Trying New Things by Terri Weldon

Terri Weldon

It may be Thursday, but it isn’t my usual Thursday so I hope you’ll give me a minute to get settled in. Thanks to Dora for switching weeks with me, when I had some unexpected events crop up. Hmm, maybe that’s where I came up with the idea for today’s post.

Most authors, myself included, have a specific genre we like to write. Suspense is my favorite genre and it is the publishing path I’m pursuing. Almost all the ideas for stories that pop into my head are suspense. Now, I’m not sure what that says about me, but since I know plenty of other normal suspense authors I’m not going to worry. When I stop to think about it, my penchant for suspense shouldn’t surprise me. I’ve long been a reader of suspense novels and I love television shows that are police procedural dramas. Sherlock Holmes is playing in the background while I write this post.

However, my published Christmas novella is a lighthearted contemporary romance. I had a blast writing it and I’d love to do more, time allowing. Romance has been a staple in my library for years. Christmas books, especially novellas are some of my favorite reads. Plus, my all-time favorite movie is Pillow Talk. Definitely a romantic comedy.

But lately I’ve had a yen to write something totally off the wall – for me. Speculative fiction. That’s what I really want to discuss with you guys today. I’ve read speculative fiction, but it isn’t one of my favorite genres to read. Help me out, how did the idea pop into my head? How in the world would I go about writing a speculative fiction book? Right now I don’t even have a story idea. I just have this niggling inside me that says it would be fun to try. A few thousand words into the story and that feeling may well change! As much fun as it sounds, it also sounds off the wall and a little scary. Is this my idea or God’s plan? If the desire to write this book is from the Lord, I believe He will provide the idea.

How about you? Have you ever desired or felt called to write something totally different? Did you do it? Please let me know if you have and how it worked out.

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Misty Winslow is determined to find her prince, and she meets the man of her dreams through an Internet dating service. Or is he, because the new dentist in town also sets her heart aflutter.

It's love at first sight for Tyler Davenport, but before he can finish his first root canal, Misty is involved in an exclusive online romance with Wes99—Tyler’s online persona. How can he tell her he’s the man she’s been waiting to meet, and how rational is it for him to be jealous of Wes99! Soon Tyler's pulling out all the stops to woo Misty.

As Christmas approaches, Wes99 and Tyler both ask her to meet them under the mistletoe. Which man will she choose?

Terri is a lead analyst by day and an author by night. She enjoys gardening, reading, and playing in the hand bell choir. One of her favorite pastimes is volunteering as the librarian at her church. It allows her to shop for books and spend someone else’s money! Plus, she has the great joy of introducing people to Christian fiction.

She lives with her family in Oklahoma. Terri has three dogs – a lovable mutt and two adorable Westies.

Terri is a member of ACFW and OCFW, a local chapter of ACFW. Her dream of becoming a published novelist came true in November 2013 when Mistletoe Magic, released from White Rose Publishing. To learn more about Terri visit her website at www.TerriWeldon.com.

Finding Inspiration in Discouragement by Patty Smith Hall

Sometimes it's tough to find the blessings in our lives and in our writing. Today, author Patty Smith Hall shares her experience in "planting seeds" and finding blessings. -- Sandy

Patty: last few weeks have not been the greatest for me. Health issues of my husband and youngest daughter along with the news that the home we’d lost in Michigan a few years back was still on our credit record and keeping us from buying a new home had taken the wind out of my sails. The writing ministry which I’d had such high hopes for seemed stagnant.

I felt out of touch with God. I mean, I was doing everything He’d called me to do so why was I ready to give up? Why was I investing so much of my time and effort into writing and not seeing any fruits of my labor? I was lower than low.

Then God showed up and showed out, maybe not in the way I’d expected but my expectations are so small in light of what a big God we serve. Last Friday night, after a particularly bad week, I was rolling through my Facebook page when one of the messages in my inbox caught my eye.

“Are you the Patty Hall  who was in Honduras in 1999?”

Years ago, I’d had the privilege of visiting San Marcos with a group called Opportunity of a Lifetime whose mission was to cloth, feed, educate and share the Gospel to the families and children of Honduras. I say it was a privilege because I was going through an equally rough time then. While I might have gone there on a mission trip, it was the people of Honduras, through their faith and totally devotion to God, who ministered to me.

I clicked on the message. It was Noel, a boy I’d found living under a tree in a small village outside of Tegucigala. His parents were dead and he had no immediate family to take him in. He was only twelve, maybe thirteen with no one in this world and no way of supporting himself. One look at this sweet boy and I knew Danny and I had to help. For the next four years, we supported him as he went to school in San Marcos. After his graduation, we lost touch.

Until now.

I friended him immediately and went to his Facebook page. Noel is happily married now with three little girls of his own, and pastoring a church in Naples, Florida. He still has that sweet smile that captured my heart all those years ago. In our conversation, he told me he’d been looking for me for eight years just so he could thank me for giving him a chance, for introducing him to God.

For planting a seed.

It hit me then. The books I write, this writing ministry I have, it’s all about planting seeds. Some, I’ll see grow to fruition while others may only ripen after I’m gone. That thought—focusing on the eternal rather than the present—is what inspires me to write today.    

Have you ever felt as though you're beating your head against a post when it comes to your writing? Share a blessing you've received that you didn't expect.

~~~~~

  

She’s ready to take back her life . . .or what’s left of it.

 

After ten lonely years of caring for her grandfather, Kallie Huffman is ready to restart her career. Taking a job in the laboratory of New Hope Community Hospital seems like a logic choice until her nursing license is reinstated. Lab Director Jefferson Muster is everything Kallie has ever hoped for in a man. But the prognosis hanging over her head dooms her to a life of solitude.

He’s never needed anyone’s help. . .until now.

Jefferson Green needs to find out what is killing patients at New Hope Community before tragedy strikes again. A tremendous loss as a young boy shapes Jeff’s harsh view of personal relationships. When help comes in the person of Kallie Huffman, the walls Jeff carefully constructed around his heart start to crumble. But Kallie is hiding something that could drive them apart forever.

Patty Smith-Hall is a multi-published author with Love Inspired Historical/Heartsong and currently serves as president of the ACFW-Atlanta chapter. She currently lives in North Georgia with her husband of 30+ years, Danny, and finds her greatest job in spending time with family and friends. Her next release, New Hope Sweethearts will be available in July on Amazon. 

Focus on Joy by Angela Arndt

Carolina Jasmine Against a Stormy Sky

An uplifting Wednesday night Bible study collides with one brutal gunman consumed with hate. Nine lives lost. Countless forever changed. A world grieves.

I live in South Carolina, only two hours away from the Holy City — Charleston, South Carolina. I’ve passed that church so many times. I heard that pastor speak in our Senate last month. Tonight, network and cable news reveal every hateful detail of the villain’s murderous plot. Nine men and women who loved the Lord and died as martyrs.

Sometimes we have to look past the pain and grief to find our joy again. Look for that tiny bit of yellow against a vast expanse of gray. Romans 12:21 says, "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." The good is there, we just have to change our focus.

Writers are sensitive souls. We grieve deeply when tragedy knocks, whether it is at our door or someone else's. Our souls connect with others across the country, across the world. How can we build fictional worlds when real ones have been forever destroyed? But John 1:5 reminds us, "The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it."

You may be facing writer's block today because of the Charleston tragedy, inhaling the information, taking it to heart. Pray for those afflicted by tragedy, but stop watching the news reports. Check out of social networks for a day or two if you need to.

Try pouring your grief into another kind of work. Steven Curtis Chapman was inspired to write Charleston, a beautiful song that reminds us: love overcomes evil with good.

Here's a few other ideas to help you focus on joy:

• Allow God’s love to heal your heart. Wait until you hear your story again. 
• Each one of the Charleston families refused to inherit the hate from that killer. Instead, they offered forgiveness to the man who killed their mother, father, sister or brother. That’s God’s power at work. If hate is filling your heart, pray that you’ll be able to forgive.
• Focus on today, not tomorrow and what-ifs. Focus on the present, not the past or what-could-have-been.
• Seek God’s joy with all your heart. You can find several good online devotions through YouVersion.com (where you can download a mobile app) or BibleGateway.com. 
• If you can’t work through your grief, ask for help. Don’t stop until you find someone who will provide it. Don't let it fester within you.
• Recognize you may need to spend some time alone. It’s hard to do if you have a family, I know. Go to your bedroom. Go to your bathroom! (I remember what it’s like to have a six-year-old following you around.) Ask a friend or a family member to watch your child(ren) for an hour or so. Breathe.
• Take care of yourself. Remember that you’re more than a writer. Don't beat yourself up if you can't write, right now. Just do what you are able.

There comes a time, after the weeping, when we allow God’s power to heal our hearts. A time when we can focus on joy.

About the Author

Angela Arndt

Angela Arndt enjoys writing mysteries set in small Southern towns. Coincidentally, she, her husband, and their three very large dogs (a lab mix, Staffordshire terrier, and a 12 pound poodle) live in the middle of a big wood outside a small Southern town. She would love for you to visit her website, http://www.angelaarndt.com, or her team blog, http://seriouslywrite.blogspot.com.

Fatherhood and Forgiveness

Fatherhood and Forgiveness

by Mary Manners

 



 

I truly hope you had a blessed Father's Day. My dad's been gone more than a decade, but the holiday got me to thinking about him (as I so often do) and a special memory from my childhood days...

 

My seventh birthday was a momentous occasion mainly because in my family, turning seven meant I was sure to receive what I imagined, in my child’s mind, to be the greatest gift of all—a shiny new bike.

It was a beauty—a splash of bubblegum pink with streamers flowing from curved handlebars. Pedal brakes and a chunky banana seat rounded out the mix. One look and I knew that suddenly I had my freedom, my independence, and the power to travel all the way to…the end of the block. It was better than the confines of our meager, chain-linked back yard. I grew up in Chicago, after all, and the streets could be a dangerous place.

My dad taught me how to ride. An hour, a few scrapes and bumps later, and I was ready to go. No helmets back then and no fancy riding gear…just the wind at my back and pure pedal power. Dad outlined the riding boundaries, cautioning me not to cross the street at either end of the block or the alley that ran behind our house. Cars were dangerous.

Dad’s firm warning rang through my mind for the first week or so, at least until my sister challenged me to a race around the block. We’d ride off in opposite directions, keeping our progress top-secret, until one of us returned to the starting line—and victory—at the front of our house.

Guilt niggled as I launched myself, pedaling into the wind. To circle the block and claim my victory I’d have to cross the alley twice, breaking my dad’s rule. Yet, the desire to be one of the ‘Big Kids’ along with my sister only served to make me pedal faster. The sky smiled clear-blue as the streets whispered encouragement. What could possibly go wrong?

Closing in on the alley, I picked up speed. The faster I crossed, the faster I would be done. No sound of an engine, nary a car in sight. Perfect until…

Crash!

My gaze kissed the cerulean sky as the front tire of my bike plowed a canyon into the passenger door of an approaching Chevy station wagon. I sailed over the hood to sprawl, several yards beyond, across the unyielding concrete.

Needless to say, in the time it took for the frantic driver to scoop me off the cement, I knew that I suffered a much worse fate than losing the race to my sister. I’d broken my father’s steadfast rule. There was no choice but to return home and confess my transgression. The evidence was clearly etched over my cheeks…and my knees…and across my throbbing elbows.

But, just as it is with my Heavenly Father, Dad was more concerned about my welfare than my transgression. He cleaned my wounds and we had a long talk. Dad repaired my bike and eventually my bruises—both physical and emotional—healed.

I learned a valuable lesson that day, one that remains with me decades later. Boundaries are set for a reason—not to confine but to protect with the deepest love. Yet, even when our free will takes us across a dangerous road or down a shadowed alley, God our Father welcomes us home with open arms and forgiveness. Thank goodness for grace...and for fathers.



 

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Stolen Miracles

 

 

 

Rebecca Gillespie is lucky to be alive following a devastating car accident that claimed her husband’s life and put her in a coma with little hope of recovery. Her heart still aches for the loss of her precious daughter given up for adoption by her wealthy, dying mother-in-law to a couple in Mills Landing. Now, fully recovered, Rebecca struggles to rebuild her life—alone. She soothes the emptiness in her heart with laughter of children who fill her local preschool, Precious Miracles.

 

Cole Seibert clings to his daughter, Kimmy, following the dea th of his wife. They’d adopted the child as an infant, and Cole never imagined he’d be left to raise her alone. When he drops by to register Kimmy at Precious Miracles, he’s confident the center is the best place for Kimmy…Until Rebecca steals his breath and casts his heart into a firestorm with her revelation--

“I think you have my daughter…”

~~~~~

 



Mary Manners is an award-winning romance writer who lives in the beautiful foothills of East Tennessee with her husband Tim and the cherished cats they've rescued from local animal shelters...Lucky and Gus. She loves swimming, running, flavored coffee and Smoky Mountain sunsets.

Mary was named Author of the Year by Book and Trailer Showcase. She writes inspirational romances of all lengths, from short stories to novels—something for everyone.

Learn more about Mary Manners at her website: www.MaryMannersRomance.com.