Sk8ter Girl

She's just a skater girl, livin' in a skater world. . .

This is Little E and her new favorite seat in the house. Shadow's new skateboard. (Kind of makes sense, beings that she's his cat, huh?)

The Winner of the drawing

Since there were only two who entered, I have a suprise! I am sending BOTH of you a copy of a Soldier's Promise. Eowyn said I should.

If you will just send me your snail mail addys. Email me at pamngreg (at) sbcglobal (dot) net

Only make it look like an email addy. Don't want the web spiders sweeping up my addy there. I get enough junk mail as it is. :)

Can't wait to hear from you two!

Nearly forgot to add your names. Emma and Traveling Woman.

Have a lovely evening.

Cheryl Wyatt!! Win a free book.

I'm so excited about this debut novel. Comment on this post or the two following ones and I will draw a name of a winner for a free copy of Cheryl's book A Soldier's Promise.

A Soldier's Promise

This is a picture of Eowyn.

An interview with Psychotitcat.

Hi bloggers! This is Eowyn James coming to you live. We are interviewing Psychoitcat. He starred in A Soldier's Promise. Thanks for joining us today.

(Psych slinks in. )"You're meawcome."

Your name is very unusual.

Well, that's because the person who inflicted it on me is unusual. (Flicks tail)

Tell us how you came to have that name, if you remember.

Amber, the lead female in Cheryl Wyatt's book (A Soldier's Promise) seems to think I'm a mental furball. So she named me Psychoticat..."Psych" for short. NOT that I'm short....Amber however.....is vertically challenged if I don't purr so myself.

I am fascinated by the hero, PJ Joel Montgomery. Can you tell me anything about him?

I like Joel. He's cool. Although a little gullible for a Special Ops dude, know what I mean? Buys me entire cases of tuna. You know the drill....act playful, purr a little, look cute and innocent instead of bored and lazy and uninterested....those humans fall for it every time.

Yes, I understand. (smug smile) What about that cute little boy, Bradley, how do you feel about him?

Bradley's cool too. Except the time he stepped on my tail and shut my head in the refrigerator crisper. And they wonder why I'm a little off.....

And Amber, please tell us about her.

Amber is nice to everyone. But we've had this rift, see? She sometimes buys me chicken or beef....when she knows I only like tuna. So I have to act mad and like I'm on a hunger strike. She's so sappy....and I'm so good at guilt trips....I'm well stocked with tuna. I think it's pretty cool how she and Joel made Bradley's dreams come true. If I were a sappy dog...I might have shed a few hairs over that...errrr....I meant tears. Tears. Yeah. That's what I meant.

So they got a happy ending, but what about you?

That's debatable. They moved me to Celia Munez' house because Bradley has allergies. Sigh. Problem is, Celia is as stubborn as I am....and she has all that excessive energy. Makes me yawn just watching her samba-walk across the floor. Celia is the lead female in the second book in the Wings of Refuge series...coming out in March. She tries to act like she doesn't like me...but she pets me when no one's looking. Sigh. Stretch. And she has long nails and she scrubs me behind the ears where I love it! Sigh. But don't tell her I said so.

Anything else you'd like to share with us?

Certainly not my tuna. My litter box maybe?


I appreciate the offer, but I'll pass. Thanks for joining us today.

(Licks chops) Yeah, so....when do I get that tuna we talked about earlier?


Signed,

Psych the Cat from A Soldier's Promise...Book 1. Wings of Refuge

A Lifelong Friendship

In 2003 I read a Love Inspired book and the author (Brenda Coulter) mentioned the Steeple Hill message boards. (If you'd like to check it out go to http://www.eharlequin.com/ ) I joined and became immersed in a world of publishing, reading, writing, and hilarity. :) It was such a fun place to go and I visited it every morning and evening to keep up on all the news.

I made friends there, many friends. Three in particular, Camy Tang, Cheryl Wyatt, and Heather Tipton. I knew them only online and we only kept in touch via the Steeple Hill Boards. We all joined ACFW and all were able to scrape enough money to attend the conference in Denver in 2004. My very first conference. I think it was theirs too. We were finally going to get to meet in person.

Little did I know that little group of friends, somehow the four of us bonded, that little group that came to be known as the Fab Four, was going to bless me for the rest of my life.

In the last four years we've cried (okay, mostly Cheryl and I cry, but sometimes Camy will join us, lol) laughed, and prayed each other through some really tough times and some victories. When Camy got her contracts I called to squeal in her ear. She guessed me by the pitch of my squeal since Cheryl had already called and squealed. :) I was so proud because after seeing her writing, I KNEW her work needed to be on the shelf.

Cheryl and I learned a lot together. We still do. She shares and I share (although I admit she learns better and can apply what she learns quicker than I can). In Dallas 2006 ACFW Conference, I stayed with Cheryl and enjoyed pushing her around in a wheelchair after her reconstructive hip surgery. She was my captive audience. She gave me a reason to be there. So many things happened at that conference, but Cheryl was waiting to hear back from a manuscript that had been sent in. The timing of hearing back coincided with the conference. She won First Place (rightly so, I might add) in the Suspense category of the Genesis. I KNEW she was going to win. I just felt it. I told her, but she's a humble person. And when we talked about her manuscript I felt peace about that and told her that she would sell.

It wasn't long after we got back from the conference that she heard. She got THE CALL. It was so awesome! I am more proud of her than words can say. She worked so hard and kept trying, never giving up, leaning on Jesus for her strength. It thrilled me beyond words to see her so blessed.

The picture above is of the Writer's Retreat we went on. You can see what a blast it was.

Cheryl is a very generous and loving person. She truly has a heart for people and she is an awesome prayer warrior (she's prayed me through some things and I am every thankful that she follows God's leading and made this stubborn girl hear it). She's also extremely clever with words and is so incredibly funny. Those pictured are Lynette Eason, Cheryl Wyatt, and Camy Tang. And Cheryl had just said something totally outrageous (my lips are sealed on that one) and got us all rolling.

It just goes to show you, you don't know how far your ripples will be cast. If God leads you, follow it. Who knew that replying to an author about the story that touched my heart (something I"m normally too shy and inept to do--rather I used to be) would lead to such a wonderful and fulfilling friendship. I am not exaggerating when I call her my best friend.
She holds my hands through the submitting process (even lets me use her nails when mine grow short--joking). She celebrates my triumphs and cries (harder than me) over my defeats.

So you see her heart in her books and know that it is true. She has a heart that is after God's own heart.

I feel beyond blessed for her to be a part of my life.

Her first novel just released this month. If you haven't read it, you NEED to go buy it. It is a wonderfully written book. In fact, I'm going to be giving one away. So comment on this post or the next one and I will send you a copy of A Soldier's Promise. I guarantee it will warm the cockles of your heart. :)

Christians

My mother-in-law sent this to me and it brought tears to my eyes. I wanted to share it with all you beautiful women out there.


Christians
by Maya Angelou
This is Beautiful, enjoy.
'A woman's heart should be so hidden in Christ
that a man should have to seek Him first to find her.'
When I say... 'I am a Christian' I'm not shouting 'I'm clean livin''
I'm whispering 'I was lost, Now I'm found and forgiven.'
When I say... 'I am a Christian' I don't speak of this with pride.
I'm confessing that I stumble and need Christ to be my guide.
When I say... 'I am a Christian' I'm not trying to be strong.
I'm professing that I'm weak and need His strength to carry on.
When I say... 'I am a Christian' I'm not bragging of success.
I'm admitting I have failed and need God to clean my mess.
When I say... 'I am a Christian' I'm not claiming to be perfect,
My flaws are far too visible but, God believes I am worth it.
When I say... 'I am a Christian' I still feel the sting of pain..
I have my share of heartaches, so I call upon His name.
When I say... 'I am a Christian' I'm not holier than thou,
I'm just a simple sinner Who received God's good grace, somehow!
Pretty is as Pretty does... but beautiful is just plain beautiful!
TODAY IS BEAUTIFUL SISTERS DAY
TAG; YOU'RE IT!
I'm supposed to send this to BEAUTIFUL WOMEN, and you are one of them!!!

A Brand New Year

I made it through 2007! What a rough year.

But here I am, bruised and bloody at the threshold of 2008! Sometimes it's not how you arrived, just the fact that you have arrived, victorious in Jesus name.

I have great hope for 2008. So many lessons I learned this past year to use. I'm reaching out and spreading my wings in new and different ways. Things that I've beat at for the last four years that yielded nothing, I've given to God and moved on. God has given me the courage to be brave and step out in faith. To move on, to dig deeper, and in some cases to leave behind certain things.

I have resolutions, just like I always promise I'm not going to. :)

I want to lose weight. That is definitely on the top of the list as well as get into shape. My niece and I have set up workout sessions and I have an eating plan in place. (To accomplish goals, you have to quit talking and make a plan. I learned that the hard way.)

To get organized. Now, this, I realize won't be like a Born Organized person. I have to learn and adapt and go with my nature otherwise this would never work. My plan is in place. I know what I must do. My coach is Flylady. Give a cheer all you Flybabies out there.

To go further in my writing. Deeper. Learn it better. Quit playing around and get serious. I had a goal last year of writing and submitting three books. I didn't plan how I was going to get it done. I wrote one, almost finished another, and wrote part of a third one. I submitted one and got a rejection back on it. From an agent and an editor. I got a request for the one that is nearly done. (I learned to like bloody critiques. Not mean ones, but the ones where the critquer wants to help you get better.)

This year, I also plan to get three books written. At least two submitted-stepping out in faith that they will get asked for--(best way to learn, doncha think, just do it?). I figure that gives me four months to work on each. Write, polish and submit.

And I have a plan!

Keep the line open to God. No matter what, my time with Him must not be pushed aside for any reason. Even if I have to rise with the sun (although now that I think about it, I already rise before the sun, lol), I want my one on one time with Him. I want to hunger and thirst after Him. Chase after Him and learn to love Him more. I want every breath I take to whisper the name of Jesus.

Support. We writers can be such solitary creatures, but two (or more) prayers are always better than one. More than one imagination in brainstorming is better. There are those that are so important to me. My crit partners, my brainstorming buddies, my mentor, my friends, my family, and the ladies in the Word Warriors prayer group. I pray I'll be as encouraging to them as they are to me.

Time. I have to set aside time to write. My plan is to get to work an hour early so I can write on my laptop until it's time to clock in. My supervisor okayed this. At least until they close our office. Then I'll just steal the early morning hours before anyone else is awake. It'll take discipline to stay offline and write. I'll need prayers for that.

Goals. Word count or page count for each day. I wonder what's reasonable? I'm setting the goal at five pages a day. Once I get the first draft written, then I'll edit and polish five pages a day. I'd really like to reach for ten, but I don't know if that's reasonable with my job and all. I want to set my goals high enough I have to reach, but not so high I won't ever be able to attain.

I just feel this is going to be a good year.

So have you set goals and resolutions? Let's hear about them so we can give you some support!

New Releases for January

1. A Soldier's Promise, Book One in the Wings of Refuge Series by Cheryl Wyatt from Steeple Hill Love Inspired. A USAF Pararescue jumper and a special needs teacher teaming to make life matter to a dying child freefall into love and an unexpected family.

2. Every Good & Perfect Gift by Sharon K. Souza, from NavPress. A story about the kind of friendship we all wish for, the quest for motherhood in the 21st century, and a catastrophic illness that changes everything.

3. Family In His Heart final book in the Michigan Island Series by Gail Gaymer Martin from Steeple Hill Love Inspired. On a Les Cheneaux Island, a young woman escapes her past in Michigan's upper peninsula and meets a man hiding his own secrets and struggling to raise a rebellious teenage son.

4. Just Cause by Susan Page Davis from Steeple Hill Love Inspired Suspense. Laurel Hatcher must face trial for her husband’s murder, not once but twice.

5. Learning to Fly by Roxanne Henke from Harvest House. Learning to Fly is about parenting. Learning to love, live, and let go.

6. Seven Archangels: Annihilation by Jane Lebak. Satan has figured out how to destroy an angel...and he begins with the archangel Gabriel.

7. Shadow of Danger by Jeanne Marie Leach from Mountain View Publishing. Rachel faces jealousy, false accusations, an unknown danger, and a jail cell before being liberated by the man she loves but who could never love her.

8. The Restorer's Journey, Book 3 in the Sword of Lyric Series by Sharon Hinck from NavPress. A new, young Restorer confronts his destiny while Lyric, and the life of his mother, hang in the balance.

Happy reading~