Looking Forward ... And Back

Welcome 2019! Today is the first day of a brand-new year. We have 364 more days ahead of us to live, laugh, love, and maybe cry a little before this year is behind us. As I think about the days to come, I can't help but also look back.

2018 was a mostly good year. I had some not-so-wonderful moments both personally and professionally but many more wonderful ones that far out-weighed the less than wonderful days. This blog is focused on my writing journey so that is what I will talk about today as I let you know some of the highlights of 2018 and things to look forward to in 2019.

2018 was another good year for freelancing. I had numerous articles published in an assortment of magazines and sites and even taught a workshop on freelance writing in June at the Kentucky Christian Writers Conference. One highlight was getting my first acceptance in a regional magazine for an article that will not come out until late summer '19.

On the book front, 2018 saw the release of one book and re-release of another, both by PixNPens. The most recent release, Prayer Warrior Confessions is an anthology compiled (and partly written) by Shirley Crowder and me. It has been received well by readers, has just finished a blog tour, and is garnering many great reviews. Another book that has been quite successful this past year is Prayer: It's Not About You. This book remains my best-selling book, actually, partly because groups of 10 or more often buy it for group Bible studies. Last August, a men's small group studied it and the leader emailed and told me he intended to teach it in a Sunday School class he leads this spring.

What were the less-than-wonderful moments in my writing world? Well, I did receive a few rejections of submitted articles (which is the norm for freelancers but stings just the same) and I learned that SEEK magazine will be folding. It has published so many of my articles. Also, my husband and I had a couple of disappointments with large traditional publishing companies who gave us every indication they were going to publish our book, "A Stand for Truth" but in the end, they did not. One actually sent a contract but it differed greatly from what we had discussed with them and was not a contract we could sign.

So, I start 2019 with much hope and great expectancy. Here is what I know already about my writing journey in the year ahead:

Freelancing:
I will be receiving contracts from both Focus on the Family and David C. Cook in January for articles to be published sometime in the coming year. I still have articles coming out in SEEK in Jan, Feb, April, and May before they close their door in August. And I know of other articles I wrote coming out in May in Purpose Magazine and in August or September in Blueridge Country magazine and devotions in both the winter and spring issues of The Secret Place.

Books:
My husband and I are moving ahead with the publishing of A Stand for Truth with the help of Gregg Bridgeman at Olivia Kimbrell Press (the press that worked with me on my novel, The Whisper of the Palms) We do not yet have a release date for A Stand for Truth. And speaking of my novel, it will be featured in a friend's blog in mid February and will go on sale at that time too.

My co-writer on many of my books, Shirley Crowder, and I have been and will stay quite busy again this year. We are in the process of writing the Glimpses of God series of devotional books; four in total--winter, spring, summer, and fall. We have winter all done and turned into our publisher. It will release next fall. (It will keep us busy in the summer when it hits the publisher's editing schedule.) We are putting the final touches on the spring book and hope to have that to our publisher in February and are just starting on the summer one which has a deadline of next August. So, while it may be winter outside, my thoughts for the next few months will be filled with summertime!

Cover Reveal!!!

My co-writing friend, Shirley Crowder, and I are at it again. The third in our four-part series of books on prayer will be released by PixNPens Publishing in early December  and today we can finally reveal the cover! We are so excited!

The book will be a 50 day devotional on the topic of prayer. Just as a review, our four part series on prayer include: Prayer: It's Not About You by me, Study Guide on Prayer by Shirley, "Glimpses of Prayer" to be released soon, and a collection of true stories about prayer tentatively titled, "Prayer Warrior Confessions" coming out summer '18.

The soon-to-be released book also fits into plans we have for a devotional series that will be written and in one case re-vamped in the next couple of years. These "Glimpses" devotionals will all be illustrated by my talented daughter, Kristin Michael. 

And now for the cover reveal:

Another Contract!

We're at it again!

My childhood friend, and co-writer in some of my other books, Shirley Crowder, and I are happy to announce that we have just signed another contract with PixNPens Publisher! This one is for an anthology of nonfiction stories about prayer. The working title is, "Prayer Warrior Confessions" and its tentative release date is summer 2018.

This book will complete our four-book series on the topic of prayer. The other books in the series are "Prayer: It's Not About You" written by me, "Study Guide on Prayer" written by Shirley, "Glimpses of Prayer", a devotional co-written by both of us due to be released in December 2017, and this book, "Prayer Warrior Confessions", also co-written, due out next summer.

We couldn't be more excited! Stay tuned and I'll keep you posted on the progress of both upcoming books. I've seen the tentative cover for the devotional and will do a cover reveal in the next few weeks. It's beautiful and I can't wait to share it with you! In the meantime, if you are looking for a fall Bible study about prayer, either personal or group, keep our book and study guide in mind.

Welcome 2017!

In my home of Louisville, the year greeted us with a few inches of snow. I always love the beginning of a new year. The upcoming year seems to stretch out before me like a large, open field covered in fresh snow. It beckons me to walk forward, to see what lies ahead, leaving tracks as I go.

This year looks to be busy and exciting for my writing career. I already have several things on my calendar:

Articles and devotions that will be coming out include:
3 articles in Standard Publishing's Student Magazine--Jan, March, and April
6 articles in SEEK Magazine--January, April, May, August, September, and November
7 days of devotions in Reflections Magazine--October 29-November 4
and devotions in The Upper Room on January 24, and in The Secret Place on February 17

Guest blog posts at various times for:
The Upper Room Blog
Write Integrity Press Blog
Writing Prompts & Thoughts & Ideas ... Oh, My! blog

And as for book writing, I have these irons in the fire:
My friend Shirley Crowder's "Study Guide on Prayer" a companion to my book, "Prayer: It's Not About You" is in the process of being released. Her kindle is up already. (Both are published by PixNPens)
I am anxiously awaiting the publication of my first novel, "The Whisper of the Palms" which is coming soon from Olivia Kimbrell Press.
My husband and I have been collaborating on a nonfiction for many years that is finally in the editing stages. We will be seeking a publisher for it soon.
And now that I have finished writing my novel, and the collaboration with my husband, I will begin co-writing another devotional with my friend Shirley (this one will be on prayer) and I will pick back up a nonfiction anthology I have been writing / compiling for about 2 years. My goal is to have the devotional finished by the end of 2017 and the anthology by the end of 2018.

Whew! That open field before me looks challenging ... but beautiful!

It’s Here!!!!!

“Prayer moves the arm that moves the universe … Prayer is the greatest privilege man can have.”

This quote is cited in the book, “Soldiers of the Cross” by Kent D. Dollar who found the quote in a hand-written journal from a civil war soldier by the name of Edward Owings Guerrant. I don’t know if this was Guerrant’s original thought or if he heard someone else say it.

I found the book by Dollar about ten years ago in the gift shop of a civil war battle site just outside of Washington D. C. while visiting my son who lived in D. C. at the time. I could just picture a soldier in the throes of war, sitting by himself contemplating prayer and writing about it in his journal.

I can relate. I may not have ever fought in a physical war but I have been in spiritual wars contemplating and journaling about prayer too.

For four years, in fact, I did just that.

At the end of those four years I had a manuscript written on the topic of prayer. Then, it took another almost eight years working on turning that manuscript into a book. It garnered a special recognition along the way when it finaled in the 2011 Women of Faith” unpublished manuscript competition. But until now it had not made it into book form.

Today, at last, I am thrilled to announce that the book is finally out! It can be purchased in paperback and will be available in e-book form in a few more days.

Here’s the link: Prayer: It's Not About You