Book Tag, Deals, and More! | Fun with Flowers

Over on my author blog, The Heart's Spring, I'm hosting a "Fun with Flowers" bash this week. :) Here's what's happening so far:

• eBook deals on The Heart's Spring series (including a freebie!)

• a quick, flower-themed book tag (you're invited to join!)

• a stroll through visual gardens (all about the pics!)

The fun will continue through Friday, and I'd love to see you over there! 

P.S. Speaking of exciting activities, don't forget the Pride & Prejudice read-along starts on Sunday! You can get all the details HERE.

Newsy

October is coming to a close, and project deadlines are looming! I'm currently working on an editing project for a new client with Editing Through the Seasons, as well as doing a final read-through of client Sandra Leesmith's November release, Love's Refuge. (Interested in participating in the November blog tour? Sign-ups are still open for a couple more days!) Once I wrap up these two projects, I think most of my business projects will be publicity ones for the rest of the year...

...which will hopefully allow me to focus on rewrites for Forget Me Not in November! I'm not officially participating in NaNoWriMo (since I'm not starting a new novel from scratch), but while all my writer friends are working on their new projects, I can pretend I'm a part of it all. ;) I've started to realize just how much work editing this book will be. Yet some ideas have been buzzing in my brain that have me excited to make the story better. You can get a glimpse at the main characters and see a little of where my mind's been via the Forget Me Not Pinterest board, as well as the Forget Me Not "Soundtrack" Pinterest board, which I recently created. (I'm hoping to have the Forget Me Not soundtrack be a little more focused than Bleeding Heart's - maybe that will entice more readers to give it a try, since it's not as overwhelming!)

In other bookish news, I have finally decided to get things rolling for an author newsletter! I'm hoping for it to be a quarterly one (with an issue coming out during each of the seasons), with the first e-mail newsletter being sent out in January, or thereabouts. Maybe I'll even throw in a giveaway, a newsletter-only article, or something like that. In addition to sharing all my latest book news, I'm hoping to also feature some of my clients' books. We'll see how it goes... It should be fun, though!  You can sign up for the newsletter via the link below:

Seasons of a Story Newsletter

(I named my "publisher" Seasons of a Story, in case you were wondering where the name came from. I think it ties in nicely with my business' name and my blog title. =))

And now, for some other noteworthy tidbits...

• The Haunting Joy blog tour concludes tomorrow! There have been a lot of great stops along the way - including a review from a "ghost" (too fun!). To catch up on all the posts, find links to purchase the book, and enter the tour-wide giveaway (which ends tonight!), visit the blog tour page. Also, don't forget that there's a Twitter chat tomorrow at noon EST/9 a.m. PST! It's the first chat Lena and I have hosted, so we'd love to see you there. (We'll even throw in some virtual M&Ms!) You can direct your questions regarding the book, the paranormal genre, Halloween memories, etc., to @lena_goldfinch, and include the hashtag #HauntingJoy. I'll be moderating via @SeasonsHumility.   

• Fellow self-pubbed author Heather Day Gilbert's Viking debut officially releases this Friday (November 1st)! Visit her website to learn more. Sounds epic! And isn't the cover stunning?

• The Kindle Matchbook program commenced yesterday! I enrolled Bleeding Heart. What that means for you is that if you bought (or buy) the paperback version, you can get the Kindle version for FREE, so you can read the book on whichever platform you feel like, whenever you feel like it. Pretty sweet, right? At least, I think so! Let me know what your thoughts are on the program. If you're an author, did you or your publisher enroll your book? If you're a reader, will you be taking advantage of this offer?

• And finally, one last thing on Bleeding Heart - the book is currently only $.99 for Kindle! I'd love any help in spreading the word!

Well, now that I've dumped all that info on you...have a fabulously bookish day! And be sure to stop by again tomorrow for the conclusion to the Haunting Joy blog tour.

Coming Up For Air - To Share!

Hello, all! I've still got a bit of editing left to do on Bleeding Heart before I send it to my proofreader. (Dare I hope I can send it this evening? Still aiming for that goal!) So I've been keeping busy with that and with my freelance editing business - updating my website, preparing a newsletter, sending out blog tour invitations, completing a proofreading project, keeping up with e-mails, etc. Unfortunately, I haven't had much reading time, so no new reviews to share with you yet...but I'm hoping to squeeze in some reading during a trip this week, so we shall see!

In the meantime, I had to come back to the blog to share some cool links with you!

One of my clients, Sandra Leesmith, posted an interview today on the "Seekerville" blog with Lena Goldfinch, my cover designer (and hers)! If you'd like to learn more from a designer's perspective, click on the link below:

The Exciting Process of Developing a Book Cover

AND! Lena now has a name for her business: STONE LILY Publishing & Design Services! I highly recommend her services for both formatting and cover design. She is talented and absolutely delightful to work with. Not only did she give me a beautiful book cover that fits the tone of my book perfectly, but she will also be doing the print formatting and print cover for Bleeding Heart! Exciting stuff!!

Do check out Lena's prices and portfolios:

STONE LILY Publishing & Design Services

Hope you all are having a marvelous week so far! I've been overwhelmed a bit (!) lately, but everyone has been so patient and encouraging (shout out to my Twitter friends - you all rock!), and after the stress of Sunday I was blessed with a super sweet Monday. So grateful for God's tender mercies!

Campfire: Farewell to Camp Humility 2012 (+ Winners!)

Another week at Camp Humility has come and gone - time really does go by so fast! I hope you've enjoyed your time here, from our hike this morning to our fishing excursion and our evenings around the campfire. My wish is that this week was uplifting and inspiring and maybe even a little challenging for you!

And - *insert drum roll* - we have winners! With the help of Random.org's List Randomizer (including the initial entries as well as the extra entries), the winners are:

The Secret Keeper - Aizess!

Garden of Madness - Julie!

Wildflowers from Winter - Michelle T (scraphappy71)! 

Thank you once again to the authors and publishers for providing the books for the giveaway! (And winners, I'll be sending you an e-mail soon to get your mailing addresses!)

(I have to post this button one more time for posterity - I had fun making it, and I was happy with how it turned out! *Grin* Thanks, mybannermaker.com!)

And thank you very much to each and every one of you who stopped by and made this week meaningful and so much fun! Your comments and your enthusiasm - as well as your willingness to go along with this whole virtual camp idea... - really have blessed me. I'm so grateful to call you friends! 

So help yourself to one last s'more before you go!!

P.S. When you're checking out of the cabins, don't forget to check the bathrooms and all around your bunk beds to be sure you didn't forget anything! ;)

In Other News...

• The last couple of years I've hosted a birthday bash here... But since this post-intensive week included a multiple-book giveaway, and since it's close enough to my birthday (this Sunday), I think I'm going to pass this year. But I'll see you again on Monday on the other side of 21! ;) And I might be sharing a recipe with ya'll soon - yes, I'm branching out!

• I think I will be going to Disneyland again this summer (in a couple of weeks), so I'm sure you'll be seeing some posts about that soon, too!

• Also, since my permit expired this last month, I had to re-take the written test and all of that jazz at the DMV... But I got 100% again, so *maybe* there will be more entries to my "driving diary" again - we'll see! ;)

Have a great weekend!

Sundays through the Seasons

Happy April! With a new month comes a few new changes:

I've deleted my "Mondays for the Military" page. This is not to say that I will never have "Mondays for the Military" posts again - this is just an acknowledgement of the fact that this isn't (nor has it been for quite a while) a regular feature anymore. But if you ever want to read those posts from the past, just scroll down to the "Labels: From Days Gone By" section in the sidebar and click the "Mondays for the Military" link.

Speedbo 2012 - the month-of-March-long endeavor - is now officially over. You might be wondering how I did... Well, I can tell you that I didn't finish my current WIP. However, I did log 7,500 words! It may not seem like much, but it's progress nonetheless. After the first couple of weeks I got sidetracked by life and such, and I wasn't sure exactly where to go with my manuscript after writing a critical scene. But yesterday I found some Scripture verses that helped me organize my WIP and give me a general idea of where I might go from here - a blessing indeed! April won't bring much writing time. As my last month of classes, it's going to be papers, tests, and community service hours - oh my!! But summer's right around the corner, so hopefully you'll see some more green on that progress meter I'm keeping in the sidebar soon!

Also, some of you may recall my past "Sundays by the Sea" devotional posts. Today I'm launching a new devotional series: "Sundays through the Seasons." I'd like to do more devotional posts again, and I think this seasonal theme should go nicely with my blog's overall theme and leave plenty of topic ideas open. Hope these posts encourage you! The first devotional in this series is below:

"Love Makes Us Real"

What better movie to watch during spring break (or any time during the spring season) than one about a cute stuffed bunny who ends up becoming a real rabbit? Yes, my family and I watched The Velveteen Rabbit (two different versions, actually - an animated one and the one directed by Michael Landon Jr.) this last week.

Shared in sweet simplicity, this story about a boy and his toy is a beautiful story about the transforming power of love. Here is a stuffed bunny who's future stretches before him bleak and hop-less. He can't do anything on his own. He needs a young boy to imagine him to life - and he lives in fear of being abandoned and unloved one day.

Over time the boy comes to love the velveteen rabbit as he plays with him and takes the rabbit everywhere he goes. In the animated version, it is the boy's love that changes the stuffed rabbit into a real rabbit. In Michael Landon Jr.'s version, it is the rabbit's love for the boy (in addition to the boy's love) that finally changes him. Combined, the message declares that loving relationships are what make us truly "real." The Velveteen Rabbit is a helpful and heartwarming visual of the message of 1 Corinthians:

Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.

And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I can remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.

And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.

(Verses 1-3; emphasis mine)

The velveteen rabbit is burned (or supposed to be burned) along with the other items the boy touched during a case of small pox, in order to get rid of anything that might recontaminate the boy or others. But the bunny comforted the boy during his illness and showed him love, and so his trial through fire, so to speak, finds him transformed into a real rabbit - safe, with a new life.

But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away....

For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.

(1 Corinthians 13:10, 12)

The velveteen rabbit discovered just how amazing being loved and loving can be. He was once just a stuffed rabbit - but then, because of love, he became real.

This Easter (and in every season), the story of the velveteen rabbit serves as a great reminder of the love that sets us free and gives us new life - a real life in which we love others because we were first loved by God.

(Velveteen Rabbit movie cover image from MichaelLandonJr.com.)

Share and Tell

Keeping it short and sweet today with a couple of links I just have to share:

• If you haven't already heard of my excitement regarding a new YA/fantasy series I discovered not that long ago, head on over to The Borrowed Book blog today for my review of Watercrossing, the yet-to-be-released third book in the "Phantom Island" series! The post includes links to my reviews of the first two books in the series, as well. I'm hoping to host the author here sometime during my spring break (next week), so be on the lookout for some fun "Phantom Island" posts coming your way really soon!!

• A dear friend of mine just created a blog called Pandora's Papers, where she's selling handmade cards and seasonal gifts. She's super sweet and quite creative! And with spring officially starting tomorrow, there's no time like the present to find a way to share a bit of springtime cheer with those you love.

That's all for now! Hope you all have a great start to the week! And remember, only 3 more days until the midnight showing of The Hunger Games movie!!! *Cheers excitedly*

Fun Facts Friday

Fun Fact: There's only a little over a week left until Easter! I'm going to spend the day with my sweet roomie and some of her family in Portland. Yay!

Fun Fact: Speaking of my roomie, she's engaged as of last Sunday!!! Yay, Adrienne! Here's a super adorable picture I took of her and her betrothed when he proposed by a waterfall. (And yes, those are rose petals on the rock!) They're getting married in August. I'm so excited for them!

Fun Fact: I really appreciate all of you! Thank you to those of you who took the time to answer my poll! I'm glad that, for the most part, my blog is pretty easy to navigate. (If you don't agree with that, though, feel free to leave me some suggestions in the comments section!) If you want to answer another poll question, just check out the sidebar. ;)

Fun Fact: I love reading! (Not sure if you were aware of that or not...) And I'm really looking forward to reading and reviewing a book called Yesterday's Tomorrow by Catherine West soon! Here's a picture of me with the book (which the author kindly agreed to send to me!):

Fun Fact: I'm also grateful for all of you who shared your opinions with me about some possible future post series! I'm planning on incorporating the series Operation: Let's Get Published!, and I might do some sort of Behind the Scenes feature in regards to publishing/book review programs some time in the future (definitely something to keep in mind!). Also, I'm planning on using something similar to at least one of Vince's ideas (characters interviewing authors) starting with an interview next week with Leanna Sain, author of Gate to Nowhere--thank you, Vince, for the suggestion!

Fun Fact: The month of May means two very exciting things--the beginning of summer vacation and the return of Camp Humility! (For those of you who are new to the blog, Camp Humility is a week-long post series where we all head off to camp! We do games, outdoors activities, and spend our evenings around the campfire. Super fun!)

Fun Fact: I love Bug's Beads! On top of running two awesome blogs (Writing for Christ and Operation Encourage an Author), contributing to The Writers Alley, and writing/reading/etc., my blogging friend Casey has her own jewelry business called Bug's Beads. I've bought several pieces from her for family and friends and one necklace of my very own. She's a pleasure to do business with! Here's a picture of me wearing my lovely necklace:

And although I hesitate to mention a pig right under my picture...in the words of Porky Pig from Looney Tunes: "Th-th-that's all folks!" ;) Happy Friday!

Blog Award # 10 and Some Exciting News!!!

Thank you so much, Kait and Katy from Book Ponderings, for this beautiful award!

On their blog Kait and Katy posted 7 things about themselves to go along with this award, and they passed the award on to 7 other bloggers. I'll do the same thing except cut the number down to 5 for this time. Hope that's OK! ;)

Five Things About Me:

• I'm a Junior at Corban University, which means next year is my last year before graduating with my B.S. Degree in English! And that means that decision time is right around the corner...

• I still don't know how to drive, but hopefully that will change after this summer. ;)
  

• This year my younger sister is graduating from 8th grade on my birthday! How cool is that? And to celebrate, our family is going to Disneyland the day after!!

• News: I've been blogging for almost a whole year! So I hope you'll join me next week for a super fun, week-long blogoversary party, starting Monday!
  

• News: I finished the first draft of my first manuscript this past week during spring break!!! Yep, it still needs polishing and editing (etc.), but I feel blessed and excited to have completed the first draft, even if it is a bit on the short side. Wahoo!!!

And now for the bloggers I'm passing this award on to...

• Laura at LauraFrantz.net
• Casey at Writing for Christ
• Renee at Black 'n Gold Girl's Bookspot
• Joy at Edgy Inspirational Romance
• Carman at A Sequence of Continuous Delights (And happy almost 19th birthday, Carman!!!)

These are just some of the amazing bloggers I'm privileged to call my friends. Thank you, ladies, for having such stylish and inspiring blogs!