BOOK REVIEW | Seventy Times Seven

Seventy Times Seven
by Brandt Dodson

Private Detective Colton Parker is hired by wealthy businessman Lester Cheeks. Lester has acquired almost everything he has wanted in life except for solid, intimate relationships. A bit on the geek side for most of his life, Lester has never fit in socially with people, which makes him one unlikable man. With his wife Claudia by his side people tolerate Lester. When Claudia disappears, poor Lester is beside himself and determined to locate the love of his life. Read more

2007, The Second Week

WRITING UPDATE: It’s the second week of the new year and so far so good I’m sticking with my goals for writing on a regular basis. I took a bit of a break from my fiction WIP on Sunday to put together my notes and organize an outline for the bible study. My scribbling is starting to make more sense now.

Today I wrote a Taste and See devotion on CookieAisle.com. I hope to regular post devotions each week. That was the plan over a year ago when I first started the blog. Nothing wrong with trying again.

Ten more chapters to go on the fiction WIP and I will have my first complete manuscript. I still can’t believe I reached over the 50,000 word count finally.

MEET AUTHORS: This week I will be posting two interviews on Faithwebbin. Meet first time author Betsy Ann St. Amant below as she discusses her journey to publication below.

Betsy Ann Betsy, tell us about your journey to publication.

My journey to publication felt like it took forever but it actually happened rather quickly. I’ve been writing in some form or another since I was seven years old and my father brought home our first computer! I began writing short stories and poems. Some rhymed, some didn’t. Some made sense, some didn’t. I kept typing. Kept creating. And kept dreaming. In high school, my word count per minute on a keyboard reached 110. I was nicknamed “the legend” and as far as I know, no one has touched that record in my teacher’s keyboarding class since!

When I was eighteen years old, I attended a ClasServices conference with my mother, who enjoys writing devotionals and Bible studies for women. We were both nervous, venturing out into the unknown together and feeling incredibly unworthy to be there. But the weekend was wonderful and that was where I met award winning author Gayle Roper. We kept in touch sporadically the next year and she encouraged me to join the ACFW. I did, and my life has never been the same since. Without the love, support, encouragement, and opportunities presented to me through the ACFW, I know for a fact my journey to publication would have taken twice as long. They are a fantastic group of people. I began to read, and learn, and grow.

I joined a critique group, entered contests, and began to contribute monthly articles to Crosswalk.com. I attended two ACFW conferences, particiapted in a paid critique each time, and sold a poem to a Christian magazine (The Christian Communicator, February 2007 issue) and most importantly – never gave up. I had submitted Midnight Angel to several editors and agents and received many rejections before finally putting it aside and moving on. I had completed almost 2 full novels after that before submitting Midnight Angel to the Wild Rose Press, a new publisher of digital and print format. The editor loved it, told me they’d take it, and the rest is history. (read the rest of this interview)

BOOK REVIEW | Hazardous Duty

Hazardous Duty
Christy Barritt

Gabby St. Claire has chosen an unusual career path. The forensic investigator wanna be owns a crime cleaning business. Almost completing a degree in forensics science, Gabby continues to dream of participating in a high profile case where she collects damaging evidence. Read more

BOOK REVIEW | Violette Between

Violette Between
Alison Strobel

Violette Between is the second novel by Alison Strobel, also the author of Worlds Collide. In this novel readers will meet Violette, an artist, who continues to suffer from her husband’s tragic death. After a difficult mourning period, Violette has returned back to her passion, painting murals. Tentatively she approaches a new relationship with a man named Christian. Read more

Resolution – Keep Writing!

As usual, I can’t say I made any New Year’s resolutions, I’m just looking forward to growing in Christ and for areas of my life to be restored, resolved or sprout. No one knows what a new year will bring, but one thing I have grown confident about over the years is that God is faithful. Really when it boils down to it, that’s all that matters.

One of my goals this year is to continue writing. Writing has been very cathartic for me over the years. In fact, I need to find time this week to purchase a brand new journal!

As far as book writing, on my nice long holiday vacation, I completed about ten chapters for my fiction novel. This past weekend I printed out a whopping 205 pages and I’m still not finished the book. For a few months, I had trouble with the middle, but by pushing on, I found my way through the plot and added two more characters. The novel has been outlined and I have about twelve more chapters to write.

Like my writing, I’m going to continue to press forward, despite any sagging or discouraging moments. You can check my progress on the right side bar. I hope to complete a bible study that had been swirling around in my head since 2005!

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. – Philippians 3:12-14