Collection Central
April 30, 2007
Some women collect shoes and purses. Some collect animals (real or otherwise). Some collect dust.
I’d like to collect bookmarks.
Does that sound lame? Is that laughter I hear? Okay, maybe it does sound lame, but, hey, it’s not going to break the bank (I think).
I know you’re all wondering where I got such a crazy idea. At a blog called Book Splurge, where else?
This could be more fun than scrapbooking. Oh! I could make my own with scrapbook paper, and I could make them match the bookcover, and I could –
Maybe I need help, too?
- Don’t forget to leave a tip!
- Today’s the last day to enter for a chance to win Sharon Dunn’s Death of a Garage Sale Newbie or the free critique from Affordable Novel Critique Service. Leave a comment before midnight, central time, to enter. If you’re interested in the critique, please specifiy that in your comment.
Leave a Tip, Please!
April 27, 2007
If you haven’t figured it out by now, I love little techniques, short cuts, routines, and tips that help me get jobs done faster, better, and easier.
But I know I’m not the only out there with unique steps that make life run smoother. You all are geniuses, too. So now it’s your turn to share your tips.
Before you go diving for the comment button, hold on! Here’s how we’ll do it. For the next month, please EMAIL me any tips you’d love to share with the rest of us. Send me tips on things related to organizing, shopping, cleaning, reading faster, selling your manuscript for millions of dollars — I mean, anything you want. I’ll pick a date to post your idea so I can tell everyone how brilliant you are and so we can talk about that tip individually. I’ll let you know ahead of time when your tip will run.
I haven’t yet put my email on the blog because, first, this lovely blog is still a work in progress (as you can tell by my sidebar difficulties) and second because I don’t know how to do it without getting spammed to death. Let’s see if this technique keeps the bad guys away. Send it to me at sallybradleywrites AT gmail dot com.
Here’s an example of what I’m looking for. This tip just hit me two weeks ago while I was shopping at Walmart. I still hadn’t cleaned out my purse from vacation so it was filled with receipts and paper things like that. Ugh. Irritating how those things reproduce in a purse, isn’t it?
I do save most of our receipts, so I always stick my receipts in the bag so that when I get home and put items away, I come across the receipt and put it away, too. (That’s not the tip, but it’s free if you want it.)
Anyway, I was holding my 3×5 card shopping list in one hand and as I put the receipt in the bag, it dawned on me that I should put the shopping list in the bag, too.
Why?
Because those things stay forever in my purse once I put it in there. If I put it in the shopping bag, then when I get home I can leave the list in the bag and it will go in the trash when I throw the bag away. (If you recycle bags, this’ll work, too, because you’ll still come across the piece of paper and have to deal with it.)
So there you have it, a little step to keeping your purse a tad cleaner. If you throw receipts away, putting the receipt in the bag will get it in the trash or recycle bin that much faster, too.
I’m wearing a happy grin just thinking about how much cleaner my purse will be — well, after I clean it out to begin with, I guess. Am I weird for loving these tips? Probably. But if they make my life easier, who cares, right?
Have any friends who are great at this kind of thing? Send them over. I’ll have a prize (something yet unthought of; think, Sally!) for the tip I like the most.
So bring on the tips!
- Don’t forget to leave a comment before the end of April for a chance to win Sharon Dunn’s Death of a Garage Sale Newbie or a free critique from Affordable Novel Critique Services (specify in the comment if you’d like to win the critique).
- Monday — the perfect collection?
The Heir by Paul Robertson
April 26, 2007
Paul Robertson
THE HEIR:
Jason Boyer Just Got an Inheritance to Die For
The fortune wasn’t supposed to befall him. Jason Boyer had known all along his father’s business empire would pass to different hands. Which suited him just fine. The money was crooked and the power corrupt. But when an accident claims the old man’s life, everyone is stunned by the unveiling of the will. With the passing of the Boyer crown, power-hungry politicians and shady business partners all try to force Boyer’s hand. Fighting the temptation of influence and riches, he simply wants to be a better man than his father–but attempting to stand for what’s right soon brings murderous consequences. As those closest to him are endangered–and news emerges that his father’s accident may be something more sinister–Boyer finds himself fighting for his soul…and his life!
Is There Any Escape for The Heir?
All the money he could ever crave. In the splintering crash of a car plunging through a railing, Jason Boyer’s life is changed. All the fame he could ever desire. But the last thing he wanted was the throne of his father’s corrupt business empire. All the power he could ever wield.
The estate should have gone elsewhere, but the will was changed. And now everything is Jason’s. But gaining the whole world just might cost him his life.
THE HEIR is a Gresham-like tale of intrigue and murder with a lot of humor and well-drawn minor characters.
Endorsement:
“In THE HEIR, Paul Robertson serves up politics, privilege, and murder with a side of acerbic wit. What a fabulous book–a great mix of angst, humor, and ultimately, hope.”
T.L.HINES–author of Waking Lazarus and The Dead Whisper On
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Paul Robertson is a computer programming consultant, part-time high-school math and science teacher, and former independent bookstore owner in Blacksburg, Virginia. This is his first novel.
Hanging with the Pros
April 25, 2007
Last Friday night, I got to hang out with a group of Chicago ACFW writers.
I tell you, I live for these monthly meetings.
This month we had a booksigning beforehand at the Barnes & Noble we hold our meetings at. Cyndy Salzmann and Judith Miller came from out of state to sign their newest releases, both set in the Chicago area. Maureen Lang, a local author signed her latest, also.
Hanging out with other writers is so much fun. We can tell each other about the voices in our heads and, instead of having them look at us in fear, they nod and say, “Me, too!”
Here’s a picture of some of our group. That’s me in the back in the white coat. In front of me is Allie Pleiter who was just nominated for a RITA award. If your not familiar with that, it’s kind of like the American book version of an Oscar.
Next to her is Cyndy Salzmann who was so sweet and gave a great devotional on starting our day with God and the Bible and letting Him set our priorities. Definitely something I needed to her.
Next to Cyndy is Judith Miller who is such a professional and really challenged me to make sure I’m treating my writing like a business. (I confess, some days I act like a SAHM — oh, wait.) No, really, it’s too easy to put off writing since there’s no publisher out there with a due date marked for my work.
Next to Judith is Maureen Lang whose first book from Tyndale is just out. I’m looking forward to reading it. We’ll be featuring it on the blog next month.
And behind Maureen is Deb Kinnard, as she puts it, the “queen of small presses.”
It’s a great group we have here in the northwest ‘burbs. I’m thrilled to be a part of it. Going it alone in the writing world is hard and, frankly, not necessary anymore with the internet. If you’re a fiction writer and you’re not a member of ACFW, you’re only hurting yourself. Join now. You won’t regret it.
Now if I can only make it another four weeks until the next writers’ meeting!
Note to Self, Again
April 24, 2007
From now on, clean out the fridge whenever you have a cold.
Walking Lessons: Pedaling Downhill
April 23, 2007
Every day that our Chicago weather is humane, Child Two (C2) and I go for a walk.
Rather, I walk, she rides her bike.
She’s got one of those low to the ground, plastic three-wheeled bikes, the kind where the pedals are attached to the front wheel and the back two wheels are behind her seat. So when we go up inclines, she has to work really hard to make it to the top.
We’ve been working on this together. I walk behind her and let her know when there’s a “hill” coming that she’s going to need to prepare for. And I’ve noticed that these hills are usually preceded by a downward slope that she’s content to coast on.
“Start pedaling,” I tell her as her feet fly off the bike and she “wheees” down the slope. “If you don’t start pedaling now, you won’t make it up that hill.”
It struck me as we were walking Friday that our lives are very much like those slopes and inclines. The downward slopes are fun and easy. It’s tempting to sit back, lift our feet from the pedals, and do nothing. Who needs time with God when life is great? Who needs to pray? Who needs church?
But those uphill climbs are coming. If we’ve neglected God, the Bible, fellow Christians, prayer, we’ve in essence stopped pedaling, and the second we hit that hill, we stop moving forward and slide backward.
Why? Because we left the source of our power.
Avoid the temptation to stop pedaling when life is great. Remember that even in the good days, we get our power, our strength from God. And in those easy days, we can build our strength for the tough times coming.
To Love, Honor, and Vacuum
April 20, 2007
There are so many resources out there in book land that are full of tips and hints that’ll click with our specific situations and make our lives a bit more productive — if we knew where to find those resources.
So today, I’m interviewing Sheila Wray Gregoire, author of To Love, Honor, and Vacuum: When you feel more like a maid than a wife and a mother. In her book, Sheila takes our home responsibilities and combines with it our marriage and mothering jobs, too.
SB: Thanks for dropping by, Sheila. What in your life prompted the idea for this book?
SWG: Once upon a time, when my children were little, I was surrounded by women who were miserable. They had achieved their dreams: they were married, they had houses, they each had an adorable little baby. But they weren’t happy. And both of them blamed their husbands.
Diane, one of my friends (not her real name!), used to say to me, “Everyday, I get out his clothes, get the kids up, spend all day cleaning up after everybody, and then I make dinner. He comes home and eats it in front of the TV. He goes out with his friends, and I bathe the kids and put them to bed. He hasn’t been nice to me all day, but then he comes home and you know what he wants?”
I think we all know what he wants, Diane.
Now her husband sounds like a complete idiot from this description. I knew him, and I don’t think he was. I think they just got comfortable in a very dysfunctional way, and Diane didn’t know what to do to change things up a bit.
Other women may not have had issues with their husbands (I certainly didn’t), but they could still feel some of Diane’s frustration. All day long they do nothing but work, work, work. When I walked down the aisle, I thought I was signing up for the greatest relationship in the world.
But five years later, when the kids were little, it sometimes felt a lot more like a to-do list than a fairytale. And I don’t think that’s how God meant it to be. So I wrote the book to help women sort out what really is important, foster relationships that make us swoon rather than whine, and make housework far less of a chore!
SB: Sounds good! Can you give us an idea of what’s in the book?
SWG: Surely. The first half of the book I tackle YOU: the moms. What can you do to change your life, even if nobody else ever gets a lightning bolt flash and decides they want to help. I talk about why we’re so stressed; why modern life can often be less fulfilling and far more complicated than it was a century ago; setting our own standards (and letting go of our mothers’ standards!), and creating balance in our lives. If you just do that, your life will be better.
Then I tackle the relationships. How can you change the way you relate to your kids so you’re serving them appropriately, and not waiting on them like maids? Remember that the best gift you can give your future daughter-in-law is a son who cleans toilets, so you’re not doing him any favors by letting him get out of doing housework!
I tackle how we can help foster a house where people respect each other, rather than take each other for granted. Of
course, the book doesn’t only deal with kids doing chores; it also talks about how we can make sure we spend quality time with kids, and how we can encourage that same relationship between our kids and our husbands.
And finally I tackle two big things which are often a challenge in marriage: money and sex. In fact, I liked the sex part so much I turned around and wrote a whole book just about that: Honey, I Don’t Have a Headache Tonight: Help for women who want to feel more in the moood which is an elaboration on chapter ten.
SB:I have to ask, Sheila — what’s your relationship with your vacuum?
SWG: We’re really more in-laws than anything else. My kids are the ones who are wedded to the vacuum! It’s their chore, not mine, so I only see the vacuum at holiday times, like Christmas or Thanksgiving. Other than that it stays with the girls. Which is, of course, where it’s supposed to be!
I’m not sure why chores seem to have fallen into such a black hole over the last few decades, but kids did a lot more work fifty years ago than they do today. We think kids can handle soccer, and gymnastics, and karate, and homework, but they can’t clean a toilet. Anybody can clean a toilet. And five-year-olds like to!
So why don’t we make them? Because they may not do it right, and it makes more work for us. But if you think about it, what is the purpose of parenting? It’s to raise responsible and independent adults who love Jesus, right? So what better way to teach them that than to let them do chores! In fact, you’re harming your kids if you don’t. If you raise a son who leaves home knowing how to cook five delicious meals and keep a house clean, you will have created quite the catch. So don’t get too up close and personal to all your cleaning products. Let the kids get to know them better. It works out best for everyone!
SB: Do you think housework is that big of a deal to our mental well-being?
SWG: I think it is. but only because we focus our self-worth too much on our homes. We think we have to be perfect, so we watch all those home makeover shows and read Martha Stewart Living and then we feel guilty if we don’t pick pinecones to spraypaint and use as table settings for a big get-together. Instead, we cocoon and don’t have anyone over.
And we watch our homes get messier and messier until one day we blow up at the kids and our husband and demand that everybody drop everything and help us clean up this pigsty! They don’t know what hit them.
So I think we have two problems: one, we expect too much of ourselves; and two, we’re not that organized. I deal with both in To Love, Honor and Vacuum.
First, I ask people to figure out what the purpose of their homes is. It shouldn’t be a showcase. It should be a place of ministry where people get to look more and more like Jesus. You can relax in a bubble bath with some chocolate without noticing that your bathroom walls need cleaning and feeling guilty about that. Your kids can have friends over without incurring your wrath if crumbs spill. Friends can drop in for coffee without you being nervous that your house isn’t presentable enough. After all, they came over to see you, not your living room floor. Create a comfortable house, not a perfect house, where people can relax and be themselves. That means you’re allowed to leave your knitting around the house, but you should probably leave the bathroom looking free of communicable diseases. There is a balance, you know? But you don’t need to be magazine clean. Just be comfortable clean.
Then get an organized approach to housework so that it does get done in its time and you’re not so stressed. I suggest assigning certain tasks to each day, and then sticking to it as much as possible, so you know everything will get clean in its time. When you’re done with today’s task, you’re done! You can go play with your kids.
SB: So where do husbands fall into the home chores picture?
SWG: I hate to disappoint readers, but I don’t come down hard one way or the other. When my kids were little, my husband was working 36 hour shifts, and when he did get home I didn’t want him vacuuming. I wanted him playing with the kids. As he has more time off now, it seems more appropriate that he do more of the work around the house. But I actually enjoy housework (that’s a new thing for me), while he likes organizing the finances and taking care of the yard work. So he doesn’t do much housework, but he does do a lot of work for the family. I don’t think we should get so caught up on who does what, as much as we are looking at the nature of relationships.
Are both spouses giving to each other? Are we tender to each other? Do we respect each other? If the answer is no, and if you feel like your husband takes you for granted, I have some great ideas in the book on relationship revolutions that can help improve that all important intimacy and respect. But who cleans the toilets? Who knows. Don’t fight over it. Get your relationship on an even keel, because tension over housework is really a symptom of something bigger.
SB: Okay then. What’s your favorite time-saving tip?
SWG: Clean to music! Turn on some fast music, put on your running shoes and workout clothes, and set the timer for 25 minutes. It is absolutely amazing how much you and your kids can get done if you dare yourself not to slow down until the timer beeps! And, if you work up a sweat, it counts as exercise! Woo hoo! You kill two birds with one stone.
SB: We like killing two birds with one stone. Thanks, Sheila!
To find more encouragement to get your kids to help at home and make your marriage less stressful, you can pick up To Love, Honor and Vacuum ($13.00) at www.sheilawraygregoire.com
Sheila blogs at www.homeschoolblogger.com/SheilaG. She also writes a syndicated newspaper parenting column, Reality Check, which she sends out by ezine every week. You can sign up for it at www.sheilawraygregoire.com/blogtoursignupc94.php. and you’ll be entered in a draw to win a bunch of Sheila’s books and audio recordings. She’ll make the draw April 30.
I signed up for Sheila’s ezine. Got it once already. I enjoyed it.
I want to jump on one thing Sheila mentioned — getting our kids involved. What do you have your kids do? I’ll share mine. My kids are 7 and 5. They empty the dishwasher, set the table, and I’m starting to have them clear the table. My oldest has washed dishes a couple times and is begging me to let him do it again.
No problem there!
They also pick up their own toys, take their sheets off their bed on laundry day, and they’ve helped clean the bathroom counter and switchplates. (I’ve handled the cleaners, though). They’ve been dusting for “years,” so the fun in that is starting to wear off.
Might sound like a lot. It’s really not, though. What do you all have your children do? Any routines that have worked well for you?
- Next Friday, get ready to get tipped off!
- Leave a comment for Sharon Dunn’s Death of a Garage Sale Newbie or a free critique (please specify you’re interested in the critique).
- And have a happy weekend!
When a No-No Is a Good Thing
April 19, 2007
White Sox baseball fan that I am, I just can’t go without mentioning White Sox’ Mark Buehrle pitching a no-hitter last night (and you’ve no idea how many times I told myself I really shouldn’t blog about this!).
I actually saw only the final two outs of the game. My husband got home from church last night and turned on the game. The crowd was going nuts which I thought was a little odd. Sure, the Sox haven’t had a great season so far, but why the intensity of the crowd? I mentioned to DH that it sounded like a playoff game. Then the last guy ground out, catcher A.J. Pierzynski rushed Buehrle, and that’s when we realized we’d just missed a no-hitter.
But that’s okay. The encore presentation starts shortly. If you’ll excuse me, I must go make popcorn. Go, Sox!
A Bigger Life by Annette Smith
April 18, 2007
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
In 1997, Annette was working as a home health nurse. She traveled the back roads from house to house, caring for ill and injured, homebound people. Because of her unique position in the lives of relative strangers, she often found herself bearing solitary witness to intimate behind-the-scenes situations full of grace and meaning. The desire to honor both a particular patient and a poignant scene involving the woman and her husband prompted Annette to write a fictionalized story, The Anniversary.
That first story appeared as a column in the Houston Chronicle newspaper and as an essay in Today’s Christian Woman magazine. Later it became a chapter in Annette’s first and best-selling book of short stories, The Whispers of Angels, that has sold more than 100,000 copies
Since then, Annette has penned four more books of stories, two volumes on parenting, and the Coming Home to Ruby Prairie trilogy.
Annette and her husband Randy, a High School teacher and coach, make their home on a wooded lot in Quitman, Texas. They are the parents of two young adult children, Russell and Rachel, both out on their own. Wally, a grateful, rescued mutt provides warmth and entertainment and keeps the Smiths’ empty nest from feeling too lonely.
In addition to writing, Annette continues to serve part-time as a registered nurse. She finds the people she works with and the patients she cares for provide great inspiration for her fiction.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
Joel Carpenter did not plan for his life to turn out like this. He never meant to be a single dad, working at a hair salon in Eden Plain, Texas. But after making a careless choice four years ago, his marriage was permanently shattered. Now at twenty-seven, he finds himself juggling custody of his preschool son with Kari, the ex-wife he still loves, and sharing Sunday dinners with a group of other single dads.
Joel regrets the choices that brought him to this place, but it’s not until the worst happens that he learns how much he still has to give. In the midst of deep tragedy, he learns that forgiveness is way more important than freedom. Hopefully it’s not too late!
A BIGGER LIFE is a story of love in the midst of heartache, and friendship in the midst of real, everyday life.
Sally Says — Rats! I knew this book was coming up on the CFBA schedule and wanted to interview Annette about it, but I didn’t write it down in my daytimer. Maybe I’ll interview her later. I’m intrigued by this book.
I read A Bigger Life a couple months ago and enjoyed it. It’s not your ordinary Christian fiction book. First of all, it’s told first person through a man’s POV, and it’s written as if he’s sitting across the table from you, telling you his story. It goes back and forth, from where he’s at in the present to the past that’s led to this moment. It’s a book that starts out a bit leisurely but builds the further you go.
One thing I really appreciated about the book was that it showed me a new perspective — that of a single dad. The main character, Joel, hosts a group of single dads at his house on the weekends. And there was one character who really got to me. I don’t remember his name, but at one point he told Joel that the guy who’d married his ex-wife would get to raise his daughter. That right had been stolen from him. And he was heartbroken by it.
I do recommend A Bigger Life. It’s a great read for a book club (hmm). This is the only book by Annette that I’ve read, but it’s so well done, I may have to read another!
In other important news to me, I got my braces off today! Yippee! Actually, in the picture of me at the top, I’m wearing braces, but they’re Invisalign, the type no one’s supposed to be able to see. I had those for a long time but had to switch to the real thing to perfect my chompers.
One humorous thing about having braces as a mom was hearing my three-year-old (at the time I got braces) say orthodontist. Not too many pre-schoolers out there telling people they’re taking their mom to the orthodontist!
Book Clubs
April 16, 2007
I’m curious how many of you are in a book club.
I actually run one. It’s an arm of our Sunday School class, the Builders Class. So I guess you could call it the Builders’ Book Club.
This month we’re reading Sharon Dunn’s Romance Rustlers and Thunderbird Thieves. A crazy title, but it all makes sense once you get into the book. I’ve already read it once and am excited to read it a second time for the club. Sharon does a wonderful job of creating true-to-life characters who mess up and struggle. And I love that she doesn’t drag you through the nastiness of the gutter but let’s you know that the gutter’s right over there.
If you’re always looking for a good read, check out American Christian Fiction Writers book club. There’s a book each month of the year and an online chat with the author once the month is over.
Well, I’m feeling a bit blech with a nasty cold so I’ll say goodbye. Don’t forget to leave a comment if you’d like a chance at winning the critique or Sharon’s latest release.
Time Me!
April 13, 2007
One of the most frustrating things in the life of a stay-at-home mom, part-time working mom, married woman, career woman, or homeschool mom has got to be the dirty dishes in the kitchen.
Kitchen clean-up is one of those things we do over and over and over, even on our days “off.” A SAHM friend once told me she felt like she was always washing dirty dishes. She said five or six times a day she’d be in the kitchen cleaning up. And from time to time I’ve found myself rinsing dishes and thinking how I’ll never get to “retire” because we’ll always have to eat. (As I look back, there was usually some other issue going on that was overwhelming me, but still.)
So how do we handle this most boringest of chores? For those of us whose kids are still a little too young to rinse heavy stoneware dinner plates (where was my brain when we picked those out?), is there anything we can do to get control?
You betcha.
Make the timer your friend.
We touched on this briefly two weeks ago with our two-minute drill. (How are you doing there, by the way?) And Elizabeth mentioned in the comments section that she sets the timer for fifteen minutes a day while her kids clean their room. She said they’ve understood it’s not a long time, and so they don’t complain.
I happen to know how old Elizabeth’s kids are, and believe me, we’re all a tad bit older than them. So if they can figure out that fifteen minutes isn’t that long, so can we!
Here’s a new routine for you — after each meal, set the timer for fifteen minutes. When it goes off, stop cleaning your kitchen.
Of course, odds are that you’ll be already done or pretty stinkin’ close.
Part of the reason my kitchen falls behind is because after eating dinner, I want to take a break. And too often that break turns into the rest of the day!
Instead, when breakfast is over, set a timer for fifteen minutes. Honestly, it probably won’t take you more than five minutes to clean up, unless you make huge breakfasts from scratch. Which wouldn’t be me. Remember, I’ve timed it, and it usually takes less than two minutes.
So woo-whoo! Breakfast dishes are gone.
Don’t forget to wipe your counter and table. That’s part of it, too. Put away any recipe books you used and make sure trash is thrown away.
Doesn’t your kitchen look gooooooood?
Do the same thing at lunch. Again, for me, fifteen minutes is probably overkill. It might take ten to twelve.
Now dinner might be a different story. That’s the big meal I cook most days. Like Thursday’s dinner. We had salmon, sun-dried tomato alfredo sauce with fettuccine, salad, and croissants. (I impressed myself, too.) That’s dishes for four, a skillet, two sauce pans, salad bowl, croissant plate, and a stone to clean. Actually not that bad — no cutting board, no prep bowls, although I did transfer the fettuccine to a serving bowl.
I set my timer and went to work. I had just finished wiping down my counter when the timer went off.
Now why is cleaning right after a meal so important?
Consider this — you’re not coming to the end of your day with breakfast dishes in the sink with food dried on them like superglue. Lunch dishes aren’t cluttering your counter, and you don’t have to wipe up crumbs just so you can make dinner on your counter and dirty it all up again. You’ve kept up with the task, and so it has become bearable.
That’s the big secret — keeping up with the task. And how do we keep up with any task?
By making it routine.
Yep, it all goes back to those pesky precious little routines!
So make a committment for the next week to spend fifteen minutes cleaning up after each meal. And relax your night away, knowing everything in your kitchen’s under control!
- Next Friday — special guest interview. Did our wedding vows include the vacuum?
- Don’t forget — leave a comment for a chance to win Sharon Dunn’s Death of a Garage Sale Newbie or a free critique from Affordable Novel Critique Service. (In your comment, please specify if you’d like a shot at the critique.)
Note to Self
April 12, 2007
Technically, one very yummy Hershey’s Special Dark mini candy bar does NOT deserve another.
Coral Moon by Brandilyn Collins (And a fun night out for me!)
April 11, 2007
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: 
Brandilyn Collins is the bestselling author of Violet Dawn, Web Of Lies, Dead of Night, Stain of Guilt, Brink of Death, and Eyes of Elisha just to name a few.
Brandilyn and her family divide their time between the California Bay Area and Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.
She also maintains an informative blog called Forensics and Faith where she daily dispenses wisdom on writing, life, and the Christian book industry.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
The figure remained still as stone. Leslie couldn’t even detect a breath.
Spider fingers teased the back of her neck.
Leslie’s feet rooted to the pavement. She dropped her gaze to the driveway, seeking…what? Spatters of blood? Footprints? She saw nothing. Honed through her recent coverage of crime scene evidence, the testimony as last month’s trial, the reporter in Leslie spewed warnings: Notice everything, touch nothing…
Leslie Brymes hurries out to her car on a typical workday morning…and discovers a dead body inside.
Why was the corpse left for her to find? And what is the meaning of the message pinned to its chest?
In Coral Moon, the senseless murder of a beloved Kanner Lake citizen spirals the small Idaho town into a terrifying glimpse of spiritual forces beyond our world. What appears true seems impossible.
OR IS IT?
And as Brandilyn would say…
Presently this Kanner Lake Series of books has its own character blog called Scenes and Beans . Stop by and visit the folks from Kanner Lake! Her Forensics and Faith blog is fun, too.
I haven’t read this book yet. If you’re wanting a great suspense/mystery, Brandilyn’s the woman for you. If you like your books soft and relaxing, she may not be your cup of tea.
On another note, I spent Tuesday evening with a bunch of friends from our Sunday School Class. Just the girls. We had a ton of fun and laughed our abs into shape.
Over the numerous years of my life 
, I have heard people complain about how hard a time they’re having getting to know people at their new church or how they feel like they don’t fit in yet.
Make sure you’re getting involved. It’s hard to build relationships with people when you’re only around them once a week. Attend all the services. Join a small group or Sunday School class. Volunteer to be a greeter or work in the nursery. Better yet, take the initiative and invite another family over or to McDonald’s after church.
The more active you are in your church, the faster you’ll feel a part of those people sitting in the pews around you. And with the extra Bible study and Christian friends, you just might find yourself growing spiritually, too.
The Modern Vacation?
April 9, 2007
I mentioned that we went on vacation recently. The four of us took a road trip from Chicago to South Carolina and a handful of neighboring states. It was a twelve-hour drive there and back, and we spent an average of four hours almost every day driving to nearby cities. My poor husband — he figures he drove about three dozen hours during those six days.
But I think we’d admit we had fun (especially me since I didn’t drive). And the only way to explain it was that it was a technology vacation.
The kids sat in the back with a travel DVD player while Han and the Skywalker twins entertained them. My husband brought along a bunch of pastors’ conference MP3s to listen to, and I took the laptop.
Oh, the joys of a laptop.
So there we are, driving through the vast flatness of Indiana (sorry, but it’s true — not that Illinois is any better). Husband’s got his MP3s going, the kids are listening to Darth tell Luke he’s his father (sure hope I didn’t spoil that for anyone), and I’m typing on the laptop.
I love the twenty-first century.
We went throught the Smoky Mountains just before sunset. Not the best photo there, but you can see I was working hard (okay, not really) in between taking pictures with the digital camera. And when we got to South Carolina, I downloaded the pictures onto the laptop so I could fill up the camera’s card again.
Are we spoiled or what?
I’m not a big fan of historical fiction, but I did grow up on Laura Ingalls Wilder’s books, and I often find myself wondering what Caroline Ingalls would say if she were to ride in our car for a day. What would she think while we took oodles of pictures, sent people messages that arrived immediately, and traveled sixty miles or more in an hour?
It’s a pretty cool world we live in. And yet I wonder what my grandkids will have forty years from now. I can’t imagine what could be better than my laptop, but I’m sure some new technology we can’t live without will come along.
Think they’ll blog about how rough poor Grandma Sally had it way back in the ‘aught seven?
Fighting Anorexia
April 6, 2007
Ever have one of those days where you were just horribly busy? Maybe emergencies came up or a disaster that needed to be dealt with right away. Did you skip a meal or eat junk food because it was fast? How’d you feel?
We never go without food if we can help it. We know we need it to function.
Yet it’s too easy to go without a spiritual meal.
Like our routine meals, we need a spiritual routine, too. Remember, we’re not using the word “routine” with the meaning of being in a rut. We’re talking about creating good habits and patterns that become second nature.
And making our devotions with God a daily habit is essential if we expect to function as Christians. Not making time for God and His Word starves us, exhausts us, and makes us useless Christians so far from God. The sad thing is sometimes we don’t even know it. We’re like the anorexic who looks in the mirror and truly thinks he’s fine. A little scary, isn’t it?
The more I grow as a Christian, the more I realize how much I depend on God. There’s nothing I’ve accomplished or learned on my own. Everything I have, everything I do is a gift from Him. No matter what I’m going through, whether a trial or a success, I have to cling to God.
Kinda hard to do if I don’t spend time in the Bible.
My challenge to you today is to make sure you have a daily routine for your time with God. It might be before bed, during your lunch break, or first thing in the morning, whatever works for your schedule.
Me — I’m a first-thing-in-the-morning person beause once I get my day started, I have a hard time settling down for a quiet, contemplative time to study. And I love how doing it first thing in the morning starts off my day. If I have my devotions at night, I end up with too many things to confess! But that’s just me.
So what’s your routine? What works best for you? If you don’t have a set pattern, let me encourage you to start one today. Make sure you’re not an anorexic Christian.