Thursday on Amish Wisdom: Noah Coleman from Amish Photo

Tune in on Thursday at 4:00 pm Central! To listen in - go here and just click on the player in the top right corner.


I've been looking forward to this interview for weeks. Noah Coleman is the son of Bill Coleman of Amish Photo. If you've read my Christian Post articles, seen my book covers or spent any time at my blog then you've seen Bill's gorgeous work. His eye is unmatched. Today Noah will be talking about how he helps his father, now in his 80's, and what's new and coming soon to AmishPhoto.com. Don't miss Thursday's show!

More about Amish Photo:
Bill Coleman is an internationally acclaimed photographer of the Amish. The photographic legacy he deems his Amish Odyssey is four decades long, a goodly number of years to document the lives and landscapes of the Old Order Amish sect in a hidden valley somewhere in Pennsylvania. But forty years is scantly time to portray a people whose ancestors immigrated to the area in the 18th century.

The Amish have a love affair with life and simplicity, with preserving ages of innocence and respect, with teaching responsibility and the joys of tradition. These very private people are reluctant to reveal themselves to outsiders.
Bill, albeit knowing he will always be an outsider has, charmingly, respectfully cajoled his way into the hearts and homes of a number of Amish families willing to allow him to document their lives from birth to death, generation after generation. His determination to keep their location secret, their lives private, equals their determination to maintain their way of life.

His photographs, often images of a precise scene taken at each season of the year and of cherubic children as they mature, holds a continuity of life and lifestyle beholden to the past, yet treasured for the future. In a sect where tradition and the ethic of hard work, respect of elders and love of children intertwine.

Bill creates beautifully powerful images. The past is present in every nuanced curve of the land. His photographs are intimate portraits of a place and a people who live in the simplicity of the past as the realities of the 21st century encroach upon their future.

Bill’s photos touch one’s senses beyond the gift of sight. They reveal the laughter of the youngsters, the chill of a snowy field, the aroma of a fresh baked apple pie, the touch of little girls clutching their baby dolls, and the mellifluous hammering of a barn raising. Beyond the physical senses are those of place, of humor, of past, and present thriving harmoniously. He portrays the whimsy of children at play with equal respect to the seriousness of Sunday worship.

On many days, from sunrise to sunset, Bill aims his camera at what he calls the “symphony of forms that created the valley…the lights, colors and textures of the fields, the farmlands, and the faces.” In describing his passion for preserving the gentle nature of this Amish sect, he confides, “I wish they knew how much I love them.” Look at his photos and you will have no questions about his love.

For more information and to see some his amazing work, please visit: www.amishphoto.com

24 Days of Thanksgiving - Prize Winners

Thank you so much for helping me to spread the word about my new book, The Keeper! Below are the winners of the 24 Days of Thanksgiving prizes!

If you see your name, please e-mail Christen your mailing address and we'll ship out your prize this week!

Winners of the advance reader copy of The Keeper:

Day 1: Angie Adair
Day 2: Irene Hartwig
Day 3: Shirley Bessmer
Day 4: Anna Marie Decarlo
Day 5: Kathleen Brown
Day 6: Donita Corman
Day 7: Andrea Ricks
Day 8: Debbie Mosley
Day 9: Amber Horton
Day 10:  Jodie Moore
Day 11: Abbie Tireman
Day 12: Jennifer Short
Day 13: Martha Bales
Day 14: Nicole Elliott
Day 15: Cheryl Baranski
Day 16: Tammy Greer
Day 17:  Katherine Cross
Day 18: Lauren Boughner
Day 19:  Linda Dietz
Day 20:  Paula Osborne
Day 21:  Judy Burgi
Day 22: Harriet Strawn
Day 23. Mardi Moye 
Day 24: Linda McFarland

Winners of the signed copy of A Lancaster Country Christmas and Amish Values for Your Family:

1. Tracy DeLuca
2. Beth Titus
3. Kim Perland
4. Saundra McKenzie
5. Lisa Gaska
6. Victoria Mulligan
7. Jason Pederson
8. Judy Burgi
9. Karen Korb
10. Laura Hilton

Winners of the signed advance copy of The Keeper (to be sent in late December), A Lancaster County Christmas and Amish Values for Your Family:

1. Crystal Fulcher
2. Sue Brandes
3. Diana Flowers
4. Sandra Trenholm
5. Virgina Rush

The GRAND PRIZE winner who will recieve a copy of all three books as well as a Amish Barn Star from Annie's Amish Barn Stars:

Allison Moyer

Congratulations to all our winners. Again, please e-mail Christen with your mailing address and we'll get your prize in the mail this week! If you didn't win a copy of the books, you can purchase or pre-order them here!

Seven Ways to Subtly Influence Others by Kevin Eikenberry

 This is re-posted from Kevin Eikenberry's "Leadership Learning" blog. It's a story he wrote that is worth reading and remembering during this busy month, when our to-do lists can get tyrannical.

It had been a long day of work and travel, and it was going to get longer.


Due to weather issues around the country, flights across the eastern half of the U.S. were delayed and canceled. It was snowing heavily in Denver, where I had just landed to find my connecting flight canceled. I quickly found my way to the end of the long line of other harried travelers who were trying to figure out how to get to their destinations.

It wasn’t a picture of serenity.

As I got closer to the front of the line, I watched the ticket agents behind the desk take one complaint after another. I noticed how normally sane travelers were angry, screaming, and generally blaming these ticket agents for their issues as if those agents could change the weather or magically make a plane appear.

I decided I would take a different approach. Yes, I was tired and I was frustrated, yet screaming didn’t seem like a kind —or particularly effective —approach to the situation.  As I thought about what my approach would be, I overheard the person directly in front of me. It would be hard not to, because he was outlining everything that this airline had done wrong and why he would never fly this airline again, and apparently it was all the fault of this agent. He was headed to the same place I was.
Nancy, the ticket agent, was pleasant and remained calm in the face of the unrelenting grief the passenger was sending her way. And then I heard her response: “I’m sorry, sir, but the next seat I have is on the flight first thing tomorrow morning. I truly apologize.”

His response was less than pleasant as she gave him the news and his new ticket (along with some travel vouchers).

I was next.

“Hi Nancy,” I said, smiling. “I’ll tell you that I don’t envy you on a day like today.  You should be paid double for the extra effort and having to put up with angry and frustrated people.”

She smiled as I continued.

“I’m going to make this easy. I’m not going to hold you accountable for the weather, OK?  Plus, I’m going where that last guy is going, so you won’t have to do too much, assuming there is another seat on that morning flight.”

Smiling back at me, she asked, “Indianapolis, right?”

I nodded.

“Just a second,” she said as she focused on her monitor, fingers flying.  She kept typing and looking, and looking again.  After a couple of minutes, she looked up at me and smiled as she handed me a ticket.

“Here you go, Mr. Eikenberry, it’s not for tomorrow. The flight leaves in 45 minutes.  I have a first class seat for you.”

I took the ticket, and shook her hand, looking her in the eye.  “Thanks, Nancy,” I said, “I really appreciate it —and so does my family.”

We had to sit on the runway for a couple of hours before we could take off, so I didn’t get home until the wee hours of the morning. As we were preparing to leave, the pilot said that we were the last plane leaving Denver that night. The snow was closing the airport and the other planes in line were going back to the terminal.

The next flights left two days later.

I have no idea whether that first class seat was available when Nancy was talking to the man in front of me; the seat could have just opened up. All I know is that Nancy, while she couldn’t control the snow, could control who got seats.

This simple story highlights seven stunningly simple things you can do to have greater influence and impact every day. Let me share them with you now.

Use a person’s name. Anytime you have a chance to use someone’s name, do it.  Someone’s name is sweetest sound in the world to them. Learn names, remember names, and use them.

Acknowledge people. Let people know that you notice what they are doing.  Simple acknowledgment is sometimes more valuable even than agreement.  In many situations, you may not agree with someone, but you can always acknowledge them and their opinion.

Be interested in them. Most passengers, when they got to the front of the line, began venting about their needs. I had those same needs and concerns, and yet I focused on Nancy. Be interested in other people and they will, in return, become more interested in you and your needs.

Say please and thank you. These are some of the first words our parents try to teach us to use. You know why? Because they are important —and they work.

Be kind. This is another lesson you learned at a young age. Sometimes it is hard to be kind, especially if you are angry or frustrated. It is even more important when it is more of a challenge.

Smile.  Have you ever noticed that when you smile, people tend to smile back? And, further, have you noticed that when you are smiling you automatically feel better? A smile takes no time, virtually no effort and is free, plus it is a fantastic positive influencer.

Assume the best. I believed Nancy was doing the best she could. I had been watching her for several minutes and she was efficient and pleasant even in the face of the verbal onslaught she was receiving. When you assume the best in others, you give them a valuable gift.

Zig Ziglar’s most famous quotation seems like an appropriate way to close this piece.  He wrote, “You can get everything in life that you want, if you will help enough other people get what they want.”

Look back at this list of seven simple things you can do.  None of them are about you; they are all about the other person. If you want to have greater influence, be more other focused — because in the end, influence is always about the other person.

Source: Leadership Learning with Kevin Eikenberry

Everyday Gratitude

Thanksgiving is underrated. It's one of those rare holidays that is generally pretty low key, hasn't been commercialized, and a day to give thanks and be grateful.

Of course, for some it's a day to watch football, eat too much, and spend time with friends and family (which you might be grateful for or not!).

What I love about this holiday is that it is an important reminder to practice gratitude every day.

All kinds of studies have found that those who have an ongoing tendency to be grateful experience better physical and psychological health and well being. They tend to be more optimistic, sociable, and engaged in life. They are less susceptible to depression, anxiety, anger, and others negative emotions that can lead to health damaging behaviors and functioning.

Being grateful is just...good for you.

I start my day thanking God for giving me another day and try my best to remind myself that whatever I get day-to-day is gift and blessing. I have so much to be grateful for. We all do.

It doesn't mean that there aren't problems in our lives or some situations that will never be fixed--but there is definitely something, or someone, to be grateful for every single day.   

So, as we come to Thanksgiving 2011, what are you grateful for? I'm grateful for you!

24 Days of Thanksgiving -- Day 23

If you're just tuning in go here for the details of the 24 Days of Thanksgiving contest I'm running this month!

The Keeper's official release date is January 2nd, but it’s available now to pre-order. Thank you all for helping me spread the word by posting the video trailer on your blog and social networking sites.

The First winners are:

Day 1: Angie Adair

Day 2: Irene Hartwig
 
Day 3: Shirley Bessmer

Day 4: Anna Marie Decarlo

Day 5: Kathleen Brown

Day 6: Donita Corman

Day 7: Andrea Ricks

Day 8: Debbie Mosley

Day 9: Amber Horton

Day 10:  Jodie Moore

Day 11: Abbie Tireman

Day 12: Jennifer Short

Day 13: Martha Bales

Day 14: Nicole Elliott

Day 15: Cheryl Baranski

Day 16: Tammy Greer

Day 17:  Katherine Cross

Day 18: Lauren Boughner

Day 19:  Linda Dietz

Day 20:  Paula Osborne

Day 21:  Judy Burgi

Day 22: Harriet Strawn

Day 23. Mardi Moye

Email Christen your mailing address and we'll ship out your advanced reader copy of The Keeper this week. And everyone will be entered to win one of the grand prizes.

This week on Amish Wisdom: Beverly Lewis

Tune in on Thursday at 4:00 pm Central! To listen in - go here and just click on the player in the top right corner.


This week I'll be playing an encore of my interview with Beverly from earlier this year. If you have a moment or two on Thanksgiving (while you're cooking maybe?) tune in and hear Beverly talk about the Amish and her books.

Her stories have been published in eleven languages worldwide. A keen interest in her mother's Plain heritage has inspired Beverly to write many Amish-related novels, beginning with The Shunning, which has sold more than one million copies and was recently made into an Original Hallmark Channel movie. Beverly lives with her husband, David, in Colorado. Visit her Web site at www.beverlylewis.com for more information.

More about Beverly: Beverly Marie Jones (Lewis) was born in the heart of Amish country—Lancaster, Pennsylvania. At the tender age of nine, she began writing short stories and poetry. Prior to that, she made up lyrics to the "little fingers" piano pieces she learned, at the age of five.

"My mother saved everything I wrote, even the stories I dreamed up during my grade school years," Bev says. One such tale is semi-autobiographical, about a young girl whose parents can no longer afford to give her piano lessons. The manuscript was 77 pages long and titled "She Shall Have Music," penned under the shade of a lone willow tree. "Reading, writing, and playing piano have been top three on my list of favorite things," she says.

Not until her own children were well into middle school did Bev seek to publish her work, first in magazines such as Highlights for Children, Dolphin Log, and Guideposts for Kids. Her first book followed in 1993—Mountain Bikes and Garbanzo Beans—presently retitled Big Bad Beans (book #22 in the popular Cul-de-Sac Kids series of chapter books—see list of Bev's children's books).

Beverly's first venture into adult fiction is the best-selling trilogy, The Heritage of Lancaster County, including The Shunning, a suspenseful saga of Katie Lapp, a young Amish woman drawn to the modern world by secrets from her past. The book is loosely based on the author's maternal grandmother, Ada Ranck Buchwalter, who left her Old Order Mennonite upbringing to marry a Bible College student. One Amish-country newspaper claimed Beverly's work to be "a primer on Lancaster County folklore" and offers "an insider's view of Amish life."

Asked if she is surprised by the popularity of her work, Lewis says, "The sales response for my work is astonishing, but even more heartwarming are thousands of letters a year pouring in from readers." Fans describe how her books have "touched a nerve, creating a curiosity about the Old Ways of the Amish... a yearning for a simpler life and return to traditional values in the mainstream society, where an impersonal, high-tech lifestyle reigns paramount," she explains. Bev still takes time out of her busy schedule to answer her readers' letters.

Booksellers across the country, and around the world, have spread the word of Bev's tender tales of Plain country life. A clerk in a Virginia bookstore wrote, "Beverly's books have a compelling freshness and spark. You just don't run across writing like that every day. I hope she'll keep writing stories about the Plain people for a long, long time."

A member of the National League of American Pen Women, as well as a Distinguished Alumnus of Evangel University, Lewis has written over 80 books for children, youth, and adults, many of them award-winning. She and her husband, David, make their home in Colorado, where they enjoy hiking, biking, and spending time with their family. They are also avid musicians and fiction "book worms."

Conversations with Dad

A week ago, we moved my dad to a skilled nursing facility. My mom and brother took Dad over to the new place while I packed up a suitcase with Dad's clothes in it.

A simple task.

But it wasn't simple at all. It caught me by surprise--there was no sign of Dad's personality anymore. He used to collect stuff, even when he wasn't ill. His desktop was a jumble of sentiments. No longer. No papers in the drawers, no church bulletins, no little pictures, pens, odds and ends. Just clothes and a toothbrush and a razor.

Dad has declined significantly in the last six months--doesn't recognize anyone, doesn't talk, doesn't have any interest in anything. He's in severe stages. Alzheimer's Disease is so slow and gradual that you adjust to it. But every now and then, it catches my heart. Dad is still here, but he's gone.

As I left the facility where Dad has been for the last few years, I drove up from the parking garage and hadn't realized I had left the radio on. It picked up the signal as I emerged into the daylight...and then came a gift from God, a reminder that He was right there, in the midst. "Emmanuel, God is with us."



"Rise" by Shawn McDonald is a beautiful song--but it will forever be seared into my memory as just the song I needed as I drove over to Dad's skilled nursing center. The lyrics were oh-so-perfect:

"Rise"

[Chorus]
Yes I will rise
Out of these ashes rise
From this trouble I have found
And this rubble on the ground
I will rise
Cause He Who is in me
Is greater than I will ever be
And I will rise

Sometimes my heart is on the ground
And hope is nowhere to be found
Love is a figment I once knew
And yet I hold on to what I know is true

[Chorus]
Yes I will rise
Out of these ashes rise
From this trouble I have found
And this rubble on the ground
I will rise
Cause He Who is in me
Is greater than I will ever be
And I will rise

Well I keep on coming to this place
That I don't know quite how to face
So I lay down my life in hopes to die
That somehow I might rise

[Chorus]
Yes I will rise
Out of these ashes rise
From this trouble I have found
And this rubble on the ground
I will rise
Cause He Who is in me
Is greater than I will ever be
And I will rise

24 Days of Thanksgiving -- Day 22

If you're just tuning in go here for the details of the 24 Days of Thanksgiving contest I'm running this month!

The Keeper's official release date is January 2nd, but it’s available now to pre-order. Thank you all for helping me spread the word by posting the video trailer on your blog and social networking sites.

The First winners are:

Day 1: Angie Adair

Day 2: Irene Hartwig
 
Day 3: Shirley Bessmer

Day 4: Anna Marie Decarlo

Day 5: Kathleen Brown

Day 6: Donita Corman

Day 7: Andrea Ricks

Day 8: Debbie Mosley

Day 9: Amber Horton

Day 10:  Jodie Moore

Day 11: Abbie Tireman

Day 12: Jennifer Short

Day 13: Martha Bales

Day 14: Nicole Elliott

Day 15: Cheryl Baranski

Day 16: Tammy Greer

Day 17:  Katherine Cross

Day 18: Lauren Boughner

Day 19:  Linda Dietz

Day 20:  Paula Osborne

Day 21:  Judy Burgi

Day 22: Harriet Strawn

Email Christen your mailing address and we'll ship out your advanced reader copy of The Keeper this week. And everyone will be entered to win one of the grand prizes.

24 Days of Thanksgiving -- Day 21

If you're just tuning in go here for the details of the 24 Days of Thanksgiving contest I'm running this month!

The Keeper's official release date is January 2nd, but it’s available now to pre-order. Thank you all for helping me spread the word by posting the video trailer on your blog and social networking sites.

The First winners are:

Day 1: Angie Adair

Day 2: Irene Hartwig
 
Day 3: Shirley Bessmer

Day 4: Anna Marie Decarlo

Day 5: Kathleen Brown

Day 6: Donita Corman

Day 7: Andrea Ricks

Day 8: Debbie Mosley

Day 9: Amber Horton

Day 10:  Jodie Moore

Day 11: Abbie Tireman

Day 12: Jennifer Short

Day 13: Martha Bales

Day 14: Nicole Elliott

Day 15: Cheryl Baranski

Day 16: Tammy Greer

Day 17:  Katherine Cross

Day 18: Lauren Boughner

Day 19:  Linda Dietz

Day 20:  Paula Osborne

Day 21:  Judy Burgi

Email Christen your mailing address and we'll ship out your advanced reader copy of The Keeper this week. And everyone will be entered to win one of the grand prizes.

24 Days of Thanksgiving -- Day 20

If you're just tuning in go here for the details of the 24 Days of Thanksgiving contest I'm running this month!

The Keeper's official release date is January 2nd, but it’s available now to pre-order. Thank you all for helping me spread the word by posting the video trailer on your blog and social networking sites.

The First winners are:

Day 1: Angie Adair

Day 2: Irene Hartwig
 
Day 3: Shirley Bessmer

Day 4: Anna Marie Decarlo

Day 5: Kathleen Brown

Day 6: Donita Corman

Day 7: Andrea Ricks

Day 8: Debbie Mosley

Day 9: Amber Horton

Day 10:  Jodie Moore

Day 11: Abbie Tireman

Day 12: Jennifer Short

Day 13: Martha Bales

Day 14: Nicole Elliott

Day 15: Cheryl Baranski

Day 16: Tammy Greer

Day 17:  Katherine Cross

Day 18: Lauren Boughner

Day 19:  Linda Dietz

Day 20:  Paula Osborne

Email Christen your mailing address and we'll ship out your advanced reader copy of The Keeper this week. And everyone will be entered to win one of the grand prizes.

24 Days of Thanksgiving -- Day 18

If you're just tuning in go here for the details of the 24 Days of Thanksgiving contest I'm running this month!

The Keeper's official release date is January 2nd, but it’s available now to pre-order. Thank you all for helping me spread the word by posting the video trailer on your blog and social networking sites.

The First winners are:

Day 1: Angie Adair

Day 2: Irene Hartwig
 
Day 3: Shirley Bessmer

Day 4: Anna Marie Decarlo

Day 5: Kathleen Brown

Day 6: Donita Corman

Day 7: Andrea Ricks

Day 8: Debbie Mosley

Day 9: Amber Horton

Day 10:  Jodie Moore

Day 11: Abbie Tireman

Day 12: Jennifer Short

Day 13: Martha Bales

Day 14: Nicole Elliott

Day 15: Cheryl Baranski

Day 16: Tammy Greer

Day 17:  Katherine Cross

Day 18: Lauren Boughner

Email Christen your mailing address and we'll ship out your advanced reader copy of The Keeper this week. And everyone will be entered to win one of the grand prizes.

Author Spotlight: Elisabeth Gifford

Welcome to Author Spotlight! Each week will feature a different author. We'll get the scoop behind their writing life and dish a little. The authors will also be giving away a copy of their latest book. FUN.
The winner from last week's Author Spotlight with Erin Healy is Johnda S! Please email my assistant Amy with your mailing address. (amy@litfusegroup.com)

This week Elisabeth Gifford is in the Spotlight! To win a copy of her encouraging and heart-rending book, The House of Hope, leave a comment on this post!


Share a little bit about yourself. Married with kids? Empty nester? Do you work full-time and write when you can squeeze it in? 


My children have all left home and I’m married to Josh, a graphic artist. I have a part time job teaching children with dyslexia.

And share something about your writing. What’s your genre(s), your areas of interest…

I did articles on dyslexia but following two writing courses published poetry and a short story in Riptide. Then a friend commissioned the biography of Dr. Joyce Hill and Robin Hill in China, a couple who rescue abandoned babies. I was delighted to be asked to write their story, THE HOUSE OF HOPE.

How did you get started writing? Did you have a dream of being a published author?

A friend recommended THE ARTIST’S WAY by Julia Cameron to help get over those initial self doubts.  I began to give some time to writing. Then, about five years ago I took a diploma in creative writing at Oxford and recently completed a masters at Royal Holloway University in London. I still meet up with my group from the course to workshop.

After you started writing seriously--how long was it before you were published? 
It’s hard to say since I have always written in a way, but at the end of the diploma I published poetry and short stories, and this year the autobiography of the Hills.

Aside from a cup of good, strong coffee, what helps you get all of your “brain cylinders” firing so you can write well? Do you have any favorite places and routines when you write? How many hours a day do you spend writing? 

I work best in the morning, but carry on with editing until the afternoon. I try and get enough sleep – which means enough exercise – and I can’t really drink and write! I do a pretty uncensored first draft and let the ‘voice’ of a character speak, and then I re-read and edit, often many times. But I don’t like to be too tight to begin with or you miss what your character might have to say. In THE HOUSE OF HOPE, I kept as close to the Hill’s voices as I could. I have various places round the house where I write, and try not to get hung up on where I am as it can become an excuse not to get on. Anywhere quiet where I can be comfortable will work. Sometimes, I have to have a desk, especially when there’s a lot of notes to look at.

What has been the biggest help to you in the journey to publication? Writers’ conferences? Writing groups? Your mom as your first draft reader?

I still meet up with a group from my course and we workshop each other’s writing. It’s challenging but very instructive seeing what works and what isn’t playing. Also I recommend Sol Stein’s books on writing and editing.

The Hill's

Is the “writer’s life” what you thought it would be?


I spent three summers in China interviewing, writing the book, and promoting it. It was a fantastic experience and I fell in love with China and the children in the home. I really enjoyed the writing and used a lot of what I had learned in creative writing to see how to pick out the stories from the interviews. It was very different from writing fiction however in that I had to make sure I only included what was factual and kept to a style that was straight forward and not opinionated. The stories of how the Hills rescued a thousand dying babies over a decade and in fact saved over half of those children – many of them now adopted to the US- needed no embellishments from me. It really taught me to trust the story.

What are your biggest distractions? 


Certainly I found having children at home made things more challenging as I was also working more at the time, but now my main issue is in keeping up enough concentrated energy to work on the writing for long stretches. That’s where exercise and sleep come in.

What was one of the best moments in your career and what was one of the worst?


I was so privileged to do the interviews in China and to meet amazing people like the Hills and also Steven and Mary Beth Chapman who work closely alongside them. The Chapman's shared their story of Maria’s death and how they came to name the new 142 bed home in her memory. And above all- I got to meet those babies – though it was hard trying to understand how their parents could have felt that they had no option but to abandon their own child.

When it comes to the actual writing, it can be hard to realize you have a lot more work to do on a text, and it’s always more than you thought, but if you get through that the editing is very fulfilling.

What do you least like about being a writer? Most like? 


I really love writing and get less hung up about not producing something perfect the first time. It’s all about pushing through till something is finished. I have so many projects I want to do, and want to get on with them!

What is the role and importance of an agent? 


When I finished THE HOUSE OF HOPE, I researched the publishers and took it direct to Monarch at Lion Hudson- who accepted it the same day! Because it was a specific sort of book, an agent would have not really helped. Usually however, you do need an agent to approach publishers.

What advice would you give to new writers?


If you are starting out on the writing journey, then keep learning about your craft, keep working at it and don’t forget that there are many different kinds of writing.

Robin, Joyce and Elisabeth

Pretend I’m a customer at a bookstore looking for a good book. Give me a one or two sentence promo to convince me to buy your book.

THE HOUSE OF HOPE is a riveting true story of how a wealthy expatriate couple in China gave up everything to care for dying babies. Dr. Joyce Hill and her husband Robin now take care of 300 babies at any one time and work closely with Chinese authorities as an NGO. It is was very hard and shocking to hear about these children but in China there is great fear of child death as a curse on the family. I think reading this book will give people a window onto a hidden situation. People who have read it so far do say they could not put the book down.

What’s on the book horizon for you? 

I have just completed a novel called DARWIN AND THE MERMAID, which has had some interest from agents, so I’m really hoping it will also get published. I’ll let you know.

Last question, how can readers find you and your books?

The best place to get THE HOUSE OF HOPE by Elisabeth Gifford is through the Book Depository online, the link can be found on the book’s website www.thehouseofhopebook.com and all profits go to Robin and Joyce Hill. You can also ‘like’ the book on www.Facebook.com/thehouseofhope

Thank you for sharing your writing life with my bleaders! (blog + readers = bleaders)

24 Days of Thanksgiving -- Day 17

If you're just tuning in go here for the details of the 24 Days of Thanksgiving contest I'm running this month!

The Keeper's official release date is January 2nd, but it’s available now to pre-order. Thank you all for helping me spread the word by posting the video trailer on your blog and social networking sites.

The First winners are:

Day 1: Angie Adair

Day 2: Irene Hartwig
 
Day 3: Shirley Bessmer

Day 4: Anna Marie Decarlo

Day 5: Kathleen Brown

Day 6: Donita Corman

Day 7: Andrea Ricks

Day 8: Debbie Mosley

Day 9: Amber Horton

Day 10:  Jodie Moore

Day 11: Abbie Tireman

Day 12: Jennifer Short

Day 13: Martha Bales

Day 14: Nicole Elliott

Day 15: Cheryl Baranski

Day 16: Tammy Greer 

Day 17:  Katherine Cross

Email Christen your mailing address and we'll ship out your advanced reader copy of The Keeper this week. And everyone will be entered to win one of the grand prizes.

Thursday on Amish Wisdom: Battling Stress and Busyness with Cindi Ferrini and Joanne Kraft!

Tune in on Thursday at 4:00 pm Central! To listen in - go here and just click on the player in the top right corner.


I'm excited to chat with this week's guests. We've all heard (and probably experienced) the results of being too busy. Stress, fatigue, disconnected families, ruined relationships and so much more. Thursday we'll be talking to two authors who's recent books offer some advice on avoiding the pitfalls of our hurry, hurry culture. The first half hour we'll hear from Cindi Ferrini. Her book, Balancing the Active Life, looks at how to balance all that God's called us to. Then during the second half of the show we'll be hearing from Joanne Kraft who took her family on a Radical Sabbatical.

Both ladies are giving away a copy of their books. Leave a comment {HERE} for a chance to win one. Winner's will be notified next week via email.

More about Cindi: Cindi enjoys speaking on topics that will encourage men and women to make a difference in their sphere of influence by being all they can be for the Lord, their families, and themselves. Joe and Cindi are on the speaking team for Family Life Ministries, a marriage-focused ministry founded by Dr. Bill Bright of Campus Crusade for Christ.

Joe (a dentist) and Cindi have enjoyed ministry together as they direct the City Focus Ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ in the Northeast Ohio area as associate staff since 1989. They helped to bring the Billy Graham Crusade to Cleveland in 1994 and served as trained counselors, supervisors and leaders. They were also responsible for the direction of distributing over 32,000 pieces of material to inquirers that came forward throughout the crusade. The Billy Graham Association asked them to establish follow-up in the NE Ohio area because of the discipleship ministry they already had in place. They have also served as City Ministry Directors of the FamilyLife conferences in Cleveland (NE Ohio) from 1990-2001 with expansion to Akron in 2000 and an Urban Familylife Conference in Youngstown, OH, in October of 2001! Joe and Cindi now speak nationally for the Familylife Marriage Conferences. For more info, please visit  http://www.cindiferrini.com

More about Balancing the Active Life: If you struggle to get organized, Cindi's your new friend who understands...

[She] will enable you to develop a more balanced life. -Susan Alexander Yates, speaker and author
...concrete ways to move ahead toward a balanced life. -Joy Downs, speaker and co-author

Balancing a pyramid of seven people on a tightrope cable only 5/8-inch thick, the Great Wallendas showed the world their astonishing skills. They performed their balancing act 35-100 feet high over dens of lions! How many times did they nearly lose their balance?

Though you might not be surrounded by lions, who is to say that your life isn't just as stressful with your own set of acrobatic and balancing acts?

'How we spend our time is the life we live,' says Cindi Ferrini of Creative Management Fundamentals.

Join author and balancer Cindi Ferrini as she presents her 13-week interactive Bible study that addresses the question: 'Does being a Christian mean we automatically have a balanced life?'

Everyone gets carried away with work, family, ministry, and life opportunities available to us. And sometimes we neglect the areas that God is calling us to and that are best for us. Through this study, you'll learn to balance your priorities, set and achieve goals, and discipline and organize yourself in a variety of areas.

Just as the Wallendas learned the excitement of being in balance and walking the tight rope, you too can take the challenge of learning what it takes to Balance the Active Life!

More about Joanne Kraft: Joanne Kraft is a recovering too-busy mom and the author of Just Too Busy—Taking YourFamily on a Radical Sabbatical. She’s a mom who writes and a sought-after speaker. Joanne’s articles have been published by In Touch, Thriving Family, ParentLife, Today’s Christian Woman, and P31 Woman. She’s appeared on CBN News, Focus on the Family’s afternoon show—Your Family Live, Sacramento & Co., and The Harvest Show.

She makes her home in the Sierra Nevada Foothills of Northern California with her husband Paul, their four children, and a beagle with a slight weight problem.
Find out more at www.joannekraft.com.

More about Radical Sabbatical:

Just Too Busy: Taking Your Family on a Radical Sabbatical

Just Too Busy is the true story of the Kraft family s head-on collision with busyness and the twelve-month experiment that changed their lives. When their children could recite the dollar value meals at McDonalds faster than their times-tables, they knew something was very wrong. So, instead of continuing their bad habits and fitting more into their schedules, they took a year off from all activities and learned how to be a family again.

In this book, readers will laugh their way to learning the ten tell-tale signs that they are too busy and discover the symptoms for a common disorder known to moms today: A.D.D. (Activity Denial Disorder). Families will find simple ways to guard themselves from the temptation of constant distraction.

24 Days of Thanksgiving -- Day 16

If you're just tuning in go here for the details of the 24 Days of Thanksgiving contest I'm running this month!

The Keeper's official release date is January 2nd, but it’s available now to pre-order. Thank you all for helping me spread the word by posting the video trailer on your blog and social networking sites.

The First winners are:

Day 1: Angie Adair

Day 2: Irene Hartwig
 
Day 3: Shirley Bessmer

Day 4: Anna Marie Decarlo

Day 5: Kathleen Brown

Day 6: Donita Corman

Day 7: Andrea Ricks

Day 8: Debbie Mosley

Day 9: Amber Horton

Day 10:  Jodie Moore

Day 11: Abbie Tireman

Day 12: Jennifer Short

Day 13: Martha Bales

Day 14: Nicole Elliott

Day 15: Cheryl Baranski

Day 16: Tammy Greer 

Email Christen your mailing address and we'll ship out your advanced reader copy of The Keeper this week. And everyone will be entered to win one of the grand prizes.

24 Days of Thanksgiving -- Day 15

If you're just tuning in go here for the details of the 24 Days of Thanksgiving contest I'm running this month!

The Keeper's official release date is January 2nd, but it’s available now to pre-order. Thank you all for helping me spread the word by posting the video trailer on your blog and social networking sites.

The First winners are:

Day 1: Angie Adair

Day 2: Irene Hartwig
 
Day 3: Shirley Bessmer

Day 4: Anna Marie Decarlo

Day 5: Kathleen Brown

Day 6: Donita Corman

Day 7: Andrea Ricks

Day 8: Debbie Mosley

Day 9: Amber Horton

Day 10:  Jodie Moore

Day 11: Abbie Tireman

Day 12: Jennifer Short

Day 13: Martha Bales

Day 14: Nicole Elliott

Day 15: Cheryl Baranski

Email Christen your mailing address and we'll ship out your advanced reader copy of The Keeper this week. And everyone will be entered to win one of the grand prizes.

24 Days of Thanksgiving -- Day 14

If you're just tuning in go here for the details of the 24 Days of Thanksgiving contest I'm running this month!

The Keeper's official release date is January 2nd, but it’s available now to pre-order. Thank you all for helping me spread the word by posting the video trailer on your blog and social networking sites.

The First winners are:

Day 1: Angie Adair

Day 2: Irene Hartwig
 
Day 3: Shirley Bessmer

Day 4: Anna Marie Decarlo

Day 5: Kathleen Brown

Day 6: Donita Corman

Day 7: Andrea Ricks

Day 8: Debbie Mosley

Day 9: Amber Horton

Day 10:  Jodie Moore

Day 11: Abbie Tireman

Day 12: Jennifer Short

Day 13: Martha Bales

Day 14: Nicole Elliott

Email Christen your mailing address and we'll ship out your advanced reader copy of The Keeper this week. And everyone will be entered to win one of the grand prizes.

Grab Your Camera and Head to Barnes & Noble!

Christmas is just around the corner... 

  

I'm celebrating the sight of A Lancaster County Christmas on the holiday table at your local Barnes & Noble! 

So celebrate with me! 

Spot A Lancaster County Christmas at B&N and snap a photo -- you could win a gift certificate to B&N! 

Here's how: 

Go to any B&N store, take a photo of A Lancaster County Christmas on the Christmas book table, and send me the photo (via email) and I'll enter you into a giveaway for a $25 gift certificate to Barnes & Noble.

Easy!

Want more? 

Post the pix on Facebook or Twitter and you'll be entered into a $50 gift certificate. (Just leave a comment here that you posted it and when.) On December 9th, we'll announce the winners on my blog. 

Make it Personal! If you buy a copy of the book for yourself or a friend, send me your address and I'll mail you a signed bookplate.

 Start your cameras...


(Contest ends 12/8. If you are at B&N and don't have your camera with you - just leave a comment here and let me know which B&N and the date. I'll include you in the $25 BN giveaway.)

$11m...Easy Come, Easy Go

This story happened a year ago, but it is such an inspiration. This elderly Canadian couple won $11 million in the lottery...and gave it all away! I take my hat off to them...




Can you imagine receiving such a windfall and giving it away? What would you do with $11m that arrived out of the blue? I'm not really sure what I would do. I have to admit...I'd probably take my entire family on a special vacation...before I would think of giving it away. 

So impressed with this couple. They've got the importance stuff figured out.

24 Days of Thanksgiving - Day 13

If you're just tuning in go here for the details of the 24 Days of Thanksgiving contest I'm running this month!

The Keeper's official release date is January 2nd, but it’s available now to pre-order. Thank you all for helping me spread the word by posting the video trailer on your blog and social networking sites.

The First winners are:

Day 1: Angie Adair

Day 2: Irene Hartwig
 
Day 3: Shirley Bessmer

Day 4: Anna Marie Decarlo

Day 5: Kathleen Brown

Day 6: Donita Corman

Day 7: Andrea Ricks

Day 8: Debbie Mosley

Day 9: Amber Horton

Day 10:  Jodie Moore

Day 11: Abbie Tireman

Day 12: Jennifer Short

Day 13: Martha Bales

Email Christen your mailing address and we'll ship out your advanced reader copy of The Keeper this week. And everyone will be entered to win one of the grand prizes.

Adopt a Building

Faith-based communities are fascinating to me. At their best, they reflect the heart of Christ in action. At its core, it's the church, the Kingdom of Heaven on earth.  

Here's a story of an amazing community that is making a difference. It's called Adopt a Building and is led by Francis Chan:

The Tenderloin district of San Francisco is one square mile. There are 37,000 people in that one square mile living in 586 apartment buildings. And San Francisco City Impact wants to plant a church in every single one of those apartments.

Francis Chan, author of Crazy Love and former pastor of Cornerstone Community Church, is working with the new initiative, called Adopt a Building. SFCI provides food, clothing and housing for those in the San Francisco area. Christian Huang, operations director for the new initiative, told The Christian Post that Adopt a Building is filling a need in the community that wasn’t being met before. It was the “missing component of City Impact,” he said.

The idea is simple. First they pick a building and get a prayer team together to start praying for residents in the building. Then a “grace team” is assembled to knock on the doors of every residence in the building.

Those on the grace team ask residents if there is anything they need: food, school supplies, prayer. In a video about the ministry Francis Chan says grace team members are really there to say, “We don’t want anything from you, we just want to give.”

After the grace team has a list of needs from residents they will come back the next week to deliver what they requested. In doing so, the teams continue the dialogue that they started the week before with those in the apartment.

In an interview in Christian Post, Chan said that in the initial stages of the ministry, the idea is to start making connections, to ask people if they want to learn more about God and read the Bible. The end goal is to find leaders in the apartment that can begin pastoring a church in the apartment building.

To read more about Adopt a Building in the Christian Post, click here.


Do you have a story of a faith-based community that is making a difference? I'd love to hear about it.

24 Days of Thanksgiving -- Day 12

If you're just tuning in go here for the details of the 24 Days of Thanksgiving contest I'm running this month!

The Keeper's official release date is January 2nd, but it’s available now to pre-order. Thank you all for helping me spread the word by posting the video trailer on your blog and social networking sites.

The First winners are:

Day 1: Angie Adair

Day 2: Irene Hartwig
 
Day 3: Shirley Bessmer

Day 4: Anna Marie Decarlo

Day 5: Kathleen Brown

Day 6: Donita Corman

Day 7: Andrea Ricks

Day 8: Debbie Mosley

Day 9: Amber Horton

Day 10:  Jodie Moore

Day 11: Abbie Tireman

Day 12: Jennifer Short

Email Christen your mailing address and we'll ship out your advanced reader copy of The Keeper this week. And everyone will be entered to win one of the grand prizes.

24 Days of Thanksgiving -- Day 11

If you're just tuning in go here for the details of the 24 Days of Thanksgiving contest I'm running this month!

The Keeper's official release date is January 2nd, but it’s available now to pre-order. Thank you all for helping me spread the word by posting the video trailer on your blog and social networking sites.

The First winners are:

Day 1: Angie Adair

Day 2: Irene Hartwig
 
Day 3: Shirley Bessmer

Day 4: Anna Marie Decarlo

Day 5: Kathleen Brown

Day 6: Donita Corman

Day 7: Andrea Ricks

Day 8: Debbie Mosley

Day 9: Amber Horton

Day 10:  Jodie Moore

Day 11: Abbie Tireman

Email Christen your mailing address and we'll ship out your advanced reader copy of The Keeper this week. And everyone will be entered to win one of the grand prizes.

Author Spotlight: Erin Healy

Welcome to Author Spotlight! Each week will feature a different author. We'll get the scoop behind their writing life and dish a little. The authors will also be giving away a copy of their latest book. FUN.

The winner from last week's Author Spotlight with Tamera Alexander is Rosemary Foley! Please email my assistant Amy with your mailing address. (amy@litfusegroup.com)

This week Erin Healy is in the Spotlight! To win a copy of Erin's latest book, The Baker's Wife, leave a comment on this post!


Share a little bit about yourself. Married with kids? Empty nester? Do you work full-time and write when you can squeeze it in?

I’m a freelance fiction editor by profession, specializing in the developmental stages of novel writing. I work full time from home around the schedules of my husband and kids—a preschooler and a teen—and I devote about six months of the year to editing and six to writing.

And share something about your writing. What’s your genre(s), your areas of interest…

I write contemporary supernatural suspense novels that are character- and theme-driven. They feature strong female protagonists confronted by high-stakes dilemmas. My characters’ spiritual experiences bridge the earthly and heavenly realities of their lives and lead them to new understandings about God.

How did you get started writing? Did you have a dream of being a published author?  

I came to writing via my editorial relationship with Ted Dekker, who invited me to write a couple novels with him. It was very backdoor, I know. But every meaningful effort in my life has involved writing of one type or another. I can’t say that I had a dream to publish as much as I had a skill worth nurturing. At least that how I’m trying to think of it: God gave me a gift that I mean not to waste.

Aside from a cup of good, strong coffee, what helps you get all of your “brain cylinders” firing so you can write well? Do you have any favorite places and routines when you write? How many hours a day do you spend writing?

My brain requires a clean work space—clutter in my environment is like litter in my mind—and long hot showers, which is where I do most of my reflecting. As much as I love music, I need silence for writing, and about four hours a day.

Is the “writer’s life” what you thought it would be?

The day-to-day routines are pretty much as I expected, and not so different from my editorial life. But the emotional layers have caught me off guard. After writing six novels, I expected to feel more confidence about my creative choices. Instead each book is like a newborn child with its own unique personality, joys, and issues. I expected isolation to nurture my creativity—I’m an introvert—and have been most surprised by how much I want feedback and interaction with others.

What are your biggest distractions? 

Social media—not because I’m addicted but because there’s so much management required. Research—because there is no such thing as a rabbit trail that doesn’t seem interesting. Children—mainly my own. Family drama—we all have it don’t we? I guess that it seems like I’ve had more than my share (starting with a surprise pregnancy) since launching my writing career four years ago.

What was one of the best moments in your career and what was one of the worst?

Best (because it was funniest): When one of my teenage daughter’s friends secretly complained to his mother: “It’s not fair—her mom is famous.” Worst: I personally asked an author I know and respect to read one of my books for endorsement. When he decided the book wasn’t up to par, he didn’t say this to me. Instead he called my publisher to suggest they delay publication so I could rewrite.

What do you least like about being a writer? Most like? 

Least: How hard it is to effectively translate the vision in my mind into language the reader can also “see.” Most: The sense of accomplishment for having created something good.

What advice would you give to new writers?

Adopt an attitude of humility about your creative work. Humility will keep you teachable, will cultivate self-discipline, and will go a long way toward making your work truly great.

Pretend I’m a customer at a bookstore looking for a good book. Give me a one or two sentence promo to convince me to buy your book. 

The Baker’s Wife combines fast-paced suspense with real thematic depth for Christian readers. In this story a woman with a supernatural ability to feel the pain of others must use her gift to save her family and rescue her enemy.

Last question, how can readers find you and your books?

A complete list of my books—plus summaries, free sample chapters, and reader comments—is at erinhealy.com/books. I love to interact with readers on Facebook at erinhealybooks, and I am venturing into the Twitter waters these days (up to my ankles now) @erinhealybooks. I’m also still unfamous enough that I answer all my own e-mails at erin@erinhealy.com. Write me a note and I’ll write one to you!

Thank you for sharing your writing life with my bleaders! (blog + readers = bleaders)

Thank you, Suzanne! It’s so fun to reconnect with you in this venue. God bless and keep you (and all your bleaders).

24 Days of Thanksgiving

If you're just tuning in go here for the details of the 24 Days of Thanksgiving contest I'm running this month!

The Keeper's official release date is January 2nd, but it’s available now to pre-order. Thank you all for helping me spread the word by posting the video trailer on your blog and social networking sites.

The First winners are:

Day 1: Angie Adair

Day 2: Irene Hartwig
 
Day 3: Shirley Bessmer

Day 4: Anna Marie Decarlo

Day 5: Kathleen Brown

Day 6: Donita Corman

Day 7: Andrea Ricks

Day 8: Debbie Mosley

Day 9: Amber Horton

Day 10:  Jodie Moore

Email Christen your mailing address and we'll ship out your advanced reader copy of The Keeper this week. And everyone will be entered to win one of the grand prizes.

Thursday on Amish Wisdom: Leeann Miller

Tune in on Thursday at 4:00 pm Central! To listen in - go here and just click on the player in the top right corner.

This week TV personality, columnist and B&B owner Lee Ann Miller, will be back on the show. She'll be catching us up on all the exciting things that have happened in her life this past year and talking about some things near and dear to her heart.


More about Leeann: Twenty Years ago she met, dated, and married an Amish man within 28 days. “Big D” and Leeann live in Ohio’s Amish Country with their two teenage sons.

They also have a Bed & Breakfast called the Miller Haus. Leeann is a regular cooking guest on several FOX & abc affiliates in our region and represents the brand ‘Taste of Home’, and is a field editor for their magazine.

She loves to bake, cook, & extend hospitality. She believes in truth, mistakes, love, failures, dreams, goals, wit, & grinding the best coffee beans you can find!

For more about Lee Ann, please visit her website.

So be sure to tune in at 4:00 PM Central on Thursday!

24 Days of Thanksgiving -- Day 9

If you're just tuning in go here for the details of the 24 Days of Thanksgiving contest I'm running this month!

The Keeper's official release date is January 2nd, but it’s available now to pre-order. Thank you all for helping me spread the word by posting the video trailer on your blog and social networking sites.

The First winners are:

Day 1: Angie Adair

Day 2: Irene Hartwig
 
Day 3: Shirley Bessmer

Day 4: Anna Marie Decarlo

Day 5: Kathleen Brown

Day 6: Donita Corman

Day 7: Jenny Blake

Day 8: Debbie Mosley

Day 9: Amber Horton

Email Christen your mailing address and we'll ship out your advanced reader copy of The Keeper this week. And everyone will be entered to win one of the grand prizes.

24 Days of Thanksgiving - Day 8

If you're just tuning in go here for the details of the 24 Days of Thanksgiving contest I'm running this month!

The Keeper's official release date is January 2nd, but it’s available now to pre-order. Thank you all for helping me spread the word by posting the video trailer on your blog and social networking sites.

The First winners are:

Day 1: Angie Adair

Day 2: Irene Hartwig
 
Day 3: Shirley Bessmer

Day 4: Anna Marie Decarlo

Day 5: Kathleen Brown

Day 6: Donita Corman

Day 7: Jenny Blake

Day 8: Debbie Mosley

Email Amy your mailing address and we'll ship out your advanced reader copy of The Keeper this week. And everyone will be entered to win one of the grand prizes.

Petticoat Row

This is old news for most of you, but this new series was announced in Publisher's Marketplace the other day:

Just announced today: new book deal for Suzanne Woods Fisher - PETTICOAT ROW, in the early 19th century, Nantucket Island was the whaling capital of the world; Quakers had settled and civilized much of Nantucket, introducing the Christian faith to the island, and bringing with them a belief in equality for all - race and gender; most of the men of Nantucket left the island on lengthy whaling voyages, leaving behind the women to manage homes and businesses; the women of Nantucket shaped their world to cope with their responsibilities, houses were built close together to form a sense of community and Centre Street was commonly known as "Petticoat Row" because the women ran the shops on that street during their husband's absences. 3 book series.

I first visited Nantucket in 1989 and fell in love with this island. That was when the idea of Petticoat Row began. I've been back six or seven times since. In fact, I was just there a week ago, doing research and making contacts. The series won't be out until 2014, but I'm excited to get started on it. Here are some pix from my most recent trip:

Jethro Coffin house. Oldest house in Nantucket (though some would say that Auld Lang Syne in Sconset is the oldest.

The Old Mill. Still grinding away!

Sankaty Lighthouse

This, I thought, would be a delightful writing studio.

Everyone needs to be photographed under this.

Used to be a horse drinking fountain. See the cobblestones? My mom has a pix of this taken from a visit to Nantucket in the 30s! Oh why oh why didn't my grandparents buy land back then?!

View of the harbor, taken from a Widow's Walk at my B&B.

Another pix taken from the Widow's Walk. That's the peak of the Congregational Church's steeple.

Do you have a place that you love? The kind of place where, if you were told you had a few weeks to live, you'd pack a bag and head there. That's what Nantucket is like for me.

24 Days of Thanksgiving -- Day 7

Wow - the contest is off with a bang! If you're just tuning in go here for the details of the 24 Days of Thanksgiving contest I'm running this month!

The Keeper's official release date is January 2nd, but it’s available now to pre-order. Thank you all for helping me spread the word by posting the video trailer on your blog and social networking sites.

The First winners are:

Day 1: Angie Adair

Day 2: Irene Hartwig
 
Day 3: Shirley Bessmer

Day 4: Anna Marie Decarlo

Day 5: Kathleen Brown

Day 6: Donita Corman

Day 7: Jenny Blake

Email Amy your mailing address and we'll ship out your advanced reader copy of The Keeper this week. And everyone will be entered to win one of the grand prizes.

One Thousand Gifts

I finished Ann Voskamp's One Thousand Gifts a week or so ago.

This is the perfect book to read during this season of giving thanks. Her book is about gratitude, and I don't think we can ever be reminded enough of its importance. 

Ann has a blog, A Holy Experience, that is just...profound. I read that her blog receives 30,000 to 40,000 hits a week. A week! And One Thousand Gifts has hit the NY Times bestseller list.

It makes me wonder if Ann Voskamp is ever not profound! She definitely has the soul of a poet. Do you think poets are profound even at breakfast? Before coffee? 

Anyway, I am gung ho about this book right now. Really inspiring.

24 Days of Thanksgiving -- Day 6

Wow - the contest is off with a bang! If you're just tuning in go here for the details of the 24 Days of Thanksgiving contest I'm running this month!

The Keeper's official release date is January 2nd, but it’s available now to pre-order. Thank you all for helping me spread the word by posting the video trailer on your blog and social networking sites.

The First winners are:

Day 1: Angie Adair

Day 2: Irene Hartwig
 
Day 3: Shirley Bessmer

Day 4: Anna Marie Decarlo

Day 5: Kathleen Brown

Day 6: Donita Corman

Email Amy your mailing address and we'll ship out your advanced reader copy of The Keeper this week. And everyone will be entered to win one of the grand prizes.

24 Days of Thanksgiving - Day 5

Wow - the contest is off with a bang! If you're just tuning in go here for the details of the 24 Days of Thanksgiving contest I'm running this month!

The Keeper's official release date is January 2nd, but it’s available now to pre-order. Thank you all for helping me spread the word by posting the video trailer on your blog and social networking sites.

The First winners are:

Day 1: Angie Adair

Day 2: Irene Hartwig
 
Day 3: Shirley Bessmer

Day 4: Anna Marie Decarlo

Day 5: Kathleen Brown

Email Amy your mailing address and we'll ship out your advanced reader copy of The Keeper this week. And everyone will be entered to win one of the grand prizes.

24 Days of Thanksgiving - Day 4

Wow - the contest is off with a bang! If you're just tuning in go here for the details of the 24 Days of Thanksgiving contest I'm running this month!

The Keeper's official release date is January 2nd, but it’s available now to pre-order. Thank you all for helping me spread the word by posting the video trailer on your blog and social networking sites.

The First winners are:

Day 1: Angie Adair

Day 2: Irene Hartwig
 
Day 3: Shirley Bessmer

Day 4: Anna Marie Decarlo

Email Amy your mailing address and we'll ship out your advanced reader copy of The Keeper this week. And everyone will be entered to win one of the grand prizes.

Author Spotlight: Tamera Alexander (and a Kindle Fire Giveaway!)

Welcome to Author Spotlight! Each week will feature a different author. We'll get the scoop behind their writing life and dish a little. The authors will also be giving away a copy of their latest book. FUN.

The winner from last week's Author Spotlight with Glynnis Whitwer is patedsch1! Please email my assistant Amy with your mailing address. (amy@litfusegroup.com)

This week Tamera Alexander is in the Spotlight! To win a copy of Tamera's new Belmont Mansion book, A Lasting Impression, leave a comment on this post!

Share a little bit about yourself. Married with kids? Empty nester? Do you work full-time and write when you can squeeze it in?

I’m a wife and mother, and it’s the best part of my life. Joe and I have been married for going on 27 years, and we have two fabulous kids. Kelsey (24) and Kurt (22) who both live here in Nashville. Kurt had said something funny and we were all trying not to laugh, but obviously not trying hard enough. And that’s Jack, our little silky terrier. He’s a part of our family too.

And regarding writing, after several years of working outside the home and then writing from 10PM to 2AM, I’m now a full time writer. And I’m grateful for my job!

And share something about your writing. What’s your genre(s), your areas of interest…

I write historical fiction. I’ve written eight published novels to date. Seven are set in the Colorado Territory and Rocky Mountains, with the eighth (A Lasting Impression, just released) set in the stunning Belmont Mansion in Nashville, TN, circa 1853. I love history, and graveyards, and old letters and diaries, and Southern antebellum mansions.

How did you get started writing? Did you have a dream of being a published author?

I first considered writing a novel in 1999. But I need to go back a bit farther to really get to the “seed” of where all this started for me. In 1995, my mother-in-law, Claudette Harris Alexander, shared a book with me, one she thought I would really enjoy. I was busy and let time go by without reading it. She asked me again if I’d read it. Several times. I said no, but that I would. The best laid plans

Very unexpectedly, Claudette died that same year from a brain aneurysm. Weeks passed, and as I was cleaning bookshelves downstairs, I happened across that little volume and immediately sat down and read it. Claudette was right! I felt an immediate connection with the thread of hope woven through that gentle love story—Love Comes Softly, by Janette Oke, originally published by Bethany House Publishers in 1979. That sent me searching for more inspirational fiction published not only by Bethany House, but elsewhere in the Christian Booksellers Association market (CBA). I devoured it, and developed a strong interest then in historical fiction.

A few years later my husband and I were driving back to Colorado from Texas late one night. I finished a novel, turned to him and said (only joking at the time), “I think I could write one of those.” Without blinking, he said, “Well, do it.” Competitive at heart, I nodded and said, “Okay.”

My first novel made it to the review board at Bethany House Publishers in 2000, after which I received a very nice rejection letter. Writing that first story was a learning experience for me that I took to heart. I then determined to set about seriously studying the craft of writing.

After you started writing seriously--how long was it before you were published?

In October 2004, Bethany House offered me my first contract, a three-book deal to write historical fiction (Rekindled, Revealed, and Remembered). Then another three book series (From a Distance, Beyond This Moment, and Within My Heart). The Inheritance—the first historical for the WOMEN OF FAITH fiction line with Thomas Nelson—released in March 2009.

And now I’m writing Southern fiction, and loving it!

Aside from a cup of good, strong coffee, what helps you get all of your “brain cylinders” firing so you can write well? Do you have any favorite places and routines when you write? How many hours a day do you spend writing?

Walking helps tremendously, followed by an iced latte, of course. My main computer is a laptop so I’m mobile and write all over the house. I usually spend about 5-6 hours a day writing, then another 2 or 3 with email, marketing and promotion, social networking, etc…

What has been the biggest help to you in the journey to publication? Writers’ conferences? Writing groups?

Writers who’ve come alongside me to mentor me… I’ll be forever grateful to Deborah Raney for sharing her knowledge and experience with me, and actually dedicated this latest release, A Lasting Impression, to her. (Love and appreciate you, Deb!) I was also incredible blessed to “somehow” get included in a group of writers who meet each summer to plot and pray and play together. These women have made all the difference in my writing, and my life. American Christian Fiction Writers was also very instrumental in my early writing journey. I was part of the original ACFW Crit Group 5 (a loving shout out to Lisa Harris, Jeanne Marie Leach, Deborah Vogts, and Elizabeth Goddard!).

Is the “writer’s life” what you thought it would be? 

Not at all. I thought (at the outset) that writing each book would get easier, but it’s proven to be just the opposite for me. It’s gotten harder. Much harder. The more you know, the more you realize you have to learn. One of the most unexpected blessings, and the most precious to me, are the connections I’ve made with readers. Their letters and emails about how these stories have touched their lives and encouraged them in their faith journeys have been such an encouragement. They make all the difference.

What are your biggest distractions?

Email and social networking.

What was one of the best moments in your career and what was one of the worst?


Having my mom with me in 2007 when I won my first RITA, then having both her and Dad with me in 2008 when I won my first Christy. Mom went home to be the Lord in 2009 after a brief battle with gallbladder cancer, so I’m especially grateful that she was able to see some of the “tangible” affirmations from my writing. It meant a great deal to her. And again, winning those awards was very meaningful, but sharing them with my parents and having them with me at ICRS and them “seeing a slice of my writing world and meet my writing buddies,” that was incredibly special.

I haven’t had one “worst” moment that I can think of, but “a” worst moment is when I’ve been late with manuscripts. Life happens, I know, and we have to roll with the punches. But still, it’s not a good feeling. I’m so appreciative of the extra time Bethany House gave me to write Within My Heart after Mom passed away. They were very understanding.

What do you least like about being a writer? Most like?


The long solitary hours of writing. And the long solitary hours of writing. It’s a catch 22. I love getting lost in that story world with the characters, but it can also be lonely at times. I’m very social.

What is the role and importance of an agent?


I wouldn’t dare attempt to navigate the publishing waters without an agent. There are all sorts of roles for an agent but I wanted a career builder. Someone who would not just “work a deal” but who would help me build a career and become a better writer. I found that and so much more in Natasha Kern.

What advice would you give to new writers?


Write, write, write. Read, read, read. And surrender your writing journey to the Lord and to his will for your life. Easier said than done, I realize. But what joy is found when you’re centered in the middle of God’s will.

Then I also share my list of favorite writing resources:
• The Moral Premise by Stan Williams
• Stein on Writing by Sol Stein
• How to Grow a Novel by Sol Stein
• Plot and Structure by James Scott Bell
• Getting Into Character by Brandilyn Collins
• Writing the Breakout Novel by Donald Maass
• Word Painting by Rebecca McClanahan
• Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Renni Browne and Dave
• Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott

Pretend I’m a customer at a bookstore looking for a good book. Give me a one or two sentence promo to convince me to buy your newest release, A Lasting Impression. 

A fake. A forger. That’s what Claire Laurent knows she is, which is why she can’t fathom working in the home of the richest woman in Nashville, let alone America. But when Claire meets Sutton Monroe––Mrs. Acklen’s far too handsome and equally as discerning personal attorney––Claire’s certain the first impression she made with him…will be her last.

What’s on the book horizon for you? 


I’m already at work on another Southern historical, and loving it! My next book will be out Fall 2012.

Last question, how can readers find you and your books?

Author Website: www.tameraalexander.com
Author Blog: www.tameraalexander.blogspot.com
Author Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/tamera.alexander
Author Twitter: http://twitter.com/tameraalexander

Thank you for sharing your writing life with my bleaders! (blog + readers = bleaders)

Kindle Fire Giveaway and Facebook Party from Tamera Alexander! 

While Tamera and her book,  A Lasting Impression, are traveling across the country virtually (with a few international stops as well!), she will be hosting a Kindle Fire Giveaway (11/4 - 11/15) and preparing for a lavish Southern-Style Facebook Party (11/15) (dripping with hospitality, of course). She will be giving away Southern Food Baskets, books, and an array of other fabulous freebies! Don't miss a minute of the fun. Swoon!

Read what the reviewers are saying here.

One grand prize winner will receive:

• A Brand New Kindle Fire (shipped as soon as it releases)
• A copy of A Lasting Impression and 3 other special books Tamera wants you to have (for Kindle)

Enter today by clicking one of the icons below. But hurry, the giveaway ends at noon on November 15th. Winner will be announced at A Lasting Impression Facebook Party on the 15th. Tamera will be wrapping up the A Lasting Impression celebration with an author chat and giving away Southern Food Baskets (Loveless Cafe Food Baskets, books, Amazon & Starbucks gift certificates, and copies of Christy Jordan's Southern Plate cookbook), six gift certificates to Starbucks and Amazon.com, and copies of A Lasting Impression! So grab your copy of A Lasting Impression (it's okay if you don't have one yet- you might win one!) and join Tamera on the evening of November 15th for an author chat, a trivia contest (How much do you know about the 1860's?) and lots of Southern-inspired giveaways (complete listing here).

Don't miss a moment of the fun. RSVP today and tell your friends via FACEBOOK or TWITTER. Hope to see you on the 15th!