This song is just really speaking to me this week about my need to deny my flesh and live whole-heartedly with two hands serving God.
Category: Uncategorized
Fun Facts About Me
I recently did a short interview with Lynda, the Grand Rapids Christian Fiction Examiner. She posted a couple really fun facts about me here. Swing by and check it out, if you’re so inclined. 🙂
Booksigning at B&N in Colorado Springs
Just wanted to give a huge shout out to my great friends (both new and old) in Colorado Springs who made my booksigning on Saturday at the Barnes and Noble in Colorado Springs such a big success. We had a great time, and the lady at Barnes and Noble, Mary, was delighted with the turnout. We sold about 25 books, which isn’t too shabby at all.
A couple pictures from the event for you to enjoy (or make fun of).
Me and my good friend Johanna!
Me and my two roommates–Tracy and Amy.
Huge thanks to Amy who stuck with me the whole time and brought me some water. Thanks, friend!
Teaser Tuesdays – Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
MizB of Should Be Reading hosts the Teaser Tuesdays weekly event
Here are the rules:
* Grab your current read
* Let the book fall open to a random page
* Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12
*You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!
* Please avoid spoilers!
This week’s teaser is:
“The worst had not happened yet: Voldemort was not here. He was, Harry knew, for he was fighting to resist the vision, in some strange, fortresslike place, at the top of a tower.”
pg. 455 – Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
– I’ve succumbed to my whims and have decided to reread some books that I haven’t read in a long time. After seeing the 6th Harry Potter movie, I was so in the mood for the 7th book. And so I have begun rereading it. I’m loving it! Again!
Recent Interviews
Hey there, folks. A few interviews that I did have just been put online. If you want to check them out visit these sites.
TheSuspenseZone.com
DeliaLatham.wordpress.com
Thanks so much to Susan and Delia for the fantastic interviews and kind words about The Kidnapping of Kenzie Thorn. It’s such a treat to get to know other book lovers. Thanks, ladies! 🙂
The Perfect Ratio
This week I had a terrible revelation! My books are piling up at an exponential rate. I’m having a terrible time keeping up with reading the books that I’m buying.
See, I like shopping. A lot. Call it therapy or just a way to support the economy. And as previously revealed, I especially enjoy using a good coupon–which usually requires me to buy more than one book. Before I know it, my room starts looking like this:
Piles abound, and the books–books that I really want to read–don’t get read. I just keep getting more books, and not reading them. At this moment, I think my current ratio is about 3:1. If I’m only reading 1 book of every 3 I’m buying, that’s not ideal. Mostly because I want to be reading them. But also because I’m feeling a little wasteful (even if a lot of the books I’m getting are being traded for on paperbackswap.com). I don’t want to be wasteful.
But also, I love books. I love being surrounded by them. Someone said something amazingly creative enough to get published, and even if I don’t know the words yet, there’s something thrilling about knowing they’re there, on the printed page, covering my floor.
But sometimes I think I need to only buy books that I’ll actually read, so I have a quality 1:1 ratio. But then … well, how will I know if I’m going to read every book that I get? And just because I haven’t read the books yet, doesn’ t mean that I don’t want to.
Which all leads me to the all-important question. What is the ideal ratio for book buying? Is it only 1:1? Or is it 3:2, so that you have some spares for next year or the next? Or is it 5:1 so you always have more books than you could possibly read?
Pondering the big questions until next time. -LJ
Brandon Heath update
I know! It’s been forever since I shared any new news about Brandon, but the good news is that he has a new single out with Leeland called Follow You. It’s amazing! I just downloaded it on iTunes, and I have a terrible feeling it’s going to get worn out. I mean, I know it’s not a cassette or a record, but still … my iPod could get a mysterious shuffle right in the middle of it, if I’m not careful. 🙂
Anyway, check it out! Enjoy!
Return of the Random Post – Toothpaste Fiasco!
So I miss posting about random things. I got busy and haven’t been taking time lately to tell you about the really strange things goin on. But that stops today. Or more accurately, I’m stopping today. To share more than you ever wanted to know about me …
While I wish I had the beautiful skin of my 5-year-old niece, all perfect porcelain and adorable freckles, I do not wish I had the skin of a girl half my age. But last night, that’s exactly what I got, the skin of a 14-year-old. Pimples and all. Three pimples, to be exact. On my nose, on my cheek, and my chin.
It was the perfect trifecta of complexion bummer!
Per my norm, I was oversharing with Amy. She suggested I put some toothpaste on my “problem areas” to dry them out. Hmmm … I hadn’t heard of that. But I figured it couldn’t hurt, so before bed I plopped three dollops of Aquafresh on my nose, cheek, and chin.
No problem. Until I woke up to three large blobs of toothpaste on my pillow case.
That’s right! My dollops had morphed into blobs and spread all over my pillow. Turns out I may not be the most … hmm … demure sleeper. And I totally dirtied up my freshly laundered pillow case. Bummer.
Oh, well. No problem, right? I figured I’d just wash it off in the shower, right? Wrong. Even hot steamy water wasn’t washing off the crusted toothpaste. It took some seriously scrubbing to finally get a clean face, an unexpected side-effect.
And the worst part. My pimples? Oh, they’re totally still hanging around.
Seriously considering using windex to fix my face until next time. -LJ
New interview up at CWAHM.com
Hey there fun-seekers! Just wanted to give you a heads up that an interview I did with Christian Work at Home Moms is up here. Check it out and leave feedback, if you’d like. You can honestly tell me if you like it, too. 🙂
Still promoting the release of The Kidnapping of Kenzie Thorn until next time. -LJ
Monday Movie – Beauty and the Beast
So last night I asked my mom if she wanted to watch a movie with me. Bonding … you know. She asked me what I wanted to watch. Umm … Why does she have to ask such tough questions?
Well, my niece and I have been talking about watching Disney’s Beauty and the Beast this week–trouble is, we can’t find a copy to watch. I didn’t bring mine to Arizona, and I can’t seem to find one to rent, so I’m having trouble getting to watch this with her this week.
So last night, my mom suggests we watch an old Beauty and the Beast video that she had taped off TV years ago. This was on a VHS, if that tells you anything. Mom tells me she remembers enjoying the movie, so we popped it in.
Maybe the cover will give you a sense of the style of the this 1987 film.
So the movie started, and I was wide awake. The movie continued a little bit, and I started laughing at the really bad acting. And it continued a little more, and I was roaring. But then my mom starts looking a little bit hurt. So I felt bad. Afterall, I didn’t want to hurt her feelings, and I’m definitely guilty of picking a dud.
So I piped down and sat through the rest of the movie. I laughed internally at the plot that didn’t make good sense … Beauty tells Beast every night that she doesn’t love him and won’t marry him. But the build up to her actually loving him–sort of nonexistant. And I fought sleep at every moment, but I won, and stayed awake the whole movie.
After the movie, I couldn’t hold in my guffaws when mom said, “Well, at least I got a bit of a nap in.” Apparently mom lost the battle, but at least she agrees with me that the movie was a bit lame–I may have called it an “epic-fail”–and she won’t make me watch it again. 🙂
Looking for new movies to bond with mom over until next time. -LJ