Mourning Robin Williams

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I had to turn off the TV set a few minutes ago. All the morning shows are talking about the death of Robin Williams. After sitting there in tears watching, I decided to find something else to do. It’s just too sad!

And unlike the TV commentators, I do want to mourn Robin Williams’ death. They’re all talking about celebrating his life rather than focusing on his death, but…I DISAGREE…I DISAGREE…I DISAGREE!! We do need to talk about his death and the fact that he chose to die. To me, that is what’s so sad.

In spite of his wealth, he chose to die.

In spite of his fame, he chose to die.

In spite of being loved by his family and the world, he chose to die.

There is a lesson to be learned in Robin Williams’ death and all the other celebrities who make that same choice.  Being famous and wealthy will not bring real peace and joy to a person’s life. And yet, everybody wants to be rich and famous these days. In fact many, many people are willing to do most anything to become a celebrity.

So what’s the lesson to be learned?

That there is only ONE path to contentment,  peace, and joy.

And that path is a relationship with God through His only begotten Son, Jesus.

Best Days Gone???

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Isaiah 43: 18

Forget the former things, do not dwell on the past.

Most of the time this verse is made in reference to letting go of past hurts and moving forward in your life but…I think it can be looked at another way. As we age, we tend to think are best days are behind us. That we having nothing to look forward to. That we’ve had our good days, and now we must endure the fall and winter of our lives.

I don’t think so!!

That isn’t what God has in mind for us. So what if we’re older? So what if we have some aches and pains? So what…so what…so what? You can fill in the blanks with your story. Just because we’re older, or have health issues, or are in a bad situation doesn’t mean that all are best days are behind us. It can mean that if we let it.

But we don’t have to let it!

In 2012, I was diagnosed with brain tumors that have left me completely deaf in one ear, partially deaf in the other, balance issues that make it difficult to get around. So, I’m not speaking about something that I don’t know about. Life is much different for me than it was in 2012. I can sit around thinking about how easy life was back then. Or I can make a choice to keep moving forward with my new life, making it the best it can be now!

We can get stuck thinking that the past  were the good days. When we were working–when our children were at home–when we could run that marathon!! But God has a wonderful plan for our life–at every age. If like me you had a BIG change in your life circumstances, then it’s time to rethink your life and find a new plan–not wallow in the past, wishing things could be the way they were.

That’s when it’s time to forget the former things, not dwell on the past, and move forward into a new future.

It won’t be the same as the past but it can be just as wonderful…or even more wonderful!!

My Friday Friend–Ada Brownell

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Ada Brownell, a devoted Bible student, has written for Christian publications since age 15 and spent much of her life as a reporter for The Pueblo Chieftain in Colo. She also is a veteran youth Christian education teacher. After moving to Missouri in her retirement, she continues to write books, free lance for Sunday school papers, Christian magazines, write op-ed pieces for newspapers. and blogs with stick-to-your-soul encouragement. She is critique group leader of Ozarks Chapter of American Christian Writers and a member of American Christian Fiction Writers.

Her newest release is THE LADY FUGITIVE  I don’t know about you, but I love this cover, and that makes me want to read the book.

 

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The Lady Fugitive by Ada Brownell

 

How does a respected elocutionist become a face on a wanted poster?

Jenny Louise Parks escapes from the coal bin, and her abusive uncle offers a handsome reward for her return. Because he is a judge, he will find her or he won’t inherit her parents’ ranch.

Determination to remain free grips Jenny, especially after she meets William and there’s a hint of romance. But while peddling household goods and showing a Passion of the Christ moving picture, he discovers his father’s brutal murder.

Will Jenny avoid the bounty hunters? Can she forgive the person who turns her in? Will she find peace, joy and love?

 

I guess you’ll have to read the book to discover the answers! Sounds like a wonderful book, Ada.

Thaks for being my friend on this Friday.

 

UNTIL NEXT TIME…GOD BLESS & GOOD READING!

 

BEST BEGINNINGS!

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This is Writing Tip Wednesday so as promised, we’re going to talk about best beginnings. The writer’s first task is to hook the reader. Starting with a murder is always good, but it’s not the only way. The key is to arouse the reader’s curiosity so they will want to turn the page to see what happens next. So I thought I’d give a few dos and don’ts for writing Best Beginnings for your book. Let’s start with the don’ts:

DON’T start with the main character sitting and pondering life. Today’s readers want action! And they want it from the first page.

DON’T start with description. There’s a place for description, but it won’t do much to hook the reader. Save the description for later.

DON’T start with a sunset–no matter how beautifully you can write about it. Or any other type of weather either! Unless you’ve placed your character in the middle of a blizzard or a hurricane and the reader sees the character fighting to stay alive.

DON’T start with back story or genealogy. Save it until after the reader cares about the character then scatter it in a sentence or two at a time–not a whole chapter at once.

DON’T start with a dream–no matter how exciting it is! Agents/editors list this as one of their biggest pet peeves. So don’t make them mad on the very first page. You want to hook them into the story so they keep reading.

On to the DOs:

DO start with action! More action and even more action!  Today’s mystery/suspense readers don’t have time or patience for characters sitting around pondering life.  They want action! Here’s a little secret–the beginning action doesn’t have to be directly related to the main plot.

DO surprise or shock your reader. You want a hook to draw your reader into the story. A big surprise or shock will do just that. It could be something your character says or does. I’m partial to having the main character say something shocking.

DO introduce conflict as soon as possible–even a little bit of one. Something to get the reader’s blood pumping.

DO have more than one character in the scene. As the saying goes–the more the merrier. And that’s true with writing. By having at least two characters in the beginning scene, you have more flexibility with creating action and conflict.

DO place the reader firmly into your story world. Help the reader to visualize what’s going on–but doing it sneakily. That means you do need some description but  keep it to a minimum.

In my upcoming release, REDEMPTION, the book begins with a conversation between  twin sisters. It starts like this:

You’re retired from the spy business. Remember?‛ Patti stood with hands on her hips, demanding an answer.
“I was never a spy and…”  Jamie paused. Nothing she said would satisfy Patti. “I don’t want to discuss it.”

It’s not every day you hear someone say they are retired from the spy business. I think that’s enough to make the reader want to read a little more to find out if she was or wasn’t a spy.

So got any questions about BEST BEGINNINGS or do you want to share the first 2 or 3 lines from one of the stories you’ve written? Go for it.

 

UNTIL NEXT TIME… GOD BLESS & GOOD READING & HAPPY WRITING!

 

 

TRY IT–YOU’LL LIKE IT!

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Psalm 34: 8

Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed in the man who takes refuge in Him.

When I read this verse, it immediately took me to a TV commercial. You know the one I mean. Try it, Mikey…you’ll like it! His big brothers were sure he wouldn’t like it. After all, it was supposed to be good for you. And we all know that things that are meant for our good, aren’t actually meant to be enjoyed but rather to be endured.

Right?

Wrong!  Mikey took the bite and liked it.

Developing a relationship with God is much the same way. So many run from a relationship with God. Not because they don’t believe He exists, but because they assume being a Christian isn’t  something to be enjoyed but rather to be endured.

Right?

Wrong! Being a Christian has brought me unspeakable joy. Being a Christian has given me the strength to endure life’s challenges–like bilateral brain tumors. Being a Christian has brought me peace in spite of the difficult things life has thrown at me.

So like Mikey’s brothers I issue you a challenge. Try it…I guarantee you’ll like it.  No–you’ll love it.

But being a Christian isn’t a guarantee that you won’t have problems in your life. In fact, I can guarantee that as well. Jesus assured us that we will have problems. And that’s where the second part of the verse comes in–blessed in the man who takes refuge in Him. 

When life gets difficult (and it will), that’s the time to run to God. To take refuge in Him, not to turn away in anger because you didn’t get your way. It’s the time to remind yourself over and over that God loves you and that His love is perfect.  Romans 8:28 says that God will work all things for the good of those who love Him.

Taking refuge in God means trusting God’s love for us and His promises. It may not be easy to do, especially when we don’t get the happy ending we want, but God promises those of us who take refuge in Him will be blessed.

As for me, I believe Him!

He is my refuge!

I’d love to hear about a time when you took refuge in God.

UNTIL NEXT TIME..GOD BLESS & GOOD READING!

Writer of the Day–E.A.West

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My guest writer today is E.A.West, an award-winning author of sweet and inspirational romance, is a lifelong lover of books and storytelling. In high school, she picked up her pen in a creative writing class and hasn’t laid it down yet. When she isn’t writing, she enjoys reading, knitting, and crocheting. She lives in Indiana with her family and a small zoo of pets.

You can connect with her on a variety of  places, including her website at www.eawest.mcphitty.com  and her blog at http://thewestcorner.wordpress.com.

She’s here to talk about her latest release–DIFFERENT.

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DIFFERENT: Anything can happen when the rules change…

Jezebel Smith is different. She can’t talk, she doesn’t look like anyone in her family, and no matter what she does it’s always the wrong thing. God accepts her for who she is, but He’s the only one who does. Then she finds an unconscious man in her favorite cave, and her life is turned upside down. New people and new rules collide with the old, leaving Jezebel unsure of which set of rules apply to her life. When the strangers in town attempt to help her out of the nightmare she’s grown up in, it promises to change her life forever.

Here’s a short excerpt from Different:

The distant drip of water echoed off the rocky walls as Jezebel Smith wandered through her cave. Pungent fumes from her kerosene lantern stung her nose, and she wished for a flashlight. But her family would miss a flashlight. They never noticed when she took the old lantern from the barn.

Turning her face away from the lantern, she caught a whiff of the familiar scent of the rocks around her. She loved the fresh, earthy smell of her cave. Through countless hours of careful practice, her hiking boots barely produced a whisper on the bumpy path leading to her special cavern. If she swung the lantern on its creaky handle, however, she could fill the cave with a creepy echo that reminded her of Halloween.

She passed through an opening in the wall and entered a large cavern with several ledges in one end. As she approached the lowest ledge, the glow from her lantern touched an unfamiliar lump on the floor below the rocky shelf and she froze. She knew every inch of this cavern — every rock, ledge, and bump in the floor. No one ever came here. Nothing ever changed unless she changed it. The cave was the only thing she could count on to always stay the same.

This time, however, there was something new. The cave had broken its own rules, adding a boulder where one didn’t belong. She crept toward it, fighting tears of hurt that the cave would trick her like everyone else, and the golden light of her lantern revealed it wasn’t a boulder after all — it was the still form of a man. Her pulse pounded in her ears, so loud it threatened to drown out her own thoughts. Where had he come from? Why wasn’t he moving? Her heart skipped a beat. Was he dead?

 

Wow! Sounds like a good book! Thanks for stopping by, E.A. Here are the links to buy this wonderful book:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Different-E-West-ebook/dp/B00M0E4ZU0

Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books/1119984134?ean=2940149685615

Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/460703

 

UNTIL NEXT TIME…GOD BLESS & GOOD READING!

 

 

This and That…

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So, I hope you’ve noticed a little more action happening here at Tiaras & Tennis Shoes. I hope it’s not too much–I don’t want to be a bother! Anyway…I’ve sort of designated Mondays as Me Monday. I’ll try to save posts about my books and myself for Mondays. Wednesdays have become Writing Tip Wednesday and Fridays are for Friends.  Saturdays or Sundays will be the day for a devotion.

Of course, all this is subject to change at a moment’s notice!

And you certainly won’t be getting every type of post every week–again I don’t want to be a bother!

So today is Monday and that means I get to talk about ME!

DEADLY COMMUNICATIONS has been out for a little more than a week. From what I’ve heard, people are enjoying it.

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The good news this week is that I was just offered a contract for the second in the Deadly Communications series! I’ve been holding my breath waiting to see if my publisher liked it. Apparently, they did!

I know a lot of people seem to assume that it’s a given that the next book I submit will be published, but I don’t feel that way at all. And I know of authors who got their first contract and then took years to get another one. So I’m grateful for each contract that comes my way.

Entitlement isn’t something any writer should feel when it comes to getting published. In my opinion author entitlement brings on mediocre books. And I want to write the best story I can every time.

I feel so blessed to be able to create godly stories and even more that people seem to enjoy them.

So that’s about it for me…

UNTIL NEXT TIME…GOD BLESS & GOOD READING!

 

 

GOD’S PLAN OR NOT?

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Ecclesiastes 11:9

Follow the ways of your heart.

 

So, you want to be a writer and a part of you believes that’s what God wants, too. But really, how presumptuous of you to think you can figure out what God wants, right?

Not right!

I don’t believe Got wants it to be hard for you to know His plan for you. If you spending all your time trying to figure it out, then you won’t have time to actually pursue your dream—God’s plan. God gives each of us abilities, interests, talents, and gifts. When you put them all together, you probably come up with something that you are passionate about.

Very passionate about—that passion is your God-given dream. I mean think about it. God loves you. He doesn’t want you spending your life pursuing a dream that you don’t care about, that doesn’t satisfy you, that makes you crazy. Well maybe that’s not true about the crazy part—writing can make you a little crazy.

I may not have started writing until I was 40, but I always loved books. Now, I’m not talking about enjoying a good book now and then. I LOVED BOOKS!

Once I learned to read, I rarely went anywhere without a book. I can remember pouring over my Scholastic Reader for hours to decide which book I would buy that month. I would spend hours and hours looking at the books in the library. In college, I worked at the bookstore and the library and I loved it.

Especially on Sunday nights at the library, my job was to reshelf books. Ooohh! That meant finding all sorts of books I’d never seen before.

Do you get my point? I loved books. I’d always had stories inside me, but it never occurred to me that others might enjoy my stories as well. When I started writing, it was as if I found that missing part of me. I didn’t even think about getting published at that point, I just loved writing!

Now that doesn’t mean it can’t be hard work, frustrating, or exhausting as well. Because it can be all of those things. I can sit for 6-8-10 hours at a time and write. Not because I have to, but because it’s so much fun! A while back someone asked me how many times I had to read my own book before it was ready to be published. When I told them between 5 and 10 times, they looked at me as if I was crazy.

Now, I admit the last time or two gets a trifle difficult, but I still love writing–even the difficult and boring parts of it!

Following the ways of your heart leads you to what you are passionate about.  Your passion is God’s plan for you! God’s plan equals your dream.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: God’s gift to me is my talent. My gift to God is using my talent.

 

QUESTIONS TO PONDER: What am I passionate about? How can I use that passion in my life to glorify God?

 

UNTIL NEXT TIME…GOD BLESS AND GOOD READING!

 

Fridays are for Friends!

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For the time being, I’ve decided to dedicate Fridays to Friends! Mostly writer friends but anyone’s eligible–all you have to do is ask! Anyway, this is about getting to know writers as people not about book promotion. Though, I’m hoping you’ll at least give their books a look over to see if you might enjoy them.

Anyway, my very first friend is Ane Mulligan. She is the president of the award-winning Novel Rocket and is a multi-published playwright, humor columnist, and a three-time Genesis finalist. Her debut novel, Chapel Springs Revival, releases Sept 8th, 2014. You can find her on her website.

Wow, Ane! You sound busier than me!

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What’s With Greeting Cards These Days?

 

Yesterday, I read a cartoon in the newspaper that reminded me of a mentor/buddy, and needing a break from writing, I went to the store to pick out a funny card to send with the cartoon.

I browsed the card section, enjoying a good chuckle—until I turned one over. Have you priced cards lately? $3.50! For a piece of paper with a joke on it? Not that my friend isn’t worth $3.50, but come on. For $3.50, it should come in chocolate.

I could do better for half the price; I’m a writer. Right? I marched out of the store and drove straight to Office Depot. In the computer section, I chose greeting card software for $29.99 and a 15-pack of Avery premium cards and envelopes for $11.99. I’d create a customized card for my friend, and have the supplies to create all my card needs for years. I was on a roll.

At home, I loaded the software, chose a funny greeting, tweaked it for my buddy, and loaded the card stock in the printer. Then I hit print. The software said to print a test page. Our printer isn’t in my office; I share it with my husband, and it’s in his office. Across the house. I walked to the printer, added a sheet of plain paper for the test, went back to my office, and clicked “okay”. Then I walked back across the house to the printer to check the test page.

I noted the direction of the arrow indicating how to put it back in for the second side, went back across the house to my office and clicked “okay print.” I then went back to the printer to see my card. But instead, it’s printed page two of the test. On my good card stock.

Sigh. I reloaded 2 sheets of regular paper on top of the card stock to repeat the exercise, walked back to my office, hit print again. Back at the printer (I’m beginning to wear a path in the carpet), instead of another test page, it’s printed my card—on regular paper.

Gritting my teeth and thinking that a three dollar and fifty cent card was looking better by the minute, I reloaded the card stock, stomped back to my office and clicked print. The card printed. On the right paper. YES! I put the sheet back into the printer in the direction according to the test arrow, ran back to my office and clicked “print card inside.”

Back at the printer, I removed my wonderful, customized card. I folded it and read it. The front was perfect. I opened it.

The inside was printed upside down.

I mailed it anyway. Stupid card cost me $35.94. She had better like it.

 

Funny story, Ane! I know exactly how you feel.  I go through bouts when I make greeting cards with my stamps and stuff. I know they don’t look as good as the store ones–but I hope they’re more meaningful. At least, that’s why I tell myself.

Thanks for sharing your story.

UNTIL NEXT TIME…GOD BLESS & GOOD WRITING!

WRITING TIP WEDNESDAY–3 STEPS TO PUBLICATION!

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These 3 steps are guaranteed to bring you the brass ring you’ve been reaching for–publication! If you’re a fiction writer, sooner or later you are going to want people to read your stories. There are lots of options out there these days for getting published, thanks to the electronic revolution. But if you’re like me, you want to be published traditionally. Until I was published traditionally, I didn’t feel like a real writer! Don’t yell at me all you indie–pubbed writers. I didn’t say you weren’t real writers. I’m saying I needed to get a traditional publishing contract for me to feel like a real writer.

Anyway…it turns out it’s not all that easy getting a contract by a traditional publishing house. It took me 15 years of writing to get that! But I did and I’m glad I kept trying. Again…don’t yell at me!

Anyway, let’s get to the 3 steps to publication: As I’m sure you know all stories have a beginning, a middle, and end. If you want to get published you need to write the BEST BEGINNINGS, MARVELOUS MIDDLES, and EXPLOSIVE ENDINGS. Succeed with those three easy steps and you’ll have a contract before you know it.

So the perfect formula for  writing a great book, meaning publishable is: BEST BEGINNINGS + MARVELOUS MIDDLES + EXPLOSIVE ENDINGS = Great Story (and a book contract).

OK—maybe they aren’t all that easy. It took me years to learn the writing craft, and I’m still learning! It may take you longer than you wish as well, but if you keep learning, practicing and don’t quit you’ll get there!  Oops–I just added 3 more steps so…let’s try this again.

STEP 1–Learn about the craft of writing.

STEP 2-Practice  writing what you learn.

STEP 3–Learn and practice to write BEST BEGINNINGS.

STEP 4–Learn and practice to write MARVELOUS MIDDLES.

STEP 5–Learn and practice to write EXPLOSIVE ENDINGS.

STEP 6–DON’T QUIT! DON’T QUIT! DON’T QUIT!

 

Steps 1, 2, and 6 are self-explanatory so in the next few weeks we’ll take a closer look at Steps 3,4, and 5. Next week we’ll take a closer look at writing BEST BEGINNINGS. By the way, did I mention DON’T QUIT?

UNTIL NEXT TIME… GOD BLESS & GOOD READING…AND HAPPY WRITING!

PS. If you haven’t entered for a chance to win Deadly Communications, there’s still time. Skip down to the DEADLY COMMUNICATIONS post and leave a comment! Thanks.