Becky Wade's Blog, page 57

Three Lucky Dresses

I don’t often have reasons to wear fancy dresses. As a writer, I work from home and my daily “uniform” is comprised of yoga pants and exercise tops. His Highness and I are much more likely to spend Saturday night on a date at a local restaurant than attending a formal event. That said, I do love dressing in fancy dresses now and then. Author awards galas have given me my best opportunity to do that in the eleven years since my first novel released.

Today, I’m telling the tale of the three fancy dresses I’ve worn twice. Each time, the second wearing turned out to be wonderfully lucky. . . .

L to R: My aunt Cathy, my aunt Carole, me, my dad, my mom, my sister Kristen

The beaded silver dress I’m wearing in the above photo is my absolute favorite of all the fancy dresses I’ve ever purchased. This picture was taken in July of 2016 when I wore it to a RITA Awards gala when A Love Like Ours was a finalist. That event was held in San Diego and several members of my family who live in southern California treated me to a fabulous dinner out, then attended the awards ceremony with me. I have terrific memories of that night despite the fact that A Love Like Ours didn’t win.

In November of 2017, I was packing for a trip to the Christy Awards in Nashville. The beaded silver dress sparkled from where it hung in my closet, seeming to whisper, “Wear me again, wear me again“. I adored the dress so much that I decided to give it a second outing instead of heading to the outlet mall to shop for something new.

L to R: Jocelyn Green, me, Tammy Alexander

Her One and Only won a Christy Award! That result caused the dress to smugly whisper, “I told you to wear me and look what happened.”

I was suddenly motivated to re-wear other dresses from the past! I’d really enjoyed the below navy dress with the built-in strands of necklaces when I wore it to the RITA Awards in Atlanta in July of 2013. My Stubborn Heart was nominated and didn’t win on that occasion. But once again, I had lots of family support and was blessed with a great night.

L to R: my sister Carrie and me

I gave the navy dress another whirl in San Antonio in September of 2019 for the Carol Awards. None of my books were nominated but my friend Courtney Walsh won that night for her novel, Just Let Go.

L to R: Katie Ganshert, Courtney Walsh, me

The repeat wearings were feeling luckier and luckier!

I first wore the stretchy dark teal dress (the most comfortable of all my fancy dresses) pictured below in August of 2016 in Nashville for the Carol Awards. I didn’t have a book nominated that night but my friend Katie Ganshert was up for an award and ended up taking home the trophy for The Art of Losing Yourself. The teal dress was lucky right out of the gate!

L to R: Katie Ganshert, Mesu Andrews, me

When I was preparing for a trip to St. Louis late last month for the Carol Awards, I washed the dress (yep, it’s the type of fabric that can go through washer and dryer cycles) and into my suitcase it went.

L to R: Kristy Cambron and me

Turn to Me won a Carol Award!

The moral of this story: RE-WEAR YOUR FANCY DRESSES BECAUSE WONDERFUL THINGS MIGHT HAPPEN.

Do you have a “lucky” article of clothing? Or a fancy dress you’ve worn for multiple special moments?

Fun with Character Names

One of my favorite things about being an author is getting to select the names of my characters. I only had three babies of my own, but there are so many other wonderful names out there to choose from! Besides, I love to play with names. Fit their meaning to my characters or even create plays on words.

For example, my teacher heroine in Head in the Clouds is Adealide Proctor – Proctor being a synonym for teacher. Or in Gift of the Heart, my Christmas story based on the biblical account of Ruth, my hero was named Beauregard Azlin. Shorten his first name to Bo, add Azlin, and you have [BoAz]lin. In A Texas Christmas Carol, I paid homage to the original Dickens tale when it came to naming my characters. The hero is Evan Beazer, reminiscent of Ebenezer. Cheerful heroine Felicity Wiggins is inspired by the jolly Fezziwig. There is an adorable beagle named Humbug and a loyal horse named Fred. Mrs. Bell keeps house for our hero, giving a shout-out to Scrooge’s youthful sweetheart.

To see more of the fun I have with character names, visit the .

My upcoming release is a fun, romantic short story inspired by The Twelve Days of Christmas. I was in a very Christmassy frame of mind when I wrote this story, so I decided to take all my characters names from biblical people tied to the nativity story.

I borrowed the hero and heroine’s names–Anna and Simeon–from the two elderly prophets who proclaimed Christ’s messiahship in the temple courts when Jesus was presented for purification. Simeon’s family name is Shepherd in honor of Jesus’s first visitors. There are also three kings. Anna’s surname is King, and she is an only child living with her two parents.

Anna and Simeon

Then there is Grandpa Joseph and Simeon’s sister Mary. Gabriel makes an appearance and I give a brief nod to the other heavenly host with the mention of the dearly departed Grandma Angelina. Simeon’s mother Elizabeth references the mother of John the Baptist, and Anna’s father David references the City of David, where Jesus was born. And Herald Fielder? Well, the herald was harked in the fields to the shepherds, so even our unsuitable suitor was part of the fun.

And of course, I had to set the story in Bethlehem, TX. Yes, there really is such a place. Texas has just about everything, after all. In fact, more than one community has used this name through the years. The one I based my story on is a small farming community in Upshur County. I made my fictional town a little larger than the settlement that existed there in the 1850’s. There’s not much there now other than a church and a cemetery, but I like to imagine that the spirit of Christmas is alive and well in that place.

My True Love Gave to Me is now available for preorder. This is a short story, coming in at under 10,000, but it might be just the right size for a busy holiday season.

Click here to preorder.

The Twelve Days of Christmas get a romantic Texas twist!

Anna King has pledged her heart to Simeon Shepherd, but her father refuses to grant her hand to the young farmer. Simeon determines to be patient and earn David King’s respect over time with hard work and evidence of his ability to provide. However, when a wealthy new suitor arrives in Bethlehem, Texas to woo Anna with her father’s support, patience is no longer an option. Simeon has twelve days before Christmas to best his rival and prove once and for all that he is Anna’s true love.

Do you pay much attention to character names when reading a story?
Can a name enhance or detract from the reading experience?

The Details of the Story

Hey y’all! D’Ann here. My husband and I are on a much-needed vacation. I’ll tell you more about it in October. Today I’d love to introduce you to my dear friend Carrie Stephens. I’m so looking forward to reading this book she wrote with her husband.

Now here’s Carrie:

Two years ago, I convinced my husband to write a book with me based on a sermon series he preached seven years ago. Morgan and I have worked in ministry for over twenty years. I’ve heard him preach a few hundred or so sermons but that particular series about friendship and the book of Ruth has lived in my head rent-free ever since. The stories of Ruth, Naomi, and Boaz offer enormous hope that God redeems difficult circumstances through friendships shared by people from different backgrounds, generations, and perspectives. 

And is it just me? Or do we all need more hope and richer friendships these days?

Morgan, who had never written a book before but had watched me write two, agreed to go for it. A married couple writing a book together? What could go wrong?

(Cue the slightly foreboding music and a near-comical slideshow of our adorable naïveté.)

The first thing that could go wrong was my husband, who had never written a book, confidently assuring the publisher that eleven weeks provided enough time to begin and finish a manuscript in addition to his full-time job as a pastor of a growing church. Morgan is a classic over-achiever, which means I often sprint to keep his pace. But this deadline even crushed him.

As a bonus, during the first three weeks of keeping this impossible writing pace, you and your husband could argue incessantly about whether or not a particular paragraph makes any sense whatsoever. (Dear reader, please note the paragraph did not make sense.)

Then right there, in the middle of this blissful life lesson about how married people should not write books together, all your research, prayer, and long hours spent discussing the book would reveal details you missed for the last three or four decades.

Your heart would grow tender toward Orpah, whose choice to return to Moab suddenly seemed more logical than Ruth’s decision to become a foreigner in a land where she would probably live in poverty as an outsider. You would weep for Orpah, for all the times you heard her name brushed aside as faithless. You would wonder what could have happened to her if she, too, had clung to Naomi. You would lie in bed at night, tenderly imagining Orpah among your own lost friends, and pray God would help all of you find your way through. 

Your respect for Ruth would swell when you imagined her graciously allowing Naomi to tell all her old Bethlehem friends about her bitterness. When Naomi declared she had returned home with nothing, you would want to insert yourself into the scene and defend Ruth as an extraordinary gift in Naomi’s life. But on further reflection, you’d realize God had that piece of the story covered, and you’d realize God has your offenses and injustices covered, too. 

Thankfully, your opinion of Naomi would improve when she wisely intuited Boaz’s intentions toward Ruth. Despite being undone by vulnerable circumstances, Naomi didn’t give up hope of redemption. Her desire to find rest for Ruth in this weary world changed their lives forever.

In Boaz, you marvel at the empathy and generosity of this man shaped by his foreign, non-Jewish mother. You will want to take a time machine and visit him with the news that even though he gave up the right to give Obed his family name, God would forever link Boaz’s name to his own Son’s name. 

By the time you and your husband finished your book about how God wove these friends from different generations, ethnicities, cultures, and socioeconomic levels into his plan to carry the world home to himself, you would be a different person.

In the end, the detail of the story that matters most is that even though you and your best friend have finished writing a book together, God hasn’t finished the final happy ending yet. Ruth’s story proves that all the paragraphs that don’t make sense will sort themselves out someday. 

And the most important thing we can do is take a long walk, clinging to one another, as we watch for God to save the day.

Carrie Stephens is the author of Holy Guacamole: A Glorious Discovery of your Undeniable Worth (Shiloh, February 2020), Jesus, Love, & Tacos: A Spicy Take on Lordship, Community, and Mission (Leafwood, October 2022), and co-author of Friendship Can Save the World: The Book of Ruth and the Power of Diverse Community (Leafwood, September 2023). Carrie and her husband, Morgan, live in Austin, Texas, and have four incredible kids. After serving as campus ministers for ten years at the University of Texas, Carrie and Morgan have led Mosaic Church, a richly diverse community of faith in Austin, since 2009. They are passionate about reaching lives and transforming cities through church planting, campus ministry, and missional work. You can read more of Carrie’s writing at carriestephensauthor.com.

Trips near and far

Do you love the beach? I do, but not for laying out and baking. God did not gift me with the skin tone for that. Can you say burn and peel?

But this past weekend, my daughter Kels and daughter-in-law Kellie—and LEO!—went to the beach. Kellie has skin that turns a deep golden brown (bless her!), so she while she laid out, Kels, Leo, and I joined her under a cabana one day, then the three of us took off and went walking and people watching (and frozen coffee drinkin’) the rest of the time.

I loved every minute.

It was a sweet time with my daughters and grandson, and I found myself counting my blessings so many times.

Here’s a quick vignette Kels put together from the trip (I grabbed it—with her permission—from her social media), and I’ve added a song, Goodness of God, that Kellie actually recorded.

Kellie routinely leads worship, and she and her twin sister Kristen have been singing together for years. Check out their music on iTunes.

We had wonderful girl/LEO time!

However, now I’m back to “butt in chair” time, working hard to finish my next book before Joe and I head to Israel in late October. More on that next book (and the trip) soon! But first…

I am SO PUMPED to tell you about another new book just about to release from Harvest House…

I had the pleasure of reading REDISCOVERING ISRAEL for endorsement and believe me, am I ever endorsing it! I cannot recommend it highly enough!

“If you’ve ever wanted to go to Israel—or want to go again—Rediscovering Israel will transport you there. Seeing Israel through Middle Eastern eyes, through the cultural lens of Jesus’ world and His life, is absolutely transformative. I traveled to Israel with Kristi in 2019, and traveled again with her while reading this book. The pictures, descriptions, and details place you right there in the Land. People say that, after a pilgrimage to Israel, you never read the Bible in the same way again, and they’re right. But reading this book did that for me too. It brought the Living Word of God even more alive, and I’m forever grateful.”

~ Tamera Alexander, USA Today bestselling author of A Million Little Choices

Please check out Rediscovering Israel. You. Will. Be. INCREDIBLY. Blessed!

So tell me…

Did you take a beach trip this year? Or another summer trip, by chance? And did you read a book on that trip that you’d love to recommend? If yes, please do!

Much love from Nashville,

Tammy

Quantum Physics and God

I once did some reading/research for a dissertation on near-death experiences. The book I was reading was not a Christian book–far from it. (In fact, the book routinely blames “religion” for many of the world’s “wrong” ideas.) 

BUT–in a section on physics and consciousness, the author came to a conclusion that pointed directly to God, and I practically whooped in delight. 

Let me see if I can explain all this in a manner simple enough for ME to understand it (not being a physicist at ALL): 

Quantum mechanics was developed early in the twentieth century to explain the seemingly random behavior of atoms. The rules of classical physics didn’t apply to atoms, so scientists set out to understand why atoms were so unpredictable. Quote: “Trying to understand what quantum mechanics means, however, brings us face-to-face with some of the most baffling mysteries ever confronted, and must profoundly change our world view.” (Chris Carter, Science and the Near-Death Experience, p. 39). 

Probability reigns supreme in quantum mechanics. And subatomic particles do not have definite properties for certain attributes such as position, momentum, or direction of spin until they are measured. It’s not that those qualities are unknown, it’s that they do not exist in any definite state until they are measured. They behave as waves when not observed, but as particles in a definite location when observed. The position of the atom is thus an “observer-created reality. Its position will also be the same for all subsequent observers, so it is a reality that depends on an initial observation only.” 

Until observation, the atom is in a “superposition state.” If you fired the atom toward two boxes, A and B, the box would simultaneously be in both box A and B until you looked to see where it was. Until you looked, you could not say it was IN either box, you could only speak of probabilities that it would be found in one location or the other. But the electron does not have a definite location until it is observed. 

Still with me? Okay, now it really gets wild. The observer can be human (conscious being) or a machine (like a Geiger counter). But the machine is a physical instrument and subject to the rules of quantum mechanics, so it, too enters into a superposition state along with the atom. In other words, the results are suspended, too . . . as it awaits being observed by a conscious being. 

(Anyone else thinking of the old ‘if a tree falls in the woods and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?’ This makes me wonder . . .).

Stay with me. This is GOOD. It’s GOD.

Physicist Von Neumann “argued that the entire physical world is quantum mechanical, so the process that collapses the wave functions into actual facts cannot be a physical process; instead, the intervention of something from outside of physics is required. Something nonphysical, not subject to the laws of quantum mechanics, must account for the collapse of the wave function: the only nonphysical entity in the observation process that von Neumann could think of was the consciousness of the observer. He reluctantly concluded that this outside entity had to be consciousness and that prior to observation, even measuring instruments interacting with a quantum system must exist in an indefinite state.” 

Whoa. Do you grasp what he’s saying? In the creation of this material world, something other than physical processes had to exist. 

I then read of experiments where scientists tried to get observers to use the power of their minds to put the fired electrons into one box or the other. He recorded two signals (zeros and ones) from a binary random event generator simultaneously on two cassette tapes, without anyone listening to (observing) the signals or knowing the output of the REG. One tape was kept in a secure location; the other was given to a human subject with the instruction to produce more zeros than ones. A 50 percent hit rate would have been expected by chance; the subject scored 51, but the odds of him scoring that were beyond a trillion to one. Furthermore, when they looked at the locked-away tape, they found it identical . . . unless someone else had examined it first. 

Which leads physicists to this question: how could atoms form themselves into rivers and lakes and trees if no one was around to observe them? 

“The assumption we are considering appears even more weird when we realize that throughout much of the universe, and indeed throughout all of it in early times, there were presumably no conscious observers . . . even worse are the problems we meet if we accept the modern ideas on the early universe in which quantum decays . . . were necessary in order to obtain the conditions in which conscious observers could exist. Who, or what, did the observations necessary to create the observers?” 

I have an answer: “And God SAW . . . that it was good.” 

I love this: the so-called quantum Zeno effect–physicists have found that if they continuously observe an unstable particle in its original state, it will never decay. That is, physicists can ‘freeze’ the decay of the unstable system by measuring it frequently enough in its initial state.” (Carter, p. 59). 

In other words, simply by “observing” us, God sustains us. And what does this say about eternity? A lot! 

Brings something to my mind: “In him we live and move and have our being.” 

God sees us . . . and our world . . . and He is the sustainer of everything. 

I know practically nothing about physics, but have delighted in seeing how God has underwritten the universe, and how all truth is His truth, and all mystery is His plan. 

~~Angie 

Inspired by Scripture

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

Book Buyer Survey

Dear Book Lovers, I would dearly love your answers (and I suspect I may not be the only author who is interested in your feedback).

Note: I’d already written this post when I read Cara’s from yesterday where she mentioned what happened to her with Amazon. I saw several comments that actually addressed some of what I have said herein. I would really love to hear more from all you readers!

One of the hot topics of late is that more and more writers are selling their ebooks (and/or paperbacks and/or audiobooks) directly to readers via stores on their websites. Sometimes readers are able to buy the books a week or two before the books launch on Amazon or B&N, etc. This gives them an early peek at their favorite authors’ books. Most often, the ebooks sold on an author website are priced lower than they are priced on the retail stores which means savings for readers, too.

The ebooks are delivered through a service such as BookFunnel, and after purchase, the buyer gets a link so they can then select what reading device they use (Kindle, Nook, iPad, etc.) and the right digital version of the book is downloaded to their device. I have downloaded many ebooks to my Kindle using BookFunnel, and I deliver the short story my newsletter subscribers receive for free via that service as well. I find it easy to use, although some readers might struggle with the tech aspects.

There are many reasons some authors are going this route. The author earns more, of course, despite the expense of having to maintain an online store. There isn’t the risk of having “all your eggs in one basket.” The author is able to offer bonuses to their faithful fans because they now know who they are. Those are just a few reasons.

I know Inspired by Life and Fiction readers love books, and I suspect they buy quite a few of them. 

So I would love to know: Are you taking advantage of the deals authors can offer by selling via their own stores on their websites? I don’t mean links that take you to regular retail stores. I mean purchasing books directly from the author. If so, what do you like about the experience? Would you recommend it to other readers?

If you want, feel free to answer those three questions in the comments below. If you would rather not be public about it, you can answer the same three question on a Google Form I set up by clicking the button below.

Answer quick survey

I really appreciate you taking the time to answer. Publishing is an interesting and ever changing business, and knowledge makes a huge difference.

~robin

When Amazon throws you lemons…& Giveaway

Over the weekend Amazon threw me a whole orchard of lemons.

What happened?

My publishing account closed and all of my indie and republished books were removed and my earned payments kept.

It was a writer’s worst nightmare, and sometime I’ll share the full story because it’s terrifying and why I’ve always been concerned about how big and powerful the company has become. The good news is it’s been resolved and my books are back up. The bad news is it could happen again at any point in time because I don’t know why it happend the first time.

But what I really want to focus on today is the good.

On September 18th I have a book releasing. Yay!

Next week  We Three Kings  releases, and I’m so excited about this novel.

With this book I return to two of my passions – World War II and the Monuments Men. I also got to write the novella set in one of my favorite countries, Germany. This Christmas novella collection will get you in the mood for the holiday season with three novellas from three award-winning authors. It was a delight to write with my friends Crystal Caudill and Angela Strong. I love the books both of them write, so it was fun to get to write with them and I truly believe you’ll enjoy all of our novellas. Crystal’s is set in the 1880s, mine is in 1945, and Angela’s is contemporary. All revolve around one family across the generations and all point to the true light of Christmas. 

This whole fiasco with Amazon has emphasized that where you buy my books matters. Need ideas on where to buy? Can I ask that you consider purchasing somewhere other than Amazon? I personally buy most of my preorders from  Baker Book House  and  Christian Book Distributors . I also love  Indie Bound  and  Barnes & Noble . Links for each of those are below – just click on the word or click on the link above. Thank you for believing in me and supporting my books.

That truly kept me going this week when I was tempted to stop writing. Well you and my next contracted deadline kept me going!

In celebration, I’m hosting a fun giveaway. The ornament on the cover is one I bought in Berlin a couple years ago. Fortunately for y’all, I bought extras. To celebrate the release of this collection, I’m giving away a copy plus one of the wood ornaments. Use the form below to enter. No purchase is necessary to participate. US only to receive an autographed paper copy and ornament, but I will gladly gift an ebook to an international winner. Use the form below to enter (If the form doesn’t show up, click on the link to go to the form). Thank you so much for your support of the books.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

When Authors Gather

Hi friends and Happy Wednesday! 

I just returned from a fabulous conference. The C3 CON—Creatures, Crime and Creativity. It’s such a fun mix of authors from any and every genre. However, I noticed the majority were predominately crime fiction authors spread across various sub-genres including romantic suspense. I was part of the media relations team this year, which gave me a chance to get to know the staff, volunteers, and many authors before the conference kicked off. It was great going in with knowing so many people and getting to chat with them on a personal level. 

I had the privilege to moderate a super fun panel on Tag Lines—those one or two sentences that hook your reader. Just enough to fill them with curiosity. I learned so much from the panelists. Next, I spoke on a romantic suspense panel, which was lots of fun as everyone who sat on the panel wrote a little differently—some were heavy on romance, while others were more mystery-focused. It was great to see all the variations of crime fiction out there—everything from hardboiled procedurals to cozy mysteries. We even harkened back to some of the queens of the genre. 

As always, I volunteered. I timed workshops so I got to hold up a red STOP sign when it was over. I liked the control. LOL! I was also a “floater,” so I helped wherever it was needed. Volunteering is such a wonderful way to get to know the conference staff as well as the venue hosts and attendees. I love getting to know new people. And, of course, seeing old friends. I even got to meet one of the writers I mentor in person there. It was wonderful getting to sit down and enjoy a meal with him. 

It was a special year for the conference, which meets here in Maryland. It was the 10th anniversary and this gorgeous cake was as delicious as it was beautiful. 

To celebrate its 10th year and the newly formed media relations team, C3 CON went through a branding overhaul. My daughter may or may not have handled the rebranding I might be biased, but I think she did a fabulous job!  

Before

After

Being on the smaller size of writing conferences allows you to not feel lost in a crowd.  You have many opportunities for genuine, in-depth conversations with one another. Not to mention fabulous panels! My favorite was on Realism. It featured a doctor, a retired homicide detective from here in Baltimore, and a retired police officer. It was such an interesting panel and I learned so much. I even got to feel the armored chest vest they wear. It was heavy, not to mention the rest of their other gear. I was impressed with all the three experts shared. 

My highlight of the conference was meeting Jefferey Deaver. I’ve been a longtime fan and he was such a wonderful man to get to know a little bit better. 

And, shockingly, I brought home a good number of books. Here are just a few: 

Reader Question: 

What was the last writing conference or reader retreat you attended? 

Blessings, 

Dani

Recommended New & Recent Releases

Looking for a new book to read? I recently read and endorsed these three novels, and today I simply want to recommend them to you!

Children of the Shadows by Erica Vetsch

A multilayered Regency-era mystery with unexpected twists, appealing characters, sweetly satisfying romance, and an ending worth waiting for!”

Erica’s new book releases soon (October 10, 2023) but it’s available for pre-order now.

Carrie Turansky’s new split-time novel releases soon as well (September 26, 2023). And what a beautiful cover it has!

Filled with romance, family secrets, and forgiveness, Carrie Turansky’s dual-time novel, The Legacy of Longdale Manor, will stir your faith—and your desire to visit England’s Lake District!”

The Legacy of Longdale Manor by Carrie Turansky

P.S. The lovely pink rose tea cup and spoon were a gift from a member of a favorite book club.

Friend Michelle Griep’s latest novel released on June 1, 2023, and it would make a fantastic, atmospheric read for misty Autumn evenings. Plus, although part of a series, it can be read as a stand-alone.

Man of Shadow & Mist (Of Monsters and Men #2) by Michelle Griep

Near to the atmospheric ruins of Whitby Abbey, spirited librarian Rosa Edwards meets an unexpected hero—the masculine and mysterious Sir James Morgan—who guards his heart as carefully as the secrets darkening his soul. As the two are drawn together, local superstitions and enemies conspire to keep them apart. Filled with vivid writing, romance, danger, and faith, this novel is not to be missed.”

I hope one of these novels appeals to you. Let me know in the comments if you have (or plan to) read any of these three. And either way, what you are currently reading? I’d love to hear your book recommendations as well!