Marlayne Giron's Blog: Marlayne's Blog, page 8

CONTEST: You Own Personal Story!

Contest Rules
I will write a wish fulfillment story for one lucky person. It will be published in my next "Make a Wish" book. You will star as the main character in your own story. Here are the rules to be entered:


You must be a member (follower) of my blog (for that you will either need a twitter account or a gmail account). Or you can follow me thru Networked blogs.
You need to post a comment about what your wish is then email me privately at: thevictorbook@sbcglobal.net because I will need to ask you more information in order to write your story.The winning story will have their story posted (after approval) on my blog which can then be shared on your own social media. I use only first names in the stories and can include family members or good friends. All stories will be G-rated and inspirational.

If You Had One Deep Heartfelt Wish...what would it be?

Below is an excerpt from a "wish fulfillment story" from my book "Make a Wish" that made me sob like a baby while I wrote it:

THREE WISHES

                Darlene regarded the Christmas decorations in her local grocery store glumly. She hated this time of year.  Absolutely hated it! All it did was accentuate the sadness that she always carried in her heart like a heavy lead balloon.  As a kid she had enjoyed the holidays as much as anyone else but all that had changed three years ago when her husband, Steve, had died in her arms of heart failure.  She sighed, fighting back the tears that welled up in her eyes and threatened to spill down her cheeks. She wasn’t going to cry in the check-out line! Not in front of all these strangers!                The box boy stuffed the last of her groceries into the bag and Darlene hurried out, her head down, her shoulders beginning to shake. She got into her car, her hands trembling with the grief she tried to suppress and yet couldn’t. She let her head drop onto the steering wheel and allowed the tears to come. She missed him.  She couldn’t help it. Even after a few years, there was still a big hole in her heart that just wouldn’t heal.                 Oh, Stevie…she thought to herself, not for the last time. If only we had had more time together…if only your heart hadn’t been sick…if only…                Darlene violently brushed the tears from her cheeks and started the car. She didn’t want to go down that road again. She had to get home, unload the groceries alone without help and get some dinner for herself.  The very idea depressed her beyond belief.                She turned the key in the ignition and maneuvered out of the parking lot.  She made to turn right, but the car suddenly had other ideas.  It turned left.  It shocked her so much she just gaped.  Then the gas pedal depressed itself and the car began speeding up and driving itself. Darlene sat back and watched in shock as the car continued to steer, turning down streets she was unfamiliar with, stopping and starting without assistance from her, wondering where on earth her car was taking her and why.  For some reason she felt no panic but a few times she caught the shocked glances of people in other cars as she half-heartedly smiled and waved at them as her car turned a corner without her assistance. Once or twice she gripped the steering wheel and tried to steer the way she wanted and to brake but the car was completely unresponsive.  Why fight it? She thought to herself and sat back to watch what would happen.  A half hour passed, then 45 minutes and the car was on the main highway heading north. Before she knew it, she had nodded off to sleep...
Please leave a comment and tell me what you think.

Real Life Encounters with Angels

I have never personally had a supernatural or miraculous experience (that I know of) but I know two people who have and thought I would share their experiences with you. If you or someone you know has had an encounter with angels, feel free to write and tell me and I'll add it to this post.

The first story I'd like to share with you occurred with my now 95 year old mom. I spent most of my life never hearing this story (like so many others I had heard repeatedly). My mom is Jewish and still does not believe in Jesus as her Messiah even though I have shared the Gospel with her for the past 25+ years. She is what is commonly known as a "cultural" or nonreligious Jew; the way I used to be, so it startled me when I heard from a friend how shed share the following story with a group of my friends (Messianic Jews like me) during a brunch.

She had been in her early 20's and about to cross the street at a busy intersection when the light turned green. She tried to step into the street but felt herself physically restrained by an unseen force. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't budge. In the next instant, the moment when she would have been int he street, a motorcycle screamed around the corner. Had she not been restrained she would have been killed. I have no doubt this was a guardian angel looking out after my mom. Even though she is not a believer, she has also experienced divine healing. She had been suffering with spinal stenosis for years and suffered terribly with debilitating pain down her spine and into her legs. Several times I had to take her to get painful cortisone shots that would last for only 3 months. Finally after suffering excruciating pain one night, she told me she cried out to God and begged Him to heal her and he answered!

The other story I would like to share with you occurred over 25 years ago with my former pastor, Ron Bozarth and his wife Geri. Before he was saved, Ron used to own a very popular nightclub in Hollywood that was frequented by celebrities in the late 60s and early 70s. I got to take a peak at his photo album and saw photos of him with Elizabeth Taylor, Gregory Peck, Rock Hudson, all the old glitterati from the golden age of Hollywood. In the late 60's and early 70's a street preacher by the name of Arthur Blessitt was going around Hollywood with a 12' cross, sharing the good news of salvation in the bars with the drunks, drug addicts and prostitutes. He constantly witnessed to Ron Bozarth and Geri and to make a long story short, they both gave their lives to Jesus on the day that he married them. Arthur is also the man wholed President George W. Bush to the Lord before he became President.

I met Ron and Geri (and Arthur) in the early 1980's when they were having home Bible studies. Arthur has gone all over the world with his cross sharing the Gospel with everyone including Yasser Arafat the Palestinian Terror Leader against all odds of getting to him alive. I became part of their small group and after about a year they felt the call to go around the country and start up 10 person prayer cells. They got a camper with an image of Jesus' face that had been captured in shadows on the snow and toured the U.S. starting up prayer cells. On a side note, Arthur has also had a personal, face-to-face encounter with the Lord Jesus himself which he tells about in one of his books (I forget which one).

While visiting relatives in Pennsylvania they got lost on a lonely stretch of winding road in the middle of nowhere with a sheer drop off the right side of the two-lane and a mountain on the other. Frustrated, Ron decided to turn the RV around and go back the way they had come. He turned, did some backing up then THUMP! The RV would no longer move. They got out to see what had happened and saw that the rear wheels were a foot off the ground and the bottom was resting on the ground. They were in the middle of nowhere with no other traffic on an empty road they could see for miles in either direction. This was also before the advent of cell phones so they were essentially stuck.

"Looks like you could use some help there," said a voice. Ron and Geri looked around and there before them was a pick-up truck and two men that had not been there moments before. Too distracted by their predicament to be shocked at the sudden appearance of these two strangers, Ron responded, "Well I hope you have a heavy-duty chain in the back of that truck!"

In response to his wise-crack, one of the men hauled out just such a chain and the two of them began hooking up the chain to the truck and the RV without once speaking to one another to coordinate. Ron got into the RV and in moments they had hauled the RV out of the ditch and back up onto all four tires. Ron and Geri walked around the back to inspect God's RV to make sure it was okay then turned around to thank the two strangers. They were gone as was the truck. Perplexed they looked up and down both side of the road they could see for miles and could not even see a cloud of dust. There was no way they could have started up their truck and high-tailed it out of there in such a brief period of time so that they covered 10 mines in the space of a few seconds. Ron and Geri looked at each other and then then knew: God had sent angels to help them.

Do you have a story to tell along these lines? We would all like to hear it!

Carol Urton has her own "Angel" story:

New Years Eve I went to the airport to pick up my husband from a trip he took back home to Oklahoma for the holidays. Upon arriving at the terminal I found that his flight had been diverted due to fog. I stood at the counter with another disgruntled person waiting for their client, he was a tall foreign limo driver dressed in a black suit. We found out where the flight was diverted and I headed back to my car to drive the distance to pick up my stranded husband. Unfortunately, I got off the elevator to the parking structure on the wrong level only to be confronted by the Limo driver who wanted to discuss the flight diversion. I was a little nervous because we were all alone in the parking structure and other than the dim lights it was dark. He introduced himself, held his hand out and as I shook it I noticed he held on too long. Then he suddenly looked startled and said to someone behind me, "oh, I am so sorry" and quickly jumped back away from me and told me to have a good evening. I looked behind me, there was no one there. I hurried off to the elevator and got safely to my car.

Christmas for a Jewish Girl

I didn't get to experience the "magic" of Christmas until I was 37. As a Jewish child growing up in a nominally religious home; my mom steadfastly refused to get a Christmas tree (or Chanukah Bush) for the holidays. Each year of my childhood Christmas would come and go and I often remember wishing that Santa Claus would overlook the fact that I was Jewish and just once come down our chimney and bring a tree, stockings and presents. When I became a believer in Jesus at the age of 17 Christmas took on an entirely new meaning . I was outraged, outraged at the rank commercialism of it all! And I told my fellow employees at a shipping company near LAX on my temp job so in a single-spaced, page-long diatribe (typed on my break then photocopied and distributed throughout the office). Needless to say my supervisor was not pleased. My first few Christmases as a believer were much more meaningful but also lonely. I had moved out when I was 19 and lived on my own. I didn't have enough time off at my job to join my parents at my sister and brother-in-law's home when I was 21 during Christmas and having no friends, I spent one of the most pathetic nights one Christmas Eve crying myself to sleep on my couch with only a candle and the Lord to keep me company.

I got to experience my first real Christmas was when I was 22 and had begun dating a nice young man who later turned out to be my husband. I was invited to sleep over his parents home on the pull-out couch and when he thought I was asleep (I wasn't) he snuck downstairs and filled a stocking for me on behalf of Santa Claus. For the next 15 Christmases we celebrated with his family but in December of 1997 I got to experience the full magic of Christmas, for it was on this Christmas Eve that God gave us our daughter, Karina. She was 3-1/2 at the time and experiencing Christmas with a family of her own for the very first time. We took her around the block to show her the Christmas lights; her proud (and scared) new daddy carrying her on his shoulders while she shouted "It's the Kwissmass!" over and over again with delight. We had the tree, a Candy Cane stocking I had gotten just for her and presents from us (and Santa Claus). What we also had was the flu bug which had grown to epidemic proportions in Orange County. Our entire family and extended family got hit with it and we were not able to share Christmas morning with anyone until a full week later when we were all well. At the Christmas family reunion two weeks later, we introduced our daughter as a surprise to the entire family.

Having felt "deprived" as a child, I was bound and determined to give my new daughter both the spiritual significance of Christ's birth as well as the full magic of Christmas for as long as humanly possible. I wrapped her gifts from Santa in different paper (no bows - they would get squished in the sleigh) and used different handwriting. When she mailed off a letter to the North Pole I made sure she found a reply in her stocking. I was so good at the Santa Claus thing that I almost had myself convinced that Santa Claus was real and had my daughter believing in it up to the ripe old age of 12 (yes 12!!). The year after the movie "Polar Express" came out. she decided to test the waters (she was 11). I just happened to see her writing a note to leave on the coffee table in the "Christmas room" and when I looked, I discovered it was a letter to Santa asking him for a bell off his sleigh. It was 4:00 pm on Christmas Eve! I ran out the door in a panic, raced to my nearest Michael's Craft Store and nabbed the last container of giant sized jingle bells. I found a little drawstring pouch and ribbon that said "believe" on it. She opened it the next morning with delight and I breathed a sigh of relief; safe for another year! To be quite honest I was actually amazed that she still believed and wondered if she wasn't just doing it for my benefit. I couldn't believe that none of her friends at school hadn't spilled the beans yet. In the end; she found out the following Christmas by going into my closet behind my clothes and discovered where I hid all the gifts before wrapping. She took in all in stride but I was devastated. No more Santa Claus. I had only gotten to experience him through the eyes of my daughter for nine short years. It still bums me out.

Christmas is still a blessed time. We have created our own traditions such as listening to The Gift on Christmas Eve in front of the fire and tree while my honey and I cuddle on the couch. Most of all; I have grown to increasingly appreciate the true miracle of Christmas. The fact that the infinite, omnipotent, omnipresent God of the Universe deigned to come in the most helpless of forms and chose to be born in the most lowly of circumstances without even the benefit of modern medicine. I still find it hard to wrap my head around it. Jesus submitted himself not only to the womb and birth but had to endure years in which he could not even vocally express himself; soiled himself until potty trained and then was raised by fallible humans. He didn't have to do it. He could have chosen to been born into a palace; but he chose to identify with us in all of our sufferings and helplessness. Thank you, Lord, for the most precious gift of all...Your Son.

This post was from my monthly newsletter. If you would like to subscribe just email me at: thevictorbook@sbcglobal.net. If you would like to follow my blog it is: www.psalm451.net

New in Amish fiction

I am now accepting pre-orders for my book, "In Plain Sight".

You can watch the trailer here and use paypal to purchase.

All books will be personally autographed.

http://marlaynegiron.blogspot.com/201...

Important Questions to ask BEFORE You Self-Publish

So many self-publishing houses; so many empty promises…

In the past year since my own self-published book, The Victor, was released, I have met many authors who have gone the self-publishing route and have learned many important things that they should have given thought to but didn’t even know to ask and are now kind of “stuck” after having spent A LOT of money. There are good companies to self-publish with and some horrible ones, so “buyer beware”! There are quite a few important things you need to ask and consider before deciding on which company to go with to publish your book. Of course, it goes without being said but should be stressed again: READ YOUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS WORD FOR WORD and with your spouse or trusted friend before signing anything. Here are some other questions to ask:
1) Who owns the rights to the final edited AND unedited manuscript versions of your book? Who owns the cover art? Who owns the copyright? You or the company that published you? Does it cost extra? Does it expire? Who owns the copyright to your book’s characters? If you cancel your agreement and you don’t own the cover image of your book, you will have to remove it from every place it has been posted.
2) Price Control of Your finished product. Who controls the pricing of your book? Are you unknowingly granting exclusivity on price? See if you can find out ahead of time what they would price your book at to sell before you sign anything. If a book is priced too high it isn’t going to sell and if your cost isn’t much lower than the retail price you don’t have much discount room even if you sell it yourself. Who controls the price – you or the publisher?
3) Can the company edit your book without your permission? Again, read your terms and conditions carefully. If you aren’t sure, then take it to an attorney and have him/her go over it; it will be worth every penny!
4) Does the company charge for editing? If so, how much per hour? Get all the details ahead of time. Someone I know paid $900 to have her book edited. The going rate is anywhere between $25 an hour to $45 an hour, or you can negotiate a flat rate. Be sure to proofread the entire manuscript BEFORE it goes to the printer, too. It is your responsibility.
5) Is the book discounted to bookstores? Many bookstores will refuse to carry a book they can’t get at a significant discount (40%).
6) Is the book returnable? This one is VERY important. Bookstores will not carry books that are not returnable. Sometimes the publisher will make the books returnable if you pay them a small ransom (several hundred dollars). If the book is returned, can Amazon then turn around and make money off the resale without paying you the author? You best be sure.
7) Is your book available through a major distribution channel? Like Ingram/Spring Arbor? Will it be available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, etc.? Does that service cost extra?
8) Marketing Services: What does the publisher charge for its marketing services and what types of services are offered? Ad campaigns, mass mailings, etc., are a big waste of money, so don’t go there. Does the publisher offer book trailers? If so, how much does a trailer cost and who owns the rights to it … you or the company? Same thing for a building you a website. Get a few examples of trailers/websites the publisher has produced before signing on the dotted line.
9) Kindle: Is there a charge to have the book made available on Kindle format? If so, how much $$$?
10) Review Copies: Will your publisher send out free review copies or do you have to do it yourself or pay for them?
11) How will the books be sold and distributed? Publishing your book is only 1/3 the battle. The next thing you have to think about is how you are going to market your book.

How are you going to get the word out? Did you know that 5,000+ new books are released every month? How are you going to let the reading public know about yours?
Too many authors think that if they can only get their book into print that a miracle will occur and it will fly off the shelves. Not so. Even if you publish traditionally you still have to do a lot of the networking and marketing yourself or you will only end up selling perhaps 100-200 books to family and friends. Chances are you won’t come close to breaking even on the money you have spent.

You need to find a good book marketing company – one that doesn’t promise the world and make grandiose claims. Again: BUYER BEWARE. Word of mouth is still the best way to sell books but how do you create “word of mouth?” Answer: Social media! Facebook, MySpace, Shelfari, Goodreads, Blog reviews. It takes A LOT of work. My book has been out for little over a year and I still have new opportunities coming my way because I am constantly working at it; networking on social media has become my second job. It didn’t hurt either that I also found a great book promo company (www.bookcandystudios.com) that helped me to build a large audience base on the social media sites. The rest was up to me and I can honestly tell you that I have 700 more “friends” than I did a year ago; at least 100 of which I am VERY good friends with and who have been telling their friends about MY book, The Victor.
Word of mouth at its’ best!

The Victor

For those of you who homeschool or know those who do, The Victor comes with a free, downloadable Student Workbook (available on my book website) and a Lesson Plan.

It has been Lexile scored at 1060, AR Points: 15, and ATOS Level is 7.7. (it is for junior high reading level and up).

To see a detailed list of what is contained in the Lesson Plan, just go to this link: http://thevictor.tatepublishing.net/?...

My website accepts Paypal.

Marlayne Giron

SoCal Local Wins Copy of The Victor through Goodreads

On December 16th, after a month-long contest in which I offered two copies of The Victor on Goodreads, a local girl was one of two chosen winners out of the 673 who vied to win a copy.

Her name is Annie Jackson and she works at 20th Century Fox Studios. I spent 2-1/2 hours driving in the horrific Los Angeles traffic (during a rain storm no less) to personally deliver her copy of The Victor to her office on the studio lot.

She was a wonderful hostess and gave me a quick tour around the lot on a golf cart and even a personal sound stage tour of the "Doll House" set that is currently being disassembled. It was a massive set and she told me about the series concept which sounded fascinating. I am now going to have to rent episodes of Doll House so I can see what that set looked like in all its' glory.

Thanks again, Annie, for being such a wonderful host! I hope we can become better friends. Enjoy the book!

Marlayne

My friend Lisa (who I have known since I was 12)

I have to give credit where credit is due. Lisa and I have been friends since we were 12. We would take turns sleeping over each others' homes every weekend. I fondly remember the feeling of happy anticipation as I watched The Mary Tyler Moore show on Saturday nights waiting for her to come over. Lisa is the one person I can most credit in my life for helping me to develop my writing skills. We wrote hundreds of short “Six Million Dollar Man/Steve Austin” stories together (with us as characters in every one). Lisa used to ‘redline” my stories (the aspiring teacher that she was) and it would make me so mad that I became determined to write error-free stories she couldn’t find fault with. My writing was greatly influenced both by Lisa’s writing as well as her critiquing of mine. It was also at Lisa’s suggestion that I checked into online publishing that led me to Tate Publishing and ultimately to realizing my life-long dream to see my book, The Victor, in print.

Various Email Reviews For The Victor

“The Victor: A Tale of Betrayal, Love, and Sacrifice from fresh new author Marlayne Giron, is a riveting and romantic tale that will keep you on the edge of your seat and the overlap of eternity from start to finish. As lovely as it is meaningful, The Victor is a book you’ll want to read more than once—and buy copies as gifts for others.”

- Kathi Macias www.kathimacias.com- Bestselling author of nearly thirty books, including: “How Can I Run a Tight Ship When I’m Surrounded By Loose Cannons?” (New Hope Publishers); “Mothers of the Bible Speak to Mothers of Today” ( New Hope Publishers); “My Son, John” (a novel) (Sheaf House)

“LOVE your new book!!!!!!!!!!!!! I couldn’t put it down, so it’s finished. My house is a mess and there is nothing to eat, but I finished the book :). Your parallels were fabulous, and I love the scripture included. Now I want to look up the ones I’m not familiar with. Must have been a lot of historical research???”

- Anja Parker, friend

“Marlayne, I absolutely loved your book! It has been a long time since I looked forward to snuggling up with a good book at bedtime, and I happily looked forward to it every night until I finished it. Thank you for finishing the story. I would love to hear more about their reign!”

- Michele Fritzler (sister of Barry Henriot to whom the book was dedicated)

“I finally had the chance to sit down and start reading your book last night. From the very first page I was hooked, and I’m not even a big fan of that genre. It is incredibly well written - just as good if not better than any other fantasy book out there - and I am so proud of you! I knew you were a good writer when we were kids, but your talent has really flourished!”

- Lisa Jan Savy, friends since 1972

“Exciting Adventure, Absorbing Allegory. The action and adventure starts with page one of The Victor and doesn’t slack off until the last word of the last page. Ms. Giron puts heart and soul in the Medieval tale of King Eloth, his foster son, Ardon, and his heir,Prince Joshua, the kingdoms of Ellioth and Shiloh, and of course the beautiful Llyonesse.

Baron Lucius leads a rebellion against King Eloth and the Kingdom of Ellioth . He fails and is banished—forever. Many years later, Ardon is tasked to build up the kingdom of Shiloh for King Eloth’s heir, Joshua. Joshua is espoused to the Llyonesse, the daughter of Ardon. Little do they know, Baron Lucius is within the kingdom of Shiloh , and he wants revenge. He wants revenge along with the king’s sword Ephlal, and he determines to use Llyonesse to get it.

This tale of love and romance, of adventure and daring-do continues with breathtaking excitement and heart rending tragedy as The Victor plays out on the canvas of Ms. Giron’s beautiful and vivid writing.

The Victor is a great novel for those who love a great adventure, romance, or inspiration.”

- L.D. Alford, author of Centurion, Aegypt, The End of Honor, The Foxes Honor.

...

"In the rich tradition of J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, The Victor is an action packed adventure novel of love, friendship, betrayal and sacrifice set in Medieval times. Females will love the romance of rescued love while men will devour the scenes of jousting, knights and battles. Using ancient literature as the template, The Victor teaches lessons of enduring love, loyalty and reward in an exciting drama laced with unforgettable characters.”

- Lillian Jones, Library Media Specialist III, Laguna Beach High School