Black Friday Fun

It's "Black Friday" in the United States - officially the busiest and scariest day to be in the stores each year. If I can help it, I avoid all stores on this day. Traditionally, my family spends this day readding, playing games, and watching movies.

Here are a few of the great reads currently being enjoyed in my house:

In a world full of caring adults, how is it that we keep missing the cries of hurting kids?

“Today, when the bell rings, kids might leave their school campus, but they can never escape the other world, a world where mockers and intimidators thrive. Ironically, they carry a gateway to that world right in their pockets, because they see that world as an avenue of escape. . .but in reality, it’s putting them in bondage." --Jonathan McKee

With chapters including: Digital Hurt, The Escape Key, Why Didn’t You Say Anything?, Meet the Principal, Real-World Solutions, and More!

An expert on youth and youth culture, McKee shares his own heart-rending story and offers a sobering glimpse into the rapidly changing world of bullies, bystanders, and the bullied while providing helpful ways to connect with these kids, open doors of dialogue, and give them the encouragement they need and the validation they're searching for. . .too often in all the wrong places. 

The Bullying Breakthrough promises real-world help for dealing with today’s bullying culture.

Girls are world-changers! And this deeply inspiring storybook proves it!

Just for the girls in your life, ages 8 and up, this collection of 100 extraordinary stories of women of faith--from the Bible, history, and today--will empower them to know and understand how women have made a difference in the world and how much smaller our faith (and the biblical record) would be without them. 

Featuring full-page, colorful illustrations alongside the true stories of amazing women like Lydia, Naomi, Rahab, Rebekah, Jane Austen, Corrie ten Boom, Bethany Hamilton, Rosa Parks, Mother Teresa, and dozens more, the stories of these 100 women will encourage and inspire girls to become the world-changers God created them to be!

Guys Write for Guys Read: Boys' Favorite Authors Write About Being Boys

This fast-paced, high-energy collection of short works features today's most popular writers and illustrators writing about what it means to be a guy. 

Contributors include Chris Crutcher, Stephen King, Matt Groening, Daniel Pinkwater, Neil Gaiman, and many more. Includes an all-new foreword by Jon Scieszka and an excerpt from Knucklehead.


How are you spending Black Friday? Do you recommend any particularly great books?

Thankful Heart

Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good.

              -Psalm 107:1 NIV

It’s the week of Thanksgiving in the United States. I’ll be spending time with family, friends, and finishing several projects. I also plan to enjoy some of my favorite foods! 

I feel so very blessed. I'm in a particularly reflective mood and my heart is full of gratitude for the many things for which I am grateful.

For some fun reading, here are ten reasons I'm thankful to be a writer.

I'm also extremely thankful for my online family. As a thank-you to my readers and fellow bloggers, I wanted to share a short Thanksgiving romantic fiction piece I wrote (about 800 words). I hope you enjoy! http://writinginwonderland.blogspot.com/2017/11/thankful-every-day.html

I also hope you all enjoy a wonderful week full of good times. In case I don't make it online again this week - Happy Thanksgiving!

What are you thankful for having in your life?

This Saturday

Still Writing for Veterans

Thank-you to all veterans and active military. We may not show it enough, but you are so very appreciated!

A few years ago my interview of Vietnam War Veteran and author Tim O’Brien appeared in Proud to Be: Writing by American Warriors, Volume 2. Since then, the publishers have continued the tradition of supporting our troops.

This yearly anthology presents essays, fiction, poetry, interviews, and photography by military-service personnel, veterans, and their families. It is an annual series published by Southeast Missouri State University Press in cooperation with the Missouri Humanities Council's Veterans Projects and the Warriors Arts Alliance.

"The stories and poems of service and sacrifice are essential in understanding what has so broadly been termed 'the American experience.' For me, Proud to Be: Writing by American Warriors is required reading and worthy of a thousand tears."     ―St. Leger Monty Joynes, veteran, Vietnam

Books can now be ordered from the Southeast Missouri State University Press and Amazon. 

Interested in submitting to Volume 8? They are already accepting submissions which are due by March 1, 2019. Contests and prizes will be awarded in each of the five categories. To learn more, please visit:  http://www.semopress.com/events/proud-to-be-writing-by-american-warriors/

Interested in more "support America" reads? Chicken Soup for the Soul publishers have several books honoring veterans and their families as well. Try some of their titles such as: Military Families and The Spirit of America.

Interested in reading more veteran related material? Try Noir and Returning War Vet Sub-Genre, or Being a Veteran.

Have you written with our military in mind? What military reads would you recommend?

IWSG: Creativity

It’s time for another group posting of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group! founded by Alex J. Cavanaugh. Time to release our fears to the world – or offer encouragement to those who are feeling neurotic. If you’d like to join us, click on the tab above and sign up. We post the first Wednesday of every month. Your words might be the encouragement someone needs. You can also join us on twitter using the hashtag #IWSG, or on the Facebook page.

Now, IWSG hosts have changed up the format in an effort to make it more fun and interactive. Every month, they will announce a question that members can answer in their IWSG Day post. These questions may prompt you to share advice, insight, a personal experience or story. Include your answer to the question in your IWSG post or let it inspire your post if you are struggling with something to say. 

Don’t forget to visit others that day to see their answers. Want to join, or learn more? Visit our - Sign-up List.

NOVEMBER QUESTION: How has your creativity in life evolved since you began writing?

MY ANSWER: I feel like my creative abilities are in a constant state of flux. A lot of that has to do with how busy I am and what trials I am enduring. I feel like the more emotional periods of my life (pregnancy, divorce, losing my house in a flood, death in the family, etc.) have elicited more creative and emotional pieces from me. During the tamer periods, I seem to lean more towards nonfiction. I've only recently realized and lamented this fact. It will be interesting to see if that pattern holds. I'm also curious to see if I will be more creative during the holidays this year. 

How about you? How has your creativity evolved?

No NaNoWriMo for Me!

I will not be participating in NaNoWriMo this year.

There are less than 9 weeks left of 2018, and I need to spend it finishing up some of my incomplete projects and submission goals - not to mention all of my work for the high school and college courses I teach.

If you are participating, let me know so I can stop by to cheer you on in your progress. I wish you the best of luck!