Becky Wade's Blog, page 150

Back to Being Back to School

Some years ago, I attended a college graduation ceremony (remember when they had those in a normal fashion?), and while sitting in the bleachers, I had an epiphany. I’d always said I was going to get a college degree (something I didn’t do at the usual age) “when I had the time.” And sitting in those bleachers I realized, as with anything else, I would never have the time. If this was something I wanted to do, I needed to just do it.

I went home, got on line, and began the registration process. Three months later, I began my first classes. In the terms that followed, I took most classes online, although a few were hybrid. Credits began to add up (takes awhile when you’re a part time student). I loved the experience of being in school again. It really is different at my age than when you’re a teenager. And since I’m going to school just for the love of learning and not because I’m wondering what I’ll do with my future, that puts a different spin on things too.

Then a family crisis reared its head, one that lasted for many months. It was a stressful time. So I set aside my education goals for a while, and let the Lord take me through that season. Oh, how faithful He is!

Well, I’m about to begin school again!! I am back to being back to school! At this point, one of my goals is to be the oldest graduating student in my class, whatever class that ends up being. Trust me, it won’t be difficult to achieve that goal.

I’m looking forward to this fall term. I’m only taking one class, but it’s one I know I’ll love: American history from the end of the Civil War up to the present. I’ll be studying the Gilded Age, the Progressive era, the Great Depression, the World Wars, and the Cold War, among other things.

Wouldn’t it be grand if I discover an idea for a future book during my studies?

~robin

Different Editions, Different Covers (and a giveaway)

I really enjoyed Lynn’s recent post in which she shared pictures of the variety of cover art her books have received. Her post inspired this one!

Here are the several faces of my novella Love in the Details….

L to R: the cover of the initial novella collection, the cover of the e-single, the cover of the upcoming collection (releasing in January)

And here’s the artwork worn by my novella Because of You:

L to R: the initial cover of the collection, the e-single, the cover of the large print edition (complete with an heirloom that looks nothing like the heirloom described in the novellas)

A large print publisher recently purchased the rights to my most recent release, Stay with Me.

L to R: the cover for Stay with Me and the cover for its upcoming large print edition. (Sorry it’s grainy… I couldn’t find an image with better resolution online).

The book of mine that has been given the most covers is My Stubborn Heart.

L to R: the original cover and the cover of the repackaged edition that released last fall

L to R: the Swedish cover (in which they kept everything the same except the photo of the hero). The Polish cover. And the audiobook cover.

Even though some of these covers are favorites and some are not-so-favorites, I’m grateful for each one. The creation of new editions of a story is always a good thing!

Before I go, I wanted to tell you about a giveaway…. I don’t have a book included, but I am one of the authors who started a new group for Christian and sweet romance readers. It’s called A Most Storied Romance and you’ll find the group here on Facebook and here on Instagram. We’d love for you to join us for romantic, bookish fun.

To enter the giveaway, subscribe here before the end of August to receive one email each month filled with updates from the participating authors. We’ll send the winner paperbacks of all the pictured novels except Engaged in Trouble, A Wing and a Prayer & Love Arrives in Pieces, which will arrive in ebook form. Paperbacks are available for US residents only.

Happy weekend, everyone! Which of my covers shown on this post do you like best?

Books to Encourage in Chaotic Times

In our hourse we’re preparing for the kids to return to school and for me to return to face-to-face classes at Purdue. We all came home in mid-March, and I’d say we’re largely ready to see what the fall has in store. This year has been the year of Flexible Chaos, and I’m certain it’s not over yet!

Those who know me well would be quick to confirm that I don’t do chaos well…at all. In fact I prefer having a plan even if I have to flex in the middle of the plan. I’m better at flexing now that I’m no longer in my 20s, but it’s still a struggle for me. This year has made it imperative, but there have been days and weeks as I tried to imagine what this fall would look like, that I had to grab a book and hide on our patio. Anyone relate?

One of the things that has been helpful has been taking hour-long walks most mornings (Monday through Friday) while my kids were at swim team practices. I’d stroll through neighborhoods that have now become as familiar to me as my own and listen to books. It may have been a Lisa Scottoline as I binged her Rosato & Associates series. Or this last week a couple non-fiction histories that have engaged my mind. I’ve also read books to try and fill my mind with truth at a time it’s been easy to focus on all the craziness and uncertainty in the world. Have you read any of these?

I have been challenged to look at God’s nature and character more broadly by Jen Wilken in her books None Like Him and In His Image. In None Like Him she focuses on the attributes of God that are so different from us. It’s been a great reminder in a time that feels so out of control that God is bigger and His ways are unknowable and unsearchable. In odd ways, that’s actually been really encouraging as I work through this book a second time.

I read You Are the Girl for the Job by Jess Connolly right before COVID hit, and it is powerful. It’s one I want to give to every woman who’s wondering if God can use her, whether there’s a call on her life. I listened to the audiobook (such fun as the author narrated it so I could hear her heart in the words), and I’ve dug through the paperback I already owned. Rich with wisdom, honesty, and vulnerability. But even more the pages are FILLED with passion for women to take their place alongside God as He works through them to reach the world. If you’re interested in this one, FaithGateway and the author have teamed up for a free online study that starts on September 7th. I’m excited to do that and go through the truth again. You can register here.

Get Out of Your Head by Jennie Allen isn’t a book that you’ll blow through in a couple days — at least not if you want to eat the meat that’s inside. The book is designed to help us stop our toxic thoughts — who hasn’t had some of those this year? I love how the author is vulnerable in her pursuit of showing us a path away from spiraling thoughts. We have a choice. I have a choice. Such a simple, yet powerful, concept. Then she provides roadmaps for eight sets of thoughts- how to transfer them to choices and regain control of our thoughts.

Last but not least, Rhythms of Renewal by Rebekah Lyons reminded me of Good and Beautiful God or Celebration of Discipline. It’s focus is on how to step out of the craziness of our days and find ways to settle in with God. I was reading this in the early days of our shelter-in-place and it’s a book I could return to again and again. Filled with practical strategies and relevant examples, Rebekah Lyons builds the case that we need rhythm in four areas: Rest, Restore, Connect and Create. When we feel stessed, overwhelmed or anxious, she suggests it’s because we’ve lost balance in one or more of those areas. While those alone aren’t new concepts, she has three questions at the end of each chapter that when applied help us move into application.

The final one, though I don’t have a fun photo of it for you, is Chasing Vines by Beth Moore. Man, that one read my mail and was a lifeline. I listened to it right after Rhythms of Renewal, and Chasing Vines was just what I needed at this time. I listened to the audiobook while walking when I needed to get away from my desk during #shelterinplace. Listening to Beth read her book kept the emotion real and the feeling I was sitting with a friend as she shared wisdom with me. I’ve long loved Beth Moore’s Bible studies, and have led many for the women in our church. But this came at a time I needed to go deep and see the hope of good and hard times. Highly recommend.

What are you reading right now? I’m about done with my second time through None Like Him, so I’m looking for recommendations. Leave a comment and enter below. I’ll randomly select someone to send a copy of None Like Him.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Life in My Office

Hello friends!

As I complete this manuscript and turn it in, I am looking forward to dancing around the house and then crashing for a much-needed nap. Once I ‘recover’ from the long, intense weeks leading up to deadline, I have what I like to term ‘Organize my Life Week.’ It’s ambitious but given I dive into revisions within a week or two of turning in my rough draft, that’s about all I’ve got.

My family can attest to the fact that this is not how my office usually looks. During launch time, which oh so helpfully coincides with the next book’s due date, there are boxes of books everywhere, author swag, mailing packages, and notes from my current work-in-progress.

Here’s a glimpse of my office after massive cleaning and the items that make my work space special to me.

As you can see, I like to be surrounded by things that make me happy. I have two pictures of Positano, Italy to the left of my computer. The bottom one was a painting my mom bought and the top one is a photograph my husband took of me and mom walking under the beautiful trellis of flowers.

On the wall behind my desk is my bulletin board where I keep cards, pictures, funny sayings, etc. It’s been the same for a good number of years, so I plan to freshen it up during this year’s ‘Organize My Life Week.’

I love the typewriter photo holder. It originally came with calendar quote cards, but that year has long passed so now I keep a picture of me and Little Man making the same expression.

I have a very long desk. It used to be our kitchen table and when it came time to replace it, instead of trashing it, I painted it white and made it my desk. My kids grew up doing homeschool around this table.  Many science experiments and art projects went awry on this table as well. But having such a large desk allows me room for gifts.

This is my favorite section. The coaster was a gift from my oldest daughter, the wookie and Groot from my youngest. Whenever I’m getting fed up with my story or my characters are going a completley different direction than I’d planned, I turn Groot on. He dances as the music plays. So fun! And the cards behind the gifts are all encouraging notes from writer friends.

Last but not least is the fan-girl side of me. Yes, writers fan-girl too!

Sue Grafton was kind enough to send me a handful of the cool pens she used for autographing books and was sweet enough to write me a letter of encouragement and enclose a pen inside the shadow box with instructions to break the glass in case of a pen emergency.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this tour of my office!

Reader Question: What is your favorite item in your work space? 

Blessings, 

Dani 

A Busy Year for Books

For most of my 26-year writing career, I’ve written one novel a year, and sometimes a novella in addition to that. But 2020 has been anything but ordinary in every way, so I’m not surprised that it’s been a strange year for book releases too. When January rolls around, I will have five new titles out in the span of a year!

I certainly didn’t write five books this year, so how did that happen?

The first book that released this year is one I wrote for Guideposts three years ago as a work-for-hire project. This means that the publisher paid me one flat sum to write the book. I won’t receive any additional royalties the way I do with my other books. Sometimes a publisher like Guideposts works well ahead of schedule in contracting books, so the book I wrote in 2017 didn’t get published until this year! I’m really pleased with the way The Society of Second Chances turned out!

One of the “new” books isn’t really new at all, but it has a new title, a new book cover, and a new release date. You might wonder why an author or publisher would change a book’s title or put a new cover on it. Contrary to what some think, it truly isn’t to “trick” readers into buying a book they’ve already read! I always note on the back cover, front interior, and on the online sales page that a book is a reissue. But there are several reasons that a title or cover might be changed.

Often new covers are just a way of updating and refreshing a book that’s been around a while. Most often, it’s because the book’s rights have reverted to the author, but they don’t have permission to use the original cover. As for changing titles, a few years ago, I was reissuing an out-of-print book, but in the ensuing years, several newer books had come out with the very same title. I didn’t want readers to accidentally buy the wrong book, so I chose to give my book a new, more unique title (Because of the Rain).

This time around, my reason for changing a title and cover (from Silver Bells to All the Promises) is because my novel was originally published at Christmas time, but the story isn’t only about Christmas, and I wanted readers to be interested in reading it all year long!

My next new book comes out next month, on September 1. My novella, “Making Room at the Inn” is part of a Christmas collection called Love’s Pure Light. I was delighted to be invited to be part of this collection, which follows a unique nativity set through several generations of one family. I had so much fun writing my light-hearted contemporary story that follows three historical novellas by Susanne Dietze, Shannon McNear, and Janine Rosche.

My “big” book this year is the third and final novel in the Chandler Sisters Novels series. Finding Wings tells the story of youngest sister Britt Chandler. It releases on September 22 and I think it just might be my favorite book of the whole series! It’s always a little sad to write “the end” on a series. I’ve spent more than three years writing about these sisters and their charming Airbnb property. I’ll miss them!

Finally, early in January, Raney Day Press will release our first true indie (independent) novel titled Bridges. My husband, Ken, is my publisher and book cover designer for this one. I’ll be telling you more about that process in a later blog post.

Meanwhile, I do hope you’ll consider one of these books the next time you’re looking for something uplifting to read! (You may order or pre-order these books by clicking on the individual covers.)

Inspired by Scripture

This Sunday feature is brought to you by ClashEntertainment.com. You may sign up to receive a beautiful photo with scripture in your inbox each morning or view the verse each day online.

So You’ve Written a Book. Now What?

I recently received an email from Iris, a fifteen old writer, asking me a few questions about publication and writing. Here are a couple of her questions:

“I am fifteen years old and want to be an author someday. I have already finished my first book but I have a few questions. Was your first book rejected by publishers, and if so, how did you deal with it? I read a lot about books being rejected, and I wondered how authors dealt with it. Also, how do you decide which publisher to go to?  I’m pretty lost when it comes to those sorts of things.”

First of all, congrats on finishing a book! That’s a HUGE feat. I’ve met many aspiring writers who never get beyond talking about their book ideas. I’ve met others who might start writing but get stuck or can’t find the motivation to stick with it. So completing book number one is an awesome start!

The next logical question is: Now that I’ve written a book, what do I do next?

Some people might encourage you to pursue publication with that first novel, may even direct you to self-publish.

But I’m not one of those people. I believe that before pursuing publication (whether traditional or indie), a new writer should write at LEAST a second book (if not a third). While writing those next couple of manuscripts, enroll in online writing classes, listen to writing podcasts, read writing how-to books, and/or devour blog posts/articles that teach writing skills. And while learning, put it all into practice in your WIP (work-in-progress).

In the meantime, put your first book to bed. Let it rest. Focus on the new projects and in growing as a writer. Then after completing the second (and possibly third) book, go back and revisit the first book with fresh eyes. Will you find that it needs a lot of work? Oh yeah. Should you scrap it completely? It depends on how much work you’re willing to do in order to rewrite it.

The first book is never wasted material. Even if it’s not publishable, it’s a stepping stone in the education of becoming a skilled writer. Most published authors have a file with early manuscripts that never saw the light of day. But those books were important (essential) in developing writing skills.

I wrote five books before seeking publication with the fifth. The book was rejected and never published. Was I disappointed? Oh, for sure. But I loved story-telling enough to keep persevering—always learning, growing, and writing.

With my sixth book, I sensed I was reaching a point where my writing level was finally maturing. Even then, I sought out critique partners, paid for an edit, and entered writing contests for feedback.

After receiving positive feedback, I began to seek a literary agent who could help me find a publisher. That process was difficult and time-consuming, but necessary, since most traditional publishers don’t accept unsolicited manuscripts (and work primarily through agents).

I faced more rejections from agents. But I persevered again. And kept writing. By the time an agent offered me representation, I’d completed another book, had additional story ideas simmering, and was at a point where I was truly ready for a writing career.

Getting an agent isn’t always a guarantee of publication, but it’s definitely a step closer since they can often open closed doors and get publishing deals you can’t get on your own. And if traditional publication doesn’t work out (or isn’t something you want to pursue), then you can move into the self-publishing process with more confidence, knowing you’ve put in the work to get your books ready for readers.

After over thirty published books, I can honestly say that perseverance truly is the key. Writers need a healthy dose of perseverance to climb the mountain to publication. And once published, you’ll need more perseverance to start the uphill climb of building a writing career (which is a whole other post for a whole other day!).

How about YOU? What advice would you give to someone who’s just finished writing a first book?

The Graduations that Almost Didn’t Happen

2020 is the year of resilience, flexibility, and creative solutions. It also happens to be the year that two of my three children celebrate major milestones. My youngest, Peter, graduated from high school, and my oldest, Bethany, graduated from college. However, they both almost lost their ceremonies.

Peter’s Senior Shirt – Wylie Class of 2020 Quarantine: Senior Skip Day Champions. Ha!

Peter’s ceremony was delayed about three weeks. The venue was moved outdoors to the football stadium and Covid precautions with socially distant seating and temperatures taken at the front gate were put in place. Since it’s Texas, the ceremony was planned at 9:00 pm to escape the heat of the day. What we couldn’t escape was a thunderstorm.We managed to get everyone in the stadium, watched our students march in with all the appropriate pomp and circumstance. We even made it through the first of 4 prerecorded student speeches. Then the lightning hit, followed by torrential rain. Everyone hustled off the field and out of the stadium. After a 30 minute delay they announced that we would try again at 8:00 am in the morning.

We came back the following morning, the kids took their places on the field and we picked up where we left off. Lightning flashed in the distance, but we all ignored it. A light rain shower hit about midway through the C names. We all prayed to get through the alphabet – especially us, since W is at the end. The rain stopped and we made it through! Hooray. He’s officially graduated with diploma in hand.

But there is a bright side to all the drama. Later in life when his kids complain about how long their graduation ceremonies are, he can say, “Ha! You think this ceremony is long. back in my day, my high school graduation ceremony lasted two whole days!” It’s almost as good as walking to school in the snow, uphill both ways.

This Saturday, we will attempt to watch our daughter walk across the stage. We will be outdoors again in the ACU football stadium. Her group gets the early 9:00 am start, with a 7:30 call time. There will be another ceremony in the evening. Texas heat is a killer, folks!

There was much talk about this ceremony not even happening, so I am super thankful that our university president made it a priority. Bethany is graduating with a 4.0 and a double major in math and computer science. Yep, the girl’s a smarty pants. She is headed to Texas A&M later this month to start work on a PhD in computer graphics. Thanks to one of my reader friends, she’s even got a new set of masks to wear when she gets there.

.

Have you had to miss or reschedule any major events this spring/summer due to the pandemic?

C.S. Lewis and The Reading Life

I am a big C.S. Lewis fan. It started with the Narnia books in my childhood. Later in life I found books such as Till We Have Faces and The Screwtape Letters. Then I discovered his truly non-fiction works. This is the not to say I understand all his writing. I don’t. But I try. For me, my pleasure in his work often comes down to the connections he makes between spiritual truth and literature. That I can usually get, although my reading list if no where near on par with his!

With that background, you will now understand why I have enjoyed a leisurely read through The Reading Life: The Joy of Seeing New Worlds Through Others’ Eyes. This book, published last year, compiles some of C.S. Lewis’s thoughts on reading from his books and his letters. So I thought I would share with you a few of the quotes I most enjoyed.

I think my reading life most identified with the final quote. That is exactly how I feel when I don’t get unadulterated reading time–impoverished! In fact, my husband and I have a couple of get-aways planned this month and what are we most looking forward to? Uninterrupted reading time–and talking to each other about what we’ve read!

Is there one of these quotes that most resonates with you and your reading life?

Mom’s etagere . . . or étagère, if you prefer

About a month or so ago I shared a picture of my mom’s etagere and told you I was planning on chalk painting it. Well, I finally did!

I love having Mom’s etagere. It’s one of two, actually—my brother and sister-in-law have its twin. But the brown stain didn’t go as well with my current decor, so . . . enter chalk paint!

Here’s a BEFORE picture . . .

And some AFTERS . . .

I chose Annie Sloan’s Duck Egg Blue (a color I’ve long loved) then used her dark wax that really deepens the color and brings out the distressing in the wood.

Can you see the color difference in the image below? The left side is before the dark wax has been applied (a lighter blue/teal), and the right side is after (a deeper teal).

I love the distressing process, which you do after you paint. Distressing really brings out the character of the piece.



Someone asked me if I was going to change out the hardware. But I decided not to. Because it’s the handle mom used, so I just painted over it then distressed it.