Katie Ganshert's Blog, page 31

The Hunger Games and Sacrifice

When I saw this trailer for the first time, I got all emotional. 

It struck a major chord.

Especially that scene. The one where Prim's name is picked.

All of a sudden, she's destined to go to the arena and fight to the death. 

And we see this little girl – this skinny little bit of a girl – and we know she doesn't stand a chance. She's not strong enough. She's going to die.

Then comes that emotionally charged moment.

When Katniss, Prim's older sister, screams, "I volunteer!"

You see, somebody has...

When You Find Yourself on a Best Seller List

Writers know all about reality. 
 We only have to be online for two seconds before we read an article or see a tweet espousing the roadblocks that lay before us. 
 We know how insanely difficult it is to get an agent. Once we get an agent, we discover how many steps we have to pass through in order to get a book contract. Once we have the contract, we find out crazy things. Like the average book only sells a thousand copies and most authors don't earn out their advance and forget about making...

Creating Buzz and Spreading Hope

I'm so excited and I just can't hide it.

Because I have an idea that will hopefully:

Bring God glory
Bless others
Create buzz 
If you read my post this past Monday about keeping things simple, then you can understand why this makes me so excited.
 Inception
 In early February, I published a post titled Beauty from Pain and I asked readers to share a "beauty from pain" story in their life. To say the comments left me encouraged and uplifted would be a giant understatement.

There is something...

All For Glory

God is passionate for His glory.

Scripture tells us that He is zealous for his holy name. (Ezk 39:25) 

I have a confession.

This used to make me a little uncomfortable.

Because when it comes to us, seeking our own glory, being intensely interested in our own fame and honor, is incredibly self-serving. We usually call these people egomaniacs or narcissists. 

I was using the motivations of the human heart to understand God and it wasn't working. 

But then, one Sunday morning, our worship arts pastor ...

KISS: Keep It Simple, Silly

I have such a tendency to over complicate things.

My book releases in a little over a month. A lifelong dream is coming to fruition before my eyes.

Yet I find myself getting overwhelmed with thoughts of sales and buzz and reviews and will my readers like my second book as much as the first and what can I do, what can I do, what can I do!?

It's right about then, when I get all frazzled, that I take a deep breath and remind myself to KISS.

To revisit a very simple question.

Why am I doing this?

Yes, ...

Love and Marriage

Love and marriage. They go together like a horse and carriage…

That song is totally going to be stuck in my head now. 

Oi.

But seriously…

Marriage and love.

Love and marriage.

It's not a simple thing, is it?

You live with a person long enough and it becomes incredibly easy to take that person for granted.

I promise you, I'm guilty.

Here I am, a romance author, and yet sometimes I feel like I could use a lesson in romance. How's that for ironic?

I just finished reading Far from Here by Nicole Baart and ...

Ugly Me and My Personal Crack

Jeff Goins says we shouldn't be afraid to write ugly.

His words resonate. Probably because in this crazy, beautiful online community it is so blasted easy to put up fronts. To over-censor. I know I'm guilty. Because writing our ugly side, sharing it with the world. That's a scary thing. 

But it's also liberating. 

So here we go….

"Would it be accurate to say you seek attention and approval?"

Um.

The question was asked by my social worker. We were going over the results of my psychological...

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...

Book Marketing 101

A month and a half until my debut novel hits the shelves and my mind has shifted into marketing mode.

Buzz is on the brain. 

In a post titled The Birds and the Bees of Marketing, popular blogger Jody Hedlund defined buzz as the chatter, the excitement, the hype that surrounds our book.

So how can I generate this buzz? 

It's a question I've been asking myself a lot lately. 

Thankfully, I don't have to carry the marketing load on my own. Not even close. I happen to have the best in-house marketer...

Spring is Springing

Spring is in the air! 

This week is spring break for many of the schools in my area. No Bible study on Tuesday. No small group on Tuesday night. No youth group on Wednesday night. No preschool for my little man, B. The weather is great. And I'm in the middle of some very intense rewrites.

Which means….

I'm taking a break to enjoy my son, enjoy the weather, and enjoy these rewrites (err….)

I will see you on Monday, March 19th. Giveaways for my debut novel will commence! 

I've been so humbled and...