Come quickly beautiful springtime!
Enjoying a few more weeks of vacation and writing time with my honey in Venice Florida before our exodus back to the Midwest. Can’t wait to get my garden-gloved hands into our black dirt to plant impatiens and watch our sturdy perennials miraculously break through the hardened, crusty ground. The very thought delights me.
I think back to the first time I marveled at the new life process that happens every spring. My soul was hard and crusty too. I rarely went to church and, when I did, I endured rather than enjoyed as I do now.
After fourteen years in Catholic schools, my “faith” was a routine, meaningless ritual. Nothing personal or vibrant about it. If asked, I’d label myself an agnostic.
Then, I attended a Christian retreat, a Cursillo, to have a getaway weekend with girlfriends who were my neighbors. Nothing huge spiritually happened to me there, but looking back I see it as a catalyst. When I came home I was curious about God and began reading Christian books and studied the Bible for the first time, especially the passages about the presence of the Holy Spirit in the world today.
I wish I had words to explain my transformation better! Study enabled me to know God, to experience Jesus and to interact with prayer, soul talk with God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. For the first time, I knew for sure God was real and PERSONSAL, not a distant deity.
Life with Him became exciting and more. As an insecure child of alcoholic parents – I finally could live without fears and worry. The peace of God that passes understanding was mine (Philippians 4:7), and the joy – the joy of the Lord is my strength (Nehemiah 8:10) - lasts through whatever happens in my life. I am never alone. He is a real and present help in every circumstance.
Ever since, for fifty years now, I view spring as a beautiful symbol and a reminder. Living with personal connection to God is a beautiful gift to be celebrated all year long and just like spring, it’s there for each one of us.
MY WRITING UPDATE:
Soon after my return, I have eight speaking/book signing events in northern Wisconsin and Springfield, Illinois areas. I keep talking about retiring. Every time I think that I will stop working I get a delightful letter from a reader telling me how his or her life has been impacted by a message in one of my books. Plus, some of this writing work is just so much fun. I will be on a radio show April 15th Friday hosted by Andrea Boeshaar.
You see writing a novel is no longer enough – an author must be very active in getting the word out that the mystery novel is available. And seek reviews. Future readers rely on them before selecting books to purchase.
If any of you dear readers would be kind enough to leave an honest review for any of my books you have already read, I would be extremely grateful. You’d be so kind to take ten minutes of your valuable time to do this on amazon by going to my book page and scrolling down to review. Thank you!!!
Things have changed so dramatically since my first print book was published in 1985 when my Tyndale publisher had a full-time publicist and team of marketing professionals and sales staff to get my books into national bookstores. The publicist set up my TV and radio appearances. Now we writers must do it all. I even make my own YouTube’s and video trailers. Fortunately, I do love to learn and I’ve met some delightful fellow authors traversing this new path of social media with me.
I have another fun mystery in the works for adults and one for children I only need the discipline and diligence necessary to complete them God willing.
My Star Bright Award goes to Joann McLuen in Ocala, Florida for starting her new book club– they’ll read one of my four mystery novels each month and use the Discussion Questions available for each novel. (Email me if you need a copy of the questions for any novel.)
Directive 99 continues to be my best-selling suspense novel, probably because the message is so timely for today. If you haven’t read it, you can download it on Kindle Unlimited if you’re a member and read it for free. Or order the print version of Directive 99 through amazon. Click here.
This lovely verse, Proverbs 3, 3-4 seems appropriate for today: “Let not mercy and truth forsake you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart, and so find favor and high esteem in the sight of God and man.” Truth and mercy each of us can write!
Happy Spring!!!
