Update After Illness

As most of you may already know, I've gone through a series of hospital visits and stays over the past month with inflammation around my brain. I was falsed diagnosed with meningitis, with Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever (a tick borne disease), and a few other things. Finally, the MRI revealed a spot on my brain and I have to follow up with a neurosurgeon soon.

I was so dehydrated when I made it to the hospital that the ER doctor said I could have easily died. My platelet and WBC was so low that he said I could have began bleeding internally at any time. Basically, I was blessed to be alive and learned a valuable lesson. I have to slow down and take care of me much better.

Please continue to pray for me as my thyroid condition is kicking butt again, but just like God delivered the first time, He'll do it again... AMEN and AMEN!

Best News of My Life

Yesterday was one of the most wonderful days in my life, with the exception of having two sons and marrying my best friend.

While in California, I met a minister who also happens to be an actress and on the board of a small, independent film company. She expressed interest in turning my book, The Rape of Innocence, into a feature film/movie. We exchanged numbers and I waited. The wait seemed to take forever. Little did I know, she was attempting to contact me for weeks on end without any luck (due partially to my unwillingness to answer for unknown numbers). So today, I kind of accidentally answered the phone and it was the woman of God, Patricia Coleman. I was blown away.

Basically, it's a wrap! The company is definitely willing to make my book into a film, and further want me to be highly involved with the film-making process, even down to being a part of the trailer. Needless to say, I was outdone... this little country girl born and raised in Arkansas going to film... who would have imagined?

To put a cherry on top of all of that, she also has been and is continuing to promote Living Waters Publishing Company to people I'd have never reached without her, people who already have a level of notoriety. It's unbelievable! She prayed over every book we published, gave me a plan to rejuvenate the company (particularly with all the layoffs we had to perform recently), and has committed herself to helping me. Those type of things don't happen everyday to everyone. I just wanted to share the great news.

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE keep praying for the favor of God over my family, this film deal, and the business and authors we have. I was starting to lose hope, but God made a promise and yesterday was a major piece coming to pass.

Squeezing Water Out of a Tulip ~ The Writing World

I can think of at least a ton of old sayings that have to do with impossibilities. One stands out - "You can't squeeze water from a tulip." Well, these tough times are doing just that. Things most once thought were impossible are now very possible because necessity, being the mother that she is, has been squeezing us out of our comfort zones, forcing us to think differently.

I've read at least a dozen posts about books sales falling, magazines and newspapers closing, phone book companies filing bankruptcy, and more. Seems to some, the writing industry, particularly anything on paper, is doomed by the advent of the internet. While many are bemoaning this idea, I see a few who have not locked themselves into a box actually preparing to thrive.

Let's get this clear- some things we will never change, can't roll the hands of time back. Complaining doesn't help. Rather, it hinders our ability to utilize our energy to do something different. It's time for authors/writers to begin rethinking what we hope to create and then utilize all our resources to create something viable. Books still sell and they always will. However, we are having a survival of the fittest moment. So, I plan to use my energy on adapting rather than complaining. How about you? What will you do now that things are getting a bit tougher for authors?

Love What You Do and Do What You Love

Very few people can say they are living their dreams, doing what they love and loving what they do. I'm very fortunate, though not necessarily in a monetary way at all. However, I have the testimony of loving my jobs. I love to write. I love to preach. I love speaking to women. I love research. So, I'm doing the things I love. Does that mean that I always feel like doing them? Of course not, but at the end of the day, I'm satisfied with my life choices now.

How about you? Are you satisfied in your chosen field? What are you going to do about how you feel? What improvements can you make?

Falling in Love (For Lack of a Better Term)

For some reason today, I want to write about love. I want to share some of the things I learned about it, most of it the hard way.

From the beginning of time, people have always tried to discern how love happens between a man and a woman. They try to break it down to a chemical reaction. They say that it is something otherworldly about it. Some say it's all about the laws of attraction, or about the million other things they've attempted to pin it on.

When I met my husband, it was definitely not a love at first sight relationship. In fact, he wasn't some spectacular guy that stood out in the crowd. He was just a simple man, one that could easily be overlooked. After weeks and months of friendship, I was able to finally see him, the real him. That's when I began to fall in love. I began to notice his gentleness, his prayer life, his dedication. Those qualities pulled me in. After spending time with him, I began to become dependent on those qualities. Somehow, time helped me to assimilate him into my life fully and love happened for me.

I don't presume that it happens like this for everyone. In fact, my husband said it was love at first sight for him. Some people know immediately. Others learn over time. Either way, falling in love is much more than a chemical reaction. It is partially choice. It is partially that wonderful something that no man has yet been able to explain. I've heard many people say that we can't help who we love. What do you think about that? Tell me about how you fell in love.

Changes at P3

From now on, we will give away at least one book per month. The book will be listed in the sidebar. I will award a book to one lucky person who leaves a comment on at least one post throughout that month. So, you may want to subscribe to the posts or follow the blog because I'll announce the winners in a post.