March 15, 2002… Fayetteville, NC is socked in with thick, wet fog. And several thousand of us are waiting in the Crown Coliseum for a once-in-a-lifetime kind of moment. The air is more electric than any I think I’ve ever felt and the expectation is high. The person we’ve been waiting for has been delayed for more than an hour because fog has socked in the airport, but nobody’s complaining. We’ll wait and wait gladly, because the payoff will be worth it.

And then… a man in a dark suit steps onto the stage carrying what looks like a dinner plate. The entire arena goes silent. He stops, solemnly affixes the seal to the podium, steps back, and leaves.

The President of the United States is in the building.

Those assembled go wild… and then are faced with another wait as other special guests are introduced.

And then… a voice. “Ladies and Gentlemen, the President of the United States” and the first chords of “Hail to the Chief.” There he is, stepping across the stage to applause and cheers and waves and shouts. The noise dies down, he begins to speak, and the crowd–largely soldiers–begins to scream again. It’s amazing, incredible to us all… the President is before us. The highest authority in the land stands feet away from us, sharing the air in the room.

I thought about that this morning, because I was thinking about Jesus’ return. On March 15, 2002, I couldn’t quite comprehend that I was in the same room as a man I’d seen on TV so many times, who I truly admired, the very President of my country.

What will it be like on the day when the sky splits and the very King of Kings appears? Oh, can you imagine the cheers on that day, when the King of Glory is seen face to face, sharing our air, the highest authority ever will finally be “in the building”?

Am I waiting in holy expectation for that moment? Wondering when the time will come, on the edge of my seat, feeling the delay, but oh so ready for him to appear? When the fog rolls in and it seems like He’s never going to come, do I still strain to see him?

I cannot wait for my King to take the stage, y’all. This morning, I wanted to jump up and down thinking about it. How about you?

JB

The women’s Bible study at my church doesn’t meet in December, so a group of us has joined an online Bible study on Ann Spangler’s Immanuel. (Excellent, if you haven’t done it.) Today she focused on Luke’s retelling of Jesus’ birth, and it got me thinking.

We read that story, but do we ever stop to picture it? We’re so used to sweet nativity scenes with quiet animals and fresh hay in a newly-made manger. But think about it… this was a scared teenager, far from home, with a new husband (whom it’s possible she didn’t know very well), and she is in labor. Can you imagine their desperation when there was nowhere to stay? Did they stop in front of that smelly, nasty animal barn and look at it, then glance around praying for somewhere else? Only there was literally nowhere else? How panicked was Mary? Did she long for her mother? Her cousin Elizabeth?

The Bible doesn’t mention another woman around. Was it Joseph who clumsily delivered that amazing baby, terrified of breaking the tiny Messiah? (I’d have been scared of that!) I’m sure the cloths were not fine, freshly-bleached linen and that the manger was far from antiseptic. How did the animals feel about having their food encroached upon? How many times did Joseph have to shoo away curious creatures who might nip at the infant?

Think about it. And then ask yourself how the picture in your mind lines up with what was probably the reality of the Son of God’s birth. He gave up a throne in heaven, you know, and abundant everything. To be laid in a filthy stable.

Amazing.

This just in! Fresh from American Christian Fiction Writers, it’s the list of new releases for December. Just in time for Christmas. May you find much that piques your interest!

1. A Bouquet for Iris, by Diane Ashley & Aaron McCarver from Barbour Heartsong Presents. Iris Landon travels to Daisy, Tennessee, to care for two Cherokee children and finds romance and danger while aiding one family in the struggle to keep their land.

2. A Lady Like Sarah, Rocky Creek Romance, by Margaret Brownley from Thomas Nelson. He’s a preacher. She’s an outlaw. Both are in need of a miracle.

3. ANGEL WITH A BACKHOE, by Deb Kinnard from Desert
Breeze Publishing. A small-town widower and a spunky suburban transplant match wits over a church construction project, finding true love can mix with blueprints and concrete footings.

4. Child Finder: Resurrection series: Child Finder Trilogy, 2nd book, by Mike Angley from Total Recall Publications, Inc. Child Finder: Resurrection…the highly-anticipated sequel to the award-winning debut novel, Child Finder, which Library Journal placed on its 2009 Summer Reads list for Christian fiction!

5. Christmas Peril, by Margaret Daley from Steeple Hill Love Inspired Suspense. Christmas themed, romantic suspense stories.

6. Cup of Joe, by Teri Wilson from White Rose Publishing. A grieving oman resists the cups of comfort offered by the shy, but handsome, owner of the neighborhood coffee shop.

7. Field of Danger, by Ramona Richards from Love Inspired Suspense. When April Presley can’t remember details of the murder she witnessed, deputy Daniel Rivers must help her recall the event and protect her from the killer determined to silence her.

8. Her Patchwork Family series: The Gabriel Sisters, by Lyn Cote from Love Inspired. In spite of opposition from the rich and influential, can Felicity Gabriel establish a home for children orphaned by the Civil War and heal two wounded hearts?

9. Patterns and Progress series: Michigan historical, book 3, by Amber Stockton from Barbour Publishing. A farmer’s daughter would rather turn back the hands of time than accept the fact that advancement in technology could be in God’s plan.

10. The Sheriff’s Surrender series: #1 of The Ladies’ Shooting Club Series, by Susan Page Davis from Barbour Publishing. The men of Fergus aren’t keeping the town safe, so a group of feisty women take matters into their own hands.

11. The Glassblower series: First book in the New Jersey Historical Series, by Laurie Alice Eakes from Barbour Publishing. Colin Grassick moves from Edinburgh, Scotland to Salem county New jersey to take a position as a master glassblower. He loves his work and hopes of bringing his family to America for a better life. But his love for Meg, the daughter of the owner of the glassworks, threatens his job…and then his life.

I think I met an angel today. As in a heavenly messenger. A human, but with a heavenly message. So I guess that makes her an angel.

I ran away to Panera to write today, because sometimes a change of scene helps, ya know? Only… I still feel like I’m just throwing letters at the page and hoping they become words which become sentences which become something better than I think they are right now. Boy, oh boy… revising this novel is going to be fun.

During the lunch rush, a lady and her husband sat down at the table beside me, prayed over their meal, and started to eat. All of a sudden, she looked at me and said, “Are you writing a book?”

How did she know that? Panera has wi-fi and all I had done for the bulk of her first few minutes there was stare at the screen, type a couple of sentences, then stare at the screen. Maybe there’s a universal blank look that all writers share? Hmm… Something to ponder the next time I can’t think of a good scene to write.

Anyway, I told her yes, and she went back to her meal. Then she looked at me again a few minutes later and asked where I was at in the process. Note: she did not ask if I was published. She asked where I was at.

I won’t recount the whole conversation, but it went like that, her occasionally asking me questions, us discussing writers we’d read, with lapses of comfortable silence for her to eat and me to write.

It was when she stood up to go that she touched me. She said, “What’s your first name?” So I told her. And then she said, “I’d like to pray for you. Would you like me to pray for you?”

This stranger, this amazing stranger, wants to pray for me. Wow. I mean. Wow. How humbling. How like our amazing God to show up and provide encouragement just when we need it the most.

Here is the kicker, the part where God went that one extra step that’s sort of like the signature on His postcards to me… She told me her name… and her last name is the same as a dear family friend of ours who passed on a few years ago. He was an amazing, godly man who stepped in for me at one of the lowest points of my life and helped put me back on track, who was among the first to congratulate me when I got engaged to my husband, who kept up with me and prayed for me even when I didn’t know he was doing it.

How like God is that? Pretty awesome, I’d say…

–JB

It occurred to me a day or so ago that the blog has been suffering a severe case of neglect over the past couple of weeks. You’d think it was because I’m doing Nanowrimo (particularly after my last post which was about, you guessed it, Nanowrimo), but I’m not. I sat down on November 1, opened a blank Word document, and heard God say, “Nope. You need to go back to that scene you’re scared to face. Finish the book you started.” Alas, no Nano for me this year. I did get a great idea for a novel after the current one is finished, so all is not lost.

If you’ve been keeping an eye on the progress meter to your right, you’ll see that Rearview Mirror, the tentatively-titled second book in the Dellinger Racing Series, is growing. Well, it was growing until today. I had a word goal of 1,000 words today. Wrote 500. Deleted 5,000. Ouch. Still, my goal is to have the first draft done by Thanksgiving. At least, that was the goal before I deleted 5,000 words today. May have to revise that goal. Seriously, about 4,000 of those words will go back in at a later place in the book, so technically they aren’t deleted. They’re rearranged. That sounds better to my ears. Either way, I’m having a whole lot of fun with Ryan and Kate’s story, even though I did struggle for two weeks with one particular scene that brought up some old grief in me. Not fun. But I’m praying Kate’s grief is honest.

Other news? I have an amazing agent! You read it right. Consider this the official announcement. Thursday, after our second conversation, I hung up the phone and cried. Something about hearing Sandra say, “I believe in this” humbled me and made me amazingly grateful. I wish I could express that feeling, but I can’t. I just can’t. Suffice it to say, God is unbelievably gracious and so very good to me.

And now, the blog will probably suffer some more, since I’ve imposed this huge, immediate deadline on myself this week.

Thanks for reading.

–JB

Want to know the top reasons readers stop reading books? Visit K.M. Weiland’s blog. The fun part is that she quoted me!

Over the course of the past few months, I’ve gotten the chance to know author C. Maggie Woychik. And to know her is to laugh with her. When I got the opportunity to be a part of her blog tour, I jumped at it.

In all seriousness, Maggie Woychik has been published in a number of Christian magazines including War Cry, Young Salvationist, Wesleyan Advocate, Woman’s Touch, Christian Women Today, and many others, and has just released her first book through Port Yonder Press. The book, I Run to the Hills: Reflections on the Christian Journey is her freshman attempt at essays based on her spiritual journey, and it’s garnering positive reviews. Try it, you might just like it. You can find it on Amazon.

We decided to offer something a little different here. You can visit other stops on the tour for the “serious” stuff, but we decided to have a little fun. Hope you enjoy the humor, and be sure to check out the book! It’s more serious than this interview, I promise.

How did you come to be a writer? Well, it began at an early age. A teacher put a pen in my hand and said, “Write!”

How long have you been writing and when was your first book published? I’ve been writing since the first “a” (see previous question).

Can you give us one “do” and one “don’t” for those aspiring to be a writer? “Do” watch and listen to teacher (though neither may be easy to do); “Don’t” pass notes in class or stick your gum under your desk — never know when you’ll raise a knee and be wearing that gum.

What is a typical writing day like for you? Pen in hand, I sit. Page on desk, it sits. With great determination, much effort, and a little prayer, the two may eventually commune.

What one thing about writing do you wish other non-writers would understand? It infinitely builds your self-esteem to be able to sign instead of “x” your name on a document.

What is the best lesson you have learned from another writer? How to draw a pretty decent cow.

Tell us about your latest book. It is holding up “More Than A Carpenter” and leaning against “The Collected Works of C. S. Lewis”.

What did you learn while writing this book? That I didn’t listen to teacher nearly enough; that though I pretend not to care what others think, I really do; and that though it’s exhilarating to have a book on Amazon and store shelves, I never expected to age as much as I did in the process.

How can readers get in contact with you? I really like the concept of passenger pigeon, but since few of you probably keep them on hand anymore, I suppose you can use cmaggiewoychik@yahoo.com. If you want a glimpse of what $60/yr buys, you can visit my website. But if you want something a little more interesting, visit the Encouraging Emerging Authors blog. Look forward to “swappin’ howdy’s”!

Welcome to National Novel Writing Month, affectionately known as NANOWRIMO.

What’s the point of Nanowrimo? The point is simply to write. To get words on paper. They don’t even have to be the greatest words; revision comes later, but certainly not during the month of November. It’s sort of a “just do it” thing.
Write for the pleasure, the joy, the rush of getting the story on
paper. Write even if you don’t know how. Write even if you’ve never written anything before. Just put some words on paper.

I like what the website says:

“Because of the limited writing window, the ONLY thing that matters in
NaNoWriMo is output. It’s all about quantity, not quality. The kamikaze
approach forces you to lower your expectations, take risks, and write on
the fly. Make no mistake: You will be writing a lot of crap. And that’s
a good thing. By forcing yourself to write so intensely, you are giving
yourself permission to make mistakes. To forgo the endless tweaking and
editing and just create. To build without tearing down.”

It breaks down to, what? 1,667 words a day? That’s about six and a
half double-spaced pages. It makes me think of James Scott Bell’s “Nifty 350.” Get up first thing in the morning and bang out 350 words. You might be surprised at what you get, and it will motivate you to keep moving. It gets you over the hurdle.

I’m looking at Nanowrimo as a break from the novel I’m working on now. I’m
going to do something different, something I haven’t tried before. I
give myself permission to fail if I fail, but to have a blast in the
process!.

Go and Nano, whether you’re a writer or not. You might find out, like a friend of mine really did, that you go from saying, “I’m not really a writer” to saying “Uh, I’m a writer!”

JB

Is America ready to meet the Potluck Catering Club on reality TV? The women of the Potluck Catering Club have a growing business. They even became the subject of a budding filmmaker’s class project. Problem is, they didn’t read the fine print when they signed off on his documentary. When he enters the club in the reality show The Great Party Showdown, the ladies of Summit View, Colorado, must head to the Big Apple for the unexpected adventure of their lives. Between navigating New York City, dealing with cutthroat contestants, and trying to maintain their close friendship in the surreal world of reality TV, the Potluck women must keep their eyes on the prize–a cool million dollars–and work together if they’re going to make it back home in one piece.

Oh my! Where to start on this one? Linda Evans Shepherd and Eva Marie Everson have mixed together the fifth book in their Potluck Club series, and it’s perfectly seasoned. (Okay, I think we agreed a few weeks ago I shouldn’t write food metaphors. Even if they’re true.)

I was disappointed when I got to the end of A Taste of Fame. I wanted it to keep on going. I think I’m going to have to go into my spare room and pull all of my Potluck Club books out to reread now, just to enjoy the ladies’ company a little bit longer.

When it comes to the end, by the way, I was fooled. There are recipes from the book included in the back. If your mouth starts to water reading about those Peppermint Patty Brownies, you can go and whip up a batch. Sweet! It’s a great bonus, and I’ve already read them… twice. (Yes, I read recipes. Have been known to sit on the beach and read a cookbook.) But I forgot they were there as I read. When I got to the end of the book, I thought I still had pages left to go! Oh well, I just read the recipes again. And maybe gained a few pounds.

I’m a first-person kind of girl, and this book is all first-person. Each chapter is from the point of view of one of the six main characters. It takes a little getting used to, but getting into the rhythm is quick. It’s interesting to follow each of them and to get their personal thoughts on their New York adventures. The format allows you to see how each woman changes and how each one’s actions affect the others. I liked it, sort of like reading their journals about what went down behind the scenes.

One thing I’ve always loved about the Potluck Club is that each of the women is at a different place in life. They are different ages, different stages, different needs, different fears, different desires. There is something for every woman in a Potluck Club book, and that remains true in A Taste of Fame. All of them are sharing the New York reality show experience, yet it’s all set against the backdrop of individual lives. For a people person like me, that was fascinating.

And then, as if their personal issues weren’t enough to keep you turning the pages… there’s a dash of intrigue. Who is trying to knock the girls out of the competition? Why? And what will the saboteur do next?

Take a trip to New York with the women of the Potluck Club and go behind the scenes of reality TV cooking shows. You’ll love the journey… and the food.

Speaking of the food… There’s a Potluck Club cookbook! We’ve already establihed how I feel about cookbooks, right? I’m reading it now and seeing tons of recipes I want to try. (After I make those Peppermint Patty Brownies…) After I’ve made a few and taste-tested them on the family, I’ll update you on it.

Want to learn more about the Potluck Club and their catering adventures? Maybe get some tips for your book club? Check out the book trailers? Visit The Potluck Club online!