Blog Name Change to "Living Stone Faith"

Living Stone Faith lives in the fullness of Jesus.

I love my God and I want to share Him with all of you. I hope that you find solace in what I write and that you also find hope and healing. Love is important, and I write about it a lot.







Do you remember back in the 1980's those Pet Rocks that were so popular? I do. 

Now think of this. Too many times in our lives, we've settled for imitation this or imitation that. Our world sells us PET ROCK faith as a convenient, less-messy version of what it means to walk with God. 

We were given Free Choice as humans of this world.

God always leaves the choice up to you: Pet Rock faith or Living Stone faith.

Which faith do you choose?

Pick up a rock, open your Bible, and discover what God wants to build in you.

Image credit: benchart / 123RF Stock Photo

Image credit: mrscathyokeefe / 123RF Stock Photo
Book Reference: Women Opening the Word Living Stones by Casandra Martin

Five Minute Friday - Home

It's time for the "Five Minute Friday" blogging post. The inspiration comes from Lisa Jo Baker. 

What you do is set your timer for five minutes and write whatever you want according to the prompt Lisa places on her blog every Friday. Then you go back, link your blog and give support to those who posted before you. And, we connect on Twitter with #FiveMinuteFriday.

Ready.

Set.

Go.

Home

Home used to mean a structure. A place to live. Where I put down roots and made a nest. Home no longer means any of those things. Home is where I will go when I die and am Heaven-bound. That is home to me. My existence in this world is temporary. We all are here on borrowed time. God's time. And, when God calls us home, what a glorious day that will be. Home is where my heart is. My heart is with my Lord Jesus Christ and my place is at his side. Just as he's been at my side my entire life.

So, we can all live in our temporary structures with roofs over our head and a place to park our car, but can we really call that our "forever" home? Events change in our life. Will the house you live in now, be the same house you live in next year? In five years? At the end of your years? Nothing is the same except change. I think I heard that quoted somewhere. Only one thing is constant in my life. God's presence in my heart.

My "forever" home awaits me. Do you have a forever home to go to at the end of your days?

Stop.

Click on the Five Minute Friday logo below and see what others have written for their prompt. Have a great day.

Five Minute Friday

Random Act of Kindness - Here is a blog I'd like to share with you

I thought, for Random Act of Kindness day, I'd share with you a blog that I've found interesting and helpful.

It's Publishing...and Other Forms of Insanity.

Erica Verrillo has written seven books and published five. She doesn't know why anyone with an ounce of self-preservation would ever want to publish. But, if you insist on selling your soul to the devil, learn how to do it right: marketing, literary agents, book contracts, book promotion, editors, rejections, pitching your book, how to get reviews, and ... most important of all ... everything she did wrong.

The above text is straight from the horse's, er, Erica's website. Not only does she give this statement on her blog, she backs it up with helpful information and sites to point you in the right direction to learn how to publish the right way.

For example, her Links list includes Agent Query, Preditors and Editors, Publishers Weekly, and Publishers Marketplace. And so much more.

She has links on her site to her other Blogs and a wealth of information in her blog posts.

The Grammar Mistake that will Kill your Career

Considering Self Publishing? Don't bother unless you follow Guy Kawaski's Advice 

I could go on and on about Erica's site, but I'd rather you went and visited it for yourself and take your time, there is a lot to read. So, here is the link again, Publishing ... and Other Forms of Insanity

Enjoy!

Getting to Know You Blog Hop

Hello, and welcome to the Getting to Know You Blog Hop. We have an eclectic choice of bloggers for this hop and it will run from January 29, 2013 to February 1,2013. I’d like to thank all of the participants for joining and committing this time to their blog.

Let’s get started on getting to know me.

Where are you from?

I was born in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in a very small town and grew up on Lake Michigan. I stayed in Michigan until I graduated high school and left for warmer parts of the country via the United States Marine Corps.

When and why did you begin writing?

I’ve always been a writer at heart and started reading and writing at age four. I love the written word. I chose a career as a Technical Writer creating computer user manuals and segued into writing novels after I had a life changing experience. A near-death experience that brought into focus what was most important in my life, and that was my goal to become and author.

What books have most influenced your life?

Stephen King’s books resonate with me because I feel like he’s my “unofficial” mentor. I use his books and his style to guide how I write. He can use a few words to trigger an entire world inside a reader’s mind. That’s my goal as well.

What is your favorite book from childhood?

The book “The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe” by C.S.Lewis comes to mind, as well as “Anne of Green Gables” by Lucy Maud Montgomery. I also like the Boxcar Children series by Gertrude Chandler Warner.

Are the names of the characters in your novels important?

I try to find character names that fit the character description and attitude of the character I develop. I try to make sure all the character names in my books are unique and I don’t overlap or use similar names to confuse my readers.

What’s your favorite fruit?

No question about it. Blueberries. I LOVE them. As a child, I worked the summers as a picker for a Blueberry farm. We would get a dollar a bucket. Best times of my life.

Do you ever wish you had an entirely uncreative job?

Never. Writing is whom I am, how I live, what I breathe. I could not exist if I were not a writer. I tried the corporate route before. It didn’t agree with me.

What are the most important attributes to remaining sane as a writer?

My husband. He helps me stay grounded. He’s as close to me as anyone could be and he know all my moods. I also lay all my troubles on God. He’s my rock.

What was the greatest thing you learned at school?

I learned how to survive by going into the fantasy realm of my mind and make up stories. I was bullied a lot in school and I learned how to switch it off and just go into my mind and be one with my stories.

If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor?

Stephen King. I’ve even written a blog titled, “EverythingI know about writing I learned by reading Stephen King”. It’s true. And, I believe that every writer worth his salt should have a copy of ON WRITING by Stephen King on their desk or bookshelf.

Can you share a little of your current work with us?

I’ve recently had two books released. OUTFOR JUSTICE and GOOD INTENTIONS.

OUT FOR JUSTICE: Rookie homicide Detective Karen Sykes is out to prove she is good at her job, finding justice for a darkness in her past through law enforcement. She gets her first chance to shine with a case that hits a little too close to home. Like her younger sister, a four-year-old boy, has been brutally murdered. The case pairs her with Mike Connelly, an attractive crime scene technician, and sparks fly between the two of them. Mike resists the attraction and only adds more emotional conflict to the case.

When her partner becomes the latest victim and ends up in the hospital near death, Karen sets out to find the murderer before he hurts anyone else. Only the case gets trickier when the murder suspect ends up dead, leaving new clues to the real killer. Finding comfort in Mike's support, their relationship heats up, but so does the investigation. The killer has a plan. One that involves a Cat and Mouse game of hide and seek inside the hospital, where her partner struggles for his life. Karen discovers it takes more than catching a killer to make the pain of her past go away. It also takes opening her heart and learning to trust in others.

GOOD INTENTIONS: The tragic story of one woman’s efforts to help a teenage mother. Megan, fourteen and pregnant, needed a mom. Tracy, thirty-nine and already raising a large family, gave her a home. Neither was ready for what happened next.

Tracy Reynolds’ life is not her own. She works the nightshift at the hospital and has three boys, two girls and a husband who works the opposite shift along with a menagerie of rescued pets. Somehow, she and her husband, Tim, have made it work with love, faith, and impeccable ethics.

Adding fourteen-year-old Megan and her newborn son to the mix was supposed to be uncomplicated. The adoption agency made it sound so easy. They painted Megan as a good child who had a rough life. She needed love and understanding and the stability of a respectable home and family. Tracy and Tim fit the bill and were fast tracked through the system and before they knew it trouble landed on their doorstep. Megan.

Megan rejected their family values and resisted from every direction when it came to learning how to live within their family dynamics and taking care of her son. She missed her friends and the people she knew when she worked as a prostitute. Despite court orders and her probation officer’s warnings, Megan secretly reconnected with her old friends and lover. 

The Reynolds’ family spun out of control. Not one would be untouched by Hurricane Megan’s path of destruction.

One link in a strong chain of family dynamics can crumble the entire household.

Deceptions. Infidelity. Drugs. Child abuse. Cancer. Sexual abuse. Home invasion. The Reynolds’ went through it all. Would their family ever be the same?

Do you have any advice for other writers?

Write. Write something every day. And, Read. Read every day.Always be willing to learn and grow as a writer. If you’re serious about becoming an author, be serious. Look like an author in the virtual world. Have a website, a blog, a Facebook author page. Join LinkedIn, Twitter, and any other social network community that can benefit you. I recommend Triberr. There you can specialize which communities,“tribes”, you want to join that will be beneficial to you and them.

Thanks,

Thank you for reading a bit about me and I’d like to introduce you to other authors along this hop. Their links are below:

http://tenthchild.com/wordpress/

http://sfemespiral.com/ego/

http://candacegauger.wordpress.com/

http://traceeford.wordpress.com/

http://pacificrimpressblog.wordpress.com/

http://www.notanotherbookreview.blogspot.com/

http://ninjananny.wordpress.com/

http://www.charleneraddon.blogspot.com/

http://simplifyandsave.weebly.com/blog-save--simplify.html

http://candysmonsters.com/

Staying Focused - Through the Good Times and Not so Good

A friend of mine asked me how do I stay focused with all my medical issues both mental and physical and keep up with writing my blogs.

Well, my friend, that is a very good question. And, I'd like to answer it here, if I may?

Staying focused isn't all so much as focusing on one thing at a time, but having the ability to focus on the present while keeping an eye on the future.

When I'm feeling particularly well, I not only write my daily blog, but I'll write down ideas for topics of future blogs. This way, I have an on-going list that I can glean ideas from and come up with new posts. 

Another way to stay ahead of an illness or behavior, is to write those blogs out and have them sitting as drafts so that you can pull any one of them out, polish a bit, and voila! You have a ready made post for that day.

Staying stable is so important when you are ill, either mentally or physically. That's very crucial to building your blogs and maintaining your blog topic idea list. So, it's very important that you listen to your mind and body and know when enough is enough and it's time to spend quality time with yourself, healing yourself, gaining your strength back, in whatever fashion that may be for you.

For me, it might mean a quick trip to Busch Gardens for a walk around the park. That always rejuvenates. me. Kayaking in a local estuary looking at wildlife, getting astonished when fish jump, or a bird takes flight, always brings me back to earth.

Lying still, letting my dog lay his head in my lap, softly petting him. Just laying my hands on him. Finding the peace of mind I may have been missing for a while is always helpful. 

Sometimes, I need to read a bit from my Bible, just to find a bit of attachment with the One above who knows all and sees all. Sending Him my prayers and asking for help is always a good way to keep myself grounded and find motivation to stay focused.

Staying focused. Doesn't always mean sitting at your computer for eight or nine hours a day pounding on the keyboard. 

Staying focused can mean, centering yourself, knowing yourself. Being yourself completely in the moment. Once you have mastered that. You may only need to spend an hour or two working on your blogs rather than all day. It's all about balance.

Find that balance in your life. Life for balance. Practice Balance. It won't be easy at first, but with practice come repetition and repetition means you are learning. Balance your life. Balance yourself.

So, when you are well, work on your blogs, build up your cache of posts and topics. When you are ill, take care of yourself. You come first. Don't worry. We will all be here, with gentle hugs of welcome when you return.

So, do you have any tips for how to stay centered and focused while writing your blogs? What keeps you going?

--

The Next Big Thing Bloggity Hop

I’m happy to be a part of The Next Big Thing Blog Hop. Thanks go out to C. Michael McGannon for inviting me. I have two new books that have just been released and I can’t wait to tell you about them. I’d also like to share with you other authors who are participating in The New Big Thing Blog Hop. You can find their links at the end of this post. Please visit and share the love.

“THE NEXT BIG THING” is designed to raise awareness of our work, or work in progress. We do that by answering ten questions about it. We graciously thank the person who nominated us, and tag other authors whose work could very well be THE NEXT BIG THING.

1. What is the working title of your next book?

I’ve just finished two novels and they released at the end of this year: Good Intentions and Out for Justice.

2. Where did the idea come from for the book?

My ideas come to me from a variety of sources. Dreams, newspaper articles, magazines, real life news stories, and thoughts I may have from time to time.

The idea for Good Intentions came from a newspaper article that caught my eye. It was a very long article about a family who attempted to adopt a pregnant teenager, and subsequently her baby. The story interested me, because this family was already made up of a mom, dad, and five children. It was a very heart warming article.

Out for Justice came to me in a dream. The entire story was there, and I even had exact vivid images of how the characters would look and act. I woke the next morning and wrote and wrote as much as I could remember. I love how stories come to me like that. I wish I had a machine attached to my head so I could capture all my dreams!

3. What genre does your book fall under?

Good Intentions would be under contemporary Women's Fiction/ family drama.

Out for Justice would be filed under contemporary romantic suspense.

4. Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

I’ve never thought about my stories in that way, so this is a hard question. Each character is unique and I don’t craft them after a movie actor. I guess, in Out for Justice, Karen, the homicide detective would probably be played by a young Ashley Judd. In Good Intentions, the pregnant teenager, Megan, could be played by Kirsten Dunst, and Tracy, the mom, could be played by someone like a younger Kathleen Turner.

I really don’t like putting movie actors to fill in for my characters, as I want my readers to develop the full character from what they read and fill in with their own imagination.

5. What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

OUT FOR JUSTICE: Rookie Detective Karen Sykes is out to prove she is good at her job, finding justice for a darkness in her past through law enforcement

GOOD INTENTIONS: Good Intentions is the tragic story of one woman’s efforts to help a teenage mother.

6. Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

OUT FOR JUSTICE is published by Mundania Press, LLC

GOOD INTENTIONS is published by Amazon CreateSpace

7. How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

Good Intentions took a very long time. Nearly two years of writing and about two years of editing.

Out for Justice took nearly a year of writing and about a year of editing.

8. What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

I guess Good Intentions could be compared to a Jodi Picoult book. It has that kind of drama in it.

Out for Justice, I don’t compare it to a particular book, but if you read romantic suspense, you’ll definitely enjoy Out for Justice.

I try not to compare my books to others because I’d rather the reader begin the journey of self discovery themselves and not be biased by anything I’ve compared the books to that might cloud their reading pleasure.

9. Who or what inspired you to write this book?

In Good Intentions, the mother of five in the newspaper article who loved enough to want to adopt a pregnant teenager inspired me. She is truly an inspiration.

As for Out for Justice, I felt that my story is a conglomeration of all rookie female homicide detectives. I didn’t choose a particular one. She came to me in a dream.

10. What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

In Out for Justice, rookie homicide detective, Karen Sykes, fights to bring justice for the murder of a four-year-old boy. She has personal reasons for getting so involved in the case. She also feels an attraction to one of the crime scene technicians.

In Good Intentions, Tracy Reynolds, the mother of five, has so much love to give that she can’t turn her back on Megan and her baby. She does have a tendency to bring home every stray in the neighborhood and her friends and family have their doubts. Tracy struggles to prove everyone wrong even though the odds are stacked against her. Read how she overcomes every obstacle thrown her way.

You can find these books at your local B&N bookstore or ordering it at any bookstore, or by clicking here:

Out for Justice

Good Intentions e-book

Good Intentions print book

Happy Reading!

--

Vicki

* * *

Here are the fabulous authors I’ve tagged to tell you about their Next Big Thing!

http://www.gilagreenonline.com/

http://jacksmonster.wordpress.com/

http://www.angeladcoleman.com/

http://www.blackgirlguide.com/

http://www.sisterhoodagenda.com/

http://www.africanamericanmatchmaking.com/

http://www.chroniclesofhlstephens.blogspot.com/

http://www.susanspenceauthor.com/susan-spence-blog.html

http://bullseye-bullying.blogspot.com/

http://www.deborahteramischristian.com/

http://suebursztynski.blogspot.com.au

http://quillstreetcafe.com/

June 19th, Do you know where your author is?

Hi, and welcome to the continuation of my Virtual Blog Tour.

Today I'm at The Adventures of a Wife, Mother, and Writer. Cheryl asked some really insightful questions. Check them out and see what my answers were.

Tomorrow I'll be at Marilyn Meredith's blog.

If you've been following my schedule, there'll be an added interview for the 22nd. I won't tell you what it is yet. You'll have to wait until we get closer to the date. But, it's a good one!

See you around the blogs!

Guess Where I am Today?

Hi, it's another day on the Virtual Book Tour. I'm at Boomer Chick

We're about mid way through the tour and all is going well. The schedule looks pretty full and I'm still raring to go.

Come follow me around the Internet as I guest from one blog to another.

Tag, I'm It!

Peggy Tibbetts tagged me. So now I’m coming for you.

Here’s the scoop: I write 8 random facts/habits about myself, and then tag 8 people. If I tag you, you have to play or I will pester you for the rest of your life.

1 – I'm addicted to Chocolate. Any kind. Any percent cocoa. The more the better.

2 – I have a swim suit I bought two years ago and still haven't worn it. Why? Because I'm a sissy about getting in the water. I can swim. I just don't want to. But, I'll have to when we go to Hawaii next year.

3 – I joined the U.S. Marine Corps right after high school. Like two weeks after I graduated.

4 – I'm a compulsive obsessive -ist. I can obsess on anything, just give me a topic. If you don't, I'll just make something up and obsess about that.

5 – I was and still am a Friends fanatic. I have all the episodes on DVD. I even watch them.

6 – When I was a kid I dreamed of meeting Donny Osmond. I even painted my bedroom purple in honor of his favorite color.

7 – I'm scared to death of snakes. Heart attack inducing, out of my wits, run like the wind, scared of snakes.

8 – I collect teddy bears. I have hundreds of them. So many that some are packed away because I just don't have the space for them. I plan on donating them to a Teddy Bear Museum (yes, there is such a thing) when I die.

Ok, now it’s my turn. I tag Jamieson, Sandy, Nikki, Linda, Cheryl, Kim, Kathy, and Michael.

Virtual Book Tour - Day 1

Well, we're off and running with my first ever Virtual Book Tour. We're featuring Trust in the Wind, as it's my latest book.

Over at Plug Your Book, you can find an excerpt of Trust in the Wind and ordering information.

You can even see the book trailer.

I guess the way it's supposed to work is each blog host has either an interview of me, a feature article, or they'll post an excerpt from the book. Then, I visit each blog on the day of it's tour stop and answer any questions that may come through on the comments that day.

Easy enough, right?

Good. Should be a piece of cake then.

Oh, wait. I've sworn off sweets. Hmm. Piece of pie? Nope, that won't work either. Well, you're just going to have to trust me. It'll be easy. LOL

Virtual Book Tour Starts June 1st

Exciting news. I'm taking a Virtual Book Tour in June, 2007. This is brand new stuff and I'm going to be blogging about my experience. Come visit me on any or all of my tour stops.

My current schedule is as follows:

June 1 - Plug Your Book!
June 4 - The Wolf Never Sleeps
June 5 - Pauline Jones' All the World's a Page
June 6 - The Dana Files
June 7 - The Book Pedler
June 8 - Women on Writing
June 11 - Boomer Chick
June 12 - The Writer's Life
June 14 - Kim Robinson's The Roux in the Gumbo
June 16 - Author Alley
June 19 - Cheryl Malandrinos' The Adventures of a Wife, Mother, and Aspiring Author
June 20 - Marilyn Meredith
June 21 - Pump Up Your Online Book Promotion
June 25 - Peggy Tibbetts’ From the Styx
June 26 - Christine Norris' The Writer’s Mind
June 27 - Mary Emma
June 29 - Be My Guest!
If you are interested in having your own Virtual Book Tour, you can go to Virtual Book Tours.

Claiming my Blog

I've signed up with a new program called Technorati. I think what they do is help optimize your blog posts on the Internet for easier searching. Anyway something like that.

Technorati Profile

That's a link to my profile.