Serena B. Miller's Blog, page 12

Unexpected Present

In A Promise To Love, there is a scene where my heroine, Ingrid, uses Swedish pastry to bribe her way into a house where her youngest stepchild is being kept. A friend and reader saw an advertisement for this Swedish Tea Ring in a magazine after reading that scene and was hungry for it. She immediately ordered one for herself and her daughters, and one for me. This is a picture of what I saw when I opened the package. No dieting for me or my family from that point on until it was GONE! Absolutely delicious. Have I mentioned before that people who read Christian fiction are some of the nicest people in the world? Thanks Ruth Morris for your thoughtfulness!

Anxiety and the Amish

I have a lot of friends from many different walks of life. It’s been interesting watching the various reactions over the outcome of our last election. Some were elated. Some were thrown into deep despair. Those who were thrown into despair now talk of stockpiling ammunition, stocking up on food, and battening down the hatches. The constant talk of a “fiscal cliff” isn’t doing anyone’s nerves any good.

Frankly, our family’s hatches have always been battened down–whatever that phrase means. We have our own water filtration system, we have a wood burning stove and plenty of firewood. I’m almost always well stocked on beans and rice. I’m not a fan of shooting Bambi, but I would do so if it was necessary to feed my family. ( There’s usually a herd of deer in my garden every morning anyway.) Our decision to do this was not based on any political climate. We just like living in the country and are willing to sacrifice convenience and gasoline to do so.

But that isn’t really what I mean by battening down the hatches. One of the great benefits of having a Christian mindset is the reassurance that this world is not our home. The Lord is in charge, and we don’t have to be. If the world happens to be going to hell in a hand basket, that doesn’t mean that we have to go along.

A lot of people don’t realize that the story of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah has a twist. Those two cities were not destroyed because of the evil of their citizenry alone. They were destroyed because of the lack of TEN righteous people. That’s right. Just ten. God promised Abraham that He wouldn’t destroy the cities if He could find ten righteous people.

For those who are concerned about the moral decay of our country, I think this Biblical story has great significance. The only person anyone has control over is themselves. Attempting to live a life of true personal integrity and faith is one way to fight back against the darkness. .

I’ve been told that although the Amish do not bear arms, and are rarely political or evangelistic, they believe they are helping protect our country by simple, righteous living–of being part of that righteous “ten” who were missing when God decided to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. Perhaps they are right. I certainly like to think so. One of my favorite things is to meditate on all the people whom I personally know who are living quiet, prayerful, Godly, lives. They give me hope, lift my spirits, and I have a suspicion that they might be our true first line of defense.

 

Anxiety

I have a lot of friends from many different walks of life. It’s been interesting watching the various reactions over the outcome of our last election. Some were elated. Some were thrown into deep despair. Those who were thrown into despair now talk of stockpiling ammunition, stocking up on food, and battening down the hatches. The constant talk of a “fiscal cliff” isn’t doing anyone’s nerves any good.

Frankly, our family’s hatches have always been battened down–whatever that phrase means. We have our own water filtration system, we have a wood burning stove and plenty of firewood. I’m almost always well stocked on beans and rice. I’m not a fan of shooting Bambi, but I would do so if it was necessary to feed my family. ( There’s usually a herd of deer in my garden every morning anyway.) Our decision to do this was not based on any political climate. We just like living in the country and are willing to sacrifice convenience and gasoline to do so.

But that isn’t really what I mean by battening down the hatches. One of the great benefits of having a Christian mindset is the reassurance that this world is not our home. The Lord is in charge, and we don’t have to be. If the world happens to be going to hell in a hand basket, that doesn’t mean that we have to go along.

A lot of people don’t realize that the story of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah has a twist. Those two cities were not destroyed because of the evil of their citizenry alone. They were destroyed because of the lack of TEN righteous people. That’s right. Just ten. God promised Abraham that He wouldn’t destroy the cities if He could find ten righteous people.

For those who are concerned about the moral decay of our country, I think this Biblical story has great significance. The only person anyone has control over is themselves. Attempting to live a life of true personal integrity and faith is one way to fight back against the darkness. .

I’ve been told that although the Amish do not bear arms, and are rarely political or evangelistic, they believe they are helping protect our country by simple, righteous living–of being part of that righteous “ten” who were missing when God decided to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. Perhaps they are right. I certainly like to think so. One of my favorite things is to meditate on all the people whom I personally know who are living quiet, prayerful, Godly, lives. They give me hope, lift my spirits, and I have a suspicion that they might be our true first line of defense.

 

Buckeye Book Fair–November 3

Just wanted to let everyone know that I’ll be in Wooster, Ohio on November 3rd, Saturday, from 9:30 to 4:00 signing books along with about a hundred other Ohio authors and illustrators. I’m hoping there’s some local readers around there who would enjoy coming over and saying hi. This will be the 25th Annual Buckeye Book Fair, and will be held in the Fisher Auditorium on the OARDC Campus. They do charge $2 admission, which is given to various libraries and adult literacy programs. I noticed in the program that they have a children’s class at 2:30 with a professional illustrator. It’s going to be hard for me to stay in my seat. I want to take the classes and hear the speakers, too! See you there!

A Promise To Love

As I was researching The Measure Of Katie Calloway, there was one thing that kept cropping up in the old books I was reading. The wildfire that swept across Michigan in the fall of 1871. It was one of the greatest natural disasters in the history of the United States, and yet I–who had lived in Michigan for 18 years of my adult life–had never heard of it. It was the perfect storm of drought, thousands of acres of dry-as-kindling pine tops left over from the lumber camps, farmers burning off fields, and some believe there was a low-flying comet that added its fiery path as well.

I read true stories of heroism and of great stupidity, desperation and wisdom. I read of the enormous outpouring of compassion that came from people all around the country in the way of food and clothing long before the Red Cross existed.

It wasn’t easy working all these elements together into a book about a marriage of convenience, but of all my books so far, this one is my favorite, and the valiant Ingrid Larsen is my favorite heroine.

A Promise To Love

A Promise to Love

Can a marriage of convenience ever become one of true love? Ingrid Larsen arrives in Michigan in 1871 with little more than the clothes on her back and a determination.

Destitute and barely hanging on to hope, the young Swedish immigrant crosses paths with Joshua Hunter, a newly widowed farmer with eyes the color of the ocean she had crossed and five rambunctious children to raise on his own. Marriage would solve both of their problems, and Ingrid finds herself proposing in broken English to a man she barely knows. Many difficulties lie ahead–but the hardest battle of all will be winning the heart of her new husband. Order now from Amazon or Barnes and Noble

Winning the RITA

It has taken a couple days to write about this–a couple days to believe that it is true.

On this past Saturday night, my second novel, The Measure of Katie Calloway won the most prestigious award in the romance genre–the RITA.

I was up against such strong writers, I didn’t think I had much of a chance. Still….I watched the tweets of those who were at the awards banquet in Annaheim with a small flicker of hope in my heart.

Then I saw my name come up as the winner of the inspirational genre and I will never forget that moment as long as I live. I screamed, and my husband came running. Then he realized what had happened and threw his arms around me and we hugged and cried and laughed and sobbed. It has been a long, long road.

Anyone who has ever attempted to get published, knows how hard it is. I was told many times that it was nearly impossible for an unknown author to get published anymore.

I kept telling myself that the Lord had never asked me to be successful, He had only asked me to be faithful.

It’s hard to write year after year with nothing to show for it except a stack of unpublished manuscripts and the blind faith that some day all those hours will mean something. I wrote day after day telling myself to just do the work and that someday God’s timing would be perfect.

And then, after over a decade of hard work, Sandra Bishop came into my life and quickly established herself as one of the best literary agents in the world. Vicki Crompton was the perfect editor for my historicals. As these two women and I worked together, I began to think that maybe we were creating something special.

Saturday night I learned that The Measure Of Katie Calloway truly was a winner. I am so grateful. It is no small thing to be allowed to make a living– by living a dream.

Hurricane…in Ohio?

At our church, we pull out all the stops for our Vacation Bible School. It is not unusual for us to have 150 or more little kids running around squealing and having a good time. Last Friday, though, the squealing turned into terrified screaming.

On the Friday of VBS we traditionally hire a company to put up a parking lot full of inflatables. We rent a sno-cone machine, and grill about 300 hotdogs and make vats of baked beans and it is all free to the children and their parents. One of the prettiest sights in the world is watching these little kids skipping around, giggling, having fun, just playing themselves silly, while the adults stand around, watching out for them, while they congratulate themselves on having survived another year of VBS:-)

The wind came out of nowhere. Apart from an overcast sky, there was no warning. None. In a matter of seconds…not minutes…seconds….hurricane force winds swooshed down and literally almost blew some of the children away. The wind picked up a 1400 lb. inflatable and carried it several feet along the parking lot–even though it had not yet been inflated. Peat moss from the playground swirled around in everyone’s faces, dust, gravel. Our two back metal doors were swinging back and forth, being slammed by the wind. My brother-in-law, a heavy equipment operator in his late 70′s saw the danger, happened to be near the doors, saw that the children could potentially be crushed by them, and braced himself in the middle of the doors, holding them open and stationary while children ran beneath his arms. He says he still can’t get the sound of screaming children out of his mind. It was truly terrifying.

A huge tent we’d rented was ripped out of the ground and when this thing the weatherman called a Derecho wind was over, we discovered the tent was slung up over the church roof. A barn next door had a portion of its metal roof ripped off.

Back home at our house, we had electric lines lying all over the place like spaghetti. Trees had been blown over. The electricity was off at our house for 5 days, and the width and breadth of the damage so great, electrical crews came from as far away as Texas to help the local electric company put things right again. The team that fixed the electricity on our back road was from Missouri. I was so happy to see those men show up, I had to hold myself back from running out and hugging them.I would have baked cookies—but, oh yeah, we had no electricity.

But no one was hurt. Barn roofs can be fixed. Inflatables and tents replaced. The loss of 300 hotdogs is one we can absorb. I was able to meet my tight writing deadline by plugging my computer into my car’s battery. The bottom line is that no child was hurt. Every last one got in the building safely.But really,  I never dreamed I’d see hurricane force winds in Ohio!

 

Radio Interviews

I’ve been learning how to do radio interviews recently.

I’ve been learning that the way you learn how to do radio interviews is by doing them:-)

If you want to listen to me stumble through one–here’s how: The live interview is on May 7.  You can listen live on-line anywhere in the world at 9:05 am pacific/12:05 pm eastern at www.faithplace.org or listen to the recorded show after the live interview at www.debbiechavezshow.com

This is kinda a big one. I really hope I do a good job……

 

 

 

 

Attack In Afghanistan

Many of you know that my son is an HR contract worker in Afghanistan. This morning at  6:00 a.m. (Afghanistan time) his compound in Kabul was attacked by Taliban men dressed in women’s burkas. They set off a car bomb at the front entrance and then began lobbing grenades into the compound and shooting. By the grace of God, my son got into a bunker safely, but it was the closest call he’s had since going over there. A sad little side note is that May 2 is his birthday and the cooks had made him a little birthday cake–which got destroyed by shrapnel–along with most of his clothes which was in the laundry that took a major hit. A pretty lousy birthday.’

I got to skype with him this morning, and he is fine. Here is a small story about the experience that he sent me to cheer me up:

“Here is your happy thought, Mom. I got to the bunker and was looking around and saw my Rough Tough Marine friend sitting at the end of the bunker reading An Uncommon Grace when the second round of bullets and explosions were going on. I knew he was ready to fight if need be, but calm, cool, and collected there he sat slowly flipping the pages as he read. He finished it and said. “When does your mom’s next book come out?”

I wish I could hug that Marine’s neck right now! Along with my son’s!

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