Elizabeth Byler Younts

Celebrating Daily

2012-02-14T07:00:00.016-06:00

This is not the first Valentine's Day I've celebrated without my husband. I think the 2nd or 3rd.

I am I'd say fairly typical that I appreciate getting something for Valentine's Day...but I am not very high maintenance about it. I'd rather want something thoughtful than something expensive. I'd rather get that deep sense of romantic love (even the squishy, college sweetheart, starry-eyed kind) from time spent together than a gift that was clearly a quick drive-by online grab.

Yes, I've been annoyed that we've spent Valentine's apart before...because of "the job." ~~I'm pretty sure I've even complained about it.~~ {clears throat}

Goodbye Kiss
January 24th, 2012

But this year...yes, we are apart, but something I feel so strongly about is that I cannot complain about being away from him for Valentine's Day. Sure, I'd LOVE to have a romantic date with him and celebrate our love. I'd love to watch a fun romantic comedy or Pride & Prejudice for the millionth time & bask in the glory that is all things chocolate sans guilt day.

BUT...I have the distinct feeling that this might be the most memorable of Valentine's Days from previous years & for many years to come. We are apart...but I have never felt such a strong love for The Major as I do now.

I can see that I've been taking for granted his love, his presence, his help, his playfulness with the girls, his hotness (ooolala), his strength of character, his forearm where I love to lean, his hand that I love to hold...you get the picture...I've realized these first few weeks of the deployment that I haven't been giving enough credence, enough time, enough weight, enough thought toward my amazing husband.

No, I wasn't mean, not annoyed with him, not callous or unloving...but I wasn't intentional enough.

It is SO EASY to get caught up in the drama of life, the action of busy-ness, the animation of little girls, the complete comedy of life in in a mini-van, even...that the ROMANCE can be a little rushed & lost. I mean the romance that happens with two connecting souls...when your hands touch, your eyes meet, your voices fill the space of each other is all that matters.

I think I've missed reminding myself not just that HE picked me but...

I. PICKED. HIM! I didn't want anyone else but HIM.

That is something I should be celebrating daily...

I think Valentine's day is going to be great this year...because the value of my LOVE for my husband has been multiplied in my heart.

Happy Valentine's Day!!!!

Elizabeth

Week 3 deployment Limerick

2012-02-10T07:00:00.004-06:00

Running on the treadmill, a little everyday
Ice skating and giggles and lots of princess play
We got invites for yummy eats
And that really beats
The 2 bad haircuts I got in one day.

Cheers,
Elizabeth

Change of Thinking by Judi Folmsbee

2012-02-09T07:00:00.003-06:00

On Sunday, April 15^th, 2007, my husband, Rick and I received a phone from our son, Heath. He was a member of the Virginia National Guard, and he had called to inform us that he would be going to Iraq.

This kind of news was no stranger to us, because Heath already had served a tour of duty in Afghanistan. At the time of his first deployment in March of 2004, he was a Virginia Tech senior majoring in mechanical engineering. Heath had been dating a wonderful Virginia Tech graduate for seven years. Heath and Chelsea were married two weeks before he left for Afghanistan.

That Sunday, April 15^th, 2007, my mind did an instant replay of many things that recently occurred. A few months before, in December of 2006, Heath, who had returned from Afghanistan, graduated from Virginia Tech with his mechanical engineering degree.

Shortly after he graduated, he landed a wonderful job. He and Chelsea bought a home. The news of April 15^th, turned tranquility and happiness into feelings of dread. I was so angry! In less than three years of married life, Heath and Chelsea were separated again. I know it happens to many military families. When he enlisted in the Virginia National Guard in 2001, he didn’t expect to become in the “International Guard”, as we called it.

On Monday, April 16^th, 2007, I got up feeling tired and emotional. I had a hard time concentrating on my way to work at 7:15 that morning. As the day developed, I heard as everyone did, about the horrible tragedy that occurred at Virginia Tech.

I called Heath as soon as I could. He was distraught, as he too, heard the Virginia Tech news. As the days unfolded, he found out that a few former classmates as well as one of his favorite professors were listed among the dead. I realized that, had Heath decided to stay in college and get his master’s degree, he could have been in one of those classes.

I learned something from all of this. God reminded me that I am not here on the earth by myself and that I needed to stop being so self-centered. I learned that God uses tragedies like that of Virginia Tech to teach us to be mindful of others and to reach out to those who truly are in need of help.

God reminded me of the importance of prayer. He let me know that my bad news of April 15^th was just a pebble on the road of life compared to the boulder that hit so many innocent lives that fateful April 16^th. I soon began to realize that Heath didn’t have to go to Iraq to be killed.

Heath completed his National Guard commitment. Now he works at the same job and lives in the same house they bought before he was deployed. Heath and Chelsea are grateful he came back uninjured. They are very happy and have realized those experiences have made them stronger individuals and stronger as a couple. They try to live each day as best they can and savor the moments they have together. They don’t take what they have for granted.

A retired teacher, Judi attends Crossroad Community Church in Georgetown, Delaware. She is a member of the Delmarva Christian Writers’ Fellowship. She has written three children’s books; Bubba the Busy Beaver, Preposterous Pebbles, and the Bird Roller Coaster. She has been recently published in the new Chicken Soup for the Soul: Devotionals for Tough Times. I n addition, she is a contributor to a recently published book called: Fighting Fear Winning the War at Home (When your soldier Leaves for Battle) by Edie Melson.

Peas in the Army Pod by Mary C. Findley

2012-02-07T07:00:00.001-06:00

My father and uncle, Donald and Clarence Campagna, served in WWII. I have fond memories of them fooling us as children by standing side by side and making us guess which was which. Uncle Clarence was left-handed and so he had to hide the watch on the right wrist. He also had some gold-capped teeth, so they had to keep their moths shut. It was very hard, for many years, for even their own children to tell the difference.

Donald & Clarence Campagna

Dad and Uncle Clarence made the news after getting their "greetings" (called-up into service notices) December 5, 1942. They joined the 398th Color Guard. The article describes the slight differences in height and weight, their "gunboat" shoe sizes of 14 and 14 1/2, and the fact that dad was a Pfc and Uncle Clarence was a Corporal. The article also mentioned that their first separation occurred during a 3 weeks assignment to the 100th Division.

Dad didn't often tell stories about his war experiences, but he did like to tell one about that brief first separation. The details are a little hazy now, and I never have known he proper military terminology, but I think it went something like this. He said that a visiting General went around inspecting troops and stopped when he came to my dad.

"Didn't I already see you today, when I was with -- ?" and he named the group Uncle Clarence was with. Dad tried to maintain proper military discipline, I'm sure, but he told the General his brother was in that group. The General had to question him a little further, as I understand, to learn that they were identical twins and that this was the first time they had been separated. The General replied that the separation was at an end, and got them assigned to the same unit.

My dad, in all his handsomeness, from a photo taken with Uncle Clarence in their dress uniforms, graces the cover of my Young Adult Medieval Suspense Hope and the Knight of the Black Lion.

http://amzn.to/vY9Wt6 Link to Hope and the Knight of the Black Lion

http://amzn.to/vOxpEI Link to the Illuminated Hope and the Knight of hte Black Lion, illustrated in the style of a medieval manuscript.

http:elkjerkyforthesoul.wordpress.com is our blog

About Mary:

I grew up in rural NY and Michael is a "city boy" from AZ. We met at college, taught school in AZ, MO and PA, homeschooled, and created curriculum and videos for church and commercial productions. We have three 20-something children, and now travel the 48 states together in a tractor trailer.

http://elkjerkyforthesoul.wordpress.com (our blog)

Weeks 1 & 2 Deployment Limericks

2012-02-03T07:00:00.005-06:00

So, I think to keep it real, I'm going to write a limerick for each week The Major is deployed.

Here we go!

Week 1

The first week from the airport you left
You committed a typical deployment type theft
You stole my heart
And that was the start
Of our romance across half-a-world's cleft

Week 2

The vacuum belt burned and it broke
The fridge ice maker is a complete joke
After a box of Lucky Charms
And setting off our alarms
I ran to the bath for a soak

I wonder what next Friday will bring!

Cheers,
Elizabeth

You Get to Miss Your Husband

2012-02-02T07:00:00.000-06:00

There’s this thing that happens when your soldier deploys. It’s one of the great things about being a soldier’s wife. It’s something that civilian wives don’t get to do and, truthfully, I feel a little sorry for them because of it.

You get to miss your husband.

There is something to be said for missing the other half of you. After 9/11, I thought the worst thing that could ever personally happen to me would be for my husband to deploy. As it turned out, it was the greatest thing ever.

Oh, don’t read me wrong, I missed him. Half of me was ripped out and sent to the other side of the world. It hurt. There were days I cried, screamed and--during a particularly hairy time for them over there—refused to speak to God for two days.

When your husband is gone, you learn to appreciate things. Dirty socks on the floor are a blessing, because they mean he’s home. Three times the laundry isn’t such a chore. (How does that happen anyway? Add one person to the mix and triple the laundry?) The things you took for granted become priceless. During his first deployment, I really missed his forearm. Think I’m crazy? That’s the spot I lay my hand on when we sit together in church. And yes, I missed that most of all.

At the time he left, I’d been his wife for ten years. While he was gone, God took me through a pretty intense personal time. I started to remember who I was. Because my husband wasn’t here for me to share things with, I shared more with God. I listened more. And I learned things about me that I’d forgotten or maybe never even knew. It was then that He told me He wanted me to be a writer and proceeded to beat me against a rock until I was ready to do it His way. With my husband here, that time wouldn’t have happened.

Then there’s the communication thing. Our unit was in a super-remote area in Iraq. No phones. No internet. Sparse mail service. When you only get one five-minute phone call every fourteen days, you learn how to weed out the mundane and get to the heart. We poured out thoughts in real, honest-to-goodness, handwritten letters. It was amazing! I learned more about my husband in that year than I had in the previous ten. We learned to dream again, to talk of what we’d do when he got back and in the future beyond that. When he returned, we were closer than we’d ever been.

Deployment. It can be a four-letter-curse word or the most beautiful blessing in your life. It all depends on how you look at it. You can fight it the entire time and be completely miserable. But, if you’re willing to see it through God’s eyes, you might just find blessings greater than you’ve ever dared to imagine.

Jodie Bailey is an avid reader, a life-long writer, and an aspiring beach bum. When not tapping away at the keyboard, she watches NCIS reruns, eats too many chocolate chip cookies, and attempts to teach middle schoolers how to write coherent sentences. She lives in North Carolina with her husband and daughter. Her first military suspense, Freefall, will be released by Steeple Hill in November.

www.jodiebailey.com

Lucky Charms & Chocolate Cheesecake

2012-01-31T07:00:00.015-06:00

So, we are on day 8 of my husband leaving for his deployment. Which means it'll probably be about another 180 days before he comes home.

Now...you understand the title, right? Comfort foods. Lucky Charms (hidden in the corner of the pantry so my daughters don't find it) and Chocolate Cheesecake...both are delish any time of day. Though it seems that cheese cake would be perfect for breakfast & Lucky Charms will work wonders around midnight.

Sign at Manas AFB where
my husband is stationed.

For weeks (okay, months) leading up to the deployment I have been thinking of ways to cut corners. That is NOT EASY for me. I'm not a perfectionist but I really like keeping a certain standard in my home...one of them is to make as healthy meals as possible (please forget everything I said about a certain marshmallow cereal & cake for breakfast)...I digress... So if I don't cut corners on what my kids eat on a regular basis...that means I don't do microwave dinners and rarely any pre-prepared meals out of the freezer section at all...pizza 1x a week at the most...rarely do we do anything out of a can...do you want me to continue?

So here's how I plan to make the time go by more quickly & cut corners...and it doesn't just involve food...

-Paper plates for pretty much everything

-Paper bowls for things that will drip off of paper plates

It's VERY cold & snowy in
Kyrgyzstan right now.

-increased hug length...if I hug the girls each more often and increase squeeze time from about 10-15 seconds to well over 20...that'll make the day just fly by...cutting corners on the "I'm bored" chatter around the house (come on, give your mama a hug or 3). [This does not include all the extra cuddling & middle-of-the-night visits that I know will be needed...my oldest is an excellent cuddler.]

-Let my youngest eat in a onsie instead of real clothes. You should see her eat & you'd understand. It'll cut my laundry by 1/3.

-Put 1/2 the toys in the garage (to rotate back in at a later date)...decreased pick-up toy time DRAMATICALLY.

-Accept (almost) all dinner invites...you know, a girl's still got a schedule to keep, so it's impossible to keep ALL invites.

-Eat out more. 'Nuf said.

-INCREASED PRAYER...surely that, out of this entire list, will make this time more bearable till the Hubster comes home...

This month, as much as possible, I am planning to focus on all things military in honor of my amazing husband The Major and to all the other men & women out there & their families who are serving bravely. I hope you enjoy the contributing posts by other writers. ;-)

Cheers,
Elizabeth

Your Turn: How do you cut corners or make the time pass quicker when you need to? I'd love to hear our ideas.

Welcome, Karen Baney, Author of Nickles!

2012-01-26T07:00:00.006-06:00

I’m hosting an exciting author today! She's a fellow indy writer, like me, and has already published a series of historical books AND her newest contemporary book NICKLES hit the online shelves a few weeks ago. Some things that I’ve gleaned from Karen is that she seems like she has SO MUCH ENERGY! And her confidence appears to be well-grounded in her faith and God. These things made me really want to share this talented author with all of you!

Karen Baney, in addition to writing Christian historical fiction and contemporary novels, works as a Software Engineer.

When she’s not busy writing, she enjoys traveling the state of Arizona with her husband, exploring museums and the picturesque landscapes the state has to offer.

Her faith plays an important role both in her life and in her writing. Karen and her husband make their home in Gilbert, Arizona, with their two dogs. She also holds a Masters of Business Administration from Arizona State University.

Website: http://www.karenbaney.com

Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Karen-Baney-Books/138412459527446

Twitter handle: @karen_baney

Where to buy book(s) http://amazon.com/author/karenbaney

Book Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=2Q9g5CQPCwI

1. Give a blurb about Nickles?

Niki Turner has finally arrived. Her career as a Software Engineer is soaring—she has just been offered the company’s most sought after account, Helitronics. Life would be perfect, if she could stop her roommate from playing matchmaker.

Then Kyle Jacobs mysteriously re-enters her life. As painful memories resurface, his presence turns her life upside down and threatens to waylay her career. She must find a way to work with him—after all, he’s the helicopter flight consultant for the new flight control system she’s coding.

Can she forget the past and see him as the new man he has become? Or will her resentment keep her from finding what she has always been searching for?

This contemporary novel is an upbeat and compelling story set in the Phoenix Metro Area. Karen Baney shows a new side to her writing with great wit and banter between the main characters. Inspired by her love of romance and of computers, this story takes readers on a journey filled with laughter and tears.

2. What inspired you to write Nickles?

I am a software engineer by day, author by night. I thought it would be fun to write a book that shows what a fun group of people geeks can be. Thus, Nickels came to be.

I also wanted to include aspects of the military. I spent time overseas married to an Airman and decided to draw on those experiences to provide the backdrop for Niki’s teen years and Kyle’s life as a military brat who followed in his father’s footsteps.

When I started writing this book, I really didn’t know it would take Niki so deep. She’s suffered tremendous grief in her life and has to learn to move on. I was even more surprised when grief became one of the themes in Kyle’s life. I think it helps draw the two characters together.

I’ve experienced loss of someone very close to me over ten years ago and I wanted to show readers that everyone deals with it differently. Friends and family may tell you its time to move on, but you are the only one that can decide to. In some respects, you never move on completely.

3. Tell us about a transitional moment/experience on your life?

One of the biggest transitional moments in my life came in Mar. 2010. I had to have surgery on my hand and ended up taking some time off work. I couldn’t do much with my right hand (yup – the dominant one) all wrapped up mummy-style. This became a time of great personal reflection for me.

I had accepted many years ago that I am not called to be a mom. But accepting it and living with the feeling that my life is missing something important are two different things. I asked God, “If you haven’t called me to be a mom, then what have you called me to do?”

He said, “Write.”

I had no idea what to write. So after a little more prayer, Prescott Pioneers 1: A Dream Unfolding was born. In 30 days I had the first draft written – spending every weekend and evening on it. It took me awhile to learn more about writing and self publishing, but by Dec. 2010, A Dream Unfolding was released.

The ideas keep coming – faster than I have time to get them down on paper – but in His time, each story unfolds with the theme He desires it to have.

4. What are some things we can expect from a Karen Baney book?

I love getting inside of the characters’ heads. Many readers have commented that they hate for the book to end because they feel like the characters have become close friends. I like to write realistic and identifiable characters regardless of setting, job, geography, etc.

In Nickels, my humorous side shows a bit more than in my Prescott Pioneers Series. But, the historical series is heavily researched. I love history and it totally shows. I even give readers hints on what is real and what was imagined at the end of the book in the author’s note.

I also love throw characters into extreme situations. Pile on the trouble. Just when you think it’s going to get better – BAM! Life throws them another curve ball. Why do I do this? Because I think many of us can relate. Seems like there’s always more than one major thing going on at a time.

Yet, God is good and he is always there for us. Regardless of a character’s belief, I hope readers will always hear the message that God never forsakes and never leaves us.

Thank you, Karen, for sharing yourself and Nickles with us. I have so enjoyed watching your success as we correspond online and hope that someday we can meet in “real life.”

Your turn: Do you have a life event that transitioned you into a new career or a dream you didn’t realize you had? I’d love to hear your story!

Cheers,

Elizabeth

Author Interview & Giveaway: The Dating Dilemmas of Delilah Dunnfield

2012-01-24T07:00:00.039-06:00

So, I read this great book a few years back...I laughed & was amazed that it was written by an unpublished author. I was instantly drawn to her VOICE and told her so...along with "send this to an agent now!" The book is witty, relevant, and down-right hilarious! NOW...YOU CAN READ IT, TOO!

The Dating Dilemmas of Delilah Dunnfield, by Victoria L. Thurman, was published in October 2011. I bought my copy promptly & read it over Thanksgiving break. It is a breath of fresh air read and will keep you chuckling until the end.

Here's the back cover blurb:

One klutsy girl + Several neurotic fears= Lots of dilemmas in this hilarious debut novel by Victoria L. Thurman. Based on the author's real life, twenty-four year old Delilah Dunnfield (but please call her Deli- yes like the sandwich shop- especially if you are one sharing an intimate moment with her) was always taught that "all the good ones are gone by the time you reach twenty-five." She has eight months. Will she sell herself short or will she walk away from a lifelong ideal?

Written from Delilah's point-of-view you will get a first hand look at the foibles this young woman deals with. The writing style is sweet & witty but she leaves out the crudeness that can come along with chick-lit dating stories...it's a love story and a personal growth story wrapped up into one awesome package.

Victoria's writing is conversational and lyrical. You will feel like Delilah is chatting with you & you'll even want to offer up your own advice at some point (maybe a few times) because she is so lovable and naive. but not annoyingly so. The situations she finds herself in are humorous and laughable. You will not be disappointed.

The DD of DD is a very worth-while read. I think it would be SUPERB for a book club and would probably make anyone think about the dating dilemmas in their own lives.

Meet the author...she's amazing:

Isn't she gorgeous!

Victoria Thurman earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Valdosta State University in Valdosta, GA. She has lived in various beautiful places around the country and currently lives in Chattanooga, TN with her first pet ever. She is a member of the Chattanooga Writer’s Guild and The Dating Dilemmas of Delilah Dunnfield.

Follow her on Twitter @vlouise63.

Follow her on FaceBook, Victoria L. Thurman, Author.

You can e-mail her vlthurman@gmail.com

What was your favorite part about writing DD of DD?

My favorite part was laughing at all the clever things that were coming to mind. I would write something and would have to type fast as the ideas were flowing and then I would call my sister laughing and read it to her. I was so excited about everything I wrote and to share it with her made it come alive even more. She was such an amazing cheerleader for my stories. After I told her a crazy experience in my real life, she would always tell me, “Now go write it down for Delilah.” I had to dedicate the book to her. There was no one else it belonged it.

What is your hope for this book getting into the hands of readers?

On the surface, I hope my book takes people’s minds away from their troubles and they just escape to Atlanta with Delilah. I hope they laugh and enjoy the story and her dilemmas, how she gets herself into them and how she stumbles out. On a deeper level, I hope my readers will identify with Delilah’s struggles and if they haven’t seen then funnier side of life, I hope this helps them. It took me ten years to learn what Delilah learns in a year. I think we all follow some rules we believe are right for our path and sometimes we think it is taboo to break them. Will I get struck by lightening if I don’t get married and have children by a certain age? Will I be the ultimate disappointment to my parents? To society? To myself? It is a lot of pressure to put on oneself. And then on the flip side, how does one navigate the dating world, where it seems one is expected to have sex, no strings attached?

Have you had other dating dilemmas since finishing this book that you wish you could've added to this publication?

Oh, yes! The guy who took me fly fishing while his wife stayed at home with a broken leg and then he tells me he is tired of her expecting him to take the trash out and give her a bath. Um, did you not take vows in a church promising to take care of each other “in sickness and in health?” For the record, I thought it was a group of us going to the river, and it turned out the group never showed up. I’m starting to believe there never was a group.

Can we look forward to more books from you?

Yes! I love Delilah and she has been on the journey with me for 15 years. I cannot let her go just yet. I have begun writing her sequel, yes, I found some old notes from about four years ago that I forgot I had written and just reading them fresh like that, made me laugh out loud and I knew Delilah is back.

Tell us something that is uniquely Victoria!?

For this question, after being stumped for about five minutes, I consulted my sister. I have three sisters and a brother, but for things like this Kathryn is my go-to gal. She said, “Your sense of humor. You laugh at British comedies, but you need The Far Side comic strip explained to you.” And she added, “Your legendary stubbornness.” Yes. That is true. I argued with a thief once at Dairy Queen where I worked in high school. He handed me a ten and I gave him change, but then he insisted he gave me a twenty. I did not back down. Neither did he. Soon the manager had to come break up the argument. Gave him change for a twenty and at the end of the evening when we counted down my drawer, guess who was right- me. And no one can surprise me. A bunch of senior girls had a kidnap breakfast party before graduation and of course you aren’t to know anything about it. I told mom I had to be at mandatory work meeting the next morning and she insisted I could not go. Thinking I’d be fired, I insisted that I had to go. She finally had to tell me about the party. What a lucky break though, I dressed in a t-shirt and boxers the night before and then got up early to use the bathroom before they came. But probably what is most unique about me (so says my sister Kathryn) is my shocking reactions to things that are not shocking, like my reaction to my finding out after having my cat for six months thinking he was a girl, that was he was in fact a boy. I felt like we had been living a lie and had to start our relationship all over again at the getting-to-know you phase.

Amazon link is HERE!!!!

Also available in KINDLE Format.

So, Victoria has offered to giveaway a SIGNED book to one of you lucky readers. She's the greatest!!!

Your Turn: DON'T YOU WANT TO WIN THIS BOOK? ENTER THE GIVEAWAY!!!!! Leave a comment along with your email & that's it! Easy, huh?

Contest runs through February 14th. I will select a winner using Random.org. I will contact the winner via email (make sure you leave me a way to reach you!). If I do not hear back from the winner within a week another winner will be selected.

Cheers,

Elizabeth

Must Reads for 2012!

2012-01-19T07:00:00.001-06:00

So...I'm gonna make this one simple for you all! Here are some blogs that you MUST read, follow, & share!

Bloggers I can't live without:
Michael Hyatt, Chairman of Thomas Nelson, blogs about all things from publishing to leadership to techy computer stuff.
Chip MacGregor, Literary Agent Extraordinaire, focusing on marketing & branding.
Rachelle Gardner, Literary Agent Extraordinaire also, blogs about writing/publishing nitty-gritties.
Raquel Martina Martinez, Writer and amazing blogger...the wittiest blog I read. I love Mondays because of Raquel.

My Go-To Authors:
Allison Pittman
Nicholas Sparks
Lynn Austin
Tricia Goyer
Siri Mitchell
Ted Dekker

New Authors with MUST READ Debut Books:
Victoria Thurman
The Dack Brothers (Christopher & Michael Dack)

Homeschooling Mom-stars:

Confessions of a Homeschooler, fantastic mom who has an amazing affordable curriculum

Raising Rock Stars, a new to me blog & I'm loving it! Awesome mom...awesome homeschooling ideas!

And I'll just end here & say...you're welcome.

Your turn: What sites do you recommend & why?

Cheers,
Elizabeth

My 2011 Book Recommendations

2012-01-17T07:00:00.005-06:00

For the last 3 years my husband and I have a running competition throughout the year...who can read the most pages! I won the first year...he's won years 2 & 3...by major landslide numbers! It's a fun way to record what we read and our ratings and we can easily see what we'd recommend...and what we WOULDN'T.

Here's my list of recommendations:

The Help, by Kathryn Stockton
The Book Thief, by Marjus Zusak
Lilies in Moonlight, by Allison Pittman
A Woman's Place, by Lynn Austin
Forsaking All Others, by Allison Pittman
Love's Pursuit, by Siri Mitchell
While We were Far Apart, by Lynn Austin
Beside Still Waters, by Tricia Goyer
Circle Trilogy & Green, by Ted Dekker
Dating Dilemmas of Delilah Dunnfield, by Victoria L. Thurman
The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins (listened to this audio...amazing)

and last, but not least, the resident Vampire book...

Bloody Mary, by The Dack Brothers (Christopher Dack & Michael Dack)

Each of these books I would recommend for 1 reason or another. The main thing you'll notice is that the majority of these books are historical fiction and also Christian. That is typically what I like to read but sometimes I make a diversion into contemporary, fantasy, dystopian and even vampire.

Your turn: What books did you read last year that you'd recommend? I'd love to hear about what you love to read!

Cheers,
Elizabeth

It's my Birthday & I'm on the Radio!

2012-01-12T07:00:00.006-06:00

Happy Birthday to me!

I'm 34 today & excited to be alive! I'm thankful for the year God has given me and looking forward to His blessings in this coming year.

The blessings are starting quickly because TODAY I will be on LIVING INSPIRED with Tricia Goyer on Toginet Radio.

I'm thrilled to be a guest on Tricia's show and completely humbled. I have been listening to hear radio show for a while and downloading past shows from iTunes...makes housework not seem so draining.

Here's more about Tricia (from her website):

Using her own experiences as a teen mother, and leader of today’s generation, Tricia’s vision is to be a voice of hope and possibility for teenage girls, pregnant teen girls, mothers and wives through her educational and inspirational speaking, workshops and books. Her intention is to serve ordinary women by encouraging extraordinary things with God’s help. Tricia expresses real life, real hope, for real women.

**And, truly, that is just the tip of the ice burg. She is an amazing woman! I hope to have more opportunities in the future to learn from her and to be INSPIRED by her. And for all of you Amish Fiction readers out there...she has her own series of Amish books that are WONDERFUL!

Here's the link to the show: http://toginet.com/shows/livinginspired ...come & listen 4:00 Easter Time!!! Hope you tune in!

Cheers,
Elizabeth

Interview with Gina Conroy!

2012-01-03T07:00:00.001-06:00

I've had the pleasure of e-meeting Gina through several online channels. She's a fascinating woman and I have a lot in common with her...namely that we're both Christian wives, writers, and mom's who homeschool! I'm happy to introduce to you...

GINA CONROY!

Give us a blurb about your book?

Cherry Blossom Capers is a collection of four stories featuring four women who encounter love, danger, and mystery beyond their neighborhood near Washington, D.C.

My novella, Buried Deception, combines my love of mystery and suspense with my fascination with archaeology. I’m going to steal the words from Vickie McDonough, award-winning author of 24 books and novellas, who said this about my novella, “Murder. Thefts of priceless artifacts. An ornery, little boy with a penchant for getting into trouble. Gina Conroy's fast-paced debut novella has it all and takes readers on an emotional ride. A charming romance winds up this satisfying who-dun-it.”

It’s a fun series of novellas where characters from previous stories have cameos in the others! So if you’re someone who hates to say goodbye to a “friend,” then you’ll enjoy the reunions in Cherry Blossom Capers.

What inspired you to write this book?

Several years ago when I was homeschooling, we took the kids on a cross-country trip up the east coast. I remember walking through Mount Vernon’s Mansion wondering if all the antiques were real and what would happen if one of them was a forgery? The mom character with her rambunctious kids came first, NOT that I would know anything about that sort of thing. Then came the snarky, but lovable, brooding security guard. Again, not that I would know anything about sarcasm...

Tell us about a transitional moment/experience in your life?

A transitional period in my life came after I had picked up writing again after ten years off to raise my four kids. I didn't know it was possible to write and raise kids, so when my youngest was two, I thought it was time! Except, I think I had all this stored up passion and went a little overboard as my life got out of balance.

About the time I picked up writing again, I did something I swore I'd never do. Homeschool. My oldest was going into 4th and my 2nd, 2nd grade. It was the most trying time of my life and when things did get out of balance, God asked me to lay down my writing for a season. You can read my heart wrenching surrender here. The writing sabbatical lasted eight months and it's all documented on my blog in my Letting Go and Things that Make Me Go Ouch posts! Now my youngest is 9 and I think I'm finally on track to finding that balance!

Where can we find you on the web and what should we expect?

For a more personal account of my life and triumphs and trials as I pursue my dreams along side my kids' dream, you can find me blogging at Defying Gravity.

I share my writing insecurities and celebrations, but also share fun stuff about my family like when my kids got a Disney audition call back! After all, my blog is all about helping people follow their dreams, and I have to include my own children!

For posts related to all types of writing, I blog ever Friday at Writer...Interrupted, the site I founded when I was trying to figure out how to balance raising my family with pursuing my writing career. The rest of the week writers, agents and editors guest post and the archives is full of great information for the busy writer!

If you just have to keep up with my daily life, follow me on Facebook or for a more professional view of my life there's my Author Page. I'm also on Twitter and have a Facebook Page just for Writer...Interrupted.

Gina Conroy is president and founder of Writer...Interrupted where she mentors busy writers. Knowing how difficult it is to raise a family as well as a career, she chronicles her triumphs and trials on Defying Gravity, hoping to encourage those on a similar path. She is represented by Chip MacGregor of MacGregor Literary, and her first novella, Buried Deception, in the Cherry Blossom Capers Collection, releases from Barbour Publishing in January 2012. Gina loves to connect with readers on Facebook and Twitter

99 CENT SALE on AMISH BOOK!

2011-12-26T11:13:00.000-06:00

Here's your chance! Only 99 cents!

AMAZON KINDLE

If you haven't seen the trailer yet...check it out!

TRAILER for SEASONS

Merry Christmas...and a HAPPY NEW YEAR in a few days! Here comes 2012!

Cheers,
Elizabeth

Amish Giveaway Awarded!

2011-12-12T17:04:00.000-06:00

Happy to award commenter "Sara" with the Liddy Doll & a signed copy of Seasons!

Sara, I've emailed you & hope to hear from you in the next 3 days so I can get your doll & book mailed out to you!

Thanks to all of you who entered!

Stay tuned on Wednesday for another big announcement!!!!!

Cheers,
Elizabeth

It's an AMISH GIVEAWAY!!! STICKY

2011-12-12T07:00:00.000-06:00

***FOR MORE CURRENT POSTS SCROLL DOWN. THIS POST IS STICKY UNTIL 12/12.***

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

For the first 12 days of December I am opening up a giveaway that will hopefully excite a lot of you!

I'm giving away a copy of my book SEASONS: A REAL STORY OF AN AMISH GIRL and an Amish doll I just picked up when I went to Dover, DE (the setting of Seasons) at a store called BYLER'S...yep...my maiden name. My dad's cousin was the original owner of the store, but it has changed hands since.

You could win: Signed copy of Seasons & the Liddy Doll!

Here's what you can do to win this great Christmas giveaway!

1---LEAVE A COMMENT! ;-) Easy enough! Make sure you have your email listed in the comment. No email...no valid entry.

2---Become a follower or subscriber to my blog (see left panel). You can also do this through Facebook Network Blogs. http://www.networkedblogs.com/blog/elizabeth_byler_younts Tell me in the comments how you follow me...ADD YOUR EMAIL!

3---"Like" me on Facebook! https://www.facebook.com/pages/Elizabeth-Byler-Younts/149609568446062 ...come back, let me know & add your email!

4---Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/EBYounts again......come back, let me know & add your email!

5---Facebook and/or Tweet this Giveaway, make sure there's a link to this post and, on Twitter, my user name @ebyounts! Come back & tell me & don't forget your email!

****For each of these things you earn 1 additional entry, so you can earn up to 5 entries!!!! But, you must add a comment for each so I know how to tally up your entries. PLEASE make sure to add your email to each (that way I don't have to go searching for it if you have more than 1 entry)...I really don't want to disqualify anyone for not being able to reach them.

****On DECEMBER 12th a winner will be chosen using www.Random.org. I will contact the person by email and mail out the package. If I cannot reach the person within 3 days, I will reselect a winner.

Be sure to share this with your friends!!!!

Cheers,
Elizabeth

Book Review: Savanna's Gift by Camille Eide

2011-12-06T07:00:00.019-06:00

Savanna's gift was a great Holiday read. I was skeptical that I would get the a real experience with such a snack of a novella and I was very pleasantly pleased.

Savanna is a young ambitious woman who ends up snowed in at a ski resort where she used to work...and where her former fiancé is now one of the managers. Their reunion is full of tension and conflict...and romance.

My first reaction was...hmmmm, would this happen? Then.........sigh, I thought of my own romance and marriage.

My husband and I were also broken up when it was mostly out of our control. We were separated for 6 years before we both came back to our senses and our 2d romance could begin...engaged in 4.5 mos then married 4.5 mos after that. Our love had never gone away but just seemed a little dormant for a time...until we were brought back together and realized we should never be apart again.

So, while our rekindled love was a little different than Savanna and Luke's...my final thought was...if it had been Davis and me...I would've made the same decisions. So, for me the story was realistic and believable...even though the character development was truncated bc it's a novella. But it was done well ny the Author and I didn't feel cheated in the least. A sweet read.

I enjoyed it a lot...LOVED the Christmasy spirit of it...read it mostly on Thanksgiving evening which felt perfect. I would highly recommend this novella to anyone who loves inspiring, romantic stories. Adding in Christmas is just a BONUS!!!

You can visit Camille Eide at her blog:

http://camilleeide.blogspot.com/

And her website:

http://www.camilleeide.com/

I hope you check out her sites & her great Christmas read!

Cheers,

Elizabeth

Books for Christmas Presents: Paper or Plastic?

2011-11-29T07:00:00.003-06:00

Since Christmas is approaching at lightening speed and e-reading is all the rage...I have been considering how to mesh the 2. My husband is deploying soon & will be taking a Kindle...but I was wondering how to actually gift an e-book?

That's where my new friend of mine, Naty Matos, comes in. She wrote this fantastic post on how to gift kindle books! ENJOY!!!

***********

Technology is moving so fast that even I, the gadget junkie, am falling behind. As I was working on publishing my first book Growth Lessons, I started to wonder the same thing any new author asks themselves, how do I make my book available to most people? I posted the question on my Facebook page wondering what would be more attractive to customers these days; a paper book or an e-book? Of course the answer was that there was market for both formats, but the truth behind my question was that I was the one resistant to the change from paper to electronic.

After seeing the enthusiasm for e-books I downloaded the Kindle application to my phone and found me a book to read. Not only I was fascinated with the fact that I was at the doctor’s office reading my book without adding any more weight to my already packed purse, but that it was actually fun to read from an electronic device. It truly didn’t take as much out of the experience as I thought.

Can E-books be gifted?

I went back to Facebook to consult my friends. Wait a minute there is a disadvantage to this thing. I give books to friends and family all the time and now I won’t be able. Once again I was wrong. Amazon has a way to gift e-books. You would simply need to choose the “Give as a Gift” option for any book in the Kindle Store, and then send the gift to anyone with an email address.

Here are the instructions on how to do this on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html/ref=hp_200555070_kindlegifts&nodeId=200555070#purchase

Now sitting on the customer side I thought, what a wonderful idea! E-books are far less expensive than paper books. I’ll use Growth Lesson’s for example. Let’s say you read my book, loved it and thought ten of your friends should read this book. If you bought the paperback, at $9.99 each, that’s $100 and I didn’t add shipping. I wouldn’t complaint about your purchase, but your pocket might. However, let’s use the same book, which will be on sale for 99 cents from today and throughout the whole month of December. You can now buy the book for the same ten friends for just $10 and no shipping costs. You can even buy 2-3 different books for each person in your gift list.

What about autographed books?

I wasn’t still satisfied in my battle between paper vs. electronic and came up with another reason why maybe paper was better. Well, I can’t get my book autographed by the author if it’s an e-book. Once again I was wrong. Actually you have a better chance to have an e-book personally autographed by the author than with a paper book. For the paper book you have to find out where the author will be hosting the book signing, stand in line and if the author never makes it to your city, it just may not happen.

There’s this fabulous website called “Kindlegraph” http://www.kindlegraph.com/ if the e-book is registered on Kindlegraph all you have to do is submit a request and the author will personally sign it for you, absolutely free!

Yes, personally. It is not an automated signature that goes into each request. The author will be signing with their own hand and mouse (instead of pen) each request. You do need a twitter account to enter the request, but if you do not use twitter, you can make up the account just for this purpose, it’s free and who knows it may get you tweeting!

So as this Christmas season approaches, and with our budgets a little tighter this year, think of gifting an e-book. Don’t worry if the person doesn’t have a Kindle reader per se. Remember that the Kindle app is free for anyone with an IPad, IPhones, Android phones, Blackberry and both Mac and PC’s.

Before you leave, one more question; what if the person who I’m trying to give an e-book doesn’t have a kindle or rather have books for other formats?

I have good and not so good news. The technology is so new that at this moment Amazon is the only provider that allows direct e-book gifting. But, the other formats like Barnes & Nobles (Nook), Smashwords, Sony, Apple (iTunes) and others have a gift card option. You can buy a gift card for the person and let them know the title of the book you intended to get for them, that way they can choose the format that is convenient for them and still get that wonderful inspiring book that you wanted to share.

Let’s give the gift of reading uplifting books this Christmas season.

Merry Christmas!

About Naty Matos

Naty Matos was born in the city of New York, from Puerto Rican descendant parents. She grew up in the beautiful Island of Puerto Rico and now lives in the city of Atlanta. She holds a Bachelor's Degree in Clinical Psychology with a Minor in Mass Media Communications and a Master's Degree in Mental Health Counseling. Naty writes Christian fiction and non-fiction. She’s the author of the live changing devotional Growth Lessons. She maintains a blog on Christian Living Topics at www.therisingmuse.com

Growth Lessons on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Growth-Lessons-ebook/dp/B005WZ1BGK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1321557564&sr=8-1

Growth Lessons kindlegraph: http://www.kindlegraph.com/books?utf8=%E2%9C%93&search=growth+lessons

Naty Matos on Twitter @natycmatos

Naty Matos on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/pages/Naty-Matos/172298772847562

Happy Thanks-LIVING!!!!!

2011-11-22T07:00:00.001-06:00

In the spirit of the season I wanted to share what our pastor talked about in church this past Sunday. He challenged us to live out our thanks, instead of just celebrating the day of Thanksgiving.

A few high points...

*Thanks-living is giving God our best!

*To give our best to God, we must sacrifice keeping the best for ourselves.

*God never asks us to give what we do not have.

*God always deserves the best of what we DO have.

Seems simple, doesn't it...but when we put it into action, suddenly we are challenged. How much time do we give God...or really the question is...what quality of time are we giving Him? Just what's left-over or do we carve out the best time in our day for Him? Do we practice and live out our thanksgiving and appreciation to others and Christ in front of our children or just remind them generically to learn the words: "thank you."

I sure am glad God doesn't expect me to serve where I'm not called...but He does expect me to give my best where I am called. Right now I feel called to work full-time in the nursery for Sunday School...every Sunday. Through this I have met one of the most wonderful women. I just love the time we have together, sharing our praises and prayer needs, while we play with and care for the babies. It's amazing when submission to Him leads to such blessings.

YOUR TURN: Are you THANKS-LIVING?

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Cheers,
Elizabeth

Book Review: Beside Still Waters by Tricia Goyer

2011-11-17T07:00:00.016-06:00

Hi everyone!

I'm excited to share with you another vloggy book review. I tried desperately to keep this to 2-3 minutes, but it's just not going to happen unless I'm an auctioneer. So I hope you take 4 minutes of your time to listen to this review of this great book.

I hope you enjoyed that review and will run out right now and buy that book! ;-)

Also, you can check out Tricia Goyer at her WEBSITE.

You can also find her at TOGINET for her show LIVING INSPIRED. Her show is every Thursday from 4-5...so don't miss it. Past shows are available on podcast.

YOUR TURN: Do you read Amish Fiction? Why or Why Not? I'd love to know what your thoughts are on this very hot genre!

Cheers,
Elizabeth

Who moved my...honey?

2011-11-15T07:00:00.000-06:00

PHOTO CREDIT

Ever get home from the grocery store and realize that something has turned up missing? I made a mad dash to WalMart a few days ago and 1 item I needed for baking was honey. I didn't need much more and I threw everything in the minivan (MV) and we raced out to a pond to feed some ducks.

Fast forward to the next morning and all the girls wanted tea (I have 2 girls and I had 3 of my nieces also with us for the week). Low and behold...I cannot find the honey to add into the tea. We searched high and low and even ran back to the MV and still...NOTHING. We ended up using agave for tea instead and those cookies I really want to bake are going to have to wait until I get to the grocery store again.

Isn't that frustrating? It reminds me of how I can live my life sometimes. I can get so busy that while I go through all the motions...cooking, parenting, thanking hubby for kitchen help, cleaning...but weeks go by and I realize I have been missing something. The Honey.

Sometimes the honey that I haven't enjoyed enough of is my God time with Bible study and prayer.

Sometimes the honey that turns up missing is real quality time with my husband where we can have a date or much needed chat over coffee.

Sometimes it's sitting and reading to my oldest daughter or laying on the carpet and letting both girls tackle me. And...boy, can they tackle.

Sometimes the honey is creating. Writing.

The sweetness of all of these honeys in my life are my greatest passions and when any 1 of them get pushed aside or just turn up missing...I am just not right. I'm so glad God gives us the ability to recognize where the honey is missing and gently (and sometimes not so gently) guides us back.

YOUR TURN: Has your honey come up missing? What do you feel like is missing in your life lately? I'd love to hear from you and encourage you to seek Him.

Cheers,

Elizabeth

Interview: Pursuing your talents

2011-11-14T07:00:00.001-06:00

I had the privilege of being on a podcast interview with Keri Mae Lamar about pursuing your passion while in the busy, busy (busy) season of motherhood.

Here's a little about Keri Mae from her blog: A Happy Home.

I am a Christian, the wife of one incredible husband and a mother of six beautiful children. We are blessed and challenged with one child with Down Syndrome. I was saved as an adult and am, simply, an extremely grateful daughter of the King of Kings, and a Bible believer who loves the Lord and the life He gives. Our family homesteads and homeschools on five acres in the woods. The best days are when we are all together. We keep ducks, hens, rabbits, and dairy goats. I did a little beekeeping, which I loved. I like to write, quilt, garden, use herbs, and soak in the relatively short time I have with my babies.

My hope is to exhort Christian mothers to stay close to Jesus Christ, and to encourage them in their endeavors to glorify God with their everyday lives. It really matters!

Doesn't she just sound awesome! Because...SHE IS!!! And she and her husband are expecting baby #7! I admire her and feel humbled to be a part of her podcast for 2 episodes! I have listened to all of her podcasts & enjoy her tips and helpful hints so much. I know I'm a better mom an person because of it.

While my interviewing skills need some work, phone interviewing is so not easy...but I hope, really hope, you are blessed by the podcast & enjoy the little tips.

Without further adieu...here's the podcast.

Pursuing your Passions

And the first interview on my book SEASONS.

I hope you take the time to listen...maybe while you are driving or cooking or cleaning? Come back and tell me what you think!

Cheers,

Elizabeth

"Elyon is beyond my mind" ...from WHITE by Ted Dekker

2011-11-03T07:00:00.001-05:00

So, this post is going to be a little different. I wanted to share a short portion from a book I just finished.

WHITE by Ted Dekker...it's from his CIRCLE TRILOGY. White is the 3rd installment and I'm about to start Green which is the 4th. It's part of a HUGE series that I think originally spanned 10 books...but I think that was before he wrote Green and his new Book of Mortals series. Just go to Ted Dekker's site and figure it out. ;-) I'm still a little confused as to the puzzle piece that is this "circle" but I'm not confused about the stories that I've read and the message inside them. It's sooooo worth it.

There is a lot of symbolism in the books and here is a portion that I seriously loved so much as it helped me see my relationship with Jesus more clearly. The Great Romance that Dekker reveals in his books in such a beautiful way is truly the relationship that I know we have with Christ, as His Bride...when seeing it revealed so intensely through his characters, it just brought me back to so much awe for our real Savior.

(When you read Justin...read Jesus)

"...I would have guessed that after Justin's death you would understand him better. Elyon's anger is directed toward anything that hinders his love. ... Anything that hinders his bride's love, he detests."

"...Elyon is beyond my mind. But his love is boundless. ... Even when you stumble as William does now, Justin vows to forget and remembers only William's love, however imperfect it might be. ... Elyon is thrilled with his bride and desperate to woo others into his Circle."

"This is the Great Romance." {insert goose bumps here}

(these portions come from the Circle Trilogy book, page 1012)

I know, this is technically fiction...but the picture of us as the Bride of Christ when you really read the entire passage is so beautiful. It's captivating. It reminds me that the precious Bible is His love letter to us, His Great Romance for US! Even as imperfect and ridiculous and wavering that we are.

I'm so blessed to be in His circle. A circle that will always protect me and surround me with His everlasting love.

Blessings,
Elizabeth

Creating Tension

2011-11-01T07:00:00.005-05:00

As novelists we are always being taught to create TENSION. Sometimes this is laughable because, seriously, do we really need to learn this.

I had tension at dinner time when my daughter was throwing her food.

And what about earlier this week when I realized I need 2 washer & dryers in order to get enough laundry done in an afternoon.

The Major and I are considering how our first deployment is going to go in a few months.

Sometimes our lives don't need ANY. MORE. TENSION!

Link for image: HERE

But, {sigh} alas we must.

Watch any reality show and you'll learn what you need to know about tension. Producers are amazing at this. They find the spark and BANG...that's not only the clip that gets into the preview but you, as the watcher, are waiting...waiting...waiting for it. Like who's Project Runway design looked like a Halloween costume instead of super expensive & chic? (by the way, last week it was JOSH's awfully pretty in the front awfully awful in the back get-up that he designed!)

Or on Design Star who's paired up with who and complaining about not being the leader or hates the color on that person's wall. Or the person who CONSTANTLY is talking about EVERYTHING they are good at and what they've done for the past 15 years. Seriously...that makes me tense just thinking back to the last season.

It's why we watch, right? Okay, maybe not the ONLY reason why we watch, but it definitely helps the stakes to be high enough that we want to see WHO WILL WIN!

So as a writer, it is what I must do. Raise the stakes. Give the characters something to lose and the reader something to invest in. I'm learning. I'm learning. I'm learning...

YOUR TURN: It's all about tension! Don't you hate a scene that has chit-chat...uh, how are you? I'm fine. You? Yep, I'm good. BORING! What's a pet peeve of yours when you read and it seems like the tension is a flop. Tell me. Tell me. I really want to know!

Cheers,
Elizabeth

PS: What am I reading? WHITE by Ted Dekker. A-mazing!

Making & Meeting Goals

2011-10-27T07:00:00.006-05:00

I joined the ACFW Novel Track this month. I started a new manuscript a few days before October 1 and thought this would be a great motivation to get a lot of words down on paper...er, screen. My typical history of productivity is inconsistent. I go a few weeks with tons of writing and then I'm dry for a month or more (like way more). It's very hard for me to push through exhaustion, lack of inspiration, the muddle in the middle.

I'm kind of a hybrid of a seat-of-the-pants (SOTP) writer and plotter...so I have a few areas of the book with some great plot threads that excite me. And, where I'm at today, seriously, this is bad writing. It's part lack of research and part just not sure what should come next. A jump in time? A more detailed scene about the building of a friendship?

The good thing is that I'm pushing through it. Am I tired. OH YEAH I AM. But at night when I go to sleep, even if it's 1 a.m., I know that I wrote as much as I could that day. I sleep soundly. I hate going to bed knowing that if I'd pushed through the tiredness just a bit I would've gotten 1/2 a scene down...or even a whole one. Or even 500 words. Anything that moves forward. One day all I wrote before falling asleep at my lappy was 127 words. (sigh)

AND...I love a good bubble bath with a book (I'm reading Tricia Goyer's Beside Still Waters right now...very good, by the way) and that seems a lot more fun than writing almost any night. But I close my eyes when I walk by my big ole nice tub. {sigh} I will persevere! I'm determined!

I have a goal word count for this month...and I'm staying fairly on track. The first week I exceeded my weekly goal so that really helped. I know I need to get the overall word count to around 90k, which seems daunting, but it's just a word at a time.

In the vain of Dory, my favorite cartoon fish, "Just keep writing, just keep writing, just keep writing, writing, writing." Thanks, Dory, I think I will!

YOUR TURN: Are you good at setting goals? Did you set a goal for this month? This year? The year's almost over...keep up your motivation & productivity...and if you have any extra...please cyber-send it my way!

Cheers,
Elizabeth

PS: I just met my goal!!!!! While the words I wrote this month will need lots of editing & polishing...getting them down is the first step. I'm very excited! Now...what's my goal for next month?

Bookish "Pinterest" Board

2011-10-25T07:00:00.002-05:00

I'm totally into Pinterest though I'm not on it tons. Here's what I've pinned lately...

Wanna see what's in my head...

I am amazingly in love with this...so is my husband. So maybe that means, once we own a home again after we are out of the military & can settle somewhere...someday...we can do this. ;-)

Isn't it totally gorgeous!
Link to Photo.

This is also in my head.

Yes...books should take us on a journey as readers and writers. This pathway looks so exhilarating I can almost have a seizure imagining it.

My thought on this also is how wonderful the Bible is for taking us on a journey. Thank you, Writer, for giving us Your Book.

Oh, the places they take me.
Link to Photo.

This next photo is just me...yep, in my head, that's what it looks like. ;-)

In my head much?
Link to photo.

Thanks for coming on a little photo journey with me.

YOUR TURN: Do you have an image of something bookish? What's in your head? I'd LOVE to know!

Cheers,
Elizabeth

Will there be a Sequel to Seasons

2011-10-20T07:00:00.015-05:00

One of the photos taken
when working on the cover.

The most frequent question I have gotten in the last 2 months is...is a sequel to Seasons in the works. My dear readers appropriately call it "Summer".

I am going to answer that question here.

The short answer is: No, there is no book 2 in the works.

The longer answer is No and here's why...

The story of Seasons has a lot of tension, conflict, tragedy, and everything a story is built around. But, Liddy is very young, this is her Spring season, and at the conclusion is when she's a young wife, heading into her own season of summer.

This tension & conflict at her age is mostly coming because of external reasons. Poverty. The Great Depression. Tragic family loss. We learn about her internal struggles throughout this and the faith that keeps her going. It truly is a beautiful story of God's faithfulness in her life.

My Amazing Grandma Lydia Lee Coblentz

You can probably consider your own "spring" and see how that works. There are things that happen to children...makes for very good fiction & nonfiction.

But now, move ahead to your summer and autumn seasons of your life. Often times the conflict and struggles that we find are from within. Deep. Intimate. Personal.

You can't just take out all the struggle, conflict, and tension in a story and then just keep the thread of happy-go-lucky stories...that's just not really how it works.

I am not saying this because my grandma had this awful life after her spring...but that to respect her privacy and the privacy of the Amish church...this is a story that I will forgo. Grandma agrees.

That is not to say that there may be some place for her "chronicles" with lovable stories or even a few tense situations that would be interesting to write for a different type of venue...but likely not in a published book in the style of Seasons.

I hope that answers the question. ;-)

YOUR TURN: What would your platform be if you or someone wrote a story about your childhood? Would it be about God's goodness or safety? Would it be more topical like overcoming a disease or a relationship with a parent? I'd love to hear from you!

Cheers,
Elizabeth

My Self-Publishing Journey

2011-10-18T07:00:00.002-05:00

Yes, I self-published my book SEASONS: A REAL STORY OF AN AMISH GIRL.

full spread of my book cover

This story started in my head over 20 years ago. Wow, that makes me sound old...I'm only 33. I loved my grandma's stories and I started memorizing them and learning everything I could about her young life.

When I was an ambitious single in my 20s I didn't really give this story more than a "nod" at family events. While I really loved the idea of it and wanted to write it...I, quite honestly, had zero confidence that I could actually write it and write it well. It suddenly started to sound like a bunch of disjointed stories that didn't have any real "story" tying it together.

Move ahead now, I'm 29 and pregnant with my first baby. I live in Colorado with my JAG husband. I have finished 3 manuscripts total...only 1 of which are worth anything and that 1 still needs a MILLION edits. This story started pricking my heart. So over the next few years I started & stopped writing this story several times.

Fast forward, I'm 31 (almost 32) and finally I feel like it was time. The book voice of Liddy suddenly spoke to me...authors understand this phenomenon, and I wrote the first chapter long-hand sitting up in bed in 1 sitting. It finally felt right. I had been involved in a critique group for almost a year at this point that was filled with SERIOUS writers...and writers with SERIOUS TALENT.

It was over a year later when it was fully written and edited and I started working on publishing options. I had always anticipated self-pubbing this book b/c I didn't think there was a market for an Amish memoir written by a granddaughter...so not a "true true" memoir. But my critique group encouraged me that while self-pubbing might have to happen b/c I did not have the time to wait (grandma was almost 85) that I should still market it well.

So...a big reason I self-pub'd this is because my grandma was 84 when the book was complete and sick with pneumonia. I was petrified something would happen to her before I could hand her a copy. I didn't have a literary agent (and still don't) and definitely didn't have a House that was knocking my door down for this quaint book. So...since I didn't have a budget for this, I used CreateSpace.

Grandma reading the
proof copy of Seasons for
the first time. She was
like a kid in a candy store.
**Yes, I snuck this picture
with my phone. Worth it.**

I did NOT self-pub because I thought I would be an instant success, a best-seller, or because of impatience. I didn't have any more years to put into this project because my grandma NEEDED this book in her hands. It was so very important to her and since in the publishing world there is no guarantee about anything I knew I had to do this myself. I am so glad I did. Just the look on her face when she was able to read through the proof copy of Seasons...priceless.

If someone had told me everything I'd have to do in order to self-pub this very well, I think I would've been extremely intimidated. But I honestly went a step at a time and just worked on the step I was on. I always considered the next step but until I got there I didn't worry my head over it.

In the midst of this I also had another baby & I moved across the country. God was so faithful. Yes. Yes. Yes.

A friend of mine offered to do the book cover...didn't he do an AWESOME job! In paperback you can see what intricate work he did to wrap the scene around the back and then add a photo of my grandma, like she is now, in the back cover. It is gorgeous and so much of what I imagined. He didn't charge me a penny.

Then I studied book trailers and made one of my own. You can view it here. It is a touch longer than it should be, but I love it and I've gotten a great response on it. I released the trailer about 2 months before the book. Set up a better website and created a fan page on FaceBook.

The book released in early August and it's been a whirlwind ever since. We went up to my grandma's house for a release part over Labor Day weekend (also my youngest daughter's 1st birthday!) and I was BLOWN AWAY! There was well over 100 attendees (not including all the sweet little Amish kids) and we sold 250 books...I would've sold more if I'd brought more. I didn't think I needed more. Grandma and I signed and signed and signed...it was truly such a surreal moment to be signing my first books with my AMISH GRANDMA!!!!!!

I cannot explain the amazement I have with all of this and how proud I was to be the ONE who got to write this story. It went from an obligation that I thought would be just a book that would distract me from my "real" writing (fiction) into pushing me into real writing for the first time. What a love I have for the written word and for the Writer of All Words who drew me into this amazing responsibility. Thank you, Lord.

That is why I self-pub'd. Am I going to self-pub again? I am hoping my next book that is 7 chapters deep right now will get a contract. BUT...I am overjoyed that this is the journey that I took. I absolutely love this story. I believe in it just as much as the fiction manuscript I'm working on now. I believe Seasons needed to be written and the sales we are experiencing far exceed any of my expectations, truly. I it such a joy to see my sweet almost 85 year old grandma (her birthday is in a few weeks) reflect back on her life with such joy and peace...and then share it with all of us with such grace.

I cannot tell you how truly humbled I am that I got to be the mouthpiece, the writer, of this story.

YOUR TURN: Is there a story in your family that you think should be written? If so, tell me about it in the comments section. I'd love to hear from you.

Cheers,

Elizabeth

Book Review: Forsaking All Others by Allison Pittman

2011-10-14T07:00:00.020-05:00

Here's another VLOG book review on a fantastic book Forsaking All Others, by Allison Pittman.

Allison Pittman is one of my favorite authors. I love that she writes so authentically and the range from prostitution in the wild west to romantic love over baseball to polygamy...and as if that's not enough, even about the spiritual lessons she has learned from her furry-friend, Stella. Seriously, she covers it all!

You can buy her books here (and a lot of other places): AMAZON

YOUR TURN: What do you think of this book? Have you read or are you going to? What are you reading? I'd love to hear from you!

Cheers,

Elizabeth

ACFW Conference Yee-haw

2011-10-05T07:00:00.001-05:00

Soooo, I'm finally updating my blog about the ACFW conference. It was my first time attending but it won't be my last. There were so many highlights, here are a few...

--Spending time with my amazing critique group! I just moved states away (military life) a few months ago and miss them all so much. It was truly a highlight to see them again, critique each others pages and just chat the night away!

--Getting the opportunity to meet several literary agents I highly respect. Chip MacGregor, Karen Solem, and Natasha Kern. There were so many other great Literary Agents there but this were the ones I was able to chat with for at least a few minutes.

--Attending a Thomas Nelson session with Allen Arnold was awesome. What a dynamic personality and great info on the Thomas Nelson market.

--Jeff Gerke's Continuing Ed class PLOT VS CHARACTER. Nothing more needs to be said on this point except you should buy his craft books.

--The Gala with all the awards was a fun night. In attendance was a gladiator, a trekky, a soldier of some sort, and an agent wearing a kilt.

There was more great highlights but I'll keep it to those. If you attended what was your top highlight? If you didn't but you're thinking about getting involved in the world of writing this is a great conference to consider attending. It'll be in Dallas next year.

I also totally had a "moment" when someone recognized my name (we were wearing name tags) from reading my book Seasons. Yippee!

A few less notable highlights are going "potty" without an mini crowd of 2 little girls in 1 small stall, having painted nails, not having to cook food for 4 days, and having a housekeeper. Sigh......

BUT truly I missed my family so much. I was so happy to see them at the airport...such a good feeling to come home to my sweet family.

Cheers,
Elizabeth

ACFW CONFERENCE!

2011-09-20T11:40:00.000-05:00

laundry...lists upon lists for hubby...more laundry...trying clothes on to see what I want to pack...getting frustrated because I don't like my clothes...more laundry...oh, gotta make sure hubby knows how to get to horseback riding on Friday...make sure all homeschooling lessons are in order...laundry...wash, dry on line, fold, and put away cloth diapers...buy disposable for hubby...go shopping and buy nothing because baby is crying the whole time...groceries for hubby & kids...homeschool...do more laundry...consider blogging about your busy-ness...

Okay...so you get the point...

Can't wait to see so many great writers at ACFW! Several of whom I consider some of my closest & dearest friends (you know who you are AP & RM)...and happen to be rooming with! Yay for writing groups that span miles and stick with you even when you move far, far away!

So looking forward to learning more about the craft of writing...meeting new peeps...eating with adults who typically don't need to be reminded to not eat with their mouths from the table top...not needing to have the handicap bathroom because I am rarely in public without 2 "younguns"with a stroller or cart...having food prepared for me...buying books...giving books away or selling a few (yay for Seasons)...seeing writing friends from my critique group that I miss so much since my move...getting all gussied up for the awards night...did I mention going to the bathroom by myself!?

EXCITED! Jumping out of my skin excited!

Cheers,
Elizabeth

PS: What am I reading? I'm reading Dekker's Circle trilogy (even though there are 4 books)...but the book is so honkin' huge I'm leaving it behind and working on critiques while I travel...and I have my kindle for iPad so I can read something random on there too...but I have A LOT of critiquing to do. Or I could...duh...WRITE!

My first Podcast Interview!

2011-09-07T09:09:00.001-05:00

Hi Everyone! There's this amazing, podcasting Mom, Kerimae, from the Northwest that I've been listening to for a while now...and reading her blog. I approached her about reviewing my book & she loved it so much she decided to do a 2 part podcast interview featuring Seasons & me! I was so surprised but very thrilled.

The first of the 2 podcasts just came out late last night.

Here you go!

Check out Kerimae's blog and learn more about her, maybe she'll become a regular for you, too! I've learned so many things from her and have been so encouraged by her love for her family, God, and for her readers/listeners. I hope you enjoy her as much as I do.

http://www.kerimae.com/2011/09/book-review-for-you.html

I hope you listen, enjoy, & share!

Kindred,
Elizabeth

Book Review: Love's Pursuit

2011-08-26T07:30:00.004-05:00

OOOOO, this one is really worth watching. Back cover & link below the video.

Visit: Siri Mitchell

Love's Pursuit (back cover summary)

In the small Puritan community of Stoneybrooke, Massachusetts, Susannah Phillips stands out both for her character and beauty. She wants only a simple life but soon finds herself pursued by the town's wealthiest bachelor and by a roguish military captain sent to protect them. One is not what he seems and one is more than he seems.

In trying to discover true love's path, Susannah is helped by the most unlikely of allies, a wounded woman who lives invisible and ignored in their town. As the depth, passion, and sacrifice of love is revealed to Susannah, she begins to question the rules and regulations of her childhood faith. In a community where grace is unknown, what price will she pay for embracing love?

I wish I could read it all over again for the first time!

Cheers,
Elizabeth

Amish Takeaways

2011-08-24T07:30:00.014-05:00

From the photoshoot for the cover
of Seasons. My niece Celine here is
wearing one of my grandma's
dresses from her childhood.

Soooo, I had another question about my Amish background. The question was about what I've taken from the Amish & incorporated in my day-to-day life as a woman, wife, mom in this modern age.

The first & probably most obvious thing is the language. I grew up speaking Pennsylvania Dutch, which is a slang dialect of German. It is unwritten and it's the first language Amish children learn. We still speak it when we're together whether on the phone or visits. The in-laws who have married into our family each have come to understand it a great deal.

I don't speak it with my 2 girls as much as I should, but I'm working on that habit. I love that it's part of my heritage & I really want to pass it on to my girls.

Another thing I'd like to mention is that I like how the Amish still are people of their word. I wish more of the world would govern their actions by their words. Nowadays you need contracts and agreements in writing...NO. MATTER. WHAT. Of course, I know the value of that but I still appreciate the value of saying something and meaning it.

While the old rule of how a handshake could make a deal is gone for the most part when it comes to legal or business transactions...we can still incorporate this into our lives. When we say "I'll be praying for you," then we must. If we say to our children that we'd read them a book when the dishes are done or before we start them...then we must. I'm learning as a mom it is soooo important to say what I mean and mean what I say.

I guess those 2 things are what stand out to me when I consider what I try to incorporate into my life from my Amish heritage.

I'd love to hear from you...more questions or maybe just a comment about what you like about the Amish lifestyle that you wish you could incorporate or do incorporate into your life.

Cheers,
Elizabeth

Up next: Another VLOG book review on Siri Mitchell's Love's Pursuit.

Book Review: Save the Date by Jenny B. Jones

2011-08-17T08:00:00.004-05:00

Check out my first vlog? video-log? v-log? Not sure whatchacallit...but check it out. ;-)

So, I'd love to hear from you if the vlog is fun or if it's just way better to be able to "skim" through a review? And, I promise, I won't do a "Seasons" commercial each time... ;-)

Cheers,
Elizabeth

Question: Baptism & Shunning

2011-08-11T08:00:00.000-05:00

So, since the release of SEASONS: THE REAL STORY OF AN AMISH GIRL I've been getting a few questions...good ones. I thought it would be fun to share one since there might be others out there curious about the same thing.

One of my readers, Jennifer, said this:

Elizabeth, I LOVED the book. Yes, I finished it. =) The first half reminded me of Francine Rivers' book Her Mother's Hope. I would say more, but I don't want to spoil it for others. I'll say it was a great book that left me with questions. I think any good book should leave you wanting more. I do have one random question for you... Was it your parents who didn't get baptized?

My parents were baptized into the Amish church when they were teens, which is typical in the church. When someone is baptized into the church and then leaves the church...they will be shunned. So, my parents were shunned when they left back in the early 80s. My sister, myself, and my brother, however, are NOT shunned. We were not baptized into the church so we were not shunned when we left the church.

There, of course, are rules with being shunned. The basic ones...can't eat a shunned person's food, can't eat from the same table, shunned person can't drive a church member in their vehicle nor can they accept gifts from a shunned person. My parents families, after some time of healing, really were amazing with embracing us and we have had a wonderful closeness with them. The family would often eat potluck style and we were not required to bring food (since many of them couldn't eat from it anyway) and eat buffet style so eating from the same table/dish wasn't truly an issue. Instead of my parents driving them around, let's say for a doctor's appointment or something, my siblings & I would do it...the same with giving gifts.

Keep in mind, every church has their own set of standards with these things. This is just what was acceptable with our families and the church they were a part of. We were very blessed. There have been some issues off and on over the years (but, let's be honest, what family doesn't), but the majority of the time, things have gone smoothly.

I think that answers that question mostly.

If anyone else has a question that is related to something you read in the book or something you're just plain curious about, I will do my best to answer....based on MY experiences with the Amish.

Cheers!

Elizabeth

PRICELESS!

2011-08-08T08:00:00.001-05:00

Available now on Amazon!

I am amazed that I am finally to this point. It seems like YEARS (it has been years) since I started the journey on this road...this SEASON of life that brought me to writing non-fiction...CREATIVELY. Lots of phone conversations with my grandma and visits that were consumed with interviewing and reading out loud what I'd already written. I wanted the stories to be accurate.

And now we're here.

Praise. The. LORD!

If someone had told me all the steps I'd have to go through self-publishing I think I would've just imploded! Once the manuscript is done the "fun" begins. I cannot believe all the details, the typesetting, the ~~crying~~ ~~whining~~ complaining because typesetting is really hard work, beta readers, kindle version, nook version, more typesetting, almost forgetting something important in the acknowledgements, the photography for the cover, then selecting a few good ones, trying several types of covers, working with my amazing friend who designed my cover...then having my sweet Amish grandma AGREE to having her photo taken for the back cover. Seriously, I cannot express how overjoyed I was at that.

This is my grandma (mammie) Lydia Lee Coblentz. LOVE HER!

Never in a million years did I think that I'd have her as part of the back cover art of the book. And I just love the photo (I took it myself, hehehe). She's such a dear woman.

As a young girl always telling the family, "yep, I'm going to write mammie's story someday," I am not sure I actually believed it would happen. But my large family, like a elephant, has a great memory and not a family gathering went by without someone bringing it up...or so it seemed. And now it's here...like a delivery of a baby...only less messy...but there was a lot of pushing involved. {sigh}

I really pray that my grandma's story is read and re-read...that her life will show the power & faithfulness of our Creator. That the contentment that she learned during the worst of times when she and her family had nothing will help us all be content when we are sitting pretty in our comfy chairs with our fridges and pantry's full of food and our selection of shoes so our feet don't get too hot or too cold.

Being able to hand my grandma this book...now that's priceless.

Kindred,
Elizabeth

You can find the book trailer in the book tab on the website.

See Elizabeth faint!

2011-07-30T10:24:00.000-05:00

When I opened this box of books I felt complete excitement and then in the very next moment a strong sensation came over me. Was I going to cry? Get sick? No...it was just the feeling of unadulterated terror. Seriously.

I hesitated even picking one up. I barely flipped through it even. I was sure if I started reading at any point in the book I'd suddenly see

See Liddy run. She can run fast.

My brain jarred back into grammar school and all I could see were those yellowed pages (even when they were new) with cute cartoony illustrations on every page. Surely nothing I wrote could turn out better than an old look-see reader, right? For several long minutes that's exactly how I felt. The feeling did pass but I still haven't dared reading anything more than the dedication or the first line of the acknowledgements. I just am so afraid I'm going to see some glaring error or embarrassing typo.

I've read traditionally published books from authors widely read and loved by all and found errors. Little typos mostly. I don't think any less of the writer or even the editor, for that matter. Fingers & toes crossed for happy & gracious readers for Seasons!

For the past hour I've been wrapping up a few books to send to my first set of influencers. What a feeling. I can't really explain it. But what I can explain is how THRILLED I am to be at this point and not a year ago where I was still writing...still pregnant in my 3rd trimester...still naive at how much work self-pubbing would be. I'm just overjoyed that, while marketing is no easy job, I'm here! I feel very accomplished for having followed-through with this book and for the way it's turned out. I love the cover. I love the story. I believe in the story. I hope a lot of readers will too! All praise to God's faithfulness. Truly. The dedicated and encouraging help of my mom, husband, a smattering of friends, and my AMAZING weekly writing group. {okay, I digress, this is starting to sound like an Emmy award speech...hahaha}

I hope those of you who are reading this blog will buy the book on Amazon, read & enjoy it, tell your friends, and write a review for me on Amazon and/or your blog.

I'll leave you with this:

Cheers,
Elizabeth

OUCH...painful!

2011-07-20T08:00:00.009-05:00

It is so painful when you take a break from blogging and then have to return. It's not that I don't enjoy blogging but in the midst of my busy-ness it was a bit of a relief when I just turned on the "off" button in my head with my blog.

I'm a military wife...a JAG officer's wife, more specifically. We've had 3 official PCS (permanent change of station) moves since we married 7 years ago...and 2 other moves. So 5 moves in 7 years...seriously, now that is painful. Several furniture pieces I have noticed during this 5th move are also showing signs of pain...some have the weeble-wobbles, dings, the ever present "lean"...and then there are some trusty pieces that I just wish would break or fall off the truck so I had a good reason to get rid of it. All in all...this move was flawless. Praise the LORD!

Sure, we get our move paid for...we have packers, and movers...and reimbursement on damaged goods. But moving is NOT easy. It's difficult on every member of the family and often the burden to get the family back to routine and the house feeling like HOME lands on MAMA. ;-) ME!!!! A privilege and responsibility I take very seriously. It just so happens that when we moved on July 2, I was also in the middle of planning for my first book release in mid-August. Approving the "proof" copy, still working on marketing and blog interviews, planning the book launch states away, ordering business & marketing cards. {taking a deep breath}

Let me also mention that I was EATEN by fire ants on the day our household goods arrived, landing bites in the double digits, my husband was asked to start work the day after our household good arrived (he ended up being able to "get out of it" and help me unpack, THANKFULLY), my 4 y/o daughter cried buckets because the Pevensie children from the Chronicles of Narnia can't sleep-over, and my 10 month old is getting 4 teeth in as I type! Yes...you may laugh...I have! I laugh & pray & laugh some more & pray A LOT more! I might've cried a little too... {sigh}

Can I just say that God is faithful. I've felt overwhelmed from time to time over the past few weeks...but for the most part I realize that EVERYTHING happens in His time. Whether I get a handle on marketing this book very well or not...it's all Divine. It's all in His plan.

Wow...doesn't that just take some pressure off.

Cheers,
Elizabeth

Creative Writing Exercise

2011-06-21T08:00:00.000-05:00

I can take NO credit for this whatsoever. It was sent to me over a year ago & I found it awfully funny.

A university creative writing class was asked to write a concise essay
containing the following elements:

1) Religion
2) Royalty
3) Sex
4) Mystery

The prizewinner wrote:

"My God," said the queen. "I'm pregnant! I wonder who did it."

Cheers,
Elizabeth

Steven James Storytelling Conference

2011-06-16T08:00:00.003-05:00

Steven James is the author of more than 25 works of fiction and non-fiction, including the bestselling thriller seriesThe Patrick Bowers Files.We invite you to come join us and spend the day under the instruction of an author Publisher's Weekly calls a "master storyteller at the peak of his game" as he challenges and guides you to explore the depth of your own writing.

My amazing weekly writing critique group is hosting this event. For those of you familiar with Allison Pittman, she is co-president of my group and will also be at the e

vent. This will be a fantastic mini-conference.

I've heard Steven James speak before on the craft of writing and I was blown away. He, I believe, has a Masters degree in Storytelling. His ability to teach the hows of storytelling is just amazing. I don't write thrillers or anything truly action packed but I still can't wait to hear more from this talented writer. Storytelling is not genre specific, so don't let his thriller genre distract you from coming.

Hope you decide to make this conference a priority!

Date:Friday, June 24, 7-9 pm, Dessert Reception
Saturday, June 25, 9 am - 4 pm, Workshop

Fee: $50 -- Includes Friday Reception, Saturday Workshop and Lunch
Location: 1401 Pat Booker RoadUniversal City, TX 78148

Visit Christian Writing Group of San Antonio for future events and writing resources.

Click Here for Registration Form

Cheers,

Elizabeth

Curled Up

2011-06-14T08:00:00.005-05:00

I am currently reading Allison Pittman's Lilies in Moonlight. Such a fabulous romantic story. Because I'm in the process of moving my reading time is soooo very limited. But I grab moments wherever I can. I am a huge Pittman fan and recommend any of her books. She's a Carol Award winning author in historical fiction for her book Stealing Home & has been nominated for a CHRISTY!!!! for her book For Time & Eternity...which is my personal Pittman favorite!

And here's what's next for me...maybe not in this order but they are hanging around my nightstand just itchin' to be read...

A Woman's Place, by Lynn Austin
The Heroines, by Eileen Favorite
Safe Haven, by Nicholas Sparks
While We're Far Apart, by Lynn Austin

...and, seriously, the list could go on & on...Tricia Goyer, Jenny B. Jones, Marlo Schalesky...just to name a few. And you can't forget about the classics...my favorites being Lucy Maud Montgomery, Jane Austen, & Louisa May Alcott. I try to read those on my iPhone Kindle when I nurse the baby.

What are you reading? Anything new & exciting? I'm so in love with books...my house is being overrun with them. In our new house I'm going to hire my dad to build me a bunch of new shelves. Out of the boxes or stacks on the floor & on display these books must go!

Cheers,
Elizabeth

Vintage Me

2011-06-09T08:00:00.001-05:00

My mom told me that as a toddler I used to take a pen and paper and scribble line after line almost every night before bedtime. I was writing, I told her. I guess it was always in my blood.

The first thing I remember writing was total plagiarism.

A friend and I watched a movie about a plane being hijacked and so we hijacked the storyline and made our own book. We illustrated it. Bound the notebook paper with staples. Made two copies…one for each of us.

A few years later I started writing a book called “Randi’s Will”. I think I was 12. It was about a high school girl who loses her parents and ends up in foster care with her little sister. I wrote it out long-hand and kept it in a binder. I really hope that book never surfaces. In one hospital scene I called a “defibrillator” a “zapper”. {blushes}

I used character names inspired by two main sources:

Anne & Gilbert

1-Anne of Green Gables…still love that whole series. I named the foster parents “Shirley & Gilbert”. I thought that wasn’t too close to Anne & Gilbert. {clears throat}

Cruz

2-Santa Barbara…an old soap opera occasionally on in our house. I think the name was Cruz and he was a handsome Hispanic man. Totally ripped the name and my “love interest” was almost this exact character, only younger.

While there has been many changes as my writing evolves…the one thing that hasn’t changed is the passion I have. I’m so thankful that God chose me to be a writer.

Cheers,

Elizabeth

How Writing and Motherhood are Similar

2011-06-07T08:00:00.000-05:00

1: You have total control over naming your characters.

2: Ice cream solves a lot of problems.

3: You have to be willing to keep learning.

4: Reading is important!

5. Occasionally, everything just plain stinks.

6. You'll have a lot of sleepless nights.

7. Everyone seems to be better at it than you.

8. There will be a lot of laughter and a lot of prayer.

9. Sometimes you live in an imaginary world and it’s so much fun!

10. You will completely fall head over heals in love!

By the way…writing rocks almost as much as motherhood does…but not quite.

Cheers,

Elizabeth

Book Trailer---Seasons: A Real Story of an Amish Girl

2011-06-01T17:56:00.000-05:00

Here is my book trailer! Please watch and share!

Blessings,
Elizabeth

Backs on the Front Cover

2011-04-07T16:11:00.000-05:00

At a local store recently I noticed something common among several of the books on a prominent book rack. Do you see it? What is the common thread?

The backs of women!

I found this very interesting as I am working on the cover design for my first publication Seasons (coming out this fall). I personally love this trend. I'd rather be able to imagine the characters faces anyway. I love an obscure cover, don't you?

I do have a few pet peeves with covers though too. It bothers me when the cover shows a picture of the main character that is contrary to how they are described in the book. Or when they are just too busy, just trying too hard, ya know?

What are some of your favorite covers? What do you love or hate to see?

Cheers,

Elizabeth

Funny Amish Video

2011-01-28T13:17:00.001-06:00

Most of you don't know that I am formerly amish. My parents left when I was a preschooler. We have a great relationship with my Amish family & decided to make a funny video based on some things we know about our great heritage and our latest enjoyment...Beachbody workouts.

PLEASE watch this video & share! We want it to go viral!

by Elizabeth

CHANGES

2010-10-25T11:44:00.002-05:00

UNDER CONSTRUCTION! :-)

BIG CHANGES TO COME...HOPEFULLY SOON. :-)

by Elizabeth

Quick Personal Update!!!

2010-09-09T11:56:00.002-05:00

I had a baby!!!

Yes, Baby Moe made a slightly early appearance on Sunday, September 5, 2010 at 4:04a. She was born perfect and on my bathroom floor! Yes, I had already planned a home birth with a licensed midwife but my labor went so fast my midwife was still 10 minutes away. Daddy delivered sweet Mercy Elizabeth with our 3 year old (who woke to me nearing the end of labor) Felicity cheering me on.

It was a perfect experience, truly. Daddy did an amazing job & even grabbed the video camera after handing Mercy to me.

Mercy was born at 6lbs 2oz & 19". She's soooo unbelievably sweet and as cute as a button. She looks a lot like her big sissy &, to me, appropriately resembles her daddy. Love my family! My husband and I feel an even more special connection after this experience. I am amazed by him!

I probably will be worse at blogging now than I was before. haha But, please don't give up on me. :-)

On that early Sunday morning I felt like I was living a piece of fiction...sometimes life truly is the best inspiration.

by Elizabeth

Book Giveaway Winner

2010-09-09T11:50:00.000-05:00

Congrats to Kimberly who won For Time & Eternity!

BOOK GIVEAWAY: For Time & Eternity

2010-08-30T22:18:00.001-05:00

I am super thrilled to do another Allison Pittman GIVEAWAY!!!! This time for her book FOR TIME & ETERNITY. Wow! I LOVED LOVED this book!!! I can't wait to give one away to a special reader and promote it as a MUST-READ!

This book was my favorite read this year. Seriously, I loved it! It was one of those books that I carried around the house with me...every few minutes mattered. I think my 3 year old was neglected for, like, 3 days when I was reading this book. {grin}

I’m a pretty avid Historical Fiction reader and a Pittman fan, so when I heard that she was writing a book based on the history of the Mormon church, I was instantly intrigued. Two words consumed my mind...

Plural marriage!

I have a huge fascination with this culture of plural marriage and sister-wives. Not because I’m interested...oh no, but because I am so curious about how people, real men and real women, go about making these decisions. I devoured For Time & Eternity.

I’m not going to go into super detail of the story line so NO BIG SPOILERS here...but I do want to go into the way I was emotional reeled in with the writing and characters.

Camilla Deardon is a young girl at the outset. She knows that she is supposed to stay away from the Mormon camp but when she meets Nathan Fox, she can’t. Imagine being a lonesome 15 year old girl who suddenly is being charmed up & down, backwards & forwards by an attractive young man who has an entire family (his church) to offer. Everyone seems happy & cheerful, unlike her household where her father is unyieldingly strict and her mother is just a very dutiful mother, nothing more, nothing less. The companionship she feels with Nathan and the people he introduces her to were unlike anything she had ever experienced. ...and they are on their way to ZION.

What Pittman does so well is that you fall in love with Nathan along with Camilla. You know she shouldn’t let him dupe her but you can’t help but keep pushing her toward him. He’s handsome, charismatic, and completely smitten with the Mormon prophecy. She has never met someone so passionate about spirituality. Can you blame her near instantaneous love for Nathan and what he says he can provide her with? No...you can’t. Camilla is also so likable...sweet, naive, and longing to belong.

Camilla does go against her parents and runs away with Nathan. I was so invested at this point I couldn’t put the book down. The story moves forward rapidly here and she has been married for several years and has two daughters. She seems happy and still as in love as the day she met Nathan. Plural marriage is running rampant at this point and while she does not appreciate the practice, she also assumes that it won’t touch her life because she and Nathan are so in love. But, when Nathan and Camilla go through a devastating loss they both seem to reflect on their emotions, spirituality, and perspective...just as we all do in real life. As they consider their future they are suddenly on different planets, neither really understanding the other.

The wonderful thing about this story is that you can really put yourself into Camilla’s, and even Nathan’s, shoes. Camilla believing whole-heartedly that plural marriage is not right and you want to fight for her. But, Nathan is so lovable and charmingly handsome, you can see yourself swooning, lost in his gaze. You feel his loss, his hurt, and love for Camilla as much as you feel Camilla’s righteous anger about plural marriage. Pittman's writing is spot on. She owns the craft!

As the reader, you’ll have huge emotional reactions to names like Evangeline, Brigham Young, Rachel, and...AMANDA. Beautiful. Sweet. Innocent. Amanda.

And with that I will let you figure the rest out. I HIGHLY recommend this book. Extremely well-written. Well-rounded characters. Believable and superb story-line. Compelling.

In my opinion...best book of the year!

**********

If you want to enter the giveaway here's what you do...

You have the chance to get your name in the hat 2 times! You may do this on Facebook or on Blog.

1-comment on this blog post.
2-post a link from your blog or Facebook page back here (comment a 2nd time to let me know this is done).

Don't let this giveaway pass you by!

A winner will be drawn on FRIDAY & receive a PERSONALLY AUTOGRAPHED copy of For Time & Eternity, by Allison Pittman.

by Elizabeth

Pittman Workshop!

2010-08-20T06:00:00.008-05:00

YAY!

I get the pleasure of hosting a rather intimate workshop tomorrow featuring Allison Pittman. YES, THE Allison Pittman.

I am so fortunate that she is one of my critique partners and our group decided we wanted to take some time to learn more about the craft of writing and who better than to hire Allison to teach us. If you've been at a workshop facilitated by Allison then you know what a fabulous teacher she is. I've learned more in a few of her short workshop sessions than I thought possible.

Allison Pittman is a great writer and is up for a CAROL award for Stealing Home. I'm so thrilled for her and just praise God that she leads my critique group. Truly...what a blessing!

Allison also has an amazing new book coming out on September 1st. I could not put this book down! It is her Sister-Wife Series...the book is titled For Time & Eternity. I will likely be doing an interview & give away in the next month. Sooooo, stay tuned!

If you'd like to learn more about Allison (& you should!)...see the following links.

Allison's Website
Allison's Blog

Check her out!

by Elizabeth

Wordless Wednesday: Story Starter

2010-08-18T06:00:00.002-05:00

The Guys

What a group of guys! What do you think they are up to and what are they laughing at? Is the laughter genuine or fake? What is the guy in green looking at? Characterize these crazy characters.

by Elizabeth

First Line Friday: Gimme 5 quickies!

2010-08-13T06:00:00.016-05:00

This is a fun one that will take only a few minutes of your time.

Gimme 5 quick first lines that pop in your head without thinking too hard!

1-Rosa's past was just about to catch up with her.
2-When I found the teddy bear on the sidewalk, my heart stopped beating.
3-Who do you think of when you fall asleep at night.
4-The revolving door finally came to a stop.
5-Life on my stepfather's farm was far from normal.

Okay, so I did that in about 2 minutes. Take a few minutes and share with me your quickies either on a comment or let me know in your comment that you're blogging First Line Fridays and link back here. I'd love to hear your lines! They can be as cheesy as the pick-up lines we've all grown to tolerate or something that might become famous someday...it was the best of times, it was the worst of times...

by Elizabeth

Wordless Wednesday: Story Starter

2010-08-11T06:00:00.005-05:00

Remember...wordless for me...but not for you!

My CurlyQ

Oh, what in the world could she be covering her ears from? A dog barking? An airplane overhead? Her mama? What would you name this character? How would you characterize her and her life? Even our little characters need to be well-developed. How would you develop a 2 year old...maybe not this 2 year old but let her inspire you to develop a child and let me know your thoughts...or link back to here and write your own post on this subject.

by Elizabeth

First Line Friday: Gimme a 1, and a 2, and a 3!

2010-08-06T06:00:00.007-05:00

Oh, I LOVE working on First Lines...not because I always intend to finish the story but sometimes that great line just pops into your head in the middle of grocery shopping, taking your kiddo potty, or people watching...does it happen when I sit in front of Buffy (my lappy MacBook Pro) ready to write?

I am going to share with you 3 opening lines.
1-My WIP.
2-A favorite from a favorite book.
3-A wannabe novel first liner.

1-In my latest WIP which is my Amish grandmother's "memoir" titled SEASONS this is the first line:

I'm an old lady.

Short. Perhaps not the most evocative line but it's a start.

2-A Favorite from a Favorite Book:

Mrs. Rachel Lynde lived just where the Avonlea main road dipped down into a little hollow, fringed with alders and ladies' eardrops and traversed by a brook that had its source away back in the woods of the old Cuthbert place; it was reputed to be an intricate, headlong brook in its earlier course through those woods, with dark secrets of pool and cascade; but by the time it reached Lynde's Hollow it was a quiet, well-conducted little stream, for not even a brook could run past Mrs. Rachel Lynde's door without due regard for decency and decorum; it probably was conscious that Mrs. Rachel was sitting at her window, keeping a sharp eye on everything that passed, from brooks and children up, and that if she noticed anything odd or out of place she would never rest until she had ferreted out the whys and wherefores thereof.

Wow...now THAT is a mouthful. It is the first line of...of course, Anne of Green Gables...and the first paragraph! I'm not sure many writers, readers, editors, agents, pub houses...etc...would appreciate SUCH a long first line nowadays. But I sure enjoy this one.

3-A Wannabe Novel first line:

The darkness always increased Anna's sense of hearing.

Again, it's not perfect...but perhaps one day this will be the first line of a story I'd love to write.

What are your 3 lines! Please, share with me!

by Elizabeth

Wordless Wednesday: Story Starter

2010-08-04T06:00:00.001-05:00

Guilty or Just a Cover?

Hmmm...what kind of character would this be in your novel? The villain? Or the good guy under-cover? What would you name him? What's his story?

Enjoy!

by Elizabeth

I WHIPPED MY WIP!

2010-08-01T18:15:00.003-05:00

Lydia "Lee" Coblentz

It was a labor of love...my latest manuscript. It was the story of my grandmother's childhood. She is an 83 year old Amish woman and her life through the Great Depression was nothing to sneeze at.

I started her memoir when my daughter was 7 months old in November 2007 and only got about 10K words in and lost my steam. So...not the best start possible. I burned out mostly because I felt I hadn't found my voice and I'd never written anything remotely non-fiction in a story form. And voice is soooo very important in any book...but, in my opinion, especially in this story because it was a real person. I did find a title during this first effort...SEASONS.

Yes, you'd think that because it was a real person that it would be easier to find my voice, but it wasn't. Especially when I had a 7 month old who suddenly decided to stop sleeping like a champ! I was EXHAUSTED to say the least. I put it down for about 2 years, much to the chagrin of my grandma (who I call "Mammie"...not pronounced ma'am-ee, like in the south...but I'm not sure how to write out the pronunciation. Kind of like "MOM" and then "ae"...not a long "a" but not a short "a" either...a Pennsylvania Dutch "a" sound). {shrugs}

When I decided to pick it up again I was in a weird place with my fiction WIP. I really didn't like the story at all and I wasn't about to invest months and months of my time in a story I don't think I'd even pick up to read. But one night I was really in the writing mood and the first chapter came to me. Now, I thought I already had a first chapter but, apparently, I didn't. I hand wrote it that night and then typed it out the next. For the next few weeks my daughter watched A LOT of PBS & Disney! {wink}

I had found my voice! er...Liddy's voice.

I sent the chapter to my mom and she fell in love. That was the first week of December and by Christmas I was 75% done with the first draft. Now...keep in mind...this book includes about 20 years and it's only about 35-40,000 words. Once I visited my Mammie for Christmas I pulled out a printed copy of it and had her look at the first chapter. Her jaw dropped and she almost immediately had tears in her eyes.

I read the entire story out loud to her that day. My mom, sisters, daughter, and nieces were there. The little girls couldn't understand why when we got to the chapter that was titled "When Winter Comes too Soon" we all cried. It was the only time I'd seen my Mammie cry when NOT at a funeral. I knew then I'd achieved what I wanted. I took her back. I took her way back to feeling the emotions, even the really difficult ones, that she felt when she was a child. I knew that while I had dragged my feet on this project and at times even completely resisted writing it as much as I could...but seeing my Mammie's face, smiles, and tears...it was worth every effort I put in.

I came home from Christmas with high hopes...and then I started getting really sick...like sick a lot! I was expecting our 2nd child! As excited as I was, the morning sickness was taking away any motivation I possibly had. Then the morning sickness went away and I had complications at 10 wks and was put on modified bed rest. Being on modified bed rest while parenting a 2 (almost 3) year old does not give you much energy or time to write. It seemed all my waking hours were trying to find ways to entertain my tot from the couch! {sigh} Not easy...

My big goal of having it completely written and maybe even self-pub'd by July was out the window faster than I could groan! But, I have no completed it. It is written...well, the first draft anyway. I have an amazing weekly crit group that has really enjoyed the story. They have given me some amazing critiques back on where to develop and where to not. It's a story of a lot of heartache, trials, hunger...but the thread of the story always shows contentment in God...even at the youngest of ages.

I have a few little hopes that I can do more with this than self-pub, but I'm not getting my hopes up. It's by far a family affair and I am not sure anyone else is interested...though, on the other hand...it's an AMISH story. People flock to the Amish.

I gave myself a few days off before starting revisions. My goal is to get it done this month...I need your tips, strategies, methods, hints! PLEASE! Leave a comment and tell me what you do or shoot me an email. I'd love to hear from you.

Cheers,
Elizabeth

Book Review & GIVEAWAY: The Bridegrooms

2010-05-10T21:19:00.002-05:00

I truly enjoyed this book! A story of sisters always appeals to me and not only did I have a growing curiosity about each girl, I also found elements of myself in each.

The Bridegrooms, by Allison Pittman, is about four sisters whose mother abandons them in their young years. This book only covers a week of time when each sister is thrust up against a situation where it seems only a mother would be able to guide them through. But they have none.

The story focuses on Vada, the eldest Allenhouse, and the decisions and temptations she experiences. She must suddenly weigh the options of the long-term, dependable lawyer beau, who has yet to propose or the dashing, spontaneous baseball player, who makes her feel like she's never felt before. All of this, however, takes a backstage to what her family needs and expects of her. Residing, or sleeping rather, in an upstairs room is a young man who was hit in the head with a baseball during a game between the Spiders & the Bridegrooms. Their father is a doctor and the unconscious man is in his care. This unfortunate circumstance brings along several very colorful characters (and a lot of drama) straight off the baseball diamond just before the turn of the century. There is so much anticipation in this story I regretted every time I had to put the book down because duty called in the form of my three year old or my desperate need for sleep.

I was truly turning every page curious about what Pittman would do next to these girls. Their meal time conversations were always filled with laughter, tears, and even fits of anger and I found myself wondering how in the world this would conclude. I thought of every scenario that may work and still couldn't guess exactly what would Pittman choose to do or what I even wanted to happen. I felt just as torn as Vada was!

I so enjoyed this read and the instant I opened the pages to wherever I'd left off before I found myself smoothly transported to almost turn of the century Cleveland. What I love about Allison Pittman's writing is that no matter what era she is writes in everything runs seamlessly and the research is impeccable…but what I think she does better than so many writers is that her pacing and witty styles change with the era. This is not the slower life frontier America where it seems you have time to smell (and write about) every rose but her writing matches the witty, faster-paced city life. I loved how it clipped along and you went from one action scene to the next. Every conversation carried with it conflict and information. Even in the short time frame that the book was set in her characters were well-developed and came full-circle in the most believable ways. I found myself rooting for each of them…and loving the conclusion.

I would highly recommend this book to any historical reader and even contemporary readers because of its tight and witty writing. The Bridegrooms is a perfect book for a stay-at-home mom like me who loves to be transported to another time and place during those few stolen moments of peace throughout the day…and between laundry piles.

If you would like to win a copy of this terrific book, leave a comment here or on my Facebook page by Monday, May 17th and you'll be entered into the drawing. If you comment on this blog post PLEASE be sure to give me a way to contact you back with an email address.

The winner will receive an autographed copy of The Bridegrooms by Allison Pittman and may be signed to you or anyone else you choose.

Disclaimer: No one has paid me for this review nor given me the book for a give away.

Book Review: Sworn to Protect

2010-04-12T12:34:00.001-05:00

Wow! What a read! I haven’t always been a reader who gravitates to the more action-packed type of story line but this book truly impacted me. I wasn’t sure what I would get in reading this suspense novel …but since I’ve never known DiAnn Mills to fail I picked it up expecting an adventure. Not only was I very satisfied but I can’t wait for to add the 3rd novel in the Call of Duty series to my Mills collection.

SWORN TO PROTECT is more realistic than I expected. Mills takes you to the heart of the Texas and Mexico border and forces the reader to confront one of the greatest debates of our time: illegal immigration. While as a Christian I have always thought myself to be a sympathetic and compassionate person, this book challenged me in ways I did not anticipate. I saw a perspective I hadn’t considered before and realized what changes my heart needed.

The story surrounds a widowed Border Patrol agent, Danika, who desperately wants to learn the truth behind her husband’s death and perhaps understand better his controversial perspective on immigration. While she remains loyal to her husband’s memory you can see the internal battle that she fights between frustrations over losing him and moving on, giving her daughter a chance at a father. But she is in the middle of fighting for her very life and her daughter’s safety and hardly has time for romance…or so she thinks. Besides, can she even trust the good doctor, who seems to care for her, when even he might be part of an illegal immigration & crime conspiracy?

Read this book and you will not only experience an adventure but you’ll learn about yourself. As I read about the Morales family and the struggles they faced my heart ached and I thought to myself I need to pray for this family before I remembered they were fictional. While that is true, this is a fictional story with fictional families, I learned that it was a very accurate picture of what families today are dealing with. Mills brought that to my attention more than I expected.

This isn’t a book filled with political opinions and a self-absorbed perspective…but you will be forced to face your own judgments regarding these compelling situations and you won’t be able to help but ask yourself Hm, what would I do if this happened to me?

Read this book.

Book Review: A Stray Drop of Blood

2010-01-29T21:54:00.001-06:00

A Stray Drop of Blood is a journey. It is not a book you can pick up one day & spin through it within a few hours…and even if you do, you will not be able to put it down without a lot of thought about what you have just read and experienced.

A Stray Drop of Blood is artfully written with well-developed characters. The plot and subplots are masterfully layered and complex…a great mixture of Biblical truths and facts with fascinating fictional characters.

Abigail is a Jewess slave to a Jewess woman, who happens to be married to a Roman soldier. They have a son, Jason, who is 1/2 Roman & 1/2 Hebrew. When Jason desires Abigail her status as a slave goes into limbo and amidst the turmoil she becomes pregnant. Once you get to this point in the story you already feel so much for Abigail…only you are a very short way through the book. The story has so much more to share, to reveal…

The remaining story is brave. Not just brave for Abigail but for the author, Roseanna White. Without giving spoilers, I will tell you that White dives head first into a story that must be told but is hard to tell. Showing how in even the most strong-willed hearts…there is still great sin and the need for repentance.

White has a great understanding of Hebrew & Roman culture, social lifestyle, customs…etc. Everything read very authentically. I enjoyed feeling transported into the Israel that Jesus walked and loved.

White does not avoid writing a very difficult crucifixion scene of our Lord. She handles it respectfully, Biblically, & with worship behind every line of poetic writing. She did not shy away from the humanity of Jesus, nor His Lordship. Absolutely well-done.

If you want to read a well-crafted work of fiction in a Biblical setting with believable and well-rounded characters, with layered and intricately written plots, BOLD writing regarding Christ, our humanity & sin, and about conversion--A Stray Drop of Blood is your book!

Well-done Roseanna!

Visit the author: Roseanna White

Buy your copy today: Amazon

Cheers,
Elizabeth

whataweek...

2009-10-03T10:01:00.001-05:00

Haven't had a chance to write all week for one reason or another. It's been crazy! BUT...I'm determined today to try to get a lot accomplished.

I'm at my corner office with a window at a local coffee place (not Starbucks). Coffee on hand like an I.V., the rain beyond the window, and Daddy having fun with CurlyQ. Shouldn't be a whole lot (other than the internet) to keep me from writing today!

Oh, and what am I reading right now? Well, thanks for asking. I am reading In the Shadow of Lions by Ginger Garrett. So far...I'm just not in love with it. I'm almost 1/3 of the way through and having a hard time staying really connected with the characters and the plot. I hate saying that because I'm sure Ginger Garrett is a lovely person but for some reason this book isn't touching me anywhere...yet. I LOVE Henry VIII books...like LOVE...I even have an Anne Boleyn necklace with the "B" and pearls. I am a huge fan and I'm still just not loving this book yet. I say 'YET' though with the hopes that I will.

Cheers,
Elizabeth

2009-09-24T09:04:00.000-05:00

CONGRATS TO CHERI!

You won this terrific read by Betsy St. Amant, "RETURN TO LOVE"!

Check out more about this book and Betsy's other books coming out very soon at Betsy website: BETSY ST. AMANT.

THANKS for entering! I hope to do more giveaways so be sure to check back!

Cheers,
Elizabeth

Return to Love...WIN A FREE COPY!

2009-09-20T19:27:00.002-05:00

Okay, all you writers...readers...and especially you INSPIRATIONAL ROMANCE readers! Have I got a book for you!

Now, I have to be honest. I am not sure I've ever read a Love Inspired book. I think RETURN TO LOVE was my first Love Inspired book & it was my first Betsy St. Amant book. BUT, I can honestly tell you that it won't be my last on either counts.

I bought Betsy's book when I ran across her through website hopping. A young SAHM with a little girl she affectionately calls Little Miss. She's smitten with her hubby and in love with motherhood and she's a published writer! I was instantly drawn to her since we share a lot in common--I'm a SAHM, have an amazing husband, and my own little miss I call CurlyQ. I'm a few years older than Betsy and my little girlie is about a year older than hers. Ya see, we should be--like--best friends! {wink}

I think that if Betsy & I met in Chick-Fil-A with our girls we'd become fast friends. AND Betsy & I are FACEBOOK friends...so, there you go. I probably know more about what's going on in Betsy's day than her neighbors who aren't her Facebook friends...though, I'm not saying she's not Facebook friends with her neighbors, it's just that--well, you get the picture. {grins sheepishly} Oh, and my name is Elizabeth and a nickname of Elizabeth is Betsy and I used to go by that in my softball playin' days. We were meant to be friends!

Anyway, I'm just sayin'...Betsy seems like an awful neat young woman and I was thrilled to jump on Amazon and buy her book RETURN TO LOVE. THEN, low and behold, I win a copy from Betsy herself...a SIGNED copy. Of course, I'm keeping the signed copy...but I am doing a fabulous giveaway for my other copy. {YAY}

So, back to RETURN TO LOVE by BETSY ST. AMANT.

Return to Love is a terrific love story about a young woman named Gracie. It opens with her feeding her beloved penguins. YES, penguins. I love penguins so I was especially sweet on these little birdy scenes. In the back of the crowd of onlookers as she delivers her short speech regarding the penguins she seems the guy who broke her heart. He former best friend, Carter.

Carter had no idea that Gracie worked at the Acquarium and was just as shocked as she. He was touring around New Orleans, visiting a former college roomie, who also is the youth pastor at Gracie's church.

Gracie is just flabbergasted at seeing her old pal who she'd fallen for as a teen...but in seven years, has he changed at all? Or was he the same heartbreaker?

Gracie is forced to deal with her feelings and with Carter as she plans a huge Gala event to help raise money for another aquarium's displaced penguins. Will Carter save the day? Or will he cause more stress than Gracie can handle? Or both? Read it and find out!

Betsy does a great job of showing Gracie's tension around Carter. You feel sympathetic and nervous for her. For anyone who has dealt with a breakup at all, you know what it's like when you're suddenly forced into the same room with the other...uncomfortable. The dialog that Gracie has internally & with her best friend Lori were realistic and heartfelt. They were focused on helping the reader understand why she ws afraid and not sure if she wanted to trust Carter again. But, truly, it was about whether or not she was willing to trust God.

Carter also had plenty to say. He and his youth pastor friend Andy are living like 2 bachelors trying to figure women out. Andy is cool and collected but our main-man Carter has had such a change of heart toward God he isn't sure what to do about his feelings for Gracie. He isn't sure she'll understand the changes that he's experienced in their years of separation from being a popular singer in a well-known band to a solo artist, preferring worship songs in churches. AND, he has a secret...that I will not reveal.

Betsy has written a well-crafted sweet story of love. It is romantic, heart-warming, and a cozy read. I truly enjoyed reading RETURN TO LOVE and often found myself smiling as I read. And, since I have my own love story with my husband and I. Our dating experience had a similar flair though our separation was around 5 years from break-up to the rekindled relationship...I could truly relate with Gracie. Shock, confusion, fear...FAITH.

I would highly recommend this tender story of how God can provide the faith needed to rekindle broken hearts and help them RETURN TO LOVE.

AND, NOW FOR THE GIVEAWAY!

All U.S. residents are eligible...bloggers and non-bloggers. No purchase necessary at all. Just a drawing from among commenters on this blog and from Facebook commenters.

COMMENTS ARE OFFICIALL OPENED!!! I'LL DRAW A NAME BY WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23RD.

Cheers,

Elizabeth

Word Count...

2009-09-17T22:44:00.000-05:00

Well, my word count is improving...unfortunately it is not my WIP. My word count for how much I'm reading is going up and up and up.

I finished Return to Love by Betsy St. Amant on Tuesday. It was the first Love Inspired book I've ever read...thoroughly enjoyed it. I will do a review & giveaway soon. {yay}

I started reading Breach of Trust by DiAnn Mills today. I can't put it down. She certainly has a way with characters...I am loving Paige Rogers, her protagonist. She's compelling and strong. Hmmmm...guess I picked the right fiction mentor, eh?

I'm not finished yet with Breach of Trust...but I plan to read more tonight. I haven't traditioanlly been a romance reader (Return to Love) nor a more action type reader (Breach of Trust) so it thrills me that I leapt out of my comfort zone and have poured over these pages. I highly recommend both of these authors. Betsy a new writer and DiAnn a seasoned one...both with great stories to tell.

Cheers,
Elizabeth

What a weekend...

2009-09-14T09:37:00.000-05:00

I went HERE...the North Texas Christian Writers Conference. BUT, instead of being a regular attendee...I got to be part of THIS.

YES, the DiAnn Mills Ficiton Mentoring Clinic! It was AWESOME!

If you EVER get a chance to be a part of a very high quality Fiction Mentoring Clinic...DO IT! I highly recommend DiAnn's clinic. What an amazing teacher she is. AND, it's ongoing...she doesn't just dump us when she's finished with the clinic. She keeps us to be a part of her mentoring group.

If you're a writer out there...you know what a privilege it is to have a successful published writer be willing to mentor you through the writing process...hone our skills, give us honest feedback, believe in our gifts.

What a great 2 1/2 days!

Cheers,
Elizabeth

To Outline or Not To Outline...

2009-09-02T13:58:00.000-05:00

So, what is the consensus out ther? Outlines good or bad? Helpful or narrow your focus? I know very successful writers on both sides of the coin.

While I've always been one to not outline but just know the end of the book, I may try to write a loose outline for Gray Areas...that would be better than ~~throwing my laptop out the window~~ staring blankly at my laptop. I am having a wicked major block at chapter 4! YES 4! I know what should happen next but I'm having a hard time getting it on ~~paper~~ screen. I guess I'm just not having the confidence I need to write it well. But rough drafts are just that...ROUGH...right?

I have some legal scenes in this book also. Luckily my husband is an Air Force Criminal Def Attorney & one of my closest friends works behind the scenes with judges and her husband is a prosecutor for the Air Force. All 3 have great legal eyes... BUT, my legal scenes aren't criminal issues so they may not have the first-hand experience to help. Writing those scenes does intimidate me a bit...but I'm not even there yet!

Why do we work so hard to defeat ourselves...

I NEED TO STOP LISTENING TO THE VOICES IN MY HEAD!

Cheers,
Elizabeth

PS: Why can't I find SPELL CHECK on Blogger? What's up with that? HELP?

Cardiac Restoration

2009-08-31T14:25:00.000-05:00

I haven't posted in a few days...I was planning to do a writing exercise on Friday but I think, if I want participation, I need to get more traffic!

I am hoping to do a few book reviews soon...

But, right now, CurlyQ is sound asleep so it's time for me to get a bit done. The list is always long...

I had a friend stop by for a quick lunch and she got some tough news while she was with me. It was good for us to have the time together to process the information.

I am reminded of this:

"The Lord is my Shepard
I shall not want,
He maketh me to lie down
in green pastures;
He leadeth me beside the still waters,
HE RESTORES MY SOUL..."

Even on a Monday, let Him restore your heart and soul...

Blessings,
Elizabeth

Before and After...

2009-08-27T06:00:00.012-05:00

You know how life TOTALLY changes when you become a parent. Even your writing changes. No, seriously...it does.

Don't believe me? Watch...

Before:
Sarah relaxed in the bath with a good book. She nearly dropped it in the water when she fell asleep in the calming scent of lavender.

After:
Sarah hadn't showered in four days and finally when she had 3 1/2 minutes to herself she turned on the shower only to realize that her sweet boy, Mark, had thrown her new Betsy St. Amant book in the tub.

***

Before:
The scent of balsamic vinegar wafted through the air as Melanie flipped through her Style magazine, leaning over the island in the kitchen. She peeked over and noticed that the water was a nice rolling boil and swiftly added the basmati rice. Her husband walked in with a dozen roses and kissed her soundly.

After:
The scent of vinegar and urine stung Melanie's nose as she sprayed Lysol behind her with one hand and threw in the 5 minute rice away that she'd burned because she hadn't removed it from the burner. But on her way to the trash she slipped on the soiled undies that she'd forgotten to pick up. Just then her husband walks in with a dozen kids hanging off of him, giving kisses all around.

***

Before:
She crawled into bed and made sure her alarm would not sound off in the morning. She loved Friday nights with a Saturday free to sleep in.

After:
She crawled into bed after two in the morning completely drained of any energy after having a toddler with croup. It seemed she fell asleep for only about seven minutes when she heard the barky cough hacking through the monitor. In her sleep even the tired mom was up and rushing to the bedside of her two-year-old. She gave her a drink and the mixture of honey, apple juice, and lemon juice that had been helping then gathered her curly-topped little girl in her arms and brought her to the master bedroom. Though comfortably curled up the family still didn't sleep like babies, but at least they were together. No matter the lack of sleep, Elizabeth loved being Mommy.

***

Yeah, writing does change. Life changes. FOR THE BETTER.

Boy, do I ever love being a mama to my sweet Curly-Q! She really does bring out the best in me.

What's your BEFORE and AFTER? Share!!!

Cheers,
Elizabeth

Wordless Wednesday

2009-08-26T06:00:00.002-05:00

Story Starter...

Leave a comment about how you'd start this story!

{This is my daughter Curly-Q and my Amish grandma.}

Cheers,

Elizabeth

Writers are cool...

2009-08-25T13:56:00.001-05:00

I'm so in love with the fact that when I go to writing group I not only get to be around really cool and great writers...but also sisters and brothers in Christ!

Last night 3 of us ladies went out to a nearby coffee shop and had such a wonderful time in conversation about writing, church, politics, family...just so many different things. We laughed...I almost cried...and we laughed some more. Not because I almost cried but because Allison & Brenda are really funny!

Christian Writing so very much transcends just "writing". The whole rest of the writing and publication world just can't hold a candle to knowing that not only are we writing about the Message of Christ but we get to link arms with other amazing men and women out there with the same goal in mind.

Life. Long. Friends.

Eternal, actually...

I am so thankful that God called me into Christian Fiction.

Blessings,
Elizabeth

...you have to start somewhere...

2009-08-24T05:00:00.027-05:00

I saw this neat writing exercise over HERE and thought...Oh, fun!!! And, since I'm a fun girl, I had to join in...clearly!

While ~~the hype about first lines is way over rated~~ I don't think that the 1st line is a total make it or break it...I do think it's important to have it well-thought-out. I've always loved writing the first lines to my manuscripts (I won't go into detail about how many line my dusty shelves). {clears throat}

I digress...though the special first chair spot is so temporary and it's just a space keeper waiting to be booted out by better wording, thoughts, and typically something vastly different from where it started. When you first fill that beautiful thick parchment paper with your flowery calligraphy, ahem, I mean when you have your fingers paralyzed at ASDF JKL; ... suddenly the right words will come. Not without being forced, man-handled, chocolate eating, and, let's be honest, a little rocking back and forth that may or may not include banging your head on the edge of your desk...for better or worse ~~mostly worse~~ they will be written.

So, here are 10 first liners...no rewriting, editing and no not really too much thinking...

1-For most of my life I was considered the girl next door.
2-My mouth went dry when I looked down and realized that my husband was divorcing me.
3-I think I actually remember my first cry in the doctor's arms.
4-Where were you when your parents fell in love; I was sleeping in the bedroom next door.
5-The drive too forever this time, not just because of the icy roads but also because the book I was reading was so boring.
6-Lincoln grabbed at his wrist when he realized he couldn't stop the bleeding.
7-Military decorum meant everything to Raphael but now he was being dishonorably discharged.
8-Malinda heart pounded as she swung around in circles looking for Jayden, who had been swallowed up in the crowded sidewalk.
9-The last thing Joy remembered was the ribbon hitting her chest as she ran through the finish line.
10-Lola looked up and saw the doctor from across the hall.

Okay, that's a lot harder than I originally thought. Really, you should try it! Maybe it should be a regular on Mondays. The "work" week has to start somewhere...so does a novel...

Cheers,
Elizabeth

Oh Goucho, My Goucho

2009-08-22T08:03:00.005-05:00

I love going to a place, having an experience, or meeting a really cool person and knowing...just knowing, it'll make into a book some day.

Last night my husband The Captain, my daughter Curly-Q, and 2 of our close friends went to a Brazilian Steakhouse. Truly an experience...14 different meats, 30 items on the salad bar, a great staff and atmosphere. Oh, and a little pricey...

We were celebrating the sale of our home...YE-HAW!

If I were writing a romance the hero would maybe be a "goucho", one of the guys who bring the meat flying across the room on sharp skewers "rodeo" style,...he'd see a lovely young woman eating with her uninteresting, pompous parents...and when he asks her "medium or rare"...oh, it's love at first sight...

If I were writing suspense/mystery one of the goucho's accidentally stabs one of the regulars right through...but really he wasn't a goucho but an under-cover bad guy...bom-bom-bom...

Or maybe the goucho could dub as a tour guide in an action/adventure series...

Okay, sorry, bad premises on all counts. I think gauchos should stay far away from romance, suspense, and adventure...as far as my cheesy storylines would go. {clears throat} Part of the problem is, I'm sure, that I don't write romance, suspense, or adventure...thus the not so good story-starters. {grin}

I do write contemporary women's fiction....good at it or not, that's where God's landed me. So perhaps it would just simply be a passing conversation or where the girls go out together and get away from their problems for a few hours then wake up in the morning with a meat hang-over...oh, the deliciousness is all worth it...trust me...

I think I have meat hang-over this morning...but I do have to admit, those gouchos are my heroes.

Elizabeth

Stealing Home: Book Signing

2009-08-21T18:22:00.001-05:00

What a book! If you haven't read this yet...you should!

You can buy it HERE and HERE and HERE! And a lot of other places!

I read this almost immediately after it came out and it was the 4th book of Allison Pittman's that I read. I loved her historical Crossroads series and was a little afraid I wouldn't like this one as much...as it was a deviation from what she'd done in the past. BUT...I can honestly say...I LOVED IT!

The writing was beautiful! The characters were well-rounded and so well-written. Allison has quickly become a favorite of mine as a writer learning the craft and as a reader who is in puffy-heart-love with historicals...even though I write contemporary.

Allison has a book signing TOMORROW! I am really looking forward to it...even though my book is already signed. Allison is as good a friend and mentor as she is a writer. She is sweet, loyal, and honest! She will help brainstorm...give great advice...and has a terrific laugh that is contagious.

HERE is the Facebook link to her signing.

If that doesn't work...here's the info:

Saturday, August 22, 2009
10a-1p
Lifeway Christian Store (The Rim)
17802 La Cantera Pkwy, Suite 115

If you're not in the San Antonio area...go buy the book anyway. You'll love it!

by Elizabeth

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