Easter

I think you've all figured out by now that I love holidays in general.  I love the traditions, the time with family, and what they each represent to me.  Easter is probably the holiday that stirs the most emotion in me.  My son has commented on how it's such a happy and sad holiday all at the same time.  This time of year I 'm more likely to tear up during church and more likely to shout "Amen!".  

Last Sunday, we remembered Palm Sunday when Jesus entered Jerusalem to the cries of "Hosanna!" as the people expected Him to become their political deliverer.  They didn't understand that He was much more than that.  By Friday of the same week, He would be arrested and would hear the cries of "Crucify Him!"  

If you've never looked into the pathology of what crucifixion was like, take a moment to do a little research into it.  We're so far removed from that form of execution that we cannot possibly comprehend how horrible it was.  Our artwork has cleaned it up and sanitized it.  It was brutal, grotesque, violent, tortuous, excruciating.  In fact, I read somewhere that the word "excruciating" came from the word "crucify" because the pain was so great that they didn't have a word strong enough to express just how painful it was.  As we head towards Good Friday, just thinking about it is enough to bring me to tears.  To think that Jesus, God's Son, the Creator, the King of kings, was willing to go through that pain for me.  Worse than the pain, He felt the separation from God for the first time and that was the most agonizing part of the sacrifice He made.

Hope seemed to be gone.  After all, how can a dead man deliver anyone?  They didn't realize that the enemy was stronger, more deadly, more powerful than Rome.  He hadn't come to save Israel from Rome.  He had come to save the world from sin and death!  He defeated them both on Sunday when He rose from the dead!  

I know that to some it seems like a fairy tale - a dead man coming back to life.  Historians have backed up that the tomb was empty.  If the disciples had taken the body and were telling a lie, then they went to great lengths to protect that lie, because they gave their lives in brutal ways and never renounced their story.  I believe that they truly saw Jesus with their own eyes after His resurrection.  

Here's the bad news:  We're all sinners.  We all do wrong things.  Whether we whitewash it by calling it "mistakes" or "errors", the fact remains that each one of us has done something wrong.  We've lied or cheated or disobeyed our parents or broken traffic laws.  (Romans 3:23)  More bad news is that the penalty of sin is death.  What we earn with our sins is separation from God forever.  Without God there is no good, no light, no comfort, no hope, no love, no peace, etc.  (Romans 6:23, 2 Thessalonians 1:9)

Here's the good news:  The Philippian jailer asked Paul what he had to do to be saved.  The answer?  Believe.  "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved" (Acts 16:31)  It's not from being baptized, joining a church, giving money or hoping our good outweighs our bad.  It's simply believing.  It's "by faith through grace" that we are saved and not works. (Ephesians 2:8-9)  It's so easy and so hard.  We so want to be able to DO something, but all we have to do is confess and believe that Jesus is Lord. (Romans 10:9)

My prayer is that if you've never done this, that this Easter season, you will put your trust in Jesus.  I've never regretted following Jesus.  He's been my comfort, support and guide and there have been times that all I can do is cling to Him.  Happy Easter!  He is risen indeed!

For I know that my Redeemer lives,
    and at the last he will stand upon the earth. Job 19:25

March Madness

I love this time of year!  I love the intensity, the Cinderellas, the feeling that maybe this year could be THE year.  I love that any team could potentially win any game.  I love the overtimes, the buzzer beaters and the brackets.  

For the past twelve years or so, my family has made March Madness a big event.  We take off work for the first round (second round - however you count it).  We watch basketball all day and eat wonderful food.  We spend time together and make memories.  We fill out brackets and tease each other.  It's a time that I look forward to every year.

This year, Joel and I started celebrating March Madness early.  In May we will celebrate our fifteenth anniversary, but since May is a difficult time for us to get away, we decided to do something that we've been wanting to do.  We left the kids with the grandparents and we went to Las Vegas to the Pac-12 basketball tournament.  It was so much fun!  It was great to spend time alone together, to watch every single tournament game, to eat at restaurants that don't have a kids menu.  We had such a great time!  As much as we love our children and are thankful for them, it was so refreshing to have time without them.  And the kids didn't miss us one bit!  They were having way too much fun being spoiled by their grandparents.  

In the midst of all the madness, I've even been able to write a little bit.  I'm fairly certain that I'm way behind schedule to get three books written this year, but I'll definitely have book four written by fall of this year.  It's been interesting to write as we watch basketball, as the kids play around us, as people are cheering and yelling.  You'd think it would be distracting, but I love it.  As I'm writing this, basketball is on the TV, people are chatting, I can hear the kids' show playing in the next room and dinner is being prepared.  I love these people and this chaos.  I love this madness!

Writer's Block

My cousin got me this shirt for Christmas and I love it.  My characters sort of are like imaginary friends - scary, but true.  Yesterday, they stopped talking to me.  I sat and wrote maybe five sentences and gave up in frustration.  The dialogue seemed forced and awkward.  The story wasn't going any where.  It was frustrating.  So I closed the computer and walked away.  I'm not going to force something just to say that I had written something.  If it's hard to write, then it's time to rest.  

Here's what I'm struggling with right now.  Book four is all about Isabelle and I know where that is going.  Her story is easy to write.  I even have some exciting updates on Georgia and Kate!  Sometimes I have to physically pull myself from their stories to get back to Isabelle.  However, Brooke is not speaking to me right now.  I really don't know where she is going or what to do with her.   I keep hoping that inspiration will hit me and that all of a sudden, I'll know what I should do with her.  But for right now, she's kind of just sitting there in the story, taking up space.

I have some time set aside for writing this afternoon.  I'm hoping that Brooke will start talking to me again and that I'll be able to move her along in the story.  If not, I guess I'll move around her until she decides to tell me where to go.  Characters take on a personality of their own - or at least they should.  It's interesting to see how sometimes they just sort of take over the story.  Or in this case, drag the story down.  The thing is, I like Brooke and I enjoyed writing her story.  But her story is over.  And apparently my brain is satisfied with the ending.  My imagination is struggling to push her somewhere new.  

For now, I'll keep daydreaming, keep writing and keep hoping that I'll be able to get over this writer's block and move the story along.

Dealing with Discouragement

Discouragement can be part of the life of a writer.  It can get a hold of me if I don't watch out.  I can be discouraged when a review isn't quite as glowing as I would like or if my book has very few reviews (my last two books only have one review each).  I can be discouraged that I only have three fans on Goodreads.com - two of them are my best friends.  I can be discouraged that someone bought my book only to return it (what if they read the first chapter and absolutely hated it?)  I can be discouraged that I can't afford to see my books in print or that no publisher has miraculously discovered my books, loved them and is wanting to sign me up to write for their company.  I can be discouraged when I don't have time to write like I would like to.

The worst for me is when I have a slow sales month.  That was what happened last month.  I had one of the worst months I have had since I only had one book published.  I don't know why it was slow and maybe that's what drives me a little bit crazy.  I can think up all sorts of ridiculous scenarios for why things are so bad.  Someone really powerful read my book and then posted a blog to millions of people about how terrible it was, urging them to not waste their time or money on my books.  Or something like that.  I have a very active imagination which is good for writing, but not so good when I begin to worry about things.

So how do I combat discouragement?  First and foremost, I pray.  I put what I am worried about, concerned about, what is dragging me down into God's hands.  They're much better off there than they are with me.  I can do nothing.  He can do anything.  Second, I count my blessings.  I realize how blessed I am that I haven't had a month that slow in two years!  That's something to be thankful for.  I'm thankful for the support of my friends and family.  I'm thankful that even though the sales were slow, I still had some sales.  And believe me, I thanked God profusely over each and every one of those sales last month.  Really, those two things are usually all it takes to bring me out of the doldrums and into the sunlight.  I'm blessed beyond measure and God is taking care of me.  I may not be exactly where I would like to be, but I'm exactly where He wants me to be.  He knows what is for my ultimate good and that's really what I want for my life.

Right now I am thankful that God has blessed me with a great start in sales for the month of March!  And I still thank God profusely for each of those sales as well.  Each one is precious to me.  Starting tomorrow, Smell the Roses, will be on sale for just $0.99!  I'm praying that will help my sales as well, but if it doesn't, I know I'm still in God's hands.

Best Laid Plans (KW Consulting Book 1)
Smell the Roses (KW Consulting Book 2) <---- (This one will be $0.99 March 4 - March 11, 2015)
Dress for Success (KW Consulting Book 3)