A New Year

                        (This is my back yard.)

The New Year is upon us. It's hard to believe we are entering 2023. Time has a way of flying by, especially the older a person gets. I will reach a milestone birthday in March this year. When I was young, I never thought I would be happy to turn sixty-five, but I've been without insurance for a while, and am looking forward to being eligible for Medicare. As my ninety-four-year-old, and still doing well, father would say, "You only have two choices in life--grow old or die. I'll take growing old." 

What is coming up in my writing life in 2023? Here's a partial list. As a freelance writer other writing opportunities will arise as the year unfolds but here is what I know now. 

Right now I am up to my nose in deadlines that I put off during the holidays. I have a first rounds of edits for my new devotional book that will release in '23 waiting for me to go through. I have a week of devotions due back to "The Quiet Hour" editor on Jan 31st. I finished writing these before taking a couple of weeks off for Christmas, but I need to read over them, self-edit them, and get them submitted. And I am teaching a workshop on writing for magazines in March for which I need to create a power point. All of these need to be done before the end of January so I have my work cut out or me. 

Here is my year in a nutshell:

January: 

a) Get 1st round of edits to my cowriter to add to hers by 1/10.

b) Get seven devotions submitted to "The Quiet Hour" editor by 1/30

c) prepare another submission to send out by 1/20 (Hopefully I can say more about this later.)

February: 

a) Have the Writing for Magazines Power Point finished by month's end. 

b) May hear back from a magazine editor who liked an article I submitted in the fall and said she would consider it in January or February.

March: 

17-18 Attend and teach a three-hour workshop at Mid-South Christian Writer's Conference in Memphis.

April:

A devotion I wrote will appear in the Spring Issue of "The Secret Place" but I do not know the exact date yet. 

May-August:

a) Edit, edit, edit on the new release!! (There are so many rounds of edits that happen in the making of a book, it can take up an awful lot of time. I don't like the edit stage nearly as much as I do the writing stage.)

b) Work with my committee at the Mid-South Christian Writers conference on faculty selection for the '24 conference. 

September: 

Seven devotions I wrote some time ago will appear in "The Quiet Place" 9/4-9/10.

October-December:

a) My new devo book will release some time in the fall, but we do not have a release date yet. 

b) A memoir article I wrote a year ago and submitted to the editor of "Goldenseal" magazine should be coming out in late '23 or early '24 according to an email he sent. 

Whew! I'm tired just thinking about it but I love writing. There is nothing I would rather do! As the year unfolds, you will be hearing more about my upcoming release. Hopefully I will be able to share its title and focus soon followed by a cover reveal and release date in the upcoming months. 

What's New

I haven't posted in a few months. That is not the norm for me but truth-be-told, working with this blog and my other one frustrates me because it won't let me make paragraphs, so I now just make short posts. That said, as I am typing this it looks different and maybe this blog will allow indentions now. Here's to hoping that problem has been fixed. 

So, what has occupied my time since the last post?

 A lot of things. For one I've been working hard on writing that new devotional book that I signed a contract on. Over the summer I've managed to get my parts written and self-edited. It will go through many more rounds of edits before the final version. I completed a devotional assignment for seven devos  for "The Quiet Hour", have submitted a few freelance articles, and am working on a few other things, some of which I am not ready to mention yet, and I've been working with the other members of the faculty committee for the MidSouth Christian Writer's Conference to find faculty for next year's conference. In addition, I am about to embark on working with a website designer on an author website. I will post more about this including the link to it once it's up and running. I will also post the title of the devotional book Shirley and I are working on that will release in '23 and its cover when we have these. So stay tuned. Meanwhile, the pic on today's post are two pics from a photo shoot I had in the spring to get new author pictures for my website. Like everyone else, I grow older with every passing day. I have made a personal choice to update my author pics about every five years at least so when people actually meet me in person, they won't be too shocked with how much older I look in person compared to my author pics. lol! 

It's Finally Here!!

It's release day! Woohoo! The riveting memoir about my husband's tenure as a trustee at Southern Seminary during a very challenging time is finally published and can be purchased here. 

This book has been a long time coming. It took well over ten years for my husband and me to get it written and then another several years to get it published. And today, thanks to Olivia Kimbrell Press and it's editor-in-chief, Gregg Bridgman, it has finally hit the stands. I couldn't be more excited! 

Rather than telling you why I love this book, I'll post some excerpts from the numerous endorsements we garnered for the book: 

"This story is so compelling you will not be able to put the book down." --Timothy K. Beougher, Ph.D Associate Dean of the Billy Graham School of Missions at SBTS

"...a very rare and important insider view … There are urgent lessons here for every seminary, Christian college, and denomination." --Dr. R. Albert Mohler, Jr, President of SBTS

"A story that is one that everyone interested in Southern Baptist history will enjoy reading." --Jason K. Allen, Ph.D. President of Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary 

"The book is a remarkable journal of one man's challenges as he stood for Biblical fidelity and institutional integrity … Read with a renewed sense of God's faithfulness, and see the courage it often takes to stand for truth." --James Thomas "Jimmy Draper, Jr. DHum., DDiv. President Emeritus of Lifeway and Former President of the Southern Baptist Convention. 

It's Almost Here!

I am so excited to let you know that the book I co-wrote with my husband now has a release date. It is coming out on Jan 15, 2020 but is already up for pre-order! It can be pre-ordered here.

This book took over ten years to write, and a couple more years to get published. I have chronicled some of our publishing story in this blog. We came within an inch of having a contract with P&R Publishing and then had to walk away from a contract offer from Founder's Press because it was not one we could agree to. Finally, Gregg Bridgeman at Olivia Kimbrell Press picked up the publishing mantle and we are so grateful to him! This is the same publisher who my novel, The Whisper of the Palms is published with.

As hard as it was to write and publish this book, living it was harder or at least more challenging. It is the true story of my husband, John R. Michael's, experience as a young trustee at Southern Seminary during a time of huge change. We have garnered the endorsements of many great people, including leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention, Dr. Albert Mohler, among them.

It's a thick book--much larger than most books--and as such will cost more than many other books on the market. But it is riveting, chocked full of seminary and denominational history but also one that reads like a novel. Those who have pre-read it call it a page-turner and say they could not put it down.

And finally … it's almost here!

Free Stuff!

In celebration of a coming release of Glimpses of God, the authors, Harriet E. Michael and Shirley Crowder will be sharing inspirational thoughts through November 6.

My publisher is offering these as a free mini devotional serial, no strings attached. The 1st is out today. Sign up for them Here

Release Day!!!

                                                 

\ couldn't be more excited!               
















It's release day for the 2nd edition of "Glimpses of Prayer" and I couldn't be more excited!

The book is an updated version of the first devotional my childhood friend, Shirley Crowder and I ever collaborated on. The original had 30 meditations in it and the updated on has 50 along with some new illustrations by my very talented daughter, Kristin Michael. It is a holiday devotional that centers around the fall and winter holidays of Veteran's Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year. To use the old, worn-out cliché: it's new and improved, The cliché may be old and worn-out but the truth of it still stands. I know you will enjoy this book!

Here's the link where you can purchase Glimpses of the Savior.

Cyber Monday

Thanksgiving is behind us, Christmas is right around the corner, and I have a book about to be released! Woohoo! "Glimpses of Prayer: A Devotional" will release on December 5th. It is currently up for pre-order at the discounted price of $2.99 for the Kindle. This price will go up once the book is released. So, if you are looking for a cyber Monday deal, this is it. 

The book is another collaboration between my childhood friend, Shirley Crowder and myself.

 Shirley has a passion for disciple-making and loves to share about her spiritual children who are scattered across the world serving the Lord. She is a never-married single woman and a Biblical counselor; a regular guest on "Think on These Things," a Birmingham AL radio/TV program for women; and a freelance writer. Shirley is certified by, and serves on the national Advisory Committee for The Addiction Connection. She co-authored the chapter, "Paul and Women in Ministry" in the book “Paul the Counselor” published by Focus Publishing and has several articles which have appeared in “The Gadsden Times” Religion Section's Paper Pulpit. Follow her blog at: Through the Lens of Scripture.

And the book is illustrated by my daughter, Kristin Michael.

Kristin is a freelance artist whose preferred medium is oil painting. Her style is contemporary expressionist with a focus on light and water. She obtained her liberal arts degree at Bellarmine University in Louisville, Ky with a double minor in fine arts and literature.

Kristin continued her education at St. Catherine College in Bardstown, KY where she earned an associate degree in Cardiac Sonography.

She is now employed full-time by Ky Children's Hospital as a pediatric and adult congenital cardiac sonographer (she performs ultrasounds on children and adults with congenital heart disease).

Kristin works hard in her healthcare and artistic endeavors as a single mother in order to take care of her sweet young son who is the light of her life. You can find more of Kristin's artwork at Kiki paintings

New Release

It's release day!!!! YAY!! My debut novel, published by Olivia Kimbrell Press, based on the lives, love, and calling of my parents is now available on Amazon. Woo-hoo! Amazon will eventually combine the paperback and kindle but for now there are two links. Both can be found on my author page

The two characters in the book, Kyle and Ali, are very like my parents, Keith and Alice, and many of their adventures come straight from my parent's lives. However, Ali and Kyle also have adventures of their own which came from my imagination rather than stories I've heard my parents tell.

When I embarked on writing their story, it soon became clear to me that it would be easier to write and make a livelier read if wrote it as fiction. Had I chosen nonfiction, I would have had to make sure every little detail was absolutely as it happened. In fiction, I had more leeway ... and well, I took it. I combined some characters into one in a couple of places and added made-up adventures in some places.

I sent the manuscript to my mother, chapter by chapter as I wrote it over the past couple of years and she loved it! She once called me up and choking back tears, she told me how much she liked the way I was writing her and Daddy's story She added, "It didn't all happen this way, but it could have."

This book was written from my heart for my parents and it has their stamp of approval.

😊

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