name one coach in sports who motivated and inspired me. But this question was about my best coaches in writing, and I have two standouts in this field who coached me and taught me the tough lessons. They taught me to pick my mouse up, get my fingers back on the keyboard, rewrite, and go on (wiping all that blood off the monitor.)The hardest fought and learned lessons for me seem to be echoed in the words from a golf coach: “Wipe the blood off--and continue.” Didn’t know golf could be bloody, huh? Well, yeah, even golf can leave a scar.

Dr. Dennis E. Hensley was my first official writing coach, when at age 40 I decided I wanted to try writing again and get back into the game professionally. He not only taught us about writing, but made us critique in the circle of doom with our classmates. (Ooooo. Scary. Ask Diann Hunt about it.) He also made us submit our work for publication as part of the class assignments (professional writing course.) It is one thing to turn in a paper for a grade, but it is quite an experience submitting your work to an editor. And critique is tough, but Doc taught me how to take critique. And from whom to take it, which is just as important.

Fiction is my first love and that was my first class with “Doc.” We experimented with all sorts of fiction assignments, and in one assignment, it wasn’t in the classroom where I got my first major critique, but on a break in the hallway early on in the semester course. On that now-burned-into-my-emotional-memory-banks evening, I chatted with classmates trying to get to know them in the 7th-inning stretch of the class. I got a drink of water from the fountain, and was strolling back to the classroom, when Doc stopped me in the hallway. He moved into my “personal space” and came within inches of my face.

Now, I had heard all kinds of stories about Doc Hensley. One was that he hated it if you were late, and would lock you out of the class. Another was that he had fought in and survived Vietnam. So, here he was within inches of my face, and all I had at that point were hearsays about him. It was a tense moment--wannabe writer eyeball-to-eyeball with the legendary Doc Hensley. I decided to stand my ground and not move. Good grief, I had survived worse, I reasoned in my mind. Being raised up with boys, having my own 4 boys and marrying into a family with mostly males, being the first female sports editor, first female on an all-male school board...plus, being a trapshooter, when it was still male-dominated, amongst other heinous acts of survival. I had learned to never give up an inch of ground when confronted.

“I haaaaate you," he said. Yeah. Right in my face. I'm sure I blinked.

Whoa.

Well, I couldn’t help it, even though I hesitated a second. I laughed. Right out loud.

“Ok, Dr. Hensley…why do you hate me--exactly?” I thought I saw a glint of humor in his eye.

“For what you did to me in that story. You tricked me.”

I was thrilled. He actually knew my story and that I wrote it! I didn’t even think he knew my name. But he sure knew my story.

“What do you think I should do differently?”

And so he coached me through what was wrong. He showed me how I could do it right, and he let me rewrite. And I did it again until he, as the reader/editor, was satisfied with it. I learned a lot about critique in that first personal reader confrontation.

A good coach not only makes you get up again, but makes you do it right. He finds a way to jolt you into reality and then, makes you do it again until you can do it. It’s not enough to just tell you something is wrong. It’s not enough to make you do it over and over, or punish you, because you could just be repeating the same wrong move again and again. A good coach MOTIVATES you to do it beyond of which you even think you are capable.

Since that early meeting on the playing field with Doc Hensley, I have learned so many things from him in writing and perseverence. But that first shock and awe of meeting face-to-face and toe-to-toe with one of the best coaches I’ve ever had was memorable—and we laugh about it even years later.

I really cannot leave this question without acknowledging another coach who has taught me many lessons in writing, and some really tough lessons, too. Terry Whalin was one of the first editors I ever "faced" at a writer's conference. I had written a few articles and had a nonfiction women's humor book I was hoping to sell. That manuscript met with a lot of rejections, but not so much because it was bad, as I didn't have the credentials or the platform from which to write it.

Essentially, Terry Whalin was the first to sit me down on the bench. Even though he rejected the manuscript,he's not the kind of editor, writer, teacher, coach who leaves writers without good, solid advice and plenty of encouragement to continue on.Get back in the game, Crystal!

Most importantly, he taught me that just because an editor rejects your work, (pretty hard lesson, even for the toughest among us,)this doesn't mean that's the end of the road for either the editor/writer relationship, or the manuscript.

Years later he encouraged me to break up that rejected manuscript into articles, other types of pieces, and send it out some more, and that was after I'd placed it into some long-ago-pushed-to-the-back file. Because I continued to listen to editors and their comments, and even an agent who rejected me (on that same manuscript,) I still have relationships with these people and have even done work for them. That is mostly due to Terry Whalin, who continues to ask about my writing and to encourage my work. (And I'm not the only one by a long shot.)

These people and so many more now, show me how to deal with rejection and losses and how important relationships are.

Never give up. Keep knocking on doors. Onward.

Writing is a very tough business. Even the best need help with their manuscripts, and even the most published continue to get rejections. I know this now.

These two coaches are effective in their coaching because they've been through almost every kind of playing situation that can be thrown at a writer. And what makes their coaching inspirational is that they care about the players (writers)and know how to motivate and teach.

While they aren't afraid to call a player out and deal with him, they also care about the player so much that they push him to the best that he can be. That's what your next editor, or if you're looking for an agent, the next agent who reads your proposal can be. Or maybe it will be that published author who takes interest in your work or a really good critique partner.

Tough lessons. Tough coaches. I count many now among my friends, and as well as count them as my mentors.

So, who is your most inspiring coach, and what hard lesson did he/she teach you?

Pearl Girls™ : Each Life is Unique by Lucinda Secrest McDowell

2011-05-08T00:01:00.003-04:00

Each Life is Unique by Lucinda Secrest McDowell

“God’s divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness. II Peter 1.3 (NIV)

Moms, God wants you to know that He has given you everything you need for life --- your unique life. He does not plan to give you what you might need to live the life of your best friend, or your neighbor, or even your favorite mother-model. No, God has called you to the life that He planned. I suspect that for most of us, it didn’t turn out to be the life we thought it might be… so long ago when we were young and dreaming of ‘growing up.’

On Mother’s Day I often recall my own dreams to one day be a mother. I grew up playing with dolls and looking to my own Mama as a model for that particular role in life. However, by the time I reached my thirties I was still not a mother! God did, however, have a plan. It just wasn’t what I imagined.

My own unique life would find me becoming a mother through the adoption of my first three children who were ages 9, 7 and 4; and then much later giving birth to our fourth child. Of course I was shocked when God revealed this to me, but I was ecstatic as well. It’s as though I could hear Him saying, “Well, you’re not getting any younger so I’m just going to just give you a jump start with three at one time!”

A huge blessing! A huge adjustment! A joy and a struggle. Change is often like that, isn’t it? We finally get what we want then we have to deal with it. May I just offer a bit of advice if you just got a great answer to prayer, but perhaps not in the way or form you imagined? Just receive it. Embrace it. And be willing to move forward into a new paradigm for your life. So what if you’re not like all the other mothers you know? So what if you’re not like your own mother? So what if your family unit is different? I guarantee God has a plan.

Not only did he want me to embrace my own story, but He called me as a mother to do perhaps one of the most important tasks of all --- to nurture my children to live their own unique lives. Not for me to try and squeeze them into what I hoped and dreamed they would be. Not for me to try and live my life through them. But to recognize how God made them, gifted them, and called them to their own special place.

All of my 4 kids are different from one another. Let’s take sports, for instance: I have one child who wins gold medals in international tennis competition, one who is a born equestrian, another who competes nationally in obstacle course shooting matches, and yet another who manages to dance onstage in 3 inch heels, do cartwheels and splits while singing at the same time. Now, honestly, I do none of these things. And yet they do.

I don’t remember placing my order with God for these things. But I do remember when that tennis player turned 9 years old and I enrolled him in Special Olympics for the first time and how it changed his life… and ours. I remember getting a counselor job at an exclusive summer camp so that my daughter could take English riding classes. I remember being a Cub Scout leader (even though I knew nothing about boys) so that son could one day become an Eagle scout and pursue his love of the great outdoors. And yes, I remember enrolling my preschooler in dance lessons. Later when all the little girls were scared to go on stage for the recital, she exclaimed that she had endured a whole year of lessons just so she could go on stage.

Don’t compare yourself to someone else. And don’t live vicariously through your favorite reality show star. Live your own story. And Moms, raise your kids to embrace the unique life God has for them.
Remember, He has given us everything we need for life!

Lucinda Secrest McDowell, a graduate of Gordon-Conwell Seminary, is the author of 10 books including “Role of a Lifetime,” “Amazed by Grace,” “Spa for the Soul” and the new Bible Study “Fit and Healthy Summer.” She is an international conference speaker and enjoys being a Pearl Girl from “Sunnyside” – her home in a New England village. Visit Cindy at www.EncouragingWords.net

Pearl Girls™ : What is a Grandmother? by Suzanne Woods Fisher

2011-05-07T00:01:00.003-04:00

Welcome to Pearl Girls™ Mother of Pearl Mother's Day blog series. The series is week long celebration of moms and mothering. Each day will feature a new post by some of today's best writer's (Tricia Goyer, Megan Alexander, Suzanne Woods Fisher, Beth Engelman, Holley Gerth, Shellie Rushing Tomlinson, and more). I hope you'll join us each day for another unique perspective on Mother's Day.

AND ... do enter the contest for a chance to win a beautiful hand crafted pearl necklace. To enter, just {CLICK THIS LINK} and fill out the short form. Contest runs 5/1-5/8 and the winner will on 5/11. Contest is only open to US and Canadian residents.

If you are unfamiliar with Pearl Girls™, please visit www.pearlgirls.info and see what we're all about. In short, we exist to support the work of charities that help women and children in the US and around the globe. Consider purchasing a copy of Pearl Girls: Encountering Grit, Experiencing Grace or one of the Pearl Girls™ products (all GREAT Mother's Day gifts!) to help support Pearl Girls.

And to all you MOMS out there! Happy Mother's Day!

What is a Grandmother? by Suzanne Woods Fisher

“A grandmother is a little bit parent, a little bit teacher, and a little bit best friend.”
Amish proverb

I arrived late in the night in Rhode Island, anxious to meet my two-day-old grandson, Blake, after a full day of flying. My daughter and son-in-law had just returned home from the hospital and felt like they had been in a train wreck. There was stuff everywhere. Already, the needs of this little eight-pound bundle of joy were enormous: an all-terrain stroller, plenty of diapers, onesies, spit-up rags, an assortment of pacifiers to try out until he found the ideal one.

And he was perfect.

I know, I know. “Every mother crow thinks her own little crow is the blackest.” But this little dark eyed, dark haired boy really was perfect.

I spent the next seven days (and nights) getting to know this little guy. His schedule (he had none), his hunger cries (very similar to his every other cry). His pirate look--one eye open, one eye squeezed shut, as if he was still surprised by all that had taken place to him in a week’s time.

I felt surprised, too. How could my baby possibly have had a baby? How could I be a grandmother? I had just turned fifty-one. Shockingly young! How could a kid like me give up playing tennis three times a week to settle into knitting and crocheting and Friday night bingo? And shouldn’t I alter my appearance to fit this new label? Give up my jeans? Switch over to below knee-length calico dresses, thick black socks, practical shoes, gray hair pinned in a topknot. Think…Aunt Bee on Mayberry R.F.D.

As soon as people knew my daughter was expecting, I was bombarded with advice from my well meaning friends—even those who weren’t yet grandparents. “The best way to avoid getting on the nerves of your daughter and son-in-law is to not say anything. Ever.” Or “You’d better pick your nickname or you’ll be stuck with something hideous, like MooMoo Cow.”

What should I be called? Granny? No…reminded me of The Beverly Hillbillies. Grandma? No…sounded like The Waltons. Grammy? No…it was already taken by the in-laws.

But no one really explained what it meant to be a grandmother. I didn’t know myself, not until I held baby Blake in my arms. In that moment, I realized that he was one of mine. He belongs to me. He will be on my mind and in my prayers, every day, for the rest of my life. There’s a bond between us that can’t be broken. He has altered my life forevermore.

I had become a grandmother.

Suzanne Woods Fisher is the bestselling author of The Choice, The Waiting, and The Search, as well as nonfiction books about the Amish, including Amish Peace. Her interest in the Anabaptist cultures can be directly traced to her grandfather, W. D. Benedict, who was raised in the Old Order German Baptist Brethren Church in Franklin County, Pennsylvania. Benedict eventually became publisher of Christianity Today magazine. Suzanne is the host of a radio show called Amish Wisdom and her work has appeared in many magazines. She lives in California. www.suzannewoodsfisher.com

Pearl Girls™ : When Mother's Day is Difficult by Holley Gerth

2011-05-06T00:01:00.003-04:00

When Mother's Day is Difficult by Holley Gerth

I have a confession (anyone surprised?). I have mixed feelings about Mother’s Day.

On one hand, I love celebrating all the women who have made a difference in my life (thanks, Mom!).

On the other hand, a long journey of infertility has left my heart with some tender places.

On May 8th, we’ll celebrate Mother’s Day once again. For many, it’s a time of appreciation and joy. For others, it can be one of the most difficult days of the year. This is often true for women facing infertility, families who have recently experienced the loss of a mother, and many other painful situations.

At one point in my life it seemed as if I couldn’t take another step. In addition to infertility, I was facing several other losses. I felt as if I were in a dark cave. But then I sensed the Lord gently and lovingly speak to my heart, “You may be in a cave, but you still have a choice. You can sit in despair or you can diamond-mine your difficulties.” I decided I was not leaving that time in my life empty-handed. I was taking every hidden blessing I could find. Of course, I still had difficult days. But choosing hope made a difference.

As a reminder, I now wear two rings. The one on the fourth finger of my left hand represents my commitment to my husband. The one on the fourth finger of my right hand is a simple silver band inscribed with the word “hope” and it represents the commitment I have made to God and myself to hold onto hope no matter what happens.

The story of an inspiring woman named Terrie also reminds me to hold onto hope. She endured the loss of four pregnancies and waited seventeen years before adopting a little girl. She told me, “I think one of the most important parts of this journey is learning to trust God. I don’t mean the flippant kind of trust. It’s easy for people to say, ‘You just need to trust God.’ It’s much harder when you’re in the middle of all this pain. But he is trustworthy. Through it all, God has given us an amazing story. I wouldn’t have chosen this road, but he has been with us. I can look back and truly say every step was worth it.”

I don’t know how my journey will end and you probably don’t know how yours will either. I also don’t know how many of you will be silently grieving your losses as we sit in church together on May 8th. But I do know that God sees each one of us. He knows how many hairs are on our heads and how many cares our in our hearts. Whatever you’re going through this Mother’s Day, you’re not facing it alone. As King David, a man who experienced many losses in his life, expressed in Psalm 34:18 NIV, “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” May God surround you with love, fill you with hope, and give you strength for each moment—especially this Mother’s Day.

Excerpted from When Mother’s Day is Difficult.

Holley Gerth is an award-winning writer for DaySpring, a cofounder of the popular web site (in)courage, and licensed counselor. Holley loves chocolate, coffee, Jesus and connecting with the hearts of women through words. Her next book, a devotional titled God's Heart for You: Embracing Your True Worth as a Woman (Harvest House) will release this July. You can find Holley online through her blog Heart to Heart with Holley.

Pearl Girls™ : A Mother's Day Wish by Shellie Rushing Tomlinson

2011-05-05T00:01:00.005-04:00

Welcome to Pearl Girls™ Mother of Pearl Mother's Day blog series. The series is week long celebration of moms and mothering. Each day will feature a new post by some of today's best writer's (Tricia Goyer, Megan Alexander, Suzanne Woods Fisher, Beth Engelman, Holley Gerth, Shellie Rushing Tomlinson, and more). I hope you'll join us each day for another unique perspective on Mother's Day.

AND ... do enter the contest for a chance to win a beautiful hand crafted pearl necklace. To enter, just {CLICK THIS LINK} and fill out the short form. Contest runs 5/1-5/8 and the winner will on 5/11. Contest is only open to US and Canadian residents.

If you are unfamiliar with Pearl Girls™, please visit www.pearlgirls.info and see what we're all about. In short, we exist to support the work of charities that help women and children in the US and around the globe. Consider purchasing a copy of Pearl Girls: Encountering Grit, Experiencing Grace or one of the Pearl Girls™ products (all GREAT Mother's Day gifts!) to help support Pearl Girls.

And to all you MOMS out there! Happy Mother's Day!

A Mother's Day Wish by Shellie Rushing Tomlinson

Heads up: Margaret McSweeney deserves a medal, or at least a commendation for giving everyone a much deserved Mother’s Day rest. Okay, y’all can be seated. I’m glad you agree, but you’re supposed to be taking a load off, remember? Oh, and full disclosure—Margaret didn’t know I was going to say that so I hope she leaves it in, and no, I didn’t do it just because I’m ridiculously nostalgic about the theme of her community, although I am. As the Belle of All Things Southern, one who is southern to the bone, I have a thing about pearls.

When I was a teenager, add-a-pearl necklaces were all the rage. They may not be as wildly popular anymore as they were back in the day but I still say they’ll always be a classic concept: a gift of a single pearl on a dainty chain given with the intentions of adding other pearls on important holidays and special occasions. Today, I see add-a-pearls as a beautiful reminder of the accumulated wisdom we learn from our mamas. Oh, sure, we snicker as young girls because not all of their advice strikes us as useful and some of it seems positively fossilized, but hopefully, over time and with the Father’s blessing, we gain enough perspective to see that these mama-isms—the important values and the silly little lagniappe— are all increasing in value with the years. By the way, that’s my Mother’s Day wish for each of you, that we’d each take the time and the responsibility to thread these precious heirlooms into treasures worthy of bequeathing to the next generation. Mother’s Day...

May I be honest? I’m looking ahead to the annual celebration with somewhat mixed emotions. I’m not feeling very Mother of the Year. Instead of cooking dinner for my most deserving mama and enjoying her company, instead of reveling in the love of my husband, kids, and grands, (known as the Baby Czars of All Things Southern), I’ll be on the road, touring with my latest book “Sue Ellen’s Girl Ain’t Fat, She Just Weighs Heavy.” I’ve got Mama’s gift bought, wrapped, and ready to be delivered by my beloved hubby, and my grown kids understand that I didn’t choose the release date, but the facts remain: I won’t be there. (Shameless plugs time, anyone? My daughter blogs at Kitchen Belleicious and is raising funds to build an orphanage in Rwanda at Shelter a Child http://www.shelterachild.com/ and my daughter-in-law celebrates the daily details of getting to know the Holy One at Providence, http://providence-carey.blogspot.com). I won’t get to enjoy Mama tickling the ivory from the piano bench of Melbourne Baptist Church and I won’t be overdosing on baby sugah. Sigh.

But, then, I mentioned mixed emotions earlier, didn’t I? Well, before some sweet soul cues the violin music, perhaps I should lighten up and come clean on what Mr. Harvey would call “the rest of the story.” It so happens that while the 8th of May will find me miles from home, it’ll also find me in Savannah, Georgia where I’ve secured myself a little reservation at that famous establishment belonging to Mrs. Paula Deen, the Queen of Southern Cooking. Indeed, y’all, I’ll be suffering for Jesus at The Lady and Sons. I know. It’s a dirty job, but someone has to do it.

Regardless of where you spend it, I wish you each a Happy Mother’s Day. I’d love to think that everyone reading my words had a mother like mine, a woman of faith who taught me from childhood of the Risen Savior who saves souls and anchors lives. But, dear reader, if that’s not your past, I hope you know it can be your future. I pray you’ll be the one that begins such a legacy, and that you’ll be moved to start building that heritage today.

I’d love to see y’all on the road somewhere. Watch for me, and I’ll watch for you. I’ll be the one with an empty glass of sweet tea looking, always looking, for a refill.

Hugs,
Shellie

Shellie Rushing Tomlinson, known as the Belle of All Things Southern is a radio host, columnist, author, speaker and founder of the All Things Southern online community, www.allthingssouthern.com. She loves meeting, greeting, laughing and learning with the whole wide world or as many who wander her way. Shellie once dreamed of writing great important things that changed the world, only once she started writing the world grinned and christened her a humorist. Shellie saw this as a problem at first, until she discovered that the laughter softens hearts, builds relationships, and invites her into people’s hurting hearts where she can share her own, which is exactly where she wanted to be all along. Look for Shellie’s latest book, Sue Ellen’s Girl Ain’t Fat, She Just Weighs Heavy wherever fine books are sold.

Pearl Girls™ :Adoption, a Mother's Greatest Gift by Tricia Goyer

2011-05-04T13:30:00.000-04:00

Welcome to Pearl Girls™ Mother of Pearl Mother's Day blog series. The series is week long celebration of moms and mothering. Each day will feature a new post by some of today's best writer's (Tricia Goyer, Megan Alexander, Suzanne Woods Fisher, Beth Engelman, Holley Gerth, Shellie Rushing Tomlinson, and more). I hope you'll join us each day for another unique perspective on Mother's Day.

AND ... do enter the contest for a chance to win a beautiful hand crafted pearl necklace. To enter, just {CLICK THIS LINK} and fill out the short form. Contest runs 5/1-5/8 and the winner will on 5/11. Contest is only open to US and Canadian residents.

If you are unfamiliar with Pearl Girls™, please visit www.pearlgirls.info and see what we're all about. In short, we exist to support the work of charities that help women and children in the US and around the globe. Consider purchasing a copy of Pearl Girls: Encountering Grit, Experiencing Grace or one of the Pearl Girls™ products (all GREAT Mother's Day gifts!) to help support Pearl Girls.

And to all you MOMS out there! Happy Mother's Day!

Adoption, a Mother's Greatest Gift by Tricia Goyer

I held the small baby in my arms, wrapped up in a receiving blanket to keep her warm from the chill of the delivery room, and a voice spoke to me. "Congratulations, Mom."

The congratulations came from an unlikely source--the grandmother of this child, the mother of the sweet birth mother who chose adoption for her baby girl.

To say I was overwhelmed is an understatement. Thankfulness filled my heart--to God who'd answered my prayers and to the birth mom who'd chosen our family for her daughter. I also ached that my joy would be another's heartache. Working with teen moms for ten years, I was often an advocate for the young mother. I knew that while the weeks and months ahead would be a time of celebration for our family, they would be ones of heartache and grieving for this woman.

Adoption is a wonder and the beauty, and the sacrifice of it is never so clear as on Mother's Day. My new daughter is one-years-old now and she huge is a part of my heart. Her life is a gift to my days and her smile can make even the most dreary afternoon bright. I can honestly say there is no difference in the love I feel between her and my three other children. If anything the love feels even more special because she was an unexpected gift. John and I learned about her life just 2 ½ months prior to her being born. The years of prayers to expand our family were answered quickly and beautifully.

The sacrifice of adoption makes my heart ache, for I know on this Mother's Day another woman will be thinking about my daughter—her daughter. As I rejoice, I'll be crying tears for her. I'll also be sending up prayers that God will wrap His arms around her in a special way.

This Mother's Day I cannot help to think about Christ's sacrifice to make our adoption into God's family possible. Maybe it's because just a few weeks ago we were celebrating Easter, but I'm reminded anew that my gain required His loss, His pain. The greatest love, it seems, is not shown with flowers, chocolate or a diamond bracelet. The greatest love is shown when, because of your love for another, your desires and comfort are laid down for the greater good of someone else.

As Ephesians 1:3 says, “How blessed is God! And what a blessing he is! He's the Father of our Master, Jesus Christ, and takes us to the high places of blessing in him. Long before he laid down earth's foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love. Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure he took in planning this!) He wanted us to enter into the celebration of his lavish gift-giving by the hand of his beloved Son” (The Message).

Perhaps you know an adoptive mother. Take time this Mother's Day to let her know that the beauty of her gift is not missed by you. Also, take time to thank God for adopting you into His forever family, thanking Jesus Christ for His sacrifice. I wouldn't be the mother I am without this Gift of Love.

Tricia Goyer is the author of twenty-six books including Beside Still Waters, The Swiss Courier, and the mommy memoir, Blue Like Play Dough. She won Historical Novel of the Year in 2005 and 2006 from ACFW, and was honored with the Writer of the Year award from Mt. Hermon Writer's Conference in 2003. Tricia's book Life Interrupted was a finalist for the Gold Medallion in 2005. In addition to her novels, Tricia writes non-fiction books and magazine articles for publications like MomSense and Thriving Family. Tricia is a regular speaker at conventions and conferences, and has been a workshop presenter at the MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) International Conventions. She and her family make their home in Little Rock, Arkansas where they are part of the ministry of FamilyLife. www.triciagoyer.com

Mother's Day Calling: The Story Behind Christine Lindsay's Shadowed in Silk

2011-05-03T20:01:00.005-04:00

Shadowed in Silk by Christine Lindsay (Book cover photo shoot with Birthdaughter, Sarah)

I am deeply honored to announce the release of the ebook, Shadowed in Silk by Christine Lindsay. If you prefer the print book, it will be released later this year (set for September 1st,) but if you cannot wait for this sweeping story of love, honor and revolution, then do get the ebook!
Because I have known Christine since early in her writing journey, I know her writing, yes, but I also have learned of her heart and the stories she has in her life that give such depth and rich characterizations to what she writes. I asked her some questions so you, my friends, could also know more about the heart of Christine Lindsay.
Christine shares about how she first felt the call to write not long after reuniting with her birthdaughter, Sarah. (This also plays into the cover art of Christine's book, Shadowed in Silk.)

Let's read about Christine:

Author Christine Lindsay

Character Abby Fraser from Shadowed in Silk (Christine's birthdaughter, Sarah)

Crystal: Tell us a little about the journey of this particular book. What kinds of God-incidences happened and why is this book, besides being your debut, extra special?:

Christine : The call to write came to me about 12 years ago after I was reunited with my birthdaughter, Sarah. She was my first child, and I had relinquished her to adoption when she was 3 days old. Sarah was 20 when we reunited. God had been so kind to me after I gave up Sarah. He brought the most wonderful man into my life, and blessed my empty arms with 3 more children--kids that I could keep for my very own.

But after my reunion with Sarah I began to relive the original loss of giving her up. The Lord very clearly told me to write out my pain, and after a while Sarah became the muse for my fictional writing. But the journey to grow close to my birthdaughter, and to becoming published was a long and difficult road.

Each time I thought of giving up though, God would do something to encourage me, not only in my growing relationship with Sarah, but also in my writing. He sent fantastic writing mentors to me, like Crystal Miller, whom I dearly love though we've yet to meet in person. One year the Lord arranged for me to win a scholarship to the ACFW conference. And in 2009 He astounded me with the 2009 Genesis award in the historical category.

So though it was hard, He never let me quit. And neither did Crystal. Her editorial critiques were so instrumental in Shadowed in Silk being published.

One of the most exciting moments was when WhiteFire (Publishing) and I discussed models for the front cover. Off-the-cuff I suggested that my birthdaughter might resemble my main character. WhiteFire loved the idea, and in a short period of time it was arranged. It was a hoot arranging the costumes. And Sarah is wearing the sari material I bought in India on a missions trip.

The photo shoot all happened so fast though. It wasn't until later that it dawned on me that our tender-hearted Heavenly Father had tied up the details of my life in such a perfect way.

And all of this was taking place during one of the happiest periods of my life--as I helped my precious daughter Lana prepare for her wedding. It seemed as if God wanted to answer a whole bunch of prayers for me all at once. He left me breathless.

[Read about Christine and Sarah on Christine's blog.]

Sarah, in the sari Christine brought back from her mission in India, which became the cover for her book

Crystal: What’s your favorite part of writing a book?

Christine: Once I've done the hard work of nailing down the first draft, I love the re-writing part, and the re-writing, and the rewrit..... I guess I like polishing.

Crystal: When the well runs dry, how do you recharge your creative energy?

Christine: I'm useless without the Lord. So I either grab my Bible and spend time in prayer, or I go out for a prayer walk to blow the cobwebs away. Or I take a break and read someone else's work.

Crystal : Do you keep regular hours in writing? What’s a typical day when you’re writing?

Christine:At the moment I still work part-time outside the home. But I hope this will be changing soon. On a typical writing day I keep a tight schedule. I have my devotions with a cup of tea at about 7 am, quickly check my email for anything urgent, and then dive into the writing. I need to start writing in the morning. By evening I'm beat.

Crystal: My writing world would be perfect if only….

Christine:...I didn't have to work outside the home. I find it hard to jump into my fictional world unless I can start fresh at it every morning.

Crystal: My best ideas come from…..

Christine: ...My husband, David, is a wealth of brilliant ideas. So much of the military stuff in Shadowed comes from him. He suggested the whole rifle theft idea, and how that sort of theft from a garrison could be arranged. David also goes out and finds me great research material. When we're out driving he helps me unravel plot problems.

Christine's Family at her Daughter Lana's Wedding

Crystal: What do you know now in writing that you wish you had known in the beginning?

Christine: That it takes a lot longer than most of us think to become published. It's been 12 years for me to get to this point. And getting published isn't necessarily a true evaluation of your writing ability. And oh yes, get connected with other writers. Writing is not a solitary business. Join a group like ACFW.

SHADOWED IN SILK

She was invisible to those who should have loved her.

After the Great War, Abby Fraser returns to India with her small son, where her husband is stationed with the British army. She has longed to go home to the land of glittering palaces and veiled women . . . but Nick has become a cruel stranger. It will take more than her American pluck to survive.

Major Geoff Richards, broken over the loss of so many of his men in the trenches of France, returns to his cavalry post in Amritsar. But his faith does little to help him understand the ruthlessness of his British peers toward the Indian people he loves. Nor does it explain how he is to protect Abby Fraser and her child from the husband who mistreats them.

Amid political unrest, inhospitable deserts, and Russian spies, tensions rise in India as the people cry for the freedom espoused by Gandhi. Caught between their own ideals and duty, Geoff and Abby stumble into sinister secrets . . . secrets that will thrust them out of the shadows and straight into the fire of revolution.

About Christine:

Christine with her "helpers"

Christine Lindsay writes historical Christian inspirational novels with strong love stories. She doesn’t shy away from difficult subjects such as the themes in her debut novel SHADOWED IN SILK. Christine’s long-time fascination with the British Raj was seeded from stories of her ancestors who served in the British Cavalry in India. SHADOWED IN SILK won first place in the 2009 ACFW Genesis for Historical under the title Unveiled.

The Pacific coast of Canada, about 200 miles north of Seattle, is Christine’s home. It’s a special time in her life as she and her husband enjoy the empty nest, but also the noise and fun when the kids and grandkids come home. Like a lot of writers, her cat is her chief editor.

Click to PURCHASE Shadowed in Silk for Kindle

Click to purchase ebook Shadowed in Silk for various e-formats for $3.99.

Also available on Barnes & Noble

Pearl Girls™ : Merry Heart by Megan Alexander

2011-05-03T00:01:00.004-04:00

A Merry Heart ... by Megan Alexander

Sometimes family is really all you need. This was reinforced to me when my Mother shared a story a few days ago about her mother, my Grandma. You see, when my Grandma was a very young girl, around age 10, she was diagnosed with polio. This meant long hospital stays, extremely limited interaction with children her own age and lonely days staring out the window from her hospital bed. In those days, with polio, they felt keeping the children very subdued and quiet was best, and this particular hospital was as drab as can be. It was also during the time of the Depression, which meant money was tight and life was tough. Day in and day out, she was given the best medicine and treatment, but she wasn’t thriving and recovering. Daily visits from adult doctors and specialists is not exactly stimulating for a young girl. Her health was so poor, at one point, a Catholic Priest had administered the "last rites" at her bedside.

One day, her older brother and sister decided to sneak some brand new baby kittens into her hospital room. Their cat Fitzy had just had babies, and the cute kittens were small enough to put in a basket. Upon entering her room, my mother says they quietly took off the lid and showed my Grandma the sweet little kittens and let her cuddle with them. Her mother, my Great Grandmother, observed my Grandma’s mood instantly lift. Her eyes sparkled and she squealed with delight at the cute kitties! Her whole demeanor changed and she came to life.

My Great Grandma took all this in and made a decision that day. She decided that my Grandma would heal much better at home. She promptly checked my Grandma out of the hospital and brought her home with her family. My Grandma did gradually recover, among the love and warmth of her family. You know what Proverbs 17 says “ A merry heart does good like a medicine.” Also, I can imagine that she healed emotionally and physically and spiritually as well and that combined strength wouldn't have been possible in the hospital alone.

When they left that day, the hospital instructed my Great Grandmother to massage my Grandma’s legs everyday, something she promised the hospital she would do, and she did. My Grandma was one of the few people we know who did not have a limp or shortened leg due to polio. And perhaps most importantly, the entire family was always praying for my Grandma.

I’m not saying that medicine is bad or not necessary. But there is no cure quite like the warmth of your family. Its like milk, it simply does a body good. As a pregnant Mom about to give birth to a baby boy, I am inspired to provide this same love to my child. May he feel the same warm love from his family that my Grandma felt from her’s.

And in this same way, we are called sons and daughters of God. Galatians 4:1-7
“Now I say that the heir, as long as he is a child, does not differ at all from a slave, though he is master of all, but is under guardians and stewards until the time appointed by the father. Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world. But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, "Abba, Father!" Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.”

God claims you and I as his children. This is a wonderful gift and identity that is good for our heart and soul, and something that is more powerful than all the medicine in the world.

Megan Alexander can be seen nightly as a television correspondent for the top rated news magazine show “Inside Edition”. She also appears on the CNN program “Showbiz Tonight”. She especially enjoys reporting on stories with a heart. She graduated from Westmont College with a degree in Political Science. She loves speaking to youth and works with Girls Inc and National American Miss. She and her husband reside in the New York City area and attend Redeemer Church of Manhattan. For more on Megan, go to www.meganalexander.com. Megan’s mother, Mary, resides in Seattle and provided insight into this essay.

Pearl Girls™ :3 DIY Mother’s Day Gifts that Celebrate Family By Beth Engelman

2011-05-02T00:01:00.004-04:00

Welcome to Pearl Girls™ Mother of Pearl Mother's Day blog series. The series is week long celebration of moms and mothering. Each day will feature a new post by some of today's best writer's (Tricia Goyer, Megan Alexander, Suzanne Woods Fisher, Beth Engelman, Holley Gerth, Shellie Rushing Tomlinson, and more). I hope you'll join us each day for another unique perspective on Mother's Day.

AND ... do enter the contest for a chance to win a beautiful hand crafted pearl necklace. To enter, just {CLICK THIS LINK} and fill out the short form. Contest runs 5/1-5/8 and the winner will on 5/11. Contest is only open to US and Canadian residents.

If you are unfamiliar with Pearl Girls™, please visit www.pearlgirls.info and see what we're all about. In short, we exist to support the work of charities that help women and children in the US and around the globe. Consider purchasing a copy of Pearl Girls: Encountering Grit, Experiencing Grace or one of the Pearl Girls™ products (all GREAT Mother's Day gifts!) to help support Pearl Girls.

And to all you MOMS out there! Happy Mother's Day!

3 DIY Mother’s Day Gifts that Celebrate Family By Beth Engelman

This Mother’s Day, celebrate family with this crafty games the whole family can enjoy.

Block Photo Puzzle
Not only does this 6-sided photo puzzle provide hours of family fun, but it’s also a great way to reuse favorite family photos.

Materials:
•   9 - Wooden Blocks (Use old alphabet blocks)
•   6 - 8 x 10 Photograph Prints or Colored Copies
•   Ruler
•   Scissors
•   Mod Podge and Paintbrush

Directions:
1. Arrange blocks in a square and measure the length and width of the square.
2. Measure and cut print to the exact same size as the 9-block square.
3. Place blocks in a square on top of print. Position blocks so they’re lined up neatly and as close together as possible.
4. Trace and cut the outline of each block.
5. Glue print pieces to blocks using Mod Podge. Set aside to dry and then seal with 1-2 top layers of Mod Podge.
6. Repeat process until all 6 sides of the blocks are covered with different photographs.
Thank you to the creative folks at www.photojojo.com for sharing this idea!

“Go Fish with the Family” Card Game
This gift is perfect for Moms who like card games. Another bonus? There’s always room to “grow” the deck.

Materials:
•   Camera
•   Double stick tape, or a glue stick
•   Several pieces of cardstock (one color)
•   Scissors

Directions:
1.   Take pictures of each family member and develop the pictures in duplicates (3x5 or 4x6 is fine, just make sure all the pictures are the same size).
2.   Turn the pictures into playing cards by gluing or taping a piece of card-stock to the backside of each picture.
3.   Game ideas include “Go Fishing with the Family” which is similar to “Go Fish” but, instead of matching numbers, the object is to collect matching pairs of photos. “Memory” is another fun game to play. Place the cards face down in a grid and try to find matching pairs of photos.

Family Bingo
In my house, Bingo is always a big hit because regardless of age or skill level, everyone has the same chance to win. However this version is extra special because the playing boards are populated with pictures of family members.

Materials:
•   Color Coordinated Game Boards (download here)
•   Images of Family Members (use photographs, drawings or clip art)
•   Bingo Markers (pennies, pebbles or buttons)
•   Glue and Scissors

Directions:
1.   Create the game boards: Download and print desired number of game-boards. Remember each player gets a different game board.
2.   Color-copy and paste images of family members onto each game board. Remember to paste one person per square and make each board slightly different.
3.   Make “call-out cards” by writing the name of each family member in yellow, green, blue, purple and pink (which coordinates with the colors on the board)
4.   To Play: Game play is similar to traditional Bingo except the caller will randomly select a call-out card and then read the color and person. For example, “Blue, Grandma Mary” means there is a picture of Grandma Mary in a blue square. Just like Bingo, the first person to get 5 in a row (horizontally, vertically or diagonally) wins!

Beth Engelman is a columnist for the Sun Times News Group’s Pioneer Press. Her column “Mommy on a Shoestring,” appears in over 30 local papers around Chicago area as well as on the Sun-times website where you can also view her Mommy on a Shoestring video series. She is also a regular on “You and Me this Morning” on WCIU and is frequent contributor for WGN America’s Midday News at Noon. Recently, Beth was chosen by a celebrity panel from NBC Universal and iVillage to become one of 15 national “mom” correspondents for NBC’s popular website, www.ivillage.com (over 3 million visitors a day) where she reports on issues that affect moms, families and communities such as bullying, divorce and weight loss. For more information visit Beth at www.mommyonashoestring.com

Pearl Girls™ Mother's Day Series: Pearl Pins by Margaret Sweeney

2011-05-01T15:26:00.001-04:00

Get your button here

Welcome to Pearl Girls™ Mother of Pearl Mother's Day blog series. The series is week long celebration of moms and mothering. Each day will feature a new post by some of today's best writer's (Tricia Goyer, Megan Alexander, Suzanne Woods Fisher, Beth Engelman, Holley Gerth, Shellie Rushing Tomlinson, and more). I hope you'll join us each day for another unique perspective on Mother's Day.

AND ... do enter the contest for a chance to win a beautiful hand crafted pearl necklace. To enter, just CLICK THIS LINK and fill out the short form. Contest runs 5/1-5/8 and the winner will be drawn on 5/11. Contest is only open to US and Canadian residents.

If you are unfamiliar with Pearl Girls™, please visit www.pearlgirls.info and see what we're all about. In short, we exist to support the work of charities that help women and children in the US and around the globe. Consider purchasing a copy of Pearl Girls: Encountering Grit, Experiencing Grace or one of the Pearl Girls™ products (all GREAT Mother's Day gifts!) to help support Pearl Girls.

PEARL PINS by Chat 'n' Chew Cafe' guest, Margaret McSweeney

At age 49, I am a mom without a mom. This deep longing for my mother continues to surprise me. During milestone moments, I imagine phone conversations with her.

“Can you believe that Melissa is graduating from high school in June? I’m so glad you will be flying to Chicago to be here with us.”

“Wasn’t that a fun family dinner we all had last weekend to celebrate Katie’s ‘sweet sixteen?’ I am so glad you could join us.”

“Isn’t this exciting? I just got a new book contract. Will you please edit my manuscript before I send it in?”

Sadly, this will be my eighth Mother’s Day to spend without my mother. She has missed some poignant milestones in my life and in the lives of my daughters. Both Melissa and Katie were very young when she died so they don’t have a full reservoir of memories about Grandmommy Rhea. However, they do have the legacy of faith that she helped instill in them as toddlers. She loved to send Veggie Tales tapes, Children’s Bibles and devotional books.

Melissa and Katie were blessed to have Nana, (Dave’s mother) around for much longer. Nana passed away two years ago. A few years before Nana died, she gave me a beautiful necklace with a diamond pendant made from her wedding ring along with a pair of diamond earrings. She asked me to give these special gifts to Melissa and Katie for their sixteenth birthdays. Even though Nana wasn’t around to celebrate, my daughters were so happy to receive such special keepsakes from her. Hugs from heaven.

Last week on Katie’s 16th birthday, I discovered an unexpected blessing that had been tucked away in a cardboard container of my mother’s things. A jewelry box with three pearl pins! I gave one to Melissa as a belated 16th birthday gift, and I presented one to Katie for her 16th birthday. This Mother’s Day, I will wear my mother’s pearl pin as a tangible reminder that a mother’s love (and a grandmother’s love) is an everlasting gift from God.

Finding these gifts made me think about what I might leave for my own daughters someday. It isn’t the external value of the gift that matters, but rather the love that it represents.

Is there a special gift or letter that you would like to leave your children?

Margaret McSweeney lives with her husband, David and two teenage daughters in the Chicago suburbs. After earning a master’s degree in international business from the University of South Carolina, Margaret moved to New York City to work at a large bank where she met David. Margaret is the editor of Pearl Girls, author of A Mother’s Heart Knows and co-author of Go Back and Be Happy. Charity and community involvement are very important to Margaret. She has served on the board of directors for WINGS (Women in Need Growing Stronger) for over eight years. For more information, find Margaret at www.pearlgirls.info and www.kitchenchat.info.

Sunday Morning Has Broken: My Faith Journey Part 3

2011-05-01T11:05:00.000-04:00

When my family moved to the country, we were on God's own little green acre. Dad was happy because he could come home to a garden, outdoor grill, neighbors weren't really too close and he could park his semi in the drive with no complaints.

My brother was happy because we lived by a crick (creek) and the kid across the road, who was exactly his age, immediately friended him (Facebook's new word.) They spent the summer doing all things 8-year-old boys do.

I'm not sure about mom, but she did have her own house and she was a country girl at heart, having grown up on a farm. She was driving tractors early in life, taking care of farm animals and she was used to being alone, having been married to my dad for many years. (He was a long-haul trucker.) She seemed happy.

I was 12 and was going to have to ease into this situation. Being the "new" girl comes with all kinds of landmines. And then there was the foreign territory of girl cliques and The Bus. The first few weeks of school were filled with tears for me. Not at school, though. My motto is Never Let Them See You Weep.

First off, I wore the "wrong" kind of socks. I came home and started crying. Mom packed us up and drove to get me the kind "all the girls" wore. Phew. I wasn't used to the way the classroom was set up and I had no idea what my place was. I was smart in book learning and Bible, but I didn't know anything about recesses where the teacher wasn't leading the activity! No soccer or freeze tag. No all for one and one for all recesses where NO ONE WAS ALLOWED to BE EXCLUDED anymore--no sirreeebob. Girls huddled in cloistered groups around the playground. I never realized the freedom my previous school provided. Freedom from hurt, that is.

But what I took care of was making sure no one called me "Crystal." I had seen the last of that name, or so I thought. None of my family called me that (they called me Crissy) and in my last school I'd been called Crystal. (Granted, this name is on my birth certificate--the name my sainted mother gave me.) I told my teacher, Mr. Rosen, that I was Cris, but at the last minute added an "h" to make it really cool. Everyone just accepted it.It was easy.

I missed going to Sabbath school and I missed our daily Bible lesson. I even signed up for a by-mail Bible study correspondence course so I could study on my own. No one talked about Jesus at school. That was strange to me. There was no opening prayer, prayer before lunch, prayer and benediction at the end of the school day. There were no hymns of praise sung in class with the teacher at the piano. There was no mention of God anywhere.

To top this all off my dad told my mother no going to the town so much, so while our old school and church were only 20 minutes away, we only went there for doctors' appointments and shopping. I lost all of my friends. Basically I lost my brother, too. He was now playing everyday sun up to sundown with boys in our country mile. Most of the girls I asked to come outside told me, "I have to wash my hair." This was the 1970s and if you had long hair, it did take all day to wash and dry it. Funny thing was, I had long hair, too. I knew when I was being dissed.

Then, one day someone asked me to come to Sunday school at the little white Christian church across the road. I was starved for hearing the Bible, so I said yes. How bad could it be? I came home and told my mother I was going on Sunday morning to just get her ready for it. The girl who invited me was a cousin to the very young pastor, but she didn't want to go by herself since her family went to church at another denomination in the small town nearby. She wanted to go to the youth group there because of the girls who went to that church. So, off we went on Sunday morning. I walked over and met her at the door.

It was the friendliest place I have ever been to then and now, bar none. The congregation was a mix of elderly, young families and had a group of girls around my age. Besides the pastor's cousin, there were two other girls from my class at school. I think they were just glad to have more people. Most of the families had generations past who started up the church and had built it. And the best part? We heard all about the Bible. The pastor happened to be a graduate of Christian universities, and he was a history teacher by day. He had no problem teaching deep truths of the Bible to our little youth group. The cousin who had invited me went back to church with her family, but I stayed. I was home, cousins or not.

Old to young, those people accepted me as I was. They were nice to my parents who never came to church with me. They were patient when I asked endless questions about doctrine and Bible teachings. But they were practical Christians, too. When my dad had a trailer on his truck and wanted to stop by to spend the night at home, "the church people" said it was ok for him to park in the large churchyard, even if he never darkened the door. And sometimes that meant that his truck was parked there on Sunday morning. And the girls of that youth group there became my best friends forever. While my parents weren't there when I joined the church and was baptized, all of these people were, and my parents loved them for who they were, too. If anyone ever said anything harsh, it wasn't within my hearing. And I had heard enough harsh words from "Christians" to last another lifetime.

This is where I was encouraged to write, too. One of the young mothers, Karen, had a writing contest. She announced it from the pulpit one Sunday morning and told us to turn in our pieces to her. I don't remember if I was the only one to turn something in, but she read it in front of everyone the next Sunday and gave me a bound book with blank pages for my prize in front of everyone. I was a writer! I considered that a pronouncement in church.

Even though we were few in number, we played baseball in the churchyard, took trips to state parks and horseback riding, gathered to ride together to the Easter pageant, and studied God's Word every week. We ate meals together, sang, lived. My library grew with books we read of the great Christians, and my faith was full.

Years later after I had married and had children of my own, my mother became quite ill in the fall and nearly died during the three weeks she was in the ICU. That same young pastor, still pastoring the small church across the road, but now also a professor at a nearby Christian university, married with children of his own, came to see her. Unknown to us, mom had asked him to do her funeral at that time. She knew she could die and her own church had deserted her. He promised her that he would.

She didn't die until that spring,quietly in her chair one April Sabbath afternoon, not long after hanging up the phone talking to her brother who had been a missionary. I couldn't think of anyone else to do the funeral, so, I called up my mentor and asked him. He told me she had already asked him. I was stunned. She had never gone to church there. But she was also part of that family. He honored her just as if she had been there every Sunday. I will always cherish this Christian family in rural Indiana.

I owe my life to these people.There are many more stories connected to them, woven into the pages of my heart, and this is where my foundation was built on solid Rock. They gently wooed my soul, placed balm on my broken places, loved me with the Jesus-skin-on, practical "love-thy-neighbor"-feet-on-the-ground Christian faith. They weren't perfect and had struggles, as we all do, but never let me catch you saying anything negative about a single one of them! :)

I left the community after I married, but not once in all the years since,seeing and doing many things with Christian communities and ministries, did my heart leave these people. Yes, people let you down. Sometimes people, even Christian people, are condemning or judgmental and cruel. Sometimes you feel unworthy of the love people bestow on you. Living is a strange mix of acceptance and pain and lack of self-worth sometimes. I feel disconnected most days living here. But despite all the pain of moving into that community and the ugly days I endured even in my own family, that church, those people will always be a spiritual balm to my soul. It was a time of heart of the true Church with Christ at the center. At the center of Center Christian Church.

Some of the girls of Center Christian Church :)

Sabbath And Still in the Tomb:Sharing My Faith Journey Part 2

2011-04-23T21:48:00.003-04:00

I embraced Jesus as a small child. I attended a Christian school, which happened to be part of a denomination which worshipped on Saturday--the very day that Jesus considered holy and Sabbath. The day that the Savior spent in the tomb, separated from those on earth He left behind. Those grieving and not sure what would happen next. Was it all over? Was this it?

My house from first grade to fifth grade

In my school we were well-versed in all things Old Testament. I received my first King James Bible with a white leather cover in first grade (I still have this well-worn book.) The New Testament, though, seemed less important in my lessons, or maybe we would get to that in high school? We did spend time on Jesus, and it seemed to me most of the lessons centered around Jesus and being Jewish. It seemed to me that they emphasized worshipping on Saturday as the main commandment. We knew everything about Leviticus and Numbers. A scale model of the tabernacle was brought into the school. We studied Old Testament stories as real history--our history. All good.

Crystal in first grade

Despite my education in these things, I missed the whole idea that grace came from the cross. I thought Paul of the New Testament was a horrible man. How could he tell women to be quiet in church? Why did people ever accept him when he'd been a part of so many Christians' deaths? It would be years before I understood his story, and when I did, it was after learning about true grace, learning about that Jesus who hung on the cross.That's when Romans became a favorite book of the Bible.

But keeping the Ten Commandments was the way to please God and I got that loud and clear. Remember the Sabbath Day. I was stuck on that point. Even in death, Jesus rested in the tomb on the Sabbath. I didn't understand that Jesus's body may have been in that tomb, but His soul was with God because he told the thief on the cross that they would be together in Paradise.

I still think the Sabbath is important, but it's more than just a certain day to worship. There is so much more to this story. Yet, throughout my childhood, there was Jesus--Jesus loves me, this I know. Jesus accepting the little children. Jesus who hung on that cross and fulfilled every prophecy of the Old Testament that I knew so well. Jesus, God's own Son who was born to a human mother. Jesus, fully God, fully man.

During this time of attending this church and the church school, my neighborhood was composed of many faiths and types of people. Our church was many blocks away and those who went to school there during the week and then came to worship on Saturday lived all over the county with some in the next counties. I rarely had play dates with my best friends from school. We lived close to my dad's work, not to the church and certainly not near any of my Sabbath school and elementary school friends.

There was a church right behind us, across the alley. I had much curiosity about them as I could hear their songs drifting from the brick walls as I played outside on Sunday mornings. Not one of them ever said hello, or walked over to invite us to come to their worship service. Not one brought a basket welcoming us to the neighborhood or reached out to invite us kids to Vacation Bible School.

They knew we were there, but maybe they had already heard about us. Or maybe it was the changing neighborhood itself. It was the 1960s and our neighborhood was already "integrating." They made sure to hurry their children to their cars parked along the alley next to our driveway. If you caught someone's eyes, he either looked away quickly or frowned. Not friendly. Not inviting.Suspicious that we were unclean, not "Christian," and they made sure to keep on the other side of the alley.

They were our neighbors, but sure weren't of the Samaritan kind that Jesus told us about. I had heard so much about Pharisees that I imagined these were those people. A church of Pharisees? Wow. I saw them every Sunday. Every Sunday I was pretty sure that I would never go to church on Sunday because I would never "fit in."And they couldn't possibly love a girl like me.

We were as weird as the Latter-Day Saints across the street from us, and they actually went to church on Sunday, too. Those neighbors were not only kind and friendly, they were the ones who were there whenever we had an emergency. Their girls (teens) came over to babysit me while mom rushed my brother to the hospital when a neighbor kid hit him in the head with a hammer. If anyone had a chance to invite us to church, it certainly would've been those kind people.

My world consisted of my mother's people, who were also Sabbath-keepers, and who we visited with every weekend and summers. Only twice a year did we visit with my dad's people when we'd travel states away and none of them, with exception to my Granddaddy Warren who read his Bible everyday, ever talked about God, Jesus or the church thing. (Years later, after I grew up, this would change.)

But I loved my school, my teachers and was often given leadership duties. I was even the "pastor" when our school took over worship one Sabbath. My sermon was about Joseph, son of Jacob. (And I still love that story.) Kneeling beside my mother in church, I prayed for her brother and his family who were missionaries in Africa, for the colpolteurs (this is what I wanted to grow up to be--a religious "book" and literature missionary,) and especially for those who didn't know Jesus. Nothing could be worse in my mind than to not know Jesus. I shared Jesus whenever I could, even to boys on my walk home from school one day who hit me with a stick and weren't going to let me pass.

Little did I know during those days that I spent going to camp meetings with my cousins and to my Pathfinders' meetings,going to a school steeped in doctrinal teachings and the Bible, that my life would drastically change when I entered sixth grade. Everything changed in my life that year.

Sunday morning was coming.

"Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" : Sharing My Faith Journey Part 1

2011-04-22T20:34:00.002-04:00

A chapel in Montana

I am a Christian. Because of that expression of my soul, this weekend marks the celebration of the most holy event in my Christian walk; believing that Jesus Christ arose from death making me acceptable to God. It's such a hard, but yet simple, concept to embrace. I see everything else that happens in my life through that prism.

My journey as a Christian has many twists and turns, but one thing was always sure: I love Jesus. And He loves me. Here is the passage for Good Friday that is most difficult to understand. That He would knowingly do this thing and that it was very painful. So, when I complain that something is hard or I can't--I have to remember, it's hard, but compared to what? Compared to this?

"Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Some of them that stood there, when they heard that, said, This man calleth for Elias. And straightway one of them ran, and took a sponge, and filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink.

The rest said, Let be, let us see whether Elias will come to save him. Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, and came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many."

The Gospel of Matthew 27:35-37, 45-53

Here Come the Ohio Brides!

2011-04-16T20:13:00.003-04:00

[Ladijo WON OHIO BRIDES by Cara C. Putman! Thanks for all the comments! ]

Anyone who knows me knows that my favorite books to read are historical romances. I love other genres, too, but it's the historical romance I will pick up when I have the choice. Cara C. Putman's books are among my favorites. Cara has a great love of history and this is what makes her books so real and her characters pop out of the pages of our past.

Her many hats include wife, mother, attorney, speaker, college instructor, volunteer with ACFW and now author. And with so much to do you'd think she would toss aside people asking her questions or her many friends--after all, there are only so many hours in a day! But I can count on her when I need help with my own writing, and I trust her judgment. When I first met her through ACFW, I thought I would encourage her in writing, but she ended up being an encouragement to me, too.

Since Cara has three of her past releases coming together in a new book, now is your chance to get all three stories in one book, Ohio Brides. Travel back to WWII and the people involved during that time in America's history in these three historical romances. Cara also agreed to give us a glimpse into her writing life so you can see that below with the answers to my questions.

Ohio Brides by Cara C. Putman

Ohio Brides
by Cara C. Putman
Step into 1940s Ohio when dreams are challenged by a climate of war. Newlyweds, Josie and Art are struggling to begin their life in a new city where war refugees are seeking shelter. Evelyn joins the WAVES to be of assistance, but Mark, an engineer, feels she is a distraction. Kat makes the All-American Girls Professional Softball League, but Jack, a reporter who wasn’t physically qualified to serve his country in war, takes his bitterness out on her. Where are God’s promises of peace and love during World War II?

Crystal: What’s your favorite part of writing a book?

Author Cara C. Putman

Cara: I love discovering the characters and what makes them tick. Then creating the places they live and work and the people they know is a lot of fun, too. Especially when I get to add in all kinds of ready made conflict. Like a mothering assistant who won’t leave the heroine alone.

Crystal: When the well runs dry, how do you recharge your creative energy?

Cara: Pick up a book written by someone who writes at a whole other level than I do. This week it was Lisa Gardner’s latest suspense. Wow! That girl can write a suspense that twists all around. And Dan Walsh’s new book, Deeper Waters. He writes a love story like Nicholas Sparks only better. I can learn much from both of them.

Crystal: Do you keep regular hours in writing? What’s a typical day when you’re writing?

Cara: I do. When I’m on deadline, I usually write sometime from 9 p.m. to midnight. It’s based more on total words for the day than hours. A typical day is homeschooling the kids in the morning/early afternoon. Shuttling them to activities in the afternoon and evening. And then somehow squeezing in time to write and read. Often that means I’m sitting at the back of the gym with my laptop while my daughter turns flips and handsprings.

Crystal: My writing world would be perfect if only….

Cara: I had a maid and cook. Someone to keep the details of my house up because I can’t let it slide into total chaos. Not when my kids are here 24/7.

Crystal: My best ideas come from or when…..

Cara: Come from reading nonfiction or dreaming and praying for inspiration.

Crystal: What three things can you not write without?

Cara: My trusty laptop, lots of water bottles or other drinks, and a wee bit of peace and lots of support from my family.

Crystal: Any advice to the readers who wish to write a book?

Cara: Join ACFW. If you’re serious about learning the craft and improving, then you have to join ACFW.

Info on Ohio Brides:

Publisher:Barbour Publishing, Inc.
Category:Romance Collections,New Releases
ISBN:9781616261184
Paperback, 368 pages
Price: $7.99

To Get the Ohio Brides Book Click Here

More about Cara C. Putman Click Here

Pelicans and Jesus

2011-04-14T00:01:00.005-04:00

I've always been a bird watcher, due to my mother's influence. We had tons of bird identification books, and since I also loved to sketch, I drew tons of bird pictures. I can't keep descriptions or tie-ins with birds out of my fiction. It's as much a part of me as anything else. Plus, it keeps me tied to my mother, who died in April 1997.

So, I have been doing some more reading about birds and came across an obscure tidbit that Dante referred to Christ Jesus as "our pelican." That's weird! Have you ever seen a pelican? It is not exactly the kind of bird you depict with Christ. Ok, so then I came across more referrals to pelicans being the symbol of Jesus's resurrection as I dug.

Certainly the Bible refers to birds often. The birds we most often think of are eagles and sparrows. But pelicans are often emblazoned on ecclesiastical coats of arms and in religious paintings. If you are an art lover, you will find them. (Go on a pelican search in your art museum.)And then there's the Mighty Dante talking about "Christ BEING our pelican." Why would he say that?

Here's the story: The name "pelican" comes from a Greek word for "axe." Because the pelican had a very large beak and uses it to fish, as well as in diving for fish, (using it like a net) their behavior was quite a picture for an observer. The pelican ejects the water and swallows the fish for its own nourishment .The pouch doesn't keep the fish for long, but during nesting season, it also becomes a "school room" and place to feed the chicks.

This next part is gross, but no one says that the story of the cross is pleasant, either. Pelicans also use that pouch to hold regurgitated fish soup to feed their chicks. The chicks have to DIVE into that pouch (their first lessons in survival) which is against the chest of the pelican. This is where the legends were born in observing this behavior. It must have been alarming to those who first witnessed this. Since the pelican will pluck the feathers from its own chest for the nest, it has a bloody chest during this time. In medieval religious folklore the pelican fed her young with her own blood, by plucking those feathers from her breast, and "reviving" the chicks after they drowned in the pelican's beak. It seems that those chicks were believed to drink the blood of the self-inflicted wound on the pelican's breast.

It is certainly a painful process. In this story the chicks die (in the mouth/tomb of the parent) but are brought back to life (3-days later) by that self-inflicted wound on the chest, by allowing them to drink the parent pelican's blood. That correlation is how the pelican got into all those religious paintings, on family crests for Christian piety and into works by Dante. The pelican became a lesson, a symbol, for Christ's resurrection from the dead.

That's some legend! And some picture. But it's not unusual for humans to use birds to teach us lessons about life. The pelican story illustrates one of the most awesome stories in human history. It takes faith for those chicks to dive into the mouth of a mother pelican for sustenance. It takes faith for one of us to believe that Jesus deliberately took the wounds inflicted to die on a despicable cross just to pay for our sins and revive us from eternal death. That was too much to ask, wasn't it? But not if you wanted survival of a species more than anything--and that pull was way stronger than Jesus wanting to save himself. Three days later Jesus would rise up from the dead and that was it! We were nourished for eternity.

If you haven't embraced Jesus and his story, then think about how God gives lessons of Him and God's grace in the nature all around us. Remember the pelican today and during the Lenten and Easter season. And remember that God has lessons for you all around.

Awakening JoAnn Durgin's Muse

2011-04-11T21:17:00.001-04:00

JoAnn's New Book

About the novel, Awakening:

Lexa Clarke signs up for a short-term summer assignment in San Antonio with TeamWork Missions, hoping to make a difference in the world. TeamWork director Sam Lewis has a job to do and can't afford to be distracted by the petite, feisty blonde. But when she tumbles into his arms from the top of a house they’re rebuilding, Sam suspects his life will never be the same. A God-fearing man. A God-seeking woman. A combustible combination.

As an avid reader her entire life, ideas for novels simmered in JoAnn's imagination for years.

Then, JoAnn Durgin awakened.

She says: "I was a young, stay-at-home mom in Philly that I tried my hand at penning a novel. I write what I call contemporary Christian romantic adventures. Romance is my first love, but as both a reader and an author, I need more than romance for a novel to be fully-developed and emotionally satisfying. Throw in humor, a spiritual thread throughout, some witty banter, dramatic conflict, a moving plotline with adventure and a hint of intrigue, and you’ve got my kind of book."

And that’s what you get with Awakening.

She continues: "It may be a cliché, but I write what I like to read. Following your passion as a writer does make a better book. One of the most precious things in life is that first blush of love, that rush of adrenaline at a glance, a touch, a kiss… I love the hope and joy to be discovered in an uplifting romance."

JoAnn goes on to tell how this story comes from her own life.

"This particular story is precious because it was written more than a decade ago and loosely parallels my love story with my husband, Jim. A lot of the strength of character, unwavering faith and goodness in Sam Lewis is based on Jim. Some of the feistiness and stubbornness in Lexa Clarke is based on yours truly, but I also choose to believe I share my heroine’s resourcefulness and resilience. Sam and Lexa are uniquely special to me and become my core characters and mentors in a continuing series as they minister to and interact with the volunteers in Sam’s TeamWork Missions organization. The beginning of a series, the adventures of Lewis and Clarke have only just begun."

Crystal: I went on to ask JoAnn a little about her writing. JoAnn, what makes your style of storytelling unique?

JoAnn:

I’ve been told I have a fresh, unique voice. I try to infuse my sense of humor into every book, and I especially love getting into the male psyche. I don’t necessarily follow the “three kiss rule” or formula pathway to romance. But that doesn’t mean there’s not conflict or roadblocks along the way to lasting love. I personally feel it’s a greater test of faith and bonds a couple more when they work through issues and confront problems together. I’m a firm believer in happy endings, and tying up loose ends of a story, although sometimes I carry storylines over from one book to another in the series. But each book can certainly stand alone.

I don’t kill major characters. I just can’t do it. Peripheral characters sometimes die (and a few are maimed along the way), but I just can’t kill ‘em unexpectedly and tragically. Although I realize life isn’t always rosy and can seem downright hard and unfair at times, I don’t believe killing beloved characters is something romance readers respond to positively. From a personal perspective, I don’t like it. At least at this early point in my writing career, I want readers to weep tears of joy or because I’ve struck an emotional chord deep inside, but I don’t want them to cry because they’re grieving the loss of a beloved character. Christians can laugh as easily as they can cry.

Crystal: Where is your dream place to write? And where DO you write?

JoAnn:

My dream place to write would be in a villa in the south of France or the Italian Riviera. Okay, snap back to real life. Where I actually write is in the bedroom, and trust me when I say it’s Grand Central Station. The TV is usually on, the kids come and go, my husband goes in and out, and the dog usually meanders in at some point, looking for food and/or affection. I’ll often put on the earphones and zone out and listen to music while I write.

Fortunately, I’m able to work in the midst of chaos. Perhaps this stems from reading The Iliad and The Odyssey in the snack bar at Ball State with the jukebox playing and pinball machines pinging in the background…and I somehow managed to ace the test! I’m convinced being able to tune out distractions is another gift of the Spirit.

Crystal: I graduated from Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, as well, so I know exactly where that is. What's one of the oddest things someone has ever said about you?

JoAnn:

When I once told someone about all the places I’ve lived and visited, she made the comment, “Wow, you’ve certainly been around.” Given the negative connotations of that statement, I wasn’t pleased, until I realized that yes, I have been around, but in the nicest sense of the word. Now, it’s actually one of my catch phrases when describing myself. By way of explanation – I was born in IN, moved to TX after college, met my husband (a Rhode Island native and student at Dallas Theological Seminary), moved to CA, married in KY, honeymooned in HI, had our first child, moved to PA, had two more children and then moved to MA, then back to IN in late 2005.

While I have a great appreciation for each place we’ve lived, Kentuckiana (where southern Indiana meets Louisville, KY at the Ohio River) is truly “home in my heart.” Jim and I have always followed where the Lord leads, but in our case, He made it abundantly clear in each instance where He wanted us, and we tried to bloom where we were planted. So, in another important sense, “home in your heart” is so much more than simple geography.

Crystal: Do you have any words of wisdom or a note of encouragement for writers striving toward publication?

My best advice is to first pray and commit your words, and your story, to the Lord. He’s your partner and co-author. And then, simply write. Like anything else, practice and experience are invaluable and make you better at the craft. You learn to cut out the extraneous and develop your own unique style. Read other books, especially in your genre. Learn what works and what doesn’t for you as a reader, and that will help you as you write your own stories. Reading your work aloud, especially dialogue, will help you know what sounds natural or stilted. Infuse your characters with personality quirks, mannerisms, words and habits that will make them unique and endear them to the reader.

Join a crit group, online writing groups and start blogging on a regular basis. But, above all, be passionate about your characters. If you love and care about them, your story will shine, and the characters will jump off the page and into the hearts of your readers. And your work will get the notice of the “right” agent or publisher. If you’re persistent, and keep your focus on sharing the stories the Lord has given you to share, He’ll open the doors of His choosing, in His timing.

Crystal: Where can we find you on the internet?

JoAnn:

I’m on Facebook, and messages can also be sent to me via my website at www.joanndurgin.com. I’d love to hear from you! I regularly blog on Reflections in Hindsight on alternate Wednesdays and Hoosier Ink on the 30^th of each month. Thanks so much for letting me share with you today!

JoAnn Durgin, Author of Awakening

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JoAnn Durgin is a full-time paralegal and lives in southern Indiana with her husband, Jim, and their three children. She is a member of the ACFW and its Indiana chapter. Awakening is her debut novel. She was a finalist in the long contemporary romance category of the 2010 RWA/FHL Touched by Love contest, and is a regular blog contributor with Hoosier Ink and Reflections in Hindsight. JoAnn is also an active member of the My Book Therapy Voices where she has won or placed in several of their quarterly Flash Fiction contests. Above all, she loves to share the redeeming love of Christ through her stories. Visit her at www.joanndurgin.com. She’d love to hear from you.

Awakening is available in paperback and electronic (ebook) versions at the following:

Amazon.com

Barnes and Noble

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2011-04-05T17:29:00.003-04:00

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Nancy J. Ring: One Year Without You Here

2011-03-13T22:35:00.000-04:00

Anchors,Signposts and Wanderings

Forks, bends, detours, scenery, and fellow travelers I've discovered while Exploring the Path Home.

It's been a year since Nancy went home to be with Our Lord. I'm sure she feels as if she just got there and the joy must be overwhelmingly wonderful. But back here in our lives, we still miss her! And we miss the things she would've had to say about so many things that have happened. We want to talk to her about them. We want to ask her for her opinions and hear her jokes. We want to see her beautiful cat's antics through her eyes. Anyway, I couldn't let this day pass without a nod to missing her.

From March 13, 2010:

This is what you'll find on freelance writer and community mental health counselor Nancy J. Ring's blog. That, and a whole lot of wisdom and truths that just leave you breathless. I am having a tough time telling you just one post to read, so let's just say that you should read the whole thing including quotes, favorites, and things. Nancy found the ultimate path Home on March 13, 2010.

A native Chicagoan, she graduated with a Master’s in Community Counseling and held her Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) certification. She worked with adults who have severe and persistent mental illness, so she knows a lot about how it can be tough to find the path home. She worked at the same place for nearly 10 years and loves that her work focuses on helping people achieve their vocational goals, as well as working on emotional health and well being. Besides work she also volunteered in her church and worked on setting up a food pantry.

When asked about how all of this affected her writing she said,"Helping people become who they are meant to be is a theme that runs through my writing, my counseling, and my ministry."

I know I gain many insights into myself and my own writing from Nancy and her blog and I will miss her so much in our group where we shared so much. She is in a great place now and wouldn't want to come back, so someday I will go to her and that comforts me somehow. She has been a writing buddy in my Struggling Artists of Literary Talent (SALT) for many years, so I love her as a sister, and my fellow SALT sisters are suffering today along with me. We got together over 10 years ago to critique each others' writing, but we bonded as sisters and cared about and prayed about every aspect of our lives. She was the youngest of the group, but seemed wise beyond her years.

Nancy wrote nonfiction articles for women, adults, and teens on all kinds of inspirational, Christian living topics. She's also written Sunday School curriculum for her church and award-winning grants for her vocational program at work.

Her blog started as a way to get back into writing after she had finished graduate school.
Nancy said, "It’s helped me find my voice, connect with other writers, and helped me identify writing topics I might not have otherwise considered."

Sometime back I interviewed Nancy for my blog, When I Was Just a Kid. I think it's appropriate to share that interview again. I want to celebrate her life, which was lived to the fullest. Amen.

Childhood Ambition: When I was a kid, I wanted to be a doctor, a gymnast, a scientist, and an artist. Sadly, I wasn’t very good at any of these things. When I discovered how much math was required to be a scientist or doctor, I ditched those goals right away.

I still like gymnastics and art, and I’m still not good at either one of them.

Fondest Memory: Ok, I’m having trouble coming up with one stand-out memory. I think it’s mostly the little memories that I’m fond of. Our family Christmas traditions, getting ice cream or Gene & Jude’s hot dogs when me & my brother had good report cards, and having my aunt’s family over for brunch after church on Sunday. I’m sure there’s more extraordinary memories, but these are the ones I recall at the moment.

Proudest Moment :A lot of my proudest moments seem to be related to academics. I guess I’m a nerd. When I was in 7^th & 8^th grade, I won 3^rd place in a spelling bee. At the time I was disappointed that I didn’t place better, but I’m proud of that now. I was also a finalist in a regional story writing contest. I’d been interested in writing ever since I’d read The Hobbit back in 3^rd grade, but this was the first time I received real, genuine, encouraging feedback about my writing. Even though I was only a finalist, I was proud of this at the time. Go figure.

Biggest Challenge as a Child or Teen: Most people would think my biggest challenge was growing up with a disability. Spina Bifida has always been a part of my life. I’ve never known life to be any different, and being disabled is only an issue when it’s an issue. Snow on the ground creates an unpleasant experience, but it’s hardly the biggest challenge I’ve ever encountered. The quadratic formula, now that’s a challenge. Does anyone know why we needed to learn that thing anyway?

My First Job: My first job was as a telemarketer for a basement waterproofing company. Cold calling at the age of 14. Despite the fact that most of the calls were rejections, we had fun in the office. Our boss was young himself & would do all sorts of goofy tricks to try to keep our spirits up. He taught me to think outside of the box when you need to address a problem. And if that doesn’t work, go next door to the Hostess shop and buy everyone Twinkies.

Childhood Indulgence: As a kid I was always asking to stay up late to read “just one more chapter.” Also, when my dad was working overnights as a paramedic, on Fridays Mom & I would get pizza and a movie. I looked forward to those nights all week.

Favorite Outfit as a Child: Well, there’s the tea bag Halloween costume my mom made me out of pillowcases. (No, I do not have a picture). I also had a mint green Easter dress I loved when I was about 5 or 6 years old. It had pink ribbon, and lace, and a layered, pleated skirt. I loved that dress.

Favorite Childhood Movie: I loved The Muppet Movie. I still do. Kermit the Frog is wonderful.

Favorite Childhood Book: I read all the time when I was a kid. My mom would buy me chapter books at the beginning of a shopping trip to keep me quiet and by the time she finished shopping I was always asking for another one to sustain me over the car ride home. So while it’s hard to pick just one book, I’d have to say my favorite is The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien. This was the book that made me decide I wanted to be a writer. I remember reading the opening paragraphs and trying to figure out what the magic stuff among the words was, what made those words do what they did.

Favorite Childhood Activity: Well, there was reading, of course. And playing on the swings. I still loved to do that. The neighbors across the street had a swing set, but we never did. When my parents did some renovating in the backyard I lobbied for a swing set. Instead, they put up a 2-car garage. My beloved lilac bush was also sacrificed in favor of this ugly, mustard yellow & brown monstrosity. Mom would say that it was “her” lilac bush, but it’s not like she lobbied to save it from the invasion of the garage.

Childhood Hero: I think my favorite childhood hero would have to be Jim Henson. I mentioned this at work the other day, and several of my clients laughed at me. I just think the guy was a creative genius. Kermit the Frog & I seemed to understand each other, and that was very important to me at times when I was growing up.

Favorite Childhood Ritual: Well, there’s the pizza & movie nights with Mom that I mentioned. At Christmas, our family would also hold auctions, where the kids would get to bid on dime store items. For some reason, that was almost as exciting as opening presents. I think I liked knowing that it was something special about how our family celebrated the holidays; something other families didn’t do.

Sample of Nancy's Writing Expertise:
"The Need to Be Needed," reprinted for Ministry in Motion
She has also written for Discipleship Journal, Young Salvationist, Christian Standard, The Christian Communicator, and other publications.

Nancy says about her development as a writer, weaving in all aspects of her life and her philosophy behind it:
"Both my jobs (writing & counseling) are driven by a passion for communication. I’ve also recently discovered the art of making handmade books. I’m very interested in how making books can be used in a therapeutic manner. I think handmade books can be a great bridge between my interests in writing and counseling."

Here's a rainbow from her balcony in Chicago that God hung just for her.

Anchors, Signposts, & Wanderings

Here's a few of Nancy's favorite things from our photo album:

Bears (these are real bears in fellow SALT sister Paula's yard in Alaska, but she also had a collection of stuffed bears!)

Nancy was able to adopt a gorgeous gray velvet cat whom she named Katerina. Her tales of Kat's adventures kept us entertained!

Nancy was very creative and was able to sell some art. This is a "star book" she created.

This one above is entitled, "She wondered if her eggs would hatch" and has "faith, hope, love" on the eggs. Nancy definitely hatched those three eggs in her own life.She had a delightful sense of humor and whimsy that came through everything she did.

This is Nika, her dog who went on before her. Maybe even now she is running with Nika in heaven. It's a heartwarming thought for me.

Nancy loved periwinkle, bears, her Katerina the Kat, lilacs, JRR Tolkien and The Hobbit & Lord of the Rings, Kermit the Frog, purple, Levenger pens, Alaska, moose, writing, making art and art books, butterflies and rainbows, as well as her friends and family. A fascinating person, full of warmth and wisdom and whimsical dry humor, I will miss her but am reminded of her each time I encounter any of these things.

And a quote from Nancy:

"Well, as Kermit the Frog would say,'Time's fun when you're having flies.'”

Missing you, Nancy J. Ring
January 21, 1974-March 13, 2010

A Recipe to Die For?

2011-03-12T00:35:00.004-05:00

Just a Few of My Recipe Books

Recently in Dear Abby a gentle reader complained that a family member wouldn't reveal the "secret ingredient" to a much-loved pancake recipe shared at breakfasts attended by family. She was quite angry about it. How could she force the woman to give it to her? Could Abby give her a "shame on you" word of advice to the offending woman? The subsequent letters to Abby both defended the offending family member and chastised her and they offered what they thought the secret recipe ingredient was.

Recipes. When is a recipe a recipe to take to the grave? When is the time a recipe is protected to the point where it becomes not only a guarded secret, but also something that is given under lock and key to an heiress (or heir) during the reading of the will?

My brother, mother and me at home for a special dinner (dad took the photo)

I own maybe 100 cookbooks. Yes, I know. A serious addiction. I have stacks of recipe cards and a computer folder filled with recipes I've been given. I've even written a few down of my own making. However, never have I felt I needed to guard a recipe and refuse to give one to someone who requested it. I have a really good friend who is an amazing cook/baker. She not only will ask for a recipe or technique, but generously gives out any recipe if you ask her. Will she be remembered for her Honey Cookies (a recipe she got from my mother-in-law?) Probably. Will my mother-in-law who gave the recipe to many people, including my friend, be remembered for Honey Cookies? Well, yes, I think so.

Books and recipes just go together--Dining with Joy by Rachel Hauck

We associate the recipe with the person who not only shared the recipe, but shared the finished product. Some of my recipes have been requested by local bed and breakfast establishments. While I never got credit for it, I had the heart-warming satisfaction that these people loved the product. Plus, if I ever lost the recipe, I just give my friends a call and say, "I lost it. Can I get it from you?"

But not everyone is so generous, and I respect if those people have their own reasons for not giving it out. Still, I have a difficult time understanding the motive. When that person is gone, what happens to the recipe? I can understand if it's a recipe for your bakery or restaurant or for a contest, but what if you're just a matron of the family fixing meals for family, friends, the church potluck?

Here's something I will lose when my nearly 93-year-old mother-in-law dies(her birthday is April 1st.) Not some recipe that can be forgotten, but a special woman whom I cannot duplicate no matter how many of her recipes I have and cook. No matter how hard and how I try to duplicate her pies, noodles and potato rolls, I miss an ingredient that only she possesses--that special spice that is contained in her soul. The prayers she says over the food as she joyously prepares the dish, and the love she sprinkles into those things that she's not that crazy about eating, but knows we love to have them. And while I cannot duplicate her recipes exactly, I will always try to duplicate the love and generosity she put into them with a warm, sweet topping of nostalgic remembrance.

So, share those recipes. It's a legacy of love. Here's a favorite concoction for Sunday dinners!

Mountain Dew Apple Dumplings recipe: From the Kitchen of Imy Miller

Preheat oven to 350, or 375 for crispier dumplings.

2 apples cored and sliced into 6 to 8 pieces each depending on # of rolls in tube
2 cans croissant rolls
2 cups sugar
2 sticks butter
2 tsp cinnamon
1 can Mountain Dew(TM) soda

Wrap 1 apple slice in each raw croissant triangle and place in 2 rows in 9X13 pan.
Melt and mix sugar, butter & cinnamon together and pour mixture over dumplings.
Pour partial can of Mountain Dew around the perimater only.
Bake for 30-45 minutes depending on whether you like the dumplings crispy or soft.
Serve alone or smothered in vanilla ice cream. Enjoy!

Sherbet Punch recipe:
Ingredients:
2 liter bottle of Ginger Ale
2 liter bottle of either 7 Up or Sprite
1 container of red Hawaiian Punch
1 block of frozen rainbow sherbet

Mix together in a punchbowl, serve & enjoy!

Crystal Miller

Do You Need a System?

2011-02-21T15:48:00.000-05:00

Is there a method to your madness? Writing is one of those things we do in solitary most of the time, but that doesn't mean you don't have support systems and that you don't use some sort of system to create, or at least edit.

A friend of mine who is a great writer, published many articles, a speaker, an English expert, has been writing fiction. She asked if there was a way to keep things straight--character aspects, continuity in the story. How do you keep it all straight and find the details? Let me say that there is probably a system or method for every writer. You eventually find a system that works for you. I just wanted to list a few ways, resources to put a story together that many authors have used.

1. Carolyn Greene has been around a few years and has a 3-ring notebook system that is easy to assemble and have handy as you write. You can check out her system here:

http://www.theplotdoctor.netfirms.com/

2. Some people use spreadsheets but I just could never do that. But if you want a system designed by a real computer genius, then you need to check out Randall Ingermanson. With his doctorate and ability to design systems you would think he'd talk way over most of our heads. But no. He also has the unique gift of being able to make it palatable to us common folk. You will love his Snowflake System and also relate to his distinctions of levels in writing--freshmen, sophs, juniors, seniors, grads. Well, there is a lot to explore with his blog and various pages. He's a great teacher.

http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/blog/

(All of his products are at the top of his page.)

One published writer I know uses her closet door and puts various Post It (TM) notes all over it to find her story. Some have made this more formal and have a plot board.

Check those out:

http://vickihinzeonwriting.wordpress.com/2009/08/20/plot-board-what-is-it-and-why-do-i-need-it/

http://childrenspublishing.blogspot.com/2011/01/writers-plot-board-getting-organized.html

Camy Tang has long given out advice on aspects of fiction writing on her Story Sensei Blog.

I love Debra Dixon's book, Goal, Motivation, Conflict:The Building Blocks of Good Fiction. Most simple and excellent. For $20.00 you can have a basic lesson and a grid of how to build a story.

http://www.gryphonbooksforwriters.com/home/gmc.htm

The main advice I have for writers trying to find their way is to read, read, read (especially the kinds of books you wish to write.) Then, lock into one method to get your story out. You might need everything laid out (an outline?) first before writing or go by the seat of your pants until you realize you need to lay down some patterns. Everyone is different and needs a way to keep putting the words down. Each thing is a building block to fit the story together. Whatever system you use, just make sure the system doesn't overwhelm your flow and getting the story down. I have a friend who just realized that she needs to stop editing as she goes. She can fix anything but a blank page and she needs to get her stories down. (Shirley Jump says this all the time, too.)

~Crystal Laine Miller

Winner of the Color Analysis by Lora Alexander and Vote on Crystal's Season

2011-02-14T19:54:00.000-05:00

After our drawing (and I took the names from all of the posts last week,) Carrie Wood won the ColorFast Color Analysis by Lora Alexander. Her son is getting married later this year and she was delighted as she wants to look her best. I'm hoping she'll share her results.

On the poll I have up I ask what season you think you fall into, or if you need help. There are four who think that they need help. Could we help you? If you contact me with your photos, or have a photo online, maybe we can do a comparison. Or maybe you need to splurge (a gift from someone?) on the ColorFast Analysis? You can go through the quiz and see if you can figure it out. Or get a friend to help you.

Kat

Last night we did an impromptu draping of Kat. She is a stunning young woman who does have a fine-tuned sense of what colors DO NOT look good on her and really does know what she can wear. She still needed some direction on lipstick. Her hair was much lighter as a child so I thought for a little while she might be a clear spring. But after draping her in the test colors, she really didn't look good in those colors. She has bright, clear hazel eyes. It turned out she was a beautiful clear winter, we're pretty sure of that. Very pretty!

I've struggled some on my own coloring. I think earlier in my life I was more saturated, but have faded in my old age. I've had to change lipstick, makeup and colors. I don't know what color winter coat to buy (and I've been wearing the old black one. Probably not good.) I need a more clear photo of myself without makeup and also a close up clear shot of my eyes. Lora thinks I am possibly a light summer. But I do think I might possibly be a light spring. I'm not sure if I look better in camel or gray/taupe.

There's a small sunburst of a light color around my iris. Can you see it?

Mostly tired and hideous, I think....

This is a professional shot taken from my photo and it looks a little misty


This is the sample eye from Lora's site as being a "summer" eye

Clear eye of a spring

Is it clear or misty or cool?

I know for certain I do not look good in ash blonde hair. It makes me look gray, old and tired. (This was proclaimed by my husband.) So I've gone to a light golden blonde. However, light summers CAN have light golden blonde hair, so we go back to two things: which is better, camel or cocoa? AND is my eye color misty grayed or clear? A lot of the two palettes have the same colors, so I just need to decide on one or the other so I can buy some core wardrobe pieces.

Summer or Spring?

Light Spring? Light Summer? Both? Ha!


Light spring

Light Summer