Better Write your plans in pencil because God Holds The eraser

Everyone seems to have the same lament these days. Life is too busy, not enough time, life is passing me by. Barbara J Scott, Acquisitions Editor for Abingdon Press and writes the blog, The Roving Editor. Her words applies no matter what your work is about. "What matters is our obedience." I want to always remember that and not become so success driven that I stray from that path.

FREEDOM STARTS WITH A VOLUNTEER

July 4 is one of my favorite holidays. Not because I do anything spectacular. Usually it's a quiet day with the goal of staying cool, like in not hot. July in Texas can be brutal. It's one of my favorites because of what it represents in my life. Freedom. I appreciate my freedom. I've lived and traveled to many other countries. There's something special about my home, the USA.

Grandmother Lands Book Deal For Debut Novel Aged 82

"An 82-year-old grandmother is celebrating after landing a book deal for her debut novel. Myrrha Stanford-Smith, 82, saw her first work 'The Great Lie' start appearing on shelves last week. Myrrha Stanford-Smith, a teacher and theatre director, said she was ''gobsmacked'' to be handed the three-book agreement, which saw her first work The Great Lie start appearing on shelves last week...” Full Article

MY WRITING: KEEP THE MAIN THING THE MAIN THING

Stephen Covey wrote, “The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.” I write because I like to write. That is the main thing about my writing.

Let's Get Off The Merry-Go-Round

Friday, the end of a beautiful fall week, even if it is the 13th. I plan to go out, examine my flowers, and contemplate what could be done to help them get ready for winter. Notice I said contemplate, not that I plan to actually do any work among the last of the blooms and leaves. And I’m aware that it is in the passive voice.

Devo: A Refiner and Purifier of Silver

Often as I do research to make my fiction writing more authentic, I learn something that in turn helps grow my own understanding of Scripture. Such is the case with the work of a silversmith.

Putting up with Impatience

Christy Truitt "I don't think I'm getting any more patient. But I'm learning to tolerate my impatience better.”

What a great quote! As various events have happened this past week, I have needed to be reminded to tolerate my impatience with myself, with others, and with life in general. Below is the post where Christy Truitt's comment first appeared.

Putting Up with Impatience Posted by Rachael Gardner at Tuesday, September 29, 2009
http://cba-ramblings.blogspot.com/

A couple weeks ago I was having dinner with a group of novelists (who also happened to be my clients). We were talking about the terrible waiting that's always involved in publishing. At every step of the journey, whether you're agented or not, published or not, there seems to be a huge need for patience. The waiting sometimes gets unbearable.

We bemoaned the difficulty of developing patience. Is it even possible, or just wishful thinking?

Then my sweet friend Christy Truitt spoke up. "I don't think I'm getting any more patient. But I'm learning to tolerate my impatience better.”

Wow! What a cool insight, and a terrific goal: To be able to exist in a state of impatience, and be okay with it.

To be waiting, and longing, and frustrated that it's taking so long (whatever it is) and still be okay, still have a measure of peace.

To me, that seems like a more realistic goal for writers, and possibly a healthier one. After all, we don't want to completely lose the impatience, because it's part of what drives us. It creates a tension inside us, and as we strive to calm the tension, we're working towards our goals. You could even say that the impatience keeps the fire lit beneath us.

What would it mean for you, to stop trying to be more patient, and instead tolerate your impatience better?

Taking it one step further, how can you use your impatience and actually benefit from it?

Thanks, Christy, for the great thought!

Jane Kirkpatrick, an author worth reading

One of my favorite historical fiction authors is Jane Kirkpatrick. I enjoy reading interviews with her to get insights into her writing world. Joyce Hart, Jane Kirkpatrick's agent at Hartline Literary Agency, posted a good one.

I checked at my local library to see which books they had on the shelves by Jane Kirkpatrick. They didn't have any. WHAT! This is unacceptable! As a writer, I want good writing and stories available through the public library.

I marched over to the reference desk where you leave book purchase requests and handed the librarian a complete list of Jane's books. They now have ordered several and I’ll receive notification when they are available for check out.

At my local library, patrons can pick out a book and place it on the shelves next to the line for checkout for all to see and check out. Jane's books will soon start appearing there. My local library reached the one-millionth item checked out in July. We are heading toward a two million-item checkout year by December 2009.

So check out Jane Kirkpatrick's books, purchase them, and then ask your public library to purchase them.

Have a blessed day in the Lord,
A J

Writing Of The West In The Hot Texas Heat

With another 100-degree day for Texas, I sit here in an air-conditioned office and write a story. Not that I am complaining about the hot day we have for this is just normal July Texas weather. Air-conditioned home, car, stores, and work place have left me a little spoiled, okay, more than a little spoiled.

Theoretically, one can go the whole summer without a need to get out in the heat. But then, would I really appreciate the air conditioning or would I simply expect it always to be functioning?

The novels I write are set in the 1870s and 1880s when the possibility of getting cool in the hot summer just wasn’t there. People endured the heat and tried to cope with windows open, something to fan with and kill flies, and trying not to move around too quickly. I wonder if they complained about the weather as we do. They probably did.

Just thinking about it is making me uncomfortably warm. I think I’ll go adjust the air conditioning to make it a little cooler. After all, I wouldn’t want to have to suffer as I write about my hero riding out across the range on a hot summer day.

Celebrate Freedom!

Celebrating freedom, what a wonderful thought! I have been blessed to be born and to live in a free country, the United States of America. Even when I traveled to countries in the world were people are not free, I always had the knowledge that I was returning to my home in the USA. And I have been one of those who after a long journey clapped as the plane landed again on US soil. Back home in the land of the free and the home of the brave.

But more than my freedom as a US citizen I celebrate my freedom as a child of God, a Christian. In Christ I am truly free no matter what part of the world I live in and no matter what civil governments do, I am free.

When I think of freedom, I remember the story of Joseph in the book of Genesis. Scholars think he was about seventeen when his older brothers sold him into slavery. He was the pampered favorite of his father one day, and the next day he was a slave. As far as the Biblical record informs us, he never regained his physical freedom. However, when I read the full story of Joseph, I sense the heart of a man who was forever free in his life with his God. By keeping his eye on God the Father rather than his circumstances, he remained free to love, free to serve, free to forgive, and free to worship.

Yes, today let's celebrate our freedom, especially our freedom in Christ.

A J Hawke