E is for Enter

Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him and bless his name.  Psalm 100:5

The God of the Universe, the creator of Heaven and Earth lives in a gated community and he is inviting us to come on in.  Through his gates and into his courts.  With praising and singing!  

Why? Because he calls us his people and the sheep of his pasture.  Because he is good.   His mercy is everlasting; and his truth endures to all generations. 

He really loves us.

A toZ Blog Challenge:D is for Daughters

Elsa and Rachael

Fathers be good to your daughters

daughters will love like you do.

Girls become lovers who turn into mothers

so mothers be good to your daughters too.

                                       - John Mayer

I have two daughters.  Rachael and Elsa.  They are so different.  Rachael speaks Portuguese and dreams of being a lawyer and, perhaps, go into politics.  Elsa is a pilot with a heart for missions.  


 Only God knows for sure what the future holds for our daughters.  We pray, we love, we teach, and then... we watch them fly! 

Cooking the Books by Bonnie S. Calhoun

I am so proud to be part of the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance team of book lovers; and I am especially excited to share a bit about Cooking the Books by Bonnie S. Calhoun the founder and CEO of the CFBA.

Heroine, Sloane Templeton, is a savvy Cyber Crimes Unit operative turned Brooklyn bookstore owner .  Her one flaw is her lousy track record with men.   Sloane also attracts trouble like honey attracts flies ( I guess that makes two flaws).  So it stands to reason that drastic and- as it turns out- often hilarious measures must be taken.  One of my favorite scenes in the book is when a group of shop owners- Sloane included- takes the Senior Center's van to go to the shooting range for some target practice.  So funny,  I laugh just thinking about it.

Bonnie writes characters overflowing with warmth, wit, and a dash of wisdom... the good ones anyway!  The bad guys are downright nasty.
This book gave me a kind of Steel Magnolias meets Alexander Mccall Smith's No.1 Ladies Detective Agency feel.

One thing's for sure- the neighborhood will never be the same!
Please read on for more information about Cooking the Books.

This week, the  Christian Fiction Blog Alliance  is introducing  Cooking The Books  Abingdon Press (April 2012)  by  Bonnie S. Calhoun  


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

As the Owner/Director of the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance Bonnie has helped use the 220+ blogs of the Alliance to promote many titles on the Christian bestseller list. She also owns and publishes the Christian Fiction Online magazine which is devoted to readers and writers of Christian fiction. She is the Northeast Zone Director for American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW). At ACFW she was named the ‘Mentor of the Year,’ for 2011, and she is the current President of (CAN) Christian Authors Network. Bonnie is also the Appointment Coordinator for both the Colorado Christian Writers Conference and the Greater Philadelphia Christian Writers Conference.


In her spare time she is an avid social media junkie, and teaches Facebook, Twitter, Blogging and HTML as recreational occupations. She also has a novel coming out in the Abingdon Quilts of Love series. Her novel Pieces of the Heart will publish August of 2013.

Bonnie and her husband Bob live in a log cabin on 15 acres in upstate area of Binghamton, New York with a dog and cat who consider the humans as wait-staff.


ABOUT THE BOOK

After her mother dies from a heart attack, Sloane Templeton goes from Cyber Crimes Unit to bookstore owner before she can blink. She also "inherits" a half-batty store manager; a strange bunch of little old people from the neighborhood who meet at the store once a week, but never read books, called the Granny Oakleys Book Club; and Aunt Verline, who fancies herself an Iron Chef when in reality you need a cast iron stomach to partake of her culinary disasters. And with a group like this you should never ask, “What else can go wrong?”


A lot! Sloane begins to receive cyber threats. While Sloane uses her computer forensic skills to uncover the source of the threats, it is discovered someone is out to kill her. Can her life get more crazy?

If you would like to read the first chapter of Cooking The Books, go HERE.

Watch the book video:



If you'd like to read interviews with Bonnie, try these:
Everbody Needs A Little Romance
A Christian Writers World
Novel Rocket
ACFW - Fiction Finder

C is for Casting Cares

Casting all your care upon him; for he cares for you.  1Peter 5:7

Imagine a game of ring toss and that all your cares and woes are the rings.  Instead of tossing the rings onto a peg, imagine Jesus standing there in your back yard waiting to play with you.  He's not all stern and scary.  He's kind and loving.  He looks at your stack of rings that you've been holding onto and beckens you to give it a try.  You grab one, frisbee style, and remember that you are lousy at all competitive sports- be it badminton, croquet, or ring toss.  He reminds you that there's no one else around to laugh or mock you if you mess up.  It's just you and him.  And he never laughs or mocks.

So you let it fly.  It wobbles as it makes its way to him.  You worry that it will crash and burn before it gets there.  Just before he catches it you see a flash of something on his wrist.  A scar.  He's not ashamed of it.  It's just there.  You know its for you.  Suddenly you lose sight of the ring of care;  like it vanished into thin air.  In fact the whole pile of rings have grown strangely dim.  You're having too much fun with the Saviour.

So, do the troubles actually vanish into thin air?  Not necessarily... but the POWER the troubles have over you to enslave absolutely can.   "And the peace of God, which passes all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ."  Philippians 4:7

B is for Bubble

When I was little, I was sure that I could see castles and wonderlands in soap bubbles.  I also thought they were a great value- you could by a plastic container of bubble stuff for about 10 cents- wand and all...

But, my attention span being what it is, I would get bored after about five minutes and that would be that.  They'd sit around for years (we don't throw out things that are still good in my family)...

So why am I blogging about bubbles?  Well, sometimes they burst.  Whether financial or personal, they can leave you with a film of messy stuff and leave you wondering what happened to your plans.  To keep it real, our bubble was a housing investment in Naples,  Florida.  After almost ten years and hundreds of thousands of dollars paid out... we've hit bottom.  The stress has taken a huge toll on my husbands health- he had always kept his credit rating perfect.  (Bless his heart.)

So where is God in this bubble debacle?  He said, "lo I am with you always, even unto the end of the world."  Matthew 28:20

I believe it.  It's scary at times, but I really want to see where this will end.  Of course I pray that all your bubbles are made of soap, but for the big things remember that He is there no matter where you are.

Blessings.

A is for ANYWHERE

Happy April!  I joined the A to Z Challenge for bloggers sooo...

 A.A. Milne expresses my sentiments perfectly!!

Where am I going?  I don't quite know.
Down to the stream where the king-cups grow-
Up on the hill where the pine-trees blow-
Anywhere, anywhere.  I don't know.  (from Spring Morning)

Anyway, please know that you are always welcome here at Writing Remnants.  I don't always know where I'm going (obviously)... but my prayers will be with you.

Always,

Cheryl

The Chase by DiAnn Mills

What does it take to become a bestselling author?

DiAnn Mills offers some hints to the secrets of her success in her new suspense thriller The Chase... How you ask?  Well, the answer is both brilliant and simple.  The main character, Kariss Walker just happens to be a best selling woman's fiction author who is trying to make the switch over to FBI/CSI style mystery writing- to the dismay of her literary agent and publisher who will not be sold on this new venture... if it ain't broke... right?  But Kariss is a tough cookie who will not be dissuaded from doing what her heart and conscience dictate.  Conscience?  Yes, Kariss is carrying around some unresolved guilt regarding a little girl that she was unable to save (I'm not going to spoil it) and hopes to lay another little girl's soul to rest by solving her murder.

Of course she needs some help, and Special Agent Tigo Harris is assigned to help Kariss get the job done.  You know if he's FBI he's cute.  I've only met two in my life but they both fit the type sooo...

DiAnn Mills is a best selling author so as far as I'm concerned The Chase should be considered both a craft and a suspense novel. ;)
Scroll to last nite's post for more about DiAnn Mills and The Chase!!

Blessings!!