A Quick Contest

I somehow ended up with a second copy of Diva NashVegas by Rachel Hauck. I am not only going to give this book away to one lucky winner, but I am also going to humiliate myself for your entertainment in the process!

Below is a picture of me, taken in Hawaii last year. Yes, those are real birds that I am covered with--or with which I am covered. Whatever.



Needless to say, this picture was not my idea. It was my husband's. He seemed to enjoy the experience a lot more than I did.

Anyway, here's the contest. How many birds are perched on me in the photo? It's trickier than it sounds. Some of those guys are camouflaged pretty well. Email me at robing8300 at gmail.com and tell me how many. First one with a correct response wins.

Hey, when I promise humiliation, I deliver!

Review of In Between--By a Teen!

Since Jenny B. Jones's novel In Between is primarily aimed at teenagers, I decided I was not the best person to review it. It's been...uh...let's just say awhile since I was a teenager. I decided to assign it to an expert, my cousin Brittany Jordan, who is not only a teenager but also loves Christian fiction. Without further ado, here's Brittany's take on In Between:

In Between is the first novel written by Jenny B. Jones. The main character Katie Parker is a normal teenage girl with a few differences. Her mom was sent to prison and her dad is out of the picture resulting in Katie being sent to Sunny Haven Home for girls. As soon as she gets used to life in a group home, she is sent to a foster home in the small Texas town of In Between.

This book is about a girl with serious problems but is light-hearted. In Between will keep you laughing. The situations that Katie gets herself into can happen to any one and make it easy for me to relate to her being a teenage girl myself. Katie has the same insecurities that everyone has at one point in life, and it was good to see her process of working through them.

Jenny B. Jones did very well at making the story realistic. I could relate my high school to In Between High School. It was easy to transport myself to the story. I felt like I was there. I would recommend this book to all teenage girls because it shows how much we have to be grateful for and can show that underneath the surface everyone is the same to some degree. While all different everyone has some type of struggle. It will show you all this and provide comic relief. There's not much else you can ask for. Seriously, you need to read this book!

Here I Go Again

I've pointed this out before, but I have to do it again. Have you noticed how unique our individual journeys through writing--and through life--are?

This time, I was struck by the different paths and different lessons from my last two guest bloggers--Marlo Schalesky and Jenny Jones. Marlo is all too acquainted with the long road, the years of waiting and frustration. God eventually asked her to let go of her dreams of publication and simply trust him. He asked her to long for him more than for that publishing contract.

For Jenny, on the other hand, publication came about very quickly. She, too, felt God speaking to her through the experience. In her case, he prompted her to expect more, to believe that he was capable of doing incredible things. Jenny mentions being amazed at how "personal" God was during all this.

That personal touch strikes me in both stories. Whatever we're striving for, God will use it to shape us as we need to be shaped. If we're letting our dreams consume us instead of being filled by him, he may tell us to wait awhile, to focus on him instead of ourselves. If we're dreaming too small, putting God into a little box, he may just ask us to step out of that little confined space and see how much he can do.

Likewise, Jesus dealt with the people he met on an individual basis. How many times did he tell someone to lay down their fishing nets, leave their lives and follow him? The "rich young ruler" was confounded because Jesus told him to sell everything he had and give it to the poor, then come follow him (Matt. 19:21). Jesus knew the young man was holding on so tightly to his wealth that he couldn't focus on God.

But when Jesus cast a demon out of a man, who responded by begging Jesus to let him follow him, Jesus told the man, "Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you." (Mark 5:18-19, NIV)

In my own case, I know God has asked me to let go of my publishing dreams, too--maybe not forever. But for a lot of years I held onto them way too tightly. Right now, I'm not sure whether he's going to ask me to just tell my family what he's done for me, or whether he'll want to open up the world and write his messages through my novels.

Either way, I know he has that road planned just for me.

Jenny B. Jones on First Novels and Dreaming Big

Jenny B. Jones's first novel, In Between, is supposed to be mainly for teen readers, but I'm going to have to pick it up. Any book described "Annie meets Gilmore Girls" is definitely for me. Also, her answers to my interview questions about her writing and first publishing contract are so much fun that I want to read her novel now. Here's the interview:

Tell us a little about In Between.
In Between was a lot of fun to write. It’s sort of like Annie meets Gilmore Girls. The story is centered around Katie Parker, a 16 year old girl who can’t catch a break. With a mother in jail and a father unaccounted for, she finds herself in a mini-van bound for In-Between, Texas, home of her new foster parents. Katie finds or creates chaos at every opportunity as she adjusts to life with this family. Her foster parents, a pastor and wife, have a few secrets of their own, and life begins to unravel for everyone.

Is it your first novel?
Yup, first one out of the chute. There are three in this series. I’m finishing up book three, The Big Picture, and book two, On the Loose, will be out this September.

How long have you been writing fiction?
Since the summer of 2005. I’m a teacher though, so I’m surrounded by fiction daily. Like reasons not to have homework, why that spitball just flew across the room, that sort of thing. Great inspiration.

How did you decide to write books for teens?
I really felt the call. I just knew chick-lit was my place, and I had a vague idea for a book in my head, but God kept building this story of teenager Katie Parker in my head. It grew and grew until I knew I had to write it down. And it’s been a blessed, anointed journey ever since.

How did your first book contract come about?
This is a total God story. I had just decided to get serious about pursuing writing the summer before ACFW Conference in ’05. I have written all my life, but never with a driven purpose. So that summer I accepted the fact that there wasn’t a publishing fairy who was gonna wave her wand over me, and that if I really wanted to be published, I was going to have to get proactive. So I signed up for the ACFW conference and signed up for a critique with a published CBA author that I thought was most likely to “get me.” In the meantime, I rededicated my prayer time to include the Prayer of Jabez and changed my attitude and expectations. God was gonna do something big in my life.

Fast forward to the ACFW conference in 2005. I’m going there armed with nothing but anxiety, big hopes, and my work in progress, which weighed in at a whopping 20 pages. I didn’t sign up for editor or agent appointments, as I was advised not to since I didn’t have anything close to a completed manuscript. But I was completely prayed up and totally confident (which is so not me) that God was gonna move some mountains for me. I went into that conference with nothing but my giant, impossible expectations. On day two I had my critique with this author. She gave me some great advice and suggestions, then offered to contact NavPress and see if I could send them a proposal (which I didn’t even know what that was at the time!). On March 24 at 2:17 p.m. while driving down the Interstate 540 in Arkansas, I got the call from Nav and was offered a contract. I know the likelihood of that all happening is zero percent. I love that about God.


Was there ever a time in your writing journey that you felt like giving up? How did you get through that time?
Not any big “I want to give up” moment, but lots of small bursts of “I’d rather be watching Oprah or playing baseball with my nephew.” Writing commands your time and can dominate your life. I’m still in the learning stages of time management (Did you know some people are born with this skill? I think I really dislike them.) and prioritizing where I don’t miss the important things, like a movie with friends or my grandmother’s birthday.

What is the best writing advice you have ever received?
The author that worked with me at the ACFW Conference in ’05 said something to me I will never, ever forget. When I told her I had been advised not to pitch that week, she said, “The rules are made for everyone but you.” (Not me as in me personally, but for those willing to take the chance.) I have no doubt this author didn’t know she was saying something of monumental importance to me, something that so fit with my Prayer of Jabez attitude. But when I heard that I got chills. I heard the hallelujah chorus. I felt the arms of God around me. I left that room and immediately burst into tears at how personal and amazing God is. It was my confirmation that God was right there in all of this. I went to ACFW with these ridiculous expectations, and He met me there. Now if I could just get Him to give into my ridiculous expectation of wanting my body to look like Jennifer Aniston’s (exercise free, of course)…

What advice would you give aspiring writers?
Pray, pray, pray. And dream big. God is a big god, and he is not limited by our own limitations. I’m capable of so little, but the God who created the sun and moon wants to orchestrate my life too.

And also get involved—join an organization like ACFW. Invest in some writer’s conferences. Within days you will be a changed writer. Get proactive and stop waiting. If God is telling you to write, get thee to a keyboard. Or grab a pen and some Sonic napkins. Whatever.

Is there anything else you'd like to share with us?
We have a great time over at my blog, where anything goes, and we talk about all the important things in life—like Prince William, Britney’s new haircut, or London’s RoboPigeons. If you’re not visiting it, your life is probably lacking some substance.

No Disasters! Yay!

I'm sure I would have had more entertaining stories to tell from our beach camping trip if things had gone wrong, but fortunately for me, it was perfect! Absolutely heavenly!

(That's my husband Dave on a walk down to the lighthouse.)

In spite of predictions of thunderstorms, we had blue skies every day. In spite of hot temperatures, the beach had a nice breeze and stayed cool. Since there's not much to tell, I'll just show a few pictures.

We tried to get Ferbie to go in the water, but he just laughed at us.

My fellow librarian Felicia, of Fluffy Flowers, makes all kinds of creatures, including sweater kitties. She made this pirate kitty for me. Naturally, being a pirate, he had a hankering to visit the sea.

My parents have been married for 58 years but still snuggle by the ocean!

This is what happens if you spray your feet with sunscreen while wearing flip-flops, then take off the flip-flops to go out in the sun. I'm just glad I had the sunscreen, or I would look like that red V all over!

In the Aftermath of Fire. . .The Waiting Game

Today's guest blogger is author Marlo Schalesky. Without further ado, I'll turn it over to Marlo:

Robin, thank you so much for allowing me to share with your blog readers a little about waiting and living after life’s storms. You see, my latest novel, VEIL OF FIRE, deals with the one of the greatest firestorms of American history – the great fire of 1894 Minnesota. The story chronicles not only one town’s journey through fire and its aftermath, but also reflects much of my personal journey through pain, perseverance, and dying to my dreams to live God’s. Below are some questions and answers that talk about what I’ve learned in the waiting, and through the firestorms of life.

Q: In what ways has waiting affected you in your personal life, and how does the theme of Veil of Fire connect with your own life?

A: Once, when I was a child, I believed in miracles. The impossible was only a prayer away. Fairy tales were real, and dreams were free. But somewhere, in the journey, in the waiting and hoping for my dreams, I lost the ability to trust. I stopped daring to believe. And I wondered what happened to me.

Life happened. Failure, discouragement, pain, loss. For me, that failure and pain came in the form of years of infertility, mixed with miscarriages. The failure, the endless waiting with monthly reminders that I wasn’t pregnant, yet again, became for me a fire that burned and scarred me. It was so hard to wait through that, to keep on, to believe and submit to God’s love and will in my life.

And as I’ve been thinking about fires, about living through them, about waiting in the aftermath, I’ve discovered that I’m not alone. Somewhere, somehow, life burns us all. And we realize that this life we live is not the one we once dreamed. The realities of life scar us. Doubts rise. Fear whispers that hope is gone. And what was once a simple faith can fail in the face of that fear.
Then, in the midst of life’s disillusionment, choices appear. Do we retreat? Hide our hurts far from probing eyes? Do we embrace bitterness and cynicism? Do we use deceit to try to obtain our goals? Do we give up, give in, forget that we ever dared to dream? Or is it possible to reach the high places of faith in the low valleys of life’s reality? Can we still live a life of bold faith, of fierce hope, when fairy tales don’t come true? How do we live this life that God has given us when it’s not the life we dreamed?

These are the questions I wanted to explore in Veil of Fire. These are the questions which underlie each character’s journey in the aftermath of the great fire of 1894. They’re the questions that have shaped my life through my own journey through infertility, miscarriage, failure, and loss.

So, for those burned by life, for those who carry scars that cannot be seen, for those who have retreated for fear of more pain, this story is for them, this journey from the hidden places of pain to a new hope in the unhidden truth of Christ’s love.

And I hope, I pray, that God will use Veil of Fire to not only give people a great read, but to also heal hearts and make some lives better in the living of them.


Q: How have you grown personally through your own fires and through writing this book on fire?

A: Through the firestorms of my life, through infertility and miscarriage, and through writing Veil of Fire, God is showing me that I cannot measure his love by my successes and failures, or even by my happiness. Who I am on the inside, how I am being shaped into the likeness of Christ, the character of my life – the color and beauty of it – are what are important to God. And to create that color and beauty, sorrow is necessary. Hurtful things happen. Fires rage. All my dreams don’t come true. But His do.

And in that, I’m starting to understand that my life, too, is a story that God is writing. And since the best stories have conflict, disappointments, and plenty of action, I shouldn’t be surprised when my life takes a turn and my faith is challenged once again.

And yet, my sorrow matters to God, my tears are counted by him as precious. He does not leave me alone in my hurt. He does not abandon me in the fire. He touches me, he heals me, he creates beauty from the ashes of my pain, even when there are more disappointments than victories.

So I’m learning to walk through the fires in my own life. And to dig deeper – not to answer the question of why but the question of who – who is God really, who am I, and who is he making me to be? Those are the questions that matter. Those are the things that help me to face my own fires, accept my own scars.

Q: Tell us about your journey to publication. Have you experienced waiting there too? What have you learned through that?

A: When I was thirteen years old, I wrote a poem on the bus on the way to school. It was about an old tree, forlorn and desolate, standing alone in a field. I read that poem at every recess, tweaked it, polished it, and for the first time, felt the thrill of how the written word can convey profound beauty. That day, I fell in love with writing.

Shortly after that, I told my mother (with all the angst of a newly-turned teenager), “I will just die if I don’t write!” So naturally when I grew up I decided to get my degree in Chemistry. And, oddly enough, I didn’t die. I enjoyed chemistry. But always that desire to write was with me, in the back of my mind, saying “Someday, someday.”

Someday finally came. I started writing articles for various magazines and putting out proposals for book projects. I thought it would be easy to get my first book published, but alas, it took years of writing and honing my craft (7 years, in fact, before my first book was published).

But more than that, it took giving up my dream entirely. For me, I had to come to a place in my heart where I didn’t have to write to be content. I had to let go of that strong desire born at thirteen years old and embrace God’s will for me whether that will included writing or not. Only then, only when my dream had given way to God’s, was I offered a contract by Crossway Books for my first published book released in 2000 .

Q: What’s the biggest mistake you’ve made while seeking publication?

A: Wanting it too badly. Our culture tells us to pursue our dreams, reach for the sky, dream big, nothing’s impossible if only you try hard enough. Sounds good. But for me, that philosophy was deadly. I needed to completely surrender my dreams in order to live God’s. It was like ripping out part of my soul. But it was worth it. Now, when I write, it can be an act of worship and obedience, instead of something that’s all about me and my dreams.

Q: Finally, will you tell us a little more about this powerful new book, Veil of Fire?

Sure, here’s a blurb:
A Raging Firestorm . . .
A Light in the Hills . . .
And a Mystery Rises from the Ash.

In 1894, the worst firestorm in Minnesota history descends on the town of Hinckley. Heat, flame, and darkness sweep through the town, devouring lives, destroying hope. In the aftermath, the town rises from the ashes, its people determined to rebuild their lives.
But in the shadows, someone is watching. Someone is waiting. Someone who knows the secrets that can free them all. A rumor begins of a hermit in the hills - a person severely burned, disfigured beyond recognition. Doubts rise. Fear whispers. Is the hermit a monster or a memory? An enemy or a love once-lost?

Based on historical events, Veil of Fire beckons to a time when hope rose from the smoke of sacrifice, when trust hid behind a veil of fear, when dreams were robed in a mantle of fire . . .

So for me in writing this book was very much an experience of discovering fire as a character with a life, a beauty, and a terror of its own. I discovered how fire can change you, can scar and maim, but in the end, may just make you new. And so, writing with fire is much like writing with God, unpredictable, powerful, but wondrous as well.


For more information about VEIL OF FIRE, a preview of the entire first chapter, and discussion questions for groups, please visit http://www.marloschalesky.com/. Special incentives for book groups also available at www.cookministries.com/readthis. Or to order on amazon, visit amazon.com.

Marlo Tomorrow, and then I'm Gone

Just a reminder that I plan to post the Marlo Schalesky interview tomorrow, so be sure to look out for it.

After that, I'm heading out for one of our big family camping trips. I'll be gone until next Tuesday, and will catch up with you then. I really hope I have very little to report. I'm ready for a boring, sunny trip for once.

Although I already checked the 10-day weather forecast for that area. A bright yellow sun is shown every day until we depart. Then there's thunder clouds and lightning bolts for the next four. The day I go back to work--and several following--a big yellow sun again.

Oh well, if there are no evacuations or tents blowing past us in the wind, I'll probably be happy.