Christian Fiction Readers Retreat - NASHVILLE, AUG 24

Want to attend the 2016 Christian Fiction Readers Retreat with me...and 30+ of my closest author buddies?

Get all the info HERE!

Have you ever attended an event like this? SO looking forward to it, and hope you can join us!

Let me know if you're planning to be there!

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Book Clubbing with Morgantown Ladies

I had the pleasure of Skyping last night with the ladies of the Wisdom Seekers Book Club at Sabraton Baptist Church in Morgantown, WV who read my book The Inheritance (Women of Faith Fiction). We had a blast! Thank you, gals, for letting me join you! 

 

Kneeling: Jeannine Brand

1st row (L to R): Hazel Oldland, Judy Dalton, Dollie Barker, and Tye Kramer

2nd row (L to R): Jennifer Derrick, Melissa Forinash, Julie Snowdon, Phyllis Craig, Lil Bezjak, and Patty Frankenberry

Ryan Hanson (their wonderful media guy), and Judy Dalton

Judy shares that the saddle in the picture is her daughter's (Jennifer Derrick). The little chair was made by Judy's husband from horseshoes and West Virginia Black Walnut wood for their granddaughter. Both Judy's daughter and granddaughter are into barrel racing. "Jennifer has always enjoyed reading and horses," Judy says. "The Inheritance was the perfect fit for her."

And you gals were a perfect delight, Judy! Many thanks, again, for allowing me to join you!

If your book club is reading one of my books, I'd love to "join" you at your meeting too. Click for more information on Virtual Book Club Meetings!

Share your passion for books!

Check out this fabulous new site for Christian Fiction! 

Their virtual book club is launching soon!

A Lasting Impression-back to front

Hey friends, we're one step closer to having a finished book!

It's always exciting to get the PDF of a cover, and here's a glimpse of A Lasting Impression (from back cover to front)…

(Click for larger image, then back arrow to return)

This book has been a long time in coming. In some ways––okay, in all ways––I wish I were a faster writer, like some of my colleagues. But I'm simply not. It takes me months and months and months or, as in this case…nearly two years, to write a book. 

I hope you enjoy Sutton and Claire's story, and I'll be posting a link to the first chapter here (and on Twitter and Facebook) soon.

A Lasting Impression starts shipping in October, and should be in bookstores no later than November 1st.

Pre-order from Christan Book Distributors (CBD.com)

Pre-order from Amazon

Pre-order from Bethany House Publishers

History on your Wrist

To wear a charm bracelet really is like wearing history on your wrist. Since ancient times, people have carried talismans and all sorts of "lucky charms" to encourage good luck or else to ward off evil. While I don't believe in carrying an item for this reason, I do love charm bracelets simply for their charm, and for the memories they represent.

This is a charm bracelet that a group of dear friends in Colorado gave me before my family and I left Colorado for Tennessee in 2007. Each charm represents someone special to me and a special relationship that I treasure! Each charm also tells a story, and here are just a few of the stories "attached" to this bracelet... 

See the Queen of Hearts card to the left? Well...when Joe and I first moved to Colorado, we met Mark & Michelle Young (and we actually lived in their basement for the first month as our rental house was being made ready). Mark & Michell loved to ski. So, off to the Rockies we went! And after long days of skiing, we'd sit around the kitchen table in the cabin at Grand Lake or Winter Park––a fire crackling in the hearth and with Suzanne Ciani playing on the CD player in the background––and we'd play cards. Specifically…Hearts. We'd each take turns trying to "run em," and rarely would we succeed. But oh, what fun we had.

The heart is from a precious friend who loves hearts. Earrings, necklaces, whatever it is...it's gotta be a heart. And when I left Colorado, I left part of my heart with her, and (as she's said) I carried part of hers here with me.

See the back of the Queen of Hearts (on the right) where it says "Dork and Dorker?" Well, while Mark & Michelle and Joe & I were in Grand Lake on one of our trips, Michelle and I had decided to stay inside by the fire and read while the boys decided to bundle up and head out for a walk in the snow. But when she and I turned around to say goodbye to our hubbies, we discovered they looked a little...strange. They resembled two huge dough boys all bundled up in their sweatshirts, ski jackets, mufflers, ski gloves, and toboggans…pulled down low over their ears. You name it, honey, and they had it on. And they looked a little...well, dorky. The movie Dumb and Dumber had just come out so... You get the drift.  :) 

Another sweet friend gave me the book, which represents Faith Imprints, the book club we started at our church so many years ago. What precious times we spent discussing books, and characters, and plots, and faith.

See the drum? It has "Kurt" engraved on the back (in the next picture below), and it represents how our son played the drums in the praise band on Sunday mornings. The same praise band where Joe played guitar and Kelsey and I sang. It was a family affair.

The lion represents the Lion of Judah, of course, and the relationship we all share in Christ. The butterfly was for "new beginnings," which our family was about to experience as we moved to Nashville, where we are today.

And finally, above (and below) is the Jonah and the Whale charm, which represents all the ups and downs these precious sisters and I shared "day to day" for seventeen years of our lives on this earthly journey. And that we still share through emails and phone calls. How I love these women...

Every time I wear this bracelet, I think of each of them. And as I finger each charm, I picture their beautiful smiles, and I pray for them, and I thank God for how they shaped my life––and "charmed" me––for eternity.

Do you have a charm bracelet? One you've collected charms for through the years? Or one passed down to you from your mother or grandmother? I inherited my precious mom's charm bracelet when she passed on, and I treasure it so much. I'll share pics of that on another day. Now it's your turn to share.

Do you wear a history of something––or someone––on your wrist? I'd love to hear about it. And to my Texas friends, praying for you amidst the wildfires and wishing some of this Nashville rain your way!

Check out the FREE ebooks on Cbd.com.

Lost Moments...no more

Do you mark a novel all up as you read it? I do. Some of the books I read look like textbooks when I'm done. Underlined. Circled. Page corners turned down. Nothing's sacred. Everything is fodder for learning, for remembering, for being WOW'd by words.

Here are some recent favorite sentences I've underlined in books I've read in the past couple of weeks:

Daylight faded to thin broth.

(Devil in the White City by Erik Larson)

You want to do good. You want your life to matter. You want to live in such a way that the world will be glad you did. 

(Outlive Your Life by Max Lucado)

Now that the sun was setting in a welter of crimson behind the hills across the Flint River, the warmth of the April day was ebbing into a faint but balmy chill.

(Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell)

The greatest evil tips its face toward light with shining innocence.

(Deceit by Brandilyn Collins)

Set a guard over my mouth, O LORD; keep watch over the door of my lips.

(Bible, Psalm 141:3, written by God especially for me, I have no doubt)

Words are powerful. We all know this. Because each of us has words we wish we could take back (hence, the scripture above, one of my "favorites"). And likewise, we all have words we wish we could go back and speak.

Yesterday, I saw one of our worship leaders in a little coffee shop where Dad and I had stopped in to eat lunch. As Dad and I left, I felt a prompting inside to go up and tell Carl how much I appreciate what he and his wife do. Not just for our church as a whole, which is certainly a blessing. But for me. For my personal worship.

But, I didn't.

He was in conversation with the guy he was with and I didn't want to bother them. Besides, he doesn't know me from Adam. Or well, Eve. But as soon as I left the coffee shop, even before I was out the door, I felt a tiny sense of loss. Of an opportunity passed. 

Then later yesterday afternoon (don't you love how the Holy Spirit works), I mentioned to my daughter Kelsey that I saw Carl at the coffee shop, yada, yada... And she said, "So you didn't say anything to him?" Go ahead, dear daughter, twist that knife. 

Now, is my opportunity to thank him lost forever? No. I can send him an email today or catch him Sunday and let him know. But that moment is lost. Looking back, when I let that moment pass, I'm convinced that I quenched the Spirit. The Spirit was prompting me, and I said..."Huh uh." And I'm determined not to do that again. Because words are so important. Especially those of edification, of "building up the body of Christ."

Be watching for someone today who needs "a word." Someone God will put directly into your path for you to encourage, for you to be Jesus to. It may be in a big way. More than likely, it'll be in a small way. In a way that you might be tempted to let pass. Please don't. 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

(R to L): Saundra, Pam, Tammy, Megan, Merry, Carol

Thanks to Megan Gaddis and the gals of Burkitt Place in Nolensville for inviting me to join their book club meeting last night. We were going to Skype each other (for a virtual book club meeting) until I realized they were only 5.6 miles down the road! I hopped in the car and and joined them instead, and we laughed and had such a fun time. Thanks, gals, for reading Rekindled and for being such an encouragement! Glad our eternity together started here!