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Fragrance of Grace...

Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus' feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance the perfume. 

Ever wonder if what you do makes a difference?  If the words you say to your children or the small acts of kindness they never notice, or even the gallant efforts you make to impart great truths matter? 

Yeah, me too. Because, as my children have become older, it feels more and more like my parenting is about sacrificial acts that go unnoticed, or even unappreciated. Does my son care that I ran his folder to school (on my way to the airport) after he left it at home? Or my daughter notice that I left her favorite jar of goober (peanut butter and jelly) in her stuff for camp? Or my son notice that I printed off a blog about his desired profession?

Maybe not. But I have to believe that they create a fragrance in our home of love. That my actions are not poured out to them, but actually upon the feet of the Lord, in worship, in gratitude for this rich life. That as I reach inside and give everything I have...there abounds the redolence of grace. 

At least I hope so.

So, in a desperate quest to know, I sat down with my son and asked him: What do you miss when I'm gone? 

He looked at me and without hesitation said:

Food. 

Really, anything else?

Cookies?

And...

Pizza? 

Okay, seriously...

Fine, how about popcorn? 

Right, well, okay, I got the point. But, as I got up to leave he said, "Wait, Mom. I miss your wisdom, your humor and your good looks." 

He was just trying to get on my good side with that last one. But it worked. I'm off to make chocolate chip cookies. Just one of the fragrances I like to leave behind.

But seriously, what fragrance do YOU leave behind? Just something to ponder as we race (or perhaps savor?) summer. 

I've been traveling a lot recently - but I am home for a few weeks and enjoyed the 4th of July with my family. I'm working on a new book for a series out next winter with Steeple Hill - a three-book romantic -suspense for Steeple Hill's Love Inspired Suspense line that follows up my Mission: Russia series.  This one:  a mistaken identity in Cancun  (and yes, I forced myself to go there for research. Sacrifices, donchyaknowit.) More on that later. But first...look for Licensed for Trouble, PJ Sugar #3 to hit the stands in August! 

Thank you again for all the reader mail - and for your sweet support in the bookstores and online - you leave a fragrance of grace in my life.

ACFW announces 2010 ACFW Carol Awards

ACFW has just announced the finalists for the 2010 ACFW Carol Awards (formerly Book of the Year). These awards recognize excellence in Christian fiction in a variety of categories, and represent fiction titles released in 2009. Totally honored to have a double nomination!

Here are this year’s finalists:


Debut Author
Bonnie Grove - Talking to the Dead (David C. Cook Publishing)
Liz Johnson - The Kidnapping of Kenzie Thorn (Steeple Hill)
Kirk Outerbridge - Eternity Falls (Marcher Lord Press)
Jill Eileen Smith - Michal (Revell)
Dan Walsh - The Unfinished Gift (Revell)

Contemporary Novella
6 Finalists due to a tie
Barbara Cameron – One Child (Thomas Nelson)
Barbara Cameron – When Winter Comes (Thomas Nelson)
Debra Clopton – A Mule Hollow Match (Steeple Hill)
Susan May Warren – The Great Christmas Bowl (Tyndale House)
Beth Wiseman – A Change of Heart (Thomas Nelson)
Beth Wiseman – A Choice to Forgive (Thomas Nelson)

Historical Novella
Victoria Bylin – Home Again (Steeple Hill)
Vickie McDonough – A Breed Apart (Barbour Publishing)
Vickie McDonough – Beloved Enemy (Barbour Publishing)
Janet Tronstad - Christmas Bells for Dry Creek (Steeple Hill)
Carrie Turansky - A Shelter in the Storm (Barbour Publishing)

Long Contemporary
6 Finalists due to a tie
Christina Berry - The Familiar Stranger (Moody Publishers)
Mary Ellis - A Widow's Hope (Harvest House Publishers)
Joyce Magnin - The Prayers of Agnes Sparrow (Abingdon Press)
Susan Meissner - White Picket Fences (Waterbrook Press)
Marlo Schalesky- If Tomorrow Never Comes (Multnomah)
Susan May Warren - Nothing But Trouble (Tyndale House)

Long Contemporary Romance
Candace Calvert - Critical Care (Tyndale House)
Denise Hunter - Seaside Letters (Thomas Nelson)
Jenny B. Jones - Just Between You and Me (Thomas Nelson)
Beth Wiseman - Plain Promise (Thomas Nelson)
Cindy Woodmsall - The Hope of Refuge (Waterbrook Press)

Mystery
A.K. Arenz - The Case of the Mystified M.D. (Sheaf House)
Mindy Starns Clark - Under the Cajun Moon (Harvest House Publishers)
Darlene Franklin - A String of Murders (Heartsong Mysteries)
S. Dionne Moore - Polly Dent Loses Grip (Heartsong Mysteries)
Janice Thompson writing as Janice Hanna - Pushing up Daisies (Heartsong Mysteries)

Long Historical
Deeanne Gist - A Bride in the Bargain (Bethany House)
Robin Lee Hatcher - Fit To Be Tied (Zondervan)
Maureen Lang - Look to the East (Tyndale House)
Siri Mitchell - Love's Pursuit (Bethany House)
Allison Pittman - Stealing Home (Multnomah)

Long Historical Romance
8 Finalists due to a tie
Amanda Cabot - Paper Roses (Revell)
Mary Connealy - Cowboy Christmas (Barbour Publishing)
Mary Connealy - Montana Rose (Barbour Publishing)
Laura Frantz - The Frontiersman's Daughter (Revell)
Ann Gabhart - The Believer (Revell)
Julie Lessman - A Passion Denied (Revell)
Janice Thompson writing as Janice Hanna - Love Finds You in Poetry, Texas (Summerside Press)
Kathleen Y’Barbo - The Confidential Life of Eugenia Cooper (Waterbrook Press)

Short Contemporary
Debra Clopton - His Cowgirl Bride (Steeple Hill)
Myra Johnson - Autumn Rains (Heartsong Presents)
Vickie McDonough - A Wagonload of Trouble (Heartsong Presents)
Mae Nunn - A Texas Ranger's Family (Steeple Hill)
Glynna Sirpless writing as Glynna Kaye - Dreaming of Home (Steeple Hill)

Short Contemporary Suspense
6 Finalists due to a tie
Jill Elizabeth Nelson - Evidence of Murder (Steeple Hill)
Sandra Robbins - Final Warning (Steeple Hill)
Virginia Smith - Murder at Eagle Summit (Steeple Hill)
Virginia Smith - Scent of Murder (Steeple Hill)
Jenness Walker - Double Take (Steeple Hill)
Lenora Worth - Code of Honor (Steeple Hill)

Short Historical
Lyn Cote - Her Patchwork Family (Steeple Hill)
Laurie Alice Eakes - The Glassblower (Heartsong Presents)
Laurie Kingery - The Outlaw's Lady (Steeple Hill)
Lynette Sowell - All That Glitters (Heartsong Presents)
Dan Walsh - The Unfinished Gift (Revell)

Speculative (includes Science Fiction, Fantasy, Allegory)
6 Finalists due to a tie
Kirk Outerbridge - Eternity Falls (Marcher Lord Press)
Donita K. Paul - The Vanishing Sculptor (Waterbrook Press)
Steve Rzasa - The Word Reclaimed (Marcher Lord Press)
Stuart Vaughn Stockton – Starfire (Marcher Lord Press)
Fred Warren - The Muse (Splashdown Books)
Jill Williamson - By Darkness Hid (Marcher Lord Press)

Suspense/Thriller
Terri Blackstock – Intervention (Zondervan)
Colleen Coble - Lonestar Secrets (Thomas Nelson)
Brandilyn Collins – Exposure (Zondervan)
Harry Kraus - Salty Like Blood (Howard/Simon & Schuster)
DiAnn Mills - Breach of Trust (Tyndale House)


Women’s Fiction
7 Finalists due to a tie
Julie Carobini - Sweet Waters (B&H Publishing)
Kathryn Cushman – Leaving Yesterday (Bethany House)
Sara Evans & Rachel Hauck - Sweet By and By (Thomas Nelson)
Rene Gutteridge & Cheryl McKay - Never the Bride (Waterbrook Press)
Deborah Raney - Yesterday's Embers (Howard/Simon & Schuster)
Deborah Raney - Above All Things (Steeple Hill)
Lisa Wingate - The Summer Kitchen (New American Library/Penguin)

Young Adult
Shelley Adina - Who Made You a Princess? (Hachette FaithWords)
Brandilyn & Amberly Collins - Always Watching (Zondervan)
Jenny B. Jones - I'm So Sure (Thomas Nelson)
Jenny B. Jones - So Not Happening (Thomas Nelson)
Booker T. Mattison - Unsigned Hype (Revell)

The Carol Awards will be presented at ACFW's Conference in Indianapolis, September 17-20. There's still time to register at www.acfw.com/conference.

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL THE FINALISTS!!!!

Join me for Kitchen Chat on Friday!

Join me on Margaret McSweeney's Kitchen Chat on Friday at 11:00 am Central! Want to ask me a question? Call in to the show: 1-877-864-4869

To listen go here: http://toginet.com/shows/kitchenchat and click on the player in the upper right corner.

And leave a comment on my segment post here to win a copy of either Double Trouble or Sons of Thunder! (Be sure to leave your email address!)

an Occasional Weekend

So, did I mention I finished a book last week?  And, it was a grueler, let me tell you.  Not a crumb of cereal left in the house, I lived off chocolate chips for the last three days. 

I have no idea how the children survived.  But they’re still here, so they must have eaten something.  (which makes me wonder….just what does a gal have to do to get them out of the house?  No, I’m kidding.  I love my tribe). 

Anyway, so when I finish a grueler, I like to have a little fun on the backside. 

AKA….Shopping. 

And I found compatriots in a Book Club from Buffalo. I met with this group in July…and they mentioned something called an Occasional Sale. Apparently, these stores are ONLY OPEN the first weekend of the month (Th-Sun). And they’re cool stores – like home décor and antique stores, and boutique clothing stores and…..Lillian’s.

The coolest handbag store on the planet. 

Did you say…handbags?  Purses?  Hmm….let me look at my calendar…

These fun gals put together an Occasional Sale fest for me and my traveling pal Mary. We shopped, had a slumber party and basically sorted out life. 

You know, it’s what we women do, the world over. 

But first – Lillian’s! Imagine a store that just sells cool handbags from across the world….at NORMAL PRICES! Knock-offs and original designs. This store is SO cool that not only do these ladies make it work only 4 days a month but….in the last 3 years, they’ve opened..wait for it… 31 STORES around the Midwest!

Here’s me with Lillian’s Founders Sue Olmscheid and Cindy Deuser. 




Okay, so this goes into my “dream job when I clone myself” category.

You just have to check this store out – go to www.lilliansshoppe.com and you’ll be an addict. 

Then we stopped at a French antique store.  Again, only open 4 days a month…with entirely new displays and sale items every month. I need these people to come to my house. Decorate it. Once a month will do. (See, I’m already fitting into the mold!) Thanks, Teresa! (far right) Teresa has a blog at http://theporchatelier.blogspot.com.




Oh, and the fun didn’t end there!We hung out at my new friend Deb’s cabin on the lake…They took VERY good care of me and Mary with some amazing white chili and butternut squash soup. I didn’t know butternut squash could taste that good.

We got started talking about Roller Derby (and how I’d like to write a PJ Sugar book where PJ becomes a roller girl…) and of course everyone landed Roller Names. 



The Occasional Rollers – Me.  (I’m not telling you my name), French Revolution, Needles Norman, The Silencer, The Icer, Sizzler, and Bloody Mary (not pictured, Patty, the ReArranger)

I think everyone should have a Roller Derby name, don’t you?  Just for those moments when we get hip-checked into the boards….

Thanks for a great Occasional Weekend, ladies! 

We Can Eat Next Spring ...

When I became a career novelist, I thought…hey, I’ll run my life as if I had an office to go to everyday – “go to the office” around 8 am, “come home” around 4pm, when the kids got off the bus – perfect!

Except, that schedule sort of only works in my brain. (there’s a lot of other things stuck in there too – like the 5 ft 7, size two woman, the mini-Martha, the wanna be Beth Moore. Yeah, it’s cluttered). 

The truth is, when I’m working on a book – in the discovery phase (where I do a sort of NaNoWriMo, except I do it about 3-4 times a year), or when I’m at the tail end of a book and furiously analyzing every word – I sort of get obsessed. Tunnel vision. My version of “All Work and No Play Makes Jack a Dull Boy.” (only without the axe. Or the voices…okay, maybe there are voices.).

My people come into my office, where I’m nested deep in my big blue writing chair, and say things like.  “Are we ever going to eat?” or “Did you want us to have cereal for supper again?”  or, even “Did you know there is no cereal left?” and my favorite, “Mom, if you don’t answer me I’m going to run away with the troupe of circus performers at the front door.” 

Did you say something honey?  

(Personally, I don’t know why everyone is so obsessed with food).

It occurred to me this weekend, in the home stretch of editing, that maybe I should look up. Just to make sure the house wasn’t on fire. 

Ah, Number 3 son doing a little leisure reading. (feeling some envy right now)

Number 2 son catching up on his NFL channel. Because clearly we don’t have enough football in this house.

Daughter on Facebook (maybe I should get online and chat with her…see how she’s doing…)

Am I ever going to eat again, Mom? 

Whoops.  She has no opposable thumbs. I’ll feed her.  

Wait, What’s this?  Hello – what happened to FALL?  Not fair!  I’m lodging a protest with the Life Moves Too Fast committee.

Sigh.  Okay, back to work.   

We can eat next spring.

Inspiration

Writing is the loneliest word…(okay, there was a tune in my head there – sorry!)  Seriously though – Writing is just about you, and the screen.  And the voices in your head.  Too many voices, sometimes.  And after you’ve sat on your backside for eight hours, or more, well, sometimes you go looking for inspiration.  

Like this.
 



Or this.

Or even this.

But really, as I sit here, staring at my words, trying not to check my facebook, twitter, email…etc.  As I fight to ponder each word’s nuance and milk it for the fullest meaning, my real inspiration for getting this sentence, scene, BOOK finished is…

THIS.  

Wait for mom, guys!  I’ll be right there!

It's available on Amazon!!!

From the Inside Out: discover...create...and publish the novel in you

Be the first to leave a review...or better yet, buy a copy! *G*

check it out here

Rachel and I are being interviewed today!

Come join us at 11:30 EST as we chat with Jill from The CWAHM Network: Encouragement and Inspiration for Entrepreneurs!

Rachel and I will be discussing the new My Book Therapy book, From the Inside Out and talking about the Blog-A-Book book we're writing (by the way...chapter 1 is up!) and My Book Therapy services.

We'll also be talking about what it's like to work together...it'll be fun! Please join us: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/stations/bc/cwahm and tell your friends!

From the Inside...Out: Discover, Create and Publish the novel in You!

I'm so excited to announce that....I wrote a writing book!!
 
From the Inside....Out: discover, create and publish the novel in you!

I've been wanting to do this for a few years now, a response to so many of the basic, but essential questions that participants in my beginning writer's workshops ask.  How you do you plot?  How you develop characters?  How you do you pitch a book?  What goes into a scene?  How do I craft a black moment?

And can you help me do it?

Yes!  And, it doesn't have to be overwhelming!  I believe that writing a book doesn't have to be agonizing, that it can come from your heart, and still be put inside a framework of proven storytelling.  And this book, my method of looking inside for your plot and characters, teaches you how.

Here's a little promo that tells you more...  
 

From the Inside….Out: discover, create and publish the novel in you!

I’m so excited to announce that….I wrote a writing book!!

I’ve been wanting to do this for a few years now, a response to so many of the basic, but essential questions that participants in my beginning writer’s workshops ask. How you do you plot? How you develop characters? How you do you pitch a book? What goes into a scene? How do I craft a black moment? And can you help me do it?

Yes! And, it doesn’t have to be overwhelming!

I believe that writing a book doesn’t have to be agonizing, that it can come from your heart, and still be put inside a framework of proven storytelling. And this book, my method of looking inside for your plot and characters, teaches you how. Here’s a little promo that tells you more…

It’ll be available in May at Amazon.com…for now, you can buy it at the My Book Therapy Shop, as a hard copy or an affordable download.

Read more here, or go to the My Book Therapy shop…and start writing your novel today!

A big THANK YOU goes to my MBT co-therapist Rachel Hauck for all her input into this process too! Blessings on your writing journey!