Katie Ganshert's Blog, page 35

Merry Christmas!

For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. and he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God. Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  -Isaiah 9:6 

Be blessed as you celebrate this Christmas. This baby. This King. This God who put on flesh to rescue His beloved creation. Emmanuel. 

I'm taking a break next week to enjoy the holidays. See you in 2012!

Let's Talk: How do you celebrate Christmas? Tell me about your traditions!  

 

We're Expecting! (With a Twist)

God sets the lonely in families. This is what Psalms 68:6 tells us. And this is the promise Ryan and I are clinging to as we step into the unsettled, slightly unknown waters of adoption.

If you were to ask us six months ago if we'd ever adopt, we'd probably respond with something like, "We love the idea, but it's not for us." It felt like too much work. Too much money. Too much time. Too much risk. Too much unknown.

It's amazing what God can do with two hearts in the course of six months.

Becaus...

Conquering Doubt

If you're a writer, then you're going to face it. At some point, or more like at multiple points, you will battle doubt.

It comes at typical times.

Like when an agent rejects your work. Or your book doesn't make it past pub board. Or you don't final in a contest. Or you get a tough critique or a long revision letter. Or a bad review.

It also comes at not so typical times.

Like four and a half months from the release of your debut novel. And people are starting to say, "I can't wait to read your b...

Love Language

When the hubbers and I got married, the very first book we read together was The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman.

Great stuff. Seriously. Great, great stuff.

Even now, seven and a half years later, when either one of us is feeling unloved or unappreciated, we will still say to each other, "My love tank is feeling empty." And we know what's up. We know how to fill it. 

Basically, there are five popular ways people express love. And often, how we express love is also how we receive it.

The...

The Ultimate Goal

Recently, a friend wrote me an email. She was confused. She wanted to know if the waiting and the rejection could be God's way of telling her to quit writing.

This isn't uncommon. A lot of Christian writers question whether God wants them to quit. I know I've been there. But then I read verses like this:

And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.Colosians 3:17
 And it makes me think God cares a lot less...

Turning Buzz into Sales

Lately, my thoughts have wandered into the murky waters of sales.

The other day, my husband and I were talking (we do that sometimes). He'd just finished reading an ARC of my debut novel, Wildflowers from Winter, and was excited about the story. So he asked a question most writers ask before publication.

How can we get your book out there?

My brilliant answer?

Word of mouth.

I know. Revolutionary thinking.

But seriously. Word of mouth is huge when it comes to generating a buzz.

Because let's say my ...

Wildflowers from Winter Interview

A few weeks ago, my publishing house had a big sales conference. As a fun way to promote my book, we did an interview. With me as interviewee and my husband as interviewer.

The original version had a lot more questions and back and forth banter, but since I am incredibly long-winded and six minutes is entirely too long for a promo video, they narrowed it down to one question.

What are my hopes for my book?

I hope you enjoy!

 

And just for fun, here's an after-the-scenes interview snippet of me...

Video Interview

A few weeks ago, my publishing house had a big sales conference. As a fun way to promote my book, we did an interview. With me as interviewee and my husband as interviewer.

The original version had a lot more questions and back and forth banter, but since I am incredibly long-winded and six minutes is entirely too long for a promo video, they narrowed it down to one question.

What are my hopes for my book?

I hope you enjoy!

 

And just for fun, here's an after-the-scenes interview snippet of me...

The Fast Fall from Faith to Fretting

Check this out.
 When Abraham was just plain old Abram, God promised him a child. The dude's old at this point. Way more likely to be kicking it with great grandpas than first-time fathers.

But God promises him a child and Abram believes.

Abram believed the Lord, and the Lord counted him as righteous because of his faith.-Genesis 15:6
 Although this promise was by all accounts impossible, Abram believes and God declares him righteous because of his faith. 
 Pretty awesome, right?
 Yeah. Until...

ARCs and a Super Duper Early Giveaway

Last Thursday, my doorbell rang at 2:30 p.m. and my first thought was, "Bookmarks!" Actually, that's a lie. My first thought was, "You're going to wake up the kid!"  But once that passed through the system, my mind jumped to bookmarks. 

So I raced downstairs and opened the door and found……two boxes. 

This puzzled me. I was pretty sure we didn't order that many bookmarks. Surely they weren't my ARCs. Those weren't scheduled to arrive for another two weeks. Curious, I picked up a box. And the...