Janet Sketchley's Blog: Tenacity, page 96
June 20, 2014
What I Brought Home from Write Canada 2014
I love going to Write Canada because it’s like three events in one: professional development, a getaway with friends, and a spiritual renewal.
Here are some of the highlights:
The Word Awards Gala: Heaven’s Prey was a finalist in the suspense category, and while it didn’t win, being chosen as a finalist is good affirmation. And I got to cheer for a number of my friends when their work won. (Winners’ list here)
Writing: R.J. Anderson gave me a broader understanding of the ways my individual roots...
June 18, 2014
Helper AND Ruler
You who fear God, trust in God!
—trust your Helper! trust your Ruler!
Psalm 115:11, MSG*
You’re likely more familiar with this verse in other versions of the Bible. The NIV, NLT and KJV all use the words “help/helper” and “shield”.
Usually I gravitate to descriptions of God as our refuge, fortress, shield. That may say something about fear and a need for security, who knows? But when I found this verse in The Message, the names “Helper” and “Ruler” stopped me. Prompted a question.
Do we focus too...
June 16, 2014
Review: Moon over Maalaea Bay, by H.L. Wegley
Moon Over Maalaea Bay, by H.L. Wegley (Harbourlight Books, 2014)
Moon over Maalaea Bay is book 3 in the Pure Genius series, and it picks up hours after the end of book 2 (On the Pineapple Express). If you plan to read this series from the beginning, stop here or you’ll find out more than you want to know about plot points from the earlier books.
Still with me? Okay. Brilliant and beautiful Jennifer Akihara and her fiancé, Lee Brandt, were instrumental in breaking open one arm of an internationa...
June 13, 2014
He Can Do it Again
He stands motionless in the dim light, his back to the door. The fashionable linen shirt droops from his tired shoulders, heavy with grime. We can almost taste the air that he breathes: dank and foul… steeped in the aroma of unwashed bodies, mouldy walls and accumulated filth… heavily spiced with fear and hopelessness.
This time, it looks like the end. Have his enemies finally triumphed?
Tension mounts, but we’re sure he’ll come up with a plan. He’s the Scarlet Pimpernel, nemesis of all that is...
June 11, 2014
God Isn’t Finished With Us Yet
Listen! The Lord’s arm is not too weak to save you,
nor is his ear too deaf to hear you call.
Isaiah 59:1, NLT*
Last week I posted about the need to draw apart for quiet moments with God. As sometimes happens, Godwas speaking to my friend Ginny Jaques about the same thing: see her post, Meeting God Under the Fig Tree.
Where my need was to sit with God and be still with Him, remembering our relationship and His power, Ginny needed a “fireside chat” with Him to pour out her concerns for our culture...
June 9, 2014
Review: The Pregnant Pause of Grief, by Brenda J. Wood
The Pregnant Pause of Grief, by Brenda J. Wood (Word Alive, 2013)
“I’ve trusted God and His promises for years. Will they hold true in widowhood? I don’t know yet.” [p. 4]
So begins Brenda J. Wood’s poignant account of her “first trimester of widowhood” after the loss of her beloved husband, Ron. The book is written as a series of journal entries, in a conversational style as if Brenda were talking with the reader via email.
She writes about whatever’s on her mind that day, from spontaneous tear...
June 6, 2014
The Sheep Who Attended a Writers’ Conference
It started as a joke.
One of my sons offered his stuffed sheep as a travelling companion when I packed for Write! Canada. I have a sheep of my own (named Acton) but he’s big enough to count as carry-on luggage.
Taking a break between flights in Montreal
Wilhelm, on the other hand, stands maybe 4 inches tall. And he’s cute as all get-out.
He came along. We had some fun on the way.
Then I decided to smuggle him into the first conference session, just so I could say he’d been there.
I listen at Write!...
June 4, 2014
A Quiet Moment with God
“Step out of the traffic! Take a long,
loving look at me, your High God,
above politics, above everything.”
Psalm 46:10, MSG*
Traffic noise: motors, horns, someone’s booming stereo. Dust. Exhaust fumes. Movement everywhere.
We get used to navigating life in the middle of it all. This verse caught my attention, invited me to take a time out.
Then I saw this tweet from Sheila Wray Gregoire:
Have you and your spouse talked about something other than logistics–kids, groceries, errands–today? If not, do...
June 2, 2014
Review: Harmful Intent, by Nike Chillemi
Harmful Intent, by Nike Chillemi (Crime Fictionista Press, 2014)
Brooklyn PI Veronica “Ronnie” Ingels is self-confident, determined, and she knows how to stand up for herself – at least when she’s on her home turf. When she discovers her husband’s infidelity, she flees to Texas to process the hurt before she has to face him, only to become a person of interest in his murder.
Local Deputy Dawson Hughes doesn’t think Ronnie had anything to do with her husband’s death, and they develop an uneasy w...
May 30, 2014
Writing Friends
It’s ironic that a solitary path like writing involves so many companions along the way. The act of stringing words into paragraphs (or poems) may involve only one brain and set of hands, but writers need–and acquire–friends along the way.
We have our regular friends, wonderful and supportive. And we develop friends in the industry: other writers, editors etc. Some of them are local, but many are scattered around the world.
We encourage one another. Share information. Critique, challenge and cr...
