My Brain is a Series of Gifs

 

It's...been awhile. Partly because school, partly because at the beginning of October I got Covid, and then once I was better I had to play catch up on life/school and now it's getting towards finals and yeah. It's been crazy.

So yes, I survived Covid.

Sorry/not sorry for all the gifs. If you can't spam people with gifs, what's even the point in life? Also, this is the state of my brain right now, and I don't even have as many papers to write as my sister.

Ahem. I mean my experience with Covid. Actually, while I was pretty miserable for a few days, it wasn't like I was being tortured with The Machine.

Fever: not fun. Stomach ache: also not fun. Exhaustion: not fun either. The migraine that messed up my stomach again when I thought I was on the mend: super annoying. Strange/reduced smell/taste: bizarre. But I only ran a fever for about two days as opposed to over a week last time I had the flu, and also, I got bronchitis last time I had the flu and no secondary infection with Covid. And thankfully, my taste and smell seemed to go back to normal after a week or two. But it was weird while it lasted. And hey, I'm recovered now and yay for natural immunity.

Um...what else has been happening? School. I'm pretty much done with my argument paper about speculative fiction in the Christian community. It's been a fun paper to write. And for some reason, even though I never used to be able to write with the TV on, with this paper, I can't seem to write without it. Cue the Merlin binge.

Best. Show. Ever.

Should I ramble on about this show and how absolutely, positively fantastic it is and how much I love these characters, especially Arthur because in spite of his flaws he has such a good heart and he grows so much and is one of my all time favorite fictional characters? No? Maybe? Or, well, I've done that a couple times already. It's seriously the best show, even though it throws me to go back to the beginning and see good Morgana again. 

I was also watching it while writing a history paper about how the Magna Carta challenged King John's absolute power...while watching Uther exercise his absolute power to sentence Gwen's father to death for consorting with a sorcerer. And all I could think was

Uther is so awful.

Though NO ONE is as bad as THIS guy.

He's seriously THE WORST. All the hatred for Agravaine for manipulating Arthur into making horrible decisions, keeping Arthur and Gwen apart, sabotaging Camelot, getting Gaius kidnapped and tortured, making Arthur doubt his true friends, and just being an all round horrible human being.

Okay, I meant to have a more profound, coherent blog post than this. But this is apparently the state of my brain right now. (And also dreams that are basically modern AU self-insert Star Wars fanfics where Jacen Solo holds me hostage and I escape him by going into a library where my dad rescues me...even though I avoid both modern AUs and self-inserts like the plague. Modern AUs are stupid. And my brain is a strange place.) 

Anyway, Thanksgiving is next week, and I always hate to be like this because Thanksgiving isn't about shopping, but it does mean I'll have several of my books on sale (or free!) on kindle for Black Friday/Cyber Monday. And like most years, there's a group of us involved in the sale. So stay tuned!

And Acktorek-wise...Covid derailed my series planning, but that's on my Christmas break to-do list...along with watching Lord of the Rings. Extended edition, naturally. I might have mentioned I'm looking forward to Christmas break in several different German assignments. I know it'll go by way too fast. But I plan to enjoy every second of no homework and no 8 am classes.

Because once I get to Christmas break, for this semester, at least

So, um

Christmastime is Here!

It's Christmastime! Yes, this post is late...with Thanksgiving and all, I forgot to write up a post. Oops. 

I really love this song, and Charlie Brown, and I'm enjoying teaching this song to one of my piano students, and I'm really excited about the Charlie Brown float we're putting together for the library's participation in our local Christmas parade this Friday. It's going to be awesome. I'll have to post some pictures when it's done.

Speaking of the library...

Rebekah and I are doing a program this Saturday at the Ball Ground Library. We're really excited about it. We'll be reading the book and learning to sculpt Carrie, so it's going to be great. If you're in the area, you're more than welcome to come. Registration is recommended, but not required, so if you want to register, just call 770-735-2025.

Looking forward in December, there's a blog tour coming up! In just a few weeks, I'll be posting my reviews for Bitter Winter and Lacy by Jaye L. Knight and Decree by Tricia Mingerink. They're all absolutely fabulous books, and you're going to have to read them when they come out...assuming you've read previous books in the two series. These aren't books to start on. But both series are fabulous, so read them. And because it's getting to the end of the year, my top ten books of the year post will be coming. That's going to be hard to narrow down. I've read a lot of great books this year. Good thing I've set a precedent of counting all the books in a series as one. Because you'd better believe Ranger's Apprentice is going to be on the list.

And finally, because it's after Thanksgiving now, even though I didn't participate in Black Friday sales this year, all my ebooks are $0.99 for Christmas! So hop over to Amazon and check it out! And don't forget, Creighton Hill is available as an eaudiobook for just $13 on Amazon. eAudiobooks are awesome, just sayin'. I've mostly done them through Overdrive/Libby, but I absolutely love being able to download an audiobook to my phone and carry it around with me. And you can do that for Creighton Hill now.

So Merry Christmas! I need to go plan music and work at the library and practice my Christmas songs for the performance at the mall Sunday afternoon and hopefully work on Acktorek because I'm coming to the climax and my family won't let me chicken out from the hard ending I planned, so that'll be fun. See you later!

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson

 

Rating: PG (smoking)

Recommended for: All Ages 

"Hey! Unto you a child is born!"

Meet the Herdmans--they lie, cheat, and love to give clonks on the head. They are, without a doubt, the worst kids in the history of the world. So no one is prepared when this outlaw family invades church one Sunday and decides to take over the annual Christmas pageant.

None of the Herdmans has ever heard the Christmas story before. Joseph, Mary, the baby Jesus--it's all news to them. So they're convinced that the Wise Men should bring pizza and that the Angel of the Lord is straight out of a comic book. Everyone worries that this year's pageant will be horrible (just like the Herdmans!), but they are sure to make it the most unusual anyone has seen and, just possibly, the best one ever. 

This is kind of a classic, one of those books we read for school when we were little. I remember reading it, reading about how horrible the Herdmans are...and being bothered that it doesn't actually mention the main character's name (it's told in first person).

The Herdmans are simply horrible. They're basically the worst kids that ever lived, at least, from the perspective of proper churchgoing folk with functional families. They are brats, they're always causing problems, and despite the fact that they don't really learn much in school, they're never held back because no teacher wants to have two Herdmans in her class. They never went to church until they were told there were refreshments (which there weren't). But when they heard about the annual Christmas pageant, they wanted to take part.

Instead of the typical, everyday, ordinary Christmas pageant, they had Herdmans in all the main roles. The other kids were afraid of the Herdmans, everyone thought it would be terrible, and it looked like they would be right.

But the Herdmans were actually interested in the Christmas story. They had never heard it before. It was entirely new. And because of them, people started to see the Christmas story in a different light. They started to get it.

When something is incredibly familiar to you, it sort of loses its meaning. It becomes routine. You don't really think about it much anymore. And then sometimes something happens to make it fresh and new. And you get it in a way you never have before. It finally means something.

That's what The Best Christmas Pageant Ever is about. 

Originally posted on Shire Reviews 

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The Indie Christian Books Black Friday/Cyber Monday sale is still going on! Get my books in paperback for 25% off regular prices through Thursday!

The Holiday Season is Here!

It's time for Thanksgiving, The Last Jedi release day, Christmas, New Year's...I'm just so excited for the holidays! I've been feeling ready for Christmas (minus the fact I haven't bought any Christmas presents yet) for months. I'm totally with Thanksgiving on the Black Friday restraining order thing (watch this if you're not sure what I'm talking about), but I'm going to go ahead and tell you about Black Friday sales because it's the perfect time to get great discounts on Christmas presents for the book lovers in your life.

The annual Indie Christian Books Black Friday sale is enormous this year. (Site will go live on Nov. 24.) It will be running from Friday, Nov. 24 through Thursday, Nov. 30. We've got nearly 50 authors signed up, and some really fabulous deals going on. For my paperback prices, Twisted Dreams will be $5.99 and all the rest will be $7.50. For ebooks, Twisted Dreams will be free for the first 5 days of the sale and all the rest will be $0.99 the whole time. You'll also be able to get great deals from Jaye L. Knight, J. Grace Pennington, Kendra E. Ardnek, Leah E. Good, and many, many more. Plus, we have a really awesome giveaway going on. You won't want to miss it!

Now, because this season isn't about shopping, and I really hate the worst of the bad isms, I want to share with you an article about the history of Thanksgiving I found on Wallbuilders when looking for Thanksgiving information to share with my little girls' Bible study. Enjoy!

Celebrating Thanksgiving in America  

The tradition introduced by European Americans of Thanksgiving as a time to focus on God and His blessings dates back well over four centuries in America. For example, such thanksgivings occurred in 1541 at Palo Duro Canyon, Texas with Coronado and 1,500 of his men; in 1564 at St. Augustine, Florida with French Huguenot (Protestant) colonists; in 1598 at El Paso, Texas with Juan de Oñate and his expedition; in 1607 at Cape Henry, Virginia with the landing of the Jamestown settlers; in 1619 at Berkeley Plantation, Virginia; (and many other such celebrations). But it is primarily from the Pilgrim’s Thanksgiving celebration of 1621 that we derive the current tradition of Thanksgiving Day.

The Pilgrims set sail for America on September 6, 1620, and for two months braved the harsh elements of a storm-tossed sea. Upon disembarking at Plymouth Rock, they held a prayer service and then hastily began building shelters; however, unprepared for such a harsh New England winter, nearly half of them died before spring. Emerging from that grueling winter, the Pilgrims were surprised when an Indian named Samoset approached them and greeted them in their own language, explaining to them that he had learned English from fishermen and traders. A week later, Samoset returned with a friend named Squanto, who lived with the Pilgrims and accepted their Christian faith. Squanto taught the Pilgrims much about how to live in the New World, and he and Samoset helped forge a long-lasting peace treaty between the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag Indians. Pilgrim Governor William Bradford described Squanto as “a special instrument sent of God for [our] good . . . and never left [us] till he died.”

That summer, the Pilgrims, still persevering in prayer and assisted by helpful Indians, reaped a bountiful harvest. As Pilgrim Edward Winslow (later to become the Governor) affirmed, “God be praised, we had a good increase of Indian corn”; “by the goodness of God, we are…far from want.” The grateful Pilgrims therefore declared a three-day feast in December 1621 to thank God and to celebrate with their Indian friends – America’s first Thanksgiving Festival. Ninety Wampanoag Indians joined the fifty Pilgrims for three days of feasting (which included shellfish, lobsters, turkey, corn bread, berries, deer, and other foods), of play (the young Pilgrim and Wampanoag men engaged in races, wrestling matches, and athletic events), and of prayer. This celebration and its accompanying activities were the origin of the holiday that Americans now celebrate each November.

However, while the Pilgrims enjoyed times of prosperity for which they thanked God, they also suffered extreme hardships. In fact, in 1623 they experienced an extended and prolonged drought. Knowing that without a change in the weather there would be no harvest and the winter would be filled with death and starvation, Governor Bradford called the Pilgrims to a time of prayer and fasting to seek God’s direct intervention. Significantly, shortly after that time of prayer – and to the great amazement of the Indian who witnessed the scene – clouds appeared in the sky and a gentle and steady rain began to fall. As Governor Bradford explained:

It came without either wind or thunder or any violence, and by degrees in abundance, as that ye earth was thoroughly wet and soaked therewith, which did so apparently revive and quicken ye decayed corn and other fruits as was wonderful to see, and made ye Indians astonished to behold; and afterwards the Lord sent them such seasonable showers, with interchange of fair warm weather as, through His blessing, caused a fruitful and liberal harvest, to their no small comfort and rejoicing.(1,300 more words)

Bloggers Needed...Free Books Available

Black Friday book sales are happening again! Indie Christian Books is having another epic sale this year, and if you are a blogger, we need YOUR help to spread the word. There are several different options for your post, even the opportunity to interview an author or review a book, and afterwards, you get FIVE free ebooks of your choice. It's going to be fantastic! Fill out the Google form to help spread the word. Thanks bunches!

Sign up here!

Christmas Plans

♫Christmastime is here. Happiness and cheer. Fun for all that children call their favorite time of year.♫

It always strikes me funny how melancholy the tune sounds even with lyrics like that.

Anyway.

The Christmas season is fun and busy and awesome...and usually each one is different. After all, "Things never happen the same way twice." But that's what makes it exciting.

One thing we always do, though, is decorate. Our Christmas tree is ridiculously crowded with ornaments. So many relatives have given us ornaments, and then we tend to buy more whenever we go to Disney World. The tree may be a bit cluttered, but that's what makes it our tree. We have several little churches, a Nutcracker, some snowmen, several music boxes, and a Nativity set. One year we made a stable out of sticks from the backyard, but, while it was really cool, it was insanely difficult to make. Now I fashion the stable out of Lincoln Logs. And we have two advent calendars. One has an appliqued Christmas tree and little embroidered ornaments hanging on it which we put in pouches for each day of advent. The other is a wooden box with a Nativity on the front...and it has a door for each day, behind which is a piece of candy. We also put lights on the front of our house.

Throughout the Christmas season, we watch lots of Christmas movies and specials. We always watch Charlie Brown, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Rudolph, Santa Claus is Comin' to Town, and usually Frosty the Snowman, and we sometimes end up watching random other ones that come on TV. As far as movies go, we always watch Miracle on 34th Street, White Christmas, It's a Wonderful Life, and A Christmas Story. We also fit in Scrooge because my mom and I like that adaptation best, Disney's A Christmas Carol because most of the family likes that version better, The Santa Clause because it's the only Santa Claus movie I've seen that actually attempts to make it all make sense, The Polar Express, Elf because apparently everyone but me enjoys it, and probably something else I'm forgetting. When we're staying home for Christmas, we watch It's a Wonderful Life on Christmas Eve and make homemade doughnuts.

We give each other presents on Christmas morning...well, half the time. Sometimes we visit relatives in Indiana for Christmas, so those years we have our own Christmas a few days early. It's somehow just not the same as doing it on actual Christmas morning, but oh well. Somebody, well, most of us get books every year because we love them so much, and if you're the same way, I've still got some sales going on. ;)

What fills in the rest of the time, well, that's where things get different. For several years, it was stress and busyness due to Nativity Ballet rehearsals (and the Christmas season has never felt the same to me since, even though it's been nine years since my last Nativity). Many times, it's been a trip to Disney. This year, we have a number of things going on.

Some of them have to do with the library. Like the Christmas parade my sisters and I were in last Friday. It was fun except for having a cold. And I'll be helping out with my library's Santa and Polar Express programs too. 

My sisters and I went to a Christmas dance last weekend, which was fun in spite of being sick. I got to dance a lot more than I'd expected, and really enjoyed the evening. We also have a church Christmas party to look forward to.

Not sure if we really have any other big plans--my family is 100% introverted, so we tend to be more of the quiet evening at home sort--but it'll be a good Christmas.

What Christmas traditions does your family have? Anything special you're looking forward to this Christmas?

And before I forget, please take a few moments to fill out my blog content survey. I'm trying to adjust my blog to my readers' needs...partially because I'm constantly drawing blanks on blog post topics. ;)

♫Because It's Christmas♫

*knock, knock, knock*

♫Could that be Santa? Could that be him? Could it be the one who brings presents for a cucumber like me? A good cucumber like meeeeeee?♫

I must be waxing nostalgic for childhood or something. You do know what I'm talking/singing about, don't you? ;)

So. You're a book lover, or you've got book lovers in your life. I'm sure one or both of those is true, or else you wouldn't be reading this blog. And Christmas is coming up fast. It's a time for giving gifts, and if you're anything like me, you consider books to be the very best kind of gift.

Aaaaand....you may have missed some Black Friday deals on books you wanted to give. Never fear! The book fairy is here! Okay, now I'm just being silly. I'll chalk it up to long days, stress in anticipation of busyness, and a cold. Just go with it.

In all seriousness, though, Christmas sales are not yet over. I'm still running deals on paperbacks through my own website. 20% off individual paperbacks, and if you buy the whole Time Captives set, you get 25% off! Kindle books are at an even better discount: 66% off. And yes, it is possible to gift someone an ebooks. Plus, I'm keeping them all on sale through New Year's, so when you've got Christmas money burning a hole in your pocket, you can still get discounts. Just visit the "My Books" page up there at the top.

Give someone the gift of a grand adventure this Christmas. Because as Emily Dickinson once said, "There is no frigate like a book to take us lands away."

And I just HAVE to finish with this:

"I'm from the IRS. And I've come to tax your--"

*door slam*

XD

2016 Books I'm Thankful For

Like most other bookworms, great books make their way onto my "things I'm thankful for" list every year. It's hard to choose favorites, but I went ahead and picked five books I read in 2016 and am thankful for.

1. Samara's Peril, by Jaye L. Knight: It's the Ilyon Chronicles...and I suppose I'll be picking Ilyon as books I'm thankful to have read until there aren't any more. They just keep getting better and better. And there's so much depth of meaning. Ilyon really impacts me.
2. Lady Dragon, Tela Du, by Kendra E. Ardnek: Because like WPFP last year, it's brought people together and strengthened my friendship with Kendra. Plus it's just a great book. Reuben's the brother I never had.
3. Before You Meet Prince Charming, by Sarah Mally: I've wanted to read this book since I was probably about 15 or 16, but I never tried very hard to get a copy. However, when I saw it for sale at the Creation Museum and realized I still had a Visa gift card from Christmas, I took the plunge and bought it. And I'm glad I did. While it pretty much fit with the beliefs I already held on relationships and purity, it helped solidify and explain them. I can better understand the "why" now. And I did learn things from it.
4. Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen: Because it taught me that I'm now old enough to appreciate Jane Austen. And because I discovered I'm Elinor Dashwood. And because it was good to listen to while sewing, vacuuming, formatting, riding to Charleston, and to read on the beach.
5. Princess Academy: Palace of Stone, by Shannon Hale: It was just so deep. I love deep children's books, and this one really made me think. About ethics, about politics, about friendship, about how difficult it can be to do the right thing--even to know what the right thing is--but how important it is. It, and the whole series, meant a lot to me.

I don't know about you, but I'm looking forward to another great year of reading!

Speaking of more reading, here's one more thing to be grateful for. Books on sale! In honor of Thanksgiving and Black Friday, a group of independent Christian authors banded together to offer over seventy discounted books on Nov 25-28. There's literally something for everyone. Every single book listed on Indie Christian Books is on sale in one or more ways. Find discounted paperbacks, dozens of books offered with free shipping, $0.99 ebooks, package deals and more. Even if you have a budget of $0, new reading material awaits you. Don't know what to pick? The fearless Indie Christian Books team created a quiz that will generate a book list perfect for you! Check it out!

What awesome reads of 2016 are you grateful for? What books are you looking forward to reading in 2017?

A note on the Ebooks Only page. All books are listed as "Sold Out." This only refers to paperback copies of these titles. Please click onto the product pages to find descriptions and links to discounted or free ebooks. Also, some of the authors this year chose to not sell their paperbacks directly through the site. Those books are also marked "Sold Out" but if you click them open, you'll find a link to the site where they are on sale and a discount code for you to use at check out.

Acknowledgements: Thanks to Leah E. Good and Kendra E. Ardnek for their work organizing this sale, and Hannah Mills for her fantastic design work on the website graphics. Hannah can be contacted at hmills(at)omorecollege(dot)edu for more information about her design services.

Christmas Book Sale!

It’s that time of year. The time for buying presents, making wish lists, and planning New Year’s Resolutions. If any of those activities involve books for you, Indie Christian Authors has a perfect event for you.

From Nov 25 (that’s today!) through Nov 28th, more than 70 independent Christian books are on sale. You can find free shipping, $0.99 ebooks, package deals, and more! And if your budget is depleted from Christmas shopping, they’ve got you covered with some freebies!

Think 70 books is overwhelming? Narrow it down and find the perfect books for you or someone on your Christmas list by using this quiz to generate a customized book list.

 

What awesome reads of 2016 are you grateful for? What books are you looking forward to reading in 2017?

A note on the Ebooks Only page. All books are listed as "Sold Out." This only refers to paperback copies of these titles. Please click onto the product pages to find descriptions and links to discounted or free ebooks. Also, some of the authors this year chose to not sell their paperbacks directly through the site. Those books are also marked "Sold Out" but if you click them open, you'll find a link to the site where they are on sale and a discount code for you to use at check out.

Acknowledgements: Thanks to Leah E. Good and Kendra E. Ardnek for their work organizing this sale, and Hannah Mills for her fantastic design work on the website graphics. Hannah can be contacted at hmills(at)omorecollege(dot)edu for more information about her design services.

Free eBooks for Bloggers!

It's that time of year again! Some of my fellow Christian indie authors and I are putting together a Black Friday sale, and we need your help to spread the word.

Those of you who volunteer your blog space will receive free eBooks! Is that awesome or what?

All you have to do is sign up here by the 22nd. It's going to be awesome!

The End of Read-to-Win

The Homeschooled Authors Read-to-Win contest is almost over! I can't believe the summer went by that fast. You still have a little bit of time to post a review and enter to win a $100 Amazon gift card or another awesome prize. In case you missed any of the fun posts I participated in over the summer, here's a recap.

Week 1 ~Impactful Books

Week 2 ~ He Surprised Me

Week 3 ~ Reading Traditions

Week 4 ~Our Book Shelves

Week 5 ~ Celebrating the 4th

Week 6 ~Favorite Summer Films

Week 7 ~Faith Factor

Week 8 ~Top 5 Favorite Authors

Week 9 ~ That's a Good Book

Week 10 ~Writing Resources

Week 11 ~ Just Like Me

Week 12 ~ Have Books, Will Travel

Books That Impact~Read-to-Win

The Homeschooled Authors Read-to-Win contest continues! Get Creighton Hill for only $0.99, write a review on Goodreads or your blog, and you can enter to win a $100 Amazon gift card! Does that sound like a good deal or what? In case you're new here, or if you've forgotten what Creighton Hill is about, here's a brief description:

Following their grandpa’s death, four siblings set out to discover the truth behind the mysterious disappearances of their ancestors throughout history. But their teenage sister’s skepticism only complicates things, especially when she becomes unwillingly involved in the discovery.

But that's not all. My fellow participating authors and I are sharing all kinds of neat things throughout the summer, both book related and, well, non-book related. This week's theme does have to do with books...

The fiction book that most impacted my life.

Hop on over to HomeschooledAuthors.com to check it out. We'll be posting on that theme all week.

You have an awesome summer to look forward to with some absolutely fantastic books and amazing prizes. Don't miss it!

Homeschooled Authors Read-to-Win

The annual Homeschooled Authors summer reading program is underway! Get lots of great books, including Creighton Hill, for just $0.99 each all summer long and leave a Goodreads or blog review for a chance to win a fantastic prize! There will be fun extras from the participating authors on the Homeschooled Authors website throughout the summer.

Details are at www.HomeschooledAuthors.com.

Christmastime is Here

Because "There's a lot of bad isms and one of the worst is commercialism," I don't want to keep on blogging about Christmas sales. There still are some, my ebooks are all $0.99 until the new year and signed paperbacks are $8.00 through the same, but I don't want that to be the purpose of this post. Because that's not what Christmas is about.

Christmas is a special time. We tend to think of Christmas as a time to get presents. A time for Santa. A time for busy stores. A time for getting together with relatives. A time for putting up the Christmas tree. For watching loads of Christmas movies. For nutcrackers and Grinches.

I like our Christmas tree. I like gift giving. I like Christmas movies (though to be honest, I'm kind of picky about them). I like spending time with family. But that's not what Christmas is all about.

Christmas is about the greatest gift ever given in the history of the world. God's gift to us. His gift of His only begotten Son, who died to take away our sins.

Amidst all the commercialism and Santas, there's one Christmas special, miraculously still on TV, that actually tells what Christmas is all about. Have my favorite part of my favorite Charlie Brown.

This Christmas season, don't get so caught up in Christmas presents and worldly traditions that you forget what it's really all about: Jesus Christ. The Savior. 

For unto you is born this day a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.

That's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown.

Books I'm Thankful For

 

Like most other bookworms, great books make their way onto my "things I'm thankful for" list every year. It's hard to choose favorites, but I went ahead and picked five books I read in 2015 and am thankful for.

1. Ilyon Chronicles, by Jaye L. Knight: I suppose I'm cheating by picking the series instead of just one book, but I can't just say one of them. I love Ilyon because they're more than just fantastic stories with amazing, relatable characters. They're deep, full of allegorical meaning. Basically, Ilyon is to me as a teenager/young adult what Narnia was to me as a child.
2. Water Princess, Fire Prince, by Kendra E. Ardnek: This is a great story that I really enjoyed, but again, I'm thankful for it for more than just the story contained between the covers. WPFP brought friends together. I knew Kendra somewhat before beta reading this for her, but throughout that process we really started to get to know each other. Then fangirling over it prompted Amanda and me to get to know each other and become really good friends. I can't believe it's only been this year. What was my life like before Kendra and Amanda? Plus WPFP is fantastic on it's own merit.
3. Bleak House, by Charles Dickens: Last semester in the orchestra, I had to drive 45 minutes both ways, alone, every week. That, as I quickly discovered, was way too much time for my brain to dredge up everything that was wrong in life. Bleak House (unabridged audio book) saved me from an hour and a half a week of my brain tormenting me. Instead, I plunged into intrigue and court cases and a murder mystery, terribly confused (still confused), but loving it just the same. And I got another classic under my belt!
4. The Scarlet Pimpernel, by Baroness Orzcy: Part of why I'm thankful for this book is similar to Bleak House. I was doing a lot of sewing, on a very difficult dress, and this book occupied my mind and kept me from going mad with frustration. Also, it's fantastic. But it also made me think. It was a timely read, er, listen. So much wrong can happen because of miscommunication, lack of communication. Communication is so important. Lack of it could cost you everything.
5. Mockingjay, by Suzanne Collins: This is a reread, but I'm going with it anyway, because it always impacts me. It's a difficult book to read, not for reading level, but because of all the death and things worse than death. But know what? That's what makes it so important. So many stories, and I'm guilty of writing them, even, gloss over the effects of war. Ignore the implications of killing people. Forget that it takes ten times longer to put yourself back together than it does to fall apart. Mockingjay doesn't. Yes, war is sometimes necessary, but that still doesn't make it good. Killing people...it costs you everything you are. Morality still matters, even in the midst of war. No, things aren't going to ever be the same, it'll take awhile to rebuild, but things can eventually be better. There is still that dandelion in the spring, reminding you that life can be good again. Even if you do have to make a list of all the good things you've seen people do to be able to bear what you've been through, there are much worse games to play.

I don't know about you, but I'm looking forward to another great year of reading! Speaking of more reading, today's the last day of the indie author Black Friday sale! There's literally something for everyone. Every single book listed on Indie Christian Books is on sale in one or more ways. Find discounted paperbacks, dozens of books offered with free shipping, $0.99 ebooks, package deals and more. Even if you have a budget of $0, new reading material awaits you. Don't know what to pick? The fearless Indie Christian Books team created a quiz that will generate a book list perfect for you! Check it out! 

   

What awesome reads of 2015 are you grateful for? What books are you looking forward to reading in 2016?

A note on the Ebooks Only page. All books are listed as "Sold Out." This only refers to paperback copies of these titles. Please click onto the product pages to find descriptions and links to discounted or free ebooks.

Acknowledgements: Thanks to Leah E. Good for her work organizing this sale, Gloria Repp for completing the time consuming job of uploading book info to the sale website, and Hannah Mills for her fantastic design work on the website graphics. Hannah can be contacted at hmills(at)omorecollege(dot)edu for more information about her design services.

Indie Christian Book Sale!

 

It’s that time of year. The time for buying presents, making wish lists, and planning New Year’s Resolutions. If any of those activities involve books for you, Indie Christian Authors has a perfect event for you. From Nov 27 (that’s today!) through Nov 30th, more than 70 independent Christian books are on sale. You can find free shipping, $0.99 ebooks, package deals, and more! And if your budget is depleted from Christmas shopping, they’ve got you covered with some freebies. Think 70 books is overwhelming? Narrow it down and find the perfect books for you or someone on your Christmas list by using this quiz to generate a customized book list.

Find all my books at discounts and some awesome books by my friends at www.indiechristianbooks.com!

 What awesome reads of 2015 are you grateful for? What books are you looking forward to reading in 2016?

A note on the Ebooks Only page. All books are listed as “Sold Out.” This only refers to paperback copies of these titles. Please click onto the product pages to find descriptions and links to discounted or free ebooks.

Acknowledgements: Thanks to Leah E. Good for her work organizing this sale, Gloria Repp for completing the time consuming job of uploading book info to the sale website, and Hannah Mills for her fantastic design work on the website graphics. Hannah can be contacted at hmills(at)omorecollege(dot)edu for more information about her design services.

Christmas Sales!

'Tis the season for buying Christmas presents, which is why I have something special to share with you. All items in my Shire Stitches Etsy shop are 20% off with this coupon code.

I have lots of things for sale there, girls' clothes and historical American Girl doll clothes.

Also, the indie author Black Friday sale is coming up soon! It looks like it's going to be fantastic, so stay tuned for more details. See the list of participating authors here. And you can help spread the word and get 5 free ebooks too!

One last announcement has to do with my website. Last week, I did a complete redesign. You may have noticed that the tabs on my blog are different. That's because I changed them to be exactly the same as the tabs on my blog. I redid the theme to better match the outdoorsy look I love on my blog and added pages about my music and sewing. I also rewrote my "About Me" page. Check it out and tell me what you think!

What Do You Want From Black Friday?

I'm getting together with some other Christian independent authors to put together some Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales. But we're doing some things different. We want to know what you look for in Black Friday sales so we can tailor ours to your needs. Just fill out the below survey, and stay tuned for details on the sales!

Creighton Hill Sale!

Creighton Hill is $0.99 on Kindle this week only!

As a part of the Homeschooled Authors Read-to-Win summer reading program, Creighton Hill is on sale for only $0.99 on Kindle this week! That's 66% off regular price.

And that's not even all. See, there's more to the Read-to-Win program on Homeschooled Authors than getting $0.99 eBooks. If you write an Amazon review before the contest ends, you can enter to win a $100 Amazon gift card! How cool is that?

So hop over to Amazon for Creighton Hill, and once you've read and reviewed it, just put the link to your review into the giveaway on Homeschooled Authors for a chance to win!

Pre-order Creighton Hill on Kindle!

*throws confetti* Creighton Hill is available for pre-order on kindle! This is the first book I've released since KDP added the pre-order feature, so it's exciting to be able to offer a book for pre-order for the very first time. So you can go ahead and buy it for only $2.99, and it will be automatically delivered to your kindle on June 8th. How cool is that?

As much as I'd like to offer the same exact thing for the paperback, CreateSpace doesn't work that way, so there can't be any day of deliveries on the paperback. However, I do have a compromise as I went ahead and set up the PayPal button for signed copies and put it on my website this morning. So if you want, you can order your signed copy now, and I will send it to you ASAP when I get my first shipment, which I will order as soon as I click publish on June 8th.

Speaking of paperbacks...

 

I got my first proof last week! Doesn't it look amazing? I'm not entirely happy with the shade of green underneath the back cover text and the top margins ended up a little too small, so new proof it is, but I'm confident I can get out of this one with less proofs than The Experiment. I love the matte finish on the cover, the cream pages look amazing, and they appear to be using a thinner paper that looks more like that of a traditionally published book, and it's just so super cool to be able to hold it in my hands. It's a real book!