Win a Copy of Miralee Ferrell's "The Other Daughter!"

A couple weeks ago I featured Miralee Ferrell's debut novel called "The Other Daughter with an interview with Miralee. I had only received the book at the time and hadn't read it.

Well now I've read it and I must say this is a book you don't want to miss! Once I picked it up I couldn't put it down until I finished it two days later. Well, I did take time out to eat and sleep and work on my WIP, LOL. But every free moment I could read, I read.

It's hard to imagine what it would be like to have a 13-year-old girl show up on your doorstep with the news that your husband is her father, but that's what happens to Suzanne Carson in "The Other Daughter." As far as Suzanne knew she had been the only woman her husband, David, an on-fire Christian, had ever been with. Up to now a strong, independent person when it came to things of the Lord, Suzanne faces a lot of struggles with acceptance of this young girl. It seems that this turn of events in her life is forcing a wedge between her and the Lord deeper than there ever has been. At every turn she rationalizes her actions and feelings only to find another obstacle has reared up. Miralee traces the character and spiritual arcs of both David and Suzanne to a satisfying conclusion as they both have to deal with David's dalliance almost fifteen years earlier, as well as forgiveness.

I highly recommend this book and if you would like to win my copy, please leave a comment in the comment section and I'll throw your name into a hat. I will draw a name next Monday, December 3rd. Note: You must leave contact information in the comment so I can reach you if I draw your name. If I can't reach you, I'll have to draw another name!

Today's Feature: Kim Sawyer's "Beginnings"

Today I'm pleased to tell you about my friend Kim Vogel Sawyer's latest release "Beginnings."

A while back I reviewed the first book in this three-book series published by Barbour , "Bygones," and have been patiently waiting to find out more about the characters in this small Kansas Mennonite community. I wasn't disappointed.

Bygones focused on Marie, who had been raised in the community as old order Mennonite, but as a very young woman had eloped with a truck driver who stole her heart. Soon after her marriage Marie's husband was killed in an accident, leaving a pregnant Marie who had been shunned by her father. She raised her daughter on her own, outside the church. Then through certain circumstances, Marie and her young adult daughter, Beth, were drawn back to Marie's hometown where Marie was reconciled to God, family, and love.

Beginnings is Beth's story and the internal conflicts she experiences as she tries to live in a town where she feels like an outcast. A new believer but not Mennonite, she wants to live among the relatives she's never known, but doesn't know how to bridge the gap. Even her mom has adopted the church family of her childhood and family by returning to the Mennonite community and wearing the prayer cap and plain clothes, while Beth who is now a stained-glass artist is most comfortable in jeans and flannel shirts. I don't want to reveal too many spoilers, but suffice it to say, there is an element of romance as well as hightened relational issues as Beth struggles with her new faith and finding her niche.

Kim does a masterful job of letting the reader get inside Beth's head and heart and and experiencing the struggles alongside Beth. As a reader, I found the spiritual and character arc in Beth most gratifying. Kim ends the book in a satisfying way, yet still leaving the reader wanting more.

The final book in the series, titled "Blessings," is due out in February.

I'd intended to give the book away in a drawing, but last week I accidentally tipped my coffee mug over on the book. With the coffee-stained pages, I can hardly offer it as a prize. But I am willing to give it to the first person who comments here that they would like it. Just be sure to let me know where I can contact you with mailing information. Don't publish it in the comments!

Thanksgiving Day Thankfulness

Today is a day to reflect on our daily blessings and thank God for them. So I am not going to write about books I've read or should be read, my progress on my WIP revision, or any other thoughts and ideas running through my mind.

I just want to wish the readers of A Writer's Journey in the U.S. a very blessed and happy Thanksgiving.

I think Psalm 91 sums it up well.

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust." Surely he will save you from the fowler's snare and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.

You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday. A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you.

You will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked. If you make the Most High your dwelling— even the LORD, who is my refuge- then no harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent. For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. You will tread upon the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent.

"Because he loves me," says the LORD, "I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him. With long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation."

I know that if any of us were aware of the countless times that the Lord has protected us from harm in the course of a day we would be totally amazed. From fender-bender accidents, to walking innocently into a dangerous situation, to being faced with a temptation too strong for us to ignore.

There have been times when I've zoned out while driving. Thinking more about something other than what I was doing, only to be jerked out of my trance with just enough time to slam on the brakes because the car in front of me had stopped. I believe that to be God's protection, alerting me of certain disaster in the nick of time. Thinking about those kind of times when I'm aware of the hedge of protection around me, I have to wonder how many more times do things like this happen that blow right past me. Times I will never know.

I hope this psalm will give you something to ponder. Enjoy the day.

Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow!

CFBA Blog Tour - Neta Jackson's The Yada Yada Group Gets Decked Out

When I learned last week that this week's blog tour for CFBA would be focusing on one of the Yada Yada Prayer Group's books, I couldn't believe it. Did I miss the notice a few months ago when this month's blog tour agenda was announced? How? We receive the notices from the CFBA's coordinator, Bonnie Calhoun, and we have the choice to have the publisher send us a copy of the books to read and review or we don't. If I'd seen a Yada Yada book I'd have requested it in a New York minute.

I later learned that one of the books offered for November wasn't going to be able to be shipped in a timely fashion so the All Decked Out book was offered as a substitute. Since I didn't ask for the book that was postponed, I never got All Decked Out.

I haven't yet read this particular Yada Yada book, but trust me, I will. This is the final book in Neta Jackson's series. That alone will make it a bittersweet experience when I do read it.

If you haven't yet read any of these books, I want to suggest you start with book #1 which is simply titled The Yada Yada Prayer Group. But, each book can stand alone on it's own and I'm here to promote Yada Yada Gets Decked Out.

The books are set in the Rogers Park area of Chicago which is a muti-ethnic neighborhood at the very northern edge of Chicago. Cross the line at Howard Street and you are in Evanston.

The Yada Yada's are a group of ladies who meet at a women's conference and are randomly put into a group for the conference. The woman are about as mixed up as any group can get ethnicity wise. Black, Asian, Hispanic, and White. Jodie Baxter is the protag who tells the story. She's the white one. Seeing the character arc and spiritual arc for Jodie through the storyline has been a lesson in spiritual and character growth for this WASP (White, Anglosaxon, Protestant) woman (me), not to mention the same for the other characters in the stories.

In fact, right now I am listening to the series in audio format whenever I go out for my walks in the neighborhood and I come home feeling like I've been at a prayer meeting. No kidding.

I was so sad when I heard All Decked Out is to be the last in the series. I know most series do eventually stop, but I wanted to drive over to Neta Jackson's house (she lives in Evanston) and beg her to sit down at her computer and bang out another story. LOL. Of course, I didn't. I've since heard that she's starting a new series which promises to be a spinoff of Yada Yada and I cannot wait for the first book to come out.

Since I haven't yet read All Decked Out, I'll let the CFBA tell the story of this book:

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Neta Jackson Neta Jackson's award-winning Yada books have sold more than 350,000 copies and are spawning prayer groups across the country. She and her husband, Dave, are also an award-winning husband/wife writing team, best known for the Trailblazer Books--a 40-volume series of historical fiction about great Christian heroes with 1.8 million in sales--and Hero Tales: A Family Treasury of True Stories from the Lives of Christian Heroes (vols 1-4).

Dave and Neta live in Evanston, Illinois, where for twenty-seven years they were part of Reba Place Church, a Christian church community. They are now members of the Chicago Tabernacle, a multi-racial congregation that is a daughter church of the well-known Brooklyn Tabernacle.


ABOUT THE BOOK


Turkey dinners, tree trimming, and decking the halls--it's that time of year again! And I Jodi Baxter, can't wait to celebrate. My kids are coming home for Thanksgiving and Christmas, and then all of us Yadas are getting decked out for a big New Year's party.

But God's idea of "decked out" might just change the nature of our party plans. A perplexing encounter with a former student, a crime that literally knocks me off my feet, a hurry-up wedding, and a child who will forever change our family...it's times like these that I really need my prayer sisters.

This holiday season, we Yada Yadas are learning that no one can out celebrate God. So let's get this party started!

THE YADA YADA PRAYER GROUP GETS DECKED OUT is a festive novella featuring America's favorite prayer group, the Yada Yadas!

Sometimes dubbed "chick-lit" for their bright covers and catchy titles, this series provides far more depth than witty banter and wacky situations. Inspired by a prayer group of real women, each book will have you laughing, crying, and perhaps praying anew.

In this highly anticipated installment, the Yada Yada sisters-a group of multi-cultural friends-and their families prepare for the event of the season.

But yes, eager readers, this novella—which picks up a year and a half after the end of book #6 The Yada Yada Prayer Group Gets Rolling concludes the series with some twists and turns that will amaze and encourage you. Plus, it sets the stage for Neta’s new series with new characters and new situations but also occasional roles for the beloved Yada Yada sisters in familiar Chicago neighborhoods with all their cultural richness.

It would make a great Christmas gift too! Buy it at Amazon!

Random Thoughts

It's been a crazy week. But what week isn't these days? It's had its highs and lows.

What does the picture have to do with anything? Nothing except we almost had snow today. I think riding a horse in snow would be fun and I like the picture.

I've made good headway on my story revision. Not yet done, but moving ever so closer to the end. I'm within 5,000 words of my 90,000 word goal and I still have one more scene and one more chapter to add, as well as the ever deepening POV. I'm still aiming for December 1st.

As I write, fellow ACFW member and author, Kristy Dykes is recovering in a Florida hospital from brain surgery. Kristy went to the eye doctor just over a week ago for a routine eye exam only to discover she was losing peripheral vision in both eyes. An MRI confirmed she had a brain tumor. Over the past week or so Kristy has been chronicling her experience on her blog. In the midst of her trial she has been ministering to all of us who have been reading her words. The pathology report after surgery (which occurred Thursday) confirmed the cancer. Now that she is recovering from the surgery her husband and other family have been posting to her blog. This event has drawn Christians from all over the world into corporate prayer.

For a while it appeared I might be spending Thanksgiving alone. Being an only child, never married with no kids and my closest relatives scattered around the country, I've always spent Thanksgiving with friends. I had plans, but they fell through. Even the friend who has always told me I had a seat at her table if I had no other place to go is going out of town. A good friend from my Bible study heard what had happened and invited me to join her and her friends. She is from Japan and we'll be having both Japanese and American food. Sushi and Turkey. What a combination LOL. God is good. If I ended up spending the day alone, I wouldn't have liked it, but had already told myself it must be what God wants so I'll use the time to His glory. Then came the invite.

I am running again for the secretary position on the ACFW board. Elections just opened and will be open for two weeks since it is all done on line. I love what I do on the board and would be honored to be elected to the position for another term. Yet, I know God is the one in control, not me. I'm having to leave it at God's feet and patiently wait for the outcome on December 1st.Outside of asking my writing buds who belong to ACFW to remember to vote there is no campaigning. This isn't the presidential election. LOL. No debates, no campaign speeches. Just trusting God and waiting. Too bad political campaigns can't be the same. Imagine. No political ads every time you turn on the television or radio. No nasty barbs tossed around. No accusations. In our dreams.

Did you notice that I finally changed my picture here? It is one of the several great photos Jodie Westfall took of me in Dallas. I intend to redesign my website in the near future and will unveil more of the shots at that time. I'm seriously considering writing under a different last name, especially when I contract for my fiction. There are many ways to spell my last name which can be confusing. Not to mention there are quite a few Pam Meyers, some spelling with an "s" and some without the "s." The name I'll use is Pamela Andress. Andress is the maiden name of my maternal grandmother and it would be a way for me to perpetuate the family name as well as make my byline more unique. I'm still thinking about it but have already bought the domain names associated with the Andress name.

That's about all the random thoughts I have tonight. So I'll end by sharing a picture of one of my newest cousins. Mazie was born in May and she is one of the most photogentic, expressive babies I have ever seen. If I'm having a down day I go to her parents' blog and laugh at Mazie's latest pictures. Enjoy!