March 2007 Newsletter

BLUE MOUNTAIN BACKROADS

Well if high winds and cold temperatures count, March came in like a lion. At least I'm sure all of us hope that's true and we can look forward to lamblike weather for the rest of the month. Old-fashioned jonquils are in bloom along the south banks of the road between my house and the church. These are among the earliest flowers to appear in spring, usually popping up where long forgotten houses once stood.

I wonder sometimes about the women who planted them, if they're looking down from heaven smiling at how much I enjoy the blossoms they left behind. The flowers are smaller and not as gaudy as the newer varieties, but since they're the first to bloom they're extremely welcome.

I have tomato plants I'm raising from seed growing in the south window, and I've had the back door to my office open this afternoon to catch the sunlight. Since my office is in an old chicken house, (like the little ones your grandmothers used to have, not the monstrosities we have now) I don't have any windows. So that south facing back door is a treasure. Rosicat likes to lie in the doorway soaking up the sun.

Probably you all have cabin fever after the winter we've had. If so, get out in the sunshine, but take a notepad along for those stray thoughts you'll put in a book someday. I find I get my best ideas when I don't have anything to write them in and then when I do get paper and pen, I can't remember them. Writers, like boy scouts should always be prepared. May your writing flow like a river, may your words be pure gold, and may the rejection slip fairy forget where you live.

God bless

WRITING NEWS OF THE MONTH

Remember this is your newsletter. Be sure to send me your news; new blog, website, contract, etc. Let me help you get the word out.

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April Gardner would like to announce her new website www.aprilgardner.com. April writes book reviews, articles for women, and interesting historical tidbits about English and American history, which are featured in her monthly newsletter. One English antique pocket book will be given away every month to someone who signs up for her newsletter and signs her guestbook. This month's is an 1834 edition of Rev. George Crabbe's "The Borough". It is in perfect condition and could be yours!

April Gardner
~inspirational writer~
www.aprilgardner.com
History with a Christian perspective...and a little imagination.
"...I will publish the name of the Lord...He is the Rock, his work is perfect...a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he." Deut. 32:3-4

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Delia Latham just signed a contract with Vintage Romance Publishing for her novel, Goldeneyes. It will be released early in 2008. Great, Delia. That's good news

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Reluctant Runaway, second in Jill Elizabeth Nelson's romantic suspense series, releases in March from Multnomah Publishers. Critics are already saying things like, "The second is better than the first." In honor of the release, Jill has a brand new Stealth andWealth contest up on her web site, offering a chance each month for someone to win a signed copy. She's also posted a Reluctant Runaway trailer on her To Catch a Thief Books page. Drop in to click and view. http://www.jillelizabethnelson.com

Here's a glimpse at what the book's about:

Stolen Indian artifacts . . .
A dead museum guard . . .
A missing wife and mom . . .
A baby in mortal danger . . .

Museum security expert Desiree Jacobs and FBI agent Tony Lucano scramble to unearth the horrifying secret that links every incident.

The investigation thrusts them into the path of something dark and sinister.

Something that craves blood sacrifice!

http://www.jillelizabethnelson.com
We CAN Promote Our Books! - marketing blog for writers -http://canblog.typepad.com/canbookmarketing/

Reluctant Burglar, Available Now!
Reluctant Runaway, March 2007
Reluctant Smuggler, January 2008
Multnomah Publishers

Preach the Word! Be ready in season and out of season fulfill your ministry.

II Timothy 4: 2

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Gina Conroy provides an update to Writer...Interrupted. If you haven't checked out this website, you really should. Writer...Interrupted: http://writerinterrupted.ginaconroy.com

"We're Christian writers all learning from each other and growing in our craft and the Lord as we pursue publication. We're men and women writers interrupted by the daily tasks of parenting and paying jobs, carpools and business meetings, home schooling and housekeeping, and we're learning to be content in this season God has called us to.

Some of our webring members are multi published authors, others are simply entertaining the idea of publication. The webring allows us to network and discover new writers and friends. The blog is designed as a place to learn and grow in our craft and the Lord."

Our blog hosts:

The Carnival of Christian Writers
Submission Guidelines
Christian writers share in the craft of writing fiction, non-fiction, publishing and anything else related to writing, including their faith. Post must address the craft, call, process, struggle, etc. of writing. In the remarks section, please write a blurb about your post!

Example: YOUR NAME, at YOUR BLOG, SOMETHING ABOUT YOUR POST…

Submission deadline is noon on Saturday before the fourth Monday. Carnival posts on the fourth Monday. If you would like to submit to the carnival email portraitwriter@gmail.com

Carnival of Christian Writers #1

Carnival #2 November 2006

Carnival #3 December 2006

Carnival #4 January 2007

Gina Conroy
Portrait of a Writer...Interrupted:
http://portraitofawriter.ginaconroy.com
Writer...Interrupted: http://writerinterrupted.ginaconroy.com
Anytime Prayers for Everyday Moms-- Available now!
Carnival of Christian Writers:
http://blogcarnival.com/bc/cprof_550.html

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Jeanne Marie Leach has a book that is due to be released the first week in March from Sundowners and Mountain View Publishing, divisions of Treble Heart Books. It is a Christian historical western romance titled The Plight of Mattie Gordon. The book will be available for purchase on the Treble Heart website at http://www.trebleheartbooks.com/WelcomePage.html

Back cover blurb:

Mattie Gordon's ordinary life is turned upside down when bounty hunter Cyrus Braydon arrives on her doorstep showing a wanted poster for her son. WANTED: Will Gordon, Dead or Alive. Consumed with finding her son and making sure his soul is ready to meet eternity, Mattie embarks on a desperate race to reach Will before the bounty hunter finds him.

When Mattie discovers someone following her, she reluctantly forms an alliance with Cyrus in order to save herself and Will. She soon discovers her own inadequacies and faces hard realities. The son she thought to be good, isn't, and the bounty hunter she judged as evil is perhaps not so after all.

Now she must save Cyrus from Will's venomous grasp. If she succeeds in helping Cyrus escape, will her son ever listen to her about Jesus' forgiveness? If only she can muster enough faith to trust God for one more miracle. But which one…?

Jeanne Marie Leach
Author * Speaker * Freelance Fiction Editor * Writing Coach
2007 ACFW Conference Bookstore Coordinator
Coming soon from Mountain View Publishing:
THE PLIGHT OF MATTIE GORDON – March 2007
SHADOW OF DANGER – Summer 2007
ANGEL IN THE SALOON Available from Nonfiction Book Publishers -
Travel Book Publishers

* * *

Sharon Dunn has a book coming out in March. Title is Death of a Garage Sale Newbie. It is the first in the Bargain Hunters Mysteries from Multnomah publishers.

Barbara says: As a garage sale junkie, I need to read this one for sure.

www.sharondunnbooks.com
a little mystery, a little romance, a whole lotta fun
The Bargain Hunters mysteries
Death of a Garage Sale Newbie
Ruby Taylor Mystery series
Romance Rustlers and Thunderbird Thieves
(nominated for Inspirational Novel of the Year)
Sassy Cinderella and the Valiant Vigilante
(winner of the ACRW Book of the Year)
and Cow Crimes and the Mustang Menace

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My March interviews on my blog will be:

March 4 Rhonda Gibson
March 11 Trish Perry
March 18 Wanda Dyson
March 25 Vickie McDonough, Frances Devine, Jeri Odell & Lena Nelson Dooley
Vickie, Frances, Jeri, and I will have a book release The Spinster Brides of Cactus Corner.

I have a book signing with Mary DeMuth on Saturday, March 10 at Borders on Hwy. 26 in Colleyville, Texas. I have a book signing at Walmart on Precinct Line Road in Hurst, Texas on March 31. I now have a ShoutLife site where I do book reviews: www.shoutlife.com/lenanelsondooley Lena Nelson Dooley - Characters who grip your heart

Wanda received a prestigious award in 2006. Come see what it was. Reviews of In Sheep's Clothing, Sands of Time, and Hazardous Duty in my January newsletter on my web site.

Lena Nelson Dooley

Author/Editor/Speaker/Reviewer (Soon to be greatgrandmother!!!!!)
http://www.LenaNelsonDooley.com

 

A free copy of one of my books every month to someone who signs my guest book--This month's winner is Jane Squires.http://www.shoutlife.com/lenanelsondooley Come by and see me.

 

My blog will be book reviews.mail to: safe-ldwrites@flash.net

 

http://lenanelsondooley.blogspot.com - Author's Interview this week is with Wanda E. Brunstetter and her book A Merry Heart. Mary (Marylin) won a copy of Petticoat Ranch by Mary Connealy. There's still time to leave a comment on Cyndy Salzmann's interview for a chance to win Dying to Decorate.

 

Upcoming Interviews -- Sharlene Maclaren, Rhonda Gibson, Trish Perry, Wanda Dyson

 

* * *

 

Trish Perry's second novel, Too Good to Be True, will release March 1.

 

Sounds good Trish. I'll be looking for it.

 

Trish
www.trishperrybooks.com
The Guy I'm Not Dating (Harvest House Publishers 2006)
Too Good to Be True (Harvest House Publishers, March 2007)

 

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Cheryl Wyatt has a brand new contract. Her A Soldier's Family will release from Steeple Hill in Mar 2008. A Soldier's Promise will be released in January 2008. Way to go Cheryl. Proud of you.

 

Cheryl Wyatt Gal. 2:20 Pouring my vial of words over Him.

www.CherylWyatt.com www.Scrollsquirrel.blogspot.com

A SOLDIER'S PROMISE~ Steeple Hill Love Inspired~ Jan. 2008
A SOLDIER'S FAMILY~ Steeple Hill Love Inspired~ Mar. 2008
www.Steeplehill.com www.Loveinspiredauthors.com

 

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March 2 kicks off my blog I Dream of Fiction on my website, www.sallybradley.com. The month of March will have author interviews including Mary DeMuth, Kacy Barnett-Gramckow, and Christine Schaub. There will also be book giveaways including the 2007 Christian Writer's Market Guide and a few novels. Drop by every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and leave a comment to be eligible to win a book. Titles will be announced March 5.

 

Sally Bradley
www.sallybradley.com
Affordable Critique Service

 

* * *

 

Tiffany Colter posts a blog each week and gives a topic for discussion. People are then welcome to post to the blog their answers to the assignment or general comments. Now is a great time to get on board but people are welcome whenever. Previous blogs are archived.

 

We will discuss both the art and business of writing. My goal with the blog is really to get people to focus on their writing and treat it like a business venture. It can still be a hobby or side thing but if you want to be professional and advance you must have some kind of plan [even if you aren't a planner]. I challenge people to decide where they want to get and then realistically think of how to get from here to there. This is a precursor to a website I'll be establishing eventually.

 

God is ALWAYS so good!!
Tiffany Colter
Learn how to earn a living as an author at my blog.
www.shoutlife.com/TiffanyColter

 

* * *

 

Hello all!

 

Here is the blog tour schedule (see below) for Valley of Betrayal. Look it over and if the date you've been scheduled for won't work, shoot me an email and we can get it changed. I've also attached the book cover, a photo of Tricia, the story behind the novel, and a letter to you all from Tricia. If you want to post the first chapter or link to it, here is the link: http://triciagoyer.blogspot.com/2007/02/its-here-its-here.html

 

If you'd like to post an interview, go ahead and send me the questions and I'll get them answered for you and returned. I will be posting links on Tricia's blog each day to announce where Tricia will be, so please if you have a schedule change let me know. Some of you already have books. For those of you who don't, they will be mailed early next week. I wanted to get them out to you all sooner, but I won't be receiving them until the day before I send them out.

 

For those of you who don't have books and haven't yet sent me your snail mail addy, please do so. Also, if you don't see your name on the list, let me know so that I can get that fixed. :)

 

Thank you all so much for your willingness to participate, it is appreciated! Here is the link on Tricia's blog with the blog tour schedule. Again, let me know if I need to change anything. Thanks so much for participating!

http://triciagoyer.blogspot.com/2007/02/blog-tour-for-valley-of-betrayal.html

 

Thanks,
Amy Lathrop
amy@triciagoyer.com
http://triciagoyer.blogspot.com
http://sprightly-amyanne.blogspot.com

Blog Tour Schedule
Valley of Betrayal, Tricia Goyer

Feb 28- Mar 2 CFBA Blog Tour
3/3 Gina Conroy, Jamie Driggers
3/4 Jennifer Cary, Staci Wilder
3/5 Amy Wallace, Ronie Kendig
3/5 Pamela James, Jill Hart
3/7 Tiffany Amber Miller, Ginny Smith
3/8 Alison Strobel, Paula Miller
3/9 Mary de Muth, Victoria Gaines
3/10 Margaret Delle, Leno Nelson-Dooley
3/11 Karen Hossink, Terri Pilcher
3/12 Jeanette Hanscome, Heather Ivester
3/13 Michelle Rodgers, Cindy Sproles
3/14 Cynthia Ruchti, Stacy Stallings
3/15 Miralee Ferrell, Deb Rainey
3/16 Deb Kinnard, Linda Ford
3/17 CJ Darlington, Tara Kolker
3/18 Julie Carobini, Gail Martin
3/19 Sarah Lambert(UK), Teresa Slack

3/20 Tracy, Cynthia Green
3/21 Donna Shepard, Tracy Bateman
3/22 Creston Mapes, Lesley LaFuze
3/23 James Sommers, Crystal Miller
3/24 Jennifer Donovan, Karina Fabian
3/25 Linda Mae Baldwin, Cheryl Russell
3/26 Brenda Lott, Judy Fedele
3/27 Pattie Reitz, Leticia Glidewell
3/28 Katrina Baker, Michelle Dyatt-Welcomer
3/29 Lydia Daffenberg, Barbara Warren
3/30 Martha Artyomenko, Colleen Coble
3/31 Jacki Castle, Melissa Marsh
4/1 Tina Forkner, Lynette Sowell
4/2 Kaye Dacus, Mary Allen
4/3 Stacy Harp, Karen Phillips
4/4 Lynetta Smith, Martha L. Rodgers
4/5 Paula Moldenhauer, Lori Plach

 

* * *

 

Linda Fulkerson has just started a new promotion on her web site! Linda has this to say: "New subscribers to my newsletter will get a free ebook version of my book, The Prodigal Daughter."

 

Sincerely,
Linda Fulkerson
mail@lindafulkerson.com
http://www.lindafulkerson.com

 

* * *

 

RHONDA GIBSON has a blog site, listed below. Her editors have linked her blog site to theirs. How cool is that? WAY COOL.

 

Rhonda says: I am honored that they have done this but I also want them to know that people are reading the blog and enjoying it. I hope you enjoy it... anyway, I know people are visiting this blog but no one is commenting. Would you be so kind as to leave comments?

 

Barbara says: I visited Rhonda's blog and enjoyed it. Take time to drop by each other's blogs and leave a comment. Let's help each other out.

 

http://rhondagibson.blogspot.com/

Rhonda Gibson glorifying God through fiction
Can't sleep? Don't count sheep....Talk to the Shepherd instead,
TO TRUST AN OUTLAW--HeartSong Presents -- August 2007
http://www.RhondaGibson.com www.rhondagibson.blogspot.com
Sign up for my newsletter: Notes from a Gibson Girl
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Rhondagibsonsnewsletter/

 

* * *

 

WHACKY NEWS OF THE MONTH.
(News too weird to make up)

Believe it or not, the University of Sioux Falls, S.D. will offer a course on dating. That's right we are now teaching our college students how to date. The leader of the course is a relationship counselor and a licensed therapist who's been married for 28 years. Evidently she's doing something right, but do we really need to teach people how to date? Considering the rate of the population growth in this country, it would appear we're doing pretty well on our own.

Listen to me, people, for I have some words of wisdom to impart; we are born knowing how to get together. God included it in the package. Do you think Adam and Eve needed a relationship counselor? Try teaching a mixed group of fourth, fifth, and sixth grade boys and girls in a Wednesday evening Bible study, and you'll soon realize they know how to get acquainted just fine, thank you ma'am. The girls giggle and roll their eyes, the boys punch each other and insult the girls. The teacher screams a lot. I speak from experience here. Do you think they forget all that the minute they step inside a college? Not a chance. (Well, they probably stop the insulting and eye rolling, but otherwise it's pretty much the same.)

Why are all these go-gooders keep trying to spoil our fun? First they tell us we can't have a Big Mac and fries because it's bad for us, and now they want to teach us how to date? Someone needs to tell these people life's a lot more entertaining if we forget about the classes and just keep doing what comes naturally.

 

WRITING TIP OF THE MONTH

VIEWPOINT - ONE

We fiction writers have the ability to view life through someone else's eyes. Basically, it's this ability that causes people to read our books. When we create multi-dimensional characters, we transport out readers into the hearts and minds of those characters.
We do this by writing viewpoint.

The story as told by your viewpoint character is colored by that character's attitude and emotions. Another character involved in the situation will see things differently, and have a different attitude. A church skit I read recently had one woman, in a beauty shop, complaining about her church. The members weren't friendly, the services were cold and indifferent, the preacher boring. She didn't know why she bothered to go. A woman sitting directly behind her, with her back turned, also talked about her church. The people were so loving and caring, the services warm and enjoyable, and she always got a lot out of the pastor's sermons. Both women went to the same church. The difference could be found in their attitudes.

So your character's attitudes will affect the way he sees things. It will affect the way he treats others, the way he talks, thinks, and behaves. Emotion will also affect the way our characters behave. A man who is angry all the time sees the world differently than one who is more content. When I'm happy, the world is wonderful place to live. When I'm angry about something, then nothing in my world is going right. Our emotional moods affect the way we view life, and it affects our behavior.

Readers will respond to a character whose behavior they recognize in themselves or in other people they know. It's called reader identification. Much of our ability to create characters is just holding up a mirror for the reader to look into. As writers, we need to learn how to turn our characters inside out, so the reader will know and understand this person she meets in the pages of our books.

Writers need to become people watchers. We need to draw back a little, observe from the sidelines, and try to understand why these people God created act the way they do. We also need to honestly try to understand ourselves. Question our real motives for what we do. Why do certain things make us angry? What makes us laugh or weep? How do we feel about people who crowd our space? What type of person makes us uncomfortable? Understanding ourselves and learning what makes other people tick, will help us create in-depth characters our readers will recognize and love.

 

QUOTE OF THE MONTH

Courage is fear that's said its prayers.

 

RECIPE OF THE MONTH

SCOFIELD'S PIZZA DOUGH

My sister and her husband used to have a pizza shop. They made their own from scratch and the bread sticks were one of their specialties. (Can also be used for bread or cinnamon rolls or bread sticks)

2 quarts warm water
3 Tbsp yeast
1/3 – 1/2 cup oil
3 Tbsp salt
½ - ¾ cup sugar

Mix all together, let set for a few minutes. Mix flour to make a good
kneading dough, cover. Let rise until double. If for pizza or cinnamon
rolls, use now. If for bread, make into loves and let rise again.
Bake 350 F until brown. Cinnamon rolls bake at 350 F, Pizza bake at 450F.

SCOFIELD'S ORIGINAL BREAD STICKS.

Use recipe for Scofield's Pizza Dough
Press out into greased pizza pans, brush with melted butter and sprinkle
with garlic powder. Top with grated mozzarella and cheddar cheese.
bake as for pizza.

(I don't admit this at family gatherings, but the bread stick recipe works just fine with frozen bread dough, and it's quicker. Use lots of garlic powder)

Barbara

Blue Mountain Editorial Service

www.barbarawarrenbluemountainedit.com

 

To read Barbara's book reviews, sign up for her newsletter by clicking the link below; or view them on Dancing Word Writers Network: http://www.dancingword.net

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But they that wait upon the lord shall renew their strength: they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary: and they shall walk, and not faint.

    - Isaiah 40:31 KJV

 

 

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