#SaturdaySpotlight Review of Miracles in Disguise

Good Morning!

Today's spotlight is a lot like the one I did last month by Samantha Fury... a little different but I think you'll enjoy it.

Miracles in Disguise, The Trampled Rose Series  By Michelle Lynn Brown
Narrated by Jessica Carter Buy Book Here

Sweet Story  

This story is about a woman trying to overcome her past. Christina had a rough life because of a stern father and abusive husband. Despite that, she had a passion to help others and be a good teacher. In the end, she was able to grow closer to God and find love again with someone who, not only, was worthy of her through God's eyes, but most importantly, truly loved God himself.

Sound Biblical message  

Even though Christina's ex husband misused and distorted God's word to manipulate her, she somehow, still trusted God and knew he would answer her and get her through. She even had some positive and supportive people , such as her new pastor's wife, to remind her of that when she really needed advise.

Parallels   

The author had many similarities to remind Christina of her past. The new love interest was a church leader, like her husband. His dog had her ex husband's name. Their was even poor Barbara, a teenager and Christina's student, who was harassed and attacked. All of these things were there to link Christina to memories of her negative experiences. I think there were a few too many parallels, but I understand why the author did it.

The Struggles Were Real  
Christina did have real fears that came from real situations. She dealt with them much  like most of us do. She questioned God and blamed him for some things. It is easy to do that when we do not understand what is going on and especially WHY some things happen.

Details  I am a person who likes a bit more description. Not a lot, just enough to get a picture in my head. I'm not sure what Christina or Nathan look like or any of the side characters. A defining detail to help remember them would be nice. I even like a few words about where she lives. Is it brick house? Are there fragrant flowers that line the walkway? Again, not pages and pages of description, just enough to get a picture in my head.

Anti-climactic
There were some parts of the story that I would've loved to have seen developed further. I've discussed them with the author privately because I didn't want to divulge any spoilers for the readers. Another point I will speak about is Barbara who was attacked by her classmate. I would've been interested in Barbara's point of view. Maybe even some of the trial. There were some hints of a rich family and there being some ups and downs that could've hurt her case, but nothing more. I was relieved that she won her case, but it would've been nice to have some indications of how that came to be. 

Smooth Talker
The narrator was Jessica Carter. She did a great job. Her voice is easy to listen to and she does a great job making the characters come to life. I would definitely listen to other books narrated by her.

Overall
I think Michelle Lynn Brown is a good writer. I liked her story line and how sound the biblical message was. I got interested enough to want to know more about these people and their lives. My advise to her would be 'tell me more'. I would give this book three stars out of five, because I wanted more information. But, a five out of five for the positive message and biblical beliefs. I may listen to more of her books in the future.  Learn more about Michelle and her books here

Michelle Lynn Brown is the author of the best-selling Trampled Rose and Reconciled and Redeemed Series. She fell in love with the written word as a teenager, and as a writer, she uses this passion to share with others the joy of having a personal and intimate relationship with Christ."
Website 
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Appreciation
Thank you for your time and interest in this book and my review. I have loved books my whole life and look forward to more opportunities in the future to show my enthusiasm for the written word, especially when it includes God's word.

- Victoria Skyes

 I love a good story. I have been reading and writing pretty much from when I could pick up a pencil. Even when I wasn't writing, I was dreaming up stories 

in my head. I have always loved fiction. I could be anyone or do anything just from opening the pages of a good book. From a young age I knew I wanted to be involved in that world. The one that can help someone's imagination take them someplace new and exciting. 

Now, I'm all grown up with amazing three daughters. I've done some traveling, been married and divorced. I've had both miner and major surgeries.The major surgery has altered my life forever. I've learned the hard way that life is not easy. I let life take over and almost forgot the excitement and fun stories can bring to ones life. 

Because of my faith in Christ and the support of my family and friends, I have the courage to start an adventure of my own. I invite you to join me by listening or reading the clean, uplifting and spiritual stories available to us today. ( I'm hoping to share a story or two of my own, someday soon.) Thank you for your time and hope you can be inspired too.

THANKS Victoria!

Hope you enjoyed today's post friends and that you'll join me each week for Tuesday Treasures, Thursday Thoughts and Saturday Spotlight.

Until next time, take care and God Bless
PamT

#ThursdayThoughts with Terry Palmer

Good Morning Friends,

Last month I shared with you a new author and his work. Terry Palmer returns today to share some thoughts with us....

Thanks Pam, for this interview.  I like how you have an open heart to share what God is doing to further His Kingdom.  Part of that is how each author is listening to your call, taking time to read your word, and follow through with a creative and passionate story.

 

Book Two, ‘Is God R 4 U ?’, Is God Refuge for you?,  follows in that same line of thinking.  My characters are thrown forward into another disaster sequence in which they have to choose – do I follow Jesus and make my stand for Him, or choose much less of a selfish option.  I’m trying to purposely draw the reader into the drama of that choice and the consequences…

 

The times in which we live are full of chaos as one world size disaster after another walk across our experience.  So…  What is the Christian response?  What is your response?  Find out and read it for free along with book one of the series.  Both are free to read on INKITT.com.  Here is my link, https://www.inkitt.com/stories/thriller/129589.

 

Of course, I’m having other fun too.  I have a cute little children’ Santa style book.  Hope to have it ready for the Christmas season.  I go an entirely different direction with – A Night To Remember.  The fun poem is about family love and standing with a family member who is having a hard time, with a creative and passionate response.  As soon as we get a cover design and a marketing plan, you can read it to your kiddies.  Here is the first set of lines.

Twas a month before Christmas and out in the snow,

Santa trained young reindeer, which way to go…

Those silly young things weren’t very deft,

Didn’t know up or down or even right from left.

Santa had patience as he waited with each call,

To see if they would move as directed –

Or maybe not at all…

Rudolph helped those that might stray,

He blinked his red nose, just as bright as day.

Not one knew as the fog closed in,

That Santa’s voice was growing dim…

It’s fun to word on my craft as well as tell a fun short story.  After this one is in the shop, I have a 31 day devotional with a different slant.  Each day comes with a picture, a devotional but the direction is reversed.  These are from the grandkids to the grandparents, making a simple thought and expression of idea come from a child’ perspective and action pattern.  Some of you know that I write a daily devotional on Face Book.  I’m drawing from that wealth of examples plus some new entries.

In the meantime it seems as life makes one slow down.  I had shoulder surgery in July, a mild stroke in August and now have a full plate of therapy sessions, some really tough at home exercises to do.  When does one have the time for a cup of coffee and a steaming hot caramel roll with way too much melted butter?

If one doesn't have time for that, Terry we certainly need to make time! Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us.

Hope you enjoyed the post friends and that you'll stop by each week and check out Tuesday Treasures, Thursday Thoughts and Saturday Spotlight.

Until next time take care and God bless!

PamT

#TuesdayTreasures Guest post by Pamela Jannarone

Good Morning Friends!

Saturday I left Louisiana and drove to visit a friend in Leander then Sunday drove to my home away from home, the Silver Spur Guest Ranch in Bandera! I'll be here until Thursday when I go to Nacogdoches to visit my son then back home on Sunday (1st)

Busy week but don't worry, I'll be keeping up with the blog tour and Rafflecopter giveaway for The Inheritance and my scheduled guests for Thursday Thoughts and Saturday Spotlight are all set up.

Meanwhile, please welcome Pamela Jannarone back to our blog. Earlier this month she shared an interview with Christian Lee the Partner and Publisher at Centum Press. Today Pamela is sharing something else she treasures with us....

Take it away, Pamela!

Confessions of a Writer

It always amazes me to hear the wonderful stories from writers that write for the Confessions’ market.  Many of the comments that I have heard resonate so clearly with my own.  And each story is so fascinating.

Childhood Dreams

At a younger age, I remember reading the confession magazines that my mother used to purchase, just like her mother had.  And one particular story hit home about family relationships love and turmoil and yet at the end of the story an uplifting moral was revealed.  These were true stories written from real people that wanted to share their trials and tribulations, their experiences of humanity from a first point of view, their very own perspective.

I remember reading and saying to myself, I want to write a story for this market one day.  And then life carried on as usual.  As I grew up I experimented life with a passion taking with it the good and the bad.  That dream of writing stayed in the back of mind while I juggled education, different types of jobs and hoping that the true career path would truly open and reveal to me what I was meant to be. 

Turning Dreams into Reality

I will always look back to that day reminiscing and treasure the thought indeed.

They say if you want to realize your dreams then you must follow them and never give up until you reach that very destination realizing your ultimate goal.  It doesn’t matter how big or small that goal is. There is nothing more satisfying than to sit back and say I did it!  The positive feeling remains no matter what happens and it  is something that no one can take away from you.  It was your own creation.

While opportunities exist all around us, it is the ones that we pick and choose and grasp at.  The writing path will not be cut and ready for you.  You have to make that path your very own and stay on it.  Surely there will be other paths that may lead you astray and you may find yourself lost in a maze but if you stick with your true goals and dreams that you have always wanted, reality soon becomes the amazing results of following that dream and working to achive it.

The Writing Journey

The writing journey is a never ending one full of life’s experiences.  The one very special part of choosing a particular market to write for deserves its own space and attention.  I learned so much from writing for the confessions market.  Here are some of the following reasons why I especially liked writing for them and how I gained experience deepening and enhancing my writing skills.

Writing First Person Point of View

Creating characters and allowing their flaws, good traits and bad

Building suspense and plot twists

Enrichening a writing voice from first person point of view perspective

Tightening up stories with a faster pace yet savoring the ultimate theme and moral of the story

Writing Markets and Research

The Confessions’ market is just one of many in the writing market,  yet truly a treasured one giving its history of survival, its ups and downs just like that in true life.  To be able to be a part of that writing journey is truly a treasure.  

To actually realize a childhood dream of writing for them is a dream come true and a reality.  One that I will surely treasure for the rest of my writing days!  Below is a collage of the magazines I sold stories to since 2013. 

Look mom, I did it!  ;) 

Pamela Jannarone Scott is a Freelance writer based in the heart of Georgia.  She is a born and raised Jerseygirl and loves the seashores of the east coast.  She writes flash fiction, short stories, interviews, confessions, and loves family, and wild sunsets! Her blog can be found at http://thewritingvineyard.blogspot.com/

Hope you enjoyed today's post and that you'll drop by each week for Tuesday Treasures, Thursday Thoughts and Saturday Spotlight.

Until next time, take care and God Bless

PamT

#SaturdaySpotlight RaffleCopter giveaway & blog tour for The Inheritance (2nd edition)

Good Morning Friends,

I am SO excited to share with you that the new edition of The Inheritance is available now! I mentioned back in June the book would be coming soon and shared with you the new cover, but today I'd like to tell you about the upcoming blog tour and Rafflecopter Giveaway for The Inheritance.

Beginning Monday (25th) through October 25th you'll have multiple chances to win one of 5 pdf copies of The Inheritance. Details Below:

9/25 Clare Revell https://telscha.blogspot.com/2017/09/the-inheritance-pamela-thibodeaux.html

9/28 Alicia Dean https://aliciadean.com/alicias-blog/

9/30 Krissie Fortune http://kryssiefortune.blogspot.co.uk

10/3 Alina K Field http://alinakfield.com/spotlight-on-the-inheritance-by-pamela-thibodeaux-and-a-giveaway/

10/6 Christina Lorenzen http://christinalorenzen.com/thereisnoplacelikehome/

10/9 Vicki Batman https://vickibatman.blogspot.com/2017/10/handbag-and-book-w-pamela-thibodeaux.html

10/11 Connie Bretes http://www.constancebretes.com/connies-blog

10/13 Diana Rubino http://dianarubinoauthor.blogspot.com/

10/16 Patricia Kiyono https://fourfoxesonehound.wordpress.com/2017/10/16/guest-author-pamela-s-thibodeaux  

AND https://creative-hodgepodge.blogspot.com/2017/10/blog-tour-inheritance-by-pamela-s.html

10/18 Joy Dent https://joygriffindent.wordpress.com/?p=2694

10/20 Paula Mowery http://paulamowery.blogspot.com/

10/23 Kathryn Bain https://kathrynjbain.com/

10/25 Veronica Lynch www.WildWomenAuthorsx2.blogspot.com

After her husband’s death she discovers a future she never expected and a family she never imagined.

Blurb: Widowed at age thirty-nine and suffering from empty nest syndrome, Rebecca Sinclair is overshadowed by grief and loneliness.  Her husband has been deceased for a year, her oldest child has moved to New York in pursuit of an acting career and her youngest child is attending college in France. Having spent over half of her life as a wife and mother, she has no idea what God has in store for her now.  Will an unexpected inheritance in the wine country of New York bring meaning and purpose to her life and give her the courage to love again? 

US Postal worker Raymond Jacobey has been in love with the little widow since he first set eyes on her.  A wanderer searching for the ever-illusive soul mate, Ray has never stayed in one place too long. Raised by self-centered, high-power executives, he’s longed for the idyllic life of residing in a cozy house in a small town with the love of his life. Will he gain the heart of the lovely widow or will he lose her to the wine country of New York?   

Hope you'll join the fun and visit the different blogs and that you'll drop by here, each week for Tuesday Treasures, Thursday Thoughts and Saturday Spotlight!

Until next time take care and God Bless.
PamT

ThursdayThoughts: A New Christian NON-Fiction Ebook store!

Good Morning Friends,

I have a very special guest today talking about why he opened a  Christian Non-Fiction (exclusively) Ebook store so please welcome Russell Sherrard....

Being frustrated with not getting sales for my own books I knew that I could not depend on Facebook and Twitter to promote my books. I realized that I was just "preaching to the choir". Being in other author groups it seemed that other authors were having the same problem.

So I wrote a web site to help sell, not only my own books, but also the books of fellow Christian authors. The name of the website is Christian Non-Fiction eBook Store and it is found at https://goo.gl/6ofBBU

Why Christian? I am a Christian and I write Christian books to strengthen Christians and to reach the lost that I am commanded to do by God.

Why Non-Fiction? I debated long and hard on this one. I could have opened it up to Christian Fiction also. But after being in this business for some years, I have seen some of the "so called" Christian Fiction covers it became obvious to me that covers were made to gain sales by being as close to the worlds standards and not to Christian Standards. While I agree that the content of such books may be good, fine, and insightful and tell a good story the covers take away from the message. To get around that I decided to only post Non-Fiction and not post any Fiction.

Why eBooks? This is the format that I know best and the fastest to get to market. I do have one Paperback but it just takes me too much time to get a book out. So I only post eBooks.

It is my desire, over time, to make this site the biggest, or one of the biggest Christian Non-Fiction eBook Store on the Internet.

I am still making some cosmetic changes to the site but every week I will be adding new books to each of the 11 categories and if necessary add new categories as new books are added. Which brings me to the following statement, If you are a Christian Author, have Non-Fiction books and those books are in the eBook format give me the Name of the book, the Amazon URL, and the Category you want it to appear in and I will add your book to the Store.

Send your request to russellsherrard@reagan.com and I will add your book as soon as possible. In the interest of full disclosure, I am an Amazon Affiliate which means, I attach my affiliate ID to the URL of your book. If your book sells by the user clicking on your book from my site and ultimately buys I get a small advertising fee.

Thanks for your prayers for this effort and I look forward to adding your books and the books of others very soon.

Wow...such a great idea, Russell. I pray you have much success with it and Thank You for putting my devotional, Love is a Rose up there!

Well friends, hope you enjoyed today's post and that you'll join me each week for Tuesday Treasures, Thursday Thoughts and Saturday Spotlight.

Until next time, take care and God bless.

PamT

#TuesdayTreasures The Empath's Survival Guide by Judith Orloff, MD

Good Morning!

A couple of years ago I featured, The Ecstasy of Surrender by Judith Orloff and loved the book so when Nikki Leigh contacted me about Dr. Oloff's current title, I jumped at the chance to read, review and share it with you.

The Empath's Survival Guide: Life Strategies for Sensitive People
By Dr Judith Orloff

What is the difference between having empathy and being an empath? “Having empathy means our heart goes out to another person in joy or pain,” says Dr. Judith Orloff. “But for empaths it goes much further. We actually feel others’ emotions, energy, and physical symptoms in our own bodies, without the usual defenses that most people have.” The Empath’s Survival Guide is an invaluable resource for empaths and anyone who wants to nurture their empathy and develop coping skills in our high-stimulus world—while fully embracing their gifts of intuition, compassion, creativity, and spiritual connection.

This practical, empowering, and loving book was created to support empaths through their unique challenges and help loved ones better understand the empath’s needs and gifts. Dr. Orloff offers crucial practices, including:

• Exercises to help you identify your empath type and where you are on the empathy spectrum
• Tools for protecting yourself from sensory overload, exhaustion, addictions, and compassion fatigue while replenishing your vital energy
• Simple, effective strategies to stop absorbing stress and physical symptoms from others and protect yourself from narcissists and other energy vampires
• How to find the right work that feeds you
• How to navigate intimate relationships without feeling overwhelmed
• Guidance for parenting and raising empathic children
• Awakening the empath’s gift of intuition and deepening your spiritual connection to all living beings

For any sensitive person who’s been told to “grow a thick skin,” here is a lifelong guide for staying fully open while building resilience, exploring your gifts of depth and compassion, and feeling welcome and valued by a world that desperately needs what you have to offer.

Watch the book video HERE.

About Judith Orloff, MD

Judith Orloff, MD is author of The Empath's Survival Guide: Life Strategies for Sensitive People. Dr. Orloff is a psychiatrist, an empath, and is on the UCLA Psychiatric Clinical Faculty. She synthesizes the pearls of traditional medicine with cutting edge knowledge of intuition, energy, and spirituality. Dr. Orloff also specializes in treating empaths and highly sensitive people in her private practice. Dr. Orloff’s work has been featured on The Today Show, CNN, the Oprah Magazine and USA Today. She is a New York Times best-selling author of Emotional Freedom. To learn more about Dr. Orloff's free empath support newsletter as well as her books and workshop schedule, visit her www.drjudithorloff.com

She has a Facebook Empath Support Community (over 8K empaths) that people can join here  https://www.facebook.com/groups/929510143757438/

My Official Review:

We all know people who are "sensitive." They feel things other people are experiencing. They exhibit mood swings when the moon is full, or new. They get depressed when the world is in chaos. This may even be you! If so, you owe it to yourself and/or them to read this book! Empaths have gotten a bad rap, but Dr. Orloff does an excellent job of describing the signs of being one and offers ways to manage symptoms and reactions. I truly enjoyed this book and will be rereading The Ecstasy of Surrender in the near future.

Hope you enjoyed the post and that you'll join me each week for Tuesday Treasures, Thursday Thoughts and Saturday Spotlight.

Until next time, take care and God bless.
PamT

#SaturdaySpotlight is on Tempered Joy

Hi There!

I'm a bit late posting today, but my scheduled guest could not make it so I'm improvising.

Author friends, have you ever read your own book? If so, what were your thoughts?

Last night I pulled out a copy of Tempered Joy (book 4 in my Tempered series) and said, what the heck, laid down and started reading.

As an editor I saw a few things that could be fixed...mostly punctuation or removing an extraneous word or two from a sentence, but nothing that threw me out of the story.

You'd think I wouldn't be moved by my own words, but, surprisingly enough, I was!

If I had to review it, I'd give Tempered Joy 4 stars .... and this is what I'd say...

This story lived up to its name as I found myself in tears nearly as much as I laughed out loud at the antics of the characters.

For those of you who are new to visiting my blog here is the blurb and an excerpt for you....

Blurb: All around rodeo cowboy and heir to the Rockin’ H Ranch, Ace Harris is determined not to fall in love.  He’s only loved one woman in his life, his mother, and no one can even come close to filling her boots. Lexie Morgan thinks rodeo cowboys have rocks for brains and a death wish for a soul.  A broken childhood and the death of her father and best friend leave her doubting and questioning God (despite her years of religious upbringing) and afraid of love. Can two young people who clash from the onset learn to trust in the healing power of God and find love and happiness amidst tragedy and grief?  

Excerpt: Her eyes narrowed when he took a step closer. “Ace,” she warned and wielded the brush like a lethal weapon.

Raising his hands where she could see them, he watched her try to brush some semblance of order to the thick mass of unruly auburn hair. The simple chore made him want to sink both fists in the silken locks and gave him a whole new insight to the word erotic.

Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes sparkled vivid green and spewed wrath. She glared at him as though the tangled tresses were his fault alone. Her chest quivered with each breath she took. He took another step closer and could feel her tremble. Locking his gaze with hers in the mirror, he reached around her and picked up a bandanna off the dresser. He ran it through his fingers in what could have been a caress then slid the cloth beneath her hair and left it trailing over her shoulders.

With hands that shook, Lexie pulled the ends together and tied her hair back into a ponytail. Those bright gray eyes had gone soft and warm, like liquid metal. Mouth dry as dust, she swallowed hard.

Purchase Links:

Kindle http://amzn.to/1uto0eH

Amazon Print: http://amzn.to/1xwIx12

Nook http://bit.ly/1mF4Lhp

B&N Print: http://bit.ly/1R62HtU

Smashwords http://bit.ly/14KH0bX

Hope you enjoyed today's spotlight and that you'll drop by each week for Tuesday Treasures, Thursday Thoughts and Saturday Spotlight!

Until next time take care and God bless.

PamT

#ThursdayThoughts guest post by Mike Befeler

Good Morning!

Today's guest is new to me and our blog so please give Mike Befeler a great big southern WELCOME!

Mike is past-president of the Rocky Mountain Chapter of Mystery Writers of America. He holds a Master’s degree from UCLA and a Bachelor’s degree from Stanford. He grew up in Honolulu, Hawaii, and now lives in Lakewood, California with his wife, Wendy.

Find out more about Mike by visiting the 'About' page on his website and connecting with him at the following locations:

https://www.facebook.com/mike.befeler

https://twitter.com/mikebefeler

http://mikebefeler.blogspot.com   

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1105937.Mike_Befeler  

Now let's see what Mike has to share with us today....

Geezer-lit Mysteries—The What and the Why

I have a confession to make. I write geezer-lit mysteries. Not all my mysteries are geezer-lit since I also have two paranormal mysteries, a theater mystery, a historical mystery, a sports mystery and a thriller, but my six book series and my latest book are geezer-lit mysteries. I didn’t come up with the tag line of geezer-lit mysteries. I owe this to my friend, Christine Goff, who writes bird watching mysteries and thrillers. She was kind enough to give me a blurb for my first published book, Retirement Homes Are Murder: “a wonderful debut novel—a fitting entry in the burgeoning field of geezer-lit.” I ran with it.

So what are geezer-lit mysteries? Simple answer: mysteries that feature older characters. The protagonist in my six book, Paul Jacobson Geezer-lit Mystery Series, is in his mid-eighties and has short-term memory loss. Although he can’t remember the day before, he becomes an amateur sleuth and even has a romance with a young chick in her seventies.

My most recent book, Death of a Scam Artist, features a whole new cast of characters. Although the protagonist is in his early forties, the mystery takes place in a retirement community and most of the characters are eighty plus. Here’s a preview: In Death of a Scam Artist, a financial hatchet man who dislikes old people, accepts the job of turning around a failing retirement home and undergoes a life-transforming experience in the world of geezers and geezerettes. He must deal with a suspicious death, a scam, a hit man, an unexpected romance and retired magician Jerry Rhine and his five whacky sidekicks known as the Jerry-atrics. He faces the most important decision of his life when he uncovers the secret behind an unusual murder.

How interesting, Mike! Sounds like a great genre. Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us today.

Friends, you can pick up a copy of Mike's book at Amazon (Kindle) and B&N.

Hope you enjoyed today's post and that you'll drop by each week for Tuesday Treasures, Thursday Thoughts and Saturday Spotlight.

Until next time take care and God bless.

PamT

#TuesdayTreasures Freedom

Good Morning Friends,

My scheduled guest couldn't be here so I'm winging it today.

Yesterday marked the 16th anniversary of 9/11 and I'm sure you've seen posts all over encouraging us to never forget and to honor those lives lost in the attacks.

All good advice.

However, I'm going to encourage you to remember the outpouring of love and the way most of our country turned back to God. The same kind of generosity of spirit that has poured out in the last few weeks due to hurricanes and fires and earthquakes.

As a spiritual seeker, I am continually amazed at the books and songs and reminders which assure us As we THINK, we ARE.

If we keep focusing on the bad, we'll perpetuate more and more bad.

However if we focus on the inherent good in mankind, the greatness of our country, the beauty of our planet, the abundance of our universe, the absolute love and benevolence of God....you get my drift... we will see more and more evidence of those things in our lives (goodness, greatness, beauty, abundance, benevolence).

What's all this have to do with freedom, you ask.

Because in this one thing, we have more freedom and more power than we imagine: the freedom to choose what we think about!

So remember and honor, say a prayer, then turn your focus to what's * true *honest *pure *lovely *of good report *virtuous and *praise worthy knowing this is what will help heal America.

Something to think about!
"Inspirational with an Edge!" ™

Hope you enjoyed today's post and that you'll join me each week for Tuesday Treasures, Thursday Thoughts and Saturday Spotlight.

Until next time, take care and God bless!
PamT

*Philippians 4:8

#SaturdaySpotlight is on Gail G. Nordskog & Hearts of Purpose!

Good Morning!

The weather is beautiful here in SWLA and SUCH a welcome change from the rain of a couple of weeks ago. In fact, the rain throughout most of the summer.

Today's guest is new to me and our blog and brought to us by PrimeStar Publicity.

Gail Grace Nordskog has established the “Gail Grace Nordskog Collection” to embolden readers to live their lives with a “heart of purpose” for God’s glory.

Gail has been involved in media for over two decades. She presently produces and hosts a program called Hearts of Purpose, that can be seen on her website, heartsofpurpose.com.

Gail and Jerry Nordskog live in Ventura, California, where they have raised six children, four of whom were adopted from China.

Nice to meet you, Gail, now tell us a little more about Hearts of Purpose Volume 1: The Call....

You have a call on your life. My desire is to encourage you to live life in fulfillment of that call. Following the example of Joan of Arc, you can be inspired to live out your purpose in first hearing from God and then taking your stand in following Him. Just as Joan of Arc could step forth in full confidence under the banner of her calling, so we too are under God’s banner as we step out to fulfill our purpose.

Hearts of Purpose brings you ten real-life stories about ten ordinary women doing extraordinary things for the Glory of God. As you read of how God called these women to service, you will be motivated to explore His call in your own life. Let this reading experience be an invitation for you to take a step closer to fulfilling your God given calling in Christ Jesus.

Here is the Introduction:

If you have surrendered your life to Jesus as your Lord and Savior, then you have a call on your life.

My desire is to encourage women to live life in fulfillment of that call.  The older I become the more I realize how precious each day is, and I know we can never get that day back.  Do not squander your days, dear sisters!

Following the example of Joan of Arc, who sought God on her knees, received a directive from Him, and then stood and followed His leading, you too can be inspired and equipped to live out your Hearts of Purpose, “The Call,” is guided by Song of Solomon 2:4, “His banner over me is love.” Just as Joan of Arc’s calling, so we too have the banner of God’s love over our lives.

Hearts of Purpose brings you ten real-life stories about ten ordinary women doing extraordinary things for the Glory of God. As you read of how God called these women to service, and how they stepped out of their comfort zones to respond to that call, you will be motivated to explore His call in your own life.

We invite you to use the discussion questions at the end of each chapter to stimulate thought and growth in your private reading, or in small-group discussions. Let this reading experience be an invitation for you to take a step your God-given calling in Christ Jesus.

— Gail Grace Nordskog

Wow...sounds like a great book! Thank you for sharing with us. Hearts of Purpose can be purchased at Amazon, Friends!

Hope you enjoyed today's spotlight and that you'll join us each week for Tuesday Treasures, Thursday Thoughts and Saturday Spotlight!

Until next time, take care and God Bless.
PamT

#ThursdayThoughts Guest Post by Janice Cantore

Good Morning!

A cool front came through for us so hopefully it'll keep Irma away, but PLEASE join me in praying for God's protection, strength and comfort, for those already affected by her and those in her path. THANKS!

Today's guest is brand new to me and brought to us by Tyndale Publishing.

Janice Cantore is a retired Long Beach police officer who now writes suspense novels to keep readers engrossed and leave them inspired. Her twenty-two years of experience on the force lend authenticity to her stories. Crisis Shot is the first title in her Line of Duty series. 

Janice also authored the Cold Case Justice series—Drawing Fire, Burning Proof, and Catching Heat—the Pacific Coast Justice series—Accused, Abducted, and Avenged—and the Brinna Caruso novels, Critical Pursuit and Visible Threat. She also writes a blog about police work. 

Find out more about Janice by visiting her website.

Now lets see what thoughts Janice has to share with us....

Honor the Fallen

There is no bright side to the loss of a fellow officer in the line of duty. It’s more than losing a coworker; it’s like losing a family member, and it’s also a reminder of how dangerous police work can be. The saying “There but by the grace of God go I” applies.

The black mourning band worn across the badge is one way we honor a fallen brother or sister officer. It’s a small gesture, but it is a universal sign of respect and remembrance. During my tenure with the Long Beach Police Department, we wore the band for two of our own: one lost in a car accident, Karl Simons, and a second to an ambush, Daryle Black.

That law enforcement as a profession is dangerous is drilled into you very early in training. We studied a lot of in the line of duty deaths to see if there were mistakes made and to learn how to avoid those mistakes. But an officer can do everything right and, like Daryle Black, die in an ambush. Officers are highly visible; on patrol we want to be seen, so if someone is bent on doing us harm, they can find us.

For the past ten years, the average for line of duty deaths has been around 157 per year. Of course, not every line of duty death is a homicide; officers die from heart attacks, car crashes, etc. But last year, a particularly hard year for police, 145 died in the line of duty and 80 of those were homicides (63 shootings). A lot of officers were killed in very targeted attacks.

Whenever an officer dies and black elastic comes out, there is always the wish that something more could be done to honor him or her. A couple of women I used to work with took that wish to heart and came up with an idea. They expanded on the idea of generic black elastic bands, and HonorBands was born.

After a local officer’s murder, Julia Walling and Laura Tartaglione worked to find a way to give back and honor the fallen. So they decided to personalize the mourning band. Says Julia, “It took us months of trial and error but we finally came up with the first version of the bands. We sewed the bands and used a hand iron in my kitchen to fuse the numbers to the bands.”

They personalize elastic bands with the officer’s ID or badge number, and the black bands are donated to the officer’s department. It’s no longer generic; it’s unique. Fortunately and unfortunately, there was quite a demand and their concept took off and they found themselves with a lot of orders to fill. “We now have a work space, use a commercial heat press, new fusing material, and high school volunteers.”

It seems like a small thing, but it’s a lasting memento for an officer’s department, honoring their coworker’s ultimate sacrifice.  

Thank you so much for your post, Janice! My (deceased) husband served as a Deputy Sheriff and Police Officer for our town's Department. Although he did not die in the line of duty, I can see where these honor bands and this website can bring recognition and comfort to those who love and mourn officers who have.

Now tell us a little about your book, Crisis Shot can be found at Amazon and Tyndale.

Tess O’Rourke dreams of becoming the first female chief of police in Long Beach, California. As commander of the East Division, she is well on her way . . . until the night she responds to an officer-needs-assistance call and fatally shoots an unarmed teenager. Despite being cleared of wrongdoing by a grand jury, Tess is so hounded by the public that she takes a job in Oregon to escape the bad press.

Winning over the residents of Rogue’s Hollow might be more difficult than adjusting to her new role as police chief in the small, backwater town. Especially when her closest friend, the pastor’s wife, goes missing and the woman’s cousin is found shot. Tess finds an ally in sheriff’s deputy Steve Logan, but as they track down Rogue’s Hollow’s first murderer, she worries that she’s breaking one of her rules and getting too close to him.

Sounds like a winner, Janice! Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us.

Hope you enjoyed the post, friends and that you'll drop by each week for Tuesday Treasures, Thursday Thoughts and Saturday Spotlight.

Until next time, take care and God Bless.

PamT

#TuesdayTreasures Guest post & interview by Pamela Jannarone

Good Morning!

Today's guest is new to me and our blog so please give her a warm welcome....

Pamela Jannarone Scott is a Freelance writer based in the heart of Georgia.  She is a born and raised Jersey girl and loves the seashores of the east coast.

She writes flash fiction, short stories, interviews, confessions, and loves family, and wild sunsets!

Her blog can be found at http://thewritingvineyard.blogspot.com/

Pamela is bringing us an interview with Christian Lee, Partner and Publisher at Centum Press. Take it away, Pamela....

Writing Flash Fiction Between Novels - One Hundred Voices Volume Three Centum Press Anthology.  Discount Code Offer: 100V3-79  bit.ly/100VoicesV3

Flash Fiction Between Novels

Trying to sell your book?  Did you know that you can increase your chances of sales by writing Flash Fiction and giving your readers a chance to get to know your style and writing voice? Christian Lee, Founder and Publisher at Centum Press offers a bit of advice for writers and readers!

Welcome Christian Lee, Executive Chairman, Allegiant Publishing Group, Inc.

Pamela:  Congratulations on the third anthology One Hundred Voices Volume Three with Centum Press being published and released!

Christian Lee:  Thank you! We're really happy to have the book published and available for sale on Amazon.

Pamela:  Can you elaborate on the inception of having an anthology that includes 100 authors from around the globe and the structure of the royalty program that is included for writing Flash Fiction?

Christian Lee:  I actually had the idea before I joined Marc Estes to work on Snow Leopard Publishing, which is Allegiant Publishing Group's original imprint. I was working as a marketing manager at another publishing company at the time and realized that in many cases the marketing efforts of an author are the most effective. I knew, however, that a single author could only do so much, so I wondered to myself if there was a way to scale the efforts of a single author. That's when I came up with the idea of publishing a single book that was written by one hundred authors. It wasn't until Marc and I partnered that I really began working through implementing my idea and fine tuning the publishing model, which is honestly still a work in progress.

As far as the royalty program, I've always thought that any author deserves compensation for his or her work regardless of how much effort he or she puts into promoting his or her stories. At the same time, however, I have always thought that t would be nice if authors who put in extra effort reaped greater rewards.

Pamela:  One Hundred Voices Volume One and Two have five star ratings on Amazon.com.   The uniques blend of 100 voices from one hundred authors gives great appeal in the literary world.  Can these two volumes be purchased at the Centum Press website?  Does it still include a Discount Code?

Christian Lee:  All three volumes in the One Hundred Voices series can be purchased through our website, centumpublishing.com. All three volumes can also be purchased from Amazon.com. Copies of Volumes One and Two are currently discounted through our site, and if you get an additional discount code from one of our authors, you can save even more. Check our Twitter feed for codes. We've re-tweeted a lot of them. Volume Three isn't discounted through our site, but you can still save if you get a discount code.

Pamela:  With the third volume of One Hundred Voices in the Centum Press anthology being released and published, will there be a signature collection available in the future where all three volumes can be purchased together at the website?

Christian Lee: I've definitely thought about publishing a "mega book" with all three volumes compiled within it. I'm not sure if we will go that route or not. It would be really cool to publish, but I think it could turn into a logistical nightmare. :)

Pamela:  Are you still accepting submissions for One Hundred Volume Four and when is the deadline?

Christian Lee:  We need a few hundred more submissions for Volume Four! It takes quite a lot of submissions for us to find the one hundred or so that we want to publish, so we'll be accepting submissions for several months.

Pamela:  Thank you so much for being in the spotlight and again Congratulations on a wonderful new publishing experience bringing new and experiended authors together.  If there is one piece of advise that you would like to offer to writers and readers, what would that be?

Christian Lee:  You're very welcome! I'd recommend that authors try to write shorter pieces in between their books. I think that short fiction can be a great way for readers to be introduced to new authors without having to commit to reading an entire book. I know for me personally, it can take a few months to read a full book, so I rarely pick one up if I don't already know something about the author. For instance, I have lots of great business books unread on my shelf, but I'm reading Unlimited Power by Tony Robbins because I've watched dozens of hours of his speeches, interviews, and seminars. I think if authors had more short form fiction available, more readers would be willing to make the commitment to give their books a try.

P.S.  Save an exclusive price when ordering One Hundred Voices  Volume Three Centum Press Anthology.  Discount Code: 100V3-79   Go to: bit.ly/100VoicesV3

Wow...thanks Pamela and Christian! Having a chance to get our work published is always something to treasure.

Hope you enjoyed today's post friends and that you'll join me each week for Tuesday Treasures, Thursday Thoughts and Saturday Spotlight.

Until next time, take care and God bless.
PamT