Book Giveaway!

Guys. Book giveaway. Need I say more?

Ok, maybe I don't NEED to say more, but I will. It's the start of the Christmas season, which is a REALLY big deal for me. So to say thanks and merry Christmas to my fantastic readers, I'm giving away a signed copy of each of my paperback books to one winner. This is my first time ever really running a blog giveaway, so I wanted to start pretty simple. If it's a success, you can definitely look forward to more giveaways in the future! The giveaway is open for entries RIGHT NOW and runs until Sunday, December 10th. That gives you just a few days to enter! I'll announce the winner on Monday, the 11th. That's only one week from today! Eeeeek!

Also, I wanted to mention that next week, from the 10th to the 17th, I'm running a Kindle Countdown Deal for Betrayer. You'll be able to pick up a copy of the e-book for only $.99!

Thanks, guys, for all the support, prayers, and encouragement. And Merry Christmas!

To enter, check out the link to Rafflecopter. It's super simple. I promise.
http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/a328b2b51/?

Giveaway is open to residents of the US and Canada.

Unseen Things Now in Paperback

Reader dear, check this out-- Unseen Things is now available in paperback!

Unseen Things, the novella I created with my co-conspirator Abby Rodriguez, started off as a serial that I ran on my blog, with twelve illustrated episodes, and we had So. Much. Fun. with it. It's probably been the most entertaining thing I've ever worked on as a writer. Possibly that has to do with it being so far removed from what I usually write. Rather than Fantasy adventure/romance, this one's Christian dystopian spec-fic. It's a really dark story, but I loved playing with the concept of spiritual light and darkness touching on the world of physical light and darkness. It was a great theme to work with, and I fell in love with these characters, even though one of them-- I won't name names--totally didn't cooperate and die when they were supposed to. Whatcha gonna do.

Anyhow, check it out on Amazon. Unfortunately, the print version doesn't have Abby's great comic-style artwork, so if you want to enjoy that, you'll have to stick with the Kindle book for now.

And stay tuned for some other cool announcements coming up. Until then, happy reading!

The Art of Celebrating Christmas

Greetings, dear reader!

What was that? Did I hear a groan of disgust from one of you? Don't say the C-word until after Thanksgiving? Is that what I hear you complaining about? Well bah, humbug to you too! Just consider yourself lucky that I was being nice and waited until after Halloween to post this! Christmas has been going of for weeks already here.

"But why?" you say. "Isn't it bad enough that everyone's already pulling out the Christmas merchandise and commercials? Do we really have to hear it from you now, too? Why so much fuss over one day?"

Well, I'm just so glad you asked. Mwahahahahaaaaaaa.

Ok, ok, I'll admit, I'm not super crazy about the commercialism that hounds us this time of year. The cheepo Santa Clause crap that pops up everywhere. The pressure of spending too much money for stuff that no one really needs. If that's what you're bemoaning, then I'm right there with you, friend. Cause that ain't Christmas!

Christmas isn't a day. Not just a day that we spend weeks preparing for just so we can suffer that inevitable afternoon letdown once the gifts are opened and the meal is eaten and we're faced with a week's worth of dirty dishes, loose wrapping paper, fallen pine needles, and sugar-crazed chaos. Just, no. Christmas is a season. It's a celebration. Don't ever forget that. Don't let it become "Gone Bankrupt Day" like Thanksgiving has turned into "Turkey Day."

Think about it: midwinter just hit. It's dark. It's cold. The worst of winter is yet to come. The winter solstice welcomes in the DARKEST days of the year. And get this-- before Christmas-- that is, before Christ's birth-- the world was lost in that same kind of all-consuming darkness, without hope. I mean, really, what kind of hope did they have? Without any of the things we take for granted now, amenities like, for most of those who will be reading this, modern medicine, food, warmth, dreams and ambitions, the freedom to pursue any path toward happiness that we choose, the hope of heaven, for those who follow Jesus, and the comfort that comes with that, of knowing that this world is the worst thing we'll ever have to see. Before Christmas, things were just getting darker. Then Christ came.

Christmas is a celebration of Light. Or didn't you ever stop to think about those millions of feet of sparkly, twinkly lights that go up every year, and what kind of a statement they're supposed to make? The winter solstice is past, and now, no matter how cold the winter gets, light is coming. Spring is coming. It's not going to get any darker. And Christ, the Light of the World, has come. We have hope.

Ain't anybody gonna tell me I have to wait till after Thanksgiving to celebrate that!

So when October hits, and the days get noticeably shorter, and the nights get a whole lot colder, I start looking toward Christmas, and thinking about light. I could wax poetic-- literally (as evidenced by the poem at the top of the post)-- but I won't. At least not too much. But when I was growing up, Christmas was an EVENT. It started in August, during fair season, and involved lots of evenings listening to Christmas music and stories while working on projects. There were lots of horrible, childish crafts that I was so proud of, and lots of things I still love to do. Painted pinecones and wooden ornaments, lovingly set aside to be hung on the tree. Handmade gifts, designed and crafted especially with that one person in mind. Evenings when all but the Christmas lights would be turned off, and instrumental Christmas music turned on (Manheim Steamroller has always been a favorite), and you can just bask in the peace and the beauty and let your imagination follow the music and create stories and scenes that it brings to mind.

Maybe because we were poor, it was always a really big deal to go Christmas shopping. When you only have a very limited budget to spend on it, it becomes a treasure hunt of the first order, patching together bought items with homemade items, looking for a great deal on some fun little thing. When did buying the latest electronic gadget equal happiness? Please. There is an art to Christmas shopping, and it doesn't involve gaming systems or smartphones. Were some of our gifts a little corny? Absolutely. But they made the best memories. They meant everything, both to the person giving and the person receiving, because they had character. They had careful thought put into them. They weren't just an obligation. They were an expression of love-- just like the gift of Jesus.

So please, I beg you, as soon as humanly possible, drop everything and make some hot spiced cider. Put on some carols. Turn off the screens and just be still. Think about the people who mean the most to you, and how you could express that. Most of the time, the best way to do that doesn't involve much money at all. Christmas isn't a competition for who spent the most. It's a celebration of light, and all the people who bring light into our lives. It's isn't an obligation, it's an opportunity.

Here's to wishing you all a very long and satisfying holiday season! I would LOVE to hear about special Christmas quirks and traditions you or your family has. Or Thanksgiving, for that matter! And don't count on this being the last and only Christmas flavored post you'll be getting from me. I'm a bit holiday happy. LOL

The Effort / Enjoyment Ratio

Greetings, Lovelies! Long time no post. Oops. Sorry about that. My overthinking habits get me in trouble yet again. I've been thinking that possibly in future I might try throwing some shorter, bite-sized posts up. Not that I tend to write horribly long blog posts, but by the time I get done overthinking them, believe my, my brain is telling me they're massive. Or they just stay unwritten, because I want to explore and overthink every single aspect of an idea before I write about it, so nothing ends up getting written at all, and... well, you get the idea! Yikes! Anyhow, thanks, y'all, for your patience as I work on getting this whole author blog thing figured out.

A couple quick updates on what's been happening lately...

I had the opportunity to participate in a local authors' evening at the Honesdale library a couple weeks ago. That was pretty scary. Got to polish up my non-existent public speaking skills. But it went pretty well. We had a decent group, but not big enough to be a lot intimidating. Only a little. LOL.

My books, Betrayer and Quench the Day are now available for sale at Loose Leaf Pages, an ADORABLE book and tea shop in Honesdale. If you have a chance, stop in and check them out on Main Street, and have one of their fabulous house blend loose-leaf teas.

I've been hard at work on book 2 in the Red Wolf Trilogy, and am happy to report that it's coming along nicely.

And here's a little something to leave you with. It's an idea that's been in and out of my attention for quite a while. I lovingly refer to it as the effort / enjoyment ratio. It goes something like this...

The more effort you put into something, the more enjoyment and fulfillment you will get out of it.

And that, in a nutshell, is why I love writing so much. It's time consuming. It totally takes over my brain space. It's really lonesome. It takes major commitment. Its downright ROUGH some days. But I get so much more out of it than, well... most things. People who love books never fail to say that they're better than movies. Movies are easy. No effort required. You sit and watch and don't think, and when the show is over in an hour or two or three, it leaves you hungry for more. More eye candy. More thoughtless entertainment. It isn't particularly satisfying. Books take hours to read. Sometimes a whole day's worth of hours. They require attention and imagination. It's so much more fulfilling when you close the pages of a book and realize that you haven't just been entertained, you've thought, you've understood, you've been someone else and experienced new things. You've been to another world and back. Well, how much more so when you're writing that book. A single scene could take days to write. You live it, over and over, analyzing every detail and which ones need to be put in and which ones need to be left out. You are completely immersed in what your characters are going through, studying their emotions and experiences until you assimilate them into your own personality and memories. Writing a book becomes a part of you, knitted into your DNA in a way that people who don't write will never understand.

I'm convinced this theory holds true for pretty much everything, not just the satisfaction level of your entertainment. The more you put into something, the more it will give back to you. Whether it's your faith, your marriage, your friendships, or your time at the gym. It's so easy to be lazy and choose the lowest level- the "it's ok" level of happiness and set cruise control. But don't stay there! Kick your life up a few notches from "it's ok" to "it's freaking awesome!" Put it the hours. They're worth it!

Praying for Hollywood

Hello, my lovelies!

I realize it's been a while since I've posted--again. Don't know about you, but summer always seems to get away from me. But there's always one thing for certain, as I warned a friend recently...with absence of words comes a multitude of thoughts. So much so that I never know how to even begin to sort them out. But as I was re-writing my 'about' page a few weeks ago, especially the part about the importance of storytelling, I kept thinking so much about the entertainment industry, and how... all consuming it's become.

I often wonder about American Christians in general, and myself in particular, when it comes to our entertainment diet. Everyone draws the line in a different place when it comes to our standards, and what we deem as okay in movies or books, or what we are willing to put up with for the sake of a good story. How much filth is ok? Or is it all just a matter of what you've worked out with your conscience? Is entertainment so important that we're willing to watch or listen to people who hate Christ and everything that Christianity stands for trample on our beliefs and the name of our God? How does that fit in with our calling to be holy? Should we really be partaking of any secular entertainment at all? Yet on the other hand, stories ARE important. There are many times that I've been more touched by a spiritual truth from watching a secular movie than I have from reading a Christian book. Even if they did cuss a lot. There are several rabbit trails that my brain wants to latch onto just with that statement, but I'll maybe come back to them a different day. The point is, Christians are being influenced by media and entertainment just as much as the rest of the world, and I certainly don't have all the answers to all the questions I've been asking.

Lately, it seems like, I keep hearing so much in Christian circles about praying for America, praying for our politicians, praying for revival, praying for this coming generation, praying for our missionaries. All good things. Go ahead and pray about politics-- that's a good thing. But it isn't politicians that are leading this country around by the nose. It's Hollywood. Is anyone praying for them? And I don't mean the independent Christian movie makers that are finding their niche in the Christian community. I mean mainstream Hollywood. Is anyone bothering to pray for them? Or what about the Christians who are working there? It can't be easy trying to follow Jesus in an industry that delights in scorning Him, and anyone who believes in Him. Sure, there are a few top stars that claim to be Christians... but they didn't get where they are by starring in low-budget, indie, faith-based films. Sometimes I wonder how much of a Christian you can be when half your movies are rated R. But it's not my industry. I don't know what may or may not go on behind the scenes, or how much influence they could have, if they tried, or how much influence they try to have. I can't judge, because I'm not there. It's not my spiritual journey, it's there's. And they get judged for it, from both sides. Is anyone bothering to pray for them? Just asking.

A friend and I were discussing this the other day, and how she was feeling called to pray for one celebrity in particular, and it just sort of stoked the firestorm of thought I'd already been mulling over. This is important. I need to pray for our entertainment industry. Whether its a specific person, or the body of Christ there, or just a general turning of the tide. I'm praying for them. Think about it.