Black Friday Sale 2022

Black Friday Sale 2022

by | Nov 24, 2022 | Sales

It’s that time of year again! Our thoughts begin to turn to Christmas and the gifts we want to give to those most dear to us. And if you have a book lover in your life (or are one and need to provide some ideas for your family and friends), then you are in the right place!

Browse my offerings in Bookish Things (check out some of the new products for the season!) and take 20% off nearly EVERYTHING* from now through Cyber Monday with code:

VeryMerry2022

*Excludes hand-painted special editions, Book Pages Pumpkin and Snowman, and the crown rings fulfilled by MO Judaica. (Bundles are already discounted, so an additional discount cannot be applied to them either.)

VeryMerry2022

Sea Glass Prayer Jewelry

Check out my new line of Sea Glass Prayer Jewelry! Inspired by a character in Yesterday’s Tides, these necklaces, earrings, and bracelets all come with a card inviting the recipient to dedicate each piece to a particular prayer need and then wear it as a reminder to pray.

Secrets of the Isles Gifts

If you’re a fan of The Nature of a Lady, To Treasure and Heiress, and Worthy of Legend, you’ll love these products that tie in with the books…and of course, signed copies of the books themselves!

Codebreakers Gifts

Love the Codebreakers series? I have lots of options here–it’s in fact what inspired the whole Bookish T-shirt line!

Bath and Body

As a tie-in to Shadowed Loyalty, I’ve added some wonderful soaps, lotions, and candles to the store, all made by an amazing organization called Peace + All Good. This program gives women who have escaped from human trafficking a second chance and teaches them the valuable skills associated with this business. Every bar or tube or tin you buy helps someone make a new life for herself! I have a variety of scents for each product and can assure you that they’re all FABULOUS!

Bookish Jewelry

Whether you’re a general book lover or a fan of my stories in particular, I have tons of jewelry to either proclaim your love of literature or remind you of one of your favorite stories!

Bookish Gifts

From socks to lights to elastic bookmarks, I have what a book lover wants!

Christmas

Want some holiday themed items? Check out my Bookish Christmas line, calendars, and more!

Visit Bookish Things for the Complete Inventory!

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Giving Thanks through the Years

Giving Thanks through the Years

by | Nov 24, 2022 | Holidays, Thoughtful Thursdays, Throwback Thursdays

This year, I thought it would be fun post a round-up of all my Thanksgiving posts through the years. Now, sometimes I took the week off and other years my post simply said “Happy Thanksgiving!”, and there have even been a few times when I re-shared a post from previous years so you’re not going to see an entry here for every single year…but then again, other years I posted several different Thanksgiving items, so you’ll get multiples from that year. =) Regardless, it was fun to travel back through the last 13 years on my blog and see the research and expressions of gratitude I’d composed before and compile them into one place.

My musings on Thanksgiving Day, specifically as concerns my writing career in the month before I re-released A Stray Drop of Blood in the version you all know now.

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I reflect on how grateful I am for the history of the Church that we have to stand on.

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Remember When…Thanksgiving Was Optional

Here I explore some of the history of our American holiday.

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Remember When…Thanksgiving Came

Musing on how Thanksgiving became a holiday, a link to a friend’s post, and a bit of my own history with Thanksgiving and why I love it.

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Stolen Blessings

Thanksgiving is a time we focus on blessings…but are we allowing others to participate in the giving?

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Our Five Kernels of Thanksgiving

One of my favorite Thanksgiving posts I’ve done was for Colonial Quills, where I tell the story of the Second Thanksgiving, and why five kernels of corn can mean so much.

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A Thanksgiving Prayer

There were several years in which I shared this same prayer of Gratitude and Thanksgiving from Valley of Vision, a book of Puritan prayers. It’s worth rereading annually!

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The Sacrifice of Thanksgiving

Giving thanks isn’t easy…can we do it even when we’ve lost it all?

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I’m So Grateful for YOU!

As a writer, I often feel like I’m typing into a vacuum…but you all make it worthwhile, and I’m so thankful for you!

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Being Thankful…Especially Now

The year of All the Bad Things in many ways, 2020 was still a year for gratitude!

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Word of the Week – Cornucopia

Because obviously I have to look into the history of this Thanksgiving icon!

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No More Complaining, All Gratitude!

This year, I challenged us all to give up grumbling and complaining and focus instead on gratitude and compassion. There’s even a printable journal to help you out!

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Word of the Week – Upset

Word of the Week – Upset

by | Nov 21, 2022 | Word of the Week

We’ve all been there. We’ve had a bad day, something went wrong, someone hurt our feelings, or maybe we’re just not feeling well physically–times when the best word we can find to describe our state is upset. We all know what we mean–that nothing’s quite right, that things are unsettled, that the order has been overturned.

But have you ever paused to wonder at the word itself? It seems, at first glance, to be fairly straightforward…but when you look up the history, you’re in for a surprise!

Upset has been in the English language since the mid-1400s…but not as we know it. Rather, it meant “to set up, to fix.” Wait–what? That’s the opposite of what it means now! But until the early 1800s, that was the sole use of the word, and the one used for our current meaning was in fact overset, which is now obsolete.

It wasn’t until 1803 that the modern use began to appear, with the meaning of “overturned, capsized”–so a boat would be upset. In 1805, the metaphorical sense of mental discomposure came along. And it wasn’t until the 1830s that it began to be used for an unsettled stomach.

Throwback Thursday – My Unceasing Thanksgiving

Throwback Thursday – My Unceasing Thanksgiving

by | Nov 17, 2022 | Holidays, Thoughtful Thursdays, Throwback Thursdays

As we draw ever closer to Thanksgiving, my thoughts go not only to where I am this year in terms of my own attitude and state of thankfulness, but also back over where I’ve come from. Thanksgiving has always been one of my favorite holidays–I love that we have a day set aside to praise God for His faithfulness! So today and next week, on Thanksgiving itself, I’m going to revisit some of the reflections I’ve shared in Thanksgivings past. Why? Because they continue to linger in my heart and mind, and I revisit them myself regularly…so why not share?

I’m going to begin this week with last year’s reflection. This is one I think about regularly–not because of any insight of mine, but because of the insight of the author I’m quoting, which has lingered in my heart ever since I first read it. This in many ways sums up what I truly believe the purest form of thanksgiving is: quick obedience to our Lord.

My Unceasing Thanksgiving

first posted on November 25, 2021

“Why do I follow you? Because you are who you are, Lord, and because I rejoice in having been called by you. Let the swiftness of my feet in following you be my unceasing thanksgiving.”
~ Fire of Mercy, Heart of the Word

When I read those words a few weeks ago, they resonated deep in my spirit. So often we view thanksgiving as something we have to pause to do, a state of mind that we have to work to get into. When Paul tells us to give thanks always, we think of it as something tending toward the impossible–at least if we’re not staying constantly conscious of it.

But I love this perspective, and it’s one I’m dwelling on this year as I celebrate our official Thanksgiving. That sometimes, the loudest praise is doing what God has called us to do. It’s abandoning our fishing nets and following after Him. It’s pouring our offering of perfume onto His feet. It’s rushing through the busy streets of life, just seeking the hem of His garment. It’s doing the work of the Kingdom. It isn’t a big meal or reflecting on all the “things” He’s given or even the people we love. Thanksgiving is about Him.

Obedience is thanksgiving. Honoring His call on our lives is thanksgiving. Rejoicing in the One whose path we follow is thanksgiving.

Lord, I thank you. I thank you with my lips. I thank you with my words. But I also thank you with my feet–may they be ever swift in chasing after you!

~*~

Come back next week, on Thanksgiving, for a full roundup of all my Thanksgiving posts over the years!

Word of the Week – Groundwork

Word of the Week – Groundwork

by | Nov 14, 2022 | Word of the Week

The day, my husband and I were walking and talking about a potential building project, and he said something about all the work that needs to go into a foundation, water lines, electric, etc–that “groundwork accounts for half the work.” He then mused as to whether literal groundwork was where the metaphorical groundwork came from.

Short answer: Yep! Of course!

Long answer: Since the mid-14oos, groundwork has been used to refer to the foundation of a building–you know, the part directly on or even under the ground. What surprised me was that by 1550, the symbolic or metaphorical use had come into being and was also used of immaterial things. So people have been laying the groundwork for other plans and projects and ideas for quite a long time!

Have you ever been involved in a new-construction building project? Did the cost and amount of planning for the groundwork take you by surprise?

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