Katie Ganshert's Blog, page 30

Where Lilacs Still Bloom Blog Hop & Giveaway!

A blog post on a Thursday! What in the world is going on?

Fun, that’s what!

I am thrilled to have award-winning author, Jane Kirtpatrick, on my blog today. Not just because her newest release has flowers in the title (like mine), but because she’s a phenomenal writer.

Her newest release, Where Lilacs Still Bloom, hit shelves last week and is already receiving rave reviews.

Jane is going to share some thoughts on perseverance, an important theme in her novel. An important theme in life (especially...

Bethany Quinn on Redemption

Katie asked me to come back and talk about redemption.

After talking about my past and this whole idea of shame, I have no idea if she’s thinking third time’s a charm, or three strikes I’m out.

Regardless, three is my favorite number. So here I am.

Redemption. Not really sure what I think about that word. Crickets, really. So I decided to look it up. Here’s what I found, plus my commentary.

Redemption:

An act of redeeming or the state of being redeemed (How’s that for helpful?)
Deliverance, rescue
D...

An Inside Look at Launching a Career

Insanity.

That would be the best word to describe what it’s like preparing for the release of my debut novel.

Sure, I’m also in the throes of planning a large fundraising event for our adoption, which is a whole other box of crazy. But still….

Insanity.

Completely fun, substantially stressful insanity.

Filled with highs….

Humbling endorsements from authors I admire


Early reviews that make me smile


Encouraging emails from readers


Hearing that Wildflowers will be sold in select Sam’s Clubs


Working with s...

Wildflowers from Winter: Hope after Divorce

I became acquainted with Shannon Milholland after posting on Suite T, the blog for Southern Writers Magazine. She is an amazing woman with an amazing testimony. I trust God will use it to encourage many hearts today.

God Speaks Through Our Pain

I stared at the ceiling through eyelids thickened by depression. I would get out of bed but only for the sake of my two little girls. The smell of the beach clung to everything but I most assuredly was not on vacation. If anything I needed to take a vac...

Bethany Quinn on Shame

Another Wednesday and I’m back. It seems the universe has a good sense of irony.

Anyway, Katie’s busy with rewrites and since it was kind of cathartic to have my say last week, and since I’d prefer to get to know the people who will be reading my story, I figured I’d give it another whirl.

Back in the beginning, when Katie was trying to get to know me, she asked me this question.

Are you ashamed of your past?

I just sort of stared at her.

First, because she was really starting to remind me of Dr....

Dream Big or Stay Grounded

In 2009, I went to my very first writing conference. I sat in a banquet hall in Denver, surrounded by hundreds of other writers, listening to Debbie Macomber give the key note speech. She talked about dreaming big.

It was 100% inspiring.

Now here I am, three years later, on the cusp of my first ever book release. Wildflowers from Winterhits shelves in twenty-one days (insert hyperventilation here). And most of the time, I find myself playing the part of a giant pendulum.

Swinging back and forth....

Wildflowers from Winter: Hope after Death

It is with great pleasure that I introduce you to a dear friend today. Kristin Reickard and I go the same church, and even attend the same small group. She and her husband were instrumental in our decision to adopt.

God has already used their testimony in big ways. I trust He will continue to do so here today.

A Family is Made

We know firsthand the sorrow, the deep pain of mourning. We also know what it is to have God turn our mourning into the oil of gladness, to be given a crown of beauty inst...

Bethany Quinn on Going Home

If you haven't noticed, Katie likes to get all spiritual on Wednesdays. So when I started looking for an opportunity to introduce myself, to tell my side of the story, I was hoping for a Monday or a Friday. Anything but a Wednesday. Yet here I am and we all know what day it is.

I figure I should take what I can get.

My name is Bethany Quinn. Wildflowers from Winter is my story. And I'm here to tell you that Katie and I haven't exactly seen eye to eye lately.

We used to be fine. We used to...

A Different Take on Branding: Four Doorways

A friend shared this very enlightening article with me the other day and it made all kinds of light bulbs go off in my head.

Basically, the article discussed four doorways, or access points, of fiction:

Story
Character
Setting
Prose

As readers, we gravitate to certain doorways.

There are those who pick up a book, hoping for a page-turner. Story is their flavor of choice.

There are those who pick up a book, hoping to fall in love with the protagonist. Character is their flavor of choice.

There...

Wildflowers from Winter: Hope after Abandonment

It's an honor to have Shelly Brown as a guest today. God has definitely brought wildflowers from her winter. She says her deepest desire is to be used by God to impact the lives of women. 

I'm trusting her story will do that today:

Can you recall the saddest day of your life? I can. It was one month before my sixth birthday.

It was the day I heard the words,  "Kids, your mom's gone." 

As a result of a tragic car accident, my mom had spent the last year of her life confined to bed, with only an...