Becky Wade's Blog, page 77

A “Something Old, Something New” Writing Update

Today on the blog, I’m answering two great questions I’ve been asked over the past few days since revealing information about my upcoming release. 1) Are you still writing Christian romance? 2) Are you self-publishing Memory Lane?

If you’ve been following the blog, then you know I don’t typically recycle information here. I hope you’ll indulge me this time and allow me blog here the answers I first posted on Facebook. The community at Inspired by Life has been wonderful to me! I’m not sure how many of you see my Facebook posts and this information was information I wanted to share with you.

My answer to question 1: Yes, I’m still writing Christian romance. The truth is that I could probably sell more books if I switched to sweet contemporary romance because there are simply more people reading that genre. Sweet romances have such a valid spot in the fiction landscape. And, happily, there are already plenty of Christian authors writing in that space. I’m grateful for them because I thoroughly enjoy reading their books! But I, personally, have not felt the Lord leading me in that direction.

When I started writing my first Christian romance, My Stubborn Heart, I knew before I’d finished the first page that I’d found my niche. I recognized it as clearly as I’ve recognized anything. It was a goosebump moment for me. At that point in time I’d already spent years writing, succeeding, failing, burning-out… After all that, I’d at last found my very, very favorite thing to write. The discovery of this genre was a gift God gave me and I haven’t swerved from it since. I still love it the best.

My family, back when I started writing My Stubborn Heart. Our third child hadn’t even been born!

The scenes in my books when God shows His love for my imperfect characters are the scenes that make me cry and that, in my opinion, pack the most power. So. Even though Memory Lane’s cover looks different than my previous covers, the story inside is exactly the type of story you’ve come to expect from me.

My family now. Our two oldest children are in college. SO many things have changed since I started writing My Stubborn Heart. But one thing hasn’t. I’m still writing Christian romance.

My answer to question 2: Yes, I’m publishing this next series myself. I felt a tug to switch things up and see how this suits my creativity, my writing goals, my family life, my personality. I’m sure you’ve found in your own life that change is both exhilarating and scary. That’s how this has been for me so far. But I’m very glad I’m giving it a try. I have peace about it because I’m trusting God to do with this whatever He wills.

The fact that I’m indie-publishing the Sons of Scandal series explains why I’m running a Kickstarter project aimed at creating Memory Lane’s audiobook. Which, by the way, HIT ITS FUNDING GOAL just four days into the 10-day-long lifespan of the project. I have the best readers! Thank you! [By the way, there’s still time to check out my Kickstarter and/or purchase one of the rewards I’m offering if you’d like to do so.]

Me with a computer displaying my Kickstarter project. I’m proud of it because this platform was new to me. It took quite a bit of research and time to set it up!

The indie-publishing route also explains why book 1 is releasing earlier than my usual May release date. Once Memory Lane was done, I was free to go ahead and make it available. Right now, you can only pre-order copies of the novel on Kickstarter. But in less than a week–when the Kickstarter closes–it will be available for pre-order at all the usual places. Memory Lane will be my Valentine’s Day gift to you!

I truly appreciate the support you’ve given to my books all these years. Do you have any questions for me, readers? I’d be more than glad to answer them!

New Mercies

Hi friends, 

Happy Wednesday. Today I have the honor of fellow author and friend, Toni Shiloh, guest posting and it’s a lovely one. Enjoy! 

As the year comes to an end, I’ve been in a reflective mood. This morning I was taking time to talk to God and think about His “new mercies.” Lamentations 3:22-23 tells us, “It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness” (KJV).

Isn’t that why many of us anticipate the new year? We’re hoping for another chance to complete goals we may not have accomplished in the previous year. We hope that something great will come our way in the new year, especially if we went through many trials in the past.

A new year brings new mercies and reminds us of God’s goodness.

It’s also a reason why I love to read Christian fiction. We get to see characters discover God’s new mercies. Those dreams they thought dead, come to life. The redemptive arc of a sinner turned believer, or that couple finding their way to one another after a trying conflict. All of it points to God’s new mercies.

You see it when Matt Jareau discovers love once more. Not just the romantic kind but the love of a father. (And I will never not talk about My Stubborn Heart by Becky Wade when given a chance.)

We all see the beauty of redemption in The Masterpiece by Francine Rivers in the story of Roman Velasco. Such a beautiful story that reflects parts of our own journey in discovering God’s goodness.

Fiction has a way of introducing a subject that can be difficult to handle in reality but gives us a new and much-needed perspective to walk this faith life. It’s something I try to incorporate in my own stories. Not just for the reader who may pick up one of my books, but because, I too, need to learn the lessons God has for me.

He teaches with grace, kindness, love, and I pray that all my stories are filled with the same ingredients.

What are the elements that call to you in your favorite Christian fiction stories? What new mercies are riddled throughout them? 

I’m giving away one paperback copy of Her Christmas Redemption to one random commenter. Comment by 1/18/23 11:59pm EDT and a random winner will be picked on 1/20/23. (Please have a US mailing address only. If an international entrant, I can only supply an e-book copy instead of a paperback one.)

About

New Year, New Title

Hello friends! I hope 2023 is off to a good start for you so far. I have barely left my house except for church this last week, daily working into the wee hours to hit my January deadline. Yesterday, I turned in Book Two in my new series, On Devonshire Shores. (Book One, The Sisters of Sea View, came out in December.) I know, I know, I should have worked harder over previous weeks to avoid the crunch. But during those previous weeks there was that important little holiday called Christmas and all the accompanying busyness. At any rate, I’m grateful the manuscript is with my editors now and I have a few weeks until they return it with feedback and revision ideas.

For today, I want to share with you the title of this new book (no cover yet). Book Two is called, A Winter by the Sea. And it is scheduled to release in early December of this year.

(From the document’s title page)

The novel takes place primarily over the winter of 1819-1820 in Sidmouth, England. Snow is rare in the south of England, but they had plenty that year, and actually this year as well. It’s been interesting writing a novel set in a seaside town in cold, snowy weather. Living in the frozen North as I do (Minnesota USA) it’s fairly easy to image. Here are a few photos of Sidmouth decked with snow:

Sidmouth in Winter

More details to come, but that’s all for today. Now to begin catching up on my sleep and many other tasks. And, who knows, I might just take down our Christmas tree….

Unsifted

Ken and I started a new “adventure” after Christmas. Maybe not as adventurous as moving to a new state or camping in the national parks, but an adventure nevertheless. We spent some Christmas money on a flour mill and bread machine and started milling wheatberries and baking our own bread. I say “we” even though Ken’s main contribution has been as cheerleader, critic, and taste-tester. But hey, that’s an important job, right?

An Instagram friend from Kansas had some amazing health results after beginning to mill wheat and bake her own bread. Ken and I love bread of all kinds, but had been cutting way back, or worse, buying expensive, mediocre keto bread because we knew white flour wasn’t good for us.

Enter Unsifted.com and their wonderful wheatberries and other products. I was worried about how much of a commitment this was going to be (because it wasn’t a small investment to get started!) but it’s turned out to be surprisingly easy and amazingly delicious! It takes less than 5 minutes—with virtually no mess—to mill enough flour for a batch of bread. And it’s actually fun! The bread maker, set on the dough setting, eliminates mixing, kneading, and babysitting the dough. All I have to do is form the dough into whatever item we’re having, let it rise, and pop it in the oven.

So far, I’ve baked bread, cinnamon rolls, banana bread, and pretzel rolls (which make great sandwich buns). We’re excited to try pizza dough and dinner rolls.

My favorite bread I’ve made so far was a delicious loaf made with herb infused olive oil that I bought shopping at Fustini’s with dear Lynn Austin on our trip to Michigan in November. Oh, my! Not only was it mouthwatering, but it made the whole house smell amazing! (At this point, I feel the need to add that despite making and eating all those delicious breads in just one short week, neither of us has gained so much as a half a pound.)

My bread-making center.

We recently did some work on our kitchen, including putting in a brick floor and painting the dark wood cabinets white. It brightened up the kitchen so much that it makes me want to spend lots of time here!

I used to bake bread all the time, but until recently, my homemade French bread is about the only recipe I made. This is still a family favorite, but I’m enjoying expanding my repertoire!

Fresh-from-the-oven pretzel rolls.

Have you ever milled your own flour? Are you a bread baker? What is your favorite bread item to eat?

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.

Cover Reveal & Fun News!

I have so much news to share with you! New book. New series. New experiment.

1. New book. My next novel is entitled Memory Lane and it releases on February 14th! [::::DRUM ROLL::::] Here’s it’s cover….

This cover style is a change for me. Graphic, illustrated, bold, bright. Personally, I love this type of cover and am delighted to be “packaging” my new book this way. Stay tuned! At the end of this post, I’ve provided Memory Lane’s back cover copy and first line — which give a glimpse into the story’s plot and characters.

2. New series. This series is set in the ruggedly beautiful state of Maine. In Memory Lane, you’ll travel from a remote island to a charming coastal town. I called the series Sons of Scandal because the three books will center around three brothers, each born under the shadow of scandal.

3. New experiment. Have you heard of a platform called Kickstarter? I didn’t know much about it until recently. But when I heard that its mission is to “help bring creative projects to life” my interest was piqued. The more I learned, the more inspired I became because I have a creative project I want to bring to life. Namely, Memory Lane’s audiobook.

I’ve basically created a temporary online “pop-up shop” on Kickstarter, stocked with items I very much hope you’ll love. Ebooks that arrive a week before Memory Lane’s official release day. Signed print books that also arrive prior to release. All sorts of cute, exclusive, bookish swag that’s only available for the next ten days. When the shop closes, none of the swag will be offered again.

I love that this project enables me to do something fun for YOU, my readers. And I love that the profit raised from the sale of these items will go toward the production of Memory Lane’s audiobook. Win/win!

You’ll find my Kickstarter project here!

The short video below explains the motivation behind this project, plus gives you a better look at some of the wonderful swag.

There are eight different “rewards” to choose from over on Kickstarter. I’m going to share a few here to give you a sense of what’s available.

The bundle above is our largest. It includes all three formats of Memory Lane, an acknowledgment in the back of the print and ebook thanking you (or your loved one) by name, a wooden bookmark, stickers, a custom candle, and a custom tote bag. This bundle also includes a book cozy handmade specifically for Memory Lane by a friend of mine. Fair warning: I only have seven of those! When those are gone, they’re gone.

The bundle above includes the print book, stickers, and the tote. All print books ordered through Kickstarter will be autographed and, if all goes according to plan, will reach you before other readers will have access to the paperback.

For the next ten days, Kickstarter is the only place where you’ll be able to pre-order Memory Lane. After January 16th you’ll be able to pre-order at all the usual places.

I encourage you to visit my Kickstarter page, where you can view pictures of all eight reward options. I go into much more detail there! Questions? Feel free to ask them below in the comments or email me.

You’ve been tremendously supportive of me and my books over the years. I’m excited to have the chance to do this for you and with you. Thank you!

Here’s the back cover blurb!

After surviving a trauma several years back, Remy Reed relocated to a cottage on one of Maine’s most remote islands. She’s arranged her life just the way she wants it, spending her time working on her wood sculptures and soaking in the beauty of nature. It’s quiet and solitary—until the day she spots something bobbing in the ocean.
 
Her binoculars reveal the “something” to be a man, and he’s struggling to keep his head above water. She races out to save him and brings him into her home. He’s injured, which doesn’t detract from his handsomeness nor make him any easier to bear. He acts like a duke who’s misplaced his dukedom . . . expensive tastes, lazy charm, bossy ideas.
 
Remy would love nothing more than to return him to his people, but he has no recollection of his life prior to the moment she rescued him. Though she’s not interested in relationships other than the safe ones she’s already established, she begins to realize that he’s coming to depend on her.
 
Who is he? What happened that landed him in the Atlantic Ocean? And why is she drawn to him more and more as time goes by?
 
There’s no way to discover those answers except to walk beside him down memory lane.

Here’s the first line!

“The day Remy Victoria Reed fished a drowning man from the Atlantic Ocean began in the most ordinary way.”

I’d love to hear your thoughts, readers!

Epiphany

Today, January 6, is Epiphany, an important day on the Christian calendar. It is a Christian feast day that celebrates the revelation of God the Son as a human being in Jesus Christ. Western Christians commemorate principally (but not solely) the visitation of the Biblical Magi to the Baby Jesus, and thus Jesus’ physical manifestation to the Gentiles.

According to Britannica, the evening preceding Epiphany is called Twelfth Night. The time between December 25 and January 6 is known as the Twelve Days of Christmas. Epiphany is celebrated with special pastries in many countries, and children often receive small gifts in their shoes in honour of the Magi’s gifts to the infant Jesus. The holiday also has a number of traditions involving water as a reflection of Jesus’ baptism, including the blessing of houses with holy water.

Of course, another definition for the word epiphany is “a moment of sudden revelation or insight.” And I suppose it’s a good way to describe the moment when God reveals my word of the year.

I began this practice nineteen years ago. Each fall, I ask God to give me a word for the new year. He always answers that prayer, and the word always ends up being meaningful for that year. Perhaps for something I will go through. Perhaps because I need deeper understanding of a spiritual truth. 

For 2023, the word I was given is DWELL.

At first I thought my word was “abide,” but something inside told me I didn’t fully understand yet. Then, a couple of days before Christmas, I knew in my spirit that the correct word was “dwell.” Yes, it is a word that is similar to abide. A synonym even. And yet, I felt it was important when God made sure I knew which word was right.

The accompanying verses I was given are these:

“One who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
Will lodge in the shadow of the Almighty.”
(Psalm 91:1, NASB 2020)“Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?”
(1 Corinthians 3:16, NASB 2020)“so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith…”
(Ephesians 3:17, NASB 2020)

It appears that “Robin dwelling in Christ and Christ dwelling in Robin” will be the theme for 2023. I’m looking forward to it.

Do you ask God to give you a word for the new year? If so, please share what your word is for 2023.

~robin

New Year – New Reading Challenge

Every year for the past four years, I’ve hosted a Reading Challenge in my Posse Facebook group. This has been the single-best motivator for me to carve out reading time every month. With a full-time day job, full-time writing, and plenty of family and church activities on my daily schedule, finding time to read for pleasure can be difficult. These challenges, however, hold me accountable, prod me to read outside my usual comfort zone, and help me rediscover the joy of searching for a new book to read.

Despite the word “Challenge,” I design our monthly themes to be as broad and easy to complete as possible. The goal is to have fun, not to get bogged down in stipulations. My readers help brainstorm our monthly categories, and many have mentioned how the challenge motivates them to dig through their TBR piles and read books that have been buried for far too long.

Here is a graphic that outlines our monthly themes for 2023:

As you can see, these categories are broad enough that almost any genre will satisfy the criteria. Even nonfiction.

At the end of each month, I will call for the Reading Challenge report, and everyone will share the book(s) they read to fulfill that month’s challenge. It’s a fun way to learn about new books and find connections with other readers who enjoy the same genre or authors that you do.

We kicked thing off this week with our “NEW” challenge. It’s been fun to see the creativity as people chat about which books they are selecting.

*****

To celebrate the NEW Year, our challenge for January is to read a book with the word NEW somewhere on the cover. Here are some examples:

NEW can be in the title – Like Emily of New Moon by L.M. Montgomery.NEW can be part of the author’s name – I just started a book by Ashtyn Newbold.NEW can be ancillary text on the cover, like part of a series name, award name (Newbery Medal), or New York Times bestseller mention.

There are lots of fun ways to make this work!

*****

If you would like to join our Posse Reading Challenge, we’d love to have you! Simply click here to join The Posse.

Which monthly challenge sounds the most interesting to you?
If you were to create a theme for one of these challenges, what would you pick?

Goals, Intentions, and Expectations

Here we stand at the beginning of a new year. And for so many of us, our minds turn to yearly goals. I’ve been thinking a lot about that these past couple of weeks. A few years ago I shifted toward “intentions” instead of “goals.” It helped me be less stressed when life interfered and made my goals if not impossible, at least much more difficult. 

But this year, I’ve been reevaluating that a bit. And in the midst, the Holy Spirit whispered for me to add expectations in the mix of my thinking. I’ve tried to think about not only the meanings of all those words—as well as their implications—but also how my thinking about them might affect me for both good and bad. I thought maybe some of you could use my musings to look to these ideas and how they play out in your life. 

Goals

My “goal” of moving away from labeling things as goals was to eliminate some of the stress in my life. Granted, it was totally stress I was putting on myself. The stress of avoiding failure. Of feeling like a failure. And that was good. Changing semantics did, indeed, relieve me of berating myself for unmet goals. However, it also did something not so good: it removed the immediacy I needed to push myself toward tasks that weren’t easy or enjoyable. Thus, I believe the change in terms has affected my overall productivity. 

However, in working through my thoughts on this, I realized that there are reasons to label some things “goals” and other “intentions.” One has to do with how much of the outcome is in my hands. For example, my goals list right now consists of things that are completely within my ability to control. For example, I read several books each month but rarely is one of them non-fiction. My goal this year is to read one non-fiction book a month. I will read, so it’s simply a choice of what to read. I need more than an “intention” to read a non-fiction book. I need it to be a goal. 

The same applies to posting my blog links to my personal Facebook profile. These automatically populates on my Facebook author page, but I have never been good at sharing them with my “friends.” I imagined it would be bothersome to them and embarrassing to me. It isn’t that I haven’t had time to do this. It’s that I haven’t had the courage. And so that is another goal for me this year—to share that link each week with the people who know me from various phases of my life. It’s an action solely within my control and doesn’t require any extra time, only determination and follow-through.

Intentions

But some things on my list for 2023 remain intentions very purposefully. These are things I can’t completely control, though I do have a measure of control. It’s about priority, certainly, but it’s also those things that life can definitely derail. 

For example, my intention this year is to write a new novella as a freebie to my newsletter subscribers. I can certainly do this, but the truth is my contracted work, both writing and editing, will come before this project. It is something I intend to do this year. I will work to make space for it in my schedule. But there are things which could definitely jump in and take priority over it. By not having it as a true “goal,” I can relieve the stress of feeling like a failure if it doesn’t get done. Yet placing it as an intention puts it higher on my priority radar than if I’d left it as only a thought or desire. 

Expectations

As I’ve thought through goals and intentions, I’ve also come to see that the feelings of accomplishment or failure in relation to them ultimately come back to expectations. I don’t know about you, but I have often lived with unrealistic expectations in both my personal and professional life. I’ve worked on that through the years, but expectations have a tendency to creep in even when you don’t realize they are there. I expect my schedule to work as I plan it. But that doesn’t always happen. I expect that because I’ve written a certain number of words in a certain timeframe that it will happen every time. It doesn’t. 

What I’m beginning to understand is that expectations are inevitable. The questions is, what are my expectations grounded in? In the above examples, the expectations are all tethered to me. To my discipline or my brain power or simply my desires. 

But what if my expectations were grounded in the Lord? What if expected that when the Lord  interrupts my plans (as He will!), that He’ll give the time back to me in other ways? What if I expected God to bestow mercy, to give good gifts, to order my days with His priorities over my own? 

Guess what? If my expectations are grounded in God and His character, they will never go unmet! Imagine that! Even when life doesn’t look as I imagine, I can trust the God will not go against His character. And as I was recently reminded by author Dane Ortland in his book Gentle and Lowly, God tells us what we can expect of His character: 

I don’t know about you, but those are the expectations I’d love to have—that all the Lord allows to pass through to me would come through his heart of compassion, graciousness, patience, lovingkindness and truth.

So that’s were I am here at the beginning of 2023—balancing goals and intentions while continuing to evaluate what I’ve chosen as the bedrock of my expectations. 

What about you? Have you struggled in setting goals? Have you berated yourself for not meeting the ones you set? I’d love to hear about your journey with goals, intentions, and expectations. 

The Law of the Leash

My family and I have had mastiffs for years now. We’ve had nine so far, but we only have them two at a time for obvious reasons. At 200+ pounds each, having two mastiffs is a lot of dog, especially if you’re allergic!

Jazzy, 3, and Ivy, 7

For years I have also worked as a volunteer photographer for dog rescue groups. I’ve snapped many a photo of homeless dogs because good pictures make it easier for these dogs to find good homes. But after doing it for years, I began to feel a little convicted–I didn’t want to be a dog snob and only get mastiffs (even though their personalities suit me to a T) when there were so many mixed breeds available.

So last spring I began to drop hints that I might like to adopt a new puppy. A mixed breed, just another little puppy to care for. After all, our oldest girl, Ivy, just turned seven, and that’s geriatric in mastiff years. And a one-dog house just feels so empty . . .

So we went through all the paperwork and did everything necessary to adopt a puppy from a local rescue. I wanted a puppy so I could train and socialize him/her–because we also run an airbnb from our house, I couldn’t have a dog that didn’t like strangers or was aggressive. Being in charge of the training and socialization, I thought, would help counteract that.

Toby at 9 weeks old.

So in June we brought Toby home. He snuggled and slept in my arms the entire way to the house. And I did one of those doggie DNA tests and discovered that he was mostly Great Pyrenees, St. Bernard, Rotteweiler, Labrador Retriever, Bloodhound, and a few other things, too. And those are BIG DOGS. I laughed–after all, a little dog might be mistaken for an appetizer at our house.

And so Toby lived with us and grew. And grew. I taught him to sit and go down, which is all I’ve really ever needed to teach my mastiffs (though Ivy did earn her Canine Good Citizen award). I hardly ever took him out on a leash because we live on a big, fenced yard, so he couldn’t escape.

And that’s when the problems began. Toby would go out with us and be fine, but the instant he got bored, he’d begin to jump up and bite our arms . . . and the bigger he got (we’re now talking about 70 pounds), the harder he would pull. Hubby and I would come into the house covered with blood and bruises. Worst of all, when I would try to keep the dog off me by using my hands, he only thought I was playing and would jump and bite all the more. Trust me–there were days when I ran into the house and locked him out, not caring if I ever saw him again.

Then one night, in tears, I wrote the rescue organization and said I was going to have to bring Toby back. He was out of control, our grandkids were terrified of him, and our middle dog, Jazzy, was also too scared to come out of the bathroom if Toby was around.

The kind lady who runs the rescue said they didn’t have any available foster homes, so could I keep him a while longer?

And that’s when I decided I was either going to keep Toby or kill him. And since I can’t even kill a chicken, I opted for KEEP, so I ordered an online dog training course and set out to train Toby.

So far all our lessons have focused on “watch” and “touch,” which are elemental to training a dog, but I noticed something else. The minute I put a leash on Toby, he became a different animal–still wary, still Toby, but he didn’t act as though we were his personal chew toys. And when he DID jump, I could hold the leash up and away, keeping him off my arms.

And that’s when it hit me– A leash is a blessing. It saves lives, canine and human.

Maybe that’s why God keeps us on a leash . . . it’s only when we pull and strain and snap and try to escape that we end up in real trouble. The leash–God’s restraint in any area, be it timing or direction or curbing our desires–is for our Good.

So pray and me and Toby as we continue our journey together. We’re still learning, but he’s one of the pack now . . . and even Jazzy is slowly learning to tolerate him. Long live the leash!