What's Up in 2024 Update

I was looking at my last blog post and thought I'd give an update on how '24 is coming along. 

February:

·       It's well into February now and Shirley and I have turned in the finished manuscript for the second in our new devotional series. This one will be called "Wonder & Worship Through The Year" and will not release by Entrusted Books until spring of '25. We've also completed our second round of edits on the first "Wonder & Worship" which is releasing in April of this year. Soon we'll get galley edits and more excitingly, soon we will have a cover reveal for it! Stay tuned. 

·       I also have gotten back the final version of an article I co-wrote with a friend, Annette Teepe, for “Answers in Genesis” kid’s magazines about eagles. We are not sure when this article will be published but our final version has been accepted and contracts signed.

·       I got back the final layout of an article I wrote a few weeks ago about my father writing a prescription for an ice cream cone in 1957 that will be published in “Blue Ridge Country” magazine in the next month or two.

·       I was asked to write a spring article for “Hearts of Hospitality” magazine and now have finished it and turned it in to the editor.

·       And I registered for the EPA (Evangelical Publications Association) conference in April. Yay! 

·       I still do not know if I will have finger joint replacement surgery on the 15^th but my guess is it will get pushed back yet again.

March:

·       The new thing on my writing agenda for March is that I was asked by much-loved Christian author, Liz Curtis Higgs, to teach a workshop on memoir writing at a conference she is holding at Christ Methodist Church, a large Methodist church here in Louisville, called the “Called to Write” conference. I am excited about this opportunity. If I had not had hand surgery scheduled on 2/15, I would have been in Memphis the same weekend at the MidSouth Christian Writers Conference and would not have been able to accept this request. God has a way of working things out.  

But in other news … I was inspired to write a novel last September when I took a vacation trip to Hilton Head, SC and went on a one-day excursion to Savannah, GA. And now I am 40,000 words into it and loving writing it! I’ll tell you more about it at a later time. For now I’ll just tell you that it has pirates in it. 😊

What's up in 2024?

It's hard to believe but 2023 is fast coming to an end. In just a few days we will have a new year laid out before us with all of its opportunities, ups, and downs. Every year at this time, I look ahead and give you a glimpse of what the new year looks like in my writing world. This is only an abbreviated list of the writings that I know at this time will be published in 2024. Many more writing opportunities will come up as the days go by. 

January:

·        A memoir article looking at my brief involvement with the Miss West Virginia pageant titled, "Musings on my Pageant Days" will be published in Goldenseal , West Virginia's state magazine.

·        Two devotions I wrote will be published online in Arise Daily .

·        A devotion I wrote will be in The Secret Place magazine.  

February:

·        My co-writer, Shirley Crowder and I will be up to our neck in edits for our new devotional book that will be releasing soon. Also, I will have hand surgery. (I have arthritis in my fingers which have required numerous surgeries already and now another. This one will replace the knuckle in my left index finger.) 

·        Two devotions I wrote will be published online in Arise Daily

March / April: 

·        An Article titled, “Sometimes All You Need Is Ice Cream” will be published in Blue Ridge Country Magazine . This magazine is a regional magazine that sells in about ten states in the Blueridge Mountain area and Eastern Seaboard.

·        Shirley and my new book, “Wonder and Worship” will release from Entrusted Books . We do not have a release date or cover yet but I will share these with you as soon as we do.

·      Midsouth Christian Writers Conference  MSCWC is happening in mid-March. Though I am on the board and had been slated to be on the faculty as a mentor, I will likely have to miss it this year due to my hand surgery recovery. It’s my favorite writers conference and I hate to miss it!

·        Selah Finalists are announced.

May / June

·        Seven Devotions I wrote will be published in “The Quiet Hour” June 3-9

·        Selah Awards in late May

July / August:

·        My first children’s book, “Made for the Middle” will release from Elk Lake Publishing . When I know the exact release date and have a cover to share, I will. 

·        An article I wrote titled, “How God Works” is tentatively slated to be published in Bible Advocate magazine.

*This is as far as I can see ahead, but in addition to what is listed, I will have devotions in Arise Daily at least monthly, and probably will have more published in “The Secret Place”. They only notify me quarterly of the next quarter but have published one of my devotions every quarter for over ten years. Also, I have a contracted article that will be published in Answers in Genesis but I do not have a publication date yet.