by Roseanna White | Jul 15, 2013 | Giveaways and Contests, Word of the Week
Wow, halfway through our month of giveaways already!! How did that happen? LOL. We’ve had lots of winners already (most recently Kelsey Shade Perkins and bn100!), and just as many still to come! Remember, every day I’m doing a drawing for Ring of Secrets, book 1 in the Culper Ring Series, to celebrate the release on August 1 of book 2, Whispers from the Shadows.
And if you’re new to my books, you can get a free taste! Fairchild’s Lady is a free novella that comes chronologically between books 1 and 2, but which is a stand-alone. So download it today to see if you like my style!
Available from:
Amazon, CBD, B&N, iTunes, and GooglePlay
And our bonus prize this week is this beautiful Tea Light Garden by Elements. The drawing for that will be on Friday.
And now for your regularly scheduled program. 😉
Word of the Week – Roughshod
Ever wonder where the phrase “to run roughshod over” something came from? Apparently it’s a pretty literal expression.
Back in the 17th century, “roughshod” was what they called a horse’s (ahem) snow tires. LOL. When weather was bad, they would leave nail heads protruding from a horseshoe to it could dig into and break up the snow and ice. So a horse was literally shod with a rough shoe. Makes all the sense in the world, doesn’t it?
And yet, I don’t think I’d ever really paused to wonder where it came from…
So in honor of our equestrian friends, your question of the day is:
Have you ever ridden a horse? Did you like it?
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by Roseanna White | Jul 14, 2013 | Uncategorized
I hope everyone’s having a great weekend! I’m currently at a yard sale hosted by my church and filled with a lot of my kids’ toys. 😉 So out with the old…and for one of you, in with the new!
This tea light garden candle set is this week’s bonus prize! That drawing will be on Friday, and every day, remember, I’m doing a drawing for Ring of Secrets. If you’re new to the 30 Days of Giveaways, that would be because book 2’s coming out August 1, so I’m maniacally planning on getting y’all hooked on the series. 😉
So today’s question of the day, purely for fun:
Coffee or tea? Any particular flavor?
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by Roseanna White | Jul 13, 2013 | Uncategorized
Winners from yesterday are [drum roll, please!]:
Ring of Secrets – Angela Holland
Choice of necklace – Jenna C.
Digital of The Revised Life of Ellie Sweet – Tiffanie
Paperback of The Revised Life of Ellie Sweet – Jori
Congrats, all!!
And today being Saturday, it’s time to reveal this week’s bonus prize!
An Elements brand Tea Light Garden! All entries from now until next Friday are eligible for this fun candle set as well as the daily drawings for Ring of Secrets.
Now for today’s fun question:
How many candles are in the room you’re in right now?
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by Roseanna White | Jul 12, 2013 | Uncategorized
Prizes, Prizes, and more Prizes!!
Today’s pretty awesome. Not only will there be the daily drawing for Ring of Secrets, it’s also the day when I’ll select the winner for one of these fabulous necklaces–winner’s choice!
PLUS–another book giveaway! How awesome is that??
Do you remember the young adult novel I reviewed last Tuesday, The Revised Life of Ellie Sweet? Well, it’s on sale through the weekend on Amazon’s Kindle store, marked down to $2.99. GO BUY YOUR COPY NOW!
Stephanie Morrill, who happens to be my awesome best friend and critique partner *grins*, is offering one free Kindle book to an Amazon reader. Just leave a comment below with your email address for this one!
But because some of us like to have physical books on our shelves too, even when we have the digitals–and others of us don’t like to read digitals–I’m offering a giveaway of a paperback, given that I ordered an extra for just such a purpose. 😉 So go, run, buy your e-copy now while it’s still on sale, and I’ll also choose a winner from them for the paperback! All these drawings are today only, so HURRY!! And the sale only goes through the weekend, so don’t drag your feet! 😉
So to recap:
Leave a comment below for The Revised Life of Ellie Sweet,
both digital and print!
And click that you did so in Rafflecopter
for your daily entry for the regular prizes up today.
Enter Rafflecopter as usual for:
(a) Ring of Secrets
(b) the necklace
So for those of you who skim (I know you’re out there! LOL) for the question of the day:
Would you like to be entered to win a copy
of The Revised Life of Ellie Sweet?
Paperback, Kindle version, or either?
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by Roseanna White | Jul 11, 2013 | Giveaways and Contests, Thoughtful Thursdays
Day 10’s winner of Ring of Secrets is…
Sarah Keimig !
Keep entering all week for a chance at the daily book drawing AND Friday’s drawing for winner’s choice of one of these two necklaces by Susie Finkbeiner of Inspired Novelties.
And for today:
Thoughtful About . . . Words of Blessing
I decided, rather belatedly, to do the Bible-in-a-year schedule in the back of my new chronological Bible. I began on July 1, went through and penciled in all the new dates over the ones listed in the back, and got down to business last week.
As I’m reading through Genesis again, some things are jumping out at me that never have before. Today I read both Abraham’s blessing of Isaac and Isaac’s blessing, intended for Esau but given by deceit to Jacob.
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| Isaac Blessing Jacob by a student of Rembrandt |
Now, I’ve read these things half a gazillion times. I’ve heard sermons on them. I’ve wondered about them. But today, as my kids run through the room laughing while I read, I thought about them in a new way.
What was it about those words that these men so craved? What made them so important? So special? So binding?
I don’t exactly have the answers to that…but I have some thoughts. All through the Bible, both Old Testament and New, we see the power of words.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing
was made that was made. In Him was Life, and the life was the light of men. And
the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.”
John 1:1-2
“Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt,
that you may know how you ought to answer each one.”
Colossians 4:6
“So Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him and let
none of his words fall to the ground.”
I Samuel 3:19
“Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and our God and
Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope by
grace, comfort your hearts and establish you in every good WORD and work.”
II Thessalonians 2:16, 17
Words created…words bless…words curse…
And we often use them so thoughtlessly! I’ve mused on this before, but today I’m thinking especially about how we use them with our children.
It wasn’t some random king that gave these blessings to the patriarchs. Sons didn’t vie for the blessing of their neighbor. It was always their father whose words they wanted. Their fathers who gave them words not only about the physical belongings he himself would pass down, but about how his son’s family would be received by the world for generations.
What is it about a parent’s words that can do that…and am I keeping that in mind when I talk to my kids?
Our local bishop tells a story of an extremely popular, powerful evangelist who had brought countless souls to Christ over the years. Every night of his childhood, this someday-preacher’s mother would kiss his forehead, give him a hug, and say, “The Lord has great plans for your life.” He grew up knowing that it, he lived the promise, and we now, years later, can see its truth.
So what truth am I speaking into the lives of those I love best? What am I teaching my kids, yes, but more, what am I promising them?
Because one thing I know for sure–God doesn’t change. If He honored the blessings spoken by a father upon a son in Abraham’s day, He’ll still do it today. If He poured out His peace upon a people at the word of their spiritual father in the New Testament, He’ll continue pouring it upon us now.
And that means a lot of responsibility to us–responsibility we often ignore, are ignorant of, or–dare I say it?–embarrassed to use. We feel silly saying such deep things to our little children, who just want to play Hulk or Princess or Super-Spy. What do they care about blessings?
Maybe nothing yet–but they will someday. And I should be looking ahead to that someday. I should be speaking blessing and promise and love upon my children each and every day, binding them not only to my heart, but to the Father’s.
When I was a girl, my parents always, always said, “You can be anything you want to be, do anything you want to do.”
That’s a blessing I’m living now, fueled by their faith in me and our Father. Thanks, Mom and Dad. 😉
Now what about me and my kids? What about you?
My question to you today:
What’s one promise or blessing or encouragement that has stuck with you through the years?
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Roseanna M. White is a bestselling, Christy Award winning author who has long claimed that words are the air she breathes. When not writing fiction, she’s homeschooling her two kids, editing, designing book covers, and pretending her house will clean itself. Roseanna is the author of a slew of historical novels that span several continents and thousands of years. Spies and war and mayhem always seem to find their way into her books…to offset her real life, which is blessedly ordinary.