Thursday, February 24, 2011

There's only one way to find true LOVE AMID THE ASHES. Do you know what that is? Mesu does.

With this delightful newer author from Revel, you'll discover she doesn't let anything, especially health issues, hold her back from her writing. Come join me in welcoming MESU ANDREWS to the blog.

Mesu Andrews is an active speaker who has devoted herself to passionate and intense study of Scripture. Harnessing her deep understanding and love for God’s Word, Andrews brings the biblical world alive for her readers in this debut novel. She lives in Vancouver, Washington.


SKC: Before you tell us more about your work, how would you say your upbringing relates to your writing, Mesu?

MA: I am sort of a spiritual mutt; my mom charismatic and my dad a Quaker. My grandparents were ordained ministers in the Pilgrim Holiness Church, then Nazarene and finally in the Wesleyan Church. Life was interesting growing up in the crossfire of debate over God’s Word. In my confusion, I turned away from the Lord as a teenager, but when I returned to Him, I had a tenacious hunger to study the Bible for myself. As a young mom, I read Bible stories to my children at bedtime and then studied the same stories in my NIV Study Bible by day. Now, I write about those stories, weaving together God’s Word in ways that not only entertain but also teach.

SKC:  What a great testimony. Thanks. How do you think a person who uses one side of her brain for things that deal with logistics and facts gets their brain into the creative mode?

MA: I’m a “pantser” – I write by the seat of my pants. No methodical plotting of the story. No neat little rows of post-its on my wall. I find intricate references in God’s Word and then pray about how to make His truth make sense. Life can be messy and confusing, but fiction must make sense. And even more importantly for biblical fiction – even when it may appear contradictory, God’s Word can never contradict itself. So the creative mind must find a way to form a believable story around God’s inerrant truth. I believe a simple but effective prayer helps me: It helps to remember that we were formed in the image of our God who is both intellectual and creative. A friend once prayed this prayer over me, and it’s become my declaration of faith when I’m stumped by a difficult plot knot: “I was created by my Creator to be creative.”

SKC: That's a perfect way to look at it. What else inspires you to keep going?

MA: If you have visited my website (www.mesuandrews.com ), you know that I deal with several chronic illnesses. Fibromyalgia and daily migraines are the two most troublesome. I keep going because I know what happens if I stop…the symptoms worsen, rather than improve. If I give in to the desire to stay in bed, my muscles stiffen and the migraines begin earlier in the day. If I keep a regimented sleep schedule and discipline myself to exercise and stay quietly active at my desk, I can enjoy a fairly normal life. I still struggle with a healthy balance between work and rest. Perhaps this is a struggle we’ll all battle while on this earth, but I try to listen to my body more and watch for signs of a “crash” before it relegates me to bed and a dark room. My family reads my silent signals well, and they give me the freedom to rest when needed. They also give me a “kick in the pants” when self-pity begins to slip in. The most important reason I keep writing, speaking, ministering…because I have met Jesus during these days of suffering in a way I could never have known Him without it. I try to remember the blessing of this imposed solitude, and then I appreciate the privilege I’ve been given to minister through my computer screen.

SKC: I understand perfectly about the migraines, Mesu. They have been added to my own thorn in the flesh in the last several years. They are NO FUN.  But we learn to live with them don't we. When did you know writing books would become the passion of your heart and what message do you filter in your stories, if any?

MA: I only realized writing could become my passion when I let go of MY goals and MY desires for life. I was a busy speaker and teacher, pastor’s wife and mother of two energetic teenagers. In 1997, fibromyalgia clipped my wings, and I felt like an eagle forced to walk. I continued speaking but traveled only once a month and taught three Bible studies a week. In 2002, another health crisis dealt a more serious blow, and I was in bed for six months. My only teaching outlet was my laptop, typing lessons God laid on my heart while I grudgingly laid in my bed. I fought hard with God in those early days, asking why I couldn’t keep building my speaking ministry. But as I began to let go of my dreams and my desires, I learned to appreciate the sweet fellowship with my Savior. Jesus became more real to me than any human relationship I’d known, and writing became sort of a partnership that I enjoyed with Him. Now, I speak occasionally, but I’ve been transformed from a total extrovert to someone who absolutely LOVES to be at home in my pj’s with a cup of coffee in hand, pecking away at my keyboard. I hope the message that comes through anything I write includes the intimacy I found with Jesus—and that is available to anyone who seeks Him as a precious treasure.

SKC: We'll just have to share a cup of coffee sometime, Mesu. In the meantime, I'm glad you still step out on faith and teach. It helps those who step back because of health issues. I know. What do you believe is the KEY to writing a good book so far?

MA: Wow! I’ve only published one book and working on the second, so I’m not sure I’m qualified to determine a “key” yet! But for me, I’ve discovered that if I try to write a nice story, it’s a disaster. My calling is to teach. Specifically, to teach God’s Word. I don’t have the credentials to publish Bible studies, so my dear friend reminded me that Jesus used the power of story to teach. That’s when I knew biblical novels were for me. Scripture is a wealth of parables already written by the Great Storyteller. When coupled with historical research and a little imagination, the ancient world can come alive to illustrate principles that might otherwise escape our notice. If I write a chapter or a scene, and it seems boring or dead, I know I’ve veered off the path of teaching and need to ask myself what concept the Lord wants to convey through this part of the story. That’s where the power of story really gets its power—when it’s full of eternal meaning.

SKC: Couldn't agree more. Tell us how you schedule your daily writing time so that it does not interfere with your God time and quality time with family.

MA: Schedule and balance…eeee-gad! That’s always the question, eh? Theoretically, I’m an empty-nester. Practically, our youngest daughter and her husband (and their dog) are newlyweds, living with us for a few of months, putting into practice their Dave Ramsey principles. Next weekend our older daughter will also move back in with us in order to manage her finances for her upcoming wedding in August. Did I mention my father-in-law lives next door? Because my husband is a college professor, his schedule is flexible, so this can be a good thing…or challenging since this means he’s home at odd hours. So, when you say the words, “schedule” and “daily writing time,” I chuckle a little bit. I write like crazy when the house is quiet, and I enjoy my family when they seem to need mama around. It’s a juggling act for sure! Whoever said adult kids don’t need mom must not have had adult kids! And some of my best “God time” happens while I’m on the treadmill or exercise bike. I can walk or ride and think of nothing else except the Scripture before me. (And it helps distract me from the exercise fatigue, too!)

SKC: That's right. Adult kids DO need the folks as much as the wee ones. I have three of my ow, and I know they need us, even if they don't always admit it. Why do you think so many authors have a difficult time coming up with their proposals? What is it like for you?

MA: I hate proposals! I’m terrible at writing them! I think the only reason I got a contract was because I went to a writers’ conference and met the editor in person. I’m much better at talking about an idea than boiling it down to a pitch sentence. I think proposals are difficult because writers were made to write…and proposals are for marketers. Marketers think in phrases and quips. Writers think in paragraphs and chapters. But it’s a good discipline. It makes me search the market for other books like mine, and it makes me consider what projects are viable for my future. Writing a proposal is a time to take stock of my writing life. Where am I? Where have I been? And where am I going? It’s good torture.

SKC: Tell us about your present project, Mesu, and also what plans you have for the near future.

MA: I’m currently working on my second book for Revell, (working title) Love in a Sacred Song. It’s the story of King Solomon’s early years and the love of a shepherd girl that shaped his character and his nation. For young Solomon, wisdom came as God’s gift, but sacred love was forged through passion’s fire. This book releases in March 2012.


I’ve started research on three more biblical novels, each holding to the pattern of the first two. I love to find famous (or infamous) male figures and then search and dig for interesting information about the women in their lives. Stay tuned to find out which three shadowy women are revealed in the next trilogy!

SKC: Our readers here at A Pen for Your Thoughts usually get excited about the reflection question an author has to ask, in part, because there is always a chance their name might get selected for a book from our guest. What would you like to ask our readers and writers in the next few days, and what book will you be offering?

MA: I’d like to offer my debut novel, Love Amid the Ashes. Because it tells the story of Job’s life through the women who loved him, I’d like your readers and writers to consider this questions: How do you think you would handle a sudden change in your health? Whether it’s severe (like Job’s physical suffering) or a chronic annoyance (like mine), how would you respond emotionally and/or spiritually to such a test?

SKC: Those are great questions. Thanks. We thank you for joining us here at A Pen for Your Thoughts, Mesu. Tell us how we can find you and your books on the web.

MA: You can visit my website: www.mesuandrews.com  to buy my book, or you can purchase Love Amid the Ashes at your local book retailer. (Releases March 1, Revell)

Readers and Viewers and Authors: I'm thrilled to introduce Mesu Andrews to all of you this week at A Pen for Your Thoughts. Do take the time to drop by and say hello to this debut author and be sure to take a moment to answer her challenging questions listed above. Please be sure to leave your email address.

Congratulations to Terri Reed of Tigard, Oregon. Woo Hoo! Your book will be on its way soon.

Saturday, February 19, 2011

FLAWS OFTEN REVEAL THE BEST STORIES

Welcome Shawna K. Williams, an inspirational novelist who loves telling a story through flawed characters – the only kind she can relate to.

God's Grace serves as a the major theme for all of her stories, but she also likes a good dose of nostalgia, which is why many of her stories are set in rural America during the first half of the 20th Century. When not writing, Shawna spends time with her husband and three children enjoying life on their ranch. She's also an avid reader, editor, book reviewer, blogger, homeschooling mom and jewelry designer.

Shirley: I love it when authors have a scripture verse to guide them through their writing days. If you were to use one, what would it be, and why? And how can you make that verse become a promise for your life?

Shawna: I love Romans 8:28. "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."

It's the inspiration for the title of my second book, In All Things, and actually this verse encompassed the overall theme of both books, No Other and In All Things. But Orphaned Hearts also sprung from a similar foundation. That story was inspired by my grandparents, and their story is a testimony to the truth of this verse. A couple of story ideas I'm working on now also carry on with this message. This verse just gives me a great deal of peace.

Shirley: How long had you been writing before you got your first contract? And tell us how you dealt with your patience as you waited for that first phone call.

Shawna: I started writing almost nine years ago, but not with publication in mind. My intention wasn't even to be a writer. I just wanted to make sense of this weird dream I'd had. I thought it made a great story, but there were gaps, and I wanted to fit it all together. Basically I started writing to satisfy my own curiosity. Over time, though, I really began to love the story, the characters and the whole creative process, and I started wondering if it might be publishable. Then I got scared and put it away. I did the 'put away – pull back out – put away again' thing for several years. The last time I put it away I didn't see it for over a year because I had decided, again, that the story was only for me, and that I should be satisfied with that because it was an accomplishment just to have written it. Then one day I just felt like it was time to get serious with my efforts. Up to that point I hadn't really studied writing and I knew I needed to start there if I wanted to make the story publishable. From the time I became serious until the contract for No Other was offered was two years, but the entire writing journey before publication was around seven years total.

Shirley: When did you decide to write strictly inspirational, and why?

Shawna: I don't know that I ever really made a conscience choice. The moment I decided to write I knew that it would be inspirational. It's just who I am, and I don't think I can write a story without some kind of spiritual message. My thoughts always gravitate toward what God's purpose might be in pretty much everything and I can't turn it off. When I'm writing I think about my characters, what they'd learn from their experiences in the story and how it would affect them spiritually.

I do have several story ideas that could be pitched to the general market, but even in those I'm quite sure that there will be a spiritual message woven in.

Shirley: Tell us what gets you started on those first five pages of a brand new story. How about the last?

Shawna: The beginning is always so hard. I try to write out goals that I want to achieve, and then I just have to start. I revise the beginning more than any other part because my tendency is to try and cram too much history in at first. As the story progresses I find more natural ways to reveal things, so I'm able to go back and revise. Basically though, getting started is just a matter of rolling up my sleeves and getting after.

The last pages I love! This is the easiest part because at this point I know the story well, and how I want things to wrap up. The last pages are like a final sprint, and it feels great knowing that the story is out of you and into words!

Shirley: What is your best advice to other authors writing up a proposal and synopsis?

Shawna: Honestly, I'm a fairly new writer and don't feel like I have enough experience to offer any worthy advice on this topic. I should probably be asking for it. I'm still surprised I ever got anything accepted based on my proposals. I think it helped that I was able to include sample chapters with No Other. The story proposals I've submitted since it was contracted have gone to the same publisher and the EIC is familiar with my writing now, so that helps. I plan to pitch some stories at the conference in September, so I need to work on this. What kind of advice do you guys have? I need it! 

Shirley: What do you do during the waiting period when editors are looking over your manuscripts?

Shawna: Once I've submitted I'm pretty good at not thinking too much about it and working on other stuff. What gets me nervous is when I see an email come in. Then I have to psych myself into clicking on it to read. I always wait until everyone is in bed because that's just my way. If the news is bad I'd rather be by myself for a little while.

Shirley: After you finish your present project, what plans do you have in the oven?

Shawna. I want to get something ready to pitch at conference. I have a several story ideas that I want to play with. I'm going to take a break from 20th Century historicals to try my hand at a contemporary suspense and eventually a scifi (though it's going to be awhile before I can grasp the full extent of the scfi. It's definitely going to be a series). I still plan to write historicals and have another in mind, too. I don't have an agent, so I'd like to use one of these to help me find one. I also have a couple of story ideas that are a good fit for Desert Breeze and plan to continue submitting to them as well.

Shirley: What would you like to ask this week about either writing or for someone who just loves to read?

Shawna: I'd love to know what readers would like to see more of in Christian fiction, be it genres, issues, and whatnot. I'd also love to know if anyone has ever really felt like a Christian fiction book impacted their life in a profound way. As for writing, what are some of your unique methods for capturing a scene or character's personality? Here's a couple of mine: I character journal to get to know my characters. I also personality type my characters so I can understand where the relationship weaknesses would be, and exploit these to my advantage in the interest of creating tension.  (Evil author syndrome). I like to picture scenes in my head like a movie before I write, too, because it help me describe the scene interactively from the character's perspective.

I currently have three books out and I'd love for the winner to pick the one that interests them most. Here are links: http://stores.desertbreezepublishing.com/-strse-86/No-Other/Detail.bok http://stores.desertbreezepublishing.com/-strse-118/Shawna-Williams-In-All/Detail.bok
http://stores.desertbreezepublishing.com/-strse-125/Shawna-Williams-Orphaned-Hearts/Detail.bok

Shirley: Thanks so much for coming , Shawna. Please let us know where else we can find you and your numerous books.

Shawna: Sure! Here's a link to my website: http://shawnakwilliams.com/ My blog: http://shawnawilliams-oldsmobile.blogspot.com/ Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/shawnakwilliams And Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Shawna-K-Williams/236629884245

My books can be found at Amazon, B&N, CBD, Borders, Kobo, Sony Reader Store, iBookstore, Books on Board, Allromance Ebooks, and the Desert Breeze storefront. Thanks so much for having me, Shirley! This was fun! God bless, Shawna.

WE HAVE APPRECIATED YOUR COMPANY!

Shawna has offered one of her books to you. Can you take a moment to pursue her question? I'd love to draw your name in a few days. Here it is in three parts. Pick one to answer, or all three.

Congratulations to Joy Hannabass of Moneta, Virginia. YOU have just won Shawna's BOOK! She'll be in touch with you soon. 

1. I'd love to know what readers would like to see more of in Christian fiction, be it genres, issues, and whatnot.
2. I'd also love to know if anyone has ever really felt like a Christian fiction book impacted their life in a profound way.
3. As for writing, what are some of your unique methods for capturing a scene or character's personality?

Monday, February 14, 2011

How Many Hidden Rooms are in YOUR Life?

For this week of valentines and hearts and love and romance and all of us thinking sweet thoughts, we sometimes forget about the rooms in our lives that we often hide from everyone around us.
LoRee Peery, one of the contributing authors for A Pen for Your Thoughts has shared a great reflection to make us stop and think for a moment just what we might have hidden in the rooms of our personal lives. Do you really know?


The Rooms of Our Lives

By LoRee Peery

Most of us think about hearts in February. I’ve been thinking about hearts for several months, since my husband has medical heart issues. One description of the heart is that it has chambers. I grabbed my dictionary because I love words. (What reader/writer doesn’t?)

Each of has a different picture in our mind when we process certain words. I’d never considered juxtaposing the chambers of my heart with the rooms in my home, but away I went.

CHAMBERS

Chambers are defined as private, even secret. We’ve heard of a judge’s chambers where undisclosed conversations take place. I would imagine every human heart has a hidden place within. Humans may not see that corner, but according to I Samuel 16:7, God looks at the heart.

We built our home on the acreage, with our own hands, one framed-in floor, and then one room at a time, mostly on weekends. We moved into the far-from-finished house a year and a half after the basement was dug because thieves hit the construction site several times. Three children played and grew in our basement for five years while we finished the rooms above ground. The wood-burning Franklin stove warded off the chill of concrete walls.

The living room is often a first impression inside most front doors, put on display. That front door is often a welcome smiling face, visible for show. But there are closets and closed doors beyond a front entry way; and deep compartments within our hearts.

What do we keep beyond a closed door? Secrets, or clutter, something to keep hidden from view.

CLUTTER

Now there’s a word. Because I fell in love with the love story of Rhett and Scarlett at age 13, I have a vast GWTW collection. It’s mixed in with the thousand plus novels on eight bookcases. My assortment of plates, music boxes, figurines, a Scarlett doll and several ensembles, may be viewed as clutter to some visitors to my study. But that particular montage has a special place in my heart.

When it comes to clutter in my home, I don’t like others to see it. Sometimes I have to clear the clutter from my heart as well. Like the clutter in my study, a heart can hold on to stuff. Such things as past sins, past grievances, guilt, any ugliness we’ve never let go of, can place a layer of dust over the way we see people and situations today.

DUST
Dust, that dirty word, must have come from my subconscious, since the notion of spring cleaning is around the corner. We live in our home, so it’s not picture perfect. But I would like to think that when God searches my heart, He sees a clean one.

Looking at the rooms in our physical home after all these years, I see that most need renovated. The arteries may be clogged with the accumulation of stuff, but her pulse is strong. The pulse of my heart, though, is renewed daily by the words given to us in God’s love letter. He knows my heart better than I know the rooms, the chambers, of my home.

VIBES
In recent months, first-time visitors commented on the sense of love in our home, that the vibes were good. That feeling may come from the Bibles, books, and the crosses in most of the rooms, but I like to think that God is the soul of our home. He is the Spirit within our hearts, where He continues to breathe new life throughout our abode.

ABODE

Another great word. Abode is a place where one resides. Abide means to dwell, to remain, have one’s abode. Knowing where I will abide forever comes from the promise Jesus made in John 14:2. “I go to prepare a house for you.” Now, those will be some rooms to write beautiful, cleansing, exposed words about.

c 2011
LoRee Peery
www.loreepeery.com


Rainn on My Parade coming soon
Moselle's Insurance



SOME OF US ARE AWARE OF WHO WE ARE IN GOD. SOME US ARE NOT.
WHEN YOU LOOK INTO YOUR PERSONAL MIRROR,
HOW DO YOU SEE THE ROOMS OF YOUR LIFE TODAY?


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Thursday, February 3, 2011

Her Life Story is One of Those You Could Almost Write Your Own Story About!

Miralee Ferrell grew up in small town America, married her high school sweetheart, and has been married for 37 years. They raised two beautiful children and worked together on a variety of businesses over the years. They live on 11 acres in the breathtaking Columbia River Gorge in southern Washington State, where they love to garden, play with their dogs, take walks, and go sailing. Miralee also rides her horse on the wooded trails near their home with her grown daughter who lives nearby.

Her third historical romance with Summerside Press in their Love Finds You series released Feb 1, 2011. All the Love Finds You novels stand alone, and take place in a real town in America. Miralee’s first two are set in 1877, Love Finds You in Last Chance, CA, and 1902, Love Finds You in Bridal Veil, Oregon. Her newest, Love Finds You in Tombstone, AZ, is a spin off from a secondary character that readers met in Last Chance, a woman by the name of Christy Grey.

Miralee serves as president of the Portland, Oregon, chapter of American Christian Fiction Writers and belongs to a number of writer’s groups. She also speaks at women’s groups, libraries, and churches about her writing journey.

You can learn more about Miralee as well as see pictures from the real places she writes about by visiting her web site at www.miraleeferrell.com.

Shirley Kiger Connolly: Thank you so much for being detailed about your life, Miralee. It helps us all get to know you better. After you tell us a little about your book, tell us what gave you the urge to write in the first place.

Miralee Ferrell: Love Finds You in Tombstone, AZ, was a joy to write. The spiritual thread is a strong one, although never intrusive into the story line or ‘preachy’, but rather depicts God’s redeeming love for his fallen children.

Miralee Ferrell:  After my kids graduated and started lives of their own, I began praying about filling the time I’d once poured into my busy family. In 2005 the Lord gave me an answer. While at an evening church service the special speaker prayed with me, and stated that he believed God was calling me to write. Not only write, but that my work should be published. Two years later my debut novel, The Other Daughter released and since then four books more have followed.

Shirley Kiger Connolly: How wonderful! It's like a story in itself, Miralee. Growing up, who would you say had been the biggest influence in your life with your writing today?

Miralee Ferrell: I think for my more recent novels I’d have to say Zane Grey. I read every one of his westerns during my teen years and loved them. He had an amazing ability to transport the reader into the setting he’d chosen, as well as the old west era. He combined setting with action, strong heroes and heroines, and almost always a romance. I have a strong love for anything western, and he heightened it to a greater degree. When I started writing a few years ago I didn’t dream I’d ever venture into romantic westerns, but believe I’ve truly found my niche.

Shirley Kiger Connolly: That's great. Do you ever place your settings from an area that you've been or from the area in which you live now? Or do you venture out to other areas? How do you do research on different areas for setting purposes?

Miralee Ferrell: My two contemporary books, The Other Daughter and Finding Jeena, are both set here in the Columbia River Gorge where I live. The first was set on the WA side of the river, the second on the Oregon side, but since I grew up here it was easy to portray those settings. It was a bit more of a challenge with two of my Love Finds You novels. The easiest was set in Bridal Veil, OR, only about 40 minutes up the Gorge from my home. I spent several hours with a local historian who shared intimate details of the (now) ghost town and its inhabitants, as well as showing me the accurate locations of all the town buildings, and giving me books with records and photos of the town during 1902.

For the books set in Last Chance, CA and Tombstone, AZ, my husband and I flew into nearby cities and drove to the towns. Last Chance has long been a demolished ghost town, with very little but the cemetery, a few fence posts, basement excavations and one old shack remaining. A Forest Service archaeologist offered to drive with us the 2 hrs up into the Sierra Nevada mountains to help us locate the site and gave me wonderful historical data about the area and town.

Tombstone was much easier, as there are tons of books, photos and historical data about the town and characters that inhabited it during my time period (1880’s). But I did travel there so I could experience it for myself, and I share many details of the town, my research and who’s really ‘real’ among my characters, at the end of the book in the author notes. Warning…there are spoilers in my notes, so don’t read them until you finish the book!

Shirley Kiger Connolly: I have a large Victorian style ladies bath that inspires me when I go in and stand at my antique brass sink. In that room, I sometimes light a candle while I put on my makeup and gaze romantically at my period-style wallpaper and claw foot tub. It makes it more fun to put on that makeup and fix my hair, but I think that and my few minutes of talking to the Lord also gets my creative juices flowing for some of my writing. Now, where do you get inspired and why?

Miralee Ferrell: I’d have to say most of my inspiration comes two places—in bed when I’m almost asleep, and I’m forced to get out of bed to write an entire scene, or at least jot down notes about something a character is shouting at me not to forget. Or, if I’ve hit a roadblock in my story and don’t know where to go, I can typically take a long walk through our wooded area on a logging road, and ideas will once again start to flow.

Shirley Kiger Connolly: What was the last book you read and what did you learn from reading it?

Miralee Ferrell: I’m currently reading one for endorsement for Linda Windsor and it’s truly amazing. It’s the second in a trilogy set in the days of King Arthur. Her use of language, setting, and character development have me enthralled. I haven’t read her first one, but can’t wait to get my hands on it!

Shirley Kiger Connolly: We learn a lot from reading the books of others, don't we. Where do you go from here, Miralee and where can our readers find you and your books?

Miralee Ferrell: I’m waiting for a contract to come in the mail right now for another LFY novel. I can’t disclose when it will release yet, but it from all appearances it will be later this year. And I can tell you it will be another old west romance, with plenty of action and adventure. You can find out more about me and my books on my web site, including photos I’ve taken on location at the towns I’ve written about. Go to: http://www.miraleeferrell.com/  

Shirley Kiger Connolly: I know there are a lot of readers who love what you write, myself included. Since you've generously offered to share your newest book with us this week, how would you like for our viewers to ask YOU, the writer a reflective question? Most of the time I have the authors I interview think of a question for our viewers. I thought I'd take a different route with you, Miralee. 

Miralee Ferrell:  I’d love to have them ask me anything they’d like to know, especially if there is anything I’ve shared here that has sparked a thought or question.

Shirley Kiger Connolly: That sounds good. So, this time, we will ASK YOU something. In the meantime, thank you so much for joining us at A Pen for Your Thoughts.



Okay. Now we turn to you readers, and writers, and passersby. WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO ASK AUTHOR MIRALEE FERRELL THIS WEEK? REMEMBER, YOU CAN ASK HER ANYTHING! I WILL USE YOUR CREATIVE QUESTION TO HELP ME DRAW A NAME IN A FEW DAYS. You never know. I just might draw YOUR name. Be sure to leave us your email address.



Congratulations to Sandra Elzie of McDonough, GA. Woo Hoo! You just won Miralee's book. Be watching for it in the mail. Be sure to let us know what thought once you read it. She'll appreciate that. And THANK YOU for following A Pen for Your Thoughts. It's a joy having you drop by. God Bless