We’ve been having so much fun at the Launch Party for Renewed Christmas Blessings and I wanted to share Mom’s Eggnog Recipe with you. Our publisher, Michelle Rayburn did a great job with the printout!
We’re halfway through the 12 Days of Christmas and celebrating the stories and uniqueness of each tradition. You can order it online or get a signed copy from me. I’m happy to ship for your Christmas gift-giving.
We’re looking for women who love to read! Come hang out with 27 authors and hear their stories. You are invited to the fun book club WordGirls is hosting. We are enjoying pre-book chat right now, getting to know one another.
October 3rd, we will start discussing “Live & Learn: Unexpected Lessons from God’s Classroom.” Each day we’ll read a new essay together and hear from the author. We’re giving away lots of great gifts, too! Our reading schedule will be five essays a week, with the weekend for catch-up. Click on the link below to request to be added to the group. Be sure to answer the question, how you heard about the group (from me!).
My article will be featured Oct 11
(NOTE: If you don’t have a book yet, you can get one from me or any of the authors in the collective, or you can purchase from amazon.)
Do you want to be published? Chandler Bolt gives you the tools in his book, Published. The Proven Path From Blank Page To 10,000 Copies Sold. Actually, rather than feeling like you’re reading a long tome, it’s more like sitting down with your own manuscript coach. Chandler’s writing style comes across as a conversation loaded with practical tips. Chandler’s approach is “Let’s move away from getting your book done someday and have a discussion about making it happen now!”
“Chandler Bolt is the CEO of Self Publishing School and Selfpublishing.com, the author of six books, and the host of the Self Publishing School podcast. He believes that ‘Books Change Lives’ and has helped 6,000+ aspiring authors publish a book.”
Published promises:
How to write a quality book and save time in the process
How to produce a quality book on a budget
Proven launch strategies and marketing methods
How to sell books and get booked for speaking opportunities
Three ways to grow your business with a book
Publishedcame through on fulfilling those promises by showing how to have a clear vision for your writing, providing a strategy for organizing words, and tackling limiting beliefs. Chandler says when you have an outline, you create your own GPS that will help you navigate the writing process. He not only shows you how to map out an outline, but to also use it to create your rough draft.
I like the down-to-earth way Chandler works through the nuts and bolts of putting together a book. Checklists and Next Steps provide clarity and ingenuity. From mind mapping your outline to marketing your finished product, Published gives you a sound vehicle to arrive at your destination. Chandler’s contagious enthusiasm makes you believe you can do it and want to tackle the work to make it happen.
Sally
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for a fair and honest review.
I like to know what’s coming. It’s a form of control, I suppose, and lets me believe I am able to keep a handle on the uncontrollable aspects of life. But it’s an illusion. And it cheats me out of a deeper relationship with the Lord when I rely on my own resources.
This independence is highlighted while I write a Bible study for caregivers. I think in short bites, but a whole book requires volumes of words. I despair of coming up short.
Do I believe God provides the words? Am I writing in faith that He opens the doors?
Cindy Hess Kasper’s devotion in Our Daily Bread “reminds us to bring what we have, even when it seems to be insignificant.”
She tells the story of the disciples’ assignment in John 6:1-14. They stumbled upon the boy in the crowd who brought his sack lunch, but Jesus knew he was there with willing hands and heart. Cindy quotes an unknown source who said, “You don’t have to feed the five thousand. You just have to bring your loaves and fishes.”
If I release control to the Lord’s purposes for this Bible study, then He will feed others with His words. I don’t have to have it all figured out; I just bring my words, willingly, and He does the nourishing.
What are you asking God to multiply? Tell me in the comments.
How does a writer deal with doubts and writer’s block? Michael Gantt and Barbara Haley contend, it’s bySleeping Near the Ark.
Pastor and author, Michael Gantt travels extensively to declare God’s truth in compelling forms. Michael organized The Kenya Development Fund in support of the students of the Immanuel Christian School for the Deaf. Michael is the author of five books.
Barbara E. Haley, a retired elementary teacher and Reading Interventionist, seeks to remind her readers of God’s great love and encourage them to grow closer each day in their level of intimacy with Him. Barbara has authored and contributed to six books.
Sleeping Near the Ark is a delightful gem, shining light from all angles on how a writer can reflect God’s heart to readers. The premise of the book is from 1 Samuel, where the boy received his calling from God. The Ark of the Covenant represents Jesus, the presence of God among us. And, the call of the book is, Lord, let me sleep near Jesus, “so close to the presence of God that it rubs off on everything I write.”
The authors pose purposes for writing,
with the ultimate goal for writers being “to encourage, to inspire, to
challenge, and to heal.”
Get a copy of this book for the writers in your life, but especially for yourself. Writer or not, we all need the inspiration of God at work in our lives, and this treasure guides through positioning ourselves to hear from God, to pondering in focused ways the things He is speaking to us. This is one book you’ll want to glean from, again and again.
For our writing exercise, I asked my Writers Group to write
for 15 minutes about what they saw. This is what I showed them:
Kim Earle said,
As if disposed
The tubs of glasses sit before me
Conversation ensues about their cleanliness
While my mind wanders to those
Who wait for the chance to see.
Elaine Weaver: Bins full of Hope
I looked into these bins full of eyeglasses that Sally had
run through her dishwasher. They sparkled like the bright shining stars of the
sky on a clear summer night. Way across the world was a mass of people waiting
for the opportunity to have a pair and see clearly again – maybe for the first
time in their lives! This was hope for something better in their lives, and
that hope lay in these bins in her kitchen! But how to bring this hope to them
has been a focus for several people for the last three years. A plan had to be
made. Prayers were first! Money had to be raised. God had to place a desire in
their hearts to pursue this mission. So, all this has been accomplished and in
March of 2019 they will take these bins of hope and fly to Africa where
hundreds of adults and children are waiting for their answer to prayer. Soon
they will see their futures through unclouded lenses!
Julia Thompson,
I looked into three totes and found eyeglasses filling each
one. Eyeglasses! – sparkling, clean lenses inside frames of copper, gold,
silver, black and other “shades” of color. These gifts were going to be
delivered to Uganda via a missionary trip.
For a while, I gazed at them – those sparkling, clean lenses
looked empty. There were no eyes in them! I’ve seen photos of people from underdeveloped
countries whose eyes bore the same emptiness. And the frames of various colors,
so fragile.
So many different prescriptions, too. We all seem to see
situations and people differently.
I thank God often for my actual sight. But I pray daily that
He will let me put on His “eyeglasses,”
so I can see others through His eyes.
Then perhaps He could use me to fill the emptiness in the lenses and add
strength to those weary frames.
Heidi Bogue:
Totes, totes and more
totes
Whatever, wherever
Full or empty?
What treasures do
they hold?
Now, now, don’t rely
on the label,
Take a peek!
Be brave and see for
yourself!
What do they hold?
A faucet from a sink?
A wink?
Careful! It may
stink!
Now… settle down!
Do not fear!
Pop the lid and peek.
Do you see? Surely you
do!
If not… reach in,
grab a pair!
Is it clearer now,
dear?
Why we are here
With totes, totes and
more totes?
It’s not boats you
need, or even coats.
Now, now… no more
tears.
Pick your glasses;
fit them to your ears
And celebrate with
Hip hip hooray
cheers.
That is why we are
here.
Becki James wrote,
“Oh, if I had eyes to see,” I solemnly thought to myself as I
boarded the plane to a country I had never been to before. My own vision was
perfect as a child. As I grew older, presbyopia set in, attaching a pair of
bifocals forever to my face. The suitcases I carried now were filled with
vision: eyeglasses, to be exact.
Vision is such a vast word. Our missionary team carried
vision. How many individual lives would be changed by a single pair of
eyeglasses? Vision… how many lives would be changed by the grace and compassion
of God?
“Help me see, Lord,” I urgently breathed out.
“Help me to see these people with your eyes of love. Let me
see your people with your perfect and pure eyes. Amen.”
Eyeglasses: oodles and oodles of eyeglasses. I never realized how much I take my sight for granted. People in third world countries don’t have access to eye care like we do. Eyes get infected, yet not treated. Eyesight deteriorates, yet no intervention given. They don’t have government programs to give aid, no social workers to come alongside. If there are no family members to help, then there is no help.
In eight weeks, our Uganda Team will depart from Buffalo
with thousands, yes, thousands of eye glasses and an eye doctor. We’ll conduct
eight eye clinics where people can have eyes tested with a focometer and a
prescription matched. It’s a giant effort, but allows us to be the hands and
feet of Jesus to bring sight to the blind and Good News to all.
People need a soft touch and a kind word. They need to know
someone cares. Will you add us to your prayer list? Pray for endurance and a
good sense of humor during the long clinic days. Pray for health, and rest for
the travel. And pray for hearts to “see” the Gospel in action.
Scores of books and articles have been written on how to get published. So maybe, you don’t need me to tell you how, but to encourage you, that you can do it!
1. Set goals. If you write one page every day for a year, you’ll have 365 pages! I have kept a desk calendar at different times, just for word count and submission goals.
2. Be disciplined. You have to put your seat in the chair and stay there! Use a timer and then reward yourself with a stretch break. Find what helps to keep you on task.
3. Outline. Edna Ellison and Linda Gilden say “an effective outline can help you stay on track and focus on your topic.” Break your subject down into three or five major areas. Then begin filling in the gaps with stories and essential points. Edit until it sings.
I used this method for the article in Women of Worth: Sugar & Spice, and it helped me meet my deadline!
4. You can find ways to get published when you email the editor. What are their editorial needs? How do you get on their author rotation? I did this with Light From The Word, and was able to land an assignment for seven devotionals when I sent samples of my work.
5. Visualize your audience and write to that person. If you’re writing for young moms, then you’ll use examples from when your kids were toddlers. Edit out big words when writing for children. Watch for slang that won’t relate to senior citizens.
It never gets old opening a box of books with your story in it! Granddaughter, Sophea wants to see what all the fuss is about! http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1943470030/sallferg-20
Baby Sophea wants to see my story, too!
My article “Lessons from my Bread Basket” is featured in Sugar & Spice with Kristen Clark!
Hi! Welcome to my workroom! Here, you’ll find out what I’ve been up to and what’s coming next.
I began writing in high school. I became editor for our youth group’s newspaper and found out I loved connecting with people through words. I wrote features about our activities as well as made assignments to my peers for their input. Who knew it would lead to something more?
I began submitting articles in 1996, when Nathanael was 5 and Anna was 2. My hubby is a pastor and we chose for me to stay-at-home while the kids were growing up. Now, both kids are in their twenties and I am caring for my father. The writing is an outlet that enables me to be available to my family.
So, what brings you here? Are you looking for speaker tips? Are you a writer? Possibly you’re looking for encouragement on a rough day? Maybe you’re a mom looking for resources for your family?
Isn’t it awesome that we can bridge the miles through the click of a keyboard? I will be posting twice a week, and transferring files over from my previous blog, http://sallyswords.braveblog.com. I’m looking forward to a format that is more readily available to connect with readers. Thank you for joining me on the adventure!
Sally Ferguson
Retreat Solutions for Planners
My ebook is now available for Kindle! Click to check out How to Plan a Women’s Retreat!
Help for the Helper: Purpose for the Planner, Respite & Renewal for the Caregiver
