"Follow by E-mail" Discontinued -- But Stay Tuned!

Blogger is run by Google, and the powers that be at Google have decided to discontinue the "follow by e-mail" widget that allows readers like you to follow bloggers like me. It will be disappearing sometime this summer.

I know, I know. It's horrible. Devastating, even. Now my articles won't go directly to your inbox.

Gasp!

Don't worry; I'm working on a solution. In the meantime, please pause right now to bookmark my blog. That way, you'll be able to navigate back here without the aid of the e-mails that will no longer be coming your way.

Anything Release Tour + My Publishing Debut!

Friends, I'm just going to jump right in with the best news.

I'm finally getting published!!!

The King's Daughters' Writing Camp (KDWC) is putting out a collection of short stories and poems, and one of my short stories -- which has not yet been posted here on Writing to Inspire -- is going to be in it.

The collection is called Anything, and here's why:

A couple of camp sessions ago, several of the ladies in camp were recommending "anything" by this author or that author, meaning any of their published books. Someone in the group (and I really don't remember who) suggested that we all write Anything stories -- stories called Anything.

So a baker's dozen of us did!

Anything will be published this month -- on April 26, 2021. It will be available on Amazon, Apple Books, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and in paperback.

I can hardly wait for you to meet Sarah Mae and her rambunctious kids in my story, entitled Any Thing. Yep, my title is slightly different than the other twelve, in that mine is two words instead of one. I can't share the reason without spoiling the story, but let's just say there's a very specific and whimsical reason for the two-word title.

Stay tuned here on Writing to Inspire for future updates -- including some quote graphics! -- on my Any Thing story.

***

Now for the other news. I am pulling together a release tour for Anything, and you're invited! If you have a blog or social media accounts, the team and I would love to have you join us in celebration of KDWC's debut story collection. Just fill out the following form and let us know how you'll be able to help spread the word and get a buzz going for our debut release.

Busy Life

Hey, friends. It's been a packed week.

I have not forgotten about you, my lovelies, but between helping my parents cut down some old and dying trees and writing more in my road trip story and running errands and working and getting some stuff prepped for a January surprise (stay tuned)...

There has been hardly any time left to even think about my blog all week. In fact, I only thought about it yesterday after more work on the trees in the yard.

At that point, all I wanted was to sit down and sip some lemonade (which I did).

That being said, I'm going to try super hard this afternoon to get something sorted for you guys tomorrow. It will likely be short, so please don't get overly excited.

I hope you're having a blessed Sunday.

The Plans We Made by Kathryn Cushman and Lauren Beccue {book review + giveaway}

FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from I Read with Audra. These are my honest thoughts.

This book was amazing. I loved the characters, the journey, the plot, the twists, the problems, and the resolution. Caroline’s adventure in Rhode Island was fun, and I enjoyed the banter between Chris and her as they were working rivals. Linda’s journey of regret and hope made me cry and wish for a good outcome even when it was tough to see through the hard moments. The reconstruction and preservation of a beautiful building was a wonderful backdrop for the drama of this enjoyable story.

The imagery was especially beautiful, as evidenced by this line: “She sat back in her chair and crossed her arms over her fractured hope.” There were many exquisite lines like this one that took my breath away.

It was very refreshing to see an engaged couple NOT living together prior to marriage, particularly in a world that appears to adore compromised morals. I want more stories like this one that holds tight to strong, biblical morals and presents a great example to its readers.

The themes in this book were great. I liked the fear of bad impressions, because that’s something very relatable. Regrets and consequences are tough to live with, and this story showed that well and also highlighted how they may be overcome. There were relationship issues, and it was nice to see they were worked out with dialogue and humble attitudes and true remorse. Honesty, faith, and courage seemed to work together well to create a rich atmosphere for the heartbreaking story within.

Emotion and tension were high throughout for me. I laughed and cried, and there were several scenes that had me holding my breath and flipping pages fast to find out what would happen next.

Opportunities to Practice Virtues

Friends, this week is a bit rough for me, with some lower back pain, which is why I'm late on posting this week. However, I'm determined not to completely miss the week, as I've posted something every week for the past six years, so here I am, aches and all.

This will be short and will not contain pictures, because I'm conserving as much energy as possible for my tutoring job these days. I'll try to get at least one graphic done for you next time.

While I've been in pain, I've been reading and listening to music and thinking on verses of Scripture. Because of these things and the blessings of parents who understand back pain and are willing to lend me a helping hand when I need it, my heart has been light, my spirits lifted, and my thoughts mostly positive.

I say mostly because there have been black moments where the pain seemed too big to conquer. But then the Holy Spirit reminds me that Jesus is bigger than all my pain. He has suffered more, so He can take the bulk of the burden from me. It's like He Himself said once: "My yoke is easy and My burden is light." (Matthew 11:30 HCSB) That verse has held me steady in the worst of the annoyance that has been this trial.

Trust is a Choice

Trust.

It’s not always easy. Being human, we very often like to have “control” of our lives. Funny thing is that it’s only a façade. True control of circumstances is not ours to have. But something we can control is our perspective during anything we face.

Will we be afraid and angry and aggressive and violent?

Will we choose kindness, encouragement, compassion, mercy, forgiveness, and faith?

Will we choose to trust God even when life falls apart around us?

Pockets of Time {Focus on Jesus + Life Update}

My next verse to learn for our Focus on Jesus Scripture Memory event is a long one, so it may take me a few weeks to really get it remembered.

We'll still be adding another verse to the mix in a couple of weeks, so I suppose I better find some extra pockets of time for studying between jobs.

Speaking of which, it's time for a bit of a life update.

I know I'm due (overdue, really) to deliver to you another short story. As much as I've tried to pen a few, my mind hasn't been cooperating for such things lately. I'm hoping to be able to get one written in the next few weeks.

You see, I've been working hard on a full-length story for Camp NaNo last month, and the story isn't finished yet, so I'm still plugging away at it. The research has been random, the plot pretty fun to play with, and the characters surprising at times. It's a blast hanging out with this crazy cast of folks, and I can hardly wait until you get to meet them too. Of course, I've got to straighten them out a bit first. First drafts can be pretty rough.

Hold Out for Hope {Focus on Jesus}

Over the last week, I've been listening to the audio version of a memoir about a girl who was kidnapped at age eleven and was sexually, mentally, and emotionally abused for nearly two decades. It's a tough, tough read, and it broke my heart from the first chapter. I've got less than half the book to go, and I'm sure it will continue to be an emotional read for me.

The thing about stories like hers is that they are often robbed of hope.

When a person has been kidnapped and/or abused for years and years on end, it's incredibly difficult to keep holding out for hope. Everything seems dark, lonely, and painful.

Even if you've never been abused in such a brutal, destructive way, I'm sure we can all relate to feelings of loneliness or hopelessness or despair. Life doesn't always go the way we want it to, and sometimes it seems downright cruel to us. In those moments, hope is extremely hard to find and even harder to hold on to.

That's where Bible study comes into play, at least for me.

Memory Work Techniques {Focus on Jesus}

The best part about a challenge like the Focus on Jesus Scripture Memory 2020 event is that it gets us digging deeper into the Word of God. Our personal devotion time is where we will discover our newest verse to study, and this quiet time with God will uplift our hearts and renew our joy. We will discover peace and comfort in the pages of our Bibles as we listen for God's direction for our daily lives.

The Focus on Jesus challenge also brings back memories of studying for spelling tests back in grade school.

Do you remember writing your spelling words ten times each day leading up to the big test? Or maybe you were one who was quizzed audibly by siblings or a parent. Perhaps you did a combination of things to learn the trickiest of words.

The repetition and focus of that study time are what helped your young mind to learn the words so that on the day of the spelling test, the correct spelling would come back to you so you could score a decent grade.

The same study techniques apply well to Scripture memory work. Writing your verse down in a notebook several times a day is a great way to practice the correct order of the words. Repeating the verse aloud can help train your ears and mind to "hear" the verse in your head as you're trying to recall it when you look away from your notes.

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic? Don't Panic! {DIY Hand Sanitizer}

So we're living through a pandemic right now.

Crazy, isn't it?

I must say, I never once in my entire life anticipated anything like the coronavirus, nicknamed COVID-19.

It was very strange going to the store for a regular grocery run and seeing zero packs of toilet paper on the shelves. All I needed was one pack, yet there were none. Why toilet paper? This isn't an illness that causes the runs, so I'm not quite sure why there's a run on TP, other than stocking up in case you get quarantined for weeks on end. Even that doesn't make much sense to me, though. If everyone only purchased what they need for a week or two, like we do under normal circumstances, there wouldn't be shortages now. But panic-buying is apparently a thing, and it's just as contagious as the coronavirus is presumed to be.

Even with the shortages of available sanitary items, I've remained calm through the entire thing. Why? Because if it's my time to go, I'm prepared to meet my Maker. He has taken wonderful care of me through the ups and downs of life so far, and I don't see why that should change simply because a new illness has arrived on the scene. The question through this event, for me, has been...

Do you trust God or do you not?

My answer is a resounding yes.

The Flower {a short story}

Would the young boy never decide? Mortimer checked his wristwatch one more time and looked to the door. He should flip the sign to Closed and lock the child in until he made his choice, but it would be unprofessional and inappropriate. Still, he needed to close down the shop for the day. His Margaretta would have dinner on the table by now. He could almost taste the rich aroma of his favorite homemade tomato and mascarpone sauce wafting down the back staircase.

Coins clinked together as the towheaded boy in the ratty shirt and hole-spattered jeans counted the money in his palm again. He eyed the medium-sized bouquet of red roses displayed atop the glass counter in front of him. Valentine’s Day was only around the corner, but surely this scrap of a boy couldn’t afford such a bundle of deep-ruby petals.

“What’ll it be?” Mortimer didn’t mean to sound so gruff about it. The day had worn him out. Four orders had been cancelled, due to breakups mere days before the most romantic holiday of the year. Poor chums. Hadn’t found a true pearl like his Margaretta. He decided to soften his tone a bit and try to encourage the lad to make a quick decision. “Have you considered the daisies? There’s a full rainbow of colors to choose from, just in the bins behind you there.”

The boy turned his torso to look for a long moment at the various shades of daisies not far beyond where he stood rooted to the linoleum tiles that had seen better days. When he turned back around, his shoulders curled forward, and his chin nearly disappeared into his t-shirt. “Didn’t sell my bike to Tommy for no stupid daisies.” He swiped a wrist beneath his nose as he sniffed.

Mortimer couldn’t miss the glimmer in the kid’s eyes.

Childhood Memories

Last night, I was thinking about animated Disney movies that I grew up on.

The Little Mermaid was the very first movie I saw in theaters when I was nearly three, and it's forever been my favorite Disney movie. I remember the theater in the old mall that's now demolished (and has been for most of my life, sadly), the Front-Row Joe preview, and, of course, seeing the redheaded mermaid meet her prince on the big screen. While I never wanted to replace Jodi Benson as the best Ariel ever, her vocals and that movie did inspire me to shoot for my dreams. That was the first movie that impacted my ideals, because Ariel's journey showed me that dreams were possible to reach.

(Mrs. Benson, thank you for your work as Ariel. I'm sure you hear this a lot, but your contribution to that movie inspired me and added a touch of whimsy to my childhood. I can't tell you how many Little Mermaid Barbies and Little Toys [action figures] I had because of you. In fact, I still have them.)

Ariel and her voice, Jodi Benson; compliments of Google Images

The song "This Little Light of Mine" also shaped me. It gave me courage, because it told me that God would shine through me if I lived for Him. I've seen proof of this many dozens of times in my lifetime so far, and I'll keep believing it through to eternity.

Vacation Recovery

My family and I went to Corpus Christi and San Antonio a couple of weeks ago, and I feel like I'm still recovering. I totally understand what people mean when they say they need a vacation from their vacation. Haha!

Our vehicle's A/C went out a couple days prior to the trip, so we relied heavily on rolled-down windows and the breeze that God sent at wonderful nearly-too-hot moments... and places that had working air conditioning. The temperatures weren't as hot as they could have been, for which I was so grateful. One of my favorite places we visited was the aquarium in San Antonio, but the river walk was another favorite. I'm not a fan of the boat trips, so we didn't do one of those this time, but walking up and down the narrow sidewalks is always a fun thing for my family and me.

At one of the three beaches we went to, we saw a live crab in its natural habitat. I never thought I'd see one in person outside of aquariums or zoos that have aquarium-type sections, and I think I'm still in happy shock about it. We saw a crab! He was much too fast to snap a picture of, especially since I didn't have my phone on me while wading (better safe than sorry, for it wouldn't take too well to the water if I slipped or something).

The first few days of our trip were still a part of Camp NaNoWriMo, so I would sneak in a couple hundred words once we were back at the rental house for the evening. My total for July was over 54,600 words toward a new (and very messy) draft of a brand-new story. I'm not really sure how to wrap up this draft, but I know I'll have to rip apart this current draft, taking it down to its bare bones and search for the potential hidden deep within them before I can re-flesh it out in a much easier-to-digest manuscript. Other rounds of edits will still have to happen, but my hope is that they will be a lot easier than this first one will be.

Since I've taken a break from writing for over a week now, and since we're home from the trip, I've been catching up on laundry and washing dishes and unpacking and doing other things around the house. I still have another two weeks off from work (I love my tutoring schedule!), and I'm trying to make good use of the time to accomplish chores and reading and watching classic movies on TCM (I discovered I enjoy Red Skelton last Friday; I'd never really seen much of his work before then), and I'll be getting back to writing this week as well.

And apparently, I'm also writing up a summary of random things in this article, because my brain's still too worn out from the trip to be creative right now. I'm hoping to be back to normal next week.

Tell me about you.

How is your summer going?

Did your family and you go anyplace?

What's your favorite thing to do when you have time off from work?

Characters Who... Travel {reading challenge}

We're approaching another month, and that means we're stepping into a new reading challenge.

Summer often brings vacations, which means travel. For August's challenge, we'll be reading books in which the characters travel someplace. It may be domestic or international travel. It doesn't necessarily have to be a vacation for the character. It may also be travel for work or to help out a family member who lives somewhere different than the character who does the traveling.

Please remember to share with us where they traveled when you post your books.

Let's talk vacations now.

(And yes, I want to hear from you in the comments.)

On a Summer Tide by Suzanne Woods Fisher

If you're looking for the next #LessonsLearned article, you're in the right place. That article was supposed to be today. However, due to the back pain I've been in all last week, I am taking a break from the Lessons Learned blog series, as it requires more study time than my physical pain will allow me to pursue right now.

Instead, may I present my review for Suzanne Woods Fisher's new book, On a Summer Tide, which I recently enjoyed reading.

FTC Disclosure: Revell Reads gave me a complimentary copy of this book. A positive review was not required. These are my honest opinions.

What a lovely way to kick off the Three Sisters Island series! This book was a breath of fresh air that raised the stakes of the plot in every chapter. It’s definitely one to learn from, if you’re a writer.

The ensemble cast was superb. Some I hated, plenty I loved, and many surprised me. I loved the idea of sisters struggling to figure out how their lives fit together to make the puzzle of their family come out right. This was totally realistic, as I know from having a sister of my own. We may not always understand each other on every aspect of our lives, but we respect each other and love each other always. I think that same concept was well represented in this book and brought a unique specialness to the story.

Themes of family, forgiveness, faith, trust, and rebuilding a legacy were exquisitely displayed throughout. Each one was explored by multiple characters, in their own ways. That’s what made this story spectacular. Every character, including the island itself, were allowed space to breathe and be itself and react to the others. It was like watching the tide shift from low to high, how the waves crash into their neighbors until their stories become one. Very lovely indeed.

Contemplate a Verse

This weekend zoomed right past me without leaving much time for blogging. (Life happened. What can I say?)

So instead of pushing myself to write and post two articles this Sunday evening (it's currently nearly 9:30 p.m. on Sunday night as I'm typing this up), I'm borrowing something from my other article (found here) to share with you here at Writing to Inspire today.

Here's a verse I'm contemplating this week:

Which verse are you thinking about as you go through the work week?

Click to tweet.

Help me celebrate the U.S. Military in May's reading challenge!

Take a Walk with Me - a short story

Fair warning:

This one's a tear-jerker. Grab some tissues before reading any further!

“Take a walk with me.”

Every day for the past thirty-eight years, Malachi had said the same thing to her at this time of day. Right at sunset with dusk on the other side of the horizon waiting to greet them as they traveled down the old wooden pathway he’d laid in place when they’d built the place up into a special oasis in which to grow their love for each other and the kids they’d eventually had.

Now it was Michelle’s turn to ask him to take a walk with her. Only, she’d be pushing his wheelchair rather than holding his hand as they maneuvered their way through the woods to the vale at the end of the path. It was their special place, and she was attempting to see that even the paralyzing grip of his recent stroke wouldn’t take that away from them.

For all she knew, this might be the last time he’d see the place where they’d spent so much of their married life.

The Purpose of Shame - Guest Roseanna M. White (Part Two)

As I told you last week, a couple of articles by Roseanna M. White have touched my heart and inspired me to re-post them (with permission from the author) so that you, my dear readers, may also enjoy them. Here is part two:

The Purpose of Shame

by Roseanna M. White

I'm by no means the first person to tackle this subject, and no doubt others have done it better than me. But last week when I wrote about "Actions, Reactions, and Being Better," I had an anonymous comment accusing me of "woman shaming/blaming." Another of those phrases that has been tossed around and turned into a fad, but which I think is often misunderstood.

But you know what? Part of the goal to #BeBetter is to know what shame is and why sometimes we need it.

First, let's cover where shame is bad and where you will NOT find me doing it.

Actions, Reactions, and Being Better - Guest Roseanna M. White (Part One)

Not too long ago, I read a moving article by Roseanna M. White. This article and its follow-up were important to issues prevalent in today's society. I appreciated Mrs. White's perspective and wanted to share it with you, my dear readers, so I requested permission to re-post these two articles. Thankfully, Mrs. White granted permission. What follows is the first of the two articles. The second is yet to come here on Writing to Inspire, so please revisit the blog again next week.

Actions, Reactions, and Being Better

by Roseanna M. White

One of the reasons I love writing historicals is to show that the heart of humanity has never changed. No matter whether you're talking about ancient Egyptians or modern Americans or anything in between, there are a few things that we will always seek--our dreams, our goals, our pleasures, family, love, escape from the things we fear.

But we think we've changed. Evolved. Graduated out of certain things. I wonder though. I wonder if we have.

Why NaNoWriMo is Crucial For Me

Finding focus is often a problem for me. As a writer, that is not good. It takes a lot of hours of concentration to create stories worthy of being seen by readers’ precious eyes. When one has undiagnosed attention deficit disorder, as I do, the battle for focus is significantly more than half the war for words.

When I discovered National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWrimo) in 2013, I was skeptical that it would work for me. The goal for that writing challenge is to write a novel (50,000 words) in a single month. Well, that particular month is November, one of the busiest of the year for me. I had already discovered that my mind is very goal oriented, but I hadn’t yet attempted to set such a huge goal for myself in my writing journey. However, I felt like it was a challenge worth taking.