Saturday, March 30, 2013

A challenge for Easter



In my new devotional, Getting Out of Bed in the Morning, I offer a challenge. I ask my readers to get to know God better than they know their own troubles.

The tendency might at first be to think, Oh, yeah, I already know God well.

But how well do you know about the following:
* Your bills
* Your finances
* Your coworkers who drive you crazy
* Your neighbor who runs over your lawn with her car
* Your spouse's irritating habits
* The new house your friend just had built
* The sound of your children complaining
* The sound of your own voice complaining

Do these things---some of which might lead you to worry or become depressed----consume your thoughts? Do you get wrapped up in them?

Do you know how God loves you? Do you understand how much you mean and matter to him? Can His love and attributes come to mind and renew your mind over all your despair and confusion? Can you let that happen?

In Getting Out of Bed in the Morning, I also ask readers to "Push aside all the jargon you might have grown up with—“christianese”—certain phrases you’ve repeated that you aren’t even sure how to explain to a nonbeliever. Read the Bible, perhaps pondering on one passage over and over so that you can fully grasp its meaning for you. Discover ways to express both God and faith in your own words."

For example, can you tell the Resurrection Story in your own words? Can you explain the meaning of Jesus' death on a cross and coming out from the tomb in a fresh way?

Start with one word. Crucified. What are others words you can use in its place? Think: What does it mean to be crucified?

Continue on with other words and phrases we use excessively at Easter-----salvation, died on a cross, rose again, died for my sins, was buried in a tomb.

This Easter spend some time finding new and fresh ways to express how excited you are to know this Jesus Christ who loves you. Read your favorite Easter passage from a new translation like The Message.

Consider how you might tell the story of Jesus' death to someone who has never heard it, or to someone who is not a native speaker of your language, or to a child.

"Discover both God and faith in your own words!"

I challenge you!

To order a copy of Getting Out of Bed in the Morning, click here.

Sunday, March 24, 2013

Create characters---a new writing workshop you can do in your pajamas!



Daniel's House Publications announces a new online writing workshop! Developing Memorable and Fun Characters is a three-week course for anyone who wants to make his/her story or novel characters come more alive! The course starts April 8th and is taught my novelist Alice J. Wisler. You work from the comfort of your own home, receiving lessons, and sending in completed assignments to Alice. Come and have fun putting your characters into various scenes, learning dialog tips and more!



Join us by signing up today!

Pay via PayPal or send a check to:
Alice Wisler
201 Monticello Avenue
Durham, NC 27707

PAYPAL





Dianna Benson's The Hidden Son



Don't you love a good suspense story? Here's a brand new one from Dianna Benson of Raleigh, North Carolina! Recently I was at her launch party and what fun it was! Some of the photos on this post are ones I took at that event.



Check out the awesome cake her husband made of the book cover!







About The Hidden Son

When U.S. DEA Special Agent Lelisa Desmond refuses to follow an order to bury evidence in a high profile case, her superior hires a hit man to kill her deep in the ocean off Grand Cayman Island. Lelisa survives the first attempt on her life, but someone close to her is mistakenly murdered in her place.

With no one to trust, Lelisa enlists Inspector Alec Dyer for help but learns she's his number one suspect in the scuba diving homicide. She sets off on a daring mission to bring down the man who ordered her execution. A man in a high position, with power friends. A man who will stop at nothing to silence her forever in order to hide his son’s crimes.





Meet Author Dianna Benson . . .

Dianna Torscher Benson is a 2011 Genesis Winner, a 2011 Genesis double Semi-Finalist, a 2010 Daphne Finalist, and a 2007 Golden Palm Finalist. In 2012, she signed a nine-book contract with Ellechor Publishing House. The Hidden Son is her debut novel.

After majoring in communications and enjoying a successful career as a travel agent, Dianna left the travel industry and moved on to writing novels while earning her EMS degree. An EMT since 2005, she loves the adrenaline rush of responding to medical emergencies and helping people in need. Her suspense novels about adventurous characters thrown into tremendous circumstances provide readers with a similar kind of rush.

Married to her best friend, Dianna met her husband as they walked down the aisle in a wedding as a bridesmaid and a groomsman when she was eleven and he was thirteen. Dianna lives in North Carolina with her husband and their three children.

Visit Dianna's website.

Order The Hidden Son from:
Barnes and Noble
Amazon
Books A Million

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

My mind is no longer a jumble!






"I used to not like to write, but after engaging in the writing exercise you provided during your presentaion, I think I'm going to make writing part of my every day life!"

"Thanks to your course, I have found a friend in writing."

"Writing makes it all clear. My mind is no longer a jumble."

"Wow! I didn't realize how free I'd feel after writing my problems out."

These are some of the many testimonies I have received from those who have listened and written. Whatever your sorrow, whatever you are going through on your journey, whatever crisis or deep pain, writing has a way of bringing hope, healing and health.

Give it a try today! Discover how to make writing work for you through this guided workshop.

To sign up for the next online Writing the Heartache workshop that starts April 15th, register here.

Want an all-day workshop? There is one scheduled for July 27. Read all about it here.

Friday, March 15, 2013

Guest Blogger: Lorilyn Roberts

Am I Okay, God?


I stole eye mascara from CVS one time.

I lied to my mother and didn’t go to the Bible study—I went to a bar instead.

I cheated on my math test—I didn’t mean to. I wanted to check the formula for quadratics on my iPhone.

I gossiped about my best friend because I wanted her boyfriend to notice me.

I lost my temper at JC Penneys because the sale was supposed to run through today and it ended yesterday.

I was speeding on I-75 and almost caused an accident.

I checked out that website on my computer—now I feel guilty for enjoying it.

I don’t want to go to church—I want to sleep in.

If I had more time, I would read my Bible.

You don’t want to talk to me, do you, God?

Am I okay, God?

I fail you every day. I know you died for me, but I will never be good enough. If you ONLY knew me. You don’t know how bad I am. You don’t know the real me. If you did, you wouldn’t like me. I want to change, God. I really do. But I feel like I have already blown it.




“Was the man possessed by demons? Were there underlings roaming the earth looking for an unfortunate victim? The anguished soul stood still for the first time in front of the fisherman, captivated by the king’s eyes.

From off the lake, a breeze stirred, slowly at first and then gaining momentum. Like onion skin, vaporous creatures peeled from the madman, coming out of his brain. The swirling wind tore at the naked and exposed shape shifters. The black, formless creatures were like bats without bodies.

The dark beings smelled rancid and the awful odor settled over everything. The demons cowered submissively before the king. The creatures hissed and screeched and made fools of themselves. The fearful pig herders withdrew a safe distance.

The king asked, “What is your name?”

“My name is Legion,” one of the demons replied, “for we are many.”

The king’s power and authority over the spirits was omnipotent. The underlings knew him. They knew the king. The muscles in my shoulders tensed and my legs twitched. Much-Afraid hid her face under my arm.

The demons begged, “Please, do not send us out of the area.” They pointed to the pigs. “Send us among the pigs. Allow us to go into them.”

At the king’s command, they fled from the man and entered the herd. Their formless bodies slid inside the pigs. I shuddered. The pigs shook violently. The herd, numbering in the thousands, stampeded down the steep bank and headed straight into the lake.

The herdsmen watched their valuable livestock disappear and shouted accusations at the king. “By whose authority did you drown our herd?” They flailed their arms at the fishermen and the shepherds traipsed back up the field resolute for answers. “Who is this man that sends pigs into the lake? By what authority does he do such things?” They continued to argue among themselves.

At first, Cherios, Lowly, Much-Afraid and I were too stunned to speak. Cherios spoke first. “Lowly, that is the king, the king of the garden. He’s here. The king is here among us.’”


But Am I Okay, God?

The only beings God hates are demons—He cast them into pigs (as told in the Bible) and drowned them in the sea—the sea of unbelief. Don’t listen to the lies of Satan and his minions. You are loved more than you will ever know. God loves you more than your parents do, or your boyfriend, brother, sister, or anyone you “meet” on the internet.

John 3:16 says: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

There is nothing you can do or say that will ever make God not love you. He wants you to be set free—free to become the person He created you to be.

The worst thing you can do is think you are not okay. Proverbs 23:7 says: As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.” You are more than okay. You were bought with a price—Jesus Christ died for YOU.

Take a moment and say to yourself, I am a child of God. Allow Jesus Christ, the King, into your heart—and He will do a miracle, a healing, even an exorcism. Start living like you belong to the King and let this day be the first day of the rest of your life.

From March 1 through March 16, the John 3:16 Marketing Network is sponsoring Lorilyn Roberts’ book launch of Seventh Dimension – The Door, a finalist in the 2012 Grace Awards. You can purchase a Kindle version of her book for only 99 cents. By entering your Amazon purchase order number into the Rafflecopter on the John 3:16 landing page, you will have ten chances to win a Kindle, a $50 Amazon gift card, or a $10 Starbucks card. You can also purchase a print copy for $11.88 or an audio book for $14.95. Here is the link to the landing page. Help Lorilyn to reach number one in Christian fantasy on Amazon so more young readers will be exposed to her redemptive Christian writing.

~*~*~*~*



Lorilyn Roberts is a Christian author who writes children's picture books, adult nonfiction, memoirs, and a young adult Christian fantasy series, Seventh Dimension. The first in the series, The Door, was just published (October 2012).
Lorilyn graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Alabama, which included international study in Israel and England. She received her Masters in Creative Writing from Perelandra College and is a graduate of the Institute of Children's Literature.

Thursday, March 14, 2013

Developing Memorable and Fun Characters






Developing Memorable and Fun Characters


I am happy to offer (by popular demand) a brand new workshop on creating characters for your stories and novels!

Each student will develop two specific unique characters for his/her work of fiction.

By using tips from each assignment, students will add more to their two characters---descriptions, dialogue, etc. Place these characters into a scene and watch them come to life!

I will send assignments to your email box each Monday. Students complete the lessons and send them back via a MS Word file by Friday. I'll critique your work on grammar, punctuation, style and believability.


This online workshop starts April 8, 2013 and runs for three weeks---until April 26.


To pay for the workshop, either send a check of $41.00 to Alice at the address below or pay via PayPal by clicking on the Buy Now button.

1) Check
Daniel's House Publications

201 Monticello Avenue

Durham, NC 27707 USA

OR

2) PayPal





Join this blog and enter to win a copy of Getting Out of Bed in the Morning




Mornings. Darkness. Bleakness. Life can be daunting.

So it was for me when my four-year-old son Daniel died in February 1997. I wanted to die, too. And if my broken heart wasn't going to kill me, then at least, I wanted to stay in bed. But I was six months pregnant and had a six-year-old daughter and a 15-month-old son to care for. Mornings started early. When Elizabeth was born three months later, they seemed like the extension of countless sleep-deprived nights.

Perhaps you know what it's like to struggle. Maybe you have experienced a loss that keeps you from wanting to participate in life.

Getting Out of Bed in the Morning: Reflections of Comfort in Heartache addresses the toil of life, the heartache, the grief and loss. Known as a companion through grief, this little devotional was created to bring comfort to those in pain.

"I lie down and sleep; I wake again; because the Lord sustains me." ~ Psalm 3:5 (NIV)

I'm offering a free copy of Getting Out of Bed in the Morning.

To be eligible to win, follow these rules:
1) Join this blog by following it (add yourself to the link on the right)
2) Post a comment in reply to the question: What helps you get out of bed in the morning?
3) Include your email
4) Offer good in the USA only

Giveaway contest ends April 1 and that's no joke!


Thanks for joining me here!

Monday, March 11, 2013

Monday's Offer for Free! A Grateful Heart Dances



It's March and I am looking forward to spring. Now that we have sprung forward an hour in the USA with daylight savings time, we are on the homestretch to warmer weather. Signs of spring are all around. I'm grateful for the many flowers that have already bloomed.

Did you know that a grateful heart dances?



Since I am feeling grateful and my heart does enjoy dancing, I wanted to offer a gift to each of you.

The gift is a pack of ten Thank You postcards and ten white envelopes. Designed by Rachel Wisler, these cards (A grateful heart dances) retail for $13.00 at my website. But today, they are free when you purchase a copy of my new devotional, Getting Out of Bed in the Morning for just $17.00 (includes all postage).

So act now! Order a book by either sending a check for $17.00 to the address below or by using the PayPal button. And receive the gift of glossy, bright thank you postcards!

Daniel's House Publications
201 Monticello Avenue
Durham, NC 27707 USA


PayPal






Offer good in USA only.

"Must read for anyone grieving the loss of a loved one, especially a child."
~ Review for Getting Out of Bed in the Morning

Sunday, March 10, 2013

Living Inspiration








People wait for inspiration to hit them. Don't wait for it; sit down and absorb it by doing. Write! Create! Act now! Writing produces more writing. Soon you are Living Inspiration!