The Missing Verse

In my excitement and hurry to get Always a Bridesmaid published, I forgot something. I forgot to put in the Bible verse in the front matter of the book. I always include a verse, something that I feel goes along with the story somehow, but when I was building the front matter for this book, I missed it. The funny thing was that I had a verse all picked out, I just somehow missed putting it in. Since I realized that I had forgotten it, I was able to update the manuscript and get it up on Kindle so anyone who bought the book recently will find it included. If you bought the book the first day or two, here is the verse that is missing. "Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life." (Proverbs 13:12)

Each book in the series has a different focus. Best Laid Plans was about how God has plans for our lives and sometimes they're not what we expected. Kate had planned to be with Jeff when she was in high school, but that wasn't the plan for her life. She developed a new plan, only to find out that God had different ideas once again. I know that sometimes it's hard to let go of the plans that I've arranged for my life and let God take control, but after He pries my fingers off my plan, I can usually see how it was better for me to go the way He wanted me to.

Smell the Roses was about slowing down from the busyness of life. I honestly still have trouble with this. My calendar is so packed full it's ridiculous, but we weren't created to be constantly on the go and eventually it catches up with us. God didn't rest on the seventh day after creation because He was worn out. He was giving us an example. Yes, work is good - even in the Garden of Eden, God gave Adam work to do - but rest is important, too. You can also see it in the commands that He gave to Israel. We need time to rest and recharge and it's not weakness to need to relax. It's necessary. Georgia had to learn that if you don't slow down on occasion, you're heading for problems.

Dress for Success was about where true beauty lies. Brooke was beautiful on the outside, but it was her internal beauty that made her so attractive. There have certainly been people I've known who I thought were so good looking, but then I got to know them and they were arrogant, rude, mean-spirited, selfish and suddenly I realized that they weren't as good looking as I had thought. Then I've known others who I thought were only average looking, nothing special, but I got to know them and they were so sweet, kind, wonderful, loyal, giving, that one day I looked at them and wondered why I ever thought they were average, because now I thought they were beautiful! Our internal beauty (or lack of it) eventually shows on the exterior.

Finally, Always a Bridesmaid focuses on waiting for God's timing. I don't know how many times I've heard, "I know I need to wait for God's timing, but . . . "  I've certainly said it myself on occasion. Waiting is so hard. For me, I think it's the fear that the answer might not be 'wait', but 'no' that makes it so hard. In this world of instant gratification, I think it's only getting harder to have to wait until the time is right. When that time comes, though, it's a wonderful, beautiful thing!

For the first time, I can post the links to all four books for the KW Consulting series! If you haven't read them all, just click on the link to purchase them through Amazon. 
Best Laid Plans (Book 1)
Smell the Roses (Book 2)
Dress for Success (Book 3)
Always a Bridesmaid (Book 4)

New Book Cover

I love it when I get the new book cover! It's so exciting to see a book getting to the point of being ready for purchase. I think I'll actually have this one out before September!

Ordering a book cover is pretty easy. I've always used killercovers.com and they've done a wonderful job for me and listen to the recommendations I have. I usually get a cover within a week of ordering it and then have an opportunity to ask for changes to be made or sometimes I have to decide between two covers. After that the changes are made pretty quickly and I have my cover back that I can download and use. I only had a couple of changes on this cover and I love the result.

Isabelle's story is called . . .

My mom gave me her final edits this weekend and she says there isn't much. I need to finish those and then format the book to make it ready to publish. Then I'll upload it onto Amazon and it will be available to purchase! I expect it to be available by the end of the week.

If you haven't read the rest of the series, they are also available on Amazon to read on Kindle. (And Kindle has a free app for any smart phone, tablet or even a computer.) You can find the other three books by clicking the links below. I can't wait until I can share Always a Bridesmaid with you, too.

Best Laid Plans (Book 1)
Smell the Roses (Book 2)
Dress for Success (Book 3)

A Mind of Their Own

My mom finished her first read through of book four and we were sitting around talking about it. She was telling me about how frustrating some of the characters were this time. I agreed and said that as I was writing I was thinking, "Oh man! He's going to do that and it's going to be so bad!"

My dad laughed and said, "They're your characters! Can't you control them?"

To which I very honestly replied, "No! They have a mind of their own. I didn't even realize that Isabelle's sisters were twins until halfway through."

My dad found this very amusing. It seems strange that it could come from my mind and yet sometimes I feel like I have very little control over the story, Sometimes as I write I almost gasp and think, "I did not see that coming!" It's very weird.

I don't know if this happens to every author or if I'm just strange. I wouldn't be surprised if it's the latter. The thing is that my characters almost have a life of their own in my head. Sometimes I sit there and shake my head at their actions and sometimes they make me smile. But they always keep me on my toes.

I honestly wasn't sure how I would do writing Isabelle's story. She's probably the character that least resembles me. She's bold and confident and extremely creative! I have to say that I really enjoyed developing her more. I don't know that I have a favorite character - it's sort of like choosing a favorite child - but Isabelle is such a positive person that she was a joy to write about. And I know she's just a make believe character from my imagination, but it's still true. I hope that my readers enjoy getting to know her better.

While Mom and I were talking about the book, my mom said that she was reading about the bridal shower that Isabelle plans for Brooke and she thought, "Isabelle is so creative!" Then she thought for a moment and realized that Isabelle was fictional and really it was out of my imagination that the idea for the shower came! I'm not sure I could have come up with it though, if I hadn't been looking at the world through Isabelle's eyes. That bridal shower has been talked about by all three of my editors who all think it was such a fun idea!

My mom has finished her first read through and I've made the edits she gave me. My sister has finished, but I haven't received her edits yet. I know that Meghan was close to finishing the last I heard from her. She told me that she had been reading before work and hadn't wanted to stop! I'm always happy to hear things like that.

And . . .  I've ordered the book cover! In about a week I should get the first drafts to go through. Sometimes they send me a couple to choose from and sometimes I give them some requests to change their initial design (usually it's slight things, they do such a wonderful job!) As soon as we get the finalized cover, I will share it and the title with you all!

In the meantime, I have been continuing to write the next series. With my kids in school, I am getting some nice, long, uninterrupted segments of writing in and I'm very much enjoying how quickly it's coming along! I can't wait to share Isabelle's story with you and then for you to join me on my next journey! Writing is such a fun adventure!

Starting Again

Every ending is a new beginning. That's certainly not an original thought, but it's true. The end of KW Consulting isn't the end of my journey. I've loved writing about Kate, Georgia, Brooke and now Isabelle. They've each had their own joys and challenges. I believe that they've each helped me progress as a writer as well.They'll always have a special place as my first characters. But it's time to end their stories and move on.

I already know what my next series is going to be and I've even started writing the first book of the next series. Already I'm in love with the new characters, new places, and new stories. My mind is flooded by images of what's going to happen next and I'm so excited about where I know it's going that I have to force myself to slow down. I'm hoping to have the first book completed by the end of this year. I hope that I'm not setting my sights too high and making an unattainable goal, but I think it's doable.

Another change in my life right now is that my youngest child has begun preschool. I'm hoping that this will give me some uninterrupted writing time and help me make my goal. Right now we're still in the "settling in" phase of a life change. My two older children begin school on Thursday and I'm confident that we'll settle into a routine quickly. Once we've all adjusted, I'm sure that I'll be getting some quality writing time in and I'm excited to see how much I can get done in that time.

Although I'm sad to be through with KW Consulting, I'm excited about my new series and I can't wait to share it and see if you guys like it as much as I do! In the meantime, the last book of KW Consulting hasn't been completed quite yet. My sister has finished her edits, but I'm waiting on my mom and Meghan's edits as well. As soon as they're finished, I can complete the last book and get it published on Amazon. I'm still anticipating a September release and it won't be long before I'm revealing the new cover art and the title! By the way, my sister has said that this fourth book was definitely her favorite. I can't wait to hear if others agree with her!