Who Would You Want with You?

One week until Pub Date!

I’m so excited for you to read The Short & Sincere Life of Ellory James.

Over the course of the next few weeks I’m going to be asking you TEN bucket list questions.

Curious what your answers are!

Here are the first two…

Feel free to share these to help me stir up interest in my soon-to-release novella!

Bucket List It {Giveaway}

I already know you’re going to love it, but now I’m asking you to list it. From now until December 2^nd I want to see social media covered with pictures capturing bucket list experiences.

I’ll choose a winner at random to win the ultimate prize bucket of goods…all related to my novella, THE SHORT & SINCERE LIFE OF ELLORY JAMES, releasing November 2^nd.

So, here’s how it works.

Whether you’ve already completed the item on your bucket list or now is the perfect time to do so, get out there and make memories. Post a picture from your life-changing experience on social media + tag me in it, mentioning the upcoming release of Ellory James and you can consider yourself entered.

Post.

Tag.

Mention Ellory.

Simple as that.

While I know there are dozens of wonderful sites to show off your photos, I’m focusing this giveaway via Facebook and Pinterest.

It’s time to BUCKET LIST IT!

More details about uber cool items in giveaway bucket to come! So much to look forward to!

*thanks Emily M. (for you know what).

**If you're not the bucket list type, feel free to share the giveaway details by using the graphic above.

Fall in Love with These Ten Books--Giveaway

I’m ecstatic to announce I’ve joined up with nine talented authors for a not-to-be-missed fall giveaway!

TEN Women’s Fiction titles will be delivered to one lucky winner’s e-reader. Click on the graphic to take you to the entry form. Contest ends October 22! And for all my Canadian and overseas friends – you are invited since this is an electronic giveaway.

Here’s the complete list. Please stop by each author’s website to learn more about us. I know we all appreciate finding new followers for our Facebook and other social media pages, so please join us there as well.

FALL WOMEN’S FICTION GIVEAWAY

The Short & Sincere Life of Ellory James (ebook) – Wendy Paine Miller

Before I Go (ebook) – Colleen Oakley

A Peach of a Pair (ebook) – Kim Boykin

Those Secrets We Keep (ebook) – Emily Liebert

The Good Neighbor (print) – Amy Sue Nathan

Finding Emma (ebook) – Steena Holmes

A Fall of Marigolds (ebook) – Susan Meissner

Rose House (ebook) – Tina Ann Forkner

The Virtues of Oxygen (ebook) – Susan Schoenberger

A Flying Affair (ebook) – Carla Stewart

Ready to enter? Click on the graphic above or here. Best of Luck!

Reflections on Love

For years, my blog bio has stated that I’m trying to “figure out this thing called life and the best way I

know how to do that is to write and to love.” I’ve shared a decent amount about writing over the past 800+ posts.

But what of love?

Every day I learn more about how love can’t be packaged as a feeling. It’s rooted in surrender, service, sacrifice, and supplication. For me, it’s anything but simple.

Here are a few glimpses of how love manifests itself in my life…

Forcing myself to stay awake to chat with my oldest daughter because even though I’m a morning bird, my night owl gets her second wind at 10pm, right when I’m desperate to crawl under the covers and sleep.

Apologizing first.

Letting go.

Committing to the hard path of parenting when it’s tempting to choose the easy route.

Seeking to understand.

Listening when I want to talk.

Driving my kids to activities, taking out the trash, risking intimacy, walking the dog . . .

Noticing—truly noticing and appreciating the season I’m in.

Grasping a vision and affection for all things deemed unlovable or discarded.

Delighting in nature.

Laughing hard.

Experiencing gratitude so deeply it ultimately serves as a motivator.

Responding when a response is called for.

Remaining silent.

Encouraging.

Praying.

Sometimes I do a bang up job when it comes to loving people. Other times, I whiff big time. As with all things, I hope to be forever improving, forever learning.

I’m largely who I am because of how I’ve been loved. My memory is long for those for those who’ve chosen to pour into me. And my life is full.

~ Love quotes that are speaking to me right now ~

“Love makes your soul crawl out from its hiding place.” ~ Zora Neale Hurston

“If a thing loves, it is infinite.” ~ William Blake

“Love is not affectionate feeling, but a steady wish for the loved person’s ultimate good as far as it can be obtained.” ~ C. S. Lewis

One More Thing about Nurses

There’s been a lot of talk about nurses lately. After stepping back and witnessing all the scuttle, I

decided I have something to share.

I love nurses.

I’ve been cared for by some of the best.

And I thought I’d take this opportunity to thank a few I’ve encountered specifically. Not necessarily by name. See, because the nurses who’ve helped me were never concerned with me remembering their names. Nope. Their only goal was to aid me to better health. The way I see it, nursing is one of the most altruistic careers to go into.

So, here’s to the nurse in Seattle who cared for me post-surgery sixteen years ago. You were young. You were pregnant. And I’m extremely grateful for the way you normalized the situation I was in. I couldn’t stand or walk with ease. I was ashamed and embarrassed by the way my body reacted to surgery. You made me laugh. You even helped me shower when all hell broke loose and my fiancé was two seconds from walking in the room. You gifted me with the belief that someday I’d be okay again. For that I’ll be forever grateful.

One month later, I danced the night away at my wedding.

Here’s to the nurses who cared for me during labor and after I’d birthed my babies. Again, you gave me play-by-plays. You coached me. You talked me down. You warmed my heart. You gave me confidence, education, and empowerment. Thank you.

Here’s to the pediatric oncologist nurse I recently met with for hours, questioning as I feverishly took notes for a book I’m getting ready to release. You were patient. You were informative. You understood my compassion for my character and the situation she was in. Because you’ve loved patients in the same place. I’m grateful you made the time.

Finally, here’s to my sister, who after years building a career in sports marketing, felt the tug to invest in a new career. You know what it feels like to be blessed with a good bedside manner, suffering through years of chronic pain yourself. You turn around and breathe hope into your patients, you instill kindness with every shot given, every tube changed. You are a silent hero.

Nurses change the world.

Is there a nurse you’d like to thank today?

Just Too Good To Be True

There’s something I’m always subconsciously doing while driving around town. I’m on the prowl. I’m looking for something like this…

That I can turn into something like this…

Because this song plays in my head whenever I see a lonely piece of furniture waiting for a brushstroke and a prayer…

 We both benefit. The furniture item gets a new life. And I experience one cathartic, creative brainstorming session as I transform the project. A win-win.

Do you enjoy working with your hands?

*Thanks to my cool neighbors who gave me the pallet above!

I have a teenager. . .

And for most moms of teenagers, I can pretty much just stop there. Because you know. You get it. I have to seize my moments, making the most of the golden hours when she actually doesn’t seem to mind being around me.

Most of the time I get one or more of any of the following: the infamous eye roll, the talk to the texting hand, the not now groan, the “what?” (Which needs no further explanation because all moms of teenagers heard exactly the pitch I’m referring to while reading that), or nothing at all because she’s been squirreled away up in her room all day.

All normal. All natural.

But that’s what makes what I’m about to share so special.

We had one of those irresistible breakthrough days yesterday.

We slipped into one of my favorite zones—the carefree, cut loose, bond-like-we’ve-never-bonded-before zone.

We went shopping. And the point wasn’t to rack up a whopping credit card bill. Nope. We did find a few things, but we had the most fun acting as ludicrous personal shoppers for one another. We had one rule. The other person must try on everything selected for them. (Images burned into my brain: me in the gold dress and my daughter donning the palm tree sweater.)

My daughter picked out these pants for me to squeeze into.

As a joke, I had her try on this frumpy frump.

  

*she gave me permission to post this pic

Because I’m a rock star.

And we laughed until I nearly split those shiny blue pants.

I savored every single second.

Because I remember when she looked like this…

And I remember when I felt like this…

And moments like what I just described are exactly what I’ll be thinking about the next time she stomps up the stairs telling me I don’t understand anything.