The Inspiration Behind “Warmth From A Window”

New! Christian Fiction Online Magazine has e-published my short short story, “Warmth From A Window”.  It’s a devotional length, but follows a lonely woman’s inner journey to peace on a cold Christmas Eve morning.

The idea for “Warmth From A Window” came years—no— eons ago when I was a young woman sitting in the church where I grew up. Back then, some mumblemumble years ago, it was called Valley Vista United Methodist Church. Not a very assuming building, probably built in the ‘50s, it had stained glass windows along the side of the sanctuary in muted colors, not the vibrant blues, yellows, and reds you see in older churches. Still, they were beautiful.

I was sitting in the sanctuary one day, not long after I had received Jesus Christ as my Savior and still had that new-love glow about me, when the sun’s rays broke through a gray and lifeless day and began to shine on the south side of the building. At first, I soaked in the warmth, imagining God’s arms wrapped around me. But soon, the relentless sun began to cook that side of the building. I had walked into the sanctuary that morning grateful to escape the winter chill, but now I was wiping my brow, contemplating moving to the north side of the room, but not sure how to do it without being conspicuous.

I am not the woman in my short story. But as often happens with writers, I used a very real scene in my own life and imagined the what-if. What if a woman struggling with her knowledge of God had been sitting where I had been? What if the warmth she felt became something she could grasp onto? What if . . .?

I don’t want to tell too much. Please click here to read her story. I can say that God met us both that day. He planted the seed that eventually became “Warmth From A Window”, and He offers it to You now.

Have a Blessed Christmas, everyone.

And the Winner Is. . .

Sara! You have won my “1000 Friends” drawing. Let me know if you’d like my book, Oregon Weddings, or a $5 Starbuck gift card.

Congratulations!

My One-Thousandth Friend!

STREAMERS! BALLOONS! CONFETTI!

Number 1000 has been friended on Facebook! This honor goes to Cathy John Biggerstaff . Cathy, (great name btw!) you are the winner of my newest book, Oregon Weddings, and a Starbucks $5 gift card. Message or email me privately with your preference and be sure to give me a snail mail address (US only) to send your prize. CONGRATS! Please be sure to contact me before June 29, 2011, or the prize may be forfeited.

In compliance with Facebook’s regulations, I can’t do a “Comment here and receive a prize” contest on my page. So I would like to invite you all to comment here on my blog. Then, either stay tuned to the blog or watch for a Facebook announcement. (I think I can at least do that.) The winner will be asked to email or message me with their address so I may send them said prize. And what is “Said Prize”?

Rules

1. Win EITHER my book, Oregon Weddings, OR a $5 Starbucks gift card by commenting here on blogger.
2. Comments on Facebook will not be considered.
3. If for some reason you aren’t able to comment, please email me. The link for that is at the top of this page.
4. Contest will end on Wed, June 29, 2011. (Yes, that’s this week! Yikes!)
5. The winner will be required to give their physical mailing address (US only, please) to be able to receive their prize.

If you’d like a topic on which to comment, (not necessary, but could be fun,) how about this:

If you could have one thousand of anything, what would you like it to be?

Best of luck to all of you! I invite you to share this giveaway with your friends. 

I SPY Contest! Win a Starbucks Card in OREGON WEDDINGS

OREGON WEDDINGS

Three-in-One Collection

Debuts this month!

Want to get in on the fun? I’d like to give away three Starbucks $5 gift cards each to someone who has seen my book in a store.
Why three? To honor the three books within the cover, of course!

1. God Gave the Song – Two people learn how to forgive with the help of a melodious alpaca.
2. Crossroads Bay – She seeks a treasure. He seeks her heart.
3. Fine, Feathered Friend – An actress afraid of birds enlists the help of a bird trainer afraid of actresses.

Why Starbucks? Um. . .because that company originated in Seattle, Washington, and. . .um. . .that’s right next to Oregon. . .um. . .yeah. . .
Here are the rules:

• Go shopping. . .or at least step foot into a store.
• Look for my book on a shelf, table, or celebrity kiosk with neon lights pointing directly at Oregon Weddings. (I can dream. . .)
• Let me know! Three ways to enter. Jot down the name and general location of the store where you saw the book and then:
• For 1 entry: Comment here on this article with that information.
• For 2 entries: Put it in a status on Facebook, but remember to either tag me if you’re my “friend” or let me know you did it by commenting here.
• For 3 entries: If you have a camera, take a pic of the book. You can get creative and include yourself in the photo (or someone else if you’re shy). Then put it on your Facebook status.  Be sure to tag me in the photo so you can be put in the drawing.
• This is my sneaky way of getting the word out to your friends as well as mine!
• Check back here, or on Facebook, May 1st. If you win, I’ll need an address to send it to.

The contest will run the entire month of April and I will draw on May 1, 2011. Multiple entries accepted only if the store location is different.
Oh, and please buy the book! This isn’t part of the contest, but I’d be ever so grateful!
To access me on Facebook, go to my page and click “Add as Friend”!

I HOPE YOU WIN!!!!

My Boys in NY

Jon’s wife, Jenn, surprised him with a trip to NY for his birthday. Here, Jon, with the white hat on, and Joey, on the phone, are waving to Jon’s kids on the live cam in Times Square while they watched their daddy from the computer in my office…in Denver. So cool.

They moved to a different cam because the one above is stop action. That can get very annoying. The one below has a ten second delay. Still annoying, but at least they’re moving.

Jon is talking the kids.

Below, I told him to do something goofy.

This is Jon’s first trip to NY and he was so excited. Joey lives there and will be showing his brother all the typical tourist sites and probably take him places only the locals know about. I’m jealous because the hubs and I haven’t even been to NY yet. But I’d rather visit when the weather is warmer. Jon said it was “crazy cold” there.

18th Annual Heartsong Awards

Once again, I find myself in the top ten of this very cool reader’s poll award list. I’m so humbled that God is allowing me these victories.

The full list can be found at the Edit Cafe blog. But here’s how my books fared:

• FAVORITE CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE –  Fine, Feathered Friend placed #7
• FAVORITE CONTEMPORARY COVER - Fine, Feathered Friend placed #6 ; Crossroads Bay placed #5

Sure, I didn’t have anything to do with the cover art, but I’m still so pleased to have those books showcased in this way.

If I may, I’d like to thank some folks as if I’m dressed in a sequined Vera Wang gown and clutching a bronze statue.

Thank you, readers, for taking the time to vote for me. Without you, I would be back to filling myriads of notebooks and hiding them in drawers.

Thank you Heartsong Presents editor, JoAnne Simmons, who believes in my work enough to publish it.

Thank you to my husband, Jim, who has always believed in me and made it possible for me to write full time.

Finally, thank you to my Lord, my Rock, my Writing Partner, who holds my hand every day throughout this crazy process of bleeding onto the page.

 

Helloooo Joey!

 

My youngest son, Joey, lives in New York. He called tonight and said he was walking in Times Square and suggested we go to a live cam to find him. We did and the following is the result. We had a blast! He gave us a tour while we sat in our comfy house in Colorado.

His dad, Jim, maximized the window and then hit “print screen” and pasted into Word.

7th and Broadway: Joey is one of the five people clustered in the lower left-hand corner. The other four are policemen who are waving at us at Joey’s request. We think he confused them, but they were nice enough to comply.

46th and 7th Ave: We searched around and found this cam, then led Joey to it by telling him what the landmarks were. This is him, waving at us!

 

He’s talking to us via his ear piece. Notice that no one seems concerned that he’s talking to himself.

 

 

About done. He’s getting cold and needs to get on the subway.

 

 

 

 

Link: http://www.earthcam.com/usa/newyork/timessquare/?cam=7thbroadway