I just received the sample of my cover for Love’s Blessings:

This inspirational short is releasing with By Grace Publishing in April. Here is a blurb:

Janelle Trent has been desperately trying to have a baby. Can she surrender to God when the treatments don’t work?

Kevin Trent loves his wife, baby or not. Can he show his wife that they already are a family? Or, will he walk away, taking with him all their hopes and dreams?

Can two people in love move past heartache to find each other, and possibly a miracle, again? Sometimes we search so hard but are unable to see that we already have Love’s Blessings.

So I told Jaci (who has made more sales of the Demon series – woohoo!) that I was looking for her book everywhere I went (sadly, this was mostly grocery stores where they only seemed to have the top 10 on the bestseller list). I knew I was going into one of the big book stores up here, which is Chapters/Indigo so I took my camera with me just in case.

See what I found?…

Not the little girl, she belongs to me – this is DD holding Surviving Demon Island. Then we grabbed them all from the two shelves, where they were split, put them all on one and turned them face out.

The funniest thing was as we were doing this a woman kept looking at me so I thought maybe I was in trouble for taking photos in the store. I said that and that I was so excited because my friend (ha – now you’re in trouble Jaci!) wrote this book. She asked what it was about and, of course, I told her. She then put down the book she was going to buy and purchased SDI! How cool is that? She said it sounded awesome and way better than what she was going to read. I should have stood there all day – maybe I could have sold all the copies. LOL

In other reading news I now have my lucky little hands on this baby:

Once this goes on sale I will track it down here and take a photo of dd (she’s way cuter than I am) with it. In the meantime it is mine, mine, mine…all mine. I can’t wait to start reading it.

There’s been a discussion on Romance Divas about whether being a writer makes reading harder. That is to say – is it harder to throw yourself into the story and ignore the editing? Are you harder on books than you used to be?  I am.

I love to read. However, before I was distinctly aware of POV or tense, something in the story might have bothered me but usually I could get through it. Especially if it was a good plot. Now, those things pull me completely out of the story.

Lately I have read some really bad books. A couple of these I would have thought were bad whether I was a writer or not. One, I would have thrown up against the wall and then flushed down the garbeurator (sp?) if I could. Yes, it was that bad. Some of them were just bad because I recognised the editorial errors that, I believe, I wouldn’t have noticed before.

I have also read some really good books. A few of these books were so good that I may have overlooked some of the flaws. A book that sucks you in to the story can do that – you’re at the end without even noticing how you got there.

The thing that scares me is that some day someone will be reading my books (at least that’s the plan). How will they view them? As a writer? As a reader? And, will my writing pass the test? I am thankful I have a great CP who keeps me in check and on track. But then, didn’t these other writers have that too? Why didn’t they see the head hopping or past/present tense changes? Were they too scared to be honest with the writer? What’s the point of that?

What is it that makes a good book work? It is all so subjective, I know. What I think is good someone else doesn’t necessarily like. However, I choose to believe that someone can not like the plot of a book but still recognise good writing.

1. Ghost Rider – not as scary as I thought it would be yet still just a bit scary, even though it was cheesy sometimes too. I don’t care – you have to love that bike and Sam Sheppard is so amazing. Plus Peter Fonda as the bad guy is too funny, especially with that face lift. I also wonder if someone could have done a better job on Nicholas Cage’s hair. Talk about scary! :satansmoking:
2. Because I said So – I had been really looking forward to this and it was nice but something was missing. For me the connection between Diane Keaton and Mandy Moore’s characters (mother and daughter) didn’t happen until about half way through the film so I was having trouble suspending disbelief. However, Gabriel Macht is so hot I didn’t care. :smirk: How have I never seen this guy before?
3. Epic Movie – I had a bad week. Dh and I thought this would be funny and lighten the mood. It was not funny, it was horrible. It did, however, lighten the move because it was so bad that we couldn’t believe it.:thumbdown:
4. The Holiday – I thought this was going to be more funny than it was but it was still so good. A very nice movie. A great chick flick but my dh even liked it, which is amazing in and of itself. And it’s the first time I thought Jude Law cute. I know everyone thinks he’s hot but this is the first time he was for me. Plus Jack Black was actually quite good.
5. The Nativity Story – this was good. I thought it was well done and the wise men cracked me up (not sure if they were supposed to…:oogle:
6. Cinderella III- yeah I have kids and a dd who is obssessed with princess stuff. It was an interesting concept I suppose. What if there was no bibbedy, bobbedy boo? Well we find out but of course, just like in any true romance, there is an HEA.
7. Catch and Release – sounds like perfect romance novel stuff to me. Plus, I love Jennifer Garner.
8. The Number 23 – Jim Carrey in a serious role is a good thing. The movie sounds a bit bizarre but also good.
9. Song and Lyrics – yes, another chick flick. But I love them. I’m trying to escape when I go to a movie (just like when I read a book). Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore? Ya gotta love ‘em.:cheekysmiley: I hope it’s a winner.
10. Wild Hogs – this could crash big time but it looks so fun. I think John Travolta is only getting hotter as he gets older.
11. In Pursuit of Happyness – I’ve been meaning to see this but it might have to be on dvd at this point. I think it sounds awesome but I’ve never been in the right mood to feel the way I think this movie is going to make me feel. KWIM?
12. Dreamgirls – another dvd and again it’s because I need to be in the right mood for a musical. Especially one loosely based on the Supremes.
13. Eragon – yet another dvd I guess because I only just realised I like dragon stuff. Who knew?

Links to other Thursday Thirteens:

For the last week besides being under the weather we have had commitments every day and/or night. I have done absolutely no writing. While I am glad that we are a busy, community involved family, there has to be a limit. Especially when it cuts in to my already limited writing time.Here is my Monday to do list:

1. Get ds #1 off to school
2. Get ds #2 down for a nap
3. Have coffee :foodsmiley:
4. Try to get some writing in
5. Get dd ready for preschool
6. Get dd and ds#2 lunch
7. Take dd to preschool
8. Drive around so ds#2 falls asleep again and/or run errands
9. Pick up ds#1 from school
10. Pick up dd from preschool
11. Try not to go nutso from the two older ones bickering :cuckoo:
12. Try to write some more
13. Make dinner
14. Go to fitness bootcamp
15. Is there more?

Ahhh, now I know why I don’t write that much or why I write great rushes of stuff and then nothing for a while.