#WednesdayWordswithFriends guest DiAnn Mills

Good Morning and Welcome,

If you haven't noticed the Thankful for Our Readers giveaway in the sidebar, let me take a moment to direct your attention to it. I've joined up with a bunch of other authors to show our gratitude to our readers and to give away a $100 Amazon gift card and over 40 books!

Also, today is the last day for the Rafflecopter giveaway for 3 gift cards.

Enter both contests today by clicking on the graphic.

Now on with Wednesday Words with Friends.....

Today's guest is no stranger to our blog. She has shared Treasures and Thoughts and been in our Spotlight before so with out much further ado, I'll hand the blog over to DiAnn Mills.....

10 Life Lessons I Learned from Novel Writing

I’ve been writing novels for over two decades, and I’m constantly adding to my arsenal of craft, marketing and promotion, social media, branding, and living skills.

This post shares what I’ve learned over the years with a bonus message.

1.  Trusting God is essential to a joy-filled life
Without God, we have nothing to anchor our personal, mental, spiritual, and professional life. We tend to gravitate to other means of satisfying the God-hole instead of allowing Him to take His proper place.

2.  Strive to be the best and do it for God
We have instructions in Scripture - Colossians - to do everything as though working for the Lord. That says it all.

3.  Life is filled with edits and rewrites
We make mistakes and face the consequences. The goal is to learn from them. We can’t rewrite the past, but we can rewrite the choices we make in the future.

4.  Choose to love the unloveable
We’ve all met people who infuriated us by their actions or what they believe as contrary to our ethics and morals. Love unconditionally those who despise or disagree with us. Choosing to love does not mean we accept their behavior, but we will do all we can to help them have quality of life.

5.  Change is essential to character growth
A refusal to look at new technology, ideas, people skills, spiritual thoughts, relationships, etc is a stubborn approach to life. When we explore and change our attitudes for the betterment of a Christian worldview, we experience character growth.

6.  Education is a life-long pursuit 
Our education began the moment we entered the world. We used sensory perception to view and evaluate the world long before we entered school. The learning process is a 24 hour endeavor that occurs when we are asleep or awake. Our minds need stimulation to live and process the world around us. We choose to continue our education until we breathe our last. Read. Listen. Pray.

7.  Choose to be informed and know what is going on in the world
We are not ostriches. Keeping our head in the ground to avoid what is happening in our communities, state, city, and world doesn’t make tragedies or inappropriate events go away. We live in this world, and whether we have a writing career or something else, we have a responsibility to contribute to the affairs of our earth.

8.  Mentor those who desperately need our expertise
Pay it forward is a way for us to take what we’ve learned or a kindness and pass it on to someone else. It’s in the giving, we are blessed. The recipient is fortunate and can progress easier in his/her life. A cool swap!

9.  Understand our purpose in life is not to please everyone
Sometimes it takes us years to understand not everyone likes us or ever will. Whenever we take a stand for right, others will oppose, even despise us. God has purposed us to various tasks, and when we follow Him, we will create opposition.

10.  Be thankful for friendships that ask for nothing in return
We all have sister-friends and brother-friends who aren’t manipulative or demand something in return for their relationship with us. I treasure these people and enjoy giving my best to our times together. These special people are a buffer when others can be challenging.

11.  Bonus - We have a glorious future ahead of us in eternity.
For those who haven’t given their life to Christ. Don’t hesitate to embrace a future with Him.

What lessons have you learned in life that you can share?

Wow...wonderful life lessons, DiAnn! One I've learned is God's timing is perfect and He loves to surprise you from 'behind the scenes.'

THANK You for sharing.

DiAnn Mills is a bestselling author who believes her readers should expect an adventure. She weaves memorable characters with unpredictable plots to create action-packed, suspense-filled novels. DiAnn believes every breath of life is someone’s story, so why not capture those moments and create a thrilling adventure?

Her titles have appeared on the CBA and ECPA bestseller lists; won two Christy Awards; and been finalists for the RITA, Daphne Du Maurier, Inspirational Readers’ Choice, and Carol award contests.

DiAnn is a founding board member of the American Christian Fiction Writers, a member of Advanced Writers and Speakers Association, Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, and International Thriller Writers. She is the director of the Blue Ridge Mountain Christian Writers Conference, Mountainside Marketing Retreat, and the Mountainside Novelist Retreat with social media specialist Edie Melson where she continues her passion of helping other writers be successful. She speaks to various groups and teaches writing workshops around the country.

DiAnn has been termed a coffee snob and roasts her own coffee beans. She’s an avid reader, loves to cook, and believes her grandchildren are the smartest kids in the universe. She and her husband live in sunny Houston, Texas.

DiAnn is very active online and would love to connect with readers on: Facebook, Twitter, or any of the social media platforms listed at diannmills.com

Fatal Strike can be purchased at Amazon and other places you find great Christian fiction.

Hope you enjoyed DiAnn's visit as much as I did and I hope you'll check back weekly for Wednesday Words with Friends AND Saturday Spotlight. I've got a ton of exciting things to talk about but I'll save that for my personal post on Nov. 27th so be sure to check back!

Until next time, take care, God Bless and remember.... It's your BEST day ever!
PamT