God is doing amazing things in my life with regard to my writing and speaking. Over the summer I completed a Writer’s Digest course where I submitted 35,000 words from my latest manuscript for critique.
The biggest lesson I learned was that I need to be more authentic in my writing. I heard it from so many people – most importantly GOD – that I’m changing my manuscript a bit. No, I’m changing it a lot!
Rather than skim over some of the challenges I’ve faced in my life story, I’m sharing from my heart and telling more of the journey to wholeness and healing.
It’s scary. I’m afraid. But I’m working it through.
The other cool things happening on the writing and speaking front involve a writing conference I’m attending this month and an intensive speaking class and one day workshop I’ll participate in next month.
Here are the details of the one day workshop open to members and nonmembers who want to improve their craft:
October 9, 2010: One Power-packed Day, 2 Incredible Choices!
Both sessions run from 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM
BILL BUTTERWORTH – Finding Your Speaking Voice (www.BillButterworth.com)
In this one day event, Bill will cover Putting Together a Successful Presentation, Humor, Storytelling, and How To Be More Persuasive in Your Speaking. The intent is to help you take your speaking to the next level.
Bill Butterworth’s extraordinary ability to blend humor, story-telling, wisdom and practicality has made him one of the most sought after speakers in venues throughout North America. Through his wit, warmth, insight, and realism, he brings help and hope to his audiences everywhere. Because of his remarkable abilities, Bill was awarded The Hal Holbrook Award by the International Platform Association, whose past and present members include Mark Twain, Theodore Roosevelt, Bob Hope, and Elizabeth Dole. They consider him one of the select few to be named a Top Rated Speaker.
In the writing world, Bill’s latest contribution is a series of business books with the overall title On The Fly. The first two books are called On The Fly Guide to Balancing Work and Life and On The Fly Guide to Building Successful Teams. They are being published by WaterBrook Press, a division of Random House. Besides the On The Fly series, Bill has written over a dozen books including The Promise of the Second Wind and When Life Doesn’t Turn Out Like You Planned.
REBECA SEITZ – The Publicity Process & Powerful Strategies http://www.glassroadpr.com/about/seitz.php
Part 1: Wanted: First Time Published Writers Who Have No Idea What To Do Next. What does it mean to publicize a book? How does a literary publicist let readers know your book is coming? What can you do to join in the process? Which things should you do and which will your publisher accomplish? For those who are just beginning their trek into the world of literary publicity, come have your questions answered and learn the process that most books follow from acquired manuscript to publicized book.
Part 2: Powerful Publicity: Building Book Sales. Do you have two or more books just sitting on bookstore shelves? Perhaps you’ve wrestled with the disappointment of not hitting the best-seller list right out of the gate and yet you’re certain this is what God created you to do—write. Agents and publishers have warned you if your sales don’t increase, you’ll be hard-pressed to continue finding book contracts. What can you do to help increase sales of your books? Publicity!
Rebeca Seitz, President of Glass Road Public Relations and author of five novels, has assisted a wide variety of authors from debut novelists to New York Times best-sellers. She’ll share strategies that you can employ to raise awareness for your books among consumers and get those sales numbers climbing. Also, if you’ve tried publicity tactics in the past but experienced lackluster results, be sure to bring your stories to this workshop! Rebeca will help you determine what didn’t work and why so that you can begin practicing effective, powerful publicity.
NCWA Member Rate – $115 – Non-Member Rate $135 – includes lunch and snacks
Location: Northshore Baptist Church, Bothell WA
http://nwchristianwriters.org/events.html
I hope you feel God’s touch on your life today.
God Bless Your Heart
Gigi
DECEIT is a thriller novel that lives up to Brandilyn Collins Seatbelt Suspense™ trademark. I found myself holding on to my chair waiting for the next scene to steer me in a different direction.
Joanne Weeks is in for the ride of her life as she hunts for the truth about Baxter Jackson. Did this “man about town” kill both of his wives? Will he kill her too?
Jump in and buckle up for a must read thriller. I couldn’t put it down. And I left the light on at our cabin, just for good measure.
This was the first of Brandilyn’s novels that I’ve read. After I finished it I fired up my Kindle and ordered a few more titles. Brandilyn does an excellent job in this page turner. I had to remind myself to breathe a few times.
Joanne Weeks is a skilled Skip Tracer – someone whose job is to hunt down people who try to skip town. She’s good. I wanted her to find Melissa so together they would solve the mystery. But the book takes you for a ride filled with twists and turns that can sometimes make you dizzy.
I really wanted to jump into the book and slap Baxter Jackson for his creepy arrogance. Linda needed someone to help her stand up for herself. Melissa really had me fooled.
Brandilyn did an excellent job of filling in Melissa’s backstory. It’s hard to do but done well in this novel. It kept me turning the pages to learn more.
By the end of the book I had to go out and buy some Jelly Belly candy (read the book and you’ll know why). Then I had to take a breather.
I’ll definitely recommend this one to my neighborhood book club. Although I think afterwards we’ll see more porch lights left on in our cul-de-sac. I’ll find myself watching for hooded men the next time it rains…which for me living in Seattle will likely be tomorrow.
ISBN 978-0-310-32879-7 DECEIT can be purchased at http://www.amazon.com/Deceit-Novel-Brandilyn-Collins/dp/0310276446/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1278998574&sr=8-2
I hope you’ll post your own comments so I can pass them on to Brandilyn.
Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full. John 16:24
What are you asking of God? Are you asking it in Jesus name?
I know thousands of us are asking God for a miracle healing for Cashy Michael Hyde who is in SLC Children’s Hospital for treatment of a brain tumor. This little guy isn’t even two years old yet. The fan page on Facebook is growing daily and the fervent prayers are written there by people who know him well and people who are only there because God put it on their heart to pray.
I ask, in Jesus name, for healing for Cashy and for peace for his entire family. I ask in Jesus name because it is the name above all names. It is the name that will be spoken when every knee bows and every tongue confesses that He is Lord. I ask in Jesus name because there is no name more powerful.
My prayer for you, my blog friend, is that you will pray in His powerful name for the issues in your life today.
I hope you will seek Him daily, moment by moment, for all of your needs. Not just when a crisis arises.
Don’t make him a vending machine God that you only come to when you have a dire need and you plug in a prayer or two and wait for whatever falls.
He created you for relationship. He loves you with an everlasting love. He knows the number of hairs on your head. All the days of your life were written by Him before one of them came to be. He tells us all of this in the Bible.
You were created to do a mighty work for the Kingdom of God right here and right now.
He doesn’t want you to sit on the sidelines and watch. He’s asking you to put on the full armor of God and get in the game.
As you seek Him for everything and pray without ceasing, soon you’ll experience His grace and there will be an outward manifestation of His Power in your life.
I weep for you today. I’m not sure why, but the tears flow as I pray and ask for God’s touch in your life. I give my tears to the one who collects them. I give them to the one who will one day wipe away every tear. I give them to Jesus.
I hope you will email me or post a comment if you need me to join you in prayer for anything going on in your life today.
God Bless your heart in Jesus mighty and powerful name.
Gigi
https://gigimurfitt.com/
The theme for this blog post is taken from the May 26 entry in God Calling by AJ Russell.
Today, Wednesday, May 26, 2010 I send extra prayers out to wish my niece Meghan Goodheart a very Happy Birthday.
Day 1 of my 2010 writing retreat to Montana was successful. I submitted an article and wrote a couple blogs. I worked on a few pages of my manuscript. I’m excited to spend the next ten days focusing on my writing – Hope in Hard Times – Building a Strong Foundation of Hope.
Most of my writing today was done in the car traveling to Missoula.
I’ll journal through this season of writing. I want to finish this manuscript so I can move forward and get it published. I have a book contract to custom publish it with WinePress. I’ve made major changes to the original manuscript so it has taken me a little while to get it the way I want.
My prayer for this book is that it will touch lives of people with story to help build their foundation of hope. We learn from other’s stories and I’m sharing many that helped make my foundation solid.
I recently wrote about my dad’s battle with cancer three different times in his young life. But he never lost hope in Jesus. I want that kind of faith.
We’ll see you tomorrow as I share more about this writing journey.
There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear: because fear has torment. 1 John 4:18
God has perfect love to give. And it is free.
The creator of all wants to love me perfectly. I delight in that love. There is joy and peace in that love.
It is a love that is consistent – the same yesterday, today and forever.
With a word God spoke creation into being. He has spoken love over me and will call out to the things I need in my life – peace, joy, forgiveness, provision.
He is in everything around me. I rejoice and I share everything with Him. Like the treasures my boys found on the beach and brought to me in their tiny hands. A gift of simple love to their mom.
So I take the treasures of my life and bring them to God as a gift. God gave me my boys and now I give them back to Him as the treasures they have become.
And I get to share the joy with Jesus because after all, they are His kids in the first place. They are simply His gift to me and I treasure the fact He shared them with me.
Bless you today. I pray you will share everything with Him. Your joys, your pains, your sadness, your grief, your excitement are all gifts to Him.
He looks your way today and says “Share it with Me.”
God Bless Your Heart
Gigi
The idea for this blog came from the God Calling devotional by AJ Russell and published by Barbour Publishing
There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear: because fear has torment. 1 John 4:18
God has perfect love to give.
And it is free.
The creator of all wants to love me perfectly.
I delight in that love.
There is joy and peace in that love.
It is a love that is consistent – the same yesterday, today and forever.
With a word God spoke creation into being.
He has spoken love over me and will call out to the things I need in my life – peace, joy, forgiveness, provision.
He is in everything around me.
I rejoice and I share everything with Him.
Like the treasures my boys found on the beach and brought to me in their tiny hands. A gift of simple love to their mom.
So I take the treasures of my life and bring them to God as a gift.
God gave me my boys and now I give them back to Him as the treasures they have become.
And I get to share the joy with Jesus because after all, they are His kids in the first place.
They are simply His gift to me and I treasure the fact He shared them with me.
Bless you today.
I pray you will share everything with Him.
Your joys, your pains, your sadness, your grief, your excitement are all gifts to Him.
He looks your way today and says “Share it with Me.”
God Bless Your Heart
Gigi
https://gigimurfitt.com/
The idea for this blog came from the God Calling devotional by AJ Russell and published by Barbour Publishing
Today I joined FaithWriters at the recommendation of Karen Kingsbury. I hope it will be a great place to place my writing and learn from other Christian writers.
You have put gladness in my heart, more than in the season that their grain and wine increased. Psalm 4:7
A glad heart comes not when I’ve got all my ducks in a row. Even if one duck wanders away, my heart can remain at peace. Not because of my circumstances but because of my God.
I have been in the middle of some trials but the joy in my heart remains. Because the sunshine in my life comes from knowing I am a beloved child of the most High God. With that knowledge I can face even the darkest moments.
Seattle is lush with new buds on trees, colorful rhododendrons in full bloom, and the blue sky that shines with the sun after the rain clouds move on.
Yes, it rains. But because of the rain I get to enjoy the view of the lush green trees beyond my deck as I listen to the birds sing their morning song.
I love spring because new hope blossoms. I can live with springtime in my heart because I live in the sunshine of God’s love.
God Bless Your Heart,
Gigi
https://gigimurfitt.com/
The idea for this blog post came from the April 30 devotional in the God Calling book edited by AJ Russell.
Now that my first book is in print, I’d love your feedback. Please use this blog post to share your thoughts on the book. I am excited to hear from you.
If you have not purchased a copy of the book yet I hope you will order one from my publisher at www.edmbookstore.com where they are currently being sold for $6.95 each. If you live locally I also have a stock of them. Perhaps we could meet for tea and discuss the book!
Please submit your comments below. I will monitor and respond as often as possible. Thanks!
God Calling - One of the Most Beloved Devotionals Ever Published
I felt compelled to journal my way through a great devotional book titled “God Calling” by A.J. Russell. I started on January 1, 2010 sharing my morning devotional journal writing on my blog at www.gigimurfitt.blogspot.com
If for some reason you are not able to access my blog web address, please use the contact form on my website and let me know if you’d like me to email it to you instead.
This amazing book titled “God Calling” is known as one of the most beloved devotional books ever published. It was written in 1932 by two woman living in England.They were going through a difficult time and determined to sit quietly before the Lord each day to see if He would speak to them. Boy did he! They wrote down their prayer encounters and it was published into a 365 day devotional by A.J. Russell and Barbour Publishing.
If you are interested in purchasing the book I found it in several formats on Amazon.com or at www.Christianbook.com where the beautiful golden faux leather deluxe version I’m using is on sale for $9.99