Priscilla Shirer's "Fervent"

I loved the movie War Room. I wrote and received permission to mention the movie in my Holiday, USA series. My characters are also inspired by the movie.

I bought the book Battle Plan for Prayer and read it cover to cover. I did the homework. I learned. I discovered that Priscilla Shirer, who plays the wife in the movie, was inspired by the movie to write a book about prayer, Fervent.

She is running a Friday call to study and prayer. I listened to the first vlog (video blog), last Friday, covering the first chapter of the book. I read it and did the homework. I'm looking forward to seeing the changes in me.

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Quote from "A Promise of Possibilities"

The amazing Donna Keevers Driver, author of The Path Chosen (yes, the book captured my imagination), enjoys making memes. With the coming release of Errant Knight, I'm remembering where things started. First there was Elizabeth Thorn and Jonathan Silverton. I'm still a little in love with him, and I'm so glad he has Elizabeth.

Poster for "Leap of Faith Day"

The lovely and talented author/artist Donna Keevers Driver took the quote I sent her and paired it with a picture. This is a bit of Vince Timmons, the hero in Leap of Faith Day, the 9th novella in the Holiday, USA series.

I met Donna through Desert Breeze Publishing and discovered we have a few things in common. We're friends on FB, and I've read her book The Path Chosen. She also lives in Australia. How else would we ever have met? God works in mysterious and marvelous ways.

Errant Knight Cover Art

Carol Fiorillo created another gorgeous cover for my Endless Knights series.

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Finishing edits...

Final edits for Errant Knight are due, today. I love this book and hope my readers love Fitzgerald and Penny as much as I do.

I'm looking forward to returning to work on Knight in Disguise.

What will my world be like without working on my Knights every day?

Learning to Praise God in the Storm.

Sharing Links Saturday

The Writer's Refuge posted a much needed reminder about "What Are You Writing For?":
https://thewritersrefuge.wordpress.com/2016/04/24/what-are-you-writing-for/

Bill Taysom Marketing to Win: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/marketing-win-bill-taysom

Holley Gerth shared a lovely perspective "Hope When Mother's Day is Hard."
http://holleygerth.com/hope-mothers-day/

God bless.

One of the feral cats lazing on the driveway.

Final Edits...

...for Errant Knight are here. Release is scheduled for June. Everything else is put on hold, mostly.

I'll take a moment to mention how much I enjoyed Donna Keevers Driver's debut novel The Path Chosen. I finished it before edits showed up. Time travel isn't my favorite. Having said that I loved this book. I have a tendency to skim through descriptions. I didn't. I wanted to enjoy her turns of phrase and poetic word choices. I agonized with her characters and celebrated. She's now on my "Yes" buy the next book list.

Sunset.

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Leap of Faith Day

The ninth novella in the series is here...

Welcome back to Holiday, USA, small town America, where nothing happens, except holidays... and a little romance, if the hero and heroine trust God.

Her life a mess, EMT Belle Carlisle wants a fresh start. She's lived in Holiday a few years and likes it well enough. She's happy, mostly. 'Be Bold' is her personal aphorism, but it was never intended to include asking a man on a date.

Born and raised in Holiday, Vince Timmons is certain the prettiest EMT on the planet could never be interested in a younger man. Besides, his life is a mess. Not to mention the woman he pursued for over a year humiliated him in public. The last thing he needs is to fall for another woman who doesn't want him.

Man looks on the outward appearance and judges accordingly. God looks on the heart...

Available in eformat through Kindle Direct
http://www.amazon.com/Leap-Faith-Day-Holiday-Book-ebook/dp/B01EX4Y2IO

Or in paperback in the Holiday USA Anthology 2016 edition available in 2017.

Almost ready...

Leap of Faith Day is almost ready. This time, I'd like to share here the Dedication and Acknowledgments page. I don't think most people see it, as Kindle usually pops the book in on Chapter One.

Dedication
To God the Great Provider, including angels on earth. Thank you to all those who see the child in need and provide. My gratitude to my Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ, for being both peace giver and warrior, for not caring about the muck and the mire in His effort to rescue His lost sheep.


Acknowledgements
Thank you to Provident Films, the makers of War Room, and Rik Swartzwelder and Team Old Fashioned for kindly giving me permission to reference their wonderful movies in my Holiday, USA series. I pray my storytelling honors theirs. I'm grateful for their courage and inspiration.

Thank you to John McDougall, Chaplain, U.S. Army, for giving me permission to mention his book, Jesus Was an Airborne Ranger. It inspired and strengthened me in my battle to follow my Commander, the Warrior Jesus.

May God continue to bless them in their efforts.

 

Final stages...

Only a little more work to go and Leap of Faith Day will be ready for publishing. GodTube encouraged sharing this, and I appreciate the reminder:

Links to share Saturday

Beth Trissel shares intriguing herb lore (note the pounded frogs) :
https://bethtrissel.wordpress.com/2016/04/19/to-be-taken-with-a-mixture-of-pounded-frogs-herbal-lore-2/

I thoroughly enjoyed Allison Maruska's post, "Writers, Prepare to be Wrong," over at A Writer's Path:
https://ryanlanz.com/2016/04/21/writers-prepare-to-be-wrong/

God bless.

Desert Breeze Publishing

Donna Keevers Driver's debut book is one of the new releases. She's the creative soul who made several memes for me with quotes from me and my books.

This last one is a picture Donna snapped. Amazing. Best wishes to Donna on her debut.

Posts About Me 9

This is the nineth in a series of posts about me. I hope these help you decide my books are worth the read. I also hope they help save time for those who have no interest in my books. I know there's nothing more disappointing than expecting one kind of book and discovering what I'm reading isn't something I'm interested in reading. Not all books in a single genre are the same. Authors in the same genre are as different as football players on the same team and cupcake bakers. A lot of similarities but no two are alike.

My love my cover artists: Carol Fiorillo and Ruth Mower.

Carol is my cover artist for Desert Breeze Publishing. She's done all my DBP covers, except for the free novella Impossibilities. The cover was matched to other authors' free novellas.

Ruth is my cover artist for my Holiday, USA series. She's a professional photographer and uses her own pictures to create the covers.

I decided to create anthologies of my Holiday, USA novellas so I could have actual copies of my covers. Virtual is nice, but computers crash. In my case, lightning struck close to home and blew up the processor inside my computer. Melted the motherboard. Messy.

Since I loved Carol's covers for my novels, it only made sense to ask if she'd do my anthology covers, incorporating the novella covers.

I endeavor to not visualize in too much detail what I want the cover to look like. A general idea is given to my artists. They have their own ideas. They've both managed to marry my ideas with what works into gorgeous covers I'm proud to call my own. Thank you!

Links to share Saturday

Marketing FAIL by Bill Taysom (C-suite: CEO, CPO, etc.):
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/marketing-fail-bill-taysom

Sara Wolf, over on "A Writer's Path," shared The Average Earnings of Authors:
https://ryanlanz.com/2016/04/14/the-average-earnings-of-authors-2/

"The Writer's Refuge" shared How to Give Your Writing Routine a Creative Boost:
https://thewritersrefuge.wordpress.com/2016/04/10/how-to-give-your-writing-routine-a-creative-boost/

Looking for a cozy mystery? katiescottagebooks recommends "To Helvetica and Back," by Paige Shelton:
https://katiescottagebooks.wordpress.com/2016/04/15/to-helvetica-and-back-by-paige-shelton/

Genesis 5020 shared God's Presence In Our Lives:
https://5020genesis.wordpress.com/2016/04/15/gods-presence-in-our-lives/

God bless.

Posts About Me 8

This is the eighth in a series of posts about me. I hope these help you decide my books are worth the read. I also hope they help save time for those who have no interest in my books. I know there's nothing more disappointing than expecting one kind of book and discovering what I'm reading isn't something I'm interested in reading. Not all books in a single genre are the same. Authors in the same genre are as different as football players on the same team and cupcake bakers. A lot of similarities but no two are alike.

The Holiday, USA series was intended to be a series of novellas, one a month. HA! Live and learn.

I've mentioned before that I struggle with dyslexia. I prefer short stories to long. I prefer longer Regency stories and shorter contemporary. All these contemporary characters crowded my head. I also love the holidays. I always dreamed of decorating my house for each holiday. Someday. Holiday, USA gave me the opportunity combine several ideas. I love ongoing series where previous characters make an appearance.

I also came to the realization that I may never have a place of my own, so I created one.

Holiday, USA is a town of 7,000 to 10,000 people. I wanted it big enough so everyone didn't actually know everyone but small enough that most people were connected. In one of the stories I mentioned that the Six Degrees to Kevin Bacon was excessive. It's small enough to have a centralized downtown and big enough to have their own hospital to serve the town.

The Holiday, USA series gives me the opportunity to spotlight a single couple with a common landscape for all the couples, though Carson McDonald and Terra Connor (Christmas Present) were an exception.

It all started with Happy New Year? The following link will take you to the page on this site that shares the blurbs and covers with each book:

http://laurelhawkes.blogspot.com/p/holiday-usa.html

The next novella is Leap of Faith Day. Edits are in the works. Add a book cover and it will be added to the other novellas available on Kindle. For those who prefer paperback, the four novellas published during the year are gathered into one anthology available through CreateSpace and Amazon.

The next About Me post will tell you about my cover artists.

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Saterday Link Sharing

I think this is useful information for anyone. I adapt it to the business side of my writing. Marketing with Bill Taysom:
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/common-marketing-failure-mindsets-bill-taysom

Donna Hatch writes in defense of Ballroom Regencies:
http://donnahatch.com/intertwining-fantasy-and-history/

Many bloggers are participating in the A to Z Challenge, one of them is Plucking Of My Heartstrings. I was fascinated by "B," which was for Bat Conservation:
http://pluckingofmyheartstrings.com/2016/04/02/b-is-for-bat-conservation-international-atozchallenge/

Always good to see friends succeed, Patricia Johns and her Open Faucet:
http://patriciajohnsromance.com/2016/04/08/open-faucet/

God bless.