Shellie Neumeier's Blog, page 10
May 5, 2011
Spring Story is on!
Welcome to our spring interactive story entitled Blinded. I hope you are having fun so far. Below you will find the links to our story, from there the plot is up to you. Click on the option you would like and the magical internet will jettison you off to the next section, of your choosing. Each Thursday a new set of options will be set-up for you. No worries if you forgot where you left off, there will be storyline clues for you to click through or you can click on the "start from the beginning" button to begin your journey anew. Totally up to you. Feel free to click the other one if you're curious to see might happen to her if you had chosen differently.
This week's options (click where you would like to begin):
Start me from the beginning, please.
Harper is a sighter and offers to find help.
Harper is a sighter, but her mom goes for help.
Harper is blinded, but her mom is not.
Harper is blinded, but wants to help anyway.
***
Don't forget to comment for your chance to win Penny Zeller's latest, Kaydie! The comments close Friday, May 6th at noon, so what are you waiting for?? Click here!
May 4, 2011
A Couple Links for you to Check Out
So very excited to share the FREE, online Writer's Conference coming this August! (http://nextgenwriters.com). Got some pretty cool speakers lined up…Stephanie Morrill, Caleb Breakey, Nicole O'Dell, Roseanna White, and I'll pop in:D. Registration opens June 15, but it's never too early to reserve the dates on your calendar!
NextGen Writer's Conference
It's FREE!
August 2-3, 2011
Here's another one for you, Sarah Tipton is hosting a sweet review of Driven
DRIVEN on her blog. Click Here to read it.
Don't forget to comment on Penny Zeller's guest blog to win a copy of her latest book, Kaydie (Montana Skies V2)
Kaydie. Comments close Friday at noon, so run, don't walk (just kidding, I don't want you falling down or anything). Click here to comment. I have to say, she wrote a pretty fabulous article, too (especially if you have a social studies report on life in the 1800s due anytime soon:D)!
May 3, 2011
New Book Review
Check out the new book review for Karen Kingsbury's Leaving
Leaving on our Book Review Page. And don't for get to comment on Penny Zeller's guest blog for a chance to win a copy of her latest release, Kaydie (Montana Skies V2)Kaydie (not to mention the really cool information she has about teens from today compared to teens from the 1800s). Good Luck!
May 1, 2011
Teens vs Teens of the 1800s by Penny Zeller AND a giveaway!
I'm so tickled to have Penny Zeller with us today. Check out the differences she's found in teens of today versus the girls of yester-year AND if you leave her a comment or question, she's offered to giveaway a copy of her latest book, Kaydie (Montana Skies V2)Kaydie (book to be chosen at random and announced on Friday, May 6th)…
Teen Girls today vs. Teen Girls of the 1800s
by Penny Zeller
My most recent book Kaydie, just released and is the second in my Montana Skies Historical Romance Series. It takes place in 1882, so the setting is quite different than that of today. As such, I thought I would do a few comparisons between the lives of teens today vs. the lives of teens in the late 1800s. Here is what I discovered…
Teen Girls Today vs. Teen Girls in Late 1800s
How to communicate
Cell phones, text messaging, social media, telephone
Telegraph, limited telephone in some areas, slow mail service
Just for fun…
Football games, extra-curricular activities, band practice, hanging out, watching movies, involvement in youth group
Barn dances, fishing, sewing, tea parties (for the more affluent)
What's for dinner?
Pizza, lasagna, spaghetti, hamburgers
Chili and cornbread, stewed duck, mince pie
Snacks, anyone?
Potato chips, candy bar, soda
Lemon puffs, gingerbread cookies
When I grow up, I want to be a…
Engineer, lawyer, astronaut, CEO of a large company, veterinarian, teacher (and of course, mother and wife, too!)
Mother, wife, teacher, nanny
Modes of transportation
Cars, planes, subways, taxis, bicycles
Horses, wagons/carriages, by foot, some train travel
A typical day
Get up, get dressed for school, eat breakfast if there's time; after school, go to soccer practice, hang out with friends, eat dinner, go to bed.
Get up, do chores, eat breakfast with the family, go to school; after school, come home, do homework, more chores, eat dinner, go to bed.
At age 16…
Involved in extracurricular activities, maybe a part-time job; thinking of college choices and career paths
Thinking of marriage
The awesome things…
Advances in modern medicine, modern conveniences, such as dishwashers and indoor plumbing, more diverse fashions, makeup
Simpler more relaxed times, more family-oriented, God and church a priority, most food homegrown, healthier eating, fashions consisted of prairie dresses
The not-so-good-things…
Peer pressure, more drugs, crime & poverty; breakdown in family, God is more commonly forgotten and excluded
Death from now-curable diseases, life expectancy not as long, hard backbreaking work, travel was slow
In doing my own unscientific poll, I learned that the girls I interviewed would much rather live in the present, rather than in the 1800s. Although several of them said they admired many of the aspects of the 1800s. So, which era would you rather live? Leave me a comment and let me know for your chance to win your own copy of Kaydie (Montana Skies V2)Kaydie.
***
Penny Zeller is the author of several books and numerous magazine articles in national and regional publications. She is also the author of the humor blog "A Day in the Life of a Wife, Mom, and Author" (www.pennyzeller.wordpress.com). She is an active volunteer in her community, serving as a women's Bible study small-group leader and co-organizing a women's prayer group. Penny devotes her time to assisting and nurturing women and children into a closer relationship with Christ. Her passion is to use the gift of the written word that God has given her to glorify Him and to benefit His kingdom. Kaydie follows McKenzie in Montana Skies, her first series with Whitaker House. When she's not writing, Penny enjoys spending time with her family and camping, hiking, canoeing, and playing volleyball. She and her husband, Lon, reside in Wyoming with their two children. Penny loves to hear from her readers at her Website, www.pennyzeller.com.Kaydie (Montana Skies V2)
Kaydie (Montana Skies V2)Kaydie is haunted by memories of her abusive husband. As she awaits her baby's birth, she builds a protective wall around herself.
Deserted by his mother at a young age and despised by his father, Jonah has few close relationships. But there's something about Kaydie that draws him to her and makes him question his decision to remain a bachelor.
Will Kaydie and Jonah trust God to guard their hearts in the arms of each other?
Where to find Penny:
I love to connect with my readers at my website www.pennyzeller.com,
my blog www.pennyzeller.wordpress.com,
on Twitter at http://twitter.com/pennyzeller, and
on Facebook at
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Penny-A-Zeller/96391560959?ref=ts
April 30, 2011
The Last Submission in Our Life-Changing Moments
I am so grateful for the wonderful submissions I received through the Life-Changing Moments Challenge. It has been my privilege to post them throughout the month of March. If you missed one, don't worry. They will be re-posted during Easter week (April 24 – 30) and our random drawing will be announced on Easter Sunday. Our gifts to you for being brave and sharing your stories. Without further ramblings, please enjoy our last submission…
My Life-Changing Moment by Alyssa (17)
Jesus changed my life by coming to earth, dying on the cross, and rising again. He was the perfect sacrifice for my sins once and for all. By trusting in Him and surrendering to Him as my Lord and Savior, I have eternal life. Since I have been saved from going to hell and from a meaningless existence, my entire life is different. I see the world through the lens of the Bible. I strive to bring glory to God, instead of myself. I want my desires and plans to line up with His will. Jesus has given me my mission in life set out in the Bible: to bring glory to God and reach the nations with the Gospel. He has graciously given me a passion for reaching the unreached. If it were not for Jesus, I would have no reason to speak out. I was born very shy and the passions that now spur me to speak such as missions and the protection of unborn babies would not be in the picture apart from Him. It is because I believe that babies are human beings, not animals or blobs of tissue and that they are fearfully and wonderfully made by God that I fight to protect them. There are countless ways that my life has been changed by Jesus that I don't even know about! If it were not for Jesus, I could very well have become addicted to drugs or alcohol, joined a gang, become pregnant, or committed suicide by now. Many teens are doing some or all of the above every day. They need to give their lives to Jesus.
April 29, 2011
Life-Changing Story Extra
I'd like to post an extra life-changing entry. This one comes from a sweet gal who at the age of 13 has a better grip on this topic than I do most days. Thank you, Arianna for sharing your story…
My Life-Changing Moment
by Arianna
"Jesus has changed my life by always being there for me. I can be so stupid! I run from God, and try my own way. I like it too….for awhile. Then its over and I am left in a puddle of broken dreams and fears. And he's always there, just waiting for me to come back, and take His hand. I have ditched Him so many times, but He's loyal; He always waits for me to come back.
For this, I think I must say God is changing me. He's not done. So, my life changing story is still in the process."
How have you been changed?
April 27, 2011
A Life-Changing Moment.
by Rayna (14)
I can't say the exact moment when Jesus came into my life, changing me. You see, I had been going through an extended period of conviction and guilt. And numerous times, I knelt and gave my life to Him. But nothing really seemed to change, and even now, almost a year since my baptism, I don't feel like a completely different person. I still fail daily. With my siblings, with my parents, I struggle most with controlling my tongue. But His grace is great, and plentiful, and I beg for it every evening.
But here is the truth: The moment (even though I don't know that moment) Jesus entered into my heart, I became a new creature. "Old things were passed away, and all became new." So even if the change wasn't entirely visible, and even though I may not feel it, I know it's there. Because the Bible is to be trusted.
So how has Jesus changed me? The simple answer is: in everything, because I became a new creature. And as a new creation of Jesus Christ's I want to become more and more like Him, until I enter the shining, marvelous New Kingdom some sweet day.
Thank you Rayna!
So how has Jesus Changed You??
April 26, 2011
How Jesus Changed Me…
"How Jesus Changed My Life?" By Georgia.
A simple question, which has a not-so-simple answer.
I was brought up in a Christian home, and I was the youngest of six children, which means I have siblings, and lots of 'em. Most of the time, they were busy getting into trouble. I was a silent spectator to their misdeeds and often found out, before my parents, that my older siblings weren't the cool and grown up teenagers, I truly thought they were.
When I was 5, I got saved. It wasn't because of a sermon in church, but rather because of my sister, Jennifer. She sat up with me one night, trying to explain what Heaven and Hell were, and why some people went up and other went down. I knew Jesus liked sleeping in mangers and that he had died on a cross to save us from our sins, and that God was fond of the color white and I thought I knew all there was to know. So, I got "saved." But that same year, I experienced something I pray no one will ever have to.
I was only 5, when my brother raped me. Looking back, I was glad I had no idea what raped meant, or that, that was what had happened to me. Sadly, I wasn't the only one, the sister who helped me get saved, fell victim to my Brother. For years, I hated him. He never asked for forgiveness, and I felt until he did, he certainly didn't deserves it from me. My parents were shocked and devastated when my sister and I told them. They called the police.
Though it was the most painful thing they've ever had to do and my brother was made to pay his dues for what he did, but I was still resentful. Until two years ago. That year, I read this book, A Passion Most Pure (Daughters of Boston, Book 1)
A Passion Most Pure (by Julie Lessman), and it changed me. It really wasn't so much the book, as it was Jesus using the book to pluck at my heart strings. It was 5 am, and I wasn't even half way through the book before I was crying, begging Jesus to help me forgive my brother, like Jesus had already done for him. Because, it wasn't until that moment that I realized, I can't have the full and loving relationship with Jesus that I saw in the heroin of A Passion Most Pure (Daughters of Boston, Book 1)A Passion Most Pure, with hate and resentment in my heart, blocking the way in from Jesus. I knew that I had to forgive my brother in spite of everything and see him only with love, not hatred. It was probably the hardest thing I've had to do, but I didn't do it alone, I had Jesus by my side, helping and healing me. He changed me then, and started molding me into His perfect vessel. For that is what I am now, a clay vessel for Jesus to use to show others, and sometimes myself, that He is love.
How has Jesus changed you?
April 23, 2011
Life-Changing Story Winners
I know this has no tie to Easter. It was just so cute.
I want to thank all the entrants for sharing their Life-Changing moments with us in March. Their stories will be re-posted through out this week so stop back and check them out. Below you'll find a list of prizes and their winners. All winners were chosen at random. Congratulations!
$50 Amazon Gift Certificate…Rachelle
One of Stephanie Morrill's Me, Just Different (The Reinvention of Skylar Hoyt)
Skylar Hoyt Series books (your choice)…Alyssa
A copy of Driven
Driven…Ariana
I will be in contact with the winners by May 2 with gift details. If you did not win a prize and you entered the life-changing story, I don't want you to go away empty-handed. I would like to offer a free critique to you. Please send the first five pages of your short story, manuscript, or nonfiction piece to neumeier(dot)shellie(at)gmail(dot)com and I'll get back to you by the end of May.
Again, thank you for inspiring us with your stories and for being brave enough to share. Happy Easter Everyone!
April 20, 2011
Blinded (part two)
Welcome to our spring interactive story entitled Blinded. I hope you are as eager to try this as I am. Below you will find the links to our story, from there the plot is up to you. Click on the option you would like and the magical internet will jettison you off to the next section, of your choosing. Each Thursday (except for April 28) a new set of options will be set-up for you. No worries if you forgot where you left off, there will be storyline clues for you to click through or you can click on the "start from the beginning" button to begin your journey anew. Totally up to you. Feel free to click the other one if you're curious to see might happen to her if you had chosen differently.
This week's options (click where you would like to begin):
Start me from the beginning, please.
