GUYS, I couldn't be more excited to share about this incredible book that is going to be available for you to get your hands on in just a few days!!
COMING NOVEMBER 15TH, 2018
~ Summary ~
An international writing community.
61 authors
11 countries
6 continents
Are you looking for advice on how to create the perfect villain? Do you need the courage to put your story down on paper? Find this and more in Project Canvas, a writing resource written completely by teen and young adult writers and compiled by Caroline Meek and Olivia Rogers. Project Canvas includes: 71 short chapters, each written by a different author bonus interviews with authors such as Tessa Emily Hall and Q. Gibson world building and character development worksheets and other helpful resources! “This is a writing teacher’s dream – not a how-to book, but more of a literary testimony and homage to the process of writing. A sweet balance between the practical and the spiritual, Project Canvas is concise enough for daily meditation, yet robust enough to move the writer’s soul beyond the temporary.” –Brian Dolezal, professional development and spoken word coach at Sumner Academy of Arts and Science Project Canvas will be available for purchase through Amazon on November 15.
~ About the Founders ~
Caroline and Olivia have been friends ever since kindergarten, when they met in a homeschooling group. Their writing journey was a slow evolution over the course of many sleepovers, games of pretend, writing stories together, and finally publishing some of them. Caroline Meek is the editor-in-chief and co-founder of Project Canvas. She’s originally from Kansas City, Kansas, where she co-authored The Drawing in of Breath and attended Sumner Academy of Arts and Sciences. Caroline has a passion for bringing writers together and is currently studying English & Creative Writing on the Publishing track at the University of Iowa. She’s been published in The Kansas City Star, Ink Lit Mag, Wordsmith, and blogs at Of Stars and Ink-Stained Things. Olivia Rogers is the co-founder of Project Canvas. She’s originally from the great state of Kansas, where she showed sheep, competitively debated, and also became involved in politics. Olivia believes that writing is the gateway to change. She’s currently studying Political Science and Philosophy at Kansas State University, with the goal of becoming a lawyer and continuing to advocate for others.
~ Links ~
Add on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42446616-project-canvas
Website:
https://projectcanvasbook.weebly.com
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/projectcanvas_
Blog:
https://projectcanvasblog.blogspot.com/
~ My Review ~
* * * * *
I was incredibly blessed to be not only a contributor to this amazing collection of helpful writing tips, but also a receiver of an ARC copy a couple weeks ago. Guys, I might be a little bias, but this book is getting five stars from me.
The timing worked out so that I finished my copy right before NaNoWriMo in November, and y'all...it was so inspiring. I've gone back and reread a couple of the sections during the first couple days of this month too because I was feeling discouraged...and well, that discouragement didn't last long. There's just something about knowing that somewhere in the world other young authors are also struggling, but not surrendering, to the trials of a writer's life that is invigorating. I came away from finishing the book refreshed, rejuvenated, and ready to write a book! Project Canvas is one of those books a writer NEEDS to have on their bookshelf...not just on their bookshelf, but beside their bed, in their car, on their desk, anywhere close so they can be ready for anything life throws at them. So, my friends, if you are an author, or want a sneak peek into what makes our lives possible, get this book!
Pardon the freaking out in the title...but...*deep breath* I'M DOING NANOWRIMO!!!!! It's my first time doing this "try-to-write-50k-words-in-one-month" thing and I'm low-key freaking out a little bit. So why am I participating in National Novel Writing Month this year? Reason #1: I have a book outlined and ready to be written within a month Reason #2: I feel like I should at least give this a shot at some point, so why not this year? Reason #3: It can only help my writing by making me step out of my comfort zone and actually make myself write all month. So...let me introduce my book I'm focusing on finishing during the days of NaNoWriMo. :) This is kind of a cover reveal too, so enjoy. ;)
Special thanks to Jessica Greyson for the amazing cover. :)
Here's the working summery...subject to change closer to the release date (hopefully a completed summery will be ready by the end of the year): Only real princes are allergic to peanuts.
Convinced that the self-proclaimed princes are only there to woo her for her money and power, Princess Charlotte declares she will only marry a real prince. When no real princes appear to be living in their time, the princess and her parents have to resort to plan B.
Years have passed since Colton's sister married a statue that came to life, and despite the oddity of the situation, he has learned to love the life as brother-in-law to a prince. His family have since moved to the island where his sister lives, and Colton had just finished college when a certain TV advertisement makes his weird life even weirder.
Somehow persuaded to go to Germany and participate in a strange competition, Colton finds that the skills he learned for fun on the island come in very handy now. Though he thinks the whole ordeal is kind of stupid, competing against his younger brother has never been more fun. Winning was just a joke until he learns what prize awaits the champion...and then he suddenly decides that it might be worth the effort after all. Because I'm not expecting this story to be a full 50,000 word novel, I will probably also work on "A New Name" since I'm hoping to have a rough draft of that giant finished by the end of the year. I'm also going to be juggling a new college schedule and my part-time nanny job on top of this, plus all the family time and church activities of the season, so I realize its going to be a hectic month, and I'm probably partially insane for trying to accomplish it all...but I've never claimed complete sanity when it comes to my writing anyways, so there is that. ;) It would mean a lot to me if you found "The Prince and the Peanut" on Goodreads and added it to your TBR list, and I'd love to connect with more of you on the NaNoWriMo website, so feel free to add me as a friend (I just go by Rebekah Eddy on there). And yes, I spelled my name right this time. *rolls eyes* Are any of you planning on doing NaNoWriMo this year? If so, tell me about YOUR book(s)! I want to hear all the stuff. ;)
Points for what I think is probably my longest blog title EVER. But I am not here to talk about that. I am here to apologize.
Last you heard from me, I finished my biggest giveaway of all times...announced the winners...and then promptly dropped off the face of the earth. I PROMISE I HAVEN'T FORGOTTEN YOU!!! I especially want to apologize to the giveaway winners...because *insert the blush emoticon and face palm here* I STILL haven't mailed out your books yet. I know, I know, I'm a horrible person and trust me, I'm VERY embarrassed about this. Normally it wouldn't take me this long (like, what? THREE MONTHS or something like that now? Guys, I'm MORTIFIED) but I do have several excuses. Let me get you all up to date on how my life has been the last couple months.
~ June ~
1) My friend that's been away at college since spring break came up for the summer and our family tried to prioritize our time so we could all hang out more. A lot of spontaneous ice cream and ping pong. :) It was super awesome. 2) Penial Ranch. SO MUCH FUN. But exhausting, and time consuming. Not that I'd trade that week for ANYTHING. 3) Our house was being roofed this whole time, which meant a lot of extra chores for those NOT up on the roof all day. 4) I was still trying to do college studying throughout this time, not to mention read and write some...I mean, a girl needs to have some free time, right? 5) I also hosted a book signing at my house, which was amazing and fun, and even though it was during a busy time of year, I actually had a pretty good turnout? (The cookies were DEFINITELY not the reason why so many people showed up. :P)
~ July ~
1) Our church had its VBS program and I had a fairly important part in it including being a leader of a group of kids, leading songs, and being a character in a play that we did at the end of each day. (You can watch that play now on Youtube in its entirety. Here's a link if you're interested: TIME LAB PLAY) 2) I also went to visit my brother in Eastern Washington where he works as a missionary with another family there that our church supports. 3) I have this job, right? BABYSITTING. Yeah, I've been doing that all this time too. Four hours a day, four days of the week. Plus, I've also had to take care of their animals a couple weekends as well due to an unfortunate family tragedy which I won't go in to detail here. 4) I'm still plugging away at a couple books (I READ FAWKES AND IT'S SO GOOD) as well as trying to get in some of my own writing. I did actually manage to write about 5k in "A New Name", which, with everything else going on in my life, WAS A HUGE AMOUNT.
~ August ~
1) Throughout the end of July and beginning of this month, our family enjoyed a delightful three weeks with a couple very amazing Japanese students. Riko and Junya were so much fun to hang out with. They became a part of our family, and we all miss them terribly now that they headed home. A visit to their homes in Japan is officially on my bucket list. 2) With the roofs of our property FINALLY done, (including a couple extras that the poor guys hadn't bargained for) we could now focus on some other property issues including a washing machine that stopped working AND one of two water pumps breaking down on us. In a family of ten...this is no joke. 3) I'm almost caught up now with the life I'm living right now (since August isn't over yet, thank goodness!) I have a CLEP test this Friday, and at the end of the month, an Accuplacer test which I have to take in order to get into the college I want to get into. Needing to take a deep breath yet? Yeah, me too. Obviously, I've been a little stressed over the last couple months. Still, I know its unforgivable the amount of waiting I made you all do. Excuses aside, I should have sent out those book packages MONTHS ago. To all of you who have been waiting patiently, in growing confusion as to why your book hasn't showed up yet, hopefully this post will clear that up. Again, I HAVE NOT FORGOTTEN. Your books are signed, in a bag, in my car. I just need finish writing you each a letter and take them down to the postal office in order to send them off. Due to financial reasons, I'll probably only be able to send off a couple at a time...but have no fear, I am planning on getting them to you (ALL OF YOU) before the end of September. Thanks again for your patience. I don't deserve it. <3
As I sit here, consuming too much coffee ice cream and enjoying the gentle breezes of summer (which has FINALLY decided to show up) I feel like I should wax poetic on this introduction. I should contemplate the many mysteries of life, like why do birds sing and how fast do stars die and why does my friend think a gorilla is a sasquatch...but I won't. Why?
BECAUSE I'M HERE WITH SO MANY EXCITING ANNOUNCEMENTS!!!!
A special thanks to the five girls who sent in questions for my Q&A video, it was fun to answer them, and MAN did you give me some hard ones! (But no math equations so thank you so much for that.) I hope you all enjoy my answers and find them helpful and informative. I'm hoping to do another one soon, closer to my birthday, so keep an eye out for that link. ;)
I know that this monthly wrap-up post will be different than most, but I thought I should acknowledge a couple very important things going on in my life:
1: I'M AN AUNTIE FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER!!!!
That's right, my friends. My older sister told us last Saturday that she was expecting. I don't know if the baby is a boy or girl yet, since Sarah is only like one month in to this new adventure...BUT...*deep breath* I've been freaking out in a good way ever since I heard the news! I think I'm more excited about this little human than my sister is. XD
2: I'm having another book-signing at the end of June!!!
A little less world-shattering after becoming an auntie, but exciting news none-the-less. I'm hosting a book-signing for "Sleeping Handsome" and "Thoughts in Verse" on June 30th, 2018. If any of you are local (or even up to a couple hours away) you should TOTALLY try to make it to my house for that! I wish all of you could come and hang out with me, but I know due to location that most of you won't. :( If you CAN make it, let me know and I'll give you directions. (Psssst, there will be free cookies... B-)
NOW. Since all of you have probably skipped to this section already, here are the winners of my giveaway!
Grand Prize Winner:
ABIGAIL MCKENNA
*confetti shower*
You get a signed copy of "The Princess and I" AND a cute set of silver earrings. :)
1st place winners:
Abigail Harder,
Kaitlyn Krispense,
Ashley Nicole, and
Becca Wall
You girls get a signed copy of "The Princess and I"!!!!! *happy dance*
2nd place winners:
Ashley (of precious moments fame),
Bethany R., and
Rebekah Ashleigh
You girls all get a signed copy of "Sleeping Handsome"!!! Congrats!
3rd place winner:
Deborah C.
You win a copy of "Alice and Alyssa" WHOOP, WHOOP!
4th place:
Faith Potts
You win a copy of "The Silver Flower" *hugs*
A HUUUUUUGE congratulations to all of you! Thanks so much for the amazing group of followers you are! As I've said before, and will say again, I wish I could give all of you free copies of all my books...but I can't. :(
To those of you who won, please email me with your address and I will get those signed books out to you ASAP! :D
If this post seemed short to you...that's because it was. :) I'm hoping to get into a better blogging rhythm during summer, but we'll have to see how that works out.
Until next time, let everything you do be done for the glory of God!
I have been writing on this blog for FIVE YEARS now. Like WHAAAAAAAAT????!!?! Where did THAT time go? I couldn't pass up this special milestone without making a special post just for this moment. <3 So here I am.
My blog has taken me through some of the happiest and saddest moments in my life. I went through my tumultuous middle-teen years on it, and have been blessed beyond measure with an incredible community of followers. Seriously, y'all are the BEST. <3 <3 <3 I have written and published my first book, my first novel, and my first poetry collection during those five years, not to mention several short stories and songs. I have met some amazing friends on here, and been introduced to some pretty fabulous authors, cover designers, editors, and writing mentors on here that I would never have met in person. I know this post is bound to sound sentimental and mushy, but I really don't think I would be the author I am today without every single one of you amazing people. <3 You all mean the world to me, and I look forward to spending another five years (and more!) getting to know you better and hopefully meeting more and more of you face-to-face. (Trust me, I'm already planning a trip across the United States! :P)
In honor of this, I'm letting you fill out THIS FORM with as many questions as you want, (writing related, book related, person related, curiosity related, ANYTHING) which I will then write on pieces of paper and answer in my monthly wrap-up post at the end of this month. I'll only be accepting questions through the next couple weeks though, so hurry and submit as many as you can! ;) The only thing I ask is that you refrain from asking math problems. That's all I ask. Please. For the sake of my sanity. XD
Another amazing thing happened a couple months ago...it marked the one year anniversary of the publication and release of my baby, my very first novel I've ever written! :D That's right, The Princess and I is OFFICIALLY a year old, as of March 5th of this year! In that time, I have sold hundreds of copies to friends and family, seen my book placed in libraries and bookstores, and even hosted my first book-signing! I'm overwhelmed by the incredible support I've been shown by you, my online community, and my friends and family here in Washington. You have all made this last year incredible. <3
Because of these two HUUUUGE milestones, I'm going to be hosting the BIGGEST giveaway I have EVER hosted. Guys, I'm going to be giving out a total of TEN books. Five copies of "The Princess and I", three copies of "Sleeping Handsome", and one copy of "The Silver Flower" and "Alice and Alyssa". AND THAT'S NOT ALL. I'm also giving away four scripture bracelets (for if a guy wins), and a pair of silver earrings (if a girl wins) as a grand prize to the person who gets first place. That means a grand total of TEN people are walking away from this post with a prize... And, good news for my lovely Canadian followers, I will be sending you guys an Amazon gift card if you win (due to my pocketbook not wanting to send books across the border) so you can still enter and buy my book with your card. ;) You're welcome. ;) The only downer on that is that it won't be signed...but I promise that when I become a rich and famous author I will fly to your house in my private helicopter and sign it for you in person. :P
Before I give you the giveaway link, I have one more amazing thing to share with you: I've been low-key working on the sequel to my novel The Princess and I, called, The King's Cousin. The main character is Susan, Megan's cousin, and the hope right now is to finish the first draft by the end of the year. I already have a lovely cover to share with you all thanks to the amazing Jessica Greyson. ;)
Yes, I know. SO LOVELY. What's even better? I came to deliver a snippet to you all. :) Can't get much better than that, right? :P Enjoy. :)
My cousin was getting married. The letter that had brought
me the news lay open upon my dress, its words still fresh in my memory. I
pondered them now, as I sat by the edge of the cliff, letting the salty wind I loved so much
blow the wisps of hair away from my line of vision. My eyes focused on the
horizon where sea met sky, but my mind was much farther away than that.
I welcomed
news of any kind. As a small girl, I had longed to go on adventures like heroes
from the songs of bards. My heart ached with an indescribable longing to go
somewhere, to discover something, to experience something no one in my
acquaintance had before me. However, as a daughter and only child, my options
were limited. My parents needed me at home.
With an
almost inaudible sigh, I stood up, dusting the pieces of grass and rock from my
skirts before turning around. The invitation to my cousin’s wedding had been addressed to my
parents as well; it was time they read it for themselves. Perhaps hearing the
good news would bring them some joy and lighten the depressing mood that seemed
to have hung over our heads for the past few weeks.
Placing my
fingers to my lips, I uttered a shrill whistle that would have made my mother’s delicate ears shrivel in horror. A
joyful bark answered my call and a brown ball of excitement bolted toward me
through the long grass. As he jumped around me, trying in vain to lick my face,
I stroked his soft fur and laughed; his happiness was contagious. Named Beowulf
after the famed hero of old, the hound held a very special place in my heart.
He was my almost constant companion, though at times distracted by the many
scents which led him on scattered trails throughout the tall, waving grass.
With an
added skip to my step, I walked back down the beaten path which would lead me
to my home. My smile was damped only a small amount when the dismal castle came
into sight. The mossy and vine-covered stonework seemed to shout to everyone
who passed our home that the money we used to have was lacking. All lords’ castles are much smaller and more
simple compared to our king’s castle, but our castle and the surrounding
countryside used to dwarf the other lord’s estates. Alas, due to difficult
circumstances, my father had to sell much of our land and let go of many of the
household servants. Despite the sunshine, it was always dark and dank inside
our home, which did little to help my mother’s many aches and pains. However,
this place was home. And though it was no longer a place of power and prestige,
I loved it.
Giving a
quiet grunt, I pulled open the door, which required all my strength. The wooden
boards creaked in ancient protest, but gave way to my heaving with an eventual
sigh. The air inside was a far cry from the fresh breezes lifting off the
ocean, but with one experimental sniff, my grin returned and I followed my nose
to the kitchen.
“Must be dinner time,” came the dry
remark in thick Scottish brogue as soon as my feet crossed the cook’s
threshold.
I came over
to where my oldest friend was bent over by the fireplace. “Ah, you know my ways only too well,
Dubbs.”
The
Scottish woman gave an expressive sniff. “That’s Mrs. MacDubbs to you, lass.” Her words were harsh,
but as she said them, she shoved a plate of freshly baked biscuits in my
direction and pointed to the cupboard with her knife. “You’ll find butter and
jam over there.”
I hugged
her around her plumping waist and prepared my biscuit with haste. The heavenly
morsel was exactly what I needed after the long hike to the cliffs and back. My
eyes rolled back and I gave an ecstatic sigh of contentment. “I swear, Dubbs, your biscuits can
work miracles on an empty stomach.”
“Most food does,” was the curt reply.
However, I could tell that I had pleased the woman by the twitch of her mouth
and the lightening of her steps as she busied herself around the kitchen.
“When is your little one expected?” I
asked, eyeing her expanding stomach with interest. “You’ll let me help with the
birthing this time, won’t you?”
The woman
paused for a moment, and laid a hand on her bump. For a moment, a ghost of a
smile danced across her work-worn face. Almost immediately it vanished and she
turned her back to me before replying, “She’s bound to want to come at the most inconvenient time,
which means she’s probably going to arrive right at the beginning of harvest.”
“Will you let me assist with your birthing
this time?” I repeated when it looked like she wasn’t going to answer.
Without
pausing in her preparation for our dinner, she answered, “Births aren’t a pretty sight, lass.”
“I know,” I answered, “but I feel like
I should have the experience before I start having a family of my own.”
Mrs.
MacDubbs looked thoughtful. “Maybe
so, lass…but you’ll have to gain your mother and father’s consent. It’s not my
place to order you around.”
Having her
mention my parents, I suddenly remembered my original reason for returning to
the castle. “Oh!” I
exclaimed, dusting the biscuit crumbs off my hands and standing up abruptly.
The cook
regarded me with a raised eyebrow. “What was that for?”
“I received a letter this morning from
Megan and Malcolm, and it contains some important information that Mum and
Father need to hear about as soon as possible!” All the information came out in
a rush as I tried to explain while dashing from the room and across front hall.
I lifted up my long skirts in order to make short work of our flight of stairs
into the upper level where my parents spent the majority of their time.
Well, friends...what do you think? I've been enjoying creating a few new characters and heavily shipping some old ones. B-) I can't wait to share more about my book with you all when it starts coming together more, but this is all I can do for now since...you know, spoilers. :P
Now...for the last item of business. THE GIVEAWAY. *waves invitingly at link*
Yes, you read that correctly, my friends...my poetry book releases TODAY!!! This is a new experience for me in several ways:
1) Because it's the first time I've ever released a poetry collection
2) Because it's also the first time I've done a book in this style (namely: spiral bound) and
3) Because this is the first book I've done with not two but THREE different cover styles. O.o
So, that said, there are a couple things you all should know about this unique release. First, because of the style I chose to do, it can ONLY be purchased through Lulu...which kind of sucks because that makes it a little more complicated for you guys to buy it. ALSO, it means I really need your help in spreading the word about it's release. If any of you are interested in sharing the links (I'll leave them at the bottom of the post) on ANY social media of ANY kind, I am willing to give you a couple really cool things. (Yes, I have resorted to bribery. XD) You will get: 2 "The Princess and I" bookmarks 1 poem of your choice from the collection FOR FREE (and signed if you want) 1 card from me telling you what a nice person you were for helping me out ;P 1 shout out in a future blog post (if enough of you are willing to help) Sound interesting? PLEASE let me know via e-mail or comment if you want to help spread the word. Again, I don't care which program you use to share (think: Google+, Instagram, Pinterest, blog post, Facebook, Goodreads...WHATEVER WORKS BEST FOR YOU)! Here's a little bit more about the book to peak your interest. ;)
~ The Summery ~
And MAN did I have a tough time writing this.
APPRECIATE THE EFFORT. XD
This first collection of poetry by the author of "The Princess and I" and
"Sleeping Handsome" was written over a period of thirteen years. Rebekah Eddy's
first poem she ever wrote, "The Duck Pond", was penned when she was only six
years old. The other poems were written between her fifteenth and nineteenth
years of life. The poems within this small volume cover a wide variety of
topics that include Christmas and Easter traditions, everyday thoughts on life,
and even some more humorous and fun poems at the end. She created this book
in a style with the hopes that you, as the reader, can fill in the spaces with
your own illustrations and have fun doodling your own creative ideas into the
spaces between her poems.
GUYS I HAVE NOT DIED. Left you hanging two months ago with no further word from me for all this time, yes...died, no. Life in general forced me to put my blogging on the back burner for a couple months, much as I disliked doing so. However, I'll hopefully be posting on here more regularly after this surprise hiatus. Did y'all miss me? ;) (Only answer if you did. Otherwise just ignore that question and let me enjoy my innocence.)
Want to know WHY I've been strangely absent the last couple months? By all means, read on. :)
~ Life ~
Basically, the craziness all started the two weeks before Easter. I place full blame of my hectic life during the last two months at that holiday's feet. What with cantata practice, church decorating (and un-decorating), Easter itself, and that holiday being shortly followed by our church's mission's conference, our family was kept on our toes. Throw in some babysitting, housecleaning, college, and housesitting and you might get a little picture of my life during that time.
We had a brief week of rest (where, coincidentally, ALL my writing for Camp NaNo took place...in other words, I did not get to my writing goal for that month) before Margaret and I headed out to Georgia to visit our older sister Sarah and her husband Jesse. For those of you who follow me on Instagram, you probably got pictures and updates at least during that time. For those of you who didn't, here's a brief run-down of the week we spent there:
Day One: ALL THE TRAVELLING (added Colorado and Georgia to my very short list of states I've gone to in my lifetime)
Day Two: Visited some outlet stores and bought some clothes that were more suited to the hotter, more humid weather, and caught up on sleep (that blessed thing we were very short on for most of our trip). Also, went to a jazz concert put on for free by a local college.
Day Three: We went to a cool park that had all sorts of animals in cages along the path like cougars, bald eagles, gophers, and my personal favorite, the lake with turtles in it. We also went to the biggest Western store in the South (sounds contradictory when I say it like that) and had a hilarious time trying on all sorts of hats and boots. The day finished with my first visit to Sarah and Jesse's church where I got to meet the pastor and his lovely wife.
Day Four: We drove to a fair and stood in line to get into the biggest book sale I have ever gone to. I bought a grand total of 27 books for only $34.25! Needless to say, this was probably my favorite day of our stay there. We also toured a historic house and I tried fried pickles for the first time. (They were weird, but not necessarily bad tasting??) That night we went to another free college concert, this one a flute choir, which was super cool to watch.
Day Five: We hiked stone mountain, and walked half-way around it to see the engraving of the three most famous confederate figures (Lee, Jackson, and Davis) in the mountain's side. We walked a total of 6.3 miles that day...and promptly wasted all our efforts by eating dinner at Chick-fil-a (my first time though...so TOTALLY WORTH IT). Fun story, I almost lost my phone there, which gave me a minor heart-attack...but we recovered it after I figured out it was missing half-an-hour down the highway and drove back to the restaurant to collect it.
Day Six: We went to Zoo Atlanta. Highlights of that trip: coming within two feet of a very hungry looking lion and tiger, and seeing live pandas for the first time EVER. After the zoo, we walked around Atlanta for a little bit and bought raspberry geranium popsicles at a snooty "organic" store. They taste better than they sound, believe me.
Day Seven: We went to Sarah and Jesse's church again and got to see what church feels like for normal people. (a.k.a NOT pastor's kids) It was weird. Interesting, but weird. The people there were really sweet and made us feel very welcome, and the pastor was even preaching from the same book Dad does on Sunday morning!
That afternoon while Jesse barbecued some ribs for a very tasty Sunday dinner, us girls cooled off in the pool, pretending we actually knew how to swim. It was very entertaining. :P
Day Eight: For the last day we had to spend together, we drove to some more outlet stores and enjoyed just looking around at the fancy clothes and accessories. We got some coffee at the local Barnes & Noble bookstore and chilled (as much as we could in the heat of the day). That evening when Jesse came home from work we walked around a college campus that had beautiful grounds and enjoyed dodging bugs and talking.
Day Nine: We flew home. Georgia was lovely for the time we got to spend with Sarah and Jesse, as well as the many new experiences I had...but I was awfully glad to get home. I love my state. I love my friends and family I have here. And I wouldn't trade this life for anything else you might offer me. :)
After getting home, I've spent the rest of the time getting back on Washington time, unpacking and handing out souvenirs, and catching up on everything I had to catch up on.
~ Writing ~
The last couple months, as I have just finished explaining, have not been the best for getting any writing done. However, I did do some writing, and I have hopes of getting more done as time goes on. For Camp NaNo, I got a grand total of 5,045 words written. All of that in one week of April between our mission's conference and our trip to Georgia. *face palm*
I started a new book (I know, I know, groan with me) called "The Assassin's Child" and I hope to have it end around 30k words long.
Good news, I got over the writing block that was keeping me from continuing writing in "A New Name" and I'm hoping to have at least another 20k written in it by the end of this month. Wish me luck!
With the impending release of my poetry collection, I put most of my time into polishing that, which included writing a six-page introduction. More on that project later, I promise.
~ Social Media ~
I currently have been more active on my Instagram than here, and for that, I apologize. It's just so much easier to post a picture and a couple quick sentences during the midst of a crazy busy day, or like a post while scrolling through a feed rather than read an entire blog post and leave a creative comment at the end.
However, I know how much it means to me when someone takes the time to wade through my posts and leave a comment, so I'm going to try very hard to do better at this. If I have to set aside a scheduled time in my day to read blog posts and comment...SO BE IT.
That said, please don't feel left out if I somehow miss your posts in my feed or run out of time to read yours in particular. I only wish there were enough hours in the day to allow for that to never happen, but I'm afraid it's inevitable. I love all the blogs I follow (which is why I follow them :) and just because I'm unable to comment on yours, that doesn't mean I don't care. Quite the contrary, I assure you. <3
~ Music ~
Living Hope (Phil Wickham)
The Power of a Prayer (Matthew West)
Evermore (Josh Groban)
~ Announcement Section ~
Ok, first thing I'm kind of freaking out excited about is the fact that my first poetry collection EVER is releasing THIS UPCOMING SUNDAY!!!!!!!!! Like, WHAAAAAAAAAAT?? Feel free to freak out with me...it'll make me feel better. (maybe)
Yeah, you read that right: "Thoughts in Verse" is releasing in SIX DAYS. Due to the style I'm publishing it in, my book will only be available on Lulu, so any help you can give in spreading the word would be GREATLY appreciated. In fact, if you're interested in publishing the announcement on Sunday anywhere, just drop a comment below or contact me via email if you're willing to commit to sharing about the publication. If you can and do, I will send you these:
1: a "The Princess and I" bookmark (signed if you want)
2: one of the poems in my collection of your choice (I'll send you the list to pick from)
3: a note with me gushing about how nice of you it was to help a poor author out
Sound interesting? Cool. I'll hear from you soon. ;)
Second thing I need to announce...
Turns out I totally missed the first birthday for "The Princess and I"! Which is very sad, because I wanted to have a huge giveaway to celebrate my baby's first year of being published. So, instead of celebrating on the release date, I'm going to celebrate when my blog turns 5 (in a couple weeks) and we'll host a huge party for the both of them on the same day. Sound good? Think, LOTS of books being given away as well as a bunch of extra goodies, questions about the book being answered and even a sneak peek into "The Princess and I"s sequel "The King's Cousin". The best part? I'm going to allow you guys to ask me ANYTHING you want in the comments, and I will write them all down, put them in a hat, and video myself answering them.
To end a VERY long blog post before you are bored out of your mind, here's the ending period.
Well, almost. ;)
Until next time, let everything you do be done for the glory of God!
