by Roseanna White | Aug 15, 2011 | Uncategorized
I’m currently waaaaaaaay out in Oregon, at the Aldersgate Lodge, for the Oregon Christian Writers Conference. I’m here as an editor representing WhiteFire Publishing, and really looking forward to meeting all the wonderful writers, readers, agents, and editors that I know will be here.
But alas, I doubt I’ll have time to blog regularly while here, so tune back in next week for stories and tales from the conference!
by Roseanna White | Aug 12, 2011 | Uncategorized
“Just like I had to purposefully go out and walk to put myself in a position to see and experience the beauty of the morning and the flowers, I need to put myself in a position where I can see the things God has for me to see.”
I’ve visiting P
atty Wysong’s blogs before.
I have, in fact, done some really fun interviews on, first her personal blog, and then the
Barn Door Book Loft. I’ve scrolled through a few of her regular posts, read a few of her devotionals. But it wasn’t until I really started clicking through her website for this feature, recommended by a friend of hers, that I realized how
much this lovely woman does.
Her website is called “Ordinary Lives” with a kinda floating subtitle (hey look, I’m coining a phrase! LOL) of “Finding the Extraordinary God in Our Ordinary Lives.” And as you click through it (which I highly encourage you to do!), you will indeed find evidence of an ordinary, busy life. Her Community links proves she has friends equally as involved in blogging. Her About Me shows us her sense of humor. Her Fiction tab reveals the kinds of stories that grip her heart and the agent who shares her vision. Taken piece by piece, you see the ordinary.
Taken as a whole, you see the extraordinary.
I won’t try to say I know Patty really well–but we’ve emailed a few times, and her notes have always, always made me smile.
That’s pretty extraordinary.
My very first interview on my very first blog tour was on Patty’s blog, and I remember thinking after several more that she, more than most, really had this down. Her site is gorgeous, her followers are dedicated . . . and I loved that every post ended with her signature of “Seeking Him.”
Looking through it all now, it’s so clear she does. Like her blog? Then you’ll want to click on the Blogging Stuff tab, where she has turned her successful blogging experience into tutorials and workshops and design.
Now, let me just say that I’ve been in similar positions before–where you have something mastered pretty well, and you start thinking, “If only I could make a little money at this.” Saying it’s the easy part–doing it . . . well that takes way more effort. A handy helping of dedication. Some undeniable vision. And trusting in the Lord. So Patty, I really admire that you’ve taken the “if only I could” and turned it into, “Here I am.”
And of course, as a writer trying to put myself out there, I appreciate all she and her blogging partners do to help promote authors. More, I appreciate that her site is definitely not only for writers. She offers devotionals and insights, fun and fellowship for all.
I encourage you to drop by one (or more!) of Patty’s sites and leave her a note of encouragement. You’re also welcome to leave her a comment here, of course, and by doing so, you’ll be entered into my August giveaway. For each of her sites you follow, you’ll get an extra entry (please leave me a comment telling me that you do indeed follow them so I know to give you the entries)
In case you haven’t yet seen my August giveaway, here it is:
Heiress by Susan May Warren,
To Die For by Sandra Byrd,
Surrender the Dawn by MaryLu Tyndall, and the obligatory
Jewel of Persia by this author I know really super well and so am storing boxes of books for. Ahem. She won’t mind if I give one away. 😉 You can also enter this giveaway
here,
here, and
here. Each comment equals one entry, but you’re welcome to rack ’em up!
And while I’ve got your attention, I’ll be flying to Oregon for the OCW Conference on Sunday, so if you wanted to say a prayer for me and travel, that would be soooooo awesome! =)
by Roseanna White | Aug 11, 2011 | Thoughtful Thursdays, Uncategorized
Though I don’t have organizational skills that would wow anyone, I’m a planner. A goal-setter. And someone who doesn’t often budge on those goals. When I say I’ll have a book to the 75% mark by August 14, for instance, I do whatever it takes to hit that point in the manuscript. (I’ve only got 4K more to write by Sunday to be there, which is totally doable, LOL.) When I say I’ll be somewhere at a certain time, I refuse to be late. When I say I’ll help someone with something, that then goes ahead of my other tasks on the to-do list.
In general, I think this is a fine character trait. 😉 But this week I’ve also been very aware of its drawbacks. See, sometimes I’m so set on meeting my goals and getting to that oh-so-important future point that I forget to enjoy where I am.
With only a few days left until I leave for the OCW Conference in Oregon, for which I’ll be gone through Thursdsay, I’m keenly aware of how long I’ll be away from my kids and hubby. And I’m already geared up to miss them. So I’ve been gathering extra hugs and kisses, extra cuddles and quality time.
It’s been a balancing act, even more than usual. Usually I have my set work times, and I expect my kids to respect them. They don’t, LOL, but I let myself insist on that half hour in the morning and those two hours during naptime. Other times of day I certainly try to squeeze in five minutes at my computer here and there, but it’s totally common for a kiddo (or two) to be on my lap or asking for help, or requesting I come outside “because you gotta SEE this!” But this week, much as I want (okay, I think it actually classifies as a “need” for my personality type) to get to that 75% mark in my manuscript, I really want (and definitely need) to stock up on the kiddo-time.
It’s made me think a lot about how I approach each moment. Yes, I want to walk for exercise. But you know, it’s so fun to stop every three feet to jump rope with my daughter. Yes, I wanted to answer that email. But there’s nothing quite like cuddling my son for those first 20 minutes after he gets up from his nap, when all he wants to do is sit on my lap and suck his thumb.
Sometimes I’m so focused on what must be done next (bath time, book time, bed time) that I forget to fully enjoy what is. Sometimes I’m so distracted by what I didn’t get finished that I can be grumpy during my family time. But this week, I’ve been very aware of how much fun my kids are, and how much I’ll miss their silliness next week. This week, I’ve been working hard during work time and savoring each moment of play.
I’m going to do my best to extend that aspect of this week into the future.
Today I have my mother-in-law taking the kids to the park for a few hours so I can pack some solid work into the morning. Part of me feels guilty about losing those couple hours with them–but then, I think it’s better to send them out to have fun than to have to plop them in front of the TV while I prepare my suitcase. And as always, it’s part of the balancing game. I know well that I’ll savor the other moments more once I’ve gotten some of my other looming tasks out of the way.
There are never any easy answers for balancing a home-based career with your kids (or ANY career with your kids). But I’m trying to be aware, not just of the amount of time I’m with them, but with the quality of the time. And I’m laughing a lot, smiling a lot, and cuddling a lot.
Goals are great. Keeping them is important. But sometimes you’ve just gotta live in the moment.
by Roseanna White | Aug 10, 2011 | Remember When Wednesdays, Uncategorized
Well, I learned something last night. =) I was researching what candies were available in the Colonial era and come across
this fun site that gave me exactly the information I needed. I clicked onto the marshmallow link and proceeded to be awed, LOL.
So apparently, marshmallows originally came from–get this–a plant called the mallow. That grew in marshes. Logical, but something I never knew. But as far back as ancient Egyptian days, folks would take the roots of the marsh mallow, boil them down, squish ’em up, and then combine them with honey. This confection was so prized that it was reserved for royalty and offerings to the gods.
The mallow plant had medicinal uses, primarily for treating wounds and alleviating hunger. Common in Europe, they began mixing the gummy root matter with white sugar and an egg white for fluff, boiling it until it thickened, and then letting it cool into something that was both medicine and confection.
In the 1850s, gum arabic began replacing the marsh mallow root, and the modern treat emerged. Featuring simple ingredients like the gum, cornstarch, egg white, and sugar, it has been largely unchanged for the last hundred fifty years. At that point they were made by hand in confectioner’s shops.
By the early 1900s they were being mass-produced and were considered a treat for children., sold as penny candy Today, of course, they’re in everything from sweet potato recipes to Jell-O salads to campfire favorites. =)
So there you go–a brief history of a treat we all probably take for granted, but which has its roots (pun intended) in ancient history. Who knew? Marshmallows from a marsh. Go figure. 😉
by Roseanna White | Aug 9, 2011 | Uncategorized
I have had so little time to read lately . . . yet the awesome books keep arriving. =) Yesterday 9 showed up in the mail, for instance. Most of these will go be put on the list of books available for the Christian Review of Books reviewers, but whenever one comes in that I want to read, I snatch it. 😉
So I thought today I’d just share my immediate to-be-read pile.
First we’ve got From Ashes to Honor by Loree Lough, the first book in her First Responders Series. (Okay, too many “first”s in one sentence, LOL.) This series is in honor of the heroes who rode in to the rescue on 9/11 and debuts now in time for the 10th anniversary of that horrific day.
Next up is To Die For by Sandra Byrd. This is a story of Anne Boleyn, but from the perspective of a lady-in-waiting. Gotta love Tudor books!!! And come on, that cover . . . oh yeah. I want those dresses. 😉
Also earning a spot in my pile is Jamie Carie’s Pirate of My Heart. I mean, come on–doesn’t the title itself just say, “Read me! I’m packed with adventure and romance!!” A young noblewoman flees her overbearing guardian, determined to make it to America and some distant relatives. But is American Captain Dorian Colburn capable of saving her from the darkness around her?
The Colonel’s Lady by Laura Franz is one I just can’t wait to dig into. I recently read Courting Morrow Little by Laura, and WOW. Yep. So I know this one will be awesome. In it, genteel Virginian Roxanna Rowan travels to a Kentucky fort to reunite with her father, only to discover he’s been killed. Without the means to go home again, she is forced to stay at the fort . . . under the protection of the fiery Colonel McLinn.
I’ve read the first two books in Sarah Sundin’s Wings of Glory series, so I’m excited about the final installment, Blue Skies Tomorrow. This one follows the other Novak brother, Raymond, and heart-soar widow Helen Carlisle. When they discover a fragile love between them, can they still step out in faith and up to a challenge, willing to wait until blue skies return?
And for a little something different, I snagged mainstream thrilled The Genesis Key from the pile of incoming books. This just sounds soooooo good. Dr. Kathleen Sainsbury’s on the verge of breakthrough–the discovery of a gene that could extend human life by centuries. But suddenly Kathleen is a target of covert government operatives, and she’s forced onto a quest to uncover the real reason behind her parents’ deaths, the mysteries of the human genome, and the secrets long held in the Book of Genesis.
So I’ve got some great reading ahead of me, if ever I have the time. 😉
by Roseanna White | Aug 5, 2011 | Uncategorized
As I was debating who to feature for today’s My Friend Friday, my friend Tiffany Harkleroad sprang to mind. And I’ll tell ya why. =)
Back when
A Stray Drop of Blood first released, I was really into my blog tour. After each guest spot ended, I would email each person who had commented, just to respond to whatever comment had been left (knowing they don’t always return to the blogs to read replies to their comments), to thank them for taking the time to visit, and to offer a coupon code for those who didn’t win.
Tiffany was one of the folks who had commented on a blog, and who I subsequently struck up an email conversation with. She was tickled by my offer of a discount and proceeded to by Stray Drop. She loved it, which is nice for me, LOL. But more than that, we got to talking about our love of books, what we expected from them, our Christian backgrounds, our goals. Tiffany had just begun blogging and wanted to make a real mark with it, wanted to do book reviews as a way of expanding her career. She joined the Christian Review of Books (is even co-moderator with me on our Facebook page), signed up to receive books directly from publishers who offer programs, and basically dove in head first.
In the year and a half since then, I’ve watched her online presence explode, and it’s been so much fun. Her book review blog,
Tiffany’s Bookshelf, now has over 500 followers. She has two other blogs for other aspects of her life,
Tall Tales from a Small Town, and
The Tales of Dexter, Nora, and Chloe. The last is about her pets, and the Tall Tales is about the things she discovers in everyday life in a suburb of Pittsburgh.
Here’s what I really admire about Tiffany. She’s reasoned through her faith, has a heart for the Lord, and lives it in the real world. She looks for books with meat to them, but that can offer the same reasoned view of Christianity that she discovered–one that doesn’t sugarcoat but comes back to Jesus as the answer to the woes we encounter in life. And when she reviews, she reviews honestly. Totally honestly. She reads books from across the spectrum, Christian and mainstream, and can give feedback on them exactly like what I always wanted the Christian Review of Books to offer: what is good in them, what might offend, to whom she would recommend it.
I also love reading about her hometown discoveries. I rarely encounter someone who connects so incredibly to wherever they live, who goes out exploring, determined to find those gems that sets one neighborhood apart from the rest. To me, this speaks of a heart that is set on loving people and places as they are, where they are.
I’ve yet to meet Tiffany in person–we had a visit planned last year, but silly me got the flu and spent the day puking instead of driving up to the lake where she was vacationing. =( And the busier she’s gotten online, the less we’ve just chatted. But whenever we do, I have to smile, especially when I see how she’s accomplishing her goals. She’s making a presence, in her real world and her online one. She’s being exactly who she is. She’s taking the opportunities the Lord gives her.
Today I’d like to invite you to drop by Tiffany’s world of blogs. Read through a few of her reviews (she has a great one on
Jewel of Persia, LOL), see her world through her eyes, chuckle over her cute pets. And drop her a word of encouragement, here or on her blogs, to let her know that she’s doing a great job in striding forward to her dreams.
If you leave a comment here (or
here or
here), you’ll be entered to win my August giveaway, which consists of
Heiress by Susan May Warren,
To Die For by Sandra Byrd,
Surrender the Dawn by MaryLu Tyndall, and the obligatory
Jewel of Persia by yours truly. For an extra entry, follow the blogs of any of the folks I’ve featured. And please spread the word, and, if you have someone you’d love to see featured here, link me to their website/blog!
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.